Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

Mikhail identified. He pursues the wolf pack and whatever they guard . He was already moving with blurring speed, and he pushed himself, forging ahead of the other two ancient warriors.
    Mikhail . Gregori hissed a warning. We do not know what we face .
    I believe it is clear enough . Mikhail ignored the rumblings of his bodyguard and slipped lower in the trees as the ice began to penetrate even the thick canopy.
    A wolf howled, a child cried out. A woman screamed. Mikhail could hear them clearly now.
    â€œGo, take the children. Leave us. You will travel faster,― a man’s voice rang out. “We’ll try to slow him down.―
    The pack gave voice again, whether in protest or agreement, Mikhail couldn’t guess. The wind rose to a howling shriek, blasting through the trees with hurricane force, uprooting several trees. As the large trunks struck other trees, they fell in a domino effect, pointing like an arrow in the direction the wolf pack had gone.
    The force of the biting cold wind flung the three Carpathians back through the sky and into the path of the falling ice. Mikhail felt a sharp point pierce his arm and he dissolved instantly, although the wind pushed him farther from the pack. The storm increased in strength, dumping huge amounts of snow from the sky until the ice was so thick and dangerous they could not continue forward in the air.
    Drop down, we will have to run to meet them from the ground .
    Gregori growled at him, this time much closer. Vikirnoff said nothing at all as his prince hit the ground running, but he moved into a better position to protect the man. Natalya paced just behind him, watching their back-trail.
    This wolf pack is unusual , Vikirnoff ventured. They are using the ancient path of telepathic communication to call for aid. And they call us, not other wolves .
    These have to be the wolves that travel with Ivory Malinov , Mikhail explained.
    He had, of course, given the news to Natalya that her twin brother was alive and had escaped at long last from Xavier. He, along with Gregori, had informed her of everything that had happened, and of Gregori’s firm belief that Razvan’s crimes had been committed when Xavier either possessed his body or his mind. The news of both Ivory and Razvan’s appearance, and that they were lifemates, had spread through the entire Carpathian community.
    He knew they were all suspicious of Razvan, particularly Vikirnoff, who had shielded Natalya so many times from her brother in the past. She had suffered emotionally, finally accepting the loss of her brother, and now both were distressed. He could only give his opinion that Razvan had been wronged these years, and was not the criminal and traitor the Carpathian world believed him to be—but he knew they would all have to make up their own minds about the man.
    I do not sense a Carpathian traveling with them, man or woman . Vikirnoff kept exact pace with the prince, shielding him as they moved in and out among the snow-laden trees. How can the wolves understand and call to us? How is it they can carry such heavy burdens on their backs and run with such speed?
    It appears they are Carpathian . Mikhail had no explanation for how that had come to be, but he knew Ivory had one. If she had converted the wolves, it had been a dangerous venture.
    Intelligent wolves craving human blood could be the biggest nightmare of all—especially if they bred. He would have to weigh the fate of that pack.
    The ice rained down, but the group was at least afforded some shelter from the vicious wind and the stabbing icicles by the twisted branches overhead. Vikirnoff added a protective buffer, weaving the branches tighter so they formed a tunnel.
    They carry humans on their backs , Natalya said.
    Her heart pounded hard. A part of her was desperate to see her brother, desperate to believe he wasn’t the monster she’d come to believe him to be, but the sane half of her whispered that none of the rumors could be true. As she ran with her lifemate and the prince, she found herself praying.
    Beneath their feet the ground rolled. The weight of the heavy snow toppled a large tree, the roots springing up from the ground, forming a tangled barrier.
    The vampire delays us , Mikhail said. Gregori, swing around to the north. Come in from the other side with Falcon. His goal seems to be to reach the wolf pack before us. He must mean to slay the humans, but for what purpose