CHAPTER TWELVE
TINY'S POV
I return my gaze to the perpetrator being dragged out into the center of the hillside. Slipping down the thick oak tree, I use Cyrus's back as a balance. My fingertips brush over his fur as a thank you while I pull my hood over. My bow is slung over my shoulder, and I feel a multitude of heavy eyes watching me.
I slip into the dense forest quietly and make my way to the hillside. The girls have the wolf pinned waiting for me. I crouch in front of the gnarly beast and quickly prepare another needle. Akila holds his neck to the side and I inject him with the serum.
While he thrashed in retaliation, I reached into my bag for a fleshy heart sac saved from a previous hunt. There's a grizzly bear who recently had Cubs that would be grateful for an easy meal. As cruel as it sounds, the rogue will be dead before she reaches him. It didn't top half of what he's done anyway.
I pull back to remove my mask. His hot breath rolls across my cheeks and I watch his pupils dilate. He winced in pain as the serum takes effect. His bones begin to shift into place as he shrinks into his skin form. His transformation is botched. The bones on his ligaments cut through his pudgy flesh, and he can only whimper at the pain. He'll bleed out in minutes.
"Do you remember their names?"
"Piss off," he growled between his coached teeth.
I move my face closer to his, noticing the spirit of the little girl beside me, "not even going to deny it?"
"Deny what?"
"You know," I reply bitterly, "you reek."
"Y-You're one to talk," he snarls between gasps.
"Maybe," I snap, "but at least I don't smell of a graveyard."
I sit back for a second to watch him as the spirits return. They circle us and the little girl seems glued to my side. She wants to see this. It's almost like they have to make sure he can never destroy another family like theirs again.
"Go on then," I say, sitting before the distorted man. "I'm a merely wolfless woman. Shouldn't be hard for you to snap my neck."
The rogue grins wickedly, throwing his hand in the air sluggish. He doesn't make it. The serum is swimming in his veins now. Trickling through his system thanks to the foxglove I plucked from Skyiles. I take his hand into my own, breaking finger by finger with words that felt like whispers under his cries.
"What's the matter, big bad wolf? Someone is your stature should be able to fight back even with a little venom in your body."
His cries falter with eyes glossing over. I drop his hand, signaling Akila to secure his body.
Aspen ties the man's body against a withering pine tree. Mage and Akila fall behind as I grab a fist full of the man's hair. An image flashes in my mind and for a moment, I see the man's memories. No- it's her's. This was exactly how the little girl died. Tied and at the mercy of her killer while her parents' bodies were only a couple of feet away. They died trying to protect her, but the pack was overwhelmed with rogues. He didn't spare the little girl nor show her mercy. He enjoyed mangling and mutilating her while she was alive.
Mage brings a burlap with offering paint. I smear the streaks of tint over his forehead in silence. It's the rogue who breaks our silence.
"You gonna cut my heart out?" He grins.
I clasp the paint shut to stare into his cold earthy eyes, "no. A bear will."
"If that's how the moon sees fit," he huffed.
"I'm sure the moon saw it fit for you to murder an entire pack," I spit sarcastically.
"It's survival of the fittest." He says as his head slopes in his grasp, "You should know that best. My King will come for you, princess. He will make you pay for-."
Anger laps over my words, "I am no princess."
He laughs weakly, "then call me the King himself."
"What?" I ask puzzled, noticing the man is slowly drifting to a slumber he won't awake from.
I release his head at the sound of growling to see Akila hostile in Cyrus's direction. My eyes fall on the wolves beside our beta. The realization hit when I noticed a wolf who appeared oblivious and gleeful. A smile spreads across my face at this.
Akila has a mate after all. Maybe I do too.
Akila's lips curl while she growls in anger at the sight of her mate. I can feel her anger roll off in waves. Meanwhile, the handsome wolf stares at his mate in confusion and glee. It's Cyrus who breaks the hostility. His body twists as he returns to his skin form. His fingers wrap around a bag, and he waves to us.
"Great work, ladies!" He says proudly, slapping his leg against his bare knee, "head back to the pack for a feast to welcome our guest!"
I raise my eyebrow and turn to the girls who avert their eyes at our naked beta out of respect for his mate. Cyrus quickly clothes himself in realization at our diversion. Mage shifts as well, throwing a silk cover over her bare body, "thank you, sir."
Aspen follows Mage's shift with her own, placing her hand on Akila's shoulders, "trust the moon. Mage and I will handle the clean-up."
Akila shakes her head as I return my attention to her mate. I raise my voice slightly, "hey, happy wolf there. What's his name?"
I can feel Akila burn a hole in my head from her gaze alone while Cyrus grins mischievously, "great question, my daughter. I'll be more than happy to introduce everyone."
My brow pinches at his words. Cyrus have me his last name so I could have one. He's the closest I have for a father figure, but he doesn't call me his daughter. Not unless it's absolutely necessary.
He presses forward despite our silence, "that wolf is Beta Dominic from Redwood. And beside me is Alpha Kobay in the flesh."
The four of us turn our attention to the alpha. The gray wolf sits straight beside Cyrus with a cold golden glare. He really was a beautiful creature despite his reluctant expressions. I can't tell if he's staring at one of the girls intently, but he looked like he was trying to pick apart a meaning. The sound of Akila's snarls catches my attention and she shifts into her skin form. Akila steps in front of me as if she senses the heat tingling under my skin.
She looks over her shoulder at me, "I'll help you pick apples. Let's just get out of here fast."
I nod. There's no point in defying a fleeing she-wolf. I understand why such a big change terrifies her. Akila isn't good with change. But I haven't met anyone who is.
I remove my coat and wrap it over Akila's shoulders to cover her virtue. I speak up over her shoulder, "with all due respect, we still have to carry our duties. We'll be able to join shortly."
A grin slithers across Cyrus's chiseled face, "you girls never slack. Teresa is training our future den mothers well." He turns towards Silver Crest and gestures Alpha Kobay to follow.
Cyrus looks over with a stern voice, "Tiny, report to Gahiji when you've finished."
I can't read what his lips say next to Kobay or his men but I see gleeful wolves following in obedience. This is going to be a tough week. And possibly the worst birthday.