Winter's Dawn (7 page)

Max pulled the knife out of his shoulder and threw it at the male, who didn’t even have a chance to register surprise before the knife hit him in the chest. Max ran over and jerked the knife out of the male, who was thrashing and screaming as horrifically as the other rogue to die in human form had.

He turned around, seeing seven more wolves snarling and running towards him. He let out a low, vicious wolf growl as he stared at all of them maliciously, before he leaped at the closest one. He landed on the back of the red wolf and snapped his neck as he had the other. It made no difference that the rogue was in wolf form. Bones and tissue gave away just as easily under Max’s strength. He threw the dead wolf aside, his body making a crunching noise, the wood of the wall cracking as Max felt blood and tissue hit the back of his neck.

Max was no longer scared. He was angry and he had taken his anger out on the dead wolf. He turned to look at the other six wolves, who all stopped growling. Curious, terrified expressions shined in their gazes as they stared at the gory mess Max had made by throwing the dead wolf so hard against the wall he had literally exploded into something unrecognizable.

“Who’s next?” Max growled in an inhuman voice.

Instead of running towards him, they darted away, their paws skidding on the marble tile in their haste to escape him. They hadn’t counted on Max chasing them. They had no way of knowing that Susie had told him to kill them all and nature demanded he obey the command.

With a silver dagger and the strength of an alpha wolf, albeit one that was far from being full-grown, six rogue wolves stood no chance against Max.

It took very little time to kill the rest and Max attempted to get some of the carnage off him as he walked back towards the kitchen. He pulled his shirt up, rubbing his face on it, but his shirt was soaked with blood and unable to adsorb any more moisture. He needed to make sure Susie was all right, so he ignored the blood, brushing anything more disgusting off his arms before he pushed the kitchen door open.

“Sue?”

“Max!” Susie said in panic, before she whispered, “It’s Max.”

He frowned and walked around the corner. He found Susie crouched on the floor. The trays of silverware were next to her as she sat talking on a phone she had found, the cord pulled taut as she spoke in frantic whispers.

Susie looked up at him and screamed, her eyes growing wide in terror. “Maxwell!”

“It’s not my blood,” he told her quickly. “Is my father coming?”

“What?” Susie’s eyes were still wide as she stared at him. Her bottom lip quivered and the first tears of the afternoon spilled down her face. “You’re hurt.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

“He’s hurt.” Susie spoke into the phone, finally gathering composure again. “He’s bleeding.”

Max was too tired to argue with her. The adrenaline rush flooded out of him in a great wave now that he knew Susie was safe. He blinked heavy lidded eyes, because spots were started to form in his vision. He sank to his knees and worked at wiping the blood off again, knowing that it was upsetting Susie. No six-year-old puppy, even one who was head queen of werewolves, should have to see something like that. He pushed her away when she tried to help him. He didn’t want Susie to get her hands dirty. He told her to keep talking on the phone to whomever she had called at the Winter Palace for help.

Max was still wiping frantically at the blood, blinking rapidly as he tried to keep his vision clear and ignoring Susie who was crying and whispering on the phone, when he heard his father’s bark. They knew his voice in wolf form as easily as when he was human and more so they both recognized his scent instantly.

“Uncle Doug!” Susie screamed for him. “Help us!”

His father burst into the kitchen, a black wolf with his teeth bared in violence. He looked bigger than Max had ever seen him. Max blinked again, because he knew his vision was still confusing him. His father couldn’t grow bigger. It was just the fear glowing in his dark eyes that made him appear so.

Other werewolves were behind him. His cousin Adam, a red wolf who managed to look even more threatening despite his smaller stature, changed forms before their eyes. He was dressed in the dark clothes he used for rogue hunting. His father changed forms too and both of them dropped to their knees on the tile next to Max.

“Send them to kill the rest of the rogues,” his father growled angrily, turning around to Adam. “I want them all dead!”

“I killed them all already.” Max was still wiping at his arms as tears of frustration formed in his eyes over the thought Susie seeing him like this. He wondered if he could somehow hypnotize her, but he doubted it. “They’re all dead, I made sure.”

“How many were there?” Adam asked, his voice stunned.

Max shook his head, feeling confused. “I dunno. Twelve, I think.”

“Gods, Doug,” Adam rasped. “No one can kill twelve rogues by themselves. I can’t do that and it’s my job.”

“Maxwell.” His father shook Max’s shoulder lightly as other werewolves went to check on Susie. “How did you kill them?”

Max lifted his head to look at him. “What?”

“He’s a gory mess.” Adam’s amber eyes were wide in horror. “Did you do this with your bare hands, Maxwell?”

Max shook his head, finally understanding the question. “No, we found silver.” He pointed to the silver Susie was next too. ”Silverware.”

“Damn,” Max’s father growled, pulling Max towards him and grabbing both his hands. “He’s burnt!”

Max frowned and stared down at his own hands, seeing that several layers of skin had been burned off his palms. He wondered why he didn’t feel it and was still pondering it as his father roughly grabbed his chin, forcing his gaze to him. “What’s your name?”

Max’s frown deepened. “Huh?”

“Your name!”

Max wished his father wouldn’t growl like that. It made him nervous and he had a hard time focusing. He tried to shake his head and continued to blink to keep him in focus.

“Doug, some of this blood is his!” Adam pulled Max from his father and laid him down on the floor. He ripped open Max’s shirt easily and Max blinked again to watch Adam’s jaw fall open in terror. “He’s got a silver wound.”

“Gods, he’s dead!” His father grabbed Max and jumped up. “Tell them to call the doctors!”

Max heard Susie start screaming as his father carried him out of the kitchen. He ran out of the house so quickly Max was confused by the sunlight. He squeezed his eyes shut to block it out because it hurt his head.

“The king is dying!” His father jumped into the back of a car.

“Maxwell, open your eyes!” He shouted as the car started moving. “Open your eyes and look at your father now!”

Max really wanted to ignore him, but his father was hard to ignore when he was using that particular tone. Max blinked heavily lidded eyes up at him, trying his hardest to keep focus on his face.

“Tell me your name!”

Max frowned and then let his eyes drift close, bored with that question. His father could yell if he wanted.

“What’s your mate’s name?”

Max blinked again, wondering why his father’s eyes were so shiny. “Um—” His tongue was being uncooperative. “S-Susie.”

“What is her full name?” his father barked, his eyes narrowed, making tears roll down his tan face. “Tell me your mate’s full name.”

“Gods,” Max moaned, letting his head loll to the side on his father’s arm.

He winced when his father grasped his chin, forcing Max’s gaze back to his once more. “Tell me your mate’s full name. Now!”

“S-Susan, um—” Max blinked again, trying hard to focus. It would be easier if he had Susie to look at instead of his angry father. “Queen Susan Marie Wellington.”

“Tell me her favorite book!”

Max frowned at his father in disbelief. “I dunno,” he whispered, finding that his head was starting to throb from all this thinking. “’M, sleepy.”

“What kind of mate are you if you don’t know your queen’s favorite book?”

That woke Max up a little and he glared at his father. “
A Little Princess
. In French or Italian.”

“And what is her favorite color?” his father asked, his grip on Max’s chin still painful. “You will be a poor mate if you don’t answer me.”

“Blue.” Max blinked more furiously, fighting harder because his father was insulting him on a primal level. “Light blue, because it matches our eyes.”

His father nodded, his eyes still dark and terrifying. “And what is her favorite food?”

Max let out a pitiful, puppy-like whine. He closed his eyes to hide from the pain that was creeping up on him at an alarming rate. “Where is Susie?” he asked him, finding that tears were rolling down his face again. “We left her in the blood.”

“Your queen is fine,” his father assured him. “But, she is going to be very angry if you fall asleep and fail to answer simple questions.”

“She won’t be mad.” Max relaxed despite the pain. He knew Susie better than his father did. “I killed the rogues for her.”

“She’ll be mad when I tell her you don’t even know what she likes to eat!” His father held Max’s chin in a vice grip once more. “And I will tell her, Maxwell. I will have to apologize for providing her with such a poor mate!”

Max growled and glared at his father. “She likes sugar.”

“We all like sugar. I want specifics.”

Max was saved from having to go over the specifics of Susie’s favorite foods when the car stopped. His father kicked the car door open, breaking it, making a horrible sound of grinding metal that hurt Max’s hearing.

“Fall asleep and I will tell her that you are a bad mate,” his father said as he jumped out of the car.

Max growled again, glaring up at his father despite the sunlight that was hurting his eyes. “I hate you.”

His father ignored him as he bellowed, “The king is dying!”

Max flinched at the sound, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. It wasn’t helped when others started screaming. The sound his Aunt Emma made when his father carried him in through the large front door of the Winter Palace nearly knocked him unconscious.

Max dimly heard the sound of people falling to the ground as his father pushed them all out of the way and started running up the stairs. “Get the doctors!”

“They’re coming!” Aunt Emma’s voice was high pitched with panic. “They’re coming right now!”

“Gods, he’s going to die.” His father’s arms trembled. “No one survives a silver wound like this.”

“How deep?”

“Deep.” His father kicked open another door open. “Really deep. He’s already dead.”

“I’m not dead,” Max reminded them in a weak voice as his father laid him down on his bed. Max groaned, wishing he had Susie to lie down next to him. He lifted heavy eyes to his father, seeing that he was crying for some strange reason. “Where’s my mate?”

“She’s coming.” Aunt Emma fell down on her knees next to the bed. “Adam is bringing her in his car. Susan will be with you soon.”

He closed his eyes, feeling more tears roll down his face. “I need her now.”

“Tell me her favorite foods,” his father said, his voice shaking. “Tell me now.”

Max glared at him. “I hate you.”

“He’s in shock, Doug,” Emma said quietly. “He doesn’t mean it.”

“Favorite foods,” his father snapped. “Now, Maxwell!”

Max growled, but went ahead and started on a list of Susie’s favorite foods, because he didn’t want his father telling Susie he was a bad mate. The pain was radiating out of his shoulder now, running down his arm. He clutched at the sheets to distract himself from it, which made his burnt hands ache, but it was still less painful than the hot throbbing in his shoulder.

His words were tight. He had to grit his teeth against the pain when he paused, not that he had much time to pause. His father barked questions at him constantly. He was going over a list of Susie’s favorite toys when Adam burst in.

“My queen?” Max asked Adam when he fell down on his knees between Aunt Emma and his father. “I need her.”

“You don’t look too good.” Adam shook his head, his amber eyes watery. “You don’t want her to see you looking like this. Perhaps we should let her go to the altar room to pray for you instead.”

“No, give me a bath,” he pleaded. “I need her. I’ll die without her.”

“Gods,” his father growled. “Emma, get something to clean him up with.”

“Douglas, his skin is grey.” Adam’s voice was choked. “The poison is killing him.”

“I know that!” his father shouted, turning to Adam. “You think I can’t see that?”

“He should see Susan.” Adam’s voice was still tight with emotion as he wiped at his eyes. “They should die together.”

His father screamed in anger and then jumped up. “Get him clean. I’ll get the queen!”

Max closed his eyes when his father left, relaxing a little now that he knew Susie was coming. He would have fallen asleep if his Aunt hadn’t started tugging at his clothes. He shouted in pain when she took off his ripped shirt, jolting his shoulder painfully.

Adam and Aunt Emma worked quickly at getting him clean, ignoring his crying as every movement caused more pain to shoot through his body. Aunt Emma laid a black towel under his head to cover the blood in his hair that had stained the sheets.