Wildling

She stared at the bounty line. Waiting, the exhilaration of a hunt warming her bones. Trent had been more forthcoming with information, being petrified of her. She smirked inwardly. Must be due to having to pee through a tube. Aoralia chuckled in her mind, thrilled they made him suffer for his crimes.

She was lying in wait at the edge of Dimitri’s territory, waiting for the next shipment of lives to trudge through. According to the traitor wolf, people are bought and then walked in chains through the pack to the southern border. From there a large van meets them to deliver them to their buyers. Her throat constricted, thinking of all the people who have already been sold. She might have been one of them. Off to god knows where to be forced into lewd acts against her will.

She wanted nothing more than to march up to the pack house and raise hell on Demetri. But she knew she wasn’t ready yet. He was strong, and she had yet to learn all her powers.

Soon. Aoralia purred into her mind.

For now, she would have to be content to ruin his business. She stayed outside the border, far enough not to be detected but close enough to watch. She and her mate as well as the alpha pair talked about how to free everyone. Mark and the warriors stayed farther away, hidden in the trees waiting for signal from Ember. They would be back up. Trent couldn’t say who comes to pick up the slaves or how heavily armed they were. He was adamant that he had no knowledge of who else worked with Dimitri on shipments. Ember didn’t believe him, and sensed he was setting them up somehow. So, she and Edward had devised a plan of attack on how to keep their own numbers hidden until they were needed.

The warriors were decked out with state-of-the-art weapons. Ember had been teaching them new techniques with different weapons and she was proud of how quickly they mastered them. Ember herself had her trusty bow in hand as well as her knives. She was ready for anything. Well, almost anything.

Her eyes darted around, watching for the slightest movements. She was on edge being so close to Dimitri. He had been watching her somehow over five years, is he watching now? What if things went wrong and she was captured? She wasn’t sure she could live through more torture, even if now she had something to live for. Jaxson, in tune with his mate, could feel her thought process. Her mind running rampant on what if’s. He took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze of reoccurrence. She smiled briefly at his care. He would always be there for her.

His green eyes blazed with an intensity that always made her breathless. God how she wished they were locked in their room right now, worshipping each other’s body. A small smirk graced his luscious lips, knowing where her mind just went. He wished for that too. He couldn’t get enough of her. After this was over, he would spend every day of the rest of his life loving on her.

She breathed in deeply, letting his soothing scent relax her as his thumb rubbed the back of her hand.

Their eyes snapped up at the sound of chains clanging and footsteps dragging through the dirt. Woman and children’s sniffles and sobs could be heard. Ember glanced at her friends and nodded. They were ready.

Slowly emerging through the trees, a large group of slaves came in to view. At least five women, and 6 children were bound in a long line and one male teenager brought up the rear.

A large military van pulled up. 6 armed guards flanked it on all sides, machine guns poised and ready. Another, burly looking man stepped out of the passenger side door and began shouting orders to the guards and slaves.

Ember’s fists clenched as she watched the guard yank the first woman by her chains so violently that she lost her balance and fell to the ground in a heap.

“Get up you fucking mutt! I don’t have all day!” He screamed at her, slapping her across the face. She sobbed into the ground as she slowly rose to a kneeling position. The other woman and children huddled, quietly sobbing in terror.

Ember had had enough. Grabbing an arrow from her quiver, she lined up her shot and released on her exhale. The arrow whined through the air, lodging with a thunk in the back of the main guard. The shot was so powerful, you could see the tip of the arrow poking through his chest as he fell to the ground with a thud.

All hell broke loose. The children began screaming in fright and the guards turned, aiming their guns in the direction Ember’s shot came from, firing multiple shots at the invisible enemy.

Ember grunted, trying to keep in a yell as one of the bullets penetrated her shoulder. She could feel Jaxson’s panic through the bond.

Shit! Em are you ok? We need to get you to the doctor. Let the warriors deal with this.

Silly mate. It’s just a shot to the shoulder. I’m fine. It’s practically healed already. Ember shook her head as Jaxson continued to overreact in her head. Surprisingly, Sean and Ashton have similar views judging by the looks on their faces. Overprotective males. The shots died down as the guards started to reload.

It’s time. Ember rose from her spot, arrow notched as she stepped into view.

“Release them.” Her voice deepening as Aoralia rose to the surface. The guards’ heads snapped up to her, their panicked looks dying down as they realized it was only her. They glanced at each other and began chuckling.

“Sweetheart, please. You really don’t want to be sticking your nose in our business. These people belong to us. They are our property. So, leave before we decide to take you too.” The guard sneered at her.

Ember’s eyes darkened in fury. How dare he talk about people as if they are objects. She spent a year of her life being treated like one, she will not let anyone else feel like that. She bared her teeth, snarling. Aching to tear into his flesh. Aoralia howled her approval, desperately wanting to be let out so she could feel her fangs sink into tender, warm flesh of his body.

“You will pay for ever treating these people like you own them. They belong to only themselves.” She growled maliciously. The guard looked around uneasily as he felt her powerful aura slip out. Alpha. His own wolf called to him, warning him to be wary. The other guards were human so they couldn’t know the reason for his sudden hesitation.

Sean watched in awe as he felt her power strangle the air around them. Even he was finding it hard not to submit. How could she be so powerful as to make even another alpha practically submit to her? Not able to take the pressure of her aura any longer, he signals the others to join the action. The warriors remained in the trees.

The guards were quick to act as they watched their comrade stuttering like a fool in front of a measly woman. They had begun advancing on her just as her friends stepped out. Ember quickly slung her bow over her back and withdrew her knives. She launched for the one guard who called her sweetheart as her friends quickly shifted to jump on the other men. He quickly shifted into a mangy brown wolf.

He growled viciously in her face, saliva dripping from his canines. He reared up on his hind legs and scrambled to try and knock her down. She blocked his blows with blistering speed. Cutting him slightly with each block. Wearing him down. She glanced around quickly to make sure her mate was ok only to find the other men already killed. Her mate was watching her fight with pride and lust in his fervid look.

She turned her attention back to the wolf before her. He had taken her momentary distraction to lunge at her in a hopeful attack. He knew he couldn’t win, not with all the other wolves here, but he had to try. She had turned just in time to catch the wolf by the throat. Her hand squeezing his trachea.

Ember cocked her head slightly, her eyes burning with anger, as she looked up at the wolf she held off the ground. She growled.

“Submit.” Aoralia’s voice mixed with hers made it come out much more forceful. The wolf whined beneath her hand as her grip tightened. With no other option, the brown wolf sighed in resignation. He couldn’t tilt his head to expose his neck, her grip on him was unrelenting. But she saw his body language and the surrender in his eyes.

She loosened her grip slightly and then threw the wolf onto the ground by Sean’s feet.

“Bind him. He can keep our other friend company.” With the last guard taken care of. Ember turned towards the cowering women and children.

“Is everyone ok?” She spoke softly as she preceded to break the chains away from their limbs. “If anyone has injuries please inform me and we can address them. You are safe now. No harm will come to you any longer.” The first women she had unchained, grasped her hands in a fierce gripping. Her eyes glistened with tears of relief.

“Thank you.” She began sobbing as Ember brought her into a hug. Her heart clenching as she knew what they had been through, she had been there before, constantly begging for someone to save her when she couldn’t save herself. A tug on the woman’s legs made her look down to the small child who was looked at her with trembling lips. “Oh, my brave girl. We are safe.” She scooped the child into her arms as Ember watched their interaction.

“Are all the children related to you all?” Ember was curious on why they were buying mothers and their children together.

“All but Hope.” The woman pointed to a small girl about three years old. She looked lost and afraid. “Her parents died not long ago.” The woman’s voice whispered so Hope wouldn’t hear.

Ember went down the line of people, breaking their chains and then sent them to Sean to discuss living arrangements. They would rest and heal before deciding if they wanted to go back to their original pack or stay in Sean’s. Some of the woman had been stolen from their homes. When Ember reached Hope, she smiled fondly at the child while she broke the chains.

“You were a very brave girl Hope. Are you hurt?” Hope hesitantly shook her head. Ember wiped the drying tears from the girl’s face, they had stopped leaking from her blue eyes a few minutes ago. Her blonde hair was tied in a small ponytail that was threatening to fall apart. Wisps of hair framed her small, dirt smudged face. Jaxson watched from a distance at the mothering nature of his mate. His heart saddened briefly as he knew she desperately wished for her baby.

The small child took Ember’s hand, trusting her, as Ember walked her to where Sean and Ashton stood. They had been watching the girl with astonished yet hopeful gazes. Both of their wolves were calling to the little girl.

Ember was already two steps ahead of their wolves as she heaved Hope into her arms as she talked with her. She was whispering so softly that only Hope could hear.

“Now, I know you are afraid baby girl. But my wolf tells me that the two men over there,” she pointed at Sean and Ash, “They would love to have you join them for lunch. Maybe you can make them dress up!” Hope’s eyes brightened at the thought of having these two large men dress in frilly skirts. She looked hopefully into Ember’s eyes and Ember winked back at her playfully. All the girl needs are good parents and to forget this horrid situation. She didn’t know how she knew, but Hope was destined to be Sean and Ashton’s.

Ember walked to the two wolves who now looked like fish out of water. Their mouthed gaping, opening and closing as their wolves shouted at them. Pup! Our pup!

She wants to have a tea party and play dress up. Ember spoke to them with a small smile and her eyebrow raised. They hesitantly nodded. Hope’s tiny hands reached for them as they scooped her into their arms. She could feel a bond with them as well, although she didn’t understand it. She knew they would never hurt her and that they would always protect her. They hugged her to them, and she felt warm, and happy. She was still confused but they told her they wanted the doctor to look her over before going home to play.

Ember smiled, a longing expression on her face as she watched the new parents bond with their pup. She briefly looked towards her mate, her heart both fluttering and dropping slightly as he watched them with the same expression. She wanted to give him that.

She glanced around and found that Mark had released the rest of the victims while she was distracted with Hope.

Aoralia started to become agitated, she wasn’t sure why. She kept trying to sniff the air. A smell of lemons brought her back to a scent she hadn’t smelled in years. Ember whipped her head around to find the teenage boy staring at her with a curious and fearful expression.

He was sure it was her. Her smell, her hair, even her features looked the same. He glimpsed her milky blue eye and her honey brown one and new for sure.

“Ember.” The boy breathed out in shock.

Ember stared at him with the same shock he displayed for her. “Alex.” She whispered not daring to believe he was here before her.