by Zena Wynn
Ashley heard the mutters.
“He read her mind.”
“That’s impossible.”
“He’s a vampire.”
“He took her blood. Never give blood to a vamp. It gives them a path in.”
“On the contrary. We have proof. We took the herbs you gave Shay to an herbalist in Fort Knox. He’s the one who told us what you did,” Rory said in a voice gone as cold as his expression.
There were more gasps. More whispers, but opinions were divided. The mood of the pack shifted from angry disbelief to denial and uncertainty.
“He’s a liar,” her mother hotly denied. “I’d never do such a thing.” Laurie Bell glanced at the council, the pack. “You know me. I delivered most of you, doctored the rest. There’s been a mistake.” She turned back to Rory.
“It’s no mistake,” he said in a flat voice. “You own a shop. You knew what that particular blend of herbs would do to Shay’s body, to the babe.”
Oh God, this was awesome. Damn, all she needed was popcorn. It was about damn time someone else knew what her mother was capable of. Ashley felt the gazes of others searching her reaction to the unfolding events. Seeing what she knew, if she knew anything at all. She held in a smile, struggling to look as horrified and stunned as the rest.
“I want to know why.” The human’s quiet voice cut like a knife through the uproar that had risen at Rory’s words.
“Why what? I didn’t do anything,” Laurie Bell protested. “Shayla, I know you’re new here, but believe me, this is all a terrible mistake. I’m a woman, a mother. A midwife, for God’s sake. Bringing healthy children into the world is what I do.”
The human stared at her out of a face set in stone. No sympathy there, either, Mother.
Laurie Bell glanced around wildly. “Why aren’t you listening to me?”
“I’d also like to know why,” Shannon stated. “Nikolai, can you…?”
All eyes turned toward Nikolai. He nodded. Then his eyes lost focus.
Her mother began struggling. “Stay out of my head!”
“She’s fighting me,” he said to Rory in a low voice that still managed to carry. “I need to get in front of her.”
“Kian,” Rory called.
Kian left Shayla’s side, stalked toward Laurie Bell like the predator he was, and grabbed hold of her arm. From the way the muscles in his arms bunched, Ashley would bet money that his hold was painful. Nikolai joined Rory in front of her mother. As he stared into her eyes, her mother screamed her rage. Her eyes changed and jaw elongated. The scream morphed into a deep-throated growl.
“She’s trying to shift,” Alex warned.
Nikolai’s eyes flashed red as he firmly ordered, “You will not shift!”
Ashley watched in horrified fascination as the wolf seamlessly faded away.
The scent of her mother’s fear rose in the air. She stared at the vampire like he was the devil coming to steal her soul, eyes wide and glassy.
Nikolai’s hand clenched on her jaw, and he leaned in close until they were eye to eye. His were a red flame of power. “Bitterness. Hate. So much hatred.”
Laurie Bell shook her head and threw her body back, trying to escape his grasp.
“Betrayal,” Nikolai continued, moving with her. “Love and hatred, intertwined.”
“Noooooo!” she moaned.
“I see a man, one she loved heart and soul. He turned away, mated someone—”
She turned to Rory, hatred in her gaze. The mask was finally gone. “Stop! I’ll tell you all. Just make him stop,” Laurie Bell demanded.
Rory considered, then gave an abrupt nod. Nikolai released her and stepped back.
Laurie Bell angled her gaze up toward the alpha’s mate. “You want to know why? I’ll tell you why. Magnus was mine. Then she came along. She was nothing. Less than nothing, but he mated her. When I asked why, you know what he said? The bastard actually fell in love with her. An omega. A nobody.”
At her words, Wesley protested. Magnus’s mate had been his sister, after all. No one paid him any attention, too caught up in the drama.
She turned her venomous gaze on Rory, then Kian. “When she got pregnant with twins, Magnus was so happy. Even happier when it turned out to be boys. The pack began to accept her. I couldn’t tolerate it. She had my man, my children, and what did I have? Nothing but pitying looks and questions about my suitability to be a mate.” Laurie Bell’s rage was palpable. Her voice and body trembled with it.
“He got his precious sons, but I made sure he didn’t enjoy them, enjoy her.” She smiled then at Rory and Kian, and it was purely evil. “If Magnus had been this much slower”—she held her thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart—“getting into the room, you both would have been…” She snapped her mouth closed as though realizing she’d said too much.
“Would be what?” Rory asked in a dangerous voice.
Laurie Bell tightened her lips, refusing to answer.
“You will speak the truth, all of it,” Nikolai ordered. Ashley could feel the power in his words. They pressed on her mind and in her heart, and she had bite down on the urge to blurt out what she’d done. As insurance against confessing, she retreated farther into the safety of the pack, her hand covering her mouth.
“Dead. As it was, I damaged his precious firstborn so he couldn’t lead. Told him it was because his bitch was so weak that his sons were flawed. He died believing it.” She cackled, her laugh so manic Ashley felt the hairs on her nape rise. Her mother was well and truly crazy.
“No matter how much she tried, I never let her or anyone else forget she wasn’t good enough,” she continued. “I was happy as long as the three of you were miserable, but then you brought her here,” she said to Rory, nodding her head in the human’s direction. “Your pregnant mate. And you were happy—” She spat.
The interrogation began. The Raven pack’s alpha and mate, Shannon, and the human all asked question after question, demanding answers when Laurie Bell hesitated or resisted. At one point she bit her lip bloody trying to keep silent, but in the end, the combined powers of the vampire and Rory were too strong.
The whole sordid tale came powering out of her mother in fits and starts as she fought the compulsion. It infuriated her, but she told them all, and she spoke the truth. How she’d tried to smother Kian to death at birth because she couldn’t risk breaking his neck as she’d wanted. How she’d seduced and mated Magnus’s beta so she could remain close to him. How she’d fed Magnus’s mate, Susan, insecurities, causing trouble between the couple at every opportunity, and never let them know a day of peace.
When she got to the part of how she’d pushed her mate into challenging Rory for the position of alpha, Rory bellowed out, “Enough!”
The force of his power sent most of the pack to their knees.
Laurie Bell’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. If looks could kill, the look she shot Nikolai should have incinerated him. She closed her mouth, a disdainful expression on her face.
Ashley was devastated. For the first time she realized that nothing she’d done and nothing she could ever do would make her mother love her, or approve of her. Laurie Bell hated her, not because she wasn’t a healer, but because she didn’t come from Magnus’s seed.
Sick at heart, she turned and left the clearing. She didn’t care what became of her mother, just as her mother had never cared about her.
“RORY,” SHAY CALLED in a soft voice.
She knew her man, and he was all but vibrating with fury. His claws were out, and through the bond she felt the struggle he had to control his beast. Her mate wanted blood. No, he wanted to gorge on Laurie Bell’s flesh and wallow in her blood.
“Rory,” she called again, “I need you.” Through the bond she pushed, hoping he’d hear her, “Please, come to me. She’s not worth it. Remember the plan.”
It was touch and go, but finally he returned to her side. Shay immediately burrowed close. Rory wrapped his arms around her and held her to
him. Now that he was with her, Shay realized she was shaking.
So much hate. So many years of misery, attributed to one woman. It was sickening and so very sad. Shay still intended to make Laurie Bell pay for what she’d done. Justice demanded it, but she was woman enough to feel compassion. She couldn’t imagine the pain of giving someone all of you, only to be rejected, tossed over for someone you considered less than your equal.
“You’re shaking,” he whispered in her ear.
“So are you,” she told him.
He grunted, tightening his grip on her.
“I’ll be all right in a bit. Just give me a moment,” she told him in a soft voice, uncaring if others heard her.
The pack was enraged. Anger was a living, breathing entity in their midst. One wrong word and things would turn ugly. Mob justice would prevail, and Laurie Bell would be ripped to pieces. Even the Raven pack’s wolves’ fur stood on edge, their teeth bared and hackles clearly raised.
“Remember our plan,” she murmured to Rory, her gaze on Laurie Bell’s haughty expression. “Death is too easy for her. I want her to pay for what she did to you, Kian, Shannon, and your mother. And then I want to go home, me and you, skin to skin, and forget this night ever happened.”
They’d determined Laurie Bell acted alone. She might not be the only threat, Shay mused, but after tonight anyone should think twice about coming after her and their children.
Rory slid his hand from her waist down to cup her butt. The sudden hardness pressed against her stomach told her that her words had their desired effect. She raised her face to his. “Kiss me.”
The kiss was hard, brutal, tasting of the anger he tried to manage. But when it was over, both Rory and his wolf were more in control of themselves. He turned her so that her back pressed against his front, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Shay relaxed into his hold.
“Laurie Bell, I find you guilty as charged. Caleb?”
“Guilty.”
“MacDougal?”
“Guilty.” MacDougal’s voice showed his disgust.
“Council?”
Wesley and Bertram’s response was instant. “Guilty.”
When Graham didn’t answer, Rory asked, “Graham, how do you vote?”
In a voice so cold it made Shay shiver, Graham said, “Kill the bitch and be done with it.”
Laurie Bell flinched and looked at her brother in shocked disbelief. “What?”
Graham kept his eyes on Rory. “She’s dead to me.”
He really is a bastard. And to think, she thanked me for saving your sorry, worthless life. “Finish this so we can go home,” she told Rory, revolted by the whole matter.
“The penalty for the crimes committed against the alpha pair and their unborn child is death, but…” Rory paused.
The pack began muttering.
“What? What does he mean, ‘but’?”
“Kill the bitch and be done with it!” Graham hollered again.
More cries of the same were called out.
“But,” Rory continued in a louder voice, “as my mate stated, death is too kind for you.”
All eyes swung toward Shay, taking her measure. When Rory remained silent, the quiet increased as anticipation grew. What could be worse than death? Shay knew what they were thinking by the expression on their faces.
“I hereby declare you outcast. All property is to be seized. You have three days to clear all your personal belongings.”
Laurie Bell’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t kick me out! I’m the pack’s healer. You need me.”
“Three days!” Rory reiterated.
“My house! My shop! You can’t take them from me,” Laurie Bell protested.
“They belong to the pack, purchased with pack money. The house and its land, the shop and all the merchandise therein,” Rory reminded her. Shay had the satisfaction of seeing Laurie Bell’s face turn white as the impact of what she was losing hit her.
“But what am I supposed to do?” she wailed.
Did she really think they cared?
Behind her Rory seemed to expand. The heat of his flesh scorched hers where they touched. His power rose in the air, so heavy breathing became difficult. Her wolf stirred, rising to the surface in response to whatever Rory was doing.
“Don’t fight it,” he stated in her mind. Until then Shay hadn’t realized she was. She relaxed, trusted herself to Rory’s care. Her beast rose, joining with Rory until they were no longer two beings but one powerful entity.
Then Shay felt something else, someone else’s wolf join with them. It felt like Rory, but there was a subtle difference. A glance at Kian showed his eyes were glowing pure gold and he’d partially shifted. He still looked human, but his mass was larger and he’d sprouted claws and fangs.
Shay felt a tug and realized Rory was pulling on the pack. Caleb, MacDougal, the council, then each member, one by one, eyes began to glow bright gold until the clearing was lit. Her hair whipped around her face, but there was no breeze. The sheer buildup of energy had Shay staggering, punch-drunk under the strength of it.
“You. Are. OUTCAST!”
At Rory’s roar, something burst out of them and hit Laurie Bell straight in the belly. Shay could almost see the flow of power. The force of the blow bent Laurie Bell over, then bowed her spine. Head thrown back, she let out a high, agonizing scream that hurt Shay’s sensitive eardrums. Laurie Bell collapsed to her knees. Would have fallen on her face if Alex and Kian weren’t holding her upright.
Like a dimmer switch being turned, the brilliant glow of the pack’s eyes slowly faded until everyone’s irises were their natural color. Rory’s heat, though still high, no longer felt as if it would scorch a layer of skin off Shay’s back. The power rush faded, leaving her mentally tired but physically energized.
Shay turned to say something to Rory when there was a muffled scream, then a gurgling sound. Spinning around, she saw Laurie Bell on the ground, her bloody hand clutched to her throat. Kian casually flicked the blood off his clawed hand, his face impassive.
Her mouth gaped. That wasn’t part of the plan. Shay glanced at Rory. “Did you know he was going to do that?”
He smiled grimly. “It appears Kian felt it necessary to inflict a bit of justice of his own.”
“Did he kill her?” Shay asked, prepared to be pissed.
“No, she lives.” He watched Laurie Bell continue to bleed out, then shrugged. “I don’t believe she’ll have much of a voice from now on.” He glanced out over the pack. “Sanders, you and Davidson escort this outcast to pack up her belongings.”
The crowd parted as the men came forward. When they reached her side, both recoiled slightly and gave Rory a look of terror-filled awe.
“What’s wrong?” someone asked.
With a cautious glance at Rory, one of them answered, “She smells human.” Then they picked her up and carted her off.
That started another round of shocked mutters. Shay mused that this day would go down in pack history, and prayed they’d never have to repeat it.
After Laurie Bell was gone, Rory turned to the rest of the pack and said, “Let’s run.”
The Sparrowhawks were slow to respond, but gradually they shook off the anger and lethargy, began to undress and shift. Once on four legs, they pranced restlessly in place, looking at Rory.
“Go ahead,” Shay told him. “They need you.”
“You wanted to go home,” he reminded her.
“We will. After…” she said.
“You too, Alex,” Kee called out as Rory shucked his clothes. “Go burn off some of that energy.”
“I won’t leave you unprotected,” Alex said.
“I’ll watch them,” Caleb said.
Kian signed, I’ll stay as well.
“Kian said he’d stay too. Go, run. Rory needs you,” Shay said, eyes on the form of her mate. His ears were flattened, tail hanging low. “You’re the only one who understands what he’s feeling right now.”
Alex fol
lowed her gaze, then without another word of protest, cast off his jeans. His body flowed seamlessly into that of a wolf, and he loped over to join the rest of the mingled packs. Rory arched his neck and howled. Alex did the same. Then the Sparrowhawks and Ravens charged off into the woods.
So, in a replay of her first meeting with the Sparrowhawks, Shay found herself once more sitting on the mound, waiting for her four-legged lover to return. This time instead of the women of the pack, she had Kiesha, Caleb, Kian, and Nikolai keeping her company.
“You can shift now. You didn’t want to run with the packs?” Shay asked Kiesha.
Kiesha cast a wary look at the pine-strewn ground before reluctantly settling beside her cousin. “I’m still not that good at it, and Alex wants me to avoid shifting until after the babe is born.”
“Why? Does it hurt the baby?” Shay asked, placing a protective hand over her stomach.
Kiesha shook her head. “Alex doesn’t think so, but he’s not willing to take any chances either. In fact, he hesitated on allowing me to come tonight—not that I wouldn’t have come anyway—because he was concerned all the people shifting at once would force me to change as well.”
“Did it?” she asked curiously, keeping to herself that she was able to shift at will. That was something only Rory and Kian knew. She’d shocked them with her capacity to shift easily from human to wolf and back, especially since her scent still proclaimed her to be fully human. One day that ability might save her life, and Rory wanted the element of surprise on their side. Not only could she do a full shift, but both Rory and Kian were teaching her how to do a partial one as well.
Digging her hands into the soil, Shay concentrated until she felt her nails shift to claws.
“I felt the tug on my wolf—God, it still feels so strange saying ‘my wolf,’” Kiesha admitted with a laugh, “but Alex taught me how to control it.”
Shayla hadn’t felt a pull at all. Of course, she’d still been tightly linked to Rory when the pack shifted en masse, so that might have had something to do with it.
“Do you think she was the only one?” Kiesha asked Shay.
Shay glanced at the men, who stood in a group talking before answering. “I don’t know. Conor said enemies, plural, so I doubt it. What I do believe is that after what Rory did to Laurie Bell, anyone else planning to betray him will think twice.”