Cat's Choice: The Chosen's War

by Jana Leigh

  He concluded with, “Quin, I think this Stephanie has a lot of information from the sounds of it. However, she doesn’t know about shifters or the magical community. As fragile as she is now, I don’t think bringing her to the compound is a good idea.”

  Then Jaden added, “I agree; we should have her taken to Denver. They obviously have us under observation here in Milliken.”

  “Dalton, I want you to transport yourself and Cloe to Cleveland, rent a car and drive to Denver as fast as you can. Norma l drive time is around 20 hours. Once she falls asleep, you can go faster and fix it so the highway patrol doesn’t see you. Cloe is the only female Enforcer, and if she’s in bad shape, Cloe can help her too.

  “Once you get to Denver, turn her over to Sarah and Judy. They’ve been shifters for less than a year and will take good care of her. If it turns out she needs surgery, they can take care of that at the Pack house too. Then you and Cloe transport back here, so any watchers don’t know you’re gone,” said Quin.

  After he’d given them the address, he reminded them, “Don’t forget the secret pass phrase, so she knows you’re the good guys. It’s ‘I love bears; ‘ you should be able to remember that , Dalton,” said Lev. “Once you have her safe, and you’re out of town, Cloe can get all the details, everything she can remember , and get them to us as soon as possible.”

  “Um, guys,” said Dalton, “I hate to put a damper on this plan. But Bama’s due any day, and no one really knows when Trinity’s going to go into labor. Are we sure taking Cloe out of town for 24 hours is a good idea?”

  “Damn, that’s right, Cloe won’t want to leave the women,” said Quin.

  “Stephanie has been seen by a doctor, so it’s not necessary that she have one with her for the trip. She needs protection more and a female shoulder to cry on,” said Lev.

  “I think the best thing would be to send Judy or Sarah, even as humans, they could handle themselves in a fight. Remember how they fought Braden’s wolves during the attack on the B&B? Now that they’ve changed, they’re very fierce about protecting every member of the Pack ,” said Jaden.

  “Dalton, can you make that many transports?” asked Quin.

  “No problem, my powers have increased since my mating. Give Jean-Paul and Sarah a call in Denver and figure out who’s coming with me. I’m guessing whichever comes with me, Sarah or Judy, their mate will want to come along too,” said Dalton.

  “Okay, I’ll call Stephanie back and let her know to expect you around one thirty,” said Lev and then he hung up.

  ***

  Quin looked at the clock and then turned to Dalton. “It’s eleven here so that means it’s about one p.m. there in Cleveland. Go to Denver now. It’s faster than calling. Explain when you get there. I want that woman safe as soon as possible and away from Roarke’s influence. She could know a lot about his set up and be an invaluable asset to us.”

  Dalton immediately popped out of the room, and Jaden turned to Quin. “Roarke may occasionally have the Denver Pack house under observation too. That may not be the best place to take her.”

  “Do you have a better suggestion?” Jaden didn’t. They were trying to come up with an idea when Cami came into the room.

  “Okay, you ducked out really quickly. What’s up?” she asked. They quickly filled her in on the issue and their concerns.

  “Stash her in Bama’s apartment. She still has that apartment in the building owned by the pigeon shifters. The Peck is a grandmotherly sort, and she’d be surrounded by the sharpest observers we know. They’ll be able to spot any of Roarke’s men. And Braden and Roarke never knew about the apartment anyway. Next time, don’t duck out. It’s plain to see that you can’t get along without me. You shouldn’t even try,” she said smugly, and for once, they had no come back. It was a perfect idea.

  Jaden quickly called Dalton. He, Charlie, and Judy were already in Cleveland and renting a Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows. They wanted to give Stephanie as much comfort as possible for the long trip to Denver.

  “Now, Tripp is probably bringing Orfeo his breakfast right about now. If you don’t want to interrupt something personal, you should ring down immediately. We’ll need to have a meeting with all the vamps in the gaming room.

  “That asshole Roarke is not going to be allowed to fuck up my anniversary party, and that’s that!” said Cami, “We have to get our shit together and come up with a joint plan pronto. Now, I’m going to fill Caterina and Cloe in on what’s going on. We’ll meet you in the gaming room in one hour.” And on that last statement, she left the room.

  Quin looked at Jaden, “If the sex wasn’t so good…”

  Jaden looked at Quin, “And she didn’t love us so much…”

  “She’d take over and run this Pack all by herself,” finished Quin, and neither of them would ever tell her that.

  That was okay, she already knew.

  ***

  An hour later, just after two Cleveland time, Dalton parked their rental car in front of a large brick home. Next to the door was a discrete brass plaque, The Connoisseur’s club.

  When they rang the bell, the door was answered by a man wearing jeans and a button—down Oxford shirt.

  “Hi,” said Judy, “I love bears! I’m a little disappointed. I was expecting black leather and dog collars.”

  The man said hello and looked at the two men. They both repeated the pass phrase, and he let them in.

  “Miranda and I save that stuff for the bedroom, or when the club is having an event. But you’re not here for a lesson on our lifestyle. Come with me, Stephanie’s this way.” As he walked down the hall, he introduced himself. “I’m Sam and I’m also a doctor. I’ve examined Stephanie and prescribed some antibiotics for her. You should probably get that filled before you leave town.” He opened a door, “Stephanie, honey; these people are here for you.”

  Miranda stood up. “The S&M community here in town will see to her things. What assurances can you give me that she’ll be okay? And what are you doing to stop this boss of hers?”

  Dalton immediately went over to give Miranda the promises she expected. Judy walked over and sat down next to where Stephanie was. Stephanie was resting on her side; she still was uncomfortable sitting normally. “Hi Stephanie, I’m Judy. We all thought you’d feel better if you weren’t the only woman on this little road trip. We’ve got this nice , comfy Cadillac Escalade outside just for you. Do you have a bag?” she asked in a soft, friendly voice.

  Stephanie looked over at Judy. “No, I didn’t take a suitcase. I was paranoid he was watching my apartment. I don’t think that anymore, but I don’t want to go back.”

  “That’s a perfectly reasonable precaution,” said Miranda, daring the newcomers to argue with her.

  “Your friend is right. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to leave immediately and go to your regular pharmacy where you are going to fill your prescriptions. Then we’re going to head straight out of town. Once we’re at least a hundred miles away, we’ll find a Wal-Mart or a Target to stop and get you some basics. You can stay in the car with my husband , Charlie, and I’ll do your shopping for you,” said Judy, and then, since she could smell the fear pouring off of Stephanie, she added, “Miranda, we came right here and didn’t stop for food. Instead of increasing the possibility of being seen, can we make a few sandwiches for the trip?” She turned back to Stephanie, “I brought these guys along to protect you, and also with three of us, we can drive straight through. And did I mention the super , comfy Escalade has tinted windows? No one is going to see you.”

  “I’m not hungry, can we go now? I want to go right now,” said Stephanie.

  Dalton turned to her. “I never disagree with strong urges. We go now. We’ll buy a cooler at Wal-Mart and fill it up with cold cuts and bread. That way, you can eat when you’re hungry without having to stop. After we have your prescription, I want you to throw away your cell phone. Even if it’s turned off, the GPS is active. So you need to take out the batt
ery and throw it away in two different garbage cans.

  “But before then, you’ll need to make a call and tell your boss you’re quitting for medical reasons. Are you up to that? He can’t know that you know things about him.”

  At Dalton’s words, Stephanie looked up in alarm. She understood how important this was. “He’ll expect me to be nervous about it. And I can leave a message on his voicemail directly, that way he won’t be able to ask me questions.”

  “That’s great, good thinking,” Judy said, giving Stephanie praise to bolster her confidence.

  Within five minutes, they were gone. And within thirty, they had the prescription filled, the message sent, and the phone thrown away. She had the new pay as you go phone to call her friends, or if they wanted to call her.

  An hour later, two of Roarke’s Enforcers turned up looking for Stephanie. Sam only said that he’d treated her injuries, and that she said she was going out of town while she healed up. He then told them to let Roarke know that his membership was revoked and closed the door.

  ***

  As Dalton, Judy, Charlie, and Stephanie made their way to Denver , Quin called a meeting of the council to decide what to do about the upcoming attack. It was quickly decided that they would try to lure Diavolo and his attackers into a trap. They decided to spread word that the Alphas still weren’t trusting of the vamps and were keeping them under guard at night, for the time being. Hopefully, that would prevent the immediately planned murder. Since the victim was supposed to be random, they had no way of warning them. Hopefully, when it was known that the Vampire s weren’t able to leave the compound, Diavolo’s men wouldn’t act. After the entire council made those decisions, they’d broken into smaller planning groups to keep any watchers unsuspicious.

  The Alphas, along with Devon, Tripp, Orfeo, and Abaven, spent much of the afternoon on a conference call with Lev coming up with plans. They wanted to lure Diavolo and his warriors into a trap without ruining the celebration. It took a lot of work, but they finally came up with a workable plan. Dalton would call in periodically with more things that Stephanie was remembering as they drove further away from Cleveland. They would work closely with Orfeo and the Ambrosetti Warriors to ensure the safety of the community.

  Orfeo explained how they could use ultraviolet filter s on their cameras i n order for Vampire s to show up on surveillance. “Many years ago, we developed ultraviolet filters. We use them as part of the glazing in special rooms at the Castillo. We can go into that room in the soft morning light for short periods of time. How do you think we keep our skin from being so pale? We only expose ourselves for a few seconds. It gives us a pleasan t , tingly sensation .

  It’s the invisible bands of light in the ultraviolet spectrum that gives you a sunburn and kills us. Something inside us is linked to that spectrum. So we also put ultraviolet filters into all of our security cameras. It allows them to pick up Vampire s on the film. It’s one of the ways we guard our lands against possible attack by Rogue Vampire s. We have a few limos with darkly tinted glass, and these filters built into the film for emergencies.”

  Tripp spoke up. “The celebration is a big deal. A full security check on anyplace the Chosen are expected to be would be expected. We can install the filters then.”

  Bama got in touch with some of the Pecks in the Cleveland area and put Roarke’s new headquarters under observation. When she heard where he was, she remembered some stray comments overheard by the pigeons in Denver. Things fell into place.

  They made plans to sneak out six of the Vampire warriors at night , up to the training camp. The Pack Enforcers would be able to train with them for the next week, and they would become a team. The only problem was, that in order to sneak out; the Vampire s would have to use a great deal of their natural magic to shift into small creatures or mist or other things that could easily be smuggled or carried. And the Enforcers traveling openly with them couldn’t bring blood packets with them or the watchers would smell it.

  At that point, Tripp spoke up; these were his men. “For the past three days, I’ve been donati ng blood to Orfeo. I want to give you some facts. Don’t volunteer for this duty unless you’re sincere in wanting the Vampire warriors to be in top shape. It’s okay to be wary about the bite; however, I’m told if you don’t really want to donate, it’s painful. This is what happened to my mate, Caterina . If you are good with it, the sensation is very pleasurable, and you’ll be relaxed and a little high for about half an hour after. The Vampire will know and refuse to bite you if you’re not ready.”

  A team of twelve Enforcers volunteered to donate blood as needed to keep the Vampire ‘s magic at full strength. Two donors per Vampire so the donors themselves wouldn’t be weakened from donating too much blood.

  By six thirty, their plans were in place.

  Chapter 12

  The day of the celebration party promised to be clear and hot. By the time the sun set, the air would be balmy and perfect for walking around outdoors. There would be a smaller party within the grounds of the Pack house during the day for the Chosen and their children, as the little ones would all be asleep during the evening party.

  Trinity and her mates decided to stay back at the compound. It was well known that Trinity didn’t go into town much now that her pregnancy was so advanced. This fit in perfectly with the plans to trap Diavolo and his group. By supposedly keeping the Vampire s close; they’d been able to prevent anyone from the town being killed. To outsiders, it still looked as if the Vampire s were virtually prisoners, and that an accord between the European Senate of Vampire s Clans, and the New Council was falling apart.

  Actually, the treaty and mutual support agreement between them had been signed four days ago. Orfeo had called home and had a clan member overnight additional items to help defend against Vampire attack. The two most important things were contact lenses with an ultraviolet filter and special stakes that had been magically blessed . Vampire s would show to have an aura of dark light surrounding them. These lenses were given to all chosen, Enforcers, and selected humans in Milliken, though everyone living in Milliken was a Pack member, new arrivals came monthly. The town was growing almost too fast to keep track of the newcomers.

  The stakes were made of Ash. Though the wood of five of the sacred nine trees could kill a Vampire easily if magically blessed, the Ash had the added benefit of lending power to the flight and aim of the stake. These stakes had been originally blessed by Celtic Druids and were valuable relics of the clan. Twelve stakes were sent to be given to those of the chosen most in need of them.

  Bama, even though she was due any day, refused to stay at the compound. She said it would be too suspicious if she wasn’t at her store for the late-night sale. Her mates knew she was right. They decided to stay with her using the argument that as it was their anniversary too, most would expect them to be with her. Isabella and Sofia offered to stay at the store with her. As far as they knew from Stephanie, the store was not included in Diavolo’s attack plan. Just in case, Sofia would have one of the blessed stakes with her. Attilio had been torn; however, it was well known how much he hated shopping and for him to be at the store might give the game away. So he would remain outside in the street. He would appear to be enjoying the music, drinking wine while looking at all the couple’s dancing. In reality, he would be helping to protect the store from the outside. Abaven, not wanting his mate to be in danger, completed her turning into a Vampire the night before.

  Cloe, using the excuse of Bama’s pregnancy excused herself from the laser-tag tournament. She and her mates would sit with Attilio in case Bama or Trinity needed her. The tournament had been going on for the last four days. The winning team of six from the Pack would play against the Vampire warriors. With Kira’s help, they rigged it so that the winning Pack team consisted of Tripp, Devon, Shawn, Sevi, Quin, and Jaden. The Vampire team consisted of Or feo, Abaven, and another four Vampire warriors. The six Vampire warriors and twelve Enforcers that had been up at the trainin
g camp would split into teams of six; two warriors and four Enforcers each. One team would back-up the gaming center; one team would cover the stores, and the last team would remain at the compound.

  Lacy, seeing that her mates would be in the tournament, made a special protection potion for them. It would only last two hours, so they had to drink it right before the tournament started. They promised to shift into bear form if there was a fight. After she heard about the ultraviolet filters, she and her mother came up with a potion that the Ambrosetti clan could drink. It would change their aura’s lavender and make it easier for the Pack members to tell them apart if the lights went out as Diavolo had planned.