“Choose your words carefully, Uncle. This is my pack by right. You are challenging me.”
“Oh, I am. We’ll see how far your right of blood gets you when you have no pack willing to follow you.”
I shook my head. “The pack won’t go for this.” They were being ludicrous. Xerxes wouldn’t stop with this. There would be concession after concession, and that was only if he didn’t kill us all anyway after my uncle agreed to the terms.
I focused my gaze on Dean. What was his role in this takeover?
“Dean, are you going to fight Victor for alpha, too? Work together to force me out then turn on each other?” I narrowed my gaze and smirked. “How long do you think you’ll last? You may both have a bonded mate, but neither of you have the pack’s interest at heart. You’re just cowards. Where are your mates now? Why aren’t they standing beside you?” I let my voice rise. At this point, I didn’t care. They’d both turned on me, and I needed them to focus on each other instead.
At least until Travis and Garrett got here.
Chapter 5
GARRETT
Travis tossed his bag into the back of the black SUV and climbed in next to me. We didn’t usually use personal vehicles to and from Ada, but there was no time to arrange transport on one of Harrison Bateman’s buses. Instead, we’d be relying on Mikjáll’s thermal vision to alert us to local police or military convoys that wouldn’t appreciate the speed at which we planned to travel down the highway.
Another black SUV pulled out from the alley beside the diner. Rose was driving, and Mikjáll, who still hadn’t mastered twenty-first century motor vehicles yet, rode copilot. The thousand-year-old Drakonae could shift from a seven-foot tall man into a scary-as-hell, fire-breathing creature the size of a small department store, and yet he couldn’t grasp the simple concept of ‘sharing’ the road with other drivers.
There were several other figures in the van. I could hear their heartbeats, but the tinted windows prevented identification.
“Do you know who else is with them?”
“Calliope, Alek, and Jared.”
“Calliope?” I frowned. “What possessed her to volunteer for a black ops mission?”
Travis smiled. “You don’t know Calliope very well, little brother.”
“She makes clothes. She’s a siren…”
He chuckled again, and I couldn’t help the irritated growl that vibrated in my chest. We shouldn’t be bringing another woman along. I knew Rose was more than capable. But Calliope…?
“If you think Rose is frighteningly powerful, Garrett, you’ve never seen a Siren angry. Calliope may be a creature of lore who lured sailors to their deaths in ancient Greece, but she’s one you don’t ever want to piss off.”
Their SUV built up speed as we made our way past a few buildings on the outskirts of Sanctuary. The highway was open and flat from here to Ada. I followed, increasing my speed to match theirs. Rose had insisted on making sure we made it to the Mason lodge house in Ada before continuing east to find and bring back Riza’s sister.
Two hours into the drive, Rose’s SUV slowed, and I followed suit, reaching the legally posted speed limit. We’d only passed a dozen or so cars the entire way and were always careful to stay on the less traveled, smaller interstates. A few moments later, we passed a parked TR patrol car, and I didn’t relax until it was completely out of sight in my rearview mirror.
Mikjáll had seen them in time.
Hopefully, they wouldn’t consider our two-car entourage suspect enough to follow. Being detained by the TR military or local police for any reason wasn’t a quick process. They were thorough and made sure to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ for even the smallest offense. I doubted the bags of weapons and gear in the back seats of both vehicles would pass for unsuspicious behavior.
Five minutes later, we were flying down the highway again, the needle on the speedometer nudging the edge of 100 mph.
We continued, slowing when necessary and accelerating when possible. We trekked around the huge metroplex that was Dallas-Fort Worth. The two mega-cities had long since merged into one goliath metropolis. No one could really tell where one city or suburb started and the other ended anymore.
Soon the landscape turned back to rolling hills of grass and shrub trees. The old Oklahoma border didn’t exist anymore; a dilapidated tourist center and what used to be called a rest stop flew past us as we crossed the bridge over the rusty water of the meandering Red River.
My heart sped a little faster as we continued up I-35. I glanced at my brother, and he nodded but didn’t speak. We both needed to see her. The pull to return to her had been torture. But she’d asked us to leave, and a Lycan male never pushed for a mating that wasn’t desired. The female held all the power in a courtship and could stop it at any point…for any reason.
She’d called, though. She’d asked us to come back. She needed our help.
My wolf pushed at my consciousness. It wanted to howl in excitement and run in circles, but mostly I just wanted to get her horizontal on a bed and convince her to finish sealing the bond. When we’d left her, she’d been in full heat, and I could only imagine how her body had tortured her since we’d left. The heat cycle wouldn’t stop until we bonded. She was punishing herself by keeping us away.
My brother and I had waited long enough. The thought of being in the same room with her again and not finishing the bond that pulled on all our souls made my lip curl and a growl vibrate in my chest.
“What?” my brother asked from the passenger seat.
I shook my head and shoved down my irritation. “Nothing. Just restless.”
“You and me both. The first thing on the agenda, after giving the traitor Lycans an ass-kicking, is to lock the three of us in a bedroom and torture her with orgasms until she can’t walk.”
A laugh rippled through my body, shaking my chest. That certainly sounded like a good plan to me.
Both SUVs stopped in front of the Mason lodge just outside Ada’s city limits. A shiny black Humvee was parked near the front of the lot, an obvious red flag compared to the old vans and battered sedans next to it. I shoved the stick into the park position and reached for the door handle.
“Stop.”
I halted my hand and turned to face Travis. “What is it?” We were both eager to see Charlie. What could possibly make him want to stall our reunion another nanosecond?
Then I heard them. Heartbeats east of the lodge, just over the ridge out of sight. A lot of heartbeats. Maybe fifteen or twenty. Slow. Still. Calculated.
They were soldiers, trained to be calm in every situation. A skill Travis and I both acquired during our long stints in the military.
“How did I miss it?”
Travis let out a sigh. “I did, too.” He held up his cell phone, and a text message from Rose lit the screen.
Don’t exit the vehicle. Soldiers on the east hillside.
I grinned. “Cheater.”
“I think we’re a little distracted at the moment,” Travis admitted.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m A LOT distracted at the moment. Is it just me or can you smell her from here?” I didn’t think I was imagining it, but I’d been dreaming of her since walking away from the lodge weeks ago, and I could swear her scent filled the air now.
“I can, too. It’s not just you.”
The front door of the lodge opened. Three men exited, went down the front steps, and climbed into the Humvee. It drove off, pelting the nearby cars like a vengeful hailstorm.
A telltale vibration in Travis’ pocket made me antsy. He pulled out his phone again and nodded. “Soldiers are moving away.”
I looked at the other SUV. Mikjáll’s door was open, and Rose’s was, too. Yanking on my door handle, I shoved it wide and slipped from the large vehicle, closing the door gently behind me. No need to make a racket.
Travis rounded the hood, and we walked together toward the front of the lodge. Rose and Mikjáll fell into step behind us. The Pho
enix and Gryphon stayed in the SUV, but their scent clung to Rose and Mikjáll’s clothing.
“They don’t want to come in?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to the Sentinel of Sanctuary.
The petite, olive-skinned woman smiled and shook her head. “Guard duty. I wanted to speak with Charlie for a few minutes before we leave. Please give Mikjáll the keys to the SUV you drove. We will be taking both vehicles.”
“No problem.” I dug the keys out of my pocket and tossed them to the Drakonae.
Chapter 6
CHARLIE
Footsteps on the patio made me jump. Was that damn wolf back with his cronies again? How many times today was I going to have to argue my case? It’d taken nearly two hours to get Victor and Dean out of my hair. Even now, I was pretty sure they were assembling a mutiny.
It’s not like I could really blame them. These past weeks had been hell. There wasn’t a Lycan in the pack who hadn’t been affected by the massacre at Vicksburg Bridge.
A tap at the door drew me from my gut-twisting thoughts. Gina was standing in the doorway waiting for me to acknowledge her. At least common respect hadn’t been completely lost already.
“We have company, Charlotte. People from Sanctuary, Texas.”
I sucked in a breath. How had they gotten here this fast? Glancing at the clock on the wall, I swallowed. It had been barely three hours. They had to have literally run out the door the second I called for help.
Shifting in my seat, I closed my eyes and focused on slowing my racing heart. The heat fever I’d learned how to suppress was rising up with the speed of an erupting volcano. Control was everything for an alpha, and I needed to remain in control.
Of everything.
Especially at this moment. Because if I didn’t, my body would take what it wanted and leave the rest of me to clean up the mess afterward.
“Thank you, Gina. Would you show them into the office?”
She nodded and disappeared.
I stood from my father’s chair behind the massive desk and walked to the window on my right. Two large black SUVs were parked outside, and if I wasn’t mistaken, at least two or three people had remained inside one of them.
They’re here! Their scent filled my lungs before they entered. Travis and Garrett were my mates. Fate hadn’t changed her mind over the course of the time we’d been separated.
Boots clunked on the wooden floors, and my two Lycans walked in, followed closely by Mikjáll, the seven-foot-tall Drakonae dragon shifter. Behind him stood Rose.
Petite, beautiful, and more deadly than any supernatural being I’d ever met, she was like an exotic flower that you wanted to smell and touch and rub the soft petals across your cheek, but the second you did, there was nothing… you were dead if she wanted it to happen.
“Charlotte,” Garret said my full name, and I loved hearing it on his lips. My whole body shivered, and my already sweaty palms slicked more. Don’t touch. Don’t touch. Focus on the problem at hand, Charlie.
I held up my hand to stop his advance. “Thank you for coming.”
Garrett’s eyes flashed with hurt at my denial, but it only lasted a second. Then anger burned brightly in his steely-blue eyes, along with a few flecks of yellow, but he pushed the magick away quickly.
Wetness pooled between my legs, and I sucked in a lungful of air. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d thought.
“You called us to help you, Charlotte.”
I stared at him and nodded, trying to push down the scorching desire to leap over the desk and rip his clothes from his body right there in front of everyone.
“Xerxes is trying to take control of the pack. My uncle wants this, and I can’t let it happen. I need…” I blinked, trying to recall the words I’d rehearsed, but they wouldn’t come back. All I had dancing in my head were visions of the three of us naked in my bed upstairs. I was losing my mind.
Time to try something else. “Rose. What brings you out of Sanctuary?” I didn’t live in Sanctuary, but I’d visited enough to know that the matriarch of the town never left the Sisters of Lamidae—an ancient race of seers. The problems my pack were dealing with couldn’t be reason enough to draw the queen of supernatural beings from the safety of her home.
Rose smiled. “We came to make sure that Travis and Garrett could assist you with your situation. It appears they are perfectly capable. Mikjáll and I will be traveling to Savannah with several others to rescue Riza’s sister. Do you remember anything about another area where Xerxes may have spoken about keeping prisoners? Perhaps somewhere a governor lived?”
“He didn’t. But I remember guards talking about transfers to and from a house. It may have been a governor’s house now that you mention it.” My brows crinkled, searching for the name, but I couldn’t recall it. “Whitmarsh or march. I think they called it an island once.”
Rose nodded. “Whitemarsh Island. Thank you, Charlie.”
“Why does Xerxes have such an interest in Kitsune all of a sudden?”
The small woman shook her head. “It isn’t sudden. We just didn’t know about it. I should’ve seen it coming. The man is cunning, creative, and without morality.”
“What is he doing?”
“Kitsune babies have a special property in their blood that allows another supernatural to merge it with their genetic makeup and use it to mask their non-human DNA.”
“It turns us human?” I swallowed. It couldn’t be. Why would Xerxes want to be human?
“No. It doesn’t eliminate our supernatural DNA. It hides it from human blood tests or scans,” she said, putting my initial fears to rest. “Kitsune are chameleons.”
The last thing I wanted was to be human. I liked being a Lycan and couldn’t imagine being anything but. But the ability to scientifically hide my species origin from tests was something any supernatural would want.
“Why do you want to stop him? Wouldn’t we all benefit from a formula like that?”
Her eyes flashed white for a second, and her voice deepened. “I’m worried he’ll kill the babies to harvest their blood, Charlie. Though I’m hoping he’s smart enough to think long-term and not go to that extreme.”
All thoughts of sex fled my mind, and my hormonally charged body lost control. Tears streamed down my cheeks. “Oh gods,” I sobbed. “I didn’t… Oh gods…I’m sure there are a couple of people who would go with you. Kate and Mallory both know the road to Savannah well. They could help you and show you the safe houses we have through the countryside.”
Mikjáll stepped forward and shook his head. “We will not endanger anyone else from your pack, Charlie. We merely needed to know if you were aware of another place Xerxes used to hold prisoners. Travis and Garrett are here to help your pack heal.”
I raised an eyebrow. The pack couldn’t heal without an alpha pair taking control, and neither of the McLennon boys wanted to stay in Ada.
Unless something had changed.
I moved my focus from the Drakonae to Garrett’s face. He’d moved closer to me while I’d been distracted by Rose and Mikjáll. Travis had come around the other side of the desk, approaching me from the left. Their earthy scent filled my lungs again, and my thumping heart kicked my ribs. The urge to throw myself into their arms surged inside me like a static charge. If I didn’t touch them soon, I might spontaneously combust. Sweat beads ran from my forehead, trailing down my cheek and continuing down my neck until they came in contact with the t-shirt I was wearing.
“Thank you for coming to help me. I appreciate your support.”
“Your parents were honorable people who always put others before themselves. Their daughter is the same. You know you and your pack have a home in Sanctuary, should you ever change your mind about staying here in Ada.”
I shook my head. “Thank you. But this is my home, and I couldn’t imagine ever leaving it or the people I love.”
A smile spread across Rose’s face. “Words of a true leader.”
Heat from Travis’ body warmed the ai
r behind me. He wasn’t touching me yet, but I knew he was only a hairsbreadth from doing so.
Don’t touch me. Not yet.
I wanted him. I wanted them both as badly as I could see they wanted me. Their desire pulsed in each and every racing beat of their hearts, matching mine beat for beat. My breathing was shallow, and I struggled to maintain control over my trembling body.
When I called them to help, I didn’t think the control I’d developed over my heat cycle would desert me so quickly, but I’d grossly underestimated my body’s desire to join with my mates.
Rose inclined her head to me. “I’ll let you three reacquaint yourselves. We need to be going. Travis,” she said, “call Liam and a few others up from Sanctuary if anything happens with that emissary you can’t handle on your own.”
“I told him to leave,” I said, standing straighter. But even as I argued, I knew she was right. He wasn’t finished trying to convince the pack to turn against me.
“He’ll be back, Charlie. All of you need to be prepared. Xerxes doesn’t do anything halfway. There will be plans B, C, D, and more ideas beyond those.”
“We will take good care of her and the pack, Rose,” Garrett said, never once dropping his gaze from me.
Chapter 7
XERXES
The clicking of high heels approached from across the massive room I used as my office in the Whitemarsh Mansion outside of Savannah, the new capital of the South East Coast Republic.
“What’s the status?” I asked without looking up from my desk. Running a damn country without it knowing I was running it was beginning to try my nerves. I closed the file on my desk, slamming my hand down hard on the thick stack of problems. Everything would be much simpler once I eliminated the human puppet who acted as the SECR’s president-elect.
Sanctuary, Texas Complete Series Box Set Page 76
