Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1)(2)

Soren, as Beta, did most of the legwork when it came to that, but he couldn’t do it alone. Not when their numbers grew monthly, but the space they’d been provided hadn’t. The walls became more confining daily, and soon they would have to find a way to glimpse freedom. However, today was not that day.

“We cannot fight against the humans with what we have,” Holden continued. “We are gaining in number, gaining in strength, but it is not enough. Not yet.”

“When will it be enough, Alpha,” Ana, another young wolf, snarled.

Holden clenched his jaw and met her gaze. Her wolf whimpered and lowered her eyes after only a moment of meeting his. Ana wasn’t a weak wolf by far, but she wasn’t anywhere near Holden’s dominance. Between her and Theo, Holden had reached his limit in dealing with cocky attitudes and far away dreams of a freedom without thinking of the cost.

“We’re done,” Holden bit out. “We are dealing with the problems we can control, and the rest are tabled.” He let out a breath, his arms threatening to shake. If he didn’t get out of there soon, he’d start shifting right then. “Go to your families.”

The others shuffled out, their own wolves reaching out to him. He could feel their power brush his own, but that didn’t calm him like it should have. Instead, it only egged him on.

“You need me to run with you?” Soren asked, his voice low. His best friend understood him like no other, but Holden needed to be alone right then. It didn’t help that he knew Soren needed to run off his own demons, but it was not Holden’s place to help him. Some scars could never be healed.

Holden shook his head. “No. Go back and make sure Theo and Ana don’t start shit.”

“They’re young,” Soren said simply as the two of them walked out of Holden’s home into the night.

A breeze brushed over Holden’s face and he stopped to inhale the sweet scents of nature. As much as humans wanted to close them in and never let them breathe free air again, that hadn’t worked. When the compounds were built twenty-five years ago during the first months after shifters had been discovered, the wolves, cats, and bears had been forced to live in warehouses of sorts, breathing recirculated air with no trees around them or soil beneath their feet.

Holden stifled a growl at the memory of their brutal captivity. The chain-link and razor wire electric fences surrounding their newer compound clawed at his soul, but it was nothing like before. When his packmates had started dying, he’d begged—f*cking begged on his hands and knees—to let his people have fresh, unfiltered air and the space to run on four paws that they needed to survive.

In the end, he’d bargained with his life and won. At least as much as he could. He refused to rub between his shoulder blades; the puckered scars there a stark reminder of what he’d endured for the facade of freedom his Pack now held. Between the blood he’d lost and the brutality he had been forced to endure and take part in monthly, he’d found the cost of that small freedom.

But his Pack’s lives were worth all that and more.

“Alpha?”

He shook his head, his hands fisting at his sides. “Go.” One word, a growl on the wind, and Soren lowered his gaze. Holden didn’t miss the sadness there. Soren alone knew the pain Holden endured to keep his people safe, but there was nothing the other man could do—nothing Holden would require his friend to do.

Soren gave him a tight nod then loped off after the other wolves that had gone their separate ways. Holden knew Soren would hold the fort while he ran along the forested edges of their compounds. He couldn’t hunt as the humans had done all in their power to keep game and other animals out of the wolves’ territory, but he could at least run hard between the trees.

He made his way to the forested area on the westernmost edge of the compound. From there he could barely make out the shadowed peaks of the Rocky Mountains. After the humans had found out about shifters and done their best to kill them off, the rest of those with two natures had been forced into compounds around each major city in America—and across the world if what Holden had heard back then was correct. Denver loomed in the distance north of them, but he couldn’t quite see the lights of the big city. That was on purpose, of course. God forbid humans were forced to see the atrocities those in power had created—manmade camps where freedom was nonexistent and torture was a way of life.

The Canine compound sat between the Ursine and Feline compounds, with the Ursines to the west nearer to the foothills, and the Felines to the east, their compound brushing the plains. By law, Holden and his people were not able to visit the others. In fact, they were never allowed to step foot off their compound unless the humans took them out. And even then, it was only for questioning and study.

He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat at that thought. He needed to run, to forget those who had bled at his hands and out of his control. With a sigh, he stripped off his shirt and undid his pants. While he could shift fully clothed, he’d only end up disengaging anything on his body that wasn’t etched into his skin or a special metal. The collars, of course, were made of a metal that adjusted to the size of the shifter’s neck after they changed into their animal form. Such ingenuity from a people who had all but killed his own.

He let out a breath then pulled on his wolf. The change was quick, a breath of sweet agony, and soon he found himself on all fours. In his animal form, he stood a little larger than a natural wolf. The moon wasn’t full so he’d be able to hide easily within the shadows if he felt like it. It helped that his midnight-black fur blended so well with the dark. The only real color was a white stripe on his nose.