Penny for your thoughts? Jana was up ahead of him where he could watch her and cover her behind.
He smiled, his wolf grin appearing in the moonlight. Don't know if they're worth that much or not.
Funny. She paused, swinging around until she faced him in the grass. For such a tiny wolf, she could intimidate with the best of them. Don't avoid the question.
I think they're here, they're watching us, and they're disguising their scents.
Jana's ears flattened to her skull as she narrowed her eyes and growled. Swinging around, she challenged the darkness. He raised his tail; his mate was a force to be reckoned with. How is everyone doing that? How did you keep yours hidden for so long and on that subject why did you do that?
Malcolm ran up next to her bumping her side with his head. He wanted her to keep moving. She growled at him but picked up her speed. I'm told Kendrick used to dish out an extract made from some herbs to his chosen warriors. But we have this herb on Westervelt, that's where it comes from. It temporarily hides our scents, and mostly we use it to spy of Kendrick. Theo felt, given the nature of the assignment, that the warriors out looking for the made-wolves should be using it too. Hence, why I hid my scent from you for so long.
In his head, he heard Jana laugh. I always thought that was the stuff of legend. 'Be careful or Kendrick will come and get you, you'll never smell him coming.' Like the way we all spoke about Cullen. 'Watch how you behave or your parents will send Cullen Murphy to your room in the middle of the night.'
I never heard those stories. By the time I was a child, all the nightmares had come true. He paused, sniffing the air. There was simply nothing to scent and yet he knew they were there. As soon as they reached the clearing with their belongings, he was going to do something he never did in front of others and use his other ability to figure out who was out there.
We're here. Jana ran to her clothes.
Don't shift yet. I want to know how many of them are out there. They might just be waiting for us to go back to our human form so they can beat the hell out of us. He sniffed the night air. Still nothing. Damn.
How do you plan to accomplish this?
I have certain abilities. Sometimes I can see things other people can't see.
Like an extrasensory ability?
That's a good way to put it.
Anything I can do to help? She ran closer to him rubbing her midsection against his.
Just by existing you help more than you can ever know.
He knew he should probably be more suave than he was, but she was his mate and he felt no inclination to hide his true nature from her. Closing his eyes, he sent his senses searching. It was hard to describe to people exactly what it was that he was able to do. It would be like someone asking him to instruct them in breathing or swallowing. Malcolm had simply known how to do it since he was old enough to know how to do anything.
The night spread out before him like he looked through a digital camera. At first all he could see was what was close to him but as if he pressed a button to extend his viewing range, he could suddenly see more and more detail further away. The blades of grass seemed clearer, and the dust that floated on the wind was illuminated in the moonlight. Where were they? He gritted his teeth, he needed more power, more strength.
Pushing through the pain that had started in his head, he moved one more stretch of space.
He sucked in the air he breathed—hard. They were here and there were a lot of them.
Quickly, he did a head count of the wolves. Fifty at least. Damn. He wouldn't have thought they warranted that much attention but evidently he was wrong. The Alpha of the group, or at least that's what he assumed it was due to the sheer size of the wolf, stood up on its hind legs and shook its head. Slobber fell from its fur and Malcolm tried not to gag at the sight.
Pull back now. We need to save our mate from this fight.
Nodding, Malcolm listened to his wolf as he brought his focus back to their immediate surroundings. Jana ran to him, hitting his head with hers.
What the hell did you just do?
Unlike most of the males in our pack, I actually have a few magical things I can do.
In general, I don't advertize them because it's so odd amongst our kind.
Maybe I've just been away from the pack for a long time, but I don't really care what they find strange or odd. Did you just manage to somehow look into the darkness?
I did and now I know we need to get you out of here.
She shook her head. Get me out? Ha. If you think I'm the type of woman to be left behind while you go handle this, you're wrong. Out of the two of us, you're the one who got the crap beat out of him earlier. Not me.
Malcolm had to admit, he admired his mate's courage. But that didn't mean he had any intention of letting her fight anyone. In this case, they had clear-cut roles and his was to protect his woman.
A snapping twig was the only indication he got the attack was coming. He whirled around at the sound and Jana growled as the first wave of disgusting made-wolves plowed out of the bushes. He bared his teeth and leaped at the Alpha. If he brought him down, perhaps the others would crumble.
As he bit down into the rotting flesh of the animal that should never have been made, he swung around to check for Jana. She had three wolves approaching her yet she stood her ground, easily taking one of them out by diving beneath it, lifting up, and sending it skywards. He heard a yelp from the gross creature.
Don't worry about me. Focus on you.
Jana sounded exasperated and he supposed he had been distracting her by not paying attention to what he needed to do.
Crouching low, he lunged at the Alpha, biting it again. He'd learned from his last encounter with the strange creatures. They didn't fight like real wolves. While the Westervelt pack behaved like wolves when they were in their four-footed bodies, these
'animals' still attacked like a wild bunch of thugs. It was like they didn't know how to coordinate their movements.
That first attack had thrown him for a loop. But he knew better now. If they wanted to fight like humans with tails, he knew how to do that too. Every untrained pup in the pack started out that way. He would take them down like he'd been when he was still learning.
Reaching up with a paw, he swiped his claws at the attacking wolf, catching it in the eye. Screeching, the wolf jumped backwards, blood gushing from the open wound. If the mad canine lived through this encounter, Malcolm just blinded him in that eye. His wolf wanted to roar at the small win after the disastrous fight on the streets of New York earlier but he restrained himself, as he concentrated on taking the grey Alpha down to the ground.
Biting with his fangs and tearing with his claws, Malcolm lunged forward using his immense weight to force the other wolf onto its back. With its paws in the air, the monstrosity looked more like a tipped over bug than a canine with fighting abilities.
Tearing at his soft center belly, the Alpha howled.
Time seemed to slow down around them as the other wolves hearing that noise stopped their fight mid-stride. Malcolm's tail waved back and forth. He'd been right. This one was the Alpha and an injured Alpha would leave this group of misfits confused.