Taken by Lane L.V. (top young adult novels txt) 📕

The Alpha nods.

“Give me a fucking sword,” Brook says. I have never heard this savage voice before. “They are mine too.”

Caden grins, white teeth flashing with the promise of pain. He snatches up a fallen weapon and passes it to Brook. On the far side of the deck, men and wolves still battle with the two great Orcs. All across the ship, outlaws, Imperium Guards, and shifters war in pockets.

“No!” I say. The Orcs are fearsome. I have watched Caden fight one once before, and I swore I never wanted to witness such a sight again.

“Do what you must, lads,” Raglan says, his half-shift voice all gravel. “But by the King’s command, they will be prisoners. Get it done, or I will, for I will not stand by while you die.”

“We will not fucking die,” Brook growls.

“No!” I scream this time, but Raglan wraps his bestial arm around me.

“Let Brook and the slave have this,” he says.

Time slows and stretches. My heart is torn by this dreadful scene. If will alone was powerful, our enemies would already lay slain. Caden, Brook, and the former Alpha slave, join the Imperium Guards and shifters.

The snapping jaws of wolves.

The stab of long pikes.

A brutal spike-tipped club.

And my mates with their swords.

Circle, strike, parry, thrust. Circle clash. Circle stab. Back and forth, a discordant, desperate fight that finds no end.

All around us, weapons strike in a different, yet equally desperate, fight.

Then Brook’s blade cleaves upward, slashing through an opening—his roar of triumph sets goosebumps across my skin. The Orc foe crashes to the floor. The Imperium soldiers with pikes surge. With a cry of rage, Edil tosses her sword to the floor.

But the battle is not over yet. No sooner does Brook and Caden return to me than Raglan shifts and charges for those outlaws still at large. I cling to Brook and Caden, shaking so hard I fear I may break myself apart.

We watch Raglan at his fearsome play.

He is death, and he is vengeance. He tears through the ship, flashing between wolf and half-shift so rapidly, he is often little more than a blur.

He is strength and devastation.

He is otherworldly in his power.

He rides the chaos of battle as my brave mates watch over me.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Raglan

THE BLIGHTEN SHIP lays in ruins, strewn with bodies, and blood, while fires take hold. The main mast has cracked, and the sails drape over the water—it will soon join the ghosts of other lost ships at the bottom of the sea.

My quest to capture Gan and Edil, and to locate Zeta is done. It wasn’t until today when Edil emerged from her room early, that I saw the tiny shifter was indeed with the Orcs, as reported. I was wondering how best to free Zeta when Priya’s sneaking was put to good use. The Dolphin shifters are a strange lot and rarely involve themselves in the lives of land dwellers. But Zeta was a person of importance within their community, and they made an exception.

I had a few means of hailing the King’s ship, but freeing Zeta proved to be the least messy.

We have transferred to the King’s ship. A few crew are pillaging what goods and valuables they can before we cast it away. I see Caden and Brook waiting with Priya. She clings to Caden, but her small hand is clasped to Brook’s like she needs them both close. Her eyes, though, they are all upon me.

I wonder if she hates me now that she has seen what I’m capable of?

Still in half-shift, my animal instincts are tempered a little by my human intellect. Many have told me that this form is my most dread, that the sight is enough to make grown men piss themselves, and give good, Goddess worshiping folks nightmares.

Priya does not look away from me, whichever form I might take. I’ve long since accepted that the young Omega is destined to be my mate. The lads please me too. Despite them giving me torment to last a lifetime, I can see they are worthy mates. That Hawthorn chose them as second and third also tells me so.

“What are our orders, Raglan?”

My attention turns toward the captain of the Valiant. At his side is my pack Beta, Ashe, who is naked and splattered in blood in human form. Ashe grins. He is a bloodthirsty heathen and much enamored with the thrill of a fight.

Before me, Gan and Edil are set upon their knees. Specially crafted metal collars and cuffs hold them secure, while heavy chains with lead weights attached to wrists and ankles take much of their strength away. Both are badly cut and stream blood. They did not go down easily; no Orc does. “The King’s prisoners,” I say. There will be little joy for the captain in returning them to the King. I should be the one supervising their escort all the way to the capital. But I find myself with new plans.

The King will understand. He will fucking have to. This undertaking to capture them has been a quest above and beyond. But it brought the Omega into my life, and for that, I am grateful. When I think of all the calamities along the way, the many times I nearly ripped Derick apart and courted Davide’s wrath, I can only wonder that it’s done.

“Put them in the hold,” I say. “If they give you trouble, be sure to bloody them some more.”

At spears-length, the Orcs are coaxed to their feet. In half-shift, I’m of height with Gan, although an Orc carries far greater bulk. I want to gut the bastard. I want to strangle his mate on her own entrails for daring to make Priya a pet. But it’s not my place to do so. And Davide will be vexed enough that I’m about to abandon my service to him for my personal pursuits.

My grin is full of sharp