So after possibly flashing my ass and tits to a room full of strangers, it turned out that the guy who looked shockingly similar to River was his uncle. Talk about awkward.
On the upside, he was actually a pretty cool guy. It made me sad for the younger River that he’d fallen out of touch with him, but it made sense with the whole never-aging thing. It would get a bit suspicious to the average human.
And yet, cool or not, here we were in the middle of the forest where I had fought that snarky, metal-clawed bitch of a wolf so many months ago. The only saving grace this time was that the fight wasn’t to the death.
“I still think there should be another way to go about this,” I muttered under my breath as River stripped off his shirt and handed it to Cole. “Or we should have asked for more time to like… practice. Or something.”
River gave me a small smile and ran a hand over my loose hair. “What happened to all that bravado you’ve been showing these last few days, huh?”
I scowled up at him. “Shut up. Maybe you should pull out now and we can just steal the amulet piece. I’m pretty good at that.”
“I heard that,” Cam called out from across the clearing, and I growled under my breath.
Fucking shifter hearing.
“Kitten,” River scolded. “You know we are trying very hard to reform your criminal ways. We will do this the right way.”
I arched a brow at his statement about my criminal ways and refrained from calling the kettle black. “And if he wins?”
“Well, then you can steal it,” he quipped with a wink that did nothing to ease my nerves.
It was all an act on his part. He was strung tighter than a compound bow, and he hadn’t slept in days for stressing over this fight. There was little to be gained by me pointing this out now, though, so I let him maintain the act a little longer. If it was helping him, who was I to take that away?
“Fine, but if he hurts you beyond anything you can heal, I will cut his balls off in his sleep,” I warned, raising my voice to be sure that Cam heard me. He chuckled, but I wasn’t fucking joking.
Granny Winter hobbled forward into the clearing with us and gave us a look that clearly said it was time for us to step aside and let the fight begin.
“I’m staying while River shifts,” I declared with a stubborn glare. “He’s still new to this, and I’d like to be here in case he needs help.”
“Help?” Cam repeated, bouncing on his toes stark naked. His own crew had been good little pups and backed out of the clearing to the outskirts where all of the Harrow Pack watched eagerly. “Wolves don’t need help shifting. It’s just a natural thing. Watch.” Flexing his shoulders, he sucked a deep breath through his nose and just shifted. Easy as that. One moment he was standing there in all his naked glory and the next… big, old gray wolf.
“Well, I’m staying all the same,” I replied, giving the panting wolf an unimpressed glare. Way to be a damn show off.
In reality, I wanted to be within touching distance in case River needed me to lend any strength to keeping the hellhound in his place. Since our bonding, I could feel a spirit wolf of my own and I was confident she could help control the hellhound. Just… not from too far away. Or perhaps that was just my paranoia talking.
“You ready?” I asked River, trying not to let my own fears show through.
He gave me a tight smile in return before stripping off the rest of his clothes. “Not really, Kitten. But we do what we must. Just don’t let me kill anyone, deal?”
“I’ve got your back, Alpha. We all do.” I said those words with total conviction, knowing the rest of the guys agreed. We would win this fight. Together.
River gave me a tight nod, then glanced at the big gray wolf sitting on his haunches. “Now or never, I guess,” he muttered, then repeated Cam’s actions, rolling his shoulders and sucking in a deep breath.
At first, things seemed to go well. River’s human form melted away and shifted into the huge canine form of his wolf with snow-white fur and golden eyes. But mere seconds later those distinctive black spikes of the hellhound’s pelt began peppering the white fur, and I could tell he was making a push for control.
“Down boy,” I growled, gripping tight to the scruff of River’s neck and ignoring the slices of pain where spikes bit into my palm. “I’m here, River. You can do this.”
Closing my eyes, I searched for that bond between us. The second I touched it, I dove forward and pulled that black, inky energy of the hound back to me. When it followed, it splintered off, and I could sense each of the guys pulling a part of the energy into himself, diluting it, and holding it captive so that River would be free to focus his full attention on the fight at hand.
When I was satisfied that the six of us held the hound with an unbreakable leash, I released River’s neck and wiped my bloody palm off on my jeans. He turned to face me then, his golden eyes clear of the burning hellfire that I could feel raging in my own. Just a quick glance over to the guys confirmed my suspicion that their eyes all glowed with the fire as well.
Good. That meant we each held the hound strong.
“Individually we are strong,” I whispered to River, placing a kiss on his pure white muzzle. “Together we fucking kick ass, Alpha. Now, show that old dog who is boss.”
River gave a little yip and licked my face before turning to face his uncle with a growl. He had this fight in the bag; I already knew it. So, when I backed out of the clearing to stand with the rest of my guys on the sidelines, it was with confidence.
“He’s a White Wolf,” Granny Winter commented, coming to stand beside me as the fight began with a clashing of teeth and claws. “I suspected something of the sort.”
“Oh, did you now?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
The old woman sniffed with indignation. “I may no longer have my wolf, but I was once a White. I do know what I’m talking about, little girl. But what was the other thing that tried to come through when he shifted? The thing that you all now hold captive within your eyes?”
I turned a smile on her, which was probably a little unnerving with my burning-fire eyes. “Better that you never find out,” I suggested. “We hold him back for a reason.”
Granny Winter’s wrinkled brow rose, and she touched a hand to her chest, almost like she was praying. I tuned out the rest of what she had to say, though, in favor of watching the fight currently raging between two enormous, magical wolves.
Cam was impressive, there was no question about it. He was both quick and strong, and his considerable years of experience were serving him well as the two of them exchanged blows with claws, teeth, and brute force.
Regardless of Cam’s skill, however it was clear River would be the victor sooner or later. He simply oozed power and strength as he circled his uncle, darting in to deliver a swift nip and then deftly dodging the return swipe. If he’d been fighting anyone but his own flesh and blood, I would have been suspicious that his opponent was deliberately throwing the fight, but River would never tolerate a win like that, nor—I suspected—would Cam.
The fight increased in intensity with splatters of blood and drool flying around the clearing to the intense excitement of the spectating wolves at the sidelines. The whole thing was barbaric, but also just straight up natural. Wasn’t this how wolves had decided their leaders since the beginning of time?
Chatter buzzed throughout the spectators, and in more than one conversation I heard River’s color being discussed. Apparently, it was a pretty big deal, so I hated to think what they’d be saying if they saw the hound.
Soon enough, the fight ended with Cam on his back, his chest heaving with exhaustion as River’s jaws hovered over his exposed throat. It was over, and River had won.
“We have a victor!” Granny Winter announced, hobbling into the clearing with the aid of her walking cane. “For only the third time since the plague, we have a new Supreme Alpha. River of the White.”
Cheers flooded the gathered wolves, and I rushed forward to check on my dianoch. Scarlet blood splattered his snow-colored fur, so I knew he hadn’t gotten through the fight totally unscathed.
“Are you okay?” I breathed in a rush of relief as he detached his jaws from around his uncle’s throat and stepped back a couple of paces. “Can you shift back?”
His golden eyes met mine, and in one fluid movement he was back to normal. Human. With his transition, I released the hold I had on the hellhound and let that inky magic slip back into River where it belonged.
“You did good,” I praised him as I handed over his pants. “Looks like your uncle needs to spend a bit more time working out, huh?” That teasing remark was aimed over River’s shoulder at the bearded man wincing in pain as he pulled his own pants back on.
“Hey, don’t make me challenge you too, Ban Dia,” Cam joked. “You don’t have an animal form; I bet I could take you.”
This caused River to bark a laugh totally uninhibited by the stress of the past few days, or hell, months. “Cam, mate. Do yourself a favor and never challenge a Ban Dia. I’d hate to see you die so soon after we reconnected.”
“Yeah, yeah, you little brat. I sure as shit didn’t see a White Wolf coming; you had me beat before we even started.” Cam was grumbling, but it was in good humor. “Annaliese was the last White ever seen, so the packs will be all abuzz with this new development. Hope you’re ready for some party invites, pup!”
“Party?” River frowned. “What do parties have to do with this?”
Cam threw his head back to laugh this time and clapped River on the shoulder before draping an arm over my shoulders. “Oh pup. You have so much to learn. Come on, let’s go get a steak, and I’ll start by handing over all our sacred artifacts. They’re your responsibility now, for better or worse.”
“I only wanted the one piece,” River grumbled, letting Cam lead us back to our guys. His own wolves waited with them on the side of the clearing.
Cam snorted. “Not how it works, young one. Now, seriously. I need some red meat to help heal. You got some damn good hits in for such a freshly turned shifter.”
I bit my tongue to stop myself from making another remark about his old age. I had a sneaking suspicion Cam was going to be in our lives a whole lot more from here on out, so there would be plenty of time for teasing when there was less blood on the ground.
Tonight, we took possession of the fourth amulet piece, and—if everything went to plan—hopefully tomorrow Vic would be back so we could test the power on his already frayed bond with Bridget.
Who knew, maybe when that bond was broken, he might finally admit he was my father.
