Dark Moon Falls: Cade

by Melanie James

  “There’s nothing funny about this situation or the fact that my parents would hold me hostage. Seriously, who does this to their kids?”

  Ivy thought back over her childhood. Something had always seemed amiss—not quite right when it came to her relationship with her parents. She’d learned at an early age that her parents were not the affectionate type.

  Whatever.

  She’d found a way to live with it.

  “Ivy, where are you?” Cade’s voice filled her mind.

  “My parents’ basement. You have to get me out of here!” she begged.

  “I guess today is going to be a day of revelations for you,” Madeline said as her pacing came to a halt.

  “What do you mean?” Ivy had no idea where her mother was going with this conversation, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

  “I guess there’s no use hiding the truth anymore.” Madeline looked her dead in the eye. Any hint of love or affection long gone.

  “What truth, Momma? What are you talking about?” Fear washed over Ivy. To this point, she’d been pretty certain that no permanent damage would come to her. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

  “Stop calling me that. I am not your mother!”

  Ivy gasped. Her wolf mustered up enough energy to growl. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” Madeline tossed a bottle of water in Ivy’s direction. “Drink up. I don’t want Jonas thinking we didn’t take care of you.”

  Ivy grabbed the water bottle and threw it as hard as she could at Madeline. “Fuck you!”

  Madeline snatched the plastic bottle out of midair, right before it slammed into her face. “You ungrateful little bitch. That’s always been your problem. You know that, right? No matter what your father or I gave you, it was never enough. You were never happy unless you were whining or complaining about something. Now, drink the fucking water before I drown you with it.” Madeline tossed the water bottle back to Ivy.

  Ivy opened the water bottle and sniffed it. When she was fairly certain it didn’t contain any poison, she took a small sip and replaced the lid.

  “If you’re not my mother, who the hell is?” Ivy asked.

  “Some dollar store whore your father knocked up. For some reason, he couldn’t leave you with her. He said you’d be useful someday. I guess he was right. Today is that day.”

  Ivy’s heart sank. She felt the truth in Madeline’s words. “You may not be my biological mother, but you raised me as your own. I don’t understand how you can be so cruel.”

  “It’s actually quite easy, dear. I don’t like you. I never have. Why do you think I signed you up for so many lessons when you were a child? It was to keep you out of my hair. You wanted to spend the night at a friend’s house? Fine. Go. As long as you were out of my sight, I really didn’t care.”

  “I will never forgive you for this,” Ivy said, fighting back the tears.

  “Do you think I care? Every time I look I you, I see your father’s mistake. The fact that he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and out of that whore of a mother of yours.”

  She’d witnessed Madeline’s cruelness on occasion, but it had never been directed at her. She had no reason to ever think that it would be. That her mother, or should she say Madeline, would break her heart so callously.

  Ivy refused to allow a single tear to fall. Nor would she allow Madeline the satisfaction of knowing how badly she’d hurt her. Oh no. When she got free from the goddamn silver around her neck, she would choke the living hell out of Madeline.

  “If I don’t rip her fucking throat out first,” her wolf said as she had finally perked up and gotten her head into the game.

  15

  “Cade! Get me the hell out of here!” Ivy demanded through the mating connection.

  Her voice had gone from scared and unsure to furious in no time flat. What had happened so quickly to change her demeanor? Cade couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on inside of that house. Either way, he wanted his mate out of there now.

  “Did something happen? Are you okay?” Cade’s heart raced.

  “Let’s just say I’ve been lied to all of my life and I’m just now finding out about it.”

  Cade could hear the pain in her voice. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around Ivy and tell her that everything would be okay.

  “What do you mean? How were you lied to?” Cade asked.

  “Madeline isn’t my mother.”

  Talk about a mind fuck.

  “You’re certain?” It felt like his heart was breaking, but it wasn’t, it was Ivy’s pain passing through the mating bond they shared.

  “Oh yeah. There was no mistaking her words or the hatred in her voice. Please. Just get me out of here,” Ivy begged.

  “I’m trying, but there’s a concealment spell around you. I can sense you, but I can’t see you. Your brother and I searched the entire house last night and couldn’t find you,” Cade explained.

  “I don’t know how much time we have before Jonas gets here. My mom—er, Madeline, kept checking her watch.”

  “Who is in the house with you?” He needed to know exactly how many people were in the house with Ivy. If he could figure that out, he could come up with a plan.

  “I’m not sure. The only person I’ve seen so far is my m—Madeline, but I’m sure my dad isn’t far away.”

  “Princess, I need you to ask your wolf to scent out how many people are in the house with you.”

  “She’s so weak from the silver right now, but I’ll see what we can find out.”

  After he’d hastily left Ezra and Felicity, Cade had found himself standing in the woods just outside of Ivy’s home, trying to come up with a way to break the spell and get in there. He stood downwind of the house, making sure no one would pick up his scent. Ezra and Felicity could fuck around trying to find the witch responsible for this mess. He needed to be here, where he could keep an eye on things and come up with some sort of rescue plan.

  Judging by the armed guards surrounding the property, it appeared as if the Winters had stepped up security in the last couple of hours.

  Cade counted eight men in total, and all heavily armed. He could smell the silver bullets packed into the magazines. He was either dealing with humans in the know or a bunch of thug shifters, regular humans didn’t use silver bullets. The only ones who used them were those who wanted to cause as much harm as possible to a supernatural being. Silver wouldn’t kill most shifters, but it would weaken them and hurt like a son of a bitch.

  “What the fuck, man? Why did you take off like that?”

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Ezra was pissed.

  “Because standing around outside of my house, doing absolutely nothing to rescue my mate was driving me insane. At least if I’m here, I can keep an eye on things. I’m able to see if Jonas shows up, or anyone else for that matter. What did you find out? Were you able to get a hold of your witch?”

  “No, I couldn’t get a hold of Georgia. I have no idea why she isn’t answering,” Felicity said, joining the men.

  Fuck. Cade wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, but didn’t because he didn’t want to give away their position. They had the element of surprise, and he wanted to keep it that way.

  “So now what? What can we do to break the spell?” Cade asked. His patience slipping away.

  “I called Elias and asked him to meet us here. I filled him in on all the details, so he knows exactly what is going on and what we are dealing with. Needless to say, he isn’t very happy about any of it,” Ezra explained.

  “Does he know a way to break the spell?” Cade asked.

  Felicity pulled a small stone from her pocket and held it up for Cade to see.

  “He’s going to use this,” she said.

  Cade arched an eyebrow. “I may not know much about witchcraft, but I don’t see how a rock is going to help us.”

  “I’ve enchanted the stone and turned it into a talisman. It will
find all things hidden. All we have to do is get it within twenty feet of Ivy and she will be revealed,” Felicity explained.

  “And how the hell are we supposed to get it in the house? Do you really think they are going to let us search the place again?” Cade growled.

  “That’s where I come in,” Elias said, announcing his presence. “I’m going to knock on the front door and then walk right in. If Ivy is in there and being held against her will, I will find her.”

  It was a ballsy plan. That’s for sure. But Cade liked it. At this point, they needed something bold.

  “How do you know there is a spell hiding Ivy? Who created it? Was it one of your witches?” Elias asked.

  “Sadly, yes. It was Georgia.”

  “How can you be certain?”

  Felicity held up the purple powder Cade and Ezra had given her. “With this. Apparently, she created a memory erasing powder that Ezra was supposed to use on Ivy’s human roommates.”

  “Seriously? Your parents are still erasing human memories?”

  Ezra nodded his head in disgust. “Yeah.”

  “You know things are not going to go well for them tonight, right?” Elias handed the powder back to Felicity.

  “Any idea where your girl is now?”

  “No. I can’t get a hold of her.” Felicity pulled out her phone and took one last glance just to make sure she hadn’t missed a call or text from Georgia. “Nothing.”

  “Well, if she’s in there, I’ll find her and leave her for you to deal with.”

  “You’re not going in there alone, are you?” Felicity asked.

  “That’s the plan,” Elias smiled.

  “Are you insane or just suicidal?” The shock on Felicity’s face was evident.

  “Neither. I’m the Alpha. There isn’t a single wolf in there who can stop me, and they know it.”

  Cade felt the truth in the words his Alpha spoke. Elias could overpower any member of the pack, but he wasn’t one hundred percent certain they were dealing strictly with pack members. “We may not be dealing with wolves from our pack. I counted at least eight armed guards and they are all packing silver bullets.”

  “That’s good to know, but I didn’t come alone.” A dozen men stepped out from behind the trees and joined them.

  Cade recognized most if not all of them. Most were pack enforcers, but not all. The sheriff was present and so were a couple of his deputies. It was clear that Elias was more than prepared for any scenario.

  “You’re not going in there alone,” Barnette said. “You’ll rip out throats and ask questions later. That’s really not good for the pack. If the Winters are guilty of what you all say they are, justice needs to be done.”

  “Fine. I’ll take you and two enforcers. That’s it.” Elias relented and agreed to let a few others help.

  “I’m going with you,” Cade said.

  Elias glanced down at Cade’s leg. “You need to stay here. You’ll only slow us down.”

  “She’s my mate. I need to be there.” Bile rose in the back of his throat. He couldn’t fathom standing there on the sidelines waiting for someone else to rescue Ivy. Everyone, including Elias, looked at him differently since he came back to Dark Moon Falls injured. He may be missing a leg, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of winning a fight—especially when his mate was the one who was in danger.

  “Cade, I get it. I really do, but I need you to wait here. I’ll let you know if we need you,” Elias said.

  “But—” Cade tried to protest.

  “Not gonna happen,” his wolf whispered in his head.

  “Stay calm. Don’t challenge the Alpha. We can’t win against him, and if we piss him off, our mate is the only one who will pay the price,” Cade warned his wolf.

  “Don’t make me issue an order. You won’t like it, and neither will I. If Ivy’s in there, we’ll get her out safe and sound.”

  “She’s in there. We were talking through the mating connection. She’s being held in the basement. Madeline placed a silver collar around her neck,” Cade explained, knowing that he had no choice but to stay put. He wouldn’t make Elias give the order. He needed to be free to help if they needed him. If the Alpha gave him an order to stay put, he wouldn’t be able to move, no matter what happened.

  “We’ll get her. Trust me.”

  16

  Anger didn’t even begin to cover the emotions running through Cade’s body. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he wanted to kill something—anything. He hated being handled with kid gloves, and that’s exactly what Elias had done. Treating him as if he was something other than a wolf—a warrior.

  Instead of working with the pack to make sure Ivy was okay, he was expected to stand there by himself and twiddle his fucking thumbs. Let others handle what he should be taking care of.

  “Don’t forget our babysitter,” his wolf said.

  How could he forget? Ezra was bitching up a storm next to him about how he should have been allowed to go. After all, it was his sister—his parents’ house, or so he’d said a dozen times.

  All valid points.

  “I can’t believe Elias went without us. It should be us down there.” Ezra wouldn’t let it go. The fact they’d been left behind was a hard-ass pill to swallow, and Cade knew all about it. Seems since his return, he’d had a lot of those bitches to swallow.

  All Ezra’s bitching did was stoke the fire in Cade, pushing his frustration to all new heights. He was done sitting on the sidelines. That was his mate in there. He should be in on the action. “Let’s go.”

  “Go where? We’re supposed to stay here, unless you’ve forgotten.”

  “Fine, stay here if you want, but I’m going down there. Ivy needs me. I can’t just stand here, and watch things play out from a safe distance because Elias doesn’t think I can protect myself or my mate. I’m done with this fucking game. I’m the same wolf who left here all those years ago, and I’m not about to let the fact that I lost one of my legs get in the way of doing what needs to be done.” This time, Cade didn’t fight the change. He welcomed the power his wolf offered. The strength that sharing his body and soul came with.

  Magic swirled around him, wrapping him in its silky tendrils. God, he missed this feeling—the feeling of relaxing and letting the magic consume him. He loved everything about it. The raw power pouring into him, every muscle humming with awareness of what he was capable of—the beast that he was.

  His prosthetic fell to the ground as his body accepted the change. He glanced over to see Ezra join him in letting the wolves take control.

  They trotted together, quietly twisting through the forest. Careful not to alert the Alpha of their movements, Cade paused to watch three of the pack enforcers close in on the armed guards. The men had to have been humans. Had they been shifters, they would have felt the presence of the men behind them and attacked without hesitation. They wouldn’t have stood there like blind and deaf statues.

  Three down, five to go.

  Cade itched to be the one in the action, but he refrained from jumping into the fray. Instinct told him to hold off. He would be content to watch and wait—for now.

  Elias approached the front of the house flanked by two of his top wolves. All were in human form, and if Cade didn’t know better, the guards Joseph and Madeline had hired looked as if they were contemplating hightailing it out of there.

  Elias has that effect on both man and beast. Like a true Alpha, wisps of power and magic seeped from his pores, warning all others to steer clear of him.

  Wolves felt the overwhelming urge to submit to him, while humans felt the need to run—hard and fast, never looking back.

  The front door sprang open as soon as Elias hit the top step of the front porch.

  “Elias. What brings you here?” Joseph asked.

  Cade heard the fear in Joseph’s otherwise masculine voice. Somehow, Elias had managed to cloak his presence from Joseph until he’d gotten to the house.

  Ezra and Cade slowly inched for
ward. The closer they got, the stronger the smell of spells and magic coated the air.

  “Felicity’s handiwork?” Ezra asked.

  “Clearly. What—” Cade’s question froze in his mouth as she cast her next spell.

  “A sleeping spell.” Ezra backed up, farther into the forest, not wanting to be anywhere near the pink cloud as it rolled across the land. The intended victims had no idea of the danger that approached and continued to stare off into the distance, searching for a threat.

  “Remind me never to get on Felicity’s bad side,” Cade said, watching in awe as the spell continued on its path. One by one, the remaining guards fell to the ground unconscious, unable to awaken until the powerful witch granted them permission to do so.

  “No shit! Think we’re safe from the effects now?” Ezra asked as the pink cloud started to dissipate.

  “We should be. Felicity just motioned for the others to move forward.” Once again, Cade inched a few feet closer to the action before pausing again as the rest of the pack enforcers moved in, quickly handcuffing the armed guards and stripping their weapons from them.

  Cade was torn between wanting to get inside the house and holding the position they currently claimed as their own. Natural rock formations provided effective cover and a superior visual advantage over the valley below. They could easily keep track of those coming or going.

  Something told Cade he needed to stay put instead of charging forward toward the house. Call it instinct, or something in his gut—whatever it was kept his paws glued to the ground he stood on. It felt like that was exactly where they needed to be for the moment.

  17

  “Are you going to let me in or just stand there?” Elias asked.

  “Now’s not really a good time. We’re entertaining a client tonight and they should be here any minute,” Joseph’s voice shook with fear.

  “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be, Joseph. You know why I’m here,” Elias sighed.