“Are you ready to die?” I asked him like I did every night, and he looked away. This was the hardest part of the conversation. He was technically dead, but lingering gave him a feeling of being alive.
“Don’t ask me that, Kenz…”
It was a never-ending cycle. I was selfish and didn’t want Jonah gone, but I was also tired of lying to my friends.
What’s a girl to do?
3
Sterling Rose was a beast in the ring. Standing at a five-foot-eleven height, she shot down any opponent who tried to spar with her. Thick, strong arms showed every twist and crevice of her muscles; she intimidated every male wolf in the Brooklyn Pack. I think I loved her.
The swish of Sterling’s right and left punches were swift, and the sound was so clean and easily heard in the room as the crowd of Lunas and I watched her match.
“Guard up, Evelyn!” I yelled at Sterling’s opponent, who kept stepping back as Sterling charged forward. “Arms up!” I’d paired the two because they were top of the class, but it was easy to see who the winner of this match was.
Hooking her foot behind Evelyn’s ankle, Sterling swept her off her feet and landed a fake punch to the throat, making it the final knockout hit. I rang the bell, ending the fight.
Hovering over the Luna, Sterling retracted her claws and extended a hand to help her stand.
“Nice work,” Sterling said. “Make sure to keep that right hand up to protect your face.”
They shook hands as if nothing happened and stepped out of the boxing ring the Lunas used to practice hand-to-hand combat.
They each grabbed their towels and water bottles, shaking my hand as we finished training for the day.
“Good job, Evelyn.” I patted her on the back. “Tomorrow, I want you working on the mats so that little foot trick never happens again.” I winked at her.
She giggled. “I can’t tomorrow. I’m signing up for a mission that’s during training hours.”
I raised a brow. “That’s fantastic, Evelyn. Good luck!” It probably was a small mission with the captains in the field, but they now had to allow Lunas to join them if they signed up. It was part of Lycan law—part of their freedom.
I turned to the rest of the group. “Great progress, everyone!” It’d only been a few months since the Brooklyn Pack had recruited a few new Lunas. If they wanted to stay as housemaids was fine, but each and every one of the Lunas would learn to defend themselves. Another massacre like the one at the Cadwell Estate would never happen again—Bash would make sure of it.
“A little birdy told me you’re vying for a spot as a captain, eh?” I said as Sterling and I walked upstairs to the main floor of the warehouse.
She bit her lip. “Yeah … I don’t know if I’ll get the spot. No Luna has gotten in with the captains yet. Some of them don’t agree with the laws.”
The Brooklyn Pack was much more accepting in that they didn’t agree but would adhere to the rules set forth, while other packs still weren’t making the effort for change.
“Don’t worry about them. I’ll be pulling for you.” I winked.
The main floor of the warehouse was packed. Everyone had just come back from a full moon still pumped up with adrenaline. You could feel the synergy in the room, the liveliness. The wolves were happy. It was a nice change.
“Thank you, Kenz,” she lowered her head and blushed, “for everything. I never fit the physical mold of a Luna, and if it weren’t for you, I would never have a place in any pack.”
It was one of the countless testimonies I’d heard in the past few months. Lunas were excited about their newfound freedom and were taking full advantage of it.
“When will they stop gassing your head up? You can barely fit through the door as it is.” Jackson rolled up on us. His hipster beard was finally gone, and his chocolate eyes reminded me so much of his brother. “Everyone loves her. We get it.” He playfully bumped my shoulder.
After Jonah’s death, I didn’t think Jackson would ever get over the fact he’d lost his twin. Shortly after the funeral, he took off on his own for a few weeks. He didn’t call or tell anyone except me. I thought I would be the last person he’d ever want to see, but we got close and bonded over the tragedy.
“Jackson, don’t be jealous and start a revolution because you don’t have a vagina. Envy does not look good on you,” I smirked.
He rolled his eyes, and the three of us began to shoot the breeze. Everything was calm, peaceful—until the double doors of the warehouse burst open.
Our heads snapped to the front, and every wolf growled at the three disheveled men at the door. Their plaid, button-up shirts were tucked into form-fitted jeans, and a leather belt with a big buckle completed their looks. It was obvious they weren’t from around here.
I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the man in the center. The middle-aged man was looking a bit worse for wear, but I’d never forgotten those dark-brown eyes. And, of course, the cowboy boots. I’d never forget those. “Duke?” I said as I stepped forward. “Duke Davenport?”
He grinned as he took me in with his gaze. “Mackenzie Grey. Darling, am I glad to see you.”
My pace quickened, and I met Duke halfway. He attempted a bow, but I stopped him. “No need.” I pulled him into a hug.
The Alpha of the Nashville Pack and I didn’t know each other well—we’d barely had a full conversation—but I would never forget the day he came to Brooklyn and calmly offered me a spot in his pack. Unlike Chicago, he didn’t try to force me into anything. If I didn’t have Sebastian and Jonah, I might have taken Duke’s offer.
“Is everything okay?” I observed him. His heavy breathing and the sheen of sweat on his forehead was nothing compared to the bleeding gash on his neck. “Who did this?” I pointed to the claw marks.
Duke’s eyes trailed around the warehouse before they fell on me again. “Can we talk privately?”
I nodded and ushered him to Sebastian’s office in the basement. He left his two companions upstairs with Jackson.
Without knocking, we entered the room where Bash was in the middle of a conference call. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration and stopped mid-stride when he saw us. His sapphire eyes glowed and his jaw locked.
“I’ll have to call you back,” he said and hung up the call.
“Sebastian …” Duke nodded and paused awkwardly for a moment. “I need your help.”
We settled into the wooden chairs opposite Bash’s desk and listened to Duke.
“It happened in the middle of the night. Most of the pack was having a night out on the town, and I stayed behind with a few of my captains,” he started. “Gas cans were tossed through the windows when a half-dozen of them burst inside the house. There was no wolfsbane used, so our assailants were wolves.”
“How can you be sure they were wolves?” Bash’s expression was stoic, taking in all the information before reacting.
I, on the other hand, had my emotions written all over my face. My right leg bounced with adrenaline, and I was ready to jump out of my seat and ask a million questions. Instead, I nibbled on my lip and eyed the two Alphas like I was watching a tennis match while dread filled my belly.
“This isn’t an isolated incident. Have you not heard?”
“Heard what?”
Duke ran a hand through his sandy hair and blew out a breath. “Igor, Jordan, and Ernesto—they’re dead.”
Bash’s brow twitched, and a look of disbelief crossed his face. He knew these people.
“How?” he demanded.
Duke’s gaze slithered to me with uncertainty and then back to Bash. “They were murdered. Throats slit in their sleep. They’re coming for me, and you’re next.”
The two Alphas eyed each other quietly, having a silent conversation.
“Mackenzie, leave,” Bash ordered without looking my way.
I did a double-take. “Excuse me?
“This is pack business—”
“Bullshit, Bash. What the hel
l is going on? Who are Igor, Jordan, and Ernesto?” I demanded as I stood from my seat. We’d agreed on one rule: we wouldn’t shut each other out. I guess we were both throwing that rule out the window lately.
Pot, meet Kettle.
“She could help us, Sebastian. Her father, the king—” Duke started.
“I don’t want her anywhere near this,” Bash growled, his eyes glowing orbs of sapphire.
“Her is right here, and she can hear you, ya know.”
The old Sebastian was starting to creep out and I wasn’t liking it. I’d grown accustomed to the way things had changed between us—the way he’d changed with me. Bash no longer ordered me around, but we discussed things like partners. It was perfect to me and completely unconventional to the wolves. We were setting the example of what we hoped would be the future of the Lycans—with Alexander’s blessing, of course. But the way he was acting right now was like taking a glimpse into the past.
“Listen to me, Mackenzie! Just once!”
“Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me?” I kicked my chair across the small office. “Have you not learned I don’t do well with orders?”
“Don’t take it as an order!” Bash shouted and slammed his fists on his desk. Splinters of wood creaked as he took his anger out on the table. “I know what’s good for you, and this isn’t!”
“Oh, really?” I said in mock surprise. “Pray tell, what is good for me, oh holy one.” I did a sloppy bow.
“Y’all,” Duke tried to interrupt, “I didn’t mean to—”
“Stay out of it!” Bash and I yelled in unison.
“Sure.” The Alpha of the Nashville Pack sat back down. “I’ll just shut my pie hole and wait my turn.”
Bash and I stared each other down like UFC fighters, and it felt like déjà vu.
“You’re a stubborn wolf,” I growled. “For once, let me help you.”
He set his lips in a hard line, and his eyes glowed so brightly they were almost blinding.
“If he tells you, he worries you won’t forgive him,” Duke explained.
“Duke!” Bash snarled, and I gripped his wrists for fear he’d throttle the Alpha.
The Southern Alpha smirked. “I’ve heard the rumors, Sebastian. There haven’t been soul mates in decades. If she’s yours, there’s nothing you can do that she won’t forgive. Trust in that.”
Bash’s chest heaved up and down rapidly, and I worried his insides would explode from the adrenaline.
Sliding my hand from his wrist to his hand, I gripped it tightly. “There is nothing you could say that would make me love you less. And unless you tell me everything, I can’t help you. I thought we promised each other—” I almost choked on the last part because I had broken that promise. I wasn’t telling him everything, yet here I was demanding it all from him. What a hypocrite I was.
“You’re right …” He swallowed a few times before running a hand through his midnight hair. “We did promise each other the truth. And since you’ve been so truthful with me, I must reciprocate.”
I wanted to barf. If he knew I was lying and hiding Jonah—his best friend and practically his brother—in my apartment at this precise moment, he wouldn’t tell me the truth. God, I was the absolute worst.
Before I became the most hated woman in the world, I swallowed the bile that threatened to escape and gulped a few times. I licked my chapped lips and wiped at the sweat trickling down the side of my face. The other two wolves didn’t think twice about it because we were in the middle of summer in New York City. For us, it was already hot as balls with our body temperatures, so the tense situation wasn’t making it any better for me.
“Just tell me, Bash. It’ll be okay.” Holding his hand, I stroked his palm with my thumb.
He stared into my soul, and for a split second, I thought he knew my secret. But no, it was impossible. According to Jonah, no oracle in history had ever claimed to see ghosts. This was something new, a power developed due to me being a hybrid.
“Fine,” Bash barked as he ripped himself away from me. The coldness I felt afterward was a shock, but I quickly schooled my expression. “Duke and I met when we did our mandatory tour in the Tracker Pack roughly ten years ago. Every male wolf is required to do one year of servitude. If you remember, Bernard volunteered to do an additional year for you when you ran off to Los Angeles.” He grunted.
I quirked a brow at him. He was bitter, and I didn’t like it. When he and the pack first found me, I ran away with good reason. Three years ago, they were still set in their ways where female wolves—Lunas—only cleaned up after the men and bred. That wasn’t the life I had envisioned for myself, and the Lycans weren’t open to change, so I left. I started a new life in Los Angeles for a year until I decided I was tired of running. Bash had understood that. What was his issue now?
“Igor, Jordan, and Ernesto were part of our Tracker Pack, as well in the Amazons of Colombia, South America. What about Killian?” Bash turned to Duke.
Duke shrugged. “Once our tour was completed, it’s like Kill disappeared from the face of the Earth. I’ve tried getting hold of the London Pack, but they haven’t returned any of my correspondence. It’s like the man is a ghost.”
“So you were a six-man pack?” I continued. “What happened?”
Bash covered his mouth as if he couldn’t speak anymore and diverted his eyes. He couldn’t even look at me. From what I knew of Tracker Packs, they hunted down lone-wolves and killed them. What could be worse than that?
“We got a tip regarding a group of lone-wolves deep in the Amazons.” Duke stood from his seat and ran a hand through his hair. The burden of that day showed through the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. “Back in the day, when we found hubs of lone-wolves, we’d infiltrate their tribes at night and set their camps on fire. Now, we’re more civilized.” He winked at me, and I felt sick. “I was the pack leader, so I assigned everyone an area to scope out to get a headcount of how many loners we were killing. Once finished, we set the camp ablaze.” Duke paused.
The quiet in the office made me uncomfortable. There was more to this story than just some dead lone-wolves that haunted Bash.
“There were children in the campsite,” Bash croaked. I whipped my gaze to him and couldn’t stop my eyes from widening in shock. “When we put out the fire, we found three bodies that couldn’t have been older than ten years of age. They weren’t even of shifting age. By pack law, they were to be brought to the elders at the Summit to be assigned to a pack. They should have been given a chance, but we killed them!” He yelled the last part.
“Sebastian, it was not our fault. We did not see the children. If we had known—” Duke tried to calm him, but Bash trembled with rage.
“If Killian hadn’t been busy chain smoking, maybe we would have!” Bash choked out.
“That’s not fair,” Duke frowned.
“I spent years with those kids clouding my sleep. They haunted me for most of my youth. I should have known nothing ever stays buried.” Bash turned to Duke, his hands shaking. His eyes were glossy with unshed tears, and the contorted frown on his face showed his anguish. “We all made a blood pact to never speak of that incident again. To bury it and never report it so our careers wouldn’t get ruined since we were all so close to becoming Alphas. But our secrets are coming back from the grave, Duke. Nothing stays hidden forever.”
The stress in his eyes nearly broke my heart in half. I’d never seen Bash so distraught. Even when Jonah died, he hadn’t broken down like this. It was eating him up. Over a decade of guilt was spilling out and the Alpha didn’t know how to handle it.
How much do we not know about each other? How many more secrets are we keeping?
“Could it be Killian?” I offered. “He’s the only one who might still be alive. He could be hunting you guys down.”
Duke shook his head. “Never. Killian would never do that. Why would he? It doesn’t make sense.”
“We’re missing something then,” I implore
d as I pondered what Duke said.
“We?” Bash choked out. “Did you not just hear what I said? I killed children! How could you want anything to do with this?”
Well, when he put it like that, it sounded horrible. Except Bash was looking at it through tunnel vision. After all these years, he still hadn’t forgiven himself. He still saw himself as the villain, the killer, and I had experience with this feeling. I could relate in some sense to what he was feeling, and after many sessions with my therapist (thanks Dr. Jones), I could somewhat deal with it.
“Yes, we.” Leaning forward and slamming my hands on his desk, I looked him straight in the eyes. “We’re a team, and that’s final. You did something bad. We all have. I’m not condoning it, Bash, but if I punished you for all the bad shit you did in your past, and vice versa, we’d never be happy. We’d also be sitting here, I imagine, for a very fuckin’ long time. So I suggest we get our shit together for the time being and figure out who the fuck is coming after you guys because I swear to God … if you end up dead, I will bring you back to life and kill you myself. You understand?” I pointed a finger in his face and stared him down, silently daring him to defy me.
His jaw tightened and eyes narrowed. I prepared for one of our famous standoffs, but Bash must have thought differently because he suddenly deflated and nodded in agreement. Good, because I wasn’t in the mood to punch people in the nuts today. Not after this revelation. What I needed was coffee. Yeah, coffee and a plan of action to save my man.
4
The men were quiet as they followed me up to the main floor of the warehouse. After a few choice words, we finally agreed we needed a plan, and for that to work, we needed a team. With two Alphas, we had a slew of wolves who would be more than willing to help their leader, and I, of course, had connections with the other factions throughout the city.
From the Grave Page 3