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

  Inside the council’s chambers, the council members themselves had taken their place in a row on the elevated stone that looked down on the rest of them. The Black Claw wolf sat in his human form in front of them with his back to Rhys and Rhys was relieved to see that he now wore bandages and had had the blood washed away from his face and body. He looked uncomfortable but still better than he had the last time that Rhys had seen him. Once Rhys and his father had taken their places to the left of the council members, Eleo and the other Rangers allowed the rest of the pack to enter the room.

  “Silence,” Rast, the eldest wolf on the council, called from the elevated stone and at once everyone went quiet. Rhys’s heart pounded in his chest.

  “Thank you all coming so suddenly,” Rast said. “We don’t have much time so let’s get started. State your name, young one,” he said to the Black Claw.

  “M-my name is Damon Mooneye,” the wolf said and if the pack was quiet before now it was eerily so. Rhys watched the pack members look at each other, none of them sure what to say or if they’d heard correctly. Even from this far away, Rhys could smell the fear on Damon.

  “You are a Black Claw, are you not?” Rast asked.

  “I used to be,” Damon said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was until my father banished me,” Damon said.

  “And who is your father?”

  “Aeton Mooneye,” Damon said and instantly the pack erupted into a chorus of angry voices.

  “Silence!” Rast snapped again. “Aeton Mooneye, the leader of the Black Claw pack?”

  “Yes, that’s my father,” Damon said.

  “And why did he see it fit to banish you from his pack?”

  “I disgraced our family. I failed the initiation,” Damon said, looking down as a tear appeared on his face.

  “Initiation?” Rast asked.

  “For the Black Claw Alpha Order,” Damon said and Rhys’s heart skipped a beat. Damon’s an Alpha? Rhys thought. In that one moment, everything fell into place; the feelings he’d been having for Damon, the reason he’d risked his life to save him, why his own pack wanted him dead, everything. “I failed it and brought shame to my father. I was his heir and now… I don’t know what I am.”

  “And so you killed him,” Rast said and Damon’s head shot up, his eyes wide as he shook his head.

  “No, I didn’t have anything to do with that. It was my half-brother, Thane, who did that to my father. My father and I never had much love for each other but I would never have… done that,” Damon said, his gaze falling again.

  “There was another wolf, that much is true,” Eleo called from the door. “We chased it off but I can’t verify what else the young wolf has to say.”

  “I was there, I saw it, Damon’s telling the truth,” Rhys blurted and his father shot him a dirty look. Rast stared at him as Rhys stepped forward to Damon and faced the council. He wasn’t afraid of them and he wasn’t going to let them doom this wolf who’d already lost everything.

  “I fought the wolf who killed his father,” Rhys continued.

  “You are the wolf who brought this all on us, why should we believe anything you say?” Sayer asked, stepping forward from the crowd. Rhys had known it was only a matter of time before Sayer intervened but it didn’t make him happy that it had happened. Kane’s gaze met Rhys’s as he waited for Rast or anyone else to say something, anything, and Rhys couldn’t shake the feeling that trouble was brewing.

  “And why would this wolf want to kill his own father and brother?” Rast asked Rhys.

  “I don’t know,” Rhys admitted.

  “Thane, my brother, wants my claim to the leadership of the pack,” Damon said. “I was hurt in the melee during the initiation and my pack mates left me for dead but I didn’t die. Thane and my father came to put an end to me but my father caved and that enraged Thane.”

  “And you expect us to harbor you?” Sayer asked.

  “I don't have anywhere else to go,” Damon said.

  “That’s not our problem. The Black Claws will almost certainly bring war and it’ll hit us first if we allow you to stay here,” Sayer said.

  “Enough, Sayer," Rast commanded and even Sayer didn’t dare defy the council, though he looked more than a little miffed. Rhys couldn’t believe his father hadn’t spoken up yet. Maybe he doesn’t want Damon here either, he thought with dismay. Rast looked at the rest of the council and then turned his gaze on Juno.

  “We can’t allow you to stay here, young wolf,” Rast said. “It’s too dangerous. We will make sure that your most serious wounds are seen to and then we will send you on your way.”

  “No,” Juno said, his voice booming in the council chamber. “The wolf stays. We might make use of him and his knowledge of the Black Claw pack. Clearly he has no allegiance to them now.”

  “Traitor,” Sayer spat and skulked out of the room with Kane at his heels. Several of the other wolves followed them, making their allegiance known even though they didn’t say it. The council was the source of all of their decisions as a pack but the pack leader always had the final say. Rast stared at Juno, bewildered, but Rhys’s heart soared.

  “It’s settled,” Rast said and the rest of the wolves left the council.

  “Thank you,” Damon said to Juno.

  “Don’t thank me yet. The worst isn’t over,” Juno said and left the room. Rhys had no idea what might happen next but in the moment he didn’t care.

  “You saved me,” Damon said, turning to him. “Why?”

  “I’m not sure, honestly,” Rhys answered, truly taking in Damon’s features for the first time. His dirty blond hair was long and matted and his frame wasn’t as muscled as some of the other shifters in the Silver Fang pack but those things only added to the attraction Rhys felt.

  “You’re not like any other Omega I’ve ever met,” Damon said.

  “And you’re not like any other Alpha I’ve ever met,” Rhys said. Damon laughed and looked away, his face blushing somewhat.

  “You didn’t have to do this. You shouldn’t have done it,” Damon said.

  “I know I didn’t but I’m glad I did. Maybe it’s time we moved past pack politics,” Rhys said, hoping the time for that really had come. Kaster stepped forward a moment later with two of the other Healers and Rhys didn’t argue when they said they needed to take care of Damon.

  “I hope you feel better soon,” Rhys told him and though Damon didn’t say anything, he didn’t need to. The scent that emanated from him said everything that Rhys needed to know.

  He left Damon with the Healers before his urges got the better of him, promising himself that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t let his heat complicate things. Damon would need him at his best and the only way he could do that was if he kept things as simple between them as possible. Besides, he was still a Black Claw as far as Rhys’s pack was concerned, and they no doubt thought that Damon had murdered his own father. Any way Rhys tried to look at it, there was nothing good that would come if he gave in to the urges and feelings that stirred in him whenever he thought about Damon. It would also almost certainly cement his place in the Omega lifestyle that he would’ve given anything to avoid.

  Let it go, Rhys. It’s just your heat talking. You’ve got to be stronger than that, he thought, though he couldn’t help wondering if things were really so simple.

  Rhys

  Sleep didn’t come easy that night, not that it ever did. Each time Rhys slipped into the weightless zone between sleep and wakefulness, he’d jolt as if he’d again tackled the wolf who’d been seconds away from tearing out Damon’s throat. Or he’d wake with a burning in his stomach and in his groin, the faint whisper of Damon’s scent in his nose and spend the next few minutes trying to erase the dream he’d just woken from, try to forget the feeling of Damon holding him down as he slipped inside of Rhys…

  “Rhys,” a voice hissed. “Rhys! Wake up!” Rhys sat bolt upright and found Kaster hovering in front of him. His vision was
blurry but even through that he could tell Kaster looked concerned.

  “What? What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s Juno. Sayer’s challenged him for pack leader,” Kaster said and Rhys felt as if the floor had fallen out from underneath him.

  “I’m still asleep, aren’t I?” Rhys asked though he didn’t need to see Kaster’s shaking head to know the answer. Rhys climbed to his feet, his entire body sore from the previous day’s encounter with Thane, and stepped out of his sleeping quarters. The sun spilled in from the main entrance but the hall was empty.

  “Where is everyone?” Rhys asked.

  “Outside,” Kaster said as he caught up.

  “Why would Sayer do this? Is it because of Damon?” Rhys asked and Kaster nodded. Together, they ran outside of the den and immediately the smell of the sea filled Rhys’s nose and the sound of the waves filled his ears. If there was really going to be a challenge for leader of the pack, Rhys knew it would happen on the beach. He ran as fast as his paws would carry him around the den and down the hill that lead to the sand. There his entire pack had gathered, forming a ring around his father and Sayer. Why didn’t he wake me up to tell me? Rhys thought as he looked at his father’s solemn face and narrowed eyes.

  “Father!” He called and Juno turned to him, his face changing from stony to alarmed in an instant.

  “Rhys,” he answered as Rhys forced his way through the crowd of wolves to stop at his father’s side. The sand was soft and cold from the retreating tide, a sensation that Rhys might’ve taken as an omen if he believed in those kinds of things. “You shouldn’t be here,” Juno said as Rhys nuzzled up against him.

  “You don’t have to do this. You shouldn’t do this,” Rhys said, looking up at his father. Though he wore a smile, Rhys took no comfort in it.

  “Yes I do. Sayer challenged me and a challenge can’t be left unanswered,” Juno said.

  “That doesn’t mean you have to fight him. You could surrender, let him have the leadership. Clearly the pack doesn’t value what you think anyway,” Rhys said and his father smirked.

  “Son, we have held leadership of this pack for generations, I refuse to just step aside and let a traitor like Sayer take control of it,” Juno said. He looked up and away and Rhys followed his gaze to find Eleo standing on the outer edge of the ring of wolves that surrounded them. He looked grave, even more so than Juno did, but he nodded in silent acknowledgement. But of what? Rhys wondered.

  “Father, please, don’t do this,” Rhys said as he looked at Sayer. His father was a capable fighter and Rhys had never doubted that but Sayer was younger and in better fighting shape. He didn’t want to admit it or say it aloud but Rhys didn’t see his father with the advantage in this fight. “It’s not worth it. None of this is worth it,” Rhys said.

  “Son, this is the only thing in the world that’s worth fighting for,” Juno said. “Now go. I won’t have you watch.”

  “I’m not leaving,” Rhys said adamantly and Juno looked to Eleo again, who trotted forward.

  “Come, Rhys,” Eleo said. “You’ll only be a distraction for Juno.”

  “No, I want to say, I don’t want to leave him, what if something—”

  “Go, Rhys,” his father ordered and chills rippled across his entire body as the thought occurred to Rhys that this could be the last time he spoke to his father. A pack challenge was only settled when one of the two wolves stopped breathing.

  “I love you,” Rhys said, the words pouring from him without his consent, but they were true nonetheless. Juno’s stoic face fell at that and he turned to Rhys with watery eyes.

  “I love you too, son. I always have,” he said and before Rhys could respond, Eleo had nudged him forward and stayed behind him to make sure that he left and didn’t try to interfere with the fighting. They didn’t stop until they’d returned to the cliff overlooking the beach. Though Rhys could hear his father exchanging words with Sayer, he couldn’t make out what they were over the crashing of the waves and the howling of the wind.

  “He’s going to win,” Kaster said confidently as he stood next to Rhys. “I’ve never seen a better fight than Juno.”

  I hope you’re right, Rhys thought, though he didn’t dare verbalize his feelings. He didn’t know what he would do or what his life would be like if his father passed away. Aside from Eleo and Kaster, Rhys didn’t have anyone else in the pack that he could trust, and he doubted that they would have an easy time of life if Sayer took control. Rhys realized then it wasn’t just control of the pack that his father was about to fight for, it was also for their future, for his future.

  He watched his father walk across the beach to meet Sayer in the middle of the ring that their fellow wolves had formed around them and as they took their positions, Rhys’s heart hammered in his ears. They stood staring at each other for what seemed to Rhys like an eternity until at last his father took the first move by lunging forward, an attack that Sayer easily dodged.

  They circled around each other for a few moments until Sayer charged forward and took a swipe at Juno. Juno jumped out of the way but not fast enough. Even from this far up, Rhys could see the blood spilling from the wound on his father’s right shoulder. Though he stood proud and fierce, Rhys could tell that the wound was worse than it looked, particularly when his father made to step and limped.

  When next Sayer lunged, Juno wasn’t able to dodge it and the wolves rolled across the beach, sand and spray flying as they did. Sayer stood and stepped away and when he did Rhys saw a pool of blood forming around his father’s body that lie motionless on the beach. The other wolves started to close in around the two of

  “Father!” Rhys shouted but knew that he wouldn’t be heard.

  “Rhys, we need to go,” Eleo said but Rhys refused to tear his eyes away from the fight down below.

  “Father,” Rhys repeated and he felt like everything was spinning around him.

  “Rhys, now!” Eleo shouted, which broke Rhys’s lock on his father’s body lying lifeless on the sand. “We need to go get Damon and we need to leave. The rest of the wolves have no love for us, they’ll come for us next.” Rhys stole one last look at his father and saw that Eleo was right: the audience for the fight had already started to break up. Rhys turned and ran faster than he’d ever run back to the den, Eleo and Kaster doing their best to keep pace with him.

  They reached the den minutes later and Rhys’s heart hammered in his chest as he made for the sleeping quarters the Healers had put Damon in. He was there, thank goodness, and appeared to be unharmed beyond his existing injuries. Rhys shifted into his human form and shook Damon awake.

  “What is it?” Damon asked, groggy and slow moving.

  “We’re leaving. My father is…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. It was too much to bear. Eleo shifted as well and together they hoisted Damon over their shoulders while Kaster kept watch over the entrance.

  “Where are we going?” Damon asked and Rhys turned to Eleo because he didn’t know the answer.

  “To the Gold Eye den,” Eleo said.

  “What?! That’s dozens of miles away, we’ll never make it before they track us down,” Rhys said. “Besides, why would they help us?”

  “Your father had a feeling things might come to pass this way. The Gold Eyes are expecting us,” Eleo said. “An escort will meet us halfway there.” Rhys still thought it was a terrible idea but he had no other choice.

  “Are we clear, Kaster?” He asked.

  “So far, yeah. I don’t think they’ve started to make their way back yet,” Kaster said.

  “Good. Let’s go,” Rhys said and with a heave, he and Eleo carried Damon out of the den. Rhys’s head spun though he wasn’t sure if it was from being so close to Damon or because of what he’d just witnessed but either way he knew he couldn’t give in to the feeling and that he had to stay focused so he plowed ahead, channeling the urges he felt into his muscles to help him carry Damon.

  Outside, the sun was high in t
he sky and birds chirped cheerily in the trees but there was nothing cheerful about the day for Rhys. As they drew further and further away from the Silver Fang den, the one and only place that Rhys had ever called home, he couldn’t help thinking of all of the things they might come across in their days long journey to the home of the Gold Eyes, far off to the west on the Sun Coast.

  It was said by the pack elders that Packless wolves often roamed the lands between the two dens and that they’d grown more bold of late. Rhys hoped that they didn’t come into contact with any of those wolves. In their current company, and with Damon injured, they’d never be able to put up much of a fight, even with Eleo’s strength. Rhys also worried about what his heat might bring.

  Thankfully, the first day of travel passed without event and without much conversation. When night finally fell, they took their first real break. Rhys’s shoulders and legs ached from the effort of carrying Damon and moving as fast as he could but he wouldn’t let it show. He needed to be strong now more than ever, both for Damon and for Kaster, who had fallen into a state of wordless shock.

  “We should set up camp here,” Eleo said. “We won’t make much progress in the dark and I don’t want any of us twisting an ankle or falling down.” Rhys knew he was right. If they could’ve stayed in wolf form, they might have been able to cover much more ground and with much less risk due to their heightened senses but they had no other choice.

  “Should we make a fire?” Rhys asked.

  “No. It’ll only attract attention, the kind of attention we don’t want. I’ll take first watch while you three rest. Rhys, you can take over for me in a few hours,” Eleo said.

  “No, I’ll take first watch,” Rhys said. He couldn’t have slept even if he’d wanted to. As they’d hobbled along in silence, the only thing he’d been able to think of was the sight of his father’s body on the beach in a pool of his own blood, and as vivid as it was in his waking mind he didn’t want to know what it might be like in his dreams. Eleo gave him a sad smile, no doubt because he understood Rhys’s reasoning, and nodded his agreement.