I will, I promised, my attention focused back on the two men in front of me. One old and grizzled, hungry for power at any cost and the other, young and determined, already aware that power came at a cost.
“Here and now,” Caleb stated, spitting on the ground at Hanley’s feet. “Let’s see if you really are an Alpha.” His derision had the desired effect as Hanley snarled, his fist coming up and slamming into Caleb’s face while his men continued to hold him.
“Watch your tongue or I’ll rip it out,” he threatened and Caleb smiled, blood coating his teeth as it dripped down his chin.
“You’re not really my type,” he replied, widening his mouth as he flicked his tongue up and down. “I expect dinner first.”
Hanley roared in rage at Caleb’s insinuation, his fist clenching as Caleb leaned forward, tilting his head sideways in invitation for him to hit him again. Hanley paced back, agitated, but not biting.
“Release him,” he ordered, his head jerking toward the two men who still held Caleb. “We fight and I want no interference,” he commanded, his gaze sweeping over the men until their eyes dropped. “I kill him.”
The gun barrel pressed uncomfortably against my temple as Hanley glanced back at Caleb. “You try anything and she’ll be dead before you can reach her,” he promised as the guy holding the gun pressed hard enough to force my head sideways.
Caleb nodded tightly, sending me a glance I couldn’t interpret as the men holding him shoved him forward on the ground. He slammed to his knees as Hanley started to strip. I brought my hand up to shield my eyes from the gag inducing sight. Shifters remained in peak condition throughout their lives, but that didn’t mean I ever wanted to see a Hanley ball sack.
Caleb reached for the collar of his shirt, yanking it up and over his head with one smooth motion, almost disguising his wince. The purple bruises covering his chest though were easy to spot. They’d beat him but I knew the shift would heal any wounds he had. I crossed my fingers that nothing was broken though. I’d noticed Caleb limping as we’d tried to find our way out and I knew any weakness would lead to a quick end, and we needed time.
He finished stripping and in the blink of an eye a sandy brown wolf stood in his place. My vision blurred for a second as nausea swept over me and my mother’s burning gaze met mine. It was gone in a heartbeat and I sagged slightly, forcing the guy to tighten his hold on me.
“No funny business,” he growled, giving me a shake. “Once this is over, I got first dibs.”
I glanced at him over my shoulder, tempted to puke on him before the nausea faded, and told him, “If you really think you’re going to be first, then you’re even dumber than you look.”
It took a minute before my words registered and anger coated his face, but by then my attention was back on the wolves facing off in front of me. Hanley was bigger than Caleb but there was gray in his coat and I hoped youth would gave Caleb an advantage.
They circled one another, studying their opponent for any sign of weakness. The fight wouldn’t be decided by brute strength alone, but cunning as well. I worried Caleb would be hindered by his lack of experience, but when he suddenly lunged, snapping at Hanley’s back leg, I remembered who had trained him to fight.
The next few minutes were a blur of tangled wolves, blood and fur flying as they bit and grappled for dominance. It took time but I could see Caleb was slowly wearing Hanley down with each darting lunge, toying with him as he bought us time.
I briefly wondered if he would actually kill Hanley, thereby making him Alpha of the Hanley Pack, but a glance at the men Hanley had chosen to accompany him made me realize they were equally as dangerous. If Caleb won, they’d try and challenge him while he was weak and I wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to force them to stand down.
Hanley seemed to realize he was weakening and with a surge of strength threw himself at Caleb as the guy holding me shoved me to the ground, aimed the gun, and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dom
White hot pain seared through my side as Vivian left the highway, the heavy car fishtailing as she took a turn too fast. I clamped my hand over the spot and then lifted it, expecting to see blood. My hand came up clean but the spot continued to throb, the pain a pulsing wave.
My connection to Jess flared to life as I recognized the fact that she was in pain. I grasped the link like a lifeline, grateful for her pain because it meant she was alive.
“Faster,” I gritted out, barely able to think past the phantom pain. “She’s hurt.” Vivian floored the gas and we shot forward, our headlights the only light in the dense overhang of trees. The car bounced over potholes as branches scraped down its sides and Dylan braced his arms on both windows so he wouldn’t get slung around.
“I should have shot the bastard when I had the chance,” Vivian muttered to herself, her fingers wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel her knuckles had gone white. “If he hurt her….”
I vowed to stay out of her way when she went after her brother, my only focus Jess, until a wrenching pain ripped through my skull. It was strong enough to make me forget the searing pain in my side as my link to the Navarre Pack disappeared.
“Are you alright?” A panicked shout came from beside me as Vivian shoved my arm and I heard Dylan whimper, “Dom,” as the agonizing loss penetrated through to my Pack’s bond.
I inhaled, focusing on my breathing as I tried to reconcile myself to what it meant. I prodded the now empty space where my connection to Caleb, Anna, my father, and the others of the Navarre Pack had been. It was gone, a gaping hole in its place where the Pack bond was severed.
“We’re too late,” I breathed out.
“Jess,” Vivian cried out, the car slowing as her foot came off the accelerator.
“No,” I said sharply. “She’s alive. Caleb….” I couldn’t complete the thought, shaking my head, unable to believe he was gone, but it was the only way my link to the Navarre Pack would disappear. If he’d died, which meant someone else had become Alpha.
Vivian pressed the gas again, determination creasing her face as she sped up, going even faster if it was possible, swerving around branches before shooting into a clearing, the car’s headlights highlighting the scene in front of us.
I was out of the car before I finished registering what I’d seen. A dark streak flashed past me as Dylan landed on all fours, headed directly for two men. Hanley stood above a sandy brown wolf on the ground, as a dark stain matted his fur, but my gaze was focused on Jess as she used our arrival to her advantage.
My side pulsed as I watched her kick out, her foot slamming into the guy’s nuts and he crumpled. She ripped the gun from him, almost losing it, her hand slippery with blood.
I skidded to a stop when I reached her and she frantically shook her head, pointing with the gun to Caleb. “Save him,” she cried, and I shook my head, knowing he was gone. “No, he’s alive,” she replied, shoving at me. “You can save him.”
Her desperate belief spurred me forward and when the guy who’d shot her lunged toward her, she put two bullets in him. My gaze bounced off Dylan as he tore into the two men who’d been his focus, and I didn’t worry they’d be bothering Jess. I landed on my knees next to Caleb, his throat torn open, and a tear trickled down my cheek as I reached for him, certain I’d lost him.
A rattling breath stopped me in shock and as one blue eye peered at me, I saw his acceptance of his own death. “No,” I growled, suddenly determined not to let him die. His eye drifted closed at my denial and I sank my hands into the fur of his side. “You have to shift, Caleb. Shift,” I yelled, the word a demand. He didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes, or give any sign he’d heard me.
“He’s a goner,” Hanley crowed above me. “I’m the new Alpha.” My head turned, a violent snarl building in my chest, when he jerked, surprise crossing his face as a red spot bloomed on his chest.
“You’re not the Alpha,” I informed him as he stared at me in shock. “Caleb ced
ed his position to make sure you would never become Alpha of the Navarre Pack. He was buying time until we could get here.” I knew as I spoke the words they were true. Only with death or by Caleb’s choice could the link to the Navarre Pack be severed and since he was still alive, barely, it had to have been his choice.
Hanley collapsed, his hand over the bullet wound in his chest, stunned. Vivian came around, her grip steady on the gun in her hands, as she glared at him. “I should have done this years ago,” she informed him as his face whitened in shock at her appearance.
“Lucy?” He whispered, staring as if a ghost stood before him.
“Take a good look, brother, and remember who sent you to hell,” she hissed as she fired again, and again, and again, until there was nothing but an empty clicking.
“He’s dead, Vivian,” I stated, turning my attention back to the one I could save. “Caleb,” I shook him slightly, “Caleb, I know you can hear me. You need to live, you need to shift.” Another rattling breath, this one wet and terrifyingly weak, was my only response.
“Force him to shift,” Vivian said, sinking down next to me. “An Alpha can do that.”
“If the shifter is in his Pack,” I responded automatically.
“Or if they’re strong enough they can force another wolf,” Vivian responded tartly and another snarl brought my head up as I saw Dylan playfully ripping limbs off the two men he’d killed.
“I don’t know how,” I admitted and Vivian stood.
“Figure it out or your friend dies,” she answered, walking away.
“Caleb,” I begged, needing him to be strong enough. “Your my brother, my best friend, it’s always been my job to protect you and I failed. I failed you in so many ways.” My head dropped to his chest, his breathing labored and fading, as I willed him to shift. I pushed all of my will, every memory I had of us, and tried to force him to shift. Fur remained under my fingertips and I growled in frustration, not understanding why it wouldn’t work.
A familiar touch stilled me, her scent marred by the smell of fresh blood, but as she squeezed my shoulder the bond we shared flared to life, as vibrant and strong as it had been, reconnecting us.
Try now, she whispered, adding her determination to mine as she kneeled by my side. Together.
Her hand curled over mine as it rested on Caleb’s side and this time when I forced my will, I felt a spark of connection with him, the same connection I felt to Trent, Liam, and Dylan. I grasped it, fanned it to life, and again commanded him to shift.
Fur shimmered under our hands and we watched as Caleb shifted, his neck stitching together, until he laid naked under our hands, a vibrant red scar across his neck. His eyes flickered open for a second, too weak to speak, but we both heard him say, Thank you, before he slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jess
I held my hand to my side, staunching the flow of blood as it seeped around my fingers, grateful it wasn’t worse. The bullet had grazed my side. The guy shooting me had simply used it as a distraction for Caleb. One that had worked, I thought as I watched him sleep, too tired to move from his side as I leaned my weight against Dom.
“Should we stop him?” I questioned curiously, glancing at Dylan as he tossed body parts around and pounced on them.
“Nah,” Dom replied, his butt landing on the ground as he pulled me into his lap. “Let him play.”
“Okay,” I murmured, snuggling into his chest. “That was my mother I saw, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, she pretty much singlehandedly saved your lives,” Dom answered, hugging me tightly when he felt tears threatening to fall. “She loves you,” he told me, sending me the memory of her facing him down. “I’m slightly scared of her.” He held his finger a fraction of an inch apart to show me and I gave a wet chuckle.
“And my dad?” I questioned, laughing when his fingers widened exponentially. “Smart,” I muttered, my eyes drooping. “Can I just say, I’m super tired of getting kidnapped? Like enough already.”
“It’ll never happen again, if I have anything to do about it,” he rumbled, his chest vibrating comfortingly under me. “I can’t handle it.”
“You can’t?” I slapped my hand against his chest and left a bloody handprint. “Oops.” I swiped at it, smearing the blood further. “Damn it, I’m pretty sure there’s a way to get blood out of clothes.”
“Hydrogen peroxide,” my mother answered, her voice cool as she stood above us. “Its works wonders.”
“Thanks,” I replied automatically, my head tilting back to see her. She wore black slacks and a white silk blouse with a string of black pearls around her neck, and all I could think about was how she could kill a man and still look impeccable. “You saved us.”
She fidgeted, the first sign that indicated she wasn’t as cool as she looked. “You needed saving,” she answered simply, her tone matter of fact as she glanced away from the sight of me curled up in Dom’s arms. “I might have been mistaken.”
“About what?” I asked, my forehead wrinkling.
“Him,” she replied, her hand flickering toward Dom. “I didn’t realize it could go both ways.” It took me a second to know what it was.
“Love?” I asked incredulously and she nodded. “Dad loved you and you did your best to throw it in his face.”
“Yes,” she agreed, shocking me. “You’re right.” Another shock and it was a good thing I was sitting down. “I didn’t know how to love him back, or you for that matter. I let my past poison…..everything,” she said quietly.
“Not everything,” I murmured, as Dom’s arm tightened around me. “I think you did alright.”
“Do you really?” She scoffed, not believing a word. “You’ve done nothing but fight me your entire life.”
“I’m my mother’s daughter,” I answered simply and she blinked rapidly, her eyes glossy, as yips and howls broke through the clearing. “I think the cavalry arrived,” I mentioned, craning my neck around Dom’s broad shoulder as a familiar multi-colored wolf came loping up.
I feel like I missed the party, Trent whined, his sharp gaze scanning us to make sure we were in one piece.
“Dylan might let you play with him,” I offered and Trent’s head swung in the direction of my gaze.
I like the way that kid rolls, Trent admired, but I think I’ll skip.
“Bunny,” Dad shouted frantically, running over when he spotted Dom. I lifted my hand, waving to him, forgetting it was covered in blood. “Please tell me that isn’t your blood.”
“It isn’t my blood,” I lied, tucking my hand back against my side. “I’m fine. Promise,” I stressed as he blanched.
“She’ll live,” Vivian interjected, causing him to jump as he registered her presence. He looked relieved until she added with a sniff, “No thanks to you.”
His mouth tightened as he said, “Always good to see you, Vivian, or should I call you Lucy?”
The skin around her eyes grew tight as she responded grimly, “You can see what happened to the last man that called me Lucy.” Her gaze flickered to the bloody pulp that remained of her brother after fifteen rounds to the chest.
Her words reminded me there had been four men with Hanley. I started counting, only coming up with three. I pushed against Dom, wincing as pain lanced through me. “One of them is missing,” I murmured urgently.
“What?” He questioned, supporting my weight with ease, but not letting me get up.
“One of the Hanleys. There were four men and the Hanley Alpha. Five all together but only four dead bodies,” I answered, searching the area as I hoped I was wrong.
“At this point, I’m not sure you can call them bodies,” Dad said, swallowing hard as a hand landed near us.
You missing a Hanley? Trent questioned and I turned to him saying, “Yes.”
“That never stops being weird,” I heard Dad mutter.
We caught a runner on the way here. Hank brought him down when he ran right into him. Trent chuffed as he paw
ed the ground. His night went from bad to worse.
I sank back as relief coursed through me. It was finally over.
“Who’s the Alpha?” Dom questioned and my forehead wrinkled.
“Caleb isn’t the Alpha?” I asked, reaching over to touch his leg, the heat radiating off him reassuring me he was still alive. “He didn’t die.”
“No, but he’s not the Navarre Alpha any longer,” Dom stated, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “He must have passed it to someone when he thought he might be killed, but who?”
“Me,” a soft voice answered and I almost fell out of Dom’s lap when she spoke. “He gave it to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jess
“Anna!” I cried, struggling for real this time to get out of Dom’s lap as the hollow eyed girl stepped closer. A man’s shirt hung loosely around her thin frame, the buttons haphazardly done up, and I recognized it as my Dad’s shirt. I shot him a grateful glance as Dom stood, picking me up with him.
I hugged her tightly and after a second she returned the embrace, hanging on to me as if I was the only solid thing in the world.
“I thought he died,” she whispered brokenly, shaking her head against my shoulder. “I thought we’d find both of you dead.”
I squeezed harder, ignoring my own pain as I comforted her. “It was a near thing,” I sniffed. “But I’m a firm believer in happy endings and it wouldn’t have worked if the dog died.”
She shook in my arms and I thought I’d made her sob, but when she pushed back it was laughter that made her shake. “What was life like without you, Jess?”
“Boring?” I suggested and she nodded as Trent wedged in next to us, leaning against Anna’s legs. She reached down, stroking his soft fur as she nodded toward Caleb.
“He’s going to be okay?”
I nodded, glancing up at Dom for confirmation and he said, “He’s gonna be fine.”
Anna let out a shaky breath, “Good, I can give it back to him when he wakes up.” She wiped at her eyes. “He truly is a good Alpha,” she told us. “We were running, trying to get to you, and I heard him. He told me that he’d learned the mark of a true Alpha is they always try to do the right thing.” More tears fell and she continued to swipe at them as Trent rubbed his head on her hip. “He trusted me to be that for the Navarre Pack. I felt him pass the mantle to me and right before I lost the connection to him, he said, ‘Hanley will never believe there’s a female Alpha.’”
The Alpha (The Pack Book 3) Page 18