by Delta James
Shannon was entering the city when she spied a second-hand clothing and accessories store. She stopped and found new things to wear: several pairs of boots and sneakers, a couple of hats, three different pairs of sunglasses, and a satchel in which to carry them all. She opted to change into one of her outfits—snug-fitting jeans, an oversized sweater, comfortable bra, and pair of vintage cowboy boots. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, pulling it through the back of a ball cap and added sunglasses. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled. She bore little to no resemblance to the pampered and primped woman deMoncada had auctioned off. Shannon momentarily wondered if the man who had called himself James and had declared himself to be her fated mate had made it out alive.
Fated mate. What a load of bullshit. She had heard several of the other women with whom she’d come into contact talk about that. A couple of them had cried, believing they would never know the rapture of being with their fated mates. Shannon had walked away and refused to listen. Better to face reality head on than wishing for something that that was rubbish. And yet, if she was being completely honest, she had to admit she had felt something during her time with James. Not just physically but something that touched her deep inside. The growl he had emitted had been neither angry nor lustful, but something altogether different. She had felt a growing sense of peace, comfort, and safety in his presence.
She shook her head to clear it of any fanciful notion. She had two goals to accomplish. The first was to hunt down and kill deMoncada. The second was to find a remote spot far away from everything and everyone. She wanted no part of either human or wolf society. She wanted only to be left alone and in peace.
Her first problem was to finish up getting her false passport and then a secondary ID. Both would be needed in order to secure a bank account and other items she would need long term.
Her second and more difficult task would be finding deMoncada. She had no doubt she could kill him. She planned to arm herself with a handgun while still keeping the rifle with her. She smiled. She also thought there might be some poetic justice to shifting to her wolf form, something she had practiced alone in her cell so that it had become natural to her, and ripping the bastard’s throat out. She rather thought she’d like the taste of his blood.
Having secured her new passport and a Massachusetts driver’s license, she opened her account with one of the large US banks that did enough business in Canada to have branches or locations spread throughout the country. She then traded the small car she’d been using for a four-wheel-drive Jeep.
Shannon then purchased several throwaway cell phones and a small laptop computer. She found a restaurant with a quiet booth in the back and ordered lunch. She opened the laptop and did something she’d promised herself she wouldn’t do. It was a promise she couldn’t keep. She searched for the DeMedici winery and found a beautifully designed website that promoted not only the wine and new line of olive oils and balsamic vinegar, but showed pictures of the owners Marco and Catherine.
DeMoncada hadn’t lied. Her sister looked radiant. It might be easy to airbrush photographs or scenery, but the way the two looked at each other couldn’t be faked. It was easy to see her sister was deeply in love. If DeMedici was, as deMoncada had insisted, a wolf-shifter, how had her sister allowed herself to fall for him? Had she really voluntarily turned and left her humanity behind? How had they met? Had Catherine come to Italy to look for her and then abandoned her search when she’d met her mate? Why had Catherine forsaken her? Each unanswered question felt like a knife being plunged into her heart.
Shannon wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. She refused to allow herself that luxury. Whatever Catherine had done and for whatever reason, she had chosen a life without her sister. Shannon’s only goals were deMoncada’s death and to find her own peace in this world.
The man who had been able to supply the phony passport and driver’s license had also set up a meet for her with a man not too far from the restaurant where she could purchase additional ammunition for her rifle as well as a handgun and ammo for it. He had assured her that the man could be trusted.
Shannon entered the seedy pawn shop, doubting the veracity of the forger’s claims.
“You must be the beautiful lady my friend told me about who is in need of protection,” said the shop owner as he smiled reassuringly.
Shannon caught herself sniffing the air. No doubt about it, like the forger, the man was a wolf.
“I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” she said, glancing around the store.
Shannon heard the electronic lock on the front door engage.
“Nothing to worry about. I just want to ensure our privacy.”
“I’m a bit jumpy, why don’t you unlock the door? I’ll feel far more comfortable. I don’t want any trouble, but if you want some from me, understand that I feel I have nothing left to lose.”
The old man growled.
“Do not threaten me. You are worth a small fortune. Ramon deMoncada has said he would pay handsomely to get you back. Although the young wolf from Ravenscar has offered more. But neither matches the offer made by Marco DeMedici. He offers an even larger sum than the other two put together with the additional incentive of letting it be known that anyone accepting money from the other two will not live to spend it.”
Shannon growled in return, surprising the old man.
“I will offer you no bribe, except to tell you if you don’t unlock the door, I’ll shift and take your life before you can get anywhere near those weapons. Then I’ll take what I need and go on my way. Your only choice, old man, is whether you live to tell them what you will or they read about some kind of freak incident in your shop.”
The elderly wolf looked her over carefully and determined that his chances to best her were nil. As she said, she felt she had nothing to lose. He unlocked the door.
“Let me get you the gun. I didn’t have a lot to offer in terms of a handgun as Canadian restrictions are far more stringent than those in the United States. I have a Smith and Wesson and a Glock, both are 9mm. Neither is loaded and I’m going to put them up on the counter here and back away where you can see me and see that I am not armed.”
Once he had displayed the weapons and stepped away, Shannon walked forward and picked up each gun. The Glock was far more comfortable in her hand.
“Fine. I’ll take the Glock, two boxes of ammo for it, and another box of ammo for my M4.”
“That’s in the drawers below the counter. Let me get them for you.”
Shannon backed away and the old man provided her with what she needed. She paid him in cash and left an additional hundred dollars.
“What’s this for?” he asked, genuinely confused.
“To deliver messages to those who are trying to find me. To the one who thinks he bought me and to DeMedici—tell them to stop looking and leave me alone. If they do so, I will leave them to live out the rest of their lives.”
“And is there a message for deMoncada?”
Shannon allowed herself an evil smile. “Tell deMoncada his end is near. Tell him it doesn’t matter how fast or how far he runs, I will find him and I will kill him or die trying. I will not rest until I have watched him exhale his last breath. And tell all your wolfie friends that anyone, and I do mean anyone, trying to collect the bounty on my head had best know I will kill anyone who tries or who gets between deMoncada and me.”
“That’s an awful lot of messages for a measly hundred dollars,” the elderly wolf joked.
“I let you live, didn’t I?” she said levelly before turning and walking out the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Catherine had been impressed. Her sister had not been easy to track. They had, with Ava’s help, been able to track her to Toronto. After some discussion, it was decided that their best bet was to make use of a bed and breakfast owned and run by an old friend of Roz’s.
The plan had been to offer her friend an all-expense-paid vacation to some place warm a
nd sunny for a couple of weeks. After a brief discussion via the phone including Roz’s repeated assurances that there was nothing illegal going on, Roz persuaded the woman to rent them her bed and breakfast. The group quickly arranged for a car to pick her up in a few hours and then take her to the airport where she would board a plane to be flown to New Orleans. Once there she would be put up in the Gautier townhome and then be taken to board a two-week cruise leaving a few days later. Darby called and tried to speak with Megan, who had been with her at Bae Diogel and was now mated to the pack’s beta, JD. Instead of Megan, she found herself speaking to JD.
“Where the hell are you?” he growled. “Do you have any idea how pissed and worried he is?”
Darby knew the he in question was her beloved Jean-Michel.
“I’m quite certain that his anger at me at this point has reached new heights, but he shouldn’t be worried...”
“Oh, no,” argued JD, “why on earth would he be worried? The four of you...”
“Are perfectly fine and quite able to take care of ourselves.”
“Darby, for Christ’s sake, answer me. Where the hell are you? And wherever it is, you’d better God damn well stay there until Jean-Michel can join you.”
“Listen, JD, I didn’t call to have you tell me my beloved was pissed at me. I’m a bright girl, I already knew that. What I did need was for you to let everyone know there will be a guest at the townhouse. I don’t think she’s in real danger, but if you could ensure that someone keeps an eye out for her until she gets on the cruise ship in the next day or so, that would be really nice. In fact, could you have the limo pick her up at the airport and take her to the townhouse and then to the cruise ship?”
“What the hell are you up to?” JD growled again.
Darby giggled. “No good... as usual. Try not to give yourself a heart attack. Tell everyone I send my love.”
She disconnected the call. Put the phone on the ground and smashed it into bits. She picked out the SIM card and tossed it down a storm drain.
“That didn’t sound like it went well,” said Catherine.
“That’s just JD. He’ll make sure Roz’s friend is safe while he plots my demise at the hands of his alpha,” replied Darby with a smile.
All of the rest of the women laughed.
Giving the bed and breakfast owner time to pack for her impromptu vacation, the four women found a place to rest and have a meal.
Roz texted Ava to see if she’d been able to pick up any kind of electronic trail. The message sent back was from Declan. He informed her that she was to text him their location and then she and her companions were to wait for their mates.
Darby laughed. “I guarantee you if he tells Jean-Michel he told us that, my mate will laugh his fool head off. He knows better.”
Skylar nodded. “I don’t think any of them will believe it.”
Roz placed the phone in her napkin, put the napkin on the floor, and then smashed it with her booted heel. She reached down, picked up the napkin, removed what was left of the SIM card, and put it in the vase with water and fresh flowers in the middle of their table.
“So, we’re on our own as far as information goes?” asked Darby.
“Not if I know my girl, Ava,” said Roz. “She’ll have found a way for either Bess, Maddie, or Anna to get us what we need. She may not be here in person, but trust me, she is here in spirit. I gave her a list of the numbers of all the cell phones we bought. Whoever it is will just go down the list until they get a ping.” Roz looked up to see that Skylar was going through the trash they had found in the small car Shannon had traded for the Jeep. “Sky, what are you looking at?”
“Not sure. It looks like part of an old paper road map. I can’t tell where to...”
“Let me see it,” said Roz, reaching for the map. She smiled. “That’s Highway 401. One of the main east to west routes. Looks like she’s headed east.”
“Does it go to Montreal?” asked Catherine.
Roz nodded.
“She’s planning to go back to Montreal,” said Catherine with certainty and the barest hint of a smile starting to form. “And unless I’m very wrong, and I don’t believe I am, she’s going after deMoncada.”
“How can you be sure?” asked Darby.
“Because it’s what I would do. That bastard did not break my little sister. She’s going hunting. All the skills he gave her turning her to wolf? They’re about to come back to literally bite him in the ass. No, let me correct that. She doesn’t mean to turn him over to anyone. I misspoke. Her skills won’t bite deMoncada in the ass... they’ll help her rip his throat out.”
“That’s not an easy thing to do or to live with,” offered Skylar softly.
“I understand that, but I know my baby sister. She won’t rest until deMoncada is dead.”
“He’s probably back in Montreal planning his next move unless he’s gone home to Spain.”
“Is Anna a talented enough hacker to get him put on the no-fly list out of Canada?” asked Catherine.
“I don’t know that she is,” said Darby. “But my guess is between her and Maddie they can figure out how to get it done.”
The call was placed to Maddie on the Outer Banks in North Carolina who assured them, they’d figure out a way to ensure if deMoncada hadn’t already left the country they’d get him put on the no-fly lists in both Canada and the United States.
“Then ladies, are we headed for the bed and breakfast or Montreal?” asked Darby.
“I still think the bed and breakfast,” said Catherine. “Shannon is a lawyer. She thinks logically and strategically. Until she has a plan for not only killing deMoncada but how she can ensure a clean getaway and a place for herself, she’ll stay put.”
* * *
The alphas of the Coalition who were trying to track Shannon’s movements had found Toronto to be a wealth of information. They had, with Mason’s ability, been able to track her even in a crowded city and follow her movements to the thrift store, the bank, and the pawn shop. It was the terrified pawn shop owner who had been of the most help.
“That girl is crazy. She needs to be put down. For Christ’s sake, she threatened you, DeMedici, and Ramon deMoncada.”
“She has cause,” said Marco. “And she merely warned me to back off; it was deMoncada she actually threatened. If she is anything like my beloved mate, deMoncada’s rule of terror may well be over even before we catch up to her.”
“The young wolf of Ravenscar... the current alpha’s son?” asked Jean-Michel.
“The very same,” said the old man.
“So that’s who purchased her?” Jean-Michel confirmed. “That could become an issue.”
“The hell it will. If he won’t relinquish his claim, I’ll challenge him and relinquish it for him,” growled Marco.
“Not as easy to do as you might think,” said Jean-Michel. “James Norris is not necessarily what he might appear to be.”
Mason Daniels shook his head. “I’ve had dealings with his father. Not something I enjoyed. Left a rather bad taste in my mouth and the son isn’t much better.”
Jean-Michel nodded. “Yes, James plays the wastrel rather well. And he was one of the best intelligence operatives that NATO ever had... still is from time to time. In fact, it was he who arranged for you to help Griffin find Marco.”
The rest of the men looked at him in shock, causing Jean-Michel to laugh.
Oliver started to laugh with him. “That James Norris? I’ve worked with him a time or two. I never put together that he was the heir to Ravenscar.”
Marco chuckled. “Nor did I. Griffin knew him better than I and always spoke well of him. Down the road he might make a fine mate for Shannon.”
It was Dylan’s turn to laugh. “Let me know how that decision goes over with Catherine.”
“I am surprised he was at the auction,” said Marco.
“It makes some sense,” said Oliver. “I think he still has ties to NATO and I know his father has been harpin
g on him to settle down.”
“He may well have gone to appease his father and to try and get those girls out on his own. He’s an honorable wolf and the last time we talked he made me think his father may not rule at Ravenscar much longer,” stated Jean-Michel.
“Then as we have a common goal and he has better intelligence contacts than we do, perhaps we should invite him to join us,” suggested Mason.
When Griffin called to check in, he informed him that he had just spoken to James Norris, who proposed working together to get Shannon to safety and sort the rest out down the line.”
“I’m not sure there will be any sorting,” growled Marco. “I know you like and respect the man, but that is my Catherine’s little sister. DeMoncada never had dominion over her and I do. She will return to Italy with her sister and me. If Shannon chooses to honor his claim, I may allow her to do so. But should she reject it, he will have to relinquish it.”
Mason nodded. “I think Norris’ contacts might prove useful. Our priorities are to find Shannon and your wayward mates and then deal with deMoncada.”
* * *
James and Will had been doing some electronic tracking of their own. When James’ cell phone rang, his caller ID identified that it was Griffin.
“I’ve spoken with the other members of the Coalition, who are also seeking your mate. You don’t have an easy road there. Jean-Michel Gautier and Oliver Halsey know of your NATO connections, but I warn you to tread lightly with Marco. He’s a good man, but Shannon’s kidnapping and captivity have weighed heavily on him and he will do whatever he thinks will make his Catherine’s life easier.”
“I mean his mate and his mate’s sister no harm. But Shannon is my fated mate...”
“And that will mean something to Marco. As I said, tread carefully. If handled right, he could easily become your best ally in this whole thing.”
“Thanks for the heads up. I take it you were able to talk to them?”
