Rebecca and Zaire (Manchester Pack Book 1)

by Christina Escue

  “You’re not strong enough to challenge me, Rebecca,” Harmon tells her, and she snarls again.

  “I am stronger than you will ever know,” she counters then shifts and leaps at her father.

  Her jaws wrap around his throat before he has time to shift, and she drops him to the ground.

  Snarling, he shifts before she can rip his throat out, and shakes her loose.

  I watch in awe as my tiny mate, my she-wolf, unleashes a fury like I’ve never seen on the man who fathered her.

  She charges again, and I have to stop myself from leaping into the foray as her father snaps his fangs close to her face.

  “Shift, so we can help her if need be,” I tell John before I shift and ready myself to move in.

  When Harmon flings her across the field and into a tree, I lung forward. I’m nearly to him when a bright, white light shoots across the opening and hits him square in the chest. He flies up and crashes into the trees about a hundred feet behind him.

  Before he can regain his footing, Rebecca springs on him and slashes her claws down his chest.

  She’s glowing, John says in my head.

  I see, I respond, not taking my eyes off my mate. A bright, white, nearly blinding light surrounds her, and I can feel an electric current radiating off her body as she tears into her father.

  When the light dims and I’m able to fully focus on Rebecca again, I see her muzzle is covered in blood, and her father’s head is lying beside his body.

  She looks up and locks her shimmering silver eyes on mine.

  She holds my gaze for a second before she collapses beside her dead father.

  I run to her and nudge her with my snout before I shift and gently lift her into my arms.

  “She’s going to be okay,” John says from beside me, and I nod before I take off running toward the main house with him right on my heels.

  When we reach the clearing, I hear a battle going on, and my wolf nearly springs forward when I see my father fighting the beta of the Douglas Falls pack.

  “I’ll go,” John says then shifts and dashes into the melee.

  I watch as John leaps into action and tugs the beta from my dad’s back. Once dad is free, he lunges at the beta again and clamps his jaws around the wolf’s throat. When he jerks his head, the other wolf’s howl of pain fills the air before it goes silent and he falls to the ground.

  It’s over, son, he says in my head and I step from the tree line to look around my home.

  Rebecca moves in my arms, and I hold her against my chest as I walk past the dead lying in the clearing.

  “Shit,” I say quietly when my eyes land on Kael. “How many casualties?”

  “Only Kael from our side,” Everest answers and looks at the younger male’s lifeless form. “We have a few injuries, but nothing that won’t heal.”

  “Wilson?” I ask, looking around to see if I can spot Matias and his son.

  “In the barn,” dad answers as he looks at Rebecca. “What happened to her?”

  “She killed her father,” I answer as I carry her to the porch and sit on one of the chairs. I cradle her in my lap, and stroke her fur as I look up at my family. “Anyone want to fill me in on what happened here?”

  “We were attacked,” John answers, stating the obvious. “When they first approached, it was just the alpha and his beta. Rebecca refused to go inside and let us handle it. Her father asked if we were prepared to die for her, and Wilson responded by revealing she’s our mistress. Her father flipped, and shifted. Before any of us even had a chance to react, Rebecca shifted and flew off the porch and onto his back. She used him to spring to the edge of the forest, and she was gone. Wilson and I leaped into action and followed her, and that’s the last I saw of this area until a few minutes ago.”

  “When the alpha took off after them, Kael leaped onto the beta’s back,” Everest started talking when John stopped. “We didn’t have a chance to help him before a couple dozen wolves sprinted from the trees and we were fighting for our lives, and the lives of the females and pups inside. I took out the one I was fighting just as the beta ripped Kael’s throat out. He howled, and was about to take off after Rebecca when Lucas jumped on his back. I’m not sure who the six strangers who came with Lucas are, but they joined in the fight and helped us eliminate the threat just before Lucas took the beta down and you stepped from the trees.”

  “Rebecca is going to be upset about Kael,” I say softly as I stroke her fur. “And his mate will need us to help her through this time of loss.”

  “We will support her as part of our pack,” my dad says, and looks up as the front door opens and my mom walks out.

  When her eyes land on Rebecca, she dashes over to us and drops to her knees.

  “I tried to stop her, Zaire,” she says as tears fill my eyes.

  “She’s alive, mom,” I reassure her as I stroke Rebecca’s fur gently. “She killed her father.”

  “She took out an alpha?” Everest asks in awe.

  “It was really…” he pauses as he searches for the word he wants to use. “Impressive.”

  “Impressive how?” Mom asks and looks from me to Rebecca.

  “She glowed,” I tell her then explain about the light she shot at Harmon, the glow that surrounded her, and the current coming off her.

  “It is as I thought,” she says, and I look at her dumbfounded. “Your mate, our pack’s new mistress, is not pure wolf. She is, at least in part, a witch.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rebecca

  I feel hot. Like my body is burning, and I have no idea what’s going on. The last thing I remember is my father throwing me into a tree. Maybe I’m dead. Maybe I’m a broken heap lying on the ground. But, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be feeling the fire licking at my skin.

  Zaire, I say quietly in my head.

  Thank the spirits, I hear him respond in relief.

  I feel like I’m on fire, I tell him, and he inhales sharply.

  You’re safe in my arms, love, he tells me. It’s time to wake up now, beautiful.

  Okay, reply and try to open my eyes. When I find that I can’t, fear grips me like a vice. I can’t.

  I’ve got you, my love, he tells me, and I can feel his fear is as sharp as mine. Open your beautiful eyes and come back to me, baby.

  I try to open my eyes again, and somehow manage this time. When the lights hit my eyes, I growl softly and snap my eyes shut again.

  “Turn off the lights,” Zaire tells someone, and a second later the room is in darkness and I crack my eyes open again. “Thank the spirits.”

  I open my mouth to speak, but a soft whimper comes out instead and I realize I’m in my wolf form.

  I’m so sore, I tell Zaire as his amber eyes lock on mine. And I can’t seem to shift right now.

  “Don’t shift until you’re healed, baby,” he tells me, and I whimper again. “Take as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Son,” I hear Lucas say and I try lifting my head to focus on him.

  “Not now, dad,” he responds as he strokes my fur gently.

  The fire licking my body recedes at his touch, and the aches are starting to ease.

  Trying again, I’m able to shift and find myself wrapped in the strong arms of my mate.

  “Zaire,” I say softly and nuzzle against his neck.

  “I’ve got you, my love,” he tells me again as tears fill my eyes.

  “I…” I start, but stop when I hear someone else enter the room. I sniff and realize it’s Rae before I continue. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “Well, child,” Rae starts, but Zaire growls, and she stops.

  “Not now, Mom,” he nearly snarls, and I can tell his wolf is on edge.

  “I’m okay, Zaire,” I tell him softly as his hand rubs my back in small circles.

  “You’re still in pain,” he states, and I whimper again.

  “Yes, but I’m healed,” I tell him and raise my head from the hollow of his neck.r />
  “She needs to know, son,” Rae says softly, and I turn my face toward her.

  “Know what?” I ask softly before I look around the room we’re in. It’s the same bedroom I woke up in the first time I was in this house, and I smile.

  “Rebecca, what do you know of the history of the Norrison pack?” Lucas asks and I turn my focus to him.

  “Other than them attacking the Manchester pack, then being driven off their lands, not much,” I confess as my hand trails up to clasp the charm I never take off and my eyes close as memories from my childhood fill my head and seep out of my mouth on their own. “My mom used to tell me stories, fables really, about the first pack alpha and his mate. It was said that the first pack alpha and his mate immigrated from the Isle of Man. It’s an island between England and Ireland, and is said to be the home of the fae. When his mate bore their first pup, a female, it is said she was more than her parents, more than any of her bloodline before her.”

  “That is the tale we have heard,” Lucas says, and I open my eyes to look at him. “During the attack on our pack, two of the females of the Norrison pack were more than just wolves. One was darkness and one was light.”

  “What do you mean by darkness and light?” I ask.

  “During the battle, one of the females attacked our alpha with a white, nearly blinding, light. It did not kill him, but it stunned him for a few moments. That alpha was my granddad. My father was much like Zaire and had not stepped into his role as alpha, though he had reached the age to take over, but when my grandfather was attacked, he stepped in and fought hard for our pack. The one who held darkness attacked him during that battle, but my mother killed her before she could kill him.”

  “Darkness and light,” I mutter as I remove my necklace and look at the crest. As I look at it closely, I focus on the symbol on the top right and the one on the bottom left, and I frown. Inside each spot, there is a small circle, much like a yin-yang, but with a smaller circle in the middle. Like the yin-yang, one side is white and the other is black.

  “Rebecca, what do you remember about fighting your father?” Lucas asks, and I frown again.

  “The last thing I remember before I woke up here is him throwing me into a tree,” I answer. “How am I alive? Zaire, did you kill him?”

  “No, love,” he answers and strokes his hand down my hair. “You did.”

  “But…” I start then stop and try to remember what happened. When I can’t, I look at Zaire. “How?”

  “When he threw you into that tree, I turned to leap on him, but didn’t make it two steps before a blinding white light hit him in the chest and knocked him into the tree line on the other side of the clearing,” he tells me and I gasp. “I turned my attention to you, and you were glowing. It was like the light surrounded you, and it hurt my eyes to look at you, but I couldn’t look away. I watched as you ripped into your father, and felt an electric current rolling off your wolf. It was both magnificent and terrifying at the same time. When the light faded, your father was dead, and you fainted.”

  “Rebecca,” Rae says and kneels before me. “You are the last living member of the Norrison pack, and it seems the fae ability has been passed down to you.”

  “Jill,” I say and snap my head up. “Where is she? Where is Kael?”

  “Baby, Kael was killed in the battle,” Zaire tells me, and tears fill my eyes. “Lawton killed him, then dad killed Lawton.”

  “His father killed him?” I ask on a breath.

  “I am so sorry, baby,” Zaire tells me and nuzzles my neck.

  “Where’s Jill?” I ask, knowing the loss of her mate will be devastating.

  “She’s been given something to help her sleep,” Rae answers and looks at Zaire and I.

  “I need to see her,” I say, and Lucas and Rae look at me curiously.

  “She needs her rest, dear,” Rae tells me, but I shake my head.

  “I need to see her now,” I reply, and Zaire nods his agreement. “She needs t know about the fae, and about what happened in the past with the Norrison pack.”

  “Why, dear?” Rae asks and I nearly snarl.

  “Because you’re wrong about me being the last living member of the pack,” I tell her as I pull from Zaire’s arms and place my feet on the floor. Once I’m standing, I take Zaire’s hand and tug gently, letting him know I want him to come with me. “My mother and Jill’s father were brother and sister. Jill is my cousin, and a second descendant of the fae.”

  “The light and the darkness,” Rae mutters in a strained voice and I nod.

  “I need to talk to her,” I tell them again then walk from the room with Zaire next to me.

  “What are you going to tell her?” He asks once we’re in the hall.

  “Everything,” I respond and let my nose lead me to her room.

  “Before you do, you should know something else,” he says, and I stop to look at him with my hand on the doorknob.

  “What’s that?”

  “Before the pack physician gave her something to relax her, she examined her,” he tells me and brushes his finger down my cheek. “Rebecca, Jill is with child.”

  “Oh shit,” I breath out and he smiles softly at me. “We will help her with whatever she needs.”

  “We will, love,” he agrees then smiles again. “Now, let’s go speak with your cousin. There is a lot to discuss.”

  Sighing, I open the door and step into the dim light. Jill is sitting in a chair by the window, looking out into the forest. When I clear my throat, she turns to look at me and smiles sadly.

  “You’re okay,” she says, and I hear a catch in her voice.

  “I am,” I tell her and walk toward her. “I am so sorry about Kael.”

  “He was a brave man, a strong wolf, and he died protecting me and the pup we did not know we’d created.”

  “He died bravely, and with honor,” Zaire tells her and squeezes my shoulder gently before releasing me and stepping back. “I will leave you two to talk.”

  “Please don’t go, alpha,” Jill says softly and looks out the window again. “You and this pack saved Kael and I. If Harmon and Lawton had found us alone, we would have both perished. All three of us would have.”

  “Are you wanting to stay with our pack, or return to West Virginia?” Zaire asks, and Jill looks at him.

  “I have nothing left in West Virginia. My parents are both gone, my mate is gone, and I have no family left.”

  “You have me,” I remind her and smile softly. “We are cousins, Jill, remember? Zaire and I will make sure you have everything you need.”

  “I wish to stay here,” she says and Zaire nods. “They said both Harmon and Lawton were dead. Who will lead Douglas Falls?”

  “As the one who eliminated the alpha, Rebecca is the rightful alpha of that pack,” Zaire says and Jill gasps.

  “They will never follow a female,” I say and look at him sadly. “They do not need to know their alpha is dead, yet. When father and Lawton left, they most likely left Greg in charge. He’s lead enforcer, but is nothing like those two. He’s fair, and kinder than most of the males in that pack. He’s also younger and unmated.”

  “Then he is who I need to call,” Zaire says with a smile.

  “Most likely,” I tell him and smile before looking back at Jill. “We have much to discuss, cousin.”

  “What do we have to discuss?” She asks and I lock my silver eyes on her dark brown ones.

  “Our heritage,” I say then sit in the chair Zaire just pulled over for me. “My mother and your father come from a pack that originally formed on this land. A pack that held secrets no one understood. A pack that was more than wolves.”

  “What are you trying to say?” She asks, and I smile again as I take her hand in mine.

  “We, cousin, are more than what we ever believed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Zaire

  Two weeks have passed since Rebecca killed her father, and we are on our way to West Virginia to speak with th
e new alpha of the Douglas Falls pack. A wolf named Greg, who Rebecca assures me isn’t like the other males of the pack.

  As the plane takes off, I entwine my fingers in hers and close my eyes. I know flying is the fastest way to get to West Virginia, but I hate the feeling of confinement being on a plane creates.

  Rebecca told me yesterday that she’d never flown before, and I am determined to not let my own issues seep into her.

  “Zaire, are you scared of flying?” She asks softly and my eyes snap open.

  “No, what makes you ask?”

  “I can smell your anxiety,” she answers almost silently after she looks around to make sure no one can hear us.

  “I don’t like the confinement of a plane, but I’m not afraid of being in one,” I tell her honestly.

  “We could have driven,” she reminds me.

  “Yes, but that’s a really long drive,” I counter, and she smiles.

  “And, seeing as I’m not very good at it, you would have had to drive the entire time.”

  “Yes,” I tell her and bring our joined hands to my lips to kiss her knuckles softly. When the plane levels out, I lean over and brush my lips over hers. “And driving would make it where I couldn’t kiss you whenever I want.”

  “Well, then, I’m glad we decided to fly.”

  “Me too,” I whisper and kiss her again before leaning back in my seat and glancing out the window. “The flight is only about three hours long, but then we have an hour or so drive after that. We should rest while we can.”

  “I am too wound up to rest,” she tells me and smiles slyly. “Besides, I slept very well last night.”

  “Me too,” I respond and grin as the memories of the day before invade my head. Yesterday morning, Maggie had delivered her pup, and the entire pack was excited to welcome young Nathanial to the family. But last night was something entirely different. Rebecca was freer than she’d ever been when we joined. She took the lead for the first time, and showed me things I never thought possible. Thinking about it makes my cock grow hard, and my arousal kick up a notch.

  “Do you want a repeat tonight?” She asks softly and I growl in her ear.