Bound by Fate (War of the Five Fangs Book 1) Read online

  “It’s easy for you to say that now when you have no other bargaining chip,” Aeton said. “But who’s to say what things might fill your head years from now?”

  “Father, please, don’t do this,” Damon begged, his heart suddenly racing.

  “If you hadn’t been such a disappointment I wouldn’t have to,” Aeton said, his tone cold as he fixed his red eyes on Damon. “I wish I’d never had you, wish you’d never been born, wish I had your father still here with me now instead of you. He died giving you life. It doesn’t seem fair.” Damon felt as if he’d been electrocuted. Aeton had always told him that his other father, Onyx, had died in an accident on the Blackcap Mountains.

  “What?”

  “You heard me. You might be worthless, but you aren’t deaf. I traded your father’s life for yours, to save you, and promised him as he died that I would take care of you. It was a mistake, a terrible mistake,” Aeton said, and Damon’s gaze turned to his brother, Thane. It struck him then how different he looked from his brother and now he knew why.

  “Thane?”

  “Yes, Thane isn’t your full brother. Yet another reason we can’t let you live,” Aeton said. “Now that you know, there’s no telling what you might do with the information. You were always too smart for your own good.”

  “Do it, father,” Thane said. Aeton turned to him and for a flash, Damon thought he saw hesitation on his father’s face. “We’ve already been here long enough. If we wait much more the other wolves will think we’re weak.”

  “Father, please,” Damon begged. He knew it might be his last chance. “If you ever loved Onyx, ever loved me, just let me go. You’ll never see me again, I swear.”

  “Listen to him beg! He’s a runt, we can’t let him live,” Thane said.

  “Silence!” Aeton shouted, his boom of a voice bouncing around the Falls. When only the sound of the Falls on the rocks below could be heard, Aeton spoke again. “I won’t kill you, but I won’t keep you either. From this day on, you are no son of mine. You are banished from the Black Claw pack and as far as the pack is concerned, you are an enemy. But don’t take this for mercy, Damon,” Aeton said, fixing his gaze on Damon once more. “Make no mistake, if I ever see your face again, or if you ever dare to rise up against us, I will kill you myself.”

  Damon felt weightless. Now he truly had nothing, but at least his father would let him live, whatever pathetic life he might have to look forward to now. As of this second he was Packless, a fact that was both freeing and terrifying at the same time. His father moved and Damon jumped, afraid that he’d already taken back his word, but it was only so he could stand at the edge overlooking the Falls, no doubt to send a prayer to the First Shifter for what he’d done.

  A roar from Thane made Damon roll back over. He was charging forward, his fangs bared, and instantly Damon saw what was happening. He opened his mouth to speak, to warn his father, but it was too late. Aeton had just turned to find the source of the sound when Thane collided with him and sent their father tumbling over the edge of the Falls. Seconds later a dull thud echoed up from the Falls themselves.

  “What did you do?!” Damon shouted. Heaving, Thane turned and his eyes looked wild, untamed, like something inside of him had snapped.

  “Got rid of the weakness,” Thane said. “Or at least part of it,” he said and started to make his way to Damon. Damon tried to move, to crawl away, but the pain was too much to bear.

  “Stay away from me,” Damon shouted, but Thane only laughed.

  “I should’ve done it sooner, should’ve killed you before you had a chance to get inside his head and ruin him,” Thane said. “He could’ve been one of the greatest leaders our pack has ever seen, but instead he developed a blind spot for you, and look where it got him.”

  “They’ll kill you,” Damon said. “The pack, they’ll turn on you when they find out what you did.”

  “They’ll never know because the secret’s going to die with you, right here and right now,” Thane said.

  “Maybe, but one day they’ll find out the truth. They’ll learn you’re a bastard,” Damon said and Thane roared.

  “I’m no bastard!” he shouted. “It’s you who’s the bastard, the runt of the pack who should’ve never been allowed to live this long. It all ends now.” Without another word, Thane lunged and soared through the air, his fangs aiming straight for Damon’s exposed throat while he laid on his back, and in that moment Damon accepted he would die and hoped it would be over quickly.

  But the blow never came. Instead, a series of snarls filled his ears and when his eyes snapped open he saw Thane rolling across the grass in a bundle with another wolf, all-white and much larger than Thane. Damon would’ve sworn he was hallucinating, that this was some fever-inspired dream before death, but the snapping of jaws was too real, too close. Damon watched Thane and the white wolf struggle back to their feet and take defensive stances, waiting for the other to make a move.

  Damon caught wind of a scent, strong and sweet, coming from the other wolf and at first he didn’t believe his nose. The wolf who’d attacked his brother and saved him was an Omega, and a Silver Fang at that. Why would a Silver Fang be in the Whisperwood tonight, and why would he want to save a Black Claw? Damon thought. It didn’t make any sense. A touch on Damon’s leg made him jump and he looked down to find yet another wolf, this one a gray and black mixture with golden eyes, with its jaws around his leg.

  “Who are you? What are you doing?” Damon asked, trying and failing to pull his leg away.

  “Saving you,” the gray wolf said. “I won’t hurt you, or at least I'll try not to.” He applied just enough pressure to get a grip and gave a tug, which pulled Damon a few inches away from the edge of the Falls. “This would be easier if you could move. Can you?”

  “I don’t think so. I think I have some broken ribs,” Damon said. He wasn’t sure, but given that breathing was so difficult, he could only assume that they were. “Where are you taking me? Why are you doing this? You shouldn’t be here, you should leave. They’ll kill you too.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” the wolf asked. “That’s why we need to hurry. Try to move.”

  A snarl tore through the air again and Damon looked back to see Thane and the white wolf baring their fangs and growling at each other. There wasn’t any blood, not yet, but Damon knew there would be. He’d seen his brother, or half-brother or whatever he was now, fight before and he didn’t think that even with his size advantage this white wolf would stand much of a chance when the blows started.

  “Leave me,” Damon said. “I’m as good as dead anyway. Take your friend and go. There will be more Black Claws here soon enough.”

  “No way. We’re not leaving you. We risked our hides to come out here for you, we’re not turning back now,” the gray wolf said but Damon found it more foolish than brave. He was about to protest when he heard leaves rustling and branches cracking. Birds darted from their nests in the trees in the Whisperwood and then four wolves rocketed out of the southern edge of the forest, snarling as they bounded toward Thane and the white wolf. Damon threw himself to the ground as the wolves approached and at the last second they vaulted over him.

  They continued their run toward Thane and the white wolf and Damon shouted after them but they either didn’t hear or didn’t care. Thane, however, took notice and almost immediately turned and fled toward the eastern part of the forest. The wolves gave him chase up to the edge of the woods and then halted. Damon was both sad and relieved that they’d let him go. He’ll be back, Damon thought, a chill rippling through his body at the thought of what might happen the next time he came face-to-face with Thane.

  “Are you alright?” the white wolf asked, wheezing from the effort of running and rolling with Thane.

  “I’m hurt but not from him,” Damon said.

  “Good,” the wolf said and their eyes locked. He was beautiful, and not just thanks to his all-white coat. Damon’s head spun from the scent the wolf gave o
ff. It was unlike anything he’d ever smelled before, sweet and alluring, like a freshly-bloomed flower in the spring. It stirred feelings in him that he wasn’t aware it was possible to have, feelings of arousal and apprehension and everything in between.

  “Rhys Greyborn,” the largest of the four wolves who’d come to save them called, and the white wolf finally broke their gaze, giving Damon the chance to breathe again, something he hadn’t realized he’d been failing to do. Greyborn, Damon thought. I’ve heard that name somewhere before…

  “Eleo, I can explain—”

  “Are you completely out of your mind? After I specifically forbade you from helping this wolf, you went behind my back and nearly got yourself killed anyway? Your father will hear of this,” the wolf snapped.

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave him, he was going to die here. I watched that other wolf you chased off kill his father,” Rhys said.

  “Maybe so but it wasn’t our place to intervene,” Eleo said. “And Kaster, my own son. I should’ve known better than to let you make friends with this troublemaker.” The wolf who’d been trying to drag Damon away looked down in shame.

  “Well we’re all here now. We’re not leaving him,” Rhys said. Eleo sighed and shook his head.

  “You’re right, we won’t be leaving him. We need to find out what he knows and what happened here. I’m sure your father will want to know how the pack leader of the Black Claws ended up dead in the waters of the Falls,” he said. He turned to the three other wolves who’d chased Thane off with him. “Carry the wolf back to the den. We’ll let Juno and the council decide what to do with him from there.”

  They’re Silver Fangs, Damon thought and for the first time in what seemed like months he felt like he might be safe. The Silver Fangs were known for protecting peace and for being non-violent wherever possible. Whatever their council and leader decided, Damon knew they wouldn’t kill him. The wolves shifted into their human form and took hold of him before gently and carefully lifting him from the ground. The pain was excruciating but it paled in comparison to the feeling of gratitude he felt both for their help and for the fact that he’d be getting to spend more time with this all-white Omega.

  Rhys

  Rhys sat in silence as his father paced in front of him, huffing and mumbling to himself. As soon as they’d returned to the Silver Fang den, Eleo had marched him straight to his father’s quarters and told him everything. It’d been over an hour since then, and his father hadn’t yet said anything to him, which worried Rhys. When he went silent like this, it never ended well for the recipient of his cold shoulder.

  “What were you thinking, Rhys?!” his father shouted at last, jolting Rhys out of his thoughts. “No, don’t answer that. You weren’t thinking, that’s the problem.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Rhys said and he meant it, though he knew it wouldn’t do anything to sooth his father’s rage. To Rhys’s surprise, though, his father sighed and sat back on his haunches.

  “You’ve been nothing but trouble since the day you were born,” Juno said, and despite the words, Rhys saw something on his face that he didn’t dare believe was the beginning of a smile. It was gone as quickly as it had come but if he didn’t know any better, Rhys might’ve sworn that his father was proud of him.

  “You’ve got to get a grip on yourself, Rhys,” Juno said. “I know you’re strong, I know you’re brave. You don’t need to prove it to me or to any of the other wolves. But you do need to learn your place.”

  “My place is out there, in the world, hunting and tracking and fighting,” Rhys said.

  “No. Your place is here, safe with the other wolves. Your place is with Kane Northstar, or have you already forgotten about that arrangement?” Juno asked.

  “I haven’t, as much as I’d like to,” Rhys admitted.

  “I know you don’t care for him but our house needs this alliance, Rhys,” Juno said. “Sayer’s been breathing down my neck about my ability to lead for months and now thanks to this most recent stunt and the presence of a Black Claw in our den the whole pack no doubt thinks I can’t even control my own son. What kind of message do you think that sends?”

  “I’m sorry,” Rhys said again, his gaze falling to the ground.

  “The world we live in isn’t the world I knew when I was your age.”

  “I know but—”

  “Rhys, you don’t understand,” Juno interrupted him. “You’re all I have left since Rai… Since he returned to the Light.” Hearing Juno, who was legendary for his toughness, open up about his lost mate and the Omega who’d touched both of their lives was like a knife through Rhys’s heart. Since Rhys’s papa Rai, who was a Ranger himself, had died of fever, Juno had never been the same; he’d become even more of a fortress emotionally than he was before.

  “Rhys, listen to me. You have to let go of this wildness in you, for your sake and for the sake of our entire pack,” he said. “I need to be able to depend on you and I can’t do that when you’re acting without thinking like this.”

  Rhys thought only of Kane Northstar as his father spoke and the miserable life he was sure to lead if and when they were mated. Rhys had never liked the idea of fatherhood but he liked the idea of becoming a father to Kane’s child even less.

  “We can’t trust the Northstars,” Rhys said. “You know that better than anyone.”

  “You’re right, we can’t,” his father said. “And that’s why we need to bind them to us. We have to keep them close so we can watch them and make sure they’re not working against us.”

  “I still don’t see why I need to mate with Kane for that to happen,” Rhys said and his father sighed.

  “Because the one thing that the Northstars want is power. If we want to keep them on our side then we have to maintain the illusion that they have it. The only way we can do that is through a mating,” Juno said.

  “It’s not fair,” Rhys said.

  “You’re right, it isn’t. But neither is life. Is it fair that right now my control of our pack is shaky at best? Is it fair that many of our own wolves doubt my judgment?” Juno asked.

  “No, it isn’t,” Rhys said, taking the point.

  “The only thing we can do when we’re faced with unfairness in life is to take action to change it, which is exactly what I’m trying to do. You might not understand this until you have a child of your own but every time the Rangers report to me the only thing I can think of is you and what I need to do to keep you safe because you are the only thing that matters to me. But you are also the future of this pack, you have been from the moment you were born, and neither of us can afford to forget that,” Juno said and looked away from him.

  “If the world has changed so much, why can’t we change the rules along with it?” Rhys asked. “Why the hell can’t an Omega be a Ranger or a warrior or whatever else they want to be? Because some dumb book said so?” His father fixed him with an intense stare.

  “You’re upset so I’ll let that comment pass this time but I don’t ever want to hear you speak that way about the Book of the Dawn ever again,” Juno said, his voice firm and chilling at the same time. “An Omega can’t be a warrior because only they can give us children and give the children the nurturing that they need. Without children, and without Omegas to rear them, we’re lost, all of us."

  “But even the Book of the Dawn itself mentions great Omegas, wolves who gave birth and then went on to fight in some of the biggest battles shifter kind has ever seen,” Rhys argued.

  “And how many of them lived to return to their children?” Juno asked and Rhys fell silent. He knew the answer but didn’t want to say it. “Exactly,” Juno said.

  “What about the Black Claw?” Rhys dared to ask. “Is he going to be given the same rules to play by?” His father sighed.

  “The council will vote on his fate.”

  “And then what? Will they kill him if they decide he can’t stay here?” Rhys asked, dreading the answer. His father looked awa
y and Rhys’s spirits fell. It still didn’t make much sense to him but for some reason he felt oddly drawn to the Black Claw he’d saved, a wolf whose name he still didn’t know. Rhys had always been a headstrong Omega and had never really paid much attention to the rules or to the roles the other wolves thought he was supposed to fill, but there was something about the Black Claw in particular that made him feel even more wild, even more out of himself.

  You’re in heat, Rhys reminded himself. That’s all it is. He’d heard that heats made Omegas do crazy things, things they would otherwise never have dreamed of doing. This was Rhys’s first heat so he wasn’t sure how much of the stories he should believe but given the fact that he’d risked his own life to save a Black Claw wolf, maybe the stories had some element of truth to them.

  “I don’t know. I want to believe they’re more rational than that but you have to understand where they’re coming from. You plucked this wolf from the Falls, where his own father, the pack leader of the Black Claws, was found dead in the water. You know what bloodshed in the Falls means,” Juno said.

  “War,” Rhys said. He’d heard it all his life. If any wolf, Silver Fang, Black Claw, or otherwise, dared shed blood in the Falls then the treaty that the great Oberon Mooneye himself had betrayed his pack to forge with the others would be voided.

  “Yes. They’ll blame us if and when they find out you were there, and Eleo seems to believe that the brother they chased off will tell them just that,” Juno said. “Dark times are coming, my son. You need to prepare yourself for them.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt but the council is ready,” Eleo’s voice said, stirring them both. Juno nodded and gave Rhys one last look before loping out of his quarters with Rhys right behind him. As they walked through the main room of the den and toward the back where the council decided all of the pack’s business, Rhys’s heart hammered in his chest. He wanted to believe that the council wouldn’t do anything rash but things had been rocky now for months so he doubted that they’d use their heads, especially if and when Sayer started his rabble rousing.