by L. L. Raand
“The nursery is not accessible from this area,” Sophia said reasonably, nearly dizzy with the rush of pheromones released by Niki’s touch. “When we know something, we’ll let the Alpha know.”
“The Alpha depends on me to protect the Pack,” Niki said, her voice and her eyes hard and unyielding. “You reminded me of that just today. I say they ought to be behind bars. Move them to the prison block.”
“We can’t right now. They’re too unstable. They’re unconscious—they can’t harm anyone.” Sophia ignored the tendrils of fear snaking through her depths. She had known this day would come, but she’d let herself forget. She’d let herself believe, for a few hours, that she and Niki could share what other Weres shared. She’d always known that wasn’t possible for her, but for Niki, she’d ignored her own defenses, and now, she was defenseless. But she would not abandon these girls, even if it cost her everything. “You should leave, Imperator. This is our job.”
“And mine is to protect the Pack.” Niki couldn’t think beyond the raging of her wolf and the rush of adrenaline warning her of a threat to all she loved. “Mutants do not belong here—how many times do we need to see them turn into mindless beasts before we learn that?”
Elena growled. “Niki, mind your—”
“Drake didn’t turn into a beast,” Sophia said calmly, beyond worry and fear now. The time for truth was long past. “And neither did I.”
Niki jerked. “What?”
“Neither did I, Niki,” Sophia repeated, her heart shattering at the flare of wrath rising in Niki’s eyes. “I was human once too.”
“No,” Niki roared. She rounded on Elena. “I remember when the Alpha brought her here with her parents. The Revniks are Weres.”
Elena shot Sophia a helpless glance.
“My adoptive parents,” Sophia said. “They rescued me when the Pack imperator wanted me killed. They sought sanctuary here, and Sylvan’s mother granted us asylum.”
“All this time?” Niki asked, dazed. “All this time and you’ve never—” She stiffened, fury burning through her disbelief. “Sylvan knows, doesn’t she?”
“Yes. Niki—” Sophia reached for her and Niki jerked away.
“You don’t want to touch me right now,” Niki said with deadly emphasis. She pointed at the sick girls. “If I see one of them outside this room, they die.”
Niki whipped around and wrenched the door open, nearly tearing it from its hinges.
Sophia pressed a hand to her stomach, wondering how she could still be alive when everything inside her was dying.
*
“What kind of assault on the Pack?” Sylvan asked Francesca, tightening her grip on the back of Drake’s neck. Her mate was on the verge of losing control. “When and where?”
Drake snarled. “Who? Who is planning to attack us?”
“Well, that’s the problem,” Francesca said quietly, crossing one leg over the other. She extended her arm and stroked the length of Michel’s outer thigh. Her senechal stood as if carved from marble, never taking her eyes off Drake. “I don’t know the details, only that something is planned and my assistance was requested.”
“To do what?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know that either.”
“What do you know?” Drake snapped, breaking away from Sylvan and striding over to Francesca. She towered over the seated Vampire, staring down at her as anger hardened the planes of her face. “You enjoy playing games, and I’m not in the mood tonight.”
“Step back,” Michel murmured, her body still as stone.
Sylvan rumbled a warning.
Francesca merely smiled, tilting her head ever so slightly to glance at Drake. “I know Sylvan has acquired some very powerful enemies in some very high places. Her intention to form an alliance with the human governments is seen as a betrayal of Praeterns.”
Sylvan said, “That’s certainly not the opinion of the other councilors on the Coalition or the Praeterns they rule. Zachary Gates is the leader of one of your most powerful Clans, and he supports both the Praetern union and the goals of the Coalition.”
“Zachary is a businessman before all else,” Francesca said with a shrug. “His primary investments are in the military-industrial complex, so of course he will ally himself with the human governments that provide so much of his business.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Sylvan asked. Francesca never did anything that didn’t ultimately benefit her. “Why ally with me if you don’t agree with me?”
“Sylvan,” Francesca said, sounding hurt. “You know I’ve always supported the Timberwolf Pack, and I’m so very fond of you.”
Drake snarled.
Michel slid in front of Francesca, nearly touching Drake. “You would do well not to threaten the Viceregal.”
Sylvan bounded forward, landing between them, forcing Michel to back up. “Threaten her again and I’ll tear you apart.”
Michel smiled. “I welcome your attempt.”
“It’s all right, darling.” Francesca gripped Michel’s hand. “Ordinarily I love a fight—especially when it’s over me—but now might not be the time. Drake—forgive me, the Prima—is just marking her territory.”
Sylvan sent Michel another warning glare and slung an arm around Drake’s waist. She wasn’t about to let her mate fight, but she wouldn’t stop her from stating her claim either.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Sylvan said. “Why are you telling us?”
“I was hoping if you realized how unpopular your position has become, you’d rethink it.”
“And if I change my mind, what exactly would you and your…allies like me to do?”
“Ultimately, we’d like to see the Coalition disbanded,” Francesca said. “We believe the cost of civil integration is too high and unnecessary. What we seek is sovereignty, the right to govern ourselves, separate from human law.”
“You want to live among humans but not be subject to human law?”
“We already are, darling—we have been for millennia.”
“The humans are not likely to accept that,” Sylvan said. “And until human law recognizes us, humans will not be dissuaded from attempting to exterminate us.”
“If we have our own army,” Francesca said softly, “they won’t dare.”
“You would go to war rather than negotiate?”
Francesca lifted a shoulder. “Some very powerful individuals would prefer just that.”
“Who?” Drake demanded. “Who came to you?”
“I hear a great many things from a great many sources,” Francesca said. “What matters is Praetern unity—together we are strongest.”
“Unity,” Drake said coldly. “Is that what you call sending your enforcer to help human monsters torture Weres in a secret lab?”
Francesca shook her head. “And this is why we need to work together. Michel wasn’t in that lab to harm anyone. When we heard rumors of its existence, naturally we wanted to learn more. If you hadn’t freed them, we would of course have notified you.”
“Of course,” Drake said.
Francesca rose and Michel stepped to her side. “I’ve come out of respect for our ancient alliances and to affirm our new ones. Please consider where your true loyalty lies, Sylvan, before it’s too late.”
Drake wrapped her arm around Sylvan’s waist and watched the Viceregal sweep from the room. “The next time she touches you, I’m going to tear her arm off.”
Sylvan caressed Drake’s neck. “She is very old and very powerful.”
“I don’t care. She might have enjoyed you once, but now you’re mine.”
“Yes,” Sylvan whispered, backing Drake against the desk. She scraped her canines down Drake’s throat, then licked her way back up until she reached her mouth. She kissed her, sucking the sweet tang of Drake’s pheromones from her tongue. She’d been waiting since they’d escaped the burning forest to taste her. “I’m your—”
The doors banged open and Niki lunged into the room, her e
yes wild. “You knew! You knew and you let her live like that! What kind of Alpha are you?”
Sylvan leapt before Niki could issue challenge. She caught Niki by the throat and took her down, clamping her thighs around Niki’s hips and her hand on Niki’s throat. “Another word and I’ll kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Sophia stared at the closed door, unable to feel the connection she’d had with Niki only moments before. Their nascent bond had snapped under the weight of Niki’s anger and loathing, leaving a cold void darker than her loneliest nights. She forced her gaze to the monitors next to her patient’s bed. The girl’s temperature was still elevated, but there was nothing more she could do. Waiting was all that remained. The fever would burn itself out or destroy her. “You don’t need me here right now. I’m going to go for a run.”
“She doesn’t mean it, you know,” Elena said quietly, her hand on the blonde’s wrist, her expression so tender Sophia ached to be in her arms, ached for the comfort of Pack. She had been Pack as long as she could remember—she’d awakened with Elena leaning over her and her mother and father crowding close to the small bed, touching her, soothing her. She’d awakened to warmth and love and belonging, and that hadn’t changed even when her parents had told her right before her first heat why she was different. They’d admitted they didn’t know what would happen if she consummated a mate bond, but they were scientists and they loved her. They told her the truth—her blood tested positive for Were fever antigens, even though she had no symptoms. Her blood profile was that of a carrier—but they couldn’t be sure if the disease was dormant, neutralized, or waiting for a new host. She still didn’t know, but she couldn’t take a chance. She’d rather leave the Pack than risk infecting a single Were.
“I won’t go far,” Sophia said, already halfway to the door.
Elena finished a note on the chart and hung the clipboard on the side of the bed. “They haven’t sounded the all clear yet. You shouldn’t—”
“The Alpha is back. The forest is filled with our sentries. I’ll be fine.”
“She doesn’t mean what you think,” Elena called after her.
“Of course she does. She’s always meant it.” Sophia slipped outside the sickroom and carefully closed the door behind her. By the time she reached the end of the hall and launched herself out the open window, she was in full pelt. She soared into the dark, welcoming the night as it closed around her. She landed lightly, silently, and streaked into the forest, alone as she had always been and would forever be.
*
Sylvan crouched over Niki, prepared for a fight. Niki smelled of fear and pain and fury. She hadn’t been this out of control when she’d mindlessly hungered for a Vampire’s bite. Instead of thrashing, Niki went limp beneath her, as if she were already dead. She didn’t submit, she simply surrendered. Frowning, Sylvan sat back on her haunches and released her grip on Niki’s throat. “What the hell are you doing?”
Niki’s chest heaved as if she had just finished a vigorous hunt. She was half-wolf already, her torso shimmering with red-gray pelt, her eyes elongated, her face sharp and dangerous. “You knew Sophia was mutia.”
Sylvan blew out a breath. “Yes.”
“You never said anything, even when you knew I wanted her. Even when she refused me over and over.”
“Sophia’s past is her own business.”
Niki shuddered under Sylvan’s weight, her canines gleaming. “No, it isn’t, not when it affects the Pack’s safety. Then it’s my business too. Or am I only your imperator when it suits you, to serve on my belly and accept your decisions even when you’re wrong?”
“Careful,” Sylvan growled. “I’ve already given you more leeway than you deserve.”
Niki lay completely still, offering no challenge. “I’ve always loved you.”
Sylvan glanced at Drake, expecting her mate to object, but Drake’s face was composed, her dark eyes concerned but calm.
“I know,” Sylvan said, easing over until she knelt by Niki’s side. Niki had no fight left. Drake crouched on Niki’s other side, resting one hand on Niki’s shoulder. “As I’ve loved you.”
Niki’s gaze was riveted to Sylvan. “You didn’t trust me. Sophia didn’t trust me. Everything I am means nothing without that.”
“This was never about you, Niki.” Sylvan gently cupped Niki’s cheek and stroked her fingertips over the sharp ridge of bone. “You are my friend, my general, my second. But every wolf in the Pack is mine to protect, including Sophia. Her secrets are her own.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?” Niki asked, her voice raw with pain and bewilderment.
Sylvan imagined how she’d feel if Drake kept something so important from her. She’d be furious and heartbroken, just like Niki. She would rage as Niki raged. “Sophia was just a child—four years old—when she was found wandering in the mountains in northern New Hampshire. She’d been attacked by a Were.”
Niki snarled. “In Blackpaw territory?”
“Yes. Her parents were presumed killed and Sophia left for dead. Their bodies were never found—her identity never discovered. She’d survived alone, racked with fever, until a scout team happened upon her. When she was brought before their Alpha, she was sentenced to death.”
“I would have recommended the same.” Niki’s gaze turned inward, agony slashing across her face. “I would have been wrong. She must have suffered so much and I—”
“Niki.” Drake stroked Niki’s hair. “You’re not responsible for what was done to her. Only what happens to her now.”
Niki growled and jerked away, refusing comfort and absolution. “I would’ve killed you too. I advised the Alpha to execute you. But she—she loved you too much.”
“Would you have me execute Sophia now?” Sylvan asked mildly.
Niki came off the floor with a savage growl and only Sylvan’s quick reflexes prevented Niki from burying her claws in Sylvan’s chest. Sylvan caught her from behind and clamped Niki’s arms to her side. She yanked Niki back against her. Niki thrashed, wild with fury, and Sylvan pressed her mouth to Niki’s ear. “You’re more important to me—to the Pack—than you know, Imperator. And what you feel for Sophia is more than you’ll admit. I value her as much as any wolf in my Pack. I would protect her with my life. Would you say the same?”
Niki panted, a tormented howl tearing from her chest. Sylvan relaxed her hold and Niki crumbled, barely catching herself on her outstretched hands. Head down, back bowed, she whispered, “I would die before I let anyone hurt her. Anyone, even you.”
“That’s as it should be with your mate.”
Niki jerked. “We’re not mated.”
Drake caressed her gently. “Aren’t you?”
Niki pushed up until she was kneeling, her hands limp at her sides. “She doesn’t want a mate. She—she doesn’t want me.”
“You know now why she fears the mating. We’ve never been sure how to interpret the tests, and Sophia cares more for you than her own needs.”
Niki frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Sylvan glanced at Drake. “She didn’t tell you everything, then.”
“Tell me now,” Niki’s growled. “As your friend, as the Were who loves her—tell me now.”
Sylvan glanced at Drake again, who nodded. “When the Revniks sought asylum with us, Sophia was close to death. She survived, and no one knew how or why. Her parents tested her repeatedly for the first few years after she appeared to have recovered, and every single time the tests indicated that she had Were fever.”
“But she was never sick again?” Niki asked.
Sylvan shook her head. “No. In fact, after the acute illness passed, she developed like any other young. Her adolescence progressed normally.”
“I don’t understand, then.”
“The Revniks’ interpretation is that Sophia is a carrier of Were fever.”
Niki jerked. “A carrier. Her bite is contagious?”
“We don’t know. It’s possible, alth
ough the scientific conclusion is far from certain. Sophia won’t take that chance.”
“That’s why she won’t mate. That’s why she won’t bite,” Niki said hollowly.
“Yes.”
Niki stared at Sylvan. “You’ve allowed her to live among your Pack, knowing she might spread the fever.”
Sylvan held Niki’s gaze, watching the excruciating battle play out across her face. “She is one of mine. I don’t execute my wolves because of needs or desires they cannot control. I judge my wolves by their actions. You should know that.”
Niki pushed to her feet, her eyes dull and empty. “I ask to be relieved of my duties as your—”
“No.” Sylvan bounded to her feet and gripped Niki’s nape. Drake was instantly by her side, a hand in the small of Sylvan’s back, centering her. “The Viceregal says there’s a campaign under way to weaken the Pack—we don’t know when or what form the attack will take, but we have to expect an assault at any time. I need you.”
“You have others who can serve you—others you trust.”
“I trust you,” Sylvan said. “I trust you to be more than you think you are. You have until dawn, then I need you by my side. Go and prove my faith in you.”
Niki shuddered, then ducked her head once, about-faced, and strode from the room.
“What do you think she’ll do?” Drake rubbed the knots of tension in Sylvan’s back.
“If she listens to her wolf, she’ll be fine. If she doesn’t, we could lose them both.”
*
In the rear of the limo, Michel stretched her arm out along the back of the soft leather seat and caressed Francesca’s shoulder. “What did you hope to accomplish tonight?”
Francesca slid closer and curled her fingers around the inside of Michel’s leg, the edge of her hand resting against the vee between her thighs. “I’m not certain that Nicholas’s scheming will be successful, and if he fails and Sylvan prevails, we do not want her as an enemy.”