Kate (Safe Haven Wolves Book 3)

by Sherry Foster

  Swallowing hard she looked around at the others. Gammon had brought the other females down the hill with him and everyone, with the exception of Doc and Jaden, were waiting on an explanation for what they had just seen. Taking a deep breath and letting it out she focused on Gammon. He was by far the oldest shifter around, and the most likely to remember witches really did exist, if prompted. Certain things he had said before had led her to believe he could almost recall witches, but the curse kept him from fully believing. Based on conversations she had with others over the years, witches had become nothing but legends and stories, much like tales of fairies and dryads, which did not exist. She was about to shatter their world. Goddess help us, she thought.

  "What do you know about witches and witch-wolf hybrid matings?" Her attention, though focused on Gammon, was on all the shifters as she asked her question. She registered everyone's confusion, but her attention never wavered from Gammon's face. She watched as his eyebrows slowly rose, a look of concentration on his face as he stared at her. She could almost see his brain making connections, but the curse held firm. She knew it had when Gammon started shaking his head. So close, it had been so close, Casey was disappointed. She would have loved to have had a shifter who understood. She thought, if she mentioned a hybrid, he would remember. Damn Miranda and her vengeance. She had almost destroyed an entire race for vengeance. Vengeance that had not brought her daughter back to life.

  Looking back at Craig, Casey decided to change tactics. She might as well, if the curse continued to hold, despite all evidence to the contrary, the shifters surrounding her would forget about witches almost as soon as she finished telling them. Casey had no idea how to combat a curse over two centuries old. Her only hope was Craig. He was mated to a hybrid, so in theory, one she just made up but hey, it sounded like it would be a good theory, his pack-mates, at least, should be able to retain the information that he was part of a hybrid mating. She idly wondered where the parents of the hybrid was, probably dead if she was in the prison. She darted her attention back to the prison. The helicopter that flew away a bit ago probably had all the females on it. Shoulders sagging she realized the men in the prison either knew what they had, and for some reason had not mated her, or they had no idea and would kill her when they found out.

  Shaking her head she told Gammon her fears, "Somehow, somewhere, a female shifter-witch hybrid exists. I know you may have problems believing me, but just assume, for the moment, I know what I am talking about. Someone did a mating bond and bound Craig to this female. We have to find that female. If the men in the prison have her, and find out what she is, they will use her to destroy you and your people. Unless of course they are the ones who did this to Craig and she finds that out, in which case she will destroy the world to take her vengeance. Either way, if we don't find that female, we are fucked ten ways from Sunday, excuse my language."

  Everyone tried talking at once and Casey could barely hear herself think, much less make out what everyone was asking. Finally a shot rang out and everyone dropped to a defensive position except Gammon, who gave a deep sigh and looked at Trina, who shrugged her shoulders and replaced her pistol in the holder. "What, we couldn't hear ourselves think much less hear Casey. I want to hear more, this is fascinating."

  Casey almost felt sorry for Gammon when he reached up to rub his forehead. The others had fallen silent when the shot rang out and no one had spoken since.

  Gammon, looking around, told the others, "I don't know what is going on but we have to take that prison. Now, most probably they fled when they saw us, but we don't know that. We can still smell the rancid smell of fear and terror in the air, but we don't know what is going on inside. All we know is, at least for a moment, several females were in the open long enough to leave that kind of scent. They could be holed up inside waiting on us. But my bet in on them being on that helicopter that flew south. Who might be left in the prison is anyone's guess. I am familiar with holding a compound and keeping it safe and secure. But, Marcus, your pack is better trained for taking a building. Based on what we have seen, and what we have in front of us, what do you suggest we do?"

  Marcus still wanted to know more about the golden wolf inside his pack member. Casey had not mentioned that at all. But he was willing to concentrate his attention on more important matters, find those females, destroy the rogues holding them, and save Craig's life, oh, and find Craig's apparent mate. This is the absolute last time he let one of his go off alone if this kind of shit was what they had to face.

  Turning around to look at his Enforcers he demanded, "Who has the satellite phone? Call Roberts and Jamie, tell them to get those birds down here. Drop them in that clearing about ten minutes back up the hill. We will need one now and one later. We need the stretcher so we can load Craig up." Marcus started barking orders and soon had a plan worked out to try to take the prison.

  As the team rushed to get into position Marcus turned to Trina. "Find the cameras and take them out." He pointed to her pistols, the ones he could see. He knew, even though Jaden would not admit to it, the little she-wolf had more than the two pistols he could see. Right now he did not care how much weaponry she had on her, if she would use it to take out the cameras they might have a better chance of completing the mission with no loss of life.

  "Doc, how's it coming. Can you save him?" Marcus could still feel Craig, he could see him breathing, but the link was still so weak he did not understand how he was even still alive. When he saw Doc's face his breath stuttered in his throat.

  Doc was shaking his head, Jaden was openly crying, it was only then that Marcus noticed the line running from Jaden to Craig. Giving a mental shout through the pack link he demanded the men who could give blood to Craig do so as soon as possible. The men knew who was a match with whom, and the three men who could match with Craig came rushing back while the rest continued with the mission. Doc enlisted the females to help him, while Gammon's Sentinels stood watch around them.

  Soon Doc had the other three males hooked up to bags the females were holding. As soon as Jaden finished he gave one last look at Craig before rising to his feet with a determined look on his face. He had done all he could do by giving his blood to his best friend, now he needed to find his friend's mate. He knew what it was like and he would level the prison brick by brick if that is what it took. As each man finished giving blood they raced back to their positions. Doc continued trying to sew Craig up while keeping the blood flowing from first one bag and then the next. He needed a hospital, or better equipment. Craig was losing blood almost as fast as he could get it in his body. He was healing too slowly.

  The females were holding pads to various injuries but Craig had more serious injuries than they had hands and Doc knew they were fighting a losing battle. He had no idea how Craig had held on as long as he had but he hoped like hell that mate of his was strong. Because, at this point, he had no illusions the mate was the only reason Craig still lived. He had fixed up Jaden, and, even though he had not told Marcus how badly Jaden was when he got to him, he had marveled then that Jaden had survived that bullet wound. He had wondered then how much truth there was to the old tales of mates drawing strength from each other. When they had finally found Trina, and he had heard how she had suffered along with Jaden he had wondered even more about the old tales. But Jaden and Trina had not gone through the mating ceremony so he had finally pushed his thoughts to the side.

  Looking at Craig, knowing he had mated, and seeing the wounds he should not be surviving, Doc finally began to believe, again, in the old tales. Doc had no other explanation for Craig's continued survival. If it was true, that a mate could save your life, and it was also true that separation could drive a mate insane, although, that was supposedly only mated couples that had not yet been through the bonding ceremony, Doc thought it imperative someone find that little mate of Craig's, and find her soon. He did not think Craig would make the trip back to the community in the shape he was in and he did not have nearly enough medical
supplies in the helicopters for the surgeries Craig needed. Craig had sustained too much damage for the healing abilities to handle.

  Not bothering to look up at Casey, he asked "Will her being a hybrid help save Craig? Tell me what you can, anything you can, that I can use to save him. He isn't going to make it if we don't do something. I am guessing, an educated guess based on the information you gave us, you have to be a witch. You don't smell exactly like a human, though close enough, I suppose, to fool most of us. And you smell nothing at all like a shifter, so you can't be basing your information on the fact you are a hybrid. What can I do, what can we do, to use that information to save his life?"

  Casey, drawing in a deep breath, sat back on her heels. "I don't know much more than any of you, not really. I mean, I know more, but what I know isn't useful to this situation. I don't know much about hybrid matings. I do know that is what Craig is part of now. I don't know if finding his mate and getting her to him will help him, but I have to assume it will. After all, your tales speak of the same thing. True-mates saving each other with their shared strength has to be more than just some fairy tale or Craig would not still be alive. I can also tell you this, the only time a wolf and a witch can mate, is if it is a true-mating. They can not mate for connivance, or comfort, or old fashioned love, or any other reason, it has to be, will always be, a magical true-mating. And that golden wolf we all saw, belongs to the child of such a mating. When the magic bonds a witch to a wolf, the magic gives the female her own wolf, a copper colored wolf. When they have a female child, that child will have a golden wolf, with all the powers of both parents."

  "But a shadow wolf can not hurt anyone, that is a bonding thing. The only time we ever see the shadow wolf is during a bonding ceremony. So how is it we all saw the golden wolf rise up out of Craig. Not to mention, the flames within the eyes. You screamed at us to back up and wait and I need to know why. No, I want to know why. If it can help Craig, if anything can help me save him, I want to know."

  "Well, mind you, what I am going to tell you is only rumor. Maybe rumor is not the right word. Ok, now I don't know this for a fact, but from what I have researched, the golden wolf rises when the pair mate, and anytime either of the pair is in danger. I don't know what the golden wolf can do, but the old books warn against harming a hybrid pair. The danger was not spelled out, maybe once upon a time it did not have to be spelled out, but the stories I read, of times long past, gave clear warning to back away from a golden wolf with eyes of flame. From what I pieced together, a hybrid mated pair, somehow, can do something to the wolf that resides within you. The books never said what, exactly, the golden wolf can do, but I got the feeling, for some reason, maybe all the warnings written about it, but, for some reason you do not want to ever find out what would happen if you threatened the golden wolf, or maybe if she felt threatened. Like I said, most of what I know is from reading old books, and speculating. The clans do not speak of the golden wolf, ever."

  "But we don't even know where this golden wolf is so how could she feel threatened by us?" Casey looked up at Gammon when he asked the question. She was a bit surprised he had kept silent so long. She thought for sure he would have interrupted her half a dozen times while she was talking.

  "They are mated aren't they? That makes them one. I am guessing, because our books have a bit about shifters but we don't know everything, your wolves only reside within you after the bonding. But for a hybrid mated pair, both wolves reside within both the male and the female. If you find the female, the male's black shadow wolf would rise to defend her if they felt threatened. Although," Casey looked back down at Craig, "both wolves should have risen. I am guessing, based on nothing at all, Craig is hurt to badly for his wolf to rise. That would explain why only the golden wolf rose in protection. And before you say anything, it was a guess. I don't know anything else that could help you."

  Gammon snarled, "You know too much to be anything but a witch. So why so secretive. If this was something that could happen, why hide? What would you do if your mate was in one of our packs? You couldn't hide that forever. You had to know, your, what did you call them, clans, had to know the possibility existed."

  Bitterness dripped from her voice as she answered, "Oh, the possibility has always existed. To mate with a wolf is forbidden. The penalty is not pretty, nor easy to live with for either party. But to produce a child is a death sentence for the child. If the clans find out she exist, they will not rest until she is dead."

  "So you would kill her? Your clan would demand her death? Do you think you could take us all out to kill her? She belongs to Craig now, and by extension that makes her belong to Marcus. Jaden is Craig's best friend, and my niece is Jaden's mate. Jaden would be unhappy, which would make Trina unhappy, which would make Mia unhappy, which in turn would make me murderous. Do you want to go that route?"

  "I am not clan. I will never be clan. So don't even go there Gammon. If I wanted to harm you, any of you, I could, easily. But, Trey's pack is family to me, and in my world that makes your pack and Marcus' pack family also. Call it a left-over from my upbringing. To me, your people are my clan. As close to being part of a clan as I can ever be, so don't even go there." Casey's voice rang out across the clearing, and everyone who heard it could hear the truth in what she said.

  Gammon looked down to see her glaring up at him. Bold and defiant, he knew she spoke the truth. Whatever secrets she held, she would eventually tell him. He was starting to have bits and pieces, fragments of memories, floating through his mind. He had been startled to hear her claim his pack as part of her family. But if that was true, she should realize he took care of his family. He did not know what had caused the bitterness he could hear in her voice, but he intended to get to the bottom of it one way or another. It did not help that she claimed the clan would kill Craig's mate if they found out about her. He intended to find out more about the clans, and see what could be done to prevent them from coming after Craig's mate.

  #

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Taking Over

  Finding Kate

  Roberts was flying one of the helicopters south, trying to determine if any threats existed in that direction. He needed to see if anyone was coming, if anyone was waiting, and if anyone was leaving the prison. When he had settled down in the clearing the men had quickly grabbed radios and given him his instructions, fly a grid over the southern side of the prison and stay alert. Radios were not normally used since they could speak to each other for some distance, but they had Trey and Gammon and their people with them, so radio's were a must on this mission. Always be prepared meant trying to plan for any situation. Rarely did the pack team with anyone else to complete a mission, but it had happened in the past, hence the availability of radios.

  Roberts had been just out of range of being able to hear the mental conversations going when he had been at the cabin waiting. He wished several times he had known the team would be going out of range of his ability to pick up what was being said. As much as he hated using radios he would have suggested someone take one. Jamie, who was a little more powerful than him, had been able to hear fragments of what the team was talking about. Jamie had caught the mental shout when they had found Craig's body, and just enough after that to think that maybe Craig was still alive. But until they had flown the birds within range of the rest of the team, they were mostly in the dark.

  The team had been trying to fill them both in, but what they were saying made no sense what-so-ever. Roberts would have thought they were pulling a fast one on him if the situation had not been so serious.

  When he found nothing to alert the team about he gave Marcus the all clear and continued to fly watch. He heard the men when they breached the fence, he listened to them as they slowly advanced upon the first building and he gave a sigh of relief when they made it inside the main building. They usually cleared houses, not entire prison facilities. They were short handed for this mission and Roberts could only hope the prison really had been aban
doned. If the rogues had taken Craig's mate, and Craig survived, and the mate survived, they would be able to find them where ever they went. But that was a lot of ifs and Roberts knew, with an operation this big, they were going to have a hard time tracking the rogues even if everything went perfectly. And nothing every went perfectly when rogues were involved in the equation.

  It seemed like an eternity, when thirty minutes later Roberts got the all clear to land at the heli-pad inside the prison walls. Jamie was in the air moments later to put the second helicopter inside the fence. The men were still clearing the prison, but from what they had found so far, whoever was there had left in a rush. They had found the wing where the girls had been held. The scent of terror and blood and death still lingering in the halls and rooms. The team had gotten more angry and more determined to find the rogues who had hurt the female whose blood they smelled. They thought the scent of death might be from a male, possibly someone Craig injured. If the rogues had gotten attached to the females then maybe one of them had wanted to say goodbye? But that made no sense to the team either, if the male was in good enough shape to make it to the female section, he was in good enough shape to heal. They needed more answers and no one had stayed behind to give them the answers they wanted. They had cleared what appeared to be a worker dorm, the men said it smelled of humans, no scent of wolves at all. They had found the abandoned security feed room. And had gone through the rooms in that wing and found the scent of twelve different shifter males.