Phoenix's Fate (RARE Series, #2)

by Dawn Sullivan

  Serenity was starting to become anxious when she felt a hand on her back. Phoenix leaned in and softly told her, “I’m going to text Chase and see if, maybe, he has an apartment we can stay in until everything with the General is handled. Something here at the compound. It will give us some privacy, and you will be safe.”

  “As long as we don’t have to wear white robes and drink red Kool Aid, I’m good,” Serenity told him. She laughed nervously as Phoenix looked at her in confusion. “You keep calling this place a compound. That makes me nervous, Phoenix. More than nervous, freaked out really.”

  Phoenix burst out laughing. “Awe, baby, you are so adorable,” he said. “That’s just what the White River Wolves call this place. It’s their home. They have had threats in the past, so Chase’s dad put a huge fence around an extensive amount of their land. The pack has more enforcers and trackers than a normal pack would have to cover any issues or threats. The hierarchy is basically the same as any other wolf pack; they just have more force behind it because the safety of the pack means everything to Chase, the current Alpha. When Chase’s parents died, he made very few changes. He kept things the way they are because it works.”

  Embarrassed, Serenity looked down and shrugged. “Well what was I supposed to think? A compound to me is either a place where people are being held against their will, which obviously isn’t the case here, or some kind of fanatic religious group who follow a leader claiming to be a higher power. That always turns out bad.”

  Still laughing, Phoenix pulled Serenity into his arms. “I promise, no one is here against their will and Chase isn’t going to make you drink anything you don’t want to. You can trust me, Serenity. I am not going to let anything happen to you.”

  Just then the door flew open and a little dark haired boy threw himself into Phoenix’s arms. Phoenix picked him up and the child sniffled as he wrapped his arms around Phoenix’s neck tightly. Well, shit, Serenity thought. So much for claiming her mate tonight. They were not going anywhere.

  Chapter 20

  The General sat at his desk in his remote Alaskan facility. It was in the middle of nowhere and was cold as hell, but there was also a slim to none chance RARE would even think of looking for him there. He was trying to decide what he was going to do next. That disgusting team of mercenaries was not going to be allowed to sabotage the plans he had put into effect over 20 years ago. Because of them, he’d already moved all of his original facilities. Several women and their children, not to mention close to 75 of his own men, had been lost. His army was seriously depleted. He was working on getting that number back up now, but in the meantime he had no choice but to hide out in this god forsaken place.

  The General refused to allow this to go on. This band of misfits was not going to ruin his plans. He had not sunk all of his time and money, let alone his reputation, into this project just to have RARE ruin him in less than a month. It had taken over 20 fucking years of his life to get this far. He was not giving up.

  RARE could keep the women and brats they managed to rescue in the raids. He didn’t give a shit about them. But, Serenity, he wanted Serenity back. The little bitch had been hiding her healing ability from him. The General sent a team of men to monitor her for months before they had finally grabbed her. Even though she refused to shift into wolf form in front of him, he had known she was a wolf shifter, but he hadn’t known about her healing ability. The General wanted that ability. He wanted her back and wanted her studied by his scientists. And then he was going to find the perfect man to breed her with because he wanted children with her healing ability. It would be a huge benefit to his army. If injured, they could be healed quickly and sent right back into the action. Yes, that ability would be his.

  The General wanted Jade back, too. But he wanted Jade for different reasons. At first, he had stolen Jade because he assumed she had the same abilities as her mother. Yeah, he knew who her mother was. He had known all along. The General was the one that had sent Jade’s father to Angel in the first place. Angel had thought the man loved her. Unfortunately for Jade’s father, he actually had come to care for Angel eventually and had refused to see reason where she was concerned. The General had made sure that problem was eliminated. The man had been one of his best soldiers; it had been a huge loss when he’d been taken out. But it was all for the greater good.

  The General had originally wanted Angel, but he had known that Angel would be a huge pain in the ass and would fight him every step of the way. So instead of stealing her, he had manipulated the situation by placing one of his highly trained men into her life and getting her pregnant. Then he had stolen her children instead.

  Angel had been pregnant with twins, a girl and a boy. She’d had no idea that when Jade was born, Jade’s brother had lived. Angel thought that he had been stillborn. She was so devastated at the time that she hadn’t questioned the doctors. Her son had lived, and that was the first child of Angel’s the General had stolen. Four years later he had taken Jade.

  Angel had no idea how the General had been manipulating events in her life all of those years ago. He thought it was funny how the events were playing out. Angel gets called in to save a child, only to find out that the General had also stolen her own child. Just wait until she found out her son, Jinx was still alive.

  Yeah, the General wanted Jade back. He needed her back. It was the only way he could control her brother. He had been able to manipulate Jinx at a young age by threatening his sister, and the General had used that knowledge against him for several years. For some reason, the boy loved his sister, even though he had only met her twice. Once when he was four, and again when he was six after trying to rebel. The General had shown him what would happen to Jade if he tried it again.

  Jinx was a cocky little shit, but he was good at what he did, which was basically whatever the General told him to do if he wanted Jade to live. Jinx had abilities he inherited from his father, along with his mother’s abilities as well. Jinx was a wolf shifter, but he was so much more. The General needed him for the war that was coming. And that meant that he had to get Jade back, because without her there would be no controlling Jinx. There was not much the General was afraid of, but Jinx scared the hell out of him.

  Picking up his phone, he made a call. By the time it was over, he was positive Jade and Serenity would be found and brought to him. And if he was lucky, he would get Angel as well.

  Chapter 21

  While Serenity and Jenna were getting dinner ready, Phoenix and Nico went out back to have a cold beer and talk. Lily and Hunter were playing on the swing set, but Hunter refused to go far from Phoenix. Phoenix hadn’t realized how his staying away had affected Hunter. He had figured that Hunter would integrate himself into Nico’s and Jenna’s family and be happy. He had been so wrong.

  Serenity had connected telepathically with Phoenix when he went outside and was not ashamed to admit that she was listening in on his and Nico’s conversation. She was not ready to be away from Phoenix in any way right now. She needed to hold him close to her somehow, so she had connected to him without asking permission first. She hoped it would not piss him off, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “He cries at night,” Nico told Phoenix as they watched the children. “He cries himself to sleep and then shifts into his bear form. It’s hard to get him back out of it in the morning. Hunter doesn’t feel safe when you aren’t around, Phoenix.”

  Crap, Phoenix thought. There was no way he could leave the little guy tonight. He didn’t want to upset Serenity, but Hunter needed him. Stop worrying, Phoenix, Serenity whispered into his mind. We will stay here with Hunter or he will go where ever we go. We cannot leave him. We will not.

  Closing his eyes, Phoenix soaked in the intimate sound of Serenity’s voice in his head. He felt connected to her in a way he had never felt with another woman. Ask Nico if we can all stay here until the Alpha can find somewhere else for us. Preferably a two bedroom because Hunter will be coming with us.

  Smili
ng at the command in her voice, he looked back over at Nico who seemed to be waiting for a response from him. “Sorry, man, Serenity was talking to me. You mind if we hang here until Chase can find a place for us? I don’t want to take Serenity back to the condo until I know it is safe. The General is going to be looking for her, but there’s something else going on, too. I don’t have the specifics yet, but I think someone else is after her besides the General.”

  “No worries, brother. You got a place here as long as you need one. We can move Hunter out to the couch so you and Serenity have some privacy. He can have the room back when Chase finds you a place.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Serenity said as she walked out the sliding glass door and made her way to Phoenix. “Hunter can stay in our room with us and when we leave, he will be coming with.” There was no room for argument in her voice.

  The surprise was evident on Nico’s face. “Are you sure? He is more than welcome to stay here until the council decides where to send him.”

  “The council doesn’t need to worry about Hunter anymore,” Serenity told him. “You tell them that he is ours. His home is with us.”

  “Serenity,” Phoenix warned her, “We don’t get to make those decisions. We can request it, but with neither of us being bear shifters, they might not approve it.”

  “Bullshit,” Serenity growled. “I am sure all of you have connections. Use them. That boy is staying with us, end of story. They do not want to fight me on this. They have no idea what I am capable of.”

  A small voice interrupted their conversation. “I can stay with you?” All eyes turned to the little boy that had made his way over without anyone noticing. Hunter was watching Serenity closely as he moved slowly towards her.

  “You better believe it,” she told him. “I’m not going to let anyone take you from us, Hunter. You belong with Phoenix and me.”

  “Yes, he does,” Lily told them. “Hunter is your son now. The council will approve it.” Serenity turned her gaze to the little girl who seemed so much older than her actual age. This was Jenna’s daughter. Phoenix had told her about Lily. The General was after Lily, also. He had kidnapped her once, but RARE had rescued her.

  Now Lily was watched very closely so nothing similar happened again. Lily was very gifted. Not only was she telepathic, but she also caught glimpses of the future. She had obviously seen Hunter with Phoenix and Serenity as a family in the future. Good, because even though she had just met Hunter, Serenity refused to give him up. Her mama wolf instincts had risen to the surface the moment she had seen him and no one was taking him from her. She knew it was not fair to try and hold on so tightly to Phoenix and Hunter when she had people trying to track her down to either kidnap or kill her, but Serenity refused to give them up. She would fight for them and she would win, dammit. They were hers.

  Reaching out, Serenity gently ran her fingers through Hunter’s curly brown hair. “Go play, Hunter,” she told him. “I promise, we are not going to leave you. And no one is going to take you from us.” Grinning widely, the child gave her a quick hug and tore off towards the swing set, Lily giggling and running behind him.

  As Serenity watched Hunter go down the slide, Nico got down to business. “Serenity, Phoenix thinks someone besides the General is after you. Is there?”

  “Shut the fuck up, Nico,” Phoenix growled at him. “I will talk to her about it later.”

  “We need to know what kind of trouble she’s in, Phoenix. We can’t keep her safe if we don’t know what we are up against. Not only that, but I need to be able to protect my family”

  Serenity gasped. She hadn’t even thought about the danger that was following her affecting Phoenix or his friends. She had been alone for so long. Why hadn’t she thought about that? Malcolm had even gone so far as to kill her parents. And even though he hadn’t tried to connect telepathically with her since she had shot him, she did not fool herself into thinking she was safe. No, that bastard would never stop coming after her until he either caught her or he was dead.

  Serenity’s eyes filled with tears. Just five minutes ago she had been fiercely thinking she would fight for Phoenix and Hunter, now she was wondering if she should go on the run again. If she left, then the bastards that were following her would not hurt anyone she cared about.

  “Don’t you even fucking think about it,” Phoenix growled at her. “You aren’t going anywhere. I went through hell knowing you were kidnapped by the General. We spent days trying to find you. Then I spent days by your bedside while you were in pain. I did not go through all of that just to have you run from me.”

  Phoenix was right. What was wrong with her? Yes, she had run for years from her past. But that was because there had been no one to turn to for help. Now she had a mate who cared about her, and he had RARE. One of the most elite mercenary teams out there. If they could not protect her, then no one could. And Serenity was not the spineless coward she had been. She was not going to leave Phoenix and Hunter. If Malcolm came after her again, she would make sure she killed him this time.

  Phoenix reached out and pulled her down onto his lap. “You can’t leave me, Beauty. If you do, then you will just have one more person hunting you because I refuse to let you go.” Serenity snuggled into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and inhaling his scent. It soothed her wolf and calmed Serenity. As Phoenix held her, Serenity thought back to how it had all started. Sensing Jenna behind her, she motioned her over and began to tell her story.

  “When I was eight years old, I was climbing trees with a friend of mine. She fell and broke her arm. She was in so much pain and I couldn’t stand to see her cry. Someone ran to get the pack healer, but something made me go over to my friend and touch her arm where the break was.

  I felt this heat, this power, flow through me and then it was like it jumped from my hand to her arm. She screamed and screamed, but I didn’t let go. I had no idea what was happening. I was in so much pain, but this instinct made me hold onto her until I finally passed out.

  When I came to, my mom told me about my great grandmother and her healing ability. It was passed down through the family, but Mom was hoping it would skip me since she did not have it. None of her sisters had gotten it, nor had her mother. She was hoping it was somehow gone.

  When the pack healer saw what I could do, she went to the alpha and told him I needed to train under her. She wanted me there to heal everyone that she couldn’t.” Serenity paused as she remembered all of the pain she had gone through. She had suffered severely at the hands of her pack and no one except her parents had cared. As long as Serenity was able to heal the enforcers they weren’t concerned about what it cost her.

  “At first she just made me heal the people that had minor cuts. She wanted to see what I could do. Gradually she moved up to having me heal broken bones, knife wounds, things like that. I trained under her until I was 16. The older she got, the less she did, and the more I was required to heal. Finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I was in constant pain and scared to death to go to her home every day to continue my training. One day, I packed a bag and without telling my parents, I ran.”

  Serenity got up and started pacing. That had been the easy part of her story. The next part really sucked. “I didn’t know it, but the alpha’s son had been watching me for years. I had always stayed clear of him because he was a sadistic son of a bitch that liked to take his anger out on people. Many of the broken bones I healed were because of him. Malcolm had the ability to connect with people like Angel and I do. Except he was an ass. He would make people do whatever he wanted by using his gift. When he found out I was gone, he went crazy. I had only made it about five miles when I felt him slam into my head with a force that scared the hell out of me. I tried to block him, but he ripped my control away so fast there wasn’t anything I could do. I turned back around and walked the five miles back home with him inside my head the whole time. I fought and fought to kick him out, but he wouldn’t budge. When I was finally back on pack lands, Ma
lcolm was there to meet me.”

  Pausing, Serenity looked straight into Phoenix’s eyes. Gathering her courage, she whispered, “I fought him as hard as I could, but the bastard not only mind raped me, he beat the hell out of me right there in front of everyone. No one stopped him because he claimed I was his mate and he was teaching me a lesson. He ripped the clothes from my body. I thought he was going to rape me, but he just wanted to humiliate me. He grabbed my breasts and twisted and squeezed them hard leaving large bruises. I had a broken arm and several bloody gashes all over my body.

  My parents were locked in their house with several guards. There was nothing they could do. After it was over, Malcolm had a couple of the enforcers take me home. I was to get cleaned up and pack my bags. He said he would be back for me in a couple of days to move me in with him, but that he was leaving that night for a meeting.”

  Turning away from Phoenix, Serenity gazed at the darkening sky as she clenched her fists tightly. “My parents already had our bags packed when I got there. We left in the middle of the night with the help of one of the enforcers who did not agree with what Malcolm had done. I learned later Malcolm found out and had the enforcer killed. We ran for several years never letting ourselves stay in one place for too long. My gift to connect with people hadn’t been my strongest gift when I was younger, but I practiced and practiced until I was strong enough to keep Malcolm out of my head.”

  Sitting back down beside Phoenix, Serenity rested her head on his shoulder as he slipped an arm round her, silently waiting for her to continue. “He caught up with us five years ago,” she finally whispered. “We had been staying in a little cabin in a forest in Maine and we’d started feeling safe. Malcolm hadn’t tried connecting with me for months. I even had a job. I was out meeting people, making a life for myself. One day I came home, and he was there. My parents were on the floor dead, and Malcolm stood over their bodies laughing at me.