Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  FOUR

  THE FLIGHT back to the states was much smoother. No issues, and we arrived an hour ahead of schedule. Leo awaited us in the pick-up line. Sterling and I grabbed our carry-ons and moved as quickly as possible through the insanely slow crowd. My wolf was close to the surface and needing a good run.

  I grasped Leo’s hand in a firm handshake. “Thank you, friend, for meeting us here.”

  “Anytime I can help.” He smiled. We climbed into his sleek black BMW and relaxed a bit for the first time in hours. I closed my eyes and took a few breaths to calm the wolf inside as well.

  “Any more news from the Pack?”

  “No, I spoke with Jax before I arrived. There has been no more sightings of the cub, but he knows it’s still on your lands, he’s just masking his scent and hiding very well.”

  “Damn,” Sterling whispered from the back. “Boss, there’s an issue. We need to go to the bar.”

  “What?” I huffed in annoyance.

  “Marla just texted, she found an injured woman at the back door just now when she went to prepare for opening. There is a cub with her.”

  Leo altered our course before I could say anything. An injured shifter could be dangerous, especially one trying to protect a cub. “Is she conscious?”

  “No, and the cub isn’t happy. He won’t shift back to human for her, and is spitting mad that Marla moved the female inside. She has them in my office, but doesn’t know when the female will wake.”

  The drive to Sterling’s bar took only minutes, and Leo pulled around to the back door. “I’ll leave you to this, I have matters that need my attention at the office. If you need me I’m just a call away.” Leo waited ‘til we were inside before driving off.

  “Where is she?” I demanded. The smell of dirty cat and dried blood assaulted my nose overpowering the sterile cleaning supplies and alcohol.

  “They are still in your office. I couldn’t find any wounds, but the cub wouldn’t let me get close enough to do a thorough examination, and he went ape shit when Jaxon walked in to try.”

  “Where is Jax now?” I couldn’t scent him in the bar.

  “He went back to his office to grab supplies and wait for your call.”

  I approached the door to Sterling’s office. The sound of hissing and spitting was faint. The cub had already scented my arrival. I let my wolf come to the surface enough to exude just a touch of my alpha power. The hissing turned to mewling. I grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly. “Little one, I am not here to hurt you, but I need to come in and see to you and your ma.” Sterling was at my back, ready to jump in if needed. I had made the assumption that the wounded cat was in fact the cub’s mother and prayed I was correct. I held my hand up, giving him the sign to stay where he was. “I’m going to come in but I am not going to touch you or your ma right now.” The mewling continued as I opened the door. The cub was on the couch, lying over her in protection. My power should have had him lying flat on the floor, but he raised his head and stared me straight in the eyes. This little guy had power of his own. He was filthy, and so was the woman. When I glanced at her face my heart stuttered. She was thin, thinner than a shifter should be. Her clothes were ragged, and she was streaked with dirt and dried blood. I let go of my power, I didn’t want to frighten the cub any more than I had, and knew he couldn’t really hurt me. He jumped down and tried to pounce me. I grabbed him midair holding him up in front of my face. He was just fur and bones. I stared into his eyes. “Little one, I need you to shift. Tell me what happened to bring you both to my lands. I will not hurt you, and my pack will not hurt you, we just want to help you and your ma.”

  The cub stared into my eyes, searching for the truth, sniffing me to see if I was being honest. When he was satisfied with what he found his body went limp as he shifted. In moments I held the dirty, naked body of a boy no more than five years old. His bones were prevalent under his skin, how he had made it this far without expiring I didn’t know.

  “Help my ma,” his little voice whispered.

  I cradled him against me, resting his head on my shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can, little one. Can you tell me your name and where you come from?”

  His hot breath grazed my neck as he spoke. “My name is Mack, and we come from nowhere. We don’t have a home. We ran, we always have. From hunters.” He passed out after the last word and my heart broke.

  I rubbed his back. “You won’t have to run anymore, Mack, you and your ma will be safe here with us.” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I needed to say it. “Marla, get Jax over here now, and can you get a tub and warm water going in the kitchen? This guy needs a bath, warm clothes, and a few hot meals in him.”

  “Of course, boss.” She came to take Mack and I shook my head, grabbing a jacket off the hook next to the door to cover him. I didn’t want to let him go quite yet. I knew if his ma woke up she would freak if her son wasn’t near. Marla stepped out as she dialed her cell.

  FIVE

  JAX ARRIVED JUST as the female was waking up. The stench of fear radiating off her made me gag. She was too weak to move much, but her eyes searched the room frantically until they landed on Mack in my arms. She tried to raise herself off the couch but cried out in pain as she did.

  “You are safe here. Your son is safe here.” I let my alpha power wash over her for just a moment, trying to calm her so Jax could examine her. “This is Jax, he’s our physician, and needs to see to your injuries. When he is done I will have food and water brought to both you and your son, as well as hot baths and clothes.” Her eyes searched mine deeply. I felt a connection snap into place, not a mating, but something else I had never experienced before. She nodded slightly and relaxed.

  Jax patched up a bullet wound at her hip, the one along her spine was more difficult. The bullet was still embedded and the skin was already trying to heal over it. He removed it and sewed it up, but declared everything else superficial, and that she should heal quicker once she ate a good meal and rested. She turned her eyes to me and spoke for the first time. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Can you tell me your name?” I sat in the chair by Sterling’s desk, making sure not to wake Mack in the process. My wolf didn’t want to let him go, and I was happy to continue to hold him while he slept. She watched as I moved around with her son. “He hasn’t slept like that since he was a baby,” she whispered. Her gaze rose to mine. “My name is Suzanne.”

  “How did you and your son end up on our lands?” The smell of fear ratcheted up as she looked back and forth from me to her son in my arms. “Again, I mean you no harm, I just want to know where you are from and how you got here.” I let more of my power wrap around her hoping to comfort her enough to talk to me. My wolf stayed calm with the cub in my arms as we waited for Suzanne to tell her story. Our need to protect them both strong and foreign. A warm feeling began to grow as I sat and listened to Suzanne’s raspy voice as she began, her son safely in my arms.

  “We have been wandering for most of his life. Our pride was hunted and destroyed shortly after Mack was born. I followed the escape plan but when I arrived at our meeting point no one else was there. I waited for a day, and when there was still no one, I made the decision to move on. Being in one place too long put us in more danger. That was five years ago. We have moved among the shadows since then, hunting small prey as we went. I did what I had to keep my son alive, stealing clothes off lines as we went, only taking what we needed as we moved. It has been a lonely existence but has kept us alive until three days ago.” She struggled to sit up, leaning against the arm of the couch. Her breathing belied how much pain she was in and my wolf growled at her. She lowered her eyes in response.

  “Go on,” I urged. She played the meek submissive well, but I felt her reign in the strength that lay just beneath the surface. I felt an instant attraction to that trait. A strong female who knew when to submit was exactly the type of mate an alpha needed. One I realized in that moment that I wanted.

  “Three
days ago we stumbled upon a camp in our cat forms. We had been on the hunt again. It didn’t seem odd, as we find small campsites all over, but this one smelled different. There was a shifter amongst them, and when I realized that it was already too late. We had wandered into a trap. I know better but our hunger had taken over, and the hunters had tied up their kills in the trees and the scent of fresh meat had drawn us. I herded Mack away and we ran. I thought we had out-maneuvered the hunters and their bullets but when we finally slowed to hide in a cave I realized I had been hit twice. The bullets were in my back and I couldn’t reach them to extract them and heal. I eventually passed out, and I assume that’s when Mack decided to try and find help. He would have known these woods belonged to a pack. I don’t know why he would have drug me here.” She huffed. “I have always taught him to stay away from lands that were marked.” She trailed off finally looking up at me again.

  “He did the right thing. You wouldn’t have lasted another day out there on your own. Here you are safe. All shifters are safe in the Black Mountain Pack, no matter what species they are. You and your son are welcome to stay as long as you like. I’ll have a room readied at the house for you both.” A knock at the door interrupted us. Marla knew I would be able to scent her, the knock was for Suzanne. “Enter.”

  “Please excuse my interruption, but the room you requested is ready whenever you want to move them.” She addressed me with her eyes lowered and head tilted in submission.

  “Thank you, if you could pack up the rest of the food you prepared and have Sterling bring the Denali around back. We will meet him there.” I turned to look at Suzanne realizing then that she wouldn’t be able to walk without pain for at least another day. My wolf wanted to carry her but he didn’t want to release the cub. Marla could see the dilemma in my posture.

  “If you will allow I can carry the cub to the truck if you like so that you can help his mother.” She stayed where she was waiting for my decision, my wolf was too close to the surface for her to come forward without invitation. I had an internal debate with him, we couldn’t carry both without causing Suzanne pain. He finally relented to allowing Marla to carry the precious cargo we currently had in our arms.

  “Thank you.” I turned and Marla approached. After gently handing the cub over, doing my best not to wake him I approached the couch. “Your injuries still need to heal more before you move on your own. If you will allow I can carry you to the waiting truck and then to your rooms so you can rest with your son.” I spoke calmly not wanting to spook her. I reined in my wolf, knowing the power of him would scare her even more. He wasn’t happy with me at all. His protective nature was on high alert, and he just wanted to curl around both of them until they felt safe again. I filed his reaction away to study later. “When you have healed I would like to talk with you more. I know you feel it too. The strength you hide pulls at my wolf.”

  With her eyes on Marla and her son she nodded. I gently placed an arm behind her shoulders and underneath her knees, pulling her close to my chest as I lifted her. She was stiff and hissed in pain as I moved. “If you relax into me the pain will be less,” I whispered. She relaxed as much as the pain would allow, she fit against me like a piece in a puzzle. The contact sent an electric current of lust through me. As alpha I could help my pack when anyone was in pain. I could draw it into me, but she was not pack yet, and I couldn’t ease her pain in that way. My wolf wanted to claim her to bring her into the pack so he could take her pain. His reaction made my steps falter for a moment. We hadn’t claimed anyone since our mate had died. As alpha I was able to, we had simply never found anyone we wanted as ours.

  This woman had just changed that.

  SIX

  ONCE I HAD GOTTEN Suzanne and Mack settled I met with my guards and sent a search party out to look for the hunters she spoke of. Hearing a shifter was working with the humans on the hunt concerned me. The punishment for a shifter turning on their own was death. Wolf wanted to do just that, he was thirsty for blood. As alpha I knew I had to tread carefully, we needed to extract information from this traitor if we could. I didn’t want him in my home or anywhere near Suzanne so I called on Leo once again.

  “This is becoming a habit, Jerome,” he answered my call. “I don’t like that, it’s not part of our agreement.”

  “I know, Leo, and I wouldn’t call so soon if it wasn’t necessary.” I gave him a quick rundown of the situation. “I need a secure place to interrogate this shifter before meting out his punishment.”

  Leo growled into the phone, his lion close to the surface. In all rights Leo could easily take over as alpha if he wanted. I knew he was as strong, possibly stronger, and more cunning than I, but his choice to live amongst the humans had decided his fate. I had made Leo’s acquaintance before the hunting of shifters had started. It was brief but the young lion made an impression with the power that radiated from him. He was a young entrepreneur at the time determined to make his way in the world and heavily on the “we shouldn’t reveal ourselves” bandwagon. That was about ten years before I created the Black Mountain Pack. When word of what I was trying to do reached Leo’s ears he approached me with and offer of help. He had built his businesses up into major conglomeration and now had the means to help when he couldn’t before. His one caveat was that I had to keep his secret about his shifter side as well as those within his inner circle. The second part was I as only to contact when things were dire and we had no other options.

  “Very well, but I want to be in on the questioning. Shifters like that are a danger to us all, those who live openly, and those like me who choose not to. Contact me when you have him in hand and I’ll send you the coordinates to the location where we can be done with this. After this, Jerome, our contact must end for now. My support will not, but I can’t take another chance of my secret being discovered. I have discovered some untrustworthy employees that I can’t take chances around.” He ended the call before I could agree. His confidence that I would was evident. The hairs on my neck bristled as the wolf rose at his behavior.

  “He is not pack, remember that, Wolf. Remember our agreement, we need him to keep the pack alive, and the safe haven we have shaped it to be.” Wolf didn’t like it but knew I was right. We both wanted to be out on the hunt, but Wolf’s need to be close to Suzanne and the cub won. It wasn’t our way to sit back and wait for someone else to find the threat to the pack, but as alpha that was a choice we had to make. The pack came first, and even if she hadn’t pledged to us, she would. Wolf had felt her cat when we carried her and knew she would give in if shown enough affection and given enough time.

  Sterling reached out through the pack bond. “Boss?”

  “What’s wrong?” Sterling didn’t reach through the bonds unless absolutely necessary, and he didn’t want anyone overhearing.

  “Draven just sent a missive. One of his seethes was attacked recently, the same time as Suzanne from what I could tell. Their own kind attacked, and he was able to get a little information from one of them before they were destroyed. It looks like we have a bigger problem on our hands. The vampire was part of a group of Others who are against living in harmony called The Resistance. They all feel we should rise up and over take the humans instead of lowering to live among them. I wanted to let you know immediately so you can be prepared when you question the traitor.”

  There was no if, he knew we would find him. “Thank you, I’ll let Leo know.” I ended the connection. This information threw a curveball on things. We had a bigger threat to deal with than I first anticipated. It was time to contact the other alphas and let them know. I started making phone calls while I waited for the search party to notify me of their capture.

  The last call I made was to the council president in Europe. I knew if we had this threat here it would spread soon, if it hadn’t already. I wanted all on the council aware of it. “Jerome, do you know what time it is here?”

  “Yes, but this couldn’t wait. We have a situation you need to be aware of.” I s
pent the next half hour explaining what I had come home to and the information Draven had shared with us.

  “Will the threats never cease?” I could hear the weariness in his voice. “I thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will contact my lieutenants and put everyone on alert. Keep me apprised of what information you get out of this shifter. Have you convinced Leo to emerge and take his place as alpha of his own pride?”

  I laughed. “You know he doesn’t want that.”

  “He may not now, but in time he will realize he has no choice. When his mate comes into his life things will change, and believe me she’s out there. It will happen in time, I only hope I’m still around to see it.” He laughed as he disconnected the call.

  My phone chimed with an incoming text. ‘Target acquired awaiting further instructions.’ Wolf became excited. The hunt truly begins now. I relayed the info to Leo who sent the coordinates of a secure warehouse. Once I sent those onto my lieutenant I reached out to Marla through the bonds. “I need you to come stay at the house with Suzanne and her cub. I have matters to attend to.”

  “On my way.” She responded without question.

  A feral grin split my face in anticipation of what was to come. Wolf was going to get to come out and play.

  SEVEN

  I TRAVELED to the warehouse in my fur. Wolf needed a good run before facing the asshole waiting for us. I circled the warehouse when I got there, scenting who was inside. There were six scents, four were from the hunting party. Leo was there, but the last I didn’t recognize. It was hard to distinguish His scent above the stench of fear that hung in the air and rolled off the traitor like water from a faucet.

  “Leo, I’m outside. Can you bring me some clothes?”