Charmed Wolf, Aimee Easterling [best novels in english txt] 📗

might still have time to collect allies of my own.

To that end, I left my shoes on but let my tears fall into cushions of mosses, steering clear of the one nearby patch of wildflowers. The Guardian was fond of the little blue blooms, I’d noticed, while Erskine was drawn to salt.

Sure enough, warmth whuffled on the back of my neck after only a few seconds. I spun, hoping to see a unicorn.

And I did, for a split second. He was there...then he was gone. Sidling away from me so rapidly I couldn’t grab his mane and pull myself up onto his back.

Which hadn’t been my purpose, but the evasive action certainly got his point across. Until I was ready to pay my debt, Erskine wasn’t ready to take me on another ride.

“No innuendo?” I asked, forcing my words to lighten as I attempted to tease him back into good humor. “No double entendre about riding?”

Rather than sidling closer, Erskine stamped a hoof. He was as serious as I’d ever seen him. Impatient too.

“I get it,” I answered, wincing away from the unicorn’s disapproval. “I’ll be ready to give you what you want soon. Will you stay close until then?”

Erskine shook his head, not in a rejection of my request but in a puffing up of his mane. He was pleased that I’d promised to give what he demanded. Was pleased...and was likely also enjoying the way his new-found sparkles caught the sunlight.

I, on the other hand, froze. Those sparkles had originated from Lenny’s wife and been embedded in Erskine by action of the Guardian. Was I wrong to think this unicorn wasn’t a pawn of those other fae beings? Was I wrong to think that his attachment to Rune was deep enough to overcome his inherent fickleness?

I had nothing other than my gut to go on, and my gut told me Erskine was my only potential ally at the moment. So I whispered secrets into the unicorn’s furry ears. Secrets that weren’t mine to share. Secrets that felt like a betrayal of his brother.

When I was done, Erskine no longer danced and teased. Instead, he hung his head.

So...that might have worked, or it might not have. Either way, I left the unicorn behind. Got back in my van and returned to the place where my home had recently been destroyed.

Where, right under my nose, Ash had been twisted by the Guardian. Who knew if the rest of the pack was already twisted in a similar manner?

But they were my family. I was their Alpha...at least for a few more hours. And there was no way to hurry the strike I was planning.

So I shifted to wolf and ran with my pack one last time in fur form.

Hours later, we curled up together and slept amid flower-studded mosses until the moon rose above us. Then, padding back to the spot where we’d discarded our clothing, we returned to two legs.

I turned human first, sweeping the entire clan along in my undertow. My voice was Alpha hard and their bodies were still shifting when I told them: “Tonight, I will choose the best fighter among you as Beta.”

As if in response to my words, the earth growled. My pack mates murmured their fear, but I was ready.

I was ready when the ground gaped open and Ash stepped out of the dark.

HE BOASTED A SWORD and I had nothing but my daggers. All other weapons had fallen into the underground caverns along with our mansion. No matter. I drew two of my blades and lowered my stance into a crouch.

The old Ash, the Ash who made me pancakes every morning, would have dropped his sword and requested daggers to match mine. This Ash extended his three-foot-long blade in my direction point first, something dark glinting in his eyes.

“We fight for the role of Alpha,” he growled, “not Beta.”

Around me, the pack rustled their distress. I hadn’t explained about Lenny’s wife and the Guardian—couldn’t with the glitter embedded in my cheek. But the hole Ash had stepped out of spoke for itself. None of this was right.

Fighting, however, came easily. My plan was to capture Ash’s sword between my two daggers and spin it away from us. But whether I succeeded or failed, innocent pack mates shouldn’t be caught in our midst. So I lunged forward while barking, “Stand back.”

Most of the clan obeyed, but two wolves resisted. Willa and Caitlyn. They wanted to protect the pack and I was the heart of the pack so they wanted to protect me above all else. My attention split as I battled two silent rebuttals. Ash took advantage of that lapse to parry my blow.

Our blades clanged together, the grind of steel on steel quavering at the end like the call of a screech owl. This wasn’t the sword-removing blow I’d hoped for.

But Willa and Caitlyn had caved to my silent orders, better late than never. I felt them pushing the clan backwards. Now Ash was the only problem I faced.

Ash...and the Guardian, who knew my weaknesses the same way I knew Ash’s. How many times as a child had I run away after a lesson with my father to spill my woes to the listening forest? How many times had I growled about the unfairness of paternal tactics?

At the time, the Guardian had been warmly supportive, albeit wordless in her encouragement. As her sister claimed, she did appear to like children.

Unfortunately, I was no longer a child. And a few of my most intrinsic weaknesses still remained.

Which I only realized when Ash backed into the darkness rather than pressing his advantage. “What would you do if my sword wasn’t pointed at you,” he murmured, “but at a pack mate?”

Too late, I saw what he—or the Guardian—had already noticed. The clan had been close a moment earlier, but they’d obeyed my demands and moved backwards.

Well, most had. All save one youngster who dawdled behind.

No, not dawdled. Caitlyn had obeyed my command by retreating