“And if he was injecting himself, we'd have scented that, too,” I added, working through Nic's idea out loud.
“Exactly. Since when has a Blood ever let a human just hang out around them? They're either food or eternity chasers. And think about it, Zara. When's the last time any member of Ebon Red's had contact with a vamp, let alone the next alpha? It's too big of a coincidence that Julian's in our class, Faith's mom has vials of vampire blood in her bathroom, and there was Blood scent all over the road in front of your best friend's house.”
“So … we go to class on Monday and we follow Julian afterward,” I said, feeling this little break in the clouds of my anxiety. There was life after the Pairing, right? I'd still have a final project due for my wildflowers class, still have late calculus homework to turn in, still have an online anthropology class that I needed to pass to fulfill my gen ed requirements … but I wouldn't have Nic there beside me.
This time, he didn't say anything, didn't remind me that the word we no longer included him. We now meant me, Silas, Jax, Montgomery, Anubis, and the two alpha-sons I had yet to meet.
Neither of us mentioned any of this aloud. We'd been talking the Pairing to death for weeks and now that we had so little time left, I felt sick to my stomach at the idea of bringing it up again.
“Play a game with me?” Nic asked, grabbing a video game controller off the top of a half-filled cardboard moving box. I could barely even look at it, could barely imagine him moving out and back into his parents' house—at least until my mother paired him with a mate. Then he'd be moving in with her.
“Sure,” I said, forcing my lips into a smile as I crossed my legs and tugged Hugo's wiggly, warm little body into my lap. “Loser has to take Hugo outside to go pee—or try to get him to shift so he can use the toilet.”
Nic tried to smile at me, but only one half of his mouth quirked in an upward direction at all. The rest of it was just sad and droopy and hard to look at. But I did anyway. I stared at Nic Hallett's face and I tried to memorize every single inch of it.
“What an awful fate you find yourself subjected to, Alpha-Ki,” Majka said loudly as she ambled in the front door a few hours later, baring her teeth at Montgomery Graves and smoothing her wrinkled old hands down the front of a royal blue dress. “Such a weak alpha-sin you must tolerate.”
She spit at him, but to his credit, Montgomery simply stood there and bowed his chin respectfully. Alpha-Sin—pronounced alpha-seen—was what my grandmother called the alpha-sons. Once again, I think the word was somehow related to Croatian.
“How do you lose track of your own alpha? What a pathetic boy,” she continued, throwing some mumbled curse words in there as Greer closed and locked the front door behind her. Once again, it looked like my mother would be spending the night at the Hall. Personally, I was relieved. Majka was bad enough, but having Nikolina here, too? I just needed a moment to breathe. “I should never have encouraged mating outside of Ebon Red. Maybe then your fool mother wouldn't have gotten this idea into her head? My heir, mating with such weak sons. It's a dishonor to us all.”
I bowed my head as she walked by, listening to her continued rant echoing through the foyer. When my younger siblings saw her coming, they crouched to the floor. Some of them even showed their bellies. Majka might've been old, but she was fierce—and still pretty goddamn dangerous. One flick of her knotted old finger could send a wolf across the room and into a wall.
“Why should my pack have to split the power we've worked so hard for?” she muttered as she rounded the corner at the end of the front hall. “If you don't want Crimson Dusk, Zara,” she shouted, her voice carrying back to me, “then you'd best just pick a strong Ebon Red male.”
I paused, waiting for the distinct sound of double doors opening, slamming closed, locking. And then Greer's kitten heels clicked back across the marble floor and I knew Majka was safely ensconced in her suite.
It was doubtful we'd see her again for the rest of the night.
“Sorry about that,” I told Montgomery, studying him in his long black trench and boots. His white hair made him look a little like Dante from the Devil May Cry games which made me smile. “Our alpha-mother is a little … old-fashioned.” I shivered as I recalled her promise to rain hurt down on me. Majka never made idle threats. Come Friday, there'd be some unwanted surprise waiting for me.
“My alpha-mother,” Montgomery started, and then paused abruptly, like something had just occurred to him. His slight smile turned into a deep frown as he turned to face me, his white braid hanging over one shoulder. “Is missing,” he whispered, clenching his hands into fists at his sides. I noticed he was wearing fingerless leather gloves and had a pair of swords strapped to his back.
Swords.
Uh-oh.
One was clearly iron, and the other was made of polished wood.
Standard equipment for hunting fae … and vampires. Montgomery even had a set of knives in his belt. If I had to guess, I'd say they were made of bone, ivory, and silver. Perfect for witches, demons … and werewolves. Pretty ballsy to carry a blade designed to kill our own people.
I'd heard rumors that Pack Ivory Emerald was old school, but wow. Maybe Majka wasn't much of a shock to his system? Clearly he held some of her same values. As in, if it's not pack, it's not our problem unless it becomes a problem.
I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded at the weaponry strapped all over his body. I'd originally come downstairs to make dinner for Faith, something appetizing enough to knock her out of her funk, curled up and crying mascara colored tears on my bed. But I'd seen Montgomery standing in the living room and decided to check up on him.
Now I was really glad that I did.
“Is that why you're all geared up? Planning on going somewhere?”
“I was hoping you were,” he said, his voice low, even, but just barely masking a brimming sense of violence. Montgomery's eyes really were the color of emeralds, this deep, rich green that mimicked the lush fullness of a healthy forest. He stepped toward me, the leather of his jacket rustling and carrying with it his pack's unique scent: fresh cut grass and roses. “Look, I'll be honest with you: I came here because I knew the Contribution would be focused on finding the missing pack members.”
Montgomery paused and sighed, reaching up to push loose strands of white hair from his face.
“I don't expect you to pick me as your mate,” he continued, looking up from beneath lashes the color of snow. “But I do trust you to find the missing—or at least figure out what happened to them and why. If you're going to be an alpha … the Alpha for an entire continent, you owe us this. If there's even the slightest chance that vampires are involved”—he dropped his right hand to the wooden sword and tapped it with nicked and bruised fingers—“we need to make our move now, before they take more people.” Montgomery ran his tongue over his lower lip and averted his eyes. “Or kill the ones they already have.”
He stepped around me, boots squeaking on the marble floor, and headed for the staircase.
I waited just a second before turning and calling out to him.
“Tell me again where you were staying when you were captured,” I said and Montgomery paused at the base of the stairs.
“We were staying in a hotel just outside of Winnipeg,” he told me, wrinkling his brows slightly. “We'd been on the road for days and my dad … he just wanted a hot shower.” Montgomery put his hands on his hips and glanced back at me. “Why?”
Like most packs, Ivory Emerald had been making their way to the Pairing on foot, traveling in wolf form through national parks and sparsely populated areas. To get from Thunder Bay, Ontario all the way down to Ebon Red's lands just outside of Eugene, Oregon, they would have had to leave weeks ago which, as far as we all knew, they had. And then one day, they were just gone without a trace.
“Do you know which kingdom holds that territory?” I asked, wishing I had more Blood maps to pore over, some way to pinpoint each missing wolf and what kingdom rule
d the area they disappeared from. But to get that information, I'd have to ask a vampire personally.
“I'm not sure,” Montgomery said, and I could tell it frustrated him that he didn't know. He dropped his hand from the newel post and walked back over to stand in front of me, just as Nic let himself in the back door with Hugo. As usual, I'd completely kicked his ass during our game and been relieved from potty duty; my little brother had refused to shift and thus, a quick trip out to the backyard had been in order. “But you're thinking that maybe it's the same kingdom that holds this territory?” he whispered, leaning over to put his mouth ridiculously close to my ear. His breath stirred my hair and sent a wave of goose bumps over my skin. I was surprised to find that I actually liked his nearness. It felt accidentally sensual, like he had no clue what he was doing with his long lean body or the fullness of his mouth.
“If it is …” I began as Montgomery straightened slightly and looked straight at me. “Then that would give us more than just a coincidence or a hunch to work off of.”
“Whoa.”
We both paused and glanced over at Faith as she descended the stairs in her peach colored pj's. I'd been so engrossed in my conversation with Montgomery that I hadn't registered the sound of her footsteps coming down the stairs.
“This is some major cosplaying,” she said, walking over to stand next to us. As soon as she noticed how closely the two of us were standing, I got a look, one that said she didn't like it. “Montgomery, right?”
“You can call me Monty,” he said with a slight smile, looking down at Faith's fingers as she reached up and tugged at the leather lapel of his jacket.
“Who are you cosplaying as?” she asked, giving the swords and knives strapped to the alpha-son's body a critical look. “And how the hell do you get your hair to bleach that white? I had a friend once that tried it and he practically melted his hair right off.”
Montgomery blinked his green eyes a few times and then cast a glance my direction looking for help. I just smiled back at him and crossed my arms over my chest. He might say he didn't expect me to pick him as my mate, but if I was seeing this through, then I was going to do it right and give everyone a fair chance. Let's see how he dealt with my best friend. That'd be test number one for all the guys in the Pairing.
“Friend? You mean your loser boyfriend?” Nic asked from behind her, leaning his body against the ornate wood casing of the archway between the foyer and the kitchen area. As Faith turned a brown-eyed glare in his direction, I realized that that was one test Nic Hallett would probably fail.
“I meant Owen, yes,” Faith said with an eye roll, bringing her attention back to Montgomery. “My boyfriend wanted to go as Dante from Devil May Cry for Halloween last year and he melted his hair so bad with the bleach that he had to shave it all off. There. That's the full story. Are you happy now, Nic?”
“I'd be happier if you broke up with him,” he called out and I found myself smiling.
“I'm glad I wasn't the only one that noticed the resemblance to Dante,” I said and Faith grinned at me.
“So, is that who you're cosplaying as? Because you know, Dante wears a red coat.”
“Monty's his own original character,” I said, stepping in and putting a hand on Montgomery's shoulder. I noticed him tense slightly at the touch, his green eyes swinging over to meet mine. His nostrils flared slightly and I knew he was scenting me, that special blend of pine and honeysuckle that marked me as Ebon Red. “He's a werewolf prince,” I continued and noticed Monty's eyes opening in surprise. See, sometimes the truth was just so ridiculous that it made a really good lie.
“Seriously?” Faith asked, stepping back to study him. “Zara's, like, obsessed with werewolves. You didn't make this character up just to get in her pants, did you?”
“Okay, Faith, thank you,” I said, dropping my hand from Montgomery's shoulder and grabbing her by the arm. It was nice to see that she'd snapped out of her funk, but I so did not need her defending my honor. “Why don't we go into the kitchen and I'll cook you something for once?”
“You never use any spices,” she complained as I dragged her away toward the kitchen. “Like, not even salt and pepper. Sorry, Zara Castille, but your food is bland.”
“If I let you cook, will you promise to stay here until your dad gets back in town?” I asked as sweetly as I could. Truth be told, I wasn't letting her go home even if she did say no; it was too dangerous. I just figured I'd try the begging and pleading route first.
“You're not even going to be here on Friday,” she said with a pout, eyeing me with a certain amount of disbelief. I'd told her weeks ago that Majka had some big, important doctor's appointment in Portland and that I'd be taking her there and staying the night so that the hospital could run several days' worth of tests. She'd told me that Majka was healthier and more spry than she was and that it didn't look like she needed any tests. I'd had no idea how to argue that, so I'd said nothing. “You want me to stay in your house with your mom who hates visitors without you here? No thanks.”
“Nikolina won't be here,” I said. No one would. They'd all be at the Pairing. Well, except for Greer, Emil, and some of the youngest pack members. Nobody wanted squalling babies or crying toddlers disturbing their favorite ritual. The omegas would be stuck here caring for anyone under the age of five whose parents wanted to attend the Pairing—i.e. anyone that was lucky enough to receive an invitation. “And I'd feel a hell of a lot better going out of town knowing that you were safe here. What if that creepy guy comes back? Look, we don't know exactly what your mom's gotten into, but if it is drugs, then he could be seriously bad news.”
“Okay, okay,” Faith said as she paused in front of the stainless steel doors of our industrial sized fridge with a romantic sounding sigh. “Just … let me use your beautiful kitchen while I'm here and I'll stay.”
“Deal,” I said as I slipped onto a stool at the kitchen island and raised my brows in surprise as Montgomery took the one next to me. Nic paused on my other side looking pissed and then finally sat down with a dramatic sigh. The three of us sat together while Faith raced up the stairs to grab her bag (and the spices she'd stuffed into it when we'd stopped by her place earlier).
“You know,” Montgomery began quietly, drawing my attention over to him, “if we want to know what kingdoms rule which territories, but we don't want to let the vampires know we're suspicious, there's always another option.”
“Which is?” I asked as he drew out the bone knife and placed it on the stone surface of the countertop.
“Magic,” he said quietly and I felt a small chill chase down my spine.
“Witches,” I confirmed just as Faith bounded back down the stairs behind me.
Witches and vampires.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
The next morning, I managed to drag my werewolf ass out of bed and pretend to be a normal college student. I got a groaning Faith up and into the shower, pulled on the most average looking outfit I could find, and let myself fantasize for all of about three seconds that this was real life.
Except then I got downstairs and found my naked one hundred and thirty-seven year old grandmother standing in the open doors that led to the backyard.
“Alpha-Majka,” I said respectfully, hoping that Faith was still half-asleep and snoring against the wall of the shower. “May I fetch you a robe?”
'You may not,' she said, tilting her head back and letting the early morning sun play across her wrinkled face. “But what you can do,” she continued, switching that hard, stern voice from inside my head to out. It was intimidating either way. “Is tell me this: have you given much thought to your silver?” The crown on Majka's head shifted slightly to the side, as if it, too, was curious to hear my answer.
“Of course,” I lied, even though I hadn't the faintest clue what to pick. Whatever I chose would not only stay with me for life, but it would also bleed me, scar me. It would hurt. There was the coward's choice—something small and eas
y to hide like a silver stud in the ear—and there was the warrior's choice—something ostentatious and painful like my grandmother's crown. Neither option held much appeal for me.
“Well,” she said, this deeply smug superiority taking over her voice as she turned to glare at me with narrowed purple-black eyes, “you'd best keep thinking then. After much careful research in some of the old texts, I found a portion of the Pairing that cannot be overlooked.”
“Of course not, Majka,” I said with a slight dip of my head, hoping like hell I could finish this conversation and get her back into her room or into some clothing before Faith came downstairs.
“Do you want to know what it is?” she asked me, lifting her chin, her spine straight and her smile wicked sharp. I had a feeling she was going to tell me whether I wanted to know or not.
“Yes, Majka.”
A tooth appeared in that horrible smile of hers, peeking over her thin lower lip.
“In the past, if an Alpha-Ki or an Alpha-Sin had more than one mate, they wore more than one piece of silver.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Each Alpha wore two pieces of silver jewelry: one for themselves and one for their mate.
I had six possible mates.
“Majka—” I began, but she was already waving me off and heading back toward her first floor suite, a series of rooms and a small kitchenette where she spent most of her time when she was at the house.
“Seven silvers for Zara,” she said with a cackling laugh, pausing at the door to her rooms to point her finger at me again. Blood dripped from the silver anklet on her leg and onto the floor in ruby red droplets. “Next time you think to choose human technology over your own Alpha-Majka, remember that.”
She stepped inside the room and without lifting a finger, managed to slam both of the large wooden doors behind her, hard enough that a picture rattled and fell off the wall.
“What was that about?” Nic asked from the top of the staircase.
Pack Ebon Red (The Seven Mates of Zara Wolf Book 1) Page 9