Sapphire Flame: A Paranormal Romance (The Flame Series Book 7)

by Caris Roane

  I have no idea if it would work. Besides, if Kryder got a whiff of it, I have no doubt he’d bring in his security team from The Sapphire Club. A slaughter would follow.

  She went to the next pot and watered it slowly. But can you think of a way that you could make it happen? If you told a loyal core group what you planned, wouldn’t you have a shot? Wouldn’t most of the pack rally behind you?

  You have to understand that pack bonds are unbelievably strong.

  There has to be a way, Grant. Don’t you see that through The Sapphire Club and his use of the pack money to fund it, he’s built an almost unstoppable force. At this point, he has two packs that he can use. One of them could destroy the other. But who do you think would win the fight if the security at the club took on the Meldorin Pack?

  She continued watering the rest of the pots until she was all the way on the other side of him. If she was being watched now or had been through an earlier peek into the future, she and Grant would appear to be having a relaxed, first meal.

  She returned to the spigot, arranged her hose in a tidy circle, then sat back down in her chair.

  Grant took a turn at the charade. With mug in hand, he masked the nature of their telepathic conversation by leaving his chair and walking onto the grass down the avenue of cypresses. He continued, Until last night, I had no idea Kryder had built an empire. I knew he was siphoning money, but it never occurred to me that he was doing anything other than feeding his own appetites. Maybe you’ve got a point. Maybe it’s time I set aside a few of the rules.

  ~ ~ ~

  Grant walked all the way to the tall shrubbery that separated Natalie’s back garden from the canal. He understood the design since tourist boats were already running. She valued her privacy, and in that sense, she seemed more wolf than fae.

  Revel had a reputation for living it up, much more than Savage. As would be expected, theirs was a life of pack order and dominance, which led him back to Natalie’s acute observation of what Kryder had really built.

  If he chose to employ his security personnel, how would any of his fellow pack members stand a chance against Kryder’s intentions. If he wanted to make then all slaves, he could.

  Grant gripped the handle of his mug and had to remind himself of his alter strength. He’d destroyed more than one bottle of beer by squeezing too hard.

  Loosening his hold, he headed back in Natalie’s direction. He watched her for a moment. She wore a long loose dress with purple flowers. Her hair hung all around her shoulders and well down her back. She didn’t seem to mind the heat. Her sandals were white, and her toenails were painted lavender. She was a beautiful, feminine woman who could fire a Glock with accuracy.

  His heart thudded in his chest. She’d become important to him in a very short time, too short. He felt in danger of something he couldn’t put his finger on. Loving her, maybe. It was a tough path to walk, getting deeply attached to someone in Five Bridges. Death visited Savage every damn night. Memorials had become routine and usually conducted as quickly as possible. A few words were spoken, a moment of silence, then back to the business of staying alive.

  The thought he could fall in love with Natalie then lose her, caused his stomach to twist into a knot. She’d definitely disrupted his calculated plans to marry an alpha female wolf, and have an easy, working relationship with his mate as together they took care of the Meldorin Pack. He would continue to serve on the Border Patrol and she would tend to the welfare of their wolves, everything in order.

  What use would Natalie be to him in pack life?

  The truth was, he didn’t know. When he’d first experienced his profound attraction to her, he’d been completely opposed to being with her for the simple reason she was fae. He didn’t want to get involved with anyone who couldn’t comprehend or enhance his role as alpha.

  But then her iridescent wolf-counterpart had showed up and he’d allowed himself to slip into their odd, yet highly intoxicating affair. Did they have a future? Could she function as an alpha female in the Meldorin Pack?

  These were questions he couldn’t answer.

  The one he could, however, twisted his stomach a little more: What if he fell for her then lost her? He was barely over Renee and she’d passed almost six years ago.

  By the time he reached the patio once more, she stood facing the far end of the yard where several of the wolves were gathered. She didn’t turn to him, but he could see something was wrong.

  He was about to ask her what was troubling her, when he felt it. All the wolves were distressed. What they were feeling suddenly hit him like a punch in the face.

  Something terrible had happened at the Meldorin Compound, within his pack. His feet were moving before he’d formed the command. Then he was airborne and landed a split-second later with a thump of his boots in front of Ryan.

  His beta’s face was white as he held his phone to his ear.

  Grant could hear screaming and grief-howls.

  “It’s the dining hall at Meldorin. Remember the other two wolves that had been saved alongside Alanna?”

  Grant nodded. “Tell me. Now.”

  “Kryder found them, raped them, tortured them and dumped their bodies outside the compound. They’re both dead.”

  “Oh, God no.” Natalie had moved to stand at his elbow. He put his arm around her waist and drew her close.

  He knew he was in shock because a kind of numbness had settled into his bones. The wolves in the air had stopped patrolling. All of the men gathered around him. Because they were trained warriors, each remained silent. There would be no raging out loud, not here, not in Revel. Any ruckus of any kind might be reported, and they could end up in a gun battle with the local Border Patrol.

  We should have gathered up all three. Natalie’s words didn’t make sense to him at first, though nothing much did yet.

  What three?

  She looked up at him and met his gaze. The newest wolves, the ones Ryan had placed in safe houses in Revel.

  How were we to know Kryder would go after them?

  Why wouldn’t he?

  Her comments irritated him. He was already upset. Hell, he was devastated. You run the pack then. You keep everybody safe, all the time.

  Her mouth hardened into a grim line. You’re blind to what Kryder is. Blind. You’ve operated carefully all this time intending to one day challenge him in a traditional sandpit dominance battle. But. You. Can’t.

  These last three words were measured and hard.

  She blamed him for the deaths of these two wolves. She believed he was at fault. He released her then stepped away from her. He was angry beyond words

  But she grabbed his arm. This isn’t about blame but about a specific kind of revenge that you need to take right now to protect your people.

  He wasn’t sure why, but her demeanor had a calming effect. What are you saying?

  That it’s time you threw the rule book out because you’re dealing with a maniac. Don’t you see?

  He turned to Ryan. “I need to think.” To the rest of the men, he said, “Get back to your patrols. We might be under attack at any time.”

  One of them stepped forward. “We need to go back to the compound.”

  He growled softly. He was in charge and so long as he was, the men would obey him.

  The wolf bowed his head then resumed his place. “Sorry, boss.” For several seconds, however, none of them men moved. Natalie remained silent as well.

  Grant forced himself to grow very calm and at the same time assessed what his wolves needed. Finally, he said, “Don’t worry. We’ll get the bastard.”

  A group sigh ended the moment. At least six of the men turned and headed into the air.

  He switched to telepathy as he addressed Ryan. We need to formulate a plan, but we can’t do it out in the open, not like this. We’ll be seen and heard.

  Ryan nodded.

  Grant shifted his gaze to Natalie. She still had hold of his arm. I’m pissed at you, he said.

 
You have every right to be, but I’m not going to protect your feelings, not on this one.

  For whatever reason, these were the right words. So long as Natalie was with him, she would need to be strong, even assertive to the point of being a pain in the ass. He had a thick wolf-hide and wouldn’t always be able to see his way clearly.

  And I have a suggestion, she added.

  A measure of relief rippled through his chest. What’s that?

  If you need a hidden place to make plans, where Kryder won’t be able to see or find you, why not do it in the dreamglide? I can’t be the only one that you can haul in there.

  He glanced at Ryan and considered her proposition. It could work, but he wanted Natalie in on it. Whatever was going to happen in the next hour, she needed to be with him. He might not like her challenging him and he might wish she wasn’t fae, but she’d said nothing he hadn’t already been thinking.

  She was right. He needed to start breaking the rules, or Kryder wouldn’t hesitate to kill half the pack and enslave the other just for the hell of it.

  He met her gaze again. I want you with me.

  Her smile was crooked. Wasn’t sure you would.

  He overlaid the hand still holding his arm then turned back to Ryan. I want to use the dreamglide to set things up. He explained about Kryder and his invisibility.

  Jesus. Ryan responded.

  The dreamglide will keep our conversation hidden from Kryder. He gestured in the direction of the living room. The three of us will sit in there and appear to be thinking, we’ll enter the dreamglide and can talk it out. Sound good?

  Yes. Hope it will be that simple. I’ll let a couple of the wolves know not to disturb us. I don’t think it would be a good idea to take too much time, either.

  I agree.

  Grant set his mug on the granite island then headed to the living room. Behind him, he heard Natalie say aloud, “I think I just need to sit for a few minutes and take this in. I can’t believe Kryder would do something so horrendous.”

  Grant understood. Natalie was operating on two levels. She was trying to anticipate that she would have been spied on in the future. He approved of her foresight.

  To Ryan, he said, She’s setting this up for us so that if anyone’s listening right now or has been checking us out in the future, that’s what they would have heard.

  She’s got one helluva head on her shoulders, I’ll say that. All right, so we just sit quietly. Then what?

  Grant sat down in a large chair near the front window. Natalie chose the lounge end of the sofa opposite him and tucked her long skirts beneath her legs. “I hope you men don’t mind, but I’m having a hard time with what happened. I need to process it.”

  She made it look good since tears filled her eyes. But her emotions weren’t for show. She was hurt, as they both were, by what had happened. She was right about him as well. He hadn’t considered that Kryder would retaliate as he had. He hadn’t protected these women.

  But it would do no good to dwell on his guilt. He needed to take action, as much for his sake as for his pack’s, and he needed to do it fast.

  A moment later, he saw the iridescent markings of her wolf make an appearance. Natalie’s wolf would keep watch like the wolves flying over the house.

  He settled into his chair but focused on the dreamglide. A second later, he was in a similar room but about ten feet above himself. He was even seated in a matching chair.

  He invited Natalie to join him, which she did within a split second. He wasn’t sure how to bring Ryan into the dreamglide, but thought he’d begin with telepathy. The dreamglide is built. Come up here. He kept his thoughts focused on Ryan and pictured him appearing at the end of the couch where he was now.

  A moment later, Ryan showed up. With brows raised and eyes wide, he looked around. “Holy fuck. Oh, sorry, Natalie.”

  “Please don’t apologize.”

  “Can I stand up?”

  Grant rose from his chair, though Natalie remained seated. “You bet.”

  Ryan stood up then looked down at the room below. “There I am. How is this happening and why does it feel so real? Am I two people right now?”

  “Yes,” Grant said. “I know. It’s bizarre, but it’s an amazing contraption. We can even take it for a spin if we needed to.”

  Ryan huffed a sigh. “But we can’t be seen here?”

  Grant looked at Natalie.

  She shrugged then rose from the sofa as well. “I’m not absolutely certain, but I don’t think so.”

  Ryan nodded. “Okay, then.” He pivoted to face Grant directly. “So, what the hell do we do about our resident psychopath?”

  There were many ways Grant knew he was an alpha wolf: his size, the level of his abilities, an inner knowing. But this was also one of them, that Ryan turned to him for answers as all the beta wolves did. Yet, instead of feeling burdened and pressured, he rose to the challenge of it. This was what an alpha male did: He provided solutions.

  “Earlier, Natalie spoke to me about how we need to view the problem of Kryder in a much different way than we have been. I think we’re all agreed he’s a psychopath.”

  “He’s at least that but I swear there has to be a better word to describe his brutality.”

  “Monster works,” Natalie said.

  “Yes, definitely a monster.”

  “And now he has wealth to back any play,” Ryan added.

  “I have no doubt The Sapphire Club brings in hundreds of thousands every month. His security team is massive.”

  Ryan shook his head. “We can’t fight him.”

  Grant shook his head. “No. We need to capture him and break his bond with the pack.”

  Ryan looked surprised. “Can that even be done?”

  “I have a plan and it begins with a challenge to a dominance fight.”

  Ryan’s shoulders dropped. “You can’t beat him, Grant. I wish you could, but you can’t.”

  Grant glanced at Natalie. “I know. But I have no intention of doing battle alone. I refuse to let one more wolf die at his hands by sticking to the rules.”

  For the first time in a long time, Ryan looked hopeful. He even smiled. “It’s about damn time.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Natalie listened intently as the plan evolved. Ryan and Grant had an excellent working relationship. The idea that appealed to both was the use of a specialized netting generally employed to control crowds. It had an electrical charge. She liked the concept a lot.

  Grant worked out every single detail with Ryan, the when, where and how, and did it quickly. As he was wrapping things up, he turned to Natalie. “Can you check the future for us? See if this happens?”

  “You bet.” Natalie closed her eyes and endured the painful cramping and nausea that occurred just before she accessed the future. At least this time, she wasn’t grappling with an invisibility spell, so it was a little easier.

  She focused on Kryder and saw him at his club. He was in what appeared to be a large, well-appointed office. He stood by a side table glittering with a host of decanters. He had a crystal tumbler in his hand that held an amber liquid. He took a swig then turned in what felt like her direction.

  She knew he couldn’t see her, yet she felt certain he sensed her presence. “You’re going to die, Natalie.”

  She withdrew from the moment but didn’t leave the future altogether. If he’d thought to intimidate her, he was wrong. Besides, given what Kryder had done to her husband and unborn child, as well as the depredations he’d inflicted on the wolves supposedly in his care, she was willing to sacrifice her life to see him removed from his position in the pack. She would prefer to survive, of course. But seeing Five Bridges rid of Kryder had become more important than anything else in the world, including her own life.

  Most people, even alters, weren’t murderers. Those who travelled that path needed to be put down.

  Within the future, she slid forward to the time-table Grant had proposed to Ryan. Her heart pounded, though she didn’t
focus on Kryder this time. It was possible he’d been alerted to her presence by focusing on him, so she chose to access Grant’s future instead.

  She saw him at a sandpit. Her senses told her they were deep inside the Meldorin compound, at least forty feet down. Some of the wolf compounds had as many as four belowground levels. This sandpit felt like it was at the bottom level.

  She saw Kryder on the sand and visible and Grant had his foot on Kryder’s neck.

  For a moment, Natalie wasn’t sure what to do, whether to continue watching or not. She chose not to progress any farther into the future. This was enough.

  There was one thing she knew from all the various interactions she had with her clients. The future could change. Time, even what occurred down the line, existed within a constant flow of events. Nothing was set. Ever.

  Mostly, however, the future unfolded just as she saw it.

  When she released her futurism entirely, she opened her eyes. She didn’t hold back a single detail.

  The men smiled when she spoke about what she’d seen in the sandpit. “Remember, though, I can’t promise what happens after or what even occurred before this moment. There may be battles either direction.”

  Grant planted his hand on her shoulder. “But it’s a good start, an excellent way to begin. You’ve given us hope.”

  “Just please, don’t underestimate this man.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Grant flew beside Natalie but remained silent. Natalie as well.

  Making plans was one thing. Executing them another.

  His wolves were in front of him as they flew in the direction of the Meldorin Compound.

  His heart pounded in his chest.

  Approaching the pine forest, he withdrew his phone from his pocket. He tapped Kryder’s number and held his phone to his ear.