Ashwood Falls Volume Two (Books 3, 3.5, and 4)

by Lia Davis

  The admission wasn’t a surprise. His leopard had known all along. It had just taken the man too long to see it.

  His phone rang, drawing a growl from him and making Addyson laugh. He pulled the cell out and answered with a sharp, “Yeah.”

  Blaine’s amusement filtered through the line. “Bad time?”

  Keegan was not amused. “Speak.”

  “Still barking orders like an Alpha.” Blaine’s voice faded a little as if he’d pulled the phone away from his face, and then Keegan heard Max’s voice right before Blaine came back to the phone. “Travis got a few replies to your broadcast.”

  A thrill spiked through Keegan at the possibility that Onyx could finally get what they deserved. “No shit? How many?”

  “Three other Elders stepped forward and await your appointments to the Council. I’ve called a meeting, and Alec is setting up a videoconference. Meet me at the office in five.” Blaine hung up, and Keegan met Addyson’s gaze.

  Her expression told him she understood. He also knew she was still searching through her lost memories. He kissed her lips and asked, “Are you okay?”

  She smiled again, but this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes, just worried.” She nibbled on her bottom lip and averted her gaze.

  He gently took her chin and directed her gaze back to his. “This is a good thing for all breeds of shifters. We may not be able to completely stop Onyx, but we will definitely leave a message that we aren’t sitting back waiting anymore.”

  She relaxed a little and pushed off his lap. “I know. It’s a positive step that the den and other Packs need right now.”

  God, he loved her. His strong, submissive, beautiful snow leopard.

  He stood and pulled her to him. “What will you do while I’m gone?”

  She nipped at his chin playfully. “I thought I’d go to the nursery and talk with Rhea and visit with the kids. Without my gloves.”

  His chest filled with pride for her. “Going to work on building your shields?”

  She nodded. “Yep.”

  He smiled. “Be careful. Those kids know how to put spells on you that will make you do anything they want.”

  Laughing, she slapped at his chest. “They only do that with you.”

  He kissed her forehead and stepped away. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  A shy smile crossed her face. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  ****

  Five minutes later, Keegan sat to the right of Blaine at the large conference table with Jared and Kieran looking at the three Elders that had joined the meeting via video feed, two males and one female, each from a different Pack and each a different breed of shifter. Keegan had worked with each of them over the years.

  What surprised him was the bear, Donovan Parker. Bears tended to stay to themselves and almost never got involved in Council business.

  Donovan was a large biker type. He had long blond hair that hung loose around his shoulder and a full beard that extended about four inches below his chin.

  Keegan nodded. “Donovan.”

  The bear sat back in his chair and gave a short nod. “It’s good to see you again, Keegan.”

  Keegan focused on the other male, a puma and ex-Alpha of Crimson Stone—the puma Pack about fifty miles south of Ashwood Falls. “Ryker.”

  Ryker Stone was the typical alpha male with light brown hair and dimpled cheeks. He looked much too young by human standard to buy alcohol despite being over six hundred years old. He only stood about five nine, but carried a power inside him that rivaled most Alphas Keegan knew. He was forced into the position by his father, right before his father died. Since he was the only child of the Alpha pair, he couldn’t refuse the power transfer. As Keegan understands it, the Alpha magick won’t go to anyone outside the Alpha family as long as there’s a blood relative alive.

  The puma nodded his greeting, and Keegan moved to the third Elder, Micaela Callahan. She was the retired Marshal of the tiger Pack in the mountains of Virginia. Tall and exotic, she had straight black hair and dark brown eyes.

  Micaela didn’t waste time with niceties. She cut right to the point of the meeting and threw in her bid. “I want to see the Onyx Pack go down, and I’m happy to serve on the Council to see that happen.”

  “The tigress has claws.” Donovan chuckled.

  Micaela just shrugged and replied, “I’m not afraid to use them, bear.”

  Before Donovan had a chance to bite out a retort, Blaine cut in. “We’re here for a reason. If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop wasting my time and get this done so I can go back to my mates and kids.”

  Micaela’s lips twitched in amusement. “Keegan, your son hasn’t fallen far from the tree.” When Blaine let a growl in warning, she rolled her eyes and continued. “I accept the invitation to take a seat on the Council of Elders. I vow to cast judgment fairly and in the best interest of all shifter Packs under our jurisdiction.”

  One by one, the other two males, Kieran, and Keegan spoke their vows similar to Micaela’s. When finished, Keegan nodded to Jared, and the jaguar signed as a witness on the contract he’d drafted earlier that would legally bond the five of them together as the Council of the Elders.

  Blaine met Luna’s eye for a brief moment then addressed the group. “Jared found a clause in the law that provides the loophole we need to go after Felix and his followers.”

  Ryker, Donovan, and Micaela sat up straighter in their chairs, interest and eagerness crossing their faces.

  Jared spoke up to explain the clause. “It says if an Alpha has directly or indirectly attacked another Alpha, the Council can vote on a punishment.”

  Micaela grinned. “Well then. Let’s go get the bastard and put him down.”

  Ryker and Donovan chimed in at the same time with their support. Keegan didn’t have to ask what Felix had done to them. He knew. Each of their Packs had been attacked much like Ashwood and MoonRiver was. Lives of people they loved and protected had been lost to the greed of an insane, power-hungry leopard.

  Ryker growled. “I vote to go bring him in for a very public trial.”

  Donovan nodded. “I second that.”

  Keegan raised a brow to Micaela, and she let out a breath. “I’d rather kill him on the spot, but, yes, we need to bring him in for trail.”

  Kieran raised his hand, putting in his vote. Keegan closed the meeting after putting in his vote and sharing the plan to go into the Onyx den to arrest Felix and his Marshals. The mutants weren’t considered “natural born shifters” under law and, therefore, were not protected by it.

  They would die on spot.

  Chapter 17

  Keegan, with Kieran on one side and Hayden on the other, came to a stop at the wards surrounding what Kieran said was the Onyx’s land. Keegan clenched his jaw, not believing just how close the rogues were to his home.

  Kieran said the den was inside the mountain they now stood on, and in order to get inside, they had to take a very steep and narrow path down a ravine. It wasn’t the only entrance, but it was the only one that enabled them to get around the wards with enough time to get inside the den.

  Keegan started down the path first against Hayden’s request to let him test the ground. Hayden’s growl and the sounds of his footsteps on his heels amused Keegan. When would the wolf Marshal learn? Keegan hadn’t followed his or Blaine’s advice on safety when he was Alpha, and he damn sure wasn’t going to do it as an Elder either.

  Once at the bottom of the ravine, Keegan scanned the area and waited for Felix’s soldiers and mutants to charge them. No one jumped out at them. Hayden and Kieran stepped up next to him. “Everything is too quiet.”

  Kieran marched forward, forcing Keegan and Hayden to follow. “Yeah. Something is up.”

  “Keegan.” Travis’s voice entered his mind. The tracker had taken a small team to the main entrance of the den. “This feels like a trap to me. I think he’s been tipped off.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Keegan replied back telepa
thically then focused on Kieran. “How much do you trust Sable?”

  Kieran’s mouth thinned. “For her sake, I hope she hasn’t betrayed me or Ana. But I trust my gut, and she’s against her father’s twisted mission as much as we are.”

  Keegan wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know Sable and had never come into connect with her. He did know, however, that she was Jared’s mate. Keegan hoped for Jared’s sake that Sable really was on the right team.

  “Keep your eyes and ears open. We’re not as alone as it appears.” Keegan moved toward an opening in the mountain wall. He entered into a tunnel. He blinked several times to allow his eyes to adjust to the lack of light as he proceeded down the tunnel and toward the low hum of other people’s thoughts.

  Several feet inside, Keegan saw a dim light ahead, stopped, and held a hand up. Kieran and Hayden stopped beside him.

  “What is it?” Hayden asked.

  Keegan listened. The hum he’d thought was the side effect of his telepathic gift was all wrong. The sound was more like soft mutters, and they were not in his head. “This is definitely a setup.”

  Kieran sniffed the air and growled. “The mountain is rigged to blow.”

  The three of them turned to the exit of the tunnel just as an explosion went off, shaking the mountain. Keegan hit the floor and cover his head. Rock and dirt caved in around them. When the dust cleared, Keegan stood and cursed. The entrance to the tunnel was blocked, forcing them to go farther inside the den.

  “Trapped like rats,” Hayden growled out.

  Kieran pushed at them to move. “Keep going. Our only way out is up.”

  They ran up the tunnel until it split into two sections. Kieran pointed. “Go right.”

  Keegan didn’t hesitate. He rushed right and ran into dead end. “What the fuck, Kieran?”

  Kieran turned on his phone to light up the space and point it to the wall. He fingered a few bricks, and a door opened. Light spilled out into the tunnel, and Keegan could tell the room was a bedroom.

  Keegan followed Kieran inside with Hayden close behind. That was when he noticed the room was the Alpha’s chambers. Yet, he didn’t scent Felix within.

  As if knowing what he was thinking, Kieran said, “This was Sable’s apartment. Felix thought he was too good to stay here with the soldiers so close by.”

  Keegan nodded. It sounded like the arrogant ass. “Or he didn’t want anyone knowing what his plans were.” Felix trusted no one. Not even his Marshal and enforcers.

  Another explosion sounded off from somewhere inside the den. The ground shook, throwing Keegan and the other two males off balance.

  “There must be charges all over the den,” Hayden said.

  Keegan agreed. “And they are most likely set to go off one by one until the mountain caves in.”

  Keegan rushed through the apartment and out into a hallway. “Which way, Kieran?”

  Kieran pushed past and lead them down the hall then turned left to a large community center. It reminded him of an indoor courtyard much like the one Ashwood had in the center of the den. Kieran pointed straight ahead, and Keegan smiled.

  Large double doors marked the den’s main entrance. They took a step toward them then stopped as four very large half-man, half-wolf mutants stepped in their path.

  Hayden growled. “Looks like the gatekeepers have arrived.”

  Keegan sent out a mental call to Travis. “We’re at the front exit and need backup.”

  The mutants charged them. Keegan ducked a blow and kicked out a leg to trip the half-wolf. The creature stumbled, giving Keegan the time he needed to draw his gun and fire.

  “They aren’t as fast as we are. Use your speed,” he called out to the others.

  The next instant Keegan was hit in the side by another mutant. They fell to the floor and slid until Keegan’s back slammed against the rock wall. Pain shot up his spine, and he gritted his teeth and tried to breathe through it. He met the fierce stare of the creature now holding him by the neck and reached inside his mind with his own.

  Keegan used the healing side of his telepathy to alter the mutant’s thought patterns. He wasn’t sure it’d work. It was a little like mindbending, except, when Keegan did it, he was left drained. A side effect he’d gladly submit to if it meant saving his Pack mates from blowing up along with this damned mountain.

  He knew the moment he had control over the mutant’s mind. His blank stare became that of recognition. For a split moment, Keegan saw who the man had been before becoming the creature stuck in mid-shift. A human male fugitive on the run from the law.

  Well, at least Keegan would be doing both worlds a favor.

  “Attack the other mutants.”

  The creature tilted his head then released Keegan’s neck. Keegan slid to the ground, and his legs and arms felt useless. Keegan watched as the mutant grabbed another one and tossed him across the room then attacked the other one.

  Kieran and Hayden looked stunned and a little confused. They turned to Keegan just as the front doors blew open and Travis, with his team of sentries, stormed in.

  Hayden was the first to reach Keegan. “What the hell happened?”

  “I...took control of...his mind,” Keegan spoke through gulps of air. Fuck. That had taken more out of him than he expected. “Have to go. Bombs.”

  Hayden wrapped an arm around his waist, placed his shoulder under Keegan’s arm, and lifted him up. “Everyone out. The place is rigged to blow.”

  Everything started to grow dark, but Keegan fought to stay alert, to make sure his males got out safely. He was losing the battle as the last of his energy left his body and his mind shut down in exhaustion.

  Chapter 18

  Keegan opened his eyes unsure where he was and what had woken him. After scanning the room, he relaxed and smiled. Addyson’s room. It was the only thing that made sense. Her scent was everywhere, and the cloak she wore in public was draped over the chair next to the dresser.

  Sitting up, he half expected to be hit by dizziness, but it didn’t come. In fact, he felt great. He stood and regretted his last thought. The room spun, and he had to spread his arms out to balance himself. He took a deep breath then a small step. The dizziness went away, and he was able to make it to the door without falling on his face.

  What the hell?

  “Dad! What are you doing?” Shay rushed down the hall toward him. The sundress she wore showed off her small protruding belly. His grandchild.

  He reached for her and drew her in for a hug. “I’m fine, princess.”

  “You need to rest.”

  He kissed her forehead, let her go, and walked down the stairs to the living room where he heard the voices of his sons as well as the wolves. Why the hell was everyone in Addyson’s house?

  When he entered the living room, he stopped in his tracks. Addyson held Max in her arms as she stood next to Luna, and Luna’s hand rested on her forearm. The women were talking quietly and laughing.

  His heart swelled, washing away the initial fear at seeing them touching. Then he had a thought. Had Max been able to heal Addyson’s sensitivity to touch? It was possible. The kid was an Empath and a Healer. Even at his young age, his powers were strong.

  Max twisted his head in Keegan’s direction and started wiggling until Addyson put him down. The three-year-old ran to Keagan and held his arms up. “Up, Grandpa.”

  Keegan lifted him up and smiled. “What are you up to, little man?”

  Max smiled shyly and said, “I healed Addy.”

  Keegan moved his gaze to Addyson, who was walking toward him now. She smiled at him and ran a hand down Max’s back. “My heart has been stolen by another.”

  Grinning, Keegan shrugged. “I can’t compete with this one.”

  She laughed. “Our little Healer is amazing. I mean, Ana had already showed me how to create a shield that worked and with my memories unlocked it became easier for me to build shields and hold them, but Max just touched my temples, and everything snapped in place. Now I don’t h
ave to focus as much to shield against others. I’m also gaining more control over my gift.”

  Keegan leaned in but jumped when Max yelled, “Mommy!” Then he wiggled until Keegan set him on his feet. Keegan looked at the door and saw Graham and Cameron walk in. Cameron caught Max as he jumped at her.

  Shay patted him on the back. “Go sit. Blaine wants to brief us before we have dinner. I’m going to check on Rhea in the kitchen. I thought I saw Alec go that way.”

  Keegan chuckled and watched Shay dart off. Addyson laughed and tugged him to the sofa. When he sat with his mate snuggled in next to him, Blaine started filling him and everyone in on Onyx and the Council.

  “Hayden said the onyx den was empty, expect for a couple of crypt keepers.”

  Everyone laughed, and Hayden spoke up to correct Blaine. “I said gatekeepers.”

  Blaine’s lips twitched. “Same, same. Anyway, Kieran doesn’t believe it was an actual setup. He seems to think it was more bad timing on our part. I agree. But I also think Felix was tipped off somehow and decided to go on the run.”

  Keegan grunted in disgust. “Damn coward. He can’t run forever.”

  Hayden spoke next. “He sure can’t. We’ll give him a little rope and let him think we’re as dumb as he thinks we are. In the meantime, I got a couple of leads on a human rebel group called Shield. Their HQ is a few miles outside Memphis, Tennessee. I’m heading out there first thing in the morning, set up shop, and see what I can dig up.”

  Luna didn’t look pleased. “Take Tanner with you.”

  Hayden smirked. “Mom, that sounded so mom-like. ‘Take your little brother with you.’”

  Luna growled. “You know what I mean. His telekinesis will come in handy.”

  Hayden walked over to her and picked her up in a tight hug. Keegan could see her smile, even though she tried to hide it from her son.

  Keegan squeezed Addyson closer and met her gaze. Her violet eyes held so much light now, so much hope for the future. “I love you, and I’m so happy to be your bonded mate for the rest of our existence.”

  She teared up and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, too. I’m yours... forever.”