by Sydney Addae
“Why did you say it like that?” Hawke glanced at Niall in the rear view mirror and caught a flicker of emotion he couldn’t identify.
“Like what?”
“That it belongs to me? Why do you say that? I’ve been gone for over thirty years, have no idea how to run a pack or clan or whatever you call it. Plus, I have no allegiance to anyone in your clan.”
“Well, he doesn’t know that and there’s this thing. Someone in Nikolas’ line will always be Alpha. Nikolas did some heroic deed and received a promise that his line would never die out, or something like that. That leaves me, you or Pia. As you have probably noticed I am not Alpha material. I would rather read or work with numbers than deal with a bunch of hot-heads. I am no threat to Muzik, he knows this and leaves me alone for the most part.”
“Most part?” Hawke growled, his wolf stirred at the idea of someone picking on Niall.
“Yeah, well. I stay out of his way, out of everyone’s way. It’s just easier all around.”
Asia rubbed his arm. He looked down, his fingernails had extended into claws. Hawke inhaled to calm his wolf and willed the nails to return to normal.
“This Muzik going to be a problem?” Asia asked without turning.
“Could be, depends on how mam reacts when she returns. He wanted to mate with Pia but she refused. Then he made mam an offer, she refused and moved to the edge of pack lands. That’s how Verrick got her.”
“We’re on Verrick’s land now, should see his place soon. Don’t expect a friendly welcome, I’ve met him before. I’m sure he knows we are here and the only reason no one has stopped us is because he’s curious.”
“You’re friends with that pig?” Niall spat.
“Friends? No. I met him not too long ago in an interesting situation.” Hawke glanced at Asia but she looked out the window.
Several rows of small houses became visible as they turned a corner. No one spoke. They were in the middle of Verrick’s pack and sound carried. At the end of the road, one house stood larger than all the others. Hawke parked and waited.
Niall touched the door handle.
“Do not open that door,” Asia growled. “We are uninvited guests and need to wait for an invitation to step on his land. Anything else is considered an insult.”
“Oh, okay. Got it.” Niall leaned back against the seat.
Hawke listened and inhaled. Verrick was coming. Good. He’d been afraid the Alpha would send a minion to deliver some obscure message, demanding they leave without a conversation.
The door to the large house opened and Verrick, still bald and brawny, stepped down the stairs and stood watching them for a few moments.
“Why do you court death?”
“I’d like to talk to you.” Hawke glanced over his shoulder, Niall’s face lost its color and fear rolled off him in waves.
“Niall?”
His litter-mate’s head snapped around and stared at him. “Hawke? You opened our link?”
“Yes. I smell your fear, which means Verrick smells it. It’ll make him harder to deal with. Can you bring it down a notch?”
“I’m… I’m not doing it on purpose.”
“I know. Instead of looking at him and the wolves standing next to him, look at me, or my mate. That should help keep you calm.”
“Can you promise nothing will happen to me?”
“No. I cannot. But I will try to keep anything from happening to you.”
“Talk? Are you sure? Why is the little one so afraid if all you want is talk?” He pointed toward Niall who stared at Hawke.
“Yes, Verrick I’m sure. Will you give me ten minutes of your time?” Hawke said in a calm tone.
No one spoke.
“Ten minutes? You may meet me here to talk, but only you. This one caused many problems not too long ago. I do not trust.” He pointed at Asia who remained still in her seat.
“Pig,” Asia said.
Hawke winked at her and opened his door. “Indeed, he is. I will ask for… what is her name?”
“Who? Your mam?” Asia asked.
“Yes, I don’t know her name, isn’t that odd?”
“Not really. Ask Niall.”
Hawke stepped out and around the car to face Verrick. “What is your mam’s name?” he asked his litter-mate.
“Mam’s name is Granira.”
“Thank you for allowing me on your lands. I am returning south when I came upon my litter-mate. He was on his way here to seek his mam, Granira. Is she here?”
Hawke noticed Verrick tensed at the name.
“The witch is your mam?”
Witch? Hawke had no idea.
“You label her a witch?”
“No. She labels herself a witch. She is your mam?”
“That is what I’ve been told.”
Verrick threw his head back and laughed. The deep, husky sound raked across Hawke’s skin. “Who told you this, that lovesick whelp in the back-seat?”
“What the hell is going on?” Hawke asked Niall. “Is Granira your mam or not? Do not lie to me or I will give you to him.”
“What did he tell you?” Verrick pointed at Niall. “Did he say she was kidnapped? He’s come to rescue her?” Verrick took a step toward the car. “I told you to leave her alone. She told you to leave her alone.”
Hawke had the feeling he had stepped into a bad comedy. “So the woman you took from the pack lands is not his mam? But someone else?”
Verrick ran his large palm over his shiny head and shrugged. “Ask her. You can have the witch, she is of no value to me. She may talk to you.” He pointed at Hawke. “But I know she wants no parts of him and told him so the last time my men caught him trespassing.”
Hawke sighed long and hard through his link. “I’m going to kick your ass,” he told Niall.
“No. Please help her. She wants to leave, but they won’t allow it. Please Hawke, she’s my mate. I know it. She just needs a little time to… settle into the idea.”
Hawke nodded and watched the smile creep onto Verrick’s face. This couldn’t be good.
“If I release her to you, you’ll owe me, is that understood?”
“I must clear it with my Alpha, first.”
Verrick looked surprised. “Muzik?”
“No. La Patron.” Hawked noticed the surprised look on Verrick’s face before he wiped it clear.
“La Patron?” Hawke stood with his legs braced and waited a few seconds.
“Yes?”
“I am at Alpha Verrick’s keep and he is attempting to secure a favor from me.” Hawke told Silas everything that happened to that point.
“My mate would say he is your brother, not litter-mate, which means he is family. Family has an odd way of changing plans. Even so, I cannot allow you to grant him a favor. The Goddess has stated you and Asia have specific roles in this war, but we don’t know what those are yet.”
“I understand. However, what if the favor he requires is a part of the overall plan? It is just a thought because we don’t know. I will abide by your decision.”
“For now, I’m saying no. This does not feel right. Keep me informed.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Alpha Verrick, I thank you for your time. However, my Alpha says I cannot be in your debt.” He nodded and returned to the car.
“What are you doing?” Niall yelled when Hawke started the engine. “We cannot leave her. She is my mate! Don’t you understand?”
Hawke backed up and turned around. Verrick remained on the steps, watching them.
“I can’t leave her,” Niall yelled.
“If she’s your mate, call her to you. Mates cannot be separated from each other for long periods of time, it’s impossible. She would’ve come outside or called you through the link if she was your mate,” Hawke said and drove down the driveway.
“You’re lying,” Niall yelled.
“No, he’s not. If this woman is your mate, her wolf would be calling you right now, she would be in physical pain and you woul
d feel it,” Asia said looking out the window.
“I don’t feel pain. Just my heart, it’s sick because I’m abandoning my mate.”
“She’s not your mate, that’s why she sent you away the last time,” Hawke said, pissed at being duped.
“That was a misunderstanding.”
“Shut up,” Hawke yelled while watching for an ambush. They were still on Verrick’s land and could be stopped.
When they reached the main road, leaving the pack lands behind, Hawke pressed the accelerator and shot down the highway toward Chacal’s. Asia placed her hand on his arm, calming him slightly, but the anger that rolled through him at Niall’s games wouldn’t settle. The fool lied to him, wooed him away from a serious mission to go on a fool’s errand as if he were some boy.
Hawke noticed a small store on the side of the road and pulled in. He stepped out the car, jerked open the back door and pulled Niall out by his shirt collar lifting him off his feet. Hawke drew Niall’s face close to his and shifted slightly into his hybrid. His long fingernails dug into his brother’s skin, causing his face to scrunch in pain.
“You lied to me.” He shook him.
“You killed the men I hired to get her.”
“You lied to me.” Hawke shook him harder this time; his fingernails dug deeper drawing blood.
“Hawke.”
“No, Asia. I can’t kill him, but I’m going to kick his ass so hard, he’ll remember not to play with me like this again.”
“We didn’t smell a lie.”
That stopped him. “What?”
“Only Alphas can lie without being detected and he’s no Alpha. We didn’t smell him lying. Why is that?” She leaned on the side of the car with her arms crossed staring at him. “Ask him who is the woman?”
Conflicted, Hawke leashed his anger. “Who is the woman you went to save?”
“Mam.”
“Who is mam?”
“She’s the pack… she’s an older pack bitch.”
“Why are you trying to take her from Verrick? He says she doesn’t want to leave.”
“Could you put me down? Please?”
Hawke allowed his feet to touch the ground but kept a hold on his shirt. “Last chance or I kick your ass and leave you here.”
Niall looked around as if considering and then straightened. “I apologize for not telling you everything. Granira is not the bitch who birthed us, our mam died before our sire. Granira helped raise us and is the pack healer. Some call her a witch because she works with herbs and can do things. She also heals.”
“Not everyone.” Hawke corrected thinking of his two dead litter mates.
“No. The last Alpha challenge, she couldn’t save Jirek and it did something to her. She moved away to the edge of our land, that’s when Verrick’s men stole her. But she is a stubborn full-blood and he cannot break her spirit.”
“Still, she refused to leave with you.”
“She didn’t know who I was. I think she was drugged or something.”
“Stop making things up, she wants no part of you.” Hawke yanked Niall closer and snarled in his face. “Worse, you dragged me into that bullshit when you knew I wanted no part of it. That’s over. Do whatever you want to do.” He released him.
Niall stumbled back a few feet and touched a pole behind him to steady himself. “I will.”
Hawke turned and headed toward the driver’s seat. Asia looked at Niall, shrugged, turned and slid into the passenger’s seat. Hawke started the engine.
“I’m sorry,” Asia said. “I pushed you to go there, I didn’t smell deceit then or now, if he’s lying it’s on an Alpha level because I cannot tell.”
Hawke took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Let’s leave the family matters alone until we finish this assignment, we wasted a lot of time and went out of the way for this. Let’s agree to focus on the finding the Liege and stopping them from stealing pups.”
She smiled. “Agreed.”
The back door opened and a tall, dark woman with hazel eyes slid in the back-seat. Hawke spun around and met the woman’s too sure gaze.
“Thanks for waiting, it would’ve taken too long to track you down,” she said moving over as Niall slid in beside her.
“Let me guess,” Hawke said. “You’re his mam.”
She smiled. “Is that what you told him?” She looked at Niall who returned her smile. “I’m Granira, a simple healer.”
“There is nothing simple about her,” Asia said. “She’s lying.”
“I know.”
“Get out,” Asia said without turning around. “You’re lying and we don’t have time to deal with your lies.”
“No, I suppose not. You’ve got to find who’s stealing pups and stop them. If you take us to Strith, it’s on your way, I promise to give you information that will help you.”
“That wasn’t a lie,” Asia said.
Chapter 13
“What do you know about the missing pups?” Asia asked as Hawke pulled onto the highway.
“Stealing or taking a pup is not new, it goes back decades.” Granari paused. “Even before Omari or Hawke as he’s called now, was given away. There is an old agreement in place that the Liege has twisted over time and used to their advantage. For the most part, full-bloods see things in black and white. Hungry, we eat. Tired, we sleep. The Liege understands this and operates in gray areas, so that they do not violate the letter of the agreement but the spirit.”
Asia glanced at Hawke. “Why am I not surprised she knows the Liege and speaks of them with ease and disgust?”
“She is old. Can you sense it? No doubt she has seen much,” Asia said.
“Her ability to lie at will, and hide the deception fascinates me. Perhaps she is a witch.”
“Perhaps. Is she lying? I smell no deception. Not even when she said I was given away.”
“We will deal with that issue later, remember? Right now we focus on the missing pups. I think she’s hiding something,” Hawke reminded her.
“Who did the Liege have an agreement with?” Asia asked.
“The pack. A century past, packs worked together, the high council had honor and convinced everyone the agreement would work. For a season it worked well and we all lived in peace. If Konstantin could have cloned himself through the years, it would have been successful. He had a heart and passion for packs. But humans are greedy and full-bloods prefer to keep life simple.”
Asia glanced at Hawke. “She sounds as if she knew him personally. It’s possible, La Patron is over three hundred, so is Angus.”
“Could be.”
“The Liege twisted an old agreement in their favor and is taking pups. How do we stop them?” Hawke asked.
“You can’t. Not without closing a few loopholes first. In his desire to protect the wolves Konstantin installed safety measures which would allow the Roundtable, sorry, Liege members to access pack lands to save them from outsiders. The Liege use that agreement to steal pups and train them,” she said, her voice low and sad.
“Can’t is not acceptable,” Asia said. “What are the loopholes?”
“Why are those full-bloods following us?” Hawke asked.
Asia turned to see a large number of motorcycles gaining on them. She glanced at Granira and then Niall. Neither spoke. “What did you take?”
Granira’s gaze met hers and for a long moment she stared into Asia’s eyes. “Angus is here, good. I heard he had returned, but hadn’t seen him.”
Undeterred, Asia glanced at the cycles who were much closer and then at Granira. “What. Did. You. Take?”
“I don’t have anything.”
“I will ask for the last time. What did you remove from Alpha Verrick’s?”
Granira remained silent.
“Pull over, let them have them both. We don’t have time for this bullshit.”
Hawke drove a little further, pulled onto a side road and stopped. Within seconds the motorcycles surrounded them.
“Get out,” Hawk
e said.
“No,” Niall said when Granira moved to open the door. “They may take her again.”
“Not my problem,” Hawke said.
Asia watched the full-bloods get off the bikes and head toward the car. She’d hoped Verrick would be with them so they could discuss whatever was going on but didn’t see him. That sucked. She opened and closed her hands in preparation.
Hawke rolled the window down. “Is there a problem?”
“My Alpha requires the pups be returned.”
“What?” Hawke jerked and straightened in his seat. “He wants what?”
Asia mirrored his surprise and glanced at Granira who sat quietly in the back seat. Inhaling, Asia didn’t scent pups and wondered what the woman had done with them.
“The pups went missing when this one left.” He pointed toward the back seat.
Hawke opened the door and stood next to the full-blood. “The reason I’m surprised by your request is I don’t smell any pups, do you?” For the next few moments, every full-blood inhaled and filtered scents including Hawke.
“Do you smell any pups?”
“No. But that does not change my orders. She must return the pups.”
Asia could hear the confusion in the man’s voice and smiled. Hawke would attempt to handle this logically, first. But if logic didn’t work, they’d fight.
“Contact your Alpha, tell him I would turn the woman over if there’s proof she has the pups. You can check the car, the pups are not here.”
The male nodded and looked away for a few moments.
“How do you know the pups are not in the car?” Asia asked.
“I asked Niall, promised to leave the both of them with these men if he lied. He swears the pups are not here. But she did remove them from Verrick’s.”
“Really? I didn’t realize Verrick was a player in this game.”
“Based on Niall’s ramblings, I don’t think he’s a player, more like a suck up. Lancaster has arrived in the country and you can bet Verrick has already told him about our visit.”
“Shit.”
“My Alpha says I should search the car and if the pups are not here, you may leave. Have them step out the car.”
Hawke waved everyone out the car. “Take everything you need, chances are Chacal is going to be out another car. I hope you don’t mind riding a bike.”
