by Alanea Alder
“Please tell me she is okay,” Ma said, rushing over to stand beside Aleks.
“They’re both fine. As soon as I finish checking on Gina, I will check on your arm, Aleks,” Doc said and Aleks waved him off.
“Tend someone else. This will be healed by morning,” he said.
Kaden and Beau walked in, carrying the Wade children. Both Beverly and Arthur Raymond stepped forward, having already pulled on their clothes as soon as the fighting stopped. She went over and took the girls in her arms as Arthur wrapped his arms around the boys’ shoulders. Kaden and Beau went to the pile of scrubs.
“You’ll be living with us now,” Beverly said.
“Is my sister okay?” Ethan asked, going to stand by his sister taking her hand.
“She will be, but I bet she’d be real happy to hear your voice, son,” Doc said.
“Gina, it’s me Ethan. You were right. Alpha Kate and Alpha Bran and Alpha Caleb came and saved us just like you said they would. Please wake up soon!” He kissed her hand.
Kate had to look away. She’d never thought anyone in the pack liked her, but she had missed how much trust the children put in her. She cleared her throat.
“You’re going to like living at the Pack house, Ethan. There are lots of other children to play with.”
He looked up at her and smiled shyly.
“The boys?” Caleb asked, turning to her. Bran walked out of the room flagging Riley down.
Doc handed her his cell phone from the small table between the hospital beds, which she used to call Liam.
“Hello?” Liam’s voice came on the line.
“Liam, it’s me,” Kate said.
“Is everyone is okay? We haven’t heard anything.” Liam said rushing his words.
“We’re a little banged up, but we’re okay. How are the boys?” she asked.
“We put them down just a while ago. They couldn’t hang on anymore. Do you want us to keep them for the night?” he asked.
Kate heard his voice soften when talking about the boys. Looks like they had conquered another Alpha. She smiled and looked at Caleb, who nodded.
“Yes, please. We’ll barely have enough strength to get back to the Pack house tonight,” Kate explained.
“I can imagine. Don’t worry. Uncle Liam will watch over the boys and in the morning, we’ll have ice cream,” Liam said and in the background she heard Rian say, “I’m the uncle, not you, Liam. And you can’t give those boys ice cream for breakfast!”
To which she heard Liam say under his breath, “Watch me.”
Kate just smiled.
“We’ll be over first thing in the morning,” she promised and hung up with him.
Bran walked back in and went to his mates. Kate wrapped Caleb’s arm around her neck and reached behind her to wrap Bran’s arm around her waist. She luxuriated in the moment with both her mates close to her and safe.
“The perimeter?” Ma asked of Bran.
“Closed,” Bran said simply and she nodded.
“Landon and Lucas?” Bran asked.
“Liam is keeping them through the morning. I told him we were wiped,” Kate said, laying her cheek on his shoulder.
“Good idea,” Bran said yawning.
“The pack is okay?” Caleb asked.
“Surprisingly everyone came through this relatively unscathed. Just some bites here and there. I think everyone’s anger at the attack made them more ferocious than normal because their animals sensed a threat to the pack.” Bran started to sway.
“Come on, Alphas, we’ll drop you off at the Pack house before heading home,” Kaden said.
Bran blinked. Kate had to push her men forward.
“Thank you, Kaden. Come on, guys, time to head home.” Kate pushed and pulled both men out the door and toward the truck.
When they got to the Pack house, she saw pack members crashed on couches, in chairs and even on the rug in front of the fireplace. People had just curled up in the closest empty spot. She eyed a patch on the floor behind the couch longingly. Caleb shook his head and prodded her up the stairs as she grumbled every step of the way. Bran maneuvered them into the shower and managed to clean the blood away. After her shower, Kate left the room and came back with Landon’s and Lucas’s stuffed lions. She cuddled them close and fell into bed. After a cursory towel-dry, Bran and Caleb collapsed into bed and wrapped themselves around Kate, all of them too tired even to fool around.
* * * *
Kate felt as though she had just closed her eyes when she heard a cell phone ringing. She picked hers up to see that it was dead. She fumbled around and picked up Caleb’s. It wasn’t ringing. Finally she found Bran’s.
“Hello?” she said hoarsely.
“Kate, hyenas have attacked the Pride house. The boys are fine. They slept through the whole thing. We were able to dispatch the hyenas with no issues. In fact, my lions may have had too much fun. In any case, we have a problem. My scout traced their scent back and they crossed over the perimeter just an hour ago, well after you killed Elias Wade. He wasn’t the breach,” Liam explained.
He paused and then yelled to someone in the background, “Get those dismembered body parts off my lawn! I do not want to smell that shit in the morning!”
Kate was wide awake.
“What!” She sat straight up, accidentally rolling Caleb off the bed. He landed and woke up cursing.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked.
“Kate?” Bran asked, sitting up.
“Hyenas have attacked the Pride house,” she said, stunned. “Elias wasn’t the breach,” she said in almost a whisper.
“Son of a bitch!” Caleb said, going to the dresser and pulling out clothes. He threw jeans and a shirt to Bran.
“Landon…Lucas?” he asked.
“Fine, they’re fine,” she said to Caleb before turning back to the phone.
“Liam, we’re heading over to the clinic. I bet Ma is still there with Aleks and Rebecca. I’ll call you back when we figure something out.” She hung up, jumped up, and went to the closet. She pulled down her jeans and zip sweater.
She met both men at the bedroom door and they made their way down the stairs.
Riley came out of the family room, rubbing his eyes. “Bran? What’s going on? It’s only three a.m.”
“Hyenas crossed the perimeter an hour ago and attached the Pride house,” Kate explained.
“That’s impossible!” Riley said, his eyes now wide open.
“If Elias wasn’t the breach, then who else has betrayed the pack?” Riley said softly.
Pack members had woken up and were gathering behind Riley.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out,” Bran said.
“We’ll have to take your car, Caleb. My truck is still at the clinic,” Kate said, heading to the door.
“Riley, keep the pack in the house unless you hear from us. Run a patrol only as far out as the property line,” Bran said, following Kate out the door.
The drive to the clinic was quiet. Kate felt waves of tension coming off Bran.
“Bran, we’ll figure it out,” Kate started.
“How? How, Kate? If you know of a way, please tell me,” Bran said sharply.
Kate sucked in her breath.
“Bran, back off, man,” Caleb said, placing a hand on Bran’s shoulder.
Kate could literally see the stress and anxiety melt away as if Caleb was siphoning it off through their bond. Bran unclenched his hands on the steering wheel.
“Kate, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just don’t know what to do,” Bran said.
It nearly broke her heart to hear him admit it out loud. She had a feeling that, had Caleb not come into their lives, Bran would never have been comfortable sharing his fears. He would have tried to stay the strong one. Kate sent a silent prayer of thanks to Fate for her choice.
“We’ll find the breach. We have somewhere to start now. We can check the Wade house to see if there are any indications he was working with anyon
e.” She reached from the backseat to also lay a hand on the back of his neck. Bran met her eyes in the rearview mirror and he gave a wan smile.
“We’re going to end up owing everyone in the lion pride for protecting the boys,” Caleb said.
“You don’t owe anyone when they are your friends and family,” Kate said.
“I guess I’m still learning about that,” Caleb admitted with a rueful smile.
“We can show you,” Bran said. Caleb nodded.
They pulled in front of the clinic and Bran parked next to her truck. They got out and headed inside. The lights were off and it was quiet. They had just stepped inside when a low growl was heard from the right.
“Aleks?” Kate said, wishing she could turn on a light. All the bears smelled the same to her.
“No, it’s Connor. What are ya’ll doing back here?” He turned on a small office lamp. When he did, Kate saw cots set up in the waiting room. Low growls were heard from the beds’ occupants. The Arkadion boys were waking up. Ma stepped through the double doors.
“What on earth are you three you doing back?” she asked.
“Ma, hyenas crossed the perimeter about an hour and a half ago and went after the boys at the Pride house,” Kate said.
Ma gasped and brought a hand to her chest. “The boys? Liam?” she asked quickly.
Kate shook her head. “They’re fine, slept through the whole attack. Evidently the lions had fun. Liam was more concerned about getting body parts off his lawn than the actual attack.”
“Wait, you said they crossed over the perimeter an hour and a half ago?” Ma asked. Pa had come up behind her to wrap an arm around her shoulder.
Kate nodded.
“Sweet Fate! Elias wasn’t the breach,” Ma said.
“If we don’t find that breach, they will keep coming in and someone is going to end up dead,” Aleks said, walking into the room, Rebecca right behind him.
“We’re planning on going back to the Wade house to see if we can find any clues as to what they were doing,” Bran said.
A boy’s voice was heard just inside the double doors.
“Let me go!”
A second later Ashby appeared, holding a struggling Ethan by his collar. Ashby brought the boy forward and passed him to Ma. Beverly and Arthur followed close on his heels.
“What is going on? Why did you grab Ethan?” Beverly demanded, going to the boy and pulling him into her chest.
“He was trying to sneak out the back,” Ashby said.
All eyes turned to Ethan. Caleb stood in front of the boy and turned him around in Beverly’s arms. His eyes were kind and he smiled gently.
“Ethan, will you tell us why you were trying to leave? We promise to listen and not get mad.” Caleb took the boy’s hands, which were dwarfed by his giant ones.
Tears streaming down his face, Ethan looked at Caleb.
“It’s my fault! I asked them to come in. The hyena man promised to kill my dad so he wouldn’t hurt my sisters anymore.” He started to cry, hard sobs shaking his thin frame. Beverly snatched him and held him close. Caleb stood and looked to Bran, his eyes wide. Everyone stood in shock, staring at one another.
“Well fuck,” Rebecca said.
Chapter 11
“What in the hell are we going to do?” Kate demanded, looking around the room.
“I will not let you hurt him!” Beverly said.
“Of course we’re not going to hurt him,” Kate said.
“What do we know about the perimeter?” Bran asked.
Ma shook her head. “Not much, not even in the town records. It was established the day the town was founded so that they could build without fear of being attacked. The Arkadion Alpha at the time contacted a witch’s coven to lay the perimeter for the town. It is completely unknown what they did. We have ways to invite paranormals in as exceptions, but nothing on closing a breach.”
“So the only way to seal the perimeter is to kill the person who created the breach?” Nicholas asked from behind them, making his way into the waiting room.
“Yes,” Bran said, rubbing his forehead.
“Well, logic would dictate that if we cannot alter or negate the magic used to lay the perimeter then the only option left to us is to kill the person who created the breach,” Nicholas said, looking at Rebecca.
She tilted her head and stared at him as the room erupted in arguments. Kate could literally feel the wheels turning and then when Rebecca figured it out, she could see the light go off in her eyes.
“Of course! All we have to do is kill him!” she said, looking around the room, smiling. Aleks stared down at her in horror. She looked up, confused.
“What? Not like permanently.” She turned to Nic. “You, my friend, are brilliant.”
Nicholas blushed.
“The only reason the idea came to mind is because of the research and background work you had me doing about vampires,” Nic said.
“Still, it’s a great idea,” Rebecca continued.
“Wait! Stop! Explain for the rest of us who are having heart attacks,” Kate said.
Rebecca turned to the room. Kate could clearly see that her dear friend was plainly confused as to why they hadn’t been able to keep up with the conversation she was having with Nic. Rebecca took a deep breath.
Here we go, Kate thought.
“Well, Ashby is being cyber stalked by a certain hot club owner who may or may not have a pulse, so Nic and I got worried that if Ashby ever took him up on his offer to go to the club he would end up a Renfield or a chew toy or both and we couldn’t let that happen because if that happened then I would totally have to go up there and go all cra-zay on his amazingly hot ass. So I had Nic look into vampires since our library had little information on them so we could see if we could find out any weaknesses in case we had to, you know, annihilate him. Anyhoo, Nic found out that in turning peeps they have to bring them to the brink of death, like let them die then restart their bodies. So you see?” She took a breath and looked around. “Get it?” she asked.
“So we get a vampire to turn Ethan?” Arthur asked.
Ethan’s eyes widened. “Cool!” he said.
“No!” Rebecca said. “But what we can do is call the one vampire who kinda owes us since his club security let me and Ashby get taken and see if there are any tricks he can tell us about taking someone to the brink of death and still be able to bring them back.”
“Rebecca’s is right, Nic. You’re a genius,” Kate said, kissing Nic on the cheek. He smiled.
“I don’t know. It’s risky,” Caleb said, concern evident on his face.
“I can do it. If someone gives me the specs to follow,” a voice said from behind them. Dr. Clayboune walked out from behind the recovery room double doors. Bran nodded.
“I’d also like to ask this vampire why Elias seemed to be higher than a damn kite. There aren’t many drugs out there that could have that effect on shifters and he couldn’t afford the few that I know about.” Bran added.
“So all we have to do is call him,” Rebecca said and every head swung to Ashby. He squeaked.
“Why do I have to do it?” Ashby asked.
“Because he doesn’t have a hard-on for me, Ashers, or I would do it,” Rebecca said.
“What if I wake him up?” Ashby asked, his eyes wide.
“Ashby, the man is a vampire and even if he weren’t, he owns a friggin’ nightclub. Get to calling,” Rebecca said.
Ashby slowly walked into the recovery room and came back out with his cell, dragging his feet.
“I think I only have like one bar,” he said.
“Ashers!” Rebecca exclaimed.
“Okay, okay,” he said and then dialed the number.
The line only rang once before a beautiful voice answered. The voice was loud enough for every shifter to hear. Rebecca leaned her head in close to Ashby’s so she could listen in as well.
“Mon ange, what a pleasant surprise. Have you decided to take me up on my offer? I could
have a car there in less than an hour,” Gabriel said, answering the phone. Even his simple greeting sounded princely.
Every woman in the room gave a small sigh. The man sounded that damn good.
“Um, no, actually I, um, called to kinda ask a favor and uh... a question,” Ashby stammered.
“What can I do for you, mon ange?” Gabriel asked gently.
Mon ange? Bran mouthed to Kate in question.
My angel, Kate mouthed back. He smiled then nodded. It made sense since Ashby did look like an angel.
“We just found out that the perimeter breach allowing the hyena attacks is a boy from the wolf pack—” That was as far as Ashby got.
“Are you all right! Did they hurt you?” Gabriel demanded, the beautiful, melodious voice turning dark and terrible.
Ashby blushed a brilliant red. “I’m fine. Aleks and Rebecca kept us safe,” he said quietly. Kate heard Gabriel take a deep breath.
“You must call me when these things happen, mon ange. I refuse to lose you before we explore this thing between us,” Gabriel said, his melodic voice returning. Everyone in the room let out the breath they had been holding.
“Unless we seal the perimeter, they may get to me next and drain me like they tried to do with Nic,” Ashby said with a sniffle.
“They will not touch you!” Gabriel roared.
“If we seal the perimeter, then we don’t have to worry about the attacks anymore,” Ashby said softly.
“What do you need from me, angel?” Gabriel asked.
“Can you tell Dr. Claybourne what levels to take a person’s body to, to take them to the brink of death. We’re hoping this will reseal the perimeter. Then we can bring Ethan back,” Ashby explained.
“I’m flattered you have been learning about vampires, mon ange. It is a simple thing you ask and a request that I can easily fulfill. I’m emailing you what you need now. Was there also a question?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, this is Bran. When we went to dispatch one of my pack members who had been working with the hyenas, he was acting as though he was high on drugs. As you probably know, when you’re a shifter, that’s extremely hard to do. Any ideas?”