by Lisa Kessler
I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling. “I need to have a clear head.”
“And you will.” She rested her hand on my thigh. “Being too confident makes you sloppy. Fear will keep you alert and ready. Use it.”
I glanced her way and shook my head. “You’re amazing.”
She shrugged off the praise. “Don’t know about that, but I’ve managed to stay alive.”
I lifted her hand and kissed the back. “I better get out of here.”
“Where are you meeting Blake?”
“He and Caldwell are going to be waiting for me at the Store-It-Yourself across the 89.”
Raven tensed. “Be careful. He doesn’t use that place to store records and furniture.”
My gut twisted into a tight knot as I pulled into the empty parking lot. From the outside, the storage facility looked like any other, a large building with pull-down metal doors covering each of the small units. But according to my mate, Caldwell didn’t rent space to the public.
The units were full of bitten men and women, some with children.
Caldwell grinned as I approached. “Right on time.” He glanced over at Blake. “Show him around and then meet me in the office.” Caldwell focused on me again. “Give me your gun.”
Fuck. “I thought you wanted me to protect you, right?”
He nodded slowly. “And I won’t be with you, so there’s no need for you to be armed.”
My pulse raced before I realized it. I took a step back. “The last time I was unarmed with Blake here, I got the shit beat out of me while you held my mate at knifepoint. I have good reason to keep my gun.”
Caldwell raised a brow. “I have security cameras all over this facility. If Blake so much as lays a finger on you, I’ll shoot him myself.” His bright gray eyes shifted to Blake. “Is that understood?”
Blake nodded, and Caldwell smiled. “It’s settled then.” He held out his hand. “Now give me the weapon.”
I shook my head. “Only if Blake is unarmed, too.” Cold sweat rolled down my spine, and Raven’s words echoed through my mind. Use the fear. “If I wanted to kill you or Blake, I could have shot you both as soon as I got out of my car.”
Caldwell’s eyes narrowed like a human lie detector. I ground my teeth and kept my gaze locked on his. Finally his expression lightened. “I doubt we’d be that easy to kill, but I see your point.” He gripped my shoulder, hard enough to pinch the nerves. I fought to keep any sign of pain from my face. His voice dropped to a menacing growl. “I’ll be watching the cameras.”
He walked toward the main building, calling back, “Be in the office in an hour.”
Blake watched him go and turned for the storage units without a word. I followed, bracing myself.
But nothing could have prepared me for this.
There were three women in the first unit, all werewolves, and two of them were now mothers to twin boys. Shit. Caldwell was breeding wolves. In captivity, no less. No mates, no family, no Pack. Just bite them, assign them to bitten males, and bring more shifter children into the world.
Nero had a similar breeding project for jaguar assassins. But more jaguar shifters meant more trained killers and more money for Antonio Severino. What could Caldwell be after?
Blake stood aside. “Recreation time. No funny stuff.”
The women passed me by, but the last one looked up at me, her jaw set. She wore her black hair in a single braid down her back, and her features were soft, kind. “Who is the new guy?”
Blake answered, “This is Luke. Bo took a fall, so he’s filling in.”
Her dark eyes flashed as her gaze met mine. “Fuck you, Luke.”
She hustled to catch up to the others while Blake chuckled. “Don’t mind Kaya. She’s a wildcat. Literally.”
I glanced his way. “Her scent is wolf.”
He nodded. “Yeah, she was bitten, but some of the natives here were skin-walkers. Caldwell didn’t know when he chose her.”
“So she’s a wolf and…”
Blake reached up for the door. “During a full moon, she’s a werewolf, but the rest of the month she can shift into a lynx. She’s the reason we had to cage in the rec area. That cat can climb like a monkey. We almost lost her.”
“So locking them up is the answer?”
Blake pulled the rolling metal security door back into place and headed for the next unit. “Caldwell keeps all the women with children inside for their own safety. We can’t have them going to the police. They could expose us all.”
“She didn’t look like she had any kids.”
“He has plans for the skin-walker wolf.” He unlocked the next door. “If she gets back to the tribal lands, we may never find her again. They protect their own.”
Just like a Wolf Pack should.
He drew his handgun as he lifted the security door. Three men spun around. Blake kept his gun aimed on them. “Rec time.”
A tall blond man stepped forward. “I’ve done everything Caldwell asked. When do I get out of this cell?”
Blake tipped his gun in the direction the women went. “Keep training, Gage. Make yourself useful, and you’ll be on the trip to Reno.”
“Who is this?” Gage was my height and wearing shorts and a camouflage tank that made it obvious he’d been spending his time in the cage doing push-ups and crunches. Damn.
“I’m Luke.” I didn’t draw my gun. Instead I approached him and clasped his forearm.
“Stay back, Reynolds,” Blake cautioned, his gun on Gage.
I kept a tight grip on Gage and glanced over at Blake. “These men are wolves now, like you and me. They’re not your enemy.”
Blake slid his finger over the trigger. “Back away.”
I took a step back. “Good to meet you, Gage.”
He and the others jogged down the alley toward the rec area. Once they were gone, Blake got in my face. “You don’t know what the hell is going on, so stay back and shut the hell up, or get the fuck out of here.”
“Why don’t you explain it to me?”
He holstered his gun, gesturing to the row of storage units. “Caldwell and Severino wanted an army to storm Reno. Caldwell chose his soldiers and mates for the men, and we changed them. Now they’re being trained.”
I frowned. “You seriously think this is training? You have them locked up like prisoners.”
“Until we’re certain of their loyalty, they stay here.”
I clenched my fists. “How long was Asher kept here?”
“Six months.”
I struggled to keep the shock off my face. “How? He has a business, right? What if his family reported him missing?”
Blake rolled his eyes. “Please, Reynolds, we’re not stupid. Caldwell background checks all of his chosen ones before we’re given the order to bite them.”
“That’s why Bo bit Raven.”
He shrugged. “He was already dating her, told Caldwell she didn’t have parents, and he gave him the okay.”
“What about her sister?”
He shook his head. “She never mentioned her. We didn’t know about Isabelle until Raven bit her.”
I crossed my arms. “So you’re all right with all this?”
“I’m loyal to my Alpha, and I believe in his vision. We’ll be the largest Pack in North America.”
I puffed out a breath, biting back the real words that I ached to say. “Sorry. I wasn’t prepared to see all this, I guess.”
Blake nodded. “That’s why Caldwell wanted you here.”
“He thinks I can’t take it?”
“How the hell would I know?” Blake led me to the next door. “I’m not paid to think. I do what I’m told.”
I kept my mouth shut and counted another eight men, four more women, and one more set of twin boys. Fuck. Suddenly I understood Asher’s concern about the “innocents.” There were a lot of mouths to feed here.
How had Caldwell gotten to this point? Biting humans and keeping them caged like animals…this was insane.
>
Once everyone was out, Blake walked me to the recreation area. In the center of the compound, screened in with chain-link fencing even across the top, there was a basketball court, a swing set, and wagons.
My Alpha’s twins popped in my head, and my chest tightened. Madeline and Malcolm ran free and played on his horse ranch. These kids had never been out of a cage.
I smelled Caldwell before his footsteps approached from behind. He draped an arm around my shoulder. “We’ve grown our numbers faster than any other Pack in the country.”
“There’s no strength if you have to keep them locked up.”
He chuckled. “You’re still using your father’s old-school thinking. Look at the bigger picture, Reynolds. If we stay with the old ways and wait until that fated mate happens to cross our path, our race will always be outnumbered. Humans will always be a threat.”
He pointed to Gage on the basketball court. “But if we choose the strongest male and female humans and change them, we grow our numbers. The next generation grows faster, too, and soon…”
I stepped away from him. “An entire country of werewolves.”
“No. Definitely not.” He shook his head. “Not everyone will be chosen to be a shifter. We’ll be the elite, the top of the food chain, and we’ll have the power. No more hiding in the shadows. Humans will bow to us. This is the future, boy.”
My hands trembled with adrenaline. I stuffed them in the pockets of my jeans. “So why bring me here?”
“Because I want you to understand that winning the battle in Reno is only the beginning.”
“What does Nero think of your plan?”
“Antonio is paying for a large Pack, and I’m delivering. That’s all he needs to know for now.”
There was a better than average chance Sebastian didn’t even know this place existed.
Caldwell turned my way. “After the full moon, I want you to choose three of these men and teach them to shoot. How are you with a rifle?”
I pulled in a breath, willing my body to stay calm and my heart rate steady. “I’m all right, I guess.”
“Good. Antonio told me one of his jaguar females is part of the Reno Pack now. Sasha?” He paused, but I didn’t answer. “She’s rumored to be deadly accurate with her handguns. If we can neutralize her while staying out of her range, we’ll be one step closer to the Alpha.”
I glanced at the recreation area. “Will they be changing with us during the full moon?”
Caldwell chuffed. “And risk them running off? No.”
I frowned. “Where do they shift?”
He started to smile. “In their units.”
I shook my head, unable to hide my disgust. “Wolves need to run. This…”
“This way they earn their run. When I decide to bring them in, they understand the consequences if they cross me.”
He patted me on the back. “Reynolds, keep watch for a minute. Blake, I need you.”
He and Blake walked toward the office, and I fought the urge to rush all these people out to freedom. It wasn’t that simple. Now that they were changed, we had to be sure they didn’t go to the police. This was royally fucked-up.
The woman who had cursed me on her way out glared at me as she came closer. I waited as she came to stand in front of me, her voice hushed. “You’re new. Why aren’t you locked up with the rest of us?” She inhaled slowly and shook her head. “You weren’t bitten.”
“Right.”
“You were born a wolf, but you’re new. Did you leave your other Pack?”
I crossed my arms. “Something like that.”
She peered around me in the direction Caldwell had taken Blake, then back up to me. “They made a mistake when they bit me. Did he tell you what I am?”
“A skin-walker. You can shift anytime, right?”
She almost smiled. “Except during the full moon.”
I wanted to tell her I was going to get her and the others out. I wanted to tell her Caldwell was an asshole but his time on earth was nearing its end.
But I didn’t. Because for all I knew, he left me alone here to test me.
“I’m Kaya.”
“Good to meet you, Kaya.” I didn’t want to know the answer, but I had to know. “How long have you been in here?”
“Almost six months.”
Shit. I shook my head. “Caldwell still doesn’t trust you?”
A humorless chuckle escaped her lips. “I’m his secret weapon, and he wants more like me. Until I tell him about others, he’ll keep me locked up.”
I stared down at her, my voice a lethal growl. “Don’t tell him.”
“No chance.”
I nodded. “Good.”
She almost smiled. “You might be the first sane born wolf I’ve met.”
“We do exist.”
“Good to know.” She walked away as Caldwell and Blake returned.
“Okay, Reynolds, help Blake get everyone back in their units, and we’ll get over to the bar.”
Blake started barking orders as I watched Caldwell walking back toward his office. Alone. I turned back to the yard, the frustration and desperation plain on all of their faces. Blake couldn’t kill them all if they attacked, but what kind of future would they have on their own? Maybe that was how he kept them from turning on him. As much as they hated him, they needed him.
Or at least they thought they did.
Blake locked doors and told me about feeding schedules and emptying the portable toilets in the units, but I barely heard him. For the first time in my life, I understood why humans might fear werewolves. If Caldwell continued down this path, it was only a matter of time until we really were hunted.
Chapter Twenty-One
Raven
I was wiping down the bar when Caldwell walked through the door. Seeing Luke coming in beside Blake in Bo’s place jarred me a little. This was the plan. It was working.
But it also unsettled me.
Caldwell sat on a stool. “Is the deposit ready for me?”
I went to the register and opened the safe underneath. Luke’s gaze followed my every move. Looked like I wasn’t the only one shaken up.
“It’s all here.” I handed the money pouch to Caldwell, struggling to keep from looking at Luke. I ached to touch him, to ask if he was all right, but for now, Luke’s safety depended on Caldwell believing in his loyalty.
He bounced it in his hand like he could judge the deposit amount by weight. “Good girl.” He glanced over his shoulder at Luke and back to me. “Your guy is moving up the ranks.”
I risked a peek at Luke. His jaw was set, tight. I focused on the bar again, but Caldwell caught my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. “You’re not happy about him working with Blake?”
Luke took a step forward, but Blake grabbed his arm.
I narrowed my eyes at my Alpha. “You established that my happiness doesn’t matter right from the beginning.”
He let go of me and laughed. “So I did.” He gripped the money pouch. “Let’s get over to the bank.”
Luke and Blake waited on Caldwell to pass, but he stopped and turned toward Luke. “Aren’t you going to kiss your precious mate good-bye?”
The venom in Caldwell’s voice had goose bumps creeping up my arms.
“Plenty of time for that later,” Luke answered.
“Is there now?” Caldwell’s gaze slid slowly over to me. And I prayed a human customer would come through the door. Whatever he was planning, this wasn’t going to be good.
The door didn’t open.
“Raven, saunter your ass over here and show us how true mates kiss.”
My heart raced, and Caldwell smiled. Sick bastard enjoyed knowing I feared him. I threw my towel on the bar and stormed around the bar, straight to Luke. I rose up on my tiptoes and pecked his lips, then glared at Caldwell. “Entertained? I have work to do.”
His smile soured, his voice dropping to a guttural hiss. “You will fucking do as you’re told, or I’ll put golden boy Luke in
the units with Kaya. It looked like she warmed up to him today. He could give her some strong cubs.”
My chest constricted, jealousy licking at the raw wounds he was cutting into me. My gaze snapped to Luke. His blue eyes didn’t stray from my face, but he also didn’t deny anything. He took my hand and pulled me close, his lips fusing to mine as his other hand caressed my cheek, his fingers sliding into my hair. Our tongues tangled slowly, making me forget we had an audience. I clung to him, aching for the escape he offered.
Caldwell applauded, and Luke broke the kiss, his gaze locked on mine. Finally he turned to look at Caldwell. “Ready for the bank now?”
“Fair enough.” The Alpha’s eyes bored into me. “You could learn something from your mate.”
He went out the door with Blake behind him. Luke hesitated at the door and turned back, his voice barely a whisper. “I love you.”
And he was gone.
Alexandra came out from the kitchen and frowned. “Raven? Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Fine.” My hands trembled. I was far from all right, but I went back to work trying not to think about the future, or the jealousy, or the fact that Caldwell owned us all.
Luke came back to the bar as we were locking up. I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t press, just quietly helped and then walked me out to my van. At the door, he reached for my hand. “This will be over soon.”
I stared up at him, numb. “Every time I think I’m moving past all the hurt and fear, he steals another piece of my soul.”
Luke shook his head. “I did meet Kaya today, and nothing happened. You’re my mate, Raven. There will never be anyone else.”
“Unless Caldwell gives the command.” My voice broke. “When he gets tired of seeing us kiss, he’ll order you to sleep with Kaya. He’ll probably make me watch, and there won’t be a damned thing we can do about it. If you don’t do what he says, he’ll have Blake put a bullet in your head. This is all a sick power trip to him.”
Luke cupped my face, his thumb caressing my skin. “Tomorrow is the full moon, then we make our move.” His eyes searched mine. “I’m sorry we had to let him watch, but that kiss wasn’t a show for anyone. I couldn’t tell you with words how grateful I was to see you, to touch you. This Pack is a bigger shitstorm than I ever imagined. What he’s doing, keeping all those wolves locked up…” He shook his head. “It’s repulsive.”
