Wolfsfoot (Kingdom of Wolves #1)

We have a drink, take our bags up to our rooms, then as weare about to settle back down on the bench, Brod jumps to his feet. “Come on,the council wants to speak to you two while you are here. Come on, Tati, let’sget a move on and get this over with.”

Tati laughs at our expression as this has taken us both bysurprise, but when she shouts ‘bye’ to Lykos and Akela, we don’t have an excusenot to follow.

Walking into town, I notice we are gaining quite a bit ofattention. Tati and Brod take no notice of anyone who stops to stare and,reaching the house where the town council meets, they walk right in beforeknocking on a closed door.

“Come in.” I hear, and I follow Tati inside, with Chief Glenbehind me.

“Ah, take a seat, Lyle, Chief Glen. Tati, you take a seat aswell.” The man holds his hand out for us to shake and once done, we take a seatand wait for him to speak again. “My name is Thomas Stringbold. I’m the Mayor ofWolfsfoot. Lykos informed us you would be coming into our territory and youwere here to watch Tati train with Drake Redwood.

“Now, all we ask while you are in town is to cause notrouble of any kind. That, however, doesn’t mean that if trouble finds you, youcannot stand up for yourself, because we would not expect that. The town, asyou know, isn’t a pack at this time, but we have our rules that we try tofollow. Alpha Walker understands the way the town runs and I’m sure he hasinformed you of how to behave. Is there anything you need or want to know whileyou are here?”

“Alpha Walker spoke to me before we came. We are not here tocause any kind of problem. We are interested in Drake’s technique when hetrains Tati, as she has shown a style and force, I’ve never seen in one soyoung, or so lacking in training. She would easily become an elite warrior inour pack within a short space of time. I want Lyle to be the best he can be,and I’m not too proud to admit that Drake’s style is very interesting.” ChiefGlen surprises me that he has humbled himself with his last sentence.

“Tati is important to us in Wolfsfoot, and we’ll do whateveris needed to keep her safe. We have noticed extra Blackshadow Pack members havebeen in and out of town these last few weeks and many of the town members aregetting nervous. We do have humans in town, mates to some of the male shifters.That has made said males a little aggressive, so be aware to keep your eyesaway from any female. But if you see any Blackshadow Pack, you be on alertbecause we all know that Alpha Torrance hasn’t given up on trying to get hishands on Tati.” Thomas states and I feel some unease at what he’s saying.

“We are not here for a female, only to watch Tati train, andmaybe get some tips to help improve Lyle’s style. If his style needs improving,that is.” Chief Glen stands, turns to me, and gives me a nod.

Come on, Lyle, we need to leave here, as this could leadto questions I don’t want to answer. I hear through the mind link I havewith Chief Glen. Taking to my feet, I give Thomas a small nod and look at Tati.

Standing, Tati leans forward and shakes Thomas’ hand, andturns to leave beside us. But we all turn when Thomas speaks again. “Tati, becareful. I’ve seen Evangeline and Bellamy in town again. Brod informed methey’d chased you through town.”

“I’ll be careful, but thank you for telling me.” Tatiquietly responds, then turns and steps out of the office, and we both followquietly behind her.

“Who are Evangeline and Bellamy?” I ask.

“They are two people from Blackshadow that I always had aproblem with. Evangeline is a bully; she wants to be the Luna of Blackshadow asConnell’s mate. Bellamy is Connell’s friend, and I think he’ll do anything toget a higher position in the pack.”

“Well, let them try trouble while we are here because it’stime I tested my skills outside of the training circle.” Grinning at thethought of trying out my set of fighting skills. I can feel my caninesdescending as Hunter my wolf, gets excited at the thought, too.

“Calm.” Chief Glen chuckles.

We walk towards the main street of Wolfsfoot and Brod wavesas he takes himself home in the opposite direction. “Come on, let’s getmoving,” Tati says and stretches her legs, so we’re walking at a good pace.

On the main street, we can see shop owners locking up forthe evening and most give Tati a smile or wave. Some don’t bother even lookingour way as they bustle about what they are doing.

“Hey, bitch. It’s time to come home.” We all three stop andturn to eye the person who has shouted behind us. I side-eye Tati when shesighs.

“Who is it?” I hear Chief Glen ask Tati.

“That is Bellamy and behind him is Evangeline.” Tati takes astep towards them, but I hold my hand out to stop her.

“Oh, please, allow me.” Stepping in front of Tati I givethis idiot a looking at, from the tip of his toes to the top of his head, andwhen I throw out some of my Alpha power, I can see it takes him by surprise.

“Get out of the way. We need to take her with us.” Thefemale states and I chuckle, which she obviously doesn’t like very much.

“You are not taking her anywhere. You have no say in how shelives, where she lives, or who she lives with. I know for a fact Tati rejectedyour pack and your Alpha, so that makes her a rogue, as she has not as yetjoined another pack.” Leaning into the two of them, I give them my best feralgrin. “Try to take her.”

I notice they are mind-linking. Interesting. I can see themoment they agree to take Tati, and I chuckle.

Bellamy throws himself at me while shifting into his wolf. Iquickly shift and Hunter takes over. Hunter throws himself down and grabs oneof Bellamy’s wolf’s legs, yanking hard, which knocks him off balance and hedrops to the ground. Stepping back, Hunter waits for his wolf to recover, andas he jumps to his feet lunging at us once again we meet him shoulder toshoulder. He tries to grab our neck, but Hunter spins, snarls, and grabs thewolf’s throat. Pinning him to the ground and placing all his weight on top ofhim, cutting off the oxygen, and waiting for him to pass out.

Snarling has me letting go of Bellamy’s wolf and shiftingback when I see Tati and Evangeline fighting. Now Ebony is a sight to see.She’s large, blue-black, and she moves faster than you would ever expect. Sherolls over so fast her stomach is only visible for a second before she’s backon her feet and on top of Evangeline. Shifting back to Tati, who now has herhands holding Evangeline’s wolf’s head down on the ground and straddling herbody. The wolf has no choice but to submit or shift back to Evangeline.

Evangeline shifts back from her wolf, and Tati stands at theready. I would like to go another round because Bellamy was no threat at all.Looking down, I see he has shifted back and is sitting, shaking his head,trying to get his senses back.

Chief Glen leans down, so he’s eye-to-eye with Bellamy. “Isuggest you go back to your pack; you’ve just attacked the heir to the SpiritWalker Pack, and if you are declaring war, then so be it.”

Bellamy’s color drains when he realizes how much trouble hecould have caused, and I’m sure Alpha Torrance would not be too happy aboutgoing to war over this minion’s mistake.