“Hey, Durango. How’s it going?”
Durango narrowed his eyes, his mouth thinning into the narrowest slit. “Vape’s been looking for you.”
Ben scratched the back of his neck. “I was, ah, getting lucky. Lost track of time.”
Durango grunted. “You should just fuck the ladies in our pack.”
No thank you.
“Come on. Maybe the fact that you were off getting laid will convince him to go easy on you.”
Ben doubted it.
Left with no other choice, he trudged along next to Durango, heading toward the entrance to the cave.
And, likely, his death.
Once they reached the cavern, he followed the huge shifter through a network of natural corridors water and time had carved out of the interior of the mountains. “So what was decided anyway? Are we attacking soon?”
“Should have been at the meeting.”
Shit. He needed to talk to Nick before he reached Vape. He needed someone on the inside who might be willing to work with Elias to try to destroy the volatile leader before he killed Ben’s family and friends.
“Where’s Nick?”
Durango glanced over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow. “Do I look like his keeper?”
“No, but you two are almost always together. I just figured…”
Durango grunted again. “Don’t know. Vape pulled him aside after the pack meeting. Haven’t seen him since.” He didn’t sound happy about that bit of news.
“Uh-oh, afraid Nick’s gonna take over your position in the pack?”
Another over-the-shoulder glance, this one more condescending than the last. “Not hardly.”
“There you are,” Vape said when Ben stepped into the area that had been transformed into a war room. Well, there went his chance to talk to Nick before Vape exacted whatever punishment traitors were dealt.
There were several card tables laid out with maps, another piled with what looked like old spell books, and still another that contained crystals in various colors. What was Vape getting at? He didn’t seriously think he’d be able to master witches’ magic, did he?
“Where the hell have you been?” Vape barked, moving from one table to another and giving Ben a far from gentle shove as he passed.
“I, uh…”
“I was hoping it involved getting your dick wet, but by the looks of your face, I’d say not. Or maybe she didn’t like your performance?” Vape laughed at his own joke.
Ben tried to force out a chuckle, but it sounded more like a cat hacking up a hairball. “Well, actually…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Vape said, cutting him off. “We’re attacking the witches first.”
“W-we are?” Had he somehow managed to escape Vape’s punishment? How was that possible?
Vape nodded while studying one of his maps. “Our wolves are our best defense against their curses, so we need to be entirely prepared before we walk out the door. Since we aren’t a real pack, we won’t be able to communicate until we shift back to human form. Damned witches.” He growled, clearly angry about something. A memory, Ben guessed.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Are you questioning my authority? Or maybe my motives?”
Ben vigorously shook his head. “Nope.”
Vape placed his palm flat on Ben’s chest, then shoved him up against the wall. Apparently, he wasn’t get out of this alive.
“Come with me,” Vape said, abruptly dropping his hand and turning away.
“Where?”
“You know, most people don’t question me this much in their entire lives, let alone in the course of five minutes.”
“Right.” Ben swallowed thickly. He had no freaking clue what was going on right now. “Sorry.”
Vape stomped out of the war room, but instead of heading toward the main entrance, he turned right and stalked down a narrow corridor that led them deeper into the network of caves nature had carved into the mountain. Battery-operated lanterns placed on the damp ground every dozen feet or so lit the way.
The corridor widened, although the ceiling was so low they had to crouch and shuffle along as they made their way toward what turned out to be another entrance to the cave they’d temporarily called home.
“I didn’t even realize this was here,” Ben noted as he and Vape single file climbed through the small opening. They stepped into a valley between the mountains. It was lush and green, with clusters of stubby trees dotted here and there. The setting sun cast long shadows across the vegetation.
“That’s because it isn’t your job to pay attention to these little details,” Vape replied.
Damn it. If he’d learned of this secondary entrance sooner, he could have told Elias. This could have been a game changer.
Vape pointed to the north. “The coven is just past that crest. And it appears they’ve set up charms and spells around the perimeter of town, keeping someone like me from getting too close.”
Brilliant. Wait… “Someone like you?”
Vape nodded without looking at Ben. He stood facing the mountain, his hands clasped behind his back. If not for his scruffy appearance, he could be a military general.
“Someone who is not local.” He finally turned to give Ben a bland look. “Which is where you come in.”
Ben stayed where he was, even as he instinctively wanted to take a step back, put distance between himself and the volatile leader. “What do you mean?” he asked, relieved that his voice came out even, unshaken.
“Everybody’s from somewhere, Ben.”
Ben didn’t reply.
“Do you know where I’m from, Ben?”
“Um, the rainforest?”
“I did spend a fair number of years there, yes. Did you know that my mother abandoned me when I was a pup?”
How the hell was Ben supposed to know personal information like that? The man never sat around chatting, shooting the breeze with his pack.
“My father, who was not only a pack alpha but also a powerful drug lord, took me under his wing, taught me everything I needed to know to take over my own pack someday.
“But in my teen years I got cocky, too sure of myself. He was afraid that I’d try to oust him. He was always paranoid, but that’s how one stayed alive in that environment.
“When I was seventeen, he took me into the rainforest and dumped me there. No explanation, shelter, no clothes but the T-shirt on my back. I didn’t have a cell phone or computer or anything. Literally no way to contact the outside world. I’m still not sure if his intention was to put me in my place and he would have eventually come back for me. I didn’t stick around to find out. I ran—even deeper into the jungle.”
Ben remained silent as Vape told his tale. There was a reason the leader was suddenly opening up about his past—and also not killing him—although Ben had yet to figure out what it was.
“I met a witch while I was lost in the jungle, turning half feral.”
Vape’s voice softened.
“She was beautiful, magnificent, the most glorious creature I’d ever come across. Of course, I hadn’t seen another human-like person in months by that point, so my perspective was probably skewed, but whatever.
“She took me to her hut she’d built up high in this massive tree, and we immediately fucked the rest of the day away. She had been living out in the wild for much longer than I had, and we were both desperate for another person’s touch.
“As we carried on our affair, I told her about my plans to create the strongest shifter pack in the world so that I could eventually take over all packs, be the most powerful shifter who ever lived, and she told me that she’d been banished from her coven for attempting to use black magic.
“Things went along fine for a few years. I convinced myself that I would be content to stay there, just the two of us, and decided to put my plans for world domination on the shelf. That was how deeply in love I had fallen.”
This was a side of Vape Ben would not have believ
ed existed.
“Until the day she came to me and told me she was carrying my pup in her belly. And then she said she was returning to her coven because she wanted the child to be raised by witches, not by two outcasts, and especially not by me, with my crazy ideas of controlling everything and everyone.”
He turned blazing, furious eyes onto Ben, and for half a moment, Ben was convinced his time had finally come. And he his single regret in life was not being completely honest with Hannah. Maybe if he had been, she wouldn’t hate him. Maybe she would even have grieved his death. Instead, she was more likely to dance on his grave.
“I wanted her to stay. Tried to convince her to give us a chance. I begged. I cajoled. I threatened her. She didn’t listen to my pleas.
“When she left, she created a spell that made it impossible for me to follow her. I could not pick up her scent, I couldn’t track her path through the jungle, nothing. I spent months looking for that cold-hearted traitor. Such a waste of my time. I mean, screw her if she didn’t want to be with me, right?”
Ben stared at him.
“Anyway, I was done with people fucking with my goals. So I spent the next five years focused on myself. Built up my endurance. Lifted logs until my biceps were rock hard, until my stomach was more ripped than any shifter you’ve ever seen. Just let someone pick a fight with me. I could best them all.
“And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing ever since I left the jungle. Besting everyone. Winning. Proving over and over again that I am the most powerful shifter in existence.”
He paused, and Ben held his breath.
“Sometimes, though, power isn’t about pure muscle. Sometimes, it’s about being wily.”
Vape faced the landscape again, hands clasped behind his back.
“I have a job for you, Ben. And you have no choice but to do it.”
“What?”
“If you do not do as I say, I will kill off members of this pack, one by one. They will not even be given the opportunity to go through the hazing process. And I’ll start with your family.”
Shit.
Vape nodded without turning around. “I do not accept disloyalty, Ben. You know this.”
Ben opened his mouth and then snapped it shut without defending himself. What could he have claimed, anyway? Wearily, he said, “What do you need me to do?”
“Figure out how to shut down those spells and charms that damn coven has created around this town.”
Vape turned around to look at him again.
“Your hometown.”
Chapter Ten
“How are you guys doing?” Hannah asked.
Natalia and Luna stood in a clearing at the base of the mountain where they suspected Vape and his crew had set up camp. The two of them had concocted a spell that essentially kept any shifter who wasn’t part of the pack out of Dark Moon Falls.
They’d set up a schedule, two witches on this side of town, two on the other, their spells linked, a solid yet invisible wall of protection against Vape and his entourage.
The four witches had to maintain the charm for two-hour increments, then another four would relieve them, around the clock, until Elias was prepared to defend his pack.
Hannah had come out to keep Natalia and Luna company, mostly because Natalia was one of her dearest friends, but also because she wanted to keep an eye out for Ben.
Which was stupid, of course. What was she going to do if he showed up?
“Oh crap,” she muttered. “This spell won’t even work on him, since he’s actually from Dark Moon Falls.”
“Who are you talking about?” Luna wanted to know.
“No one,” Hannah said with a sigh.
“This is exhausting,” Natalia said. Hannah could see her arms shaking. “I’m worried some of the other witches won’t make it for two full hours.”
“They will,” Luna piped up. “They have to. Anybody else in a hurry to die tonight? Cuz I’m not.”
“Me either,” Hannah said. Not that she was any help with the spells. All she could do—for now—was offer moral support.
“My phone is vibrating,” Natalia said. “Can you get it out of my pocket, Hannah? It’s probably a text from Lyall. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with this plan.”
Hannah did as she asked. “I’m surprised he isn’t out here with us.”
“Elias ordered him to help with whatever coup they’re planning.”
She read the message on the screen. “Yeah, it’s him. Wants to know how you’re doing.”
“Tell him he’s going to owe me a back and shoulder massage when this is all over.”
Chuckling, Hannah swiped the screen and tapped out the message.
“That’s a great idea,” Luna said. “Except I’m going to have to pick up some rando at the Wolf Inn to see to my needs since I’m swinging single at the moment.”
“There are plenty of other places to meet guys, Luna,” Hannah pointed out. Even though the one guy she wished she could have in her life, she’d met at a bar.
Luna’s response was to blow a raspberry.
With Natalia’s phone still in her hand, Hannah scanned the horizon for the seven billionth time in the last two hours. They’d seen nothing but birds and wildlife. No witches. No humans. No—
“What’s that?” she asked and then quickly added, “Never mind. Don’t lose your concentration.”
But she’d definitely seen something. An animal, skulking through the underbrush. And there was only one person who skulked with that finesse.
She watched as Ben transformed from wolf to human. She paid such close attention that she caught that fleeting, barely there moment before he magicked his clothing onto his body.
Damn it, she did not need the vivid reminder of the afternoon they’d spent together, sans clothes.
“It’s Ben,” Natalia said.
“Who’s Ben?” Luna asked.
“A traitor,” Hannah muttered.
She surged to her feet and rushed forward, allowing her anger to control her actions. She slugged him with every bit of pent up fury in her system.
He stumbled backward and fell onto his ass in the dirt, where he sat working his lower jaw back and forth. “I didn’t know you were a lefty.”
She glared at him.
He narrowed his eyes right back. “If you’d stop being angry for two seconds, you’d realize how wrong you are about me. And seriously, why the hell won’t you leave town?”
“Why should I?”
“It’s safer.”
“Yeah, well, this is my home. These are my friends. And I’m not going to leave them here to be slaughtered.”
“Elias has a plan, Hannah. Obviously, if the witches have already created a barrier around town. You don’t need to be part of this.”
“Why are you so determined that I leave? One and done? Is that your motto?”
He growled. “This isn’t about sleeping with you, Hannah.”
“You slept with Ben?” Natalia asked.
He ran his hand through his hair. “This is about your safety.”
“I’m a hell of a lot safer with these guys than I am with you.”
“Smart woman,” another male voice said. A man stepped out from behind a nearby tree. He had long, straggly hair, dark skin, and a patch of scruff on his chin. His eyes were black, his lips full, and his arms were huge.
“It’s him,” Luna whispered.
Hannah could feel the vibration of magic as the two witches tried to maintain their protective barrier with the enemy standing not ten feet away.
“I fucking hate witches,” Vape said and aimed a gun at Natalia.
“No!” Hannah shouted, and she dove for her friend, catching her around the waist and knocking them both to the ground.
She didn’t hear the sound of the weapon firing, and Natalia was moving underneath her, struggling to sit up, so she obviously hadn’t been hit.
But Vape didn’t need to use the gun. He needed only to break the barrier.
&nbs
p; “Damn it,” Hannah said. She could already hear the sound of paws hitting the ground as at least one more wolf came running toward them. No doubt one of Vape’s men. With her luck, it would be Durango.
Although at this point, she was plenty angry enough that she could very possibly do some serious damage to the seemingly indestructible shifter. Still, it seemed more prudent to call for backup, so she grabbed Natalia’s phone, which had fallen into the grass nearby, and tapped out a text to Lyall, who she was confident would call in the damn cavalry.
A wolf rushed around a bend in the hill and came to a stuttering stop, its eyes widened like it hadn’t expected anyone to be in this area.
And then the animal focused on Hannah, and she felt her own eyes widened as she stared at what was surely a ghost.
“Nick?”
It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. Her brother was dead. Two and a half years now. Vape had killed him. Nick hadn’t made it past the hazing stage. He hadn’t. He—
The wolf shifted, changing from beast to human, and a young man with rust-colored hair and wide, bright blue eyes stared at her as if she were the one who’d just come back from the dead.
She was vaguely aware of Ben, rotating his head like he was watching a tennis match. “You know Nick?”
She took a hesitant step forward.
“Hannah,” Nick said. “I thought that was you in the grocery store.”
She stopped moving. “Wait. That was you?” She began looking around wildly. “You were with Durango that day?”
“How the hell do you know Durango?” Ben demanded.
And the shifter stepped into the clearing, as if saying his name had summoned him. He was huge, a Goliath when in human form, a hulking beast when in wolf form. He came to a stuttering halt as he took in the scene.
“Hey, babe,” he said, acknowledging her as if it hadn’t been two and a half years since they saw each other last. As if his last words to her hadn’t been informing her that Nick had died a senseless death because Durango had lured him into the most evil rogue shifter pack to ever exist.
“Durango,” Hannah whispered. And then she lunged forward and clocked him. “You asshole,” she shrieked while he rubbed his jaw and gave her a wary look. “You lied to me! You told me my brother was dead!”
Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2 Page 55