Summit of the Wolf Read Free Page A

finally grew weaker and stopped struggling altogether, she dropped his limp body. Grey lunged and latched onto his throat, but the wolf was already dead. Her arms shook from exhaustion, and fury wracked her body.
    “Hear me!” she screamed in a voice she barely recognized. “I’ll have no mate but this one.” She stabbed a shaking finger at Grey.
    Oh, she could guess what she looked like. They would have a new wolf to call Demon after that day. Her white tank top was drenched with blood. It was sticky and dripping down her bare legs. Her arms were freely bleeding from the claw marks she had endured, and a single drop of blood dripped down her pointed finger. It made a small splat against the grass. Sprayed blood was slowly drying on her face, and her eyes were undoubtedly light purple and a disturbing contrast to the bloodstains and her wet and matted dark hair. Let them see her like this. What did she care?
    She took the smaller knife from the back of a man’s neck and pointed it at the group of wolves who paced frantically. “Get the hell off of my property and take your dead with you.”
    Rachel and Marissa darted around Morgan and toted their weapons through the front door of the cabin. They held the door open as the pack came in one by one. Morgan stayed where she was and glared at each in turn as the unfamiliar wolves Changed and dragged their dead to the cars. A few of them made the sign of the cross as if they were warding off evil. Grey stood beside her, teeth bared and a constant rumble in his throat. Blood matted his coat, and his eyes blazed like the deepest fires of hell. Her own personal demon.
    She crashed as the adrenaline burned out of her blood and left her empty. Exhausted.
    When the last of the cars had gone, she stumbled over to Brandon’s body and collapsed beside him with her knees in the dirt. A sob escaped, and her shoulders shook uncontrollably with grief. A howl of mourning ripped from Grey. Dean was the first one Changed and out of the house, quickly followed by the others who gathered to mourn the death of their brother.
    Everyone had lost the war.
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    Brandon’s funeral was on a Wednesday. A subdued and drizzling rain escorted his loved ones to the cemetery, and dark clouds stifled any stubborn rays of sun. The weather was fitting. Morgan found comfort and solace in Marissa and Rachel. The men buried their grief in silence, inviting quiet lips and tumultuous hearts to be their only consorts. The animals inside of them demanded silence to honor the death of their brother, and the ways of the wolf were often the ways of the werewolf.
    Brandon’s loss was a blow to the pack, and their agony was her fault. Brandon’s life cut short was on her. Without Silver Wolf, dissension in the packs wouldn’t have such mortal consequences. The police report said it was an animal attack, and a two-day hunt on Grey’s property turned up nothing that could have done this to a man. Jason had advised him to allow the hunt and cooperate with the police to shut Brandon’s case as soon as possible. On Dean’s order, no one Changed until everything had blown over. The last thing they needed was for panicked hunters looking for some animal to pin this senseless tragedy on.
    Brandon’s coworkers and friends had left some time before, but Morgan couldn’t seem to drag herself away from his open grave. So many memories of her own sister and Marianna’s funeral flooded back. The rest of the pack slunk miserably into plastic chairs, ignoring the drizzle and staring at his headstone in silence. Beloved Brother and Friend , it read.
    “This can’t happen again,” Dean said quietly from the row behind. His voice cracked on the last word, as if he hadn’t used it in a long time.
    Grey’s draped his arm around the back of her chair and rubbed a gentle thumb against the material of her damp dress. “Did you call the Old Ones?”
    The chair creaked as the alpha sat forward in his seat. “I