Chapter 5

Elijah

The clearing opens thirty paces ahead. I angle my body to keep Allison on my right, with my shoulder between her and the thicker brush. Wind comes in from the south and carries scents that don't belong to Blue Ridge, old pine sap, unwashed fur and metal.

'Left line, two wolves. Right line, three. Move us,' Loki says, clipped and certain.

I squeeze Allison's hand once and release. "Stay on my right. If we have to run, we cut back to the river path."

"I'm not running," she says, calm enough that I check her face. Her eyes are steady. Ruby rides close to the surface, I can hear it in the warmer pitch of her voice and see it in the flash of color when she blinks.

I open the triplet mindlink channel. Contact near the falls. Five. East-edge clearing. I'm with Allison.'

Ezra comes back first. 'On our way.'

A beat later, Ethan. 'Hold position. Do not engage without count.'

"I already counted," I murmur, then raise my voice enough to carry into the trees. "You picked the wrong night."

Shapes move between trunks, five men step out and fall into a loose half-circle. Broad chests, long arms, the hunched posture of wolves who live between hunger and a bad idea. The leader is a dark brown male with a scar splitting one eyebrow. He checks me like I'm an obstacle and then fixes on Allison like he just found a shortcut.

"Darius," Allison says, flat.

He grins, teeth bared. "There she is."

'I'll take his throat if he tries,' Loki says.

'Not yet. She has rules.'

I let my aura roll far enough to warn, then hold it. "You're trespassing."

"We're shopping," he says, eyes still on Allison. "Be smart and let me take the fox."

Allison steps forward one pace before I can block it. Her shoulders square. "You keep trying," she says. "You keep failing."

Darius tips his head, amused that she speaks first. "Narine doesn't like to wait."

"I don't care about Narine's schedule," Allison replies. "Tell her to find another errand boy."

He shifts his weight. Two of his men push wider, looking to wrap our flank. I edge with them and cut their angle off. He notes it and resets.

Footsteps to my left, fast and controlled. Ezra slides out of the trees in a low run and plants at Allison's other shoulder. Ethan comes a second later, jacket already off, eyes darker at the edges. Daniel and Fallon appear behind them, spacing clean, both set to move.

Darius skims our line. He does the math and doesn't like the answer, but he wants the rush more than he wants to live smart. He flicks his fingers and three of his wolves strip and shift. The fourth keeps watch, eyes on the trees. Darius stays on two legs. He likes to start as a man and end as something messier.

"Allison," I say low enough for her. "We stick to your rules."

She nods once. "Terms. I win, you leave. You win..." She doesn't finish and she doesn't need to.

Darius laughs. "Terms imply leverage."

"You're on Blue Ridge land with one eye and a bad knee," she says. "Don't test me."

His smile thins. He lifts two fingers, and the closest wolf springs. Allison moves before he lands. She drops and slides under the leap, a hand to the ground to cut friction, then comes up at his flank and drives an elbow into ribs. He yelps and stumbles and she pivots on the second wolf and lets him chase her into a short arc that ends with his paws on wet stone. He slips, scrabbles and corrects. She isn't there when he finds his feet.

'She's fast,' Loki says.

'Keep your eyes on Darius.' I tell him back.

The third wolf barrels at me, trying to drag me in. I shift my stance, lower center, no shift, and let him see I'm not impressed. He hesitates for a fraction and Allison takes the gap. She plants, turns, and catches his shoulder with a kick that spins him sideways. He snaps and grazes her forearm. Blood beads but she doesn't look at it.

Ezra takes a step. I lift a hand without taking my eyes off Darius. "Her rules."

Ethan's jaw tightens. His eyes track the blood and then track me, testing whether I'll lose my head. I won't, I promised her.

Darius stops smiling. He tosses his shirt aside, chest mapped by old fights, and takes two unhurried steps toward Allison like he's owed a prize. "Enough games."

"Agreed," she says.

She rolls her shoulders and walks into him with no flinch. He swings, fast for a man. She ducks and drives a knee into his thigh. He grunts and swings again. She smooths under it and comes up inside his reach and his hand closes on her arm. She twists, drops her weight, and breaks the grip. He grabs again and she lets him. He pulls, she runs with it, turns it, and plants him on his back in a clean sweep that looks trained, not lucky.

He hits hard. She doesn't finish him as she steps back and gives him a chance to stop. He rolls to a knee, rage tightening his face.

"Your warning is noted," she says.

He laughs, nothing friendly in it now, and shifts.

The brown wolf that hits the ground is heavy. He shakes once and lowers his head. Allison's fingers flex. She glances over her shoulder at me. Her eyes go brighter, orange bleeding through.

Allison's mouth parts like she's answering but I hear nothing. I do see the choice though.

He charges. She waits a second longer than I want and then moves. His paw clips her forearm on the pass and claws rake skin. Blood streaks and my vision narrows.

'Shift. Now,' Loki orders.

'Not yet. She asked for it this way.'

She pivots on the edge of the stone and leaps. For a second she's airborne, and she doesn't come down on two feet.

The dark-blue fox hits the ground already balanced. Silver lines her back the four tails fan and settles and her eyes burn orange. Behind me, Daniel exhales while Fallon mutters a word that isn't fear. Ezra's hands curl and release and Ethan stands straighter, jaw locked.