A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I was breathing hard, a heavy growl rattling my chest and throat as I ran through the trees. My wolf and I hadn't stopped since the rogues had breeched the territory lines. The rogue in front of me was fast and I was losing ground but I wanted to rend him into pieces. I wanted him dead and his blood soaking the earth. He had violated the sanctity of our territory, destroyed the safety it had.

Fall back. Stenton's order was loud and had a heavy command that had me slowing to a stop despite my want to continue chasing. The wolf running ahead of me barked almost smugly as it disappeared into the trees and I let a snarl escape as I turned and headed back towards the territory.

I knew Stenton would only order us to fall back if we had finally managed to get them out of the territory or killed them but the adrenaline and aggression was still surging thickly within my wolf and I. My sides heaved as we loped back to the territory. My wolf gave a low growl, his urge to finish the chase was still thick within him but he and I both knew there was nothing we could do about it now. The order had been given and we needed to obey.

Every male to the punishing grounds. Stenton sounded agitated but there was an edge of expectation to the mindlink. I shifted my direction with intent, that expectation meant that Stenton had something, more than likely some of the rogues had been captured alive. That was enough to have the aggression surging up more. They had attacked the pack, aiming for the females and children. They nearly broke into the craft hall shortly after the attack had started and thankfully had been repelled. The females had been taken to the jail and guarded viciously but the rogues had still concentrated their efforts on the building until they realized it was a losing battle and then scattered, forcing us to scatter as well.

I hadn't been near the craft hall or the jail, I had kept to the outer edges, trying to box the rogues in with the other warriors so they wouldn't be able to escape. The maneuver had been working until they scattered, then it had been nothing but chaos as we tried to find and catch or kill as many of the bastards as we could. I had only managed to get two and I was feeling it, the wounds were a hot throbbing on my body but I knew I had to ignore them until they healed. We no longer had a healer, he had disappeared after the infertility plague. Stenton had raged about it for weeks but the male couldn't be found.

I had the urge to find Menza and to check on Maeve. My emotions were a fucking mess over the little female and the absolute fucking mistake I had made last night but that didn't stop the small cramp of worry I had. She wasn't a shifter, she had no ability to mindlink. I had to accept that the males would have made sure she was safe and then moved to the jail where they would be protected. It made me hate the rogues that much more. They had aimed for the females and the children, a cowardly move that was more than repugnant. I didn't know what they had planned to do with them but I knew it was nothing good, so I comforted myself with the knowledge that Menza and Maeve would be safe with the others.

I loped into the punishing grounds and shifted. My body screamed at me and I gritted my teeth. I was exhausted and my body ached like it was a full throbbing bruise but I shook the thoughts away. Someone tossed some shorts at me and I caught them, pulling them on. Aggression was thick in the air as all the males moved towards the stage. It was a raised, wooden platform that had been sitting in the same spot for generations. The wood had a dark colour, stained from the blood of nearly everyone who ever stood on that stage to be punished. The cages sat to the other side and when I looked at the stage I could see two rogues, bound, kneeling in front of Stenton. They looked amused and half crazed, baring their teeth at him, ignoring the males who were staring at them with aggression and hate.

I wasn't the only one who was upset at the attack. Most of the males had a female or children and even female relatives. Those animals, giving mocking smiles and wild laughs had been part of a large group that had targeted our females. I moved forward, the crowd parting for me slightly. I might not have been Master-At-Arms but the pack still acted like I was at times. I wasn't complaining at the moment, I wanted to be front and center as I watched the judgement fall on the two rogues we had captured alive.