The Chase: Book 2 in The Hunt Series

by Alainna MacPherson

  Ro stood up, looking uncomfortable, which, for him, was a change from the uncaring persona he puts on regularly. He just stood by the couch, as if he were ready to pounce. I almost wish he would pace or something. The whole wolf on the hunt stance he had right then, made my own instincts edgy.

  “Everyone, quiet,” Bri said in her commanding voice. Thank goddess, they listened. When it quieted, she turned to Maeleigh. “Go on, Maeleigh. Tell it.”

  I dropped my arm to give her room to sign and rested my hand on her thigh.

  “It was a couple nights ago. She was in my dreams. I mean, I thought it was just a dream.” She started to drift into her own thoughts, so I gave her leg a squeeze. Coming back to it, she went on. “She told me that the prophecy was real. And that—”

  Maeleigh stopped to glance at me, worry etched into her face. “Whatever it is, it’s alright.”

  She nodded, took a deep breath, and went on. “That I should have faith in Gearden. That he was the closest to the originals than anyone has ever been.”

  “What does that mean?” Bri asked, looking to me for answers, which I didn’t have. I just shook my head at her. When I looked down at Maeleigh, I saw she was hoping for an answer as well.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Is there more?” Liam asked, watching her.

  She nodded. “She visited me a second time, said I needed to find someone after all of this.”

  “Who?” Dad leaned forward.

  “Someone named, Zerana.”

  “Is that name familiar to you?”

  She shook her head, regretfully.

  “Does any of this make sense to you, Maeleigh?” Dad spoke softly, but I knew he was dying for answers, just like the rest of us.

  Again, she shook her head. Then, “I think it’s real though. And, after today, with what happened at the campsite, I think she—” She stalled again.

  “She, what, Maeleigh?”

  “That she gave me this power, with the rocks, and making them,” she grasped for the right word. Then, “Fireballs! As a weapon. For something. Something, that I get the feeling is coming soon.”

  The room was silent then. No one said or did anything until Ro turned and slowly walked out of the room. I didn’t blame him. This was a lot to take in.

  We called an end to the meeting, then. We had to let Sally get back to her meeting and the rest of us needed time to absorb everything. Dad had a conference call he couldn’t miss, and I could tell Maeleigh needed a distraction.

  Taking her hand to escort her out, Bri stopped us and gave her tight hug. When she pulled back, she signed, in her choppy way, “We’ll figure it out.” Maeleigh gave her a small smile, trying to look brave and then followed me out.

  I led her downstairs to the kitchen and found that mom had made a big pot of soup. Dishing out a bowl for us both, we sat at the table and quietly ate, letting the warmth of the noodles and chicken comfort us a little. Bri came in, snagged a bagel from the pantry and perched herself atop the counter to pick at it. Mom passed by a time or two, I’m sure to check on us in her own motherly way. She’d brush her hand over my hair, pat Bri on the leg and even squeeze Maeleigh’s arm here and there. I’m sure Dad had filled her in on everything that Maeleigh had told us about Danu. I was thankful that she didn’t drill us about it, too. Ro came down eventually and made himself a bowl, plopping himself between Maeleigh and myself. He glanced at Maeleigh for a moment, giving her a supportive half-smile, which threw me for a loop. I understand he’d taken on the position as protector, her being his alpha’s mate, but it surprised me how much he’d gotten comfortable with her as well. He barely talked to me, and we’ve known each other since we were seven. Maeleigh seemed just as surprised as I was, seeing the way she blinked at him before he started shoveling his food.

  We moved back up to the media room for some tv and I got overruled by the girls, and Ro, go figure, and found myself watching Supernatural reruns. I dozed off with Maeleigh tucked into my side about the second episode and jerked awake when someone poked me in the gut. Catching my breath, I rubbed at the sore spot and glared at Maeleigh, only she was standing up already. Turning, I saw a grinning Bri. “Why do I put up with you?” I groaned at her.

  “Because you love me,” she sang and bounced up. “Now, come on. Get your butt up. Someone’s here.” She and Ro hurried out, while Maeleigh and I hung back, waiting for me.

  Entering the downstairs, I led her through the house, following the sounds of voices—lots of voices, into the conference room. Right away, I knew this was a business call. Family would have been shown the media or family room. I picked up on their scent right away, wolves.

  Trespassers.

  My wolf was instantly on edge, making the hairs on my neck stick straight up. I suppressed the urge to growl and bare my teeth as I entered the room. Maeleigh’s wolf didn’t seem to appreciate whoever was in there either. Her hand clutched mine, but she wasn’t nearly as successful at keeping her wolf reined in as I was. I could hear her growl behind me. I didn’t have time to warn her to keep it low key before eyes turned on us.

  Aside from Dad, Ro and Bri, Ben stood around the table with three others, two men and a woman. The woman had short, black hair and had European features, large dark eyes, a petite, oval face and olive skin. She touched the arm of the tallest male standing beside her. When he looked down, she jerked her chin towards me and Maeleigh. The man looked at us, barely glancing in my direction before focusing on Maeleigh. I didn’t care what it said about me, I stepped to the side to block his perusal of her. I didn’t like it, neither did my wolf. This intruder had no business looking at her. Though, my wolf felt Maeleigh’s tense as well behind me, I knew it wasn’t from fear, she wanted to put the male in his place as well.

  That’s my girl.

  “Dad,” I said, keeping my gaze steady on the other man. “What’s going on?”

  Liam glanced between the two of us, catching on what was happening right away. Everyone grew still when he did. “These people are here from a pack in New York. They flew in at Maeleigh’s father’s request.”

  Managing to rip my eyes away for a second, I found Ben’s face in the crowd. “What are they doing here?”

  He didn’t get a chance to answer. The one eyeballing Maeleigh did instead.

  “We’re here to help.” His voice was calm and precise. At least he knew how close he was to getting pounced on by not just myself but my mate as well.

  I pinned him again with a deadlier look. “Does that ‘help’ include ogling my mate?” I let out a threatening growl. I think he got the point because he finally averted his gaze onto me.

  “No.” He said, then grinned. “I mean, no, that’s not what I’m doing.”

  “He means, that he is happily mated,” the woman said, saving him. He grinned down at her, thankful.

  “They’re here to help. Your dad told me about the Westboro pack’s possible threat—”

  “Don’t,” Ro said between gritted teeth. “Don’t lie to us.”

  Ben looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but he didn’t deny it. “Alright,” he said, and I could see him mentally switching gears. “Fine. They’re here because of what I saw Maeleigh do today. Grayson, here,” he indicated the second man beside him. He was tall, about the same height of Dad but with a leaner frame. I picked up on the alpha vibes coming from him, too. “Is a pack alpha, as well. He’s got friends of the fae kind and I thought maybe he could shed more light on this, from a wolf’s point of view.”

  “How, exactly, do you know each other?” Dad asked, looking skeptical.

  Ben eyed Maeleigh reluctantly, before saying, “Grayson is Maeleigh’s uncle. My late wife’s brother.”

  “What?” It was Bri who said what we were all thinking, and all eyes were on Maeleigh. When I turned to her, she looked uncomfortable from the sudden attention. That’s when I realized what a jackass I was. She didn’t catch any of what we just said. Not a single word.

  “He’s yo
ur uncle,” I told her.

  “What?” Eyes round, she gaped at Grayson.

  “Hey, darling.” Grayson said, smiling softly at her. I could hear the sincerity in his voice, but it did nothing to set me at ease. My wolf seemed even more on unnerved knowing that he was family and an alpha wolf. He could take her away. She wasn’t officially mated, and officially speaking, he had rights as her pack patriarch to take her away from me.

  I snarled. The wolf started to come out. I wasn’t sure I could keep him at bay any longer either.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Derrek

  The snarling coming from the center of the square would have been easy to ignore if it wasn’t for the smell of blood that accompanied it. I stood in the circle of others gathered to watch Vic “spar” with his enforcers. AJ was in the thick of it as well, only he wasn’t fighting with the alpha, he was fighting with him, attacking the other wolves. This sort of practice wasn’t uncommon. Wolves sometimes needed to release some energy and the urge to fight. What was odd, was the fact that Vic didn’t hold back and neither did his Beta. They tore flesh, now and then I could swear I heard bones snap. Teeth snapping together, like nails down a chalkboard, nearly made me cringe.

  “Want to have a go?” Came a voice from behind me. Peter, an omega. He looked like he just reached adulthood, maybe nineteen or twenty, a little older than me, and done being the pack’s punching bag. He was probably looking to put someone else at the bottom of the totem pole and it looks like he had his sights on me.

  I didn’t answer him, keeping my gaze on the fight in front of me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d win. I’d never seen him fight before, being the omega not many would feel the need to challenge him. It was smart to play disinterested.

  “Come on,” he egged, jabbing me in the shoulder blade. It was just enough pressure to tell me it wasn’t friendly.

  “I’m good,” I said, finally. Hopefully he’d get bored and try someone else. I didn’t need any attention. It was bad enough that I wasn’t Westboro. I got flack for that alone since the day I arrived. I wasn’t true pack, and that, was something to fight over. I tried my best to keep my head low, not wanting to draw attention of anyone wanting to assert their position. I guess my time had run out, because the next thing I know, he’s shoved me into the ring. From my back, in the dirt, I can hear the stillness around me. The ringing in my ears doesn’t disguise that Vic and AJ have halted their bloody training session. Glancing back, I see Vic, now in human form, watching us with an entertained grin. Quickly, I turn around to see Peter advancing. Jumping to my feet I stepped back, bracing myself, arms out in front of me, readying for the first blow.

  Vic let out a loud barking laugh, then. “Do the McIntire’s not train it’s wolves to fight?”

  AJ shifted, a grin already plastered on his face while the rest of the pack chuckled, ready for a new fight. The blood thirst was real.

  “Vic,” I said, still circling with Peter, who now looked like a kid who’d scored a cookie from the damn cookie jar. We didn’t really have omega’s in MacIntire. We did, but we never picked on them like they do here. Here, they were treated like garbage. Too weak to fight back, so easy to keep under your thumb, or everyone’s thumb, in this case. “You can’t seriously be going along with this.” I glanced pleadingly at him. I knew right away the mistake I’d made. His grin was gone, whatever joy he’d gotten from the prospect of the omega picking a fight with the new kid had disappeared. Now there was just damnation. He straightened, not caring that he was naked, wolves didn’t care about that. But I saw the blood, none of it his, that covered his sweat slick skin. I looked around, chancing that Peter wouldn’t advance on me then, and saw wolves, still in their fur, laying unmoving on the dirt, where Vic and AJ had left them. They could be dead, sure, but what got me, was that I wasn’t going to get any help from the alpha and his beta and, certainly not from anyone in his pack. I was an outsider in a pack that maimed their own for sport.

  What the hell have I gotten in to?

  He attacked me then, head lowered and barreling in like an angry bull. Hitting my stomach, I didn’t have time to worry about the breath I lost when he knocked it out of me. By some miracle, I didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, I wrapped an arm around his thin waist and jabbed him in the vicinity of his kidney with my elbow. The grunt that came from him, told me that I hit my target. When his arms loosened, I disentangled myself from him, stumbling backwards. His recovery was quicker than I anticipated, because he got in a few cheap shots to my face before I realized it. The crowd roared anew, excited for a fresh fight. The sun had started to fall behind the trees, giving a small chill to the air, but I didn’t feel it. My body was too amped up on adrenaline to feel the cold. The goosebumps that rose on my flesh were from the anticipation that I may not win this fight. I, also, worried if Peter was fighting for just a higher rank or to prove a point within the pack and was looking for something more. Like my death.

  He came at me again and I blocked a couple blows, sneaking in a couple of my own, landing a few, missing more. Training to fight wasn’t something they taught us in McIntire. It wasn’t necessary. Today’s day-in-age, peace was the norm, war was not.

  Taking what I’d seen from a few training sessions I attended with my father, mostly dragged there really, to watch Brianna and Danny, I feigned to the right, then quickly jumped to the left and landed a solid punch to his temple. He staggered to the side a little but righted himself in time to block my follow-up punch and jabbed a one, two, three to my face. I wasn’t fast enough to block any of them properly and ended up stumbling.

  I landed on my ass and forced my elbows to lock as I pushed up and wobbled to my feet. I dabbed at the new split on my lip. Dang. It would match the others on my face. Focusing on Peter, I tried to plant my feet again, not sure I could feel my toes right.

  “Why are you just playing around?” Vic called from the chair someone had brought over for him. He took a gulp of his beer and waved a hand in our direction. “Get on with it. Shift already!”

  Eyes round, I watched at Peter’s lip curled up. He didn’t waste time. In just a few seconds, he was on all fours with shaggy, gray skin and snapping his canines at me, shaking off his shredded clothes. Belatedly, I started to shift, too, not wasting time to take my clothes off either. No sooner did I finish; did he leap atop me. I stopped expecting him to play by pack rules ten minutes ago, when I learned there weren’t any.

  I’d only ever watched one challenge before while in the McIntire pack. And it wasn’t nearly this bloodthirsty. Bloody, sure, but no one wished a fight between pack members. But here, I wasn’t pack.

  We tumbled around in the dirt, my shoulder twisting unnaturally, and his teeth latched on my ear. It was better than my neck, which was what he aimed for before I deflected. I could feel the tip tear and I hoped it wasn’t completely gone. Using my hind legs, I pushed at his belly, kicking him off, though not without his teeth scraping at the sensitive cartilage.

  Deciding I wasn’t going to make it if I didn’t take a more offensive approach, I leaped at him, mouth open and gripping his scruff. I dug in, pinching the skin and fur there. It was a large mouthful and not one that would last. Before he got the upper hand, I released him, jumping back and then going after him again, not allowing him a chance to right himself. I knocked him to his back and went for his throat. Just as I my jaws drew back, ready for the kill, a loud whistle rang through the air, stalling me.

  It was just enough for Peter to roll under me and bite my paw. A wounded yelp, escaped me as I went to attack again, only to freeze when Vic hollered, “That’s enough!”

  Surprised, I looked over at him, a growl rumbling from my throat before I could cut it off. He didn’t pay attention to it though and glared at Peter. “That’s enough, omega.” I saw Peter look down. Even in wolf form, there was no denying the shame he felt at the title he bore.

  Vic pinned me with heated stare. “Get changed. Now.”

  He stood up a
nd walked off, followed by someone else, one of his enforcers who hadn’t been there for the beatings of the rest. AJ stayed behind and watched me, waiting. Not sure what the hell was going on, but thankful for the butt kicking to stop, I shifted. Once I stood naked, AJ jerked his head for me to follow him. Trying not to care that I was exposed, and not just because I was naked, I quickly jogged after him. Naked meant vulnerability. Flesh was easier torn than when in wolf form with your hide for protection.

  AJ led me to Vic’s main house. We entered through the side door and into the kitchen. Someone tossed him a pair of sweats and he threw them at me, not stopping. Quickly, I shook them out and shoved a foot in one pantleg and hopped into the other while trying not to lose him through the hall.

  He took me to Vic’s office where he stood by the door and waved for me to approach the desk that Vic sat behind. The enforcer I saw earlier, stood by Vic’s chair. Wide eyed, I tried to keep my knees from buckling and waited. Fatigue started to take over me which was dangerous.

  “The McIntire’s have visitors,” Vic said. “Do you recognize them?” He slid a phone on the desk for me to look at.

  Picking it up I saw the picture there; it was obviously taken from a perch in some trees as there was foliage framing the focused targets. A woman with dark hair and two men were entering the O’Connell home.

  “Sorry, Vic,” I said, a little nervous that it was the wrong answer. “I don’t know who those people are.” I handed the phone back to him and he promptly returned it to the enforcer.

  “The mated pair, in the front, are from the Callway pack.” Alright. So, asking me was a test. Duly noted.

  “It’s not every day that members from another pack venture out of their own territory.” He gave me a steely look. “Unless they’re here because Liam thought he’d need back-up.”

  He continued to stare at me, leaving his words to hang in the air. It may have taken me a little too long to realize what he was implying.