“We’re here under parley.” The very nature of the discussion implied permission to be on the land, from time of entry, for the duration of the talks and until the time of exit.
“Then hurry up and state your terms.” Rafe glanced off into the trees behind Matthias. “What is it you want?”
“Oh, that’s simple,” Matthias answered. “We want you.”
Rafe arched an eyebrow. “Then this is a waste of time. Not happening.” He started to turn away.
Matthias placed his hands on his hips and bent a leg in a relaxed pose. He puffed his cheeks out as he exhaled. “Well, that’s a shame. For you, and for Woodland.”
Rafe paused, then glanced over his shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“You conspired with Arthur Armstrong to kill Jared Gray. Armstrong is being handled through Reform Court, but you—your ass is mine.”
Rafe turned. “What if I said I don’t remember? What if I told you I have no recollection of the events leading up to Jared Gray’s death?”
Matthias shook his head. Nothing could excuse what this lycan had done, siding with a human against another of his own kind. “I’d say you were lying to avoid facing punishment.”
Rafe chuckled. “Punishment? You’re not looking for punishment. You’re looking for blood. My blood.”
Matthias nodded. “It’s a start.”
Rafe shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Matthias stepped closer to the alpha prime to look him straight in the eye. “I’m offering you a limited-time deal. You come with us. Now. We leave Woodland territory, and nobody else needs to get hurt.”
Rafe arched an eyebrow. “Or?”
“Or you hide behind your pack mates, and instigate a pack war. Who knows how many lycans will die?” He was prepared to offer the alpha prime an honorable out. But if the lycan didn’t take it, he was prepared to make the whole pack take responsibility for the tragedy wrought against the Alpine pack.
“On both sides,” Rafe pointed out.
Matthias smiled. “Ah, but you did us wrong, Woodland, and you pissed us off in the process. We will come at you from every angle, with everything we’ve got. Do you really think you’ll win? How are your stocks going? Got enough to feed your pack for the winter?” He knew they were running low. He’d managed to close a number of their borders with neighboring packs, preventing the delivery of much-needed supplies.
Rafe bared his teeth, and Matthias was surprised to see the lycan’s incisors lengthen with a vampiric grace. “You threaten me, and you threaten my pack, under the guise of parley?”
Matthias wouldn’t back down, despite the fangs gleaming in his direction. The audacity of the man angered him. Rafe stood there, and his close friend was in the ground, lifeless, because of this lycan’s selfish ambition.
“I’m telling you how it is,” Matthias rasped, the words emerging from deep within his throat. “And how it will be. Woodland will pay for murdering Jared Gray.” He put all his sincerity and determination behind the vow, leaving the alpha prime in no doubt that he meant what he said.
Rafe smiled, his eyes glittering as he removed the Woodland crest ring he wore on the third finger of his right hand, the symbol of his rank within the pack, and slipped it into his jeans pocket. “Well, I guess that’s the end of parley, then, isn’t it?”
The alpha prime sprang at him, and Matthias grabbed his shoulders, using the momentum to pull him over and hurl him into a giant redwood behind him.
Matthias’s guardians rose from their hiding places, teeth bared, and the forest rumbled with the growls of a dozen lycan warriors as they shifted into beast form and attacked.
Rafe rolled to his feet, glaring at Matthias, who grinned back. Woodland wasn’t the only one to attend parley with backup. Rafe morphed into his beast form, a wolf with jet-black fur, and Matthias did the same, surrendering to his beast, his white fur almost a beacon in the dark forest. The lycans shrugged the remnants of clothes from their bodies as they launched at each other.
Rafe caught him in the shoulder with a meaty paw. Matthias fell back. He snapped at the black wolf, catching him in the chest with a sharp nip before the Woodland Alpha Prime leaped away. Two wolves bounded into the clearing to aid the Woodland pack leader. Matthias whirled and snapped, relinquishing his control to the rage he always carried within. It started low, but rose in a red-hot wave of fury, power coursing through his muscles, through his very blood. He hunkered down, prepared to take on the three large lycans. One charged at him, and Matthias neatly sidestepped, shredding the wolf’s side with his claws as he barreled past.
His heart rate throbbed within his ears, within his chest, as his muscles bunched. A thump on his back propelled him forward, and he rolled, hearing the snap of jaws in his ear as he dodged a nasty bite. He kicked at the attacking wolf with force, sending him back awkwardly against a large boulder, and he heard the crack of the wolf’s head against stone.
The large black wolf charged, and they both rolled in the dirt and pine needles, snapping and growling. Matthias jerked his head back from the alpha prime’s jaws, and the wolf ended up biting on the chain around his neck instead. Instantly Matthias morphed, grabbing the snout of the lycan to prevent the chain from snapping. For a moment they glared at each other, man to wolf. As realization dawned in the lycan’s eyes, Matthias moved. A series of quick, hard jabs to the wolf’s soft belly, and the Woodland Alpha Prime was forced to open his mouth to suck in tortured gasps.
Matthias rescued the chain, morphing back into his beast form. He glanced around the clearing. His men were vastly outnumbered, although they held their own against the Woodland guardians. He turned to face the black wolf. Woodland lifted his head and howled. Matthias gritted his teeth. It was a call for reinforcements.
* * *
Trinity froze as the call of the lycans echoed through the forest. She glanced about, trying to gauge the direction of the alarm. Another howl echoed through the forest, a voice she didn’t recognize.
A trespasser. Someone else was in the forest, someone other than Woodland.
“What’s that?” Jax asked, his young eyes wide as he came bounding out of the underbrush.
“Time to go home.” She’d had to clear this excursion with Rafe himself. All trips into the forest were assessed with care, so the noises startled her out of her relaxed state, her heart pounding at the rude shock.
She whistled, and one by one, her class of juniors came running through the forest toward her. Her fists clenched as she counted them off on return, nodding with relief when she had full attendance. Their tracking exercise had just been cut drastically short.
She beckoned them into a huddle. “Follow me. Do not stray. Do not wander off. Do not make a sound, okay?”
The young children nodded, eyes wide in pale faces and she gave them all a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, guys. This is just a drill—but we do drills exactly like the real thing, don’t we?” She tried to make the lie as convincing as possible. They’d never had a drill for anything like this, with the sounds of fighting echoing through the forest.
The kids still looked a little anxious, so she tried again. “First one back to the hall gets a treat.” She started jogging cross-country, checking over her shoulder to ensure each of her wards were following closely. Ducking under ferns, leaping over logs, the children ran silently through the forest.
Trinity could hear the grunts and growls in the distance, and her heart hammered in her chest. The kids. She had to get the kids to safety. There would be time enough later to find out what had made hell break loose in the woods.
She skidded to a stop at the foot of the mountain and heaved against a massive boulder. It shifted slowly