Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  Dante looked her over a long moment.

  “Lazarus can go with her,” Angel volunteered.

  He shot River a firm look. “All right, but stay with Lazarus.”

  River nodded. “Yes, brother.” And they rushed off to see where they were needed most.

  Master Gaston appeared and glared out at the destruction. “They killed many today, several alpha and alpha born.”

  “Were they targeting alpha born?” Odin asked. “Is there a way to tell?”

  Dante shook his head. “A pack alpha would know. The sense of them is stronger, but they don’t smell any different than any other pack member. You can tell pack by scent, but not alpha born, usually.”

  “So an alpha would have had to be close to pick out any alpha born.”

  “This is a pack gathering, Odin. Seventy-five percent of those here are alpha born. Point a finger and you’ll land on one.”

  “And your pack gatherings are always this heavy in alpha born?” Odin asked.

  “How else are we to teach our successors and find them mates?” Angel asked and shot Odin a dark look. “Our problems usually aren’t going to try to attack a gathering filled with alpha and heavies.”

  “So now this is my problem alone?”

  “Stop!” Dante snapped, shutting them both up before it could get out of hand. “This is a joint problem, isn’t it, Master Angel?” Dante asked, using a much more formal tone to remind him of what they were trying to do here before the attack.

  Angel glared and took a deep breath. “Of course, Master Dante.” He took several more breaths and seemed to relax some. “Let’s see what we can do to clean up.”

  Hearing about the deaths and seeing them were not the same. The cries of mourning packs rolled over the hills in the night, and the deep bass of rage-filled snarls vibrated in his chest.

  They wanted blood. He wanted blood for them.

  He tried not to think about it, but as he watched a brother lay his brother on a growing pile to be burned, he winced. At one time he had wondered if August could be saved, but every time he turned around, it seemed more and more impossible. His twin had never had someone like Victor to show him a better way. August went from one madness to another; it was all he ever knew. Dante often wondered what would have happened if he had refused that one command Caster gave them that day. Or maybe if he just finished the job and killed August while they were still cubs.

  He pulled himself out of his thoughts and started to help rebuild tents and stack the hybrids to be burned. A few younger heavies were pissing on the pile in contempt. He left them to it.

  Things finally settled, and Trevor handed him a scotch. He wasn’t exactly sure where it came from, but he plopped down by the fire near his tent and sipped his drink. Evan lay curled at his feet as beast, and he reached down and stroked his brother’s fur as he watched the flames dance.

  Odin crouched down beside him with a drink of his own, and they sat staring into the flames.

  “We will find them and kill them,” Odin said.

  “Yes,” Dante agreed and sipped his drink.

  The alphas grouped together outside around the bonfire as dawn’s twilight crept through the sky. Angry and pain-stricken faces gathered close, their bare skin still stained with blood from the wounds of battle.

  Angel spoke up, his shoulder bandaged and eyes dark with menace. “If there was any doubt before, there is none now. This alpha must be killed and the Nephilim bitch burned and scattered.”

  There was a riot of growls and snarls of agreement, and Odin raised his hand to settle them. “We all want the same thing. Many lives have been lost this week. Your people and mine. If we work together, we can find them and put an end to this for good.”

  Murmurs of cautious agreement rippled over the crowd.

  “I know trust is an issue on both sides,” Odin said. “But many of you have seen my work to keep the treaty between us. And now I give you people who are willing to help hunt for Eveline and her alpha.” He motioned to Morgana, Enoch, Tobin, Baardsen, and Bauninsheg standing around him. “Together we can make sure something like this doesn’t happen again, and if it does, we will fight it together.”

  Gaston spoke up from one of the French packs. “Putting too much faith in the Nephilim is dangerous. If they grow too powerful, who’s to say we won’t be fighting for our freedom once again when this is all over?”

  “Things were fine before this,” Odin said. “We have kept our peace, left your people be, and any breaches have always been addressed, no matter how small. I have made it my business to keep the peace between us, as some of you can attest when blooding issues have come up.” He looked the crowd over with a sympathetic eye. “We are not your enemies. What harm is there in working together?”

  Dante scanned the crowd. Many were tired and battle sore, but most were nodding agreement. He sighed with relief, and after some final preparations and making sure River stayed with Lazarus while he was gone, he and a few other alphas took Odin and his group back to their vehicles they’d left at the café.

  “That went both better and far worse than I expected,” Odin said with a tired sigh.

  Dante grunted. “You need to set something up here in Europe. The nest could be here.”

  “I’ve made arrangements to speak with several alpha regularly, but I’ll leave one of my children here with Bauninsheg. I’ll be back in the States in a couple of days. I think it’s there.”

  So did Dante. It was there somewhere. He was almost sure of it.

  “Call me when you get in. We’ll be leaving for home tomorrow, probably. We need to talk about that issue you had when we arrived.”

  Odin hesitated. “Yes, well, you won’t be happy.”

  Dante glanced around to make sure they were well out of earshot. “Did you kill someone?”

  He cleared his throat. “We’ll discuss it in the States.”

  Dante winced and rubbed his forehead. It was probably best if he didn’t know, and right now, he really didn’t want to. “Fine.” He turned on his heels to leave. “Call me. Don’t make me hunt you.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  RIVER FELT Lazarus hover at her elbow as the vehicles disappeared down the dusty street toward the highway. “Do you think we can really make something work with the Nephilim?” she asked him.

  Lazarus hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps. There’s a great deal of distrust among the clans and packs, but I don’t believe your alpha or mine would allow anything to happen while they still breathed.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him. He was a lean man and very tall. Since he was with pack, he didn’t bother with sunglasses. His eyes were a bright golden yellow from his first shift gone bad. The very thought of something like that happening was terrifying. It was extremely rare but still a scary thought.

  “Are you with me because Dante doesn’t trust the packs here or he’s afraid of another attack?” River asked.

  “Both, I would think.”

  She turned back to look at the pack house and walked with Lazarus to the tents.

  “How did you know the hybrids were coming?” Lazarus asked.

  She flushed and stared down at the ground. “I was… scanning the crowd for trouble. Dante gave me a little boost, and I stretched a bit and found them.”

  “How did you know it was them?”

  River shivered. “I’d felt them before. They were with Caster.”

  Lazarus winced. “I’m sorry. I forgot.” He hesitated a moment and cleared his throat. “I’m very glad you became Master Dante’s sister.”

  She smiled. “Me too.”

  The young alpha female Jutta, from one of the German packs, joined her. During the entire visit, River had found the female annoying and demanding.

  “These darklings, do you trust them?” Jutta asked, not bothering with even the barest of greetings.

  River hesitated. “Trust them? That’s a lot to ask, but… the one my brother speaks with seems to be hone
st and did solve a problem for us once.”

  “What was this problem?”

  River looked her over. “A personal problem.”

  “Is there debt involved?”

  “My brother owes the darkling nothing,” River said. “We do not grow debts with their kind.”

  Jutta nodded. “This is good. We wonder since there is much talk of working with them. We do not trust them.”

  “No one said you had to trust them, but the enemy who attacks us both is very strong. Cooperation is not trust,” River said. “My brother doesn’t want to stay here and be in the middle. We have homes and our own people to worry about. What you do is up to you, but not working together and at least sharing information endangers everyone. We need to find and kill the nest. The darklings have history with this Sleeper of theirs, information to understand the enemy better. Use what they have.”

  Jutta nodded. “And maybe we get more information, and when this is over, we will kill all the darklings and be rid of their kind for good.”

  River stared at her. “Genocide?”

  Jutta shrugged. “No more fear of slavery, no more hybrids. Two bad things gone with one act.”

  “That’s wrong.”

  “You like these darklings?”

  “No!” River gasped. Odin and his son were possible exceptions. Mostly they kind of gave her the creeps. Especially the childlike one.

  “Then what care do you have what happens after?” Jutta smiled at her. “We will get what we can from these creatures, and after we kill this nest, we will see what can happen next.”

  River felt sick to her stomach as Jutta rushed off to help with something concerning her pack. She turned to look at Lazarus. “I think I messed up.”

  Lazarus smirked. “They are German. They don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.”

  “Everyone matters, Lazarus. Especially now. Bad ideas like that can be contagious.”

  “Maybe, but if the clans and packs work well together, bad ideas like that become more and more ridiculous. Come on, it’s almost time for our patrol.”

  River followed Lazarus into the tall grass and crouched to shift. She was glad to get a break from the memories of chaos, even for a short while. She needed to be away from everyone and running made her feel good and alive. They ran, passing an intersecting patrol, and wove in and out of the pack boundaries. Their relief met them a few hours later, and she raced off ahead of Lazarus, trying to get him to play a bit.

  They scrambled in the grass and chased each other. River grinned and dashed out of his reach around a tree. His paw caught her hindquarters, and she tumbled to the ground. He pounced before she could scramble to her feet and trapped her under him.

  She stared up at him. He stared back at her with his golden eyes. He was touching her, paws pinning her tight to the ground by her shoulders. Her heart raced. She had never had anyone but pack touch her since she became pack. It just wasn’t done. Lazarus scrambled away quickly once he realized what he’d done and shifted back to true form. River shifted as well, and they started to walk back to the gathering in silence.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking. Forgive me,” Lazarus said softly. He cleared his throat and frowned at the ground. “I’ll inform your brother of my misstep the moment he returns.”

  “I don’t think that’s necessary. It was my fault as much as yours.”

  “I doubt your brother will see it that way.”

  River brushed a strand of hair from her face and pinned it behind her ear. “But… I didn’t mind.”

  Lazarus looked her over nervously. “No?”

  River shook her head. “No.”

  A ghost of a smile touched his lips, and River felt herself flush as she looked away. She could feel Dante growing closer and led them back toward their tents so she could check on Evan.

  Dawn was breaking over the horizon, and most people were going to bed or starting to leave, and she could feel the ache of exhaustion starting to form between her shoulder blades, but didn’t want to go to bed until Dante got back.

  “When I was young, I wanted to be pack so bad,” she whispered to Lazarus. “I thought, ‘No one ever hurt the packs.’ Not hunters, not strays, the packs were invincible. Even the darklings stayed away, for the most part. But that’s not true.”

  “It might have been true once,” Lazarus said. “Maybe it will be again.” He leaned in a little closer. “Is there anything you miss about being beyond the pack?”

  River shook her head. “Not really, no. I was terribly lonely before. I didn’t realize how lonely until I wasn’t anymore. I’m not like others. I always needed someone.”

  “You’re alpha, of course you did,” Lazarus said. “An alpha needs a pack just as much as a pack needs an alpha. We aren’t like any other creature in that way. We’re only strong if we have each other.”

  Lazarus stiffened beside her suddenly and turned around. She followed his gaze to see Angel watching them from the front of his tent before turning and disappearing inside.

  “Is your alpha upset?” River asked.

  Lazarus hesitated. “I’m not entirely sure. Can you sit here a moment alone?”

  River smiled. “You’re well within shouting distance.”

  “If you need to shout, I’m not doing my job. I’ll be right back.”

  LAZARUS HESITATED as he stepped up to the tent and went inside. He kept the door flap open a couple of inches so he could see River by the fire. The sense from his alpha was strange and left him a bit worried.

  “Did I do something wrong, brother?” Lazarus asked.

  Angel stood with his back to him, sorting through some of his luggage. He let out a small sigh and shook his head. “No. I’m just worried.” Angel turned to face him. His brows were furrowed, and his dark eyes gleamed with concern.

  “About what?”

  “About you, brother. That female is not for you. It might be best not to get too attached.”

  “I have rank. I’ve been your top heavy for a decade. That’s far better than most.”

  Angel smiled and nodded. “And if you find a female that you want to settle with, I will try to make sure that happens, but it can’t be her.”

  “And why not?”

  “Because Dante will never allow it.”

  “It isn’t Dante’s place. It is her sister’s—”

  “If you think Ivory runs anything with any amount of weight in that Pack, you haven’t been paying attention. Ivory has never been an active alpha, and I highly doubt that’s changed,” Angel said. “What do you see when you look at that girl, Lazarus?”

  Lazarus hesitated. “She’s pretty and smart, very smart. Strong too. I saw her fight well.”

  “Yes, brother, all of those, and she is alpha. She is not an alpha like Ivory. Dante’s not teaching her to be. He wants her to have the very best, and that is a pack of her own, not as someone’s second. With you she will never have that. I have an heir in my son, you are not alpha, and that is the only reason why Dante would never allow it.”

  Lazarus winced and glanced through the slit in the tent at River. The morning light glinted off her auburn hair like blooded flames.

  “I’m sorry, Lazarus. I wish it were different, but can you blame Dante for wanting the best for her?”

  “No. You’re right, he’s right. Those are the things she should have.”

  “You can enjoy your time with her, just… don’t let your heart fall.”

  Lazarus snuffed the sudden ache of disappointment that washed over him. He was not going to try for something he couldn’t have. “I am not the type of male to play games, Angel.”

  “Then you know what to do,” Angel said softly.

  Lazarus nodded. “Yes.”

  He returned to River’s side, keeping much more distance between them. When Dante returned in the morning, he returned her to his side and didn’t look back. He was glad they didn’t have much time to talk the next day as they traveled home. Or maybe he wasn’t. B
ut it was for the best, and that was all that mattered.

  17. Mistress’s Plan

  THE COUNTLESS tasks of running a main nest demanded his attention, but the Mistress was enjoying herself too much at the moment to let him return to them. There was so much to do here and so little time to get it done. He had strays to give tasks to, hidden hybrid clutches he needed to make sure were prepared, darklings to debrief, and preparations of other nests to attend to. Some days it seemed like he would never rest.

  August watched as his mistress laughed happily at the video footage of the attack on the clan and gathering. She looked so young and innocent at that moment. Unfortunately he was about to change all that.

  “So we did as you said,” August said softly.

  “This was too brilliant.” She ignored him, her eyes locked on the computer in front of her. Her long black hair fell in graceful waves down her shoulder, and her pale-blue eyes grew black with emotion.

  August said nothing. “Brilliant” would have been wiping both groups off the face of the Earth, but she refused to give him the numbers to do it.

  “Oh! Show me how to view that bit again. That was fantastic!” she said.

  August moved to her side and rewound a bit of the video for her.

  She giggled happily. “Next time you must add sound to this. Look at him die! So pathetic, I think he’s weeping.” She giggled again and grinned at the screen. “You did well, August.”

  August frowned. He still had a bit of news he hadn’t told her yet.

  He cleared his throat, trying to think of the best way to break the news to her. “Odin wasn’t killed before the clans met in England.”

  She smirked. “Of course he wasn’t. Odin is almost as old as I am. If he had been killed by a small group of shifters, I’d have been very disappointed in him.”

  “Then why did you want him attacked?”

  “Suspicion is a wonderful thing, and Odin is suspicious of almost everything. It comes from centuries of people wanting him dead.” She grinned again at the screen. “I do love these new technologies. They’re amazing. Humans are finally good for something after all.” She pulled her gaze away from the computer. “Did you find the runaway?”