Shifters of the Wellsprings: The Complete Paranormal Collection

by Leela Ash

  Monticello. Lily knew it. A small town about 50 miles northwest of Cortez. Just on the other side of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument – the place where Rex Fairburn caught the Fangs of Apophis summoning dark spirits of some sort. Looked like the Fangs had moved when Cortez got too hot for them… but not too far.

  Grim satisfaction filled Casey’s face. “We can make it there in an hour.”

  “We could. But what if they have another chopper with Hellfire? What if there’s a Witch Hare there with one of those amulets that hide a person from a Dragon’s sight?”

  Of course, he jumped straight to the wrong conclusion and assumed she was scared. “You’re right to worry about the risks. I should do this alone.”

  “Are you not listening at all?” Even the Rat started to smirk at Lily’s exasperation. “All their defenses will be aimed at you. Not me. No group worries about a lone Wolf jumping them. A Dragon’s a different story.”

  “I am willing to face those risks.”

  Damn him and his blind, thoughtless courage! “I know you are. That’s the Dragon Way: charge straight at the enemy and destroy it with overwhelming force.”

  “We find that method generally successful,” he sniffed.

  “Unless your enemy expects the Dragon Way. Then you’re screwed.”

  “What other option do we have?”

  “Let’s try the Wolf Way.”

  “Which is?” He pinched his lips, fighting to hide a smile.

  That hint of disdain set her Wolf growling softly, but Lily forced herself to ignore it. “The Pack hunts together. We go back to the Spread and get allies.”

  He answered her softly, perhaps hoping a mild tone would leech the arrogance out of his next words. “If a Dragon isn’t strong enough to defeat the Fangs of Apophis, I’m not sure why you think a Pack of Wolves will help.”

  Fortunately, she was prepared for his doubt – and she began to tick points off on her fingers. “One, Ghost can find out more about this Canyonlands place. Two, Wolves are less obvious than Dragons and we can do recon. Three, Bone-Dog is a medic. If he’s with us, we’re less likely to lose anyone. Four, a Pack can surround an area – something one Dragon can’t do. And five, I plan on calling the Donnellys.”

  Casey stiffened and his eyes flashed. “I will not beg aid from the First Flight!”

  “That’s why I said I’m calling.” When he started to protest, she waved him quiet. “Besides, you’re not asking him for help. You’re giving him an opportunity to ‘apologize’ more.”

  “You do not believe that,” he grumbled.

  “No but hey, it’s kinda true right? And tonight, proved that even if our enemies are prepared for one Dragon, two is more than they can handle.”

  He considered her plan. Nose wrinkled like he smelled garbage. “Why would your Pack help us recover my Flight’s knife?”

  “Uh, because these dorks tried to kill me? One of the Pack’s Alphas?”

  “Oh. Yes, of course.” Even Mr. Snooty looked embarrassed by that slip.

  “Besides, Wolves hate it when people do crap in their territory. Doesn’t matter if it’s ‘summoning demons’ or ‘puking on the wall of my favorite bar’. People doing stuff in our places ticks us off. And the Fangs have been doing a lot of stuff.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Let’s go back to the Spread.”

  As they rose to their feet, fear returned to Kate’s face. “Does that mean I’m free to go, or…”

  “Sure.” At Lily’s smile, the Rat relaxed. “You can go if you want. But I think you ought to come with us. You’ll be safer at the Spread – and I wasn’t lying when I said that I know Dragons who focus on rescuing Rat Kin. I think they can help you get your family back.”

  Only a couple hours had passed, but already the attack on Route 491 seemed a lifetime ago.

  One more fight tonight, she promised her Wolf.

  Sleep could wait.

  Chapter 18.

  Ghost was the first person Lily cornered at the Spread. “That email you got? It was a set-up. Fangs wanted us to kill this lady here.” She jerked a thumb at the wide-eyed Rat who skulked along beside her. “Ghost, this is Kate Adams. I want you to check out the Canyonlands in Monticello – Kate’ll fill you in on why. Then get her in touch with the First Flight. Tell them we’ve got a fight tonight and I want Donnelly here. Kate also needs them to rescue her three little girls. Got it?”

  “You bet, boss!” For once, there was no teasing. The sharpness of Lily’s tone said, without needing words, that this was no game. Trouble threatened the Pack. And, like a good Wolf, Ghost obeyed her Alpha.

  Even Casey seemed bemused as he followed her to her father’s office.

  He’s never seen me act like an Alpha. Probably forgot I lead the women of this Pack.

  Of course, she always carried herself like an Alpha – a Wolf Alpha. ‘Nip up, ignore down’ was the Wolf motto. Unlike Dragons, Wolves constantly tested their leaders with little ‘nips’ of independence and challenge. A good custom, one that kept an Alpha on her toes. That kind of ‘rebellion’ would drive a Dragon Alpha mad. True Wolf Alphas ignored it, confident of their strength.

  Then, on nights like tonight when crisis struck, the Pack fell in line with no hesitation or doubt. Days of constant testing had taught everyone their place and they obeyed their Alphas without question.

  Time to show her Dragon how a Pack worked.

  “Stay here,” she ordered him as she knocked on her father’s door. Poor guy was so shocked to be bossed about that he actually obeyed her.

  “Come in!” Aaron King shouted.

  His trailer still held some of the day’s heat. Lily strode through the clutter to face her father. “We need to talk. Alpha to Alpha.”

  Quickly she let him know about the night’s wild events. The attack on Route 491. Ghost’s email and the trap the Fangs set. How she planned to turn that trap around on them.

  At each stage, her father nodded. “They need to be taught a lesson about messing around in Sand territory.”

  “And with two Dragons backing us up, it’ll be a lesson they won’t forget.”

  Lily hesitated because she knew what she needed to say next. Even if the words stuck in her throat like a rock. “That bodyguard of yours pulled his weight tonight. I… don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for him.”

  Her father didn’t gloat. In fact, he ducked his head, almost submissive. “I never meant to challenge you, Lily. I just know how much firepower these bastards can dish out. Dragons were the only things I thought could face that and live.”

  “Yeah.” She still couldn’t force herself to sound grateful but… he had a point.

  Normally that would be it. He’d hug her, ruffle her hair, or offer her a drink and then tease that she couldn’t shoot whiskey. All the things Wolves did to bond.

  None of that happened. Instead, avoiding her gaze, he asked, “Tonight’s attack. You going to be okay on it?”

  Where the hell did that challenge come from? “Why wouldn’t I be?” she snarled.

  Her father wasn’t rising to that challenge. “Because an Alpha won’t lead her Pack well if she’s angry with them.”

  That rebuke stung a bit, like getting whacked on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. But was it true?

  Lily probed her feelings gingerly. She thought of Ghost, her best friend. Of Bone-Dog, the Whitetails, and dozens of others. Her Pack. The people who’d raised her.

  Her family.

  That first flush of fury she’d felt had faded, and she no longer held any anger against them. “Nah, we’re cool. No one knew I was adopted.”

  “Except me.”

  Yeah, that the one sticking point. Here she was, annoyed that he hadn’t hugged her. Yet she hadn’t reached out to him, either. Both of them stood here as stiff and formal as any Dragon.

  Worst part was, she still didn’t know how she felt.

  “I should have told you,” he said,
his words soft and sorry. “But I was afraid it would drive you away. You wouldn’t feel a part of this Pack. That you…” He swallowed, hard. “That you wouldn’t feel you were truly my daughter.”

  All things she had felt… so his worries weren’t wrong. A few reasonable words couldn’t make the pain go away, though. “Blood does matter.”

  Ter father’s nose wrinkled, as if her words stank. “To Dragons and spirits, maybe. But to Wolves, the blood that counts is the blood you spill for each other. Family is made, not born. It’s made with love and nurture and the years you spend together. It’s strengthened by the fights you face together and the victories you win. Maybe I’m not your sire – but I’m your true father. I raised you. I made you who you are. And I love you.”

  Dammit, this stupid trailer was dusty. Eyes stinging, Lily scowled at her father. “If you’d raised me right, I wouldn’t need a Dragon bodyguard.”

  “Point taken. I’ll be sure to fire a few Hellfire missiles at the next kid I take in.”

  She snorted. A grin broke through his stern frown… then she threw herself into her father’s arms, burying her face against his shoulder. Letting the love, the strength of his embrace, comfort her. Its fierce protection melted her pain in a way no mere words ever could.

  When the wild edge of emotion had passed, she broke away and swatted the ‘dust’ out of her eyes.

  “We good?” her father asked.

  “Yeah. Though there’s one thing you can do for me.”

  Casey endured the delay, composed and serene – on the outside. On the inside, he squirmed with impatience. They needed to get going, now! The odds that their enemies would escape grew with each passing moment.

  Yet he knew that every second that crawled by was time when Lily and her father talked. Father and daughter should be indivisible, each other’s shield against all enemies. It broke his heart to see his ward feud with her family.

  Let them seek peace. He would not fidget like some bored Wolf.

  “Briggs!” Aaron King’s shout boomed out of the trailer. “Come on in. I need to talk to you.”

  Both Alphas stood, side by side, almost touching. The sight lifted the Dragon’s spirit. There was a comfort, an ease between them that had been missing. This talk, it seemed, had gone well.

  Casey bowed his head. “Aaron King, Alpha of the Sand Pack. How may I be of assistance?”

  As always, manners seemed to amuse the Wolves. Both of them. King shook his head. “There’s probably some special speech I’m supposed to say, but I’ve forgotten it. So, I’m just going to say what I mean. Casey Briggs, you’ve done your job. The Blood Debt between me and your Flight has been repaid.”

  “But it’s not! The Fangs of Apophis still hunt your daughter.”

  “They’ll hunt her all her life, probably.”

  “Then I’ll protect her for all of her life!”

  “No need. It’s my debt. I get to say when it’s paid in full. And I say it is now.”

  Welcome words. Ones that should have delighted him. They proclaimed that he had honored his Flight’s obligations. That he had fulfilled the duties that Dragons held sacred.

  But the words stung. They cut him to the core. They filled him with pain and rage so strong that he longed to burst out of this damned trailer and throw himself into the sky.

  Because he knew what those words truly meant.

  Lily hated him. She wanted him gone. Wanted it so badly that she’d risk death to be free of him. That was the price she’d demanded before she reconciled with her father: King must send him away.

  “As you wish,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “I will leave your Pack now and return to the Aerie.”

  Lily bounded to her feet. Behind her, her Wolf snuffled wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. “Uh, hello? We’re attacking tonight, remember? I assume you’re coming. I mean, this is your Flight’s dagger after all.”

  “I will not force myself where I am not wanted,” he informed her, with icy courtesy.

  “Who said you weren’t wanted?” Her Wolf inched closer, sniffing at his toes.

  That was it. Her fake confusion, her obvious lies… they were more than he could stomach.

  “DO YOU THINK ME A FOOL?”

  With a yelp, her Wolf darted behind the couch. Lily and King just stared, blinking.

  Still they kept up the charade! “You despise me! Admit it! That is the true reason that you claim the Debt paid: you want me gone!”

  King’s bafflement only deepened, but Lily…

  Fury sent her stomping across the room. “You IDIOT!” she screamed up into his face.

  Casey reared back with furious indignation. Her Wolf stayed in its hiding spot. “How dare you…”

  “Shut up! Moron! I’m setting you free!”

  “‘Free’ to leave,” he sneered.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” she howled back. “I want you at my side – free. I want you to be with me because you want to be there. Not because you have to or because someone forced you. I want you to choose to be with me!”

  She… wanted him? His anger, his pain… all of it came crashing to the ground as he struggled to understand what she meant. Lily wanted him beside her – in this fight?

  Or beyond that? Did she mean something more?

  Lost in a fit of rage, she didn’t give him a chance to ask. “I’m a Wolf, not a Dragon! Wolves are free! We don’t have servants. We don’t take prisoners, not even from our enemies. And we sure as hell don’t make prisoners of the people we love!”

  That word tumbled out and exploded like a grenade.

  Everyone in the room froze. Lily, stunned silent by her own words. Casey, unable to believe what he’d just heard.

  Aaron King was the first to regain his wits. “Excuse me? What the hell did you just say?”

  “Uh…” The two of them muttered in unison. King’s Wolf stalked into the center of the room, looking around for someone to bite.

  “Is there something going on between you two?”

  “Um…”

  “Well, uh…”

  Wings beat overhead, whipping up dust devils outside the window.

  “Oh, hey!” Casey yelped. “That must be Donnelly from the First Flight!”

  “Yes!” Lily squeaked. “We should, uh, go outside. And greet him. And, uh, plan the battle!”

  Both of them scrambled out, King’s indignant glower following them.

  Very few threats unnerved Casey Briggs.

  Irate fathers, however, were one of them.

  Chapter 19.

  The first thing the Canyonlands revealed was the social hierarchy of the Fangs of Apophis. While Kate the Rat got put up in crappy strip motels, the Canyonlands served a much higher class of villains. Beds of tastefully arranged succulents surrounded the motel, from the welcoming reception area to the sparkling waters of its pool, lit by submerged lights. Full blackout shades shielded the rooms from both the day’s heat and curious eyes.

  No Rats here, Casey was willing to bet!

  It was also not the kind of establishment that would welcome a thirty-person ‘biker gang’, so the Sand Pack idled down the road while a kid checked it out.

  Literally, a kid. To Casey’s annoyance, the Pack had insisted on bringing two teenaged Kin. Twins. Two children… no, they were technically adults. But they were useless. Not even full Wolves! And honestly, he wasn’t sure why the Sand Pack had come either. He and Donnelly were more than enough to handle any problems.

  “The Pack hunts together,” Lily growled at him, as if she could read his thoughts.

  He was damned sick of that motto. “Those kids are not part of the Pack.”

  “Yes, they are. They’re the Omegas.”

  “They’re human! They’re not even Wolves.” He kept his voice down, despite his irritation. One of them, the boy, had stayed here while his sister did reconnaissance.

  “Yup. And if they want to earn a place in the Pack, it’s their right to try. Odds may not be go
od – but that’s not my call.”

  Idiocy – like so many other Wolf ‘customs’. No point arguing, though. It wasn’t a fight he would win.

  Besides, the girl was already jogging back.

  Lily stepped out to meet her. “Anyone see you?”

  “Nope,” the kid panted. “No one’s there except the clerk.”

  At midnight? Where the hell could they be?

  “Clerk says some group rented the whole hotel for last night and tonight. Only about a third of the rooms are being used, but they took them all.”

  “So, we should expect twenty to twenty-five Fangs,” King guessed.

  “A couple hours ago, ten Hummers picked up all the guests. Then they headed north.”

  North. That was unexpected. Canyons of the Ancients lay to their south. Apparently, the Fangs weren’t going back to their earlier haunts.

  “What’s north of here?” Donnelly asked.

  “Whole lot of nothing,” King replied.

  Fortunately, it was the middle of the night – in the middle of nowhere. “Donnelly and I can canvas that area from the sky,” Casey suggested. “The Fangs can’t see in the dark and any lights should stick out like a sore thumb in this wasteland.”

  “Good plan.” King clapped his hands and his Pack scrambled to its feet, ready to go. “We’ll head out of town slowly. You let us know when you find our prey.”

  Locating the Fangs wasn’t hard. Twenty-five miles northeast of town, they spotted an abandoned quarry lit with spotlights. So bright and obvious that at first Casey suspected a trap. Until he remembered that they had no reason to look for the Fangs here. He’d expected to find them sneaking back into those ancient ruins.

  Circling unseen, high overhead, the two Dragons conferred in Marakeen, a hissing tongue not made for human mouths. “Tents,” Donnelly rumbled. “They had twenty mercs waiting for them out here.”

  Heavily armed men who now clustered around two mine entrances – fortified by walls of sandbags and a pair of actual machine guns. “The important people must be underground. Why don’t we drop on them? You take the left nest, I’ll get the right. We’ll mop them up quickly and head down.”