by Dean Murray
"I've heard rumors that you killed a southerner a little while back. Most of the packs seem to be dismissing the piece of the story that indicates that this cat was extremely dangerous, but I'm not. If anything, I suspect the rumors are understating just how powerful he was."
I leaned back in my chair, trying to buy myself a little distance mentally in which to think. She was trolling her bait very carefully and she most definitely had my attention.
"Why aren't you discounting that piece of the gossip?"
"Because he came across our section of the border and he wasn't quiet about it. He tore through us like we were a bunch of children, and the only reason he didn't stay and wipe my entire pack out is that I bluffed him into thinking the Coun'hij had a group of enforcers on their way already."
Tasha smiled at the stunned look on my face. "Exactly. You had six effectives, seven with Ash, assuming that I'm right in thinking he was in the mix for that one. Nearly half of your pack are hybrids, but we hit him with fourteen people and my mother got in a couple of blows that would have knocked any normal cat down for the count. He shrugged them off and just kept coming."
Ash spoke up. "You're not talking normal fisticuffs. You're implying that your mom hit him with her ability and he shrugged off the equivalent of a double Taser shot?"
"Actually, the last time we measured her ability she was closer to four times what a normal Taser hits for, and yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. My mother leads from the front and she hit him twice. Either discharge should have put even a very powerful hybrid down, but the cat we were up against shrugged both attacks off and went on to kill four of our pack. He almost killed my mother too."
If what we'd just been told was true, then the Tucson pack was in almost as bad of shape as we were. The border packs tended not to get challenged as often as the rest of us simply because most of the dispossessed weren't keen to take control of a pack that would be faced with having to repulse regular forays from the cats out of Mexico.
Even if they managed to avoid a string of challenges like what we were facing, they were still underpowered to be trying to stem the tide of southern shape shifters looking to escape northward. Especially if Tasha was right about the attacks becoming more numerous.
Tasha gave the three of us a minute to digest the information and then continued. "I think that this Anton that you took out was the same cat who gave us so much difficulty. If I'm right, that means whatever ability you manifested to kill Brandon is still working, at least intermittently. As I said earlier, I've come, quite literally, with a proposal. If I were to become Mrs. Alec Graves then we could unite our two packs and solve most of the problems facing both of us in one stroke."
Chapter 7
Alec Graves
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah
Ash and Donovan were each giving their best blank looks, but it was all I could do to keep my composure. As soon as the words had left her mouth, my beast surged forward in a bid to force a transformation. I held on to my shape, but it was a close thing and the edge of the table didn't survive.
Tasha looked down at the tabletop that I'd just crushed and pursed her lips. "Maybe I was a bit too straightforward. I'm not trying to back you into any kind of corner. Go ahead and take some time to talk it over. I'll be fine by myself for a little while."
I nodded stiffly and motioned for Donovan and Ash to follow me as I exited her room. A few minutes later we were safely ensconced in the privacy of Donovan's study.
"Okay, what do the two of you think?"
Ash thought for a couple of seconds and then shrugged. "It has potential. The Coun'hij has traditionally left the border packs pretty much alone because they are so vital to the security of the U.S. There's always a chance they'll still come after the Tucson pack regardless, but we'd have a much better chance of completing that kind of merger than we would with, say, the Chicago pack. A lot will depend on what kind of guarantees Tasha's mother is willing to offer. Everything I've heard is that she's one tough cookie."
Donovan cleared his throat and then proceeded at my nod. "The rumors are right. Jaclyn Annikov is incredibly dangerous. Many years before you were born, there was quite a bit of pressure inside the pack for your father to court her because she is nearly unbeatable in a fight. I've seen her in action, and Agony would never have dared provoke her the way he did your father."
This was news to me. Donovan was generally careful of how much he told me when it came to the thinking that had led up to my father's fight with Agony. Sometimes it seemed like he was worried I'd be influenced into following the exact same path. Not that he was particularly happy with the path I was currently on.
"So what happened?"
"Your father fell in love with your mother, and Jaclyn fell in love with Tasha's father. They both took humans as their mates, following their hearts rather than seeking out the most powerful hybrid they could find as so many of their peers had done."
I was pacing now, but I couldn't decide whether or not to be angry that Donovan had kept that information back from me for so many years. My feelings toward Donovan were nearly as conflicted right now as they would have been towards a biological father who'd started trying to push me down the road he thought was best for me.
"Was that the only reason the alliance didn't go through?"
Donovan shook his head and sighed in unhappiness. "Some of your father's advisors were worried that the move would be viewed as being too aggressive by the Coun'hij. It was an all-or-nothing type of gambit that was almost certain to cause an open confrontation between us and the Coun'hij, and they weren't positive that we could stand off Puppeteer."
"Do you still have contacts with the Tucson pack?"
"A few. We came so close to merging that most of the pack had a friend or two in Tucson at some point or another."
"What can the two of you tell me about Tasha? How powerful is she?"
Ash shrugged. "I have some suspicions, but that's all they are. Jaclyn keeps a very tight lid on her people, so there is very little information out there when it comes to her pack members, but there's even less information than normal on Tasha."
I pinned Donovan to his chair with my gaze for several seconds before he answered. "Ash's suspicions are correct. Jaclyn has been ruthlessly suppressing the information, but Tasha hasn't ever manifested a hybrid form. Some of her pack believe it is her father's legacy, but you would tend to disprove that theory. I know that Jaclyn is very worried about the future though. She so completely outclasses the dominants in her pack that she's been able to protect Tasha from most of the infighting, but once Jaclyn is gone, it is almost certain that Tasha will lose her position and be relegated to a role out on the fringe of the pack."
I nodded, understanding a bit more about her plan now. "So by combining our packs Jaclyn strengthens her position against the ongoing incursions from the south, and by buying me time to manifest my power, she'll also be ensuring her daughter's future after she's gone. It's not a bad plan, assuming that the Coun'hij will let her get away with it, and the dispossessed are a nonissue because she can drop any of them pretty much instantly."
I had to hand it to Tasha and her mother both. It was bold, almost to the point of recklessness, but it was the best option available to them. Sending Tasha to deliver it was risky. It would only be a matter of time before our whole pack knew that she was only a wolf, but without her presence here their plan wouldn't have had any chance of succeeding.
"What are the downsides?"
Donavan was first this time. "Your mother won't be willing to leave Sanctuary. Forcing her to do so would set her progress back decades."
I nodded and turned to Ash, who didn't look entirely happy to be sitting in the hot seat.
"When you get right down to it, Jaclyn doesn't really need anyone but you. You're the one who guarantees her daughter's position. The rest of us are just foot soldiers to help beat back the cats. Anytime you try and integrate two packs you're going to ha
ve some really, really nasty fights as the dominants try to sort out the new pecking order. Doing it on short notice, like we'd have to do for this to work, just makes all of that twenty times worse. If you go through with this, there's a very good chance that a couple of us will die."
The thought had already crossed my mind, but it was good to have Ash's perspective on it. He had spent a good chunk of his life being kicked around by Onyx, so he sometimes had a different take on the power struggles inherent in pack life than I did. I turned to go, but Donovan spoke up before I could leave.
"Master Alec, we haven't mentioned the most important consideration. This alliance will only go through if you marry Miss Annikov. Jaclyn Annikov is too shrewd to risk her daughter's future on an alliance that doesn't bind you as tightly to her as possible. Should you marry Miss Annikov, her mother will be watching you like a hawk. Any sign that you plan to do other than remain faithful to your vows after her death would lead her to take severe steps."
"I'd figured as much already. Let's keep all of this between the three of us for now. Also, anything we can do to keep Tasha clear of Addison would probably be worthwhile to pursue. We all know that she's the biggest leak we have, and I'd rather not start the negotiations out by letting Tasha's cat out of the bag."
I left Donovan's study and headed to Rachel's room. Dominic looked up as I entered the room and motioned for silence as she walked me back out into the hall.
"How is she doing, Dom? Any sign of improvement?"
Dominic shook her head, obviously distressed by Rachel's condition. She'd assumed the bulk of the weight of caring for Rachel as my poor little sister got worse and worse.
"No, Alec. She spends most of the day unconscious now. There's no fever, no symptoms at all other than a complete listlessness worse than anything I've ever seen."
"What did Doctor Samuels say when he came by?"
"He still doesn't know what's wrong with her. I helped him draw blood samples, but it was obvious that he didn't even know what tests to run on them next. Alec, I don't think it's a natural phenomenon."
I sighed. It was one more thing that I wasn't staying on top of, and out of all my priorities Rachel should be at the very top, but I didn't know what else to do for her. I'd hired a team of twenty doctors from across the country and hooked them up to a continuous video conference in an effort to find someone that could figure out what was wrong with her. Doctor Samuels came by once every other day or so to run whatever tests his peers came up with, but more and more I was convinced that Dom was right. Whatever was wrong with Rachel wasn't something the doctors were equipped to deal with.
"Can I have a few minutes alone with her?"
"Of course. Just call me on your way out and I'll come back and keep an eye on her."
"Thanks, Dom. I really appreciate it."
Dom offered up a tired smile and then slowly walked away. Whatever was after Rachel was still after Dom as well, and while she was dealing with it better than Rachel, she was still getting worse, too.
One more thing to worry about. I turned and went into Rach's room. Rachel had pushed the sleeves of her pajamas up, revealing arms that were much too skinny. Rachel had always been slender, but she'd really lost weight recently.
I watched for several minutes as Rachel restlessly tossed and turned, but she didn't wake up and I didn't want to deprive her of whatever little benefit she might be getting from her troubled sleep.
"I'm sorry, Rachel. You deserve better than this, but I don't know what else to do for you right now. Hang in there; the doctors will find something soon."
I stood to go, but Rachel's eyes snapped open and she grabbed my hand with surprising strength despite her emaciated form.
"Dominic."
"Calm down, Rach, you'll hurt yourself. I'll call Dom and she'll be back in just a minute."
Rachel shook her head desperately and suddenly her grip on my hand felt fevered.
"No, Alec. Dominic needs to take the center. If she doesn't, then everything stands at risk."
My mind spun wildly for several seconds before I realized that Rachel had to be hallucinating. I sat back down and patted her hand.
"It's okay, Rach. I'll help Dom take the center and everything will be okay."
She grabbed my shoulders and pulled herself up nearly to a sitting position. "I know you don't believe me, Alec. I can see it. You need to though, it's important."
There was something about her tone and expression that stopped my response before I could open my mouth. It was like something other than my little sister was looking up at me from behind her eyes.
We locked gazes for several seconds and then Rachel fell back into her bed and closed her eyes. I checked her pulse as I dialed Dom, but Rachel seemed to just be resting easily now. Dom arrived a couple of minutes later, but didn't have any better idea of what to make of Rachel's cryptic demands than I did.
I thanked Dom again for taking care of Rachel and then left, wandering more or less aimlessly through the house until Kristin intercepted me outside of the theater room.
"Alec, we need to talk."
I stopped and looked at her, which seemed to unnerve her more than I would have expected.
"I can walk with you. Where were you headed?"
My shrug didn't seem to help her state of mind any. "I'm not sure. I didn't really have a destination in mind."
Kristin looked at me for nearly half a minute. "I've never seen you not know exactly where you were headed. Usually you're rushing somewhere and heaven help anyone who gets in your way."
"I guess I'm having an off day. What did you want to talk about?"
She shook herself slightly, as though trying to distance herself from a world where I didn't know where I was headed.
"When Ash and I were on the run from Anton I had a dream about us being attacked. The next day he attacked us and it went down almost exactly like my dream. The only differences seemed to be tied back directly to me having told Ash about my dream. I can't control it and it's only happened once since then, but I'm pretty sure my dreams are a form of precognition. Ash can back me up if you don't believe me."
"What did you dream? You're not the type to overshare, Kristin, so you wouldn't be telling me all of this if you hadn't just had a dream that you figured you needed my help to deal with."
"There's going to be another challenge soon, a huge black hybrid. In my dream I saw the challenger standing over Ash. James was streaking towards the fight, but before he could get there the hybrid ripped Ash's heart out of his chest."
Her voice broke a little as she related the details of Ash's death.
"You told Ash what you saw?"
"Yes, but he just asked me if I'd seen any of the actual fight and then shrugged. I think he thinks that his knowing about the dream will be enough to save him, that he'll do something different this time."
They were still feeling their way forward in their relationship, but I knew they really cared about each other. Kristin would do whatever she thought she had to do when it came to saving Ash. I stared at her for several seconds but she met my gaze without blinking.
"He could be right. Knowing that the challenger will kill him might give Ash the edge he needs to come out on top this time."
Kristin balled both of her hands into fists and took a step towards me. "The dream didn't have any of that kind of information in it. Ash would have already gone into that fight knowing that it was for keeps. How is he going to avoid it without more information than he has right now? You need to keep him out of the fight with the black hybrid."
"Who do I send in first instead? Jess is still pretty much worthless in a fight, Dom practically has to rest when she gets to the top of a set of stairs, and Jasmin isn't in much better shape than Dom right now."
"I don't know, Alec. You're the boss; you need to figure it out. Send James in, or get Isaac back here and throw his butt into the ring. If you don't come up with an alternative then Ash is going to die and I'm going to hold yo
u responsible!"
A threat like that wasn't a good idea at the best of times, but in my current state I didn't have even a prayer of stopping the transformation that ripped through me as my beast took exception to what she'd just said.
Ash had done his work well. Kristin was scared out of her mind—I could smell her fear and most people would have been paralyzed by the intensity of her feeling. Despite that, she threw herself backward, drawing the handgun holstered under her left arm while she was still in the air. Her training was already superb, but she didn't have a prayer; I outmatched her physically by too great a degree for her to compensate for my inborn abilities.
My right hand closed over the top of her pistol before she could finish bringing it around. Her backward lunge had bought her a fraction of a second, but it still wasn't enough to compensate for my greater speed. I'd covered the distance between us in a single step and my left hand was already shooting forward towards her when I heard the safety click on Ash's gun.
"You both need to stand down. Kristin, you need to apologize to Alec. Alec, if you hurt her, I swear I'll kill you. You're fast, but I've got you dead to rights and this isn't my normal nine mil. These rounds will go all the way through you and laugh as they blow big exit wounds out the other side."
I effortlessly ripped the handgun out of Kristin's grasp and then turned towards Ash with a flare of power that left no question as to who was dominant, but I didn't try to close the distance between us.
"Were you planning on using those rounds this morning before Kristin told you about her dream?"
Ash shook his head slowly, but his gun never wavered. "No, I had my normal caliber loaded up, but it's becoming apparent that they don't work very well on hybrids. Too much tissue to go through before you can get to something important."
"So this might make the difference?"
"Maybe. There's only one way to know for sure."
Kristin hissed something angry at the two of us but Ash quieted her with a wave. "All of the considerations we talked about earlier today haven't changed. If we can't establish a bit of depth to our lineup then we're screwed. Even Tasha's proposal will need a little bit of time before it will have a noticeable deterrent effect."
