The Bite of Revenge

Chapter 18

The following day, we got up early and had a quick breakfast, courtesy of the motel. "Why do I get the feeling that this escape was too easy?" Peter asked as we headed to a back alley so any possible witnesses wouldn't see us disappear into thin air.

"That's the beauty of shadow traveling," Taylor answered with a mischievous grin, "it makes slipping away a hell of a lot easier than using other means of transportation."

"I still feel like Derek should've caught up to us by now, even with you ladies hiding our scent. Derek may be pig-headed, but he's not stupid."

"You may be right about that," I said, sniffing the air, "Derek just arrived and is at the front desk right now, so I suggest we get the hell out of here." They all nodded in agreement as I grabbed onto Peter's hand, and we all stepped into the shadows and not a moment too soon because Derek and a few others that I didn't recognize, had just came around the corner, dragging the front desk clerk by the scruff of the neck.

"I thought you said they were back here," Derek said, slamming the clerk up against the wall.

"I swear I saw them come back here less than five minutes ago," the clerk wimpered.

"Then where the hell are they?"

"I don't know."

"Did they say where they were going?"

"No they didn't, their whole group kept to themselves, and they checked out right after breakfast." Derek growled in frustration and before anyone could blink, slashed the clerk's neck with his claws. Blood poured from his neck like a fountain and with a sigh of disgust, Derek dropped the man to the ground and looked towards his coleuses.

"Check the surrounding area," he ordered angrily, "Anna and her pack couldn't have gotten far and check with public transportation and any CCTV footage while you're at it." Both men nodded and walked back out to the main rode. Once they were out of sight, Derek took out his phone and clicked on something, but clearly he didn't find what he was looking for because he shoved his phone back into his pocket. He then sniffed the air, but it was clear that he couldn't find our scent.

"We should get out of here," Peter whispered, "the more distance we put between us and Derek, the better."

"I agree," Alison said. She then took out her phone and glanced at a text message her dad had scent, "according to my dad, Rainbow Peak, which is in Montana, is our destination. She then showed us a picture of a cabin and once we had the image memorized, it was easy to get there from our current destination. When we finally got there, there was a young man there waiting for us on the front porch.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" he asked as we joined him, "I was beginning to worry that Derek had caught up to you."

"He almost did," Peter said. He then turned to me, "Anna, this is Styles, Styles this is my mate Anastasia, but everyone calls her Anna."

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking Styles's hand.

"Likewise, but enough small talk, we have a much bigger problem."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, worry written all over his face, "did everyone get out okay?"

"Yes they did, but as soon as you guys left, the Argents locked down the city, nobody in or out. You guys are pretty damn lucky that you got out when you did because Connor is on a rampage and is out for Anna's head, literally."

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Alison asked as we followed Styles into the cabin.

"I have orders from your dad to tell you that we need to stay put, at least until him and his security team put together a game plan."

"And how long will that take?" Peter asked, "I'm not the kind of person to just sit around with my thumbs up my ass."

"Well that's too bad because Mr. Montgomery also told me that you need to focus on protecting your mate, meaning you're stuck her just like the rest of us, so suck it up."

"I just feel like we should be doing something, not hiding out in the mountains like a bunch of cowards."

"You and me both, but unfortunately, there's not much we can do what with your crazy ass nephew on the loose and did I mention he was the one that killed Victor?" We all stared at him in shock as we all sat down in the living room. "Well he did, and ever since Derek's little temper tantrum, Mr. Montgomery had me keep an eye on him, and it turns out Derek's been working for the Argents for quite a while."

"But I thought the Argents hated any kind of supernatural creature," I said, "so why would they allow Derek to work for them?"

"I asked myself the same question, so I did a little digging, and it turns out that Connor made a deal with Derek that if or when the alpha of the hell pack showed herself, Derek would be able to take her as his mate and a witch by the name of Rowena who would cast a spell that would prevent the mate bond between Derek and the hell pack alpha from ever being broken."

"Is that even possible?" I asked, "When Derek found out that Peter and I were bonded mates, he was pretty damn determined to find a way to break it."

"Technically no, but Rowena specializes in dark magic and knowing her, she'd find a way."

"How do we know that Derek won't find us here?"

"This place is warded to the teeth, Agatha, the witch working for Mr. Montgomery, mixed a warding powder that has mountain ash, salt, powdered iron and a few odds and ends to keep anything and everything out, including humans. So the only way anyone or anything is getting in here is if we invite them in."

"How long are we supposed to wait around?" Peter asked irritably, "No offense Stiles, but I'm not about to sit around with my thumbs up my ass."

"I have strict orders from Mr. Montgomery that we're supposed to sit tight until the rest of the hell pack joins us. Stiles then looked towards me with an encouraging grin. "I don't mean to rush you, Anna, but you should really call the rest of your pack here, sooner rather than later." I nodded and then stood up, took a deep breath in and let out a rumbling howl that shook rafters and the ground underfoot. Almost immediately, I heard answering howls and before I could say anything, I was shifting and I had to hold back a chuckle as Stiles swore in surprise.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, pointing to the wall behind me. I looked in the direction and saw that it was my shadow, which looked liked a massive, black wolf standing upright.

"Relax Stiles," Alison said, rolling her eyes, "it's just Anna's shadow. When when a hell hound is in their wolf form, humans and other supernatural creatures can only see our shadows, but only for like a split second." And just like that, my shadow retracted and Alison and Taylor shifted as well and we headed out front to wait for the rest of the pack. "I think Stiles wet himself," Alison said as we made ourselves comfortable in the front yard.

"Can you blame him?" Taylor asked as she stretched, "we all know the poor guy's as jumpy as a rabbit, doesn't take much to scare him."

"True." Alison then looked over at me, "You okay, Anna, you're awfully quiet over there."

"How many hell hounds do you think are going to show up?" I asked, but before either of them could answer, hundreds of hell hounds started appearing and my head was filled with numerous voices all at once.

"We're saved," one female hell hound said happily.

"Long live the alpha!" said another.

"Quiet," I ordered, and immediately everyone went silent and bowed their heads in submission. "I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, so I'm going to keep this short and to the point. We're not just a pack, we're a family, so I expect you to not only respect me as your alpha, but to respect one another. Not only do we fight as a pack, we fight as a family. Also, I've decided to claim Rainbow Peak as hell hound territory and I only have one rule, protect those who can't protect themselves. As you all know, Derek Hale has been working for the Argents for a while now and he's on the war path to wipe us out, so as of right now, stay in Rainbow Peak until I say otherwise and if you see anything or anyone approaching our territory, report to me immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes alpha," the pack answered in unison.

"Good, now you're all welcome to join us in the house for dinner, but after that, I want half of you to patrol our territory and the other half will replace you in two hours." After that, I dismissed my pack and we all headed inside where Peter and Stiles were in the kitchen, Peter was chopping veggies while Stiles was stirring something in a huge pot on the stove.

"I hope everyone likes chili," Stiles said with a grin, "it's my mom's recipe."

"At this point, I'll eat anything," Alison said as the rest of the hell pack took seats in the large dinning room, "all this shadow traveling has me worked up an appetite."

"You sounded amazing out there," Peter said, pulling me to his side and kissing the side of my head, "you were born to be a leader and I'm proud to be by your side."

"I just hope it's enough," I said as I helped get bowls and silverware out for everyone, "is it wishful thinking to think that Derek will just give up?"

"Unfortunately no," Peter said with a sigh as we brought everything out to the dinning room and set it on the buffet, "Derek tends to look for power and approval wherever he can get it, and if it means turning us in, he'll do it, whatever it takes, even if it means betraying his own kind." Once everyone had had their fill, the first patrol of the hell pack headed out and the rest of us gathered in the living room with blankets and sleeping bags, Stiles had thought it best that we all sleep in the same room just in case we had had to make a run for it at a moments notice. "Try to get some rest," Peter said as him and I settled onto an inflatable mattress in a far corner of the room, "and if your pack hears or sees anything, they'll let you know."

"I don't think I can sleep," I muttered as I snuggled into him, "what if one of my wolves gets hurt or worse?"

"Don't worry babe, of what I know about hellhounds, they're extremely difficult to kill and they're a lot faster than other supernatural creatures, including werewolves. They're also a lot stronger and heal very quickly." That last statement allowed me to relax a little bit, but not by much and eventually, I drifted off into a fitful sleep.