by Lia Davis
Jared glanced back at Keegan still sitting in the grass watching them then nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”
This time when Addyson sat back on the ground she closed her eyes and grounded her energy to the earth below her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jared patiently waiting. “I’m ready,” she said, feeling much better connected to the earth. It wouldn’t dampen the pain or the flow of emotions, but it helped her relax to know she was grounded. She could use the earth to push away the ugliness.
Jared raised a hand slowly and laid it on her cheek. The new visions didn’t instantly appear, but when they did, they made her giggle.
A very young Cameron was crawling out of her bedroom window. When she’d made it out, she turned and ran smack into Jared. “Where are you going?” Jared asked, his tone firm like a father would use with his disobedient daughter.
Cameron didn’t miss a beat. She crossed her arms and looked him in the eye. “I dropped something out my window.”
Jared growled. “Try again.”
The vision vanished, bringing her back to the present. She smiled and said, “Cameron was a handful.”
Jared laughed. “Yes, she was. Can we start now?”
Addyson nodded. When Jared touched her cheek again, he didn’t give her ability time to dig into his past again. She felt a nudge inside her mind, warm yet soothing. She could feel Jared’s mind mingling with hers as, one-by-one, memories of her life before captivity spilled into her mind.
The images started to rush threw her mind faster than she could process them. She caught glimpses of her parents’ faces, smiling and so much in love. Her mother had blond hair, like Addyson and crystal blue eyes. Her father had light brown hair and violet eyes. Addyson’s heart filled with the love she felt for the two people who’d never know if their daughter was safe. Hot fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
Then images of the den she lived in, and a few friends whose names she couldn’t recall, but figured they’d come in time. There was so much to try to process all at once, so she forced her eyes open and peered at Jared.
Jared removed his hand from her cheek, and she flung her arms around his neck. He stiffened then relaxed and hugged her back. “Thank you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Keegan sat on the sofa in Addyson’s living room as she flew around looking for a notebook and pen. He’d never seen her excited. She was actually a little jittery, as though she didn’t know what to do with herself.
She laughed as she found a notebook and came to sit next to him. She took a deep breath and opened a hardback notebook with blue butterflies on the cover and stared at it.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She dropped her shoulders and peered over at him. “I don’t know where to start.”
He held in a smile and ran his knuckles down her cheek. “You have a lifetime to shift through your memories. Don’t try to do it all in one day.”
Her smile reached her eyes, the same eyes that had held so much darkness they made him want to rip Felix apart inch by agonizing inch. Now the violet depths held a light he hadn’t seen before. She had hope.
He cupped the back of her neck and drew her in so he could claim her lips with his. She came willingly and opened for him. He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, finding hers. He heard the notebook and pen fall to the floor as she twisted to climb up his body and straddle him.
Groaning, he slid one of his hands under her shirt, and the other he fisted in her hair. He broke the kiss and pulled back to peer into her desire-filled gaze.
God, he loved her.
The admission wasn’t a surprise. His leopard had known all along. It had just taken the man too long to see it.
His phone rang, drawing a growl from him and making Addyson laugh. He pulled the cell out and answered with a sharp, “Yeah.”
Blaine’s amusement filtered through the line. “Bad time?”
Keegan was not amused. “Speak.”
“Still barking orders like an Alpha.” Blaine’s voice faded a little as if he’d pulled the phone away from his face, and then Keegan heard Max’s voice right before Blaine came back to the phone. “Travis got a few replies to your broadcast.”
A thrill spiked through Keegan at the possibility that Onyx could finally get what they deserved. “No shit? How many?”
“Three other Elders stepped forward and await your appointments to the Council. I’ve called a meeting, and Alec is setting up a videoconference. Meet me at the office in five.” Blaine hung up, and Keegan met Addyson’s gaze.
Her expression told him she understood. He also knew she was still searching through her lost memories. He kissed her lips and asked, “Are you okay?”
She smiled again, but this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes, just worried.” She nibbled on her bottom lip and averted her gaze.
He gently took her chin and directed her gaze back to his. “This is a good thing for all breeds of shifters. We may not be able to completely stop Onyx, but we will definitely leave a message that we aren’t sitting back waiting anymore.”
She relaxed a little and pushed off his lap. “I know. It’s a positive step that the den and other Packs need right now.”
God, he loved her. His strong, submissive, beautiful snow leopard.
He stood and pulled her to him. “What will you do while I’m gone?”
She nipped at his chin playfully. “I thought I’d go to the nursery and talk with Rhea and visit with the kids. Without my gloves.”
His chest filled with pride for her. “Going to work on building your shields?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
He smiled. “Be careful. Those kids know how to put spells on you that will make you do anything they want.”
Laughing, she slapped at his chest. “They only do that with you.”
He kissed her forehead and stepped away. “I’ll see you tonight.”
A shy smile crossed her face. “I’m looking forward to it.”
****
Five minutes later, Keegan sat to the right of Blaine at the large conference table with Jared and Kieran looking at the three Elders that had joined the meeting via video feed, two males and one female, each from a different Pack and each a different breed of shifter. Keegan had worked with each of them over the years.
What surprised him was the bear, Donovan Parker. Bears tended to stay to themselves and almost never got involved in Council business.
Donovan was a large biker type. He had long blond hair that hung loose around his shoulder and a full beard that extended about four inches below his chin.
Keegan nodded. “Donovan.”
The bear sat back in his chair and gave a short nod. “It’s good to see you again, Keegan.”
Keegan focused on the other male, a puma and ex-Alpha of Crimson Stone—the puma Pack about fifty miles south of Ashwood Falls. “Ryker.”
Ryker Stone was the typical alpha male with light brown hair and dimpled cheeks. He looked much too young by human standard to buy alcohol despite being over six hundred years old. He only stood about five nine, but carried a power inside him that rivaled most Alphas Keegan knew. He was forced into the position by his father, right before his father died. Since he was the only child of the Alpha pair, he couldn’t refuse the power transfer. As Keegan understands it, the Alpha magick won’t go to anyone outside the Alpha family as long as there’s a blood relative alive.
The puma nodded his greeting, and Keegan moved to the third Elder, Micaela Callahan. She was the retired Marshal of the tiger Pack in the mountains of Virginia. Tall and exotic, she had straight black hair and dark brown eyes.
Micaela didn’t waste time with niceties. She cut right to the point of the meeting and threw in her bid. “I want to see the Onyx Pack go down, and I’m happy to serv
e on the Council to see that happen.”
“The tigress has claws.” Donovan chuckled.
Micaela just shrugged and replied, “I’m not afraid to use them, bear.”
Before Donovan had a chance to bite out a retort, Blaine cut in. “We’re here for a reason. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop wasting my time and get this done so I can go back to my mates and kids.”
Micaela’s lips twitched in amusement. “Keegan, your son hasn’t fallen far from the tree.” When Blaine let a growl in warning, she rolled her eyes and continued. “I accept the invitation to take a seat on the Council of Elders. I vow to cast judgment fairly and in the best interest of all shifter Packs under our jurisdiction.”
One by one, the other two males, Kieran, and Keegan spoke their vows similar to Micaela’s. When finished, Keegan nodded to Jared, and the jaguar signed as a witness on the contract he’d drafted earlier that would legally bond the five of them together as the Council of the Elders.
Blaine met Luna’s eye for a brief moment then addressed the group. “Jared found a clause in the law that provides the loophole we need to go after Felix and his followers.”
Ryker, Donovan, and Micaela sat up straighter in their chairs, interest and eagerness crossing their faces.
Jared spoke up to explain the clause. “It says if an Alpha has directly or indirectly attacked another Alpha, the Council can vote on a punishment.”
Micaela grinned. “Well then. Let’s go get the bastard and put him down.”
Ryker and Donovan chimed in at the same time with their support. Keegan didn’t have to ask what Felix had done to them. He knew. Each of their Packs had been attacked much like Ashwood and MoonRiver was. Lives of people they loved and protected had been lost to the greed of an insane, power-hungry leopard.
Ryker growled. “I vote to go bring him in for a very public trial.”
Donovan nodded. “I second that.”
Keegan raised a brow to Micaela, and she let out a breath. “I’d rather kill him on the spot, but, yes, we need to bring him in for trail.”
Kieran raised his hand, putting in his vote. Keegan closed the meeting after putting in his vote and sharing the plan to go into the Onyx den to arrest Felix and his Marshals. The mutants weren’t considered “natural born shifters” under law and, therefore, were not protected by it.
They would die on spot.
Chapter Seventeen
Keegan, with Kieran on one side and Hayden on the other, came to a stop at the wards surrounding what Kieran said was the Onyx’s land. Keegan clenched his jaw, not believing just how close the rogues were to his home.
Kieran said the den was inside the mountain they now stood on, and in order to get inside, they had to take a very steep and narrow path down a ravine. It wasn’t the only entrance, but it was the only one that enabled them to get around the wards with enough time to get inside the den.
Keegan started down the path first against Hayden’s request to let him test the ground. Hayden’s growl and the sounds of his footsteps on his heels amused Keegan. When would the wolf Marshal learn? Keegan hadn’t followed his or Blaine’s advice on safety when he was Alpha, and he damn sure wasn’t going to do it as an Elder either.
Once at the bottom of the ravine, Keegan scanned the area and waited for Felix’s soldiers and mutants to charge them. No one jumped out at them. Hayden and Kieran stepped up next to him. “Everything is too quiet.”
Kieran marched forward, forcing Keegan and Hayden to follow. “Yeah. Something is up.”
“Keegan.” Travis’s voice entered his mind. The tracker had taken a small team to the main entrance of the den. “This feels like a trap to me. I think he’s been tipped off.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Keegan replied back telepathically then focused on Kieran. “How much do you trust Sable?”
Kieran’s mouth thinned. “For her sake, I hope she hasn’t betrayed me or Ana. But I trust my gut, and she’s against her father’s twisted mission as much as we are.”
Keegan wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know Sable and had never come into connect with her. He did know, however, that she was Jared’s mate. Keegan hoped for Jared’s sake that Sable really was on the right team.
“Keep your eyes and ears open. We’re not as alone as it appears.” Keegan moved toward an opening in the mountain wall. He entered into a tunnel. He blinked several times to allow his eyes to adjust to the lack of light as he proceeded down the tunnel and toward the low hum of other people’s thoughts.
Several feet inside, Keegan saw a dim light ahead, stopped, and held a hand up. Kieran and Hayden stopped beside him.
“What is it?” Hayden asked.
Keegan listened. The hum he’d thought was the side effect of his telepathic gift was all wrong. The sound was more like soft mutters, and they were not in his head. “This is definitely a setup.”
Kieran sniffed the air and growled. “The mountain is rigged to blow.”
The three of them turned to the exit of the tunnel just as an explosion went off, shaking the mountain. Keegan hit the floor and cover his head. Rock and dirt caved in around them. When the dust cleared, Keegan stood and cursed. The entrance to the tunnel was blocked, forcing them to go farther inside the den.
“Trapped like rats,” Hayden growled out.
Kieran pushed at them to move. “Keep going. Our only way out is up.”
They ran up the tunnel until it split into two sections. Kieran pointed. “Go right.”
Keegan didn’t hesitate. He rushed right and ran into dead end. “What the fuck, Kieran?”
Kieran turned on his phone to light up the space and point it to the wall. He fingered a few bricks, and a door opened. Light spilled out into the tunnel, and Keegan could tell the room was a bedroom.
Keegan followed Kieran inside with Hayden close behind. That was when he noticed the room was the Alpha’s chambers. Yet, he didn’t scent Felix within.
As if knowing what he was thinking, Kieran said, “This was Sable’s apartment. Felix thought he was too good to stay here with the soldiers so close by.”
Keegan nodded. It sounded like the arrogant ass. “Or he didn’t want anyone knowing what his plans were.” Felix trusted no one. Not even his Marshal and enforcers.
Another explosion sounded off from somewhere inside the den. The ground shook, throwing Keegan and the other two males off balance.
“There must be charges all over the den,” Hayden said.
Keegan agreed. “And they are most likely set to go off one by one until the mountain caves in.”
Keegan rushed through the apartment and out into a hallway. “Which way, Kieran?”
Kieran pushed past and lead them down the hall then turned left to a large community center. It reminded him of an indoor courtyard much like the one Ashwood had in the center of the den. Kieran pointed straight ahead, and Keegan smiled.
Large double doors marked the den’s main entrance. They took a step toward them then stopped as four very large half-man, half-wolf mutants stepped in their path.
Hayden growled. “Looks like the gatekeepers have arrived.”
Keegan sent out a mental call to Travis. “We’re at the front exit and need backup.”
The mutants charged them. Keegan ducked a blow and kicked out a leg to trip the half-wolf. The creature stumbled, giving Keegan the time he needed to draw his gun and fire.
“They aren’t as fast as we are. Use your speed,” he called out to the others.
The next instant Keegan was hit in the side by another mutant. They fell to the floor and slid until Keegan’s back slammed against the rock wall. Pain shot up his spine, and he gritted his teeth and tried to breathe through it. He met the fierce stare of the creature now holding him by the neck and reached inside his mind with his own.
; Keegan used the healing side of his telepathy to alter the mutant’s thought patterns. He wasn’t sure it’d work. It was a little like mindbending, except, when Keegan did it, he was left drained. A side effect he’d gladly submit to if it meant saving his Pack mates from blowing up along with this damned mountain.
He knew the moment he had control over the mutant’s mind. His blank stare became that of recognition. For a split moment, Keegan saw who the man had been before becoming the creature stuck in mid-shift. A human male fugitive on the run from the law.
Well, at least Keegan would be doing both worlds a favor.
“Attack the other mutants.”
The creature tilted his head then released Keegan’s neck. Keegan slid to the ground, and his legs and arms felt useless. Keegan watched as the mutant grabbed another one and tossed him across the room then attacked the other one.
Kieran and Hayden looked stunned and a little confused. They turned to Keegan just as the front doors blew open and Travis, with his team of sentries, stormed in.
Hayden was the first to reach Keegan. “What the hell happened?”
“I…took control of…his mind,” Keegan spoke through gulps of air. Fuck. That had taken more out of him than he expected. “Have to go. Bombs.”
Hayden wrapped an arm around his waist, placed his shoulder under Keegan’s arm, and lifted him up. “Everyone out. The place is rigged to blow.”
Everything started to grow dark, but Keegan fought to stay alert, to make sure his males got out safely. He was losing the battle as the last of his energy left his body and his mind shut down in exhaustion.
Chapter Eighteen
Keegan opened his eyes unsure where he was and what had woken him. After scanning the room, he relaxed and smiled. Addyson’s room. It was the only thing that made sense. Her scent was everywhere, and the cloak she wore in public was draped over the chair next to the dresser.