by Milly Taiden
“What’s that?” Ellie asked, reaching out for the box.
“Cream puffs, mini éclairs, short breads, cookies, cannoli, etc. I had a hard time picking just one.”
“They all sound so good,” Ellie groaned. She tore at the tape holding the lid on the box closed. “But why are we indulging in this awesomeness?”
Nic grinned. “It’s Thursday. We grade papers and eat pastry on Thursdays.”
Emma laughed at Ellie’s dumbfounded expression. “Ellie, you forgot it’s Thursday?”
Ellie sighed, the previous lighthearted mood slipped from her features to show lines of concern. “I’ll be honest. I have a hard time keeping anything straight other than what is going on with our pack.”
“Is something new going on?” Emma asked, instantly interested.
Ellie shrugged. “I think so, but I’m not sure. It’s getting close to fall and kids tend to run wild, going off to parties and spending time away from their families. Some of them forget to tell their parents they’re doing stuff with their friends.”
An internal alarm went off inside Emma. She’d been aware that shifter teens, much like their human counterparts, loved to socialize and spend time outdoors.
“What does that have to do with the problems with Rahound?”
Ellie winced. “With the number of rogues in the area, a lot of parents are worried over their daughters out there, so we put out more enforcers to watch things. But we’re still getting the random missing person report.”
Emma had known that the shifters kept a close eye on their offspring. Wolf mothers were extremely overprotective and would kill anyone who dared harm one of their cubs.
“Are any of them official or is this just some parent that freaked because their kid didn’t get home by curfew?” Nicole asked, diving into the box and pulling out a cream puff.
“So far, nothing really worrisome.”
Emma eyed her friend carefully. Ellie didn’t mention anything unless something else brought it on. “But?”
Ellie grinned and picked up an éclair. “But I am worried that if one of our girls disappears, things will take a turn for the worse.”
“Has anyone bothered to try and speak to the rogues or whoever their leader is?” Nic asked.
“That’s an idea,” Emma agreed. “We have no idea if they would be forthcoming with information or possibly say something that could tip us off on what they have planned.”
Ellie licked some of the cream from her fingers, picked up a napkin and dabbed her lips. “That’s not usually how it works with rogues. Most of the time there is no single leader, but if there happens to be one, then he isn’t usually interested in pack politics.”
“Can the rogue leader be female?” Emma asked, curiosity piqued.
“I guess. I don’t see why not. We don’t really hear of a rogue leader, period. Most of the time they’re a bunch of criminal shifters that don’t want to follow pack laws or human laws. They defy everything and refuse to listen to anyone but themselves,” Ellie’s lips tipped downward.
Someone should try to speak to the rogues. Or at least listen to what the heck they were up to. They had to be going somewhere that the Wolfes weren’t owners of. Shifters liked to go into bars and hook up with others of their kind. They were sexual creatures. If a bunch of male rogues were in the area, they had to be looking for females somewhere. But where?
EIGHT
Trevan Stone didn’t appreciate games. He was upfront in everything he did from hooking up with random women, to getting rid of anyone in his way. It seemed that he’d hit a speed bump in Blue Creek by the name of Rocco Rahound. The shifter Alpha, or supposed Alpha had sent someone to try and recruit him and his friends for a dirty job the old man didn’t want to take care of himself. He snorted. What a pathetic excuse for a leader.
Trevan and his friends weren’t exactly rogues, but they didn’t belong to any large packs. He and his two friends had lost their pack when they’re warred with some vampires. His brother, the former Alpha of his pack had been killed along with the rest of his family and most of their pack.
He sat down at a hole in the wall bar mostly filled with humans and glanced at the people around him.
“Are we actually considering doing what that piece of shit old man paid us for?” Roen Girard, his best friend asked.
No fucking way. They weren’t hired killers. They killed, but only when they felt the need. Usually they found themselves defending the side of the innocents, not praying on them.
Roen picked up his beer mug and drank the contents in a single swig. “Fucking bastard. I wanted to bash his head in when he said he wanted us to take some kids to those blood suckers.”
“We already got paid, so it’s not like we have to do anything,” Alain Thorpe, Trevan’s other best friend since childhood stated.
“We can’t just leave and act like we don’t know what the fuck they’re doing!” Roen growled. “We might not have a pack, but we’re not heartless murderers.”
He was right. Trevan and his friends had grown up surrounded by family for most of their lives. Though their pack had been small and secluded to the deep Stone Mountains, he’d always known to defend the innocents.
Trevan agreed with Roen. But he didn’t understand why Rahound wanted them to bring girls and hand them over to a group of vampires. As far as he knew, vampires and wolves didn’t mix. Why would they be having any kind of business now?
“Something’s going on in this town,” he said, eyeing the group of humans drinking and laughing around them. So innocent. So helpless. Like sheep to the slaughter. They had no idea they were surrounded by beasts.
“So, what do we do?” Alain asked, his voice low and guarded. He kept his gaze on the front entrance while Trevan did the same with the back door. They knew shit could happen at any time and the last thing they would allow is to be caught unawares by anyone. Especially vampires.
“Find out more. Let’s not break off contact just yet,” he motioned for the men to stand. It was time to get out of there. “Let’s see where all this is going. Someone has to know something about the Rahound Alpha and why he wants us to do that.”
Whatever the hell they’d walked into in Blue Creek, they weren’t just going to sit by and do Rocco’s dirty work. But the old man had hired a lot of rogues, which meant pretty soon a large group of teenage girls was going to go missing and unless they figured out why, nobody would know.
When he’d grown up in the Stone Mountains, Trevan had learned to lead from his brother. He’d been the youngest and always attached to his brother’s side. One of the things he’d been taught was that vampires weren’t all bad. He’d believed that. Until the day they’d savagely killed men, women and children in the pack without a second’s hesitation. Now, he could sit down and watch them burn without batting an eye.
He’d heard that the Wolfe pack led Blue Creek. But with Rahound so close, he wondered if the set up with the vampires had something to do with Wolfes. He needed to talk to one of their people. Or someone close to the pack and find out what the hell was going on in that town.
“Do you know anything about the Wolfes?” Trevan asked the others.
“Bunch of guys mated to a bunch of humans is all I know,” Roen replied, dropping some bills on the bar counter to cover their tab.
“The future Alpha recently got married is gone for a few weeks with his new bride. The others are around. They all own some kind of business with the name Wolfe on it, so if we wanted to search them out it shouldn’t be hard to do,” Alain added.
Did he want to look for the Wolfes or get information on them? Best to play it safe and see what they found out before approaching anyone.
“Let’s see who we can find that knows them better,” Trevan slid off the stool and stood. Women smiled at him. Some licked their lips in open invitation. If he weren’t so curious as to Rocco and his plans with the vampires, he would stay for a while and talk to one of the humans. He liked women with curves and
soft smiles.
“You think Rocco has something planned with the bloodsuckers against the Wolfes?” Alain asked as they walked out the door.
The cooler evening air didn’t bother them. They were used to much colder temperatures and would probably spend the night in the woods. His wolf wanted to roam.
“Whatever Rocco is planning, I have a feeling that by having the vampires on his side he’s going to try to gain the upper hand and not care over the number of casualties, mainly teenagers. He’ll use them all to get his way.”
If Trevan had anything to say about it, there was no way in hell he’d let vampires destroy another town.
* * *
Emma knew she was pushing her luck by going back to Mason’s club. Ever since she’d gone to the vampires he’d been stuck to her side. He’d finally gone to do his own thing almost four days later. Only because he’d pulled the promise from her that she would keep her distance now that things with the Rahound and the rogues had turned more dangerous. He worried over her safety. It was sweet, but Emma had things to do.
She shifted from foot to foot on her black combat boots. She waited to see if the bartender would come outside the back door. Unlike the last time she’d broken all the rules and gone into Mason’s club, this time she took a different approach. By not going inside the club she wasn’t really going against what Mason asked, but she was still getting possible important information that could help her find Maria.
The sound of a wailing siren made her jump back, slapping her back to the gate by the door. Seriously? She was acting like a damned kid getting all worried over being caught. This was what Mason did to her. He’d pushed her to have to do stuff without his knowledge.
Sheesh, how long did it take for Nicole to send the bartender outside. She’d agreed to help Emma out in the hopes it would keep her out of trouble. Which it would since Mason couldn’t argue that she was in his club again.
The back door creaked open and Emma pressed further back into the darkness. She daren’t think about what the squishy stuff she was stepping on was.
Music blared from the inside of the club and the sounds of laughter, along with voices drifted out the back door. A moment later, the short curvy bartender walked out. She wore black jeans and a bunch of tattoos covering both arms and bright pink in her hair.
Lael met her gaze and frowned. “I didn’t think you had it in you to actually do as Mason said.” Her lips lifted into a slow grin. “What did he promise you to keep you out?”
“Nothing. I felt guilty,” she sighed in disgust. The things she did for that mutt and did he even appreciate it? Nope.
Lael laughed and strolled closer to Emma. “I sent your friend out through the front so she wouldn’t call attention.”
Emma nodded, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry to bother you again. I just have some questions.”
Lael’s smile fell from her lips slowly. Icy fingers of concern stopped Emma’s blood in her veins. Lael’s face pursed as if in pain. “Things are moving a lot faster than I thought.”
Emma struggled to make sense of Lael’s words. “What do you mean? What’s moving faster?”
Dear God, what if Maria was beyond being rescued. She swallowed back the vile that rode the back of her throat. The last thing she needed was to get sick over her fear for the kid.
“Rahound. He’s got a plan.” Lael shut her eyes and leaned back on the gate.
“What plan? What are you talking about?”
For cripes’ sakes! The woman needed to give her full sentences or she’d shake her soon.
“Embraced. It’s all connected. The rogues. The vamps. The kids.” Lael swayed on her feet and Emma had to grab her before she hit the pavement.
Nicole rushed around the side of the alley and ran toward them.
“What the hell, Emma? What did you do to her?” She asked, her voice rising in panic. “I thought you only wanted to talk.”
Emma rolled her eyes and tapped Lael on the cheek. She’d gone pale and cold. Emma didn’t know what kind of paranormal Lael was, but she was sure she was either a witch or an empath. Or she had some off the wall stuff going on. “Lael?”
Nothing. The other woman didn’t respond. Nicole kneeled by Emma and motioned for her to pass Lael over.
“Isn’t she too heavy for you to carry alone?”
Nic blew a raspberry. “Em, I’m a shifter now. I could probably carry you if the need arose. Let me carry her back to my car.”
Emma watched as Nic carefully lifted Lael into her arms without breaking a sweat or grunting over the other woman’s weight. She was impressed. If she gave in and allowed Mason to mate her and her body took to the change, she could have the same powers as Nic, Jordan and Ellie. It was still in the air if Karla had the ability to shift. With her getting pregnant right after Nate had bitten her, it wasn’t something anyone knew. Barbara had mentioned that Karla was likely to have the shifter genes in her body through her offspring. Only a strong female could carry a shifter child. The strength of their kicks could break bones and if Karla’s body couldn’t handle it, it would kill her. But even closing in on her delivery of the babies, Karla was holding strong.
Nicole carried Lael to Nic’s car and they laid her on the back seat.
“She’s breathing steadily,” Nic said, placing a hand on Lael’s pulse. “Her heartbeat’s steady and I don’t sense any kind of discomfort in her.”
Every time Nic, Jordan or Ellie did something cool like tell her others were lying or sense how someone was feeling, she hoped that when she mated with Mason she got their skills. It would suck if she was the first one out of them to not shift or bond with the shifter genes.
“I don’t understand why she fainted.”
Nic bit her lip, pulled her cell from her pocket and sent a text. “She must have some draining abilities. It’s the only thing I can think of that would cause her to pass out. She had to have been mentally going somewhere to get you whatever information she did.”
Emma growled. “She said so little. Only a few words about how things were linked and how time was running out.”
A black SUV pulled up beside Nic’s car and Shaari along with another enforcer jumped out.
“Are you okay?” Shaari asked, glancing at them. “I got your text,” she said nodding at Nic.
“Thanks a lot, Shaari. She and Emma were talking and all of a sudden she was out like she’d been K.O.’d.”
Shaari’s brows flew up under her bangs. “Did you knock her out, Emma?”
Emma’s lip twisted wryly. “With what? My annoying sarcasm?”
Shaari grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think you could. It takes a lot to take out Lael, she’s strong. One of the strongest daughters of the Sisters. No way you could say or do anything that would take her out.” The smile faded. “I think she must have connected with something that took her too deep into the future.”
Wait. What? “She sees the future?”
Emma glanced down at the short bartender with dragon earrings and a pair of lips on her T-shirt and had to stop herself from yelling for her to wake up.
“Oh, yeah. And not the fun stuff. As a powerful witch, she’s got some serious sight. She’s really good at seeing war, pain, suffering, and stuff like that.”
“So she doesn’t see happy things?” Nic asked, her voice filled with that tremble of nerves Emma had come to know was concern.
Shaari shrugged and moved so her partner could pick up Lael and place her in their SUV. “She can, but I think she worries more over the things that will cause pain than those that bring happiness.”
Made sense. Why stress what’s going to end up being a happy ending. She needed to try to change the negative.
Once they’d taken Lael into the SUV, Shaari and the other enforcer got back into their SUV and left.
Nic turned to Emma with a sigh. “What now?”
“Want to swing by Embraced?”
Nic’s eyes widened. “You really want to go over there?�
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“We aren’t going inside, just looking from the outside to see what we find.”
Nic growled and turned the car on. The engine roared to life and she sped off. “You know, you need to stop that death wish you have. I swear to god I am going to get Barbara to come and talk to you about it.”
Emma grinned. “I don’t have a death wish.”
Nic glanced at her from the driver’s side with a raised brow. “Yes, you do. Everything with you is putting yourself in danger. Like you want to get yourself killed or something.”
Emma’s smile fell from her face. She’d never really stopped to think about things that way. After her family died, she tried to focus on helping others and doing what she could for her friends. There wasn’t much else for her to do.
Nic sighed. “I’m sorry, Emma. I don’t mean it like that.”
But she did. And she was right. “I guess I didn’t realize I put myself in danger that often.”
Nic pursed her lips and made an apologetic face. “Don’t you ever stop and just miss your family?”
God, no! She tried not to. “I’m not good with mourning.”
The car made a sudden stop and Nic turned to Emma. “You’re not still blaming yourself for their deaths, are you?”
Emma glanced away, training her gaze on the dark road ahead of them. “Things could have been so different.”
Nic sucked a breath in. “Yeah! You would be dead too!”
Maybe then she wouldn’t be living with the guilt of knowing her family had died on what was supposed to be a family vacation. A vacation she’d initiated and then pulled out of because she’d gotten angry with her mother.
She wouldn’t debate that with Nic, though. Nicole didn’t understand how hard it was to go home and not be able to call her brother on the phone. To not hear her mother’s laughter. Her father’s advice on how to handle the tough things in life. She was alone in the world and if she stopped to think about it, the pain would eat her from the inside. Instead, she did things. Put herself out there for others. To help. She organized and remembered how her father taught her to make lists and keep everything the way it was supposed to be. Her friends thought she was OCD, but she wasn’t. She did things the way her dad taught her as a way to keep his memory alive in her day to day life.