Savior of the Wolves

Ron's POV

Aiden has been out of control since we left the main house. He has been unresponsive and defiant. Not that I was trying to command him. It was more to protect him. He knows this. I’ve been protecting him, alongside his father, for as long as he’s been alive.

So, this was different. Something had him on edge. He was acting irresponsibly. That was completely out of character for him.

I was barely able to convince him to slow down just so I could keep up with him. I could see it on his face, he was consumed by something. It was like he hardly knew the rest of us were even with him.

The pack tried to pretend we didn’t hear the frantic tone when Josh demanded our location. There was potential danger ahead and Aiden was telling him to fall back. They were almost always together and for some reason he didn’t want him there.

Josh felt pulled here also or our Alpha would have never agreed to send him behind us.

The two brothers were close. This behavior showed no signs of that. They were acting competitively. Possessive even!

As the rest of us felt a foreign pull toward this direction, it became obviously uncomfortable for Aiden. Whatever was going on was physically hurting him. He complained of his head hurting.

Why were the rest of us not experiencing this?

“Could be witches. High alert,” I warned the group. That was the only logical explanation. There had been rumors of them working with scourges. It made sense. And I didn’t want us walking into a trap.

I kept the link to our Alpha open the entire time. That was what he requested in most detail maneuvers. He couldn’t be everywhere. He had to trust his pack to perform their jobs. But he wanted to know everything.

So I knew he was listening.

I was just about to suggest to Ethan that he send more wolves to our location. He trusted me to handle threats. In any way I thought was necessary.

This was different. I just didn’t know why. Everything in my wolf told me that this was unlike threats I had known before. I recalled old stories. The ones about entire packs who had been manipulated by scourges and annihilated because no one questioned what was odd…what felt different.

I would not lead my group into an ambush. But was calling for more wolves a potentially larger risk? Would I then be asking the main house to stand vulnerable? Making my Alpha and Luna more vulnerable?

I was becoming frustrated with myself for second-guessing. I was the strongest wolf here…next to the alpha family. I knew strategy and I knew how to protect…better than anyone. But this feeling was unlike anything I’ve ever known. And I’m not alone. We all felt it. Something was wrong.

As we closed in, I could finally see ahead. It was a single figure. A human. I knew then I would not make that request. I would not pull more wolves into this. But I also knew I had to keep watch over Aiden. Even though the entire detail was my responsibility, everyone knew that he was my priority. I couldn’t let him make a hasty mistake that would harm him.

The pack slowed and the tall grass shielded our stealthy approach. Each wolf crept lower and lower to the forest floor.

The sounds of nature were louder than any of my detail, so we were easily undetected.

Our pack began to surround the man and his car. I linked to the wolves who were nearing the car’s headlights. The beams spread out across several feet of grass, “Stay in the shadows.”

No human could detect our movements in the dark, but I could easily see the shadows of my detail as they found their way to their position.

We usually make a complete circle to surround a potential risk, but not at the risk of being seen by a human...while in wolf form. This time, we spanned our detail out and formed in behind them, encircling them away from the headlights.

I was nearly crawling on my stomach and Aiden was a full body’s length in front of me. I watched his behavior for cues to show that he saw something before I did.

That’s when he froze and turned to me, “He’s kicking something lying on the ground.”

Aiden’s eyes grew wider…wilder and his mouth quivered in a snarl.

I could see the moment that he gave his wolf control. His soft blue eyes, that usually held softness about them, held death.

“Aiden no!”

“It’s a female. Ron...what’s going on? I feel her!” His growl was raw anger and the man looked up toward our location. He stopped kicking the body lying motionless on the ground.

The man began looking around nervously. I had spent enough time around humans to know that his man was dangerous. I could smell his adrenaline. He was not afraid. He was angry. Hatred oozed from him, and I had no doubt that the female on the ground was in great danger. She was motionless. I could see the blood-soaked onto her clothing. Long strands of her hair were saturated with her blood also and spread against the dirt floor under her. She had lost so much blood. It was obvious by the way it filled the air around us.

We may not have made it in time.

The man was trying to catch his breath. He had been physically assaulting this poor female so long that it had caused him to be winded. What kind of monster was this?

Wolves do not kill humans. The rule is as old as time. But there are exceptions.

To save an innocent life was most important.

I had made my decision. It wasn’t an easy one. Taking a life. But it was necessary. I knew our Alpha would approve. There was no need to ask.

As I began to give the command to the two that I knew could handle the effects of such a burden, Aiden was already in the air.

His body left the ground so fast that my command was cut off. I yelled the names of the two and they were closely behind Aiden and knew exactly what to do.

Aiden was going in to protect the girl.

The other two were going in to protect Aiden.