Lily's car pulled up and she eyeballed me suspiciously the moment she got out of the car. She hugged me and took a deep breath, inhaling my scent. She pulled back, frowning.
"Really? I thought the grin on your face meant you finally bonded with my stupid brother. What is taking you guys so long?"
"It's complicated," I told her for the millionth time.
"That's all either of you ever say, 'it's complicated,' but there's nothing complicated about it. He bites you, you bite him, done."
I was grateful we were interrupted by a new vehicle arriving. I had expected to see Troy, since he spent a lot of time at the house overseeing his guys, but it wasn't, it was Patrick O'Connell, Elise's mate.
"Hey, Patrick, what are you doing out here?" Lily asked.
"Liam asked me to come pick up Maddie," he said, sounding casual, but something in his stance didn't make me feel very comfortable.
"Well, we have plans, that dork can wait," Lily said, pouting. I didn't want to miss out on some girl time, either. I saw Lily a lot. We even lived in the same house, but we rarely got any time for just the two of us.
"Sorry, it's important. Something's come up," he said.
"Fine, I'll come along, too," Lily said stubbornly.
"That's not possible, I'm afraid. Maddie and I have some mutual friends we need to speak with." He was being cryptic, but I could only imagine that mutual friends would be of the human variety. I hadn't heard anything from Annie since she had hung up on me weeks ago. If there was news about her or Jacob or from them, I needed to hear it.
"It's okay, Lily, we can reschedule."
Her jaw opened and then closed. "We will not. I've been looking forward to this for days. We have plans to make, things to do. You"—she turned on Patrick, poking her finger into his chest—"do not get to disrupt that.”
"I'm sorry, Lil. It's important, and it’s Kyle's orders. Take it up with him if you have a problem. Come on, Maddie," he told me.
"Madelyn Amanda Collier!" Lily started and I knew she was furious. I wasn't too pleased with how this, whatever this was, was being handled either, but I gave an apologetic shrug.
"I should go and see what he needs," I told her. Lily didn't know about the humans or our connections to them, and I couldn't just tell her now. "I'm sure it's important if Liam and Kyle sent him to get me. We'll talk soon, okay?"
I could see the hurt in her eyes and I hated it. I turned quickly and followed Patrick. "This better be important," I warned him, upset that Lily had been hurt by his actions.
We drove, mostly in silence, heading out of town and down the mountain. We didn't go to the city at the base of our mountain, though; instead, about halfway down Patrick stopped and carefully watched for cars in both directions before turning right onto a dirt path I could barely make out. He drove to the tree line where we met a bunch of fallen trees blocking the path.
Great, just great, I thought. He got out of the car and moved enough trees out of the way to drive through. He stopped on the other side and replaced the mess behind us. It gave me a momentary panic of being trapped.
"You're fine," he told me, getting back into the car. "Liam warned me you might start to panic, but everything's fine. It's just a precaution."
At the end of the little road, if you could even call it that, was a small cabin. I immediately recognized Kyle's car and as we exited the vehicle I could smell my mate. He was close by. So was another all too familiar smell.
I ran towards the house and opened the door. Annie and Jacob were standing next to a table talking to Liam and Kyle and two other men I didn't recognize.
"Annie! Jacob!" I cried, running into their open arms. I hugged Annie close and Jacob wrapped his big arms around us both. "I've been so worried about you both, but you're okay, right?"
"We're fine," Jacob said.
"And we miss you and Oscar so much," Annie added.
They both had tears in their eyes when I pulled back to look at them. Liam rose and came to stand by my side.
"You knew about this?" I challenged him.
"Not until about an hour ago. Kyle picked me up and we came straight here. Patrick agreed to go get you while we talked some things out." He ran his hand through his hair and looked stressed. "There's a lot to catch you up on."
"I still don't like you dragging her into this," Jacob said.
"But they know her, and they won't suspect anything strange with Janie coming to visit you, even at the office," one of the strangers said.
"Maddie, this is Dave and Martin, my friends," Patrick said, with enough emphasis for me to understand these were his human contacts from the Verndari.
"Hello," I said. "What are we talking about?"
"Take a seat," Kyle told me, speaking for the first time. I looked over to Liam, who smiled and nodded, letting me know I should do what Kyle said. I sat in the chair Liam had abandoned and he stationed himself behind me, close enough for his presence to relieve some of the anxiety starting to build.
"There're some things you need to know about Jacob Winthrop," Kyle said.
I glanced at Jacob, who cringed.
"Let me explain it to her," he practically begged. "She's my daughter.”
Despite it all, they still looked at me the same, like a mother and a father. I loved them, despite what they were a part of. I knew they were good people and I didn't think anything could change that perception, until Jacob began to speak.
"Janie, baby, I've done some things I'm not proud of. I have my reasons. I never wanted to hurt anyone."
"Jacob, what's going on here?" The calm in my voice shocked even me.
"You know some things about the Verndari?"
I nodded, but didn't speak.
"Well, for many generations we've watched and protected the shifters, silent guardians over your people. We've done everything in our power to ensure the humans stayed unaware. The duty of the Verndari was passed down from parent to child from the beginning of time, as far as we believe. But about a decade ago, a new leader rose up in the Verndari. He was young and modern, and his father was dying of cancer. Modern medicine wasn't helping, and he was determined to seek any aid possible if it meant saving him. That was the first trial run on the shifters.”
"They rounded up a few rogues at first, shifters known to cause problems anyway. It started out with good intentions. They were taking out human threats, and were only running tests on them, then rehabilitating and releasing them back into the world. That was the plan, at least, but he gained popularity quickly and a small group of rebel Verndari began experimenting on shifters, looking for cures to human ailments with no regard to the shifter." Annie continued his story.
Martin took over next. "I remember when Jacob and I were brought into the loop. We were both horrified at what we found there. We agreed to stay, and implemented humane procedures for the experiments. This man"—I noticed none of them were giving up his name—"he was changing the minds of the youngest of our society, in secret. I reported back to our council, but was given orders to observe and report. For almost a decade I've been observing and reporting, and I'm done. What they're doing, it's not right." He looked at Jacob. "What you're doing isn't right either, and you know it."
"Jacob went in to protect the shifters, to make sure the lines of ethics were not crossed, and he stays, giving each of them the best life possible in there," Annie defended her husband.
"But they have crossed that line. What they’re doing is unethical. They've started locking them in cages, like wild beasts. They aren't animals, and you know it," Martin said.
"It’s true," Jacob confessed, "and they are getting bolder about their tactics, no longer taking just the troublesome shifters. They go after any lone shifter they can find. Wolves are harder because you are such a dominant pack animal."
"We had gotten word of the Bulgati brothers and were told to pick them up. The boys and I stood down when Elise showed up, then you. Patrick; we didn't know the two of you would be there, but if our
superiors had known they'd have had us grab the two of you, too," Martin told Patrick.
"So the Bulgati brothers, you have them?" Patrick asked.
"Yes," Martin confirmed.
"Are they dead?"
"Not yet."
"Good, because I want to be the one that kills them," Patrick told them with such vengeance it frightened me.
"Raina?" Kyle asked.
"Raina was travelling with three other women. They were laying low, under the radar and made for an easy target. She's still alive," Dave assured Kyle.
"And how do we get her out of there?"
"Death is the only way they leave," Jacob told them. It made the hairs on my neck stand up. How could the loving man I knew have anything to do with this? "I can arrange it," he confessed.
Kyle growled and jumped from his seat.
Jacob held his hands up in peace. "I can give her a sedative that will lower her heart rate enough to declare her dead. It will be a short window of opportunity, but I can toss her into the crematory and eject her before igniting it. In theory no one would ever know, but she'd be a ghost on the run from there."
"Or she can come here, permanently. We can protect her, Kyle," Patrick assured him.
"Why would you do this?" Kyle asked Jacob.
"Despite what you may think of me, this is not the ways of the Verndari. I have been undercover with them since nearly the beginning. I've done things I'm not proud of." He looked at me with tears in his eyes. "But the thought of them ever getting their hands on Janie and Oscar makes me sick. I will do anything to protect them. This has gone on long enough. The Order will not intervene. The Coven, which is what this small segment of the Order is calling itself, has found enough value in their research both for humanity and the protection of shifters to be overlooked. As long as they are keeping a low profile, many see no harm from it. They are wrong. This is not the job we were given. This is not protecting your people. Maybe I could go along with it for a while. I'm sorry to say many of those research developments came at my hands, but I always cared for those shifters. I never used any practices that I would not use on my own mother. Still, wrong is wrong. Every time I think of them getting their hands on Janie or Oscar—” He shivered at the thought, unable to finish the sentence. “I can't do it any longer."
I was numb and shocked by his words and what he was confessing. Liam rubbed my tight shoulders. "With the packs at war, it leaves us all vulnerable, Kyle. We need to take what we know to the Grand Council and start restoring the peace between the packs," Liam said.
"You cannot tell them of the Order of the Verndari," Annie said adamantly. "To do so could mean the deaths of hundreds. If the Venrdari learned the shifters were aware of their presence it would change everything. The Coven would kill off everyone in their labs and start over, or I fear they'd become more vocal about it and start rounding up shifters in larger quantities. Plus, we don't know how the others of your kind would take to the news. It's too much at risk. The packs are already at war, you can't afford to be at war with the Order as well."
“No one is talking war here," Patrick said.
“What I absolutely know is we want Raina out of there. I'm trying to keep it to myself, but Kelsey is going to freak when she finds out about this,” Kyle said.
“So don't tell her,” Dave said, like it was the simplest solution in the world.
“They're fully bonded, that's kind of impossible,” Patrick told Dave as the rest of us all glared at him. It was quite obvious they may have been watching us for thousands of years, but they didn't know everything.
“What does that mean?” Dave asked.
“It's a shifter thing, you couldn't possibly understand,” Patrick said, trying to play it off.
“It's true then? Of course I've heard the rumors, but you're talking about telepathy, aren't you?” Jacob asked, and we all awkwardly stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with him.
“Jacob,” I finally said. “What you've done has already put us in a really bad position.” I saw the pain in his eyes at my accusation. “I don't say that to hurt you. I love you, and Annie, and am so grateful for all you've done for me and Oscar, but there are things about our kind that we just can't talk about or share, and you're going to have to respect that.”
He nodded slowly.
“Kelsey is very”—I fought for the right word to explain—“strong,” I finally decided on. “She is Pack Mother to the Westin wolves and she is not someone you want to piss off. I need you to get Raina out safely. She belongs here, with us, not locked in a cage in your research lab.”
He nodded. “Like I said earlier, it won't be easy and there will be only a brief window of opportunity. And Janie, we're going to need you.”
Liam
Chapter 25
“Like hell,” I growled at Jacob. “She will not go near that place. It isn't safe.” I was so fired up I knew I was starting to sprout fur, and I didn't even care. They were not going to put my mate in jeopardy, I didn't care who they were.
“Shit,” I heard Kyle say through the roaring in my ears.
I vaguely felt the pressure of Kyle and Patrick trying to hold me back. The fear in the human’s eyes only encouraged my wolf as he surged forward to take control and protect our mate.
“Madelyn!” Kyle yelled. “Calm him down, now!”
I felt the Alpha power pour off Kyle as he barked his orders at Maddie, but instead of submitting, my wolf pressed on, even more irritated than before. Never in my life had I lost control of my wolf, but I was on the verge of doing just that when I felt her soft hands on my cheeks.
“Hey, look at me. Liam, look at me,” she spoke softly. “I'm okay. They aren't going to hurt me. I'm right here. Look at me. Focus on just me, and breathe. In and out. Just like you always tell me. Just breathe.”
My whole body shook as I started to regain control. I reached out and crushed her to me, kissing her forehead. “Mine,” I growled.
As the shock wore off and my wolf started to calm at her touch, the reality of what had just happened started to set in. I got up and left without a word. Outside, I gulped in deep breaths of fresh air and tried to calm my nerves.
“That was a mating cry, Maddie,” Kyle told her. “I don't know what you two are waiting on, but if you don't complete the bond soon, he's going to lose it. The possession will only continue to worsen. Trust me, I fought mine for a long time, but I was used to battling my wolf. Liam has never shown any Alpha signs, until now. He's not used to fighting for control like that.”
I tried not to listen to the details as they began to plan, details that included Maddie going to work with Jacob and helping to smuggle Raina out. I knew we had to get Raina out safely. When Kelsey heard about it, she was going to lose it. While she had remarkable control of her powers, her mothering instincts had kicked in with Zander's birth, strengthening her even more, and no one wanted to test the limits of her powers now.
I paced back and forth in the yard, kicking rocks and refusing to go back inside, despite the desperate need insisting I protect Maddie from everyone inside.
At last she came out of the cabin.
“You're going through with it, aren't you?” I accused more than asked her.
“I have to, Liam, but it's okay. No one there knows about me. They are used to me practically disappearing for long periods of time. Jacob and Annie have kept that cover, that I have been ill and battling depression again. They don't suspect a thing. Martin and Dave were the only two Verndari assigned to monitor Westin territory, and they never reported me being here. It's okay,” she tried to assure me.
“There's nothing okay about any of this, Maddie,” I told her. I wanted to beg her not to do it, but I could see the resolve in her eyes. She'd already made up her mind, without even discussing it with me. “Didn't you see what happened in there? I'm not safe. I can't control him. If you try to go through with this, they're going to have lock me up in a cage, because my wolf will want nothing more th
an to protect you and I'm going to lose control if we feel you're in danger.”
“Don't you get it, Liam? I have to do this. For years I lived scared of my own shadow, hollow inside, a ghost of who I once was. You've given me my life back, my spirit. And I can't just sit by knowing what's happening in there and not help. What if it was Oscar? Or Lily? I can't live knowing I could have helped and didn't. I don't expect you to understand, but it's something I need to do.”
I wanted to beg her not to go through with it. Just the thought of her in danger was killing me. I wanted to rewind back to that morning, and this time we weren't leaving that bed, but that was just wishful thinking. The thing was, I was proud of her for wanting to take a stand, I just couldn't handle the repercussions of how I knew it would feel when she did.
I wasn't scared of my wolf, but we weren't in sync for the first time in my life. It was like there was already a second war being waged, only this one was taking place within me.
“I can't be a part of this, Maddie,” I said, and turned to leave.
I knew Kyle was watching me closely from the shadows of the cabin. “I'm just going for a run. See that she gets home safely,” I commanded my Alpha. His eyes registered the shock, and if it had been anyone but me, he probably would have disciplined them on the spot, but as my brother and knowing it was out of character, he let it drop and simply nodded.
“Come on MC, back inside,” Kyle told her as I stripped and shifted. Leaving my clothes and my heart behind, I ran full speed into the woods.
I ran clumsily at first. My wolf was still battling me for dominance, and being in wolf form gave him a stronger advantage. I pushed on and stubbornly refused to fully submit to him. We dodged around trees and ran through streams. I needed to get as far away from that cabin as possible, but my wolf wanted to return and protect our mate.
Maddie had to make her own decision on this. I had made it clear how I felt about it. If she decided to push forward, I wouldn't stop her, but Kyle and Patrick were going to have to stop me, because I wasn't sure I was strong enough to contain my wolf.
Forever Mine (Westin Pack Book 3) Page 22
