Enemy Red (6 page)

“But how do you know the ceremony actually works? Just more priest bullshit,”
Jericho
offered. “In my old clan, they tried that same crap with us. But my old man told the priest to go to hell.” He frowned. “’Course, not more than a few days later we were thrown out of the
Great
Forest
. Maybe it wasn’t all bullshit.”

Fenris inwardly flinched. These males he’d come to think of as friends had been ousted from their rightful home by his own uncle. Bad enough he came from the Silver Clan. He knew they gave him slack because Red had ordered it, and because they thought of him as another victim of the Silver Clan. A misguided golden wolf who still refused to accept the truth about the decimation of his clan.

The more time he spent with them, the more he worried about eventually learning the ‘truth’. Had there once been clans of golden wolves? And if so, did his uncle have anything to do with their passing?

Fenris shook off his doubts. “Yeah, well, you wanted to know about the celebration. Every ten years, the Silver Clan gathers together to join mates, unwilling or not, in tribute to the Wolf in the
Forest
. The males are forced to take a lock of hair, bind it in the sacred petals and toss it into the green stalk of Living Wood, which is actually a plant with a hard, bowl-shaped flower given to us a long time ago by the Dark Elves. Personally, seems like the Dark Elves cursed us. Not much of a gift if you ask wolf males.”

“Hell, yeah. One woman? Forever?”
Jericho
shuddered.

“Come on. To find that special female?” the brown fox interrupted. “I’d love to find a female, have kits and settle down. But in the
Great
Forest
. Not here,” Gibson added.

Fenris sighed. “I can’t blame you. I mean, your land is still forest and woods, but the humans are so close.”

“Don’t let Rudra hear you say that,” Brody said in a low voice and moved in the water. “She’s a bit sensitive about mention of anything human.”

“I don’t see why.” Fenris raised his arms above his head and stretched. Damn, the hot spring felt good in the encroaching chill of autumn air. “Her father’s a sorcerer. He’s not human. A like species, maybe, but he’s different. I can smell it on him.”

Brett blinked. “Really? Because they all smell alike to me.”

“What does your alpha smell like, then? Because she’s part sorceress.” Fenris wanted to know. His emotions were in a constant tangle over the sexy, stubborn female. He couldn’t even think of her as human, anymore. Just one more objection he no longer had to put between them. He’d had sex with her as man, and despite his intention not to, they’d had sex while in wolf form, which put him one step closer to mating with her. Two weeks with her wasn’t enough. He wanted to lose himself in her body, in her heart and mind.

“Rudra’s big for a female, but she’d fit me just right. She smells sweet. Like magic and wolf and sex, all rolled up into a delightful—” Brett clutched at Fenris’s hand wrapped around his throat.

Everyone stilled.

“Ah, go easy, Fenris.”
Jericho
chuckled. “Brett likes to fantasise, but Rudra would eat him for breakfast. And not in a good way.”

Alarmed at his loss of control, Fenris tried to play it off. “Sorry. I swear she’s put some kind of spell on me so I won’t leave. Makes me antsy anytime I feel like anyone’s talking bad about her.”

Gibson nodded. “That’s our alpha. Strong, sly and a devious heartbreaker. If she weren’t so out of my league, I’d try for her myself.”

“How come you haven’t,
Jericho
?” Brody asked. “You’ve known her forever.”

Jericho
looked ill. “She’s like a sister, you ass. Honestly. Are you sure you’re not part cat? You think with your dick more than your brain.”

Fenris couldn’t help laughing with the others.

Jericho
continued. “She accepted me without question. Just cubs together, and we hit it off. I’d kill anyone who screwed with her,” he said, glancing at Fenris in no uncertain terms. “But I also know what she needs better than she does.”

“Great. Here we go again.” Brody groaned.

“What?” Fenris asked.

“
Jericho
thinks he’s a shaman. Has dreams and shit. Really annoying,” Brett said.

Fenris admired
Jericho
. Strong, solitary yet protective of his clan, the bear never made excuses for others’ failures or his own. And he was a helluva shifter to have in a fight. They’d crossed a large group of rebellious cats the other day, spoiling for trouble. Fenris had considered the need to shift into his werewolf form, but then
Jericho
had stepped in. After one swipe of his paw, the cats had hissed and run fast and far away.

“What kind of dreams do you have?” he asked
Jericho
.

“Oh, funny ones. Dreams about living again in the
Great
Forest
. About running with a golden wolf, a future alpha of the Silver Clan.”
Jericho
’s dark brown eyes drilled holes into him. “About Dark Elves and sorcerers and the Wolf in the
Forest
. And about the spirit’s long lost brother, the Bear in the Cave.”

“Interesting.” Fenris’ heart raced. How much did
Jericho
really know?

Jericho
studied his fingernails. “Yeah. Seems Uncle Mike is right now scouring the
Great
Forest
looking for his missing
golden
nephews. Red orbs of danger, a missing twin and demons. Ring a bell?”

“Demons? Anson’s gone?” Panicked, Fenris was halfway out of the pool when
Jericho
yanked him back in.

Jericho
grinned, his large teeth glinting in the sun. “You, my friend, are going to get us back into the
Great
Forest
. I’ve been waiting on your sorry ass for years.”

Brett and Brody exchanged a look.

Gibson stared in shock and what looked like hurt. “You’re Mike Barton’s nephew? The next in line to take over as Silver Clan alpha. How…nice.” His yellow eyes glowed with anger.

Jericho
shook his head. “Back off, Gib. He’s Rudra’s. And just wait until she learns what he’s been hiding.” He turned to Fenris. “You should have told her the truth from the beginning. Our alpha doesn’t much like surprises. She’s going to slice your balls off, Goldie. Bad news.”

“Fuck off,
Jericho
. Red’s not going to hurt me. I’m nothing like my uncle, and I’m not a future alpha.”

“Please. Even I can see the power all over you, and I’m not even wolf,” Gibson huffed.

“It has nothing to do with being alpha, it’s—” Fenris stopped, scenting an evil in the air. That same smell of sulphur that had occurred in Rurik’s laboratory had returned. “We have to get back, right now.”

“Hell, no. You’re not going anywhere,” Brody said as he and Brett grabbed his arms.

“You don’t understand.” Fenris tried to jerk free while looking all around him. It had been ingrained in him since birth to keep his werewolf heritage a secret, and he had a hard time allowing it to rise. With Rudra, he hadn’t thought, he’d reacted. Now, he had a feeling only his powerful beast would be able to combat this new threat.

The mark on his forearm began to glow.

Jericho
stared at him and frowned. “Get out of the water, guys,” he said slowly. “Something bad’s coming.”

Before any of them could move, the water turned from hot to ice, freezing them in place.

Fenris worked his arms free from the Nash brothers and called on his inherent werewolf. He felt the change and broke through the ice just as three serpentine monsters appeared from out of nowhere and converged on the pool.

With a roar, Fenris punched the last of the ice holding him in place and freed the others. “Get back to warn Rurik and Rudra,” he growled into stunned faces. All but
Jericho
seemed surprised by his form. “Go.”

Jericho
shook his head. “You three hurry back. I’ll stay here and back up Goldie.”

Fenris took the nearest monster by surprise and sliced through its neck. He felt claws score his side, leaving a deep furrow of pain. Blood matted his fur, and he snarled a warning as the other two converged on him and
Jericho
.

“My cousin will not find the protection he seeks in you,” one of the snakemen hissed. “He and his bitch belong to me.”

Fenris received a blow to his midsection and dodged a near decapitation from the pair of monsters flanking him.
Shit
. One had been bad enough to fight. But three would be a real pain in the ass. Taking advantage of the weakest of them, he tore into its neck wound and pulled until he heard a pop. Unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid the two-pronged attack to his back and side.

Behind him,
Jericho
growled, now a bear.

“Stay back,” Fenris warned. “They’re magic. Leave this to me.” Pleased at the battlelust that began to take the place of the pain, he allowed his rage free reign.

Jericho
ignored him. But the bear’s attack gave Fenris the advantage he needed. As the remaining monsters converged on
Jericho
, Fenris took one of them down by grabbing and ripping out his spinal column from neck to tail.

The other beast shrieked and grew in size.
Jericho
roared and fell back under its onslaught. Fenris tried to help by grabbing its attention, but he had a hard time getting his claws into the creature. It slithered out of his hands by turning into mist for a moment before coalescing once again into solid flesh.

Worried when it turned for
Jericho
once more, he forced it to face him and held on, allowing it to dig its talons into his toughened skin.

“Shit, that hurt,” he growled as he clutched at the area where he imagined the heart to be.

The monster screeched in pain and, in a frenzy, dug its fangs into his shoulder, injecting Fenris with a burning toxin.

It let go when
Jericho
clamped his mouth around the thing’s tail, but Fenris’ respite was short lived. While it ground its claws into him, it flung
Jericho
into a large tree.
Jericho
shifted back into a man’s form and lay still, unmoving. Knowing how much Red loved the large bear, Fenris threw himself into a berserker’s rage.

Oblivious to the wounds he took, he used every bit of his strength and tore through his opponent, delivering a warning to the puppet master behind the monster. “Next time, come in person so I can rip you apart face to face, human scum.”

The sorcerer screamed his denial through the creature before it ceased to exist.

Dropping its slimy remains to the ground, Fenris made his way to
Jericho
. The bear didn’t stir. Hefting him over his shoulder took some work, even for a werewolf.
Jericho
weighed a ton, and Fenris’ wounds began to take their toll. Trudging through the forest and praying the attack in the woods was the only one the sorcerer had perpetrated, he forced himself to keep moving until he found Rurik.

Deciding to try the man at home, Fenris stumbled in that direction, away from the sorcerer’s lab. Before he reached the porch, Rena opened the door and gasped at him. She shifted into a wolf’s form and took off.

“Great. Now I’ve scared Red’s mother.” Wondering if he ought to leave
Jericho
on the steps and go find Red, he set the bear down gently and nearly fell. Clutching his aching ribs, he felt moisture dripping down his torso and realized he was covered in blood.

Not wanting everyone to know about his werewolf form if the Nash brothers hadn’t already told them, he shifted back into a man’s form and passed out.

* * * *

Groggy, Fenris came to, sprawled beside
Jericho
, who stared at him with concern.

“You okay?”
Jericho
rose unsteadily on his feet, blood trickling from his ears.

“Fine.” A lie, but Fenris needed to find Red. “Have you seen Rudra?”

“Not yet. Just woke up.”
Jericho
looked around him with shock on his face. “How the hell did we get here?”

“I carried your sorry ass. Might want to think about a diet. You’re no lightweight.”

“Yeah, neither are you, Fenris
Barton
.”
Jericho
’s expression blanked.

Not wanting to hash out his relation to Uncle Mike just then, Fenris somehow stood on shaky legs, needing to find Red. Anxiety filled him that she might be hurt, needing him while he chatted with her friend.

He took two steps and would have fallen if
Jericho
hadn’t wriggled under his arm. The movement sent shafts of pain down his side, and he gasped.