by Sienna Aylen
Damien sneered. “Rafe. Gene was the one who put the fireworks together and Rafe was supposed to light them from the pass. They both had access to the Jeeps too, being our mechanics. After my parents took Rafe’s troublesome ass in years ago, he repays us with all this. Why the hell would he or Gene hate us all so much?”
From what Stella had told Damien years before, Rafe had been taken in by his uncle Gene when he was a feisty twelve-year-old with a penchant for getting into trouble. Rafe had been born and raised in Cranston before his parents had died that winter in a horrendous car accident. They’d been driving home from their date night when their car had gone off a cliff. Black ice had coated the pass. It had traumatized Rafe, so Stella had made the decision to bring him to the valley, hoping that the change of scenery would help him through his grief.
Everything that he’d done since then had seemed to be in the right direction. He’d finished school and taken an apprenticeship with Gene. He was even taking online college classes in programming. He had seemed to be a happy person from all appearances, but he must have been hiding his true nature for over a decade.
Hunter shook his head. “It was probably Petra’s influence. Word is that she’s been dating him on the side. Filling his head with grandeur. I never did like her. I don’t care if they hate our guts—what they did was pure treason. I sent word to all the territories that they’re to be contained on sight. I would have said shot on sight but I would like that privilege myself.”
Damien turned when his brother’s head popped in at the door. Bleu looked haggard, as though he hadn’t gotten any sleep either. Damien hadn’t seen Bleu since they’d split up the previous night to look for Emma. “What the hell happened to you last night?”
Bleu shrugged and gestured to the living room. “I’ll explain later. But first, there are a few people you need to meet.”
Chapter Fifteen
#xa0;
For Damien stepping into the living room was like stepping into some sort of weird intervention. The tension in the room was tangible, the silence deafening. Tessa and Gwen sat on opposite sides of the couch, reclining into the deep pillows, strain obvious in the lines of their faces. Palpable exhaustion lingered after their healing session the previous night.
Bleu stood to one side, hovering protectively near a young girl who sat at the edge of her seat. Dirty fingers were linked together in her lap and her spine was stiff. Two small boys sat at the kitchen table, each with an uneaten cookie on their plates. They didn’t move a muscle but instead stared intently at what could only be their sister. The resemblance between the three was unmistakable.
The amount of dirt and muck on their bodies, along with their gauntness, suggested they had been neglected and malnourished for some time. Their obvious restraint, even with food less than a foot away, spoke volumes about their control. Bleu spoke up after sending a reassuring glance to the teenager and both the boys.
“Damien, this is Desiree, Lucas and Kyle. I stumbled across them in the forest last night. They’ve been held prisoner in one of the caves on the mountain for the past three weeks.”
Gwen roused from where she sat, moving to stand up, but Bleu glowered at her. She sat back down with a frown, though, she did lean forward so she could join in the conversation. “Three weeks? That’s when the other kids stopped showing up. You were what they were looking for.” Meeting the young woman’s eyes, Gwen asked gently, “Why were you held prisoner? What do you have that anyone could possibly want?”
If anything, Desiree only shrank further into herself. Damien couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rafe and Gene had kept three kids prisoner for the last few weeks, why? These must be the ones Petra was talking about, a girl and two boys. From the looks of it, the trio had been starved, as well. Hunter might not get the chance to rip Rafe or Gene apart because if Damien got to them first, he would take the right as his own.
When Desiree flinched, Damien looked down at where she was staring. Sighing, he relaxed his hand from where it had been curled into a fist. Scaring kids wasn’t something he was proud of. These three didn’t need any more trauma or fear… They needed protection.
Tessa’s melodic voice was soft and lilting, bringing a sense of freshness and serenity to the room. “It’s all right, honey, you can tell us. You’re safe. They can’t hurt you here.”
Clearing her throat, Desiree looked around at each of them. She seemed to be sizing them up as well as taking a moment to gather her courage. Damien was impressed by her caution and yet saddened at the same time that she obviously had reasons not to trust anyone. Even the boys didn’t trust the food they’d been given. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision.
“Three weeks ago, we were drugged and abducted from our home. When we came to, we were trapped in a cage. Metal bars kept us locked in the back of a cave about halfway up the mountainside. We were there until last night when I broke us out. The man who held us, he didn’t talk much. Kept mumbling to himself that one day he would be the rightful Alpha and rule the territory. There was a woman with him the first day. I saw her a few minutes ago, leaving through the front door as we came in the back—”
“You sure know how to pick them, Damien. Petra is a class-A bitch,” Tessa piped up without raising her head from the back of the couch.
Desiree continued in a hesitant voice, “Anyways, he called me the ‘newest Council bitch’. I didn’t understand what he meant by that…” With a frown, she trailed off.
Tessa’s and Gwen’s heads both popped up and they shared a startled glance.
Tessa sat forward fully, throwing the blanket off her lap. “Could she be…?”
“It’s more than likely, since Emma already found Damien. They’re usually found close together,” Gwen answered. “But wait a second, you said man, not men. There was only one man there in the caves with you?”
Desiree blinked. “Yes, only one. The woman was there, too, once but it was only one man.”
“What did he look like?” Tessa swung her legs over the edge of the couch and propped her elbows against her knees.
“Young, mid-twenties maybe. Longish brown hair, kind of grungy looking…” Desiree trailed off as Damien’s growl rumbled through the room.
“Rafe.”
Gwen held up a hand to shush Damien before focusing on Desiree. “And he spoke about being the rightful Alpha?”
Desiree twisted her fingers together but met Gwen’s stare bravely. “Yes. I overheard him on the phone saying something about taking the territory back from the family who stole it from him.”
Bleu snapped his fingers. “That’s it! I didn’t think of it before but both Rafe and Gene are Potters. They’re descended from the Alpha who had the territory before our family claimed it. But he had three sons—”
“Who weren’t dominant. They didn’t have Alpha traits,” Damien finished for him.
Hunter sat between Tessa and Gwen on the couch. “But why would they need Desiree to take over the territory?”
Tessa shook her head. “Even if she’s Emma’s Next Gen, it doesn’t make sense. Why would Rafe and Gene target her? She would only be useful leverage against Emma, not Damien.”
Gwen looked at Tessa. “There has to be something we’re missing. It can’t just be Rafe and Gene. They wouldn’t have been able to pull this off on their own.”
Desiree lifted her chin and asked, “What’s a Next Gen?”
Gwen pushed up her glasses. “It stands for Next Generation, as in the Next Generation of Council members.”
“It means that you’re just like me.” Emma gingerly bent her knees until she sat down on the stairs, hugging her injured arm to her chest underneath the robe she had donned. Before anyone had the chance to chastise her for being out of bed, Emma continued, “I overheard the talking through the air vent by the bed. If she’s who we think she is, then I need to be a part of this conversation.”
Damien was standing in front of her the next moment and, reaching down, he plucked her o
ff the steps and carried her to the loveseat, where he sat and cradled her in his lap. He rumbled in her ear so no one else could hear, “You’re definitely getting your ass paddled as soon as you’re better. I told you to stay put and so did Aslynn.” Voice rising with his temper, he added, “This is working. Didn’t I tell you that you were not allowed to work for at least the next few weeks? You’re overexerting yourself. This can wait.”
Shaking her head before the last words left his mouth, Emma used her left hand to smooth the frown lines on his face. She leaned her head against his chest and spoke in a whisper, “You know it can’t.”
He frowned but didn’t protest further. Emma was grateful for his patience. Turning her head, she took in Desiree’s appearance. The poor thing was half-starved, her clothes stained and full of dirt, hanging on her slight frame. A sense of recognition passed between them, almost a sense of rightness.
Desiree broke the stare to look at her brothers, nodding at the food in front of them. It was all the encouragement they needed before they fell on the offering with gusto. As the boys ate, Bleu went to the kitchen and fetched a variety of fruits as well as leftover pizza and placed it on the table. Emma’s heart melted when the boys didn’t even look up but grabbed more food instead. Eating as if they didn’t know when they would ever get the chance again. Her eyes were damp with unshed tears when she met Damien’s knowing gaze.
Gwen was the one who ended the silence. “Desiree, have you ever heard of the Council?”
“I’ve heard stories. They’re the bogeywomen parents tell their kids about to get them to behave. Something about how they kill the bad guys and protect the innocent.”
“Bogeywomen, huh? That’s a new one.” Emma’s amused voice wavered.
Gwen blinked, momentarily stunned. “Huh. At least you aren’t completely unaware. Tessa, Emma and I are three of the Council members. I won’t get into everything right now, but a part of our job is to eliminate evil from the world. But we’re also tasked with finding the one person on this planet who has identical gifts to our own. Our Next Generation. The one person who has the ability to take over our position when we retire, so to speak.”
Emma, leaning against Damien’s chest for support, lifted her head just enough to keep Desiree’s gaze. “What Gwen is trying to say is that you might be my replacement, if you have the powers and choose to take the position, of course. Either way, if you’re my Next Generation, you’ll have to be trained how to use your powers and you’ll also need to be protected. People like Rafe will continue to come after you until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”
Pride filled Emma when Desiree sat up straighter, her spine stiff and head held high as she asked, “What about my brothers? I won’t go anywhere without them. That’s nonnegotiable.”
Yawning behind one fist, Emma fought to stay conscious, weakness and pain trying to lull her into slumber. “You won’t have to. But first I need to be certain that your gifts are identical to my own. Come here, please. I’m not forcing you to do this. It must be your choice. All I would ask is that you touch my necklace.”
With her good hand, Emma fingered the lovingly carved bear that she hadn’t taken off, would never take off. A faint stain of dried blood tipped the bear’s claw, a testament to how close she had come to death. “It’s newly made, so it won’t have very many memories attached to it. Just those of the last few days, I believe.”
Stepping across the room with purpose, the young girl offered her bare hand, palm upward. Gently, Emma placed the small bear into her hand. Short fingers smudged with dirt wrapped around the figure.
A minute passed.
Then two.
All of a sudden, light-blue eyes stared back at Emma with knowledge and confusion. “I saw you.” She nodded toward Damien. “Carving the wood and shaping it. Saw you put the thread on it and wrap it in a box. I also saw Emma take it out, but the moment you touched it the memories stopped. I didn’t get anything after that.”
Emma blew out the breath she’d been holding. “You can’t see the rest because there are only three people in the entire world who are immune to your powers. The Council member before you, which would be me, your Fated, which I will explain fully later, and your own Next Generation. You not being able to read anything past when I first touched the necklace confirms you’re my Next Generation.”
Desiree propped her hands on her hips. “Okay, so you think I’m somehow destined to be a part of the Council. I can’t though. I have to take care of my brothers. We have nowhere to go, no place to live and I don’t have any money. Those are my first priorities. I won’t give them up and let them go back to being in foster homes. I won’t.”
Damien held up one hand to Desiree. “Now, hold on a second, we aren’t asking you to abandon your brothers. What I am asking is if you would like to stay. With our Clan. You and your brothers can make a home here, with Emma and me. That way Emma can train you once she heals. I’m offering you a home. A family. No catches, no hidden clauses. Just a place here in the Clan.”
Emma watched as Desiree looked back to where her brothers were eating. Crumbs littered their mouths and they were tentatively smiling at Bleu as he refilled their plates.
Taking a deep breath, she faced them again and answered in a firm voice, “I would like to take your offer. I promise we won’t be a burden.”
Emma rested her cheek against Damien’s chest in relief and exhaustion. She’d found her Fated and her Next Generation. Things were coming together, and Damien hadn’t freaked out. At least not yet. She was sure she was going to get an earful as soon as they were alone. In front of them, he had stood with her, a team. A united front. If he still wanted this, they had a ready-made family with a fifteen-year-old girl and two twin boys who already looked as if they would eat them out of house and home.
A smile crossed her face when Damien pressed a small kiss to her forehead. The familiar gesture was one of her favorites, bringing comfort and warmth to places long forgotten.
“We have a teacher who lives here in the Clan. I can arrange for her to come over a couple times a week to tutor all three of you. Right now, I’ll need your help taking care of your brothers, at least until Emma is back to rights and we both know the three of you better. I don’t even know if they like peanut butter or have any allergies. We have a lot to learn about one another,” Damien announced.
Emma glanced up just as Damien cracked a grin at Desiree above her head. “I could also use your help entertaining Emma here so she’ll be less inclined to irritate her wounds by getting up and moving around. She’s supposed to be on complete bed rest for at least the next week. If I have to duct tape her to the couch, I’ll do it. She isn’t to be lifting a finger after last night.”
Emma melted at the hesitant smile that crossed Desiree’s face. It was a smile that would knock all the teenage boys on their butts if she ever cranked it up to its full wattage. Reaching out her hand to shake Damien’s, Desiree replied, “I think I can handle that.”
* * * *
A half-hour later saw Damien carrying Emma upstairs. She fought to stay awake long enough to talk to him. Without a word, he set her on the bed and arranged the pillows behind her.
“This time, you’re going to stay here and rest. We aren’t leaving this bed until you get some sleep. We have a few things we need to talk about, anyway.” Damien sprawled back on the bed on her good side and scooted closer so she could rest her head on his chest.
Her nostrils expanded as Emma took a deep whiff of Damien’s chest. There was the faintest of smells hidden there, a foreign smell…like designer perfume. It made her want to gag. She’d smelled it before when they were downstairs but had been too exhausted to try to identify it then. Now, however, she wanted to know. Looking up with narrowed eyes, she asked, “Care to tell me why you smell like another woman?”
Damien chuckled, which only made her scowl harder. “Not exactly where I was going with the conversation, but I might as well clear the air. Luc
inda’s daughter Petra came to see me today. It was a shock since I haven’t seen the woman in over a year. She apparently came to warn me that there are bigger players in this game than I could possibly imagine and that they want Desiree. She said if I give her over they might not kill me, only you. Some nonsense about how I wouldn’t be Alpha anymore and that they’re going to take over the territory…blah, blah, blah. Point of the story is that I banished her from all the territories and kicked her out of the house. Tessa saw me do it, if you want to confirm the story.”
Emma relaxed her gaze. She knew him well enough to know he was telling the truth. That, and she’d heard Tessa’s comment about Petra when she’d broken the rules and hobbled her way down the stairs. She stifled a yawn. “No, I believe you. Bigger players? This may extend further than we thought. It might not be an isolated incident—”
Placing one finger over her lips, Damien admonished, “Didn’t we just talk about you not working for a while? From the sounds of it, whatever they’re doing isn’t going to happen overnight. We have time to figure it all out later. There are scouts out looking for Rafe and Gene, too. No one has seen either of them since last night. Everything is being taken care of. Let’s talk about the subject you’re avoiding, how you went up that mountain alone. Without backup. Into a dangerous situation. I’m still pissed about that, you know.”
A sigh escaped her parted lips, fanning across the hairs on his bare chest. “I know. I’m sorry that I went off on my own. I didn’t do it to hurt anyone, except for that bastard shooting fireworks at little kids. But I should’ve asked for help. I also should have mentioned the Next Generation thing sooner…” Emma trailed off when he didn’t respond right away.
He ran his fingers through the thick strands of her hair. “I get why you went off on your own but it won’t happen again, Emma. You may be a badass Council member, but you’re also my mate and Alpha female to the Clan. I need you to be safe. We’re a team, so neither of us should be putting ourselves in harm’s way alone. Why didn’t you tell me about her sooner? Tessa explained the concept to me a week ago.”