Ch. 29 A Gruesome Scene


    Colton’s POV


    “You know, all this work will still be here tomorrow. You don’t have to finish it all in one go. I thought we were actually going to spend some time together tonight” Darcy wheedled from her perch on the edge of my desk.


    “And we will, Darc. I promise. Just give me five more minutes, okay?” I tried bargaining with her.


    I really did have a shit ton of work to do. But the truth of the matter was, until Darcy had strolled in here a few minutes ago reminding me of my promise to spend the evening with her, I hadn’t been working at all. Hadn’t been able to focus on anything all day except the way Mallory looked in that short little red dress, the way her body felt against mine when she ran into me,and the absolutely infuriating urge I felt to bury my face between her silky thighs and find out if her pussy tasted as heavenly as her lips.


    The ringing of my phone earned a low growl from Darcy and a shocking dose of stark reality for me. I nced at the screen to identify the caller before actually answering it but seeing it was my brother had me reaching for it automatically.


    “Don’t answer it!” Darcy entreated. ” It’s just y. You don’t need another distraction.”


    “I have to answer it, babe. Myst conversation with my brothers’ didn’t exactly end on a positive note. I’m probably thest person he wants to talk to right now. So if he’s calling, it’s probably important.”


    Darcy just rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. She knew my brothers weren’ther biggest fans and probably assumed we argued about her. I wasn’t about to correct that assumption by telling her we disagreed over Mallory. That would just be inviting trouble.


    “y.” I answered brusquely.


    “Colton! You need to get to the woods behind Mallory’s house. We’re about five miles straight in but you will smell us. You need to hurry-” He rushed out frantically before I cut him off.


    “y! Tell me what the fuck is going on? Why do you sound so panicked?” I pressed.


    “Colt, it’s Mal! Something’s wrong. I think-, we think-, it’s too early, but we think she’s shifting.” He stammered.


    As if on cue, an ear-piercing scream echoed through the phone. Mal’s scream. My blood turned to ice in my veins and shards lodged in my spine asa cold shiver ran down it.


    “I’m on my way!” I was on my feet and headed for the door before thest word left my lips, but a hand caught my wrist, pulling me back.


    “Are you seriously walking out on me?” Darcy’s sharp tone chafed at me. She’s not the first pup to ever shift. I’m sure your brothers can handle it.”


    “She’s a member of this pack and y made it clear he felt something was wrong. As an Alpha, it is my responsibility to be there. For someone who aspires to be a Luna, you might want to familiarize yourself with that concept.” I bit out, yanking my arms free.


    “Aspires to be? Meaning there is still a possibility I won’t be your Luna.” She challenged, almost daring me to deny it.


    “We’ll discuss thister, Darcy.” I kept my tone firm and my eyes hard, even though inside I hated the way her face fell at my words. “I have to go!”


    I should have been worried that I’d hurt Darcy;s feelings. I should have been reying the conversation in my mind to figure out where I’d gone wrong, how I’d let things get so off track between us. But there wasn’t enough room in my head for any of that. All I could think about was Mallory. Was she okay? Was she shifting early and if so, why? Or was this something else altogether? Something possibly much worse.


    Iid on the gas at that thought, roaring through the streets toward Mallory’s house. It would have been faster to shift and run in wolf form but I wanted a vehicle nearby in case we needed to transport her. Potential scenarios, each one worse than thestwhirred through my head as I sped closer. She had to be okay! Nothing could happen to our beautiful Mallory. My Mallory.


    “Fuck!” Tires squealed as the car swerved to the left.


    I’d been blindly reaching for the phone I’d tossed in the passenger seat and the wheel drifted. My hand closed around my prize just as I righted my course. I needed an update and I needed it soon or I was going to lose my fucking mind!


    Before I could even unlock my phone, it began to ring. I stabbed the green button roughly, as if that would get me the answers I was looking for any faster. But I didn’t even have a chance to speak.


    “Where the fuck are you?” Cary’s voice red through the phone. “You should have been here by now!”


    My wolf bristled at his using tone, wanting to be there every bit as much as they wanted us there. He knew we were doing everything we could to get to her.


    “Pulling up to Mal’s house now. I’ll be with you in minutes!”


    “Fucking hurry!” He barked then hung up on me.


    Grabbing a bag from the trunk, I quickly stripped off and shoved my clothes and phone inside, then added a nket in case we needed it for Mal. I mmed the trunk shut and shifted in the space of a breath, my wolf snagging the bag between his teeth and taking off towards the woods.


    Kai tried to shove me back and take the reins as we ran, his only thought to get to the one he considered his and make her safe. But I stayed at the forefront, sharing control, ready to shift back at amoment’s notice. I had no idea what was happening but I did know if there was any way to help, it would require human hands.


    “Close.” Kai whined, Mallory’s scent much more potent than usual, easy for him to find.


    I thought I would be relieved to finallyy eyes on her, to see for myself that she was alive and breathing, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Because the scene I walked into was nothing short of gruesome. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to handle it.


    Malloryy writhing on the forest floor, something between a whimper and a gurgling sound slipping from her lips. She kept trying to sit up as she struggled to take in a breath and choked on her own secretions, but every attempt seemed to cause hermore pain. My brothers knelt beside her, hands moving around her in frenzied motions but never touching her, nowhere seeming safe enough to do so.Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    None of that was the worst part though. Shifting was normal for wolves and the first shift always hurt. Still, we all not only survived it, but couldn’t wait to do it again and again. But there was nothing normal about what was happening here.


    Her hands were the first thing I noticed, one human and one clearly not, though only three of her digits had elongated, tipped with ws. The other two remained unchanged. And so it went with every other part of her body. One human leg, one somewhere between human and beast, the joint distorted and jutting backwards but no paw and no fur. Her face a strange amalgam of human teeth and fangs,canine muzzle and her cute button nose, one pointed ear covered in fur and one missingpletely.


    “Please!” She pleaded with them. “I need-, I want-, please let me die.”


    “No!” I barked out an Alphamand, refusing to let that thought continue to take root, the idea alone nearly crippling me.


    “Oh, thank fuck!” y breathed out as all heads snapped in my direction.


    “Colton!” Mal croaked like a chain smoker. “Colton, please make it stop!”


    Every word she managed to eek out was like a stab to my heart, because I had no fucking clue how to help her.


    “It isn’t supposed to be like this!” Cary nearly sobbed. “I don’t even know what the fuck this is! Why is this happening?”


    “I think we should call dad!” y ground out, gritting his teeth against the tears he was trying to hold back.


    My knees hit the ground beside Mallory and I pulled her into myp, cradling her. She immediately buried her misshapen face in my chest while I held her to me gingerly. Her long, dark brown hair had yet to recede so I took the opportunity to run my fingers through it in what I hoped was aforting act.


    It’s okay, sweet girl. I’ve got you.” I cooed to her softly. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Not ever.”


    Mallory’s eyes squeezed closed, forcing tears to spill over. A low keening sound rose from her chest but no more words came. Cary sniffled and gasped for air but only y had the guts to say what we were all thinking.


    “Something bad is already happening and we have no idea how to fix it.” He whispered, though I doubted Mal was lucid enough to hear him if he’d shouted.


    “Both of you, get your shit together!” I snapped, knowing the harshness was necessary while hating that their faces only reflected the same fear I felt. “Us falling apart right now isn’t going to help her.”


    “Then what the fuck is?” Cary bellowed. “You fucking tell me what will help her and I’ll do it without a second thought. Just tell me how!”


    “I don’t know.” I whispered, burying my face in Mal’s neck rather than face their censorious res.


    I was the oldest. I was the leader. I was always supposed to have the answers. But I didn’t. I was letting them down. Letting Mallory down. If I had no ideahow to protect the people I cared most about in the world, how could I be trusted with a whole pack?


    “I think you’re right. I think we should call dad.” I admitted.


    As soon as I said the words, I wanted to take them back. Calling the current Alpha was tantamount to admitting I wasn’t ready to be one. But Mallory was far more important than my pride, so I swallowed it down. y just nodded and reached for his phone, but stilled as he nced at Mal in my arms.


    “Is she breathing? I don’t think she’s fucking breathing!” His tone conveyed all the panic I felt.


    It had taken my brain too long to register that she’d gone eerily quiet and her body had gone limp against mine. Iid her on her back and bent over her, trying to listen for her breath while watching for her chest to rise andfall. But there was nothing.


    “Mallory! Mal!” I roared her name over and over again, gripping her shoulders in my hands and shaking her wildly. ” Come on, angel! Come back to me!”


    I was so terrified I was losing her, all my emergency training went right out the window. I couldn’t think beyond my next breath, couldn’t remember how to help her. y was shoving me aside, prepared to intervene, when a shrill cry rent the air. It only took me a heartbeat to realize it wasing from her.


    Relief poured in when it registered that she was breathing again. But horror quickly reced it when the sound of flesh ripping and tearing joined her bloodcurdling shrieks. Wave after wave of nausea wracked me at the hideous sound. But just as I fought to swallow back the bile burning my throat, thesound morphed from unendurable pain to triumphant howl.


    I slowly raised my head as I pushed to my feet. My eyes studied the sight before me with rapt attention, even as my brain struggled to grasp what I was seeing. The most stunning wolf I had ever seen, a thick coat of glossy, raven ck fur and gorgeous silver eyes that shone like the moon, looked back at me.


    Awe-struck, entranced, enthralled. Any or all of them could be used to describe the spell this beautiful she-wolf had me under. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her but I didn’t have to to know my brothers would wear the same expression. And while I was busy soaking in everyst inch of the dazzling creature before me, My wolf pushed forward to catch his own glimpse of her, and his deration was one I knew to be true but had beenunable to utter.


    “Mate!”