Love Me, Still(4)

She’d betrayed them, murdered two of his pack, but he still ached for her. He longed to go back before it all had happened. To the nights she lay between him and Riyu, her silky hair splayed out over his shoulder as she slept in the shelter of his arms.

His nose curled as he began his transformation back to human. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t rid himself of the smell of the hunters that had lingered with her scent that final day. She had reeked of them.

As he conjured his clothing and started for the door to his cabin, the remembered scent, the foul odor, was replaced by a more familiar smell. One that he should not be smelling.

He yanked around to stare across the snow-covered ground. In the distance he heard a yip. Niko. It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t be. He’d disappeared the day Cael’s father had died. Believed dead at the hands of the hunters. And of his mate. Could he have escaped and only now made his way back to the pack?

He threw back his head and uttered a harsh call to Riyu. In seconds, his brother threw open the door and ran out.

“What is it?” he asked Cael.

“Do you smell him?”

Riyu sniffed cautiously at the air. His eyes widened in disbelief. “Niko?”

Another yip rent the air and suddenly, incredulously, Niko appeared over the top of a hill. His paws dug into the snow, ice particles flying in his wake as he pulled a sled behind him.

Cael and Riyu rushed forward to greet their pack mate, their joy at seeing him alive washing over them.

As Niko stopped a few yards away, he shook the snow from his fur then transformed. He strode toward Cael and Riyu, his arm out to greet them.

Cael stared at him in openmouthed wonder. He was alive. Niko grasped the arm that Cael had stuck out in stunned disbelief, as if Niko hadn’t just come back from the dead.

“It’s good to see you, Cael,” Niko said. “Where is Heather?”

Cael’s face hardened. “She’s not here.”

Relief flashed in Niko’s eyes. “Good. I wouldn’t want her to see what I’ve brought you. It would upset her too badly.” He looked around. “Though I think your father would be interested in a little vengeance. Where is he?”

Riyu stepped forward, confusion creasing his brow. “Niko, we thought you were dead. How is it you come to us alive? How is it you know nothing of our father’s death? And why would you ask us if Heather is here knowing what she did to all of us?”

Niko’s mouth dropped open. His tall, muscular body tightened as his lips turned down into a perplexed frown. He shook his muddy blond hair as if clearing the cobwebs.

“Magnus is dead? How did this happen? He was injured when he left Heather and me, but he should have easily survived such wounds. And why did you think me dead? Did Magnus and Heather not tell you I was hunting the hunters who ambushed us?”

Dread tightened Cael’s abdomen. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Nausea curled in his stomach and he rubbed at his gut to try and alleviate the discomfort.

“Magnus died because Heather betrayed us to the hunters,” Riyu said flatly. “Father told us everything.”

Niko went white. “He told you that Heather betrayed us to the hunters? He actually said that?”

Cael nodded.

“Where is Heather?” Niko demanded. Suspicion entered his eyes, and they glittered dangerously.

“We left her behind as befitting someone who brought harm to the pack,” Riyu gritted out.

In a flash, Niko transformed back to wolf and lunged for Riyu. Riyu had no choice but to shift as well. He’d never survive the wolf’s attack in his human form.

Niko snarled and latched onto Riyu’s throat, and they rolled over and over in a mass of writhing fur. Cael quickly transformed and jumped in to separate the two wolves. They were of equal strength and stamina. They would kill each other before giving quarter.

Finally, Cael managed to grab Niko by the scruff of the neck and toss him away. Cael stood between Niko and his brother and growled menacingly, a warning to both of them to back off.

Riyu transformed first then Niko changed back to human, a dangerous scowl darkening his face.

“You left her there in her condition?” Niko demanded. “You left her there after what she suffered?”

Cael shook his head. He was growing more confused by the moment. He jerked his head toward the sled as a low moan rose from the bundle.

He stalked over and yanked away the blanket to see two men lying there bound. He gave Niko a sharp look. “Who are they and why did you bring them here?”

Niko glared at him, his shoulders heaving with anger. “They are the hunters who attacked your mate. The hunters who ambushed us and killed Magnus. I brought them here thinking you would want to exact vengeance for harming what is yours. I can see I made a mistake.”

Riyu edged closer, giving Niko a wary look. “What are you saying, Niko? I don’t understand any of it. You act as though Heather is the victim in all of this. Our father wouldn’t lie. We saw what he saw. We forged into his mind.”

“You saw wrong,” Niko said flatly.

Cael and Riyu exchanged horrified looks. Niko was resolute in his defense of Heather, and he’d been there. Could their father have been wrong? Or did Niko have a reason to lie?

“She reeked of the hunters,” Cael said darkly.

Niko moved as though he’d attack again, and Cael growled a warning. Niko stood there flexing his hands in anger.