by Delta James
“How pissed is Ioan going to be?”
“Plenty. As we never left the actual grounds we’ll most likely get sent to bed without our supper and confined to our rooms. You may end up in the tower along with Catherine, two of her women, and me. I think you and I need to get on our high horse and get Anna and Bianca thrown in there with us to attend to our needs.”
Maddie grinned at her. “Why is it I think you know something about that tower Ioan doesn’t?”
“Because you have already figured out what a devious bitch I can be.”
Maddie giggled. “So how pissed are Griffin and Dylan likely to be?”
Skylar rolled her eyes. “You had to bring that up, didn’t you? Let’s just say that I’ll most likely be lying on my belly for the plane ride home. For this little stunt alone, Dylan will thrash my butt. But I fear this won’t be the end of it. Ioan and his men won’t listen to us, nor will the ones DeMedici left behind. I fear it may come down to us… are you okay with that?”
“Absolutely. I’ve done martial arts, shooting, and archery most of my life.”
Skylar cocked her head as she looked at her. “Good to know. We may need all of those skills. But Maddie,” Skylar put her hand on her new friend, “can you kill another living being?”
“If he or she is trying to hurt people I care about? So fast it’ll make your head spin.”
Skylar’s smile softened as did the look in her eyes. “I knew my little brother had chosen well.”
“Is it hard for you? Seeing Griffin? Being here?”
Skylar shook her head. “Surprisingly, no. Bethan and Ioan just seem to belong here. I think they are far better suited to this grand old pack. As the guards said, I’ve become one of those pesky Americans with a willful streak.”
After an hour or so had passed, Skylar and Maddie started back toward the manor house. As they rounded the maze, they could see Ioan had arranged a search party to go in after them.
One of the two men who had been with them originally confronted them.
“Where the hell have you two been?”
Maddie was going to play it innocent, but stepped back when Skylar rounded on him.
“I don’t answer to the likes of you. You and your buddy didn’t do your job. Not my problem. I said I was going to show Maddie the gardens. I did. I also showed her the maze and the gazebo down by the lake… all part of the gardens. Put your hands on me again and you won’t need to worry about Ioan or Dylan, I’ll put you in the ground myself. Now, step back!”
The look she shot him was lethal. Maddie was impressed as the escort paled and backed away.
One of DeMedici’s men, used to dealing with his own hot-tempered mistress of the pack, stepped forward.
“Ladies, you had the alpha here worried. I’m sure you didn’t mean to upset anyone. Why don’t we go back up to the house?” The man stepped back and allowed Skylar and Maddie to pass.
Bethan greeted them at the door. “Ioan would like to see both of you in his study now. Skylar, I believe you know the way.” As they walked past, she whispered to her sisters-in-law, “Watch yourself, he is none too pleased with your behavior… either of you.”
They opened the door to Ioan’s study and entered. He was standing in front of the fire facing away from them. He turned. His eyes were blazing and Maddie could feel the anger and energy rolling off of him. The alpha wave hit her and she staggered back. She might have been knocked down had it not been for Skylar’s steadying arm.
“Stop it, Ioan. She isn’t used to someone using an alpha wave, and frankly, I’m not impressed.”
“I don’t care what she’s used to or whether or not you’re impressed. I hope the two of you enjoyed yourselves. That’s the last bit of freedom either of you will have until your mates pick you up in person. When they do, I will ask that both of you be properly punished for that little stunt. I don’t know what was behind it, Skylar, but if you wanted me to know you’re still a force to be reckoned with, message received.”
Maddie wanted to make amends. “Ioan, we didn’t even go close to the edge of your beautiful estate…”
He turned to look at her and sent another alpha wave in her direction. “I’m well aware of what you did and where you did it, what bothers me is I can’t figure out why? I don’t suppose you’d like to educate me on that, would you?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that. Bae Diogel code. I’m sure you understand.”
Skylar looked impressed. Maddie had learned to steal herself against the energy wave and had no intention of backing down.
“You weren’t of the Bae Diogel pack.”
“But we…” started Skylar.
“But I am now. Sky has gifted Griffin and me her island. We mean to keep the name. I am now mistress to the pack at Bae Diogel. And those of us who are Bae Diogel have a sacred pact between us. We will do what is necessary to take care of our own.”
Maddie felt Skylar’s hand reach for hers. When she looked, Skylar was holding back tears.
Ioan shook his head. “Maddie, your things have been taken to your room in the tower. I think both of you can expect a good welting from your mates when they return. My men outside will see you to your rooms.”
“We are both mistresses of packs and the mate to a powerful alpha, you cannot send us into solitary confinement. We should each be accorded an attendant.”
Ioan thought for a minute. “I agree. Maddie, we may have need of your Anna, but as she is your only pack member here, she can go with you. Skylar?”
“I’d have Bianca with me, my beta’s mate.”
“Done. I’ll see both of them moved up there tonight.” He sighed. “I’m very disappointed in you, Skylar. We were all very happy to have you back home.”
Skylar moved forward and took his hand, saying quietly, “My home is no longer here and it hasn’t been for many, many years. I am sorry to have hurt your feelings.”
Maddie and Skylar turned and left the room. As Skylar knew the way, they headed toward the tower, their now beefed-up escort in attendance.
“Thanks for that,” said Skylar to Maddie.
“For what?”
“Bae Diogel.”
“Griff and I agree that it’s only right. And while we won’t, as he put it, make it a sanctuary for naughty she-wolves…”
Skylar laughed.
“It will be a safe sanctuary for those who join us there and will honor the memory of what you and your women built.”
They had just entered the tower when Anna rushed in. She brushed past Maddie to hug Skylar.
“So you’re all right? But they’re going to make us stay in the tower?”
Sky smiled at her. “Yes, Ioan isn’t known for his great sense of humor. We made his men look foolish so now he’s pissed. You’ll be fine with Maddie.”
“If you say so,” Anna said quietly.
Anna joined her new alpha’s mate and together they ascended the stairs.
They were shown their suite—two sleeping chambers, a bath, and a common sitting area. Their guards showed them and indicated someone would be outside their door at all times before he pulled the door closed.
“Maddie…”
“So help me, Anna, if you try to apologize, I’ll thump you. What did you slip to Sky?”
Anna giggled. “I knew you were one of us at heart. A communication device. I got one smuggled up to Catherine as well.”
Maddie giggled as well. “Well done, Anna. Did we buy you enough time?”
“More than enough. We need to wait until it gets quiet, but Skylar telling me to get looped feed to use to hack into their security system was a good thing. We’re going to have to go tonight. Part of what’s on the communication device is a list of things each of us will need to scrounge from here as well as a timetable. I think we should rest while we can. I suggested that Sky started getting us gathered at midnight.”
Maddie looked at her questioningly. “How did you know she had a way out?”
“I know
Skylar… she always has a way out.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The DeMedici Villa, Italy
Griffin sat opposite Marco in the latter’s study. They both had large red wineglasses with wine from Marco’s vineyard in them and Cuban cigars.
“So tomorrow we put an end to this,” said the Italian alpha.
“That’s the plan.”
“Don’t you think we’ll be successful? I think your plan is masterful.”
“Oh, I think we’ll crush the pack tomorrow. And I’ve talked with Gautier, they found their staging/holding ground to come up through the Mississippi. He means to attack as well,” said Griffin thoughtfully.
“Then we shall route the bastards and be able to bring our mates back to our beds.”
“Yes, I suppose…”
“But?” Marco realized something was truly bothering the Welsh wolf.
“Something Josh said to me about not discounting anything that Anna told us. And we did just that. We dismissed things that didn’t fit our perception of what this is. I hope that doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.”
“Then when we’re finished tomorrow, let’s you and I fly to Wales. Between my beta and Dylan’s they can handle the clean-up.”
Griffin smiled at his friend. “Missing Catherine and the baby that much?”
Marco laughed. “My daughter very much. Her exquisite mother, even more so. And now feeling that listening to the doctor instead of Ashley and my mate about when we might resume having sex was a big mistake.”
“And getting bigger?” teased Griffin.
“With every minute that passes,” laughed Marco.
“Have you named your daughter yet?”
Marco’s whole face lit up when he spoke either of his precious newborn daughter or his beloved mate who had given birth to her. “Abriana for my mother.”
“Pretty. Think Catherine will let you do that again to her?”
“My tesoro has always wanted a house full of little ones. What about your leonessa or what is it you call her in that unspeakable language of yours?”
Griffin smiled. “Cwningen bach. We’ve only briefly spoken of it, but when she was holding Abriana I couldn’t help wish that the baby had been ours.”
“Understandable. She is the most beautiful baby in the world.”
“Yes, and you are only slightly biased.”
Both men laughed.
“Look, Marco, if something happens to me, promise me you’ll be there for Maddie. I know that Ioan and Bethan would take her in as would Jean-Michel, but I want her to have options.”
“I will look after her as if you were my own brother. But come, let’s not talk of such things.”
Griffin took a long draw on the cigar. “I agree. I also agree we should take a plane back to Wales tomorrow. I may disappear with my mate for several days.”
Marco laughed. “I highly recommend that on a regular basis. I’m afraid my children will grow up knowing their parents enjoy each other’s company.”
“Well, we’ve got an early start of it tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll be able to hit them hard enough that they never get back up.”
The two men left the study and headed up to bed.
* * *
It was still pitch black when Griffin’s cell phone’s alarm woke him. He dressed in black fatigues and descended the stairs. He had put together an elite team of wolves who all had black ops experience. The plan was that he would lead the team that would enter the house and free as many of the women as possible. They would in turn hand them off to a secondary team whose job was to get them to safety. Then combined with the team led by Marco, they would attack the assembled wolves and make short work of them. If luck was with them, by tomorrow night there would be an empty territory in Eastern Europe.
The three teams walked out to the open space where the helicopters awaited them. The plan was to take them to the edge of the territory of the rogue pack and then to move in on foot. The helicopter took off and Griffin looked across at Dylan Grainger’s beta, Nick.
“I think I should tell you I feel honor bound to try to honor the deal I made with Skylar,” said Nick, grinning.
“What deal?”
“She promised not to be too big a pain in the ass to your brother-in-law provided I cut the balls off whoever the leader is and stuff them down his throat.”
Griffin and the other men laughed.
“Bloodthirsty thing, your alpha’s mate.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” said Nick. “Was she always like this?”
Griffin nodded. “Pretty much. Micah just kept her in check staying between her legs and taking a strap to her backside on a pretty regular basis.”
Nick laughed. “Sounds like Dylan. She’s hell on wheels, but he loves her madly.”
“And she him. I could see that when we were at Gautier’s home.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Oh, hell, no. Skylar needs to be mated and to someone strong enough to keep her in line… but I don’t envy my brother-in-law.”
Nick laughed as well. “Nor do I. He’s got to deal with Skylar, DeMedici’s mate, and yours. That’s not a trinity I’d want to underestimate.”
“Nor I,” said Griffin softly, thinking of Maddie.
They flew to their destination and all three teams disembarked and began the long trek on foot to the home of the rogue pack. When they arrived and saw the layout, Griffin had to smile. Anna had not steered them wrong. It was exactly as she’d said.
Griffin signaled for his team to move out with him and for Marco and the other team to get into their designated positions. Griffin was grateful that there was only a sliver of moon making their approach less likely to be spotted.
Griffin moved up behind the guard outside the breeding barn and neatly sliced his throat. He was dead before Griffin laid him down and never made a sound. This had been the hardest place to leave. What Griffin had seen here when he was doing recon had literally made him sick. He’d had to remind himself repeatedly that even if he could have freed these women, he could not have gotten them to safety.
The only job of the second team was to take these prisoners to the helicopters and get them back to the DeMedici villa. Marco had a medical team including people skilled in dealing with hostages waiting for them.
One by one, Griffin and his team moved through the old barn that had been divided up into twenty breeding stalls. In each was a woman, a cot with a thin blanket, and a bucket for the woman to use as a toilet. The women had been systematically bred until they became pregnant. They were then moved up to another building to await the birth of their offspring. A DNA test would be run, the sire confirmed, and the woman mated to whoever the sire was determined to be.
The pack had turned it into a full-blown business. They would get a group of women for breeding. Keep whichever ones they wanted for themselves and invite others to purchase them like broodmares. When one group of twenty had been kept or sold off, they’d gather the next group using the ones they had for sport until they’d reached their quota. Griffin had no issues with putting this pack of hyenas down.
Nick and Griffin stole into the breeding stall and were able to quietly kill them without having to spill blood on the women. These women were going to have a rough go of it. They were able to reassure them that they were there to rescue them and get them to safety.
They led the first group out. One of the women turned to Griffin and said, “That building up there, that’s where they’re turning humans, and the smaller building is where they keep them once they’re pregnant.”
“We’ll get them all, I swear. Now, you need to go with these men. They’ll get you back to a fortress in Italy where you’ll be safe.”
Griffin watched them leave with part of the second team. He turned and looked at the men who remained with him. “No mercy. They all die and we torch this place.”
“Don’t we need to try to see what they did with the others?”
Griffin smiled an evil smile. “Our black hat hacker got all of their records including security and photos of what they were doing. We will force the Ruling Council to get those girls back and deal with those who perpetuated this atrocity.”
They moved up through the next two buildings, killing members of the pack and freeing the women as they found them. Griffin was impressed by the stoicism shown by most of them. He was certain more than one was in shock, but they were surprisingly calm and seemed to understand that the men who had come on this cold, dark night were their way to freedom.
Finally, all the women were well away. Two taps on his communicator let Marco know the women were safe and it was time to deal with the pack. They entered the main house. Quietly they moved through the house room by room, body by body until they were alone at last with what passed as the leader for the curs. The mutt fell to his knees and begged for his life.
“I can tell you things you don’t know,” he begged.
“There is nothing left to tell. Your people who were to hit New Orleans will be dealt with before they ever leave their staging grounds. And the packs who supported you or did business with you will be brought before the Ruling Council. But those women you turned without their consent, those you repeatedly raped and abused and who suffered at your hands will sleep a little better knowing all of you are dead.”
“But we were not acting alone. There’s been one wolf coordinating all of this. You know of our packs, we’re territorial in the extreme—always fighting amongst ourselves. He helped us set this up and then brought the buyers. We split the profit with him.”
Griffin drew the knife back to slash his throat when Marco stayed his hand.
“He’s right. Maybe your Anna was right. These mutts couldn’t organize something this elaborate. Somebody else was pulling the strings and probably funded them for the part of the profit.”
Griffin swung around to look at Marco. “Damn. Anna said that not all of the money was accounted for.” He turned back to the man on his knees. “Give us his name…”
“And you’ll let me go?”
Marco shook his hand. “No. But I won’t let him torture you before he kills you.”