“Everyone except captains, get off the main floor!” Bash’s voice boomed throughout the warehouse.
“Sterling!” I called out. “You stay.” I pulled the Luna close to me.
Bash glared, ready to contradict me, but I glared back at him. There was a captain position open in the Brooklyn Pack. Sterling was itching for it, and I was rooting for her. This was a prime opportunity for her to show Bash her chops. She would be the first Luna in history to make captain, and from what I’d seen in training so far, I had no doubt she could make it.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Bernard whispered as he brushed past me.
I ignored him. If I kept her close to me, the others would leave her alone—I hoped.
The captains of the Brooklyn Pack consisted of Jackson, Bernard, Mohammad, and Thomas. They had one open position, although many speculated another would be available very soon as Jackson was slated to take up the role of beta. He practically was, at this point. Jonah’s twin brother had stepped up and been there for everyone when Jo passed.
“What’s going on, Kenz?” Jackson sat beside me as the captains and the Nashville wolves huddled around their Alphas.
“You’ll find out in a sec.” I bump his shoulder and nodded toward the front just as Duke was about to speak.
“For those who don’t know me, my name is Duke Davenport, Alpha of the Nashville Pack. I came here with two of my most trusted captains, Beau and Wyatt,” Duke announced.
“Beau and Wyatt?” Jackson snickered in my ear. “They sound like a country music duo.”
I pinched his arm. “Your name is Jackson, for God’s sake. How country can you get? Now, shush and pay attention!”
“We were attacked on our way here again, and they’ll be coming for your Alpha next,” Duke finished.
The group whispered to one another, and Jackson tensed beside me. He’d lost Jonah, he couldn’t lose Bash. He’d taken the brunt of everything when Jo passed, so it was easy to forget he was mourning too. I tried to remember that when we were together. It was probably why we’d gotten so close. I let him grieve. I gave him the opportunity if he wanted it, and he took it.
“Why?” Bernard was the first to ask. The lumberjack was one of my favorites of the captains. He was the same as always—a burly, gruff-looking man with an overgrown, reddish beard. Next to Jackson, Bernard was Bash’s other right-hand man. Anything he needed, Bern was there. And although we didn’t agree on politics, he supported me when I needed him.
We’d decided to tell the team the truth. It was the only way the plan would work. Obviously, they were captains for a reason—their Alphas trusted them. So, between the two of them, Bash and Duke told the group what happened that night with the Tracker Pack ten years ago and their theory as to why their team was being hunted down and killed.
“And you’re sure it’s not Killian?” Jackson asked.
“It’s not him, dammit!” Duke shouted, his face flushed. He cleared his throat. “My apologies. Like I’ve said, it can’t be Killian.”
I eyed Duke warily. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s a part of it. Why would he kill off his own team?”
“Mackenzie is right.”
Mohammad agreeing with me was a surprise. The captain wasn’t my biggest fan. If anything, I he hated me. Like … really, really hates me. As much as I hate chocolate mint ice cream. No ice cream should ever make you feel like you gurgled mouthwash. That was just wrong on so many levels.
“Someone else knows your secret,” Mohammad asserted.
“Let’s set a trap,” I blurted. I wanted to facepalm myself. I never thought before I spoke. Maybe I should get Dr. Jones to prescribe me some ADD meds. I needed to focus.
“Explain yourself,” Bash replied.
“We use you and Duke as bait. On our turf, using our own rules. They’ll be none the wiser.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Sterling mumbled beside me.
Thomas snorted. He was young, I’d give him that, but it wasn’t that much of an excuse. I still wanted to throttle him. He was a captain when the pack first found me, but we never interacted much. I still wish we hadn’t.
“You got something to say?” I started. “Or you got some snot stuck up your nose?”
Thomas shook his head and shrugged. “Nothing. I’m just surprised the Luna has a voice.” He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Mackenzie …” Bash warned and held up a hand.
“No,” I shook my head and stood. “Let me clear the air now. If you have a problem with Sterling and me being here and speaking up, say so and let’s duke it out—sorry Duke—because right now, we’ve got bigger issues than little boys who are too scared of strong female wolves that could probably kick their asses. So, c’mon!” I waved my hands in the air. “If you’ve got a problem, get your ass up and say it to my fuckin’ face.” I wanted to add a bitch to the end of that statement, but I knew that would flare up some emotions. I was getting better at this whole speaking-without-thinking thing. Maybe I didn’t need meds. Progress.
Beside me, I could hear Sterling’s heart begin to race with nervousness. I wanted to reassure her I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. Hell, with the way she fought, she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. These captains should be taking pointers from her.
“Mackenzie!” Bash said more sternly. “No one will be fighting each other. That’s an order.” He turned to Thomas at the last part because I wasn’t pack. I didn’t take orders from Bash.
“Yes, boss,” Thomas nodded and turned away from me.
I eyed the rest of the wolves before I took a seat again. Let them try to establish dominance and they’d be in for a rude awakening. I’d be dangling their nuts off my beltloop by dinner time. The idea made me smirk.
“While completely brash …” Mohammad stood. He was tall and toned like the rest of the wolves, but there was a finesse to him that was classic, unlike the others. And when you looked into his eyes, they were two empty pits of black. I knew he was different from the moment I first met him. Like … he could kill someone without flinching. It was off-putting. The eyes of a true killer. “Mackenzie is on to something. If we put both of you in a setting of our choosing, give the attacker or attackers the opening they need and jump in before the kill, we can catch them.”
“Yeah,” I shrugged. “What I was trying to say.”
“Fine. Where?” Duke asked.
“Central Park,” I grinned. “It’s big enough, and we know the ins and outs. It’s the perfect location.”
Bash rubbed at his lower lip, contemplating our plan. It could work. Just with one little problem …
“What about the Fae?” Jackson asked. I elbowed him. Hard.
“The Fae?” Wyatt’s eyes widened. “Oh, hell naw!”
“Dammit, Jackson,” I muttered. Even Duke did a double-take at Bash.
After the war, the Fae were probably the most-hated species within the supernatural. With good reason, of course. But there was a small rebellion within the faction that didn’t follow Drusilla, and unfortunately, they still got hate for being what they were. Malakai was one of the leaders of the rebellion and was now the liaison for the Fae for the SIU. He also monitored the entrance to the Fae realm in Central Park. If we needed their help, he’d be more than willing to assist. Anything to get in the Lycans’ good graces. Good PR and all that jazz.
I wanted to ease in the whole Fae collaboration with the Nashville Pack, but thanks to Jack, that wasn’t going to be the case.
“You may not know this, but during the rebellion, there was a small faction of Fae that did help us defeat Drusilla. We work very well with them,” I told Duke.
“You work well with them,” Thomas added.
If looks could kill, I’d be shooting daggers laced with poison as backup at that little twerp.
“Don’t listen to that idiot. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’ve seen more action than he has both in the streets and in the sheets
.” I smirked.
Thomas kicked off his chair as if to intimidate me.
I snorted. “I’m so scared,” I said sarcastically.
“Enough! Thomas, I told you to stand down!” Bash barked. “We do not have time for this. My order is final. There will be no bloodshed between us.” He turned to Duke. “Mackenzie is correct though. We have worked well with Malakai. If we need their aid, she can reach out to them.”
The Alpha of the Nashville Pack was hesitant. He narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. “I trust you, old friend. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t,” Bash promised, and they shook hands.
With borrowed tech from the Supernatural Investigative Unit, we came up with a solid plan everyone agreed on and headed out to Central Park. Nighttime was the perfect advantage with the reduced number of human casualties. It also meant we wouldn’t have to have to compel them to forget anything they saw. I hated having to do that. It was one of the powers I never bothered to learn because it felt wrong. But I’d learned that in cases like these, it’s one of those gray areas where an exception had to be made in order to keep our secret. Either way, wolves were always stronger under the moon, even if it wasn’t full, so the night was a benefit for us.
“Everyone in position?” Mohammad said through the earpieces.
He got different versions of confirmation that everyone was in position and ready. Bash and Duke were sitting on a random bench in Central Park, appearing as if they had just finished a nice stroll through the park.
“Pssst,” I heard from behind me, and I tensed. Sterling was ten feet to my right behind another set of bushes. We were trusted with guarding the Alphas’ backs. “Pssst,” I heard again and quickly looked behind me.
Jonah.
I plucked out my earpiece and flipped off the switch so the others wouldn’t hear me.
“Come over to my left. Sterling is on my right,” I told him. She couldn’t see me talking to myself. Before we left for Central Park, I called my apartment and left a voicemail for Jonah to meet us here. I’d had a house phone installed a few months ago, and the voice messaging system was how I’d recently communicated with him. He could be a huge help in our current mission because he could go anywhere undetected. And if anyone had any questions as to how I knew, I could just say I had an oracle vision. Our plan was foolproof. For now. I could use my oracle powers, but I still didn’t have them perfected. Without Ophelia to train me, I didn’t feel comfortable.
“Anything yet?” Jonah asked.
I shook my head. The less I spoke, the better.
“I’ll stay close to Bash no matter what happens and report back. Don’t worry.”
I nodded and placed the earpiece back in my ear after turning it on. Hopefully, I didn’t miss anything.
There wasn’t any doubt in my mind I could count on Jonah. I trusted him more than anyone on this mission.
“Heads up,” Bernard warned. “We got a female headed toward the Alphas.”
She was of average height, black, maybe Hispanic. She looked like a college student with a sling-on messenger bag filled with what we assumed were books.
“She’s harmless,” Beau replied.
“Harmless, my ass,” I muttered as I inched up in a fighting stance, prepared to pounce at any given moment, my pulse racing with anticipation.
I turned to my left to look at Jonah and nodded toward Bash and Duke, hinting he should go stand by them now. Jo left in a flash, and I readied myself.
The female was about to pass the Alphas when she tripped over herself in front the guys and items fell from her bag.
“Gas bombs!” I yelled and ran out of the brush as the contents from her bag turned into smoke.
Big, white-gray clouds encompassed the bench, and all I heard were grunts and the sound of struggles, but I couldn’t see anything. The rest of the team came out of hiding, but a few surprises came with them. We weren’t alone.
“Fuck. Watch your six!” I shouted as the fighting commenced.
I squatted down behind the bush again and closed my eyes. “C’mon, oracle senses, don’t fail me now,” I muttered. Crossing my fingers and squeezing my eyes as tightly as I could, I pushed as if I were about to go into labor. “Fuck!” I let out a gasp as nothing, no vision into the future, came to me. I’d trained a little bit with Ophelia—one of the Sisters of the Sight—when she’d come to New York from Scotland, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t always get my sight to work.
I shot up from my hiding spot and debated whether to brave the smoke or trust that Bash could hold his own for a while with the help of Duke. They were Alphas, of course. Two of them could really do some serious damage. I didn’t have much of a choice when a man hurdled toward me. I dodged the punches he threw at my face. They were inhumanly fast, but no claws were in sight. I half-shifted and swiped at his face and throat. He might have been quick, but that was it. I went looking for Sterling to help her, but she was a beast in her own right. I found her ripping a man in two. Blood splattered around her like a rainstorm—it was beautiful to watch. I caught Mohammad watching from the corner of his eye. Good. Someone needed to witness her strength. Sterling wasn’t someone to fuck with on the battlefield.
“Kenz!” Jonah called out.
I took out two others on my way to him.
How many had surrounded us, and how the hell did we not notice?
The smoke was dissipating, and there were a lot more than just the female with Bash and Duke. I ran, my heart thumping out of my chest as I thought about what was happening.
“There are four other guys with the girl, and they have the upper hand,” Jonah reported. “Duke’s hurt.”
Rage took over with the thought of Bash being hurt with Duke down. I could feel the blood drain from my face as I imagined life without Bash, and it only fueled the anger further. The emptiness inside me echoed, making me shudder at the possibility.
I roared as I sprinted into the cloud of uncertainty and slashed at the first enemy. Duke was frozen on the ground, and I guessed he’d been injected with wolfsbane. I saw red in the mist as I carved their skins, ripping out their organs and dropping bodies like flies.
Eventually, someone yelled for a retreat, but I didn’t stop. They were there to hurt Sebastian and Duke. My Sebastian. I saw our whole life flash before my eyes, and dread filled my gut. Our enemies couldn’t live. When I got to the girl who had dropped the gas bombs, Bash stopped me.
“Mackenzie …” He wrapped his hand around my wrist. “The others have abandoned her. Let’s take her back to the warehouse and question her. Don’t let the bloodlust consume you.”
My chest heaved rapidly, and I stared down at the scared girl who was crying and probably had pissed herself. Then I looked up to find the team staring at me as they held on to an injured Duke.
After a pause, I slowly released the girl and handed her off to Mohammad and Bernard.
“You good, Kenz?” Jackson helped me stand and wiped some of the blood off my eyes.
I brushed him off. “I’m fine,” I croaked.
“Fine, my ass,” Jonah mumbled. “You need to control yourself. He’s okay. Nothing happened to Bash.”
I knew that, but I couldn’t control the fear deep inside my gut that told me he could have been ripped away from me in a split-second and there was nothing I could have done about it.
The warehouse was in an uproar when we returned with the hostage. The Brooklyn Pack loved their Alpha and would do anything to protect him. So, when we came in dragging the girl in behind us, cheers and shouts for us to rip out her throat were coming from the second- and third-floor landing. They didn’t forgive anything when it came to their Alpha. I’d learned that the hard way. My saving grace was the fact I was Bash’s soul mate. They had no choice but to like me. Suckers.
“Lock her up in the basement,” Bash commanded. “Mackenzie, in my office.”
That made my ears perk up. I didn’t take orders from the Alpha of the Brook
lyn Pack. I was the Lycan Princess, after all. But Bash and I made sure not to one-up the other in front of anyone. We tried to treat each other as partners, but lately, the waters were getting muddied.
“Kenzie,” Jackson muttered as he pulled me to the side, “keep cool, okay?”
“I said I was fine,” I growled.
He knew me too well already. “You’re hyped up on adrenaline, and you’re going to say something you’re gonna regret. He needs you and you need him. Remember that.” Jackson placed a small kiss on my forehead. It was all I needed for my speeding heart to slow and my vision to clear.
Since when did he become the voice of reason? I chuckled.
I headed for the basement and ran into Sterling as she paced near the entrance. She’d been dressed from head to toe in black like the rest of us but was tainted in crimson, her ponytail matted in dried blood. She was a hell of a warrior tonight and had made me proud.
“Sterling,” I called out to her.
“Hey!” she said, perking up. “I was waiting for you.”
“What’s up? You okay?”
She bobbed her head up and down quickly. “Yeah, yeah, I just uh …” Sterling looked down at her red hands and began to rub them.
The lightbulb ticked on in my head. This was her first real kill. Fuck.
“Oh, Sterling …” I grabbed her hands and pulled her to the side. Her eyes got teary, but she didn’t dare let them fall with so many male wolves around us. “There is no shame in feeling this way, do you understand me?”
She nodded. “But they were bad people—”
“But they were still people,” I countered, and it reminded me of my first kill—of Caleb and how I felt afterward. He was a skinwalker who’d kidnapped Jackson and other supernaturals in the tri-city area. He’d killed the real Caleb, a captain in the Brooklyn Pack, and pretended to be him by wearing his skin. Killing him had tormented me for a very long time.
I’d been training these Lunas to fight for months, but I hadn’t been preparing them for the eventual aftermath.
From the Grave Page 4