by Jana Leigh
“She works for herself,” Giovanni said. “When I knew her overseas she and her little sidekicks were trying to find some of my clan. She was relentless, but I convinced her they were dead and gone. She would never answer why she was looking.”
“Didn’t talk that much, huh?” Cherri grinned. “I mean it is obvious, right, you and her—did the nasty.”
Gio rolled his eyes and shrugged. “She wasn’t into conversation much.”
Kade and the others walked into the room. “They are still locked in there, I guess we can go on without them.”
Cherri and the others laughed while Vivi said, “I guess he does know what to do with it.”
“They know about the prophesy, but they are not trying to find all of us. Only one of us. Someone they don’t name, but is obvious the key to this whole mess,” Kade said.
“I thought we were the key?” Calli said.
“We are part of it, but I don’t think they are as worried about us as they are about this person. Something about them scares the shit of them. Especially the Bondi King. Word is there is a huge bounty on this person's head,” Dec said.
“Well how the fuck do you put a bounty on someone’s head when you don’t know what they look like?" Rissa asked, still staring at her screen.
“They have a mark on the back of their neck, we are trying to find what it is,” Kade said.
Brenda and Shelly walked in and plopped down the old books of their ancestors on the table. “We need to get them all together and read them.”
“Okay,” Kade said and looked at the woman.
“We were trying to find a name in one of the books, and Shelly noticed little marks on the side of some of the pages. We looked closer and there is some sort of code on there, we can't figure it out, but it is the same in these two, we are going to have to go back to the beginning and see what they knew,” Brenda said.
Rissa groaned. “None of this is on the data base, those were with our families, hell, and we don’t even have all of them. Kiki’s is small, his parents should have the rest, but they won't talk to him. Some of the others are in our books, little notations we have been able to piece together.”
“They are out there, someone is holding them, and we just need to find them. We take what we have and figure out where to go from there. These are the key, I can feel it,” Vivi said.
Calli and Kade looked at one another, they had only the five books they knew of and those were incomplete. This was gonna be fun. Why did everything have to be so difficult? The Alphas communicated with their eyes and suddenly Calli turned. “Why do only a few of the families have the books?”
Everyone was silent as they thought about it. Rissa crowed in the quiet room and said, “Because someone is holding the rest,” then pointed at her screen. “The ones you guys have are not the originals. They are copies which is why the little things on the edges don’t make sense.”
Everyone crowded around the computer screens that held snap shots of a few of the books in question. They looked different, older, more used. “See, the words, they are not code they are actual reference pages that lead you to where you have to go. It is like the story is buried in the books, lines on each page that need to be put together to make sense. They have only a few,” Rissa said.
“What exactly do they say?” Calli demanded.
“Hang on, I am trying to get to that,” Rissa snarled.
Everyone was quiet while Rissa flipped through pages of the documents they found. They felt like they were on the cusp of something important, something that would finally explain what the fuck was going on around here.
“Maybe we should get Kiki and Thomas,” Cherri said.
“Please, just give me a little bit here. I will have it when you get back,” Rissa said biting her lip. The moms volunteered to go and see if they could roust Kiki and his mates.
*****
They heard the voices before they opened their eyes. “Did you put a chair under the door?” Kiki muttered.
“No, why?” Thomas moaned and cuddled closer to Syd.
“Who is that?” Syd yawned.
“The moms,” Kiki said slowly.
Thomas sat up in bed quickly when the door was flung open. He grabbed the blanket on the floor and pulled it over his naked mates. “Get out!” Thomas yelled.
Vivi snorted, “Like you have something we haven’t seen before, young man. Now we were sent to get your asses out of bed. We have important shit to go over, get on up.”
Kiki groaned and covered his head with the covers, while Syd laughed and looked at Vivi. “Think maybe you can give us a second to get dressed?”
Shelly was standing next to Vivi and she whispered loudly, “See, told you they would fit, she may be short, but they were able to make it work.”
Thomas groaned and fell back on the bed putting an arm over his eyes while the older women continued to talk as if they weren’t there.
“What do you supposed the kids will look like? I mean a shrimp, a drag queen, and dunderhead over there,” Brenda said.
“Hey!” Thomas yelled.
“Probably a leprechaun, and a mean one, you know like that old movie where they tried to take over the world?” Vivi said and laughed.
“I will kill you where you stand, old woman or not, now get the fuck out of here while we get prepared for the day!” Kiki hissed and sat up.
“Damn, girlfriend, you have some nice pecs there,” Shelly laughed and they closed the door. They could hear them laughing as they went down the hallway.
“Even if they aren’t our parents, can we still put them in an old person's home? One that has cages and cattle prods?” Thomas smirked and rolled over.
“I think we could get everyone to vote on that.” Kiki laughed.
*****
“I got it!” Rissa yelled when they all reassembled moments later. “Well the computer got it, or maybe got part of it. More like a sliver of it, bit seriously it has something important.”
“Who gave her more coffee?” Calli moaned.
“Her mate, he thought he was being nice,” Cherri pointed at Simon who shrugged.
“Dude, really?” Calli snapped.
“I forgot, okay,” Simon said and Phillip laughed.
“Can we move on please?” Kiki sighed. He wanted to go back to bed.
“Fine,” Calli said and waved her hand at Rissa who stuck out her tongue.
“Anyway, so the books, look,” Rissa said, “this is what I have so far.”
Everyone looked at the screen Rissa projected on the wall and read quietly.
‘Here you will find the answers you seek, our beloved children. Too late we found that the prophesy was not complete, now you must continue… find the…’
“Okay,” Calli said. “Find the what?”
“Oh, the gold?” Kiki said.
“The power?” Cherri said.
“Food?” Syd said and when everyone looked at her, she grinned. “Sorry, I am hungry.”
“That's it, I don’t know, this is all they had. There is only like one word on a page with a number and a letter. As far as I can tell, the letter is for the name of the book to look in, the Chosen whose children would read it, and the number is a page. Damn, they sure didn’t want anyone to figure this shit out. And why didn’t they just tell them?” Rissa said.
“Because everything has to be full of woo woo shit in order for us to have a hard time. It would be too easy if it said, 'go here and do this'. Then we would be happy and move on, this way we get to live in fear and despair until we find the last fucking word they wrote so we can put it all together,” Kiki drawled.
Everyone laughed, but Calli frowned, stood, and looked at the screen. “I thought the book said the Chosen War was the one that would end it all, all of the separation and shit. This says they were wrong.”
“Wrong, how could the Chosen be wrong?” Kade asked.
“And why didn’t they fix it?” Declan asked.
“Rissa, can you tel
l when this was written, like was it written a long time after the original pages were written?” Cherri asked.
“Uh…yeah, hang on, I can compare the pens absorption, and then we will get an idea. I can’t get exact until I do more testing,” Rissa said and began to type.
“What if the Chosen are not the ones who wrote this?” Calli said.
“Then who did?” Thomas asked.
“Their children, the children of the Chosen figured out they weren’t done and left a message,” Rissa said.
Epilogue
“How in the hell is this possible?” Pilar said and stepped back and looked at her brother.
“I have no idea, I just can’t remember, something is, like, blocking it,” Phillip said and ran a hand through his hair.
“You mean to tell me that all this time we have been working against ourselves?” Pilar said frustrated.
“No,” Brooks said as he stepped into the room. “No, someone was working against you, but not to hurt you, to protect you. There is a spell, I can feel it, and we need to unlock it.”
“Great, now you want to talk to me?” Pilar scoffed.
“Look, I told you it wasn’t time, then. Now it is, can’t you feel it? He is your mate, and he is dying, unless we figure out what the hell they did to him, we will lose him. I am not willing to let that happen. Now, work with me!” Brooks barked.
“Ha, for years you have been ignoring our bond, and now you want to use it like a fucking talisman? Forget it, I will find a way to save him and you can go and fuck yourself. I am sick of you thinking I can be put on hold forever. This was my life you were fucking with, mine!” Pilar screamed.
“And I have suffered just as much, but we had to wait. Our mate was not here yet,” Brooks said gruffly.
“Oh please, you didn’t want to bother because you wanted to do what you wanted when you wanted and how you wanted. Don’t try to sugar coat this shit,” Pilar said and Phillip held up his hand.
“I think I am gonna give you guys some space here to deal with this. Sister, call me when you are ready,” Phillip said, laughed, and went to Brooks and patted him on the shoulder. “Good luck with that. Remember—she can breathe fire.”
“He is going to need more than luck,” Pilar grumbled.
Books by Jana Leigh
Denver Pack Series
Alpha's Mate
Tey's White Wolf
Devon: The Beta's Double Trouble
Cloe: Two for the Bite of One
Reggie: A Wolf's Changing Heart
Blaine: A Wolf's Second Sight
Lacy: Seeing Double
Jordan's Misunderstanding
Trinity: Heart of the Shifters
Argus: Meeting the Challenge
Trace: Following His Destiny
Shea: The Last Hope
Denver Pack Twelve 1/2
Chosen Wars Series
Cat’s Choice
Dante’s Dream
Finally Home – Taming of a White Wolf
Other books include
Dangerous Series
Dangerous Trio
Dangerous Two
Dangerous Finale
Dangerous: Working Against the Clock
Dangerous: Off Limits
Dangerous: All Bark and No Bite
Cassidy Family Series
Playing With Zack
Killing Jared
Holiday Surprise
Drekinn Series
The Mating Call
Healing Cherri
Mob Moms’ Christmas
Reaching Rissa
Surprise Mating
Taming Team Ten
Boots, Chaps, and Cowboy Hats
Raising a Cowgirl
Meridian Warriors by Jana Leigh and Zach Collins
Meridian Warriors: Xander and Des
Meridian Warriors Book Two – Coming soon
Shifter Justice by Jana Leigh and Bryce Evans
Perfect Reflections
Infiltrating the Pack – Coming Soon
I would love to hear from you!
Website: www.janaleighauthor.webs.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/janaleigh731
Excerpt from Alpha’s Mate
Denver Pack Book One
By Jana Leigh
Quin went into his office and answered the phone that was blinking at him, “Hello Father.”
“Son, what progress have you made with the Rogues?” A gruff voice responded to him. His father, never a man for long discussions, was always quick and to the point. When he was growing up, his mother was the one who dispensed the hugs. His father, though Quin knew he loved him, was more serious. His father also believed the Alpha of every Pack had a greater responsibility than even to his own family. This is where they differed. When Quin finally found his mate, he was going to make sure she knew exactly how important she was to him. His children would know the same love his mother had shown him.
“We had a skirmish last night in a suburb, but so far we can’t seem to find their lair. I hope they will show themselves soon. We have heard their Alpha is a wolf named Roark, but we haven’t been able to find him,” Quin said turning in his chair so he could watch the last of the sun setting.
“You may have to send out more patrols. I heard from Roan in Northern Ireland, and his Alpha in the States is having problems too. He has lost three females and one Enforcer in the last week. You need to watch the Pack,” his father warned.
“I know what is at stake here, father. I will talk to my Beta and the Enforcers. We are planning a retreat next week, but I do not want to leave the Pack unguarded. We may have to postpone, at least while this mess remains. They will understand, even if they are itching to run,” Quin said.
“I agree. Do you need any more people? I could send your brother and a few others to help,” his father asked.
Quin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was the Alpha of this Pack. He loved his father, but he was still set in the old ways.
“Let me talk it over with the others, I will let you know. I may have to have some more help if they try to take one of our females,” Quin replied.
They spoke for a few more minutes, and then Quin hung up the phone, hoping he would be able to give his father a better report the next time he spoke to him. He didn’t want his brothers to come here unless the need arose for that particular action. They were all working on settling their own Packs. All except for his youngest brother Adrian, who was just concluding his training. He hoped to offer the young wolf a place in his Pack. It had been too long since he had seen his family, and he wanted to have that connection again.
He had no clue what the Rogue wolves were trying to do. Taking female wolves was an act of war, soon he would have no choice but to hunt and kill the Rogues if they could not get them under control.
He could hear loud voices in the outer office and sighed again. What else could happen today? It had been a long day already, and he wanted to have a nice quiet dinner and go to bed.
Just before he reached the door, it burst open and his Beta fell in the room. Devon was larger than most of his wolves, so he nearly took up the entire space when he sprawled on the floor. Being the Beta of the Pack, Devon was the strongest wolf. Quin never wanted to find out who would win if they fought for Alpha, he suspected it would be a close fight.
“Get your ass out of my way,” he heard a female growl come from just outside the room.
Quin laughed when Devon jumped up and looked at him with red cheeks. “She caught me off guard.”
“Right, we’ll go with that, if it’s how you want to spin it.” Quin agreed and poked his head out of his office to see who had thrown his Beta through the door. It must have been a large female wolf to do this kind of damage.
He laughed even harder when he saw the small sprite before him. A small blonde woman stood there tapping her foot with impatience. Wow, she was beautiful. Long flowing hair pulled back
into a high ponytail and voluptuous curves, the woman stood a good foot below him. It made him feel like he was a giant. Quin grinned and looked at the woman with more interest. He wondered why she was here. He knew every member of his Pack, and she definitely did not belong.
“Listen buster, I have been sitting out here for the last two hours, waiting patiently for the head dog to come and meet with me. I no longer have the time, or the inclination to sit here. Tell your overly important man when he makes an appointment; he should have the courtesy to show up.” The woman fumed, turned on her heel, and stomped to the elevators.
Excerpt from Cat’s Choice
The Chosen’s War Book One
By Jana Leigh
“You will not keep me from her, wolf,” Diavolo snarled, as he twisted Adolfo’s arm back further. “She is mine and will always be mine.”
Suddenly, Adolfo turned on Diavolo and somehow got the vampire under him again.
“She is not yours, vampire.” Adolfo growled into his ear, “I will kill you before I allow you to take her.”
Adolfo started to change into his wolf. His face elongated, and his claws came out. He pushed the vampire further into the carpeted floor.
Then his eyes met hers. “Caterina, run. Go to where we planned, as we have talked about doing. Go there and they will keep you safe. Run now, Caterina, and never look back.”
At first, her legs couldn't move, but then she found herself flying down the stairs. She picked up her purse, car keys, the plane tickets that were sitting on the table next to the front door, and then she opened the door to run out.
She looked back at her long-time friend and guardian to see that he had now fully changed and was holding the vampire down by his teeth around Diavolo’s throat. Adolfo looked up at her, and their eyes met. She saw then something she had never seen in his eyes before. She looked at his side and saw the blood that was matted in his fur and dripping from his side. She knew at that moment that Adolfo knew he would not survive this fight, that he would not be able to go with her and protect her anymore.