6. Zeke

I thought being back amongst my comrades would help shake off this funk. I’m back in the Battalion, alongside Alpha Cillian. Beta Briss and myself are his two most senior men.

Just downhill are twenty others waiting instructions, another twenty half a mile away. Alpha Cillian has other Beta’s but they are not known to the other nations. 

Mainly because they are women. Naomi and Leona Kharkov are running the home defence. Alpha Cillian is full of pride for them. Well we all are, that whole family are like my sisters. All copper-haired, dark-eyes beauties, they lost their legendary father the same night I lost Franz. That fucking Ceremony. Fast asleep when-

/Back to business. Shut it down/ Rush urged as my heart twinged in pain.

When Cillian gets letters from Alpha Nikolai complaining he is having to divert men from fighting in order to organise home resistance he grins and shakes his head. The decades old measure of secretly training our women in martial arts and vicious shifter defence is paying off.

Even so, war is tough. Trying to pry our way into the Rising Star castle last week left the blonde Riley’s leg in tatters, two other men killed.  

“Phillipe’s been holed up in there for almost two months now. There aren’t any supplies going in. People must be getting pissed. We’ve still not intercepted anything from the north,” Alpha Cillian grumbled, staring at a map. 

To the far north, beyond the wooded pines and cliffs of the Shadowlands, directly above the limits of White Forest lay a snow-ridged crest of mountains. Cillian muttered, “What the hell is Phillipe doing?”

“I think he’s waiting for something,” Briss added. A calm, gentle presence compared to my desire to just get out there and kill. With his shaggy black hair and dark, hooded eyes Briss was often underestimated before Cillian insisted he join him as Beta. Unexpectedly he had a snow white-furred wolf. Which in turn was an absolutely savage beast. 

“Waiting for something, someone from the North perhaps? Perhaps new wolf spirits to create more Hybrids?”

“White Forest haven’t reported anything,” Cillian added, running a hand through his fiery red hair. I know he is anxious to return to Cragstone and Luna Matilda. Especially after Zena’s last visit before the storm. I don't know what she told him before bugging me but he doesn't stop writing her letters.

No chance of visiting home whilst war rumbled on. Assassins are still a real risk. Armed with syringes of wolfsbane, too many loved ones have gone to sleep and never woken.

“When was the last letter from Nikolai?”

“Beta Maddox, just a couple of days ago,” Briss replied, checking his notes. “All he reported was that they are to start conscription. No more deaths since the attack five days ago that took eight of their men.”

“We had better start the same. Another big hybrid attack and we’re down to a skeleton crew,” Cillian replied firmly. “They might need some training as well. Better to start now.”

“Agreed,” Briss and I replied in unison. Stood at the battle table, meeting in full flow I wondered how Freya was getting on. Did her cheeks flush like that all the time or just when she was out-smarted? I know enough pranks to annoy her for a lifetime, I wonder if she would hit me, swear or plot revenge?

Completely missing Cillian’s next points, my mind refuses to leave that barn. I know Cillian trusted Lucien and Bella, but Finn? Would he really be guarding her properly? Would he put himself on the line for her if needed? 

/Don’t get a crush on another Luna. You know where that leads./ Rush warned.

Clearing my throat I try to zone back into the room. “What if the reason there has been nothing happening is because of…” looking around to check there only Alpha Cillian and Briss were in earshot. “The Freya situation. What if hunting her down is his priority right now?”

“All the more reason to recruit and strike Rising Star castle. He hasn’t got the amulet. We can kill him and end this thing now!” Cillian barked in frustration. “That’s it, Briss, you recruit twenty men from the north, Zeke same from the south.I want you both back here in a week with a flock of strong, capable men. We’re taking that damn castle. Even if we have to burn it down.”

“What about the far North, the witches?” Briss asked, “they aren’t looking for Freya?”

“They might be,” I snapped back, “if they have no idea where she went.”

Nobody went there. Well we thought not anyway. Turns out Alpha Phillipe had been a regular little visitor as he sneakily betrayed his own kind. 

Witches, dark magic and other dangerous groups were based over that border. Since war began we had worried about what would be spilling out over the other side of those cragged black rocks.

Nikolai had been hit first. Hybrids charged his outpost after a couple of weeks of war. Huge wolves, twice the size of mine. Snarling, rabid beasts that resemble the Lycan kings of ancient history. I hated Nikolai originally. Especially when he made Luna Genevieve, Cillians little sister unhappy. 

Now the man as broad and terrifying as Alpha Alexander of White Forest was our ally. A powerful one whose unhinged black wolf was possibly the only one who could face down a Hybrid alone and win right now. 

Genevieve was apparently happy too. I had once imagined and confided in Franz that she was something different. He’d laughed and told me I just have a thing for women who tell me what to do.

/Freya will be fine/ Rush urged, although quite why he felt the need to lace my memory with her orange blossom scent confused me.

Whatever. The Hybrids are terrifying no doubt about it

Wolves stolen from mighty fighters such as Shadowlands legends Jackson and Kharkov. The golden-eyed Betas of Rising Star. Powerful wolves who dominated the battlefield. With two wolves the enemy was supercharged. Their wolves are bigger, stronger, and wilder.

We know they only have a few dozen of the stolen wolves to give. It’s not a limitless army. Not yet anyway. It’s why we all sleep with a guard watching. 

Imagine if their assassins snuck in and slit our throats, stole our wolves. A full battalion could be wiped out and then used to multiply Alpha Phillipe’s own army.

Cillian tapped the map. “He’s saving his Hybrids. They always retreat, he allows the regulars to get killed but his Hybrids don’t fully commit. He’s planning something massive. One huge attack perhaps, take us out in one go when he’s ready.”

I studied the map. Hours already spent staring at it but my gaze wandered. The far north, where I had driven Alpha Cillian in order to regain Luna Matilda. To watch Beta Tange kill himself with the shame of betraying his Alpha for a second wolf. 

“What about up here?” pointing to the densely wooded area above Shadowlands.

“What about it?” Briss asked.

“Is it passable?”

Briss, our northern expert, studied the map and pulled a face. “Difficult but small numbers could. Not an army.”

“This is where the human border meets isn’t it? The witches are on good terms with them if they bought all that wolfsbane. What’s to say they aren’t bribing their way through. They could be on the move through the forest and not the mountains?”

“Fuck you might have a point. Briss, before you go recruiting, ask Leona and Naomi for a couple of their best girls. They can start scoping out the forest trails.”

I received a slap on the shoulder from Cillian, a knowing stare from those bright blue eyes. He wants me to know he’s proud of me. His words bounce off me and fall to the ground like a rock. 

I don’t want his praise. I just want Phillipe’s heart withering in my hand. 

Cillian continued with his orders for Briss. “I don’t want them to fight, just track. With the new recruits, we can take them out alongside Rising Star Castle. We’re going to have to head north eventually and kill some witches.”

Alpha Cillian had no idea how much he sounded like his father when he gave his commands. Despite his bright shock of fox-red hair the pressure of his reign, only a few months in, weighs heavily. His eyes sparkled around the gentle Luna Matilda, right now, making so many life or death decisions, he is troubled. 

I was originally the joker of our pack. Together with Franz we danced and laughed every full moon away. Pranks and mayhem as teens. Seduction and nonsense as men.

Last time I saw a mirror, back at Wodness Brook in the room offered by the kind, quiet Bella, I was shocked to see how my face was already souring. Only two months of grief and I've aged ten years. There was no light in my dark eyes.  

Freya on the other hand, well, it would be a shame for those hazel eyes to dull. Even when her anger was simmering they glowed with passion. Everything she did had energy fizzing. Her gestures, wild hands movements, even the flick of her eyebrow with utter disapproval was so active. She was exhausting.

Guilt gnawed at me all the way back on the bike. Perhaps I had been too blunt. She certainly won’t be the first or last person to be deceived by a mate bond.

Phillipe was a clever bastard. Nobody else saw through him until it was too late. I was at that Ceremony, they had seemed happy enough. 

“So you’re okay setting off south?”

“Yeah I’m thinking of heading back. Fighting was mentioned.”

“Fighting?” Cillian’s eyebrows raised.

“Yeah I know it’s illegal but if there are already some well trained, big ruthless bastards out there…why not bring them up here to battle?”

I ignored the faint whisper of a chuckle coming from my wolf. So I’ll get to check on her. It’s tactically important so shut the fuck up Rush.

/Touchy/

Cillian weighed it up. “You know what Zeke, go for it. It might just pay off. Do you need any back up?”

“No, just the promise of a shit-ton of money to those who join,” and flash a winning grin and  a wink at my Alpha. 

“You get them up here ready to fight, I’ll back you,” Cillian grinned before pulling me in for a hug. “Safe travel.”

"Excuse me!" and the tent flapped open as a huge blonde hulks with sea green eyes charged through. Reaching into his long black cloak he declares. "Urgent message from White Forest!".

"What the fuck is this? Where's Maddox, who are you!" My claws extended as the stranger lifted his arms up. "I'm Beta Adrian. I'm White Forest! Check the letter!"

Cillian snatched the document from his outstretched hand. "Nikolai confirms Maddox has been reassigned. Doesn't say the reason. Also…shit Zeke."

I stop glaring at the huge Adrian and twist, "Alpha?"

"Fresh campfires and abandoned fuel cans found south of Rising Star. Did you camp?"

"No, just bombed it straight up and down…" my voice dropped as I recognised the implication. Rising Star was searching south. They had no reason to place men there unless they were looking for something.

With my Alpha’s vote of confidence ringing in my ears I took off on the bike. The hours flew. WIthout Freya’s claws shredding my ribs every time she got upset it was a much more pleasant journey. 

I didn’t head straight to Lucien’s Wodness Brook though. I decided to sort this out for an hour first. Might even be able to bolster the guards on Freya if they agree to fight for Shadowlands.

I stopped a few villages out and started asking about the fights. It wasn’t obvious I was a Beta with my biker leathers and white shirt. I don’t have the instant aura of I-could-kill-you-in-a-heartbeat that Alpha’s like Nikolai and Cillian wear either. 

So when I flashed a bag of gold and asked about gambling, they immediately suggested I speed another fifty miles and I'd find some fighting. Bare-knuckle knockouts. 

I arrive mid-action. The moon is high, the smell of popcorn, sweat and blood blended together in a sickly tang. It is a basic operation, just a boxing ring in the middle of a field on the outskirts of a village. 

Cars and bikes surround the space, their headlights illuminating. A few hundred spectators, mostly men, cheer on raised bleachers covering two sides of the ring. Bookies shout odds, boards detailing the upcoming fights. 

A quick study suggests I’ve just missed Finn winning. Yippee for him.

Currently two hulks are fighting, stripped to the waist. One covered in swirling dark tattoos right up to his bright green eyes. The other has his hair in a topknot like myself, except white blonde. The scars on his back are unavoidable. They are huge, muscular and lethal. I mentally pat myself on the back for such a clever idea. 

/We were right about recruiting from here. Wait until they’re all gathered for their payout and round them up/ Rush suggested.

Then everything slowed. Pacing around the ring, taking down names and betting odds, seeing as I wanted to recruit winners not losers, I caught a scent of orange blossom. /She can’t be here!/ Rush cried /this isn’t safe!/ 

What the actual fuck was Freya doing at something like this with so many people to recognise and betray her? 

Suddenly Zena’s begging not to kill her little brother was seeming more relevant by the second. I grit my teeth and sharpened my senses, searching for the brown curls and bright eyes I’d already committed to memory. I want an explanation, right now. 

My slow stalk through the unruly crowd freezes, just as the tattooed man lands a sickening killer punch, I hear a woman's scream of panic.