“My mate.” Wayne choked out the words. The overwhelming fear of what could be happening to Conner was crippling him.
Josephine tilted her head. “But Juliet is gone.”
Wayne looked up at Josephine. “Yes, she is. The fates gave me a new one. A better one, and now he’s been taken.”
“So they gave ya a man. Like Nevan?” Josephine sat down in front of Wayne. “She knows a lot, this woman. She knows how to kill us and she knows of your abilities.”
Wayne looked around. “Where are the rest of the females?”
“In their homes. None of them would come out until she left. I had to bring the sheep in here. We didn’t touch anything else and we buried the handlers, said a few words.”
Wayne took Josephine’s hand. “Thank you.”
“She smelled of werewolf, but not like the normal kind. It was a strange smell…”
Wayne sat back looking at Josephine. “Like she had something with a werewolf scent and rubbed it on herself.”
“Yes, that’s it. Mixed with some sort of perfume or soap.”
Wayne stood up. It was the smell at the airport, he remembered it clearly. “It’s Sloan.”
Josephine tilted her head. “Sloan?”
“She works with my mate, and she came to Ireland with him.” Wayne closed his eyes. “Jagger?”
“Right here, Wayne. What is it?”
“I need you to get everyone out to Kerry, Ireland, right now. Conner’s been taken by Sloan Gabarou. Get Nikolai on a computer and have him look up everything there is to know about her.”
“I’m on it; we’ll be there within eight hours.”
“Jagger…bring everyone you can round up.”
“I will, Wayne. We’ll get him back.”
Wayne opened his eyes to see Josephine looking at him, concern in her eyes. “Are you all right?” he asked.” Was anyone else hurt?”
Josephine took Wayne’s hand. “No, we are all okay. Once she left we tried to contact someone, anyone, but had no access to anything.”
“I’ll make a change to that. Get the rest of the females, it’s time I made you part of this line.”
Josephine stood up. “You can’t be serious! We are already having troubles with some of them still being feral.”
Wayne stood, taking Josephine’s hand. “It’s time, Josephine. You are kept on Maccon land, none of you asked for this, but there it is. My family has tried to do what’s best for all of you and now it’s time to make you a part of the lineage. It would have helped you when the woman came; you could have called out to me telepathically. Look at you; you’ve come a long way. Fifty years ago, you would have bitten me,” Wayne tried to smile.
Josephine grinned. “Never understood Juliet, she was daft. You are one hell of a good looking man, Wayne.”
Wayne smiled. “Come on, we have work to do.” Wayne started walking towards the cottages, and then stopped. “Did she say anything else?”
“What are you thinking?” Josephine asked.
“If she let you loose, what’s to say she didn’t let the others out?”
Josephine stepped back in horror. “She said she was going to make you pay, do you think she would have?”
Wayne flipped out his cell phone. “I don’t know. I’m going to find out, though.”
~~ Conner cracked an eye open; the room was lightly lit and smelled musty. He sat up carefully and looked around. His head felt like someone had bashed him with a two by four. Brick walls surrounded him on all sides with one small window on the furthest wall. A small table held a lit candle; he couldn’t see whether it was dark out.
Conner managed to get his feet over the side of the bed and stand up. His head throbbed painfully and his mouth was dry. The room was cold as he made his way to the solid wooden door. Pulling the handle, he realized it was locked. It took a few seconds, but Conner realized he wasn’t in the cottage anymore. Was he dreaming? Conner turned to look at his surroundings. The chilly air made him shiver. No, he was awake and this was not one of the cottages at Greystones. What the hell happened? Conner furrowed his brows.
He walked to the small shuttered window that was on one side of the room. Opening the shutters, he looked out at miles of land. He was in a castle somewhere, but where? The landscape didn’t look familiar at all. Had they been kidnapped? Conner went back to the door and banged on it.
“Open the door!” Conner shouted. “Conner?”
Conner stepped away from the door.
“Sloan? Are you okay?”
“I think so, hang on; let me try to open
your door.”
Conner backed up. He could hear jingling
on the other side of the door and then it flew
open. Sloan came in and hugged him.
“Thank God,” Conner sighed. “Where are
we?” A jab of pain in his neck had him backing
away from Sloan. The heat spread down his
shoulders and into his hands. “S-S-Sloan?
What…what…?”
Sloan closed the door behind her and
turned to look at Conner.
“Such a trusting idiot,” she sneered. Conner backed up, hitting the bed.
“Why?”
Sloan cackled. “Why? Let me tell you
why young Conner. Juliet is why.”
“J-J-Juliet? I don’t understand.”
“You wouldn’t, would you? Forty five
years I’ve waited for the fates to give Wayne a
new mate. Forty five long years I waited to take
revenge on that selfish son of a bitch!” Sloan
snarled. “He just couldn’t let her go! We were in
love, Juliet and I, but she would never leave
Wayne; she was his ‘mate’ and therefore could
never leave him for me! I hated him, every time
she lay with him I wanted to kill him!”
Conner’s eyes widened. “You…and
Juliet?”
“Oh yes, she loved me and I her, but he
would never allow her to be free. She had to die
to get away from him!” Sloan grabbed Conner’s
hair and leaned into his face. “So now I have
something of his he can’t bear to let go of.” “It’s not like that,” Conner slurred. “Bullshit! I could smell him all over you!
He marked you as his, mated with you then
sealed it! I knew you were his from the moment I
saw you Conner. You have a golden aura all
around you.”
“What?” Conner blinked, looking at
Sloan. “What do you mean?”
“You think you’re ‘normal’?” Sloan
laughed. “You were made just for Wayne.” Sloan
paced the room. “Rion got his extra special
mate,” she spat. “I read the diaries whenever
Wayne was gone and Juliet and I could be together. I know everything Conner. I know where
all of the diaries are and I hid some of them, too,”
Sloan smiled sadistically.
Conner closed his eyes. “That’s why we
couldn’t find them.”
“Oh yes, Juliet would never allow me out
of the cabin with them, but I found a way. You’d
think the fates would have given you a better life,
wouldn’t you Conner? Being used for sex, turned
away by each and every man you were ever with.
I did my homework on you, and as soon as I saw
that damn golden halo around you I knew. The
moment you came into contact with Wayne, your
‘enhanced’ self was set free.”
“What d-d-do you mean you s-s-saw it?
Enhanced?”
Sloan snarled. “I’m not ‘normal’ either,
honey.”
Conner squinted. “What are you?” “A witch, I come from a long line of
them, C
onner. One thing makes me different
though - I’m not a good one. Too many years of
hatred turned me from something good into
something very, very bad.”
“What are you going to d-d-do to me?” “Nothing…yet. I want Rion more than I
want you.” Sloan knelt to be at eye level with
Conner. “Hard to concentrate, eh? I whipped up a
special spell; you can’t contact any of them
telepathically.”
Conner tried to concentrate. “Mitch…
where’s Mitch?”
Sloan laughed. “He was so useless; he
couldn’t even get you to go on a date with him. I
used him to get to Wayne. I knew if Wayne got
wind of a man sniffing around his mate, he’d take you as his, finally seal that bond. Now, when something happens to you, it will kill him. I want him to see it; I want him to know it’s me hurting
him.”
“D-d-did you hurt Mitch?”
Sloan laughed again. “No, he’s in his own
room. He may prove useful at some point. Maybe
I’ll put a spell on him; he can fuck you and mar
Wayne’s perfect little mate.”
Conner backed up on the bed. “How do
you expect Wayne to find me if I can’t contact
him?”
“Oh, he’ll find you.” Sloan walked to the
door. “I know he will.”
Chapter Five
Sebastian sat in the seat of the jet with his eyes closed. Nothing was coming no matter how hard he concentrated. It was nerve-wracking to try and pull up a vision and not be successful. He sighed loudly and opened his eyes. Nicholas was looking at him with worry in his eyes.
“Nothing,” Sebastian put his face in his hands.
“Hey, it’s okay Sebastian, you tried.” Nicholas took Sebastian in his arms.
“I’ll keep trying,” Sebastian said.
“This is wearing you down, babe. Take a break.”
“I can’t,” Sebastian shook his head. “We need to find Conner.”
“We will,” Jagger said grimly, pacing the plane. “We have to.”
Tucker looked out the window. “I can’t believe this. Why Conner? He’s the sweetest man.”
“Because he’s Wayne’s mate,” Preston sighed. “Sloan wants revenge, it has to be that.”
“The rest of the packs are meeting us in Kerry, right?” Wyatt asked.
“Yes, all of Oregon’s and Jacob and Seth of the California pack. I talked to Locke Renfro, too; he’s coming with his guys,” Jagger filled them in.
They all turned to look at Nikolai when he snapped his fingers.
“Sloan Gabarou is a witch,” Nikolai declared.
“What?” Xander sat down next to Nikolai.
“Took some looking, but I hit a paranormal site online. The name ‘Gabarou’ got a hit. Her real name is Salina - this chick is old. I mean like Salem witch trials old.”
“Isn’t that kind of…um…?” Riley asked.
“And werewolves aren’t kinda…um..?” Nikolai raised a brow.
“Point taken,” Riley nodded.
“What does that have to do with Wayne?” Troy asked. “Why does this chick have Conner?”
“I don’t think any of us know everything about Wayne,” Taylor said. “He’s over a hundred years old. Maybe he pissed her off at some point?”
“Point is,” Nikolai interrupted, “she escaped the trials, killed anyone who tried to take her.”
“Oh God,” Dakota whispered. “She’s going to hurt Conner.”
“We don’t know that, babe.” Sam held his husband.
“Is your dad coming?” Sawyer grinned at Nikolai.
“You really think Pops would miss this shit?” Nikolai said with a huge smile.
“Well, I know Jude’s dad is coming with his pack,” Jagger said, looking right at Jude. “Jonas Brooks, huh?”
Jude shifted nervously. “Look, I kept it a secret for a reason.”
“Oh, and what would that be, Jude?” Kellan narrowed his eyes. “You never told me your dad was an alpha.”
Caden took his husband’s hand. “Kellan, please calm down. I am sure Jude has his reasons.”
Jude nodded. “I did. Once people find out you’re the son of an alpha, you’re looked at differently. It didn’t help that I was the beta of the pack, either. So, I’m sorry, Kellan. I should have known better than to keep it from you and Nicholas.”
“I’ll get over it, Jude,” Nicholas said.
“Hey, everyone, get your game faces on,” Mateo looked out the window. “We’re coming in for a landing.”
“Here we go,” Josh said.
The plane landed with barely a hiccup and came to a stop on the small airstrip. Jagger looked out the window. Wayne stood with a woman by his side. The doors opened and Jagger stepped out into the cool air of Kerry, Ireland.
“Wayne,” Jagger nodded to his alpha. “And this is?”
“Josephine Messier, one of the females of Kerry,” Wayne explained.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Jagger smiled, extending his hand. “You won’t bite me, will you?” he grinned.
“I might eat you up.” Josephine looked Jagger over from head to toe.
“Now, now, boys. Go easy on Josephine; she hasn’t been around men in years,” Wayne raised a brow at Jagger.
The sound of an approaching plane had them all looking into the distance. Another jet was coming in for a landing.
“Perfect timing.” Wayne motioned his pack over to him.
“Oregon and Boston?” Jagger asked.
“I think so and probably Jacob and Seth,” Wayne guessed.
The plane landed and the door opened. Stairs unfolded and the guys got their first look at the Boston pack. Sawyer let out a low whistle as the first man came off the plane.
“What do they do again?” Sawyer asked Wayne.
“Firemen.” Wayne smiled as most of the men stood staring. Putting his hand out, Wayne shook Locke Renfro’s hand. “Thank you for coming, Locke.”
Locke took a look at all the men staring at him. “Hello. These are my guys, Logan MacLeod and Chance Christianson.”
“Uh huh,” Nikolai put his hand out. “I’m Nikolai Markov.”
“Markov?” Locke raised a brow. “As in Vince?”
“One and the same.” Nikolai looked Locke Renfro up and down slowly. The man was drop dead fine as all hell. Short black hair and piercing blue-grey eyes looked at him with a smile. The other two were just as hot. The one Locke had referred to as Logan was about six feet tall and muscular. Chance was shorter and built like an athlete.
Locke turned his attention to Wayne. “We’re here to do whatever we can.”
“I appreciate it. We’ve figured out what we’re up against and it’s not going to be easy. This woman is a witch.”
“Chance has studied witchcraft; he should be able to help,” Locke said.
Chance nodded. “Yes, I’ll need to know everything.”
“I can help with that,” Nikolai said.
Sawyer eyed Logan MacLeod. “MacLeod, huh?”
Logan narrowed his eyes with a grin. “Yeah?”
Sawyer kept his face stoic and did his best movie announcer voice. “There can be only one...”
Logan grinned. “How long were ya keeping that one in?”
Sawyer shrugged. “Not long.”
Jude smiled as his father exited the plane along with the rest of his men. Ross and Noah were grinning; his father, however, looked nervous.
“Dad!” Jude hugged his father.
“Hello son.” Jonas hugged his son back tightly. “How have you been?”
“Good,” Jude smiled at Noah and Ross. “You haven’t found a beta yet?”
Jonas closed his eyes and sighed. “I have.”
“Oh? Where is he?” Jude looked around.
“He couldn’t make it.” Truth be t
old, he knew his son would be a little angry at his choice of beta and wanted to put off the two of them coming together.
“Dad…” Jude raised a brow. “Who is it?” Jonas exhaled slowly. “Hayden Cox.”
“What!?” Jude backed up. “You mean Cox the cock? Oh Jesus, Dad! You know he picked on me all through middle school! He’s a bully!”
“He’s matured Jude, just as you have,” Jonas said quietly but firmly.
“It’s true,” Noah nodded. “He’s very quiet and professional.”
“Oh well, that’s just great then, isn’t it! None of you had to deal with his endless teasing day in and day out!” Jude shouted. “How could you, Dad? He made fun of my name, my height and anything else he could come up with!”
“I made an executive decision, Jude,” Jonas said quietly. “I will not explain myself further. You left the pack and your position, I had to fill it.”
“You couldn’t put Noah or Ross in that position?” Jude persisted.
“Dude, we did not want it,” Noah said.
“Stop it!” Wayne roared. “You forget why we are all here?”
Jude looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry, Wayne.”
Nikolai’s phone beeped in the silence that followed and he looked at the text. “Pops is at the house already with Lorenzo.”
“Then let’s go.” Wayne motioned to Jacob and Seth. “You two, we need to talk.”
~~ Vince eyed the enclosure with narrowed eyes. The women were all looking at him like he was a rare steak.
Lorenzo leaned over, whispering, “I am feeling like a piece of meat.”
“You got that feeling, too?” Vince chuckled.
“They are all werewolves?” Lorenzo asked.
“Yes, I guess the females are very feral in the beginning.”
It had been discussed with all the packs and they had come to the decision that those working directly with werewolves should become privy to the knowledge that they did indeed exist. Lorenzo was let in on the secret and it had been something Vince wished he could have recorded. To say Lorenzo was surprised was an understatement. He’d almost passed out. Vince chuckled.
“You are thinking about the day I was informed,” Lorenzo raised a brow.
“I can’t help it, it was hilarious.”
“Asshole,” Lorenzo grumbled.
An approaching vehicle made them turn towards the sound. Two large vans were pulling up to the enclosure. Vince squinted, and then smiled as Nikolai’s black hair emerged from one of them. The rest of the men piled out and Wayne walked over to them.
Irish Wishes Page 9