No, I didn’t have the luxury of walking through the remainder of this clan’s plantings if I wanted to arrive rested and powerful at the regional gathering. So I set my feet and pulled Acres to a halt through sheer stubborn rudeness alone.
“I appreciate the tour,” I said firmly. “But I need to know if there’s any chance you’ll support Wolf Landing’s territorial bid.” No need to go into the plan to usurp Stormwinder’s Tribunal privileges. Not yet. We could discuss that at a later date if Acres appeared amenable to our advances.
Because, much as I was hoping to bag another ally, I wasn’t expecting a positive reply this time around. After all, why would Acres evade the subject matter all afternoon if he was willing to make a deal? Still, I wasn’t quite ready to leave without hearing our host say no to my face either.
But, to my surprise, Acres didn’t turn me down flat. Instead, he offered a short “Of course” before sinking onto a bench placed so he could peer out across the flat land toward the setting sun.
We both stared west for several long seconds, me hoping Acres would elaborate while he appeared to be merely enjoying the view. Eventually, the length of the silence made me admit that my companion had said all he wanted to say already.
“Of course you’ll support us?” I prodded at last, knowing that I was losing whatever small element of control I’d once held over the situation by descending into a request for confirmation.
And, as I spoke, I braced myself, expecting to be laughed off the property. Expecting to have my own weaknesses thrown back in my face when my host made it clear he’d been playing with me all afternoon.
But Acres merely nodded slowly before elaborating, “Yes, I’d be glad to support you.”
Then, rising back to his feet, he released the bomb he’d been cradling to his chest throughout our preceding talk. “All I ask in exchange is that you donate half of your attack force to my clan as a show of solidarity.”
Chapter 16
“MY ATTACK FORCE?” THE words jumped out of my lips without conscious permission. I felt remarkably dense, but I couldn’t quite figure out what Acres was referring to.
Because the pack that Hunter and I had cobbled together consisted of a small family of shifters, none of whom (barring my mate) could be considered remotely warrior-like. Perhaps Acres had confused Wolf Landing with some other proto-pack?
Even when tendrils of frost began creeping across the ground heading from Hunter directly toward Acres, I didn’t get the older leader’s drift. Instead, my mate had to verbally clue me in.
“The bloodling pups,” Hunter said, speaking his first words in hours. The phrase was garbled and badly enunciated, though, as if he was barely managing to prevent an emotionally charged shift through force of will alone.
“The bloodlings?” I parroted, then felt all blood drain away from my face as I finally got Acres’ point.
“They’re a force to be reckoned with,” the older shifter continued, strolling back toward his home without so much as glancing over a shoulder to see if we followed. My mate and I stood like stones, but the growing distance wasn’t enough to block Acres’ words from entering my unwilling ears. “Quite powerful now that they’re trained to do your bidding. I understand you have twenty-one bloodlings available. I’ll take ten, the oldest males if you don’t mind. That should be enough to level the playing field.”
The future of our bloodling pups wasn’t a game and I did very much mind the implication. In fact, I opened my mouth to hurl some well-placed invectives in Acres’ general direction...only to choke on the spring-water-scented palm that landed atop that orifice before I’d managed to sputter out a single word.
What the fuck? I demanded via the mate bond.
Don’t waste your breath, Hunter countered, releasing me from his hold as quickly as he’d initially moved in. The bastard knew what he wanted from the beginning. Unless you plan to relinquish members of our pack, there’s no point in speaking further.
I wavered, wanting to believe that Hunter was wrong and I’d merely misunderstood the older pack leader despite the simplicity of his words. Surely no alpha could possibly think so little of a fellow shifter that he considered our pups chattel to be sold to the highest bidder.
Unfortunately, all evidence pointed to the contrary. Acres had been playing with us all afternoon, killing time in order to make our bid at All-Pack dependent upon accepting a deal that I’d never willingly choose of my own volition. He wanted me to scurry after him now, like a wayward puppy afraid to be abandoned in the descending dark. He wanted me to argue, to perhaps meet in the middle at five slaves, then to end up thoroughly in his debt.
But I wasn’t a puppy and Acres was no longer an ally I was willing to even consider nurturing. So, turning without another word, Hunter and I headed off the trail in a beeline toward our parked vehicle.
Only forty-seven short hours stood between us and All-Pack, and we were no closer to our goal than we’d been when we first set foot on Acres’ land.
I WOKE IN PITCH DARKNESS to the sound of digital ringing. Hunter’s long torso cradled my back and his arm lay across my stomach, soothing the previous day’s upsets out of both body and soul. And, for a moment, I couldn’t quite figure out where we were or why I’d willingly allowed some annoying electronic device to interrupt our slumber.
“Hotel, cell phone,” my mate breathed into my ear. He’d taken a second longer than I had to wake, but his brain was now halfway to the finish line while mine was still trying to decide what a cell phone was.
A tiny breeze brushed against my hair as my mate’s long arm reached over my head to fumble in search of the ringing device. “Hunter here,” he said after only a second, his voice low and growly but full of human intention.
The light from the newly wakened screen brightened our surroundings enough to see by, and I took advantage of the illumination to pull on clothes as quickly as I was able. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a phone call in the middle of the night was bad news. I wanted to be ready to go on a moment’s notice.
The words that popped out of the phone proved my point. “They’re gone!”
Lupe. Dropping my bra, I instead accepted the device Hunter was holding out in my general direction. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to the kid. But my mate and I both knew that an unhappy Lupe would respond better to the sound of my voice than to any other.
“Calm down,” I said as soothingly as I could, despite the fact that my own chest had abruptly tightened with tension. Beside me, Hunter was packing up our belongings with the single-minded intensity only a bloodling could muster. I followed his lead, slipping into the rest of my clothes while I waited for Lupe to reply.
“I’m calm,” Lupe lied after a sob-like indrawn breath. “But the twins are gone.”
I took the phone away from my ear for a moment to check the time. Four AM. How could Lupe even know where her human guardian’s newborn twins were located at this hour of the morning?
“I know because Nina came over for a slumber party last night,” my charge said, answering my unspoken question. At least our wolves were still in sync enough that she could guess at my reaction without needing to hear the words voiced aloud. That was a plus even if the bloodling did appear to be clinging to her sanity by splintered fingernails.
Guilt layered atop terror in the girl’s voice now, and I had a hard time deciding what to say. Because, yes, the slumber party had been a patently terrible idea. Why exactly had Lupe chosen to bring a one-body and her tiny babies into a clan splitting at the seams with far too many unruly werewolves?
But what was done was done. “I assume you’ve looked for them?”
“Of course I’ve looked for them,” Lupe spat back. “They’re mine.”
And that was her wolf talking, human mind completely absent. No way could the girl be responsible for leading the inevitable hunt for the missing twins. “Who else is there with you?” I demanded.
But the only answ
er now was a growl so low I thought it might have come from my mate. Unfortunately, the sound instead appeared to be emanating from the phone I still clutched to my ear.
“Let’s go,” Hunter said, interrupting my one-sided conversation in order to grab my arm and hustle me toward the door. He’d pulled on jeans, at least, and had draped some subset of our belongings across one broad shoulder. So I followed willingly as he dropped the key card onto the hallway carpet in lieu of hitting up the main office, then together we took off toward our car at a run.
Still, I wasn’t willing to wait four soul-sucking hours before dealing with my irrational charge. Instead, I snagged a second cell phone out of Hunter’s back pocket even as I continued speaking into the one I currently had pressed against my face. “Lupe, you need to stay with me. We’re on our way, but I’m going to call ahead and talk to Ginger first, okay? Just listen and talk when you’re ready.”
The whisper of a growl increased in intensity, which I decided to take as a good sign. Car doors slammed and tires screeched, but I didn’t even realize I was in the passenger seat of a speeding vehicle until Hunter reached around me to pull at my seat belt. “Put this on,” he demanded.
“Keep your eyes on the road,” I countered. Still, I obeyed. Then, keeping my connection to Lupe open on one phone, I dialed the number of the first pack mate on my list into the other.
Drumming my fingers against the window glass, I listened to the line ring and ring and ring with no answer. Looked like Ginger had better sleep hygiene than I did and had turned her phone all the way off. Attempts to get through to Glen and Wolfie came up similarly empty.
At last, in desperation, I dialed the land-line number of the community house. One ring, two rings...then Ember’s perky little voice came through the air waves. “Hey, Auntie Fen. The moon is so bright out there. I’m glad you called and woke me up.”
I closed my eyes and sought the inner peace the little girl’s father made appear so effortless. “Thanks for answering, Ember. Can you do me a favor and tell me where Lupe is sleeping?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” the little girl answered. “Cousin Lupe, Auntie Nina, and the pups are in Lupe’s den tonight.” Then she paused. “Oops, I wasn’t supposed to tell you Auntie Nina is here. Just like I wasn’t supposed to tell you that your brother called.”
My brother?
Before I could attempt to unpack Ember’s mention of a sibling who didn’t exist, I heard rustling followed by Terra’s soft voice. “Is everything okay?”
No, everything was very much not okay. “Something’s wrong in Lupe’s cabin,” I said, trying and failing at keeping my voice calm now that another adult was on the line. Instead, my words tumbled all over themselves in their hurry to exit my mouth. “She called me terrified that Mrs. Sawyer’s twins had gone missing. Can you send someone to check on her, then call me back?”
No request for further details, no worried hand fluttering. Just: “Of course,” and then the phone went dead.
“Are you still there, Lupe?” I asked now, turning my attention back to the bloodling on the phone still pressed up against my right ear. “You need to talk to me and tell me what’s going on.”
Nothing. The car took a sharp turn and rolled up the ramp leading onto the highway above. Beside me, Hunter reached across the center console to lay a warm palm atop my knee while he accelerated to far beyond acceptable interstate speed.
I spared a hope for all highway patrollers to be sound asleep in their own beds. Then, at last, I heard Lupe’s strained voice emit words I hoped never to hear again.
“I think I ate them.”
For half a second, I believed her. Those strange blackouts, the loss of time...who knew what the two of us did while our human brains weren’t awake and open for business? The slaughtered ram could likely be laid at our feet even if Christy’s scare was ostensibly not our fault.
So, yes, I’d have believed the worst if Lupe said her wolf attacked one of Terra’s clan members. The bloodling must find it confusing to share her territory with so many shifters who weren’t tapped into our pack bond, especially when her own alpha was absent.
But to harm the twins? Lupe thought those pups hung the moon. So, rather than trying to reason with her, I laughed in her face.
“It’s not funny,” Lupe countered. “There’s blood on the door sill. Nina’s so sound asleep she seems drugged. And the twins are gone.”
“Yes, you told me that already. But you didn’t harm a hair on those babies’ heads.”
The alpha compulsion came out without conscious intention. The statement was simply true, and my wolf and I both itched to cut through our charge’s fright long enough to make her hear the belief in my words.
Then Terra’s voice became just barely audible in the distance, her knock at Lupe’s door quiet but firm. “Lupe, I need you to let me in.”
“Open the door,” I commanded and was gratified to hear the click of a latch.
I could easily imagine the scene despite the hundreds of miles separating me from Wolf Landing. Lupe would appear thoroughly feral, her eyes wide and her fingers curled into claws despite her human form. Terra would be nearly invisible, the overhanging trees shrouding the front of Lupe’s cabin in darkness and adding tension to both sides.
Don’t do anything stupid, I begged. I wasn’t even sure if I was hoping to protect Terra from Lupe or Lupe from Terra at that point. Either way, I held my breath, hoping for the best while imagining the worst.
And then Wolfie’s calm voice trickled down the air waves. “Give me the phone,” he said gently, not even bothering to layer a compulsion atop his simple words. And as I felt the phone change hands and the soothing dominance of my former alpha push against my ear, I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Wolfie could keep the pack together for four more hours at least while we hurried home. But would Nina’s infants manage to survive the dark, frigid night long enough to be found?
Chapter 17
THIRTY-SIX HOURS BEFORE All-Pack, the sky began to lighten around our speeding vehicle. Hunter and I had swapped places long since, so my mate now curled into the passenger seat while my own white-knuckled hands clung to the steering wheel in a death grip.
“One of us needs to be rested and alert when we get there,” I’d argued hours earlier, expecting an instant rebuttal. “I’ll just sit up and worry all night long,” I added. “So I might as well be the one to drive.”
To my surprise, Hunter hadn’t argued. Instead, gracefully, he’d pulled over and relinquished the keys. Gratifyingly, I’d been right and my mate’s wolf had been quick to pull his human half back into slumber.
Gratingly, the endless miles separating myself from my pack seemed to stretch out to infinity in front of our rolling tires.
Now, with the first light of dawn turning my car-mate from a black lump into a slumped human figure, he spoke without opening his eyes. “They need to wake Nina up and have her call the human police.”
“You didn’t sleep at all,” I answered, surprised into a laugh by his abrupt observation. I’d thought for sure Mr. I Don’t See the Purpose of a Pack would conk out and ignore the drama unfolding back at our home base. But, no, Hunter had been mulling over the same issues I’d been gnawing on for the last two hundred miles, and unlike me he seemed to have come up with a plan of action.
Rather than answering, Hunter stretched long legs into the shallow floor well, then redialed the same number I’d been calling every fifteen minutes in search of updates. The news so far had been no news. And when the highway had climbed from piedmont to mountain an hour ago, displaying rime-coated trees flickering through the glare left by my shining headlights, I couldn’t help believing that Nina’s twins could never have survived such a wintry night.
“We’re still searching,” Terra greeted us, cutting straight to the point. “Ginger is waking the rest of the pack to get a head count now. But six of us have already walked the entire mountainside three times over. There’s no sign o
f the infants. No scent trails or tracks are leading away from Lupe’s cottage either.”
Terra didn’t have to draw the obvious conclusion aloud to get her point across. If no one entered or left the bloodling’s cabin other than Lupe and the sleeping Nina, then maybe I was wrong and the young bloodling was right. Maybe my charge really had gone off the rails and consumed her adopted siblings in some kind of fugue state.
“No,” Hunter said simply, none of the doubt Terra and I shared evident in his voice. Then he repeated the same words he’d voiced only moments earlier. “Wake Nina and have her report a kidnapping to the human police.”
“The blood on the floor...” Terra started.
“...Is irrelevant. The babies are going to turn up alive and well somewhere in one-body territory. But if Nina doesn’t call the police immediately, she’ll be up on charges of neglect for letting the pups out of her sight. She could lose them. This is how human law works.”
For all of his bloodling nature and recent profession as a shifter enforcer, Hunter possessed more insight into the one-body world than the rest of us put together. After all, he’d spent a third of a lifetime in the U.S. Navy. No wonder he understood human regulations on a level most shifters found unfathomable.
Well, most shifters save Terra, who had spent a similar span of time among humankind. “Hmm,” she said absently as she turned my mate’s words over in her head. Then, “You know who took them.”
“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Hunter confirmed.
By this time, we’d pulled off the highway into Arborville proper and were winding through town on the way to the little country road that led to our home. The landscape I’d been longing for all night, though, now seemed to epitomize unimportance. Instead, I ached to pepper my companion with questions—“who?”, “where?”, and “why?” being at the top of my list.
But, instead, I felt obliged to mention the obvious. “Can our pack really handle having an unknown one-body sniffing around the territory right now, when we’re due to leave for All-Pack tomorrow morning?”
Alpha Underground Trilogy Page 50