by Sky Winters
“Is there anyone we can trust?”
His face showed how conflicted he was. There were shadows in his eyes and his lips compressed into flat lines. “I want to say yes, but I think the best thing to say is that there might be a few who want the same things we want, and hope they are willing to work with us on that goal.”
“I’m with you,” she said softly. “No matter how this pans out.”
Drake swept her back into his arms. The steady thud of his heartbeat rang out in her ear. “And I’m with you.”
CHAPTER 13:
Morgan gawked at the two of them and at Patel and the woman with him. Drake studied Morgan’s face; seeing the strain on it caused an ache in his gut but there was not much he could do about it just then.
“You want our approval to battle your Alpha?” the woman asked.
Angelina nodded. “You know it’s an old law. It was redacted because of the infighting in the packs but… but we need to use it now.”
The woman, a beautiful creature with honey-colored skin and dark eyes and hair, leaned forward. Her scarlet dress floated around her slender body, giving her the impression of fragility but Angelina was not fooled. Aya was one of the most powerful shifters in LA, and maybe even the country. She was tiger, and it showed in the lithe and supple way she moved and her restlessness as she prowled along the room. “We’d be putting ourselves at risk for that. We will already bear the brunt of the muties wrath, and now you want us to bear the brunt of the wolf pack’s wrath as well.”
“My daughter is correct in that. We’d be opening ourselves to more retribution. You,” Patel pointed a finger at Morgan, “can afford it. Magda may even forgive you for it, since she can always deny she had any part in any of this, but us? We’d be overridden, and we have no guarantees that either pack, wolf or bear, would stand with us.”
Morgan shook his head. “I don’t want to believe that Magda had any part of this but… I can see it. I know what she is, and I also know she can’t be allowed to continue. That’s a matter for another day. You have my word there will be no retribution from my pack.”
Drake held his breath. The meaning of those words was clear enough. Morgan would have to either kill or depose their mother. There was no other way and the tension in Morgan’s face and body told Drake just how seriously he took what he had just said—and how much it hurt him to say so.
“I will kill him,” Angelina vowed. “Joaquin’s no fighter. He’s Alpha by blood and heritage, but he’s weak. He’s a bully. He will fight but only those he thinks are too weak to fight back. He won’t live, that I can attest to.”
Aya glared at her. “If you fail?”
“Then I will kill him.” Drake knew the words would bring shock. “I’m not asking for forgiveness in that either. With Joaquin dead, I’ll be the target for the wolves. I know that, but the only way Angelina’s going to fail is if Joaquin kills her, which I won’t let happen. Either way, he will die.”
“We can’t protect you if you kill him,“ Morgan pointed out. “Even if she lives and he dies, if you are the one who kills him, she may not become Alpha. Heritage aside, a battle like the one you are asking for means the Alpha’s place is up for grabs. Any wolf who’d challenge would be right there. You might have the bloodiest battle of all time on your hands, and you both stand a good chance of dying anyway.”
“The wolves who are against Joaquin would settle up, I think.” Angelina paused. “Not all the pack wanted to see things go in that direction. They were forced to it for the most part, because we follow our Alpha. There’s only one other who’d challenge and I plan to deal with him, too.”
Drake knew now was the time to press the point. The muties were gathering and making no secret of it if Patel was to be believed. Given the very real fear the old man was showing at that moment, Drake did believe him.
Magda had to be stopped. He had a baby and a woman to protect, and he would do whatever it took.
Patel said, “Aya, you will be the one to lead the tiger pack. This has to be your decision now.”
Drake looked at Aya and then at Morgan. Morgan stared at Aya, his eyes clinging to her stunning face with what could only be described as a real longing.
Drake blinked. I’ll be a sonofabitch. No wonder he shrugged off me and Angelina so easily! He’s hot for Aya, even if he would never admit it, not even to himself.
Aya lowered her head. Her dark hair swung forward like curtains, obscuring her face. Long moments passed. Sweat broke out on Drake’s skin.
Aya lifted her head. “The law of battle is allowed, in this instance. We shall call it into law now, and here.”
Drake’s body loosened. His muscles ached from the tautness he had been holding them with. Angelina stepped forward. Her hand came out. Morgan stepped forward as well.
Their hands met. Drake watched. Once upon a time, he had truly resented being displaced as Alpha. It had hurt, and he had never admitted that before. Seeing three people standing in the center of the room: bear, wolf, and tiger, all agreeing to an unholy pact, he understood something right then.
This was the way it was supposed to be. He had never been meant to be Alpha, because sometimes nature decided and sometimes fate took over. This was fate. This was right.
CHAPTER 14:
Wind stroked along Angelina’s face. Under her fingers, Drake’s belly, tight with muscles, was hard and comforting. Strong vibrations rolled through her body as Drake guided the motorcycle along the streets, its single headlight picking out shapes and illuminating them.
Her body moved with his easily as he guided the bike along. That rhythm, riding with him, was as natural as making love to him.
Her thighs tightened, clinging to him in a reaction to that thought and the erotic sensations coming from the vibrating bike and the nearness of his body.
When this is done, we’ll be free. That is what I have to remember and cling to. When this is over, I’ll hold the power of Alpha and I can decree us acceptable as a couple. We can play our music and raise our child.
But first I have to kill Joaquin.
Her fingers gripped him more tightly as the bike slid to a halt at the house. The other packs would not interfere, that was the law. They’d stand to one side and let it happen and accept whoever won as the wolf pack Alpha, but they would never go so far as to help.
Drake had been formally exiled, placed outside his pack. It had to be that way, but as he climbed off the bike and held out a hand to her, Angelina found herself wondering if he was really okay with that. It had to be that way, for obvious reasons, but that meant he was never going to be able to call himself part of the bear pack again.
How would I feel if that were me?
She took his hand and slid to the ground. The wolves stood silent, waiting. Joaquin would be inside. The neighborhood hung shrouded with dark and silence. From a few blocks away came a drift of music and the muted sounds of traffic. The other wolves would be out, keeping any humans who might decide to stroll past away from the streets held by the shifters. There’d be blood tonight and an entire neighborhood hung in the balance, even if the humans out there did not know it.
She moved along the sidewalk and into the yard. Drake followed silently. She heard a few warning growls and a small yip, but otherwise the wolves were silent.
Her hand met the door. The knob, slick and oily, turned in her sweating palm. The large main room was filled with wolves. The smell, musky and rank, of so many shifters in one space hit her nose. Her feet halted. Her head turned slowly as she sought out familiar faces, hoping to find an ally.
“You do know you’ve just fucked up?” Joaquin said aggressively as he approached. “Nobody challenges me and lives.”
Now that it was here, she was afraid. Of course, she was. Her head lifted higher, her chin pointing upward. “I was granted permission to battle you for Alpha. I have the right, because of birth, and because of what you have done to this territory.”
Joaquin’s lips twisted in a sne
er, but he didn’t draw any closer. “I brought money in here. Look around you. You think people like living poor? You think we, as wolves, don’t deserve better?”
There were murmurs from the gathered wolves.
Joaquin continued, “And you bring a bear in here?”
“He’s exiled, and my mate.”
The disapproval was real. The cries of shock and horror and anger beat at her ears. Drake stood at her back, one hand on her shoulder, giving her strength.
She stepped forward, crowding Joaquin’s space, but he didn’t move. “What do you think we deserve, Joaquin? To bow down to the muties or to Magda? She’s used you. You’ve pissed off the humans here; most of them are grumbling whether you hear it or not. We have always taken care of them and in return, they took care of us. Now we destroy their homes and their safety with drugs and crime and rule them with money they can’t ever see or spend because you take it all—and put it right in Magda’s pockets. Do you think the humans of this territory are really going to keep helping us like that? When they are afraid and they don’t like us or this hood?”
More whispers and a few grumbles. Joaquin’s face went slick with sweat. “I have nothing but business with Magda.”
“She’s set you at war with the muties. You knew damn well Drake was no mutie. Magda’s been working you. Now all the shifters are going to have to fight the muties. The tigers will die, you know that. The muties will go after them first and then what? You get to unite the wolf packs and ride to the rescue. As Alpha of all. Is that what she promised you?”
Joaquin went pale. “How dare you?”
“How dare you send your pack, and all the packs, into war just so you can take power?”
She watched his face as he changed. He was too angry to think, and to angry to try to deny it. It’s true. It’s all true. That’s exactly what’s happening and I know it now, and so do they. Any that might have stood with him are not going to now.
Joaquin’s face contorted. He shifted, fast. She ran, shifting as she went. Her muscles gathered and her teeth burst from her gums, her muzzle opening wide as she jumped onto Joaquin’s back, her teeth sinking deep in the fur at the back of his neck.
Joaquin shook hard, and Angelina flew sideways. The air opened around her and then her back hit a wall, hard enough that all the breath left her lungs. Plaster sifted down, the rainy stuff sucking up into her nose and down her lungs as she fought for a long breath.
Coughing, sneezing, and in pain, she fought to stay in wolf form. Her body revolted. Her fur receded, leaving her flesh naked and bare, exposed. The air conditioner’s blast struck her, chilling her to the bone.
I have to win. I can’t lose. My child’s life, my life and Drake’s life are all at risk. Not only ours but all the lives of those the muties will kill for his grab at power. He’ll turn LA into a cesspool, him and Magda, and I can’t let that happen. That’s not what we stand for.
Joaquin stalked her, his stinking fur standing on end. Angelina let him come, her body moving in slow and steady paces as she circled him as well. Blood dripped from Joaquin’s muzzle; she was not sure whose it was—his or hers. There was pain in her body but she could not pinpoint the source and she couldn’t focus on that now.
None of the wolves moved to interfere. Their silence was profound. Her paws slid on the cool tile. Joaquin’s teeth flashed, his muzzle lifting to reveal his fangs. Those deadly sharp fangs that could tear her throat or soft belly out if she was not careful.
Joaquin lunged. She leaped out of the way, and his jaws snapped down on empty air. Angelina took advantage of that, sinking her teeth into his flank and yanking hard. Skin tore and veins ruptured, spilling blood down his side as he yanked away.
They rolled, their bodies thudding and teeth meeting flesh. Angelina’s claws sank deep into his belly but not deep enough. They separated.
More wolves filled the room. They stared at the battle going on and then they shifted, going human.
Drake!
He would have to fend for himself if they came at him. He could fend for himself. She had to worry about herself right then, and the precious cargo in her belly.
Joaquin clawed her. Her teeth met his muzzle, tore a chunk of flesh away. Pain slid through her nerve endings. She yelped as he tore a long strip of her flesh from her right side, just above the ribs. It didn’t stop her; she snapped her jaws down on his front leg, snarling and shaking her head as she tried her best to rip that leg right off.
His paw tore across her scalp. Long burning trails erupted on her head and she dropped his paw and backed away, dizzy and sick from the taste of blood in her mouth.
He came at her again.
Exhaustion and adrenaline flooded through her body, sending her heart beat into overdrive and making her body take on a fine trembling quiver.
Joaquin leaped high. Angelina made herself wait even though the urge to leap was strong. As he stretched out, flying toward her, Angelina dropped and slid forward, flipping over. Her claws tore his belly, ripping open his flesh and breaking ribs, piercing organs.
Joaquin hit the floor with a long scream. He shifted, cycling back and forth as agony took over.
Drake stepped forward. The other wolves did, too.
Angelina shifted. Naked, bloody, and sick, she staggered toward Drake. He opened his arms and she fell into them.
Sam shouted, “I claim the right to Alpha as a son of the second of the pack!”
“You coward,” Drake snarled, his body heading toward shift. He kept it back but his hands were paws now and the claws at the end were wickedly sharp. “You could have fought Joaquin for it, but you stood aside. Hell, I didn’t even see you here in the room until just now. Where were you hiding?”
Angelina peered at Sam. Her heart broke. She could feel it literally snapping in half right in her chest. “You cannot claim. There’s a new Alpha and the battle was for one. The law won’t allow you to fight me, but if you want to…”
“You won’t battle her. Not for Alpha. You will fight me, and for your very life.” Drake’s smile was grim, and Sam saw death written in Drake’s eyes. He backed away.
“I have the right of birth,” Sam yelled.
“You have no right,” Drake said softly.
“How dare you tell me what I have the right to, bear?”
“I’m an exile from my pack. I’m her mate. I stand with her and if you come at her I will kill you, no matter what your relationship is. You chose not to lay claim before and you don’t get to lay it now. The tigers rescinded the law but once. Fight her for it now and you fight outside the law, a law every shifter pack agreed to. If you chose to break the law, I have the right to enforce it, and I will, make no mistake.”
Joaquin screamed again. Blood bubbled out of his belly. Sam looked away and down. The others looked at everything but Joaquin.
“Is nobody going to stand with me against a bear?” Sam asked.
Silence.
Torn between loyalty to a brother who had shown her none and duty, Angelina made a decision. “Sam, you can live. I will let you—but you are not my family, not anymore. You proved that when you did not stand for me against him when he wanted to kill me. For that reason, I am exiling you. Because you interfered when he was choking me to death, I am letting you live.”
Sam gawked at her. His face, under its olive color, was white. “You can’t exile me. I won’t go. I won’t let you stand as Alpha, and not with a bear at your side.”
Sam shifted. Angelina’s body tensed. Don’t make me kill you, she begged silently. Please. I don’t want this but I will. You are going to give me no choice and I will kill you.
Sam shifted back. His eyes went to the rest of the pack, all standing silent now. “You’re going to accept a woman as Alpha, one with a bear mate?”
The wolves all nodded. Then a chorus of yeses broke out. Gratitude and hope flooded through Angelina. There were good people here, ones who wanted things to go back to the way they had been once, and she had
their support now.
Angelina lifted her head. “I know who here fought back as best they could and who believed in what Joaquin offered. It’s your choice, but understand this now, I will kill anyone I have to in order to keep this hood from going back downhill. I will put it right, back to what it was before Joaquin made his bargain with Magda. If that is not for you, you can choose to walk right now. Go with Sam and make your own territory somewhere else if that’s how you want it.”
Drake added, “You should all know she’s telling the truth. The bear territory’s being overrun by muties, and Magda has zero control over them. It’s anarchy over there, and the tigers are fighting them, too. So far, this territory has held, but they’re coming for it. If you set up your own territory, if you choose exile, you’re choosing to be unprotected from the muties.”
Sam smiled, and it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “I have protection from them.”
“How can you be so blind?” Angelina asked. “They used you to try to get an in here and once you’re exiled, you’d be smart to get as far from here as possible. They don’t need you now, and they will kill you. You’re irrelevant. I did you a favor, exiling you. You have a chance. Go anywhere, but go, and stay far from the muties and from Magda, because if you don’t, you’re dead.”
It was true. Sam wouldn’t see that though. His arrogance wouldn’t let him see that, and Angelina knew it as she studied his face. He was too intent on doing what he had wanted to do from the first. He was too intent on trying to grab power, and that greedy need was going to be the death of him.
Sam asked, “Who’s with me?”
Nobody moved. Sam stared at their faces and one by one, the wolves turned away from him. Tears stung the back of Angelina’s eyelids. Her father was dead. Mario was gone, and Sam was also gone from her.
She was Alpha, and she was all alone with no family.
No, that was wrong.
Her eyes went to Drake.
He was her family now.
It shouldn’t be, but it was.
He was a bear, and she was a wolf and that was against the laws—but the laws were tumbling all over the shifting world. Since she was in charge of her pack, she got to make the rules. The first new law she would make was that they could mate as they choose and all the old arrangements would be null and void.
