“And to rescue she-cats if there are any left alive.”
“I don’t know if Esta will like that.”
Nicolas leapt over a fallen tree, loving the feel of wild beneath his paws. “What do you mean?”
Aster made the same leap. “I think she’ll be jealous.”
“She’s going with us.”
“That should make it easier.” Aster said with a sigh of satisfaction.
Aster wasn’t just crazy, he was insane, and Nicolas needed that insanity for what was about to happen.
He told Aster everything, including the intricate history of the she-cats.
Aster’s voice grew colder than Nicolas had ever heard it, “Every cat that touched them will die.”
“I think you and Esta may get on better than I thought.”
“Is there a spare bedroom for the two of us?” Aster sounded hopeful.
“Now we’re back to crazy. She will have a say.”
“Yes, but I have a feeling our beasts won’t be apart for long.”
“Let’s head back so I can be entertained.”
“The entertainment may get bloody.”
“You cannot challenge until the month is up.”
“I’m talking about our courtship.”
They headed back to the cabin and stopped fifty feet away. Through the trees they saw everyone outside watching as a she-cat ran up one of the logs holding up the porch and leap to the roof.
“That’s my cat.” Aster’s low voice gave away his feeling of awed wonder.
“Let’s see what’s going on before you claim her.”
“Too late, alpha.”
“Insane,” Nicolas mumbled under his breath after he shifted.
Madayah tried next. She wasn’t as graceful as Esta and it took two attempts, but she managed to scramble up. Talya stood quietly by and pouted. With only one arm she didn’t have a chance.
Nikka made it on her first try.
The two wolves walked closer, looking up at the roof. One hundred and forty pounds of cat flew down onto Aster. He went to the ground and Esta’s claws extended, allowing the tips to enter his naked chest.
Every pack member heard her words in their head. “I’m available, wolf, but you’ll have a hell of a fight.” She retracted her claws and turned away, taking a leap and climbing the log again.
Aster smiled and wiped the blood from his chest. “I told you, alpha.”
Chapter Thirty-seven
After dinner, Nicolas laid out his plan to search for she-cats.
Zenya remained frozen in silence.
Esta spoke first, “My job is to protect your mate. Nikka will go in my stead.”
“I won’t make you go, but I believe my mate can protect herself with Nikka and McDonald by her side. I need you to talk to the women if we find any alive and convince them to come with us.”
Esta looked at Zenya, “I promised to keep you safe.”
“The women need you. I’m safe here.” Annoyance at her mate clouded her words.
Esta looked at Aster, “Are you going, wolf?”
“I plan to kill more cats than you.”
Esta accepted the challenge. “I’ll go.”
For a wolf, not thought to be the brightest, Aster easily handled difficult she-cat.
Nicolas looked around the room, stopping to meet the eyes of each of his fighters. “We’re going in fast. Getting out will be harder, but even then we’ll have Samson waiting on day five. If we don’t show, he leaves without us.”
Madayah spoke up, “You have a traitor. What if they know you’re coming?”
“That’s why we didn’t leave right away. Marcus, Amy, and Columbus will know where we’re going. Everyone else thinks we’re heading to Brandt’s home in Colorado. We’ll fly north, land an hour from here, and jump onto Brandt’s plane while ours continues to his property. We touch down in Mexico City and go from there.”
“Who are you taking?” Troy asked.
“Esta, Reece, Bernard, and Aster. Dmitri is giving us two bears; they’ll be waiting when we switch planes.”
Troy sounded slightly frustrated, “You still don’t have enough. Why so few?”
Nicolas turned to the concerned wolf. “This is quick. I have intel that several females are in a camp on the Guatemala border. From Mexico City we take one truck as far as possible.”
Troy wouldn’t let up, “What about Vorlyk?”
Nicolas knew the wolf wanted to be in on the fight but some things were up to the alpha. “The cats have a vamp who intercepts telepathic communication. If it’s live or die, I’ll risk it, but having a group of vamps against Vorlyk won’t help our cause.”
Zenya tried to keep the irritation from her voice but it was impossible, “No, but you could die with only one vamp against you.”
“Going is voluntary.” Nicolas didn’t look at his mate.
Annoyance turned to anger and rolled off Zenya, but Troy was pissed, too. “We just got you back.”
Fighting his instinct to just bark out the orders, he purposely controlled his voice, “We can’t leave these women to die, and we’re hoping they have information about more females.”
Zenya finally spoke up again with all the hurt she felt, dripping into her words, “So it never ends.”
This time Nicolas’s dark eyes turned to the woman he loved. “When I come back, I won’t leave you again until after the baby is born.”
She shook her head, “You say that now, but what if you don’t return?”
He reached for her hand, which was stiff and cold. “I’ll be back in six days.”
Her words were barely audible, “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
She looked away. Through the mate bond Nicolas felt her turmoil, sadness, and fury. He couldn’t risk her, especially carrying his child, the miracle of beastkind.
Zenya left the room, going out into the night, followed by her new guard, Nikka, and McDonald.
Nicolas let her have this time alone while they strategized.
When Zenya returned in cat form he finally called a stop to their meeting and followed her swishing tail to their bedroom. He closed the door behind them, keeping a wary eye on his mate.
She shifted and a naked Zenya stood before him. “I must have my say.”
He gave a solemn nod of his head.
With pleading eyes she said, “I dread the thought of your death. You belong by my side and I feel guilty about the women that I would have you leave to their fate. I’m selfish, but I love you more than my own life. Please don’t leave me.” Tears slid down her face.
He couldn’t help his step closer or pulling her stiff body into his embrace. He held her close, breathing his words into her soul. “Every day of torture brought me closer to death and further from the revenge in my heart. At times, I prayed for death, but a small flame kept my anger pure and allowed me one more breath for vengeance. With you, the hole in my heart healed and for a very short time my need for justice fell to the background of my consciousness, but it’s still there. It continues to burn because more than anything you and our child must be safe. The future of our clans rests with the women held by our enemies. The pain of leaving you is unbearable, but the pain of leaving them to fate is beyond comprehension. I understand your feelings and my wolf does not want to leave you. I am alpha; the combination of both wolf and man. It’s my burden and yours as my mate.”
Her quiet tears turned to soft sobs, but he continued, “I will return to you and then put aside my quest until you deliver our child.”
“But what then?” She couldn’t hold back her anguish.
“Then, we will decide our next course. I will never needlessly endanger you or our baby.”
“You make the decisions and do it without thought of me or our child.”
He pushed her away to look into her eyes but continued to hold her arms in a firm grip. “I. Am. Alpha. I cannot be any other way. Eventually someone will fight me for the title. I will win or I will lose. Death i
s always on my horizon. You will learn to live with it or you won’t, but I can’t change what I was born to be.”
Her eyes dropped and she breathed outward, her body going lax. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to their bed, laying down with her snug against his body. He ran his fingers through her tangled hair, parting the strands with his fingers and inhaling the aroma of her cat and her pregnancy.
Her tears slowed until she was able to speak again, “I will learn to fight. I will help protect what is ours, but I don’t know what to do if I lose you. You’re right. It could be tomorrow at the hands of our enemies or later at the hands of one of our pack. Now, at this moment, I need you to make love to me so I may remember your smell, your taste, and your spirit.”
He kissed her, rolling their bodies so he covered hers. Tonight was theirs, and tomorrow receded while they made promises of love and found joy in each other.
Chapter Thirty-eight
Zenya needed to appear happy and even managed to give a wrapped gift to Nicolas in front of several of Columbus’s pack mates for Emily and Brandt’s child. She didn’t know if the deception would work or if Nicolas would return, but she had to try. The traitor needed to take the bait.
After the plane departed and she was back at their cabin, staying in control was harder. Everyone felt her anguish, especially Talya. The young she-cat curled up with her on the couch, placing the side of her face against Zenya’s stomach.
“When will you first feel the baby?”
“Maybe in a couple of weeks.”
“Do you think it’s a girl?”
“No, actually I think it’s a boy.”
“Why?”
“Because I feel differently than I did when I carried my daughter.” Zenya couldn’t help the catch in her throat when she spoke of her dead child.
“Was she beautiful?”
“Yes, she was incredibly perfect.”
“I want a child someday.”
“You will have many children, Talya. I picture you as a mother.”
“What shall you name this one?”
“I’m not sure. His father will have a say.”
“What about Michael?”
“Why Michael?”
“It was my brother’s name. He died protecting me when my arm was cut off.”
“I didn’t know.”
“He was incredibly brave and Raykon killed the cat that killed my brother. Raykon wanted strong males to follow him and my brother was one of his favorites.”
Zenya understood. She-cats felt their worthlessness almost from birth. Male children, on the other hand, were revered. “Someday, Raykon will die, too. He must.”
“Yes, and I hope I’m there to watch.”
Zenya shook her head to help snap her out of her melancholy. “Enough of this moping. We need Columbus’s pack to think we’re joyful and not unhappy our alpha is gone for a day or two.”
“They think he will be gone for only a day?”
“We hope. Nicolas needs to be in South America before they figure out the deception.”
“Who do you think the traitor is?”
“I have no idea, but I think we could put out a few tidbits to individual wolves and eventually discover the truth.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Yes, I believe this person is highly dangerous.”
“Can we start now?”
“Let’s go to the gym and learn more about protecting ourselves and our pack. The wolves like joining us and we can put this plan into action.”
Nikka’s words entered Zenya’s mind, “You play a dangerous game.”
Zenya answered in kind, “Yes, but it’s the only way I can help my mate.”
“Your mate wants you safe.”
“And having the traitor in our midst makes us safe?”
“No, but we will protect you.”
Zenya’s eyes flashed and she deepened her voice like she’d heard Nicolas do, “I will protect me and our pack, too.”
“Yes, Zenya, it is your right.”
Some of the southern wolves already occupied the gym. Zenya and Talya discussed different things to mention to different wolves. Zenya knew them all and gave Talya tidbits to relay to certain individual men. Keeping track of who was told what would be the hard part, but sooner or later the enemy would betray himself.
***
The flight was short and they arrived at their first destination quickly. Honey and Korep of the bear clan waited patiently. They had more interaction with wolves than most of Dmitri’s bears and there would be less trouble with the two. Hopefully. Bears were as crazy as, or crazier than, cats; also larger and possibly deadlier.
Honey spoke little, but Korep and his humor made up for the other bear’s silence.
Esta wrinkled her nose and whispered into Nicolas’s mind, “They stink worse than wolves.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Regardless, it’s high praise from you.”
“I’m trying not to like you, alpha.”
“It’s okay, Esta. I love you and all my pack.”
She didn’t speak again during the trip and stayed as far away from Aster as possible. Aster and the bears were old friends and he remained near them talking about the she-cats of his new clan.
Nicolas thought of Zenya and his child. For the first time ever, he resented being alpha and having to leave the ones he loved. Someone else would take over his fighting duty after his return—at least until a few months after the birth of his child.
The flight to Mexico City took several hours. They were all edgy and wanted to start the hunt. Samson had two trucks waiting and they began another trek toward the jungle. Hours later they left the vehicles and slipped into the humid heat and unforgiving foliage that swallowed them ten yards in. Four wolves, one cat, and two bears moved with fast determination to rescue the she-cats and kill as many of their enemy as possible. All they carried was water and weapons. Their smell would give them away if cats came across their trail; it was impossible to hide, so they planned to shift and hunt when they needed food.
Several hours into the journey, they came across an enemy camp. The odor of decaying bodies clued them in to what they’d find before they arrived. Wild animals eating the dead scattered away when they walked into the blood bath. It took little time to figure out what happened.
“Vampires,” Aster’s hushed voice sounded nervous.
Esta discovered nine dead she-cats, two of them female children and then unexpectedly a dead vamp. “Some are vamp kills, but some are cat.”
“Do you suppose the dead men here didn’t want the women murdered?” Nicolas looked at Esta.
“I doubt they cared. But this worries me for the ones we are looking for.”
“We’re not close, but this may be what we find there, too.”
Honey kicked the vamp’s head, which was already separated from the body. “Vamps and beastkind that kill innocent women and children need to die.”
“If the other camp is destroyed we will seek out cats and make our presence felt, I promise you.” Nicolas assured his team.
“Good. My hands need blood.” Honey’s wild eyes let them all know he meant business.
Esta gave the bear a long look. Aster growled softly until she looked over her shoulder at him in exasperation. “He wants to kill cats and he has the body to do it. You, on the other hand, might have a hard time.”
“Do you want the bear dead?” Aster’s gaze left Esta and turned to Honey.
“I think you could try, wolf, but I have no interest in your female. My heart is spoken for and after this mission I will stay close to my mate.”
Korep looked at his friend strangely, and then glanced back at the wolf threatening Honey. For once he kept his thoughts to himself.
Esta spoke up, “We’re here to kill cats, not each other. If you insist on being a pain in my ass because I look at other men, I’ll just keep my eyes on our alp
ha and you can tangle with him.”
“No, we kill cats.”
Aster looked glum, but Nicolas thought he saw a twitch at the corner of his lip. “Let’s go.”
Their trek began again. They slept several hours after darkness fell and then continued. They came upon the second camp when the sun rose. They didn’t smell death, but they didn’t hear anyone either.
“The trail out of the camp is fresh and it includes she-cats. Do you think they are trying to escape the cats and vamps that killed the others?” Reece asked.
“It’s possible. This trail leads further into the jungle. Does everyone agree to follow? Samson will arrive at the rendezvous three days from now and if we aren’t there, he will leave us.”
“We follow,” Korep said with barely controlled eagerness.
Everyone else nodded.
Two hours later they knew they were close.
They had already planned their attack. Korep and Honey would attack as bears. Esta and Reece would remain human while Nicolas, Aster, and Bernard would be in wolf skin. Esta with Korep as her bodyguard would search for the women. The rest would kill cats.
Nicolas couldn’t notify Vorlyk, but he knew the vampire awaited his summons.
Nicolas and Aster planned to take out the trailing guards, but Nicolas ordered Aster and Bernard to hold when he spotted them. The guards were young men, barely teenagers. “Don’t kill yet. Something’s off.”
The three wolves shifted to human, quietly approached, and knocked the two unsuspecting cats unconscious. It was a risk, because if they woke they could summon a vamp.
“Bernard, stay with these two and make sure they don’t come at us from behind.” Nicolas and Aster shifted to wolf and began their search with Honey trailing.
Esta and Korep came across two women, one holding a young child. The women looked terrified, and when they saw the bear they began running. They were easy to catch and subdue. Esta stood over them while they cowered on the jungle floor.
“Please, not the child.”
“We aren’t here to hurt you or your child. We only wish to help. How many of you are there?”
The woman holding the child covered the baby with her body and didn’t speak, only cried. The other she-cat looked at Esta in defiance trying hard to hide her fear.
Fang Chronicles: Zenya's Story Page 16
