Free Torment: Reckless Desires (Dark Wolves Book 1) by Elianne Adams Page B

breed of shifter or not didn’t negate any of it, but the pack would have doubts. Only seeing another wolf would assuage that.
    Argram stepped forward. “This is the one and only time I will be coerced into doing anything, and I only do this because I wish to do so. I do not want dissension in the pack.” Delana didn’t have time to say a word that he’d pulled his shirt off. She turned her head while he shucked his jeans.
    “You can look now,” Miga said, her voice soft and wistful.
    When Delana turned to look, a massive gray wolf, larger than any she had ever seen, stood next to Miga. She buried her hand in her mate’s scruff, and a soft smile played on her lips. “I haven’t seen him in his natural form in days. I’ve missed him,” she said.
    The wolf turned to its mate and gave her a long lick on the cheek.
    A moment later, Argram lifted his head and growled. Miga reached for Malec, plucking him from the ground where she had lowered him to sit in the grass.
    Delana listened and sniffed the air, but nothing other than the smoked meat came through. When she looked around, Wesken was gone, as was Orrin and the other men. Wolves stood in their place, each as big and as menacing as the last. Miga thrust her son into Delana’s arms. “Go, take him somewhere safe. Now,” Miga yelled as she shifted, tearing the clothing she’d been wearing.
    The squirming child cried for its mother, but she was gone. A beautiful black wolf with bright blue eyes stood here Miga had been. All around her, the Komoro pack took the Alpha’s lead and shifted.
    At once, a familiar, putrid stench filled the village, obliterating the delicious smells of only moments before. It was the same scent that had surrounded her in the forest just before the attack. She whipped her head around one way, then the other, looking for a threat, but she couldn’t see anything. Argram growled and took a step toward her, springing her into action.
    With the crying baby in her arms, she ran as fast and as hard as she could. If the same beasts were in the village, nowhere was safe. She ran to the edge of the forest and kept running. Branches and briars tore at her bare arms, but she didn’t slow down, didn’t look back.
    Furious howls cut through the forest moments later. Leaves rustled on the trees and tremors shook the ground at her feet. She wouldn’t let Argram down. Gripping the boy tight, she ran. An acidic burn threatened to choke her as bile rose up with the memory of the last battle she’d fought. Her Alpha had entrusted her with the protection of his mate, Rasha. By the time she’d gotten there, it had been too late. Rasha lay in a pool of her own blood, her eyes cold and unseeing. She had died alone, and afraid, taking her unborn child with her. Overcome with grief, the Alpha was careless. The wolves attacked. The only reason any of them survived at all was that some of the men who had gone hunting had returned and driven them away. But it had been too late.
    Delana forced herself to run faster, harder. There was no way she would let any harm come to Malec. They would have to kill her first, and before they could do that, they would have to find her. And she knew just where to hide. A small grotto just the other side of the walnut grove would hide them until Argram could come for them. And he would. As soon as the battle ended, he would find his son. Dense shrubs concealed the opening, but she would sneak them into it and wait there.
    The tension coiling in her chest eased a little. They were almost there. Another hundred feet and they’d be safe. She slowed her pace, careful not to trip over any of the roots the last windstorm had brought to the surface. She stopped under one of the walnut trees and held the baby close. He’d stopped crying and was looking up at her, then he waved a chubby fist at her and smiled. They would be okay. She took a deep breath, then another, trying to ease the burning in her lungs, but then stopped