She looked away shamefaced.
Fang felt guilty about making her feel that way. However, she shouldn't be questioning their elder. Vane would die if anything happened to them.
To think he'd caused it . . .
Vane would never get over that. And yet as Fang sat stroking his sister's ear, he had a bad feeling. He couldn't define it. It hovered in the back of his mind like a specter that wanted his blood.
It's just the concern for Anya.
Was it? Or could it be a premonition? He'd never been particularly precognitive.
But . . .
He wouldn't think about it. Anya was safe. He was here to protect her and Vane would be back as soon as he could. Nothing would change. She'd have her puppies here where their old enemies wouldn't be looking for them. Then once their young were old enough to travel, they'd move again.
That was the way of things. And nothing was going to change. He was going to make sure of it.
Fang snapped awake at a sharp cry of alarm. In his wolf's form, he was lying beside his sister who'd also come awake at the sound.
"Stay here," he projected to her. "I'll go check it out." He pushed himself up on his paws and trotted over to the main camp where a group of wolves were gathered.
Two were bleeding profusely.
Keegan's older brother, Liam, held his bloody paw up to keep from putting weight on it. His light brown fur was coated in blood. "It was an ambush. We're lucky any of us made it out."
Markus, also in wolf form, glared at him. "Who?"
"Arcadian wolves. They had a trap set for us."
Markus cursed. "Where's the rest of your tessera?"
"I don't know. Orian told us to come back and warn all of you."
Markus cast his gaze around the pack. "Gather our forces! I want every able-bodied male."
Fang turned human to confront his father. "You can't. What if this is a trap meant to call us away from our women and leave them unprotected?" He looked around at the wolves. "Remember what happened before? How many women and pups did we lose to Arcadian slaughter?"
Markus snapped at him.
But Fang saw the indecision in the other's eyes.
William moved forward. "I think Fang might be right. Some of us should stay behind. Just in case."
Markus's eyes glowed in the darkness. He hated to be questioned. "Fine. Fang and the rest of you women can stay behind. I hunt."
The pack divided in half.
Liam limped over to Fang. "I don't know about you, but I damn sure don't feel like a woman."
Fang laughed. "Ignore the impotent wonder. So what exactly happened?"
"We were horsing around, hunting after small fowl for practice. One minute we were chasing through the marsh and the next Orian was hit with a Taser, then someone opened fire on us with guns. We lost Agarian immediately with a bullet to his head." Liam looked down at his own injury. "I got caught on the paw, but it only nicked me."
Which was why he couldn't use his magick. When they were wounded, their magick was unpredictable and unstable. When used, it could do any number of unwanted things.
Suddenly, Anya cried out.
Turning back into a wolf, Fang ran for her. He reached her in record time. She lay on the ground, writhing.