Hunters of the Gods 4_Belonging to a Pack
Page 2
“Escape? We had heard that they were destroyed from within, and that it could be the individual who has been orchestrating all the destruction of packs and the forced matings,” Preston said to him.
“That may be true, but Avi’s story is different. I don’t know all the details, but when she and I met, it was in the midst of battle. Things happened. Things I won’t go into detail with.”
“Why not?” Bider asked.
“Because he is full of shit. He’s after something,” Viper said, and stared at him with glowing wolf eyes.
“I don’t fear you, wolf. Remember that.”
“I don’t fear you, blood sucker,” Viper replied.
“Let’s try to focus here. So what is this connection you have, and information that you are compelled to share?” Cable’t asked him.
Buschool looked at him. “Avi is trying to gather all the Keuric pack members who escaped, or who were separated because of the violence, along with the good members of Shay, who she feels are oppressed and prisoners in that pack, and bring them together to be part of Keuric and Saint packs.”
“Is she out of her mind? We won’t just open the gates and allow all these wolves in here. There needs to be screening done, and background checks, verification of their loyalty and commitment, and their intent on accepting all of us Alphas as their new leaders. It will never happen. She is forgetting about the ones who could be spies,” Bider replied.
“It will be a process, but considering the series of events that have been occurring, and the connections between the women that are all friends and the mates chosen for them, it is what’s meant to be,” Buschool replied.
“He has a point. Each of the women, Alexandra, Alyssa, and Luna, have had some kind of special power and ability that came forth even stronger when they found their mates. Perhaps Avi has some kind of powers or abilities, too?” Preston asked.
“Alexandra would know, but lately she’s been…sharing certain things she knows or feels, and not others,” Cable’t told them.
“Holding back from her mates? Her Alphas?” Bider said to him.
Cable’t looked at Bider. “We are all learning rather quickly that the power of the gods is strong, and they are preparing us for battle. As mates to a woman like Alexandra, we must learn to accept and try to understand that there is a plan in motion,” Preston added.
“Then if Avi is our mate, we need to find her, secure the mating process, and get down to what her abilities may be and how they will affect our defenses against this evil,” Scor said.
“She won’t accept being used, and I for one, won’t allow it,” Buschool snapped at him.
“Used?” Bider asked.
“You won’t allow it? You have no control over us, vamp, nor our mate,” Viper added.
“She is young, special in more ways than obviously you animals can understand. Your dominance, control, and authoritative personalities will only hurt her. And I do have the power to intervene. Just dare me to.”
He seethed at them, and once again Cable’t and Preston were pulling the men apart before there was bloodshed. As Cable’t held onto Buschool, and their eyes locked, he read the vamp’s mind, and as he heard his thoughts and felt his feelings, he understood what was going on here. Buschool had feelings for Avi, but as he tried to confirm whether he was her mate, too, Buschool forced his powers against Cable’t’s, blocking him from seeing further, and he stepped back.
He pulled out his cell phone and squinted his eyes before he spoke to them. “Enough of this. I don’t you like any of you, and don’t trust any of you, but Avi is my focus here. Just got confirmation on the lead I was going to explain about but got sidetracked with your stupid games. There is a small pack of rogues running a holding facility an hour from town,” Buschool said.
“An hour from town? What kind of holding facility?” Bider asked.
“The kind that keeps female wolves. Avi had been there.”
“She was at this location? When?” Viper asked.
“They don’t know, but it’s the only lead we have,” Buschool replied.
“Wait, why are you telling us about this if you hate us so much? Why wouldn’t you just go there yourself and find out?” Viper asked suspiciously.
Buschool narrowed his eyes at Viper, and Cable’t knew these men definitely got under one another’s skin.
They had a stare down and then Buschool spoke. “Don’t trust me, then don’t investigate. The only reason why I couldn’t, is because there’s activity during the day, and at night the women are taken from the facility and separated. I don’t know where they take them. Figured if your investigation and interrogation of the prisoners didn’t work, then asking the women would.”
Viper continued to stare at the vampire with annoyance and hate. “Give us the location and we’ll strategize a plan,” Viper said to him.
Buschool turned and looked at Cable’t. “Don’t let them do anything stupid, like go there alone or take off on their own without backup. Obviously, they’re hot-tempered Alphas, and Avi’s life depends on their actions,” Buschool said, and then walked out of the carriage house.
“I don’t like him one bit, nor do I fucking trust him,” Viper said.
“Really? You got along so well?” Preston said, and held his cousin’s gaze. Then Bider and Scor snorted.
“What is he really after? We know hardly anything about Buschool,” Scor said to them.
“I don’t believe he is after anything but helping save Avi,” Cable’t replied.
“It’s suspicious, a wolf, a female, our mate, involved with a vamp like him. He has a reputation as someone not to trust. His mind control strong, and his kills many,” Viper stated.
“He didn’t try to control your mind tonight, did he?” Cable’t asked.
Viper exhaled and turned away. Scor cleared his throat. “We mean no disrespect to you, Cable’t. As hard as it has been to accept you being a vampire and sharing our cousins’ mate, we can see that you aren’t here to cause harm.”
Cable’t nodded. “I understand the fear you have. Not knowing what Buschool’s relationship is with your mate. I could feel that he truly does care about her, but he blocked me from more. He wouldn’t come here to blatantly put you in harm’s way either. He risked a lot showing this sign of loyalty to the pack, and offering assistance.”
“Loyalty? I think not. A vamp like him could not be loyal to wolves,” Viper said.
Cable’t couldn’t get over the instant hatred between the two men.
“Well, he gave us this information. Plan some recon and then see what we can find out,” Preston said to them, and so it began. A mission they would have them all once again into a battle of sorts, and shedding blood of rogues, but hopefully of none of their own.
Chapter Two
“Where is she now?” Roovio Gaines asked Corpius.
“Avi is being held only a few miles away from Keuric and Saint territories. Ferdol has her in the transfer building used by several of the Shay pack members.”
“Make sure they don’t screw up and accidentally ship Avi off with the other women.”
“It wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Send those Alphas on a wild goose chase across the country,” Corpius said, and chuckled.
“I have better plans for her actually. Seems Collink and Mosek have been looking for her for quite some time.”
“What?”
“Yes, I received word just this morning. Apparently, she escaped the pack with her parents when she was young, and then it turns out her mother wasn’t her father’s mate, but one of the forced matings by the Shay Alphas. Eventually Avi took off on her own when Case and Gate’s sons took an interest in the petite little beauty. She’s been running from them since.”
“So why hand her over?” Corpius asked.
“To make sure they know their place with me as their Alpha and leader when this is all done. Then they will owe me for handing her over to them.”
“Why do they want her?”
Corpius nodded and then left the room, and Roovio caressed Gazelle’s hair. “See, my lovely mate. If not for me, for saving your people, for taking you as my mate, you could have been forced to be a part of another pack, your people separated or massacred. Instead, you made the right move. You are obedient to me, and accepting of my power and control. And so you will be rewarded.” He slid her hand from her lap over to his thigh and then against his cock. “I have work to do, and need to relax. Come onto the floor in front of me. You know what to do, mate, so do it.”
* * * *
“There aren’t many guards outside. We have more than enough men with us to take control of the facility,” Viper said to his brothers, as well as their cousins Rule, Temerec, and Law. They brought a team of their soldiers, over a dozen, plus Kurtis and a few of his men. Apparently, they were hoping to continue Avi’s mission of trying to save any Shay and Merker pack women and children that were imprisoned.
“We don’t know how many are on the inside,” Bider added.
“It fucking stinks around here. I can smell those fucking rogues,” Rule said to them.
“Take the back, you four the left side, and you four the right. We come in at all angles and sides, taking out as many as we can before they start setting off alarms,” Viper said.
“Like fucking lightning. They won’t know what hit them,” Law said. He nodded, and they waited until everyone was in position and then attacked.
On his move, the others followed, and Viper shifted into his wolf, taking out several men on his way to the door. His brothers in tow, doing similar damage, their minds, their wolves on finding their mate. One after the next, they eliminated the rogues while their cousins and troops followed suit. It was a complete mission in record time. In fact, it seemed too simple. Especially as Kurtis recognized one woman as a member of Shay pack.
“Kelly, how long have you been here?” Kurtis asked her as the woman sat up, and could hardly sit upright. She was battered and bruised.
“Weeks,” she said to him.
“Ask her about Avi,” Viper stated firmly, and the woman looked at him and bowed her head then cowered away.
He knew he was a fierce looking man, and the fact that he was Alpha got him immediate respect. Bider passed over a picture of Avi.
“Did you see this woman here?”
Kelly blinked her eyes several times, and then she touched the picture as if caressing the woman’s face as she nodded. “She was here. She was so sweet and tough, too. She told us we would be okay. That when she got free, she would free us.”
“How long has she been gone? When did they move her?” Viper pushed abruptly.
Kelly was shaking.
Kurtis caressed her hand and looked up at Viper. “Alpha, please, she’s been traumatized so much.”
“Get answers,” he demanded, and turned and walked toward the two men, who his cousins Rule and Law had pinned to the wall.
“What pack do you belong to? Who do you work for?” they asked several questions, and the rogues wouldn’t answer.
“I found one. A leader here!” Temerec yelled to them as he held a man by his throat and drug him across the floor.
Viper stepped closer. “What can you tell us?”
“Where is the woman we’re searching for?” he demanded.
“You’re too late,” the rogue wolf said after Temerec squeezed his neck a little tighter.
“What do you mean too late?” Bider asked, narrowing his eyes at the wolf.
The rogue wouldn’t speak.
“Tell us what you know. Now!” Temerec demanded, and the wolf growled at him.
“Resistant, huh?” Viper asked, and then snapped the wolf’s arm.
The wolf roared and Temerec held him tight as Viper continued to interrogate him Alpha style. He was pissed off, desperate to find his mate, to save Avi. He reached for the rogue’s thigh right above the knee, his claws showing. “How about I break one bone at a time until you tell us what we want to know?”
The rogue was panting for breath, moaning in pain as Viper applied pressure and the sound of bones cracking could be heard in the silence of the moment.
“She was sold, days ago,” the rogue told him.
“Sold?” Scor roared.
“To who? What do you mean sold? Start talking or the pain increases,” Viper said, squeezing the man’s knee and thigh tighter.
“Men who were part of Polta and Voltek pack. They took her to a location. It’s not far from here. It’s where they bring transports.”
“Transports?” Temerec asked, and poked the rogue in the head.
“Women being sold to mate with smaller pack Alphas or just wolves wanting to lead and to gain power,” the man told them.
“She fought hard. Several times she tried to escape, and they shot her up and drug her out of here,” Kelly said.
“Where is this place? Tell us now,” Viper commanded, and the man told them where it was.
Viper looked at his brothers. “We go now, and we get back Avi.”
“Wait, cousin, remember what we were told about rushing into things, and just taking off. Maybe we need to touch base with your cousins and see what they think we should do,” Kurtis said to him and Viper.
“On the way. We can notify them on the way,” Viper said, and then they headed out alone with Rule, Temerc, and Law minutes behind them.
* * * *
Avi jerked awake to the sounds of the cage opening up. Her eyes widened, and she saw the rogue wolf who had been threatening her for days. His creepy gray eyes stared at her, and then looked over her body as he knelt on the floor and reached out to caress her calf. Drool dripped from his mouth and his eyes began to glow an ugly color. She gripped the metal with her hands, her wrist bound to the bars of the crate. She shook her leg, despite it being chained to the inside of the cage. Her arms pulled back where she had no leeway to even put them down. The aches were so bad. “Get away from me!” she yelled, but then he showed his claws, his nails extending out from the nail beds as he struck and ripped her jeans, his eyes glued to her chest. She screamed out, feeling her skin break, then her blood filter through the air.
“Ferdol is here. Get out of there now,” one of the others yelled to him, but it was too late when this guy Ferdol, whoever he was, appeared. He seemed to realize what was going on and in a second he was right there. He grabbed the rogue and snapped his neck. She watched the rogue’s body slink to the floor, and the wolf Ferdol stepped closer. She was shocked at his strength and quickness, and then at his eyes as he zeroed in on her.
“Avi, I presume. You’ll be coming with me. Your new pack awaits you.”
“New pack? What? No, I’m not going anywhere,” she said as he nodded toward the cage, indicating the rogue should go in there and get her out of the cage. She shook her head.
She felt the clips unlock against her wrist, freeing her arms. The pain radiated everywhere from fingers to shoulders.
“Where are you taking me? Who are you?”
“You’re being transported elsewhere. The Alpha paid big bucks for you. Your mixed blood of Shay and Merker is of great importance for his cause.”
“Who? I’m not being sold. You can’t do this. Who is it? He won’t get away with this.”
“He already has,” Ferdol said, and then gave her cage a kick. She cried out in pain and shock, too. When he bent down, he stared at her. “You’re quite lovely. I didn’t understand their obsession in having you at first, but I can see it now. Let’s go.”
He reached for her.
“No!” she screamed.
He grabbed her by her leg and yanked her from the cage, tearing her skin and clothing. When he had her on the floor in front of him, he reached for her and she
kicked him in the face and turned to run. He was too fast as he hollered, and then grasped her ankle, yanked her onto her belly, and pulled her arms behind her back, nearly breaking them. He tied them tight. Too tight, and then tied her ankles, too. He shoved at her back and then paused and caressed her ass in the jeans. She wiggled and roared in anger.
“No, oh please stop,” she said when his knee pressed into her spine, with her hands restrained behind her back. His mouth now against her ear.
“You have a toughness about you, woman, a pint size one of course, but still could make for some fun in the bedroom. Collink and Mosek will be thrilled to finally possess you, and make you their mate.”
Her heart hammered inside of her chest, and her eyes teared up. “No. Never. Never!” she screamed, and shoved her head back, striking him in the nose and chin. Ferdol roared, and she turned over and lifted her knees, only for him to start smacking her, then rip her top the rest of the way off and shove between her legs, nearly breaking them because her ankles were still tied together. Her torso lifted as well as her breasts in this position, and she screamed out in pain.
“Maybe you need discipline, woman,” he said to her as he pressed his heavy body over hers, crushing her and her arms that were stuck and bound behind her back, being of no use to her. She was susceptible to his control, his power, and his touch, and she screamed in frustration. Her shoulders felt like they would split apart. She was crying, screaming for the gods to help her. Wondering how they could let this happen after all she had done. She wasn’t going back to Shay pack. Back and forced into mating or just bearing children for Collink and Mosek.
When he cupped her breast and the hot breath of his mouth suckled against her neck, she felt so helpless and all alone. She screamed at the top of her lungs as his teeth bit into her shoulder. She thought she heard him roar, but in a flash he was off of her and his throat slashed open as blood splattered everywhere. His body dropped to the ground, and there stood Viper in half shift, with his brothers Temerec and Law right next to him. They fell to their knees and caressed her skin, growled at the sight of her injuries and exposed skin.