Charmed Wolf

a step, but she managed to force out words that only slightly quivered. “Your mate trespassed on Whelan land just as you are trespassing. If you don’t remove yourself, you will be removed.”
Moss and flowers tore loose beneath my claws, but I didn’t pause to placate the Guardian. Instead, I arrowed for the edge of pack central. Arrowed for the source of danger to my family and friends.
There, I wiggled between pack mates, frozen and otherwise. Leapt for the invaders...only to fall onto my nose as someone more dominant than I was barked out a command.
No, not someone. Lupe. I recognized the frigid strength of her voice, even in wolf form. Clawing my way back to my feet, I peered up at our enemies, the ones I’d assumed were unknown invaders.
They weren’t. It was the Samhain Shifters—Lupe, Ryder, and a scar-faced stranger. The ones Rune trusted with his true name.
And I trusted Rune’s judgement, which meant words rather than claws were called for. So, even though the gesture seemed counterintuitive, I shifted upward into my naked human skin.
Now I was weaponless, defenseless, and facing down werewolves who’d proven their superior dominance. Still, my voice was even as I told them:
“I am this pack’s Alpha. Whatever happened, I will make it right.”
“MY MATE....” THE TWISTED-face shifter lunged at me.
Lupe’s voice, now human, froze him just like she’d frozen me. “Tank, stop.”
He stopped, although he didn’t fall onto his face the way I had. Instead, we eyed each other, two naked Alphas. Then Tank spoke again, this time without moving. “I want Athena returned to me.”
Athena? The name rang a bell. Wasn’t she...?
Sure enough, Caitlyn’s voice pinged in my head, desperate yet focused. “Alpha! I tried to tell Willa that Athena had your permission to be here, but she wouldn’t listen.”
So that’s why the situation had gone south so fast. “Where is Athena?”
“Locked in the holding cells.”
Where we put out-of-control werewolves. The walls were embedded with metal bars.
Alright. So this would require groveling. I was willing to grovel, but better to do so without the entire pack watching.
“Willa,” I snapped, “lead a full retreat then tend to injuries.”
Her nostrils flared. For a split second I thought she’d argue. After all, before my father’s death, she’d been stronger than everyone but the Alpha. She’d been easily able to bark me into line.
But now I was the Alpha. And, after a moment, Willa bowed her head then ushered away the rest of our pack mates.
Which left me alone with the Samhain Shifters. Slowly, the sounds of crickets rose back around us. Slowly, I forced my head sideways to bare my neck.
Total submission on Whelan land wasn’t the gesture of an Alpha, but I was prepared to do whatever it took to protect my pack mates. Keeping my voice low, I spoke the words that matched my bodily show of weakness.
“I humbly apologize for the misunderstanding. Athena will be released immediately. Caitlyn will lead you there.”
Because the teenager had circled back around to wait in the shadows. At the sound of her name, she stepped out, appearing bolder than I would have been at her age when facing down so many dominant wolves.
She even had the gumption to remind me of the point I’d forgotten. “I can’t open the holding cell without the code.”
A secret that only Willa and I were privy to. A code that unlocked not only the holding cells but everyone’s personal quarters and our emergency arsenal as well.
And...I trusted Caitlyn with that secret. So I recited numbers silently even as I eyed the Samhain Shifters. Tank appeared placated, Ryder was smirking, but Lupe’s face remained stony.
“You and I have matters to discuss,” the leader of the Samhain Shifters observed.
“And we will,” I promised. “As soon as I check on the safety of my pack mates.” And made sure Kale was okay. And set a force fire into motion.
For a long moment, the air turned electric between us. Then Lupe turned on her heel and stalked off.

Chapter 21
I caught up with Rune and Kale halfway between where I’d left them and the mansion. I’d been concerned that a twelve-year-old human would be scarred by being charmed and kidnapped then taken halfway to Faery. Instead, Kale appeared to be as engrossed as his mother often got as he read off his cell phone.
“Force fire,” Kale noted as Rune grabbed a branch and twisted it out of the way to prevent the end from slapping them both in the face, “is started by friction.”
“That sounds simple,” I said, stepping out to join them. Less simple was the way Kale’s gaze skittered away from mine. Less simple was the fact that Rune was a Samhain Shifter and my pack had recently engaged in a battle with his comrades.
The latter cocked his head, and it was almost as if he understood what I was thinking. “I know they’re here and I trust you,” he murmured before adding: “The force fire isn’t as simple as it sounds. Kale’s picture shows a fifteen-foot tree trunk carved to a point and upended, twisted back and forth by half a dozen men.”
A gruff female voice wound toward us out of the darkness. “Don’t tell me. You want me to set that up also.”
The air turned electric. Rune placed himself between Kale and Willa as the latter stepped forward at her usual locomotive’s pace. Soft human hairs raised along the back of Rune’s neck as his fingers fell to his sword.
The protective instinct was unnecessary but unsurprising. After all, my temporary Beta wasn’t just being her usual terse self. This time, she was furious.
And for very good reason. Within the last few hours, I’d failed to inform her about Athena, had sent her away while dealing with the fall-out from that oversight, and now I was spending time with non-pack-mates rather than handling what she must think was the more pressing danger to the pack.
Still, I had no time to hash out our differences. Nor