The wereboar thumped a fist on his chest, then held up two fingers. His companion followed suit. “Peace, wolf.” It was as respectful an acknowledgement as they were likely to get from these two. Adam seemed to understand and nodded.
“Reys,” Adam’s voice was quiet authority, bringing everyone to a silent halt. Including the coyote on the outskirts of the fence. Chase hadn’t even seen the man retreat, much less leave. Raymond Reys halted in his footsteps but remained facing away from the wolves. His posture wasn’t belligerent, but by giving his enemies his back said how little he feared them. The expensive coat swallowed him in shadow. Suddenly, Chase was certain that the coyote would follow at his own pace. The male had been trying to establish contact with Rick for years. Adam Weis wouldn’t shake Raymond Reys so easily. “You’ll run with my group.”
Reys turned around, his coat billowing outward with the motion. His eyes narrowed and Chase knew that if the coyote had been close enough, his scent would be wary. Probably a bit angry at being jerked around. “Why?”
Adam’s answer held little warmth. “Because my wardens are right. We need more for the fight. We are attacking a camp of fanatical psychics. Who knows what abilities they have?” The sting of his censure nipped hard at Chase through the pack bond. He angled his chin up, instinctively baring just a bit of throat to recognize his Alpha’s rule. The bite was an Alpha’s tool to keep his people in line.
However barbaric, the bottom line shapeshifters were not human and didn’t respond to human discipline. Brandon flinched. No one was above reproach for calling their leader’s decision into question. Another pack, another Alpha might have been harsher than the mere slap he and Brandon had been given. Drawing blood or making the transgressor abase himself publically. Adam didn’t have to resort to such methods, he never had. No one was perfect.
Adam’s people loved him enough to step out of line when they had too. “And if you betray me or mine, I will personally hunt you down and skin your coat from your body.” Adam’s eyes could have been formed from ice, cold and glacial as he made a point that all the outsiders took to heart. Nods of assent followed from all the present non-wolven shapeshifters.
Without breaking eye contact with Reys, Adam pulled the keys from the SUV out of his pocket and tossed them. Beside Chase, India caught the keys with a look of surprise in her pretty dark eyes. “You and Tamara will retrieve our informant.” India nodded, her pleasure at being given an important job flowed warm through their matebond. “Stay out of sight and be ready to move any prisoners to a safe location.”
Unwilling to let his mate leave his side, Chase squeezed her arm once then made himself let go. His hand wanted to reach out and pin her to his side. He clenched a fist, pressing against his thigh to behave. “Be careful,” he wanted to say more, but let the matebond speak for him. Need, lust, pride, protectiveness, swirled inside him. Part of him that was mated wanted to den up with his mate and bare his teeth at the world. The warden, the pack protector, was ready to get this show on the road. Find the intruders and chase them from their territory. Kill if necessary. Anything to keep their people safe.
India’s answering glance said that she understood. “You too.” Her long-legged leather clad walk to the SUV riveted his attention, taking her out from his protection.
“Do not worry wolf. Thorn will see to your females’ safe return.” Thorn’s slightly erratic flight pattern followed behind India. Wren, the pixie, settled on his shoulder, an odd companion, but comforting just the same just knowing that the small warrior was with his mate.
As Chase watched, he saw, felt, something inside her change and harden as she waited for Tamara to stalk to the SUV with more purpose than he’d ever seen the his packsister display. With India all in leather and Tamara in her form fitting wrap around shirt and laced up jeans, they looked more like two women ready to hit the clubs than the rescue squad. Bedraggled Thorn, their unlikely chaperone. India opened the door and the pixie zipped inside. The two females climbed in and slammed the doors.
Closing down the matebond, he turned away from the sight of the vehicle making a U-turn. Tail lights piercing red in the night were the last thing he saw as he moved to his Alpha’s side. She’d be fine, he told himself. She had to be.
Chapter Twenty Nine
India waited for the pink haired pixie to land on the dash tray before putting the SUV in reverse, making a v shaped turn and pulling out onto the highway. Tamara’s nervous voice broke the quiet as she leaned toward their tiny member and flipped the map light on. “Um. Are you okay?” She squinted at the pixie’s blotchy complexion ragged mop of candy colored hair.
He drew himself up, to an impressive six inch height and crossed his arms over a his bare chest. For a really small guy, India noticed that he was built. Must be all that upper body workout he got from flying. His eyes burned like green points, while the rest of him flushed pink, darkening the rash on his skin. “I am fit for battle. Do not worry your safety, lady.”
Tamara’s natural shyness took over and India could see her almost cringe and give way to the stronger willed male. She wanted to sigh. “Sorry.” Tamara voice whispered, going up an octave. “I mean. You can’t be comfortable with that…ah…”
The pixie’s voice hardened. His iridescent wings flicked in irritation. “Can’t be comfortable with what?” he challenged.
“Nothing.” Tamara mumbled, withdrawing to the window. India sighed, fighting the urge to beat her head against the steering wheel.
“Play nice, pixie or you don’t come along on this field trip.” His head whipped back around to her. India growled low in warning. “I’m in charge pixie. You are just along for the ride.” After a moment of intense silence while she watched the pixie out of the corner of her eye, he settled down on the dash again.
“My swarm leader sent me to assure your safety.” The words were without compromise.
“Well you don’t have to be an ass about it. You look awful.” To her horror, the words just tumbled out of her mouth. Tamara’s eyes were round with shock at India’s rudeness, which prompted the devil inside her to more. “That rash is pinker than your hair, which still has glue in it by the way.”
“I apologize.”
“And another thing.” She stopped talking and glanced at the pixie. “What?”
He shrugged and scratched a patch on his arm before sending a sheepish look in Tamara’s direction. “I was rude. There is no excuse.” Distracted by itching he made a cute little growl before scratching. She felt bad for him. She’d be in a bad mood too, had she been covered head to toe in a rash.
“Oh no! Scratching only makes it worse.” Tamara opened the glove box, digging through the contents before pulling out a pink bottle of baby lotion. She squirted a portion of the pink goo in her hand before looking dubiously at the small man. “Ummm. Hold your arms out?”
He did. “This is undignified.” He jaw locked with pride. The pixie sat very still under Tamara’s ministrations. India couldn’t agree more. Apparently, even Reggie and Eddie’s help was more useful than theirs.
“You know they just wanted to get us out of the way.” Tamara murmured. She flushed at the pixie’s unhappy look.
“I am called Thorn.” He moved out of reach, rubbing the lotion into his skin. He raised an eyebrow. “It would be nice to know the name of one who has handled more of me than my own mother.” Tamara flushed bright red. Despite his small statue, he was buff, and handsome too. Tamara’s natural shyness was no match for Thorn’s suggestive insinuation.
Protective instincts flared in India. “You’re about five seconds from going out the window if you don’t stop baiting her.” They passed a sign informing them that it would be ten miles to Tucker. Fifteen minutes trapped in the car with a pixie with an attitude and an insecure wolf. Lovely. This was going to be fun. The pixie made an unhappy cricket like noise with his wings.
“She’s India.” Tamara offered quietly, her face turned toward the window. “And I’m useless.”
“You’re not useless, Tamara.” India floundered. Her usual mode when dealing with getting lesser wolves moving in life threatening situations was to bully them on. “Once we find the werecheetah female, you’ll be much better able to assess her condition than I am.”
Tamara snorted. “I’m much more likely to invite the whole Church over for pie so they can kill us all.”
“He used you.” India shook her head while Thorn listened with the back and forth intensity scorekeeper at a tennis match. “Besides, he’s useless as a Hunter now. Karma’s a bitch and all that.”
Thorn took to the air, hovering in place. He seemed to do that when agitated. His small handsome face took on a dangerous edge. “Who used you?” His wings clattered. “Our swarm came late into this engagement. What is this about the Hunter?”
“Nothing.” Tamara’s face flamed and she turned to look out the window. “I’m just stupid about men is all.”
“You’re not stupid.” India growled. How far was it to Tucker? Damn this county had too many small communities and towns. It was too big for the pack to monitor. In an effort to settle the buzzing pixie down, she decided to explain. “Tamara’s not the one to bring the Hunter to Anderson County. He followed me after they took out my pack. Tamara’s the innocent he used to monitor us while he…” She shook her head. “Hell, I don’t even know what his plan was. Carter Hunter could have taken us out anytime, but he just sort of circled around.”
She took her eyes off the road, glancing at Thorn as he took in the story with real concern. “I don’t think he had anything to do with burning down Packhome. But he did come pretty fast when Tam called him for help. Then he got bitten by one of the wardens.” The speed limit lowered as they drove into Tucker. She turned her attention to driving as houses gave way to a couple of gas stations and a mini-mart and finished by lifting her shoulder in an offhand shrug. “So, becoming wolven pretty much knocks him out of a profession. It’s karma or something like that.”
“Did this Hunter kill any of your pack?” Thorn asked.
India had to think about it. She shook her head again. “No. None of mine. I stayed ahead of him until I stopped running.” She took a breath. “I was just so tired of running.”
“Neither of our kind is made to be alone. It is the same, pack or hive.” Thorn’s voice was high because of his size, still he sounded masculine as he landed on the back of Tamara’s seat. And comforting. “Do not belittle your good nature Tamara. There are too few of such treasures in the world.”
“Are you actually being nice?” India smiled, thinking there might be a tiny soft spot in the little warrior after all.
“No. Swarm warriors are not ‘nice’. I am truthful.” The big SUV slowed at an all night gas station. Thorn straightened, his hand going to a small sword at this side. “Is this the one?”
Nervous trepidation filtered through India as she eyed the flickering red and white sign on the far side of the parking area. A low concrete brick wall separated the convenient store from the car wash next door. Underneath the Burned out lights sat an old primer spotted work van and an economy car with a cracked windshield looking like a mugging waiting to happen. Overflowing trash bins and bent rusted signs refusing responsibility for property damage just added to the creepiness of the place.
“Let us find this Kasi.” Exiting the SUV, Thorn hovered behind Tamara. They met at the front of the vehicle. Feeling exasperated at the melodrama, she glanced around the empty parking lot and headed for the door.
Inside, the store looked like any other convenient store that had been around forever. Mismatched racks of merchandise in the middle of the floor surrounded by built in glass door coolers covered with both soda and beer ads. To the right, cigarette advertisements framed a wrap around counter stocked full gum, key chains, and small bottles of energy drink shots. Thorn buzzed around the selection, his curiosity clear.
The clerk looked bored out of his mind, as he flipped through a magazine. Young, mahogany skinned, and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, his strong features lent him with a rebel air. She pegged him as first or second generation American, parents via India. No so much a stereotype as simply the norm these days. Weirdly, because of her upbringing, she felt very little connection to his type. She was wolven and her people grouped themselves by species, not race.
“Hi.” Summoning up a smile she put her hands on the counter. “I’m looking for a friend that was supposed to meet me here.”
He looked up and jerked out one of the earphones tucked into his ear. Metal beating music screamed from the lone earphone. He glanced around, shrugged. “Don’t see anyone else but you and them.” He nodded at Tamara and Thorn before looking back at the magazine. After a beat the young man stopped and stared at Thorn. “Is that a…a…a? What the hell is that?”
“What?” She glanced over her shoulder, hoping the pixie had hidden himself.
No such luck. Thorn landed on the counter in front of her and pulled out a sharp looking sword from his side. The kid jumped backward, banging into the cigarette display. No matter that the sword looked more the size of a pocket knife than a real weapon. Thorn’s intensity was well…intense. “Where is the female Kasi Stephens?”
The guy made eye contact with India and started talking in another language. She sighed. India hated when people did that. He waved an arm at the cash register and kept babbling. Tamara’s presence warmed her side. “What’s he saying?” she asked. India played dumb and looked at Thorn.
“He is speaking to you.” The pixie snapped his wings.
“But you’re the one threatening him.” India smiled a toothy grin at her small partner and turned in a small circle. No Kasi inside. Maybe the werecheetah was hiding outside. Figuring that was worth a shot, she sauntered to the door. “No habla Espanol.” She tossed over her shoulder as she pushed the door open.
“That wasn’t Spanish.” Tamara faithfully pointed out. “It might have been Hindi or Singh or… I don’t know. There are several languages in that part of the world.”
“Chinese?” India offered daring to go around the dark corner of the store. “Himalayan?”
“No.” Thorn’s flying seemed to become more steady the longer he flew. His voice picked up a note of suspicion. “You are using sarcasm,” he accused.
“Yep.” Satisfaction thrummed inside her as she stopped to survey the dirty litter strewn back of the store. She could probably string the two of them along for awhile before they caught on. “But I’m thinking of learning Spanish as a second language.”
Tamara shivered. She rubbed her hands over her exposed arms as if chilled. Which she shouldn’t have been, wolven were fairly tolerant of a wider range of temperatures than humans. “This place makes my skin crawl,” she whispered before she shook off the vibe and turned her attention back on India. “You know, Rick used to try to fit in with the Hispanics.” The words rolled wistfully from Tamara. “He stopped trying so hard once he felt secure in the pack. I don’t think he needed the human connection so much after that. Is that why you never learned your human parent’s native language? Because you felt secure in your pack?”
India wanted to snap at the female. She smoothed the curl from her lip, covering teeth that wanted to nip and put the lesser female in her place. What did India know of this Rick, who’d died the same day the pack accepted her? She felt his loss from the others through the packbond. Was she secure in her parents’ acceptance?
No, certainly, she’d respected her father. Was honored to be a part of their long line of born wolven in a species with the lowest average birthrate of all shapeshifters. Lower still for couples in which both were born wolven. India had learned early on that her mother was terrified of the monster her daughter was. Because she’d been more wolf than human. Her Alpha father had been all about maintaining his position of authority. The raising of his pup had gone to others. The more she thought on it now, most of her pride in her wolven heritage was what she’d been taught. Not so much as sho
wn, as Adam Weis did with his small and very unified pack.
She pushed the confusion, the love-hate feelings she had about her own heritage away. She loved the history. Everything was separated by the distance of rote learning but hated the rejection of her so-called mother and grandparents. That was a therapy session for another day. “Perhaps Kasi decided to go home.” She mused.
“She wouldn’t leave her mother to the Church of the Clean.”
India wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t leave her mother for those zealots. Shari was likely to hand her over first. India glanced at Thorn. He shrugged. He had no idea.
“She wouldn’t.” Tamara insisted, leading India to believe that the idea just wasn’t comprehensible in the blonde female’s world.
“Okay. Supposing, the werecheetah has this great familial loyalty.” She encompassed the back of the store with one derisive wave of her hand. The entire place stank of old trash and soured liquid. Water? Beer? She avoided stepping on a used condom. Any lingering scent of Were or cat blended into the morass of odor. “What is she going to do against a camp full of crazy psychics?” She sighed. Of course. “Right. Let’s move the SUV before Indi-boy calls for a tow truck.”
Walking back around the corner, India froze at the sight of the clerk leaning against the side of the SUV. He grinned a mouth full of TV worthy pearly whites and waved. Her neck prickled, back hunching as she angled in front of the other female. Tamara gasped as two men appeared out of nothing between them and the store clerk. They just blinked into being. India reacted. She growled and charged. She shoved the command to RUN down the packbond to Tamara.
Fire exploded along her nerves. Involuntarily, India yelped, twitched and slumped to the ground in pain. “Hit her again before she Changes and eats someone.” One of the Houdini brothers said in a northern accent she couldn’t quite place. “Werewolves recover faster than the others.” In her bleary vision she saw the clerk gulp nod and fidget with something before fire exploded in her body as her body convulsed against the pavement. She felt her head slam, bringing stars to her eyes. God, her lungs burned as her lungs struggled to breath. Her heart slammed against her ribs, out of its normal rhythm. Pain spiked through her again, then fear as she blacked out.
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