Shattered Pack

by Erin, Aileen;

  “Course I can.” He slid open the top drawer and handed me a file. “This covers the top five in the pack. There are more extensive files on each of them in the bottom drawer. I like to keep track of the higher-ups.”

  That was normal, but I was looking for something else. “What about any problem people? People who’ve either been in a lot of fights, caused drama, or disrespected your authority. I’d love to look at those files first.”

  He froze. “You can’t possibly think that one of my own killed John.”

  I did. It felt like the most obvious answer. “Can you rule it out?”

  He rubbed his forehead. “I haven’t been back in a while… Maybe over a year now that I think of it. And then it was just for a week or two. It’s been like that going on three or four years.”

  Whoa. “So in the last four years, you’ve been home maybe a month or two?” That was way longer than I’d ever heard of an Alpha leaving their pack.

  “It’s been busy. I—” He lifted his hands and then let them fall. “I’ve no excuse.”

  I reached out to him and grabbed onto his wrist. I was going to ask a hard question, and I wasn’t sure how he was going to take it. “It’s just you and Mr. Dawson who are Alphas and members of the Seven, right? Muraco was never the Alpha of the Peruvian pack?”

  “That’s right. Muraco was the second for a while, but since his mate died, he’s let that go.”

  “And the St. Ailbe’s pack is just a satellite pack. It’s a secondary pack for everyone there, and it’s only for the school year. And he only just joined the Seven. So really, you’re the only one who has two full-time jobs? And you’ve been doing that for a very long time.”

  “Yes. That’d be accurate.”

  Now for the hard part. “Have you ever thought there’s a reason why the other members aren’t pack Alphas, too?”

  “I cannot give up my pack. This is my home. I’ve built it myself. I’ll not leave it.”

  I understood loyalty, but Donovan had left his pack alone for years at a time. That was too long to keep it in any kind of healthy shape. “The pack could find another place to live.”

  His eyes widened. “Throw them out? It’s my home, but it’s theirs, too.”

  “What about leaving the Seven?”

  “I can’t. The bonds and oaths I made, I’m not sure if they can be undone.”

  I had no idea what joining the Council of Seven involved, but it had to be big. “What does your gut say?”

  “Leaving the Council could be a possibility. Might take some doing, though. I’m not sure what would be required.”

  I gave his wrist a squeeze before letting go. “I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do, but this isn’t working.”

  He moved away from me and sat on his desk. “I know. I was worried about being able to balance the pack and being on the Council. I almost didn’t join the Seven. John convinced me I could do both. For a while, the pack was fine. At least I thought it was fine. But without John…”

  I didn’t know what to tell him. Maybe he was right and everything had been working for a while, but it wasn’t anymore. Something had to give. “That’s enough heavy talk. We’ll figure out who killed John and get the pack bonds fixed, but eventually, you might have to choose. I just want you to be aware.”

  “I know. I don’t want to have to choose. I honestly don’t know what I’d do.”

  I didn’t have any answers for him. He was in an impossible situation with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. More than any other Council member. “We’ll figure out what’s best for us. There’s no rush for you to do anything yet.” I waited for him to say something, but he was quiet. “I’ll go through your files, but first—food? Sleep? Shower? Maybe not in that order.”

  “Aye. How about you shower while I fix us some food? We’ll get you settled and then I’ll have my shower.”

  We moved back through his rooms. I grabbed my toiletries and pajamas out of my bag and went to the bathroom.

  The shower took forever to warm up, but once it did, steam filled the room. As I showered, I thought about the pack that I’d soon be joining. I hated to be the bad news bear, but the Irish pack was in terrible shape. Donovan had to make some changes if there was any hope of healing the pack. He’d been gone years. Plural. He was the Alpha. He couldn’t be gone for that long and expect everything to be okay.

  Donovan was going to have to give up something, and I hoped I could help him make the right choice. Even bringing the subject up was complicated. I was so much younger than him and had way less experience, but I was his mate. If I saw something going wrong, then I had to speak up. I just didn’t want to see him unhappy, and right now, I knew he wasn’t happy. He needed to learn to slow down and enjoy life.

  I let the shower wash away my worries for a second. The more I got to know Donovan and everything he was dealing with, the trickier it all became. I wasn’t sure how much wisdom or guidance I had to offer him, but I knew I cared about Donovan more than anyone else and I wasn’t about to sit idly by and watch him suffer. Not while I had air enough to breathe.

  Chapter Eleven

  Pain ripped me from sleep. Not physical pain, although for a split-second, I thought someone was tearing out my heart.

  It was Donovan’s pain. He was leaping out of bed as his body changed from human to wolf.

  “What’s going on?”

  He didn’t even spare me a glance before running toward the hall. I rushed out of bed to open the door for him, but he jumped to paw the knob and it swung open.

  I started to go after him but came to my senses. I was wearing a nearly see-through white tank top and a pair of hot pink boy shorts. Not exactly appropriate for whatever emergency had woken Donovan.

  Shift or more clothes?

  Shifting would be faster. I started to undress, but howling sounded in the distance. A call for help. Danger was close.

  More howls sounded from inside the stronghold. The call to battle echoed through the halls. I ran to the window to see if I could tell what was going on. Wolves rushed into the darkness. It looked like the whole pack was on the run.

  Not being a part of the pack put me at a severe disadvantage. I had no idea what was going on, what their protocol was, or what I should be doing in an emergency.

  I gave myself one second to decide and chose to stay human. Every single Were I’d seen was in wolf form and they were all heading toward town.

  Wayfarers had a plan. In an emergency, we knew who was going to stay human and who was shifting. Everyone had a job, depending on the type of emergency. But Wayfarers were more organized than most packs. Usually, a pack didn’t see any trouble unless they were causing it.

  From the way the Irish pack was reacting, they were more along the norm. In their panic to help whoever needed it, they weren’t thinking. Town meant humans, which meant at least one Were should stay in human form.

  Apparently, that Were was me. I was going to need more clothes.

  I upended my bag, grabbing the first shirt and sweater I found. A pair of leggings. Running shoes. I spotted my down vest on the floor by the bed and threw that on along with a knit hat. Good enough.

  I ran through the empty hallways, cursing the fact that I hadn’t paid better attention to the stronghold’s layout. I was going to need a car but had no idea where they kept them. When I finally got outside, I found a line of black hatchbacks around the side of the main entrance.

  Distant howls broke the silence of the night. Danger. They were fighting something and I was going to be late. I hated being late.

  I sprinted to the closest car and flung its door open.

  “Shit.” Ireland. I was on the wrong side of the car.

  I Dukes of Hazarded over the hood and got in the actual driver side. Keys were on the dash. “Come on. Come on. Come on,” I muttered as I fumbled with the keys. The engine sputtered. I hit my head on the steering wheel.

  Think, Meredith. Think. I glanced around and saw the stick
shift.

  An idiot. I’m a total idiot.

  I was going to owe Max a bottle of amazing Scotch. I’d argued it was pointless to learn to drive a manual, but he’d insisted. It had taken me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to not stall the engine, but Max was persistent.

  It’d been a while, but I could do this. I took a breath. Calming down was key, but Donovan’s panic, pain, and fear beat against me, making it nearly impossible to focus. I put the car in gear and tried the key again.

  The car lurched forward for a second before stalling.

  Okay. One more time.

  I went through Max’s lessons in my head and then hit the gas as I shifted into gear. The car jerked—not a pretty gear shift—but it didn’t stall. Good enough. Now how in the hell did I get to town?

  I couldn’t really speak to Donovan when he was in wolf form, and I couldn’t see through his eyes, but if I really focused on our bond, I could feel how far away he was.

  The only problem was that I kept trying to go the shortest distance to him, but kept running into meadows and fences. The car couldn’t handle that. I had to backtrack a few times, but I got closer to him with every turn.

  A wave of pain came through the bond. He was hurt. Donovan was hurt.

  I sped up, pushing the tiny car as fast as it would go down a dirt road when suddenly all I could see in front of me was black. It took me a second to realize the blackness was a thing and it was moving toward me. Fast.

  I slammed on the brake, nearly slipping a gear as I downshifted.

  “Fuck. Fuck. What the hell is that?”

  It roared and all the hairs on my arms rose up.

  Whatever it was, it was bad news. I needed to get the hell out of the road. Right now.

  I tried to put the car back in gear, but it stalled.

  Shit. I was so screwed.

  I tried again as the dark mass got closer.

  The beast turned, and moonlight glinted off its two shiny, black horns. A wolf raced up next to the beast, but it batted the wolf away with arms so massive its claws gouged the dirt road as it closed the distance between us.

  More wolves chased the thing, but they weren’t making headway. Any who got close were swatted away like flies.

  It was going to run straight into me and nothing was going to stop it.

  I thought about getting out of the car but didn’t have enough time. I rolled myself into a ball in my seat and hoped for the best.

  I covered my face with my hands, but couldn’t help watching through the cracks in my fingers as the thing got closer. The ground rattled underneath the car.

  I closed my eyes, bracing for impact.

  And then there was nothing. No more rattling. Everything was still and quiet.

  I sat up slowly and looked around. But I couldn’t find it. I crawled between the seats to make sure the beast was really gone and pressed my nose to the rear window. It was like it’d never been there in the first place. If the road in front of the car hadn’t been destroyed, I would’ve thought I’d been hallucinating.

  Fucking teleporting fey.

  The wolves started a song of grief as I put the car in gear. They kept pace with the car as I closed the distance with Donovan.

  After another minute, I turned the corner and started passing rows of flats. Shops were sprinkled in with the houses until I hit the main street. Groceries, restaurants, and little mom and pop stores lined the street on either side.

  Donovan was still in wolf form, standing in the middle of a roundabout in the center of town. A large statue of a human man towered over him, and beside him was a dark blob. I wasn’t sure what it was until I got a little closer and my heart sank.

  If I hadn’t seen John’s room, I wouldn’t know what I was looking at. But I did.

  The fey creature had found its second victim.

  I parked in front of a Tesco and slowly made my way to Donovan. I was already too late. Rushing didn’t matter anymore.

  The wolves ignored me as I wove through them. The entire pack gathered around the roundabout, singing the mourning song. Pack magic tingled along my skin, urging me to shift and join them in their song, but I wasn’t a member of their pack so I could ignore the pull. Someone needed to be in human form and properly dressed if any actual humans showed up. Even if the noise of the murder hadn’t woken anyone, the call would. Why this hadn’t occurred to them baffled me.

  The wolves continued howling as I made my way to Donovan. Blood was dripping down his hind leg, but other than that, he seemed okay. He was much better off than what was left of the person beside him. A severed head was the only recognizable part. I swallowed, trying to not think about the life that had been taken, but the face… He was younger than me. Maybe fourteen.

  “Who would do this?” I said to no one.

  Two wolves approached the remains. One made a keening sound that ripped my heart in two. She lay beside what was left of the boy, her body shuddering with grief.

  The other wolf snarled viciously at Donovan. He leaped at my mate, but Donovan put up a wall of power. The wolf hit it as if it were a physical thing and fell back, but that didn’t stop him from snarling.

  An angry father. I got it. But this wasn’t Donovan’s fault.

  Donovan didn’t retaliate but sat there calmly staring the father down. Finally, the other wolf ran off, leaving his mate behind to mourn.

  I knew that everyone expressed grief differently, but how could he leave his mate? I tried to go to her, but her keening turned to a snarl.

  I’d let them slide on the lack of an emergency plan, but not helping a distraught pack member? What the hell was wrong with these wolves? That was beyond unacceptable. “Someone come comfort her.”

  A few wolves stopped their song to growl at me.

  “Someone help her.” This time I used some of Donovan’s power to back my command. I didn’t care who I pissed off. They might not like me right now, but I was right. Someone needed to go to the mother.

  Finally, two wolves stepped up to curl around either side of her.

  I glanced back at the head. I’d thought someone from the pack was working with the fey, but maybe I was wrong. Why would any Were kill a pup? It didn’t make sense.

  And why was this kid out here in the first place?

  A car came around the bend. Its headlights blinded me, and I had to hold up my hand to block out the light. The wolves didn’t seem to react to the driver other than stopping their song for a second, so I took my cue from them. Whoever this was, he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just a dick for not turning off his lights.

  The driver parked his car half on the center of the roundabout and opened his door, leaving the engine running. “What in the name of Christ is goin’ on out here?” He said as he stepped out.

  “You mind?” I asked, waving at the lights.

  “Aye. Sorry.” He leaned back in, and thankfully the lights went dark.

  “Thanks.” I blinked as my eyes readjusted, but I couldn’t miss the man’s uniform.

  A cop. Perfect. And since I was the only one in human form, it was now my job to deal with him.

  He slammed his door before making his way toward us. He was maybe a few years older than me. The uniform was a little too boxy to give an idea of his body shape, but from the way he held himself, I was reasonably certain he more than liked to work out. But I was mostly impressed by the way he took the scene in stride. It wasn’t every day a human stumbled upon a pack of werewolves howling over the remains of a young teen.

  “Hi,” I said. “You okay with all of…” I motioned to the wolves.

  “Aye. The McTavish family has lived in this town for generations. We all knew of werewolves, even before you Yanks ended up on the telly with our Donovan. It’s part of being allowed to live here.” He motioned to the body. “What’s happened? Who killed this boy?”

  “We didn’t, that’s for sure, but I can’t say what did.”

  “What can you tell me? Because I can’t jus
t let this slide.” The cop motioned to the gruesome scene at our feet. “This bit of town is all on CCTV.”

  Shit. That was bad. “I’m not sure what happened. I wasn’t here.” I wasn’t sure what I should tell him, but I didn’t know that much anyway.

  “Well, who can tell me something?”

  Great. Fighting with a cop in Ireland was so not my job. Once I was in this pack, we were going to do some serious emergency training. Any help? I asked Donovan through the bond.

  Wolf-Donovan headed toward the car. Thank God.

  “Where’s he off to?”

  “Donovan’s going to shift. He’ll be back in a second.” I sighed. “Look. I don’t know what happened. All I know is that this boy is gone.”

  “It was a demon? Like one of those you fought in that chapel? They follow you here?”

  I shook my head. “No.” But I understood why he might think that.

  He crossed his arms. “How do you know it wasn’t a demon? You weren’t here, right?”

  Shit. This cop was good. If I said anything, then he might want to investigate. I wasn’t about to open that can of worms. Donovan. Any chance you can hurry it up?

  Just putting on some clothes. Stall the garda. I’ll be there in a second.

  Great. “Would you take my word for it?”

  “I’d rather hear what you know.”

  Yeah, but I didn’t want to tell him anything. “So, nice weather tonight, huh?”

  The cop—garda—gave me a long stare. Apparently, I was horrible at stalling.

  “McTavish.” My mate jogged up beside me wearing a pair of sweatpants and a fleece. He was shoeless, though. Seeing his feet on the icy pavement made mine ache. “This is pack business.”

  McTavish pointed at the body. Or what was left of it. “There’s been a murder in our town square. How is that not the business of the garda?”

  Donovan said nothing. I wondered if that was the best approach, but I wasn’t about to question him.

  “You can’t expect me to ignore this. Especially if it’s a danger to our town.”

  “I don’t think any of this will affect your people, but just in case, we’ll be patrolling. Tell everyone they’ll be safe as long as they stay inside after dark. Once this is all settled, I’ll let you know.”