Shattered Emotions (13 page)

“Okay. Sorry for freaking out on you.”

Ellie ran her hand through his too-long hair. “You didn’t freak out. You’re just a growing boy who happens to also be a growing wolf.”

Parker smiled, and Ellie blinked. There was just something about him that reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t place it.

“Thanks. I’m going to go see what Mom and Uncle Logan are up to. Stay warm, okay? You looked like you were really cold when I came in.” With that, Parker walked out of the room, leaving her alone on the couch with Maddox.

She shifted uncomfortably as she pulled the blanket around her tighter.

“Are you cold?” Maddox asked as he moved closer.

She could feel his body heat and resisted the urge to lean into him, if only for his warmth.

“I don’t know why I can’t warm up,” she finally answered.

Maddox shifted again and pulled her into his arms. She froze for a moment before leaning into him, inhaling his crisp scent. She could feel his breath on her ear as he ran a hand down her side, warming her in more ways than one.

“This helping?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“Yes, but why are you holding me, Maddox? We need to talk.”

Maddox let out a sigh and held her closer. “I know. I’m just trying to figure out what to say.”

“You can start with how you don’t want me.” Her voice was stronger than she’d thought possible, but she still wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

Maddox shook his head. “It’s not that…”

Ellie’s eyes widened. “Really? So this surly attitude and pushing me away is what…you saying you can’t live without me?”

“Ellie…”

She opened her mouth to speak and froze as a wolf howled in the distance.

No, not in the distance…it was close.

“What was that?” she asked as they both stood quickly, the blanket falling to her feet.

“Not one of us,” Maddox whispered and took her hand. She squeezed back, letting her wolf come to the surface, ready to fight if needed.

The rest of their group came into the room on alert, Lexi’s arm around Parker.

“They’ve found us,” Logan growled. “They hadn’t come until you showed up.”

“Logan, shut up,” Lexi admonished. “They would have come here, eventually, anyway. We’ve been hiding for too long. It was bound to happen. Now, stop putting the blame on everyone else and help us figure out how we’re going to protect ourselves.”

Ellie wanted to hug this woman. Thank God there was at least one of them who could speak out when needed.

“We don’t know who they are,” Ellie said. They each gave her a look that made her want to shrivel up inside herself, but she held her chin high. “I’m just saying we don’t know who yet, but we know it’s probably the Centrals. What’s the plan?”

“We fight,” Logan said simply.

Maddox let out a growl. “We can’t stay inside. All that does is let them surround us. We’re going to go out and face them as men but shift if we have to.” He leveled his gaze at Parker and Lexi. “Parker, I want you to shift too, okay? You’re faster as a wolf. If anything happens to us, you run toward the Redwoods.” He tore off part of his shirt and gave it to Parker. “Keep this with you. It has my scent on it, and my family won’t hurt you because you’re a pup and have part of me with you.”

Parker nodded, his eyes wide.

“We don’t have much time,” North said as he rolled his shoulders. “Lexi, I assume you can fight in your human form?”

Lexi gave a wry smile. “Since it’s the only form I know, sure.”

Ellie nudged Maddox, and he faced her, worry on his face. “I can’t shift as fast as the rest of you, and if we have to fight, I’d rather do it as a wolf.”

She was strong as a wolf…more confident.

“We’ll head out front,” Logan said as he gave her a long look. Lexi, Parker, and North followed him, leaving Maddox alone with her.

He faced her and framed her face with his hands. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him.

“We’re going to settle this when we’re done fighting everyone else,” he whispered, his lips ever so close to hers but not touching. All she had to do was stand on her toes and she’d be able to kiss him…but she wouldn’t do that.

He had to make the first move.

She’d always laid herself out for him, and she wasn’t going to make herself look any more desperate than she already had.

“Change into your wolf, Ellie. I know you’re stronger as one, and I don’t want you hurt.” He lifted his gaze from her and looked behind her. “They’re coming.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear then moved away, giving her his back so she could shift.

She let out a shaky breath and stripped then knelt so she could shift. The change came faster since she was so worried, and when she was in her wolf form, she nudged the back of his legs.

He turned and gave her a strained smile. “You’re a beautiful wolf. I hope you know that.”

No one had ever told her that.

Her body warmed at his words, but she didn’t move closer. The enemy was coming, and they didn’t have time for this.

Maddox slid his hand through her fur for a bitter moment, as if he couldn’t help himself, then turned toward the door. She followed, knowing this might be it.

Parker, in his wolf form, bounded to her and sniffed at her wolf before standing by her side. Lexi and Logan stood off to the side, Lexi holding what looked to be a bat, and Logan shirtless, ready to change if needed.

Maddox and North each took off their shirts, and Ellie had to hold herself back to keep from panting. So not the right time.

Parker nudged her leg, and she licked his head while his little body quivered in a mix of fear and excitement. She had a feeling this wasn’t the boy’s first fight, but, goddess, she didn’t think he should have to deal with all of it.

Ellie could feel the other wolves surrounding them, their anger palpable. Maddox stood in front of her and gave her a nod.

“You run and take Parker with you if you can,” he said so softly she wasn’t even sure she’d heard him.

She lifted her lip to show fang. She wasn’t weak—not anymore. There was no way she’d leave him. Parker growled beside her. Even with the little piece of cloth tied around his throat that made him look adorable.

Maddox growled. “I don’t want you hurt. Please.”

She didn’t do anything, not that she could do much in her wolf form, but she wouldn’t promise him something she knew she’d probably turn her back on.

Ellie could feel the other wolves moving closer, and her party stood on edge, ready to fight. They were on human territory, meaning there shouldn’t be any fighting to begin with, but how the Centrals viewed things was another matter.

She inhaled their scents and held back a whimper.

There had to be over forty wolves around them.

And one was her brother.

Corbin.

“You’re surrounded, Redwoods…and who is this…ah, Lexi and Logan, we meet again,” Corbin crooned as he walked toward them, shirtless in the moonlight, his eyes glowing gold with his wolf right at the surface.

Logan froze then growled. It seemed the ex-Talons weren’t the ones the Centrals were looking for at first.

“You’re not welcome here,” North drawled.

“This isn’t your territory, and frankly, you stole my property, and I want it back.”

Goddess, he sounded like a petulant child, not the Alpha of a werewolf Pack. Her father might have been evil and corrupt, but at least he’d had the backbone to be something more than whiny brat.

“She wasn’t your property, and now she’s a Redwood,” Maddox said, his voice laced with anger.

“Really? She’s a Redwood, is she? Not for long from what I hear.”

No one said anything, and she was grateful. They’d left the den because the others needed to weed out the traitor. She and the twins were on their own…or at least they had been.

Corbin looked bored then snapped his fingers. The growls from the other wolves intensified, and they charged. All forty wolves—minus Corbin—came at them, their teeth bared, their souls black.

These wolves used to be her people, her Pack, and now, they were shallow husks of what they’d once been. The demon had taken their goodness—whatever miniscule amount some of them had—and had left behind nothing but tainted wolves intent on killing them.

She only hoped that the few wolves who had escaped the Pack before Caym had taken over were safe. Not every Central had been corrupt, but the ones that had been good had either been killed or had hidden in fear for their lives.

Lexi cracked her bat across the skull of a wolf as it came at her then moved on to another wolf. Logan growled and took out wolves, one by one, snapping their necks with his abundant strength.

Ellie had known he was a dominant wolf, but he was stronger than she’d thought.

North and Maddox took out the wolves on their other side, working silently as a team, killing each one swiftly.

A gray wolf came at her, and she moved in front of Parker. She sprang from her back legs and leapt on the wolf, digging her teeth into its neck. She worked her head back and forth, and the wolf beneath her whimpered, its body struggling against her. She bit down harder, severing its spinal cord before breaking its neck. She spat the blood out of her mouth and went at another wolf.

The enemy might have been greater in number, but most of the wolves were much weaker than them. The only reason the Centrals were winning the overall war was because of Caym—a fact that pissed them all off to no end.

Each of them took out more wolves, leaving bodies in their wake. She didn’t move far from her spot, though, making sure Parker was covered. He might have been a dominant wolf, but he was still too small to fight.

Ellie saw a blur out of the corner of her eye and sucked in a breath as a wolf rammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. She wiggled from its hold, and it clawed at her, trying to rake its nails down her fur. Ellie turned from it and let out a yip before biting its neck, using all her strength to kill the wolf.

She lifted her head and let out a growl. When she’d moved to get out of the way of her attacker, she’d left Parker alone. Corbin shifted and his wolf ran toward the pup, his teeth bared.

Oh, God, she wouldn’t make it in time.

Parker growled at Corbin, but it would be no use…he was just too small.

Corbin leapt at Parker, his teeth bared, but hit a moving blur instead.

An anguish-filled growl filled the air as North slammed into Corbin. Ellie threw her body over Parker’s, but it was too late to save North.

Corbin slid fangs into North’s chest, and blood began to pour from the doctor’s body.

“North!” Maddox yelled, and he ran his body into Corbin’s, dislodging the wolf from his brother’s body.

Logan ran up to them and tried to claw at Corbin, but her brother merely ran back into the woods with his few limping wolves running behind him.

Oh, God.

No, this couldn’t be happening.

They couldn’t lose North.

Chapter 11

Maddox placed his hands over North’s chest, covering the wound as tears slid down his own cheeks. The blood pooled around him, seeping through his fingers as he tried to keep his brother’s body together. Corbin’s teeth had taken a good chunk of flesh with him, leaving a gaping hole that revealed muscle and bone. He was pretty sure something had pierced North’s heart and maybe even his lungs.

Oh, hell, it was bad. It was real fucking bad.

If he’d been human, North would be dead. As it was, it didn’t look good.

“Shit, Logan, get me something to cover his chest up,” Maddox ordered, his voice shaky.

He looked over as Ellie lifted her body from Parker’s and changed back into her human form. He could feel the magic wash over him as Parker did the same.

“North,” she cried out as she went to his side, ignoring her nudity. “Oh, God, what do we do?”

North was their doctor, the one who could help in this. Maddox was just the Omega; he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.

North tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. “I need the Pack and Hannah. Just get the wound covered and get me back, and I’ll be fine.”

Maddox could see the hidden terror in his brother’s eyes. He wasn’t sure anyone else would have been able to. Hell, this couldn’t be happening.

Lexi knelt by his side, tears running down her cheeks. “Thank you for saving my son.”

“It was nothing,” he said, his voice weak.

“Shh, don’t speak. Save your energy,” Lexi ordered.

Logan came running with a bag and a box of medical supplies. He threw the bag at Ellie, who caught it and started pulling out clothes for her and Parker while Logan knelt beside them, opening the box and taking out bandages as he did so.

“What do you need exactly?” the man asked, his voice just as gruff as Maddox’s.

Hell, this wasn’t good.

North reached up and tried to rifle through the box, and Maddox shook his head. “I know how to do basic first aid.”

North’s mouth hitched up in a smile. “Basic, eh?”

“Shush, you,” Lexi said as she moved him ever so carefully so his head lay in her lap. Maddox watched as she carefully brushed his brother’s hair from his eyes. “What did I say about talking? Save your strength.” She looked up at Maddox, her eyes not full of fear but of determination. “What do we do?”

Maddox gave her a slight nod, his hands still holding his brother together like a patch-work quilt, then turned to Logan.

“Get the gauze pads and bandages. I’m going to try to pull him together so you guys can get him back to the Pack.”

He didn’t stop to gauge their reaction to his words but pushed harder on his brother’s chest, trying to stall the blood flow.

“What?” Logan asked as he helped put the gauze and bandages on North’s chest. The blood had slowed, but Maddox didn’t know if that was a good thing since North had lost so much already.

“You’re going to the Redwoods, asking for sanctuary, and getting my brother help.”

“They’ll kill us,” Parker whispered though choked sobs.

Maddox looked up as a now clothed Ellie pulled Parker into her arms and kissed his temple.