Wolf Bargain (Wolfish 3)

There’s a silence that follows, as everyone finally draws a collective breath.

In the moment, the silence, that follows … the wolf-girl’s words ring loud and clear.

“It didn’t work, Remus. She’s carrying a pup.”

What?

Remus eyes me with such fevered rage, his eyes could ignite the whole fire ablaze. “Abomination,” he whispers, his gaze turning from me to his brother, Romulus, who’s appeared in the forest at my side. “The girl is pregnant by your sons.”

Pregnant?

If I had the energy to, I would laugh.

“That changes nothing,” he snaps. Remus bares his canine teeth, spitting out those last few poisonous words before his body shifts into wolf form.

“No,” Romulus responds, in the moment before he follows suit. “That changes everything.”

He straightens himself up, his voice carrying through the darkness like a judge’s gavel. “You know the laws, Remus. Even you won’t dare to touch her now.”

The laws.

More unspoken wolf law.

But from what I see, and it’s one of the last things I see, Remus very much would dare. If it were entirely up to him, I’m pretty sure he would break every wolf law here, in this moment.

But his pack …

For once, they hesitate to mirror him. For once, they seem uncertain.

And that moment of hes

itation is all we need.

I’m too dizzy now to even stand up anymore. I fall to the ground and Kaleb catches me with a pained groan in his arms before my head hits the dirt. Rory and Marlowe are around us within seconds, with Lydia running to stand at our flank. Romulus tears through the underbrush, wrestling with his brother in a blur of claws, teeth, and fur.

Everything is spinning, including my thoughts.

One second, we were in the midst of a battle. A losing battle.

Now … now …

Now … I’m pregnant? But I thought I was barren. I can hear the thoughts of the boys in my mind as if they are speaking to me without their lips even moving. They’re in shock.

Remus’ pack finally descends behind us into a chaotic frenzy. He’s their Alpha and therefore his wishes dictate their own emotions and actions. They uphold the pure-blooded train of thought because Remus does, and Remus still very much wants to kill me.

But this announcement has sent them all momentarily spinning in confusion and unrest. Even Remus is unable to call the battle back to an instant restart as the low growls and tense angst in the air brews controversy and tests allegiances.

Some of his pack members are ready to resume the fight, some are outraged that he has let the situation get this far and that I have become pregnant at all, and still others are hesitant to continue fighting when there is now an unborn pup in the mix. It’s caused enough discord and confusion to allow us to escape.

It’s Romulus who stumbles away from his tussle with his brother as several males from his pack step in to fill the void behind him. He limps, his body shifting back to human as Remus’ pack descends on their wounded leader. In the moment that follows, my pack wastes no time.

I feel the rifle drop from my hand as Romulus lifts me up to carry me. I am, for some reason, surprised that it is him who will carry me now instead of one of the boys. Lydia puts her hand on my shoulder as she runs quickly beside her husband, and Rory and Marlowe pick up Kaleb to carry him back to the house.

I’d call it a miracle that we got away, but I know it’s more than that.

I remember the keening sound of the girl’s wail, how it brough the entire forest to a standstill. There was something mournful and feral in that sound. Something that shattered through pack rivalries to something so primal it couldn’t be ignored.

The survival of the species.