Storm (Rise of the Pride, Book 12)

by Theresa Hissong

  The whiskey helped her keep going.

  “January of last year, he went on a rage and we fought,” she sniffled. God, she hated crying. “He tied me to the bed post and left me there for an hour. When he returned, he had a knife. He wanted to kill me that night, but our neighbor heard me screaming for help. By the time the police arrived, I had almost bled out and he was covered in it. The authorities caught him with the weapon in his hand. He actually confessed, and I was sent to the trauma center in New Orleans.”

  “Do you have family?” he asked, frowning.

  “Well, my mom flew into town when someone called her, but I ended up sending her away. She liked Sam, and for some fucking reason, thought I should try and work things out with him. You see, my mother doesn’t believe in divorce.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did divorce him.” Storm swallowed and clenched his fists where they were perched on his lap. His protectiveness warmed her chest and the animal inside her mind paced. There was a yearning to get closer to him, but she locked down the feeling. She barely knew him, but somehow, she felt like she’d known him her entire life. Was that the mating the other women were talking about?

  “That was the easiest part of the process.” She shrugged, looking down at her feet. “I had a lot of healing to do, and I moved here to get away from him and his family.”

  “Is his family a threat?” His chest expanded like he was about to emit some intense supernatural forcefield to protect her.

  “No,” she replied. “They were apologetic and sent flowers to my hospital room. His mother was more understanding than my own.”

  “I’m very sorry that happened to you,” he replied, straightening his spine. “But you have family now…a family here.”

  “I’m learning that,” she admitted.

  The two females who ran with her once she took Talon’s blood, and the other wolf, Luna, had been nothing but kind to her. She felt a kinship with them…like they were family from the moment she had arrived. Evie, the one who got her off the streets, was a hero to her.

  “Once you are comfortable, you can meet everyone else,” he suggested. “The spring equinox is coming up in a few weeks. If you haven’t met everyone by then, I’m sure they’ll all be excited to get to know you then. But watch out for the elder females. They like to dote.”

  “Well,” she chuckled. “That’s fine. I don’t mind.”

  In fact, she wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t happy about someone caring for her. She’d been on her own for so long, she missed having a connection to a group of women. Landon’s friendship was special, but sometimes one just needed to be around the same sex. She didn’t think Landon would be too keen on listening her talk about women stuff.

  “You wanted to know more about a male’s aversion to touch?” His words interrupted her thoughts, and she nodded for him to continue. “And why I won’t touch you, yet.”

  “Evie and Hope told me that you believe we are mates. How do you know?” She was still curious how it all worked. “We aren’t even the same type of shifter.”

  “Our kind has lived a solitary life for thousands of years,” he admitted. “It wasn’t until we were found out by the humans that we started to really interact with other species. Luna came to us when we busted a scientific cult who was kidnapping different shifters to study them. Only once she was here and Harold saw her for the first time, did we know that matings between shifters could actually happen.”

  “So, they touched?” she pressed. The information Storm supplied wasn’t known to humans. The shifters obviously kept a lot of things to themselves.

  “When a shifter meets their future mate, the animal acts differently. I know mine roared and prowled a lot the day I saw you at Landon’s, but I didn’t really know what was happening until I was told you had been kidnapped.” He paused. Amaya didn’t say anything while he got his breathing under control. “My beast wanted to tear the town apart to look for you. We had no idea where you were taken.”

  “That’s why you didn’t come for me? Because you didn’t know where they were holding us?”

  “We still don’t know,” he replied. “Do you have any idea where they took you?”

  “To a warehouse not far from downtown,” she answered, tapping her finger against her chin. “No, it was closer to the river…maybe on President’s Island. I could smell the rotten stench coming from Lake McKellar. Hell, I haven’t been in Memphis long, but even I know that place is a dump.”

  “Are you sure?” he gasped, jumping to his feet.

  “Positive…Wait! What’s going on? Where are you going?”

  “Amaya, you are amazing!” he cheered. “We’ve been trying to find the holding place for the Gadaí for months, and you know exactly where they are.”

  “No one asked me,” she frowned.

  “We were giving you time and space to adjust to the pride,” he mumbled as he pulled out his phone. “I’m calling a meeting with Talon. We are going to need you to tell us everything you know about the warehouse.”

  “I don’t know exactly where it is. They kept the tint super dark on the vehicles we used.”

  “Let’s tell Talon,” he repeated. “Come with me.”

  “Okay,” she swallowed. “Okay.”

  “Papa?” Ember, Talon’s eldest child, called out. “Look what I can do!”

  Pride flashed across his heart when she scrunched up her nose and focused really hard, smiling ear to ear when her little canines grew quickly in her mouth. Her nose recessed just the slightest, but that was normal, too.

  “That’s excellent, little one,” he cheered, picking her up off the floor.

  She had her mother’s hair and fire in her eyes. The small bursts of power he could feel from her solidified what his mother had said just moments before she passed. Ember would be the next alpha to the pride.

  “See, I told you shifting was going to be easy,” he reminded her. She’d woken up one morning in her panther form and had freaked out. Talon had taken her out into the woods and shifted with her, teaching her how to run as a panther. That was only last week. Ever since then, Ember had been trying to half shift like he’d showed her.

  The power started three days ago, and he hadn’t told Liberty yet. He didn’t like keeping secrets from his mate, but being an alpha came with a lot of confusion and worry. He remembered the first time he’d felt it, and it had scared him to death. Thankfully, his father had been there when it’d happened.

  “I like this part,” she sung in her high-pitched voice. Talon smiled widely when he felt a tiny wave of power aimed directly at him.

  “This is your power,” he began, pushing back just a little with his own. “I have that power, too.”

  “Woah,” she giggled. “We are the same.”

  “Yes, Ember, we are,” he nodded, brushing her hair back from her face. “With the power you have, it comes with responsibility. You can’t use it on the other cubs.”

  “Oh, why not?” she pouted just as his phone pinged with an incoming message.

  He set her down and ruffled her hair as he read what the Guardian Storm had sent. His eyes widened and he felt his own canines thicken in his mouth. Amaya knew where the rogues were being held.

  “Papa?” Ember gasped.

  “I’m going to have to have a meeting with Storm, honey,” he said, sighing heavily. The last thing he wanted to do was stop his conversation with his child, but the meeting he was about to have was very important. “For now, I need you to not use that power you are feeling. Work on the shifting first.”

  “Okay,” she promised as she danced toward the door. “I can do that. Tell Uncle Storm I said hello!” She giggled as she ran down the hallway. He laughed as he heard her little feet tapping on the stairs as she ran up her room.

  “Declan! Look at what I can do with my teeth!” her voice echoed throughout the house.

  He walked out to the living area just as Storm and Amaya entered through the back door. They were not holding hands
, keeping a good four feet between them. The two of them hadn’t mated yet, and he secretly wished Storm would touch the female soon. They both deserved happiness, but he wouldn’t push the issue with either of them. They had to learn to love each other first.

  “You have information for me?” he asked the female.

  “Yes, I do.” She nodded at Talon. “Storm told me that you and your men had no idea about the warehouse?”

  “No, we did not,” he admitted, holding his hand out toward the office. “Let’s have a seat in my office and you can tell me what you know.”

  He allowed Storm to lead his unclaimed mate into the office and closed the door. She smiled at the pink teddy bear on the corner of the desk before taking a seat. “You have children?”

  “I do,” Talon replied with a genuine smile. “They’re six and four.”

  “I always wanted children, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards for me,” she sighed and straightened her spine. “Forgive me, sir. I know we are here to talk to you about the wolves.”

  Talon’s heart ached from her words, but he wouldn’t comment. In his mind, he wanted his longtime friend to have everything he’d been yearning for; a mate and children. He wouldn’t get involved in the matchmaking. Liberty had fussed at him for doing it before. He’d leave it up to Storm, but if the male didn’t get to it soon, he might have to give him a little push.

  “Okay,” he started. “Tell me everything you know.”

  Chapter Eight

  By the time the sun was setting, the alpha and his Guardians were deep in a meeting working on a plan to get inside the warehouse close to downtown Memphis. Amaya was sitting at the kitchen table of the alpha’s home watching as the females hurried along with a dinner.

  “They like to cook when things get a little crazy around here,” Olivia, one of the mates to the Guardian Dane, said. She was stunning with her long, blonde hair. Her icy blue eyes stood out against the perfectly sculpted curls that fell over her shoulders. Amaya had only met her ten minutes before, and she already felt at ease with the woman…well, female. That was what she was told they called each other. Using woman or man was reserved for humans.

  “I can understand that.” She smiled as Olivia handed over another potato to help peel. “I cook when I’m nervous or upset.”

  “You’re going to fit in just fine,” Maria, the eldest of the females, chuckled.

  “Where’s my sister?” A beautiful brunette peeked her head into the kitchen. She looked like everyone else; beautifully smooth skin, icy blue eyes, and perfect hair.

  “Liberty will be down shortly,” Maria tsked. “Where have you been?”

  “I had to work a little late today. We were busy at lunch.” She shrugged as she entered, taking a seat next to Amaya. “So, you’re the new wolf?”

  “I guess so,” Amaya replied, wiping her hand on a towel so she could shake the female’s hand.

  “I’m Nova, Liberty’s sister,” she supplied.

  After the greetings, Nova helped peel potatoes and kept up most of the conversation. It was hard to remember everyone’s name and who they were mated to, but they had no problems helping Amaya remember who was who.

  Like a switch had been flipped, the air in the room thickened, and everyone sat up straighter when a slightly older version of Nova entered the room carrying a young male child on her hip. The female’s gaze immediately landed on Amaya before she took the little boy over to a room just off the kitchen, whispering to him to play until dinner was ready. After he ran off, she turned toward Amaya and smiled widely. “Hello. I’m Liberty, Talon’s mate.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Amaya said, standing to her full height. She held out her hand, but Liberty threw her arms around Amaya, hugging her tightly.

  “I’m so happy to see Storm finally found his mate,” Liberty cheered and backed away, still holding Amaya by the shoulders. Everyone in the kitchen froze at her proclamation. “Oh, please. We all know it’s going to happen. Your mating scents are strong.”

  Amaya felt her cheeks heat. “We haven’t really gotten to that point yet.”

  “You will.” Liberty winked and gave her sister a hard glare. “Just don’t put him through hell like my sister did to her mate, Winter.”

  “Really, Liberty?” Nova groaned. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

  “Nope,” Liberty giggled. “Never!”

  The kitchen erupted into laughter as the two sisters picked at each other. Once it was all over, all seven of the women were wiping their eyes, and Amaya wasn’t immune. It felt so good to laugh again. God, it’d been forever since she’d felt like she belonged somewhere.

  “So, what’s going to happen now?” Amaya spoke up, killing the mood. “I’m sorry. Should I not ask?”

  “No, no,” Liberty shook her hands in front of herself, “it’s okay. We’ve all asked that question when the Guardians and Protectors head out on a mission.”

  “I just don’t want any of the other female wolves to get hurt,” Amaya said, remembering the ones the pride hadn’t found yet…the ones she had changed. “I think there are four left that I had turned.”

  Tears filled her vision, and all of the laughter from moments before was gone. Replaced with it was sniffles and tears from the other females. Liberty and Sofia hurried to her side, pulling her up from the seat to engulf her in warm hugs.

  “They’ll be found, and Talon will make sure that alpha is stopped,” Liberty promised. “You were under Murdock’s control and couldn’t help what you were forced to do. No one blames you for that.”

  “What about the female they brought here during her change?” Amaya remembered the female. “I want to see her.”

  Liberty paused. Sofia paused.

  They all stopped what they were doing.

  “What?” Amaya gasped. “What’s wrong? What happened to her?”

  “She’s fine,” Talon said from the door, shocking all of them. They hadn’t heard him approach. When Amaya spun around, Storm was behind the alpha, his eyes narrowed on hers.

  “Where is she?”

  “She is leaving in the morning to go to Colorado,” Talon promised. “She was reconnected with her family today, but after that, she has decided to leave the area.”

  “I’d like to see her,” Amaya requested, gently pushing the females away. When Talon turned to glance at Storm, Amaya felt a fire inside her. “He’s not my mate and does not make decisions for me. I am going to see her before she leaves. Now, unless you order me to stay away, I will be going to the healer’s home, wherever it is, to talk to her.”

  “I’ll take you,” Storm interrupted. Talon finally nodded and stepped aside so she could pass. Amaya didn’t say a word until she was out the back door and off the porch.

  “So, if we mate, do you tell me what I can and can’t do?” She was so mad, she felt her wolf clawing at her skin to shift. She’d quickly learned how to fight it off by clenching all of her muscles, including her jaw, to keep her canines from getting too big for her mouth.

  “I would never,” the silent Guardian vowed. “Talon’s concern was for your wellbeing and that’s it. You are still a newly turned wolf, and for the first few months, shifters are unstable.”

  “I’m no more unstable than I was when I was human,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Take me to her, please.”

  “Right this way,” he sighed.

  Keep Amaya safe. The female is bitter.

  Talon’s alpha voice echoed in Storm’s mind. He hadn’t told Amaya about the ability to talk to Talon when she partially shifted. There was a lot he still needed to tell her, but it would wait until after her meeting with the new wolf.

  The healer opened the door the moment they stepped onto his land. His mate stood behind him. Amaya stopped just short of pushing past the pride’s doctor and took a deep breath. “I’m here to see her.”

  “We’ve been expecting you,” Harold replied in his doctor voice, and Storm eyed him over the female’s head. Neithe
r one of them spoke up when a growl came from Amaya’s chest. “Come in.”

  Amaya moved before he could hold the door for her. She was rather independent, but he wasn’t going to let her go unprotected. Storm was taller and could see the blonde female sitting on the couch, her eyes narrowing on Amaya as she approached.

  “What is she doing here?” The female came to her feet, her eyes glowing the hazy yellow of her beast.

  “We don’t want any troubles, Emery,” Harold reminded the new wolf. Storm relaxed once the woman’s eyes cleared.

  “I wanted to meet you,” Amaya announced with a steady voice. “I want you to know how sorry I am for what I’ve done to you.”

  “Well, you should be,” Emery spat, taking a step forward. “Because of you, I have lost everything!”

  Storm moved to Amaya’s side, keeping just far enough apart that he wouldn’t accidentally touch her. Harold put on his special gloves and tossed him a pair. Luna moved to the healer’s left while Storm quickly donned the gloves. If the two women went at each other, there were enough of them to get them apart.

  The newly turned wolf was as bitter as his alpha had told him. She wore a permanent scowl on her face. She snarled at Amaya, her canines showing with her anger. Harold bellowed another warning at the newly turned wolf, but it didn’t stop her from rushing Amaya.

  Amaya turned to the left, narrowly missing Emery’s attempt to take her to the ground. Luna shouted as both of the females spread their legs and leaned forward, baring their canines at each other.

  “Amaya, back off,” Storm ordered, but she didn’t listen. She circled the female, Emery, fisting then shaking her hands back open as if she was fighting the wolf that lived inside her.

  “You’re not the only one who lost everything,” Amaya announced, gritting her teeth against the need to shift. “I was brainwashed by them. If it hadn’t been for this pride, you would’ve been under their control, too.”

  “Bullshit!” Emery replied, leaping through the air, taking Amaya down flat on her back. Amaya shoved her hands up when Emery tried to choke her. With a curse, Amaya knocked the female’s hands away and bucked her off where the new wolf was straddling her waist.