Order of the Pack. Don’t worry, he is only an omega.”
Ran’s nose wrinkled at what Scarlet could tell had been a low insult.
She swapped her attention between the two. “You could smell him on me,” she said. “When I came back to the car, you knew—and you knew he was following us, all this time! How—?” She gaped at Wolf. The unnatural eyes. The uncanny senses. The teeth. The howls. The idea that he’d never had a tomato before. “Who are you people?”
Hurt flinched across Wolf’s face, but it was Ran who spoke. “What exactly have you told her, brother?”
Wolf stood, forcing Ran to tilt back his head to hold his stare. “She knows I’m no longer a brother to you,” he said. “And she knows that no one with that mark can be trusted.”
Ran smiled at the irony. “Is that all?”
“I know you have my grandmother!” she yelled, startling a flock of swallows out of the nearest tree. Once their flapping had gone quiet, the woods settled into a thick hush, Scarlet’s words still ringing. Her hand started to shake and she forced it to be still, though Ran continued to sit sprawled and at ease on the shore.
“You have my grandmother,” she said, more slowly this time. “Don’t you?”
“Well. Not with me…”
White sparks flashed across Scarlet’s vision, and it took all her willpower not to pull the trigger and erase his smugness. “Why are you following us?” she said when the throbbing rage had become a manageable simmer.
She could see him calculating his response. Planting his palm on the rocky shore, Ran pushed himself to standing and brushed the dirt from his hands. “I’ve been sent to retrieve my brother,” he said, as casually as if he’d been sent to the store for milk and bread. “Perhaps he did not tell you that he and I are part of an elite pack given a special assignment. That assignment has been canceled, and Master Jael wants us to return. All of us.”
Scarlet’s stomach tightened at Ran’s meaningful look, but Wolf’s expression was filled with more distrust and shadows than it had ever been.
“I’m not coming back,” he said. “Jael no longer controls me.”
Ran sniffed. “I doubt that. And you know as well as anyone that we don’t allow our brothers to leave us.” He rolled his sleeve down over the tattoo. “Though I confess, I haven’t missed having one less alpha around.”
The wind shifted, sending sparks from the fire into Scarlet’s face and she stumbled back, blinking them away.
“Did you really think it wise to come here, without Jael to protect you?” said Wolf.
“I don’t need Jael’s protection.”
“That would be a first.”
With a snarl, Ran leaped forward, but Wolf danced out of his reach and retaliated with a fist aimed at Ran’s jaw. Ran blocked, grasping Wolf’s fist and using the momentum to spin Wolf around and lock his elbow around Wolf’s neck. Wolf reached back, grasped Ran’s shoulder, and flipped Ran over his head. Ran landed with a solid grunt, his feet smacking the water.
He was up again in a blink.
Scarlet’s hand trembled, the gun dancing between the two, her pulse galloping. Ran was shaking with smothered rage, while Wolf was carved from rock, shrewd and calculating.
“I really do think it’s time for you to return, brother,” Ran said through clenched teeth.
Wolf shook his head, damp spikes of hair flopping onto his forehead. “You never were a match for me.”
“I think you’ll find me somewhat improved, Alpha.”
Wolf snorted and Scarlet sensed he didn’t believe Ran could ever be a genuine opponent. “Is this why you followed us? You saw your chance to improve your rank—to defeat me away from the pack?”
“I told you why I’m here. Jael sent for you. The assignment is canceled. When he finds out about this rebellion of yours—”
Wolf launched at Ran, knocking him onto his back. Ran’s head landed in the water and Scarlet heard a sickening crunch as it collided with the hard stones beneath the surface. She screamed and ran toward them, digging her nails into Wolf’s arm.
“No, stop! He might be able to tell us something!”
Wolf’s sharp canines were bared as he pulled a fist back and landed a punch to Ran’s face.
“WOLF! Stop it! My grandmother! He knows about—Wolf, let him go!”
When he didn’t relent, Scarlet fired a warning shot into the air. The echo filled the clearing—but Wolf was unfazed. Ran’s arms stopped flailing, slipped weakly down Wolf’s forearms, and dropped into the water.
“You’re going to kill him!”