Loving My Pack

by Lane Whitt

  I swallow thickly. “Is she here?” I ask, my heart in my throat.

  He shakes his head. “Sadly, no. We don’t know what became of her.”

  My stomach plummets. Of course not. That would have been too easy, wouldn’t it? “If he found a way to help our people, then why isn’t this information shared? Why do these women hide here instead of trying to find mates?”

  Kendrick stops at the entrance to a graveyard. It’s surrounded by a low wrought-iron fence, the gravestones simple carvings on rounded rocks. “Can you imagine the fallout if his so-called cure got out? Look before you. Most of these graves were filled after your father visited here.”

  “He… Are you implying that my father killed all these people? All these women?” I ask, getting in his face.

  “In a way, yes. Not all of the women who volunteered for Mikel’s experiments were from here. Most of them were found in hospitals, already dying. He had them brought here, injected them with his serum, and waited for the results. He was trying to save them while attempting to find a way to change human women into wolves.”

  I let the information sink in. I’ve read countless journals and texts, but none of them mention anything about this. Surely, he documented everything he did. He was a scientist. I don’t allow myself to suss out how I feel about all of this yet. I’ll do that when I’m not being monitored by strangers. I have so many questions that I don’t know where to start. I wish Finn was with me right now. He’d tell me to slow down, take in the details, and work backwards.

  Taking a deep breath, composing myself and forcing my mind to slow down, I list the facts. One: my father was here, doing experiments to increase fertility. Two: he was successful in that he unlocked the bond usually necessary to mate and procreate. Three: there are children here. Lots of them.

  “The children. If there are kids here, then these women aren’t hiding from everyone.” I look at Kendrick to gauge his reaction.

  “In exchange for protection, some of the women here chose to mate with members of the packs that protect them,” he tells me carefully.

  “In my experience, sex in exchange for something else equals prostitution,” I state. “Are you telling me your pack and others treat these women as your own personal prostitutes?”

  “Never!” he replies vehemently. “They came to us. Sought us out, and they set the rules.”

  I’m already shaking my head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would they do that?”

  “Because news of your father’s trials got out and your changed wolf filth descended like the mongrels they are. They were being taken and abused left and right after your father disappeared.” It was subtle, but a quick flash of his eyes in Anna’s direction gives away the fact that he just slipped and told me something he hadn’t planned on revealing.

  This all happened after my father left. Not while he was here. Something had to have happened. “Why would my father disappear? You mean he was taken, or did he leave?” I ask, watching him carefully.

  Kendrick splutters before finally settling on changing the subject. “We’re heading off topic. I brought you here today to inform you of this colony and make you realize the importance of keeping their secrecy. If we’re to be allies, you should be informed of this project that is near to my heart.”

  I don’t fall for it. “Why did my father leave, Kendrick? I can only imagine this place was under his protection while he was here. Why would he willingly leave them to fend for themselves?”

  “That’s not my information to share,” he says, voice full of steel.

  I match his tone with my own. “Then whose the fuck is it? Just point me in the right direction and I’ll get the information out of them myself. Do you dare tell me I don’t have a right to know?”

  “You’re missing the point,” he tries.

  “No, you’re missing the point. You brought me here, alone, without my mates, so that when I started asking questions about how your pack seems to have more children than any other, I’d think of these poor women who fell under attack. Probably by something you caused!” I scream in his face.

  “She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about,” Sibyl sneers quietly, but not quietly enough.

  I turn my attention to her, stalking closer slowly. “You. Answer me. Why did my father leave here, leaving you all alone?”

  “What? I… It’s not my…” she stammers.

  “Finish that sentence and I swear you’ll find out what it’s like to lose a limb,” I threaten. I’m so sick of hearing that statement. If it’s not their story to tell, then whose the hell is it? My father’s? My mother’s? Because they’re both dead. It can’t be mine, because I sure as hell don’t know it.

  Sibyl’s face goes a nasty shade of red, ready to explode, even as her friend warns her to stay calm. “He chased that whore of a mother of yours out of here. That’s why he left. When that cunt fled her own people, he left without a word or a care what would happen to the rest of us!” she shouts in derision.

  Without thinking, I reach out and slap her with the back of my hand. She falls to the ground in a heap. Holding the side of her face, her eyes spew venom at me. If looks could kill, I’d be a goner. “You wanna know the real story? Huh, do you?”

  “Sibyl, stop it! Alpha, do something,” Lacy says, panicked.

  “No, Sibyl, please continue. Kendrick, if you interfere Anna will be the one to lose a limb,” I warn, eyeing Albert and nodding toward the Alpha’s mate.

  Without warning, Albert moves to grip Anna from behind, awaiting my order. I press down on the button in my hand. No matter how this ends now, there will be no alliance between Kendrick and myself. Not after I threatened his mate.

  Our group has caused quite a scene at this point, crowds gathering in windows and doorways. Sibyl looks for an escape, eyes darting around for help that won’t come. Not for her anyway, but my help is already near. I wait for them to gather behind me, already taking in the scene. I know they don’t know what’s going on, but they’ll have to wait.

  “Oh, Sibyl. Sibyl, Sibyl, Sibyl…” I tsk, stalking around her threateningly. “You got quiet. No need to be shy, these are just my…what did you call them, Kendrick? Mongrels? That’s it. My mongrel mates. All eight of them. Don’t worry, though, my dear Sibyl, they won’t lay a hand on you. Well…” I trail off, leaning in to whisper venomously in her ear. “Unless I ask them to,” I finish.

  She shivers in fear, words spilling from her lips. “Your mother ran…” she starts.

  “Yes, but why did she run?” I ask sweetly, flicking her hair from her shoulder, exposing her vulnerable neck.

  “I don’t know,” she says through gritted teeth.

  “Liar,” I whisper in her ear again, this time from behind. I force my teeth to shift, my canines elongating to sharp points. Without warning, I tear into her shoulder. She screams and tries to flee. I hold her to me with her hands behind her back.

  When I raise my head, I ask her again. “Why did she run?”

  “Please…stop. You’re going to kill me no matter what I say!” Her anger takes control of her again.

  “At this point? Probably, but how painful it is depends on you telling me the truth. See the sandy-haired tall one with the pretty eyes?” I ask her, pointing out Tristan. “Well, he’s like a walking lie detector. If you tell a lie, you bleed. My blood can heal you, over and over again. So, you see, I can hurt you and make you bleed as much as I want,” I say in a sickeningly-sweet tone, scaring even myself.

  “She was his favorite! She got closer to him than anyone else. It was disgusting! She wasn’t here for the vaccine, she wanted him. She was a disgrace to our race; a traitor!” she spews.

  “Then she got pregnant. She went on and on about how she was going to mate the Ivaskov Alpha. She let it slip that Mikel found the cure. Her pregnancy was proof of that,” she continues.

  I look to Tristan, who nods. She’s telling the truth so far. “What happened after that?” I question, pushing her to
her knees, no longer able to stand having her so close to me.

  Tears stream down her face even as her hateful eyes glare up at me. “You have to understand! We never wanted him to find a cure. We’re humans and want to stay that way. All we wanted was the vaccine for the disease that was killing us. Instead, he brought other wolves with him to aid his research. Our community was ripe with disgusting relationships, including your parents’.”

  I laugh at the ridiculousness of her words. “You’re talking over yourself, Sibyl. If there were relationships forming, then not everyone wanted only the vaccine. Did your group inform my father what you wanted? Or did you try to play him to get what you wanted?”

  “Like he would’ve helped us otherwise,” she responds.

  I shrug. “Maybe not, but that’s a choice you made, wasn’t it? He wanted to help his people, and thought you lot were the key. Sounds like he didn’t do anything you didn’t ask for.”

  “He ruined our community! He brought in change that we didn’t want. With his cure, the rest of your kind would have preyed on us like the predators you are. Those other women were weak. Your father’s wolves took advantage of their weakness.”

  I look to Tristan again. He shrugs. “She believes it’s true. It’s her opinion.”

  I huff. “What happened to my mother?” I ask the question I really want the answer to.

  She hangs her head, not in shame but in the knowledge that I won’t like what she has to say. “We held a meeting. We confronted her about her abomination of a child. We gave her a choice: end it herself, or we’d end it for her.”

  “You fucking bitch,” I force through my teeth. Gripping the back of her neck, I slam her head to the ground until blood gushes from her face in several places. To appease the rage boiling inside of me, I do it again.

  “Kitten, she can’t talk if she’s dead,” Remy speaks up, his voice careful.

  I throw the bloody mess of a woman away from me. “So? There’s plenty more around here that I can make talk,” I say as I eye the onlookers with disgust. They cower away.

  “True. Shall I fetch us a fresh one?” Tristan offers with a smile that would make grown men piss themselves in fear.

  “Not yet. I promised this one pain,” I answer him, the darkness taking over me reveling in the answering darkness we sense in him.

  Sibyl manages to get to her knees. With a look, she starts talking again. “She fought us. That demon baby of hers made her stronger. We didn’t expect that. She ran, and we chased her across the globe for weeks. She was trying to get to your father, but he was already dead.”

  “How did you know he was already dead and she didn’t?” I tilt my head. Something isn’t adding up here.

  “We went to your uncle. He was more than happy to dispose of his brother. We didn’t tell him why, we just gave him the opening he needed. Your father rarely had security forces here,” she explains.

  My whole body shakes from the sheer hatred I feel in this moment. I close my eyes, forcing myself not to shift and rip her apart. “Finish it,” I grit out.

  She sobs uncontrollably now, knowing without a doubt her life is forfeit. “We tracked her to the States. When we found her, she was already giving birth. An elder was supposed to have taken care of you while we ended your mother. It was only recently that we learned of her betrayal.”

  “And let me guess, she’s dead now as well?” I ask.

  Sibyl only nods.

  “What was her name?” I ask.

  “Who, the elder?” she responds, confused.

  “No, you idiot. My mother. What was her name?”

  “Riley,” she whispers.

  “Do you have children?” I ask her.

  “No,” she replies quickly.

  I look to Tristan. “Truth,” he tells me.

  I turn to Remington, pleading for understanding from him. I hate myself in this moment, more than I’ve ever hated anything or anyone, even more than I hate Sibyl. But that doesn’t change what I have to do.

  I walk to Sibyl, helping her to her feet and turning her to face those brave enough to still be eavesdropping. “For the lives you took and all the pain you’ve caused, Sibyl, I, Luna of the Ivaskov pack, daughter of the brutally murdered Alpha Mikel and the open-hearted Riley, sentence you to death.”

  Without hesitation, I snap her neck, watching as her knees buckle. With my eyes pinned on the crowd I rip her head from her body and toss it at them, screaming at the top of my lungs in rage and pain.

  Screams and cries sound around the village square. Some run, thinking they’re next. Part of me wants to end them all. Sibyl didn’t act alone, after all. One woman gets my attention. She stands tall, not quivering or sniveling. She stares at me without any emotion at all. I motion for her to come forward.

  She’s an older woman, maybe fifty or so. Probably one of the elders Sibyl spoke of. “After my parents were killed, what happened then?” I demand of her, my throat raw and aching.

  “We destroyed your father’s research. We burned everything he worked for to the ground. Only after did we realize that he’d broken the bonds. We were able to procreate with whoever we wanted to, bond or no bond. Your uncle didn’t care about what happened to us. We sought out Alpha Kendrick and explained what happened to him. We agreed that those who were willing to mate with wolves would mate with his pack, and eventually the other packs he brought around. The Alpha is a traditionalist, and only allowed those with full bonds to mate and have children. In exchange, he protected our village,” she explains.

  I look over to see a pale Kendrick. Turning back to the older woman, I ask bluntly, “Was Kendrick aware of what happened to my mother and father?”

  “Yes,” she responds simply.

  “Truth,” Tristan informs me.

  “You didn’t think I’d find out,” I say to Kendrick. “You brought me here and didn’t think anyone would tell me.”

  “No,” he growls. “Your refusal to spill blood on my lands made me think you didn’t have it in you. You were supposed to see a village of women who needed your help.”

  I scrunch my face up. “They don’t even want my help, Kendrick. You were just covering your own ass, hoping I’d stop by for a quick tour and dismiss this place, because I’d start asking questions eventually.”

  “What are you going to do with him?” Anna asks through a sob.

  What a good question. Stepping back to the older woman, I look in her eyes. “Did Kendrick or any of his wolves ever force bonds or mating on anyone here?” I ask.

  She looks over my shoulder at Tristan. “No.” She frowns. Well, he has that going for him. I eye Remington, looking for guidance. I don’t think death is warranted, but he should be punished.

  He nods in agreement, giving me free rein to make a judgement call. I turn to the Alpha. “Kendrick, you will release all members of your pack. The Australia pack will cease to exist, starting today. I revoke your title as Alpha, as you have abused its power and used those weaker than yourself for your own gain.”

  “Who are you to revoke my title? A title I was born with and earned!” he shouts, indignant.

  I pounce on him, knocking him to the ground and using my elbow on his throat to keep him down. Spit flies from my mouth as I shout back in his face. “I’m Kitten Fucking Ivaskov and I’ll revoke any damn thing I want. There’re enough shitty leaders in this world without adding you to the mix. You failed your people, get over it. Lose you title or lose your life.”

  “Kendrick, please,” Anna begs him.

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll release the two of you, right here, right now. You go back and release your pack, or you go back and lead them to their deaths if you choose to war with me instead,” I offer.

  I turn to his guard. “You’ll swear an oath to me?” I ask. He nods reluctantly. “Go back, tell them all the truth of what happened here. Tell them all who your Alpha truly is. That way, if they choose to stand with him, they do so having all the information.”

  “I
swear it, Luna,” he tells me.

  “Truth,” Tristan confirms.

  “Then the three of you get out of here. I’m done with you. And Kendrick? If you so much as try to lead a horse to water, I’ll be coming for you. Understood?”

  “Understood,” he grumbles, catching Anna as Albert releases her. The two of them shift and are out of sight in seconds.

  Their guard turns back, stopping before the trees. “You should probably know that Kendrick put out a hit on your new friends. They probably won’t make it to the airport to meet you. He had surveillance on you the whole time.” With those lovely parting words, he shifts and runs after his former Alpha.

  “Shit, we have to get to them,” Logan says on a sigh.

  “Agreed. What do you want to do about this village, Kitten?” Remington asks.

  I turn to face the now-abandoned town square. “I don’t know.” I meet his steel-grey eyes. “I honestly want them all dead,” I tell him truthfully.

  “I know you do, Love. But could you live with yourself with that much blood on your hands? What about the children?” he adds.

  I raise my hands, looking at the literal blood coating them, and begin to shake. “No, I couldn’t,” I whisper.

  “You could speak to the other packs. Make it to where no one protects them any longer. They’d have to fend for themselves for once. Maybe if they leave this seclusion, they’d gain a different perspective,” he offers.

  “I don’t want them. They aren’t welcome with us,” I plead with him. I won’t cuddle up with my parents’ killers. Not even I have that much forgiveness. The only thing saving them now is the children and the few innocents. “The children can, when they’re older, and if they’re not poisoned by their mothers.”

  “I understand that. Why don’t you get cleaned up and I’ll deal with them? I’ll inform them of their new, unprotected status,” he suggests.