27
Ryder
It tooka bit of time to clean up the mess that Alvin had left behind. We disposed of the dead animals and sold the braziers on a digital marketplace—a nice theater company snapped them up for a decent price, which was a relief.
Thor had returned and brought a number of shifters with him. They were eager to join a new, stable pack. I was happy to have them. Tonight would be their first run as part of the Lakesedge pack.
We had a pair of wolves to run out of town tonight.
Bruce backed his truck up to the hill and hopped out to help me pull the two silver-bound shifters from the truck bed. Marcus and Jackson glared at both of us, but they’d been hog tied and gagged. There wasn’t much they could do about their situation.
The pack, with the help of Ness’s friends, had quickly captured and secured the two shifters. I was oddly proud of them.
As was Ness.
She knelt in front of the two shifters and plucked the gags from their mouths. Immediately, both started into a torrent of insults that kind of drowned each other out. I could barely make sense of what either was saying.
Ness stood, grinned, and shook her head.
I marveled at my mate in the moonlight. Her wild hair fluttered in the wind. Even in this pale glow, I could see the flush of life coloring her cheeks. She lifted her bright gaze to mine, and a rush of excitement burst through my chest like fireworks.
Her own smile warmed, her lashes lowering ever so slightly in a way that beckoned me towards her.
How my mate had returned from death, I would never know. We weren’t even sure if she could do it again. We weren’t about to try, either. I’d watched, that day, as her body pulled itself together faster than any shifter healing I’d seen before—all while her heart sat still.
She’d returned with a gasp thirty minutes later. Hell, she’d bolted upright so fast that she’d headbutted me in her excitement. Her laughter had told me that she was alive. This wasn’t some kind of undeath, but true life.
“Get ready to run,” Ness commanded Marcus and Jackson.
Both stiffened and cast wary glances at their bindings. A new shifter from Thor’s sanctuary stepped forward wearing a pair of gloves and wielding wire cutters. He cut the brothers free. The moment the silver fell to the ground, the brothers shifted and ran.
I rolled my shoulders back and let my beast slowly rise to the surface. The two wolves ran down the hill, their forms growing smaller and smaller as I gave them a proper head start.
They were going to need it.
Ness shifted beside me. A black hound appeared and almost immediately vanished into the dark. A wave of wolves followed her lead. Even though they were all larger than her, they watched her as if she were the Alpha.
Pride swelled in my chest. My beast savored it as scales rippled over my body. My tail hit the ground, and I stretched out my wings. The steep incline of the hill allowed me to leap and coast on the air. I surged towards my pack before rising up to circle above them.
We chased the brothers out of our territory. At the edge, Ness shifted back and stood proud.
“Never come back to Lakesedge!” she shouted after them, her voice ringing with her arcana.
The Lakesedge Pack was almost safe. There was just one more hurdle on the horizon.