by Maggie Walsh
Jag chuckled lightly. “An alpha that can paint? Wow. So, when you sell these wares what do you do with them? I mean, there’s not many around these parts to sell to and it seems kind of strange that you would all just sell to one another. That can’t bring in much money.”
Caleb shook his head as he chuckled. “You’re an ass, you know that? Of course we don’t sell it to each other. We have buyers in a few different cities that we ship stuff to and they sell them for us. Native stuff created by artisans that live in the region are a big thing down in the lower forty-eight. When someone’s piece is sold, the dealer gets a percentage, then when the artist gets paid, they give a percentage to the pack to better the pack as a whole,” Caleb explained.
“So which cities and what kind of money are we talking about here?” Jag asked.
“Asshole! Shut the fuck up,” Ridge ordered.
Jag’s eyes opened wide as they met his gaze in the mirror, and Jag pulled back. Caleb reached out a hand and touched his arm, pulling Ridge’s attention to him. Once their gazes met, Caleb smiled. “It’s okay, mate. Jag’s just curious.”
With Caleb’s words, Ridge relaxed a little, realizing his mate wasn’t insulted by Jag’s questions. Caleb turned around toward Jag and smiled. “It’s fine, Jag, ask all you want. We sell to many cities around the country and even online. We send stuff to the Warren pack down in Anchorage and they do all the online stuff for us which gives them income. When they sell stuff for us, they get a commission. We sell in galleries and specialty stores in most major cities. Dell’s last painting sold for fifty-thousand at the gallery in New York that handles his stuff.”
Caleb outright laughed when Jag’s eyes opened wide and his jaw literally dropped.
“And what kind of art do you do, mate?” Ridge asked.
Caleb gave him a shy smile as he answered, “I don’t really have a specialty. I’m good at fixing things. If it has a motor or an engine, I’m your man to call. Other than that, I’ve helped some of the others when they have had big orders that needed to be sent out.”
“Then that is your craft. Your talent is fixing things,” Ridge said proudly, and reached out to take Caleb’s hand.
His mate gave him a shocked look, but it was quickly replaced with a look of relief and satisfaction, and it made Ridge happy.
“So, if you sell all that stuff then your pack should be well off,” Jag asked.
Caleb turned his head to look at Jag again. “Yup, we do pretty well for ourselves,” was all he said, but Ridge knew the truth. Yes, his pack was far wealthier than any of the other packs of their breed, or other packs around, but the York pack was not far behind. It was because of all the talent in the pack and the way they handled their sales, as well as how they all gave to the pack funds to help everyone.
They crossed over into York parklands and they all tensed, anticipating what they would find. When they first saw nothing, instead of relief, Ridge only tensed more. Where was everyone? York pack had more members than any of the other packs, and normally you would see some of them as you drove through, but now it was like a ghost town.
“Where is everybody?” Caleb asked in a whisper beside him, and Ridge knew his mate’s anxiety was reaching an all-time high.
“They’re here somewhere, mate. Don’t assume anything yet.”
As Ridge drove on, the empty streets didn’t ease his worry any. As he turned down the main road that led to the alpha’s house, he tensed suddenly. A small growl came from beside him and Ridge slowed as he gave his mate a quick glance. Caleb’s gaze had zeroed in on the blood stained snow that he had also seen.
“What the fuck?” Jag gasped, as he pointed out the front window.
Ridge looked back to the front and his eyes widened. Up ahead it looked like men hanging from poles, lining both sides of the street. As they drove through, he looked at all their lifeless bodies, hoping to recognize someone, but then realized he had only met a small handful of the York pack, so he wouldn’t know if they were pack or enemy anyway.
Caleb looked at each one as they drove past and Ridge could hear his mate’s heart beating frantically. Then he heard a loud sigh of relief and looked to Caleb to find him smiling from ear to ear. “I don’t know any of these people. None of them our my pack mates.”
“Well that’s promising,” Jag said. “Just keep the faith, man. Your family and your pack are fucking fierce if they fight anything like you, dude. They’re all okay, I just know it.”
Ridge was grateful for his friend trying to ease Caleb’s mind and give him hope. He would have to thank Jag later.
The alpha’s house came into view and Ridge stopped the vehicle, then put it in park. They were still two blocks from the house, but there were too many people standing around all over that he couldn’t drive on without running someone over.
As soon as he pulled to the curb and put the car in park, Caleb was out the door like a shot and running through the crowd. Jag instantly jumped out too and took off after Caleb, staying right behind him.
Ridge quickly turned the engine off and ran from the vehicle as he too took off after his mate. A few people growled and snarled at him as he raced past, moving some out of his way, but once they caught his Alpha scent, the growling stopped and they just stepped aside. Ridge was sure that some of that had to do with the fact that they could probably smell Caleb on him, because they had fully claimed one another.
Once he reached the alpha house, he saw the snow surrounding the area was drenched with blood. A few bodies lay around, and his gaze landed on about twenty men kneeling in the snow with their hands tied behind their backs. Each man was bleeding from their many wounds and none were saying a word. Enforcers armed with swords stood behind them, as they looked toward the house.
Ridge stopped when he reached the bottom of the porch where Jag stood and looked up to see Dell standing there, covered in blood, his eyes wild and angry. Caleb stood by his side, his jaw clenched as rage filled his eyes.
“Bring out the piece of scum,” Dell ordered, and a minute later, two enforcers brought a man around from the back of the house. His hands and ankles were tied. The enforcers each held him by an arm, pulling him along, his feet dragging across the snow-covered ground. Ridge noticed blood flowing down his front, leaving a trail in the snow. Once they made it to the front yard and stood facing Dell, the enforcers stopped and looked to him.
Dell, with Caleb and another man flanking him, stepped forward. Once Dell stood before the bleeding man, he stooped and gave the man a disgusted look full of hatred. “You fucking coward. You come to my father's lands and attack our weakest. What kind of a fair fight is thirty of your best fighters against women, children, and omegas?”
“Dell, what has happened?” Ridge asked, as he took a step closer.
Dell’s jaw tightened as he hissed out through clenched teeth. “This disgusting excuse for a wolf, attacked. I had just gotten off the phone with Jag and had called in my enforcers and warriors to warn them when one of my gammas arrived, bloody, beaten, and fighting for his life. Alpha Stuart’s men watched as three of our women took five cubs down to the lake to play. Then they attacked, killing them all. Those are the thirty scum you see hanging along the street.
“Son of a bitch,” Ridge growled.
“We took off across the pack land and found our people already in battle with the intruders. Stuart and five of his men were found raping one of our gammas. They held the poor man down as they took turns. They thought... they thought he was Caleb,” Dell announced, and Ridge’s heart stopped as fear and rage like he had never known before consumed him.
“Those men over there are the five, plus others who were found trying to rape some of my people. The gamma as well as two of my omegas died due to their injuries after they were viciously raped,” Dell continued.
“And what of your alpha and his mate?” Ridge asked.
“Four attacked my mother as she walked down the street to go help one of our aging members. Luckily, my fa
ther caught them and ripped them all apart, then got my mother back here. The healers are with her now.”
“Fucking bastards. What can we do for you, my friend?”
“Tell this sick fuck what happened when he sent his other men to attack you,” Dell replied, then walked to Alpha Stuart, grabbed the back of his head and tugged it up until the alpha was looking at him.
“You know, Alpha Heart. You sent your men to attack him as well, but they were unsuccessful in their mission, just like you were.”
Ridge stepped closer and looked into the man's eyes. He could see the panic there but also something else. This alpha had snapped and was more feral than normal. Did this happen before the battle or since? Once Alpha Stuart flicked his gaze to him, Ridge saw the anger take over. “I will have your mate, then I will take your pack and leave you for the Polars to feed on,” he hissed as blood spat from his lips.
Ridge looked down at him with cold eyes. “Your men failed. We have killed them all.”
Alpha Stuart laughed maniacally. “So what. They were nothing. My weakest fighters. I knew you would capture and question them. Then, you would run here to protect your promised mate, but by the time you got here it would be too late, I would have already claimed him.”
“Why?” Caleb asked, as he moved closer.
“My spies have found that he is not just Alpha Heart’s chosen mate, but his true mate. We cannot allow Heart to claim his true mate. It would bind your packs together irrevocably and make your packs stronger. It cannot be allowed,” he hissed.
“Ridge, call your pack. There’s another attack coming,” Caleb said, frantically.
Ridge spun around to face him, his face full of horror. “What?”
“He keeps saying we. There’s more. He has help. The first attack was just a ruse so that you would leave and this one was to get me and distract you.”
“How do you know that, Caleb?” Ridge insisted.
“Look at him.”
Ridge spun back around and looked into the alpha’s eyes and he saw it. The look of victory. What he had thought was insanity before was actually a calculating mind trying to waste time. “Fuck! Jag?”
“Already on it, Alpha,” Jag replied, as he put his phone to his ear and turned away.
Ridge moved closer and put his hand around Alpha Stuart’s throat. “Who is helping you?”
Stuart only gave him that sickening smile, then began to laugh. Once again, blood sprayed from his lips.
“You’re in no position to laugh right now, asshole. Alpha York will be taking his revenge with your life. Tell me!”
“I’ll tell you everything if you spare my life,” one of the prisoners offered.
“Shut up you pussy,” Alpha Stuart growled angrily.
Ridge moved away and went to the man. “Fine, I will spare your life… but you have to tell us everything.’
“It’s the bears. They’ve banded together with another sleuth to make one large pack and have joined forces with Alpha Stuart. Once they destroy the Heart pack, Alpha Stuart will take over his pack, lands, and money, then give our pack lands in the west to the bears as well as half of Alpha Heart’s fortune. That will allow him to control all the land surrounding the York pack. Alpha Stuart wanted to claim your mate as his own, so that he could control Alpha York. Then in a few months when things calmed down and an alliance was made, he and the bears would attack and take over the York pack, leaving them all dead, so that he would rule over all the wolves.”
“Which bears?” Ridge asked.
“The Kinny sleuth.”
“The fucking brown bears? But we’ve never had any problems with them before. Why now?” Ridge asked.
“Alpha Stuart convinced them that your two packs were joining forces, so that you and Alpha York could take over the region and force everyone else out,” the guy replied.
“And that asshole believed him? Stupid. We purchased that land between us to make a sanctuary for some of the smaller packs. So they could call on either of us for help at any time,” Ridge sneered, then spun around and went back to Alpha Stuart.
“What were you thinking?”
“First, you both still allow females. It goes against our ancestors. Then you want to bring in the smaller breeds? They are slaves and food, not allies. You all need to be stopped,” Stuart hissed.
“Who is your spy?” Caleb asked, but Stuart only sneered at him. Ridge turned to look at the big mouth and raised a brow.
“Maximus.”
“Maximus? That fucking spineless wolverine who owns the bar? I’ll kill him,” Dell threatened angrily.
“You’re a dead man, Cali,” Stuart hissed at the guy.
Dell pulled on Stuart’s hair tighter, then gave him an evil smile. “No, you are. First, you will watch as we kill your men, then you will follow them into the afterlife. Any remaining members of your pack will be hunted down and killed, then I will claim your lands as is my right. Your body will be impaled on a pike outside the Bears’ sleuth to show them what will happen to them should they move against us again.”
Dell looked to his men and nodded and Ridge watched as each one slipped their swords from their sheaths, then lined them up with the necks of the man kneeling in front of them.
Cali’s eyes went wide as he begged, “You said you would spare me if I told you everything and I did.”
“You’re right, Alpha Heart did say he would spare you, but I didn’t. You have committed atrocious crimes against my people and you will receive nothing less than what you deserve. Take all their heads. Send half back to what remains of Stuart’s pack and we’ll bring the rest with us when we visit the bears. Save me his beta’s head for Maximus,” Dell ordered.
As one, the enforcers raised their swords high, then swung them around in an arc and sliced through the heads of their enemy. Ridge knew the York pack had the fiercest warriors and enforcers of any group in their region, but to witness them was something else.
“Alpha, I have Mason on the phone. He said another group came and tried to attack, but they had left the gates closed and turned on the electrified fence. He said it worked perfectly. They are disposing of the bodies now. He also said to tell you there were fifteen bears with the wolves,” Jag whispered in his ear.
Ridge nodded his acknowledgment that he heard him, but turned to watch as Dell continued. His new brother-in-law stepped back from Alpha Stuart and pulled a sword from his back, then without a word, or taking even a second to pause, he dropped his hands, thrust the sword out, ramming it into Stuart's lower abdomen, then yanked the blade up, slicing Stuart open from groin to neck. Dell stepped back, turned, then silently walked into his home.
Ridge could see that Caleb wanted to go after his brother, but his mate stood there by his side, which pleased him. Caleb’s pack needed to know that they were now mated and Caleb would stand by his alpha first, but he also knew his mate as well his birth pack needed to see Caleb stand by his family, which meant Ridge stood by them too.
Ridge gently took Caleb’s hand and turned them toward the house. He could feel the relief and anxiety rolling off his man and it confused him, until they walked into the house and closed the door. Immediately Caleb ran toward the stairs, dragging him along with Jag following.
Once at the top of the stairs, Caleb slowed his pace and entered the master bedroom where they found his mother lying still upon the bed. Her face was covered in black and blue bruises. She had a swollen eye and a split lip and her right arm was set in a sling.
Alpha York sat beside the bed holding his mate’s other hand as he stared at her silently. Dell stood on the other side of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest as sadness filled his eyes. Ridge found himself becoming choked up over the scene. Caleb squeezed his hand and he looked down at his mate to find the question in his eye. Ridge smiled, then leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his lips and released his hand. Caleb gave him a watery smile, then stepped away and moved to stand by his father's side and placed a hand on his shoul
der.
Ridge looked to Jag and motioned for them to leave. He knew the family needed some time alone. Ridge had lost both his parents and knew how heartbreaking it was. Although Alpha York’s mate was in bad shape, Ridge didn’t think it was life threatening, which gave him a small measure of comfort for his mate, but he also knew the worry that still gripped the family, and he would do whatever his mate needed of him to get through this.
CHAPTER 11
It had been three days since the attack on Caleb’s birth pack, and Ridge had insisted they stay, so that they could help the pack clean up, as well as for Caleb to be nearby for his parents. Caleb had completely fallen in love with the man in that moment, and every little moment after.
Ridge helped Dell with the weight of what he had needed to do, as well as helped the pack to clean up their lands. He worked hard from morning till night, talking, laughing, and playing with the pack as they worked. Then, afterwards, he would sit with Caleb and hold him as he let out all his fears and at times cried. But, it wasn’t until this morning when his father made his big announcement that Caleb realized how deeply he had fallen for his mate.
After breakfast they had all been called into his father's office where he dropped the bomb.
“For over a year now, my mate and I have been talking about retiring and handing the pack over to Dell. We’ve been doing this long enough and our time has finally come.”
When Caleb had tried to protest his father's words, the man just gave him a loving smile and waved away his words. “Thank you, son, but it’s time. As I said, your mother and I have been discussing it for some time, but we were waiting until you and Ridge mated, then we were going to wait another month until you were settled with your new pack before we made the announcement. I told Dell of our plan when we were coming home from the meeting with Ridge for the land purchase. Like you, Dell tried to argue, but it’s what your mother and I want, and after the attack the other day, your mother is now afraid to stay here.
“I’ve spoken with Alpha Warren down in Anchorage about this many times, and yesterday I told him we were ready for the move. He and his pack will be welcoming us with open arms. Your mother will be able to give some of the woman classes on sewing and quilting, and I will help with training his enforcers.”