Yerel stood, and Ash noticed he looked a little gray. “The blood loss was massive, but I have stabilized him. He should be okay with rest and nutrition.”
Marcus walked over and placed his hand on Yerel’s shoulder. “Thank you, old friend.”
Yerel nodded. “Where is the young woman this enforcer nearly died protecting?”
“We can’t find her, healer,” Derek answered. “This is Enforcer Ash Cooper, and one of her intended mates. He and Logan are very worried for her. It seems our enemies are interested in her.”
Yerel took out his phone. “Have both of her mates meet me and Enon at our home. Perhaps we can get an idea of where she is.”
* * * *
Logan held Myra’s hand as they sat around the small living room table. Ash sat on the other side of her with his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Logan’s fear and rage made it hard for him to just wait. He didn’t have a choice though. Emily had left in her car, and there was no scent he could follow. He had a sick dread in his gut that her life and his son’s were both in mortal danger.
“We’ll find her, Myra,” Ash promised.
Logan kept chanting that mantra over and over in his head. Yes, Enon is good at this spell. It will be ok.
“What is wrong with the other one?” Myra asked.
Logan glanced at Yerel, who still looked gray with exhaustion. There was no point in keeping secrets anymore. They knew Myra suspected a lot already, and now with Emily joining their pack, it was time to allow Myra to know about them. If she didn’t want to know, Marcus could help persuade her to forget them.
“Yerel is a sorcerer and a healer. His power comes from within himself. He healed Dylan Marshall, who is a visiting enforcer from Texas.”
“Enforcer? Like the mob?” Myra looked concerned as she stared around the room.
“No, Myra, not the mob. Dylan is a lycan, or werewolf, just like me. We are both enforcers, which means we enforce the laws our Alpha sets for the pack.”
“Is she one, too?” Emily’s grandma, Myra, asked pointing at Enron. “A werewolf or a sorcerer?”
Logan couldn’t believe Myra was taking this so well. Marcus had suspected Myra knew more than she let on, and it seemed he was right. Myra didn’t appear shocked at all. “No. Enron is a witch. Unlike Yerel, her power comes from nature. She uses spells and incantations to summon help. She then can use that power to help her. Yerel and Enron were the first two supernaturals that mated outside of their own race. They paved the way for the rest of us to mate who we love.”
Myra looked Logan over carefully. “So what exactly are you and Ash, and what are your intentions with my Emily?”
Logan’s respect for Myra grew. He didn’t sense any fear from her, but he knew he’d be in for a fight if he ever hurt anyone Myra loved. Not that he would. Emily and her family were now under the pack’s protection. “We are both lycan, and our intention is to make Emily and Jackson happy.”
Myra nodded as if he confirmed what she already knew. “And you love my granddaughter.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I do, Myra. I love her with every bit of my soul.”
“But you tried to shove her away?” Myra raised her eyebrow. “You hurt her.”
“Yes, I did. I told Emily I was sorry. I screwed up, and all I can do now is try to make things right now that I can tell her the whole truth. Before, I couldn’t tell her anything about my wolf unless I was ready to mate her. I had doubts and fears about her rejecting me if she knew the truth, so I tried to avoid it, but my own grandmother and pack Alpha were pressuring me to either reveal myself to her or let her go.”
“And Emily took that as another abandonment.”
“Yes,” Logan said, squeezing Myra’s hand. “I never meant to hurt her. I was just stuck, and it wasn’t until she was gone that I realized we were fated mates. I plan to claim her completely—Ash and I, that is.”
Myra’s eyes opened wider, and she smiled. “Both of you, huh. So that whole two men thing is working out? You two aren’t jealous and wanting to kill each other?”
Logan nodded. “It’s working out all right. It’s natural for lycans to mate like this. Ash and I already have a bond that is strong, and Emily will complete us.”
“Emily came and spoke to me about this. Does she accept both of you still?”
“Yes.”
Enron held her hands over the strands of hair from Emily and even a couple from Jackson. She’d been murmuring as she breathed on the hair. Her eyes opened suddenly.
“Logan! Ash! Run now. Mortef and the coyote pack is hunting them both. Their terror is sharp as a dagger.”
“Where?” Ash demanded as Logan ran for the door, while tearing at his clothing.
“The highway. Three miles from the interstate. In the woods! Run. Go to her now!” Enron screamed and held her hands up over her face as if she could block out the sight that had her so scared.
Logan felt the flush and tingling on his skin as he changed into his wolf. “I’ll drive!” Marcus called as he opened the door to his truck. “Hop in the back.”
Chapter Six
Emily made it out of Wolf Creek and was almost to the interstate when her urge to run mindlessly ended and her common sense started working. Logan and Ash will protect you. Who are you going to turn to out here all by yourself? Where do you think you will go that they can’t find you? They tried to attack you in California and followed you here.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she hadn’t been thinking rationally earlier. What was she going to do, jump from hotel to hotel forever? Never giving Jackson a home and denying him the love of his own father? Emily remembered how Logan had cried when he looked into Jackson’s eyes. She’d been so selfish to just run without considering Jackson or Logan’s wellbeing, and Ash may not have fathered Jackson, but he loved him just the same. There was no denying that fact.
The thought of Logan and Ash brought a stab of agony to her chest. She couldn’t leave Logan again, or Ash now. Somehow, she knew he’d protect her. Whatever was going on, Logan and Ash were in the thick of it. She just knew it deep in her soul, and they would keep her safe.
She’d just taken her foot off the gas when a huge creature landed in front of her car. With a scream, Emily slammed on her brakes and lost control. Her tires hit the gravel on the side of the road, and she pulled the wheel back to the pavement. Gravel flew as her car went into a spin, and then flipped as it careened off the side of the embankment.
Her screams mixed with the deafening sound of crunching metal, and Jackson’s terrified screams were worse than any horrific situation Emily could have imagined. She wasn’t sure how long she was dazed, but she opened her eyes to see grass, dirt, and rocks up against the splintered windshield.
“Jackson!” Emily yelled and let out a frightened cry as she struggled to get out of the seat belt. As soon as the belt was loose, she fell to the ceiling of the car and the broken glass. She felt the sting of the glass cutting her hands as she crawled to the back of the car, but she didn’t care. Jackson wasn’t making any sounds at all. “Jackson.”
Carefully, she unfastened the straps of Jackson’s harness and pulled him out. His eyes were wide with fright, but he didn’t appear harmed.
“Oh, baby boy. Are you okay?” Emily rubbed his soft head as she stroked her cheek against his.
He began to cry then as if he realized it was safe to tell Mama how scared he was. A howl split the air, and Emily remembered what had happened to get her in this predicament.
“Jackson, you have to stop crying. We have to run and be quiet.” Emily knew Jackson wouldn’t understand her, but she hoped her calm voice and rubbing his head would calm him down some.
Jackson’s tiny face had turned red and his hands were flailing as he screamed. Emily hoped there was nothing wrong with him, because she couldn’t wait with the car for any kind of help to come. Something was coming for her, and she was sure it was the same creature that had hunted he
r in California.
“Why? Why are freaking dogs from hell hunting me?” she asked before another howl had her pulling the handle and using her foot to force the back door open.
Painfully, Emily got out of the car and to the snow-covered ground. She did her best to cover Jackson before she started to run. She passed trees as she did her best to run in the ankle-deep snow and hoped she was going the right way. Several times she heard the howls coming from different angles and she’d run in another direction.
The howls started to sound like menacing laughter, and she thought she saw a dark figure in the trees with red eyes. Whatever these creatures were, they were playing with her like a cat played with a mouse before killing it.
Emily changed directions and ran to where she hoped the highway was. That was her only hope of getting out of this alive. If only she could find it in the gathering darkness, then perhaps someone would pick her up.
Emily collapsed behind a tree and held Jackson close as he screamed. She’d pulled her own light jacket around him to give him some of her body heat, but still his little cheeks and hands were ice-cold.
Emily looked up to the sky. “Somebody help me, please! Don’t let my baby boy die like this.”
Just then, another dark figure landed not far from where she sat. His features were similar to the man she’d seen at the grocery store, but he looked much younger.
“Are you such cowards now that you will attack a young mother and her infant?”
The dog that had attacked her in California walked forward, and something that should be impossible happened. His body morphed, and she saw bones changing shape as his nose and ears sunk into his head. His fur receded into his body and turned to human skin.
A pudgy, black-haired man stood there. Emily’s mouth opened to scream, but nothing would come out. As she stared at him, she knew she’d seen him before. She had, the night those dogs had chased her in California. He’d watched her in the parking lot before the dogs attacked her. Wait, he was the dog. The dog was a man. Emily started to shake and her sanity felt a little fragile. She must have had such a shock that she was seeing things.
The fat man that had just been a dog stormed up to the black-clothed man. “What are you doing interfering, Devon?”
“What are you doing hunting humans? You know the council’s laws about this.”
The fat man spat at the man named Devon. “The council can kiss my ass. Did they do anything to Logan for killing my pack lovers?”
Devon glanced back at Emily as she felt herself breaking down and starting to cry. “So, this is what it’s about, revenge?”
“Yes. Logan killed my mates. I will kill his. I will make sure Logan knows both his mate and pup suffered tremendous pain and fear before they died.”
The other dog that had chased her went through the same change. He stood there naked, but unlike the fat one, he had an erection.
“Mortef is going to record us fucking her and make sure Logan gets the recording. He is going to see how she takes a real man before we kill his pup and then her.”
Devon’s face turned to an icy glare. “Leave.”
“What?” both dogs asked in unison.
“If you do not get out of here, right now, I am going to kill you both. Leave the female and child alone. Tell my uncle to leave her alone. If I see you around her or the child again, I will kill you.”
“Fuck you. I have the cabin all ready for our night of fun. We’d almost had her herded to the right spot.”
Devon opened his mouth, and long fangs sprouted from his gums and razor-sharp claws grew out of his fingers. Another dog came out of the woods and jumped on Devon, but his claws dug into the dog. The dog went from snarling to yelping. As Devon held him over his head, his body morphed and changed into a blond-haired man. Devon’s claws remained embedded in his flesh as the blond-haired man writhed and screamed.
Devon brought the screaming man down in front of him and he convulsed as Devon held him in his grip. Emily watched in horror as the screams of the man in Devon’s hands gurgled in his throat and bloody foam bubbled out of his mouth.
Devon threw the blond-haired man away as if he was trash. “My nails still have plenty of venom in them for another. Who’s next?”
The other two men backed away. “You’re making a mistake, Devon. Mortef will hear about this. He’s waiting at the cabin. Uncle or not, he’ll kill you.”
“I doubt it,” Devon said with a snort. “I am not the only vampire that doesn’t want a war with the lycans. Mortef isn’t as strong as he makes you believe. He just has some warped ideas about power.”
When two more men, who had the same pale skin color as Devon, dropped out of the trees and flashed their fangs, the two men morphed back into dogs and ran away, howling as if they were trying to get Mortef’s attention.
Emily knew her life was about to end when the vampire turned to look at her. She tried to back away, but she was already against a tree. She let out a frightened whimper as she shook her head.
“Please don’t hurt me and my baby.”
The vampire slowed and held his hands out in a nonthreatening way. “Easy, human, I mean you no harm. I only wanted to chase off the coyotes that are hunting you.” He pointed up to the tree. “My nest is here with me. If I’d wished to harm you, you’d be dead already. You would have come to me and allowed me to feed off you.”
Emily glanced and saw several more red-eyed men with deathly pale skin staring down at her. Some had fangs bared, but they were looking after the running dogs, not her. She’d wondered why the other man-dogs had not attacked him while he was eating their friend. It made sense now. He had backup, and they’d somehow known.
“I would offer to use my own blood to help you heal, but I doubt your mates would appreciate that.”
Emily pressed against the tree even farther. She didn’t want that monster taking her blood, or even giving her blood. She didn’t want to become a vampire, and that was how someone changed, right? She wasn’t willing to risk it. She just wanted Logan and Ash to wake her up from this nightmare.
“I am quite sure they have a healer in town that can see to your needs. Don’t fear, female. I won’t touch you.” Devon moved slowly as his hand dipped into his black leather jacket. He pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Emily.
“My apologies for scaring you regarding your grandmother’s stroke. I had to get you here fast, once I learned of the coyotes’ plans to hunt you for revenge. Telling you your grandmother was not well seemed to be the fastest way.”
“What is that for?”
Devon tilted his head to the side. “It is your mate Logan’s cell phone. The coyote that is hunting you picked it up at a fight. I was able to take it and lure you here.”
Emily felt more confused than ever. It was like she had all the pieces to a puzzle, but they wouldn’t fit.
“I don’t understand. You sent the text to me?”
“Yes, I did. I tried your old number in the phone, but it didn’t work, so I got your new number from your grandmother’s phone.”
This made no sense to Emily. “You got my new number off my grandma’s phone, but used Logan’s old phone? Why?”
Devon shrugged. “I had to be sure you’d come. If it came from your grandmother’s phone, you may not have believed it, and come back. I could not risk my uncle’s coyotes getting their paws on you.”
Another howl split the air, but this one sounded much more menacing. It sounded like hell itself was coming, and Emily’s heart started to pound in fresh terror.
“I will leave the rest of the explanations to your mates. I cannot stay and explain any more. Your blood is weak, and it is giving me the urge to help. Your mates would not see a blood bond as helping though. They have found your car. Just stay here and they will be here soon. Be well, little human, and listen to your mates. They will keep you safe from the vampires and coyotes that are hunting you.”
Devon leapt to the tree near one of the other vampires, and
she thought they flew away, but they had only jumped to another tree.
Emily started to notice how badly she hurt when she tried to stand and her teeth started to chatter. She held Jackson closer to her. If she was cold, he was freezing. Still, those man-dogs could come back. She had to get up and move again.
Moaning in pain, Emily got to her feet. Jackson had stopped crying, and Emily didn’t dare to unwrap him enough to see if he had finally gone to sleep or if he was that cold. If he was suffering from cold exposure, the worst thing she could do was expose him to more cold.
Emily had just taken a step when a massive tan wolf burst through the trees, followed by another. Emily’s scream split the air, and she ran. Tears streamed down her face as she hiccupped and feared for Jackson’s life. It wasn’t fair; he was so tiny and never had a chance to live.
“Emily!” Logan yelled. “Pet, stop. It’s me!”
Emily stopped so fast she nearly fell over, and she spun around. “Logan?” She let out a cry of relief and ran back to him. “Logan!” she cried again as relief crashed through her. She barreled into his naked chest, being careful not to crush Jackson. “I was so scared,” she cried as her free hand stroked his skin.
Logan’s muscular arms encased her in warmth and strength. “It’s okay, baby, I’m here now. They won’t ever get near you again.”
Emily closed her eyes as exhaustion stole her strength. Just when she thought her legs would give out, Logan lifted her and Jackson into his strong arms and started to walk. Her cheek grew wetter as her tears pooled there next to his naked flesh.
“Where are your clothes?” she asked Logan. Ash was right next to him, and she smiled at him, grateful to have his strength added in case those massive wolves came back. Emily frowned as she noticed Ash was naked as well.
“Not here,” Logan said, giving Ash and a couple of the other men she recognized from the cabin a stern look. “Pet, I promise you. We’re going to talk about all of this in just a bit. First, let’s get you and Jackson warm.”
Enforcers Embrace [Southern Supernatural Alphas] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 12
