by Vivi Andrews
It was strange, hearing this behemoth of a man referring to the tiny female as the Alpha—but Grace noticed that he didn’t refer to her as his Alpha. A slight but telling difference. Things weren’t all sunshine and rainbows at Black Lake.
Dare turned and ducked back through the doorway again. Kelly put his hand on the small of her back like he would guide her out of the room and Grace heard Dominec snarl before she sidled away from the touch.
She liked Kelly.
She had to keep reminding herself of that when she wanted to smack his face off because he couldn’t seem to remember from one day to the next that she wasn’t his freaking girlfriend and didn’t need him acting all protective and territorial when she was leading this team. It was tricky enough that she was the one speaking for Roman, but he was supposed to be their main mouthpiece as their diplomat. She didn’t need him adding their less-than-clear relationship bullshit to the mix.
She followed Dare out of the room and Kelly fell into step beside her—thank God not trying to take her arm like she was a freaking child. She felt as much as heard Dominec take up a position behind her. The creeper twins flowed around the group like water. It was amazing how much the creep factor lessened when they were no longer moving in unison, but they were still in constant motion, varying their speeds and gliding around the edges of the group, up to Dare’s heels and then back to trail behind them all.
Kelly eyed them, stiffening whenever one of them would flow too close. They brushed against his arms, eyeing him with sly little smiles.
Kelly jumped when one of them—River? Cadence? How the hell did people tell them apart?—grazed his ass.
“Problem?” Grace asked.
Kelly inclined his head toward her, lowering his voice. “When they were bringing me to you, they told me they think I’m pretty and asked if they could keep me as a toy.”
Grace snorted, irrationally amused by Kelly’s discomfort. “Well, you are pretty.”
“They’re children.”
“They’re nineteen,” Dare rumbled, proving he’d been listening. “And those two were never really children.”
Grace didn’t try to decipher what that meant. The hallway they had been walking down had suddenly opened into a large, open chamber. Only it wasn’t a chamber. It was a cave. A massive, natural cave complete with stalactites dripping from the ceiling.
The hallway they had been walking down was normal drywall like you might find in any military bunker. It had given no clue that they were underground. Similar openings pocketed the walls in the large room, alongside natural, smaller cave entrances.
The air was cool and damp. In the center of the main cave, she heard the sound of falling water and as they moved closer, she saw that there was water dripping from a stalactite in the center of the room in a constant stream to disturb the dark waters of a massive underground lake.
“Jesus,” she whispered.
Dare glanced at her, blue eyes glittering with hints of humor. “Welcome to Black Lake.”
“Impressive,” she murmured.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Kelly said at her side. “Apparently it’s a whole underground network. Hundreds and hundreds of caves—and that’s not counting the ones the wolves added on and developed.”
Grace mumbled something appreciative. At her side, she could almost feel Dominec’s agitation mounting as he scanned the room and couldn’t readily locate an exit. The man who lived on rooftops would not like being buried who-knew-how-far underground.
“This way,” Dare rumbled and set off to the left. Kelly followed and Grace took a moment to visually check in on Dominec. His shoulders were tense, but his eyes were human. She’d take that as a win.
Dare guided them into another tunnel, this one larger and with a natural stone arch rather than neatly squared off drywall. The tunnel grew slowly wider and taller as they went, the increase so gradual she almost didn’t notice it until it spilled out into a perfectly circular cave with water spilling down the walls in a constant babble. The lighting was clever, tucked into crevices behind the water so the light seemed to gleam through the falls.
A large circular mahogany table sat in the center of the cave room, and already seated around it were Amala, a handful of wolf shifters and the Three Rocks lions.
Zoe rose instantly, rushing toward Grace, her eyes glittering with pleasure. Dare moved to take a seat next to Amala—but not too close. The two didn’t even acknowledge one another. The twins wandered the room, trailing their fingers along the waterfall walls.
“How cool is this place?” Zoe asked when the wolves gave the cats space enough to speak, though the acoustics of the cave and sensitive shifter ears probably ensured they could hear every word. Zoe jerked a thumb back toward the table. “They have a female Alpha.”
“She’s female,” Grace acknowledged, speaking softly. “She’s also a bitch.”
The smile that curved Amala’s lips at that seemed to prove that the Alpha could definitely hear them.
Zoe snorted. “Well, yeah, but she’s a female wolf. Being a bitch is kind of the gig, isn’t it?”
“Are you guys okay? They’ve treated you well?”
Tyler nodded as Zoe said, “Right as rain. Except for the fact that they wouldn’t talk to me about anything because they had this fucked up idea that you are the boss of everything.”
Grace felt herself grinning. Maybe the wolves weren’t so bad after all.
Amala called out, barely raising her voice but it still filled every corner of the open space. “Whenever you’re done socializing, we can get down to your urgent business.”
“See?” Grace muttered under her breath. “Bitch.” Then she waved her cats to the table and strode to meet the Queen Bitch head-on, raising her voice. “By all means. Let’s do this.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The wolves barely seemed to see his scars.
Dominec sat at the table beside Grace, Kelly on her other side and the Three Rocks lions past that. They faced an array of wolf shifters across the table and not one of them looked distracted, fascinated or disgusted by his disfigurement.
The twins had stared, but they’d done it to push him, to test him. The little brats almost reminded him of himself—which was annoying as fuck. He’d had no idea he was such an obnoxious prick.
The Alpha’s gaze occasionally drifted to him, a slight frown pulling at her lush lips, but he got the sense her preoccupation with him had less to do with the marks on his face and more to do with a puzzle he represented. The redhead—who exuded so much natural sex appeal he would have thought she was in heat if not for the fact that feline shifters were not affected by canine pheromones—apparently did not like puzzles.
He hated being trapped underground, hated not knowing where the nearest exit was, but if not for the caves and the cages he could almost like this place. They didn’t see a freak in him.
“How do you know where all the Organization bases are?” the Alpha said as soon as they were all seated. She was clearly addressing Grace—the two women were surrounded by alpha males, but had identified one another as the authorities.
“Information smuggled out by a former Organization employee which we have verified for authenticity with a number of raids.”
A wrinkle appeared between Amala’s finely sculpted brows. “So you’ve tipped them off that you know about their operations.”
“Which is why we need to move quickly,” Grace said. “Before they have a chance to relocate their shifter captives from the bases we know about. We came to you because rumor has it you know how to get in touch with all the packs and prides that don’t want to be found. It’s time we came together to take down the Organization.”
“And what if the shifters you contact don’t want to unite and go to war?”
“That isn’t your problem.” Grace folded her hands on the
table. “Leave convincing them to us. All we need from you is the contact information.”
“You don’t want us to go fight the good fight with you?”
“We do. But I’m not going to beg you. You’re smart enough to see the necessity. If you aren’t brave enough to stand behind us…” Grace shrugged.
Amala smiled. “You aren’t really trying to goad me into sending my people into battle by calling me chicken, are you? I’m almost insulted you think I would be that easy to manipulate.”
“I would think you wouldn’t need manipulating. We’re all targets. We all have a responsibility to fight.”
“Responsibility is an interesting word for it.”
“What would you call it?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Amala tapped her fingers on the table. “Black Lake is an old pack. We’ve always embraced the old ways and kept things strictly low tech. We don’t have a Mateo.”
Amala smiled and Dominec reached under the table to brush Grace’s leg. Every muscle had gone tense at the mention of Mateo’s name.
“How do you think we got all that lovely information you want so badly?” Amala purred. “We trade in secrets. If you want something from us, you need to offer a secret in return of equal value. And this is a very valuable secret.”
Grace spoke through gritted teeth. “You won’t do this because it’s the right thing?”
Amala simply smiled.
“I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice.”
“Did you hear the same thing about wild wolves? How sweet and friendly we are? What good pets we make?”
“I’m not asking you to be our pets. We don’t want you to work for us. We need you working with us.”
“I don’t trust cats,” Amala murmured. “You have no loyalty.”
Grace looked like she was about to scream, but Dominec understood. This was about payment. Balance. “What do you want to know?” he asked.
Amala’s gaze moved to him and a teasingly little smile curled her lips. “That isn’t how this works,” she said. “Tell us what you want and offer a secret. If it’s fair payment, you get your request. If not, you can either make another offer or leave.”
“What kind of secret?” Dominec asked, intrigued.
Amala’s smile widened. “Now you’re asking the right questions. There are two kinds of secrets that we accept—those that are useful and those that cost the teller something of himself. One is payment. The other is a bond.”
“We have information about the Organization,” Grace insisted. “We are authorized to share it with you.”
“Those aren’t secrets,” Amala scoffed. “That is information you want me to have. There is no cost in them.”
“But it’s useful information. You just said that was the first kind. Why can’t this be a mutually beneficial arrangement? Everybody wins.”
Amala cocked her head to the side. “There is no power if everyone wins.”
“So this is a dominance thing.”
Amala’s smile seemed to say isn’t everything?
“You want me to bow down to you,” Grace snapped, “but I’m just trying to make a deal.”
“We are dealing,” the Alpha said.
“If that’s what you want to call it. Feels a lot like blackmail. I’m not going to betray my pride’s secrets for you.”
Amala’s amber gaze darkened ominously.
“How do we even know you have the information we need?” Kelly jumped in before the two women could begin literally clawing at one another.
Amala’s expression instantly eased back into one of her lazy smiles. “Would you like a demonstration?” She flicked her fingers out to the side and Dare slipped a folded paper into her hand, their fingers never brushing. The Alpha opened the paper and read in a bored tone, “Three Rocks Pride. Located in West Texas. Fifty-two lions at last count. Not including the cub one Mara Leonard is currently carrying. Or do we call her Mara Minor? There’s no consistency among lions about whether you take your mate’s last name. Landon King, Alpha, previously a nomad and prior to that of Shady Glade Pride in Florida. Mated to Ava Minor, a small white lioness ill-suited to the role—by traditional lion standards. Recommended contact, Zoe King—Alpha’s sister and security specialist. Oh, look, dear, that’s you. Is that your phone number?” Amala flipped the paper to Zoe who caught it automatically in spite of her shell-shocked expression.
“Where did you get that information?” she demanded, gripping the paper. “Who told you all this?”
Amala shrugged. “We have a variety of sources. Some of what we hear is just rumor, but enough rumors can begin to weave into a web of truths.” She spread her hands like a magician. “Are you amazed? We knew all about the Three Rocks ambassadors Zoe King and Tyler Minor. I confess I followed the career of Lone Pine’s first female lieutenant with some interest, and learned about her lover Kelly because you never know when that information will become useful. But while we knew Lone Pine had a few tigers, we had no idea you were mated to one of them,” she said to Grace.
Kelly’s turned to stare at Grace, frowning, but Amala was already continuing.
“Or that any of them were resistant to sedation,” she went on, her gaze swinging back to him. “Now how did you do that?”
“Is that secret worth the information we seek?” Dominec asked.
“Dominec.” Grace shot him a sharp look. She didn’t like the game Amala was playing. Didn’t like paying for something she felt all shifters owed to the common cause. Didn’t like the idea of betraying her pride. But Dominec had never been civically minded as she was.
He understood the rules, understood how these wolves thought. He spent his time listening from eaves precisely because he knew the power of information. The Alpha wouldn’t give them what they wanted for free—which was all Grace wanted to consider—but they didn’t have to leave empty-handed.
He had stockpiled secrets for years—his own and those of his pride mates that he’d observed from rooftops and shadows. It was just a question of agreeing on a price.
“You are asking for a lot,” Amala said, her eyes glittering with pleasure as they bartered. “Over a hundred packs and prides in North America alone. And that’s not counting the information we have about nomads and strays.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know how many of those packs and strays the Organization knows about?” Grace interjected. “Or do you only spy on your potential allies?”
“Are we allies?” Amala asked sweetly. “Historically, we haven’t exactly been on friendly terms.”
“Things are different now,” Zoe argued. “All shifters have to come together. When the humans find out about us—”
“No.” The Alpha’s voice echoed with command. “Your Organization is one thing. Coming out to the humans is something else entirely. Something Black Lake will never allow.”
“You may not have a choice,” Zoe challenged.
Kelly held up his hands again, always trying to pacify the world. “Right now the important thing is rescuing our shifter brethren who are being held by the Organization.”
“Are they our brethren?” Amala asked. “Check your all-powerful records and I expect you’ll see that very few wolves have ever been captured by your Organization. The fact that so many of your kind are being held is hardly our problem. Frankly, it screams carelessness.”
“The Organization is getting bolder. It’s only a matter of time,” Grace argued. “Which you obviously know or you wouldn’t be stepping up your security patrols.”
Before Amala could retort and the two could get tangled up in their bickering again, Dominec spoke directly to the Alpha. “You never answered my question. If I tell you why your tranqs didn’t work on me, will you give us what we ask for?”
“We would need more than that.”
“What if I gave you the means to make
your own people resistant to sedatives?”
Amala didn’t hesitate. “Done.”
“We have a deal?” Dominec reiterated.
“We do.”
Grace’s eyebrows flew up skeptically. “That’s it? We don’t need to sign a contract in blood?”
“Wolves are honorable,” Amala said with narrowed eyes. “All a wolf requires is her word.” She turned her gaze to Dominec and her expression turned to everything pleasant. “Now. Payment is due. How do you do it?”
“The Organization experimented on me. They had a project where they took the most physically commanding shifters and tried to turn us into super soldiers. They injected me with all sorts of shit and now I’m stronger, faster and possess a certain degree of immunity to sedatives.”
The Alpha’s lush lips pursed with displeasure. “You told us you could do the same for our people. I’m not likely to turn them over to the Organization.”
Dominec extended his arm and pushed up his sleeve. “You’ll want to draw my blood. I told you I would give you the means. It’s up to you to reverse engineer what they did to me, but my blood gives you everything you need.” He shrugged. “That’s my part of the deal. Now are you an honorable wolf?”
Chapter Thirty
Half an hour later they were back in the massive cavern with the underground lake. The wolves had returned their bags to them and they were now waiting for the twins to fetch the archive Amala would be sending back to Lone Pine with them.
Grace stood beside Amala, who was once again all sweetness and smiles as the rest of the pack moved past them, giving the cats a wide berth as they went about their daily business. Grace had no idea what time it was—the lack of an open sky and sunlight completely distorted her time sense—but it was obviously a transition time, dozens of wolves passing through the main hub of the pack.
Dare had vanished after the deal was struck, but the white wolf was back at Amala’s heels, her hackles high as she eyed Dominec with an obvious lack of trust. The pack healers had drawn his blood—something he’d never allowed the pride doctors to do—and now he crouched nearby, inventorying the contents of the bag the wolves had just returned to him.
