by Fel Fern
He knelt so he looked at her at eye-level. “What do you mean by that, sweetheart?”
She tugged at his hand insistently.
“Like you. Lost people,” she repeated, furrowing her brows.
“You mean Espers?” Daryl asked, heart racing.
If that was true, he wanted to help others of his own kind. Like paranormals, Espers were considered non-human by the Humans Matter government and were rounded up and taken to rehabilitation facilities. According to the Humans Matter movement, Espers could still be useful to society. Whatever that meant. There had been a kid in his class who’d been taken away by the Discipline Squad, only to be returned months later, a ghost of his former self. He shuddered.
Dave and he drove out here to the Devils Hills territory in the hopes the dominant wolf pack would let them take shelter for a few days, because their grandmother once hid out here with their great-grandmother.
Santino stopped mid-conversation. “What did you say?”
Sylvia looked frustrated, probably at needing to repeat herself to adults.
“She said something about lost people,” he said.
Lance and Santino shared a hard look.
“Did she inherit Sabine’s abilities to sense humans and other species nearby?” Lance asked Santino.
At a drop of the hat, the two seemed to be working together now. Fascinating, he thought. Since they didn’t tell him to butt out or not listen in, he guessed they trusted him well enough. That revelation made him a little happy, because Dave and he already began to see the wolf pack as the family they never had.
“I don’t know. That’s the direction where our borders intersect with the human highway, though,” Santino replied.
Daryl blinked, realizing they referred to the same road Dave and he approached to beg the pack for help months ago.
“Deacon paid a visit to the vampire coven with Sabine and Joe,” Santino told Lance, who nodded.
“Whether there are people or not, the group patrolling that area just changed shifts. There might not be a soldier there. We’ll check the area ourselves and I’ll decide if these outsiders can stay or not.”
Santino didn’t argue. Another werewolf approached them, Jared.
“Beta, Cheryl, one of Malden’s werehawks, reported there’s a car that stopped on the border bisecting our area with the humans’ land. There seem to be five of them. Four adults and one child.”
Daryl knew the wolf pack had ties to all the paranormal groups in towns, and the hawks worked as the eyes and ears of the community.
“Humans?” Santino asked, and he heard the hatred in the enforcer’s voice. Shit. Daryl knew Santino would most likely turn these people away.
Jared looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to tell if they’re Espers on the run, humans, or a mix of both. What do we do?”
“Jared, take Daryl and the pups back to the pack compound,” Santino said. “The Beta and I will handle this.”
Jared appeared surprised to see Daryl there but didn’t say anything. His friend, Daryl knew, took his soldier duties seriously.
“Wait,” he interrupted. “I can help you guys. Let me read their emotions, see if they can be a threat to the pack.”
“You can do that?” Jared asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, I can tell if they’re nervous or afraid—afraid for their safety or for other sinister reasons.” Before Daryl started apprenticing under an older and more experienced empath, he couldn’t pry that deep into a person’s heart, but he’d gotten better at it now.
“Absolutely not,” Santino automatically said.
At the same time, Lance replied, “Let’s do it.”
Both men looked at each other, looking ready to tear out each other’s throats again.
“I’m Beta here and my authority overrides yours. Jared, take the pups back to safety. Daryl’s coming with us,” Lance said in a hard voice, much to his relief and Santino’s pissed-off growl.
Chapter Eight
“I have heard that one of your enforcers recently mated a human. Congratulations are in order, Alpha. It’s about time the strong of your pack found balance in a mate,” Ezekiel, the vampire king, said.
With Ezekiel, Deacon didn’t know whether Ezekiel was complimenting him or insulting him for Forrest choosing a human for a mate. In a vampire’s eyes, humans existed at the bottom of a food chain.
If Deacon’s father remained alive, he wouldn’t have approved of Deacon letting a vampire coven reside in their territory. Deacon had kept a close watch over Ezekiel and his growing coven, and over the years, and they’d always backed him when needed.
Deacon still didn’t trust them fully as much as he did Malden and their hawk allies. No sane individual would truly trust vampires who almost always had their own agenda, but Deacon acknowledged he needed them.
To make the Devil Hills community strong, untouchable by the Humans Matter government, Deacon knew he needed powerful allies to help hold the land. That was what differentiated Devil Hills from the other closed-off paranormal communities who stubbornly only accepted their own kind.
Ezekiel said he was five centuries old, but Sabine told him the vampire king probably lived much longer than that. Few vampire kings could have a daylight meeting like this. True, the windows of the coven house were tinted, but the fact Ezekiel chose to meet at this hour was a subtle flaunt of his power.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Ezekiel.” Vampires, in Deacon’s experience, liked to talk far too much about nothing. Ezekiel’s second-in-command, Madeline, the Pie Queen Daryl beat at the competition, flashed her dainty fangs at Joe, who snarled back in return.
They never had these meetings alone. Ezekiel always had his second or third standing on either side of him, and Deacon always brought Sabine or Santino and one other enforcer with him. The more experienced Espers knew how to manipulate an unsuspecting mind, but vampires had centuries of practice to perfect mind games.
He took Sabine today, knowing Santino lacked the patience to deal with the vampires. One of Ezekiel’s vampires made the error of approaching Santino before only to have his throat nearly ripped out.
Ezekiel looked disappointed. “Come now, Alpha. I thought we could spend more quality time together,” Ezekiel said.
Joe let out another growl. Madeline, flashed a fang-tooth smile at Joe. Both vampires were beautiful, but Deacon and his enforcers knew they wielded their looks like weapons. Rumor had it that Ezekiel’s bloodline originated from incubi and succubi, and whatever their abilities were, it probably had to do with lust and sex.
“Why did you call this meeting?” Deacon asked.
Standing to the right of him, Sabine touched his shoulder. Deacon noticed Ezekiel and Madeline’s pale faces watching their interaction with open interest. The vampires always seemed fascinated with his relationship with the siblings.
Something happen? he asked her mind-to-mind, knowing she wouldn’t have interrupted him without reason.
She answered immediately, Santino says a car carrying four people and one child arrived at our road border. Lance agreed to take Daryl because the Esper insisted he could help tell if they’re threats or not.
Deacon suppressed a growl, but the anger must have shown on his face, because Ezekiel asked, “Problem?”
“Nothing my wolves can’t handle,” he replied automatically.
Fuck. What was Lance thinking bringing Daryl along? Deacon couldn’t give into his anger, though, not in front of the vampires who could smell weakness from a mile away.
“Deacon, you’re always so uptight. Why do you always act like you’re waiting for us to stab you in the back?” Ezekiel asked in a hurt voice, but the vampire king, Deacon knew, was a good actor. “Let me assure if that happens, I’ll warn you first.”
“Are you threatening the Alpha?” Joe interjected.
“Don’t speak to our king like that, wolf,” Madeline snapped, narrowing her red-slit eyes.
“No one meant any insult,” Sabine
said in a calm voice.
“Of course, I believe you, Sabine,” Madeline purred at her, literally, like some kind of cat. Deacon shifted his gaze to the female vampire, frown on his lips.
Madeline went on, “I hear you still sleep alone. If none of the wolves in your pack interest you, I’m available. You have my number.”
Deacon shook his head, rising to his feet. He’d never understand vampires. He spoke, “Ezekiel, I didn’t mean to offend you. However, if there’s nothing else important to discuss, we need to cut this meeting short.”
“I’ve heard an interesting rumor from one of my younger vampires last night. Joseph was invited to your full moon gathering by one of your wolves,” Ezekiel said when Deacon was at the door with Joe and Sabine.
Deacon gritted his teeth. He didn’t have time for this. Really? One of his wolves invited a vampire to their gathering? That young pup would definitely get a talking-to. “What’s that?” Deacon asked.
“That Esper you took in recently caught your attention, the one able to read emotions. True or false?”
Madeline muttered, “Daryl Rush.”
He spun, felt Sabine’s hand on his shoulder.
They’re just fishing for information, seems like vampires do that when they’re bored, she told him.
Are you saying that from personal experience? Deacon asked.
She didn’t answer but he took her advice and did the wise thing and walked away. The mansion Ezekiel built for the coven was empty save for the vampires’ daylight servants, a mix of humans, lone shifters, and Espers. Deacon knew all these men and women served the vampires by their own will, though, that had been one of the agreements he made with Ezekiel when the vampire king requested to move his coven here. Normally, Deacon had strict rules about letting humans inside their lands, but the vampires vouched for their human servants and weren't part of his pack.
Finally, they exited the large house and the extensive property and headed back into Joe’s truck. His thoughts went to Daryl, and he decided Lance might not be the one to blame. Knowing his willful little Esper, Daryl probably volunteered to come along. Daryl did have a problem of wanting to help others too much.
“Sabine, do you seriously have that leech bitch’s number?” Joe grumbled at the wheel.
Deacon glanced at the rearview mirror to see her seated in the back seat.
“We worked with the vampires on a co-op mission to flush out some hyena shifter stranglers a few weeks ago, remember?” she replied, looking out the windows with disinterest.
“Sure,” Joe said, starting the engine. “Sorry, I made the wrong conclusions. Where to, Alpha?”
“The border, speed up,” Deacon commanded.
“Did something happen?” Joe asked.
Sabine updated Joe, a good thing, too, because Deacon had plenty of ideas about how to go about punishing his little Esper who seemed inconsiderate about his own life. What if these visitors ended up being spies?
“Lance is dealing with a group of travelers looking to take refuge in Devil Hills,” Sabine said.
Joe gave him a wary look before looking at the road ahead once more.
“Don’t you trust the Beta’s judgement?” Joe asked.
Deacon growled, clenching his jaw.
“That’s not the issue,” Sabine unhelpfully said.
“What is?” Joe asked.
“None of your business yet,” Deacon snapped, then regretted it instantly.
“This have anything to do with Daryl Rush?” Joe asked.
Deacon reeled in his worried and therefore snappy wolf. Joe was a good enforcer, easy-going and someone weaker packmates were able to go to. While not the most powerful of his six, Joe lacked Santino’s temper, Forrest’s recklessness, and Max’s inability to work with others. Joe was like Isabella, his oldest enforcer, level-headed and reasonable, but Isabella was currently resting after her difficult pregnancy.
“Something like that,” Deacon said. Joe passed the main town area now and started on the road which would take them to the border. He continued, “The more important issue is the fact we have visitors so soon. I don’t like it.”
Avoiding the topic? Sabine asked him.
The way you avoided talking about that vampire? he asked.
Madeline isn’t as bad as you think.
Deacon didn’t comment further. She was an adult, and if a fling with a vampire meant her taking interest in the world again, then good for Sylvia, Santino, him, and the rest of the pack.
“Will you be reasonable about these visitors?” Sabine asked out loud, for Joe’s sake.
“Define unreasonable,” he said in a careful voice.
“There is a chance these visitors are not what they seem,” Sabine agreed. “It’s a little suspicious, especially after the Discipline Squad stopped sending search teams for Daryl, but there’s also the chance all these travelers want is shelter.”
“I agree,” Joe said. “I don’t like how more and more people seem to be flocking to our lands, but what if turning them away means their deaths at the hands of those Humans Matter bastards?”
They arrived at the site now. Deacon’s wolf rose to the surface, seeing Daryl in the middle of what looked like a heated argument between a frightened group of people huddled near their car and Lance and Santino. Both his Beta and enforcer remained in human form, but through the pack bonds, Deacon sensed two more soldiers hidden in the trees. Hawk shifters remained perched on the trees, as well.
“Sabine,” he said before they got out of the truck.
Deacon killed the urge to go to Daryl’s side instantly. He carefully studied the frightened group begging for their help. A thirty-something man held a tired-looking red-haired pregnant woman to him and a young boy. Next to them stood a twenty-something frightened young man and a forty-something gray-haired man who kept looking left and right.
Sometimes Espers, especially those who had to hide their abilities to survive, had the same scent as humans, but Deacon’s wolf told him something wasn’t right with that skittish looking gray-haired male.
“The two redheads are Espers, so is the boy. The husband is human, but that older man,” Sabine murmured. “Something is strange about him. Off. He feels like one of those rehabilitated Espers. I need to get close to confirm.”
Deacon got out of the car, decision made. For years, the pack seldom allowed outsiders into their lands, especially humans. True, he let some Esper families take temporary shelter, but those Espers eventually moved on after a time period.
He made an exception for David and Daryl Rush. The brothers ended up being assets to the pack, but that didn’t apply to other strangers. The pack lucked out with Dave and Daryl, but Deacon knew he couldn’t rely on chance all the time. Recalling the nightmare of the massacre of his parents and former packmates turned his mood dark.
Chapter Nine
Tires squealing on asphalt warned Daryl another car stopped on the road. Deacon, Joe, and Sabine came out, but even from this distance, he could sense negativity surrounding the Alpha. Daryl swallowed, seeing Deacon’s hard, merciless black eyes land on the Baxter family, Zane, and Walt.
Finally, Deacon rested his gaze on him. Hoo boy, the Alpha seemed mad, and he didn’t seem to be the only one. Lance frowned at Deacon, contemplative look on his face. A moment ago, Lance had used his position to override Santino’s decisions, and now, the Alpha was here. Daryl had a feeling they wouldn’t air their problems out in the open, not in front of outsiders. Why did he also have a feeling Deacon was here because of him?
“Who is he?” Zane, the Esper who looked about Daryl’s age, asked with evident fear in his voice.
Daryl didn’t answer him. He felt for the Esper, but his loyalty was to Deacon and the pack he considered family first. All he could do was try to convince Deacon and the rest to help them out for a few days.
“What’s their story?” Deacon finally asked.
“Says they came from New City, fleeing the Discipline Squad,” Santino ans
wered, looking unhappy. As if on cue, the hawk shifters in the trees let out shrill, piercing shrieks in agreement.
“That song sounds familiar,” Joe commented.
“What does that mean? Please,” the red-haired woman whispered, looking to Deacon. “Are you,” she hesitated, “the leader of this community? I hear the paranormals of Devil Hills allow fugitives to take shelter, even for a few days.”
The woman clutched the shoulders of the boy, probably her son, who began to cry. His heart bled for them, especially for the pregnant woman. John Baxter was human, but his wife Linda, their kid Tommy, and the unborn child in Linda’s belly had Esper blood running in their veins.
If the Discipline Squad was truly gunning for them, they wouldn’t have much trouble rounding up this ragtag group. Daryl had to admit that hearing that they came from the same city as Dave and him made him want to help them even more. Daryl heard enough. Everyone could see they’d been through hell, probably the same ordeal Dave and he had gone through.
“Why did you bring Daryl with you?” Deacon asked Lance outright, black gaze unhappy, but the Beta didn’t flinch or lower his eyes the way submissive or weaker werewolves did in front of the Alpha. Aggressive waves rolled of Deacon, and Lance clenched his fists. Was Deacon doing something using the pack bonds? Shit. This seemed more personal now.
He noticed Santino edging closer to him and he let out a huff. Did Deacon ask that of the enforcer?
“I trust Daryl’s judgement, and he volunteered to use his abilities for the pack,” Lance said through gritted teeth. “Deacon, we’ll need to talk soon about this new addition in your life.”
“Not here,” Deacon finally said.
“You’re an Esper, but you’re part of a wolf pack?” Zane asked him, looking confused.
Deacon turned that scary yellow-black gaze on him now, then back at the frightened group. “No, we’re not running a homeless shelter here. Move on and find some other place.” Deacon turned his back. “There’s another paranormal community if you continue north of here. The Blue Mountains wolves might help you.”
