Pawn Among Wolves Ch. 13

She heard Bethan questioning Kate, heard her other friend's voice in answer, hesitant, then, "Kate thinks we passed a crossroads a few minutes back."

"Good. At the next crossing, turn left. That'll take you to the highway, which will lead back over the river. You need to pick up speed, Bethan." Gemma realised as she said it that one of the other minds Mac was talking to was the Wolflord, she could feel the raw pulse of furious, grieving power battering unsheathed against him. Her heart sank further, and a last glimmer of hope died. If the Wolflord was that wrathful, then his grandson probably really was dead.

Her heart clenched in sorrow, anger surging, but she pushed the feeling aside. Now was not the time.

Bethan's breath caught, and her voice was a frightened whine as she asked, "You think he'll be after us?" Then she added, "Is Mac with you?"

"Mac's working out your route," Gemma assured her human friend.

"I thought they were Macish questions," choked Bethan, almost a smile in her voice, obviously not noticing how bizarre it was that Gemma's ex-flatmate knew where they were. Her mind was on other things, tone holding a hint of terror. "Is the bastard going to catch us?" she repeated. "We couldn't get a signal earlier, but we can call the cops if we know where we are now."

Gemma's voice was soft, trying to keep her internal doubts out of her voice as she repeated Mac's words aloud, "Mac has already called the cops for you, they're on their way." Which cops? she thought suspiciously. But the rest of the explanation in her head was not a lie: "That maniac has developed a very nasty biological weapon, which Mac inadvertently picked up when he was looking for something else." True.

She wished she didn't have to say this next bit.

Better warned and wary than reassured and dead, her mate conveyed starkly.

"Nick is very dangerous, Bethan, and very resourceful. Don't trust anything that is going to make you slow down; drive around, over, or through obstacles if you have to."

Gemma shivered in sympathy, hearing the shocked, frightened silence down the line.

However, there was a little smile in Bethan's voice as she replied, "No shit is Mac with you." Then her voice faded on a plaintive whisper, "This is so surreal."

Gemma's heart contracted. She knew the feeling. Not Kate and Bethan too.

A surge of the blackness of rage swelled again, but she cajoled the wolf within her - yes, she wanted to fight for her friends, but not now. Right now, the best thing she could do was stay on the phone and guide them, not drop into killing rage.

Wavering in stubborn disbelief, the wolf growled, the anger hardening again. Mac's voice in her head pushed it back, and she relayed his question, "You OK for fuel?"

Bethan repeated the query across to Kate, and a panicked babble of voices echoed down the line, "No!" called the girl desperately, "We're into the last quarter - the warning light is on and we have no idea how long we've got." She gulped, "We'll fill up."

Gemma could hear Mac swearing in her head, Not easily in that car they won't, and her spine curved at the sudden increase in power streaming from the connection, her anger subsiding as she suddenly had something to do. She could hear him firing orders off, while he sprinted somewhere. His voice was sharp as he barked more orders at her, and she was already leaping out of bed and yanking on clothes, hearing the urgency in his mind, and the panic in Bethan's voice.

Gemma. Hakan can't drive - very few wolves can drive, but drug up him, Erik and Xavi and take them with you. Your licence is in the top left-hand drawer in my studio workbench. Take your pills, our credit card, and move - Erik is hiring a car at the place on Western Avenue. Head Northwest out of the city, route 57. I will rendez-vous with you en route to them if I can. Bring a pill for me too.

"Bethan," said Gemma urgently into the phone, feeling her internal wolf surging in overenthusiastic eagerness at the thought of racing to the rescue. "Mac and I are coming to get you. Don't stop for fuel, for anything. Just keep going. You'll be OK, we can get out there before you run out, if you just keep moving. Stay on that highway."

"OK," gulped Bethan again, a scared whisper. "We're just turning onto the Interstate now."

"Good." Gemma replied.

Hakan had already disappeared from the doorway, and she could hear Erik downstairs on the landline. Xavi appeared on the landing with her licence in his hand, and they raced downstairs together.

Mac. I've not been outside without you since you brought me here. Not really, even on the run, Gemma conveyed worriedly. She could feel nervous adrenaline shivering through her veins and tried to rein herself back under control as Hakan came bounding up from the basement holding a small plastic bag of white powder; she hadn't had time to fill more capsules.

Unstable emotions were teeming through her, rocking her, and the wereem feared going outside, where all the unknowns could bombard her, invade her defences, ignite the already simmering rage.

You haven't been in a rage for almost a week, answered her mate, calmly. And you just reasoned your wolf into accepting the reasoned way to act. Think, picchu: what do you most want to do?

The answer fired from her heart. I want to help Bethan and Kate.

Then trust yourself, advised Mac softly. You can do this. And you won't be alone.

Gemma's heart stopped jumping quite so violently and her eyes cleared as she looked around at the three huge wolves pressed around her in the small corridor. She sighed, muttering, "That looks so dodgy," as she grabbed the small bag of white powder from her chief bodyguard and checked the labelling on it. She took the teaspoon Xavi handed to her and coughed over a dry mouthful, gulping down water from the bottle he also handed over while she instructed hoarsely, "Half a teaspoon."

Hakan took the bag and spoon from her and she heard him choking on the powder behind her as she started down the hallway, checking the licence Xavi had passed her. She glanced slightly incredulously at the accompanying shiny new gold credit card with M and G Macmillan on it as she loped to the door, hearing her other guards gagging slightly. She paused for a moment, not wanting her koiru to be seen on the street with that bag. No point tempting fate for a few seconds of extra time.

"We're just setting off," she said into the phone while Hakan carefully stowed the bag of powder and water bottle inside a small rucksack slung over his shoulder. "I'll have to ring off for a little while Bethan, but will ring you back as soon as we're out on the highway. Call if you need to."

"OK," murmured Bethan in reply, her voice shrinking. The line went dead. Gemma could feel her wolf within jumping close to the surface: alert, angry and simmering but prepared to hold back, to run and rescue. And the wolf part was so attuned to the seething readiness of her bodyguards ranged around her at her back that she could sense exactly where they were without looking, making her feel safer. She took a deep, calming breath and opened the door, exploding into action.

The four of them raced out onto the street and down toward the main road.

*

Apologies for the lack of clear breaks between scenes toward the end of the last chapter, I posted it just before I went on away for ten days so didn't check it as thoroughly as I should have. Hopefully this one's a lot better: not only have I checked it for cohesion and clarity better but so has Lithilian, so please thank him for that.

I think it's about time I said thanks publically to Doctor Wolf for writing her last series too, which is what made me decide to give writing for others another go also; this is so much fun. Yippee!

Bretondbk asked a while back where the wolf words come from and how you say them. Apologies for not adding pronunciation as requested earlier (for those interested) I'm not a linguist and have no idea how to use the funny letters, but I've given it a go finally, using common English words and bold for where the stress is. Wolves live all over the world so the words are a mixture of other languages, corruptions of such or wolf-only words. For example Alfamme is from the French for woman (femme) and so the second half is pronounced the French way (a instead of e), and written with an a in (Wolf) English. Sorry if this is boring you, or if it makes no sense whatsoever.

And for those who've asked, I would like to turn this into a book. I'll give it a go once I've finished the whole lot, as it probably needs a fair amount of re-writing. Thank so much for the encouragement.

Comments are always very welcome; it is, as ever, a pleasure to write but it's also a pleasure to improve, and to hear which bits you do like, or don't, or questions or ideas. Or please just vote!

Thanks,

Smiler

*

Wolf Glossary:

Alfamme [Al_fam] (fam from famished): female Alpha

Argen [Ar_gen] (ge from get): silver alloy which debilitates wolves

Asage [A sa jai]: mother wolf with young cubs

Changpao [Chang pow]: running and living with the wolf [loup] packs

Chituk [Tchì_tuk]: territory challenge

Circle: change pack

Convey: send information mind-to-mind, either by words or images/ feelings

Crash: try to break an Alpha's battle meld

Defasio [De fa si o]: personal, formal challenge

Doft: mating scent

Fria [Free ah]: formal howl of welcome, denoting peace

Gensis [Gen sis]: pack sense, awareness and connectivity

Koiru [coy roo] (short oo): wolf warrior

Loup: what a human calls a wolf (canis lupus); name used for four-legged form by a wolf

Manu [man oo] (short oo): a human

Meld: mental battle formation of wolves, held together by an Alpha

Mordeur [Mor der]: the wolf who a werewolf answers to, the one who bit and turned him

Mortefio [ Mor te fee o]: death challenge

Natál [Na tal] (the na in gnat): litter-brother

Natalí [Na tal ee]: litter-sister

Naulu [Now loo] (short oo): mark of protection

Phys: physician, wolf doctor

Piquant [ Pee cont]: battle headache

Picchu [ Pit chew]: little jug of sweetness (personal nickname)

Ruggare [Rug gar ray] (gar as in guard): young male wolf or wolves

Ruhkreis [Roo cries]: circle of peace for mates during the rut

Shiatz [She ats]: healing coma

Shiele [She'll]: essence, personal strength

Sjeste [Shess tay] (like chess but beginning sh): young female wolf or wolves

Sjestval [Shest varl]: female's right to leave a rutmate

Wereem [We're reem]: female werewolf

Werewolf: human who has been bitten and turned, not born a shapeshifter

Wolf: natural born shapeshifter with three forms: human, lycan or wolf; name used for lycan form by a wolf