I leaned forward to get a look at the guy. He was tall with reddish-brown hair and sharp features that marked him as a fox shifter.
"This is Marcus Swift," Dalton explained. "He's the one who found the Parkers and called me."
I scrubbed away the tears wetting my cheeks, struggling to regain control of my emotions and focus on finding out everything I could about the murders. Anything that might help bring the killers to justice. "What led you to them?" I questioned.
Marcus folded his arms across his chest. "Their dog, Sadie, let herself in the dog door at my house this morning. She woke up a member of my pack who’s currently living there as my tenant. The dog was barking and freaking out. She called me when she saw the blood matted in its fur, but couldn’t find any wounds on the animal. I instantly recognized her description of Sadie and came to check on my neighbors." He shook his head hard, as though trying not to remember the scene he had stumbled upon when he’d arrived here.
"Did you see the coyotes who did this?" It was a thin thread of hope, but I clung to it.
Regret clouded Marcus’s gaze. "Unfortunately, no. The Parkers had been dead for at least a few hours by the time I found them. Whoever did this was long gone by then. That’s when I called Dalton."
"How did you know to call Dalton?" I cocked a curious eyebrow at the guy, not entirely sure we could trust him fully.
With everything that had occurred recently I was leery of anyone outside the pack knowing too much about us. As it was, Maddox always knew way too much about my pack. Much more than he should, though I couldn’t figure out how he’d gotten the information. And I damn sure didn’t like that he had it. Not when he’d used it like this—to slaughter members of my pack in the dead of night when they were asleep in their beds.
Marcus met my gaze steadily, and I could detect no signs of deception in his expression as he answered. "I knew the Parkers were shifters, too, but not of my tribe. I figured they'd have some kind of emergency contact somewhere in their address book. Fortunately, I was right. I didn't want to get the cops involved because this is obviously a matter for the shifter tribes to handle without interference from the human police."
I nodded my head, struggling to find appropriate words to thank him.
"We appreciate that," Charlie chimed in for me.
My eyes slid away from Marcus, and I couldn't stop staring at the sickening message on the house as a car pulled up and a familiar female voice called out.
"What the hell happened here, Marcus?"
I glanced toward her and spotted Joelle at the same exact time as she spotted me sitting on the ground in the midst of the standing men.
I could see a scolding coming in her face and she didn’t hold back. "Why aren't you at home resting and trying to heal?"
I didn’t bother to tell her that my side had already healed well enough. I was certainly in much better shape than the poor Parker Family. I jerked my head at the message written in blood on the side of the house.
Joelle’s eyes shifted to follow the direction I’d indicated. "Oh, my God," she whispered, swaying on her feet for a second before she crouched down beside me. "I'm guessing your tribe is a lot deeper in this rogue coyote problem than Marcus's is."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I nodded with a grim laugh completely devoid of humor. "I wouldn't just hand my pack over to their Alpha, and he's taking it personally."
Marcus walked over and extended a hand to help each of us to our feet. I winced at how my stitches tugged. But that was the least of my problems right now. An entire family of wolves had been killed on my watch. That wasn’t something I could accept, but I had no choice. I couldn’t bring them back. The only thing I could do was make certain that the same awful fate didn’t happen to anyone else.
But how could I prevent it? The pack was spread wide over our territory. I couldn’t protect everyone from possible attack.
And that had to be one of the hardest things I’d ever had to admit—that I couldn’t guarantee the safety of my pack. That I couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be murdered in their homes.
Marcus sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. "Darius told me he thought things might be much worse for your tribe than for mine. I'm sorry to see he wasn't wrong."
Not nearly as sorry as I am.
But I fought not to allow my regret and sorrow to sidetrack me from what needed to be done.
"Darius is that incubus guy I met on the astral plane the other day, right?"
"Yeah," Marcus nodded.
I thought back to the conversation we’d had while my body had been lying unconscious in the ER, and tried to remember all the details. "He said you've been investigating these rogue coyotes. Is there anything you can tell me that might help my pack?"
A frown darkened Marcus’s expression. "Unfortunately, all we have is a strong suspicion. We don't have any concrete facts to support it yet."
"Go ahead and hit me with it anyway," I sighed. "Anything's better than nothing to work from."
"The way they keep crossing borders unseen and unhindered isn't natural, to say the least," Marcus mused.
"Yeah, no shit," Charlie nodded. "It's creepy."
"Well, Darius seems to think that they might have help from some kind of demon.”
“Another demon?” I questioned. That couldn’t be good.
“Yeah, but this one isn’t nearly as friendly as Darius. Unfortunately, he doesn't know who or what, or even why someone would be helping the coyotes. It's just a gut instinct on his part, but it could explain why they're able to cross into pack territories and get through security measures with no problems."
"Have you been looking into that with him?" I shifted from one foot to the other, eager for any shred of information that might provide us with some answers us. Or at least give us a direction to start searching.
The look on Marcus’s face was not encouraging. "I've been trying to, but what I can do with my own resources and from within my own territory is limited."
"If there's anything you need from the Blackburn pack, it's yours," I declared. "Whatever it takes to get Maddox and his power-hungry coyotes in check."
Marcus inclined his head in agreement. "Thank you. And I'd like to offer you aid from the Swift fox tribe in your fight against these Coyotes."
I reached up and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I genuinely appreciate your offer, Marcus, but I feel compelled to refuse it."
"Why?" He and Joelle asked in unison, their brows furrowed.
"It's not what you think." I shot him a pained half-smile, half-grimace. "I just can't bear the thought of having anyone else's blood on my hands—inside my tribe or out of it. I'd rather you stay safe far away from the fight and continue helping your friend with his research. If something happens to me, you and that research are probably the best bet we have of uniting the tribes against these coyotes." And that might be the only chance we had of winning against them.
For a long moment, Marcus looked like he wanted to argue, but he finally nodded. "Still...if you and your tribe need anything outside of that research, don't hesitate to reach out and let me know."
“I’ll do that. And thanks.” I extended my hand toward him.
As he reached forward to shake my hand, Charlie's phone rang.
Charlie paced a few steps away and exchanged a short, quiet conversation with whoever was on the other end of the phone, then hung up with a fierce frown. "The elders are demanding an immediate meeting with you, Lucy. We have to go. Now."
Chapter 18
I stared across my dining room table at the Elders. They were obviously here to call me on the carpet, to say the least. Not that I blamed them. How could I when I felt like I was responsible for what the coyotes had done? But the elders weren’t going to say anything that I hadn’t already said to myself, so this conversation seemed pointless. We needed to figure out exactly what we were up against and find a way to thwart Maddox and his pack—and anyone else who chose to side against us, wh
ether demon or not.
Although my heart felt like a lead weight in my chest, we couldn’t take time to grieve. Nothing was sacred to the coyote Alpha. He’d attack us at a funeral if that would gain his ends.
We didn’t have time to sit around here debating various points. We needed to come up with a plan to remove the threat of the coyotes, so something like this never happened again.
I didn’t wait for the elders to start ripping into me. "What happened to the Parker family was a tragedy—"
"A tragedy you, as temporary Alpha, should have foreseen and prevented," Eli interrupted, his weathered features hard and unyielding.
Maybe that was true, and maybe I’d even had the same thoughts about the senseless deaths of my pack members, but it’s not as though I had done nothing to try to protect them. "They were warned, just like everyone else," I argued. "I told them to seek safety. They could have stayed at the barn like a number of others. But Lucas Parker said they'd be fine at home. He made that choice for them."
Eli banged his fist against the top of the table. "And you both could have and should have compelled him to do otherwise. That should have been the choice you made as Alpha. But you didn’t. Even though you knew how dire our situation is, how ruthless these coyotes are. Your mistake cost innocent pack members their lives.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Eli came to his feet, his palms pressed flat against the table as he leaned toward me. “Therefore, the council and I are stripping you of your title as temporary Alpha. You are hereby discharged from your duties and dismissed." He pushed back and stood straight, his expression impassive as he passed judgment on me.
He wasn’t judging me any more harshly than I’d judged myself, yet he was clearly missing the most important point in all of this. Fighting each other wouldn’t help any of us. It would only weaken us and make us more vulnerable.
I would be the first to admit that I’d made a mistake. But I was determined that I would not make another one. I owed my pack that much—owed the Parkers that after they had paid the ultimate price.
Now, more than ever, we needed to come together to find a way to defeat the coyotes, not allow their evil actions to tear the pack apart from the inside out. That would be playing right into Maddox’s hands.
"If you're going to turn on me every single time something goes wrong, then the coyotes have already gotten what they wanted," I growled.
It was obvious to me now that Maddox sought to do everything in his power to cause strife within the pack. And the elders were allowing him to succeed.
Well, they’d done what they’d come here to do, and now I was done talking about it. "With all due respect, get the hell out of my house."
I stood up and glared at them, daring them to challenge me in my own home. One by one, they stood and marched out, shaking their heads and mumbling under their breath. By the time the last one walked out and shut my front door behind him, reaction was beginning to set in for me. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to hold myself together and not break down again. Not because the elders had deemed me unfit to be Alpha. I didn’t care about that. Though it had been all that I’d thought about only a few days ago.
No, the only thing that mattered to me now was ensuring that no one else in the Blackburn pack died at Maddox’s hand. Because even though I doubted he had been at the Parkers’ house last night, there was no question in my mind that he had ordered the hit. The coyotes wouldn’t have acted without his command.
"Something's not right here." Charlie's voice rumbled with his inner wolf's unease.
"Tell me about it," I snorted, as I paced back and forth in front of him.
The corners of Charlie’s mouth pulled down in a frown. "This feels like a setup, all of it. There may or may not be some kind of demon involved with the coyotes, but I feel like they've gotten help from the inside, too."
I stopped pacing and turned slowly to face him fully. “What do you mean?”
Charlie’s eyes darkened ominously. “From within the pack.”
“No,” I immediately denied. “Who would do something like that? Who would sentence innocent members of their own pack to death?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t shake the feeling.”
I had to admit that I agreed with him. Something felt off. But I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. How could we fight against what we couldn’t see coming?
I heaved a weary sigh. I just wanted this to end, but I feared that it was far from over. Unless our luck changed.
Maybe I could help it along a little.
"I need you to do something for me, Charlie."
"Anything. What is it?"
"I need you to put the word out. Tell anybody and everybody that I'm demanding a meeting with Maddox alone. I’m sure it won’t take long to reach his ears.” Especially if what Charlie suspected was true.
His expression turned wary. “It’s not a good idea to arrange a meeting with him, Lucy. I seriously doubt it will gain us anything. We can’t trust his word. And it might give Maddox just the opening he needs.”
My hands curled into fists at my side, my nails cutting into my palms. “If he doesn't come alone and unarmed, he's a fucking coward."
"Yeah, well, we already know that much about him with the way things went when he challenged you,” Charlie argued. “I hate this plan."
"Do it anyway," I replied. "He's an arrogant fuck, and he's going to want to gloat, especially if he thinks we're alone. Maybe he’ll slip up while he's trying to rub his so-called victory in my face. Maybe I can push his buttons a little, get him to reveal more than he intends to. If he does, we will use it to our advantage."
"I'm surprised your boy toy isn't here with you," Maddox drawled as he circled my dining room table and sat down at the head of it. Like he had a right to that spot where my father had sat not so long ago.
I was sure it was intended to be a power move, but I didn’t react to his overt tactic as I sat down directly across from him. Charlie had small, inconspicuous recording devices going in every room in the house, so no matter where we talked or what moves Maddox tried to make, we'd catch what he said on tape.
And I knew Charlie was close by, guarding my back if the need should arise. I wouldn’t put anything past Maddox at this point. He’d already proved he was completely without mercy or honor.
"Charlie’s my Beta, not my boy toy," I snapped. "And I don't think we're really here to talk about the men in my life, are we?"
"Oh, I think we should be talking about at least one of them," Maddox smirked.
"And why is that?" I cocked an eyebrow at him with a confidence I didn't actually feel.
"You wouldn't have been stripped of your title if not for your old pal Brandon."
"What are you saying?" I growled.
Maddox’s grin widened, displaying sharp teeth. "I wouldn't have had the leverage or information I needed to really hurt you and your pack without your former bestie, my dear. When you rejected his advances, he betrayed you and the entire pack with you."
Brandon wouldn’t do that? Would he?
We’d been best friends since kindergarten. Despite the way he’d left here the day of the coyotes’ attack, I couldn’t believe he’d betray me. I wouldn’t believe it. Not on Maddox’s word alone. He was just saying it to try to hurt me. Except...he must know it would be easy enough to check his story. I fought the urge to throw up, doing some deep breathing to get my emotions under control.
"Fuck," I whispered.
But Maddox still heard it. "Actually, I rather think it's your lack of willingness to fuck either of us that put you in this precarious position," he sneered.
I had to fight against the urge to slap him. Or to inflict even worse pain on him.
He was enjoying stabbing the knife in and twisting.
"Don't pretend you ever actually wanted me," I snapped. "Marrying me has never been anything but a means to an end for you. Why don't you quit dicking around and just tell me why y
ou want control of my pack so badly.”
"Don't imagine for a second that you and your tribe are special," Maddox snorted. "You're just a small part of a much bigger plan. Every single tribe that slighted my kind with your damn fool treaties...you're all going to pay, and you'll all be mine to rule before this is over."
"And just what kind of army do you plan to use to make that happen?" I laughed openly in his face, enjoying it as I watched it get under his skin.
His face reddened and his eyes narrowed. "I don't need an army. I've got a secret weapon you can't even begin to fathom. Do keep resisting, though. Really...the more bloodshed, the better. At least for me."
I stared across the table at him, wondering whether I should try to bluff him and see if I could get him to admit what it was. "And what if I were willing to work something out, so no more of my pack's blood gets shed while you pursue your revenge?"
His smile was back, and the sight of it sent a shudder through me.
"I'm no longer interested in working things out, Miss Blackburn. You should have taken that opportunity to concede when Brandon begged you to. Doing things the hard, ugly way is actually much more fun for me than trying to play nice. It went against my nature to do this any other way but through pain and suffering."
Chapter 19
The instant Maddox departed and the front door closed behind him, I reached under the table and un-taped the digital recorder hidden there. I stopped the recording, dropped the device in my purse, and pulled out my cell to call Charlie.
"I got what we needed. More than I expected, to be honest. Come get me and let’s head over to Eli’s house. Maybe this will make the elders reconsider their decision to strip me of my position as Alpha." Not that I cared for myself, but for the good of the pack.
No one else seemed to realize the true danger that Maddox posed to us. They thought we could come to some sort of peaceful agreement with him and the coyotes. But I knew differently.
Possessing the Alpha: A Wolf Shifter Romance (Southern Shifters Saga Book 1) Page 11
