“This is where the first shifter pack was formed. Right here in front of this waterfall,” Jayce said.
I bent down and waved my hand around in the translucent water. Bits of crystal and rock could be seen along the shoreline. I grabbed a few pieces, letting the water drain through my fingers and the rocks remain.
“Why did the first pack split up?” I asked.
“The leaders wanted to go in different directions. It was for the best. After splitting, all the packs were at peace for decades. We lived in peace for a long time until the Black Ridge leaders began to cause issues for the citizens. That’s why they were known as the rogue pack of Arrow Lake.”
“But then the citizens of Arrow Lake passed Lakely’s Law and all of you were driven out of town,” I added.
“Right. Some know the history. They know that we were derived from one big pack long ago. No shifters are allowed near the main part of Arrow Lake in their true forms. Some of the citizens don’t even want us there at all. So, after the vote, almost all of us were driven closer to the Arrow Lake mountains where we remain or further north toward Canada. Actually, we thought the Blake Ridge rogues fled to Canada, but they’re back now.”
“For what reason?” I asked. “I mean, why would they attack innocent people?”
Jayce was quiet for a while. I rose to a standing position near the lake.
“I wish I knew,” he whispered.
I closed the distance between us, linking my fingers around the back of his neck. “I don’t want to talk about the violence anymore.”
I kissed his lips and he returned the endearment, looping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer.
“What should we talk about?”
“Hmmm, about how I’d like to come visit you more often.”
“Would you now?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I would.”
Something seemed to be troubling him, but he must have forced his interim problems away. He angled his lips and deepening the kiss, letting his tongue dance with mine.
After we parted, he said, “The sun will set in a bit.”
“Can we stay and watch it?” I asked. “I haven’t seen anything like this before. It must be so beautiful.”
“Um…” His gaze fluttered toward the ground and then he glanced back up at me. His lips spread out in a smile. “Sure.”
We sat down on the ground right at the water’s edge. I settled back, letting my back sink into his chest as he held me. His fingers brushed across my mate mark, studying it for a long time, and then he linked his fingers with mine.
Finally, he said, “Tell me what it’s like to live in Green Bay.”
I enjoyed talking about the city where I was born and raised, so by the time I was halfway through my spiel on metropolitan-living, the sun had just begun to set.
As I predicted, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I was experiencing it with the most irresistible man I’d ever met.
After sharing another kiss under the last moments of daylight, we realized that we’d better head back before we indulged in some major PDA on Crystal Lake territory.
As we walked back to the car, four men appeared from behind the bushes and trees wearing nothing but torn and tattered jeans. One of them had on a black shirt, but it was badly ripped.
“There!” One of the men shouted and pointed in our direction. “That’s the one that killed Manny.”
My breath lodged in my throat as recognition for one of the men flooded me. It was the wolf who had told me to run the night I was kidnapped. The man they called the alpha—the one who led them.
“Yes. Indeed. And there goes our breeder with him,” the leader sneered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
VIOLET
My gaze darted back and forth between Jayce and the leader of the rogues. “What’s going on?”
“Stay behind me,” Jayce instructed.
“Well, well, well,” the evil leader drawled, coming out into the clearing. The others followed closely behind him.
“Marshall.”
Even though I was standing a couple feet back, I could feel the tension literally rolling off of Jayce.
“I thought you were hiding, Pembroke mutt.”
“I don’t hide.”
“You’re usually out and about pretending to be a cop, but not these last few days. Maybe it’s because you knew we’d come for you,” Marshall said.
“You tracked the girl?”
“No.”
Marshall’s attention shifted from Jayce to me. I crept back, remembering how he claimed he would run me down and breed me.
“I tracked you,” Marshall stated. “Your blood was everywhere when we came to collect the bodies. It took us some time to figure out who ruined our night. But oddly enough, this isn’t the first time you’ve put down one of our men. You must enjoy the kill, Pembroke. Is that why your alpha chose you? Because he knew you wouldn’t mind getting your hands dirty?”
“I do what is necessary to protect my pack and my alpha.”
“Fair enough. You have your code and we have ours.”
“Why are you rogues in Arrow Lake?” Jayce demanded.
“This is our home just as much as it is yours or the humans, for that matter.”
“You want to come back here?”
Marshall chortled and rolled his eyes. “My plans are none of your concern. But I’ve always made it a point to get what’s mine.”
“What’s that?”
“I think you know.”
“Your mate. Councilman Rick’s daughter?”
“No. She’s been dead for a long time.” There was actually pain and regret in Marshall’s voice.
Marshall gasped. “What happened?”
“She was pregnant with my pup. What do you think happened?”
Jayce was silence. He looked at the ground.
“That’s right. I’ve been coming here for months in search of my child. I thought…two years have passed, and surely he’s already been born. My plan had always been to come for him as soon as he could walk, and then when the time was right, I’d teach him the ways of our pack. I came back, but there wasn’t any sign of him. There was no evidence of him being born either.”
“Did they hide him?” Jayce asked.
“India’s father gave her a poison which induced an abortion. They weren’t able to revive her after she became ill from taking it. He killed his own daughter so she wouldn’t bring my child into this world.”
I hated the sight of Marshall, but bile rose in my throat when he revealed his story. No mother or child should ever have to go through that.
“Now you stand there with no words. Are you shocked that that monster could do something like this?” Marshall sneered.
“Considering what they did to us? No.”
“My vengeance is warranted. Is it not?”
“You plan to keep raiding the town and kidnapping innocents to use as breeders?”
“Why not? I warned that bastard that if anything were to happen to India or my child, I’d start a war. My pack needs the numbers. I need offspring to take my place, so we’ll breed them. The girl cowering behind you wasn’t the first and she most certainly won’t be the last.”
“This behavior is despicable. Can’t you find breeders willingly?”
“Sure we can. We’ll start right here in Arrow Lake where they murdered my unborn baby and my mate. I’ll tear this town down like they tore my future away from me. Make no mistake, the women we claim give in sooner or later. Like this one. She would’ve given in just like the rest of them.”
“Not true!” I spat. “You forced me against my will. You told me to run.”
Marshall laughed. “And you ran. That was your choice.”
Jayce growled. “You need to leave. You and your pack. You’re causing problems for us. Sooner or later, the humans will retaliate.”
“Let them retaliate. Who do you think will win? That’s what I don’t get about you we
aker shifters trying to acclimate yourself into human society. We can take back what’s ours. We don’t have to accept this shit.”
Jayce shook his head. “There is no we.”
Marshall frowned. “Well if you won’t stand with me, then you stand against me.”
“Now use your brain again and leave.”
“Not until we get our revenge. This isn’t over. We have men on the inside in Arrow Lake.”
“Who?”
“Good luck finding out. Now you can go run tell your little alpha to stop trying to run us out of here. While they’re out there working on a plan to trap us, they led us straight here to you. When Freddie caught your sent, I was fucking surprised. I feel like I’ve just won the lottery to have run into the mutt and the bitch I’ve been looking for. Now hand her over!”
Jayce charged forward, but the cronies Marshall brought with him planted themselves between the two.
Marshall grinned smugly. “We found her first. We got to her first. We marked her first. You killed my brother and some of his essence still remains within her. That means we have a rightful claim to her. Regardless of how you’ve been keeping her from us so you can sample her, she’s ours.”
“Not gonna happen,” Jayce declared.
“You owe me for taking my brother’s life. This little human will be a small price to pay. You know the old ways, Timber Rock mutt. Your alpha just chooses not to follow them, but we still do. She was marked as a breeder before you ever got to her, so hand her over and we’ll leave. We’ll leave Arrow Lake for good and these miserable townsfolk.”
Jayce nudged me backward gently and said, “Get in the truck.”
Marshall shook his head and crept forward. “No, no…you’re not leaving here without giving me the human.”
“Don’t test my patience. Try and stop me. If you touch her, I won’t hesitate to end you just like I did your brother.”
“So, you admit that you killed our beta…my brother? That’s grounds for retaliation. Not only that, you intercepted our hunt and took her to breed her yourself. I smell the sex and your scent all mixed up with hers.”
“Do you think I took her as part of your little twisted game?”
Marshall snorted. “You just admitted you murdered my brother. You were there when she got away and she’s with you now.”
“That’s because she’s mine.”
Marshall laughed. “Is that a challenge? Are you challenging my right to her?”
“You have no rights here or over her.”
Marshall spat on the ground. “Here I stand. I won’t leave until you hand her over.”
“You’re wasting my time. I’m done talking.” Jayce spun around, leaving Marshall with his eyebrows drawn sternly together. “In the truck,” he instructed, and this time, I listened.
I scrambled toward the truck, Jayce yanked the door open, and I hopped inside.
I must have blinked, but everything after that happened so fast. I saw Marshall standing right behind Jayce. He grabbed Jayce’s arm in an attempt to stop us, but Jayce spun out of his grip, picked him up by the throat and slammed him against the side of the truck. The force sent the whole truck rocking. I grabbed hold of the seat with both hands to ground myself. My breath came out in a rush and my heart beat frantically.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” Jayce growled.
Marshall’s cronies came running, but Marshall held up his hand. “I’ll handle this,” he muttered, and then he turned his attention back to Jayce, who hadn’t loosened his grip on his throat. “Let go.”
After a brief struggle between the two, Jayce dropped his hand.
Marshall rubbed at his throat. “Per the old laws of the original pack, I lay claim to the human who my brother marked as his breeder. By blood rights, everything he owned belongs to me, including the girl in the truck. Would you like to challenge that?”
“Challenge accepted.”
Before I could assess what they had agreed to, both Jayce and Marshall dropped to their knees and began to bend, shape, and morph into wolves.
“Oh. My. God.” I shrieked when their bodies collided. I felt sick to my stomach. Trying to make out Jayce in the frenzy of fur rolling around on the ground earned me a dizzying spell.
But I couldn’t freeze up now. Jayce needed help.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
VIOLET
I scrambled to get the glove compartment open and snatched out my cell phone. My fingers shook as I quickly bypassed the screensaver. I panted. I didn’t know what else to do, but my first instinct was to call for help.
Before I could dial 9-1-1, two male hikers ran out into the clearing. One of the men grabbed my arm and tugged me from the vehicle.
“What the hell are you doing out here, woman? Start the truck and get out of here!”
“I don’t have the keys. My friend has the keys. I won’t go. I have to help.”
“Don’t you see those werewolves fighting? Get away from them!” the man screamed.
“No, sir, you don’t understand. I have to help him,” I cried out.
They looked at me crazy but managed to tug me out of the truck. “Please, ma’am. Why are you out here? These men are beasts. For your own safety, you should come with us. Our SUV is right over there.”
“No!” I tugged back. “Let me go.”
“Man, you are crazy,” the man proclaimed. “We’re going to call for help, but we’re getting out of here. Roll up your windows, at least.”
The man frowned at me and his companion pulled out a cell phone. “Yes, there’s an emergency out here at the lake. There’s a woman stuck in a car and she won’t move and some wolves are fighting pretty viciously around her. There’s blood everywhere…” I heard the man say as they ran off.
I glared back and forth from the cell phone in my hand to the bodies thrashing around over the ground, hoping they would stop. True to what the hikers had told the 9-1-1 operator, I was the only human on the ground.
On a hunch, I lifted the center console and grabbed Jayce’s phone. After thumbing nervously through his contacts, I found Draven’s name displayed in the missed calls list and dialed him.
“Jayce!” Draven answered immediately. “We had them and we lost them. I was calling you to warn you that they’re running loose through the valley. Where are you, man?”
“It’s not Jayce. It’s me. Violet. Jayce is in trouble. The rogues found us and…they’re fighting. It’s bad.”
“Where are you!”
“The lake. Crystal Lake.”
“Stay there,” he commanded. “We’re on the way. Are you in a safe place?”
“I…I think so. I’m in the truck.”
“Stay in it! Whatever you do, don’t go near the fighting wolves, do you hear me?” His voice faded out as he gave instructions to whoever was with him. “Crystal Lake…now.”
“Yes, but please come quick. There are four of them. I was going to call the police but—”
“Don’t call them. Listen to me. We’re near. I have to go now. I have to shift.”
There was a beep on the line and then a notification on the screen that the call had ended.
One of the wolves rammed up against the side of the truck and I screamed. Thank God the truck didn’t have power windows. I grabbed the knob and tried to wind the windows up. Something must have been jammed because the window never budged.
“Dammit,” I wailed.
A wolf jumped up and used it’s front paws to cling to the passenger’s side door where I was sitting. It snapped its canines and growled.
I looked for a weapon around me, but the only thing I managed to find was a wrench sitting on the floor. With every ounce of strength I had in me, I swung the wrench and beat the wolf across the face with it. It yelped and threw itself back on the ground, where Jayce pounced on him flashing blood-drenched canines. Both wolves kept going for each other’s throat.
Just as I feared, Marshall’s cronies were assisting him. One of them sunk
his teeth into Jayce’s hind leg. Jayce howled out in pain. While Jayce was immobilized for a split second, the wolf who had charged me earlier came at me again.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” I hollered and slammed the wrench down again, but I missed this time.
The cronies had Jayce cornered while I tried to hold off the wolf trying to squeeze his way through the passenger’s side window. A flashback from the night the men chased me down in the woods came to me, and when I looked into the eyes of the wolf growling at me, I knew instantly who’s animal it was—Marshall’s. And he was intent on biting me.
Another force hit the truck. Jayce rammed into Marshall and then tore him from the car. This time when Jayce attacked, he dove right onto the throat.
It took me a few seconds before I realized that the blaring noise came from police sirens coming in the distance. White cop cars came flying off the dirt road and barreling across the field toward the lake where the wolves were fighting. In that same instant, I saw three more wolves enter the clearing.
Despite the cops racing from their cars with rifles drawn, the three wolves that had just shown up shifted back to human form and held their hands in the air. The three cronies on Marshall’s side did the same, shifting and then holding up their hands.
“Stop the fighting, reveal yourselves, or we’ll shoot,” one of the cops yelled over some speakers.
Jayce and Marshall ignored the warning, even when a cop shot off a round in the air.
Marshall was hardly moving as Jayce shook his head back and forth with his canines still latched to Marshall’s throat.
“Jayce!” Draven called out.
Marshall somehow yanked himself loose of Jayce’s gripped and rolled out of the way. He pounced again and the wolves went at each other hard again to the point where all I could make out were teeth, blood, and fur.
Another shot went off close to where the wolves were fighting. I clutched my chest, hoping that the cops didn’t gun down Jayce. I also feared that if he stopped and surrendered to the cops that the relentless Marshall would kill him.
Seeing my only chance to escape the truck as the fighting wolves scurried off several feet away, I shoved the door open and high-tailed it across the field towards the cops. Someone was yelling for me to get down. I looked up to see the end of a rifle pointing straight towards me.
Jayce: Shifters of Timber Rock Page 11