by Michelle Fox
"Are you gonna take off your clothes and just have at it here, or what?" someone asked.
"Shut your traps." Tillie wagged a finger at the pack.
The ribald laughter from the rest of Ryder's pack finally cut through the haze of passion that had overtaken them. Ryder broke contact first while Lia blinked at the crowd around them, slow to realize the show they'd put on for everyone. The world had narrowed until only she and Ryder existed. Nothing else mattered.
"Sorry. I just thought I was going to lose you and my sister. When I saw you standing there still alive," she glanced at his many wounds and bruises, gingerly pressing a finger over a cut on his temple, "although a bit worse for the wear, I lost my mind a little, I guess."
Ryder hugged her close, burying his nose in the nape of her neck and inhaling deeply. "Don't be sorry. I couldn't believe it was you until you kissed me. I thought my head had taken one hit too many and I was seeing what I wanted, not what was real."
"I'm real, and I'm glad you wanted to see me." She snuggled into him to prove her point, giving a slow smile when she felt his response to her. Ryder was hard as a rock. If only they were alone, she'd take him into the woods and...her brain stuttered as desire short-circuited her system.
"The first chance I get, I'm going to take you somewhere quiet and make you scream," Ryder whispered in her ear, his voice low and growly.
"That sounds heavenly." She arched into him, trying to get even closer. Her nipples had pebbled inside her bra as his voice worked its way through her body. She loved the smooth tenor of his voice and the lower raspy note that raked over her skin until goose bumps rose up.
"Sorry to interrupt, but you're Ryder Chase, correct?" The woman stepped forward.
Ryder kept Lia close, but turned to nod at the woman. "Yes."
"And that's your alpha Mason Claw?" She pointed to the alpha's body.
"Yeah. Sorry. I...ah...seem to have killed him."
"Not a problem. The Pack Council wasn't going to let him live. Not with what he was doing." She nodded to the wolves flanking her on either side. "We'll be taking his seconds into custody as well. They'll be put on trial and I don't expect them to fare any better than Mason would have. Your alpha was into some dirty shit and they helped him with it."
As she spoke, the wolves with her shifted back into their human forms and grabbed Mason's crew, forcing them to line up. If they protested, they got clobbered in the face with a fist. The Pack Council was not known for their light touch.
"What was he doing? I had no idea he was anything other than an asshole," Ryder said.
Dani gestured to Lia. "He's the reason her sister went missing. While you were out on the fight circuit, Mason built up a nice little shifter trafficking ring. He targeted addicts, people no one would miss, and sold them to—"
"Vampires," Lia finished for her.
"Right. Vampires."
"Well, damn." Ryder's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I didn't see that coming." He looked at what remained of his home pack. "Did you know?" Some appeared just as shocked by him at the news while others refused to meet his gaze.
"He sold me for a hundred thousand." Lia swallowed, feeling sick at the idea of being sold like so much meat. Catching sight of Mason's blood on the ground, she let her satisfaction with his death burn away the nausea.
Ryder's nostrils flared and pepper filled his scent. "I'd kill him again for that if I could."
Lia smiled at him, and then turned to Dani. "Why did he want addicts? And why vampires?"
"Addicts are easy to control and vampires are addictive. If you want a blood slave, there's nothing better than someone who can't function without you and doesn't even want to try."
Lia cast a pleading glance at Dani. "My sister. Mason sold her, too. You have to help me find her."
"We haven't found any of the shifters, not yet. We'd just identified the vamp that bought you. We knew Mason was trafficking, but we hadn't uncovered the full network, not even close."
"What does that mean? That you won't help me? That my sister doesn't matter?" Her voice caught on the last question.
"It means she could be anywhere," said Dani. "We don't know how to find her."
"No." Lia shook her head. "She's here somewhere."
"Baby, " Ryder said, rubbing her upper arm.
"She texted me, remember? She told me to come here to find her. So that means she's in this area. We just have to figure out where." Lia left Ryder's warm embrace and went over to the men who'd been taken into custody. "Tell me. You have to know something."
When they didn't respond, she stepped in close to one of the men, crowding into his personal space. He growled and snapped his teeth at her, but she didn't care. She snapped her teeth right back at him, fully capable in that moment of ripping his throat out. "Tell me or I'll—"
"Kill me?" The man spat the question at her. "I don't know nothing. I didn't see nothing. Fuck off, bitch."
Lia pulled back her fist, intent on smashing into the man's nose, but Ryder got there first. His fist came in from the side, connecting with the man's jaw and slamming his head sideways. The punch knocked the man out and he dropped to the ground like a stone.
Ryder stood over him. "No one talks to her like that. Understood?" He stared down the rest of his pack, holding his gaze steady until they looked away. "If anyone knows where Lia's sister is speak up or you don't just have to worry about being executed by the Pack Council, you'll have to worry about me. I'll challenge each of you to a death match for dishonoring my pack, and," he pitched his voice so low it rumbled like thunder, "I'll make it very slow and very painful. You'll go out screaming like a pussy in front of the entire shifter nation."
Mason's men shifted uneasily at Ryder's threat. Finally, one cleared his throat.
"Yes?" Ryder moved to stand in front of him.
"I don't know exactly where she is, but I know who might."
Ryder grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Who?"
The man's feet flailed in the air as Ryder twisted the shirt tight around his neck. "Xander."
"And who's that?" Ryder lifted him higher.
"The master vampire in this area." The man was gasping now as Ryder's grip ate into his ability to breathe. "No one with fangs makes a move without his blessing."
Ryder looked to Dani. "You ever hear of this vamp?"
She shook her head. "He's the master vampire. That's all I know. "
"Where do we find him?" Lia asked.
"He runs a strip club down in Hudson," said the man whose face had gone from deep red to almost purple. He could barely talk and had stopped moving, save for his eyes, which darted from Ryder to Lia and back again.
"Put him down," Lia said taking pity on the guy.
"Why? He showed me no mercy when they were using me as a punching bag to soften me up for Mason." Ryder gave the man a shake. "He helped hold me down while they pumped my veins full of silver water. Why should I show him any mercy?"
Lia looked around the parking lot of the Rowdy Howl. She saw fear and guarded wariness in people's eyes. She didn't know Mason all that well, but she could read the expectation of violence he'd brought to his pack and that didn't surprise her. Putting a hand on Ryder's shoulder she said, "Because you're not Mason."
"It would be a clean kill. He owes me that. They all do," Ryder ground out the words, his jaw tight.
"I know, but your pack doesn't need that."
"We need their testimony." Dani stepped forward. "I know they don't deserve it, but if we're going to break the blood slave ring, we need them."
Ryder went still, save for a vein throbbing in his neck, for a very long minute. Finally, he cast the man away, letting him drop to the ground. "It's my right to kill you, all of you, but I won't." He held up his fist. "If I change my mind, you'll be the first to know."
Turning his back on them, he went to his grandmother. "How are you feeling, grandma?"
Tillie smiled at him. "Proud. I fee
l proud. You're going to be a hell of an alpha." She held up her arms and they hugged.
"Peter." Ryder looked to a man standing in the crowd. "Make sure my grandma makes it home okay and that the healer checks her over, will you?"
"Sure, but where are you going to be?" Peter asked.
"This isn't over. Not yet," Ryder said. Without any further explanation, he spun on his heel and strode toward the Charger.
Lia hurried after him. "Where are you going?"
"Back to Hudson." He went for the car Lia had arrived in and slid into the driver's seat. "I want to talk to this Xander, don't you?"
"Yeah, but—"
He gave her a tired look. "But what?"
"Your pack? You're going to just leave?" She blinked as her brain brought up some memories. She'd seen an alpha challenge once. The winner hadn't run off with a girl he barely knew to find a vampire. "Don't they need you?"
"Yes, but if we've got a vampire who likes to use us as slaves, dealing with that threat has to come first."
Well, that made sense. Or at least as much sense as any of this could. She ran to the passenger side and got into the car.
Ryder gunned the motor. "And I don't know who I can and can't trust. If any of them are mixed up in selling shifters to vampires, I don't want them to know our next move. The less they know, the safer we are." He put the car in reverse, whipping it around and heading for the main road. "Besides, I wasn't exactly looking to become the alpha of my home pack."
Chapter Seventeen
Ryder gripped the steering wheel tight and took slow, deep breaths. His heart was still pounding from the fight with Mason and the way Lia had thrown herself into his arms. That last one made him happy, but he couldn't feel the full force of it—the violence and blood colored everything. And the silver still burning in his veins didn't help, either.
He needed to see a healer, but there wasn't time. The vampires would move the second they knew their slaving operation was compromised. The difference between a shifter and a vamp was shifters faced things head on. Vamps, however, just ran away. The second they knew they were in trouble, they would bolt into their hidey holes and good luck ever finding them again. Living forever meant vamps got really good at hiding. "Do you have my phone on you?"
She nodded and pulled it out of her pants pocket. "I managed to keep it with me."
He took the phone and dialed Talon. The sheriff answered on the first ring. "You okay, Ryder?"
"Yeah. For the most part."
"I heard you took out Mason."
Ryder raised his eyebrows. The grapevine was even faster than usual. Shifters never missed a thing, but there was usually more lag time than this. Tongues could only wag so fast. They must be moving at the speed of light for the sheriff to already have the scoop. "He thought he couldn't lose, but he was wrong."
"So now what? Aren't you alpha now?"
"I hope not." Ryder sighed, and gunned the sports car around a tight curve in the mountain road. "I don't know. I didn't stick around to figure it out."
"You don't run away, so what are you running to?"
"Mason was selling shifters to vampires as blood slaves. That's why Lia was at the Rowdy Howl. She was looking for her sister."
Talon gave a low whistle. "Well, shit between my paws. That's a new one."
"I take it you had no idea?"
"Nope. None. For being such a loudmouth, Mason kept this quiet."
"Supposedly we might get a lead on Lia's sister at some strip club run by a vamp named Xander."
There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Xander's my vamp liaison. He's approved by the Pack Council and gets the strays we've given up on."
"It seems the strays weren't enough. He found a way to get more."
"Damn. I always hated the guy, but when the Pack Council gives their blessing to someone, that's who you work with."
"Where's his club at?"
"Just outside Hudson at Main and route one-oh-six. I'll get my crew together and we'll meet you there. You shouldn't go in alone."
Thinking about the silver in his blood, Ryder couldn't help but agree. "I'm compromised."
"How?"
"Mason shot me up with silver water and had his men rough me up before the challenge."
"Dude, you need a healer."
"There's no time. If we don't move fast, the vamps will melt away and take their new blood slaves with them. Or didn't you know?"
"Know what?"
"The Pack Council is in town. They showed up right after I killed Mason."
"And they killed the vampire who bought me," Lia said, loud enough for Talon to hear. "They're going to notice he's missing sooner or later."
"So we have to do something before they know any of this," Ryder said.
"All right. I'll call the Huntsville healer and ask her to meet us at the club. We can take care of you and the vampires at the same time. Just hang back and let me take the lead. You're in no shape to lead the charge, okay?"
Ryder thought about arguing with the sheriff, but let it go. He would do whatever it took to take care of Lia and her family. Talon would just have to deal with it. "We'll see you in about fifteen minutes then." He hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket. "Hang on, baby. I'm going to go fast."
He shoved the gas pedal to the floor and zoomed down the mountain, his hands tight on the wheel. The sports car purred under his foot and caressed his palms with slight vibrations through the wheel. Everything he asked it to do, it did without hesitation. "This is a hell of a car," he said, wondering if he would be able to keep it.
"Seems expensive," Lia said.
"Well, that's how vamps roll. They live so long, they don't bother with anything cheap."
"How are you feeling?" she asked, giving him a concerned look. "Is the silver hurting you?"
"I'm okay. Really. Don't worry about me." He looked at himself in the rearview mirror and hoped the grey pallor to his skin wasn't as noticeable to Lia as it was to him.
"I can't help it," she said her voice soft. "You've been an obsession since I met you."
He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Aw, babe. Same here. It's going to be fine. We'll find your sister, and then you and I are going to indulge in our new mutual obsession."
"Do you think Tillie is okay?"
Ryder winced thinking of his grandmother back at the Rowdy Howl. "She's a tough old wolf. This isn't going to stop her." He refused to believe anything else. She would be fine. She had to be. He needed her just as much as he needed Lia.
***
The strip club parking lot was empty, save for a big van that turned out to hold Talon and his crew. At their arrival, the sheriff came out of the van, his team spilling out from the back slider door after him. He gave Ryder a grim nod.
Ryder whipped the sports car in the parking spot across from Talon and turned off the engine.
"This is it?" Lia twisted around to peer out the back window since he'd parked facing the street.
"Yeah. Looks like a dive, doesn't it?" He scanned the pre-fab aluminum exterior unimpressed. The building was better suited for a farm, not a strip club, but Hudson wasn't known for being fancy. Anyone who wanted upscale went to one of the bigger cities like Nashville. Although he did have to concede some effort had been put into the neon sign over the entrance. That much neon, forming the shape of a girl swinging around a pole, her legs splayed, had cost someone money.
"Ryder," Talon came over to them. "You ready for this?"
"Yep." Ryder stepped closer to Lia, forcing confidence into his posture. In truth, the silver was eating through his strength. He had no idea how he was still standing. It was one thing to get through the fight with Mason, but to keep going after that without falling flat on his face was a miracle. It must be an adrenaline surge. You're pumped like you used to get after big fights. Nice while it lasted, but he would flame out sooner or later.
The key was to find Lia's sister before later arrived. And, meanw
hile, he had to hide how his knees felt like rubber and his chest hurt from the strain the silver placed on his heart. He couldn't let on how much he was hurting. No way would he let Lia go without him. She was all he had and he would protect her with his life if necessary.
Talon turned toward the building. "It doesn't look like anyone is here, so it shouldn't be too bad."
"What do we do?" Lia asked, anxiety making her voice high-pitched.
Talon's hand went to the gun holstered at his waist."We walk in, find Xander, and ask him what he knows."
"Will that work?"
Talon lifted a shoulder. "I don't know, but I'm okay with making him talk if he plays coy. He's not exactly my favorite person."
Lia looked at Ryder. "What about the healer?"
"Marie's on her way." Talon pointed to Dixon who sat on the rear bumper of the van. The lanky tech guy had an automatic rifle slung across his back and was busy tapping his phone screen. "He'll be our lookout and let us know when she gets here."
"How are you feeling? Are you sure you're okay?" Her brows knit together as she studied Ryder's face.
"I'm fine," Ryder said. "But the faster we do this, the better for everyone." He bit the inside of his cheek as a wave of pain crashed over him. The silver just kept eating him and he knew it wouldn't stop until there was nothing left. Looking to the road, he wished the healer—whoever she was— would drive faster and be there already.
"I'll lead, you follow, my crew will watch our backs. Okay?" Talon asked.
"Got it. She stays with me though," Ryder said.
"Yeah, sure. I just want to keep you in one piece so the healer has something to fix." Talon gave Ryder a hard look. "I don't want you doing anything unless it's life or death. The harder and faster you go, the faster and harder the silver attacks you."
"Tell me about it," Ryder said. He wanted to rub his chest to try and ease the ache there, but he reached out and wrapped an arm around Lia instead. "But I'm good. I swear."