by Raand, L. L.
She neared a group of vagrants crouched over a fire sputtering in a metal can under a few scraggly trees by the river. She smelled the humans first, then heard the low murmur of their voices. She skirted wide around them, snarling at a few stray dogs who cautiously approached as she loped along. The gate was not far, hidden under an arch of the great bridge stretching across the Hudson River. As she drew closer, she sought the faint shimmer in the air that only the Fae could discern, the tear in the fabric of adjacent universes marking the contours of the Gate connecting the human world and Faerie. She slowed, unease pricking at her senses. The Gate felt wrong, and as she drew closer, probing the shimmering portal, her magic recoiled as if reflected from an impenetrable surface. The Gate was locked. She was a tracker, and she’d been to the human realm dozens of times. She knew of other Gates.
Traveling fast, she checked first one and then another, and then another, traveling north away from the city. All the Gates were barred, preventing anyone from entering Faerie from the human world. Why, she didn’t know. Perhaps the Queen expected an attack—perhaps there had already been one. Or perhaps the Fae had finally withdrawn from the Coalition and severed all connection to the human realm. Whatever was happening in Faerie, Torren was exiled for now. Still in Were form, she crouched in a forest clearing and thought about her options.
Cecilia, the Queen of Thorns, had charged her with finding her runaway niece and returning her to Faerie, and Torren had fulfilled her mission. However, in doing so, she had violated the Vampire Code and been taken as a blood slave for a century. The Queen had not protested her sentence, not that Torren had expected her to. Cecilia would not risk a rift with the Vampire Regent, even for a highborn member of her court, and having one such as Torren inside the Vampire court, even as a prisoner, could have its advantages. Now that Torren was free, her choices were limited. She could not return to Faerie, and Francesca would undoubtedly send a search party after her. Fortunately, they would not be tracking a Were. Still, she would still not be safe in the city, where the Vampire population was concentrated. She would need sanctuary.
Torren heaved herself up, put her muzzle to the air, and continued running north into the forest.
Chapter Four
Drake stood at Sylvan’s right side as those summoned to the war council filed into the gathering room. Flames leapt in the huge stone fireplace, its mantel a slab of granite a foot thick, the hearth bordered by boulders as tall as her. The vast ceiling soared upward, supported by rafters as big around as tree trunks. The floor was river rock, the color of earth, worn smooth by aeons of flowing mountain water and generations of wolf Weres striding through the halls.
The space might dwarf an ordinary being, but Sylvan fit perfectly, claiming the center, radiating power as tangible as the structure itself. Drake’s skin vibrated with her mate’s call. Sylvan wasn’t as tall as Jonathan, the young blond centuri with the slender grace, or as muscular as Max, the bearish male who stood with massive arms like elm saplings folded across his broad chest, but Sylvan radiated such primal strength she appeared larger than any in the Pack. Her eyes pierced distances far beyond where the rest could see, her Alpha-enhanced senses able to detect her wolves miles away by their scent and heartbeat. She could shift in a fraction of a second, or change partially into her half-form, an ability only the strongest of the strong demonstrated. Her speed on four legs was unparalleled.
Drake stroked Sylvan’s bare back and edged her hand under the waistband of Sylvan’s leather pants. Sylvan’s wolf controlled the emotional, physical, and sexual tenor of the whole Pack. Every wolf Were was energized by her presence. When her wolf was on full alert, the entire Pack hummed with vitality, quivering on the edge of shifting, ready to be called to run or hunt or fight by their Alpha’s side. When Sylvan and Drake coupled, the lash of Sylvan’s sexual force whipped through the Pack and bore down on all her wolves, capable of pulling all the females into heat and the dominants, male and female, into breeding frenzy. But she wasn’t their Alpha just because she was the most dominant or her power unmatched. She ruled because she lived to protect her Pack and preserve their future.
Sylvan glanced at her, a cocky smile angled across her face. “This won’t take long, and then I’ll take care of your needs.”
“This will take as long as it needs to take,” Drake said, “and then you are mine.”
“I am always yours,” Sylvan growled, gold leaping in her eyes. Her skin shimmered with a pulse of sex and power, and around the room, the other wolves grew restless.
“They won’t be able to concentrate if you keep them on edge,” Drake said.
“Not my doing. You always keep me on edge.”
Laughing, Drake kissed her. “And I am always ready for you. It’s only fair. But have pity on them for now.”
Sylvan smiled again for a brief instant, and the effect was as if the heavens parted on a winter day to allow a brilliant shaft of sunlight to pierce the darkest glade in the forest. Drake’s heart leapt, and her wolf sighed with the contentment of peace and home. “I love you.”
Softly, almost as if she still didn’t believe what Drake had said, Sylvan said, “I love you too.”
And then Sylvan’s face lost its soft edges and she was all wolf, fierce and fearless. Drake put aside thoughts of having Sylvan naked above her. They had a war to plan. She surveyed those standing in a loose semicircle around them, their strongest and truest warriors.
A year ago she’d known nothing of this wild, perilous life. As an ER doctor, she’d seen death and trauma and tragedy. Working as a doctor was all she’d ever wanted to do and all she’d ever thought she’d need to be satisfied. Her life had been defined by her work, and she had never imagined a love so consuming that all else became secondary. And then Sylvan strode through the hospital halls to claim one of her injured adolescents, and Drake’s world had changed forever. Now she was mated, a Were herself—turned by the bite of an infected young girl just before she died. She was responsible for the lives of hundreds of wolf Weres, just as was Sylvan. Here in this room were her most trusted friends and loved ones.
She took them in by turn. Sylvan’s elite guard: Niki, the imperator, Sylvan’s general and second-in-command; Max, a genius at communications; the twins, Jace and Jonathan, fierce and fast fighters; and the newest centuri, Dasha Baran, security expert and master strategist.
And a newcomer amidst the inner circle. Katya, a young dominant barely past adolescence, was attending the council for the first time. She was not unseasoned, however. She had fought for her life, for all their lives, by surviving captivity in a human laboratory where she’d been the victim of sexual experimentation, physical abuse, and psychological degradation. Just thinking about what she had endured stirred rage in Drake’s heart, a rage she knew Sylvan, driven by her primal need to protect her wolves, lived with every second.
“You will see them safe,” Drake murmured.
“We will see them safe.” Sylvan slipped her hand around Drake’s neck, caressed her, and cast her call to those who waited. “We have much work to do. Our enemies have brought the war to us. They’ve captured our young, violated them, destroyed our property, and taken our lives. We have cause to retaliate, and the longer we wait, the weaker we will appear and the stronger our enemies will grow. The human factions will consolidate and their organizations will spread and strengthen. The smaller, weaker Were groups will become targets. We cannot allow that to happen.”
“We must strike back,” Niki said sharply, cloaked in fury as thick as her winter pelt.
“Who, Imperator?” Sylvan asked flatly. “Who shall we attack?”
Niki growled, her features feral, eyes slanted, lips drawn back from her canines. Claws broke through the tips of her digits, streaking them with blood. “All of them, starting with the politicians who treat us like mindless prey.”
“An open show of aggression will bring all the human forces down us. We would not survive an all-out assault from the human military.
Even if we retreat deeper into the mountains, we would have to live in hiding forever. Our young would never have the chance to live outside the forest. Our Pack has evolved beyond that. Many of us have already integrated into human society. They would have to choose between Pack and the lives they’ve built. Unless we face annihilation, I cannot ask them to make that choice.”
“How many of us must die before we choose,” Niki snarled.
Drake rumbled, “Be careful, Imperator, not to try the Alpha’s patience. Or mine.”
Niki grumbled softly but backed down under Drake’s warning tone.
“Not all humans are our enemies.” Sylvan looked to Max. “Andrea and her brother first informed us of the experiments and led us to the labs. Have they made any progress in locating the other labs?”
Max growled, a grating sound like rocks careening down a mountainside. “Andrea is in contact with Praetern supporters who have infiltrated hate groups like HUFSI, but she has to work through a complicated network of informants, and even then, the intel she receives is fragmented. The group members never meet in large numbers, keep their identities secret, and usually don’t know anyone other than their own cell members.”
“Do you think she’ll be able to get us hard intelligence?”
Max nodded, and pride glinted in his eyes. “She will, but it might take some time.”
“You work with her, assist in any way you can, and protect her. She is a valuable ally.”
“I will, Alpha.” Max’s smile was predatory and possessive. He was unmated and Andrea was a human, but apparently his wolf didn’t see that as an obstacle.
“Lara,” Sylvan said next. “Your Liege is our ally, but there are powerful Vampires opposed to Praetern integration, including Francesca. If Francesca supports those who attack us, Gates will be forced to choose between our alliance and civil war with the Vampires.”
“Liege Gates has given her oath,” Lara said, “and she knows of the consequences.”
Sylvan nodded. “Her consort is one of our best sources. Becca has many contacts in the human world. I think the plan to destroy us reaches high into the human government. We need to know how high.”
“My Liege will not allow her consort to be put at risk, not for any reason.”
“As it should be,” Sylvan said. “So I am tasking you to see that Becca Land is never in danger.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Lara replied.
“Katya,” Sylvan said gently.
Katya had come dressed in the usual Were garb of T-shirt and jeans. She was barefoot, her golden hair loose around her shoulders, the shadows in her blue eyes belying her age. She was young, but she had endured as much pain as anyone in the room. She was a soldier, battle tested. She faced Sylvan with a mixture of uncertainty and excitement in her face.
Drake tensed. Even knowing Katya had been summoned to fight didn’t prevent her wolf from wanting to protect and shield her. Only her trust in Sylvan prevented her from growling a warning.
“Yes, Alpha,” Katya said, her musical alto steady and strong.
“You were the first to warn Niki of the impending attack on us at the gala. Can you remember any more of the details? Can you tell us how you knew?”
“I…I’ve tried, Alpha. All I remember is a sensation, a…” She shook her head, frustrated and angry.
“A premonition?” Drake asked. “As if you had a feeling of what was about to happen?”
“Yes, but more than that.” Katya’s eyes glazed, as if she was looking inward, or back in time. “I…I saw fire. I heard an explosion inside my head.”
“And did you know who was targeted?”
Katya shook her head. “No. The blast seemed to take in everything, everywhere. It was massive, but I knew—” Her eyes glistened as if they had filled with tears, but her voice never wavered. She stared at Sylvan. “I knew you and the Prima were in danger.”
Sylvan snarled at the threat to her mate, as real now as it had been then. Her wolf exploded past her frayed restraints before she could stop her. Sylvan managed not to shift, but power flooded the room. Jace, a volatile dominant still evolving, instantly shifted. Belly low, uncertain of her welcome, Jace inched forward to Sylvan’s side and rubbed her shoulder against Sylvan’s leg.
“It’s all right, Jace.” Sylvan buried her fingers in Jace’s salt-and-pepper ruff, soothing her. “Katya, has that ever happened to you before?”
“Not…not like that, Alpha.”
Gently, Drake asked, “Anything similar?”
“Sometimes,” Katya said after a long pause, “sometimes I feel as if someone is reaching out to me. Reaching inside me, calling to me.”
Niki snarled and glared at Lara, the Vampire among them. Lara’s expression remained impassive, her stance relaxed, although that casual demeanor was a ruse. With her Vampire speed, she could disappear, or attack, before anyone with the exception of Sylvan could react.
“Who?” Drake asked. “Who calls you?”
Katya squared her shoulders, lifted her chin. She had been degraded, abused, and violated, but she was a dominant wolf, strong and proud, and that was something no captor could take from her. “I am almost certain…No, I’m sure. Michel.”
“She has been enthralled,” Niki spat, pelt streaking down the center of her torso.
Katya swung to face her, gold exploding in her eyes. “No! I am not enthralled. I know who she is and what she wants, and I know what I want.”
“You can’t know when a Vampire distorts your mind.”
“She doesn’t.”
Niki took a step toward her, shimmering on the verge of shifting. “You can’t tell the difference between desire and force when a Vampire enthralls you.”
“I’m not you, Niki.” Katya’s voice held no challenge, only the pride of a wolf, but she stood her ground with a low growl of warning. “I know where I go when I go to her, and why. She has never taken me against my will. Even when I was in chains.”
“You—”
“Niki,” Sylvan snarled, “enough. Katya deserves your respect.”
Niki dropped her head under the force of Sylvan’s dominance. “I do respect her, Alpha. It’s the Vampire I don’t trust.”
“Katya,” Sylvan said, “if Michel warned you, then she knew of the plan. We don’t know what that means. She could have warned you because she’s on our side. If she went against Francesca’s desires, she is in danger. Or her part in this could be an elaborate plot we do not yet understand.”
Katya’s skin flushed and a dusting of light brown pelt emerged in a fine line on her lower abdomen. “I will not endanger her.”
Sylvan sighed. The Exodus had brought the Praeterns together in a way they hadn’t interacted in centuries, and now her wolves were forming problematic attachments everywhere she looked. She loved her father, but she wondered if he’d had any idea how complicated his dream of freedom would make life for all of them. But what was done could not be undone, even had she wanted to. “Michel is a powerful Vampire who has survived for centuries through strength, cunning, and skill. She can take care of herself.”
“I will not lie to her.”
“I would not ask you to. Talk to her. Find out as much as you can of what the Vampires knew of this attack against us. She may be the key.”
Katya’s eyes glinted with anticipation. “As my Alpha commands.”
Chapter Five
Running hard in Were form, Torren passed the outermost perimeter into Timberwolf territory just as the moon reached its zenith. Silver shafts of moonlight sliced through the dense foliage and flooded the forest floor. The grating rumble of engines and cacophony of human sound had long since dissipated, and all she heard was the crackling of animals moving stealthily through the brush and the occasional hoot of an owl. No Vampire would follow her out here unless they came by armored and UV-shielded vehicle, and she’d have plenty of warning if they did. She’d outrun some dangers, even as she raced toward others.
She scented the first patrol a minu
te later. The fierce aroma of Were pierced the feathery odors of pine and loam. She lifted her muzzle. Sniffed deeply. Two, three, four Weres—moving away. She angled downwind and moved on, slowing to a trot to avoid drawing their attention. The deeper she penetrated Were territory, the more her skin tingled with the heavy press of Were power. Her magic rose, unblunted even in changeling form, and surged back against the foreign force. The glow of her magic burned off the last taint of imprisonment, banishing the bone-deep ache in her wrists from the iron shackles and erasing the lassitude that had left her weak and confused.
She would not soon forget the Vampire Regent’s pleasure in torturing her. Torren, like most Fae, had no great love for Vampires, whose only claim to power was their graceless ability to enthrall hosts who were most often willing to be taken to begin with. Now she had even less. In service to her Queen, she had agreed to the sentence imposed on her by the Vampire Regent despite the humiliation of being made a blood slave, of having her body and blood available to any Vampire the Regent willed. She would not have dishonored her Queen by trying to escape. But she was also a Fae royal, and Francesca had disregarded her status and her word, enjoying her power too much to allow Torren to serve without degrading her. Francesca had kept Torren in chains for no other reason than to flaunt her dominance, and she had created a formidable enemy.
Torren picked up the concentrated scent of many Weres having traveled north over a well-worn trail through dense forest. The signs were clear—this was one of the main pathways leading to the Were Compound. She bounded along at an effortless pace, enjoying her lithe muscular form, covering large patches of ground in loping strides. The occasional deer and possum skittered out of her way, close enough to catch her attention, but she was not interested in prey. Her Were form allowed her to assume the physical abilities of a Were but did not alter her basic drives and urges, any more than it diluted her powers. She didn’t have the primal predatory urge of a Were to take her prey to ground and consume what she killed. Her prey, when she hunted, was of a different nature. Her biology remained her own, and she was driven by more subtle desires—the excitement of seduction, the thrill of absorbing another’s energies, and the sexual satisfaction of enchantment. Unlike the Were and Vampire predators, she controlled the power of the senses, not of the flesh.
