Dolf lowered Maggie’s jacket and clutched it in a tight fist. “He’s mine. No one takes him down but me. I haven’t waited a thousand years to find my mate to have one of Fenris’ werewolves take her from me before we’ve even met.”
Cydney swallowed. A thousand years? She turned a gaze that had to be filled with the shock she felt toward Wulfric. He didn’t notice as his full attention was centered on his best friend.
“He’s yours,” Wulfric reassured Dolf. “We’ll get her back. Just keep it together.
I’ll be the one to go wolf.”
“No,” Dolf snarled. “I’ll be the one who does that.”
“No, you won’t,” Raed said sternly. “You’ll stay in human form, Dolf. You go wolf and you won’t be able to control yourself. Wulfric will be the one to shift while you stay at his mate’s side to keep watch over her.”
Dolf let out a loud wolf growl that Cydney had heard Wulfric make before. “Is that an order from my leader?”
“Yes, that’s an order. Now pair off and look for that scent trail.”
Algar and Garrick shifted to wolves, then they, along with Raed and Brand, began their search, leaving Dolf and Wulfric with her in the parking lot.
Cydney stayed where she was as Wulfric came to her and lightly kissed her. She shivered at his touch. Her mind was too jumbled with all that had been revealed to think straight.
“I’m going to go wolf now. You and Dolf will follow me. Stay with him.”
At her nod, his body blurred and he was once again a wolf. Walking at Dolf’s side, she followed Wulfric as instructed. He had his nose to the ground as he searched for Maggie’s scent.
After they’d walked for a bit, Dolf asked, “What’s she like?”
“You mean Maggie?” At his nod, she continued. “She’s smart, funny, a bit on the shy side at times. I’ve known her for four years now, ever since we shared our first dorm room at university in Toronto. She just finished her BA in journalism.”
“What does she look like?”
“She’s a little taller than I am. Has long, black hair, green eyes. She’s cute, but doesn’t think she is.” Not knowing how else to describe her friend, Cydney added, “When it comes to men, Maggie can be overcautious, at least I think so. She’s only dated a few guys since I’ve known her. She also isn’t seeing anyone right now.”
Dolf grunted. “Good. Then I won’t have to steal her away from another man.”
Seeing how grim he looked, his anxiousness practically rolling off him in waves, Cydney asked, “You want to know something funny? After I met you, I told Maggie about you. I told her I thought you’d be perfect for her.”
His gaze shot to her face. “You did? What did she say?”
“That I could introduce you to her at any time. I actually tried to use you as a bribe to get her to come help me with Wulfric’s room today. She hates painting or anything that entails decorating. I should have pushed harder to get her to come with me.” Her voice caught on the last sentence.
“You didn’t know this would happen,” Dolf said through gritted teeth. “Don’t blame yourself.”
Before she could say any more, a loud wolf’s howl sounded off in the distance.
Dolf came to a standstill as did Wulfric. “What was that?” she asked.
“Garrick has found something.”
Dolf turned and headed back in the direction they’d come. Wulfric came to her side and licked her hand. He then maneuvered himself so it rested on his neck. A little more comfortable with him in this form than the other, she threaded her fingers through his fur and allowed him to walk her in Dolf’s wake.
Chapter Nine
Once they met up with the others, minus Garrick, Wulfric shifted to his human form, willing his clothes back on at the same time. He shot Cydney a quick look to find her watching him. He had no idea what she thought of what he’d revealed to her. She kept her face guarded. At least she wasn’t looking at him in absolute horror. It was a start, though he thought most of her not appearing so fearful of him stemmed from the worry she must feel for her friend.
Wulfric brought his attention to the matter at hand when Brand said, “Garrick picked up the scent of another werewolf. Not the one we hunted. He has him cornered behind this building in a dead end alley.”
As a group, they all rushed to where Garrick had the werewolf contained. His fellow warrior was in his werewolf form, using his sharp claws and teeth to keep the creature he’d cornered right where he wanted him.
Without taking his gaze off his prey, Garrick said, “I’ve tried to convince him to shift, so he can tell us where to find his den, but so far he isn’t cooperating.”
“Let me have a go,” Dolf said with a growl.
Dolf passed Maggie’s jacket to Cydney, then as he walked toward Garrick and Fenri’s get, he shifted into his werewolf form. Brushing Garrick aside, he snatched the creature around the throat and slammed him against the brick wall, his head hitting it with a loud thump.
“Shift,” Dolf said menacingly, “or I’ll call Tiw to force the change on you. You do know who Tiw is, right?”
Wulfric knew Tiw couldn’t do any such thing, but the creature Dolf held didn’t.
The werewolf’s response to the demand was to snarl and growl as he tried to break Dolf’s hold on his neck with his claws. Dolf just slammed his head harder against the wall until the creature gave up.
“All right, since you aren’t going to play nice, maybe it’s time you got a taste of Tiw’s god-fire. “ Dolf looked up into the night sky. “Tiw, I have a need of your fire, but just a little. Only enough to show this piece of shit what will happen to him if he doesn’t do as we ask.”
The werewolf howled in pain as a streak of Tiw’s blue god-fire licked across his upper arm. It took one more kiss of flame to have him shifting into his human form. As soon as he did, Dolf yanked him up into his face and curled his upper lip in a snarl.
“Now, asshole, tell me where we can find your den.”
“Why the hell should I tell you? I know all about Tiw’s immortal warriors who hunt my kind. You’ll kill me anyway.”
Still in werewolf form, Dolf’s sword appeared in his hand. “But there are many ways to die. It can be easy or hard. Your choice. I’ve heard silver poisoning is a slow and painful way to go.” To back up his threat, Dolf brought the tip of his sword to rest between the werewolf’s eyes. The silver in the steel flashed in the bright light of the almost full moon that hung in the sky.
He swallowed. “Okay, I’ll show you where it is. I’ll do even better and lead you right into it.”
“And why should we believe you would do that?” Raed asked.
“Because now that I think about it we can scratch each other’s backs.”
“What could we possibly do for you?”
The werewolf smiled. “Recently we’ve had a change in pack leaders. Stephen, who took Nathan’s place, thinks nothing of us who are under him. He’s making changes not all of us agree on. One of them is bringing mortal women into the den to play with. Nathan had it right when he decreed no females should be involved in the pack. They’re too distracting. You promise to do away with Stephen, and I’ll lead you right to him. And in exchange, you let me live to see another day. I’ll promise to lay low.”
Dolf withdrew his sword just before he willed it away and shifted to his human form. “Deal, but if you fuck us over, I’ll make you wish you never existed.”
Wulfric took Cydney’s hand and pulled her to his side as Dolf grabbed the werewolf by the back of the neck and force-marched him out of the alley. The look on his best friend’s face as he passed him said Dolf would do anything and everything he needed to get his mate back. The werewolves had no idea what was about to sweep down on them.