by Jessica Snow
“That isn’t what’s important right now, Mom,” Liam said, his heart twisting in his chest. He had been so angry at his father, and after the way things ended between them, he was sure that they would never be all that close again. Still, it was his father, and despite his anger, he loved the man. Liam swallowed his emotions and focused on the one thing he could do right now, try to help his mother. There was time for grief and time for remembering the good times later. “So, where are you?”
“I headed over the mountain, found a truck stop where the clerk got freaked out when a giant wolf walked in the front door. Wasn’t too hard to find a phone that way. I think maybe I gave them the slip for good. It’s been twenty minutes and they still haven’t arrived.”
Liam thought desperately, knowing what his mother was doing. If there was any chance of her being followed still, she wasn’t going to reveal her location. She knew her son and knew that if she told him where she was, he would most likely try to come to her. She wouldn’t lead him into a trap like that. Liam however, knew that on a night where he had already sacrificed his father, there was no way he was going to sacrifice his mother as well. “Mom, can you make it to us?”
“Who is us?” Victoria asked. “Your family?”
“You are my family too,” Liam replied simply. And it was true, hard feelings aside, she was his mother. “And yes, I have people here who can fight Crystal at her pack of psychopaths. You’d be surprised at how effective our group can be. And, I’d like you to meet your grandchildren.”
Liam could hear Victoria’s breathing catch at the mention of the grandchildren. “You mean?”
“There’s a lot to explain Mom. Can you make it safely to Bone Lake?”
Liam heard Victoria take a deep breath, and he wondered just how wounded she actually was. The mountains weren’t all that far from Bone Lake, and when his mother normally said ‘go over the mountain,’ she meant the mountains to the north side of the city, which at most were ten miles from Bone Lake. For a wolf of her stature, a ten-mile cross mountain run would be barely a warm up. But she sounded unsure. Finally, she answered. “Give me a few hours, I’ll be there after sunup.”
Liam thought, then shook his head. Either she was more injured than she was letting on, or she wasn’t as sure about her own safety as she was letting on. “No, don’t risk it. Can you make it to the suburbs? There’s a house that I’ll be at with some of the others, we’re searching for something.”
“I can make it,” Victoria said, sounding surer of herself. It was further than Bone Lake, but the trail was easier, and she could take her time avoiding the pack on her heels. “Where are you going to be?”
Liam gave his mother the address for Kat’s old home, and she made a knowing hum. “Your mate’s old home. After things started going bad between all of us, I followed up on the rumors that you’d given her a job at the plant and found her information in the paystubs. What’s there?”
“Maybe a hint to allow us to rescue her father from the vampires,” Liam said, not wanting to reveal more without being face to face. “Mom, about Dad...”
Victoria cut her off, a hint of her old aristocratic pride coming through again. “He was a proud, stubborn, fierce alpha male, a lot like his son. And I know that there will always be a part of me that wishes that you two had had the chance to settle your differences. But I loved him, and he died fighting for me, and partly for you. You have nothing to apologize for, and I won’t let you dishonor his sacrifice by doing so. I’ll see you later today.”
The phone went dead, and Liam looked down at the display, slightly surprised at how he was reacting. He hadn’t had a kind word with his father in over a year, and more than once in that time they’d been literally at each other’s throats. Liam heard a rustle and smelled Kat approach. “Who was it?”
“My Mom,” Liam said quietly in reply, not turning his head, he didn’t want her to see how shaken up he was. “Crystal’s pack attacked the mansion. They killed my father, and Mom’s on the run. I told her to come to your old house, it’ll be the safest way to reunite with her while keeping the babies and everyone protected. She said she thought she gave Crystal’s pack the slip, but when I told her about coming out here she sounded unsure, I don’t think she’s as safe as she says.”
“What do you want to do?” Kat asked, her eyes flaring. Victoria Greyson might have been a former enemy, but she was the mother of her mate, and she had been attacked by a mutual threat. “Find her?”
Liam’s heart was touched by the fierce look in his mate’s eyes, the natural warrior, and protector that stirred his passions as much as the beautiful woman she was on the outside. “No,” he said after a moment. “Instead, let’s get some breakfast made for everyone, and get ready for the day. I’ll cook, I need the time to figure out how to tell Carly about this.”
“God, what a fucking mess,” Zack said, looking around at the chaos that had was Kat’s old home. “I mean, I didn’t expect it to be hospital clean but...”
“In the last few days I lived here, I ended up charging through one of the walls in bear form and Ashley tore apart my room looking for my Bear Stone,” Kat reminded him, and next to her Liam had to agree that they both had their points. The house was a mess, with most of the living room looking like a small tornado had gone through it, the month's old copies of TV Guide and the local newspaper drifting against the one wall where Big Mike’s hasty attempt at repairing the damage his rampaging daughter caused being half effective at best. Kat sounded chagrined a bit as well as she took a second look. “Still, I kind of wished we’d stopped by earlier. I know you were covering the rent Liam, but geez...”
“At least it’ll make searching for Daddy’s Bear Stone easier,” McKenzie said, trying to sound upbeat. She was dressed in her typical fashion now, not looking like a witch but just a normal high school aged girl. It was refreshing, and she’d taken it upon herself to be the upbeat one since Elizabeth was staying behind with the triplets. “I mean, we can’t feel bad if we make more of a mess now.”
Liam thought about it, then nodded, forcing a smile. He’d become better at being a kinder leader over the past few months, even if he still felt unsure. Werewolves he knew how to handle. But handling McKenzie the teenage witch as well... what the fuck, he’d get used to it. “Okay, then let’s start looking. McKenzie, do you have any tricks for finding a Bear Stone?”
McKenzie thought, then shook her head. “Mom’s tried to teach me about tracking spells, but I haven’t gotten any good at them consistently, and even then, I need to track something that I’ve already seen or have a strong connection to. Maybe somebody of Mom’s skill, when she was human, might be able to but I don't think I can.”
Liam gave the girl a pat on the shoulder, reassuring her that it was okay. “Well, I kind of figured we’d have to do this the old-fashioned way. So, don’t worry about it. Although in the future, if you can sort of magically lifehack your way around that’d be pretty cool too.”
They got to work, starting in what had been Big Mike’s bedroom. They tried under his bed, throughout in his dresser and in his small jewelry box, and while Kat and McKenzie went through his closet and clothes, Zack made himself useful by gently tapping on the walls and trying to find any hidden spaces underneath the floorboards or along the baseboards. There was nothing, and they moved on through the rest of the house, refusing to be discouraged by their initial setback. For hours, they tried to find Mike’s Bear Stone all to no avail. While they searched, Kat and McKenzie tried to keep up the others’ spirits. “Hey, Liam.”
“Yeah?”
“So, what attracted you to my sister anyway?” McKenzie asked as the two of them ransacked the kitchen while Kat and Zack worked in the garage. “I mean I always thought my sister was super curvy hot, but let’s face it she’s not the type of build most guys with your looks go for.”
Liam shrugged and pulled out one of the drawers to look behind it for anything hidden. “Who knows? You know, part of it migh
t have been because yeah, I was with Crystal and she was one skinny, bony bitch. And part of it was because I was looking for something different when I first saw her. But I’ve always had a thing for full figured women, and your sister is curvaceous. More importantly, she really does complete me. She’s the first woman who I have felt was strong enough to really be my equal. I guess in some ways I might sound like a chauvinistic idiot, but I’m an alpha wolf. I need a strong mate, and your sister is one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. I’m not giving you any details, though.”
McKenzie laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll get all the details I want from Kat. Maybe motherhood has changed her a bit, and I know I’m different that I was, but I bet I can get all of the saucy details on how you are without having to use any of my magic.”
For the first time in a long time, Liam blushed, feeling self-conscious about his desire for his mate. He decided to turn the tables. “Oh yeah? So, what about you and Zack?”
It was McKenzie’s turn to blush and she shook her head sadly. “I don’t know. I mean, Elizabeth sort of told me about the way Zack still has had a thing for me all this time, and I’ll be honest I didn’t exactly have any sort of social life the past nine months. I’ve barely seen the sun other than through windows, and Mom had me keep in shape by doing a lot of calisthenics in the living room. Hell, thinking of Zack was my main form of entertainment. So, in my mind, he’s kind of still my boyfriend. But I also know that a lot of time has passed, and maybe we’ve changed. Besides, maybe Carly would be a good match for him. I kind of knew her before, and she was nice.”
Liam shook through a box of stale Corn Flakes, finding nothing and tossing the box over his shoulder to land on the floor. “If you want my advice, you two need to have a talk. Because there are things that need to be discussed between you and that doesn’t include me or anybody else getting in the way.”
When they finished with the kitchen, Liam was frustrated. They had halfway torn the house apart, and there was still no sign of the Bear Stone. “So, what now?” Zack asked while they were taking a break. He had just back with four big bags of burgers for everybody and was divvying them out, more than enough for even wolf and bear appetites. “Do we keep going or do we call in some more help?”
Liam was about to answer when his nose detected a familiar scent. “Wait. I smell my Mom.”
“This is something I really have to still get used to,” McKenzie said, looking at her sister. “Are you the same way?”
Kat nodded her head. “Like you, I’m getting better at it.”
Conversation stopped as Victoria Greyson came in, dressed in no way that her son had ever seen her before. Wearing a pair of hot pink yoga pants and a dingy T-shirt, her skin was pale and sweat dripped down her forehead. Liam was up in an instant, going to her. “Mom, what happened?”
“Just a little tired,” Victoria half whispered, half gasped as she stumbled through the front door. Liam sniffed and realized why. She was still bleeding somewhere.
“Mom where did they catch you?” he asked, but before she could answer there was another sound that chilled his blood, the insane laugh that he’d hoped he’d never have to hear again. “Oh hell, they followed you.”
A shape in a leather jacket burst through the front window, and the battle began. Because of the daylight and the fact that they were in the suburbs, Crystal’s pack did not attack in wolf form at least, which gave Liam and his people a chance. Instead, it was a powered fight, with claws extended and muscles doing things no normal person could copy. Kat and Liam were quickly isolated by Crystal, two wolves that Liam didn’t know, and Sherry, who Liam remembered as one of Crystal’s old flunkies, one of the girls who Crystal kept around mostly because she was willing to do just about anything Crystal said.
“Long time no see, you bastard,” Crystal growled, her eyes twitching and her muscles jumpy as she darted in, a knife in her hand. Instead of going after Liam however, she went after Victoria, an easier target by far. Victoria was exhausted, and Liam stepped in between, catching her with a kick that barely hit before one of the other wolves tackled him, dragging him to the ground and turning it into a fight for his life. Liam punched and swiped with his claws, groaning as someone raked his back, flaying him open but he was too driven by rage and fired up by the deep desire to protect his mate and his pack to feel it. He grabbed his nearest attacker’s right arm and twisted, growling in triumph as he felt as well as heard the bones in the arm shatter and the ligaments tear. A high-pitched piercing shriek came from his victim’s throat and Liam threw him off, rolling to his feet to see Crystal and Victoria wrestling, Crystal still holding a knife in her hand and trying to force it against his mother’s throat. Kat was trying to intervene, but she had problems of her own, fighting Sherry and one of the other wolves, who combined were a match for Kat’s strength when she was in human form. While in one on one combat, Liam was sure that Kat could handle any wolf short of a full-fledged alpha, wolves were pack hunters, and Kat wasn’t used to dealing with group tactics.
He made his choice in an instant, seeing that Kat at least wasn’t in mortal danger. He leaped at Crystal instead, a roar of challenge and anger tearing from his throat even as she turned and met him with her knife, slicing it across his left shoulder deeply. It was only by pure reflex and momentum that Liam was still able to drive his other shoulder into her stomach, rolling and throwing her with his right arm not just into the wall but through the drywall, cracking the support studs underneath. Blood was streaming down his chest, but with the silver no longer being in his body, he could feel the wound start to knit again as he brandished his claws, a single word erupting from his throat. “Crystal!”
“Out!” Crystal yelled to her pack just as another yelp of pain filled the air, and she pulled something from her jacket pocket. She held the knife in her other hand, her eyes still twitchy as she shrugged. “Fuck it, you can burn instead.”
Crystal pulled the pin, and Liam knew exactly what it was -- a thermal grenade. She tossed it into the wreck of a wall that he’d just thrown her through, grinning as it disappeared into the space between the walls and she turned, jumping through a window and running off. Liam turned to pick up his mother and saw that Kat had Sherry by the neck and was calmly smacking the back of her head repeatedly into the drywall, an angry grin on her face. “Kat! We gotta go!”
A soft *pop* sound came from the wall, bright light pouring out as the grenade began spurting, spraying the inside of the wall with burning phosphorous, so hot that even the metal pipes that made up the electricity melted, the two by four studs in the walls catching like matchsticks and bursting into flame. Liam cursed as Kat growled her understanding, dragging Sherry by the neck with her as they headed away from the fire, back to the back, where they heard McKenzie and Zack fighting someone. Liam entered to find the two of them both pounding Erick, who wasn’t so much fighting back as cradling his nuts and whining in miserable terror, almost ignoring the beating he was taking to pay more attention to his testicles. “Zack, McKenzie! We have to go!”
“This motherfucker was going to...” Zack started to reply when a gigantic floomph! ripped through the house, stunning everyone enough that Erick could break free and squirm out of the way, jumping through McKenzie’s bedroom window and running off, still cradling his nuts and screaming. Zack looked back, cursing. “Shit!”
“That was the water heater, the gas is next,” Kat said. “We’ll get him later. What happened?”
“He came in behind us, and grabbed me by the neck,” McKenzie said as she climbed through the window, only to be followed by Zack before Kat and Liam lowered their shoulders and ran through, each of them with an armload. “He said that this was his chance to finish what he started at the party.”
“He was going to rape you?” Kat asked, and Liam shook his head. He’d heard the story, of course, he’d broken up the first fight between Zack and Erick after all, but he had no clue just how fucked up the boy was. He wondered if there was
another reason for the spread of the cancer of generally fuck uppedness in werewolves recently, or if it had always been there and he was just now seeing it. “So, what happened?”
“Told you, I can do big damn magic when I’m angry or scared, and I was both. He threw me on the bed and I felt myself open. So, I cast an illusion on him, I made him think that his cock and balls were shrinking until they were going to disappear. It scared him so much that Zack was able to get him off me easily, and we started kicking his ass.”
“Thank you,” Kat said to Zack, who only blushed and shrugged. “Seriously.”
“I just...” Zack said, but he was interrupted as the gas mains went, and the roof tore off the house with a gigantic bang! Liam looked at Victoria, who was starting to come around, then at Sherry, who was still half-strangled in Kat’s hands.
“Come on. We need to get the fuck out of here. Kat, bring her with us but don’t kill her. I want to ask this bitch a few questions.”
Chapter 46
Kat fumed and raged, trying to control herself as she dragged Sherry into the empty shell of a building that had once been part of the Greyson meatpacking plant. They’d been so close, she knew it. They’d only been through a little more than half the house, they were just taking a break for lunch when everything was destroyed by Crystal and her pack of miserable degenerates. Attacking her, burning her father’s house down... there was no way they’d be able to find Mike’s Bear Stone in the middle of all that rubble. The smoke was still visible on the horizon through the window, and it hurt Kat’s heart. There were a lot of memories in that house, little things that maybe hadn’t been important over the past nine months, things she could live without like photo albums or her fifth grade report card that Mom had written perhaps the world’s most epic reply to her teacher when he had dared to call Kat ‘at risk for health problems due to her size,’ the one thing that had kept her going through her tough teen years.
