by Jade Royal
“Thanks.” Bliss smiled.
“Joining the pack is all good and whatnot, but what about mating the alpha and stop being stupid?” Kyra asked. Bliss rolled her eyes at her.
“Whatever.” Bliss waved her off.
“Listen up,” Kellan said while looking at his phone. “The new location Tristan found that my father left behind is legitimate. I want us to be out of here tomorrow afternoon the latest. Jaxson stayed with the other pack we found to take our elders during the full moon but he’s traveling back right now. Once he arrives, we’ll be ready to go.”
“What about Maverick?” Bliss asked.
“Once we get settled into a place where Maverick can’t find and infiltrate, we will discuss plans. Right now, safety is our priority.” Bliss nodded in understanding not wanting to argue a valid point.
For what was left of the night, hardly anyone slept. Each pack member contributed to packing things up to move to the new location. It wasn’t hard on anyone but Kellan. This was his home, and he had to leave it behind,but he was keeping a brave face.
“I applaud you,” Bliss said approaching him while he was standing out back drinking coffee. The sun was completely up, and Jaxson had arrived back moments ago. It was almost eight in the morning, and after intensive packing, mostly everything was ready to go.
“For what?” Kellan asked.
“Handling all this change. Making it so that the pack will be protected.”
“I’m an alpha, Bliss. Kind of my job.”
“I know, but you should still get praise for it. I know change isn’t always easy to handle.”
“True, but I’m not thinking about what I’m leaving behind. Only what I stand to gain by moving forward.” He gave her a smile that made her blush.
“Listen, about our mating, I want to--” Kellan cut her off by holding a hand up. He sniffed the air.
“Go inside the cabin.” He ordered. Bliss didn’t question him. She went inside while he walked around front to investigate the strange smell that came to him. He didn’t have to call Jayce and Jaxson out. They were already on the porch awaiting the intruder. Kellan stood in front of the porch as a man stumbled through the woods. He was dragging his leg as blood dripped from his mouth.
“Help me.” He winced as he fell. Kellan rushed towards him. He was human.
“What happened to you?” Kellan asked.
“These wolves attacked me. First, they were human, and then, next thing I knew, they were wolves, and I was being attacked.” Kellan slowly stooped down to look at the man’s wounds. Surely, if he was attacked by a pack of wolf shifters, he wouldn’t have come out alive, and shifters didn’t attack humans unless it was necessary, which it was hardly ever. Keeping the existence of shifters a secret assured longevity. No shifter would screw that up by letting a human see them shift and them survive an apparent attack. Surely, if the human saw them shift, he wouldn’t be alive.
“Where?” Kellan asked him. The man began bumbling not able to come up with a location.
Bliss watched from the window of the cabin as Kellan went to investigate the man limping towards them. He kept his head down so Bliss couldn’t see him, but his scent came to her nose with no problem. At first, she didn’t recognize the scent, but then a memory slid into her brain. The memory of being wrapped around in that scent all throughout her childhood.
Stay in the house, Bliss. Do not come out.
Kellan, it’s my father! He helped Maverick dispose of my body. I’m coming out there to face him!
No! Kellan barked. You’re an alpha female,e Bliss. Stay inside the house and protect your pack mates. Bliss turned and looked at Rita, Kyra, and Gemma who wore concerned looks on their faces. She understood that she had to stay and protect them just how Kellan had to face the problems head on, but that didn’t stop her from worrying about what was going to happen. She watched closely at the window ready to defend her mate if she had to.
Kellan wasn’t sure how to approach the man feigning a wolf attack who just so happened to be Bliss’ father. He knew from jump however that the man was lying about the attack, and if he was here, Maverick couldn’t be far behind.
“Get up and get the fuck off my property,” Kellan stated. The man’s face immediately dropped its act. He sat up and glared at Kellan.
“I can’t leave. If I don’t do this, then Maverick doesn’t give me the bite!”
“Helping a murderer dump a dead body is something unforgivable. Maverick may have not told you, but even if he bit you, you would not be worthy of becoming a shifter. If the bite doesn’t kill you, the shift surely will.” The man backed up a little, uneasiness forming in his features.
“You’re lying,” he said. “And wh-who told you I helped dumped a body?” His voice shook so much, Kellan thought he was going to piss himself.
“You let a man kill your own child for power?” Kellan asked. “And yet, still that same man sent you here to do his work.” Kellan unsheathed his claws.
“You know how easy it would be for me to pierce your chest and grab your heart while it’s still beating?” The man swallowed hard before pulling a gun from the waist of his pants. Kellan felt Jaxson approaching.
Don’t. Even if he shoots me, I need someone to protect the she-wolves. Jaxson backed up at his alpha’s words. The leaves on a tree on the right side of Kellan moved oddly. There was no breeze flowing. Kellan sniffed.
It’s an ambush! He shouted to Jaxson and Jayce, but it was too late for that. Jaxson shouted out in pain a minute before Jayce did. Kellan whipped around to see his wolves on the ground with purple vapor coming from their wounds.
Wolfsbane! Jaxson coughed in Kellan’s head. Kellan looked back at Bliss’ father who was holding the gun still, but he wasn’t the one who shot Jayce and Jaxson. The answer to Kellan’s question revealed itself. Two of the men who helped launched the attack on his parents jumped down from the trees with guns in their hands. Maverick’s laugh echoed around the woods before he finally emerged.
“Well done, fellas.” He clapped. “Bryce, finish the job, and the bite is yours.” Bliss’ father looked back and forth between Maverick and Kellan.
“He said I will be killed by the bite because of the things I’ve done,” Bryce said.
“He’d say anything to save his ass.” Maverick shrugged. He sniffed the air. “Looks like we’ve got four females for the picking, fellas, and one of them smells particularly sweet.” Maverick thought the smell was familiar, but he didn’t know from where. Surely, he wouldn’t have let a female go if he had one that smelled that intoxicating.
Bliss, you need to get the other females and leave. Go out back and swim across the lake. He can’t follow your scent if you go in the lake. Swim across, and I’ll come find you later.
No, Kellan, I can’t leave! And Rita is about to go feral! The moment Jayce got hit, she was ready to attack,and she won’t listen to me! Let us come out and fight Kellan. Please. Kellan knew that it was wrong of him to try and hide them away from danger. Wolves were fiercely loyal and telling them not to fight when the people they cared about were being attacked was unfair. When he thought about it, Gemma didn’t have control over her wolf as yet and allowing her to let loose when angry she could probably take down any one of the men, and then Rita was already feral about her mate. She was going to fight like her life depended on it.
Let Gemma and Rita come out. You and Kyra stay. If we all go down and they leave, someone is going to have to help us recover.
“Who ya’ talkin’ to?” Maverick asked, knowing well that Kellan wasn’t just quiet.
“Just the mate of the wolf your dude over there just shot,” Kellan said, and the moment he said that, Rita’s wolf launched out of the front door. She pounced on the man that shot Jayce attacking him fiercely. Gemma was out next taking on the man as well helping Rita tear him to bits. Kellan saw Maverick back up ready to flee.
“You wanted a fight, didn’t you?” Kellan asked approaching him. “So, come on, fight.�
� Bryce stood in the way as if protecting Maverick. Kellan swatted him away, sending him flying.
“A human, Maverick? Really?” Kellan’s canines dropped from his mouth.
“Humans are the ones who are the real weapons,” Maverick said. He looked at Bryce. “DO IT!” Before Kellan could react, the gun in Bryce’s hand went off. The wolfsbane went straight into Kellan’s side dropping him to the ground.
Everything went still around Bliss as she watched her mate go down. She only just shifted hours ago, but her and her wolf were connected deeply, and the both of them were angry.
“Bliss?” Kyra asked shakily, but Bliss didn’t answer. Her claws and canines elongated as her breathing became heavy. She watched as her father stood over Kellan and shot him once more. Unable to hold it in, Bliss let out a shrill scream and shot out of the house.
“What the fuck!” Maverick shouted seeing Bliss emerge from the cabin. It was her scent. She was the one he smelled that he was sure he recognized.
“No, no! I-I-you’re supposed to be dead!” Bliss didn’t speak. He realized the color of her eyes and the large teeth coming from her mouth. She let out a war cry before running full speed towards them. She jumped in the air, shifting midflight. She landed on all fours in front of Kellan as a wolf, growling and gritting its teeth directly at Bryce. Maverick continued to back up.
“Oh, shit.” He gasped realizing what she’d become. Not only that, but the way she stood in protection of Kellan meant so much more. She was going to be on the attack, and Maverick wasn’t going to wait around to see what she would do.
Through his haze, Kellan felt Bliss standing over him, protecting him from any more of the poison. Her mind was racing with thoughts of bloodshed, so he knew she was feral, and he wasn’t going to stop her from what she wanted to do.
“Bliss-I’m sorry,” Bryce pleaded. “I should have stopped him, but look what you’ve become! I want the same thing!” Bliss roared in his face before launching herself at him. He fell beneath her paws, and his cries sounded throughout the woods as Bliss clawed and tore at his face with her teeth.
“ABORT!” Maverick shouted. “Take what you can!” Kellan heard the command, but he was too weak to say anything or do anything. Rita’s wolf let out a yelp. Kellan turned his head to see her fall limply to the ground. A member of his old pack scooped her wolf up in his arms and began taking off with her. Kyra bounded out of the house ready to attack. She was hit with the poison just like Rita was. She fell and shifted back into her human form immediately, but with everyone running off, none of the other men tried taking anyone else. They had Rita and were going to run off with her.
“NO!” Jayce screamed. “NOT MY FUCKING MATE!” He tried to get up and shift, but the power of the wolfsbane left him completely weak. He crawled on the ground with his arm outstretched as he watched Rita disappear into the woods on the shoulders of their attackers. She let out a weak howl, crying for her mate, and then all sounds and sights of her were gone.
Chapter Eighteen
Kellan screamed in pain as Bliss burned the wolfsbane out of his body. The moment the poison was gone, he helped her burn the rest of the pack. Jayce lay on the ground unmoving even as they placed the burning torch to his wounds. The moment his body began to heal, he stood and shifted to continue healing the rest of the way. He tilted his nose up to the sky and sniffed, but he couldn’t smell Rita.
“Maverick’s not dumb enough to go back to the old pack grounds, and even with the wolfsbane burned out, we’re still too weak to launch any kind of attack to get Rita back right now,” Kellan said. Jayce ignored him and took off into a trot. He knew Kellan was right, but he had to see for himself.
“Wait--” Kyra was trying to call Jayce back.
“Let him go,” Kellan said. “He knows the coordinates to the new location. We need to shift and get out of here. I’ll come back later for our things, but we need to leave right now.” Once he said that, he shifted to his animal. He was too weak in his human form still. The rest of the pack shifted and followed him. Bliss was human again looking at the carnage she caused her own father. Kellan butted her chin with his nose.
You saved me, he said to her. She looked at him. He deserved it Bliss. And you did right by your pack. She took his words and let them console her. She shifted easily and walked alongside Kellan leaving the cabin and her father’s dismantled body behind.
********
The sun began to dim by the time the pack approached their new home. Tristan was waiting for them at the edge of a cliff that stood across from a quiet waterfall. Tristan could immediately sense the turmoil and exhaustion in his pack. He had a pile of clothes with him ready to meet the pack, so they shifted and began changing. Even though he tried to, he couldn’t avert his eyes from Gemma’s naked body as she changed into clothes. She felt his stare and looked at him sharply. That’s when Tristan looked away.
“What happened?” Tristan asked.
“We were attacked,” Kellan said.
“Where’s Rita and Jayce?’ Tristan noticed they weren’t with the rest of the pack.
“Rita was taken.” Jayce spoke up. Everyone turned around to see him coming from the woods. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the pile of clothes and got dressed.
“I tried to follow her scent, but it’s long gone, and I felt like if they went back to the old pack grounds, I’d still be able to smell her, and I can’t, so I caught up to the pack and just followed from a distance.” He informed them.
“You know we’re going to do whatever we can to find her, don’t you?” Tristan asked.
“I know,” Jayce said stoically. The distance in his eyes let the whole pack know that he had one focus, and that was just to get his mate back, and no one was going to fault him for it.
“Show us,” Kellan said. “I don’t see anything here but that waterfall.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but honestly, this place is amazing. Your father was really planning for the future with this one.”
Tristan turned and led the way. They climbed down the side of the cliff and walked along a rugged path of rocks towards the waterfall. Standing on top of the cliff, you couldn’t see that the waterfall hid an opening behind it. Tristan led them behind the waterfall and into a cavern.
“The waterfall masks any scent. A wolf couldn’t possibly find we live here by our scent.” They walked deeper into the cavern until they reached a large metal door. Tristan simply pressed the button on the side of the door, and it clicked and whirred before raising up and opening slowly.
“There’s no security set up, so I figured Kameron just didn’t get the chance to do it, but I can hook some security up easily.” The door finally came to a stop.
“Whoa.” Bliss spoke first. Kellan was just as awed as he walked through the large door. It led to a large foyer decorated with sofas and carpets. On each side of the foyer were two openings that seemed to lead down separate corridors.
“Down each of those tunnels you’ll find the bedrooms.” Tristan informed them. “Everything goes around in a circle, so if you enter through one of the tunnels and work your way around, you’ll still end up at the center of it all, which if we continue straight, we’ll be there too.” He continued past the foyer straight into the tunnel until it opened out to a very large kitchen. On either side of the kitchen walls were two tunnel openings just like the foyer which Kellan guessed was what Tristan meant about everything being a circle and leading to the center. Next to the kitchen was a long dining table suitable for the pack to have meals together, and then continuing on the kitchen spilled out into a lavish living area with a large flat screen TV, a plush leather sectional couch, beanbags, and another large sofa. The rock ceiling was high with lights that dropped down elegantly. Kellan could see his mother’s touch in the decorations and his father’s resourcefulness in the designs.
“Look at this,” Tristan said. He handed Kellan a small piece of paper. “I found it when I first entered on the mantle in the foyer. Ke
llan took the paper and smiled when he looked at it.
To my son for his future pack. P.S: Your mother set up a nursery even though I told her it wouldn’t be necessary, but she figures seeing the nursery would give you an obvious hint. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
“Well, this is our new home,” Kellan said after reading the paper. “This is what my parents were planning for me. For all of us.”
“It’s beautiful,” Gemma said. “I’m gonna go choose my room. I wish my parents would have been here to see this place, but I’ll call them once I get settled.” The sadness in her voice made Tristan want to go and comfort her, but then she walked off, disappearing into one of the tunnels. The other wolves decided to do the same walking into different tunnels to find a room suitable for them. Kellan was the last left standing in the living room. He plopped down on a sofa as he thought about how he was going to make things right regarding Rita. He felt at blame for everything. He was in fact the alpha, so it was all his fault.
“It’s not your fault,” Jayce said. Kellan looked up. He’d been projecting, and he didn’t even realize, but then he, Jayce, Tristan, and Jaxson had a special bond that allowed them to be connected on a deeper level.
“When you were hit, she went feral. I told Bliss to let her out because I thought she’d be able to help fight off the attack. A feral she-wolf is as dangerous as they come, but I should have let her stay inside.”
“She-she went feral for me?” Jayce asked. Kellan nodded. “You are the alpha, but it isn’t your right to control certain things. We know the order of things. Trying to detain a feral wolf goes against our instincts, and you did right by her by letting her come to my rescue. I just didn’t do right by her by letting her be taken.”
“We were all vulnerable, and this is the last time I’m going to allow something like this to happen.” Jayce nodded.
“If I lose my mate, Kellan, I’ll--” Jayce just shook his head unable to wrap his mind about ever losing her.