He winced at the thought of putting another person in danger, especially a woman but he thought the mutt would be less wary if they baited him with a member of the opposite sex, especially a beautiful one.
Imogen would have his balls if she could see inside his head but she was new to the pack and didn’t really understand how things worked around here. The wolves would understand and would all be willing to do whatever was necessary to protect each other. To prove his point, he slipped quietly out of bed and went downstairs to rouse his sisters. He was assured an honest opinion from them of that at least he was sure.
Bree was yawning, her head on the kitchen table as Hope put three cups of coffee in front of them.
“Couldn’t this have waited another couple of hours, Seann,” she complained half-heartedly.
Hope was wide awake and dressed in training clothes ready for her early morning run but Bree was not typically a morning person.
“No it couldn’t, Imogen will not be happy with what I am planning to do and it needs to be a ‘fait accompli’ before she is aware of my plan.”
Bree lifted her head off the table and grinned, “She has you wound around her little finger brother, are you afraid of little Imogen?”
The growl started deep in his belly and Hope shot her sister a warning look but she didn’t back down. His bark was worse than his bite and Bree was too tired to care about Seann’s black moods.
“What’s your plan Seann?” Hope drew his sour look away from her sister.
He drained his coffee and filled the cup again, “I am going to use some live bait to draw him in. A young beautiful female, alone in the woods should do the trick, out at the old campgrounds. It’s where Imogen and India were attacked and I have a gut feeling he is hiding out around there somewhere.”
“You can’t use Imogen, Seann, it’s too dangerous,” Bree was now wide awake and staring at him in horror.
“Of course not, don’t be ridiculous!” he looked incredulous.
“What about us?” Hope gestured to her sister, we are small so he would probably think he could overpower both of us easily.”
“He may not risk one of you getting away and neither of you is strong enough to stand against him alone. It has to be a single female but I could use you in the vicinity as both of you can shift incredibly fast as a backup.”
He was partially placating them but few could shift as quickly as his sisters.
“Who are you going to use to bait him then?” Bree asked.
“Kandis. He is talking about Kandis.”
They all turned at the same time to see Imogen leaning on the doorframe.
She came in and sat beside Bree and Hope poured her some coffee.
“Kandis is the strongest female fighter we have here Imogen, and probably the only one who has a chance against the mutt. She won’t be alone; we just have to give the impression that she is. Hope and Bree will be within a minute and I will be a little further out with the pack, he is not getting away this time.”
“I have no problem with it, as long as Kandis wants to do it,” she shrugged and Seann was reminded again how often he misjudged her.
His sisters didn’t argue with his choice either, Kandis could hold her own with anyone for a few minutes until help arrived, better than all of the female wolves and even some of the men.
“We could pretend to camp,” Bree said, “Me, Hope and Kandis and when we sense him there Hope and I can go for firewood or water or something leaving him alone with Kandis.”
“No, he might smell a setup. Kandis has to be alone when he finds her,” Seann insisted.
“Is there any way to set up a camera or anything so that we can see what’s happening in real-time?” Imogen asked and Seann pulled her onto his lap and held her around the waist.
“That’s a great idea, we can go out today and scout around for a good spot to put them. I will have Liam hook something up but first, we need to go out there and pick the perfect place for her camping trip. I will have security run the area to make sure it’s clear before we go out there for a look,”
Roisin came in through the back door as the sun was just coming up and Imogen went back upstairs to shower before Kandis got here. She guessed her training would be put on hold today as they were scoping out the camping area. Of course, all of this was dependent on Kandis agreeing to be used as bait.
As it turned out they did a mini workout session while they waited on Garrett and the team coming back from scouting out the campground. India, Bree and Hope joined them and Kandis was barely out of breath when the others were pink-faced and beat.
She had agreed readily when Seann outlined his plan to snare the mutt and had actually smiled once or twice during their training session. Imogen wasn’t foolish enough to think it would last but she wasn’t complaining for the moment either.
Seann came out onto the porch, his cell phone stuck to his ear. They waited patiently for his call to finish.
“The area is secure with no sign or scent of the mutt anywhere, let’s go have a look at the site and make our plans.”
They piled into the truck and Liam and Kandis jumped into the back to be lookout as they took the shortest route across the national park. Thirty minutes later Seann pulled up in front of the abandoned buildings of the old campground and got out.
The cluster of small buildings were all falling down, the toilets sign hanging by a single nail and Imogen wondered why they didn’t demolish them totally. She remembered when they were functional, camping out here with her parents. There was nothing here of any use to them so they pushed their way through the thick foliage at the back for several minutes before they came to a small clearing.
Garrett was waiting for them and Liam looked around and then swung up onto the nearest tree and fixed a tiny camera to the branch facing downwards to the clearing below.
“I will put another on the corner of one of the buildings back there and two more deeper in the woods. They have motion sensors so the moment anything bigger than a rabbit comes through these woods we will have live feed and an alert will go to Seann’s phone and to mine and Liam’s too.” he jumped back down and gestured to a huge oak. “We will pitch your tent here so that there is only one way in or out, Kandis and it’s important that you keep him talking for as long as possible. If he approaches you in his wolf form, you should shift as quickly as possible and get the hell out of here. We will already have seen him and will be here within a minute or two.”
Seann nodded his agreement.
“Won’t he smell the rest of us out there among the trees, I can smell another wolf a couple of miles away?” Hope asked.
“Yes, and there are ways to disguise it but I think he would smell a trap too so I think we should flood the area with wolves for a couple of hours beforehand, bring food and drinks, have a little party and then when everyone else leaves and Kandis is here alone, he will make his move. Everyone else will drive out of here in human form, less suspicious and some of you will pretend to be drunk. I won’t be here, neither will Garret but Liam will and he will keep in touch with me.”
“When?” Kandis asked, her voice could hardly contain her excitement.
“Tomorrow night, we will send at least twenty of the younger wolves out here covering the area in their scent. We will pitch a few tents to make it look like an overnight party but then Kandis you need to stage a fight with Liam and pitch a fit so that they all head out and leave you here on your own. He will wait for a while to make sure none of them are coming back and then I think he will take a chance. Stay in human form until we are all in place if possible.”
Sean checked his phone as they fixed the other cameras around the area and gave Liam a thumbs up when he was able to see the feed from all the cameras quite clearly.
The scouts relayed that there was still no sign of the mutt for miles around and they got back into the truck and went back to the compound.
Imogen was a little quiet and Seann knew she wanted to be able to
help, but while she was still human it wasn’t even going to be a conversation. She and India went into the office to work and he was glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with it right now. He left Garrett and Liam to choose and brief the partygoers for tomorrow night, they had a plan to put together and it needed to be flawless.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Imogen
“I am so envious of Hope and Bree right now,” Imogen said as she sucked on the end of her pen and heaved a sigh. India just smiled and patted her hand across the desk, she could read her sister like a book.
“In less than two weeks we will attempt our first shift and then we will be full pack members Imogen. Have a little patience!”
“I have a feeling something isn’t going to go as planned,” she blurted out and India closed her sketch book and came around the desk.
“Honey, if you know something bad is going to happen you need to tell the others, they don’t know you as I do but if any of them are in danger, they need to know.”
India didn’t dispel her sisters fears like she knew others would, she had lived with her all her life and knew she was never wrong when it came to her instincts even though at times she had dismissed them when it came to her own personal life. After everything that had happened, she would never dismiss them again.
“I’m not sure they will believe I have any kind of foresight; I mean would you if you didn’t know me. Even Mom and Dad used to indulge my ‘feelings’ when I was younger.”
“Seann will always take anything you say seriously Imogen, he adores you.”
“So did Mom and Dad, they still thought I was just having bad daydreams and look what it cost us.”
She stood up and yanked open the office door, “I need to go for a walk.”
She held up her hand to stop her sister, “Imogen, it’s not your fault that they didn’t listen to you when you tried to warn them, they were determined to take that trip no matter what.”
“And ended up engulfed in a fireball when their car exploded. I should have tried harder, begged them not to go. I had a horrible feeling that day India, I knew it would end badly.
“I know, I was there but they were going to go no matter what you said, it’s not your fault that they died Imogen, it's not anyone's fault.
“I just need a few moments alone, India,” she smiled to soften the sharpness of her words, “I’m fine, I promise.”
Glad she was wearing her running shoes she let the front door slam behind her and took off through the woods towards the village as if the hounds of hell were fast on her heels. The tears came fast and furious and she let the wind dry them as she whipped through the trees. She always kept her emotions buried deep when it came to her parents, but sometimes they slipped through the cracks of her armor and she ended up here, tearful and wretched.
Running always helped clear her head. She was almost at the village when she stopped short to catch her breath and realized her heartbeat was still slow and steady. Bree told her all of her natural talents would be enhanced by her transition and Imogen had always been fast. She must have halved the time it normally took her and her mood lifted tremendously. Pushing back her dark thoughts she walked the rest of the way and saw Kandis coming in the opposite direction. She sniffed the air and her head whipped around until she spotted Imogen.
The absence of the scowl that normally crossed her face when she saw her threw her for just a moment and when Kandis came toward her she actually smiled briefly.
“I could smell your annoyance from way over there,” she gestured, “I am guessing Seann won’t allow you to be part of the trap tomorrow night.”
She was partly right and Imogen nodded and told her about her feelings of foreboding and the tingling in her arms and neck whenever she had a feeling that someone was in imminent danger.
“I have had these feelings for as long as I can remember and I am almost always right.”
“Almost always?” Kandis asked.
“I don’t see anything specific, I only get this hollow gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach and the tingling and I can’t always specify who is in danger but other times it is really clear, like the night my parents died.”
“What happened to them?”
She opened her mouth to speak but the overwhelming sadness crushed her and she shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. She spun around and ran back toward the Den rather than let Kandis see her cry. She concentrated on her path and urged her legs to pump faster and faster and made it back in less than two minutes, sitting on the steps to get her breath back. This time she was panting but she had never run as fast in her entire life and couldn’t stop the smile that split her face.
“You were just a blur coming through the trees, Imogen, I think we may have found your strength,” Hope said as she appeared beside her and a few seconds later Bree joined them.
“Did Seann send you to chaperone me?” she narrowed her eyes but the sisters just shrugged.
“Until you can shift, you are a prime target, especially as you are mated to the alpha,” Bree said with a smile, “It’s just a precaution and he won’t take no for an answer so suck it up.”
Imogen stomped up the steps and marched down the corridor to Seann’s office, ignoring the calls of his sisters behind her. She threw open the door, eyes blazing and ignoring the others stood before him, fists clenched.
“I am going with Kandis tomorrow night Seann. I am sick of being treated like the weakest link in this pack and I am going to join the party. You are not my father and I am not a child, I can do whatever the fuck I want to and neither you nor anyone else is going to stop me!” she yelled.
He stood up and dismissed the others with just a nod and Imogen felt a frisson of fear ran through her as the other men scarpered out the door with worried looks in her direction. Garrett put a hand on her arm to steer her out the door but she shook him off and stood her ground and he left with the others.
Seann came towards her and she sensed he was keeping it together by a thread. His eyes were orange and fiery and despite the tightness of his jaw, she could see his fangs punched out over his bottom lip. He grabbed her shirtfront with one hand and lifted her high into the air and held out his other hand. His claws were fully extended and he rested his hand on her exposed stomach and he raked one single claw gently over her bare skin. It only scratched her but she shivered nonetheless.
“If you were my enemy, I could rip you wide open with a mere swipe and spill your organs onto the floor. I could cut out your beating heart with a single claw and use the same one to slit your throat, all before you took your next breath and all while I am still mostly human.”
She opened her mouth to speak and he barked at her to keep quiet.
“I have you chaperoned for your own protection Imogen and you will NOT be going with Kandis tomorrow night, it is too dangerous and you will not fight me on this any longer. I have given you a lot of leeway as you are still unaccustomed to our ways, I am your mate but I am also your alpha and you will obey me, DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND!” he was furious.
He put her back onto her feet and her anger stirred her to disobey him but she felt the crushing weight of her alpha’s command pressing on her free will and she could only nod her head.
“Don’t ever disrespect me in front of the pack again Imogen,” his eyes were still blazing but his voice had softened and his claws retracted. “You are free to say whatever you want to say to me in private but not in front of my pack.” She felt the weight of his control over her lift and she bolted for the door before she started to cry.
She was embarrassed that she had lost her temper but mostly because he was right, she had disrespected him and his position and she should know better, she could have waited until they were alone. Her temper was a little out of control and she wasn’t sure she liked this new side to her personality, she had always been calm and reasonable, not this hot-headed ball of anger.
India and Garrett were in the living room with Hope and
Bree when she flew upstairs and closed the door to her room. They would have heard everything and her cheeks were pink with embarrassment.
She grabbed some clean clothes and locked the bathroom door although it wouldn’t keep anyone out if they wanted in, it was merely a suggestion. She turned on the shower and stripped off, the warm water was soothing to her skin and her ego. Seann could have killed her in seconds downstairs and she was bitching about being allowed to take part in their entrapment of the mutt. Not only would she be useless against a male wolf, but she would also have everyone else on edge trying to protect her too and they wouldn’t be at their best.
She dried off and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and hoped Seann had left the Den while she was upstairs. She wasn’t sure she could face him again just yet.
He was looking out of the bedroom window and turned to her as she came out of the bathroom. His eyes were back to their softer shade of warm amber and he looked a little unsure of himself as he came to her, “Imogen, I know it’s difficult to understand our ways and they may seem harsh to you as a newcomer but I can’t have the men lose all respect for me if I let my mate dictate to me. As a couple, we are equal partners or we will be once you transition and can defend yourself properly, but in the pack, my word is law, it has to be that way or there would be anarchy.”
“I’m sorry Seann, I am not normally as aggressive or argumentative, I don’t know what got into me this morning, I just want to help.”
He pulled her against his chest and he sighed as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“New wolves are usually quite aggressive for a while, especially the teenage boys,” he chuckled, “But there are things you can do to combat the effects.”
“Like what?”
“Like running. I watched you this morning, you are going to be super-fast, probably one of the quickest in the pack and that will earn you a lot of respect. Wolves value physical strength and speed.”
The Children of the Moon Page 10