While Michael and Owen said their goodbyes to Holly and Manx, I found my mother and Kaci in the kitchen.
“Who are all these guys?” Kaci asked, peering nervously through the doorway into the packed living room.
“They’re the Pride members who’ve remained loyal. Most of them are going to fight with us, but we’re leaving Carey and Ryan here with you. You remember Carey Dodd, right?” He’d been driving the getaway car when one of the thunderbirds dropped a huge bolder on it during their siege on our ranch.
Kaci nodded, and though her eyes were shiny, she seemed to be denying true tears an exit. “I’m not mad at you, Faythe. I just wanted you to know that before you go fight. Just in case…. I know Marc’s supposed to meet you there, but Jace is pretty good, too, isn’t he? And Vic and the others?”
“Yeah. They’re all great fighters. And with any luck, when this is over, we can all move back home.” Four days away from the ranch felt like forever, when I wasn’t gone by choice. “You and Mom try to keep Holly calm, okay? She’s new to this.” Even newer than Kaci.
“I’m not staying,” my mother said softly. I had to process that for a moment before her intent truly sank in.
“Oh, yes, you are.” I planted one hand firmly on the counter separating us. “I can’t take you into this fight, Mom. Dad would never forgive me. Hell, I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
She propped her hands on the hips of her gray slacks and eyed me like I’d just threatened to ruin my dinner with cookies. “Katherine Faythe Sanders, I’ve spent my entire life in this territory, and I’ve lived on that ranch since before you were born. I will be there when its fate is decided, and if you try to keep me from it, I will never, ever forgive you.”
I gaped at my mother, speechless. “But…” I pulled her to the side so we could argue in whispers, well aware that Kaci was straining to hear. “Mom, this is a war. People are going to die. I can’t let you become one of them.”
She frowned fiercely. “I know my limits, Faythe. I haven’t seriously fought anyone since before Michael was born, and I’m not going to take on more than I can handle. And no one’s going to be gunning for an old dam, anyway. I just want to be there. I need to be there.”
I scowled at her, but she only rolled her eyes. “I’m not asking permission. I’m stating my intent. You may be my Alpha, but I’m still your mother. Let’s go.” And with that, she crossed the kitchen to kiss Kaci on the forehead, then stalked into the living room and out of sight. Leaving me speechless.
Jace pulled me aside when I stepped into the main room to issue the final orders. “Did I hear that right? Your mother’s coming?”
I huffed. “Yeah, and if you try to stop her, she’ll ground you till you’re thirty.” Before Jace could argue, I stepped into the center of the room and cleared my throat. And almost dropped dead of shock when silence descended and every head in the room turned my way.
There were no whispers, no jokes, and no stupid questions. They were wearing their game faces, and they’d all come to fight. And they were prepared to die for our cause.
A chill of awe ran through me at the power we represented. The potential we held. The future was in our hands—not just the future of our Pride, but of our entire species, because with Malone disposed of and me reinstated as Alpha, things would change. They would have to. And the men surrounding me believed in that change, or they wouldn’t have been there. They believed with every cell in their robust bodies, with every thrum of restrained power and bloodlust humming through them.
The only thing wrong was Marc’s absence, and I felt that like I would have felt a missing limb. He was supposed to meet us in the woods behind the ranch, but I kept turning to spot him, expecting to find him with us already, watching me from the corner or standing by with advice. And every time I couldn’t find him—every time I remembered that he’d left me—the wound broke open all over again.
And the worst part was that I had opened that wound in the first place.
Jace stepped up behind me and wrapped one arm around my waist, whispering in my ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I shook my head, trying in vain to concentrate on the task at hand. “Just…thinking.”
“I think it’s time for a little talking, then a lot of fighting.”
I nodded, and Jace stepped back. When I looked up, I found everyone watching the two of us in one combination or another of confusion and surprise. I cleared my throat again. “First, thank you all for showing up today. Your loyalty will not be forgotten.”
Several toms nodded, but no one interrupted.
“Second of all, the Midwest, East Coast, and southeast Prides have all sent men to fight with us, and we’ll be meeting them in the woods behind the ranch in just a few minutes. Also, I’ve cashed in a favor from a Flight of thunderbirds in New Mexico, and when we leave here, I’ll call them in.”
They all already knew about our air support, but a murmur of general fear and skepticism ran through the crowd, anyway.
“Our main objective is to take out Calvin Malone. Not capture him. Not spank him and send him home crying. I want him dead. If you have a shot, take it. If not, fight for that shot. Kill if necessary, but show mercy if it won’t get you killed. If someone surrenders, knock him unconscious and move on.”
There were a couple of grumbles, but no one openly objected.
“Because the thunderbirds can’t tell us apart in cat form—and you’re all going in cat form—everyone will get a strip of orange construction tape.” I gestured to Jace, and he held up the three rolls we’d bought on the way. Di Carlo, Taylor, and my uncle were all similarly equipped. “One of us will tie it to one of your front legs, so the birds know you’re off-limits. Do not lose that tape. Hopefully I don’t have to tell you how dangerous thunderbirds are, and we can’t afford to take hits from friendly fire. Any questions?”
“Where’s Marc?” One of the older toms—from somewhere near the Oklahoma panhandle—asked.
I answered without hesitating, but no one was fooled. “He’s coming separately, but he’ll be there.” But they all heard what I hadn’t said, and glances flicked toward Jace, who stood tall against the wall to my left, neither acknowledging nor denying. “Anything else?”
“When do we get started?” Holden Pierce called out from the far corner of the room. Parker’s youngest brother was our newest Pride member, and he’d remained loyal to us, rather than his father. He was only a sophomore in college, and I felt another strong pang of guilt at the knowledge that I might be sending him to his death before he’d really lived.
But he’d made his choice. We all had.
I smiled. “Right now. Load up.”
My pulse raced as I picked my way carefully through the woods, aiming for silence in spite of my awkward human form. I wouldn’t get to Shift. Someone had to call all the allies together and tie a bunch of orange flaps around feline legs. But I was armed. I had cat eyes, and I carried a crowbar in my left hand and a folding knife in my left pocket. And once the fight began, I’d have cat teeth, and claws on one hand.
That was the best compromise I could find between Faythe-the-Alpha and Faythe-the-fighter.
Jace was in human form, too, at least so far, to help me tie.
We’d gone about half a mile with me in the lead when brush rustled on my left, and I froze. My heart raced and I raised my crowbar. All movement behind me stopped, as our toms followed my lead, instantly on alert.
A dark blur soared over the brush to land in front of me, huge and tensed for action. I sniffed the air and relaxed. My cousin Lucas. He seemed to recognize me at the same time, and he stalked forward to run his head under my waiting palm. A moment later, more toms leaped over the brush, and my uncle stepped into sight from around a thick pine tree. Bert Di Carlo and Aaron Taylor were right behind him.
They’d contributed six men apiece—seven, including themselves—to the effort, which put our ground troops at a staggering forty-two toms
, all ready and willing to kill—or die—for the cause. It was the largest offensive in living memory, even without counting the thunderbirds.
“Faythe…” My uncle stepped forward for a quick hug, then held me at arm’s length to study my face. “Are you ready for this?”
I gave him a firm nod, then a small smile. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Ready and willing,” Di Carlo answered for them all, hugging my mother in greeting, and my heart beat so hard my chest ached. It was time.
But Marc wasn’t there. I pulled Vic aside for a moment and asked if he’d heard from Marc again, but he could only shake his feline head.
What if he’d gotten caught on the way in? What if he’d gotten killed? What if he’d simply changed his mind—decided not to come because he couldn’t stand to be near me?
“He’s probably just running late,” Jace said, rubbing one hand along my back. “He’ll be here.”
I nodded, then pulled out my father’s phone and called myself. Beck answered on the second ring. “It’s Faythe Sanders,” I said, half whispering, even though we were still a mile and a half from the ranch. “Are you ready?”
“We are always ready,” the thunderbird answered, his dual-tone voice screeching softly into my ear.
“Good. Move in and perch nearby. When you see the fight begin, have at it. But remember the rules…”
“We know. Do not kill anyone wearing an orange flag, and do not partake of our kills.”
“Right.”
When I hung up, Jace, my mother, and the Alphas were already tying orange strips to the toms’ legs. I shoved the phone into my pocket and joined them, then tied a short strip to Jace’s upper arm.
“You can do this,” he whispered, as he tied a matching length to my left arm. “And I’ll be right there with you.”
I tried for a smile, but failed.
“With any luck, this is overkill.” We were attacking in the middle of the night for a reason. Hopefully, everyone would be asleep in human form, and we would give them no time to Shift. Baring catastrophe, getting to Malone should be easy, and I was fervently hoping that the biggest problem we’d have would be consoling the thunderbirds over the small scale of the promised slaughter.
Well, that and the guns. But hopefully Malone and his men weren’t hard core enough to sleep with their pistols.
When everyone was ready, we started forward again, and as we crossed the creek I’d played in my whole life, the thunder of giant wings roared overhead, beating the air as the thunderbirds overtook us.
Nearly two dozen of them.
My pulse surged again. We had the power, we had the numbers, and we had the home-field advantage. How could this go wrong?
Twenty minutes later, I peeked between two trunks on the edge of the tree line, staring at the back of my own house like a thief in the night. And that’s exactly what I felt like—I’d come to steal my life back, and heaven help anyone who got in my way.
Jace and my mother stood to my right, my Alpha allies to my left. Spread out behind us were our toms—including my brothers and lifelong friends—scattered among the trees.
I took a deep breath. Then I stepped into the yard.
The men followed me, cats moving much more stealthily than I could on two legs, and I caught my uncle’s gaze, then pointed toward the guesthouse. Our allies and their men were going to guard the guesthouse, front and back, to keep as many of Malone’s men off us as possible, while we attempted a relatively peaceful assassination in the main house. Then we’d deal with the fallout.
At least, that was the plan.
But as our allies spread out around the guesthouse, Mateo Di Carlo and my cousin Lucas among them, I started to get a very bad feeling.
Jace and I headed for the back porch of the main house, with Michael on my left and Owen on his other side, both in cat form. On Jace’s other side, Vic and Parker stalked silently, their white, warm puffs of breath the only sign that they were living, breathing beings, and not cold, efficient emissaries of death, come to help me send Malone on his way.
I tucked my crowbar under my Shifted left arm as I climbed the back porch steps, glad concrete didn’t creak. I wasn’t sure whether or not Kenton would have thought to change the locks, so I had my keys, just in case. And if they didn’t work, I’d kick the door in. Not exactly stealthy, but definitely expedient.
However, before I could test the knob, it turned on its own, and my heart jumped into my throat. The back door swung open slowly and Colin Dean leered at me, his gun aimed at my chest, his mutilated cheek stretching beneath deep shadows in the dark hallway.
“Back for more already?” He glanced at Jace then and arched one brow, like they shared some intimate secret. “We just can’t keep this little puss satisfied for long, can we?”
Thirty-three
“Dean.” My pulse tripped, and I tried futilely to slow it as a shiny set of cat eyes blinked at me from deeper in the hallway. Then a second pair of eyes. Then a third, fourth, fifth… Too many to count
They’d already Shifted. Which meant they’d known we were coming. I stepped back. Jace’s hand steadied me when I almost missed the bottom step, and my mind raced. How had they known? How long had they known? Long enough to bring in more men?
I opened my mouth to demand to talk to Malone—I couldn’t kill him if I couldn’t see him—but before I could, the guesthouse door squealed open behind me, and somebody snarled.
I turned to find more toms in cat form pouring out of the guesthouse, flowing like a river of black fur to surround our allies. At least another dozen. We weren’t outnumbered yet, but it was much closer than I’d hoped for. And they definitely were not caught off guard.
“Surprise!” Dean stepped onto the porch, and I took another step back. “When we heard you were coming, we thought we’d throw a party in your honor. Hope you don’t mind, but we invited a few extra guests.”
“How did you know?” I demanded, trying to control the slight tremor in my voice.
“Well, it turns out that little Melody Malone is definitely her father’s daughter. She overheard her mother telling loverboy here where her daddy was, then called Cal directly to report the suspicious phone call. Cal called in every tom within driving distance, and told us to sleep in cat form, just in case. Though I have to say, we didn’t think you’d show up quite so soon….”
“Where’s Malone?” I demanded, seething.
“He’s around. Pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Smart Alphas don’t expose themselves to the melee. After all, who’s going to run things if the Alpha dies?” Dean stepped onto the middle of the top step, and cats poured out of the house behind him and leaped to the ground, face-to-face with my own men. At my rough estimate, I counted nearly a dozen. Some of them I knew, some I didn’t, but none of them looked surprised.
Jace tugged my right arm, and I started to back up with him, but Dean shook his head. “Don’t move, pussycat. Or I will shoot you.”
Michael snarled at my side, and Jace was growling deep in his mostly human throat, but there was nothing they could do. We were fast, but bullets were faster. Fortunately, so far Dean was the only one in human form, thus the only one carrying a gun.
“What’s the matter, Faythe?” Dean taunted, as his toms slunk closer. Two of them faced Jace, snarling softly, trying to steer him away from me. “I thought you liked being outnumbered by men. This is like your dream date, right?”
I slid my keys into my pocket and took the crowbar in my right hand, determined not to rise to the bait. “Why don’t you put down the gun and fight fair?”
“We already tried it that way, and I mopped up the floor with your tight little ass. Not to mention your face. Now put down the crowbar, or your boy takes a bullet.” He swung his gun toward Jace, and my heart clawed its way into my throat.
“Faythe, he’s bluffing…” Jace mumbled.
“No, he’s not.” And the truth was that he might shoot Jace even if I coope
rated. I dropped the crowbar, my gaze locked on Dean’s sneer.
“Good girl.” He jogged down the steps, his aim steadily trained on the center of Jace’s chest. His shadow stretched across the grass beneath the porch light, not quite hiding the vicious grin he aimed at Jace. “I bet she takes the top, doesn’t she? A girl like that has to be in control all the time, or she just can’t have any fun, right?” Dean’s sneer found me again, his gaze tracing the scar he’d left on my cheek, then wandering lower. “But once I put her down, she’s damn well gonna stay there.”
He reached for my arm, but I jerked away. My fist slammed into his jaw. Dean growled. He backhanded me with his empty left hand, and I staggered backward, determined not to fall. “I will kill you.”
Dean laughed, and his gaze never left mine. He reached for my arm again, and when I started to step back, he raised the gun, aiming at Jace’s face. “Think very carefully.”
“Faythe, no…” Jace growled, right fist clenched at his side, the claws on his left paw sheathing and unsheathing over and over again.
“It’s okay,” I said, and when Dean grabbed my arm that time, I let him, even though my skin crawled. “I’ll kill him, then meet you right back here.” Because Jace couldn’t fight with a gun trained on him, and I stood a better shot of taking Dean out without the rest of his men around. “No worries.”
Dean laughed and glanced at Jace. “Oh, no, you can totally worry. And in a few minutes, and you can all hear her scream.”
Owen growled and Michael snarled, advancing on the toms who faced them.
Dean pulled me up the first step, still aiming at Jace. “Kill the toms. Leave the bitch to me.”
Cats all over the yard burst into motion. Snarls and hisses rang out like a violent chorus, a fitting soundtrack to accompany my waking nightmare. The scent of blood blossomed on the air, and I clenched my jaw against a scream as Dean hauled me up the steps by one arm.
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