The Alpha's Pack (Kit Davenport Book 6)

by Tate James

  This made her pause and purse her lips. “Who said I don’t love Diego?” she said in a breathy whisper, her eyes darting around like someone might be listening.

  “I did,” I pressed with confidence. “You’re in here crying your heart out, alone, the night before your wedding. That’s not a woman in love. So, spill. If you can’t tell a random stranger in a locked bathroom after too much champagne, who can you tell, right?” I played up the casual, tipsy girl act, and thank the freaking coffee beans, she ate it right up.

  “You’re right,” she laughed. “This could very well be my last chance to tell anyone the truth. Lord only knows what he’ll do with me after he gets what he wants...” She trailed off with a shudder, and her eyes took on a haunted look that made my heart clench.

  “So spill,” I coaxed. “And look up so I can clean off some of this mess.” I held up a cotton pad drenched in makeup remover, and she did as I asked, tilting her face up to me and beginning her story.

  “He owns me,” she whispered with dread, and I forced myself not to react too strongly. “Not like, metaphorically. Not in the way a man could normally own a woman, heart and soul. I mean Diego literally owns me.”

  I paused in wiping her smeared mascara and frowned with confusion, like any normal person would. “How can that be possible? You can’t own another human being.” Something I knew firsthand was painfully untrue. The Onyx Auction where Vali had “bought” me was proof of that. Maybe Ioana had somehow ended up in a slave auction?

  “Apparently you can.” She sighed heavily. “With the right legal contracts, you can own anything. In this case, he owns me... and my virtue.”

  “Oh,” I gasped. “So, this is a legal thing?”

  “Yeah, how else would it be done?” She wrinkled her nose at me like I was an idiot, so I bit my tongue to keep from replying, “with magic?”

  “Right, of course,” I laughed and shook my head like I was a ditz. “Too much wine. So, how did this all happen? You must have signed for it to be actually legal.”

  “I did,” she groaned. “That’s the worst part. I signed that damn contract fully knowing what I was doing.”

  Well, that made no sense. Didn’t Big Silver imply that she was being held captive? If she signed this contract willingly...

  “I know what you’re probably thinking,” Ioana continued, wiping her dripping nose on more toilet paper. “You’re thinking I’m a total dumb blonde, signing away my freedom for a rich husband. But that’s not what this was. I had no choice.”

  Using a warm washcloth, I tilted her face back up and gently dabbed more glitter off her cheeks. “That’s not what I was thinking at all, but why don’t you explain what you mean? It might help you feel better about everything, if nothing else.”

  She heaved another sigh, letting her delicate shoulders droop. “I did it for my family. We used to be one of the most respected aristocratic families in Romania. My great-great-great-grandfather used to have an actual treasury. Like, full of gold and jewels, can you believe it?”

  I snorted a laugh, thinking of Big Silver sitting on top of his horde. “Yeah, I kinda can.”

  “Anyway, somewhere along the line, one of our family heads developed a bad gambling problem, so by the time I was born, there was little left except our name. Which was fine,” she rushed to clarify. “I didn’t need to be raised as a lady, but my parents were too damn proud to give it all up. They kept borrowing and getting deeper and deeper in debt just to maintain the sort of lifestyle our family was expected to have.”

  “Ah,” I murmured. “I see where this is going. Diego owned the debt?”

  “Not at first. But he did buy the debt after meeting me during a charity event last summer. After that it was a pretty easy choice to make, you know?” She gave me a pleading look, silently begging me to understand. And I did.

  “He offered you a way to save your family, and you took it?” I concluded, and she nodded miserably. “Do your parents know that’s what you’ve done?”

  This question brought fresh tears to her eyes, and she sobbed her answer. “It was their idea.”

  “Motherfuckers,” I swore, mentally skinning Ioana’s parents. “They sold you to save their own status?”

  “Pretty much,” she cried, unravelling another wad of toilet paper to cry into. “And now I have to marry him tomorrow and let him you know”—she lowered her voice to a whisper— “deflower me.”

  Biting my lip to contain a totally inappropriate laugh, I turned away to grab some concealer from her makeup bag.

  “Okay, I’m going to cut to the chase here, hon.” I leveled her a more serious look, even as I dabbed concealer under her puffy eyes. “Why is your family telling people you are being held against your will, like some sort of damsel in distress?”

  Ioana sucked in a gasp, her cheeks blanching white. “Y-you know my family?”

  “Not really,” I shook my head, continuing to apply her makeup in a calm way so as not to freak her out any worse than I already had. “An acquaintance of mine wants something from your family and thinks that saving you is the way to get it. But if your parents are the ones who sold you...”

  She shook her head, tension dropping from her shoulders like a deflated balloon. “No, they’d just be saying that to save face, you know. Throw a little sympathy in there from the older Romanian families. Heaven help them if their ‘friends’ find out what really happened.”

  “So, why don’t you back out? Leave them to deal with their own shit?” I mean, it’s what I would do. Then again, I didn’t exactly grow up in the most conventional family situation.”

  She frowned at me, looking horrified. “I can’t do that! They’re my family, and they’d be ruined if Diego collected on the debt.”

  I sighed, suspecting as much. “Okay, can you chill here for a couple of minutes? I need to go and see if my friends can think of another way to get you out of this shit-storm.”

  “You’re... going to help me?” she squeaked, her eyes wide with shock. “But why?”

  I rolled my eyes. She really was tipsy. “I just told you; there’s something in it for me if I ‘rescue’ you. So just... stay here, okay? Don’t open the door for anyone until I get back.”

  Lady Ioana nodded frantically, starting to gush her thanks, but I quickly exited the bathroom before things could get too awkward.

  “Lock the door, hon,” I called back to her. “I won’t be long.”

  As it turned out, Cole and Vali found me as I was making my way back through the villa, and when I tried to tell them what I’d learned, they already knew.

  “Wait, how do you two already know this?” I demanded, blocking their path and folding my arms over my metal-scaled chest. “And is that blood on your wrist, Cutie?”

  “‘Killer’ is more appropriate right now, draga,” Vali snickered, and Cole whacked him with the back of his hand before rubbing the smear of red from his skin.

  I arched my brows at them, but they had identical stubborn expressions.

  “Let’s just go grab the virgin princess and return her to the big bad dragons,” Cole suggested in a low rumble.

  Vali nodded his support. “We really shouldn’t linger. Things might turn a little prickly soon.”

  “Oh my God,” I groaned, turning to lead them back up to Ioana. “You killed him, didn’t you?”

  Cole actually had the audacity to smirk, while Vali gave me a faux-innocent stare.

  “How little faith you have in our ability to negotiate, regina mea. But really, we should hurry. I’ve alerted the team to have the train ready to roll.” Vali swatted me on the ass to hurry me up, and I snarled over my shoulder at him.

  Nonetheless, if they said we needed to hurry, I wasn’t going to fuck around and wait to get caught. With a little more urgency in my walk, I led them back up to the master bathroom and tapped on the door.

  “Ioana? It’s me again; can you open the door?” I called out and was relieved when the lock clicked a second later. “Hey
, hon. We’re getting you out of here, okay? Grab anything you want to take with you and let’s haul ass.” I gave her a bright smile but also tried to convey the urgency. If the guys had killed Diego, it would only be a matter of time until someone found the body and started looking for Ioana.

  “What? No, I can’t leave!” Her face paled, and she gripped the door tighter, like she was thinking about slamming it in our faces. “I told you I have to stay.”

  I shook my head, searching for an acceptable explanation that wouldn’t take all freaking night for her to believe.

  “We handled it,” Cole answered for me with all the tact of a bull in a china shop. “Now let’s go. Quickly.”

  Ioana started shaking her head in disbelief, so I slipped farther into the bathroom to coax her out while Vali tried a subtler approach.

  “Ioana, wasn’t it? My name is Vali. I promise you everything has been sorted out with your former fiancé and you are free to go. Your family will not suffer for this, I give you my word.” His words seemed to be working as she released her grip on the door and let me push her out of the bathroom a little way, but I was worried he was making false promises.

  “Really?” she whispered in a small, hopeful voice, looking up at Vali with huge, watery eyes that made me want to groan. Such a clichéd move—surely that shit didn’t actually work on guys.

  “Dragomir Valeriu du Romane doesn’t give his word lightly, Ioana,” Vali told her with an air of authority. “Now please, we must hurry. Our transport is waiting to leave.”

  “Du Romane,” she repeated in awe. “Your family—”

  “Yes,” Vali cut her off with a tight smile even as Cole curled his lip in a sneer. “Now let’s hurry, hmm?”

  Sucking in a deep breath, Ioana nodded. “Of course. Yes, let’s go. I don’t need anything from here; it all belongs to him anyway.”

  “Great, let’s roll.” Cole strode back across the room and left without waiting to check if we followed. We did, of course, hurrying through the opulent villa and out the front doors—where we ran straight into four waiting security guards.

  “Move out of our way,” Cole demanded of them, but his words seemed to have the opposite effect. Each guard shifted his hand onto his barely concealed handgun, and their stances turned aggressive.

  I stepped ahead of Ioana a little, shielding her somewhat with my body even as I prepared to fight my way out of there. These humans would be no real trouble to get past. Just frustrating.

  Ioana whimpered behind me, and I heard Vali shush her like she was a scared child or something. Good gods of coffee.

  “Let them go,” a man’s voice barked from behind us, and I turned my head just enough to see Diego Russo himself coming down the front steps dabbing at his nose. Judging by the red on his monogramed handkerchief, his nose had recently fallen afoul of something hard.

  “Sir?” one of the guards questioned. “But your bride—”

  “I said let them go,” Diego snapped again, this time sharper, and his beady, hate-filled eyes roamed over the four of us. “I want all four of them gone from my property in the next two minutes, or you’re all fired.”

  With that, he spat on the ground at Ioana’s feet and stalked back into the villa.

  “Well, you heard the man,” I prompted the guards, who hadn’t moved an inch. “We will be leaving now.”

  Their confusion was clear, but no one stopped us as we hurried back down the long driveway to where a sea of black town cars waited. As we power-walked down the row, one pulled out and paused in front of us, waiting for us to get in.

  “I was surprised to see Diego just then,” I commented as we all piled into the car and closed the door.

  Vali arched his brows in the picture of innocence. “Why is that, regina mea?”

  “I thought...” I frowned. “I kinda assumed you’d killed him.”

  A small smile pulled at Vali’s mouth, and Cole snorted. “We should have,” the younger brother muttered. “Would have been cheaper.”

  My jaw dropped at his implication. “You paid him off?”

  Ioana gasped, just now clicking to what had happened with her slimy ex-fiancé. “No, you can’t do that; it’s so much money and he would have demanded interest and—”

  “It’s done now, Lady Ioana. No man should own a woman. Not like that.” Vali’s tone brokered no further arguments. “But you owe it to yourself to build a new life. Away from your parents. You’re old enough now; go and travel or something. Find yourself.”

  The wide-eyed look of adoration she gave him made me snicker, even as Vali shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Still, he had done a good thing, and he should get the appreciation for it, even if that appreciation did look a whole lot like a hero crush forming.

  Leaning back in my seat, I glanced up at the digital clock beside the air conditioning vents. Not a bad effort for only a couple of hours’ work, as long as Big Silver handed over his piece without any further tasks.

  20

  Wesley groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “Guys, I’m not saying I don’t want to take everyone. You’re not freaking listening to me!”

  “They are,” I disagreed, absentmindedly running my finger over our newest amulet piece, thanks to Big Silver. “They’re just being deliberately obtuse. Ignore them. If you really feel like it’s safer for everyone to only bring me, then that’s what we will do.”

  “What is the big rush on all of this anyway?” Austin argued. Again. Of course it was Austin leading the argument on this. “Why doesn’t Wes just go and file whatever paperwork needs filing and wait for approval? It’s not like we have a scheduled date for a battle to win the world, is it?”

  Caleb grimaced and shook his head. “Actually, that’s what I was telling Kitty Kat before you got back from class. One of the recruits has started displaying an inclination toward prophecy. She keeps writing the same date over and over in her sleep, and I think it’s probably something big.”

  “Like what,” Austin countered, “Armageddon?”

  Caleb shrugged. “Something like that. Maybe a battle to win the world? Seems stupid to ignore it, even if she’s not skilled enough to get more than a date. I’ve placed a request with the Mage Council to get some more specialized trainers to come and help us, but until they get here...” He trailed off, and Austin sighed.

  “What was the date, Caleb?” River asked in the resulting silence.

  “Two weeks from Saturday,” Caleb replied, sounding ill. I didn’t blame him; I was feeling a bit sick myself. Two weeks to prepare for a battle that would determine the entire world’s future? Seemed a bit sudden. But then, better to have some warning than none at all.

  “We’re not positive that this is related to fighting Bridget, though,” Vali clarified with Caleb, and he shook his head.

  “No, we’re not. That was just a guess on my part. For all we know, it could be her granny’s birthday or the day she meets her future husband or something equally irrelevant to us. But what if it’s not? What if it is the date that Bridget will attack?” Caleb was making seriously good points, and we couldn’t afford to ignore the possibilities.

  “So, Wes and I are going to Caora. There will be no further discussions on the matter,” I announced, putting my metaphorical foot down. “While we are gone, I want you guys to get in touch with Granny Winter.”

  “That old bitch that tried to kill you in Alaska?” Cole demanded, “Why?”

  “Because if the badbh are holding an amulet piece, and I strongly suspect they are, then wolves are the next logical keepers based on River’s powers,” I explained. “Wes was right, I think, when he said it was no coincidence you’re all such rare and unusual species. I think there was something more at play here, and I’d put money on it that the wolves have the fourth piece.”

  “How much money, love?” River asked quietly, and I whacked him with the back of my hand. He really did love a bet.

  “I agree on that,” Cole clarified. “But I don’t understand why
those wolves. Wouldn’t it make more sense if it was with the hellhounds?”

  I ran my fingers through the tail of my French braid and nodded. “Maybe? I’m sort of gambling on the fact that I think River’s hound is more a part of his wolf than we are giving it credit for. Like, just a different ability? I don’t really know, but I think considering how long their town has been there—and been for wolves only—then it’s a good place to start. Besides, if Vic is there and they do have the fourth piece, we can try it out.”

  “It’s as good an idea as any,” River agreed. “I wouldn’t have the first clue where we would even start investigating my darker side. Even Finn thought hellhounds were extinct, so he’s useless.”

  “So, we are agreed then?” Wesley asked, looking around at everyone. “Kit and I can leave now and be back before dinner, hopefully.” Given that it was already dusk, that sounded optimistic. But then, time moved differently in Caora.

  The guys all grudgingly mumbled their agreement, and I beamed at them all with only a touch of sarcasm. “See how nice it is when we all get along? Come on, Wes, let’s go realm-jumping.”

  He grinned at me and shook his head but took the hand I was holding out and tugged me closer to the center of the room. “Ready? This will feel a bit odd.”

  Odd was an understatement.

  The feeling of being physically pulled out of one realm and into another could only be likened to being slathered in craft glue and stuck to a piece of paper, then right before it dried, peeled off again. Slowly.

  So, like I said. Odd was an understatement.

  “That,” I said, grimacing as my limbs rematerialized in front of my eyes. “Is not something I look forward to repeating in a hurry. Does it get better?”

  Wesley laughed. “Not really. Come on, let’s get up to the council chambers. I swear those old crows practically live in that chamber, so I’d be surprised if we didn’t find at least one of them there.”

  Taking his hand, I let him lead me through the thick mist until some huge city gates loomed in front of us.