by Sydney Addae
“How about you prove to me how you attacked and won against five of my pack mates,” Geo said, probably displeased by the total lack of fear or concern the three of them showed his pack.
Damian shrugged. “Are you sure?”
Geo’s jaw tightened. “Let’s go outside and you can prove to me how you accomplished to beat five of my finest.”
Damian looked at Hawke. “What do you want me to do?”
“Well, there is only ten of them and three of us. But I suspect that number can double quite easily, which will make it a lot more fun. Let me check with La Patron.”
“I said come outside,” Geo growled.
Damian glanced at the beta, held up his finger, and then continued looking at Hawke. “One moment, I must have permission.”
Geo snorted and puffed out his chest. “Permission from whom?”
Hawke ignored the braggart, knowing Asia would slice the man in two if he moved toward them. “La Patron?” It took a few moments before he received a response.
“Hawke, everything okay?”
Hawke explained the situation.
La Patron cursed and then laughed. “You want to fight. I can hear it in your voice. Stare at them so I can see.” A tingling sensation filled Hawke’s body. He turned and looked at the men filling the room. “Okay, you can fight but do not kill anyone. Tell Asia no killing while on foreign soil. We have enough to deal with right now. Contact me later with details.”
“Let’s go outside,” Hawke said, smiling at Damian.
Damian waved to Geo. “After you.”
The men filed out the restaurant. Once Asia and Hawke were outside, the owner locked the door, placed the closed sign on the window, and pulled down the shade.
As they stood out front, more cars pulled up, filling the parking lot. Within moments, almost twenty full-bloods circled the three of them.
Asia looked at Hawke and winked. “Did you plan this?”
He chuckled. “Nope. But I need to work out some aggression.”
“Me too,” she said.
“Now show all of us how you fought five members of our pack,” Geo said, looking at Hawke and then Damian, who stepped to the side.
“Okay.” Damian stood with his arms at his side and waited.
After a few seconds Geo frowned. “What are you waiting for?”
“They attacked me. I’m waiting for you to attack.”
Geo laughed. “You want me to attack you?”
“If you want me to show you what happened last night.” His matter of fact tone tickled Hawke. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for a repeat of last night’s performance.
Geo shook his head and backed up. He waved his finger and one of the men in the circle charged Damian. He waited until the full-blood was near, jumped and power drove his elbow into his back on the way down. It happened so fast everyone froze for a few seconds, then began talking and moving toward Damian, hurling threats.
Red-faced, Geo held up his hand to restore order while the pack members pulled the man from the ground and took him away. “This was how you fought last night?”
“Well, they came at me two at a time, until the end. She was the last one, but she had a knife.”
Geo’s jaw tightened and he shook his head. “No. That is not the way it happened.” He pointed at Hawke and Asia. “The three of you insult our Alpha by not paying respect, and when you were challenged you took advantage of our pups. We will teach you a lesson you will not forget.” He shifted to his hybrid.
Hawke placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder and stepped in front of him. “This is my pup,” he said in a hard tone, aggravated with all the posturing. Pity he couldn’t kill anyone. “He told you the truth, which you could easily verify if you wanted the truth. But you have another agenda. You want a fight, and a fight I will give you.” He nodded and shifted to his second level hybrid which was larger than any of theirs.
Ignoring the gasps and growls from the pack, he swung and knocked Geo into his pack members like a bowling ball.
“No sword?” Asia whined, spinning and kicking the pack members nearest to her.
“Nope, just hurt them. No killing,” he said, swinging and knocking back a few full-bloods. “Behind you,” he told Damian, who ducked in time to avoid a vicious swing.
“Aww, you’re no fun,” Asia said, while executing a back flip over two men and then throwing another across the parking lot.
“La Patron’s orders not mine.” He picked up two men, slammed them together and then threw them at their pack mates, who broke their fall.
Geo charged into Hawke, grabbed him around the waist trying to push him back. Three other men joined him in an attempt to knock Hawke on the ground. Because he couldn’t kill them, he morphed to his largest size and flicked them off like flies, and then returned to his secondary size.
Dazed, Geo stared up at him and then looked around at the others. Asia fought two and Damian knocked out the one he fought.
“Who are you?” Geo asked. “Who’s your Alpha? Your pack?”
“I’m Hawke.” He morphed to his regular form, extended his hand and helped Geo stand.
Geo worked his jaw and turned his head from side to side. “I’ve heard that name before, not quite sure where.”
Hawke smiled and slapped Damian on the back. “Good job, pup.”
Damian shook his head. “I’m hungrier now, when are we going to eat?”
Asia stood next to Damian and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Good job. You kicked ass.” She looked at Hawke. “I’m hungry.”
Rumbling and angry words rose from the pack members as they stood, catching their next wind. Hawke noticed and prepared for another attack.
Geo held up his hand. “Last night five of our pack members attacked this one wolf.” He pointed at Damian.” From what our Alpha pieced together, the attack was unprovoked. They attacked and lost.”
More grumbling.
“It ends now. Alpha has instructed we stand down.” Geo looked at Hawke. “My Alpha knows who you are and has a few questions he would like answered. He’s sending the others home so you can talk.” In the next few minutes, the pack members returned to their cars and drove off.
“If I can, I will.” Hawke ignored Geo’s raised brow and tightened lip.
After looking around the empty parking lot, Geo leaned forward. “Are you the ones sent from Wulfgar?”
Hawke masked his surprise. How did Barticus know? What was going on? “What do you want me to say?” he asked Asia.
“Tell him yes.” Her response surprised him, but he did as she asked.
“Yes.”
Geo nodded. “Could you remain a few moments longer?”
“No. We stopped here to eat and are hungrier now.” He looked at his clothes and tugged his shirt up higher. Asia’s shirt had a few rips but she and Damian both had hoodies in the car they could throw on.
“I can fix that; he will open again for you.” Geo walked toward the restaurant.
Hawke strode to their car. “I would never eat in that place.” Damian and Asia slid into their car as the owner opened the door.
“Wait,” Geo said, running to their car. “Where are you going?”
“To the next open restaurant on this road.” Hawke drove off. Five minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of a large family style restaurant and walked inside. Inhaling, he realized he sat in a room full of humans, but his hunger was too great to care.
Each of them ordered pork and lamb chops and a few other local dishes. Damian had finished one beer by the time Geo walked in, looked at them, turned and walked outside. A few moments later he returned with the brunette from the night before, and a very attractive blond female. Hawke was fairly sure she was Barticus’ daughter, Randi.
Confident, dressed in a stylish cobalt blue, sleeveless short dress, she walked ahead of Geo and the brunette, pulled out a chair at their table, sat, and crossed her long, shapely legs.
“Careful, eyes at h
er head or you’ll see a real bitch in action,” Asia murmured through their link.
“Why don’t you join us?” Asia said in a mocking tone.
The blond ignored her and continued staring at Hawke. “You’re searching for something? Someone? Who?”
Hawke took a pull from his bottle and wiped his mouth. “Ask your Alpha.”
Her smiled slipped an inch. “I’m asking you.” She extended her hand as if to touch him.
With narrowed eyes he jerked his hand out of the way. “You know I’m mated. Do you want to die?”
She blinked as if coming out of a trance and leaned back in her seat. “Mated? That means you don’t play?”
“Never.” He glanced at Geo, who looked at the woman in the chair as if she’d lost her reason.
“Randi…” Geo said.
She held up a finger. “Did I tell you to talk?”
Geo’s face reddened.
Hawke looked at the brunette, she looked amused at the disrespect dumped on the beta.
“You are?”
“The bitch who uploaded the photos from the fight last night,” Damian said without looking at her.
“That one? I thought I recognized her,” Asia said in a dismissive tone. “Now that you mention it, this one looks like one of the men lying on the ground.”
“You’re right, she does,” Damian said, glancing at Randi.
Her cheeks turned red.
The brunette’s eyes spit fire.
“Why are they here?” Hawke asked Geo. “Unlike this spoiled bitch, I am asking you a question.”
“She asked to meet you,” Geo said in a tight voice.
“But why is she interrupting my meal?” Hawke asked again, staring at the man.
Geo shrugged and shook his head. “She insisted it was important to meet with you.”
“Unless your Alpha wants to lose another pup, she needs to leave now,” Hawke growled, gaining glances from nearby tables.
Randi smiled and swung her legs as if she hadn’t heard his dismissal.
The waitress arrived with their platters and placed them on the table. Randi reached forward as if she would take a piece. Asia’s knife missed her finger by an inch and embedded into the wooden table.
The brunette gasped.
Asia grabbed another knife from the platter and met Randi’s gaze. If Randi didn’t read the fuck-with-me-bitch-and-die message in Asia’s eyes, Geo did. He jerked the woman from her chair and all but carried her out the restaurant.
“Less entertainment and more food, please,” Damian said into the immediate quiet, breaking the tension.
Hawke tossed a pea at him.
Asia laughed.
Chapter 14
As the sun crested over the hills, Amynta turned, bowed her head. “Blessings to you, Goddess of Light. Today begins the end of my journey so that I may live in the light of your warmth and grace. Thank you for protection and wisdom.” She waited a few moments, looked once again at the hidden valley that protected her pack for decades.
Joy and sorrow weighed her down as she thought of Alpha Nikolas. Her friend had found this place for her when he’d accompanied her to Albuslupos to confront her sire. Instead she had seen death and destruction. Nikolas tried to prepare her to step into the role of Alpha, claimed she would need a safe haven for the scattered pack closer to her sire’s pack lands. At the time she couldn’t see what he saw and disagreed. Females did not become Alphas, not then anyway. But he would not be deterred and found this place, taught her how to defend it and care for a pack when the time came.
Nikolas engaged her in what she later discovered had been a mock fight. At the time, she fought for her life against the much larger Alpha. That was when she discovered just how much her body had been altered by her experience with Barticus. Somehow his altered physiology changed hers. She had become faster, bigger and stronger, an Alpha Bitch who refused to lay down and surrender. Nikolas took his time teaching her, and at the end of a long bloody fight she realized he might be right about the Alpha Bitch thing. Not that she won, far from it. Nikolas was far too skilled, but she held her own, and survived which spoke volumes.
She wondered what he would say to her now, if he could see what she’d done, what she’d accomplished since he called her an Alpha Bitch. Staring at the homes of her pack in the distance her back straightened and her chin rose a notch. They had survived. When everyone thought they had been wiped from the face of the earth, Albuslupos, the White Clan roamed the Ukrainian mountains, albeit in a hidden cove.
Alpha Nikolas had been her friend, and he had been right. She raised her arms as tears traveled down her cheek. Strange she would think so hard upon him this morning. It had been over a century since his death. Her heart dropped in remembrance and she shook her head dispelling the tears. As an Alpha, he accepted all challenges to his position… she hadn’t been there, but that last challenge had been clouded in mystery for years. No one knew the wolf who showed up demanding a fight. No one knew how Nikolas fell and lay bleeding after one charge, especially when the challenger hadn’t touched him. No one knew where the challenger ran off to when Nikolas died.
Such a waste. Her heart always hurt when she thought of her friends, Goddess how she missed them. Those two snatched her and her pup from death. Konstantin had been an extremely wealthy human with a special connection to Nikolas. He spared no expense when it came to helping packs. Many of the current wildlife conservations were started with his money. He had been a good man, and friend.
Inhaling deeply, she repeated a chant to close access to the valley of the White Clan Wolf. Warm tingles swept up her back and arms. Muted shades of green, brown and red flowed across her vision as the crevice she’d exited a few moments before, zipped shut, merging with the mountainside.
Pleased her pack was safe from retribution and could survive if she did not return, she covered her head with her thick, mud brown cape and headed toward the small house where she kept vehicles. The long, brisk walk into the town bordering Romania allowed her time to think. So much time had passed and yet she remembered everything like it was yesterday. Tiny fingers. Curly black hair. Toothless grin.
Amynta laughed as memories of Asia crawling and getting into everything rolled through her thoughts. Such an inquisitive mind her little one had. Amynta spent countless hours reading books from Konstantin’s library to her pup, knowing the little one didn’t understand even as she sat still, listening.
Ah, Konstantin…she sighed. He’d been so sure he’d worked out a plan to secure all of their futures. Unfortunately, he never factored in the wolf’s nature to constantly challenge and defend. When they lost Nikolas… that spelled the end of his days as well. By the time she’d returned from meeting with her pack regarding the Alpha position, everything she held dear had been ripped from her. Asia had been taken and no one knew or would say where. For years she searched. No longer concerned for her life, she became careless and almost died. When her former pack-mates found her and sought her guidance again, she regained her strength, and found a new purpose in her life.
Throwing out her senses she scanned the house and surrounding property. Pleased no one had disturbed her hideaway since her last visit, she passed through the protective barrier. Inside the storage area she checked the generator and flipped it on. The low hum meant the small heater in the den would soon warm that space. She turned on the laptop and its hotspot to log onto the internet.
Last night she’d sensed her child had been somewhere close, not near the valley, maybe within a hundred kilometers or so more or less. But this morning that sensation had faded. That could mean a variety of things. For one, Asia may have left the area or she may wear some type of dampening device, although Amynta could not imagine why.
She searched for information of new visitors to the area, expecting to see her daughter and her mate, perhaps a pup or two. When she found nothing, she continued searching for news of Asia alone, with a mate or with a tour group. The hour grew late and she
still had no idea which direction to travel.
Concerned, she unlocked her closet, pulled out a few days’ worth of clothing and packed. Asia was somewhere on this continent and she would find her. A black small chest lay at the bottom of her closet. For a moment she simply stared. Bending forward, her fingertips traced the image of the wolf carved into the wood.
It had been a long time since she’d considered her heritage, her former pack, her sire and brothers. Seeing this small block of hollowed wood resurrected memories she preferred remain buried. Her sire. Their history. Their destruction.
But Asia represented a new generation, a new beginning, a changing of the guard… perhaps. But what if knowledge of the past re-started the chain of events that had led them to this point? The bounty remained on her head. The High Priest continued his search for her pup to sacrifice.
Her heart raced as she recalled his hate-filled words. “Either serve the Master or die. You’re worthless otherwise.”
Sweat beaded her forehead. Heat swamped her chest even though her hands and feet were cold. She slammed the breaks on the trajectory of her thoughts and turned them around. This had to end. Hiding in dark places crippled by fear was not living, especially for those unaware of the evil waiting to devour them. For them, she would step into the light, understanding the risks, the price on her head. The time was right. She needed to act now and grabbed the box, stuffed it in with her clothes without thinking further. Otherwise she’d change her mind about too many things. Things that needed to be done now that Asia had returned.
After turning off everything, she looked around to erase any signs of her visit. Pleased, she locked the door and went into the garage to choose a vehicle. Such large noisy things. It had been a while since she drove one of these. Midrei insisted she learn. Through the years the car, truck and van had saved a lot of time when they needed supplies.
Today she took the Range Rover for the long drive down to the small border town in Romania where she had lived for a short while a long time ago. Sometimes the best place to start was at the beginning. At least her daughter’s beginning. As she started down the mountain she wondered if the hidden room was still intact. Had Asia found it? She frowned. What would she be doing down there, so far away? Questions and unlikely scenarios raced through her mind until she blocked the confusion with calming words.