Chapter 3 Ch 3

Peter and Nathan led the way out of the building I'd been hiding in. My heart was in my throat the whole time. It didn't matter to me what Peter said; if a wolf came strolling around that corner, he would not be enough to protect me. I didn't believe so anyway until we were outside.

"You're riding me, remember?" Peter asked with a glance at me.

Blushing, I nodded. Nathan smiled a little but kept quiet. Peter turned away and bent down onto his hands and knees. There was a barely audible grunt. Then his body was overcome with smoky gray fur while his bones snapped and reformed. Somehow—and I mean somehow because it didn't make any scientific sense—he was huge. Twice the size of his human form. Like, where the hell did all of that extra mass come from?

Peter stood up onto all fours and then just on two legs. I studied him carefully, fighting the instinct to run. His silver eyes glowed down at me from that broad, squarish face. He was a bit hideous, honestly. Human-like forehead and eye shape but protruding wolf-like nuzzle with pointed ears. For a split second, I felt the impulse to flee. My legs tensed. I would've bolted if Nathan didn't grab my arm.

"Nope," he said and guided me over to the enormous beast.

Sniffing at the air, Peter's glowing eyes looked around. He came down to rest on all fours. Nathan pushed me towards him so that I had to grab onto the long, coarse fur. I glanced, panicked, at Peter's face to see if I hurt him but he was still looking off.

I took a deep breath before crouching down and springing back up, throwing one leg over the Lycan's back. He wiggled his spine until I was seated just behind his shoulder blades. Without anyone saying a single word, we started down the street. Nathan kept up with Peter's long legs but I could tell it was difficult. From where I sat, my head was about six inches higher than his. And Nathan was not a small man.

The night settled in around me as I relaxed. It felt nice out tonight. A tinge of coolness strummed through the warm humidity and caressed my skin. There wasn't much to hear either. No droning of cars or chaotic beats of voices. It felt like we were the only three left alive in this area. One of the white oaks lining the street shuddered while a bird skittered around, but that was it.

Peter's gate was long and smooth, so I rocked rhythmically on his back. It was almost soothing. My mind took advantage of the calm to think through what they'd told me. There were only two Lycans left in the world. One of them being Basileus, which meant Peter was the only other creature powerful enough to put Basileus' tyranny to an end. And then there was me, suddenly thrown into this scheme.

Could it be more than just luck that brought me here? What were the chances Peter and his human lackey would just happen to sneak onto my rooftop while I was here? It wasn't like I would have stayed for longer than another week or so.

Peter mentioned oracles and spells and Nature. Sounded like some crazy shit from a witch book. Yet, I wouldn't have believed in werewolves two weeks ago. And here they were, murdering my family and friends to leave me isolated and scrambling for cover.

We moved several blocks before I heard voices and noise. Peter slowed his pace and Nathan pressed so close his arm brushed my leg. I took a firm hold of Peter's fur between my fingers. Then we stopped at a corner of an intersection where the stoplight hung over us, a dead and forgotten statue. Peter turned his head towards Nathan, who understood that as some cue to check the door on the nearest storefront.

"Locked," Nathan mouthed.

Then he moved to the next storefront. It was unlocked. Or broken—these days, those words were exchangeable.

Peter shook himself and bent down, my signal to dismount. I did an awkward tumble to the ground, and it would have caused a noise if Peter didn't grab onto my shirt with his teeth to steady me. My heart jumped into my throat. His teeth had human dental shapes but were particularly sharp. A freaky enough combination. He released me and nodded towards the store.

Within fifteen minutes, Peter had shifted back into a human and joined me and Nathan on the tallest balcony of this building. Unfortunately for me, he was butt-ass naked. I'd seen my fair share of nude people walking around because the werewolves were unashamed. They switched back and forth between their freakish bodies with each passing mood. Even so, it was hard to avoid looking at him. And it wasn't even an attraction thing, because he was old as hell and not even good-looking. I just hadn't gotten used to people walking around naked when they wanted to.

None of us spoke a word. The two men cluttered the railing of the balcony, giving me no choice but to stretch up onto my toes to see around them. Hundreds of people and wolves cluttered the park square in the next block. They were parading around, loud and belligerent. Males and females alike. My gaze flickered around to the parts of the square that once would have been familiar to me. The old trees that had once lined the perimeter had been chopped down so that now only jagged lumps of their thick trunks remained. I had so many reasons to hate these animals, and tearing down historic Nature was only one of them.

My mind brought forth a memory of the ancient oaks that brought me to Savannah in the first place. I was contracted by a private law firm to investigate the local oaks—a handful from thousands of them in the area—and choose an eco-friendly way to preserve them. There was a case between the city and an environmentalist group that was fighting for the trees. The City Council wanted to have some of the trees relocated in order to build a water plant, but relocating the trees would most likely kill them. So I was brought in to prove this.

Just two weeks ago I was a scientist and now I was only a survivor. It didn't matter what I did before all this shit happened. All that mattered was making it through another day so I wouldn't be discarded like everyone else.

The men turned around and knocked me out of my thoughts. Peter pointed behind me, so I went back into the building. He took a seat on the loveseat inside the apartment we were hiding in. Meanwhile, Nathan closed the balcony door and checked out the rest of the place. I looked around to avoid looking at naked Peter.

"He'll be here in a matter of hours," he told me.

My attention dragged carefully over to his face. "What are your next steps?" I asked.

"To wait. When Basileus gets here, he will evaluate the city and then talk to the Alpha in charge here. They'll establish some boundaries and catch up on plans. While he's occupied, his Beta and his Beta's mate will go off to find food." Peter wet his lips and crossed one of his ankles over the opposite knee. "They might be joined by some members of the pack here. Once they are outside the hearing range of the square, I will move in and separate Rylee from her mate. You and Nathan will take her out of the city. I will approach Basileus and offer a compromise. He will fight me because he is a true Alpha, and Alphas will always defend what they believe belongs to them."

"And you think you're going to just beat him?"

Shrugging, he said, "More or less."

"Right. Who is the Rylee chick?"

"It's complicated. All you need to know is that she is Basileus' anchor. A King can't rule if he has something holding him down, and Basileus has let her hold him down for long enough."

God. He sounded insane.

"Why don't you take a nap and rest up?" Peter suggested. "Nathan will get you when it's time."