by Dannika Dark
Throughout the afternoon, Jericho repeatedly checked the locks on all the doors and windows. He had a pregnant mate, and the protective instinct of fatherhood was in full gear. His brothers had once written him off as the rebellious, self-absorbed rock star, but he’d proved them wrong when, earlier that year, he’d fallen in love and mated with Izzy. He’d even gone against Shifter custom and given her a diamond ring. The love shone in his eyes when he looked at Izzy, and there was no question he’d move mountains for that woman. Watching his behavior made me long for that kind of devotion.
Dark clouds rolled in, and at around eight in the evening, a gunshot went off. Everyone rushed to the windows.
“What is it? What happened?” April tossed down her paperback and hurried toward the front door.
“Keep away from the windows!” Austin shouted. “We don’t know if they’re armed, so let’s not make targets of ourselves.”
“Reno,” she whispered, covering her mouth.
A minute passed before the front door opened and Reno came in. April rushed to his side and frantically looked him over. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before setting the butt of his rifle in the corner. On the wall behind the door was a row of nails used to hold keys, each with a letter directly below. I didn’t have a car, so sometimes people hung an umbrella on mine. Reno hooked his hat on my nail.
“There’s a panther on the property,” he said, closing the door. “He’s just inside the line of trees by the road. He’s been circling the perimeter. I took a shot, but it’s too damn dark with the clouds blocking the moon. This shit keeps up, I’m gonna put a floodlight out there and see how they like that.”
Austin cursed under his breath. “How long have they been out there?”
“Since noon. Fox isn’t planning an attack; he’s keeping us penned in. He’s got at least one Shifter watching us at all times. I don’t like this one bit, Austin. That bastard looks like he weighs about one seventy. I may have alarms on the house, but something that size can crash through one of these windows. They’re not double paned. I told you we should have upgraded them this summer, and not just to save on the electric bill.”
“Can we talk about windows later?” Lexi complained. “What should we do?”
He scratched his head while April curled against him. “I ain’t gonna sugarcoat it for you. Anyone who can’t handle a gun needs to get their ass in the basement. That’s a sturdy door no animal can break down. There’s also a lock I installed on the inside.”
“Wait a minute, I’m not going down there,” Lexi said, rising to her feet from a chair by the fireplace.
Reno tipped his head. “Then you better sit outside with me for the next hour and practice shooting a gun. I got a moving target just beyond the tree line if you need something to aim at. That goes for anyone here who can’t handle a firearm.”
“That won’t be necessary for me,” Lynn said, smoothing a wrinkle on her sleeve. “I grew up shooting tin cans on my granddad’s ranch.”
“I didn’t know that,” Lexi said with a gasp. “I thought you hated guns?”
Lynn swept her faded blond hair back and then straightened her blouse. “I didn’t want them in my house, but I could hardly make your father get rid of them. I was always afraid you kids would find them and get curious, so I made sure he locked them up. I haven’t picked up a gun in almost thirty-five years, but it’s not something you ever forget. I can’t promise I’ll hit a target, but I’m not letting anyone hurt my family.”
“Lynn, this is too dangerous,” Austin said. “You’re human, and these are men who will stop at nothing. There’s no reasoning or bargaining with a Shifter when they’re on the attack.”
“Nor is there reasoning or bargaining with a mother protecting her children,” she retorted.
“Then who’ll watch Maizy?” Lexi asked.
Izzy raised her hand from her spot on the sofa beside me. “I will. It’s no secret I can’t shift without putting the baby at risk, and I’m not going to leave that little girl down there by herself. Denver’s her watchdog, but we need him up here.”
“True that,” Denver said from the hall leading to the kitchen. He slid a handful of peanuts into his mouth and began licking his fingers. “Hand me my pistola and let’s get this party rolling.”
“Don’t give him a gun,” Izzy said. “The only thing he can shoot off is his mouth.”
Reno sighed. “We’ll rotate. Lexi first, then Denver, and anyone else who needs to fire off a few practice rounds. I can’t do anything about your aim, but you need to know how to handle a weapon without shooting your foot off.”
I raised two fingers. “Just hand me a gun; my father taught me how to use all kinds of weapons. I’d prefer something with less kickback.”
Reno’s brows arched up. “My kind of girl.”
I guessed he was saving April for last. Reno had taught her how to ride a motorcycle this past summer after they’d returned from a vacation, but I’d never seen him teaching her to shoot. Maybe he didn’t want to admit a situation might arise where he wouldn’t be able to protect his woman. I had a feeling Reno might end up sending her down to the basement. April was a tough girl, but Reno was a tougher wolf. Women often fought by the side of their pack, but her mortality would give a man like Reno pause.
I slipped my braid inside the back of my shirt so it couldn’t be used against me by a pair of grabby hands. Everyone milled around talking, and Lexi was putting on her jacket. When I peered out the window, a lone wolf howled in the distance.
Austin gripped my arm and tugged me back. “Keep away from the window.”
“That was Fox,” I said in a soft whisper. At least I had peace of mind knowing he wasn’t out there searching for my son.
“I say we just go out there and shoot them all. We can’t just sit here,” Lexi said, putting her hands on her hips. “You should just go out there and kick their asses.”
Austin curled his right arm around her waist and kissed her brow. “Ladybug, in another life, I would have been that man. I have a pack to think about now—lives to protect. Keep your wolf in check.”
Lexi swallowed him up with her big brown eyes. “What if we just locked up the house and went to town? It’s not like they’re going to start up a war at Howlers.”
Denver snorted. “You haven’t seen ladies’ night. Still, it’s not a bad idea, Aus. Maybe you can chat with a few Packmasters and see if the Council wants to intervene.”
Austin gave him a disapproving look. “And then what? We come home to find they’ve taken over the house?”
Denver shrugged. “You have legal rights to this land if they do. We can call the human cops and have them thrown in jail.”
Wheeler laughed in a dark voice. “Now that I’d like to see. Doubt anyone would bail their sorry asses out.”
Austin sighed and leaned against the wall near the door. “The Council would, if not the higher authority. They get flagged whenever one of our kind uses one of our aliases in a human jail. You know that.”
Wheeler chewed off the end of his jerky and took a seat at the foot of the stairs. “Maybe so, but it would buy us some time. Fox would be safe and sound and it might give Reno time to track down her kid.”
Austin shook his head. “We’re not doing anything that might get the Council involved. I don’t want anyone thinking we can’t handle our shit. These are the times that will test a pack and send out a message to others. What kind of message do you want to send? That we need hand-holding and can’t use our heads to fight off a rogue pack?”
The heavy blanket of dread began to lift. Fox would wait us out for as long as it took, but Austin was right about not calling the Council. It would make him look foolish as a new Packmaster. If we stayed inside, we could run out of food, sleep, or simply grow impatient and do something foolish like go after them. They could try to set the house on fire; all these ideas swam through my mind of ways they could smoke us out.
“My father once tol
d me that sitting ducks wind up on the dinner table.”
Everyone looked at me with a bewildered expression. I moved away from the window and tapped my cane on the floor. “A strong pack will prepare for battle no matter where they are. Fox can’t claim the land without taking down the pack. What if we ask one of the stronger packs to take Maizy and Izzy in?”
Denver stepped forward. “Because then I won’t be able to guard her. Not having it. She stays by my side. That’s not up for debate.”
Austin ambled toward me. “I see what you’re saying, Ivy.”
“Then give it serious consideration.” I felt so adamant about this that I wanted to burst. “You know the rules. If they take out the Packmaster, they can claim the land since they will have dismantled the pack. It’s you they want out of the equation. They can’t occupy the house as long as you’re still around to contest it.”
Lexi played with the zipper on her jacket. “But what if they burn it down?”
I struck the floorboard with the end of my cane to gather their attention. “Then we rebuild. That’s what a strong pack does. They can burn the house, but they can’t burn the land beneath it. Perhaps I’m young, but I’m not without experience. I’ve survived three attacks, and I come from a long line of wise leaders on my mother’s side and warriors on my father’s. Fox wouldn’t anticipate us moving into a populated area. He expects us to do exactly this. He was the second under my father, but not the wisest wolf in the pack. He disagreed with my father a number of times on strategy. Let’s be the one to draw him from the safety of the forest. There are rules in Breed establishments. But out here, there is no law.”
Austin’s icy blue eyes drifted down, deep in thought. “We can’t live in town,” he mumbled.
I laughed and couldn’t even bother with covering my mouth. “Lots of people live in town. There are Breed hotels, or we could even arrange something at one of the clubs to rent out their private rooms. I hear they have comfortable sofas. You have more than enough funds for us to survive for a long time, but I suspect Fox will grow impatient.”
He lifted his eyes to Reno. “Impatient men make mistakes.”
Reno peered out the window and scratched his jaw. “I got no problem with that. We have more than enough weapons for everyone. I can meet up with my contacts easier that way to get information on the boy. If the house burns, then fuck it. Ivy’s right—we still got land. We’ve also got the other house if we have to squeeze back in there for a little while.”
Wheeler laughed. “That’s a tight fit. I’d rather pitch a tent out here than share my room with one of you bastards.”
Austin rubbed his jaw and strolled to the center of the room. “Boys, let’s get our things together. Pack lightly; we can buy what we need. Wheeler, get the backup copies of some of my files and hide my personal laptop behind the wall. Let’s take Reno’s so he can use that for business.”
April rushed upstairs with Lynn.
I touched Reno’s arm. “Are you good with computers? Is there a way you can watch surveillance from an outside location? I know you have those small cameras hooked up around the property, but can you somehow feed it to—”
“I’m already on it,” Reno said with a chuckle. “If they stick around here, we can keep an eye on them. You come from a family of warriors, huh?”
I smiled proudly and threw my shoulders back. It was the respect in his eyes that sent goose bumps up my arms. “I do.” I touched his arm and squeezed it, quietly confirming that my family of warriors was all around me.
***
While we packed up the cars, Reno stood on top of the blue pickup truck with his rifle loaded and ready to shoot. He had on a bulletproof vest beneath his coat in case one of Fox’s men was armed. They probably weren’t, since most rogue Shifters believed their animal was more deadly than a weapon.
April got inside the driver’s seat of the blue truck and started up the engine. Lynn scooted to the middle, and Reno sat by the door so he could jump into action if needed. We needed a wolf to pick up scents in case someone was getting too close to the vehicles, so Austin made Ben shift and ride in the back of their truck.
My small bag contained a toothbrush, a dress, extra changes of underwear, and a few bands to tie up my hair.
Maizy was another story. Denver slung her pink princess backpack over his shoulders. Inside were several changes of clothes, and the one she carried was stuffed with all her favorite toys. That girl packed like she might never be coming home.
“That looks real sweet on you,” Wheeler said to Denver as we piled in his Camaro.
“Shut it.” Denver climbed into the back of the gunmetal-grey car with Maizy, and I sat next to Wheeler. Maizy had been quiet the entire time.
William led the convoy in his BMW, keeping a steady speed. Next was Lexi, driving the black Dodge Challenger with Austin beside her. Trevor and Jericho sat in the back with Izzy sandwiched between them. Then came Reno and April, and finally our car at the back of the line. We had a good view of Reno hanging out the window with his gun aimed at nothing in particular, but it sure made him look menacing.
I glanced in the back seat and noticed Denver had made Maizy lie down. She was curled up in a ball, and he reached out and held her hand. Wheeler’s car only had two doors, but anyone could break the windows and grab her. Chances are they wouldn’t hurt a child, and I had doubts Fox knew she was human. They hadn’t gotten close enough to our pack to realize we weren’t all Shifters.
Rocks popped against the undercarriage of the car and we hit a few small potholes, making for a bumpy ride.
“Someone needs to fill those,” I said.
Reno fired his gun and Maizy covered her ears. “Denny, I’m scared.”
“It’s okay, shhh,” Denver said in a low voice. “No one’s going to hurt you. You’re always safe with me.”
Through Wheeler’s window, I saw a shadow running alongside us in the dark woods. “Wheeler, a panther,” I said, trying not to panic. “Tell William to speed up.”
He called Austin on his phone and, after another minute, we began moving faster. Austin gave all the orders, so anything we did had to go through him first.
My heart raced, and the heater hadn’t warmed up the car yet, so I could still see my breath. Headlights illuminated the road, and Ben’s wolf was barking in the back of the truck in front of us.
“I want to go home,” Maizy whined.
Denver’s eyes were sharp and alert as he scanned the dark cover of the woods. While Reno had given everyone a weapon, we all knew if someone threatened Maizy’s life, Denver would shift. That’s why Lynn had agreed that her little girl ride with him.
A couple of men were standing in the woods and my heart picked up speed. Fox had scouts in human form to report what was going on. One of them looked like he was on a phone, but it was dark and hard to tell. I caught a glimpse of another man running back the way we’d come.
“Are we ready, boys and girls?” Wheeler asked in a crisp voice.
An animal dashed into the road, and Wheeler swerved to hit it. When the wolf yelped, several eyes glowed from within the woods.
Wheeler straightened the car with a hard jerk of the wheel. “And boom goes the dynamite.”
A black wolf approached April’s truck, and Ben’s wolf impulsively jumped out. Wheeler had no choice but to hit the brakes. The wolves stood on their hind legs before rolling into the gully on our left. Brake lights flashed up ahead, casting a red glow.
“Dammit, Ben,” Wheeler whispered to himself. “Get your ass in the truck.”
Ben was supposed to alert the pack of imminent danger, not leap out of the truck. It took me by surprise because Ben was the omega of the pack.
When another wolf closed in, Wheeler reached for the door.
“Wait,” I said, gripping his arm. “They’re trying to draw us out of our vehicles.”
Lexi blared the horn and then Austin appeared, marching toward the wolves. A gun fired, striking the rogue wolf in the
hip. Up ahead, William stood with his arm extended and a gun in his hand. My fingernails must have embedded into the dash as I nervously watched. Austin grabbed the scruff of Ben’s neck and led his wolf back into the truck.
A scream pealed out of the truck ahead when a black panther vaulted at Austin from behind. A loud crack made me jump, and the panther fell to his side, immediately shifting to human form and back again as he struggled to heal.
Reno’s entire upper body was outside his window and he fired another shot. “Let’s move out!” he shouted.
Austin jogged back to his car after he put Ben’s wolf in the truck and shut the tailgate. When his wolf didn’t stand up, I knew he must have been injured.
Once the cars began moving, Wheeler dialed his phone. In the truck ahead, Reno glanced out the back window with his phone to his ear.
“Is he okay?” Wheeler asked. After a few seconds, his shoulders relaxed. “Good. Keep an eye on him.”
Once we hit the main road, we left Fox’s men in the dust.
It didn’t take long at the speeds we were traveling before we reached our destination. Since Howlers wasn’t the kind of bar that would offer protection, we sought out a busier atmosphere with a mix of other Breeds. Austin decided a bar full of Shifters wasn’t a good idea. They’d be more likely to join a fight than stop it. Most people had a low tolerance for Shifter drama, so the upscale bars heavily enforced their rules. With all the different Breeds, a fight could escalate and turn deadly fast, so the owners and even the patrons made sure to keep everyone in line.
I peered up at the sign. “Blue Door,” I said. “What does that mean?”
Wheeler pointed at the cobalt-blue entrance to the building and I laughed. “Rich assholes have a strange sense of humor. I’ve traveled around and big club owners like names with colors. It’s like a status symbol of how much money their business brings in.”
We walked by the line leading up to the door of an otherwise unremarkable building. I could sense most of them were probably human, and that’s why they were standing in line. I’d never been to a club before, only a few local bars in town.