Shadow Wars (The Stoneridge Pack Book 2)

by CJ Cooke

  “Mav, if I’d known about you, if I had any idea that you were even a possibility, I would’ve come for you. I would never have left you…” My words failed me as I realised all of it was nothing but an excuse. Of course, there had been a possibility he was alive. My mother had died in childbirth. As a grown-ass man, I should’ve known to ask the question. It just didn’t occur to me.

  Maverick finally looked up from his papers and locked eyes with me. Surprisingly, there was no judgment in them, nor were they hard and full of hate like they should’ve been.

  “We both know you wouldn’t have been able to take him on,” he sighed. “Anyway, think of it this way. If you’d known about me, come for me and failed, he never would have allowed me to try and come and steal Calli away from you. I wouldn’t be here now. I’d be locked in whatever hole he needed to keep me in just to torment you.”

  A shudder ran down my spine as I realised how accurate he was. That was exactly what our father would do. The fact that Maverick had endured that life for so long, as his little secret, was the only reason he was here now.

  “Calli thinks I should talk to you about… you know, before coming here.” He struggled to say it, but we both knew what he meant. She thought he should talk to me about the terrible things our father had put him through.

  “She’s right,” I told him softly. “If you need to talk, hell, if you don’t need to, but you just want to, I’m here for you, Maverick.”

  He nodded his head and then looked down at the papers in front of him uncomfortably.

  “You’re different from when you got here a few days ago,” I pointed out. It probably wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but it was an opening to a conversation that needed to be had.

  “I’ve had time to think about some things. Look at some assumptions I made and realise they weren’t what I actually thought but rather what I’d been trained to expect.”

  I cringed at his words. I’d only seen a fraction of what our father was capable of. I’d escaped young enough that he hadn’t spent all that much time with me. And I had her; I had our mother as a buffer, as my protector. But Maverick, he'd had no one. He didn’t even have the idea of a brother to dream about coming to rescue him one day.

  “You haven’t come to us when we’re at our best, but things will calm down. Grey, well, we only bonded with Calli a week or so ago and then she was taken from us. It’s going to take a while to settle into all these new mating instincts. Having her and the pups has changed our dynamics, and Grey just needs time to deal with his alpha instincts. He’s a good guy. Fuck, he saved me, and he was only a kid then. Give him a chance, and he’ll do the same for you as well.” My hand drifted to my chest, over the compass that was tattooed there.

  “Who says I need to be saved?” he said with a shrug, but I could see it was the doubt and fear he’d be accepted here talking.

  “Everyone needs to be saved, even if it’s just a little bit,” I told him.

  Maverick fell quiet as he thought it through. It was a testament to how much he’d changed in just a few days. The Maverick we first met would’ve been insulted and firing back defensive insults. He was starting to question if what he’d been told was true. That was enough for me to know he’d thrive in the pack if he was just given a chance.

  “Pups,” Maverick said thoughtfully. “You mean the girl. I can’t work out how she fits in the pack. Where did she come from?”

  Grey would be bristling at Maverick asking about Abby, but I could tell he was genuinely curious. There was no hiding the fact that she lived with us, and anyone who knew us would know she hadn’t been born into our pack. There was no point keeping it a secret, and I didn’t want to have secrets from Maverick.

  “We rescued Abby from the witch compound where Calli was taken. They killed her whole family. She doesn’t have anyone else that we know about. We adopted her into the pack, and she’s our pup now.” I ended a bit more forcefully than necessary, and the corner of Maverick’s mouth ticked with the start of a smile.

  “Four pups in a pack as small as yours is unheard of. It’s going to draw attention. You need to expand your ranks,” Maverick pointed out.

  He was right, we hadn’t talked about it yet, but we were going to need to make sure we had the necessary protections in place for the pack soon. Especially with the witch threat still hanging over us.

  “Something for another day. Let’s get past the demons coming for us first,” I joked even though the situation really wasn’t something to joke about.

  Maverick shook his head, but at least he smiled. “Do you ever take anything seriously?”

  “You can take things seriously and still joke about them,” I defended. Getting out of the chair I was in, I opened the small fridge we’d managed to squeeze in here and rummaged around the back. “Now let’s stop pretending to work, drink Grey’s stash of cold beer and talk about something stupid,” I grinned, holding up two cold beers like the prizes they were.

  He might have shaken his head again, but Maverick didn’t say no. I’d take that as an agreement, besides we needed some brother to brother bonding time.

  34

  James

  Awareness of my surroundings had filtered back to me a few days ago; with it had come the hunger—the desperate clawing need to feed.

  Davion had come to me and given me a travel cup, telling me to drink my fill, that it would make me feel better. That was what he’d called himself, Davion. It didn’t sound real to me, but all I could concentrate on was whatever the cup held. It smelt like lust and desire, and my mouth watered as soon as I saw it in his hand. He didn’t taunt me with it, and he didn’t tease. If anything, when he passed it to me, he almost looked sad.

  Cradling the cup in both of my hands, I chugged the contents as fast as I could. At the time, the thick, almost syrupy contents didn’t register. I didn’t even really taste it. The need to have it so overwhelmed my brain and I was too absorbed in the relief that it was in my hands than anything else. All too soon, the cup was empty, and I turned to Davion with disappointed eyes.

  “We should talk,” Davion sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed I’d found myself in.

  It reeked of stale sweat and other things I didn’t want to admit to. It was hard to distinguish what was coming from the bed and what was coming from me. I desperately needed to shower, but I found myself not caring. The hunger was still a simmering fire in my belly. It may have lessened, but it was still there, and all I could think about was how to get more of what he’d already given me.

  “Do you remember what happened to you?” Davion asked slowly.

  Pushing aside the hunger, I focused on his words. I tried to filter through what slivers of memories I had, but they were hazy, almost like they’d melted away, and just small remnants remained. Realising I didn’t even remember my own name, I felt a breath rush into me with the panic suddenly threatening to grip at my chest.

  “It’s okay,” Davion said softly, reaching out and pulling me against him.

  It should have been strange to be held in the arms of this unknown man, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. There was more than comfort in his arms, there was belonging, and a sense of wholeness I didn’t think existed anywhere else in the world. It was enough to even push down that lingering need to feed.

  “It’s normal not to remember much after going through the change. It’s a traumatic process, and not everyone survives. Sometimes I wonder if those who die are the lucky ones,” he said quietly, drifting off into silence for a moment.

  Davion shook his head, almost like he was trying to dispel the melancholy that had settled over him.

  “Your name is James. A creature attacked you, and one of my clan was able to save you. He brought you here, it was the only way to save you, to give you a chance to keep living some form of life. I’m sorry James but we had to turn you.”

  I sat back up in confusion. Something about what he was saying sounded familiar. A sense of dread a
nd disbelief settled inside me even though I didn’t really understand what he was talking about.

  “What am I?” my voice croaked out, sounding almost dusty and broken.

  “You’re a vampire, James.”

  I felt like the words should have shocked me, but being unable to remember the life I had before almost softened the blow. How could I miss something I didn’t even remember? Seeing the confusion on my face, Davion continued with his explanation.

  “You’re one of the shadow touched now, James. Your human life has ended, and a new one has begun. As your memories start to return to you, it’s going to be difficult to accept what you’ve lost, what you will need to leave behind you. I’m sorry this happened to you, but we need you. Our clan is dying, and we needed to increase our numbers. You would have died if we hadn’t intervened. I won’t lie. I’m not even sure if what we did was in your best interest, not in the current climate anyway. But that can wait for another day. Rest now. Sleep. We can discuss this when you feel more like yourself. I will have more blood sent to you in an hour. You need to go slow in the beginning so your body can become used to the changes it has gone through.”

  With that, he slipped out of the door, and it closed behind him. The sound of a lock snapping into place echoed around the small room I was in. That was when I finally took in my surroundings. When it finally occurred to me, the situation I’d found myself in. I was in a cell. I was locked in a cell, and I didn’t even have the energy to climb up off the filthy bed I was sitting on. Perhaps he was right. Maybe it would have been better if they’d left me to die.

  35

  Grey

  Calli was sitting in the armchair in front of the fire in the library, reading yet another one of the books. We’d found little information outside of what we already knew. She’d insisted she was fine, but I watched as she pulled her mother’s book from the shelf and sat it on the table beside her, almost refusing to open the cover but finding comfort just having it in her presence.

  I was worried. I wasn’t going to lie. I didn’t know what to do. Part of me felt like she should let go of the way she rigidly contained herself. That she should embrace her sadness and allow herself this time to grieve. Finding out your parents had been murdered was not easy information to hear. But I also didn’t want her to hurt. I didn’t want her to have to go through what was inevitably waiting for her. It was like watching someone standing on the edge of a cliff and waiting to see them fall. It was agonising, and the fact it was my mate going through this made it all the worse.

  “Will you stop hovering in the doorway,” she mumbled before she turned to look up at me.

  Her face broke out into a smile as she took in the tray in my hands. I’d managed to rustle up some cookies and granola bars and laid them out on a tray with a cup of tea for her. It was pathetic in terms of content, but it was the thought that counted, hopefully.

  Setting it down on the table, I sat in the chair next to her, taking in the small pile of books starting to collect by her feet.

  “You’ve been busy,” I said, desperately needing to fill the silence but coming up short of anything with any substance to say.

  “Hmmm, not that it’s doing much good,” she sighed before she picked up her tea and one of the cookies off the plate. “I see you found my secret stash,” she grinned.

  “I hate to tell you this, but Tanner sniffed it out within about five minutes of you putting it there. If it were anyone else’s, it’d be gone by now.”

  She shook her head with a soft laugh as she settled back into her chair.

  Tanner had been about two seconds away from ripping open the packet of cookies and no doubt inhaling the whole lot. It didn’t help that they were some kind of English cookie he’d never had before. The guy had a serious food addiction.

  But then I watched in horror as she dunked the cookie into her tea and ate it. Calli must’ve seen the look on my face as she put it in her mouth because she suddenly started to laugh and simultaneously choke on the cookie.

  “I know it looks gross, but it’s actually really good,” she said, passing me one of the chocolate topped cookies and holding out her tea to me.

  I gave her the only look that fully described this situation. There was absolutely no way I was doing what she was suggesting and eating a wet, soggy cookie.

  “Please,” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at me, and before I even knew what I was doing, I’d dunked that fucker, and it was in my mouth.

  What I’d assumed was going to be the worst experience of my life was insanely good. As I groaned in delight, the smile on Calli’s face made it all worthwhile. The chocolate had slightly melted from the heat of the tea, and the cookie was warm and tasted almost like an oat bar straight out of the oven. Grabbing another cookie, I went to go for a second dunk when Calli pulled the cup of tea back to her, cradling it protectively against her chest.

  “Hey, get your own cup. You’ll get all your crumbs in the bottom of mine. You need to be a dunking expert to not contaminate my tea,” she accused.

  As I sat there poised with a cookie raised in the air, watching my mate protecting a cup of tea like it was her firstborn, the ridiculousness of the situation hit me, and I snorted out a laugh. I full-on mother fucking pig snorted a laugh.

  Calli burst out laughing and tried to precariously hold her cup protectively away from me without spilling it on herself.

  “Please,” I tried, adding an eyelash flutter for good measure.

  “Nice try, buddy, but that only works one way,” she laughed before she took a massive drink of her tea.

  It was good to see her smile again. There would be an inevitable crash later, and it needed to happen. But right now, she deserved to have some peace.

  “I thought we could hit up Sam’s Club,” I told her, quickly changing the subject. “We could grab some pizza for lunch and then stock up the house.”

  Calli’s nose wrinkled adorably at the suggestion, “I love pizza as much as the next person, but you guys eat it like it counts as one of your five a day or something.”

  “We sometimes have mushrooms on it,” I sulked, even if I could see her point.

  “Anyway, you can’t go to Sam’s. You have to stay here,” she pointed out.

  “Why exactly?”

  “Because soul-sucking demons are out to… well suck out your soul, and at the moment they don’t seem to be able to… ah crap, I forgot to ask Sean about feeding the wards!” she swore.

  “Rewind,” I said in amusement. “You think I’m going to hide behind the wards until, what? We’ve got rid of all of the shadow demons in the world?”

  “I was thinking more in this town,” she nodded. “I’m not seeing your problem.”

  “I’m not going to spend my life hiding at the packhouse.”

  “Of course you aren’t. If we don’t find a solution to this problem, soon a shadow demon is going to come and Suck. Out. Your. Soul!” she emphasised. “I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a bad fucking idea to me.”

  She did have me there, and it didn’t sound half as much fun as most of the things I had planned for the future. But I couldn’t just hide here. I had the pack to look after, the garage to run. Not to mention I wasn’t going to cower behind the wards. I was an alpha wolf, and there was nothing in my nature that spoke of cowering or hiding.

  “Please do this for me,” she asked softly. When I looked up, her eyes were filled with so much emotion, and I could see how much it cost her to let it slip past her barriers. “I can’t lose you as well, Grey.”

  Slipping off the armchair, I knelt at her feet. She was the only wolf in the world that I would submit to, and she had no idea just how much power she held over me, over all of us. I would do anything for her—even this.

  Calli moved off her own armchair and straddled my lap, pushing her hands through my hair until she clasped them behind my neck.

  “It’s just for a little while,” she promised.

  “Of course, my
love.”

  She clung to me at my agreement, and I held her back just as tightly. We could do this, we could face what was on the horizon waiting for us, and once we did, I’d build Calli the life she deserved. A happy life filled with safety and love.

  “You’re not going on your own, though,” I huffed out, her hair tickling against the side of my face from my breath.

  “Of course not. I don’t want to carry all that stuff on my own.”

  I knew she was making a joke, but she was right. She wasn’t carrying all that stuff on her own. “I’ll call around the pack and see who’s free.”

  Calli jumped up off my lap, and I immediately missed her presence.

  “I’m going to look in on Jean and Cassia and see if they want us to pick anything up for them while you’re doing that.”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled Tanner as she disappeared out the doorway, her ass swaying seductively in her jeans. Of course, he picked up just as I groaned at the sight.

  “Erm, well, this just got weird, real fast,” he laughed out.

  “Calli…”

  “No more needed, brother. What’s up?”

  “Is anyone free to come back to the packhouse and go to Sam’s with Calli? I’m apparently grounded.”

  Tanner laughed at my predicament but sobered as soon as I explained Calli’s reasoning.

  “She’s probably right, you know,” he pointed out.

  “Yeah, even if I don’t like to admit it out loud.”

  “Aidan’s just finished up, and we don’t have anything else booked in. He’ll be back with you in fifteen.”

  I groaned again, but not in a good way this time.

  “Firstly, use your words, big guy. Secondly, you need to sort that shit out.”

  The laugh burst out of me in a sharp bark because he was right. I’d been out of line with Aidan the other day, and I owed him an apology. A big fucking apology.