“I’m sorry old friend,” said Nashoba with a slow shake of his head. “I can’t do that.”
“They took our girls!” shouted a woman that Nashoba recognized as Sinopa’s mother.
“I know they did. They took our daughters, our sisters, and they took our wives. Lest you think me insensitive to your loss, know that they took one close to me. One that I only just invited into this world so that she might learn to trust me, only to have her snatched away before my eyes.”
Nashoba walked to the top of the circle to stand before the elders, but instead of addressing them, he turned to face his people. “Last night I wanted to fight with all I had in me. I ran for miles with no clear idea of what I’d do when I arrived on Kintawep lands, but with the conviction that I would spill as much blood as possible before they finally took me down. I ran with anger in my heart and the scent of vengeance in my nose. I knew nothing but hatred for my enemy, and I wanted nothing but death for those who stood opposed to me.”
“And now you propose we stand by and do nothing?” asked young male that had been part of Machk’s hunting party. “They took my wife-to-be and you want me to do what? To sit here and wait to see what will happen? Are you so old or too afraid to fight that you would hide here instead of recovering our females?”
All eyes turned to Nashoba. In some of those eyes he read embarrassment at how one of their own had addressed him, and in others, he saw that the young hunter was not alone in his thoughts and accusations. It was worst in those who hadn’t been in the village at the time of the attack. Nashoba knew the blame they placed on themselves, and he knew too well the retribution they hungered for.
“You would call me afraid because you are angry and the only thing you can think to do is fight.” Nashoba grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. He heard several gasps from the crowd when they saw the state of his body. “Until Haley found me half dead by the side of the road, I wanted to fight as you do now. I tasted blood yesterday. Two Kintawep wolves will never fight or raid again because I ended their lives. I will fight for my tribe when fighting what I must do, but now we have nothing to gain from that, and everything to lose.”
“He’s right,” said Machk, stepping up to stand next to Nashoba. “Let none dare question the bravery of our alpha. He fought more fiercely than any other yesterday, and he bears the marks to prove his dedication to his tribe. My daughter is here and safe now only because this man intervened to save her. I crave retribution and want to fight as much as any of you, but if my pack brother says fighting is not the answer, then I say we at least owe it to him to hear him out.”
“Thank you, Machk.” Nashoba turned back towards his people. “I’d be lying if I told you I had a plan, or that I knew how to get our girls back without further bloodshed, but after what I saw yesterday, I don’t want to put those girls in any further danger. The Kintawep have always had their issues with our clan, but never have they been this outwardly aggressive or violent. Pacts have been broken and I would first know what their alpha wants with our girls. I will contact him and see what he has to say for himself and for his people before we make any further decisions.”
“Hear hear,” said Cressima, rising to address the tribe. “As difficult as it is to hold back and assess this situation, it is what we must do to prevent further losses. We were lucky that the only lives lost fell on the side of the Kintawep yesterday, but I fear we won’t be that lucky again should our tribes clash in anger again.”
“There is much to be done here in the meantime,” continued Nashoba. “Machk, round up a team and work out a safety and protection protocol to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We’ve been weakened by this attack, and I don’t want to risk the Kintawep hitting us again while we’re exposed.”
Machk nodded and shouted orders to several of the healthy young hunters and fighters gathered in the circle. The group marched out into the woods surrounding the camp, leaving the rest of the tribe wondering at what they should do with themselves.
“The rest of you will need to take care of each other until this is resolved,” said Nashoba. “We must band together as pack now, and I’m counting on each of you to give care to those who were injured in the attack, and to provide solace and comfort for those who lost someone in the raid. You have my word that we will get these girls back, no matter what it takes. Can you have faith and support your pack until we can make our move?”
The responses were scattered and quiet at first, but a slow momentum built up, and soon everyone was rallying behind the need to restore their village to something resembling normalcy. They begun organizing themselves into groups to care for the wounded, and to help clean up the homes that had been wrecked by raiding Kintawep.
When Nashoba was satisfied that they would be able to keep themselves busy for a while, he turned to Haley and asked to use her phone.
“Do you think he’ll talk to you?” she asked as she handed it over.
“There’s only one way to find out,” he replied.
Nashoba went to his truck and closed the door to have some small bit of privacy. He had a good idea of how this call was going to play out, but he owed it to his tribe and the kidnapped girls to make it anyway.
“I was wondering when I’d hear from you,” said the gloating voice on the other end of the line.
“Why did you take our girls, Herbert?” Nashoba clenched his jaw and took great care not to lose his temper. His voice was calm and level when he spoke. “The Kintawep and the Choctaws have lived by a peaceable agreement for a long time now. What possible reason could you have for breaking that peace?”
“You know what I want. Those agreements were made by those who came before us, and I don’t remember being a part of the decision-making . The Kintawep tribe is the rightful lead pack of this area, and I won’t rest until you and your mangy pack mates have been shown your proper place in the order of things.”
“Is that an open declaration of war?” asked Nashoba.
“I think my intentions are clear enough. You can come at me, but you should know that I’ve been training my warriors for this for a long time now.”
“Why did you take our girls? They are innocents in this fight you’re so obsessed with. Let them go and come face me head on. One fight between us to decide who should remain as alpha over our combined packs.”
Laughter echoed through the line. “Are you serious? I would tear you to shreds if we fought face to face, but I won’t give you the satisfaction. You will submit to me, make no doubt about that, but I won’t have you coming across as any sort of martyr for your tribe to rally around.”
“Please, Herbert, I’m asking you to not take this any farther. Think of those girls and their families. Let them go and we’ll forget this ever happened.”
“I’ll not be swayed by your pathetic whimpering,” came the reply. “If you want these girls, then you damn well better come get them.”
The line went dead and Nashoba set the phone down on the empty seat beside him – the seat where Akala had been sitting when he’d left her alone to go check on his village. He slammed his fist against the dashboard of his truck several times while shouting a string of obscenities before finally forcing himself to calm down. His pack needed him to be a pillar of strength in this time of need, no matter how much he wanted to put the key in the ignition and drive straight to Kintawep territory to tear Herbert Johnston’s throat out.
No, that would have to wait. Nashoba knew he had to be smart, and that he had to work with his tribe to get the girls back home safely. He had a good idea of why they’d been taken, and he knew it was only a matter of time before irreparable harm was done to those innocent young lives.
THREE
The truck rattled down a series of roads for what could have been minutes or hours. Akala had felt the transition from rough and rugged backroad track to gravel, and then to smooth asphalt that meant they were traveling on main roads again. She could see little of her surroundings in t
he darkness of the truck’s interior, but she didn’t need her eyes to know that she wasn’t alone. She heard other people, all girls it seemed, breathing in ragged gasps or crying softly in fear. Akala’s first thought was to calm them, but she didn’t know what she could possibly say to make this situation any better. They’d been kidnapped by a pack of rival wolves, that much was certain. What she didn’t know was what they planned to do with them.
The road beneath the truck turned rough again, and Akala was jostled from her thoughts by a rough swaying of the vehicle that sent her head into the side of the truck. She winced and tasted blood in her mouth, realizing that she’d bitten her lip and split it wide open. Sucking at the blood to keep it from dribbling down her chin, Akala fought to keep from retching at the feeling of warm blood trickling down her throat. Her stomach roiled with fear and anger, her whole body sagging from the reduction of adrenaline that had flooded her body during the attack. The longer she sat in that truck, the more she felt drained of all will to fight her way out of this. She knew the doors would eventually open, and that someone would come to take her to meet her new fate, but every minute that passed left her less and less able to think about fighting back.
When the door finally did swing open with a squeal of rusted hinges, the light that shone in was bright and white, coming from sideways instead of above. The flashlights were just as blinding as the sun would have been after so long in the dark tight confines of the back of the truck, and Akala could see nothing but silhouettes of her captors.
What she did see was that she was one among six other girls. Each of them was pulled from the truck and pushed into place in a line-up while a well-dressed and serious looking woman eyed them up and down as though they were cattle at a livestock auction.
The woman grabbed Akala’s jaw and turned her face into the light. “What happened to this one? She’s bleeding. Did someone hit her in the face?”
“She wasn’t like that when we put her in the truck,” said the man that had taken Nashoba’s gun away from her. “She was feisty, but we were careful not to harm her.”
“You know Johnston wants them healthy,” said the woman. “Damaged goods are of no use to us.”
“I bit my lip when the truck went over a bump,” said Akala. She had no idea what her value might be to these people, but for now she knew she wanted to avoid excess notice or confrontation.
“The rest of you looks okay.” The woman turned to bark orders at her team. “These three in house A, the other three in house B.”
Akala and two other girls were walked to a large cabin where a guard unlocked a heavy barred door and opened it for them to enter. Nothing was said as the girls were ushered inside, and the door swung shut almost immediately, locking them in this place with no explanation of what they were doing there.
“Don’t worry,” said a woman with long dark hair and deep green eyes. She’d stepped into the hallway with her hands in the air in a gesture of peace and calmness. “We’re captives just like you. My name is Kilenna, and I’m from the Pushtan tribe.”
“But that’s miles from here,” said one of the girls that had been in the truck with Akala. “How did you end up here?”
“There will be time enough for that later,” replied Kilenna. “Right now, I assume you’ll be wanting to clean up and then we’ll find you something to eat.”
“I’d rather have answers now,” said Akala. “We were just kidnapped and driven to who knows where. I think you owe us an explanation.”
“All of us are here for the same reason, and it’s a reason you’ll find out soon enough. Right now, you stink of your own fear and the testosterone of those who attacked you, and I don’t want you bringing that around the other girls. There’s a shower in that room there, but you’ll have to take turns washing up. I’ll have clean clothes brought in for you.”
Akala nodded in understanding and obeyed the order to clean herself up. Kilenna was young and beautiful, but there was a deadly seriousness in her eyes that told Akala not to cross her. If there were other girls in this place, then it was safe to assume that they’d been kidnapped as well, and, as weird as it was for her to think about, if they were shifters too, then their sense of smell was probably much keener than hers.
“What are your names?” Akala asked the girls who’d been brought in with her.
“Rachel,” said a girl who looked to be not much younger than Akala.
“And you, what’s your name?” Akala asked the other girl. She seemed much younger, and she was quite obviously terrified.
“Sinopa,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“Well it seems that we’re all stuck in this situation together, and it also seems that privacy is a luxury we can’t afford. Why don’t I shower first while you two take some time to adjust.”
Rachel put her arm around Sinopa’s shoulder and did her best to calm the young girl while Akala turned away and began to undress. The bathroom was larger than most she’d been in before, but it was still small enough that it was awkward unhooking her bra and slipping out of her panties in front of these two strangers. She felt self-conscious of her body, but forced herself to act relaxed as she reached into the shower and fiddled with the knobs to get a stream of hot water running.
Despite everything that had happened, and despite her desire for answers as to what was going on, Akala had to admit that the shower felt amazing. She lathered herself up with one of the several bottles of body wash sitting around the edge of the tub, and she washed the sweat and stink of the attack and subsequent truck ride from her body. A thin red line of blood dripped into the water, swirling around with the white foamy soap residue. Her legs were filthy from being half dragged to the truck, and her hair was tangled and matted with sweat after struggling to get free of her captors. As she lathered shampoo and then conditioner through her hair, she understood why Kilenna hadn’t wanted them to meet the others looking like they did.
Sinopa and Rachel had taken seats on the floor while Akala had been showering, and they both looked up at her when she swept the curtain aside and reached for a towel.
“You’ll feel better after cleaning up,” she said. “I know all of this is scary, but the best we can do is to clean ourselves up and ensure that we’re strong enough to do what’s necessary when the time comes.”
Rachel and Sinopa nodded, but it was clear that they were just going along with whatever Akala said. She couldn’t blame them, and she hoped with all her heart that they found a way out of this before anything bad happened to those other girls. She didn’t know that she’d have been this strong had she been alone here, but it felt comforting to take on a protective role over her companions, and she clung to that as if it were a life raft in a sea of fear and confusion.
When the girls were all clean and dressed in clothes loaned to them by Kilenna, they filed out into the main room to meet the others. There were eleven other girls sharing the house, and Kilenna seemed to be a leader of sorts.
“Now will you tell us what’s going on?” said Akala, pushing away an empty plate. She’d been a lot hungrier than she’d thought, and had devoured two helpings of the simple stew the girls had served up.
“First a question for you and Rachel.” Kilenna fixed them with a pointed stare. “How much do you know about the tribes and what we are?”
“I’m married to a Choctaw, so I’d say I know a hell of a lot,” replied Rachel.
“If you’re asking if I know about the whole shifting thing, then I guess I know a little something about you and your friends,” said Akala.
“Then you know about the infertility problem?”
Rachel nodded silently, but Akala perked up at hearing this. “Sorry, what infertility problem?”
“It started a few years ago,” explained Kilenna. “The females of certain tribes in the area have become sterile and no one knows why. It doesn’t seem to be affecting the non-shifter population, so we have reason to believe that it’s unique to our kind. Rachel, maybe
you can tell us how you came to be married to a Choctaw?”
“I met Tetto through an online dating site.” She blushed and looked at the table. “Obviously, I didn’t know what he really was until much later, but by then I was in love with him and I didn’t care about his being a shifter. Honestly? It only made me love him more.”
“And he told you why he was looking to mate outside the tribe?” asked Kilenna.
“After a while, yes. I was upset at first, but after spending time among the Choctaws, I finally understood why it was important they continue their line. I realized it didn’t matter so much what drove him to find me. The reality is that I’m happy he did, and the last six months have been the happiest of my life.”
“What about you?” Kilenna turned her attention to Akala.
“I only just got here,” she replied. “I met Nashoba in a similar fashion to what happened with Rachel, but I wasn’t sure it was right for me. Nashoba was actually taking me to the airport when he learned of the raid and turned around to help his people.”
“You turned down an opportunity to mate with Nashoba Half-light?” Incredulity shone in Kilenna’s eyes. “Not many would make the same decision.”
“Put yourself in my shoes,” said Akala. “This is all a little much to take in. I was only here for a few days before I was being paraded in front of the elders and told what a great mate I’d make for the man I’d only just learned could turn into a wolf whenever he wanted. I wanted to go home to take some time to think about my options.”
“Fair enough,” replied Kilenna. “Although I’m afraid your options just narrowed down to almost nothing.”
“They’ve taken us in the hopes that they can breed with us, haven’t they?” asked Rachel.
Kilenna nodded and reached out to place a reassuring hand on Sinopa’s arm. “I’m afraid so. They’ve been treating us well and giving us time to adjust to the idea, but with all the raids happening now, I don’t know how long it will be until they start handing us out to the males so they can try to force us to mate with them.”
The Alpha's Mail Order Bride- The Complete Series Page 8