Losing Her Mate (Book 2 of The Red Dawn Trilogy )

Chapter ONE

James POV

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" A frantic woman cries holding her newborn pup to her chest and searching desperately for an escape.

There are about fifty vicious rogues stampeding from the surrounding forest. The entire compound is in chaos. Civilian women, men, and children are running around in a panic everyone seeming to have forgotten the rogue drills we've practiced over the impending months. To make it worse piercing sirens are blaring making it hard to concentrate.

The rogues are taking full advantage of our disorder and they being to strategically surround us blocking all exits.

A sense of doom and hopelessness begins to spread through my pack mates. I can see it on their faces. I can't let them lose focus. I won't let them die.

"Listen everyone you know what to do! Don't let your fear consume you. The warriors are on there way." My voice booms out across the front yard of the pack house drawing everyone's attention.

"All able men escort the women and children to safety. I need a few men to stay here and hold them off with me until the enforcers arrive."

There's a moment of pause before everyone jumps into action doing as I asked. Soon the men have shifted and are forcing and fighting a path to the underground safety bunkers with the women and children following close behind.

I shift into my black wolf and six of my pack mates flank me, not much but it will have to do. We are facing at least 20 snarling rogues hell bent on taking us down.

A particularly large white rogue wolf walks forward and growls fiercely at me. He must be the leader. We stare each other down daring the other to make the first move.

Suddenly he gives me a deadly wolfy grin and lets out a deep howl into the afternoon sky. The meaning is all too clear. Attack!!!

Both sides charge at each other. A dark grey wolf and I collide in a mass of teeth and claws. He is larger than me and he manages to tackle me to the ground. He growls and snaps in my face trying to reach my neck, while I hold him back pushes at his shoulders with my paws.

He may think he has the advantage but he's wrong. Over the past months I have learned to defend myself in all positions. I take my left paw and dig my claws into his eye slicing opening the eye, causing him to howl in pain and retract from my body. The move was a cheap shot but I learned when it comes to rogues there are no rules.

While he is momentarily distracted I lunge at him and bring him down not giving him a chance to react I lean down and rip his throat out. The metallic taste of his blood coats my mouth fueling my wolf making me feel powerful.

I look around me and see that my pack mates aren't fairing well. These wolves aren't warriors and they have never trained like I have. These men are our janitors, gardeners, cooks, etc. All werewolves have instinctual fighting abilities so they are managing to hold them off but they are sustaining great damage.

Where the hell are the enforcers?

Just then the ground begins to shake. I look over my shoulder and see dozens of enforcers charging our way in wolf form led by our Beta Dallas. They soon arrive and join in the melee.

Finally

While distracted the white wolf attacks me pouncing on my back and biting down on my shoulder, I yelp out in pain. I buck forward and throw him off of me and he takes a chunk of flesh with him. He quickly rebounds and stand up we circle each other growling looking for an opening. I can feel the power radiating off of him and can see intelligence in his eyes. This won't be as easy as the previous wolf.

He lunges forward at me but I duck and dodge reaching out and clawing his underbelly as deep as I can as he soars by me. I hear him whimper and watch as he collapses on the ground unmoving. I can see the blood flowing from underneath his body coating his white fur. I walk over to his body sniffing him. There's no way he is down, it was too easy.

A blur of auburn catches my eye. I turn to see my mate Amber in wolf form standing uncertainly near the door to the pack house. I can see weariness in her grey eyes.

I don't understand what's wrong with her she's a sitting duck just standing there like that.

A mangy looking brown wolf missing clumps of fur slowing approaches her from her left poised to attack.

'Amber Look Out!!' I mind-link her.

She turns around and dodges him narrowly missing the attack. She backs away from the wolf in fear. She's crouched low with one paw seeming to be holding her stomach.

I'm beginning to worry, Amber never shows fear and she never backs down. The wolf prepares to attack her again. Shit I'm too far away to get there in time.

My heart starts beating erratically. Amber NO! I turn preparing to reach her but Dallas beats me to it. I see his golden wolf fly in and pounce on the wolf breaking its neck with one clean twist. I breathe out a sigh of relief. I know he will protect her.

Movement catches my attention from the white wolf and before I know what's happening he has thrown dirt and dust into my eyes and I can't see. I shake my head furiously and rub my eyes onto my shoulder attempting to relieve the burning.

I'm thrown to the ground. I can feel saliva dripping onto me and his hot breath fanning over my face.

Suddenly and to my utter shock his voice booms into my mind.

'Take this as a warning we will not stop until we destroy every last thing and person you hold dear. You may have won this round but this is far from over.'

His weight disappears from my body momentarily until I feel him clamp down on my left hind leg and crush it between his teeth breaking it. I howl out in pain.

I hear him chuckle in my head 'That was just a reminder.'

I feel him move away from me. My vision is starting to clear and I can blurily make out my surroundings. The noises of battle has ceased and the fighting has stopped. The leader and a few of his wolves that are still able to are running off back through the woods retreating being chase by our enforcers.

I get up slowing minding my injuries. My shoulder is bleeding profusely and my broken leg is dragging limping on the ground. I look around the battle scene. In what little time they were here the rogues manages to cause a lot of damage.

Blood and fur litter the field as well as dead wolves both rogue and Red Dawn. The survivors are attempting to pick themselves up. I can hear them groaning and whimpering as they asses their injuries.

I don't see my mate. My head immediately snaps to where I last saw her. She's still there. Dallas is still with her his head is bent and he seems to be inspected her abdomen for injuries. She pushes Dallas away and growls.

What the hell was that about?

I begin to limp over to my mate needing to make sure she is safe.

She must notice my approach her eyes meet mine and they widen in concern.

'James!!!' I hear her cry through mind-link. She rushes down to meet me.

'Are you ok?' She whimpers her voice is thick with unshed tears. She nuzzles my neck licking my shoulder wound attempting to quicken my healing.

'I'm fine Amber I'm more worried about you.' I must be more hurt than I thought. Even in my mind my voice is is hoarse and you can clearly hear my pain.

'I never joined the fight I'm fine' she whispers.

I lovingly lick the side of her neck thankful that she is okay. I bask in her comforting scent and the tantalizing sparks that always race through me when we touch. We sit for a moment simply reassuring and marking each other.

Although I am glad that Amber is fine my thoughts soon turn grim.

That was no ordinary pack of rogues. We barely survived this battle. How will we fair in the war?

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