The Lost Years (12 page)

That was never going to happen. Craven had no idea who his rescuer was, but he'd saved him from a slow painful death. For that alone he would have stayed to fight by his side. More importantly, his rescuer knew Louise, and might even know her whereabouts. There was no way Craven was going to walk away from this fight. He edged closer to the group.

One of the four wolves pounced on Craven's rescuer. A second wolf quickly joined in that attack. The other two wolves turned their attention to Craven. He braced himself—ready for them to make their move. They were clever, and co-ordinated their attack to hit Craven at exactly the same moment. He had to make a split-second decision. He couldn't fend off both of them, so he focussed on the larger of the two—the one who was most likely to cause maximum damage. Craven caught the larger wolf with a side blow to the head which sent him reeling across the open ground. No sooner had he done that than he felt the smaller of the two wolves land squarely on his back. He could feel the wolf's breath on the back of his neck, and knew he had only seconds before the wolf's teeth tore open his throat. Craven rolled over. First onto his side, then onto his back, and then onto his other side. That dislodged the smaller wolf.

Craven glanced across at the other battle. His rescuer had survived the initial attack, and was now in a face-to-face stand-off with the two wolves.

The small wolf sank its teeth into Craven's rear left leg. Craven kicked out—sending the wolf crashing into a tree trunk. The larger wolf charged Craven, but he was ready for the attack. They rolled along the ground—their legs locked together as both of them tried to reach the other's throat. Craven summoned every ounce of his strength, and managed to push one of his adversary's paws to one side. That was all the opportunity Craven needed. Before the wolf could recover, Craven had dealt the death blow. The large wolf slumped to the ground, its chest red with the blood oozing from its throat. The small wolf was still game, but no match for Craven. One blow sent the small wolf to the ground. Craven quickly pounced on the stricken wolf —despatching it with some ease.

Craven turned to see his rescuer standing between the motionless bodies of the other two wolves. Even from that distance, Craven could see he had sustained serious injuries.

“Are you okay?” Craven asked.

“I'll survive. We'd better get going—.”

His words were interrupted by a rumbling sound.

Both of them looked back up the hill to see dozens of wolves racing towards them.

“We have to split up,” his rescuer said.

“No. We'll stand and fight together.”

“There's too many of them. We have to try to outrun them. You go west, I'll go south-west.”

“Where will we meet up?”

“They won't follow us into the next territory. Make your way to Praja territory, and I'll meet you in Weardale Grove.

“But—”

“We have to go now.”

Craven knew he was right. It was their best chance of survival, but he was reluctant to let go of the one person who might know where Louise was.

As they set off in different directions, Craven reflected on his rescuer. He didn't even know his name. Who was he and why had he come to his rescue? How did he know Louise? Had she sent him?

*********

Craven had been in Weardale Grove for two days. Even though he'd been carrying injuries, he'd managed to outpace the wolves that had chased him only as far as their territory's border. By now, he knew for certain that his rescuer hadn't made it—he'd sacrificed his life to save him. Craven was once again certain that Louise was still alive, but he was no nearer to knowing where she was. If only his rescuer had been able to tell him more before he was killed. 

The sensible thing to do would be to get as far away as possible, but there was something he had to do first. Craven re-entered Lawler territory via the unguarded coastal border. From there, he found the stream, and followed it until he reached Coral's cave. He was racked with guilt for having brought his troubles to her door. She'd carved out an idyllic life living predominately in wolf-form, and had survived that way for months until his arrival had destroyed it all. If she'd left him to die, she could have continued to live peacefully.

He walked hesitantly toward the cave—afraid of what he might find. His last memory, before the dart knocked him out, was of the shifter's claw held to Coral's throat.

Craven took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was just as he'd left it. There was no sign of Coral, and no blood stains on the floor. If they'd killed her, they hadn't done it in the cave.

“Coral!” He called from the mouth of the cave.

No response.

For the next hour he walked along the edge of the stream—calling out her name—still no response.

Perhaps they'd expelled her from the territory—he hoped so. He'd come close to accepting her invitation to stay. It had only been the fragile hope Louise might still be alive which had stopped him. His rescuer had now confirmed it hadn't been a false hope.

His fated mate was still alive—his search continued.

Part 7 – LOUISE (2005)

Chapter 20

I said goodbye to our apartment—would I ever see it again? Other than Pirus, I hadn't told anyone that I was leaving. If I had, they'd have tried to talk me out of it, but my mind was made up. The thought of returning to the Maja, after so many years away, terrified me. Pirus was right—it was suicidal, but what choice did I have? How could I live with myself if I didn't at least try to bring Marlow back?

Just travelling back to the Maja territory was risky enough. I could still recall the route we'd taken when Marlow and I fled from Milton. We'd skirted around the territories of most of the major packs. We'd been lucky, and managed to avoid any major confrontations. Back then, there had been two of us. This time, I was travelling alone, and would be much more vulnerable. I decided it would be safer and quicker to make the journey in human form. Last time, it had taken us two days. In a car, if I kept my foot to the floor, and avoided trouble, I figured I could do it in less than twelve hours.

I had plenty of time to think during the long drive back to Maja. I remembered the night I'd spent with Craven. That had been the worst and best day of my life. The worst because my father had been murdered. The best because I had joined with my fated mate. Could that really be thirty years ago now? When I'd awoken on the morning after my one and only night with my fated mate, I'd assumed we were about to start our new life together. How could I have known that within hours I'd be snatched away—never to see him again? 

My pulse began to race as soon as I drove into Maja territory. As I got closer to the city centre, every pair of eyes which glanced my way set me more on edge. As the daughter of the Alpha, my face had been well known. Shifters age only slowly—thirty years had made very little difference to my appearance. It would only need one shifter to recognise me to set the alarm bells ringing. Then there was the question of who I could trust.  I'd no idea if the friends I'd once had in Maja were still alive—there had been much bloodshed under Milton's reign. Even if they were, I wasn't sure if they'd view me as a traitor—Milton had spread a lot of misinformation. Chances were that most of them probably thought I was dead.

“Louise?” Max looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Come in.”

He stared at me for a few moments without speaking, and then said, “I thought you were dead. They told us you'd been killed.”

“As you can see, that was a lie.”

“One of many. Sit down. Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“Just a glass of water please.”

While Max went into the kitchen, I walked over to the bookcase and picked up the framed photograph.

I still miss her,” he said, when he returned with my drink.

“Me too.”

Tish's familiar smile beamed at me from the photograph.

“I loved her,” he said.

“I know. She loved you too.” I put the photograph back onto the bookcase. “Have you found yourself a mate?”

“No. I've dated a few, but it never seems to work out—they aren't Tish.” He hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You were there when it happened, weren't you? At Jesters?”

“Yes.”

“What exactly did happen? The authorities said it was a random attack by a few wayward vampires, but I've never believed that.”

“It was no random attack. It had been well planned and co-ordinated. They completely overran the club.”

“Did you see what happened to Tish?”

In my mind's eye, I could see the vampire with his arm around her neck as she struggled to break free. I could see her neck and breasts stained red with blood.

“No, sorry.” I lied. “I was lucky to escape.”

He was silent for a few moments, and then said, “Things have gone to hell since your father died.”

“He was murdered.”

“That's what a lot of people thought at the time, but the authorities denied it.”

“I was there. I saw Drake, one of Milton's men, at my father's apartment. He was with a vampire. The attack on Jesters had been a diversion. The whole thing had been meticulously planned, so Milton could take my father's place.”

“Milton has been a disaster for the Maja. If you could prove he collaborated with the vampires to overthrow your father, the pack would rise up against him.”

“I'm afraid it may be too late for that now. Too many years have passed.”

“Why have you come back?”

I told Max about the years I'd spent imprisoned in the enclosure, and how Marlow had rescued me. I told him how we had fled together to join his brother's pack. And of course, I told him about Craven.

“Why would Marlow come back here now?” Max said. “It's suicide—for the both of you.”

“He thought he'd let me down, and that the only way to put that right was to find Craven.”

“Is Craven still alive? We heard he'd been killed too, but I guess that doesn't count for much.”

“I don't know. I think he must be dead or he'd have come looking for me. Either way, Marlow is in grave danger. That's why I came here today.”

“Tell me what I can do to help.”

“I've no right to ask. It may be dangerous.”

“I don't care. I've nothing to live for since they took Tish away from me.”

I gave Max a photo of Marlow, and told him as much as I knew about his background. During our years together, we'd sometimes discussed Maja. Marlow had mentioned the names of some of the friends he'd left behind. During the car journey back to Maja, I'd made a mental list of as many of those names as I could remember.

“I'll see what I can find out,” Max said. “But you have to promise me you won't step foot outside of this apartment.”

“I promise.”

“I'll be back as soon as I can.”

After Max had left, I made myself coffee. Tish had been so full of life, and a terrible flirt, but she'd loved Max big time—I was certain of that. It made me sick to my stomach to think that she'd been no more than collateral damage in Milton's plans to overthrow my father. I owed it to Tish, Max and all of the others who had suffered under Milton to see him removed from power. But that would have to wait for now. First I had to focus on finding Marlow.