Around the brick building was a garden that appeared long dead. One beat-up car he recognized as the getaway vehicle sat under an overhang that was several inches too short. There were pieces of luggage in the back seat, and he heard keys jangling in Vahn’s pocket.
Once they had what they wanted, they were going to bolt.
And he’d been correct; there were no others. What the hell was going on?
Nathan’s hackles rose. He subconsciously began to growl. He was cut short when Audrey yanked on the collar, effectively choking him. Nathan forced himself into a calmer state, but unease prickled over his fur like static electricity.
He thought they would wait outside, but the trio encouraged him to enter the house. Nathan reluctantly obeyed. It wasn’t like he had a choice.
Inside seemed just as pathetic as out. There was almost nothing in the way of furniture. The only electronics he could see were two phones attached to chargers plugged into low outlets. Paint chipped from the spackled walls and there were enough holes to explain the stench of a rodent infestation. Blankets spread across the room. Apparently this was where they slept.
They were squatters, realized Nathan. No wonder they had demanded so much money. Even what Aaron had agreed to might get them a decent house somewhere else, but it wouldn’t last long otherwise.
Perhaps they didn’t need it to. Having a solid home was a rarity for lycans. Nathan was dubious to what he assumed were their plans, but he was hardly in the position to question them.
Literally.
“Did you text him the address?” Vahn directed his question to Audrey.
The woman shot him an exasperated look. “For the last time, yes.”
Vahn grumbled. “I don’t want him late because of your screw-ups.”
“I said, I texted him,” said Audrey. “Almost three hours ago. He should be here any minute.”
“He might get lost.”
“In the middle of the desert? I assume he uses a car and technology like most modern people. Don’t be stupid.”
Cindy looked bored. She wandered to one of the blankets and sat on it, grabbing a phone and tapping the screen to unlock it.
“Quit using all the data,” snapped Audrey to the teenager. “We don’t have the money yet.”
“But we will,” replied Cindy without looking up. “And we’ll have enough money for a house and formula for like three years, so why do you care?”
Vahn glanced at Nathan and hissed, “Cindy, shut the fuck up.”
She pursed her lips but finally obeyed.
For a moment Nathan didn’t understand what had just happened. He padded around as far as the little slack he had would allow. It took a couple minutes for everything to sink in.
Vahn said Aaron agreed to the money and Seritta. Nothing about the baby.
They were planning some sort of sabotage.
Nathan continued to pace, hoping they thought he was too dumb to put the pieces together. But Vahn seemed on edge even more after that. The awful feeling that something was going to go wrong settled in Nathan’s chest like a bad bout of pneumonia.
After a few minutes, the sound of a car pulling closer reached them. Vahn barked for Cindy to get off her phone. The girl glowered at him but obeyed.
When somebody knocked on the front door, Nathan could smell his brother. He tried not to fidget.
“Come in,” called Vahn.
The dinged-up knob turned, and the door pushed open with weighted ease. Just on the other side of the threshold stood Aaron and Seritta—no baby, but there was a brand new metal briefcase in Aaron’s hand.
As always, Nathan’s brother stood with cool, professional calm, dressed as though he were going to a business luncheon rather than a ransom trade-off. Beside him, Seritta appeared almost regal in a white summer dress. She held her head high as her hair burst out from her head in explosive curls.
Before they could step in, Vahn snapped, “Stop. We agreed no weapons.”
Aaron met his gaze levelly, his eyes barely flicking Nathan’s way. “We have none.”
“What the hell is that?” accused Vahn, pointing deliberately to Aaron’s left hand. His agitation from before was only rising. Nathan’s nerves jangled.
Calmly, Aaron set the briefcase down and raised his hands. His voice was disturbingly smooth as he said, “This is the money you requested. All cash, all there. Please, feel free to count.”
Cindy started to move, but Vahn swept a long arm out to stop her. “No,” he retorted, his eyes coldly suspicious. “You open it, first.”
Aaron smirked. But he nodded to Seritta, who knelt down to lay the briefcase flat on the floor. She turned it toward herself and flipped open the clasps. Her dark eyes lifted to stare at her pack—former pack? wondered Nathan—and without a word she eased it open.
Audrey winced. None of the others did, not even the skeptical Vahn. Nathan shook his head in disbelief. He shared a quick glance with his brother: These guys are amateurs.
“Turn it,” ordered Vahn.
With a roll of her eyes, Seritta obeyed. She spun the briefcase so that bound stacks of cash opened toward them. And that was all there was, plain as day. No odd wires, no flashing lights, no smoke. Nathan didn’t know what these weirdos had expected, but they seemed happily disappointed.
Slowly, Vahn let out a breath. He tried to keep quiet, but Nathan still heard. “Audrey, count the money. Make sure it’s all there. We don’t want to get ripped off.”
Audrey handed Nathan’s leash off to Cindy. Nathan glowered at them, but the pack hardly seemed to care for his presence at all in the face of their big payday. The older woman strode toward the front door, snatched up the briefcase, and brought it to a side wall of the house. She pulled out the bills and began to count.
Vahn turned his attention to Seritta. Disdainfully, he said, “Great job. You really screwed us over, you know.”
Seritta scoffed. “How? You got money out of it.”
It sounded as though Vahn wanted to say more. Instead he cleared his throat and gestured to Nathan. “He’s muzzled, but otherwise unharmed. We fed him. We gave him water. Other than maybe some sore muscles, you’re getting him back in pristine condition.”
“How considerate of you,” said Aaron sarcastically.
Nathan, too, hated he was being referred to as though he were a used car up for sale. He trotted back and forth on his paws, anxious to tear free and flee with his brother. Aaron shot him a single look that was explicitly clear: Keep calm.
Well, he was trying. Nathan pawed at the carpet.
It felt like forever while Audrey counted. She kept saying numbers aloud, and Vahn would repeat them. Then she’d mutter to herself some more, and announce a higher number, which would again be echoed back to her. The air seemed to gain weight, pressing down around them all with suffocating thickness.
At last she said, “Two-hundred-fifty thousand. Even.”
“Cool.” Vahn grinned. He gestured toward Seritta. “Come on, then.”
Seritta reluctantly took a step forward. She was halted by Aaron’s hand on her shoulder. Firmly, Aaron said, “Nathan first.”
The lines in Vahn’s face sharpened and drew downward. “You don’t get to call the shots.”
Aaron’s upper lip curled. “As you can plainly see, Seritta is not restrained in any fashion. Yet you saw it fit to do the same to my brother.” His voice hardened to stone. “Nathan. First.”
A tense few moments ticked by. The multitude of different heartbeats in the room became almost unbearably loud, like a band of drums trying to find a common rhythm and failing miserably.
At last, Vahn sighed and said, “Fine.”
Nathan felt the leash give way a little. Eagerly, he put out one front paw. But just as he began to walk, Cindy spoke up.
“You know,” she mused. “We asked for half a million. But I think he’s getting the better end of the deal.”
All eyes turned to her. Wary concern wavered in Vahn’s as he said, “Cind
y, don’t argue. Just give him the kid.”
“I will,” she insisted. Despite his instincts screaming for him not to, Nathan turned to look at her. She stared down at him with a look of opaque curiosity. “I was just thinking we should even things out a little.”
Nathan jerked away, but the collar stopped him as Cindy yanked back just as hard. He heard Vahn’s voice rise, and in his periphery Aaron started to move—just as Cindy pulled something glinting silver from her back pocket. Before anyone could stop her, Cindy swung her arm down with a pair of scissors clasped in her hand. And though Nathan had the foresight to dodge, she used all her strength and his small stature against him.
When his left eye exploded with pain and shock blackened his vision, Nathan couldn’t even scream past the base of his throat.
Ͼ
When Eva insisted on taking Rudy for a walk around the neighborhood, Jackson objected.
“It’s not safe right now,” he insisted.
His wife regarded him coolly. “It’s not good for infants to never see the sun. Look how pale he is. He could use a little light.”
With a groan, Jackson ran both hands through his hair until his fingers worked free from tangles at the nape of his neck. “I know, but... can’t it wait? Aaron and Seritta will be back in a couple hours.”
She tilted her head, and immediately Jackson knew she wasn’t asking. She was telling.
God damn it, why did he have to love that about her?
“Seritta won’t leave me alone with Rudy, ever,” said Eva quietly. “And even if we do decide to have a child, it’ll be years before we can meet him. Or her.” She cradled the squirming infant in one arm while using the other to reach across the short kitchen table and rest her slender fingers upon his arm. “Jackson, please. I promise we won’t go far.”
Jackson grimaced and looked at Rudy. The baby stared up past the both of them, seeming fascinated with the overhead light. How could he stare straight into it and not wince, wondered Jackson incredulously.
Babies were unfathomably weird.
Finally, he said, “Fifteen minutes. Okay?”
Eva gifted him a rare, sweet smile. Jackson cursed his heart for melting all over again.
“I love you,” murmured Eva as she stood. “I’m going to bundle Rudy up.”
Jackson nodded and watched her leave. Once he could hear her murmuring and cooing to the baby, he covered his face with both large hands and pressed out a quiet sound through his nose.
To distract from what he knew would be another inevitable argument over having children of their own, Jackson busied himself with some minor chores. They had no dishwasher in the tiny space, so everything had to be done by hand—including Rudy’s bottles. He grimaced as he worked, but still went at it until each dish, bottle, and clear nipple were thoroughly cleaned.
After a few minutes Eva’s flat voice floated through the room. “Be back soon.”
Jackson nodded without looking up. “Have fun, dear.”
When the door shut behind her and blocked the sounds of the infant, Jackson felt some of the tension bleed out of his shoulders. It wasn’t that he hated the kid, he reminded himself. It was that having the baby nearby intensified Eva’s feelings. She only grew more solidified in her position to become a mother, while Jackson still wasn’t certain. He felt like his time and her patience were concurrently running out.
He wished he could get as excited as his wife. But when he looked at Rudy, all he felt was dark foreboding.
Once he was done cleaning, Jackson went to check on his sister. For a moment he felt a glimmer of peace.
Rachael looked sick and exhausted, even as she slumbered, but at the moment she wasn’t sweating. Her chest rose and fell without steady rhythm, yet her complexion seemed just a touch healthier. With Ana Sofia curled into a small compact ball at her side, the room emanated a brief sense of serenity.
Leaving the door open a crack, Jackson lumbered back to the kitchen to tie up the garbage.
Stepping outside, he took a moment to enjoy a tousling breeze. Jackson left the door ajar and headed down the stubby driveway toward the garbage bin just outside the gate.
No sooner had he closed the lid than a scent registered with him—dark like twilight and damp like concrete after a warm, rainy day. Lycan.
Sharply, Jackson turned to find a young man halting just a couple feet away from him.
The man was utterly unfamiliar. Warily, Jackson observed him: green and gold eyes, dark brown hair, square jaw and a long nose dotted with pale freckles.
Definitely not someone he recognized.
“Sorry,” the young man blurted. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare.”
“It’s cool, man.” Jackson took a step back. He wanted to get inside the house, but all his training told him never to turn his back on a suspicious source.
The man stepped forward and grabbed the fence. “Wait. Look—you’re lycan, right?”
Jackson just stared.
“No. Of course you are. You smell like it. In a good way. I mean—” Growling in frustration, the young man bowed his head momentarily, and then looked back up with a sheepish expression. “I’m sorry. So rude. I’m Travis. And I just turned legal and maybe this is way too forward of me, but I’m all in that ‘take initiative’ part of becoming an adult, and given everything....”
As he blathered, Jackson’s tension gave way to perplexity. Who was this guy?
At last, Travis said, “Okay, so I just wanted to say... you’re hot.” Jackson’s eyebrows rose, and Travis hurriedly added, “Like, really hot. Like Vince Vaughn mixed with Tony Stark, hot. And I’d like to get to know you.”
Oh. Oh.
Jackson blinked rapidly. Despite the confusing description—he knew who Tony Stark was, but the other name didn’t ring any comic book bells—he tried to find the words he needed with delicacy. “Thanks, dude, but I’m married.”
“I won’t tell your husband,” said Travis quickly.
An unwitting smile tugged at Jackson’s mouth. “And straight.”
Travis stared at him, and then sighed. “Oh. Wow. I screwed up.”
A pang of guilt for hurting his feelings made Jackson remain where he stood. “I’m honestly sorry. Super flattered, but definitely not in the same market you are.”
Travis heaved another enormous sigh. He raised his eyes toward the heavens and lamented, “This really sucks, man. You have no idea.”
“I—”
“What sucks most,” interrupted Travis as he fixed Jackson with a heated stare. “Is that you being even a little on the market is what could have saved your life.”
Alarms went off. Jackson turned toward the house and shouted for Ana Sofia, intending to warn her to bolt the door and stay inside. But barely had her name escaped his throat before Travis knocked him down from behind. Jackson was a large man, but this kid was strong, and he knew what to do with his slighter build.
Jackson hit the ground and swung his elbow, intending to knock Travis off balance. But Travis was already rolling off him, making way for a chubby strawberry blonde. Jackson momentarily froze as he thought, Vera?
It wasn’t her, of course, but that second of confusion cost him. Jackson tried to propel himself away, but the nameless woman struck him with a full-frontal attack. He kneed her in the gut, knocking the wind from her, and behind him sounded a small-voiced howl.
Ana Sofia joined the fight in wolf form, snarling and biting. Blood dribbled to the driveway. Jackson finally punched the woman straight in the eye and her head snapped back violently. Travis yelled and grabbed at her, pulling her aside.
“Go, Carly, go!”
She stumbled but bolted, using blatantly inhuman speed to do so. Travis took one longing, hateful look at Jackson before he followed.
Ana Sofia loped after them, ignoring Jackson’s curse. He glanced around wildly, wondering where the hell his wife was. But he couldn’t wait around. This was too dangerous, and Ana Sofia needed to fall back.
God damn it, Aaron was going to be pissed once he heard. But he’d be even more furious if anything happened to their smallest member.
Swearing up a storm, Jackson only stayed behind long enough to shut the door. Then he took off after the three, putting all the power he could into his legs as he ran.
Ͼ
Aaron hung up the phone after speaking with Eva and surveyed the damage with contempt.
The captors were dead. There was no coming back from that. Vahn stared at the ceiling. His eyes were glazed and beginning to flatten beneath smatters of blood that had erupted from his neck. Seritta had torn into Audrey after receiving a few good blows of her own. Only Cindy had a quick death thanks to the gaping hole in her chest, and that was hardly fair. Considering the damage she’d done to Nathan, she hadn’t deserved it.
Aaron slowly approached his brother, who remained in his white wolf body. The boy kept his furry head turned away, whimpers escaping with each agonized breath. Beside him Seritta tried to calm him, but each time she reached out he growled beneath his muzzle.
Kneeling without regard to the blood around him, Aaron said quietly, “Nathan, look at me.”
The wolf did—with disgust. One eye had been destroyed, obviously hindering his ability to obey. But the other remained unharmed, though he squinted in blatant pain.
Ignoring his brother’s mood, Aaron reached out to loosen the muzzle. When Nathan tried to snarl, he stared into the wolf’s one good eye and said sternly, “That is enough. I am sorry this happened to you, but I cannot render first aid if you are going to be difficult.”
Nathan continued to growl deep in his chest, but he slowly set his head down. This time when Aaron unbuckled the muzzle, his brother didn’t resist. Aaron was careful to touch his face as little as possible until the infernal contraption came off.
Once that was taken care of, the almost as humiliating leash and collar went. With Nathan freed, Aaron coaxed him to a sitting position and sat cross-legged on the floor to inspect him.
At his side, Seritta said quietly, “Why didn’t anyone else come?”
Aaron hummed in thought as he tilted Nathan’s head. While the eye gouging was ghastly, he really did appear free of any other harm. “They obviously are not here.”
Pact of the Pack Page 14