Nikki sighed. “You’re right. Against a man, I’m confident we can hold our own with our weapons. But we’re not ready to fight shifted male wolves. At a distance, we can use our weapons. Up close? That’s a problem, unless the men have been warned against killing women.”
Mikayla thought about all she’d heard of Ulric. “I seriously doubt that.”
Nikki nodded. “The vampires will be hard enough to fight, but at least they won’t have the advantage of four legs.”
“So, do we wait?” If they waited, they were pretty much assured of being able to hang onto their weapons and continue training for war with the vampires. In such a case, their help could be critical for the clan’s survival.
“I don’t like it,” Robyn said. “But we don’t even know if they need our help right now. Who knows how many men Ulric brought with him, or how many managed to make in inside our borders. I don’t think we can risk it for this. Not yet. We have to wait it out.”
“She’s right,” Nikki said.
“Wait and worry.” Mikayla didn’t like the fact that her loved ones could be out there dying and she wouldn’t even know it.
“It’s what the women usually do,” Nikki said.
“”I know, but…” Mikayla couldn’t commit to just staying holed up there indefinitely. “I say we wait…for a time. If no one sends up the all-clear after a while, I think we have to at least go out and see what’s going on. We can be careful and keep our weapons hidden, but we can’t just sit here indefinitely.”
Nikki and Robin exchanged a glance. “Agreed,” Nikki said.
Mikayla knew she’d never be able to sit still while they waited, so she took to pacing the floor. “We’ll give them an hour.”
* * * *
Mikayla had never considered an hour particularly long before, but this one had dragged on for what felt like days. At first, she made frequent trips to the window to look out for signs that the battle had made it so far into River’s Bend. She was both relieved and frustrated to see a whole lot of nothing happening out there. All she saw were clan members running past here and there, probably toward the borders of clan territory. The noise level helped confirm that the fighting hadn’t reached the general area. She did hear occasional howls and random calls for help, but if the battles were close by, she should be able to hear much more than that.
Nikki, Robyn, and Mikayla had split the list of females who’d been training with them, each woman contacting those on her list to tell them they’d sit this one out, fighting only in the direst of circumstances. Many of the women expressed as much restlessness and anxiety as Mikayla felt, but only a few argued against waiting. They all knew what was at stake should Zion and Grey learn what they’d been up to before the clan really needed their help, assuming both alphas still lived. The few desperate to get out there and fight right away eventually gave in to reason.
Of course, Mikayla had trouble holding onto that reason herself, and the moment she received the message that her brother had died in battle played on a loop in her head and gripped her belly in its tense fist. She told herself that fate hadn’t sent her mates only to rip them away so soon. She told herself that the three of them would grow old together, adding many pups to the Liekos Clan. The problem was, she couldn’t quite believe it. She was claimed and in love—finally. That other size-thirteen shoe had to drop.
Eventually, she stopped making trips to the window and took up permanent residence there, her face practically pressed up against the glass. When Nikki finally said, “It’s time,” she almost screamed with relief.
Mikayla grabbed her bow, which would be difficult to conceal, then shook her head, opting for a small spear thrower instead. Handmade, it could resemble a large, abnormally thick stick from a distance. If they didn’t actually need to fight, they didn’t need to get caught either. Nikki and Robyn each took one of her daggers, which they could conceal in their shirt sleeves. Nodding to her friends, Mikayla was the first out the door.
Stepping onto the porch of the cabin revealed nothing, so they slowly descended the stairs. “Damn, this is so frustrating.” Mikayla didn’t know what she’d expected, but this wasn’t it. “I said I wouldn’t leave the cabin, but it doesn’t look like we’ll learn anything from here.” The general area was a ghost town.
Nikki scanned the area, too, nodding. “Hate to break it to you, but you’ve already broken that promise.”
“The link?” Robyn asked.
Mikayla had tried again and again to reach out to her mates mentally. She shook her head in exasperation. “Nothing. Maybe it’s still too new.”
“Same here.” Nikki shrugged. “We’ve been mated longer, but I got nothing.”
If we’re just going to stay here, we might as well go back inside,” Robyn said. “Nothing is happening here.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” Mikayla would do whatever she could to avoid revealing their secret, anything except stand there wringing her hands any longer. “You and Nikki should go back in, but I can’t stand another second in there waiting to hear bad news.”
“I’m with you,” Nikki said. “I’m just as worried as you are. Luke and Mason…and then Adam and Levi…Dad…I need to know that they’re all okay.”
Mikayla looked at Robyn. She wasn’t mated and her father was older and unlikely to head into the fray if he didn’t have to. “You could stay here. Hold down the fort.”
Robyn rolled her eyes in response and tossed her red hair over her shoulder. “Girl, you know that’s not happening. Let’s get moving.”
“Okay then.” Mikayla needed only a moment to think. “If they made it past the borders, I’m thinking they’ll try to take the lodge. As sort of a stronghold. I say we look there first.”
“Right.” Nikki was already moving in that direction.
They approached cautiously, keeping to the trees instead of taking the path. It struck Mikayla as ironic that the stealth approach was not only in case of an enemy but also in case they ran into any male clan members. She also wished she had some panther musk at her disposal because no matter how careful they were, another wolf would scent them coming. Maybe, though just maybe, all of the other wolf scents would serve as a distraction.
As it stood, Mikayla didn’t have to worry for long. Nikki blew it for all of them. They approached the same clearing in which she’d recently stood before the alphas and the sight hit her like a slap in the face. There were bodies everywhere, some in wolf form, others in human form. But when Nikki shouted on a strangled sob and rushed out into the open, it was for one reason only. Zion. He lay in the center of the remains of a blood bath, with one of his sons, Levi, hovering over him.
Mikayla looked at Robyn, and as if of one mind, they rushed forward. Grey’s mate, Carolyn, pale and shocked-looking, kneeled several feet away, looking down at Grey’s unmoving form. Despite her feelings about Grey, Mikayla’s heart went out to the woman. She would go and comfort her, but first she would see about the alpha she’d always known and honestly loved.
“You shouldn’t be here. None of you should.” Levi’s voice was low and angry. “He’s dying,” he said, fixing his gaze on Nikki’s face, which was as pale as Carolyn’s. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“You should have come for me immediately.” Nikki was already on her knees and checking Zion’s wounds, tears thickening her voice. She looked up at Levi for a moment. “And don’t ever, ever tell me what I can’t do.”
Hope flitted across Levi’s face before it was replaced with frustration and despair. “It’s too late. Grey’s already dead. And Dad’s barely hanging on.”
“What happened here?” Mikayla asked. “I mean, beyond the obvious.”
Levi swallowed hard. “The Crimson Moon Pack used the explosions to get past our border guards. Dad, Adam, and I led the men in holding the southern border. It was bloody, but we managed it, and it seemed we would put down the attack. We all agreed that Zion should head back to the lodge. No use risking the a
lpha when we thought we had everything under control. Zion didn’t want to leave the battle but eventually agreed. I don’t know how long it was, not much later I guess, but we went to check on the guards to the west. They hadn’t seen much fighting, so Adam and I started inland again to report to Zion. After that, we’d planned to head north to help out there.”
“Adam?” Nikki asked, continuing her examination of Zion.
“I don’t know,” Levi answered. “We heard a series of howls, calls for help from the opposite direction. He took off to help. I came here and found Zion like this. Found all of them like this. He must have had to fight, I don’t know how many of them by himself.”
Looking around, Mikayla counted what looked like four of their clan members dead along with over a dozen she didn’t recognize. Even if Zion had only taken on two wolves at a time, he was an older alpha. “How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know.” Levi looked lost. “Maybe a few minutes.”
“I need him inside.” Nikki squatted, reaching under Zion’s torso. “He’s not going to die. Not today.”
No one moved. Zion had that ashen look that preceded death. Mikayla knew Nikki had noted it but probably just couldn’t accept it.
Nikki growled. “Fucking help me. Now!”
That got them moving. It was a struggle to carry Zion. The alpha was huge and moaned in obvious pain as they carried him without even the benefit of a stretcher. Nikki had a couple in her new medical building, but there was no time to wait for one.
They stumbled and cursed their way into the lodge and then down the hall to the family room. Nikki didn’t want to risk carrying him any further. The alphas’ servants came out of the woodwork to help, and Nikki sent them scurrying for the supplies she needed. “It’s going to take a miracle,” she said. “But he’s not dying today.”
Mikayla had serious doubts. When wolves were so badly injured, their natural healing, even as speedy as it was, couldn’t always overtake the insistence of death. “How can I help?”
Nikki paused long enough to look up at her, thanks in her eyes. “Honestly, just do what you can to make sure no enemy gets inside. Levi, I need some things from the medical building, as quickly as possible.”
Robyn had already turned to go and Mikayla followed, hearing Nikki call after them. “And pray.”
Levi caught up with them just as they stepped outside. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can. Get Carolyn inside and lock the doors. Better yet, barricade them. Be ready to let me in with the meds, though.”
Mikayla nodded at him, and he shifted, racing off. She and Robyn quickly walked in opposite circles around the building looking for signs of trouble. If a group of enemy wolves happened upon them, they wouldn’t be able to fight them off alone, but at least they could howl in warning before running to safety, maybe even take a couple of them down. If she had enough warning, Mikayla would be able to down at least one with her spear. Fortunately, her walk didn’t produce anything. She didn’t like the silence, though. It was too quiet. Better than the sounds of battle, but almost eerie.
Making her way back to the front of the lodge, she nodded to Robyn. “I didn’t see anyone coming. You?”
“No,” Robyn said. “It’s quiet, but if this group made it this far, more could be on their way.”
“That’s what I’m thinking, and we shouldn’t have been able to just walk into the lodge like that. I’ll get Carolyn inside. Then we need to barricade the front door.” The lodge was staffed with mostly female shifters Zion had hand-picked as well as a few Grey had brought along when the clans merged. They were trusted clan members, and female or not, they should have tried to help the alpha, or at the very least tried to secure his home. “I don’t get why the servants didn’t do that themselves.”
“Scared…and hiding,” Robyn said.
Mikayla kneeled next to Robyn. “Carolyn? Honey? We need to get you inside.”
Carolyn looked up at her, eyes swollen and red. “He’s dead.”
Mikayla wrapped her arm around the older woman, hugging her tightly. “I know, and I’m so sorry. But we need to get you inside, where it’s safe.” Relatively safe, she hoped.
“No.” Carolyn shook her head, running her hand lightly, lovingly over Grey’s bloodied form. “I can’t. I won’t leave him.”
“Grey would want you safe, Carolyn.” She did believe that to be true. Grey had seemed to have a certain affection for the woman, limited though it might have been. “We don’t know if there are any others out there, planning to attack, and we need to get you inside.”
“His body…” Carolyn shrugged Mikayla’s arm off. “I’m not leaving him behind.”
“Please, Carolyn, I know you’re grieving, but we’re all at risk out here. Please come with me.”
Carolyn didn’t respond.
Mikayla frowned, wondering if the two of them could carry a struggling Carolyn inside, but Robyn wasn’t the most patient female.
Kneeling down to Carolyn’s level, Robyn stared hard at the older woman. “He’s dead, and I’m sorry for you. But you’re still alive. The three of us are still alive, and we could be safe inside the lodge instead of waiting out here for someone to just come along and grab us.”
Carolyn behaved as if Robyn hadn’t said a word, which Mikayla knew would piss her friend off.
“Look at me,” Robyn said, harshly. “The men never want us to fight or even know how to defend ourselves. They think we’re too weak, and you’re proving them right, sobbing out here next to a dead man, surrounded by bodies. Grey Andres would have left you here to die like a dog if it would have saved his own neck.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Mikayla agreed with Robyn 100 percent, but she would never have put it quite like that.
Robyn looked over at her, shrugging. “What? It’s the truth, and sometimes we all need to hear it.” She directed her attention back to Carolyn. “Now, maybe you and Grey had something special, but it was no great love. You weren’t his fated. He let his fated die for his sins and then lied to everyone about it. He was the kind of man to burn his fated’s body rather than let anyone learn that he was less than the perfect alpha. Grey wouldn’t have given his life for yours. So why are you willing to risk yours to stay with his body? And more importantly, why are you willing to risk mine and Mikayla’s?”
Carolyn showed no signs of even listening to Robyn, never mind leaving. Mikayla heard rushing in the woods and looked to Robyn anxiously. She’d quickly become used to the silence out there and the sound rattled her. “Someone’s coming.”
“Sounds like a lot of someones,” Robyn said.
“Come on. We have to get her inside.” Mikayla struggled to pull Carolyn to her feet, but the woman struck out at her, fighting her as if she were the enemy instead of a fellow clan member trying to save her life.
“Get up, you stupid bitch!” Robyn yelled. “Or do you want to join him in whatever hell he’s in?”
Carolyn’s head snapped up as the sounds grew closer. Mikayla tried pulling her to her feet, and this time the woman went willingly. The three women rushed across the clearing toward the door, but it wouldn’t open.
“Shit!” Robyn yelled, banging on the door. “They must have woken up and finally decided to lock the damned thing.”
Mikayla turned, already raising her spear thrower as Robyn continued to bang on the door. It was hard to see perfectly, but it looked like two of them coming through the woods—fast. It could be Levi returning with help. Or it could be more devils to do Ulric’s bidding. She couldn’t see much more than their outlines at that distance and had yet to pick up their scent. But she was ready.
Just as the wolves reached the last line of trees before the clearing, she reared back, knowing she could hit one of them. With one injured, the three women could take the other one out, even if the enemy remained in wolf form. Hopefully, Carolyn would come out of her grief long enough to help.
Carolyn yelled, “Stop!” just as the wolves’ scents cut
through all the others.
It was too late to stop the spear from flying, but she jerked in surprise at the last second and the spear veered just slightly to the right. Mikayla didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to miss her mark. The wolves racing toward them were Luke and Mason. And following behind them, looking as if she’d been in a fight herself, was Nikki’s cousin Jackie.
Chapter 10
The servants finally opened the door and the six of them piled inside. Robyn chewed Maisie’s ass out over the fact that she’d locked the door with them outside while the other servants continued to make themselves scarce. Mikayla wanted to tear the woman a new one, too, but she couldn’t see the point. For the moment, they had other problems.
Mikayla had blown it by throwing that spear at Luke and Mason, who would surely tell Zion when and if he recovered. And then there was Jackie. That woman made sure to cause trouble whenever she could. Neither of the three made mention of the spear, however, or even so much as acted as if they’d noticed, which, of course, they had.
Luke hugged Carolyn, who perked up just a little for her stepsons. “We saw Levi on the way here. He told us about Zion. Where’s Nikki?”
“She has him in the family room. Go,” Mikayla said. “We’ll take care of Carolyn.”
Luke and Mason raced to find their woman, and she turned to Maisie. “Can you help Carolyn to her room while I make some tea for her?”
Maisie nodded, her arms folded around herself. She glanced at Carolyn but didn’t actually move.
Robyn gave an exasperated sigh. “I’ll take her.” She put her arm around Carolyn, her voice soft and completely opposite the tone she’d used outside. “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Carolyn nodded slowly, allowing Robyn to turn her toward the hall and the stairs that led to the second floor of the lounge. Then she suddenly stopped. “He didn’t, you know,” she said, her back to Mikayla and Maisie.
Fated for Mikayla Page 19