Mari wasn’t a killer.
But she knew if she wanted to be on this transport, she’d have to be.
She quickly considered her options.
She was dressed like a camper and she might be able to get them to lower her guard if she approached them like another human looking for help.
They’d test her with silver eventually, but she’d have to act before it went that far.
She’d be taking a chance they wouldn’t recognize her. Hunters had to study all the major houses and learn the names and faces of the major players. Her father was a pack Alpha, but Mari hadn’t really participated in politics nor had she Changed. She kept to herself.
It was possible the hunters had considered her not really a werewolf, therefore below their notice.
Or she’d approach this hunter and get riddled with silver.
It was a chance she was willing to take.
She’d heard him. Warner, calling over their mate bond.
His voice had been faint, the signal weak, but he’d said he needed her.
And by all that was holy, unholy, and beyond, she’d answer that call.
She looked down at herself and rubbed some dirt on her face and mussed her hair. She banged around in the underbrush just enough so their dull human senses could detect her.
To her extreme luck, one hunter found her. He wasn’t too terribly huge, but his fatigues would still be kind of big on her. Luckily, they tended not to bother getting to know the newer ones until they’d survived a few missions.
An unknown face wouldn’t be cause for concern.
“Stay right there,” he commanded.
“Who are you?” she whispered, hoping she sounded like a damsel in distress.
“Who are you?” he aimed a gun at her.
Mari gasped. She found she lied easily. It was supposed to be hard for werewolves to lie, if not impossible, but the words came as if they were true. “My name is Jennifer. I was hiking with my friends and we got separated and…” she forced her eyes to well with tears. “I’m lost and I think they’re dead.”
He reached for the radio on his belt and she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him.
“I’m so glad to see you.”
The man was so surprised, he just held her. “It’s going to be okay.”
She knew he’d been trained for this situation, so she wondered why he didn’t just shoot her.
Then she knew why.
“How glad are you?” His hand was on her ass.
Bastard.
She didn’t feel too badly about tearing out his throat. If she’d actually been what she pretended to be, if she’d actually been in danger and afraid and he’d treated her like this, well… really, she was doing the world a service, wasn’t she?
Mari realized this was what she needed. If she could get him out of his fatigues before she tore his throat out, well, it would just be better all around.
“So glad.”
He unbuckled his belt and pushed her down.
He grabbed her hands and held them above her head and then he whispered in her ear, “I know you’re a filthy wolf bitch, but I’m going to fuck you before I rip your heart out.”
She laughed.
Mari didn’t feel a single second of fear that he’d follow through on his threat. Oh, she knew he would try, but she’d take his head first.
She found a new voice inside of her. One that belonged wholly to the wolf she’d ignored for so long.
It wanted to take his head.
It wanted him to know fear and terror before she did.
Mari found that she wanted that, too.
Mari wasn’t afraid of the new bloody thoughts, she reveled in them and this fucker deserved everything he had coming.
“I’ve always wanted to know what it was like with a human,” she murmured.
“You’re not going to trick me into letting you go.”
“I’m not trying.” That was a problem, wasn’t it? Oh well. So the shirt would be bloody. She’d just have to spread it around so it looked like it belonged to the werewolf victims instead of him.
He tried to snap silver cuffs on her wrists, but that was when she showed him exactly what she was made of.
Teeth, and fangs, and everything grand. That’s what wolf bitches were made of.
She tore him apart.
Ripped his head from his body and dropped kicked it out into the forest.
She hoped he could see her foot coming at his face in those seconds and knew his head had been removed from the rest of his meat.
Mari made quick work of stripping his clothes and squirming into them.
She experienced a level of control over her wolf that she’d never known. His boots were too big, so she transformed, just her feet to fill the boots.
The wolf part of her hated being confined inside the hot, restrictive leather of the boot, but the wolf part of her hated it more that they might get away with what they’d done to Lenore and Warner.
At least until the infected pack killed them, but then they’d have another problem that would have to be dealt with.
She approached the transport with an M16 slung over her shoulder, acting for all the world as if she belonged there.
The guy checking names off the list looked at her expectantly.
“Warner,” she said.
“Goddamn it. Another one we didn’t have listed. Home office has to do better with this shit. It’s all gone to hell since we lost Peter.” Then he looked stricken. “Fuck. You didn’t hear that.”
She nodded gravely. “Of course I didn’t. Snitches get stitches, am I right?”
“Thank fuck for that. Good on you, recruit. Good on you.” He slapped her back heartily and she climbed onto the transport and buckled in.
The roaring of more helicopters filled the air and the transport was lifted off the ground.
Mari watched as they flew ever higher and covered a considerable amount of ground.
North, they were heading farther north.
When she looked down, she saw that they’d barely made a dent in the infected population.
Swarms of them had come from miles around to converge on the spot where they’d been.
“Holy shit, look at that,” one of the other recruits pointed down to where Mari had been looking.
“This is a bigger problem than Home Office had anticipated.”
“Yeah, that’s why they had to catch the Woolven. He’s the key to defeating them,” another said.
“That was pretty fucking stupid, don’t you think?” Mari couldn’t help but say.
At the expressions on the others’ faces, she realized she’d spoken aloud and wondered just what she’d do if they figured out who she was.
She rushed to add, “Why involve ourselves and send our guys to die when they can handle it themselves?”
They seemed to relax and the older one said, “Because we need to be able to defend ourselves. Warner Woolven is the key. Although, I’m surprised we took him so easily. We need to be on our guard and prepared for anything.”
Mari was surprised by that, too.
Not just by how easily they took Warner, but by how easily they’d captured part of the pack. These hunters would be the best resource for that kind of information, if she tread carefully.
“Hey, so I’m new,” she began. “I know we’re not really supposed to ask questions, but I saw one of the others throw the remains in with the pack. I don’t understand.”
“You think it was cruel and inhumane?” The guy next to her snorted.
“No. They eat their dead to regenerate. Or weren’t you paying attention?” Mari answered.
“That’s just fucking nasty. Also, I guess it’s going to suck to be on the ground when that starts.” He shrugged.
“Don’t you think you should tell someone?”
“They’ll figure it out.”
Mari sat back in silence for the rest of the ride.
It was hard for her to reconcile Lenore was part of this. She was nothing like any of these assholes.
Maybe that’s why she was more pack than anything. Lenore didn’t fit with these people. They were awful.
Awful humans who did awful things.
Lenore was a good person who did awful things for the right reasons.
That’s what Warner was, too.
She had to get to him.
When the transport was about to land, the guy next to her said, “This is your first time, huh?”
“That obvious? Fuck.” Mari looked down at her feet.
“You’re gonna do fine, kid.”
She nodded.
“I can tell you want to do the right thing.”
The transport landed and noise from people on the ground drowned out anything else he would’ve said.
When they disembarked, he stayed by her side. “That’s a lot of blood,” he said, indicating to her shirt after he’d maneuvered her toward the warehouse.
She didn’t like being herded, but it was taking her where she wanted to go anyway.
But fuck, what did she say to that?
“Is it? One of them got me on the ground so I had to take his head off.”
“With what, your bare hands?”
Damn! She hadn’t thought about that. She’d didn’t think anyone would be looking at her hands.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Me too.”
Him too, what? So she just rolled with it. She considered just taking this one’s head before he could cause her any more problems but there were eyes everywhere.
“You killed one, too?”
He smiled at her and pushed her against the wall of the warehouse.
“Man is not man,” he said to her.
She looked at him blankly. So he repeated,” Man is not man.”
Mari had read that somewhere before. Her brain scanned through the hundreds of thousands of books she read, but she kept coming up blank. She realized it was some kind of secret passcode.
Her brain finally alighted on the proper quote. It was from a Roman philosopher and it sprang to her tongue. “But a wolf to those he does not know.” She finished the Plautus quote.
“Thank shit you answered correctly, or I’d have had to kill you. And you’re too pretty to kill.”
“That would’ve sucked,” she agreed easily.
He laughed.
She wanted to ask him his name, but she had the feeling it wasn’t the done thing.
“Tonight is going to be epic. These stupid fucks. Don’t know how they survived so long. Am I right?”
“Totally. Stupid fucks,” she parroted.
“To rebirth,” the guy chattered on. “Stand by me for the frenzy?” he asked.
“For sure,” she agreed.
A sick feeling twisted in her gut.
His tone changed now. He’d gone from being this commanding threat to almost child-like. “If he doesn’t Turn me Himself, you will, won’t you?”
She nodded absently.
“What’s he like? I know we’re not supposed to ask about him, but you’ve met him. Had his teeth in your throat. I can’t imagine it.”
Mari was going to be sick.
“I’ll trade you stories. I don’t know how it’s going to go down and I need to. I want to be prepared so I honor him. We can trade deets. You seem like you’re in the know here.”
He turned to look at her with wild eyes. “Why don’t you know? If you were worthy of his bite?”
“Oh, you know. He wants me to be resourceful. I came from the first he Turned back in Italy after he was infected by that De La Luna bitch.”
“Fucking bitch,” he agreed. “So, don’t tell anyone I told you.”
“Swear.”
“Tonight, Peter is going to tear himself out of that guardian wolf. The new breed pack is going to devour the pieces so they take his power and there won’t be anyone to stop him anymore. His sister is going to get what’s coming to her, too.”
Mari watched him carefully. “Not like you think.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s an honor to be Turned. Even if she doesn’t think so.”
“He’s going to eat her, not Turn her.”
“No, I’m pretty sure he’s going to Turn her. All he’s ever wanted is for her to join him. He married her best friend just to be closer to her.”
“He didn’t.”
Mari couldn’t stop the smile on her face. “Oh, but he did. And now she’s married to some werewolf.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“If you think werewolves are disgusting, why do you want to be one?”
“New breed. Peter’s breed. We’ll hunt every last one of those fucking mutts until all that’s left is us and we’re going to rule the supes. We’ll be immortal.”
And Peter’s everlasting bitches, she silently added.
One question kept burning hot in her brain. How did they know that Peter was inside Warner?
The simplest answer was often the easiest.
Would Lenore or anyone who’d been present at the picnic say anything?
No.
What did that leave?
Warner said he’d felt a darkness growing inside of him, something that seemed too evil to be the Dark Champion.
The only answer was that Peter lived inside of him and he’d been taking the reins.
Bile rose in the back of her throat. Had she mated with Peter?
No, no. That wasn’t possible. Peter would never have… but wouldn’t he?
She swallowed the bile down. No, she refused to allow it. When she’d looked into Warner’s eyes, even when they’d been savage and red, it was always the wolf she knew looking back at her.
Mari wouldn’t think about that now, anyway. It didn’t matter.
All that mattered was saving Warner.
Peter was going to get out. She’d accepted that. Something about that knowledge was immutable. It had to happen. It was supposed to happen.
She wondered when the Wendigowould come. Mari hoped it was soon.
It was sooner she’d have to say goodbye to Warner, but it was sooner everything would be as it should be and her pack, and everyone else’s would be safe.
Warner. Her heart splintered as she thought of him. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through. The pain and horror he’d have to endure.
She needed a plan.
“We should get ready,” he said. “The rest of the new breed will be here soon. The other hunters underestimated their tracking abilities. They should be here by dusk.”
Warner could deal with Peter. Along with the Wendigo.
But he couldn’t do it if the pack tore him apart.
She needed a diversion.
Blood.
She’d need a lot of it. That would be the only thing that would distract the pack long enough.
“Meet me back here soon?” the guy said.
“Yeah. I’ll be here.” She watched him go, and as she did, her sensitive ears caught the sounds of something happening inside the warehouse.
It was Lenore.
“Jesus Fucking Christ,” was all she said.
And Mari knew it had begun.