“Cydney, would you just listen to reason,” Wulfric pleaded. “The werewolf den is no place for a mortal.”
“Tough,” she said. “I’m going. Maggie will need someone she knows. Unlike me, she probably hasn’t gotten the nonviolent introduction to your world. She’ll see you guys shift and think you’re one of the ones who have taken her.”
“Cydney is right,” Raed interjected. “We don’t know,” he paused to glance in Dolf’s direction who stood in the werewolf’s face, pumping him for information, “what condition we’ll find Maggie in.”
Wulfric sighed. “All right, but you won’t leave my side for anything, Cydney.
Even if I’m in my wolf or werewolf form, you don’t go anywhere. Got it?”
“Does she have the mark yet?” Algar asked. “Because if she does, that will be one less thing you have to worry about.”
Cydney’s brow furrowed. “What mark?”
He said to Algar, “Yes, at least she had the start of it. It’s very faint.” To Cydney he added, “Tiw, who is an Anglo-Saxon god, is the one who granted us immortality and the ability to shift and to hunt what you would call the ‘bad werewolves.’ All of his warriors carry his mark on the cap of our left shoulders.”
“You mean that isn’t a tattoo?”
“Correct, it isn’t. When each of us finds our mates, Tiw also places his mark on the woman, high up on her back near her right shoulder. It’s the same but only smaller.
When a mate is found, the mark first shows as a dark bruise. Once she’s grown to accept the warrior who is the one for her, it fully appears.”
Cydney shook her head. “Slow down a bit. I feel as if I’m drowning in information overload. This mark, besides being from an Anglo-Saxon god, does it mean something else? The way Algar asked about it, I’m assuming it does.”
“Correct again. Once you carry Tiw’s mark, you are no longer susceptible to a bite from a werewolf sired by Fenris the wolf. One bite from their kind turns a mortal into a werewolf who thirsts for flesh and blood.”
Wulfric heard Cydney audibly swallow. “What about Maggie? She’s Dolf’s mate? Would she have the start of the mark?”
“More than likely not. She and Dolf haven’t met yet. The mark doesn’t begin to appear until after two mates have done so.”
“Oh god. What if she ends up being bitten?”
His voice grim, Wulfric said, “She’ll have to be put down like others of Fenris’ get.”
Cydney’s face went white. “Then what the fuck are we waiting for? We need to get her out of that den before that can happen.”
Raed turned toward Dolf and asked loudly, “Are you ready to go, Dolf?”
The warrior eased away from the werewolf. “Yes. Let’s do this.”
Their leader nodded. “We’re ready as well. Dolf, you, Garrick and our captive over there will go with Brand in his car. The rest of us will follow in mine.”
Once they all piled into the cars, Wulfric shifted closer to Cydney in the backseat.
He smelled her fear. He didn’t think it was because of what he and his fellow warriors were, but he had to make sure. “Cyd, talk to me. Please tell me you’re able to handle the truth of what I am.”
She turned her head to look at him. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m thrilled to hear you’re a werewolf.”
“We don’t think of ourselves as that. We’re immortal warriors.”
“Whatever. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about all of it, and me being your mate. Right now, all I can think about is Maggie and what she must be going through.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “But once this is all over, promise me you’ll give me a chance to better explain everything.” He cupped the side of her face with his hand and ran his thumb along her plump bottom lip. “Like Dolf, I’ve waited over a thousand years to find you. You fill a space inside me that has been long empty. I don’t want to lose you.”
Cydney pulled away from his touch. “I promise I’ll give you a chance to explain, but I’m not going to give you anything beyond that.”
He dropped his hand into his lap. “That’s all I can ask.”
Cydney got out of the car as the others with her did. Theirs, along with Brand’s, was parked on the shoulder of a long stretch of road surrounded by fields and farmhouses. She looked up at the sky and saw it had just barely started to lighten.
Dawn was almost upon them. For being up all night, she didn’t feel tired, her nerves were just strung too tight.
She followed the men as they met up with the others from the car in front. Once they drew even with them, Dolf said, “The den is beneath an old farmhouse on the other side of this field. There’s an entrance to the underground den inside the house.”
Raed pointed to the werewolf. “You lead, but don’t even think of pulling any shit.”
The werewolf shook his head. “I won’t. You’ll do me a big favor by putting Stephen down. I would do it myself if I stood a chance, but I don’t. I’m not going to do anything to mess this up. Follow me.”
They all jumped the fence into the field. Seeing how fast the men ran—faster than she’d ever seen a person move before—she knew there was no way she’d ever be able to keep up. But she soon realized that wouldn’t be a problem when Wulfric scooped her up in his arms and took off running with her just as fast. She put her arms around his neck and held on for dear life.
As the farmhouse came into view, their group slowed. Wulfric put her down on her feet and held onto her hand as they stealthily made their way to the front door of the house with the werewolf still leading them.
Inside, the dwelling smelled of neglect. Wallpaper peeled off the walls and all kinds of debris littered the floors. The werewolf led them to what at one time would have been a homey kitchen. He walked down into the root cellar, then led them through a door that connected to a long tunnel.
Cydney held tighter to Wulfric’s hand as the dark earth walls and ceiling closed around them the deeper they went underground. Just before they reached the end, the werewolf brought them to a stop.
“The central cavern of the den opens up at the end of this tunnel,” he whispered.
“Stephen, as pack leader, has a smaller one that offshoots from it. Since it’s almost dawn, most of the pack, if not all, will be inside the larger cavern. I suggest you shift now and come in fighting.”
Cydney’s heart galloped inside her chest as all the men around her shifted into their werewolf forms. They were all huge, standing at least seven feet tall, even the bad one. If it weren’t for Maggie, Cydney would have run out of the tunnel.
As if he sensed the fear that had crept back on her, Wulfric brushed her cheek with the back of his furred fingers. Low and soft, he said, “Nothing is going to happen to you. Just stay with me.”
She nodded, unable to speak past the whimper that threatened to break free. She could do this. She had to for Maggie’s sake. The thought of what her best friend could be suffering through had her taking a deep, cleansing breath.
Then it all seemed to happen so fast. The men rushed into the central cavern, attacking the first werewolf they reached. Their growls and howls that bounced off the rock walls sounded loud in her ears, making Cydney want to cringe.
During the fights that broke out, she stuck to Wulfric like glue. She gave him enough room to slash out with his sharp claws and not much else. She stared wide-eyed all around her, unable to tell which werewolves were which. Who was the good and who the bad.
A loud snarl came from behind her. Cydney turned and let out a shriek as she narrowly escaped the jaws of the werewolf who lunged toward her. Wulfric spun around, and roughly shoving her to stand at his back, he slashed out at the creature.