“It’s nothing compared to what Jess told me this morning.”
“Well, stop stalling and tell me already,” she snapped impatiently.
His voice was exasperated when he spoke again. “I’m getting there. Jess’s magic gave her a connection to all of the Drako who follow her now. And it also somehow formed a connection with all the War Cats, as well. And it doesn’t seem to matter if they leave or how far away they are. She still feels it, which can make life difficult for her.
“Anyway, because of that connection, she can delve into other shifter’s gifts. Even when she doesn’t want to. But, with her magic, she can get into them even deeper than they can, and has a better understanding, even though those shifters have been developing their abilities virtually their whole lives.”
Tarun stared at Luke as she listened to Jameson, biting her lip as dread washed over her body. She was beginning to understand where he might be going, but she almost wished she didn’t. The thought of other people dabbling inside her, even if it was just accessing her gift, creeped her out.
“And she’s delved into mine, is that what you’re saying?”
Jameson was quiet for a minute before he sighed, the sound making the connection crackle. “Don’t be mad. She didn’t mean to. It’s just that the connection she has with you meant that when you felt something, she did, too. Only it went deeper than what you sensed. She’s spent the last day trying to figure out what it meant, and she finally did this morning.”
“What is it? It must be bad, since you tried to get me to go back to Durga.”
“The asshole who’s hunting Luke is going to make another attempt. Only he’s bringing a fucking pride with him. I don’t know exactly when, but it’s going to happen soon. And if the Enforcers aren’t completely prepared and ready to meet him, they will lose. They won’t all die, but at least half of them will—including Luke.”
Tarun stared at Luke in horror, her mouth opening and closing. The phone slipped through her nerveless fingers, hitting the hardwood floor with a crash, and she put a hand to the window glass, leaning onto it, feeling faint.
Terror was streaking through her body, burning through her veins, but the only thought she had was, fuck, we’re fucked.
Luke was frozen to the bed, terror rushing through his blood. Not for him, but for his crew, and most especially for Tarun. They could lose if they weren’t completely prepared. And how could they be, when they didn’t know when the fucker was coming? Soon wasn’t good enough in the scenario Jameson spouted.
Wincing in pain, he finally moved, bringing up a hand to rub his chest. His lion was shredding his chest, tearing him to bloody ribbons, and Luke was using all the control he had left to keep him inside. His cat wanted to fight—as did Luke—but there was nothing to fight in that moment. So he had to keep him contained.
He heard a faint squawking and cocked his head, wondering faintly where it was coming from. He finally realized Jameson was calling Tarun’s name, but the phone was on the floor and she made no move to pick it up. Pushing himself off the bed, he wondered why his voice sounded so far away.
He’d heard him clear as day when he was speaking to Tarun, but right then, it sounded like his voice was coming through a tunnel. As he was bending to grab the phone, the reason why finally occurred to him.
Luke had been dazed by Jameson’s announcement, and it felt like he was in a trance. But he had to shake it off. Not just so he could talk to his mate’s brother, but so he could tell the Enforcers and try to formulate a plan.
“Jameson, hey. It’s Luke.”
Jameson paused, and when he finally spoke, his voice was grudging. “Hey, man. Is Tarun okay?”
He looked over at her, concern welling up inside him. She’d moved a tiny bit—she was rubbing her thumb along her bottom lip. But she was still holding herself still, barely breathing, her eyes wide and unfocused.
“She’s had a shock, but I’m sure she’ll come out of it eventually. The time frame you mentioned—you don’t have anything to go by other than soon?”
“No, that was all Jess got. The gift isn’t hers, and she can’t manipulate it to tell her more than it wants to. She’s just able to delve inside it deeper than even the shifter it belongs to.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, staring at Tarun and feeling even more concerned.
“I’m going to gather a couple of our best warriors and head your way. We should be there tomorrow morning. Hopefully we won’t be too late.”
Luke frowned, shaking his head. “No. I don’t want anyone else in danger because of me.”
He could hear Jameson sigh, the sound full of exasperation. “How many times did y’all put yourselves in danger for the War Cats, Luke? You and Noah were here a lot, and you two were hated for a while because of your animals. Yet you came anyway. And when the Drako came for Jess and Kian, you all showed up to help. Let us return the favor.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Good thing I didn’t ask for your opinion. Look, I know you guys are excellent fighters with powerful gifts. But you’ll be outnumbered. Let us even the playing field. Besides, my sister’s there, man. You can’t expect me to do nothing while a war rages on right in front of her.”
Luke couldn’t argue that, and didn’t even want to. If his sister was still alive and in Tarun’s position, nothing could keep him away. And as much as he hated others being in danger because of him, if the War Cats presence helped the Enforcers and Tarun survive, he wasn’t going to argue it any longer.
“Thanks, man. Tarun is still looking a little shell shocked, but I’ll have her call you when she snaps out of it.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Ending the call, he followed Tarun’s gaze out the window, frowning as he thought. Something was bugging him about what Jameson said. Something right there, teasing the edge of his brain.
He sucked in a breath as it hit him, and then all the puzzle pieces came together. Jameson didn’t say shifters were coming after the Enforcers—he said pride. It was lions who were going to attack.
His mind flashed back to a moment long forgotten, a moment he’d buried along with all the other memories from his childhood. Someone talking to Jerry about his gift, and the way he could make it to where people weren’t physically able to speak about whatever it was he’d put a gag order down on.
That was what was bugging him about the mercenaries not speaking. He knew of only one shifter who could do that.
Jerry. The lion who’d killed Luke’s mother and sister, who would have killed Luke if he hadn’t escaped—all so he could take the alpha position over the pride.
The pride.
Fuck.
“Luke? What’s wrong?”
He glanced over at Tarun, vaguely feeling relief that she was coming out of the trance she’d been in. She was looking at him with concern in her mostly green eyes, her tiger clearly close to the surface.
But it felt like their positions reversed and he was the one in the trance, and he was having a hard time snapping out of it.
It was like that one memory surfacing from his childhood broke the chains on the box he’d shoved all those memories in, and they were slamming into him rapidly.
His dad, teaching him what it meant to be a man, and telling Luke things he needed to know when he was Alpha one day. His mom, giggling as his dad kissed her neck—the image melting into one of her sobbing after he died.
A lifetime of chasing Lara around their small town, laughter permeating the memories—so much laughter. And then his mom’s face the night Jerry attacked, when she told him Lara was already gone.
Watching from the backyard as Jerry stabbed his mom to death.
All that loss because of one man with a thirst for power who lusted over something that wasn’t his.
“I don’t get it, though. Why come after me now?”
Tarun moved in front of him, her eyes full tiger, her brow wrinkled with concern. “Luke, talk t
o me. You’re not making sense. What’s going on?”
Finally shaking himself from his thoughts and the daze he’d been in, he gave her a quick peck on the lips, his voice urgent when he spoke. “Get dressed. We need to gather the Enforcers and talk. Now.”
Tarun bit her lip anxiously, watching Luke as he paced through the bar. They were still waiting on Liam to come out of the kitchen, and he wouldn’t speak until everyone was in there.
Her tiger was pacing inside her, matching the pace Luke was setting, her tail flicking rapidly. Tarun did her best to ignore her as she focused on her mate. What Jameson told her, and then told Luke, was disturbing, no doubt. Terror and hopelessness had held her frozen in their grip for a while after she heard the dire prediction of their fate.
She’d forced herself to shake it off, though. She was an optimist by nature. And the fact was, they were much better equipped since they’d been warned. Not knowing the exact moment the enemy would strike was a detriment, for sure, but they knew he was coming soon. And he wouldn’t catch them unprepared.
Jameson said that meant the difference between life and death for them, and she knew it was true. It was like once she’d heard her gift spoken about and expounded on by another, it unlocked what had been hidden to her before. She now sensed everything Jess had felt.
It made her determined to practice with her gift, much like Luke had. She’d always accepted that the things she sensed were the only parts of the threat available to her. But maybe she just needed to work on it. It would help the Enforcers if she could give them more information, so she was going to make it happen.
But something had occurred to Luke—something that held him more frozen than her. She’d been fairly sure it was about more than the threat coming to a head, but when he muttered the stuff about why, she was positive it was.
It was undoubtedly a good thing he seemed to understand what was going on more than he had before. But the way he’d drawn into himself, the way he was so worked up, was worrying her.
Finally moving, she walked into his path. He was so preoccupied that he almost ran right into her before he noticed her and skidded to a stop.
“Luke. Talk to me.”
He brushed a strand of her hair back, his eyes a mix of light blue and gold. “I’m okay. I just started remembering a lot of things about my childhood—stuff I refused to let myself think about before. It threw me a bit, but I promise, I’m okay.”
She searched his eyes, finally nodding as the truth in his voice washed over her. “You can talk to me about that stuff, you know.”
Lips curling, he nodded as he cupped her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. “I know. And one day, I will. But we have more important things to discuss right now.”
Liam finally came into the bar, wiping his hands on a rag. “All right, let’s get on with it. I have a casserole in the oven.”
Noah rolled his eyes at him. “Can you be any more like a chick?”
Damara shoved her shoulder into his side. “I resent that. I think I’m proof there’s a lot more to women than cooking and keeping house.”
“Okay, guys, cut it out,” Blake said with exasperation. “Luke, what’s up?”
Luke glanced at her and nodded, so she figured he wanted her to tell them what Jameson said. As quickly and thoroughly as she could, she explained the phone call and what Jess said about the threat.
Blake whistled low. “She’s even more powerful now than I thought she’d be.”
Damara glanced at him. “Should I call Dmitri home?”
“Yeah. It sounds like we’re going to be outnumbered, so we need all of us here.”
“Jameson insisted on coming and bringing a few of the warriors along, to even the odds. They’ll be here in the morning.”
Tarun’s head whipped toward Luke. “I didn’t realize he was coming.”
Reaching over to grasp her hand, Luke gave it a squeeze before threading their fingers together. “You were pretty out of it for a bit, so I’m not surprised. I protested, but he wants to be here for you. And for the rest of us. Said we’d helped the War Cats and it was their turn to return the favor.”
Blake exhaled, rubbing a hand over his short, dark hair. “Well, that’s something. I’d like to think we can do this on our own, but Jess’s words make it sound too close for comfort.”
“I think I know what this is about now, too,” Luke said quietly. “Tarun was right. It’s personal to me. I just can’t figure out why he’s coming after me now, since it’s been so long.”
Tarun’s fingers tightened reflexively around him. “He? Who is it?”
Luke exhaled, glancing around, his gaze touching on everyone in the room. “When Blake said he questioned the mercenaries but they weren’t physically able to tell him any details, it bothered me. I felt like I knew why—it was on the edge of my mind, but I couldn’t reach it. And then Jameson said this morning that a pride was coming after us. Not shifters—a pride. And it all clicked.”
Luke looked at Noah as he said the last part, and Noah sucked in a breath. “It’s Jerry.”
“Your old pride?” she asked, trying to work it all out in her mind.
Liam spoke up, a scowl on his face. “Who the fuck is Jerry?”
“In lion culture, there is no one alpha. At least, not in most cases. It passes from generation to generation in the same family, but alpha is shared jointly. My dad was the natural born Alpha, but once he mated my mom, she became Alpha, as well. When I was eleven, my dad passed away in a freak accident. My mom did the best she could to carry on, but losing her mate—it crippled her.” Pausing, he glanced over at Tarun, his eyes soft. “I understand that now on a level I didn’t before.
“Less than a year later, she woke me up in the dead of the night. She told me we were under attack, and Noah and I had to leave. He was living with us. I asked for Lara, my sister, and she said the intruder had already killed her. I wanted to stay and fight, but she insisted I leave, and Noah got me out of the house. I looked back as we were leaving, and watched as the intruder stabbed her. She didn’t try to shift or fight. I guess losing her mate and her daughter were too much for her. Noah dragged me away, and we drifted for years, then he joined the Marines. We met up again after he was out, then we met with Blake and joined the Enforcers.”
He fell silent and Noah cleared his throat, continuing the story. “The intruder that night was Jerry. He wanted to be Alpha, and since it’s family based, the only option was killing Luke and his family. His gift is the ability to put a gag order on someone. If he doesn’t want them to talk about something, he orders it, and they physically can’t.”
Damara frowned, her brown eyes compassionate as she looked at Luke. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea about any of this.”
“No one did, other than Noah and Blake. I locked memories of that time away. I didn’t want to think about it, much less talk to anyone about it.”
Liam began pacing, shaking his head, looking deep in thought. “So the fucker who killed your family and stole your birthright is coming after you, and bringing the pride with him.”
“I doubt it’s the whole pride,” Noah mused. “There will still be a lot of lions who are loyal to Luke because he’s a Carlisle, whether he’s the alpha or not.”
“I don’t get it, though. Why come after me now, after all this time? The pride is in Maine, and I haven’t even been anywhere near there since I left when I was twelve. I’m not a threat. So why now?”
Blake nodded toward Noah. “I think he basically said it. There are probably a lot in the pride who are still loyal to you. Jerry might have decided that you’re still a threat, whether you’re around or not. What would happen if you suddenly decided you wanted your birthright and showed up? You’d probably become Alpha based on who you are, even though he’s been leading the pride for years.”
Tarun wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold down to her soul as her gift kicked in. “That’s exactly it. He’s taking care of loose ends. He doesn’t want an
y threat to his position. There’s something there I’m not seeing. Something that made him feel like he had to act. I’m going to work on developing my gift, but for now, that’s all I see. That there was a catalyst involved.”
Luke came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, warming her a bit. “I suppose the answer wouldn’t be any different if I asked you to leave?”
“Nope,” she replied with a half-smile. “But I want to train today. In animal form. And I want to fight Noah.”
Noah’s eyebrows rose as he glanced at her. “Why me?”
“Because I want to know what it’s like to fight a lion, specifically. I want that experience. It has to be you. Luke is the only other lion here, and I know him. He won’t come at me all out, because he’ll be too afraid of hurting me.”
Luke growled next to her ear. “Noah won’t be going all out, either.”
“Yeah, I will,” Noah replied, ignoring Luke’s warning hiss. “She needs to know what to expect and how to fight a lion successfully. Would you really let her go into this fight unprepared?”
Luke was silent behind her, his arms tightening around her. She could feel the distaste and uneasiness rolling off him and into her, but he knew she and Noah were right.
He might not like it. He might hate it. But he was going to let her training happen, and he was going to let it happen the way it needed to.
And if he didn’t do it willingly, she’d get the other Enforcers to physically remove him until they were done for the day.
Luke watched as Noah stalked Tarun, his lion huge, his menacing eyes locked on Luke’s mate. Watching it happen and not stepping in to stop it was excruciating.
Logically, he knew they were right. Tarun needed to fight a lion, needed to know what to expect, and Noah was an excellent fighter. Her odds of surviving increased every moment she trained.
Emotionally, it was killing him. His heart, his body, his lion, his every instinct was shouting at him to stop the fight, and it was all he could do to stay in his spot.
Noah suddenly pounced, launching himself in the air toward Tarun, and that did it. Luke stepped forward, unable to stop himself, a growl deep in his chest.
Control (Blood & Bone Enforcers MC Book 1) Page 17