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Artem

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The day after we found the house and tracked down where the girl was being kept it was time for us to find out who had her. I had learned what family owned that estate, that’s what they called their property because it was large and housed many buildings. The property belonged to the Peterson family. It was currently run by a man named Howard and he was in charge of all the branch families.

Howard Peterson was originally Howard Pinnacle but when he took the position of family head he changed his legal name. There wasn’t much else that was known about Howard. The family kept to themselves and they were as vast as any of the other families in the area.

That was something else weird about our pack here. We all had ‘families’ but not in a true familial sense. An uncle might not be an uncle, he could just be someone that belonged to a branch family and got the title of uncle because of his authority and position.

Branch families were like families that were owned by the lead family. The lead family was known for having had money for generations and acquiring loyal, or petrified, subjects or some stupid shit like that.

The weird thing is that, as hard as I looked, there was no one that knew of a girl living with the Petersons. There were no birth records of a female that was unaccounted for. And they hadn’t been known to produce anything below mid rank wolves.

So why did they have this girl trapped there? Was she not part of their family? Was she sold to them as a slave or something? That thought made my blood boil just thinking about it.

That night the four of us were ready to make our move. We weren’t likely to find out anything more. Just that the main family house was likely to have around a dozen people inside. That wouldn’t be a problem for us.

We divided into two groups to attack the house. Kent and Toby took the front, Morgan and I took the back. The girl’s scent was stronger around the back of the house as it was and that meant I was more likely to find her.

I had just heard the front door crash open and something inside the house fall over when the back door that I was walking toward was thrown open. In a blur of movement that took my mind half a second to process I saw someone coming right at me. They were flying out of the back at a panicked speed.

For a second I thought it was someone that I would need to fight, but then her scent hit me the same time that the rest of her did. She flew right into me and stopped dead, unable to move past my large, imposing form.

She looked beautiful, even as ragged as she was, she was still adorable. Her face was a soft, slender oval. She was pale, but that didn’t look like it was all caused from being hidden away indoors. Her hair was a beautiful golden brown and her eyes were a beautiful shade of cobalt blue shining in the moonlight. She was maybe five-foot eight, perfect for fitting against my chest protectively.

All I wanted to do was smile and hug her as I reached out to steady her, but I had to restrain myself. Chances are that she was going to be distrusting at first. But I had dealt with that before, I could handle it.

She looked up at me with eyes full of fear and shock. She didn’t make a sound, not a grunt when she had hit me, not a scream, not even a cute, adorable little squeal when she was surprised. All I heard was the air that rushed out of her lungs as she had smashed into me.

“Whoa.” Morgan was almost as shocked as I was to see her. “Who are you?”

The girl didn’t answer, all she did was look between the two of us with eyes as wide as saucers. She was scared, too scared.

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” I heard an angry voice boom from inside the house. The three of us turned to look toward the back of the house as the voice continued to bellow from inside. “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!” That must have been Howard. He was trying to defend his castle it would seem.

“Morgan, go help the others.” I told him, and with a nod he ran forward and jumped through a window, one that was closed. Glass shattered and flew everywhere. I had pulled the girl with me as I turned, wanting to make sure that she was not sprayed by any of the dangerous shrapnel but she flinched at the movement.

“LIAM, LISA, NATHAN!” The man inside roared. “STOP HER!” His voice was a loud booming roar and I felt her flinch again then follow that with a gasp when she heard the man’s words. Whoever they were, they knew that we had come to rescue the girl, or that she was trying to run again, either way they were coming.

I stepped forward in a protective stance, ready to take on the new threat. As soon as I was in position the back of the house seemed to explode. More windows burst as the wolves leapt out of them already shifted. Their large bodies took much of the frames out along with the glass.

Three angry growls met me as I grinned at them. I was going to kick their asses and rescue the girl. Today I was superman. And that’s exactly when the girl standing behind me took off running. She wasn’t as fast as she could have been, I saw she was still limping really bad with every step.

The three wolves in front of me saw her run as well. They tried to take off after her. I stopped one. Morgan came flying back out the window and landed on another, but the last one got away from us.

I needed to go after her. I needed to protect her from that wolf. But if I didn’t stop the one currently trying to bite my arm off then she would have two of them after her.

The wolf snapping at me was female, but she was more fierce than any male I had fought before. Damn, women were brutal.

I didn’t care if she was female though. Treating her differently because of her gender would only get me or the girl killed, and since I was here to save her a death wouldn’t be good. No, I had to fight this woman like any other threat.

I brought my right fist down hard on the back of the female’s head and heard a satisfying crack. When she yelped in pain, releasing my left arm from her jaws I grabbed her left flank and slammed her to the ground, head first. She let out a yelp and stopped moving.

Good, now I could go after the girl and the other wolf.

I took off running in the direction that she had run. I could smell her scent as I ran, a lavender summer breeze. I could also smell the male that ran after her, he was like dirt and sweaty socks. This family really was vile wasn’t it.

I wasn’t going to be too far behind them was I? I wouldn’t be too late would I? I put on an extra burst of speed anyway.

I was weaving in and out of the trees, following their scent. She wasn’t far now, I’d be there soon.

There was another clearing up ahead. A different one than before, closer to the house and in a different direction than she was heading last time.

What I saw in that clearing made me want to roar. The male had the girl pinned to the ground, one massive paw on her chest and his teeth bared in her face. I could already smell the scent of fresh blood as I pounded the forest floor with my feet. He had bitten her.

I was no more than five hundred feet away from her now. I would be there to save her soon. But I wasn’t fast enough to stop her from being hurt. I hadn’t been there in time to protect her from this male. He had injured my mate. What he had done was like a challenge to me personally.

He had bitten her and drawn blood. That was unforgivable. He would pay for that. He would pay for everything he had ever done to her. When I saw his head rear back on a howl before it whipped forward, lighting fast, I knew what he was planning. I really did roar that time as I pushed myself harder, I needed to make myself go, I needed to run even faster.