I cover his hand with mine. “Do you believe in fate?” I ask. When he doesn’t answer, I continue. “I never really did before, but since I found out I’m your half, I’ve been thinking more about it. Maybe it’s fate that I am what I am.”
He shakes his head, turning his hand over so our palms press together. “I don’t want to believe it. If it’s fate that you’re a hybrid, then it’s fate that we’re in this situation, and I can’t accept that.”
I want to tell him more—how if I hadn’t met Luke that night at the bar, I wouldn’t have stayed out so late. If I hadn’t been out so late, I wouldn’t have been stabbed, and Jack wouldn’t have had any reason to turn me. But before I can make sense of the thoughts swirling in my head, his phone rings. Lillie’s name flashes on the display.
Jack answers it and taps the button to put it on speaker. “What’s going on?”
“Cassandra wants to talk,” Lillie says.
Jack is on his feet immediately. The two of us run to Maggie’s house. I’m surprised to see the broken window has been boarded up in our short absence. Jack is tense the whole way, even though there was nothing in Lillie’s tone to indicate a problem.
Cassandra’s face is pale and drawn when we enter her room. Jack sucks in a breath. She looks much worse than she did when I left her. “I know what happened,” she says, her voice scratchy.
Jack and I take spots on either side of her mattress. “What are you talking about?” he asks.
“I checked over the body of the dead vampire, and there’s no mistaking what I sensed. There was a concealment charm cast over him.” She leans back onto the pillows propped against her headboard.
Jack stands, cursing. “You should be focusing all your energy on getting better.”
“Calme-toi, Jacques,” she murmurs. “We need to know who we’re up against.”
“I already know who we’re up against,” Jack growls. “I recognized some of the leeches at the perimeter. I saw them at the mansion the day I went to rescue Ava. He was lurking just beyond our territory last night, and he must’ve figured out what Ava is when he talked with her. It’s Luke.”
“You can’t believe that,” she says, her voice stronger.
“Like it’s such a stretch.”
I’m taken aback by the venom in his voice. Why does Jack hate him so much?
Cassandra lifts her hand, and the motion is enough to make Jack sit back down. “Why? Why would Luke want Ava?”
“I can think of a few reasons,” he mutters darkly.
She exhales noisily. “You know my stance, and I won’t waste breath trying to convince you to see things differently than you do, but trust me when I say I don’t think Luke has anything to do with this.”
“It doesn’t really matter who’s behind it,” I say. “What matters is we make sure no one attacks our territory again. You said there was a concealment charm on Carlos. Is there any way of telling who did it?”
Cassandra shakes her head. “If I weren’t so weak, maybe—but only if I were familiar with the witch in question. It’s possible these vampires compelled some weaker-minded witches to do the spellwork for them.”
“What’s the alternative?” I ask.
She and Jack trade glances. “They have a witch working with them. And if that’s the case, it changes things. Why vampires might want you is fairly straightforward—either to kill you so you can’t make a stronger force to keep them in check, or replicate you to create their own battalion to destroy the wolves.”
Both options make my stomach twist, but I nod. “And what would witches want with me?” I force a smile. “I mean, besides to kill me.”
Cassandra stretches out her arm and covers my hand with hers. “That’s what worries me. I have no idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It’s been two days since Xander infiltrated our territory, and I’m watching Jack, Sawyer, Duncan, and a few others put the finishing touches on the new window that’s going in to Maggie’s house when I sense it. It isn’t an intrusion—that would make my skin prickle and my hair stand on end. This is something different. A presence just beyond where our land ends.
He’s waiting for me. I’m not sure how I know, but I can’t deny it.
Luke.
The desire to go to him is strong, but not overpowering. Not yet, anyway. Lillie, who came out of the house about ten minutes ago to make sure the guys were hydrated and stayed to chat with me, raises an eyebrow. “You okay?”
I realize my mouth is hanging open and snap it closed. Why would Luke be here? Despite what Jack believes, I haven’t been able to accept the idea that Luke was involved in the attack. But what if I was wrong? Perhaps he’s employing a different tactic—a more gentle touch. Maybe he thinks I’ll go to him and leave without putting up a fight. If that’s the case, I don’t think his pull on me is as strong as he believes.
It’s hard to tell from this distance, but I think he’s alone. Beyond the reaches of our territory, it becomes exponentially harder to determine who’s nearby. I’m certain the only reason I can feel Luke’s presence at all is due to the sire bond.
“I have to talk to Jack,” I say, already stepping away from Lillie’s side.
His eyebrows draw together as I approach him. He hands the caulk gun to Duncan and stands. “What’s wrong?”
I take his hand and pull him down the porch stairs and around to the side of the house. By the time I stop walking, he’s smiling. “I haven’t been at work that long, have I? If you needed me to take a break, you should’ve just said something.” He slides a hand around the back of my neck and steps in like he’s ready to give me a kiss, but I duck away.
“It’s not that.” I hesitate. Not telling him immediately about my last encounter only angered him. Still, I don’t want him to overreact before we know what’s happening. “Do you… feel anything strange?”
“Besides confusion about why you’re acting this way? No.” He stoops to catch my eye. “What’s going on?”
I bite my lower lip. “I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise to stay calm—at least until we know what’s going on.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Jack’s playful demeanor from moments ago evaporates, replaced by coiled tension and anger simmering just beneath the surface. “What are you talking about? Tell me.”
At this point, the last thing I want to do is tell Jack what I’m sensing, but I have to. “Luke. He’s nearby. Not in the territory, but close to it.”
Jack curses. “His friends didn’t do enough damage the other day?”
I hold up my hands. “I can’t tell why he’s here. But I think we should go check it out.”
He nods. “I’ll get a group together and—”
I shake my head. “If he wanted to hurt us, he could’ve just used one of the charms Xander had and snuck in here. He’s not on our territory, but I think he wants me to know he’s close. I think I should go out to see what he wants.”
A muscle in his jaw jumps, and there’s a steely glint in his eye. “I don’t want you near him by yourself.”
I arch an eyebrow. “I could say the same thing about you.” When he shoots me a wounded look, I press on. “I get that you two have some kind of history. I get that you hate him. But now isn’t the time to go killing him without a reason.”
“I have plenty of reasons,” Jack growls.
I place my hands on his arms. “Let’s just go see what he wants. You and me. We can keep each other in check.” I offer a small smile, which Jack doesn’t return.
After a beat, he nods. “I’m going to let Sawyer and Dakota know what we’re up to. I want them to be on alert just in case Luke is here as some kind of distraction.”
“Of course,” I agree, even though my gut tells me it isn’t necessary. Maybe it’s just the sire bond, but I have the feeling that Luke isn’t here to hurt me. I shake my head. It’s ridiculous. Probably just wishful thinking. All evidence points to him knowing what I am. Why else would membe
rs of his brood show up to try to take me away the day after I saw him in the woods?
Jack’s voice echoes in my head as he sends a message to Sawyer and Dakota. He tells them what’s going on and to be on guard. He adds that reinforcements should be ready to meet us if anyone senses an intrusion on pack lands. I think the measures are unnecessary, but I keep it to myself.
Once he’s done communicating to the betas, Jack nods, indicating I should lead the way. Jack and I shift as we begin running. It’s strange to me that he can’t sense Luke’s presence when it sticks out like a beacon to me.
We slow as we near the edge of the territory. By now Luke’s scent is strong, and I know Jack must be able to smell him. At Jack’s prompting, I shift back to human; we’re still too deep in the woods to be seen from the two-lane road just beyond the edge of our territory. A car is parked on the shoulder, and Luke leans against the hood. He’s staring in our direction when we emerge from the trees.
Jack positions himself between Luke and me before shifting. “Don’t come any closer. My weres have orders to kill anyone who enters the territory,” he says, his voice low.
Luke holds up his hands innocently. “You’ll notice I was careful not to step foot onto your land. I come in peace.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
He glances pointedly at Jack. “I assume his influence has something to do with that.”
“Why are you here?” Jack asks, his voice heavy with alpha authority. Even though it doesn’t have the same effect on vampires, I can’t help thinking anyone who heard him would be influenced to some extent.
But Luke seems impervious. He surveys Jack for a moment longer before sighing, his shoulders slumping slightly. “I’ve come to offer my help.”
Jack snorts, throwing up his hands. “I knew this was a waste of time. Ava, let’s go back to the enclave.”
I’m more than a little surprised by Jack’s reaction. How can he be so ready to dismiss Luke’s offer? I get the feeling vampires and werewolves don’t often team up, so I’m not willing to leave before I know what brought Luke here, and why he thinks we need his assistance. “Let’s hear him out.”
Jack’s eyes are fixed on Luke, and I wonder if he heard me. “Let me guess: Some of your leech friends are stationed somewhere just outside my territory. You were hoping I’d come with my betas and leave Ava alone so they could try to make a grab for her again. Offering help—this is what? Plan B? Are you waiting for backup?”
Luke’s gaze flickers to me. “Again? Someone came after you?”
I take a half step forward, nodding. “Yes. Xander and Carlos.”
He curses, and I catch a flicker of doubt in Jack’s eye. “I smelled magic on Xander the other day, but he swore he’d bumped into a witch in town completely by accident.” He runs a hand through his blond hair, causing it to stick up the way Jack’s sometimes does. The similarity is so striking it takes me a moment to process what he says next. “I should’ve put it together sooner. I should’ve figured out something was wrong when people first started going missing.”
My eyebrows hike up. “Wait—missing? Who’s been going missing?”
Jack is standing at attention, too. “I thought you said your brood wasn’t breaking our deal?”
Luke holds out a hand. “Down, boy. I wasn’t lying.”
“That’d be a first,” Jack mutters.
Luke ignores him. “After your assault on the mansion, some members of the brood went out one night and didn’t come back.”
“I’m surprised you noticed,” Jack murmurs.
Luke shrugs. “One of them owed me money.”
“So, some of your housemates didn’t come home. What’s the big deal?” I ask. “I didn’t think vampires were family the way weres are.”
“Family.” Luke says the word like a curse, glaring at Jack. “I suppose he’s been teaching you all about what family means, hasn’t he?”
“She asked you a question,” Jack snaps, his tone sharper than strictly necessary.
Luke smirks, as if he’s pleased to have hit a nerve. “I didn’t think much of it at first,” he continues after a beat. “Things at the mansion are always in flux. People come and go pretty regularly. But then another pair went missing.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to run the risk of the pack coming back,” I offer. It seems a plausible reason to me.
“When it comes to most of the vampires I know, I’d agree with you. But Dinah was one of the last ones not to come back, and that’s not like her at all. If she were taking off, there’s no way she’d leave her shoes behind.” He drops his gaze and rubs the back of his neck. “Girl was obsessed with her designer shoes.”
“Was?” I ask.
He meets my eyes. “I started poking around. I went into town and checked some places she liked to hang out.” The corners of his mouth quirk. “Compelled a few people into recalling details they otherwise wouldn’t have remembered. And then I found it.” His nose twitches and he rubs it absently. “Smelled it, really. The stench… I’m surprised the humans living in the apartments nearby hadn’t complained.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a weight sinks in my stomach. I don’t want to hear this. “The stench?”
“Bodies,” he says unceremoniously. “The vampires from my brood. In a dumpster.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I murmur, but Jack talks over me.
“How’d they die?”
Luke crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s the interesting part. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they’d been bitten by a wolf.”
“It wasn’t us,” Jack says immediately. “No one in my pack would do something like that.”
“Believe it or not, I didn’t come to accuse you of anything,” Luke says. “After I found them, I remembered something I’d overheard at the house. Xander tried to play it off like he was talking about a car engine, but…” He shakes his head. “He said something about a hybrid.”
My muscles tense and Jack clenches his jaw. Luke takes no notice of either reaction.
“Let me save you time—I know they meant Ava.” He shakes his head. “It’s so obvious, looking back. When Jack showed up to take you away, I figured he was just being a douche. More punishment for past sins and all that. And when I saw you in the woods—I could smell the wolf on you, but I figured it was because you were spending time with them. But after I found the bodies the way I did, it all made sense. Somehow, that’s what you are. And someone’s trying to make more like you.”
“Not me,” I say quickly. “I don’t want to make any more. I wouldn’t even know how.”
“Obviously neither does whoever’s doing this.” Luke’s gaze flickers to Jack. “It’s Xander—it has to be. And it seems he’s working with at least one witch.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” I say. “The witches at the council were afraid I’d try to make more. Why would they go and try it themselves?”
“I don’t know,” Jack says, taking a step closer to me. “And it is possible Xander and his companions are compelling someone to do their dirty work. Still, we need to tell Cassandra.”
Luke’s eyebrows hitch upward. “Cassie’s with you in wolf world?”
It’s my turn to be surprised. While Cassandra seemed to have an idea who Luke was, I figured it was because Jack had mentioned him before. “Wait—you know Cassandra?”
He doesn’t look at me. “You haven’t told her, have you? I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
I turn to Jack. “Haven’t told me what?”
Jack ignores me. “Thanks for letting us know what’s going on. I’ll make sure Ava’s safe.” He turns back toward the territory, but before he can take more than a step, Luke is at his side, spinning him until they face each other.
“That’s it? You’re just going to run back to your little campground and—what? Hide under a table and hope the next time Xander or someone else comes looking for he
r they don’t notice where she is?” He presses in close until his face is just inches from Jack’s. “How long do you think it’ll be before Xander’s back with reinforcements? You need to get her out of here. Hide her somewhere the witches won’t be able to track her.”
I hold up the agate pendant Cassandra gave me. “This should help keep me from being found,” I offer.
Jack covers the necklace with his hand like he doesn’t want Luke to see it. “Believe it or not, we can’t just pick up and leave at the drop of a hat. Wolves are territorial; we can’t just set up camp somewhere new on a whim.”
“Really?” Luke’s tone is dubious. “Because you’ve been following my ass around for the better part of a century. Territorial lines never seemed to bother you before.”
I don’t bother hiding my surprise. I knew Luke was the first vampire Jack ever came across, but he’d kept tabs on him all this time? If Jack hates him so much, why would he chase him around for so long?
Jack’s shoulders slump. “I know some alphas of other packs—ones I trust. Someone might be willing to take us in until we can sort things out.”
A satisfied smirk curves Luke’s lips. “You’d better get on that. And be sure to let them know to make room for three.”
Jack takes a step backward, incredulity spreading across his face. “Only two of us are going.”
“Really? I wasn’t thinking you were going to want to hang back.” Luke narrows his eyes. “Whether you like it or not, I’m coming. You can’t tell me my venom isn’t in her. I’m as responsible for her being what she is as you are. What makes you think I don’t want to make sure she’s safe?”
“Let’s just say your track record speaks for itself.”
Luke’s eyes flash red and he reaches for Jack, but before he can make contact, I jump between them. He sneers as his irises return to their usual shade of electric blue. “What’s this? Big bad alpha can’t fight his own battles?”
Fate Bound (Fate Bound Trilogy Book 1) Page 15
