Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“She’s having a vision,” Harley told Madisyn. “She’ll be fine in a—”
The Seer’s eyes cleared, and dread quickly filled them. She jumped to her feet, breaths coming short and fast.
“Ally, what’s wrong?” demanded Shaya, grabbing her arm.
Ally’s gaze sought out Madisyn. “They’re coming.”
Madisyn swallowed. “I know.” She held up her cell, and the words poured out of her in a rush. “Vinnie Devereaux tried calling me, but I was so busy, I didn’t hear the phone ringing. He left me a voice mail to tell me that Archer and a shitload of his allies are planning to creep up on the southern border of our territory. They’re probably here by now.” And her cat was going apeshit, hissing and spitting. “Apparently, Archer also has some kind of distraction organized.”
“Claudia’s father,” muttered Roni. “Fuck, we should have seen it.”
That was Madisyn’s guess, which was why she’d ignored her first instinct to call Bracken. She didn’t want to divert his attention while he was dealing with a dangerous situation of his own.
Pacing, Shaya spoke into her phone. “Kent, get the pups down to the panic room now. Is Caleb still at the motel? Call him. Tell him to stay right there.”
“I pressed the panic button,” said Marcus. “Everyone will get the alert, so the guys will realize something’s wrong. The Phoenix Pack will receive it too. They’ll come.”
Jesse stood in front of Ally, all business. “How many does Archer have with him?”
“I don’t know exactly how many, but there were a lot,” replied Ally, rubbing her neck. “I saw at least forty people creeping through the woods toward the southern border, but there could be more.” She asked Madisyn, “Did Vinnie Devereaux tell you how many are coming?”
“No.” Madisyn’s grip on her phone tightened as she felt pulses of ice-cold rage shoot down the mating bond. Shit. “He mustn’t have known, or he would have said.”
“We have two choices,” said Shaya, still pacing. “Retreat, which would bring the bears deeper into our territory—and near the pups, which I’m not up for—or we take the fight to them, near the border.”
Jesse didn’t hesitate. “I say we keep it near the border.”
Marcus gave a curt nod, face harder than she’d ever seen it. “We know this land. They don’t. And backup will come soon. We just have to keep them busy until then.”
Jesse looked at Madisyn, jaw clenched. “Bracken will hate me for life if I don’t at least ask you to stay here.”
“I know, but I can’t,” said Madisyn. “If we don’t hold them off, they’ll spread all over our territory like ants and find me anyway. I can’t go to Bracken because that would just put me in Shaw’s sights. Plus, Archer’s come here for me. He’s more likely to stop in his tracks if he sees me than if he comes across a group of you.”
Gwen walked out of the room, stride purposeful.
Harley frowned at her back. “Where are you going?”
Within moments, Gwen was back, carrying a huge box. She looked up at Madisyn as she opened it. “I got you a little collection of my idea of treasures as a housewarming gift.” Pulling out a handgun and a box of ammo, Gwen said, “All I need is a comfy tree.”
Madisyn and her cat stiffened as they sensed . . . “Bracken just shifted.”
Shaya slapped a hand to her stomach. “So did Nick.”
“Zander’s done the same,” said Gwen.
“And Derren,” began Ally, “which means a fight has broken out, and they won’t be joining us anytime soon.”
Cursing, Shaya waved at the patio door. “We don’t have time to talk about this anymore. Let’s just go. Ally, where exactly did you see the Mavericks and their allies?”
“They were coming up behind the gnarled tree that Harley likes to climb,” replied Ally as they all quickly filed out of the lodge.
“Then that’s the direction we’ll head in,” said Shaya.
Madisyn twisted her mouth. “We could head right for them and confront them as a group . . . or we could try something else.”
Shaya blinked. “Like what?”
Sharp teeth dug into the gray wolf’s rear leg and dragged him off his dazed opponent. With a menacing growl, the wolf whirled and viciously slashed at his attacker’s muzzle. Yelping, the white wolf bounded backward, blood splattering across the ground.
Wanting more of that blood, the gray wolf snarled, stalking him. Circling him. Ears flattening, they sprang. Collided hard. Fought like they were caught in a frenzy.
The Tundra wolves were strong. Quick. Cunning. They attacked in pairs. Just when the gray wolf would take down one, another would appear, stopping him from making the killing bite. A clever trick. It only made the Mercury wolves fight harder. Faster. Dirtier.
The air rang with snarls, growls, yelps, and grunts. Blood matted the gray wolf’s fur—some of it his, some of it not. The stench of it was heavy, along with the scents of sweat, fear, and fury.