Wolf Creek

So close; he had been so close. Josh had hitchhiked the hundred miles to Bangor, Maine. From there, he planned take a bus to Boston or New York. He didn’t care where, as long as it was a big city. The distance might not be enough to sever the blood bond he was born into, but a life on the run was better than the pathetic life of an omega. Welcome to Wolf Creek. Caught in the high beams, the sign’s reflective letters traced a familiar path in Josh’s brain for the third time in as many months. Wolf Creek was the last place he wanted to be and the one place he couldn’t escape. “You can’t keep running away from your duty, from your family—Look at me when I’m speaking.” Even though Josh was nearly twenty years old, Elaine still treated him like a child. She treated everyone in the pack like they were beneath her. And, other than Silverbane—her brother and leader of the pack—they were; no one more so than Josh, even though he was technically a part of the family. As far as Josh was concerned, his mother was his only family, and she had died two years ago. He was more determined than ever to make his escape. “Of all nights to pull this stunt.” Elaine kept her eyes focused on the road. “Didn’t you get Silverbane’s messages? He must have called you a dozen times. You are even more useless than Jessica.” Josh saw disappointment in her windshield reflection, but it was no more than usual. The better part of Josh’s life had been spent in his mother’s shadow. Being the omega had secured her a place in the pack: at the very bottom. To the pack, Josh was some freak of nature to be at best ignored and at worst punished just for existing. He could almost get used to it all if he didn’t feel that wretched omega need for approval. It disgusted him to think of what that need had driven his mother to do, all in the name of keeping the peace. Josh was going to make a different fate for himself. “Why didn’t you answer Silverbane?” Elaine’s demand for an explanation couldn’t be ignored. The longer he waited to answer, the tighter his stomach twisted until he had to say something. The involuntary call of her authority as second in command was something no one in the pack could resist, much less Josh. It was almost as bad as when Silverbane himself gave a command. Fortunately, Josh was an expert at only giving away as much information as was expected. He could deal with the guilt and sense of worthlessness as long as it got him far away from the pack. “My phone was stolen.” That was essentially true. The fact that he had left it by the sink in a truck stop restroom was a detail he wasn’t going to offer. If Silverbane knew Josh was losing his cell phone on purpose, he might command Josh to have the phone with him at all times. While Josh could evade ambiguous questions, a direct command from Silverbane was something no one in the pack, not even Elaine, could refuse or ignore. The very need to comply was in the flesh and bones of everyone who was either born into the pack or took the blood oath to serve the alpha. Fighting it was about as useful as willing yourself to stop breathing. Resistance could only last so long, and there were always consequences for it. “That’s not the first phone you’ve lost this year,” Elaine said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were losing them on purpose.” It wasn’t a question, so Josh didn’t have to answer it. Instead, he stared out at the side of the road revealed by the headlights. Elaine didn’t need to confirm what she already knew. If Josh could get away from the pack, he would. That was no secret. The problem was that even though most of the pack believed him worthless, Silverbane didn’t. “If you hadn’t been stupid enough to lose another phone, you would have known this isn’t just another patrol. A band of rogues have set up a den at the old Shaye farm.” Elaine down-shifted and swerved around a beat-up pickup that was in no hurry. “Silverbane wants you there. So you are going to be there, even if it means I get stuck playing babysitter.” Josh wondered if he’d be lucky enough to die in a car crash. As this speed, all it would take was one miscalculation from Elaine, or maybe the old-timer driving the pick-up would veer into the other lane. “Why Silverbane doesn’t let me take a stripe out of your hide is beyond me.” Elaine stomped on the gas pedal. The car whined as it lurched forward. Josh watched the pick-up disappear in the side mirror. “Then again, you’d probably enjoy that.” Even though her quick temper was legendary in the pack, Elaine was more tense than usual. It was those little details that Josh couldn’t help but see and react to; another unwanted trait he’d inherited from his mother. Reading body language was so intuitive to Josh that he was dumbfounded when the rest of the pack missed what to him were glaring neon signs. The tightness in Elaine’s jaw and her narrow gaze fixed on the road ahead of them. She was worried. Josh didn’t kid himself that it was about him. The only person that could make her worry was Silverbane. Not even her own son, Bryce, would get that much emotion from her. The last thing Elaine wanted to do tonight was to track down Josh. Her place was at her brother’s side. That was just the kind of knowledge Jessica had known how to use to her advantage, and even though Josh didn’t have a tenth of his mother’s skill, he had to try. “I’ll just run away again.” His heart thumped hard against the seat belt strap. “Which means you’ll spend more time chasing after me than by Silverbane’s side.” Risking Elaine’s wrath would be worth it if he could provoke her. Elaine would do whatever it took to protect Silverbane and his rule. Her loyalty went beyond that of a sister, or even a twin. Nothing was worth more to her, not her life or even the life of her own husband. “You can’t keep me in Wolf Creek,” Josh continued. “Even if you lock me up at the house, I’ll find a way to escape. Without his second by his side, Silverbane will respond to any challenge personally. What if something happened to him when you weren’t there to do your duty?” Elaine veered the car down a road that was little more than an overgrown dirt path. Once they were out of sight of the main road, she slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. Josh watched in anticipation and dread as she stalked around to the passenger side. She wrenched the door open and pulled him out like a rag doll. Without a word, she threw him on the hood of the car. The engine whirred beneath his back. Elaine’s gray eyes held an eerie glow in the dark. Her breath was ragged and short. Josh tried not to tense while he prepared himself for the worst. “You are a disgrace to the Silverbane name.” Elaine’s clenched jaw muscles pulsed with every word. “If it were up to me, I’d have you beaten until you appreciated your birthright.” “That will never happen.” “Then I would make sure you were sent to join your mother.” Elaine punctuated her sentence by crushing Josh into the hood. The hot metal burned his back. “At least Jessica knew her place.” Josh took a sharp breath despite the fresh waves of pain. “Yeah, beneath Silverbane, just like everyone else.” The words hurt even though it was Josh saying them. The truth in them re-opened a wound that he could never heal. It was the same truth that he saw reflected in the eyes of nearly every pack member when they looked at him with derision and revulsion. The truth he heard every time he was berated whenever one of the pack needed to blow off steam. Even though his mother had extolled the importance of words, more often than not she used her body to subdue the passions of the pack males. No one claimed her or Josh because the truth was that any one of half a dozen men in the pack could have sired Josh and none of them wanted to admit it. Not in a pack that valued family and heritage. Josh was a mutt without lineage, little better than the rogue his mother had been when she convinced Silverbane to take her into the pack in exchange for her services as a mediator. Josh’s heart twisted at the thought of his mother’s tactics. Elaine hated what Jessica had done almost as much as Josh did. Instead of finding a mate of his own, Silverbane used Josh’s mother for his pleasures and left the pack without an heir. The pack wouldn’t necessarily follow Elaine if something happened to Silverbane. Josh knew Elaine resented her brother for not ensuring the future of the pack because of his attraction to its lowest member. That was exactly the sore spot Josh could use to put Elaine off-balance. Maybe even enough to give him an opportunity to make his escape. “Ungrateful bastard,” Elaine’s voice barely rose above a whisper but carried a dire warning. “My brother made a mistake when he allowed your w***e of a mother to join the pack. He should have just let her die. If it weren’t for her abilities, she would have met the fate she deserved and you would not exist.” “Maybe that would have been for the best,” Josh said. Adrenaline numbed his body. It was the only thing that kept him from shaking. Every muscle and sinew hummed with a strange energy, kinetic and unpredictable. Somewhere deep within him was the ability to use his words to push Elaine into a rage that would end his suffering. If only it was as easy for him as it had been for his mother. She could manipulate and control even Silverbane to a certain extent. But that was a pathetic existence of groveling and cajoling that sickened Josh to even think about, so instead he focused on the release he so desperately needed. Even if it meant death. “Maybe you’d be doing your brother a favor by wiping out his mistake.” He chose his words carefully. The right ones could chip away the last of Elaine’s patience and maybe earn him his escape. The wrong ones might let loose a fury that would destroy him. As terrifying as death was, it was better than living as a punching bag. One way or another he would be free. The strength of Elaine’s grip rattled Josh’s teeth, and her unblinking eyes bored into him with a multi-layered hatred. He almost had her. All he had to do was to offer her a possibility she already wanted. “No one would know.” He said the words so softly, with a hint of suggestion prickling the tip of his tongue. He lowered his eyes in surrender to her strength and his fate. “Maybe you didn’t find me. Maybe I just disappeared.” A growl escaped from Elaine’s clenched mouth, and her focused eyes brimmed with the possibility of Josh’s suggestion. She wasn’t just going to let him walk away after that, and he readied himself for the only escape that was left to him. “I won’t dishonor my brother by lying to him about finding you,” she said, as if she didn’t want to acknowledge what he was proposing. “I know.” Elaine licked her lips. Josh could almost see the web of words materializing into influence. All he had to do was to convince her to carry through on her promise to send him to his mother. The certainty of her desire was as scary as the possibility of release from a life that was killing him. How would she do it? Would it hurt? Would his mother be waiting for him on the other side of the darkness for his final hunt? Or would he be alone forever? Doubt and fear clouded his focus. The web of influence slipped from his mental grasp, and a bitter smirk spread across Elaine’s lips. The suggestion evaporated just as it was starting to take hold. “You’d rather die than serve Silverbane?” “If there was no other way.” “Get back in the car.” Elaine released him. “You are nowhere near as convincing as Jessica, but you certainly are her son. My brother believes you bring balance to the family. So, once we have dealt with the rogues, Silverbane is going to hear about your foolish death wish. You may not like your family, but it is the only one you have. And you will serve it until he severs your blood tie or kills you himself.” * * * * Josh tried to ignore the newly forming bruises. There wasn’t an inch of his body that hadn’t seen its fair share of black and blues, but the physical pain was minor compared with the gnawing despair he felt. He had failed, again. It only made it worse knowing his mother could have talked Elaine into doing what she wanted. Jessica didn’t want Josh following in her footsteps. She liked to tell him he was destined for more, and refused to teach him even the most basic skills of manipulation. Words were her weapon of choice, even before using her body. She could diffuse just about any argument with the right tone of voice or phrase. Any time Josh tried it, he usually only made things worse. When the car pulled off to the side of the road again, Josh peered into the pitch black forest that was as empty as his future. Elaine cut the engine and got out. “Stay close, unless you want to make things worse for yourself.” She waited for him to acknowledge her threat before heading to the woods. There was no question of trying to escape now. He wouldn’t get far if he tried. Elaine could best anyone in the pack for speed or strength. Sometimes he wondered if she was even stronger than Silverbane, but respected him far too much to show him up. Josh had no choice except to follow, but if he happened to get lost along the way, it wouldn’t be like he’d planned it. He stumbled through the woods. Every other step, the forest fought his intrusion. A mouthful of dirt when he fell, or a slap from a tree branch if he walked too close behind Elaine. While she moved through the forest like she was a part of it, never missing a step or losing her footing, Josh wasn’t so adept. He’d never been fond of the outdoors; yet another reason why he needed to get out of Wolf Creek and into a city. “Keep up,” Elaine growled from the shadows. The further they went, the greater the likelihood that he’d get lost. Josh had no business being at the Shaye farm with the pack confronting a bunch of rogues. He wasn’t a fighter. Unlike the rest of the pack, he couldn’t even take wolf form without Silverbane commanding him to. The only time he was ever involved in family business was to make a show of numbers. After Jessica died, the request came under the pretense of including Josh as the pack’s new omega, even though he had none of his mother’s skills. A request from Silverbane was as good as a command, and obedience was the default response. So Josh went where he was told and kept his mouth shut. One look at Josh and the rogues would focus their attack on him as the weakest pack member. That was the way it worked with werewolves, even within the pack. Silverbane might as well have dangled him from a hook. “This way.” Elaine’s hand closed around Josh’s wrist before he had a chance to fall far enough behind to get lost. “We’re late because of your foolishness.” The dense forest broke suddenly on an overgrown farmyard Josh hadn’t seen in years. He couldn’t ever remember anyone living there. The fields had long since gone back to thorny shrubs and tall grasses, and the crumpled out-buildings were probably death traps. The only structures that looked habitable were the skeletal remains of the barn and the boarded up farm house. In the darkness of a nearly moonless night, Josh could barely make out the buildings let alone anyone prowling about. Elaine placed her arm in front of him to keep him from breaking cover, her eyes shifting to the right. “The barn’s cleared.” Tyrone leaned against a tall maple tree. His skin was as dark as the night that surrounded him. If he hadn’t chosen to reveal himself, Josh doubted even Elaine would have spotted him. “And I checked for any secondary burrows. Lots of rotting kills but no guards. Six rogues are holed up in the house. Everyone else is waiting at the edge of the clearing twenty yards west. The sss queen is briefing Silverbane.” Josh didn’t wonder why Tyrone wasn’t with everyone else. Ten years ago Tyrone gave up being a lone wolf to avoid death at the hands of the pack, but he still preferred to work alone. The blood oath to Silverbane meant that he had surrendered his freedom for the good of the pack. Short of death or banishment, the pack had Tyrone’s loyalties. But that didn’t change Tyrone’s nature. The instincts that kept a rogue alive died hardest of all old habits. Even Josh’s mother never lost her rogue survival instinct. She never talked about why, but she always kept a bag packed for herself and Josh in the front closet. Just in case they needed to make a quick getaway, he supposed. Tyrone, on the other hand, survived by being the smartest fighter around. He was never without at least one nasty looking blade strapped to his belt. The only time he ever drew it was to shed blood. Yet another reason Josh always watched his back, especially around the males who were always looking for a way to show off in front of the others. “What is his pansy-ass doing here?” Bryce said as soon as Josh and Elaine joined the pack’s core group of fighters. Flanked by Edward and Will, the trio acted like they owned the night and Josh should be asking permission to breathe. Josh was used to hearing much worse from Bryce and it still made him want to shrink into nothingness. He focused on an interesting stone not far from his feet and took stock of the situation. While half a dozen more fighters waited impatiently for action, Silverbane talked to a tall woman away from the group. The safest way to avoid conflict was to avoid direct eye contact, especially when it came to Bryce. The man’s purpose in life seemed to be to make Josh’s existence as unbearable as possible. With the promise of a fight tempting the beast within, Josh wasn’t going to do anything to piss Bryce off. “I want him here.” Eric Silverbane’s gravelly voice carried the weight of decades of leadership. The pack turned to face him, then promptly lowered their gaze in respect. With graying hair and beard, Silverbane had the look of a distinguished gentleman, but the scars on his forearms spoke of a strength that he wasn’t afraid to use. Beside him stood a formidable woman dressed in a short leather tunic. Green and gray vine tattoos coiled the length of her muscular arms and legs, their leaves rippling and twisting like living plants caught in a magical wind. A low growl of recognition passed through the gathered werewolves. Josh felt the ripple of fear mixed with awe. Amazons were dangerous creatures, especially for any tainted lineages, as they called the werewolves and others that had once preyed on humans. * * * * Even though the pack had never hunted humans to Josh’s knowledge, the Amazons regarded them as predators. In general, they each kept out of each other’s way whenever possible. Josh hadn’t heard of any werewolf in the pack facing an sss in battle, and no trace was ever found of the rogues the Amazons dealt with themselves. From the time Josh could remember until he was too old for bedtime stories, his mother would send him to sleep with lessons about the dark cousins of humanity. Her stories were more gruesome than any Grimm’s tale, but her favorite subject was the Amazons. When she spoke of them, her voice was filled with dread but her eyes lit with wonder and admiration. The glaive—a long staff ending in a curved blade—that Regina held indicated that she was not only an sss but the queen of this region. “These rogues are responsible for killing the moose and bear in the western forests. Not to mention the thinning of the deer population.” Regina spoke to Silverbane without even acknowledging the rest of the pack. “You will have only one chance to make them aware of their place in this world. Otherwise we will make sure they do not have the chance to spill another drop of blood, human or other.” “How gracious,” Bryce mumbled before Elaine cuffed the back of his head. Even as her son, Bryce didn’t receive any slack from her. “This won’t be a massacre.” Silverbane spoke with confidence, despite Regina’s implied threat. “These rogues will be shown the error of their ways, but they will be given a choice. They haven’t shed human blood. They can still be reasoned with.” “If they had spilled human blood—” Regina spun her glaive so that it followed the line of her arm like an extension of herself “—they would have already been sent beyond the Gates.” She walked past Silverbane toward the forest. “Do not think that our truce will protect your pack if they endanger the lives that we safeguard. Amazons are protectors of light and life. Do not forget that.” “My family,” Silverbane put extra emphasis on the word, then took a deep breath as if to control his impatience, “knows full well the responsibilities of our treaty. Human life is as precious to us as it is to you.” Josh felt the entire pack shift nervously as Regina disappeared into the forest. No doubt there were a dozen more of her kind concealed among the trees, watching and waiting for the werewolves to fail. If anything went wrong, Josh wondered if the Amazons would stop at destroying the rogues. “Who does she think she is?” Bryce said, once the sss queen was no longer within sight. He pulled a dagger with a wolf’s head hilt from its sheath and started waving it around. As tough as Bryce talked, he never pulled off as much menace as Tyrone did without saying a word. “This is our territory. We shouldn’t be taking orders from those fairy-loving freaks.” He punctuated his words with the point of the dagger. “Put that away,” Elaine said. “Or do you want to find out what their blessed blades will do to werewolf flesh? A mere touch can eat through flesh and bone. And if that doesn’t kill you, then the poison on their blades will, slowly and painfully.” “The Amazons have been our allies since my great-great-grandfather chose Wolf Creek as his home.” Silverbane turned his attention toward the farmhouse as he spoke. “We must give these rogues a chance to make a better life for themselves. If they’d have settled in any other sss-protected territory, they would have been killed on the spot. Never forget how lucky we are to have this peace.” The reprimand was enough for most of the fighters, who bowed their heads. Josh could almost feel the air alive with their desire to fight, but Silverbane’s words held more weight than just their meaning. The alpha’s personality and actions set the tone of the entire pack. As blood-thirsty as they might be, no one would dare act counter to Silverbane’s wishes. Not even Bryce, who looked like a sullen child chewing on a nasty comment he didn’t dare say. Silverbane began to remove his clothes and the rest of the warriors, including Elaine, followed suit until he stopped her. “Elaine, I need you to stay behind with Josh.” “Yes, Silverbane.” Elaine’s terse response was laced with displeasure at her continued babysitter role. “Josh.” Silverbane turned toward him. His voice commanded Josh to meet his gaze even though it felt like licking a nine volt battery. Few in the pack could stand to meet the gaze of their leader for long. To do so was an insult from all but those that were close, though never equal, to their leader. Silverbane put a hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I can’t fight.” Josh resisted the urge to lower his gaze back to the ground. Silverbane’s gray eyes sparkled with that eerie light that came from calling on the cloaked power of the moon to bring on the transformation of not only himself but also his pack, even with barely a trace of moonlight in the sky. Josh was the only one of his kind that couldn’t transform on a full moon. Only an alpha could call on his pack to transform anytime there was a sliver of moon visible. “I have enough fighters.” Silverbane’s proud smile revealed the enlarged tips of his canines. “Enough to destroy dozens of rogues. But blood will only bring on more blood and feed the beast within. Rogues are becoming more common than ever. Some are even forming groups resembling primitive packs. We can’t just kill them all, especially the ones that have not killed a human or werewolf. Then we would be no better than the murdering beasts our forefathers once were. “If they have an alpha, maybe they can be reasoned with. I will need your help to convince them to surrender. It is the only way to prevent more bloodshed.” Josh stared at Silverbane in stunned confusion. He was used to letting people down, but what Silverbane was proposing would be nearly impossible, even for Josh’s mother, who had been an expert negotiator. Even if she could manipulate just about anyone to do what needed to be done for the good of the pack, Jessica’s influence only went so far on an alpha like Silverbane. Alphas never backed down and seldom listened to reason, if Silverbane’s behavior was any indication. Josh couldn’t imagine why the man thought he had that kind of power. “I can’t.” “You will.” Silverbane squeezed Josh’s shoulder and then took a step back. “Now stay back until I give the signal. I won’t take the chance of them singling you out for an attack. They don’t know your value and will only see your weakness.” Without losing hold of Josh’s gaze, Silverbane removed the last of his clothes. His confidence was unwavering. Josh wanted to disappear. He was convinced that he would only let Silverbane down. The hair on Silverbane’s sun-darkened skin began to thicken. Already-powerful muscles bulged and warped as his skeletal structure took on a new form: half-man, half-wolf. His gray-eyed stare stayed locked on Josh. Beneath it, Josh felt like all of his weaknesses were on display for the entire pack to judge. He might as well have asked Josh to say out loud just how worthless the rest of the pack knew him to be. Within a few seconds, the man was gone and all that remained was a beast twice the size of a timber wolf and all the more fearsome for those knowing eyes. A silver blaze of fur ran from the crown of his head to the tip of his tail. Around them the other fighters, except Elaine, transformed. Silverbane’s wolf call was irresistible. Even Josh felt it, though he hadn’t transformed in years. It was the power of the alpha that flowed through Silverbane’s blood and linked the rest of the pack to him. In silence and shadow, the wolf pack split in two and moved in to flank the farm house. Josh peered out into the darkness, but could only make out the rusted remains of what once might have been a truck or some kind of farm equipment. He could see Elaine’s gaze traveling across the same scene with far more recognition than he could muster, the tension in her shoulders speaking volumes about her desire to be in the thick of the action. Josh had never known her to sit on the sidelines unless Silverbane commanded it. “You don’t have to wait with me,” Josh said. “I’ll stay here until Silverbane calls for me.” “Quiet.” Whether Elaine didn’t trust him or whether she thought Silverbane’s instruction was clear enough, Josh couldn’t tell. He shifted from one foot to the other and waited for something to happen. Suddenly, the stillness of the night was broken by a series of sharp cries punctuated with yelps and snarls. There was a flash of movement behind the obscured farmhouse windows, but Josh couldn’t make out exactly what was happening. Within minutes the eerie quiet returned. “This way.” Elaine walked toward the farmhouse, and Josh followed a step behind. Inside the farmhouse, the walls were covered in trails of black that could have been mold or long dried blood. The whole place reeked of death. It was beyond Josh why anyone, rogue or not, would choose to live in such a rotten place. The odor was enough to make Josh retch, and his sense of smell wasn’t nearly as keen as that of most werewolves. This was one time he didn’t envy Elaine. The stench of decay was everywhere. Several times his footstep broke the floor boards, but Elaine barely slowed her pace, barking only an occasional hurry up or be careful. They made their way through the kitchen and into the back rooms. Most of the windows had been boarded up, barricaded with old furniture, or simply covered with discolored sheets. It was like walking into a den. The narrow hallway opened up on a large room with piles of blankets and old mattresses littering the decaying hardwood floor. The distinct musk of life that had been absent from the rest of the farm was in full force here. It was strong enough to make Josh’s eyes water and he almost choked on the fetid air. However decrepit, this was their den. Within the room, Silverbane and his fighters had cornered half a dozen rogues: two females and four males grouped defensively with the furthest wall at their backs. They all looked wild-eyed and ready to fight to the death. “This is our territory now.” One of the larger males with shaggy brown hair took an offensive position in front of the two females. “Leave, or you will die.” Silverbane transformed back into his human form, no less formidable when naked and without his wolf defenses. Elaine shoved Josh forward beyond the defensive arc that the other fighters had formed around Silverbane. “Wolf Creek has always been Silverbane territory since it was settled in 1824.” Silverbane’s voice was a low growl; a warning, but a gentle one. “You are trespassing on our territory. You are killing in violation of our treaty with the Amazons, and you have put us all in danger of being discovered by the humans.” “We only kill what we need to survive,” the skinny female with shoulder length brown hair offered in a trembling voice. The rogue males took up defensive positions around the females, who stood defiant in the face of the Silverbane pack. Without the full moon or an alpha, they shouldn’t be able to transform unless on the brink of death. By then it would be too late, given the number of fighters Silverbane had with him. The rogues would be as helpless as Josh was in the face of the pack. In the seconds that it would take them to transform, the pack would rip them to shreds. It was probably the only reason Silverbane was willing to afford them a face to face meeting rather than simply exterminating them wholesale. Josh could remember how upset his mother had been each time Silverbane had ordered the summary execution of a rogue she believed could be reasoned with. Maybe she knew she could talk the rogue into joining the pack, or maybe she remembered her own roots. The rogues that were allowed into the pack were either abandoned children pre-transformation or the exceptional few that could demonstrate their benefit to the pack, like Tyrone or Josh’s mother. This was the first time Josh had ever heard of Silverbane talking with a rogue instead of letting his fighters handle it. Then again, he couldn’t remember the last time so many rogues had denned together. Half a dozen was pack-size if they had an alpha. An alpha meant organization and coordination. It also meant that the rogues could transform without the full moon, and now Josh understood why Silverbane wanted to talk instead of fight. The pack fighters pawed at the ground, as ready as the rogues for a fight. Only Silverbane’s command over them held them in check. “I offer you a choice,” Silverbane said, looking from one rogue to the next. “Leave our lands or join us and respect our treaty with the Amazons.” “What if we don’t want to do either?” another muscular male with cropped blonde hair asked. “Then you die,” Elaine said. Josh was surprised that Silverbane was offering the rogues a chance to leave and avoid bloodshed. Unfortunately, they seemed to have no intention of backing down. With their backs against the wall, Josh saw how they might think they had no other choice. They didn’t know Silverbane could be trusted with their lives. “We aren’t as helpless as you think,” said the blonde female who was partially obscured by the two larger males. Each of the larger males in turn gave out a series of loud howls, then ripped at their clothes as they began to transform. “I’ll deal with them. Everyone stay back.” Silverbane took the lead. “Stand down.” Anticipating his fighters’ eagerness to join him in battle, his command held the pack at bay. No one would dare disobey him. Silverbane returned to his wolf form and faced off against the rogues. “Josh, which one is the alpha?” Elaine shouted as the three wolves began to circle. “I don’t know.”