Secrets [The Angel Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Maggie Walsh

  “You, too, Gabriel. I love you.” Taylor kissed him quick.

  “I love you, Micah. Come back to me,” Jesse said and kissed Micah.

  Raith hugged Aaron tight as he whispered in his ear, then kissed him quick and released him.

  “They’re coming. They just stepped out of the tree line,” Taylor said.

  Everyone looked at him in confusion. “If Taylor says they’re coming, then they’re coming, let’s go,” Gabriel said, and they all shifted and ran out the door. Jesse, Taylor, and Aaron disappeared down the stairs, closing the door behind them.

  * * * *

  The rogues were running at them fast, but froze when they saw the wolves. They were looking around at each wolf. They’re looking for Taylor, Gabriel said through the link so everyone could hear him.

  “They seem afraid. What did Taylor do?” Lexi asked through the link.

  “Not now. They’ve noticed Taylor’s not here. Let’s go, enforcers. It’s time to put all your training to use,” Micah said, and they all started prowling toward their enemy. Micah took lead, with Raith and Gabriel flanking him. Xander and Castiel went off to the right. Xavier and Crew went off to the left. Lexi and Christian took off in opposite directions around the outside, into the tree line, to try to come up behind them. They were the fastest and could get behind the enemy quickly. It looked like the rogues didn’t even see the move. Their eyes were all focused on one thing, Micah.

  “Protect Micah.” Gabriel heard Taylor say through the link. He looked at Micah and Raith and they nodded. They heard him, too. “They want the Alpha. If they can’t get the strange omega’s blood first, they want the Alpha’s. His blood is strong and powerful. Then they need to find the Alpha mate. They said…they said the true Alpha mate’s blood would double their strength if they killed and drained the Alpha first. Then they would get the omega and take him to keep as a blood bag, so they could keep drinking from him and stay strong. They’re about to strike.”

  They all heard Taylor through the link and focused all their attention on the enemy in front of them. They had to protect their Alpha, Alpha mate, and Taylor. The rogues came at them. Micah pounced and took out three of the rogues in the front. They went sailing through the air and lay unconscious. Micah quickly turned and snapped his powerful jaws down on a rogues arm and shook his head while biting down viciously. He ripped the rogue’s arm off and spit it out. As the rogue screamed in pain, Micah attacked again, locking his teeth around the rogue’s throat, ripping it out. The rogue went down.

  At the same time Micah attacked, the rest of the wolves attacked. Gabriel jumped on two of them, taking them down. He used the momentum to his advantage and locked his jaws around the throat of one of them. Raith jumped onto one of the bigger rogues and they hit the ground. The rogue grabbed onto Raith’s throat, squeezing tightly as he tried to avoid Raith’s powerful jaws.

  Three of the vamps attacked Cass and he went down. The four rolled around on the ground as Cass snapped his teeth at them and tried to avoid getting bit at the same time. One of the vamps latched onto his left leg and bit down. Cass howled from the pain. A big brown wolf came out of the tree line and latched onto the vamp biting Cass. It was Christian. He bit down on the vamp’s head and punctured his teeth through the vamp’s skull. He was on top of the rogue, clawing at him as he continued to crush his skull.

  Fifteen of the rogues were down, unconscious or dead. The rest were fighting, clawing and biting whatever they could reach. Micah was trying to fight off three of the crazed vamps, when another two came at him. Lexi came running through the trees and jumped on the backs of the two, taking them down. He clawed the face of one as he bit down on the shoulder of another. The shrill screams of the rogues hurt their sensitive wolf ears, but they kept going. Xander came limping over, a huge gash in his right leg that was pouring blood. He pounced onto one of the rogues fighting Micah, leaving Micah battling against two.

  A loud painful howl split through the night and everyone turned to see Xavier being taken down by five of the rogues. Micah turned to run to him and then froze. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The rogues on top of Xavier suddenly lifted off of him like they were floating. Everything went quiet. All the wolves and the vamps froze, and everyone stared in awe. The rogues on Xavier kept lifting higher and higher off the ground until they were about fifty feet in the air. The only sound was coming from the five floating, as they screamed and tried to fight the invisible force holding them. As if they were dropped out of a building, they just fell. Straight down, back to the earth. Their bodies hit with such force that everyone could hear the bones snap and shatter. The night was totally quiet. Not a sound could be heard, as if all the creatures in the forest were holding their breaths, too.

  Suddenly there was a movement from behind Micah as one of the rogues took advantage of the moment and he struck. The rogue jumped for Micah, his claws and teeth extended. Just as he was about to make contact with Micah, his body froze in the air in mid-leap. Micah spun around to come face to face with the floating vamp. Taylor, in his human form, stepped out of the shadows, his hands out in front of him, pointing at the rogue. His eyes were glowing blue. Sweat was pouring down his face and his body was shaking. The wolves immediately moved to surround Taylor, snarling and snapping at the remaining rogues. Micah struck out with his powerful claws and slashed the throat of the rogue in front of him. The rogue dropped to the ground dead. Micah turned to look at Taylor.

  “Get down…Now!” Taylor yelled, and all the wolves dropped to their stomachs. Taylor’s eyes suddenly went from glowing blue to a brilliant bright white light. They all had to squint against the brightness. The remaining rogues lifted their hands to shield their eyes. The same bright white light came from the palms of Taylor’s hands and he threw his head back and screamed. The light pushed out from his eyes and his palms and lit up the night like it was noon. The rogues all screamed and then they were gone. They burst into ash, even the dead and unconscious ones.

  The wolves all stared in shock as they watched the ash of their enemy softly glide to the ground. As one they all turned to face Taylor. He was now on his knees. His hands and head were on the ground and he was panting heavily. Gabriel shifted and went to his mate. He sat down next to Taylor as he scooped him up and put him in his lap, holding Taylor tight. The rest of the pack shifted back and all stared at Taylor in awe as they formed a circle around the pair on the ground.

  Taylor lay limp against Gabriel’s chest as his breathing started to return to normal. “I’m so tired, Gabriel.”

  “Sleep now, sweet baby. I’ve got you,” Gabriel whispered against the top of Taylor’s head, then kissed his head and held him tighter.

  Chapter 11

  “I don’t understand it either, Dante. I don’t have a clue where the hell they’re all coming from. If it wasn’t for Taylor we all would have been killed in our sleep,” Micah said into the phone. Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table. Jesse was sitting in Micah’s lap, while Taylor and Aaron were sitting in their mate’s laps. They had the phone in the middle of the table and it was on speaker phone. They had conferenced in Storm and Sebastian, and Dante.

  “I hate to tell you this, but you’re wolves, buddy, you would have smelled them long before they got to you.” Dante snickered.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. They had no scent. As we fought them, there was no scent. Nothing. Gabriel’s wolf sensed them at the stream but he couldn’t smell them. Taylor could see them and then he could hear them talking. But Gabe couldn’t. Something really strange it going on here and we need to find out what it is,” Micah said.

  “That’s the same problem we’ve been having here, Micah. We can’t smell them or see them until it’s too late. Most of the humans have left Napa and the F.B.I. have called in the National Guard. It’s all hush-hush though. Now six of the Guard have been found dead and drained, along with another eight of my pride members. I have started sending them away to other prides, until this is
under control, but they’re not happy. They don’t want to leave their homes, but it’s too dangerous here. I don’t know what to do. The Prince’s men have been a huge help. They’ve taken out about forty of them, but more keep coming,” Storm explained.

  “I was going to call the council, but I wanted to talk to you two first. I don’t know why, but my gut tells me not to tell them about Taylor’s abilities,” Micah said and gave Taylor a smile. Taylor winked at him and blew him a kiss. Micah chuckled.

  “Let me call my father. I won’t give him any more information than I have to. But I think something big is coming and we need to stick together. This new alliance we have with your pride, Storm, may be the example we need to set for the rest of the paranormal community. We all need to stop fighting each other and start banding together,” Dante said.

  “Okay, so you call your father. I’ll call the council, but we keep the information to a minimum. Storm, is there any way we could get you here for a meeting? I know it’s horrible timing and you need to be there to protect your pride, but I get the same feeling Dante has, something big is coming and we need to stand together and try to get more allies,” Micah said.

  “I wish I could, Micah. But it’s just too unstable here. Let me see if it’s possible and I’ll call you in a few days. But I do agree with both of you, we’re all family now and we need to stick together. I’ll do what I can on my end and I’ll let you know,” Storm answered.

  “Okay, how about two days? The three of us can have another conference call in two days and report what we know,” Micah said.

  They all agreed and hung up. Micah ran his hands down his face and sighed heavily. Jesse wrapped his arms around Micah and hugged him tight. “We’ll figure this out, love. You’re not alone. We have good allies and we’ll help each other.”

  Micah gave him a smile then leaned in and kissed Jesse on the lips. He pulled away and pressed their foreheads together. “Thank you, baby.”

  “We were holding our own out there, but we were getting tired. We would have lost that battle. Their strength was like nothing I ever saw or heard before for a rogue. If it wasn’t for Taylor disobeying Micah’s order, we all wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” Cass said, then gave his brother-in-law a smile. Taylor smiled back at him then lowered his head shyly.

  “You’re right. Although I’m not happy you disobeyed me, Taylor, and you left Jesse and Aaron unprotected, you saved all our asses out there,” Micah said.

  “I had to, Micah. I don’t know how to explain it to you, but I had to. I could see and hear everything that was happening. I don’t know how, but I could. Then I got this overwhelming sense of dread and death. I knew it was all of you I was feeling. I could feel that you all died and then this force pushed me to run to you.” Taylor tried to explain.

  “As soon as we were locked in that room, Taylor’s eyes turned white. Just white, and he was mumbling something. Then he started talking about death and blood. Lots of blood. He told us to stay put and lock the door behind him. We tried to stop him, but we couldn’t move. We were frozen. We could finally move when he closed the door. We locked it and waited,” Aaron explained.

  “I don’t even remember that. I just remember hearing the rogues talking about taking down the Alpha first, then the Alpha mate, and then me. I remember telling you through the link and the next thing I knew I was standing out in the field and I saw those five rogues jump on Xavier. I felt this heat inside me and then I was in Gabriel’s lap and I just wanted to sleep,” Taylor explained as he rested against Gabriel.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, or how you have omega powers, but I’m grateful. I know I was dead. I was hurting and bleeding and I didn’t have much strength left. There was no way I could fight off the five of them. Thank you, Taylor. I’ll never forget what you did for me, for all of us,” said Xavier.

  “You’re my family. And I’m one of you now. I will do whatever I can for all of you,” Taylor said with conviction.

  “Taylor, you have been a part of this pack and this family since the moment you first walked through that door.” Micah looked at him pointedly.

  “I know that now. Thank you everyone, for not giving up on me. For kicking my ass to help me. To save me. I love you guys,” Taylor said with tears in his eyes.

  “We love you, too, little buddy,” Lexi said, giving him a smile. “Hey, now that you’re all super omega, does that mean you won’t be the Taylor we have all come to love so much?”

  “No, I can still insult you with the best of ‘em. And still be my fabulous diva self as I do it. This body is too damn hot not to be fabulous,” Taylor said, laughing, as he ran his hands down his chest. Everyone laughed at his antics.

  “You have always been and will always be fabulous, Tay,” Jesse said, smiling at his best friend. Taylor blew him a kiss. “But how did this happen to Taylor? I still don’t understand. Micah, you said he’s not an omega, but he has the powers of an omega. What exactly is an omega?” Jesse asked.

  “An omega is a special wolf. There are only a few of them born every one hundred years. They are very rare. If a pack has an omega born into it, that pack is almost unstoppable. Its sole purpose is to strengthen the pack. Its powers develop as the omega gets older. And as their power grows, the Alpha’s power grows. We don’t start to get our powers till we hit three hundred. Once an Alpha gets his first power, it gets stronger with each passing year. Then every twenty years after that we get another power. If that Alpha has an omega, his power develops faster, and stronger. And he gets new powers quicker than twenty years. The omega protects the Alpha and guides him. They help the pack with anything they need, supports them emotionally and helps the pack as a whole become stronger,” Micah explained.

  “Talk about divas. They make even Taylor look like a Girl Scout,” Xander said in disgust.

  “They’re mean?” Jesse asked.

  “Yes, they think the moon was hung just for them. The omega in my birth pack walked around like a peacock, expecting everyone to wait on her every day and night. Even the Alpha fell all over himself to get on her good side. It was pathetic. She caused more trouble than she was worth. I heard of an omega once that took his power so seriously that he controlled the Alpha,” Xander said.

  “Their role isn’t supposed to be to control the pack or the Alpha. They are supposed to guide them, heal them inside and out and help them develop their powers as they grow. To bring a pack together, not pull them apart. But I’m kind of with Xavier on this one, I think they’re more trouble than they’re worth,” Christian said.

  “Do you feel that way about me now?” Taylor asked sadly.

  “Hell no, Taylor,” Christian said. “One, you’re not an omega, and two, even if you were, you’re not like any I have ever known or heard about. First of all, you’re kind and caring, and compassionate. You respect the mating bond and all the members of a pack. You want to help all of us, protect us, not just the Alpha.”

  “Yeah, my birth pack’s omega didn’t give a rat’s ass about the mating bond. She slept with everyone. She said it was how her powers made their powers stronger, through sex. But when one of the other females asked what about the females, she laughed and said that would make her gay, and they were to be killed. Homosexuals only made a pack weaker because they couldn’t have children to further the pack,” Xavier said in a cold voice.

  “Damn. I hope I never meet one of them,” Taylor huffed.

  “Omegas do make a pack’s powers stronger through sex, but that’s when the omega mates the Alpha. Then their combined powers go out through the pack, like the mind link. If an omega is the same sex as the Alpha, then they try to find another pack who has an omega, and see if they can swap. It’s strange but that’s what they do. My father had an omega birthed into the pack, but he didn’t want the omega. I don’t know why. So he made a deal with a neighboring pack and they got the omega and we got ten enforcers. From what I understand omega are supposed to be a good thing for a pack, but I keep he
aring nightmare stories about them. It’s not something I have even given much thought to because we’re gay, and I don’t think it’s in the cards for us,” Micah said and shrugged his shoulder.

  “So if Taylor isn’t an omega, but he has omega powers, does that mean he will make the pack stronger, too? Because I’m telling you all right now, my mate isn’t having sex with anyone but me.” Gabriel growled.

  “And we wouldn’t expect him to. Plus he’s already mated, we would never go against a mating,” Micah huffed.

  “Sorry, Micah,” Gabriel said then held onto Taylor tighter.

  “It’s okay, Gabe. And I don’t have a clue what caused this with Taylor or why, but I’m gonna start digging around. I’ll have to be very careful though, I don’t want anyone to know about Taylor’s abilities. If the wrong people find out, they could try to take him from us. And I don’t know if I trust the council either. So this stays with us. I will tell Dante everything though. We know he can be trusted and he’s our best ally. He’ll keep it quiet,” Micah stated.

  “Well, we’re not going to figure this out today, and I’m exhausted. My mate looks like he’s about to fall over after being up all night and attending to our wounds,” Raith said as he stood with a sleeping Aaron in his arms. “Goodnight, everyone,” Raith said as he carried his sleeping mate out of the room.

  “Goodnight, Raith. Okay, who’s got patrol?” Micah asked.

  “Christian and I,” Xander said. He and Christian stood up and walked out the back door.

  “I think we all need some sleep. We’ll talk again later,” Micah said and then stood up with Jesse wrapped around him. They left the kitchen and everyone else followed going off to their rooms.

  * * * *

  “How are you feeling, sweet baby?” Gabriel asked as he carried Taylor into their room, closing the door with his foot.