“So, you were worried about your own miserable life, but not the life of your child? How much did you get for her, Dad? Fifty thousand? A hundred?”
His eyes bulging, his dad sputtered, “Dax. Stop this. Now!”
“How much?” Dax ground out, his hand tightening around his father’s throat.
“Twenty-five thousand, Dax,” his mother cried, as she tugged on his arm, trying to pull him away from his father. “It was twenty-five thousand. We were to take it, and never talk about what happened to anyone.”
“Hush money,” Rubi said from behind him. “So, I was right.”
“You bastards.” How could they have sold his little sister like that? Shaking his head, Dax slowly squeezed harder, before finally letting up and tossing his father across the porch as if he were nothing. “You aren’t worth it. Rubi, grab a bag. We’re getting out of here.” There was no way in hell he was leaving her behind.
“I don’t live here,” Rubi said, her voice hard with anger. “I haven’t since I first began to suspect what they did. And, I always have a to-go bag in my car. I’m ready.”
“But, where are you going?” his mother whispered, from where she now knelt by his dad. “You just got home.”
Did she really think he was going to sit around and play the good son after everything they’d done? They sold his fucking sister! “Anywhere but here.”
3
Sable stood in front of her alpha’s door, knowing what she was about to do was the best thing for her right now, even if it was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. She loved her family, loved her pack, but she needed to get away. Needed time to think about things that she couldn’t think about with Aiden so near. There really was no other choice. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked.
“Come in.”
Opening the door, Sable stepped inside, closing it quietly behind her. Chase sat at his desk, a welcoming smile on his face. His mate, Angel, stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder. It hurt her heart knowing that she was about to leave them. “Thank you for seeing me,” she said softly, struggling with where to start.
Motioning to a chair in front of the desk, Angel smiled gently, “Have a seat, Sable. I know why you are here, and I think I have a solution.”
Sable stiffened, averting her eyes to a point over the alpha mate’s shoulder. “I would appreciate it if you would stay out of my head, please,” she said tightly, knowing she was being borderline insubordinate right now, but she couldn’t help it. Her thoughts and feelings were hers and hers alone. The only way someone else should know what they were is if she decided to share them herself. Unfortunately, Angel had certain gifts that allowed her to see into people’s minds, and it would seem she had taken advantage of those gifts now.
“I’m sorry,” Angel apologized, walking around the desk to sit in a chair beside her. “Normally, I try not to intrude, but you have been broadcasting your thoughts loudly lately.” When Sable gasped in dismay, Angel placed a hand on hers, squeezing it gently. “No one knows what Chase and I know, Sable. I haven’t told anyone else. I promise, I would never violate your trust like that.”
“Neither would I,” Chase said gruffly, leaning forward to place his arms on the top of the desk. “However, I am glad that Angel came to me about it.”
Sable dropped her gaze to stare at the floor, admitting softly, “I’m ashamed of myself and the way I feel.”
“What?” Angel gasped, kneeling down beside her and cupping her cheek in the palm of her hand. “Never feel ashamed for loving someone, Sable. Love is everything.”
“Not if it isn’t returned, or can never be,” Sable whispered, swiping at a tear that escaped.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Aiden loves you, too,” Angel said softly.
“He loves me like a sister,” Sable said, hating the way her voice wobbled. “Like a friend.”
“There are many different ways to love someone.”
Sable nodded, a breath hitching in her throat as she replied, “Yes, there are.”
“I think, in time, you will see that what you feel for Aiden isn’t the forever kind of love. Nor is it the love that you feel for a mate,” Angel told her gently. “I’ve been around a long time, Sable, and I have only recently found out the difference of loving someone and being in love with them. When you meet your mate, you will see what I’m talking about.”
“Aiden isn’t my mate.”
“No,” Angel agreed, running a hand gently down Sable’s hair, “he isn’t. But, your mate is out there somewhere, waiting for you. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to commit yourself to someone else, when you could have so much more with the one who completes the other half of your soul.”
“She’s right,” Chase said quietly. “I was alone for a long time before Angel finally made an appearance. And, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Sable grasped Angel’s hand tightly in hers, smiling through her tears. “Thank you, both. I hope, one of these days, I find the kind of love that you are talking about.”
“You will,” Angel murmured softly, before rising to her feet and walking back around the desk to once again stand beside her mate. “Now, about that possible solution I told you that I have.”
“We have a mission for you, Sable,” Chase said, handing her a manila envelope. Sable stiffened at the look in her alpha’s clear blue eyes, one that spoke of the importance of the assignment they were about to give her.
“My team and I have been looking into possible leads regarding the abduction of Aiden and Xavier’s sister,” Angel told her, gesturing to the envelope. “Everything we have is in there. We believe she is somewhere on the east coast, and is possibly with coyote shifters.”
“Coyote? Are you sure?” That could be bad. It was no secret that coyotes and wolves did not get along. She did not know of any instances where they could co-exist.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Angel confirmed. “I want you to take two enforcers of your choice with you, and investigate all of the places on the list in that envelope. There are both wolf and coyote packs, but we are leaning toward the coyote ones for this. If you suspect she is with one of the packs, contact us.”
“What about extraction?”
Angel glanced at Chase, deferring to him. “You have permission to extract only if necessary, and if you can do it safely without putting your team in jeopardy. If not, you call us. Angel will bring reinforcements.”
“I will take Charlotte and…” Sable paused, unsure who to name next. Normally, it would be Aiden, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen this time. Not only was the whole idea to get away from him for a while, but she was looking for his sister. She didn’t want Aiden or Xavier involved unless she was actually able to track the missing girl down. There was no way she was taking Trigger. He was a pain in the ass, even if he was good at what he did. She could take River, but if she did, that wouldn’t leave many enforcers for Chase if he received another mission for the council. There was only one choice. “Silver.”
His eyes narrowing, Chase asked, “Are you sure? She hasn’t been training with us for very long.”
“No,” Sable replied, “but she’s good, and I trust her.” She didn’t know what it was about Janie’s sister, but she did trust her, and the wolf could kick some serious ass.
“Done,” Chase decided. “Make sure to check in at least every other day so we know you are safe.”
“Also, keep your eyes and ears open for the General, Sable,” Angel cut in. “Last I heard, he was still recovering from his altercation with Chase, but don’t ever underestimate his power or his reach.”
“Altercation,” Chase sneered. “I was so close to tearing that fucker’s throat out. Next time, I’m going to do it. No one messes with my family.”
Placing her hand on Chase’s shoulder, Angel went on, “There is no reason to believe that the General is involved in any of this, but he has bases all over the United States, which includes a large one in Washington, D.C
.”
Sable nodded, knowing the General was a force to be reckoned with. She had no desire to go up against him without more backup with her than Charlotte and Silver. He had already kidnapped, tortured, and killed so many people. She didn’t want to be added to the list. “We will watch out for his men.”
“Good.”
Sable rose, her gaze going from Chase to Angel. She knew this mission was one of the most important ones they could have given her, and the fact that they trusted her to be in charge of it filled her with pride. “I won’t let you down,” she promised.
“We know you won’t,” Angel said, a slow smile crossing her face.
As Sable left, she didn’t see the look that her alphas exchanged. Nor did she hear Angel whisper, “Good luck, my friend.”
4
An hour later, Sable sat at her kitchen table going over the contents of the envelope. There were a total of eight coyote packs on the list for them to look into, along with a couple of wolf packs. She shivered when she saw that two of them were in D.C. As strong as she appeared on the outside, the idea of being caught by the General and his men terrified her. After all of the hell he’d put her friends through, she wanted nothing more than to put a bullet in his heart, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew what he did to his female prisoners, and she was going to stay as far away from him and his goons as possible without more than just Charlotte and Silver as backup, if she could help it.
Straightening in her chair, Sable set the list aside and started combing through the files in front of her. There was no place for her fear on this mission. She needed to shove it down ruthlessly, just like she always did. All that mattered was Aiden and Xavier’s sister. Finding her and bringing her home to her brothers was the important thing.
There was a knock on her door, and then Charlotte and Silver walked in without waiting for her to get up and answer it. Going to her fridge, Charlotte pulled out a beer and tossed it to Silver, and then grabbed one for herself before taking a seat across from Sable.
“What’s up, girl? Why did you call us here?”
“No alcohol,” Sable said, grabbing the can from her friend before she could pop the tab.
“Well, shit, I was looking forward to that.”
Sable heard Silver snicker behind her, before setting her beer on the counter and sliding into the chair beside her. “Who drinks before noon, anyway?”
Charlotte shrugged and grinned, “Hey, I’m not on duty today, and it’s five o’clock somewhere!”
“Actually, as of right now, you are both on duty,” Sable told them, tapping the stack of files in front of her. “We have a mission, and ladies, it’s an important one. We can’t afford to fuck it up.”
Charlotte immediately became serious, wiping the smirk from her face. “Just the three of us?”
Sable nodded. “Chase and Angel are sending me east, and told me to take two enforcers with me.”
“You chose me?” Silver asked in surprise. “But, you’ve never seen me in action before. How do you know I can be what you need me to be when we are out there?”
Sable grinned, “I see you in action on a daily basis, Silver. You may not have been on an actual mission with us before, but it is obvious that you will be a huge asset to our team.”
Silver’s dark grey eyes went from Sable to Charlotte, and a slow smile spread across her lips. “Well, then, I’m in!”
Charlotte raised her hand and fist bumped Silver’s, but then turned a questioning gaze to Sable. “I’m definitely in, too, but I don’t understand why they are only sending us? They never do that. We go as a team, and Chase leads it.”
“This assignment is sensitive,” Sable told them, “and what I am about to say goes no further than the three of us.” After they both nodded in agreement, she went on, “We are being sent to look for Aiden and Xavier’s sister.”
“Sister?” Charlotte asked in confusion. “I didn’t know they had a sister.”
“She was stolen from them years ago,” Sable explained quietly. “When they were just boys, their father’s obsession with power consumed him, and he made a deal with another pack, selling us out because he wanted to become the alpha of the White River Wolves. Titen let the other pack onto our lands so they could attack us, but in the end, they turned against him. He was able to hide Aiden and Xavier, but his wife was nine months pregnant at the time. They killed her, cut her open, and stole the baby. No one has been able to find her since.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Silver snarled, smacking her hand down on the table. “Who in the hell does something like that?”
Charlotte’s eyes misted with tears as she whispered, “That’s horrible. How old would she be now, Sable?”
“Twenty,” Sable said quietly.
“And we have no idea what she has been going through since those bastards kidnapped her?”
“No,” Sable admitted, “which is one of the reasons this mission stays between us. Aiden and Xavier have been through enough. We have no idea what this girl will be like when we find her. Hell, we don’t even know if we will be able to find her. It’s best if we keep things quiet for now.”
“Agreed,” both women replied in unison.
“So, we have leads to check out?” Charlotte asked, reaching for one of the files.
“Angel and her team have compiled files on ten packs for us to look into on the east coast, eight coyote and two wolf.”
“Coyote!” Silver gasped, her eyes widening in horror.
“My sentiments exactly,” Sable bit out, sliding the list over in front of them. “We are going to start in Virginia, but I need to warn you. From what I have been told, we need to be very careful. One of the General’s biggest bases is in the D.C. area.”
“Fuck the General,” Silver snarled, her eyes darkening in anger. “After what that son of a bitch did to my sister, I will gut the bastard if I see him.”
“Hell, yeah,” Charlotte growled, her eyes going wolf as her fangs dropped. “After everything he’s done to our friends, that prick deserves to die.”
Their words filled Sable with determination and courage, and she raised her hand, curling it into a fist and holding it out in front of her. “Fuck the General,” she agreed, smiling in satisfaction when the others bumped their fists into hers.
It was late afternoon before they were finished going through the files and had a plan in place. Deciding it was best to leave immediately, they each went their separate ways to pack a bag and gear up. Forty-five minutes later, they were throwing their things into the trunk of Sable’s black sports car, when she heard Aiden’s voice.
“Where are you heading, Sable?”
Taking a deep breath, she slammed the trunk shut and motioned for Charlotte and Silver to get in the car. “We are going away for a bit.” She had to watch what she said, because he would be able to scent a lie.
“Where?”
“They are looking into a few things for me, Aiden,” a deep voice said. Sable glanced over to see Chase walking toward them with his niece, Lily, in his arms.
“Alone?” Aiden asked, his eyes narrowing as his gaze went from her, to Charlotte and Silver.
“What? You think we can’t handle it alone?” Sable snapped back.
“I never said that,” Aiden growled, reaching out to grab her arm. She yanked it away, and stepped back. “What the hell is wrong with you, Sable?”
“She’s sad,” Lily said quietly.
“What?”
“Sable’s sad,” the little girl repeated, walking over to put her hand gently on Sable’s arm.
“What’s she talking about, Sable?” Aiden demanded. “Why are you upset?”
Sable swallowed hard, raising her hand and running her fingers lightly down Lily’s hair. “I’m just going through some things right now, Aiden. I’ll be fine.”
Lily gave her a blinding smile as she said, “Yes, you will be. You will be very happy soon.”
“I will?” Sable murmured, praying the lit
tle girl was right. She knew Lily had gifts, had even seen it for herself several times, but she’d never been on the receiving end of the child’s premonitions.
Lily tugged on her arm until she knelt in front of the girl, and then she leaned in close. “When you meet him, don’t be afraid,” she whispered loudly.
“When I meet who?”
“The man who will make you smile again,” Lily said, touching Sable’s face softly. “He won’t hurt you, and neither will his fire.”
“His fire?”
Lily’s nose scrunched up slightly, and she nodded slowly. “Yes, it’s bright, and hot, but he will only use it to keep you safe.”
“What in the hell is she talking about, Chase?” Aiden demanded loudly.
Before Sable could say anything, Chase growled, “You will treat my niece with respect, pup!”
“Yes, Alpha,” Aiden bit out, baring his neck in deference to his alpha, even as his eyes glittered in anger.
Sable ignored him, her eyes never leaving Lily’s as she covered the little girl’s hand with hers. “I’m going to meet him soon?”
“Yes,” Lily said softly. “He’s looking for someone, just like you. But, she’s lost for now.”
Sable stared into eyes that were so much older and wiser than the seven-year-old child in front of her. She hesitated before asking, “Who is he looking for?”
“Someone he loves very much. The bad men took her, and he can’t find her. He’s sad, like you.”
“Who…who is she to him, Lily? Do you know? Can you see?” Sable stumbled over the words, confused by the conversation. Who was this man who would make her smile again? Who was he looking for?
“She’s his family,” Lily said simply.
Unwilling to push her further, Sable pulled Lily close and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you, sweetheart. I will watch for him. I promise.”
“And don’t be afraid.”
“I won’t.”
Sable rose, leaning down to give Lily one last hug before nodding to her alpha and Aiden, and then walking around the car to open the driver’s side door. She paused when she heard Lily call her name. “Yes?”
Sable's Fire Page 2