Pack Master (Undeadly Secrets Book 4)

by Aaron L Speer

  “What?”

  “Run,” she replied. The gunfire had intensified. The screams had become blood curdling. “Run!” she screamed, looking at him with flared fangs just as she unlocked the door and bolted forward. Nick didn’t have to be told twice. He leapt out the other side and ran, half turning back to see how much distance he had to put between him and the motorcade. That’s when he saw what the disturbance was. Melina was running headlong straight forward as Nightingale, perched on top of the lead van, held a soldier by the throat in mid-air. Bullets hit him from all directions but he merely laughed. Blood sprouted from the various bullet wounds but still he stood. Without flinching, he tore the soldier’s throat, dropping him like trash. He licked the fingers of that hand the way one would melted chocolate. With the other, he fired the semi-automatic he had stolen from the now dead soldier at any and all that dared point a gun at him.

  Nick thought about fighting him, but what good would it do when he wasn’t at full strength? Instead, he got into the nearest of the cars and screeched away. Keen to get away from vampires, Sovereign and Sydney.

  Nick checked back to see if anyone had noticed him gone, but none of the cars had moved. All he could see were the lights of the motorcade and vast amounts of sand. Just as the hint of relief crept into him, he saw Nightingale a few feet in front of him. Covered in blood splatters, the vampire looked at him through those sinister red eyes and Nick floored the accelerator.

  The vampire did not move save for when the car was a mere foot away from him and then he heaved a kick straight for the bonnet. The force burst the driver’s airbag into Nick’s face as the car slammed to a halt. Through his blinding headache and swirling vision, he knew he had to get to his feet. He had to get out. Inside he was dead meat. Outside at least he had a chance.

  Nick pushed the door open and collapsed to the dirt, coughing and reaching for anything he could use to pull himself up. He was confused, disoriented. He didn’t know which way was up or down. Heaved to his knees and slammed to the side of the car, Nick was both where he wanted to be, upright, and where he didn’t want to be, in front of the vampire, but not on his feet.

  “G’day, Fido,” the vampire said gleefully, lowering himself to his haunches.

  The vampire jerked his head up as Nick heard a crunch above him from the roof of the car. “How ya goin’, sea hag? Miss me?”

  Melina had leapt on to the roof and snarled down at Nightingale. “Let him go…Nick, run!”

  She didn’t give Nick any time to respond or move, launching herself directly into the vampire’s arms, wildly swinging with both fists. Nightingale walked towards the car and slammed her back down on top of the dented hood with a crash.

  Nick’s vision cleared enough to see what was actually going on. Nightingale was over her, and…kissing her? She was thrashing wildly under him, but he seemed too strong.

  He lifted his head slightly. “Oh now now, come on…” he said in a soothing purr, planting another kiss on her mouth. His tone was that of one calming down a ranting person, when the ranter was clearly overly protesting something they might want to happen. He lifted his head again and licked his lips. “Spicy. Matches the hair.”

  Melina shouted insane curses at him, in both Australian and Spanish, but was cut off by a swift headbutt, silencing her. He turned to Nick who still hadn’t moved, and with a mere flick, tossed her unconscious body several feet over his shoulder. “Yup,” he said, adjusting his belt with a nod. “She wants me.”

  “If you’re gonna kill me, just do it.” Nick cringed through the pounding in his head.

  “Now that’s a bad dog, Fido. Why would I go to all this trouble just ta off ya? Nup. Big Dog’s got a question. All that you said about this bird ya chasin’. I heard ya say she was preggo. That bullshit?”

  Nick considered the question. Was he for real? “No.” Nick shook his head. “It’s true.”

  The vampire lowered himself again to speak. This time his voice was deeper. “It yours?”

  “What difference does that make? Yes, it’s mine. That’s why I’m trying to get to her!”

  “How ya gonna get past that?” he asked, pointing up.

  “I have no idea, but I’m going to try. It’s probably suicide and pointless, but I don’t care.”

  The vampire pursed his lips slightly, as if deciding something. “Rightio,” he said, rising and holding out his hand. “We’re gonna do this, but afterwards you owe me a favour, right? Let’s go.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nick asked, taking the offered hand.

  “Today is your lucky day. You’ve just secured the services of the Scarlet Fiend. The Blood Hound. The Big Dog. Penetrator of Poon. Licker of Labias. Connoisseur of Cunnilingus. The Twelve-Incher Rib Tickler. Magician of Mounting and so on and so fuckin’ forth,” he finished with circles of his hand.

  “Um…why would you help me?” Nick asked.

  In response, Nightingale held Nick’s jaw with both hands. Nick’s first instinct was to back away, but it wasn’t long before Nightingale let go of him, saying with pursed lips, in a tone used on a puppy, “You are just so cute.”

  Nightingale moved across to the passenger side of the car and gave a brief attempt at getting in. Given the cars compact design, and his extraordinary height, there was no way Nightingale could sit there. Nick was going to suggest the back seat, but before he could speak, Nightingale had ripped the passenger seat out of the car, called it a piece of kraut shit, and got in, sitting in the back anyway.

  “Ah…shit. Forgot somethin’,” he said, getting out again. He reached down for his briefcase full of money and turned to Nick. “Reckon I can get her tits?”

  “What?”

  Instead of answering, Nightingale looked out towards Melina’s prone form, lowered his stance, measured himself, and tossed the case like a frisbee, spinning it until it landed with a bump covering Melina’s face.

  “Ten points,” Nightingale said, resuming his place in the car.

  Nick looked from him to Melina, wanting to ask yet finding the right question difficult. “I got the dosh for bringin’ you in. You ain’t in anymore. Wouldn’t be the honest thing to do.”

  “You care about honesty?”

  “I’m the most honest cunt you’ll meet, Fido. Don’t we have to get a move on, Lover boy?”

  Nick agreed. He didn’t understand, but he agreed. Nick put the car into gear and took off for the airport with the strangest passenger he would ever have.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  A Second Shot

  Nick reached the same area he had been before in his attempt to board the plane. The only difference was the company he kept. Nightingale sauntered where Nick crept. The wreckage had ensured the runway was both packed and yet deserted. Every single person surrounding the area was located there, but none were paying attention to anything except the flaming wreck.

  “Have you actually thought of how you’re going to get a plane? I mean you’ve got heaps to choose from, aye…”

  Nick looked around and agreed silently. But he wasn’t looking for a commercial aircraft. He was looking for a unique one. “Yes…if I can just find it.”

  Both travelled silently, yet Nick trailed behind the deft speed of the vampire as every gesture brought a groan worthy pain. He could’ve really used those healing abilities right about now. They moved along the walls, noticing the lights in the rooftops had dimmed as the black sky had lowered down to touch them.

  “Don’t suppose I should ask if you’ve thought about this?”

  “Probably best not to,” Nick replied.

  “A ballsed up plan with no chance in hell of succeeding. Fantastic. I like it,” Nightingale said, rubbing his hands together.

  “Don’t suppose you can tell me why you’re helping me?”

  “Good freakin’ lord, what’s that over there?”

  Nick looked to where Nightingale pointed but realised after a few seconds he was being directed at nothing. Nightingale had walked
briskly towards the edge of the airport perimeter fence and leapt over it, landed casually and placed a hand on a shipping container. They were on the complete opposite side of the airport and far away from the chaos of the crash, but the blaze was still bright against the black surrounds.

  “You’re not going to tell me why you’re helping me, I take it.”

  “Why don’t you tell me how we’re gonna get outta here and into Pommyland? All the planes are grounded.”

  “All commercial planes. Ones I can’t fly. But there is one I can. It belonged to my father. It was used to transport a small group of wolves when they attempted an invasion.”

  “I heard about that. It was months ago. You think it’s still here?”

  “I know it is. I saw it tonight when I got on the crashed plane.”

  “So...your pilot here too?”

  “Sadly not. You’ll have to rely on me.”

  “You can fly?”

  “Take off sure. Land...not so much.”

  “So wait you mean to tell me I’m doing all this for a dude that can’t fly a plane. Odds are we won’t even make it out of the runway. If we do, we gotta navigate this fuckery...?”

  “Oh...and where we are going I’m hated. So they’ll probably shoot me on site. You too just for being with me.”

  Nightingale nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Aggressive Negotiations

  “Gentleman, welcome!” Tynan said, opening his arms over the table. Nicole held the baby in her arms, not sure of where to look. She sat at a round table alongside the heads of house. Though she had not been introduced, Tynan had explained who each was before she entered the room.

  Nicole looked from one to the other. Matheus, Desmond and Rykard. All looked hard, frustrated. As if this was the last place they wanted to be.

  “Let me start by saying I am indebted to all of you for coming. It truly is an honour to host this summit. And I truly hope all of your problems can be smoothed out.”

  “Get to the point,” one said.

  “The point is this, Matheus. I have no wish for violence and senseless mayhem. I have executed those who follow me for engaging in such barbarism. The time has passed for the wars that have, well, dogged our race for centuries. The time has come to unite under one banner.”

  “Funny how that banner has to be yours…” Matheus replied.

  “And for someone that doesn’t want violence, you sure made a mess of the Slade Estate hours after they had surrendered to you. As impressive as the Kent takeover was, this was even more so. If that’s how you treat your friends, how on earth can we trust you to keep your end of the bargain. I hear none were left alive,” Desmond continued.

  “A few stragglers,” Tynan replied. “But finally, that house is no more. I secured it through traditional means: negotiation. There was always the threat of rebellion. Nothing will stand in our way for peace.”

  “Our way Tynan? No. Your way. You can dress this up however you like. Your silver tongue has been a seductive weakness for so many others. Grand schemes and bold promises but there is nothing you have done that impresses or terrifies me. Your view of what we should be is just that. Yours. I want no part in your vision as I see no benefit in it for me or my family. Especially with the way you treat your newfound allies.” Desmond replied.

  “Here, here,” Matheus echoed. Rykard, who hadn’t spoken a word, merely stared gravely at Tynan yet flicked his eyes over to Nicole.

  “Strange that you would question my treatment of the Slades, Matheus, when it was you that defied your own Alpha several years ago, forming a mutiny of your own and taking over the house. He was butchered and left outside in the sun for several days. Was he not? And you Desmond, was it not you that struggled for so long financially, until you entered an alliance with House Kent? They paid you handsomely for their Alpha’s favourite food. What was it again?”

  Desmond didn’t respond.

  “Come, I’m sure you remember. Meat wasn’t it? Aged between seven to ten years old…”

  “I did what I had to do.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. But I wonder did you even hesitate before when you realised what you had to do: steal children from an orphanage. And you went ahead still.” Tynan pressed his hands to his chest. “I am not one to judge on past actions. We all have done things others would question. But when it comes to the lives of our families, our packs, we would never apologise. Never regret. Never fear. This is why our world is in chaos. It has led to infighting and bitching. Over and over. Alphas torn down while new ones replace them. Always looking over your shoulder. Do we not all want prosperity?”

  A silence followed this that gave Nicole an indication Tynan was getting to them.

  “Join me. Together we will wipe out any and all who dare defy us. One unified pack. Think of it. All the packs of England. Together. As formidable a force as any we have ever seen. Sharing resources and aiding each other. Who in the world would dare challenge that?”

  “Perhaps none,” came the voice of Rykard for the first time. “But you do not see how you sound, Tynan. One could easily mistake you for a Connelly. Changing our way of life simply because it does not suit your view. While absorbing one strong family into your ranks and completely obliterating another are no small feats, they mean could list my accomplishments on the battlefield. None of them mean I could hope to be a voice for all wolves. Your proposal is as wishful as it is preposterous. You sound like you are organising a military defense against an as yet unseen enemy.”

  “Perhaps I am…”

  Rykard scoffed. “I have real problems to deal with. Making sure my people are fed throughout the next seven months. One of the females in my house is pregnant and is claiming she was raped by two of my soldiers. I need to find out the truth. I’ve discovered a nest of vampires close by that must be dealt with. Two of my men have disappeared after investigating it and I fear I will soon be seeing them again at the end of my shotgun. These are real problems, Tynan. Things an Alpha must deal with every day. Every week. Every year. While you are busy playing toy soldiers with grand imagination.”

  “This disappoints me, Rykard. Of all my guests, you were the one I thought would see my point.”

  “I see the real world. Not fantasy. These are wolf matters that will affect us for years to come. You can’t be taking this seriously when there is a human here.”

  Tynan smiled. “And so there is. Gentleman, let me introduce my guest and her son. An eleventh-generation wolf.”

  Rykard shifted in his seat, looking over Nicole. “That is impossible.”

  “Not so. The son of Nicholas Slade.”

  “Well…” Rykard said, leaning back. “That does throw a spanner in the works.”

  “You said the Slades were no more,” Matheus said.

  “And I wasn’t lying. The child is my ward. I will raise him as my own. The only link he has to the Slades is his grandmother.”

  “And I’m sure that sits very well with her? Her grandson, here with you? Or have you managed to convince her of your new world order?”

  “Alicia was always too small minded for my vision. Though I have tried many times over the years to convince her, she is a lost cause.”

  “As long as Alicia is alive, I can’t think she would stop coming for him,” Rykard said. “Makes me wonder why you haven’t finished her?”

  “She is one woman. My brother’s widow. She holds claim to nothing and no one.”

  “Except this child,” Rykard said.

  “She means nothing,” Matheus said. “Only ever a nice piece of arse behind a strong pack. She has no pack but would be a great trophy fuck now. What difference does it make, Rykard?”

  “For one woman, she seems to be giving you a lot of trouble,” Rykard said, addressing Tynan. “If she hadn’t, she’d be dead by now. You’d make sure of it.”

  “Is that what you want, Rykard? What it would take to convince you? Alicia slaughtered?”

  Ryka
rd smiled. “Perhaps. If I thought you could. No. What I want is five minutes alone with this young lady here. After that, I will tell you my decision.”

  Nicole looked up, surprised that she was the one being talked about now. Without a word and but a few glances at her, the others left. When they were alone, Nicole took in his appearance, trying to decipher what this was for. He had black hair, well oiled with a part on the right. A hooped earring and a small tattoo of a rams head under his right side jaw. “You don’t want to be here.”

  It wasn’t a question. And Nicole didn’t lie. “I don’t.”

  “I thought not…” Rykard leant his head left and right. Studying. Listening. “There is no surveillance equipment in here. We can speak freely. I know Alicia.”

  Nicole stilled. “You do?”

  “We were not quite friends, but we were not enemies. I always said she should’ve been the Alpha of Slade house. I lost respect for her when she didn’t push Wilson out of the way. But that’s love I suppose. In any case, Alicia helped console my wife after the death of our daughter. My wife was suicidal for months until Alicia came. It…bothers me that I couldn’t do the same when Alicia lost her son. This might be the only way I can truly thank her.”

  “By doing what?”

  “Getting you out of here.”

  “You…you can’t?” Nicole didn’t dare to hope but couldn’t help it.

  “I can if Tynan wants my alliance so badly. This will be my condition. Release you and your son.”

  “He won’t go for that. He wants my son. He wants to use him as a weapon.”

  “He’s an infant. It will be years before Tynan can make good on that. If I can get you into my custody, I can arrange passage for you out of England to wherever you want to go.”

  “You would do that for me?”

  “I admit I am intrigued by Tynan’s proposition. But I don’t for a second believe he can pull it off. If he thinks he has the mettle to juggle so much, let him. He will either fail, and die, or succeed with his ‘vision’. Either way I win.”