He growls at the other wolf and then lunges threateningly without leaving the space in front of me. I gasp in shock. The other animal runs the other way, stops thirty or forty feet away and then turns and barks at Tyson for about five seconds before walking away calmly rising to two feet as he shifts back, into the woods that surround this place, leaving his clothes and shoes there in a pile on the ground.
I hard-blink at the back of the naked man.
12
Tyson
I shift to man form, many emotions surging through me at once. Relief he’s gone, comforted that I seem to have regained control over my form and ability to shift at will. But I also war with the urge to shift back to wolf, chase him down, and then rip his throat out so he cannot come back.
My head is swimming right now with his words, with my urges, and with Ivy’s scent. It needs to stop as I have to be mindful of Ivy. She comes first.
I was ready to go for his throat when she stepped outside, and I saw his eyes touch her. I don’t know what stopped me. Perhaps his words. His words just before she came out must have stopped me.
I shoot a look of disapproval at her and heft her over my shoulder before heading back inside and slamming and locking the door, filled with anger and other emotions I’m not sure how to decipher.
He hadn’t acted as if he had anything but respect for my bond with her, but I was taking no chances. Uncle Cornelius told me of their deceptive nature. This was why we weren’t part of that pack. Their nature was what made him flee with me when I was an infant.
They’d killed my father, their top alpha, and then raped and killed my mother before devouring her flesh. They’d planned to kill me, to take me, to devour me so I wouldn’t rise to alpha when I grew and so that they could absorb all my unformed abilities. My uncle took me away so I’d be safe. He frequently ranted about how they lived, how the pack had too many alphas, and this meant extreme abuse for betas and omegas. How they lived, thieving from the humans, stealing their women and siring children on them before tearing into their flesh as wolves and devouring them as a pack. Devouring the children who couldn’t shift. Enslaving the halfling ones who could. Chasing down lone wolves and mainstreamers to force them into servitude.
The stories I’d heard chilled me as a child, ensuring that when I was young I never got close to their village, then angered me, making me want to destroy them. I knew I’d never want to be part of a pack. And that once, after Uncle died, when I was ready to take vengeance, when I nearly went in and destroyed them, but couldn’t because one scent stopped me in my tracks.
And now one of them has approached me here, showing me they know where I am, and he said things that don’t fit.
Lies. Deception.
As if I would fall for words from my realized nightmare. I don’t want to let a word from his mouth infiltrate my brain, but I can’t help but think on it, wonder why he went out of his way to speak to me. His words evidently got to me somewhat because I didn’t rip his throat apart.
“Tyson Savage? You know you are Tyson Savage, right?”
I stared. On alert.
“I’m Riley Savage,” he informed. “I’m here peacefully. May I speak with you?”
I stood there ready. Teeth bared. Ready to shift and defend myself. Ready for lies. Ready to kill. By the subtle twitch of his nose I knew he smelled my mate. I also sensed he was unafraid of me. I was ready to fight.
“I’m your cousin, Tyson. Our fathers were brothers. Cornelius stole you when you were an infant. You’re supposed to be our council’s top Alpha. We thought you were dead. You’ve mated, haven’t you? We’ve known you’re alive for a few years, since we saw you at our town hall, but now that you’re back, we felt we could try to make our approach. We would like to talk.”
“Leave,” I grunted, baring my teeth, not liking that he smelled her. “Or you die.”
“Just a couple questions, if that’s all right. Cornelius. Is he alive somewhere else? We haven’t caught his scent in years.”
“Why?”
We disguised our scents. Uncle taught me it was necessary from a young age. I’d stopped when he died. Unafraid of them, maybe even daring them to approach.
“Cornelius has crimes to answer for. And Tyson, he is deranged. If he told you who you are and where you came from, he must have lied. He’d have lied or else you’d have killed him and come home. He did heinous things. We’d like you to come see us. To talk. Your mother wants to see you. Let’s sit and talk about the truth.”