by Angel Nyx
“Count me in as well,” Holden put in.
“Count you in what?”
All three turned to look at Nikolai. The fact that his sudden appearance didn’t startle them was testament to how long they’d all worked together. They were used to the tiger shifter being so damn silent. “Dec’s talking about starting a personal security company, basing it out of New Orleans,” Steele filled him in.
“I, too, would stay. This city has an interesting appeal,” Nikolai said after a moment.
“Think Sasha and Echo will want to stick around too?” Holden asked while exchanging his T-shirt for a tank top. With a pair of faded sweatpants, he was dressed for a quick shift if it was needed.
“They don’t have a Clan because they’re not accepted among jaguars once their preference for their own sex is discovered, so yes, I think they will want to stay as well,” Nikolai said with a nod before Declan could.
“We’ll discuss particulars once this job is over,” Declan put in. “Let’s head out; it’ll be dark soon and we need to be in place before that happens.”
“Let’s rock and roll,” Steele growled as they headed outside into the growing darkness of evening.
Declan shook his head and motioned the others out. He’d offered the secured space to the members of the Pard, who wouldn’t be joining in the fight, to keep them safe, and they’d been trickling in most of the day. He spotted Gage escorting the last group and nodded at him. “Everything’s set. They’re coming the way I said they would be, and Nikolai spent part of the day setting up some traps to incapacitate, but not kill, anyone who triggers them.”
“You thought of ever’tink, didn’t you?” Gage said with a slight chuckle. He turned to his mate and kissed her gently before he dropped a kiss on his son’s head. “We’ll be back,” he promised her.
“You better be. We need you,” Mia said. ‘‘
“I know, Princess,” Gage said and kissed her again.
“Be careful, mon amor,” Mia said and slipped inside with the others who’d come.
“You’ll be coming back to your mate and son, I’ll see to it,” Declan said to him as they headed toward the cars parked a distance from the structure.
“I ‘preciate it,” Gage replied before he slid behind the wheel of his truck and drove to the docks where he’d left the boat.
“Let’s do this shit,” Steele said as he slid into the backseat of Declan’s car. Nikolai was in the front and Holden was traveling by motorcycle. The grizzly shifter had an older Harley, said it was the only bike he’d ever ride, and a 1969 Pylmouth Barracuda, in excellent condition, but the car was in storage for the time being.
Declan followed Gage to where the boat waited for them, parked, and hopped onto the deck of the boat. As they made their way toward the rendezvous, with Remy and the rest of the leopards who were joining the fight, including Caine, he got an encrypted text from Echo.
One hour. Be ready. Two lieutenants out of commission. Couldn’t do more.
“We’ve got an hour. They’re coming in just after full dark hits. Echo said that two of their lieutenants are out of the picture,” Declan informed them after he unscrambled the message.
“Two is better than none, and damn-fine work, given the short time they’ve been there,” Steele said. “Whatcha wanna bet they’re tied up somewhere with their dicks hanging in the wind?” he added with a snicker.
“Not taking that bet. Chances are I’ll fucking lose,” Declan replied with a short laugh. Sasha and Echo were very good at convincing males to let them tie them up even though neither woman had any intention of fucking them. They were just that fucking convincing.
“Damn. Here I was hoping for an easy twenty bucks,” Steele said with a laugh of his own. As they neared the rest of the Black Water Pard, Steele fell silent.
Caine
Caine watched as Declan, his team, and the few leopards who’d escorted the last of the women and children to safety, approached. He nodded at Declan before he turned to his Pard. “Y’all know what’s at stake here. If da jaguars win, we’ll lose more dan just our homes, we’ll lose our lives and possibly da lives of all dose we love. When da Red Moon Clan gets here, dere Alpha is mine. If we break enough of dere stronger shifters, da weaker ones will submit. Watch your backs and da backs of dose fightin’ next to you,” he told them. He knew there was a chance he might lose some of his people, but he hoped to hell that didn’t happen. “Declan and his team have a plan laid out; I’ll let him tell it,” he said and motioned to the wolf next to him.
Declan stepped forward. “I’ve already organized sentries with Remy; they’ll alert us when the jaguars near the perimeter we’ve set up for the coming fight. As your Alpha said, watch your backs and those of your allies. Steele will be high up, taking down as many of the jaguars as he can, until he is needed to fight on the ground. He won’t be killing them, we’re tranq’ing them and giving them the chance to back the fuck off and return to their own territory. It’s been my experience, and that of my team, that more often than not, once you take out the Alpha and his lieutenants, the rest will back down. The flavor of the group doesn’t matter; be it shifters or humans, the weaker members follow the dominant ones because they have to, but given the chance to walk a different path they’ll take it. Any of the jaguars who refuse to submit, once we’ve taken down their Alpha and his lieutenants, their lives are forfeit. Anyone who can’t handle that needs to speak up now. You can take the boat and head into New Orleans to the secured warehouse where the others are and wait it out. No one will think you’re a coward. Taking a life is never an easy thing; my team and I know that firsthand.”
He waited to see if anyone wanted to leave, then nodded. He was pleased that not a single leopard wanted to run from the coming fight. They knew the risks, and they knew what would happen if the jaguars got their way, and they were unwilling to just let it happen.
“Alright. Remy has chosen team leaders; you each have your section of the bayou to defend. If you get into trouble, the discs you’ve all been given will alert the others, and someone will come to your aid. Let’s show these jaguars how wrong they are in their assumption that the Black Water Pard is weak because their leader is a damn good negotiator and is able to diffuse a volatile situation without fighting.”
As the leopards slipped into the darkness, each small group taking up a different position to watch for the jaguars, Declan nodded to his team. Steele scurried up into a tree where lines were attached to a number of them. From each line dangled a loop he would use to get from one tree to another as needed. Nikolai disappeared into the darkness, melding with it as if he’d never been there, and stalked around the perimeter to monitor the traps he’d laid out and take out any jaguar that passed by him. Since some of the jaguars were coming in animal form, some of the Pard had shifted, as well, and Holden chose to follow suit. In his bear form he was even more of a powerhouse than he was in his human form, and the jaguars weren’t used to fighting a shifter of his size and skill. They had no clue the fight they were in store for.
Caine stepped next to Declan once everyone was in place. “If da Alpha gets past me, take him out,” he growled. “Don’t wait for me to catch up to him, because if he gets past me, it’ll only be because I’m already fightin’ one of his lieutenants.”
“You got it. One way or another, their Alpha dies tonight,” Declan assured him.
With that promise from Declan, Caine moved off to join the small team of leopards he would be fighting with. He knew he could trust the wolf to keep his word.
Declan
Exactly one hour after receiving the encrypted text from Echo, the first trap that Nikolai laid was tripped. Several more quickly followed and then all hell broke loose. The jaguars realized the leopards were waiting for them and they attacked in a frenzy, hoping that the mad rush would give them an edge. Had Declan and his team not given the leopards some pointers, it might have worked, but the Pard was more than ready to take them on. Declan threw himse
lf into the battle. He let his wolf out just enough to give himself an edge, but he stayed in human form, excluding the claws that extended from his fingers. All he had to do was think about how Lily had been targeted, and rage billowed inside him. He was ferocious in his attacks but, as he’d told the others, he didn’t kill anyone who submitted and backed down. If they didn’t, he took them out.
Caine
Caine worked his way through several of the jaguars; two were seriously injured by his claws before they surrendered, when he finally came face to face with Lucas Cormier, the Alpha of the Red Moon Clan. “Dis ends now,” he growled at the jaguar.
Lucas sneered at Caine. “You’re going to die tonight.” He was so sure of himself, so sure Caine wasn’t very good at fighting.
Caine laughed at that. “If you tink dat, you’re couillon,” he countered. “Da one dying tonight is you. Da rest of your Clan, dey can live if dey surrender, but not you.” He waited; he let the jaguar make the first move, and when Lucas charged at him, Caine sidestepped. He felt the other man’s claws as they raked across his side, and he bit back a hiss. His own claws slashed jagged gashes in the jaguar’s chest before they charged at each other again. As Lucas aimed for Caine’s stomach, intent on gutting him, Caine focused higher and lashed out with one hand. A claw caught the other man across the throat, severing his carotid artery and nearly severing his head from his neck. Caine watched as Lucas collapsed, a stunned look on his face.
Declan was close enough to see the Alpha go down and knew the second the jaguars were aware of it because of the way several of them stumbled and went to their knees. Their Alpha was gone; the fight was over. Or it should have been.
Caine stood there and watched the light fade from the jaguar’s eyes. The body, and those of any other of the Red Moon Clan who’d died, would disappear into the swamp, so there would be no evidence of what had happened there, and a truce would be called between the two groups. He bowed his head and closed his eyes to give a moment of silent respect for the lives that were lost. A snarl from behind him had him turning, but he instinctively knew they were too close for him to stop their attack without being seriously injured himself.
Declan saw the jaguar move mere seconds before he snarled at Caine. He got between the two and earned a nasty gash across his chest for his actions.’’’
Before Declan could retaliate, Holden was there. With one swipe of his massive paw, the jaguar was thrown aside. The jaguar slammed into a tree hard enough that the cracking of bones could be heard. The gashes on his chest from Holden’s claws went bone deep, and the jaguar bled out quickly.
“I owe you my life,” Caine said to Declan once it was over. He knew that Declan’s quick thinking had saved his life. He knew if Declan hadn’t gotten between them, there was a good chance the jaguar would have tried to take his head off.
Declan waved the comment away. “I didn’t do anything you wouldn’t have if the situation was reversed.”
“Dat doesn’t matter. I owe a debt and I always pay my debts,” Caine replied. He already knew what he was going to do to thank the wolf for his aid in the fight; he’d already made the decision. Now that Declan had also protected him, while risking his own life, he was even more sure of the decision he’d made. “We will talk once dis business is done.”
“Sure thing.”
Steele approached Declan to take care of his injuries when Declan tried to wave him off. “These need to be taken care of, Boss. Don’t make me call your woman and tell her you’re being stubborn.”
“He’s right, your injuries needed to be taken care of,” Caine told him before he turned his attention to the jaguar shifters who were kneeling in front of his Pard. Some had injuries that needed to be tended, and he would see that it was done, if they agreed to his terms. “I will give you one chance to do da right ting here,” he told them. “Go back to your territory with a promise to never come into Black Water Pard territory uninvited again, and we’ll see to da injured and escort you back to Baton Rouge. Refuse, and you die tonight. Tink of your families, how dey will feel knowing you’d rather join dis couillon,” he said, motioning to the body of Lucas Cormier, “den be smart and agree to stay in your own territory.”
The jaguars looked at each other before one spoke up. “Most of us didn’t want to come here anyway,” he admitted. “Our Alpha was jealous; your Pard is in better shape than our Clan, and he thought it was because of the land you have.”
Sasha slipped into view and moved to stand next to Declan with Echo following close behind. “He’s right. Lucas Cormier was very jealous of what the Black Water Pard has. He didn’t seem to get the idea that in order to have something you have to actually work for it.With a little guidance, and a better Alpha, I think the Red Moon Clan can thrive if they put in the effort to take care of what’s theirs.”
“You offering to give them that guidance?” Declan asked.
Sasha shrugged. “To an extent. We’ve done it before, so why not now?”
Remy, who’d taken out two of the more dominant members of the Clan, came forward. “We could form an alliance with da remaining jaguars, offer help if dey agree to our terms.”
Caine cocked a brow at the jaguar who’d spoken. Of all the shifters in front of him, that one felt the most dominant. “Can you pull your Clan together and give dem da leadership dey need?”
The jaguar in question rose to his feet. “That’s the plan, now that that fucker is gone. Several of us were planning a coup of our own, to get rid of him and his cronies. This beat us to it. He wasn’t leaving here alive tonight, even if one of us had to die to take him out.”
Caine offered his hand to the other shifter. “Keep one ting in mind: if you try to betray us, you’ll be da first to die.”
“Duly noted. Ryan Vallier,” he said and shook Caine’s hand.
“Caine Bordeaux. You’ll deal wit’ me, or one of my lieutenants, either Remy Delacroix or Beau LaFluer,” he said, motioning to the leopard as he shifted back to human form. Beau had chosen to stay in the background during the planning phase because he knew Remy was better at that than him. “Or you’ll deal wit’ Declan Monroe,” Caine added and nodded to the wolf. “Now, let’s get your people taken care of.” Caine motioned to the medic to tend to the injured.
Declan
While Caine hammered out the details of the truce between the Black Water Pard and the Red Moon Clan, Declan oversaw the removal of those who’d died. Thankfully none of the leopards lost their lives, but besides the former Alpha, four other jaguars were killed in the fight. The ones who’d been incapacitated by Nikolai’s traps were brought in, and their injuries were tended to as well.
“Another job well done, Boss,” Steele said once the cleanup was finished.
“Was there any doubt?” Declan countered, a teasing grin on his face.
“Fuck no. Can’t wait to get back to town though. I need a drink. And a good fuck. But since the second isn’t available, I’ll settle for getting drunk.”
Declan chuckled and shook his head. “Always thinking with the wrong head, there, Steele.”
“Naw, I’m thinking with the right one, but that doesn’t mean the other doesn’t get lonely,” he said with a laugh of his own. They helped with the escort to get the jaguars back into their own territory and then finally, hours later, they were able to go their separate ways and find whatever entertainment they were looking for to finish off the night.
For Declan, all that meant was going back to his hotel and crashing. He sent Lily a text, letting her know everything was settled and there would be no further trouble from the jaguars, then he went to bed. The next step for him was finding a place to live so he could get out of that damn hotel. It was going to cost him a fortune if he kept staying there. Of course, the better option would be to move in with Lily but he wasn’t going to push her for that.
Chapter Nineteen
Lily
As soon as they got to Phoenix, Lily sent Declan a quick text so he wouldn’
t worry.
Just hit Phoenix. We’ll load up the truck tomorrow and be home in two days.
That done she collapsed on the bed at the hotel she and Emelise were staying at. “What do you say we rest a little then head over to The Kettle?” she asked. The Kettle’s full name was The Kettle Black Kitchen and Pub. It had quickly became her favorite place to eat during the short time she’d lived in Phoenix.
“Sounds good to me,” Emelise replied. “Oh, did I tell you I got a buyer for the house? The realtor sent me an email about it yesterday.”
“No, you didn’t. How do you feel about that?”
“Honestly? I’m okay with it. I put it on the market because I’m not coming back here, and there’s no sense in keeping it if I don’t plan on living in it. Mama wouldn’t want me to cling to the house out of some sense of loyalty to her memory. Besides, I don’t need a house to remember her.”
“True, you don’t.” Lily sighed softly. “You’re lucky you got as much time with your mom as you did, but I know it still hurts that she’s gone, Eme. You don’t have to put on a brave face for me. My mother has been gone over a decade, but it still hurts, especially around her birthday, the holidays, and the anniversary of her death,” she admitted.
“That’s just another thing we have connecting us, huh? Loss of our mamas,” Emelise said after a moment. “I know I don’t have to put on a brave face for you, but if I let myself think about it too much, I’ll start crying and won’t want to stop. I don’t want to do that right now.”
“All right, but when you want to talk, or when you feel like you can finally let yourself grieve the way we both know you haven’t but need to, you know I’m here for you, right?”
