AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But he was too far gone. With his back arched and his tail held high, X started down the hill.
My father and Jarred shifted. They joined the ranks of the rest of the Alphas.
“Someone’s going to die,” Pat cried. “It’s too big. Too much. They won’t. They can’t!”
“I have a cure,” Dr. Olivet said. She grabbed her medical bag from the front seat of her Jeep. She quickly rifled through it and pulled out a syringe filled with a greenish gold liquid.
“Tempest,” she said. “Call to one of them. I don’t have enough to save them all. But I can buy us some time.”
I turned toward the pack leaders. Long ago, I had a connection with all of them through my father. But the strongest link of all belonged to me and my twin.
“Jarred,” I called out with my mind.
Nothing. Instinct drove me. I shifted back into my wolf. I felt pulled in two directions. On one hand, I was an Alpha of Wild Lake. I belonged at their side, marching with them into battle.
On the other, I belonged to X. His pull was undeniable. Primal. Every part of me ached for him. To do his bidding. To serve at his side. Pat was right. They would not all survive today. So…at best…half of me would die too.
“X,” I called out with my mind. With my body.
But he was lost to me. He came barreling down the hill, heading straight for the pack leaders. His blood-red eyes glinted. His fangs dripped.
He reached the clearing and stepped into the breach. The rest of the Alphas moved like lightning. They called on the last of their strength. I knew in my soul that most of them would pay the ultimate sacrifice if it meant saving those they had sworn to protect.
Only I knew it would all be in vain.
“X,” I whispered. “Please.”
It was then, over my father’s shoulder, X locked eyes with me. One moment. One breath. He opened his mind to me and I saw what he meant to do.
“No!”
He braced himself, splaying his feet out, digging his claws into the ground. Then, he dropped his tail.
“No,” I whispered. I hadn’t meant to do it. Hadn’t thought about it. But X gave the command and I obeyed. I shifted.
“No!” I screamed, using my voice. “Stop! It’ll kill him!” I ran back to the house, retrieving the shotgun my brother had dropped when he shifted into his wolf. I checked the cartridges. He’d loaded the thing with Dragonsteel shells.
“What are they doing?” Dr. Olivet yelled.
X’s voice, the last thing he said to me before commanding me to shift echoed in my brain.
“It’s the only way,” he had whispered. “I’ll save them all.”
I ran out into the yard and fired a warning shot into the air.
None of the wolves slowed their advance. X held his ground.
“They’re going to tear him apart,” I shouted to Pat. “He’s going to let them. He wants them to drain his blood.”
“Good lord!” Pat yelled. Hiking up her dress, she ran over to Dr. Olivet. “Can you stop it?”
Dr. Olivet was speechless. Her jaw dropped. “Stop!” I shouted, running back toward the pack leaders. “There has to be a better way. X!”
“There’s no time,” his voice reached me. “I love you. This is the only way. This is for you.”
“No,” I said. “This is no way.”
Then, X pounced. He went straight for Jarred, picking the wolf he knew my father would move to protect above all the others.
