Shadow Wolf

by Alicia Montgomery

  Not today. Today of all days, she took her time. Sending Nick Vrost a message that she would be running late, she took her time getting ready, as the dark fog that seemed to surround her today made her move sluggishly, not caring about the time.

  Eventually, she got herself out of her apartment in The Enclave, drove herself to the Brooklyn Bridge HQ, and finally made it into the office only an hour late. She told Nick to start without her, so she wasn’t surprised that they were already in the middle of the meeting when she walked into Lizzie’s office. Not wanting to disturb them, she quietly crept inside, but unfortunately, the first words she heard cracked the already precarious hold she had on her emotions.

  “I’m more of a lover than a fighter.”

  “You’ll follow orders, Delacroix,”

  “I’ll follow your orders, but I don’t have any skin in this game, so don’t expect me to give more than I have to or give a rat’s ass about this war of yours.”

  Anger reverberated in her chest. Who the fuck did this man think he was? Before she knew it, the caustic words flew out of mouth. “Actually, everyone’s got skin in this game. The goddamn mages are out to destroy every last Lycan on earth.”

  And then something happened that caught her off guard.

  Dark eyes slammed into her, making her … feel things she never thought she’d feel again. Never wanted to feel again, at least not with anyone new. Heat uncurled from her stomach, and first, she thought it was anger, but no. It was that uncomfortable feeling of need.

  Get a grip, Westbrooke. He’s just another cocky male you’ll have to deal with.

  This was normal, she told herself. Because the asshole in question making her feel this way was unusually good looking. Pitch-black hair that matched his eyes. Tight white T-shirt stretched over the broadest shoulders she’d ever seen. Tattoos covered what was exposed of his enormous arms. And, despite the dark beard that covered half his face, the grin making his sensuous mouth spread only made him more devilishly handsome. The man stood up and offered his hand.

  Seemingly unperturbed by her reprimand, his smile grew wider. “Marc Delacroix, nice to make your acquaintance. And you are …?”

  Ah, so this was Delacroix, Nick’s recruit. “Your boss,” she shot back, arms stiffly at her sides. “And your worst nightmare if I ever catch you slacking off.”

  Now that wiped the infuriating smile off his face. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, cher. You don’t know anythin’ about me.”

  Her eyes narrowed at him. “I know enough about you, Delacroix.” Nick had briefed her, of course. She knew the entire story of how the Cajun had come to New York and how desperate he had been to leave his former clan. Quite simply, they had him by his balls. “I don’t care what you do on your off time, but when you’re here, you’re going to keep your head straight. A single mistake could cost the life of one my guys, and if that happens, I’m sending you back to whatever swamp you crawled out of.”

  She could feel everyone in the room practically flinch at her words, and much later, she would see how harsh she was. But not now. She couldn’t take this maelstrom of emotions, not today of all days.

  Delacroix’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “Understood, ma’am.”

  Her she-wolf scratched at her furiously. What the hell is wrong with you? “Welcome back, Jacob.” She pushed her wolf away, ignoring its protests. “I’m happy you decided to join us.”

  He grinned. “Can’t let you guys have all the fun, now, can I?”

  Mika was glad the youngest of the Martin siblings decided to join the Guardian Initiative, as they needed every advantage they could get. He’d been on her shortlist of candidates because of his powers but was disappointed to learn he’d been assigned to guard the newly crowned Queen Desiree. “Great. Now that I have everyone here, maybe we can get you up to speed and continue with our morning briefing.”

  Meetings at the Guardian Initiative were informal affairs, as they didn’t really have the time or space to conduct elaborate gatherings. They usually met in her office upstairs, but she wanted to get this over with. “Let’s start with the bad news …”

  Compartmentalization had never been a problem for her, something she’d been thankful for, especially in the last two years. That and the fact that she needed to do something—in this case, fight the mages—to keep her mind and hands busy or she would have sunk into a deep depression.

  Today, however, she found herself distracted and annoyed. When Nick began to update them with news from the Alpha’s office, she couldn’t concentrate, as she felt like she was being watched. Turning her head, her gaze clashed with dark eyes. Heat crept up her neck, but she ignored him. But it didn’t do any good as she felt him staring at her, even if she didn’t look his way.

  “.…for now, we’ll keep an eye on the situation.” Nick turned to her. “Anything else, Mika?”

  “There’s the Russian situation.” Ugh, that particular subject was going to ruin her day further. “But that’s something you, the Alpha, and I need to talk about.”

  “I’ll talk to him, and we can convene on the matter.”

  “Great. Wyatt,” she began. “Get our new guys settled in. Jacob, I know you can stay with your parents, but we have living quarters here for anyone who wants to stay. It’s not a five-star hotel, but it’s clean and comfortable, similar to the ones at Fenrir.”

  “I’ll take ’em,” he said eagerly.

  “You just don’t want to live with Mom and Dad,” Lizzie snickered which earned her a dirty look.

  “You’ll be staying there too,” Nick said to Delacroix.

  “Lucky me,” the Cajun muttered. “And you, cher? Do we get to be neighbors? Perhaps I can borrow a cup of sugar sometime, oui?”

  Desire shot straight to her core at the inviting tone of his voice. The nerve of this bastard! Ignoring him, she pivoted on her heel and walked out of Lizzie’s office. As soon as she was far away enough, she took a deep breath of the artificial air-conditioned air, trying to calm herself. Her inner wolf, on the other hand, paced back and forth, almost chastising her.

  How could someone she’d only met barely an hour ago tie her up in knots and make her wolf behave strangely? She’d always felt at peace with her inner animal, but this was the first time it seemed defiant, like a teenager testing its boundaries. However, it was like she was the teen. All hormones and no sense.

  It’s the lack of sex, she told herself. More than two years of celibacy was catching up with her. She was horny, and he was the first male she’d met that she wasn’t related to or had worked with in her capacity as head of GI. Not yet anyway. But that would change soon.

  She must have been standing there too long because a group of people standing by the watercooler in the corner was staring at her. Narrowing her eyes, she shot them glares of reproach, making them scurry back to their cubicles. With a silent satisfied harrumph, she strode toward the elevators and jabbed the call button. As she waited, that feeling came over her again—that someone was watching her.

  A frisson of excitement shot up her spine, but she ignored it. Her enhanced hearing could pick up his heavy footsteps coming toward her. “Come on you damned thing,” she muttered under her breath at the doors.

  “Cher, I think we—”

  Maybe God was looking down at her today because the silver doors slid open, and she hurried inside and pressed the button for the top floor. As she turned around, the sight of Delacroix’s surprised face was the last thing she saw as the doors shut.

  With a relieved sigh, she leaned against the wall, pressing her forehead to the cool metal. What was it about him that made her both uneasy and thrilled? Why was her inner wolf acting so strange? God, this was the worst timing for her to be feeling this way. Please, not today.

  It was one of those workdays that seemed to last forever, but by the time she was finally leaving her office, Mika felt like it had ended too soon. That tightness that had been in her chest the entire day only grippe
d harder, but she knew she had to get through the rest of this day without breaking down. Clearing her head, she made her way to her car in the garage and drove out of HQ and into the streets of lower Manhattan. Swinging back, she actually had to cross over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Flatbush.

  After pulling into an empty street parking spot, she opened the trunk of her car and took out the six pack of craft beer she had placed there last night and walked toward the austere stone arches of the Holy Memorial Cemetery.

  It was a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon, and the bright reds and golds of the foliage were on full display. Though her Lycan biology ensured her body was always at an even temperature, Mika clutched at the collar of her coat tight with one hand as a chill went through her. She took her time, taking in the peace and quiet of the cemetery as she made her way to the familiar row of headstones before finally stopping at the one near the end.

  Joseph Allen Morgan

  Beloved Son and Husband

  “Hey, babe. Happy birthday.”

  She lay the six-pack—it had been Joe’s favorite—by the headstone and knelt down, lovingly caressing the name carved into the gray granite. “I can’t believe this is your third birthday up there.” Which meant it had been more than two years since the car crash that killed him, the one that she survived because of her Lycan accelerated healing.

  Clearing the lump in her throat, she continued. “I hope you’re having a great time with all the angels. No, no,” she shook her head, as if she could hear his deep voice protesting. “I always believed you’d end up there. You’re too good, you know. So selfless and caring. Everyone knew it, especially all those people you helped get back on their feet.”

  Joe had been director of a men’s homeless shelter in Brooklyn and had been well-liked by everyone. He worked eighty hours a week caring for the residents, and sometimes even taking time during his weekends to help when they were shorthanded or if a resident was in trouble. The day of his funeral, over a hundred people had come to pay their respects.

  “You were always too good, even for this world.”

  The month after he was buried, she’d come here every day, talking to him. Some people might have thought she was crazy, but coming here had helped her cope with the crushing sadness in those days. Her family and friends had been concerned, but they didn’t interfere. As time went by, she knew she had to pick herself up and get on with her life. So she came less and less. It felt like a betrayal, but even she knew Joe wouldn’t have wanted her to wallow in depression her whole life, no matter how tempting it was. But when would she truly feel like she was over it?

  “I miss you, babe.” She lay her head on the cold, hard stone. “Every day, I miss you.”

  Joe was the first serious relationship she’d ever had, serious enough that she had asked permission from the Lycan High Council to reveal her true nature to him after a year of living together. He’d been shocked when she had told him what she was, but it had never occurred to him to break up with her. He accepted her for what she was, even if there was a chance they might never have children.

  No one knew why for sure, but Lycans had difficulty conceiving. Most couples had one pup, if at all, and human–Lycan pairings always produced a fully human child. The one exception was True Mate pairing. True Mates, whether Lycan–Lycan or Lycan–human, always produced Lycan offspring during their first consummation.

  Though they’d never said it, she’d always thought her parents had been disappointed she didn’t wait for her True Mate. After all, Alynna and Alex Westbrooke had been the first True Mate couple of their generation, and before then, her mother was the product of True Mates as well. But what was there to wait for? Joe had been here, and he was perfect, and they were in love. Why would she wait for someone that might never come, when she had the one she wanted right in front of her?

  Of course, she never thought she would lose him so soon. A drunk driver had plowed into their car on the highway as they were coming back from Long Island after a family get-together. While she had healed before the injuries became fatal, Joe died on impact. He had felt no pain, the doctors said. A small comfort at least.

  If only they had waited another five minutes before leaving or left five minutes earlier. If only she had been the one driving. So many ifs and buts. It used to drive her crazy. But she accepted he was gone. The only if that wouldn’t leave her mind was what if they at least had a baby, so she would have someone to love, a little piece of Joe left with her. The hardest part of losing him was the fact that in the three years they’d been married, they’d been trying for a baby with no success.

  As if that wasn’t bad enough, her relatives and friends had started pairing off, finding their own True Mates and having pups. All her cousins, even Isabelle, the youngest one of them, were popping out babies left and right. It wasn’t that she was resentful of their luck, not at all. But it was like her biological clock began ticking desperately and wasn’t giving up. If only—

  Someone quietly clearing their throat behind her made her sit up quickly and turn her head. “Daric?”

  The tall Viking-like man’s sudden appearance didn’t surprise her, after all, traveling long distances in the blink of an eye was one of the warlock’s powers.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you”—he glanced at Joe’s headstone—“and today of all days. But we have to go now.”

  She shot to her feet. “What the hell is going on?”

  “He had a vision.” The warlock’s words made her skin prickle. Before she could ask what the vision was, he reached out and grabbed her arm. “They’re going to take the pups.”

  Chapter Three

  A cold sensation wrapped around Mika as the cemetery shimmered away, and the ground underneath her disappeared. Three heartbeats later, her feet landed on solid ground, and a cacophony of noise assaulted her ears.

  Her gaze cut through the chaos around them, her mind quickly assessing the situation. They were on the street just outside a pair of restaurants owned by the Alpha’s extended family. By the entrance of Muccino’s was New York’s human Lupa, Sofia Anderson, her gun drawn as three men closed in on her, her other hand clutching a small, dark-haired infant close to her chest. Meanwhile, a few feet away was a humungous silver wolf with cobalt blue eyes growling, snapping at six armed figures dressed in black. Behind the wolf, loud cries came from the pup inside the car seat lying on its side on the ground.

  “Fuck!” Adrenaline began to pump into her veins, ready to spring into action.

  “More are coming,” Daric said cryptically. “More than just you and I can handle.”

  “Get help.” She was already hurtling forward. Darius—the silver wolf—would be able to hold off his attackers, but Sofia was human, and a single gunshot could end her and her son, who had yet to develop accelerated healing. In the blink of an eye, she took down the three men, the element of surprise and Lycan speed on her side as she snapped each of their necks with practiced efficiency.

  Sofia’s hand shook as she lowered her gun, her arm clutching tighter around the infant slung to her chest. “Th-thanks, Mika. Darius—”

  She didn’t even wait for the Lupa to finish as she leapt toward the silver wolf, not that he needed her to fight his battles. Darius Corvinus had been a cold-blooded killer before he became consort to her cousin Adrianna Anderson, New Jersey Alpha, but now that he was protecting his pup, his viciousness would know no end. In the short time since Mika arrived, three of the men had already fallen, while he fought the rest simultaneously, his Lycan speed making quick work of the rest. So instead, Mika dove for the carrier, pulling it upright and unstrapping the wailing child.

  “There, there, Diana,” she cooed as she pressed the pup against her chest. The distinct scent of babies—talcum powder, sweetness, and fresh linen—made her insides warm, but also intensified the yearning to hold her own child. “Aunty Mika’s here. Shh.” Diana Corvinus’s cries quieted, turning into soft hiccups.

  The silver wolf stalked toward
them nonchalantly as if he hadn’t left a pile of bloody bodies in his wake. Slowly, it transformed back to human form, its limbs shortening, and fur and snout receding. Darius’s face was a mask of quiet rage, and the waves of fury emanating from him made Mika’s wolf back away cautiously.

  “She’s fine.” She handed the child to Darius. “What happened?”

  Sofia came up to them as she holstered her weapon. “We were all supposed to meet for dinner, but Lucas and Adrianna both got held up at Fenrir, so they said we should go ahead. We were just about to enter the restaurant when those guys showed up. They said to hand Alessandro and Diana over.”

  “How did you know to come?” Darius’s accented voice was tense with a hint of a snarl.

  “Daric came to get me. Our source had a vision that they were coming for the pups.” For now, the identity of their “source” was only known to Lucas, Adrianna, and Mika. Gunnar Jonasson, Daric’s youngest child, was a powerful hybrid who had visions of the future. Originally, Daric had hidden his son’s abilities, fearful that they would be abused. However, when the Guardian Initiative was formed, he told the two Alphas and Mika because Gunnar had a vision about an attack on the Boston clan, which they were able to prevent. His predictions had been vital to their cause and had saved them many times, as well as aided them in ferreting out the location of the mages. “He also said—” The screeching of tires cut her off, and four black vans rounded the corner heading straight for them. “Shit! They’re here.”

  “They?” Sofia said in an incredulous tone.

  “Yeah. Reinforcements.”

  The vans stopped in the middle of the street, the doors sliding open even before the vehicles came to a halt.

  Darius scanned the area. “I don’t see any mages around.”

  Sofia pulled her gun out again. “Looks like the mages had their hired goons do this one.”