Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 30] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by Lynn Hagen

  “Well, that’s no answer,” Sterling huffed and settled down onto the floor in front of the pigpen. He cradled Bacon to his chest for a moment, stroking his hand down her back as he considered what he was about to do.

  He loved Bacon, but he loved Riley even more. If he continued to spoil Bacon then people would continue to make fun of him. Not only did it hurt Sterling’s feelings, but it made Riley angry. And an angry Riley was a very bad thing.

  Sterling knew what he had to do.

  Tears started to fill Sterling’s eyes and spill down his cheeks as he pulled the bow from Bacon’s neck and then set her on the floor inside the pigpen. He pointed her toward the mama pig and her piglets and then scooted Bacon toward them with a hand on her rump.

  “Go on, Bacon,” Sterling whispered.

  Bacon snorted, sniffed the ground, and then spun around, making a beeline right back to Sterling. As soon as she reached him, she tried to climb up onto his lap. Sterling rolled his eyes and picked her up, setting her right back inside the pig enclosure.

  “Bacon, you need to go to your mama.” Sterling hiccupped, trying to suppress the cry building up in his throat at the idea that his precious little pet was about to become just a pig again. “Go on, Bacon.”

  “Bacon, now that’s a delicious-sounding word, but I prefer human.” Someone laughed quietly from the shadows. “Humans taste so much better.”

  Sterling yelped and spun around so fast that he fell backward, hitting his head on the wooden railing of the pigpen. He rubbed the back of his head as he righted himself and searched the barn for the source of the words.

  A shadow moved in the corner, sending shards of fear spiking through Sterling. It wasn’t so much the shadow that scared him but the sharp-looking fangs in the man’s mouth.

  Oh, he was in such deep shit.

  Riley frowned as he walked into the kitchen, the very empty kitchen. He thought that was the last place he had seen Sterling. He spun around and went upstairs, looking for his mate. Kenway wanted to apologize for making fun of Bacon, but Sterling needed to be there for that to happen.

  The bedroom he shared with Sterling was just as empty as the kitchen had been. Riley started to grow concerned when he searched the rest of the upper floor and found no sign of Sterling anywhere.

  He paused for a moment in the middle of the hallway and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to figure out where Sterling could be. A sudden thought hit him. Riley ran back to the bedroom and searched the room for Bacon. He even looked under the bed.

  Riley ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast as he could, grabbing the handrail at the bottom to stop his forward momentum. He started toward the living room when he heard a loud squealing noise coming from the door in the kitchen. Riley instantly changed directions and ran into the kitchen, pushing the back door open.

  He just about fell back on his ass when Bacon darted into the room and tried to climb his leg, squealing as loud as he had ever heard her. Riley bent down and picked the scared little piglet up in his arms.

  “Where’s Sterling, Bacon?”

  The piglet squealed and squirmed until Riley set her down on the floor. The second her feet touched the hard tile, she ran toward the door and started rooting at the edges with her nose. Riley pushed the door open. His jaw dropped as Bacon took off toward the barn as fast as her four little legs would carry her.

  “Pa, Sterling’s in trouble in the barn,” he shouted just before he darted out the door after the damn pig. He was about halfway across the yard when he heard the kitchen door bang open and several sets of pounding feet followed after him.

  Riley slowed his running down to cautious steps when he neared the barn. Bacon was wiggling and squirming for all she was worth as she tried to squeeze under the edge of door and get into the barn.

  Riley quickly picked her up and rubbed his hand over her head. “Ssshh, Bacon,” he whispered. When he heard someone come up behind him, he turned and held Bacon out, knowing it was one of his family. He had called for help, and they would come. That was what family did for each other.

  “Take Bacon and keep her safe,” he murmured in a low voice. Olsen nodded and grabbed the little pig.

  Riley turned back toward the barn. He pushed the door open just a crack and peered through the slim opening. At first, all he could see was the dimly lit inside of the barn, but as his eyes adjusted, Riley spotted Sterling crouched up against one side of the barn, a dark figure standing over him.

  His heart thundered in his chest, almost drowning out the sound of the barn door crashing open as he slammed his hands into it and barged into the barn. Riley had only one thought in mind—save Sterling.

  Riley started across the barn, hell-bent on killing the man who was gripping his mate, holding him against the wall.

  Riley was sick and tired of danger all around his mate. He knew realistically that they lived in a dark world. A world filled with paranormal creatures that could turn rogue at the drop of a hat. Creatures so vile that most humans would go insane when coming across them. But he was fed up with his mate being so close to them, even being attacked by them.

  Riley was going to keep Sterling safe if he had to wipe out every single rogue on the planet.

  “No, wait!” Sterling called out.

  Riley wasn’t sure if Sterling was talking to him or begging the man who held him captive. He wasn’t taking any chances. Riley may have ducked and dodged Sterling when his mate first arrived at the Lakelands’, but in the past few days the little human had taught him more about living life and loving than Riley had learned in a lifetime. He finally felt free, finally felt invigorated, and wanted his mate to know just how much he loved him.

  He was not going to wait.

  Riley roared as he grabbed the vampire by the back of the collar and tossed him across the barn. When the man landed by Warrior’s stall, Riley rounded and headed toward the guy. His steps slowed when the vampire didn’t get up, but cowered in a ball on the hay-laced floor.

  Just what in the hell was going on?

  “Riley, stop,” Sterling said as he ran over to the fallen man and placed himself between the guy and Riley.

  “Sterling, move.”

  “No.”

  “Sterling,” Riley warned.

  “No, Riley. He came here looking for help. He had a creepy way of asking for it, but he told me he was starving.”

  The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck not only stood up, but slid down his back. He knew how vampires fed. “Did he bite you?” Riley felt the rage filling him mounting. No one was using his mate as a blood donor, voluntarily or not. He was going to kill the bloodsucker if he fed from Sterling.

  “No, he didn’t bite me.” Sterling stood, but didn’t move away. “He came to warn us that there is a planned attack against the wood elves. He came to warn us so we could stop it.”

  “When?” Pa asked as he stepped forward and guided Sterling over to Riley, helping the vampire to his feet. “How do you know this?”

  The man dusted himself off, glancing around at everyone with fear in his black eyes. His hands were wringing together, and he was shifting from foot to foot. He looked as nervous as a newborn calf caught in a lion’s den.

  “I have a friend at the village. But we aren’t supposed to be friends because wood elves and vampires are enemies. Well, rogue vampires at least. But the elves hate any kind of vampire, and Terrik was afraid if anyone found out that we were friends, his tribe would disown him.”

  Riley had seen the heated glares aimed at him when he was in the village of elves, and he was a bear shifter. He could just imagine what the elves would do to a vampire, friendly or not.

  “So how do you know that there is a planned attack?” Pa asked.

  Riley watched as the man played with the ends of his very long black hair, chewing at his bottom lip until Riley thought the man was going to chew it right off. He shrugged and then glanced up at Riley’s pa. “I’m from the Northern coven. It was a stupid bet, a
bet that nearly cost me my life.”

  “What bet?” Kenway asked, stepping forward and to the front of the crowd gathered around the vampire. Riley watched the buffalo shifter, seeing how Kenway’s eyes softened as he looked at the man.

  “My friends bet me that I wouldn’t go down into the sewers where the rogues live. They bet me I couldn’t stay down there for an entire hour. I went”—the man swallowed hard—“and I heard them talking about an abundant feast they were going to have when they attacked the wood elves.” The man suddenly grabbed the front of Pa’s shirt, pulling at it. “You have to help them. Terrik is my friend. I met him in the city when the guy came into The Manacle. He’s a sweet guy and doesn’t deserve to die.”

  Riley was stunned. Terrik was at The Manacle? The guy didn’t look old enough to be allowed inside those walls.

  “He’s a really nice man, and I don’t want to see him become food for those nasty rogues.”

  “Calm down…What’s your name?”

  “Ross,” the vampire replied.

  “Did you hear them say when they were going to attack?” Kenway interjected, his eyes focused solely on Ross, as if no one else was in the room. Riley had a sneaking suspicion the two were mates. He pulled Sterling tight to his chest, breathing in his mate’s scent, and thanking his lucky stars that his mate had been approached by a friendly vampire. He wasn’t sure he could take his mate being attacked again.

  When Sterling and his brother Darcy had first arrived on the ranch, Sterling was attacked by a wolf bent on mating Sterling. Riley had thought he was going to rip the fucker from limb to limb. He knew Sterling was a very nice-looking man, but no one was touching a hair on Sterling’s head.

  Ross nodded, his eyes darting over to Kenway and then back at Pa. “They are going to attack tonight.”

  Since when the hell were rogues so organized? Riley was starting to feel like he didn’t know the world he lived in any longer. Rogues were solitary beings, covenless, packless, or tribeless.

  He wasn’t too sure about the tribeless part. He’d never heard of a rogue fey before. But he knew that rogues gave up their humanity when they decided to give in to the dark side. They also gave up their chance at mating. A rogue couldn’t have a mate. They had no heart. A rogue vampire craved only blood, thinking of nothing else. A rogue shifter gave in to his animal side, caring for nothing but himself. What did a fey give up and why in the hell was he wondering this right now?

  “I thought Ceri cleared out most of the rogue population down in the sewers,” Pa said as he turned on his heel, heading for the door, Riley right next to him, pulling Sterling along.

  “Oh, my god,” Ross said from behind them. “How do you know about Ceri? I thought the legends were just legends.” He suddenly became paler than his normal vampire complexion. “The twins are real?”

  Pa stopped in his tracks, looking back at the vampire. “They are very real, and the twins are awake.”

  “How—How do you know this? How do you know Rhys and Ceri are awake?”

  “Christian let the leaders know, and Maverick informed us so me and my boys could watch our backs.”

  “This is not good.” Ross shook his head, once again chewing on his bottom lip. “If the twins are awake, everyone is in trouble. I’m not sure what rumors are true, but there is one rumor that the twin, Ceri, likes to eat rogues, literally.”

  Pa looked over at Kenway, and Riley saw something pass between them. “Can you keep an eye on Ross?”

  Kenway nodded at Pa, grabbing the vampire around the waist and pulling him close. “With my life.”

  Pa nodded.

  Pa began to walk again, talking to Riley as they made their way back to the house. “I want you to call Christian and let him know what’s going on. He needs to get over to the village as soon as possible. But we also need to call Maverick. Even though Christian will be there to defend the elves, I’m not too sure how well they are going to take to vampires, friendly or not, invading them.”

  “Ahm needs to know. He said he was going to have shadow warriors guarding the village. He needs a heads-up. And the grey wolves are still there.”

  Pa glanced Bryce’s way, his eyes going gentle, and then he sighed. “Call Ahm, but make sure Bryce isn’t around. I want Bryce to stay behind with the mates, Roman as well. I don’t need an added battle on our hands.”

  And from the way his little brother had acted with Ahm, Riley knew his pa was right. Bryce looked like he was ready to kill the man.

  “I’ll call Christian while you get a hold of Maverick,” Riley said. “And then I’ll call Ahm.”

  Riley pulled Sterling into the house, Olsen handing Bacon to his mate. “You and I need to have a long talk when I get back,” he said before snapping his fingers at Sterling and then pointing to the steps.

  Sterling looked surprised, but didn’t argue as he headed toward the steps.

  Maybe there was something to this silent pointing thing that Sterling loved to do so much. Riley grinned. And when he got back, he was going to show Sterling just how empowering it felt.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I don’t like it,” Maverick said from the couch in Christian’s office. “I thought you didn’t like politics, Christian?”

  The prince of vampires sat back, a deep frown around his mouth and his black eyebrows severely pulled down. “I hate politics. It irritates the hell out of me when the elders come into my club and make demands. They are a bunch of boring old men who act like women in a knitting circle.” Christian sat forward, his eyes snapping around the room at everyone in attendance. “But this will be different. If we don’t form a council, then the rogue problem will only get worse. Preternatural creatures need to learn that there will be consequences if they choose to go rogue. There need to be penalties in place, punishments.”

  Maverick sat back, sighing. Not only had Christian called him here for this meeting, but he had also called Zeus, the alpha of the eastern grey wolf pack. He had also assembled Panahasi, the leader of the demon warriors, Ahm, the leader of the shadow elves, Nazaryth, the leader of the winged beasts, and Dante, the leader of the Northern coven of vampires.

  “So, you want the seven of us to form some sort of council?” Ahm asked.

  “For too long we have all operated independently, respecting each other’s territories and lending a hand when needed. But with human vampire hunters, the rogue population getting out of control, a paranormal drug sweeping through the communities,”—Christian stood, walking around his desk—“and now Maverick tells me that humans have begun to hunt in his very territory. We need to implement some sort of plan for damage control and to stop any person considering the dark side of our races.”

  Gods, Maverick did not want to be a part of this. He stretched his legs out in front of him, seeing the looks on some of the other leaders’ faces and knowing they felt the same way. But deep down he knew that Christian was right. Something needed to be done about their ever-growing problem.

  He and his warriors had combed the woods when Malcolm called him to report that human hunters had held shotguns to Chance and Seth’s heads. Malcolm was spitting nails over having his son and son-in-law threatened.

  It seemed Maverick’s hunting signs weren’t doing the trick. And he couldn’t dismiss Christian’s problem with human vampire hunters. Sooner or later, those vampire hunters would learn about shifters and come after not only his pack, but all shifters in general. Zeus had a pack of his own to look over, and a town full of people as well. Ahm and his people were pretty safe, for now. They lived in some godforsaken watery marshland, but the wood elves were vulnerable.

  Panahasi and his demons may be safe from hunters because the demons lived in the demon realm, but Maverick wouldn’t put it past the humans to find a way into the demon realm.

  Nazaryth and his motley crew of winged beasts lived high up in a castle that was built into the side of a mountain, but one could get in if determined.

  Their very world was being thr
eatened, and Maverick knew that something had to be done about that threat. It was long overdue, but Maverick had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.

  “Are we going to be called the council or have a cool name?” Maverick asked. Fuck it, if they had to become the Avengers, they might as well have cool names.

  Christian chuckled, a twinkle sparkling in the depths of his black eyes. “Ultionem.”

  “Nice.” Dante chuckled.

  “Which means?” Maverick asked, admitting to himself that it did sound pretty damn cool. But if he was going to be a part of this evil plot to take over the world, Brain had to tell Pinky what the word meant. He also noticed how Panahasi kept looking at Christian, covertly, of course. Maverick wasn’t sure why the demon leader was so interested in the prince of vampires, but if Panahasi wanted to eat Christian, it wasn’t his business.

  “Revenge,” Dante supplied, a smile tugging at his lips.

  Maverick grinned when his phone began to play “Bad to the Bone.”

  “Really?” Panahasi’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s your ringtone?”

  Maverick shrugged. “Cecil programmed it for me. Who am I to argue with my mate?”

  Christian’s phone began to ring as well, and then Ahm cocked his head.

  “The bears are calling me,” the shadow elven said.

  Ahm shimmered out as Maverick answered his phone. “What’s up?”

  “There is a planned attack by vampire rogues on the wood elf village tonight,” Malcolm said from the other end. “Me and my boys are headed over there.”

  Maverick shot forward the same time Christian quickly stood. He must have gotten the same call. Christian cursed as he grabbed Maverick, Dante grabbing Zeus at the same time. Panahasi walked backward into a shadow, as if the demon already knew what was happening, while Nazaryth walked from Christian’s office, probably taking flight right outside.

  “Time to inform the paranormal world that the leaders are done sitting on their asses,” Christian said as he reached up and grabbed a sword above the mantel. “It’s laced with silver.” A determined look entered his eyes as they disappeared from the prince’s office.