“He is on the move, my contact says he is heading out of the city and going northeast. They are tailing him but we should get on the road and rendezvous with them as soon as we have a clearer idea of where he is heading. Several vehicles left with him, he will keep us updated along the way if they are all going to the same place and we know better how many wolves we are dealing with.”
They all sprang into action, loading trucks and Liam sent out messages to the rest of the pack while Seann and Garrett split their team into two.
“Jay is going to stay here on the compound with Rafe and some of the other men and make sure everyone here is protected and Garrett’s brother, Connor, will arrive soon with some more men. I would have liked him with us, but he won’t make it here on time. Kandis, I was planning on leaving you here in charge, but we are going to need you with us now as we are walking into this without a lot of info on his capabilities or even his numbers.”
Kandis only nodded and kissed her daughter as she zipped up her jacket, already she was in full enforcer mode as she jumped into the back seat of Garrett’s truck with Liam and Seann took Finn and Lukas with him. Nate was driving the third truck and Seann hadn’t commented when Bree jumped in beside him, but he also knew Bree wasn’t the target, Imogen was. They were picking up some of the younger wolves at the gate on their way out, they were as ready as they would ever be.
Imogen stood on the porch, her face a mask of anger because Seann had once again banned her from going with him, but when India bounced out onto the porch and climbed in beside Garrett, Imogen raced toward the truck Seann was in and unleashed her anger.
“Kandis, Bree and India can go with you, but not me. What the fuck, Seann!”
“Kandis can fight better than most men, Bree can track and we need India for her lie detection, Imogen. More importantly, none of them are a target for Danvers, you are. You and Everly will be safe here. Please, Imogen, don’t give me a hard time about this, I need to keep my head in the game,” Seann said but his voice softened as he leaned out and kissed her on the lips before releasing her again and cranking the truck.
They pulled onto the road heading for the gate and Nate saw Imogen in his rearview mirror marching back inside the Den.
“Seann is going to have to realize that he can’t keep her swaddled in bubble wrap.” Bree sighed as they followed the other two trucks to the gate and the back door opened and two of the young guards got in and closed the doors again. Their excitement was palpable and Bree couldn’t really blame them, this was probably the first time either of them had done anything other than guard the gate and like all young shifters, they wanted to be in the thick of the action.
“Let’s do this,” Nate said and Bree shivered at the steely look on her mate's face and the determination in his voice.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Bree
Liam messaged them several times on the journey to keep them abreast of Rob Danvers movements and it looked as though he was deliberately changing course to throw off anyone who may be following them.
“It’s a good job we left when we did or we would never have had a chance of catching up to him,” Nate said as they pulled off onto yet another road and he put his foot down to keep up with the others. “He is a slippery bastard and he likely knows he is being tailed.”
“I was talking to Jay this morning and he told me something interesting about you that I didn’t know,” she said, changing the subject.
She watched him closely as he glanced in the mirror at the two young wolves in the back seat and she knew he didn’t want to talk about it with an audience. It would keep until later but she wondered why he kept quiet about being a member of the country's oldest elite fighting force. If she had been nervous about him joining the others before in this fight then that at least calmed her fears. Nathaniel Wade wasn’t only a pretty face it seems.
He nodded and she knew they would resume this conversation later.
They traveled for another hour and she was running different scenarios around in her head when her phone chimed and she read the message just as Nate pulled into a gas station and parked behind the other vehicles to fill up. They all got out to see what their next move was going to be and the younger wolves were sent inside to buy drinks and snacks. If this was going to get ugly, they needed all the energy that even gas station food would give them.
“Imogen said that your brother just arrived at the gate with three other men, They are going to guard the compound perimeter,” Bree told Garrett as they gathered together and she saw Seann visibly relax knowing that reinforcements had arrived to help protect his family.
She didn’t remember Connor Adair very well, she had been just a child the last time he had come to their compound, but Garrett loved his older brother and more importantly, he trusted him. If he could fight half as good as Garrett, then he would be an asset to them if the compound was breached.
“Jay has also managed to enlist two police cars into protecting the front entrance of the compound and all of the available men and women are taking their turn on lookout,” Kandis said.
“Seann!”
Finn ran toward him and Bree stepped closer to Nate as she saw the worry etched on the other man’s face.
“What is it?” Seann barked.
“My brother took a call and then they veered off course and headed in a completely different direction. The call was scrambled, we were unable to hear what was said. I looked on the map and the only place they could be going is the town of Grayston or a smaller town called Bear Falls. Isn’t that where the pack was planning on moving to?”
“Damn.” Seann banged his hand on the roof of his truck.
“The pack's new home is a few miles further north of Bear Falls on the mountain, but yes it is in that same area and it’s much too close to be a coincidence,” Liam added.
“Let’s get everyone back on the road and make some calls,” Seann said and Garrett ran inside to get everyone out of the gas station and back into the trucks.
“Keep the change.”
He threw a bundle of notes on the counter to pay for the armloads of goods the young shifters had and the young clerk raised his eyebrows knowing there would be plenty left over for himself.
As they waited for the stragglers, Seann turned to his sister.
“Bree, call Hope and Rylee and warn them that Danvers and his men are coming. Tell them to go into hiding, there is no point in trying to face them, there are too many of them. Get Leo and Cassie to go with them. They could be there within the hour, they have to act fast.”
“Nate, take Finn and Lukas with you this time and get on the road,” Liam said. “I will wait for the others who are still inside.” The two men jumped into the truck and Kandis handed them a bag of food and drinks as they buckled up. Nate was on the road in seconds.
“It’s going to take us an hour and a half to get there, giving them a thirty-minute head start,” Bree said anxiously looking at the map on her phone. “I need to call my sister and get her out of there as soon as possible.”
“Do it now and call Leo too, tell them to get ready and have Hope and Rylee pick them up. They have no more than thirty minutes, they need time to go into hiding as their wolf scent will be all over the place and it won’t be hard for them to track them down.”
Hope picked up after a couple of rings and Bree quickly told her what she needed to do. She wanted to know what was going on and Bree promised to call her back after she had spoken to Leo and Cassie and fill her in on the details.
Leo also wanted to know what was going on when she told him to pack a small bag for him and his sister but she made him promise to get him and Cassie out of the townhouse as soon as Hope and Rylee could get down the mountain to pick them up.
“We can go back to the cabin we were staying in,” he said but Bree cut him off quickly.
“They can track another wolf anywhere, Leo. You need to take the farm road and get out of town by car until we can get there. Keep the
windows up and travel at least a few miles. You all need to go into hiding somewhere, just until we can get there and text me your location when you are settled. We are on our way, just stay low, we are coming to get you.”
She called her sister back and quickly explained what had happened. Rylee was driving, and they were already on their way down the mountain to collect Cassie and Leo.
“Nate says to take his SUV, leave your car in his garage in case they can track it. Head out of town toward the farm and stay on that road for at least a few miles. Stay inside the car with the windows up, it will be more difficult to find you if they don’t have a tracker with them. Let me know your location so that we can come and find you as soon as we get there.”
“I will,” Hope said and cut the connection and Bree closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that they would get there on time. Hope was her twin sister, her other half, she loved her dearly and couldn’t imagine a life without her in it.
“It will be okay, darlin.” Nate reached for her hand and she blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over.
“I don’t understand why any of them would be a target if it’s Imogen and Everly he wants, it doesn’t make any sense unless he wants Hope and Rylee as bargaining chips because they are Seann and Garrett’s sisters.”
“It doesn’t make sense unless it’s just a distraction and they are going to try and get inside the compound while we are otherwise occupied,” Nate said.
“No, I don’t think so, my brother is definitely with them and he wouldn’t leave that job to someone else.” Finn said, “He would be right there in the thick of it, there is something else in play here, but I can’t figure out what it is, at least not yet.”
Bree popped the lid on a can of soda and handed it to Nate as the others helped themselves to drinks and snacks. She opened another for herself and a bag of chips, feeding Nate and herself as they sped along the roads and she willed them faster and faster to their destination. The chips tasted like sawdust in her mouth but it was important to a shifter to cram in the calories to keep their strength up and in peak condition.
She put the empty wrapper in the trash bag and glanced at her watch again. Time seemed to be moving excruciatingly slowly and they still had just under an hour before they would get to the farm. Nate had made good time, driving at breakneck speeds but they were still too far behind Danvers for her comfort. She still hadn’t heard from Hope and sent her a text to ask where they had settled on to hideout.
Liam messaged and said that they were only five minutes behind them. He, Seann, Garrett and one of the younger wolves were going to shift as soon as they arrived in Bear Falls and go across country to where Hope and the others were hiding out. Bree would send them the information as soon as she heard back from Hope, but she told them it would be somewhere in the vicinity of the farm. There were plenty of places to hide a car and there were no humans around in case of confrontation.
Her phone pinged with a message and she opened the text when she saw her sister's name appear on the screen in front of her.
She read the lengthy text knowing the others were waiting for her to tell them where they were headed.
“Okay, we have a slight change of plan.”
“Where are they?” Nate asked.
“Remember the woman you met that had the herbalist store, well Hope met her just outside while they were waiting for Cassie and Leo and explained that someone was looking for them and they didn’t want to be found. She didn’t go into details with her but they are all hiding out at her cabin and she has spelled the area around it to repel anyone hunting for shifter scents. They should be safe until we can get there.”
“Spelled the area?” Finn asked and Bree turned in her seat to answer him. Lukas looked as if he had seen a ghost and Bree had an uneasy feeling crawl over her skin as she answered him.
“She’s a witch. We met her recently and she knew what we were straight away.”
‘Does this witch have a name!” Lukas was out of his seat and leaning forward, his face taut with anxiety.
“Summer, Summer Blackwood,” Bree said and watched the man’s face crumple.
“She is my sister ... and the reason Danvers is going to the mountain.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Nate
Finn called Seann and the others traveling a few minutes behind them with an update, while Bree called her sister and explained quickly why they had to leave right now and take Summer with them. Hope wanted lengthy explanations but there wasn’t any time for that right now so she asked Hope to let her speak to Summer and then handed her phone to Lukas.
“Rob Danvers has found you and will be there in less than thirty minutes, Summer. You need to leave now, go with Hope and the others, we are on our way. Just stay hidden until I get there, please.”
He handed the phone back to Bree before Summer could protest. Bree told Hope to leave right away and get out of town as quickly as possible and to take the farm road that they had originally intended to follow.
Finn was furiously angry and Lukas looked as if he wanted to throw up. His sister was once again in danger from Rob Danvers and Lukas vowed to himself that this would be the last time he hurt anyone he cared about. He was a waste of oxygen and Lukas intended to make sure he breathed his last breath today.
“I’m so sorry, Lukas,” Bree said softly.
“Summer is the nickname I gave her when she was small and Blackwood is her mother’s maiden name. I’m the only person who ever called her that, everyone else calls her by her given name, Serena. We have the same father, my mother died when I was young and he married Summer’s Mom when I was in my twenties, she was born a few years later.
“Her Mom is also a witch?” Bree asked and he nodded.
“She was, she died a few years ago, a year after my father. Summer has shifter genes too but they are recessive, she can’t shift but she has all the speed and strength of a shifter. She is a powerful witch, the most powerful I’ve ever known. The high priestess of her Mom’s coven thought it was the mixture of witch and shifter genes. That’s why Danvers wants her.
“We will be there very soon, Lukas, try not to worry too much,” Bree said, feeling awful for him.
“I want to kill the bastard with my bare hands for what he did to my sister, he is evil to the core.” Lukas ground out.
“There will be a long line of people who my brother has hurt or injured in his quest for power, including his own mother and sister. He has no scruples or morals and I think the world would be a better place without him in it,” Finn said coldly and Bree shivered a little at the venom in his voice. This wasn’t some random stranger he was talking about, it was his brother.
She couldn’t ever imagine wanting her brother dead, but neither Seann nor her newfound half-brother, Garrett, were evil sociopaths. This must be killing Finn. He had grown up in the same household as Rob Danvers. He was Liam’s half-brother too, but Liam didn’t know him which had to be a little easier than being in Finn’s position.
The journey seemed to take forever but they eventually arrived in Bear Falls and Lukas said he wanted to join the others in wolf form to get to his sister as quickly as possible.
“I do too, I need to do something,” Finn said and Bree knew she would have to lead them there, neither of them knew where to go and they didn’t have the luxury of time to track them and pick up their trail.
“I’ll take you,” she said, “I know where I’m going.
“No, Bree, you can’t,” Nate said. “I’ll go, I don’t want you anywhere near this guy or his followers until you have the rest of us at your back.”
“I’m a great tracker, Nate, they may have to move quickly if he is on their tail and I know my sister's scent better than anyone. I won’t engage him, I won’t need to there are plenty of others pushing to the front of the line.”
Nate pulled off the road, knowing he was beaten. Bree was determined to take the other two men to the farm and had the advantage of knowin
g the way there, he was struggling to come up with an argument that didn’t seem selfish.
They undressed quickly and left their clothes in the back seat of the truck. Bree shifted quickly and the two men followed suit. Nate got out of the truck and rubbed his hand gently over her soft brown fur before she turned and sped off into the woods, the two larger wolves, one black and one golden, closely on her tail.
Nate jumped back into his seat, put the truck in gear and pulled out onto the road again, hoping he could bridge the gap between them but knowing they would get there much quicker than he would. He hated knowing that his mate could be putting herself in danger, but he also knew she wouldn’t thank him for being overly protective either. It was a constant balancing act for shifter couples, especially when one of them was as bloody-minded as Bree.
He knew the rest of their group were only a few minutes behind them and Seann and the others would catch up to Bree before she reached her destination. She was fast, but not as fast as her brother and Nate was grateful she wouldn’t arrive to tackle Danvers and his buddies before the stronger males and of course there was Kandis. Her sweet innocent looks were always an advantage to the ruthless aggressor she could be.
His phone rang and he saw Leo’s face on the screen as he hit the answer button.
“Leo, where are you, buddy?”
“We are at the farm, hiding out in one of the old barns behind the orchard. No-one is here yet but Summer says they will be in a few minutes, she can sense them coming.” Leo's voice was wavering and Nate knew the kid was scared. He was still human and his sister hadn’t even gone through her first shift. They would be next to useless in a confrontation with shifters.
“Is there a loft in the building, Leo?”
“Yes, Cassie and I are up here right now. Hope, Rylee and Summer are downstairs waiting for them to come.”
“Stay put, buddy, help is on the way. Some of the pack members should be with you in ten or fifteen minutes. They are in wolf form so warn the others and tell them to just keep Danvers talking when he gets there, you only need to buy a little time until Seann and the others arrive.”
Children of the Moon: Book Four Page 12