It helps Victor. With the two of us and Charlotte dead, he would be able to take control of the pack without a fight.
Chapter 11
CHARLIE
A snarl fell from my lips. “He spoke to the emissary again after I dismissed him?”
Kara nodded. “He’s supposed to come back around noon. This is crazy, Charlie. We can’t live this way.”
“Kara, you can’t possibly believe the story he told. Xerxes doesn’t offer peace treaties. It’s a trick. Victor is playing right into their hands. Except he’s going to hand all of you over on a silver platter without even realizing it.” I glanced down at the towel I’d pressed to Garrett’s chest. It was dry beneath my hand, and I took a deep breath, satisfied that my mate was going to be fine. The wound had already closed.
“Victor has a point, Charlie. This pack has seen enough tragedy. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but how do I support you when the choices you and your parents made cost me my brother and my mate?”
“We fight for those who can’t help themselves, Kara. Your brother and your mate understood that and wanted to help. I never forced anyone to volunteer.” She’d lost friends, family, her parents. Kara wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone important. “I watched my parents die. My friends. Fighting for this pack is something I will never stop doing.”
“If you can’t see that Victor probably arranged this attack as an assassination attempt on your alphas, you don’t deserve to stay a part of this pack,” Travis snarled, standing from the edge of the bed.
The male behind Kara, Crawley, stepped forward to protect her from Travis’ implied threat. “Watch your step, outsider. Just because you’ve fucked the Mason heir doesn’t mean you get to threaten us.”
Moving faster than I imagined possible. I spun, swinging my foot out, knocking Crawley to the ground. My fingers wrapped around his throat, and I pinned the larger man to the floor, putting my fingers directly over his carotid artery.
Travis was no more than a foot behind me, ready to tear the disrespectful Lycan to bits if he so much as twitched wrong.
“If you speak to my mate again in such a tone, I will let him treat it as a challenge, and you will suffer the consequences.” My tone stayed level and controlled, but Crawley’s eyes widened as they focused on Travis’ huge form looming above us both. “This pack has been through hell, but we aren’t going to get to a better place if we turn on each other. Help us, Crawley. Don’t fight us.”
Crawley nodded, and I slowly released the fatal grip I had on his neck. Standing swiftly, I moved toward Travis and patted him on the arm before disappearing into my bedroom again to check on Garrett.
My other mate was well on his way to being mended. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping his chest of smeared blood. The wound had completely closed, and he was as agitated as Travis, no doubt from hearing the rash words that had fallen out of Crawley’s mouth.
“This situation is going to take a formal challenge, Charlotte,” Garrett said, taking my hand and pulling me to sit next to him on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t want more fighting,” I answered, shaking my head. A formal challenge meant another death, and I wasn’t about to gamble with the life of either of my mates.
“You may not have a choice,” he said, his voice rumbling with an authority I’d only ever heard from Travis. “This is our pack, too. We are responsible for your safety and the safety of every man, woman, and child inside these walls.”
“Garrett is right.” Travis approached the bed and sat on my other side. “When a pack goes through as much as this one, sometimes the only way to create order again is to force it.”
“No,” I growled. “I won’t let you. Victor may have it out for me, but he’d never knowingly put the rest of the pack in danger. When he gets back, we will talk. I can make him understand.”
“You can try, sweetheart,” Garrett said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “But if you won’t let us do what we feel is necessary, the only other option is leaving.”
No. This couldn’t be happening. They thought they could take me away from my pack. Mate or not, I would never leave, and they couldn’t force me if they ever wanted the privilege of sleeping with me again.
The door opened and slammed shut a few times, and I glanced at Travis and Garrett. They nodded to the dresser, and I frowned. I grabbed one of the clean towels Kara had put on the bed and wiped Garrett’s blood from my skin. Then hurried to my dresser and pulled on a pair of yoga shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top before dashing through the open bedroom door.
Nudity wasn’t a huge thing in the lodge. We all shifted in front of each other for runs, but being dressed for a confrontation with my uncle and cousin, who were trying to usurp my authority, was certainly better than trying to do it in the buff.
Travis and Garrett struggled to pull on their jeans before pounding down the hall after me. When I paused in the living room, Garrett stopped next to me, still buttoning his pants.
Victor sat in my father’s captain chair, and the fucking emissary from Xerxes sat in my mother’s. Rational thought fled my mind at that point, and I lunged with a roar, surprised to find my body suspended in mid-air by Garrett’s strong arms.
“I’ll kill him! Put me down! The nerve.”
My uncle caught my gaze, and there was nothing. No guilt. No remorse. No emotion that I could see of any kind. If he and Dean were playing me or had allowed the hit on my bedroom, they were playing it close to the vest.
The emissary twitched in his chair, a little more uncomfortable with my rage than my uncle.
I opened my mouth to scream again, but Travis stepped in front of me, picking up the alpha mantle as though he’d always worn it.
“You are not welcome in this den. The attempt on my brother and my mate will not go unpunished. If those Lycan soldiers were yours, prepare to lose them. They will not return home with you.” His voice thundered though the living area, and the other pack members shrank against the walls as the intensity of his alpha power started to spread through the room. My rage took an instant back seat, my wolf immediately willing to bow to his wishes.
Dammit. He better not use this against me.
Garrett released me, probably realizing I wasn’t a danger to anyone’s throat any longer. As my mate, he was alpha as well, but like me, our wolves’ nature would naturally defer to Travis. He was the oldest male in our triad. The prime alpha.
Magick rolled from Travis in waves, and my uncle shifted nervously in his chair.
“I had nothing to do with the attack on you or your mate,” the emissary growled, standing.
Brave words for a man with two angry alpha Lycans only a few feet away. I was used to taking care of myself, but having them there, standing up for me… for the pack. This was a good thing.
Travis’ head cocked to the side, and he took a step closer to the heavy-breathing, traitorous-smelling Lycan visitor. He leaned in close and sniffed.
“I smell fear, which means somewhere there’s a lie. If you’re still in my den by the time I count to five, I’ll beat you into the gravel parking lot outside until all that’s left are bits and pieces for the ravens to feast on. We’ll see if your men come back after witnessing that.” His icy voice sent a chill down my spine, and the threat wasn’t directed at me.
The emissary fled the room, leaving the front door wide open as he excused himself from the lodge.
Travis’ gaze fell to Dean, who stood not quite so proudly as before behind Victor’s chair. But Victor hadn’t moved and didn’t appear to be considering giving even an inch of recognition to his new alphas.
“This is not your den or your pack. She is not worthy of the name she bears.” Victor’s voice was calculating and cold. “She’s brought only death and sorrow to our pack, just like her father and mother. But no more,” he continued, standing from his chair.
My body temperature rocketed straight to boiling. How dare
he just try and sweep me to the side! I took a step forward, but Garrett caught my arm.
“This fight is for us to win in your stead. It is not the place of the alpha female to fight for her position,” he whispered, drawing my body flush to his.
“The emissary is lying to you, Victor. Sanctuary has dealt with Xerxes many years longer than you have. He is a liar and related to the devil himself. This deal brought before you is bogus. Death will be your only reward for agreeing to his ‘idea’ of peace. He will slaughter you like the fool you are.” Travis glanced over to Dean and the large group of Lycans standing along the wall behind him. “And you all, as well. Along with what few loved ones and children you have left.”
“We don’t have the ability to fight anyone,” growled a female from the back of the room. “If we don’t take a chance with the treaty, he’ll kill us all anyway.”
“Shut up, Lisa!” Victor snarled.
Travis shook his head. “We will fight for you. Sanctuary will fight for all of you.”
A growl rumbled in my chest. “We don’t belong to Sanctuary.”
“Sanctuary will still fight for you. Whether you stay here in Ada or choose to move,” Travis answered, swinging his head to the left to catch my gaze.
I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. Travis and Garrett were respecting my choice, but each time something came up, fear surged forward revealing that they didn’t really intend to make this their permanent home.
Trusting them was something I would have to get used to.
“You’re an outsider,” a male called out from the back of the room. “We’re better off staying loyal to family. We don’t know you or your brother. Victor is pack and family by blood.”
“Victor is going to get you killed, William. Not once did my father ever say the alpha line should go to Victor. I have my Fated matches standing with me. Our laws are satisfied. This discussion is tantamount to mutiny.” I took a step forward, moving to stand next to Travis. Garrett moved to stand at my other shoulder. Both men dwarfed me, but neither spoke to counter what I’d said.
All three of us were alpha together, and their silence gave my words weight.
“I challenge the alphas,” Victor said, keeping his voice steady. “Who will stand with me?”
The asshole only needed three voices to start the process.
The word “I” echoed through the room a half dozen times. My heart sank. Our pack had been through so much pain and so much loss, but following Victor now would result in only one thing.
The end of the pack as I remembered it.
Chapter 12
XERXES
The teenage Kitsune lay unconscious on the hospital bed in her room down the hallway from mine. Machines beeped steadily, pumping just enough sedative to keep her out, but not enough to harm the growing fetus inside her.
Right now Sochi was the most valuable commodity in my possession, besides her five month old daughter in the next room. I sighed, scrutinizing every move the nurses I’d personally chosen to tend my prize made. They were in the midst of giving her a sponge bath, but her naked form held no interest for me. Even though she’d already given birth once, her body still held the figure of a young girl. I preferred a woman with a few more curves.
The swell of her lower abdomen had grown rapidly over the last few weeks, and her petite size exacerbated the size of the baby. She was four months along, nearly full-term. Kitsune only had a gestation period of eighteen weeks, so she was very close to delivery.
This second baby would replace Sochi’s first daughter, when she aged out at seven months, and keep my research and production moving forward on DNA modifying –giving me the ultimate weapon: Others who could pass for human no matter what test or scan was performed on them. The surrounding Republics would fall like a row of dominos once I could slip a supernatural army across their borders without setting off a single alarm.
Only very young infant Kitsune blood could be manipulated, and because of how young they were, only a small amount of blood could be taken at a time without putting the baby’s life in danger.
I refused to lose my investment because of impatience and stupidity.
It’d taken me decades and dozens of scientists to discover infant Kitsune blood held the capacity for such power. These fox shifters were already an endangered species, and I’d unfortunately had to kill several adults and their children to get my hands on Riza and Sochi, daughters of one of their very last Clans. Lucky for me, there was no such thing as a half-blood. Any baby born to a Kitsune was full Kitsune—one of the reasons they weren’t completely gone already. One female could re-start the entire species if given enough time.
And I’d had two. I should’ve been able to produce four babies per year each. Eight infants a year, possibly more if multiple in-vitro egg implantations took, providing me with twins or triplets. Multiple births would significantly speed up the production process.
Somehow Riza had slipped out with Manda when she’d freed the fucking Mason wolves. And now everything depended on keeping Sochi healthy and secure. I’d risked the one news cast in hopes of luring Riza back to Savannah. The Kitsune had been told Sochi was dead. Showing her alive and on the SECR newscast had been a calculated risk that so far hadn’t panned out.
I left Sochi’s room and entered the adjoining room. Bright sunlight streamed in through the large bay window of the old coastal mansion. The happy squeal of a child split the air, and I grimaced at the piercing decibel.
A small woman lay on the floor next to the infant, who could already sit up all by herself in the center of a small blanket. The nursemaid shook a rattle and cooed. The baby laughed and glanced up, catching my gaze—no fear.
The nursemaid gasped and bowed, prostrating herself flat on the floor. Her terror leeched color from her skin. Definitely the response I was more accustomed to receiving.
I approached the baby and lifted her from the floor with my magick, allowing tendrils to tighten gently around her tiny body as I brought her level with my face. She had Sochi’s complexion, black hair, and dark brown eyes. Still, it was unsettling to see genuine interest and the complete lack of fear in the infant’s eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen anyone hold my gaze with anything other than fear.
…Actually, I could.
And those hazel eyes were etched into my mind forever. Though the memory was thousands of years old, she had loved me, and I had loved her. Our child would’ve been the most powerful being in both dimensions –the earth and the Veil. A Lamidae and Lamassu hybrid would’ve been unstoppable. She and I should’ve ruled from the stone thrones of Orin; instead, my species interfered and stole her away from me. Her and our unborn child.
My brother sided with the high council, decreeing that I should be imprisoned for life. My brother… My entire race turned on me.
I lost the only woman I’d ever cared about. And with her, my son or daughter. From that moment forward, only revenge and the desire for power kept me pushing forward each and every day.
Within the space of two days, before they could lock me away, I took everything they cared about. Babylon fell to the Horde. My people were massacred with a poison I provided the invading army. In addition to mass genocide of the Lamassu, my brother believed his mate, Rose, and every single one of the Sisters of Lamidae Seers perished at my hand.
Somehow in the midst of my brother’s supposed demise, his conniving bitch of a wife escaped my grasp while simultaneously grieving for the loss of her husband—the brother I murdered.
Or so Rose thought.
They’d been instrumental in taking Cera from me. So I’d taken each of them from the other.
“You’re going to help make me invisible, little one,” I said, keeping my voice deep and even as I suspended the infant in front of me. “And when you’re old enough, you will take your place in a bed next to your mother as a priceless brood mare.”
Chapter 13
TRAVIS
People milled throu
gh the room. The tension breathed through me, a living organism that was suffocating. Everyone in the Mason pack was in pain. They’d either lost a mate, a child, or a parent. I remembered the pain when our pack was decimated… when Garrett and I witnessed the slaughter of our parents and pack mates –something no one deserved to live through.
Yet they had, and instead of looking to Charlie for guidance, they were being led astray by a slighted, power-hungry man who thought the best way to survive was to join an enemy that killed for the joy of killing.
I couldn’t imagine a universe where Xerxes Hilah would ever choose to help someone other than himself. He was collecting supernaturals. Those who didn’t join willingly were killed. It’d been going on for decades, and for decades, the Mason pack had led the charge to help free Lycans and other supernaturals from intolerant Republics. Sanctuary was home to dozens of refugees. Rose took them in and protected them as long as they worked together to keep Sanctuary safe in return.
“A formal challenge has been issued. Law states that before the next sun rises, one of you will fight Victor,” said a large male in the background. I recognized him from earlier. Charlie had called him Crawley.
I met Garrett’s gaze briefly, and he nodded. No question as to who would fight. His gunshot wound was still healing. The fight with Victor fell squarely on my shoulders, and I was more than willing to wipe the floor with the self-serving asshole. These people rallying around him didn’t have a clue what they were signing on for.
“The fight will be mine. My brother was wounded in the attack.”
Crawley dipped his chin, acknowledging my statement.
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