Scions: Revelation

by Patrice Michelle

  “Because you can shift at will?” Landon asked.

  Emma nodded.

  “Malac is certifiable. I have no doubt he’s the one behind for trying to start a war between the vampires and the werewolves. He wants to go to war with both your races, but he needed me to help make that happen.”

  “The sonofabitch wants her ability to shift at will,” Caine snarled.

  Emma curled her lip in a derisive snort. “He wanted to take my eggs so he could create an entire army of shape-shifting Velius.”

  A growl emanated from Caine and his hands fell to his sides, clenched in tight fists. “His death will be very painful.”

  Caine’s dark tone sent a chill across Emma’s skin, making her glad he was on her side.

  Landon narrowed his gaze. “If Malac had gotten what he wanted from Emma, combined with the Velius’ swift maturity rate, he feasibly could’ve produced a formidable army in a few years. As to whether or not they’d be shape-shifters…” He shrugged.

  When Landon trailed off, it suddenly occurred to Emma what Hawkeye had alluded to; Malac had already done something similar to him—or tried to. “I didn’t want you to suffer the same fate.” She closed her eyes and her heart ached for the little boy who’d been forced to live with Malac. The memories came flooding back to her. Of how Hawkeye had always watched over her, worried about her.

  Glancing up at Landon, she said, “Now I know why Caine’s smell intrigued me when I first met him—because, even though I didn’t remember your saving Hawkeye and me when we were cubs, your Lupreda smell has lingered with me.”

  When Caine’s expression went blank, Emma realized he’d taken what she’d said the wrong way. The devastated look in his eyes slammed her in the stomach. She wanted to grab hold of his hand and reconnect with him, but she forced herself to focus. “Where do you want to meet with Jade?”

  Jachin’s dark blue eyes stared at her. “You don’t know what Jade’s true intentions are. We have to plan for the worst.” He glanced at Landon. “Especially because she wants us there.”

  “But she could just want to talk,” Emma insisted, feeling desperate. “Can’t we meet somewhere in public, where we can discuss without worry of a surprise attack? I don’t know how to get in touch with Hawkeye. Jade may be my only connection to finding my aunt. I have to help her!”

  Caine soothed her before she could get too worked up. “We’ll find your aunt, Emma.”

  “We could tell them to meet us at Jamie’s Pub,” Landon said, rubbing his hand along his stubbled jaw.

  Jachin nodded slowly. “It’s crowded and loud enough to cover whatever we might discuss.”

  “Not to mention…it’s dark in there.” Landon’s lips tilted in a feral smile.

  Kaitlyn looked at her mate and understanding lit in her eyes. “That could be advantageous.”

  Emma frowned. “Why would dim lighting be to our advantage?”

  Caine looked down at her. “The pills the panthers are taking to mask their scent leave behind a glittery, iridescent residue on anything they touch. They’re unaware that Kaitlyn and Landon have the ability to see this substance, which could clue us in as to how many panthers are present among the crowd.”

  “Taking their element of surprise down considerably.” Jachin nodded, a dangerous smile on his angular face.

  Kaitlyn stood. “Come in my office across the hall. We can look up the city maps and check for places around Jamie’s they might try to hide.”

  Jachin unfolded his tall frame from the couch. His long black coat fell past his knees in a quiet whisper of leather as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll call my Sanguinas Sweeper unit. Instead of hunting for rogue vampires, tonight they’ll be our backup.”

  As everyone brushed past her standing in the living room doorway, Emma felt a rush of panic that Caine had moved to walk away without a word to her. “Caine, wait!” she called. Turning to the blond Lupreda, who was about to leave the room, she quickly grabbed his hand, and said in a hushed voice, “It’s Roman, right?”

  Roman’s gaze locked with Caine’s, then a brilliant, sexy smile tilted his lips. “At your service, Emma. I guess this is a formal introduction.”

  Emma felt Caine’s tension behind her. The spiked wave of heat and testosterone was that powerful. Her pulse skittered as she squeezed Roman’s hand and asked, “What do you feel?”

  Roman didn’t even miss a beat. “Horny.”

  Caine’s snarl of fury made the tiny hairs on Emma’s neck stand on end. Before she lost her nerve, she held fast to Roman’s hand at the same time she quickly turned and grabbed Caine’s fisted one. The moment her hand touched Caine’s, his fingers unfurled and clasped hers tight in a crushing, possessive hold. Electricity flew, whirling so fast and furious between them that it knocked Emma slightly off-kilter. All this happened in milliseconds, yet she had to practically tear her gaze from Caine’s to address Roman once more. “What about now—”

  “Sonofabitch!” Roman instantly jerked his hand from hers, his brow furrowing. “What the—What was that?” His confused dark brown gaze darted between them as he opened and closed his hand. “Are you trying to electrocute me?”

  “You didn’t feel that when Emma shook your hand?” Caine’s words were measured.

  Roman’s blond eyebrows elevated. “Hell, no! Only when—” His eyes lit up and he reached for her hand once more, a sly grin tilting his lips. “Let’s try that again—”

  At the same time Caine’s muscular arm curled around Emma, pulling her against his hard chest, his palm slammed into Roman’s chest, sending him back against the doorjamb with enough force to shake the whole house. “Back off, wolf!”

  Chapter 11

  E mma had never felt so protected and wanted. It thrilled her to her toes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to Roman. She felt a bit guilty for involving Roman, but he’d seemed good-natured enough, and she didn’t think any other way would’ve proven her point as effectively to Caine.

  “Is there a problem?” Landon’s hard voice sounded from the office doorway.

  “Why don’t you go do some recon with the others,” Caine said to his packmate in a less forceful tone. “I need a minute.”

  Roman rubbed his chest and snorted. “You two need more than a minute. A room would be better.”

  “Go!” Caine barked, sounding ready to snap off the other werewolf’s head.

  The moment Roman walked away, Caine hauled Emma into the living room and set her back against the wall. Caging her in with his hands on the wall beside her, his black eyebrows slashed downward as he growled in a low voice, “That was a hell of a risk you just took!”

  Emma met his intemperate hazel gaze with determination. “You took what I said about your Lupreda scent the wrong way. I saw it in your eyes. You’d closed up and were already shutting me out.”

  “If Roman had felt that same charge when you first touched him, his wolf would’ve instantly challenged me for you, Emma. You just riled his rocks, sweetheart. What happens between us is that intensely sexual.”

  Heat shot up her cheeks at his comment. “Are you saying I just—”

  “Sent a jolt that bypassed his brain and went straight to his cock.”

  Emma closed her eyes and groaned with embarrassment, but her breath quickly caught when she felt Caine’s musky heat, hot and thick, envelope her as he leaned close and whispered near her ear, “Is it any wonder why I can’t stop touching you every chance I get?”

  As if to prove his point, his warm hands slid under her cardigan and tank top and up her sides, sending electric shimmers in their wake. His fingers gripped her rib cage in a fierce hold and he yanked her against his hard chest. Emma barely had time to take a breath before his lips covered hers.

  From the moment his lips slanted across hers, Caine staked his claim, tasting her instantly as he spoke in her mind. I’ve never been so scared in my life when I thought you might die. His tongue delved deep, sliding along hers in a provocative, posse
ssive dance. His seductive intensity demanded her participation and Emma was more than willing to accommodate him.

  “After everything that’s happened, having you there—fighting for me, and not over me—was the only thing that kept me from giving up,” she confessed and encircled her arms around his neck, locking him tight against her. Emma never wanted to let him go.

  Caine’s arms locked around her and he planted a kiss along her jawline. “No matter what happens tonight, know that I’ll always be there to protect you.”

  Tears burned the back of Emma’s eyes when she thought of the tension she’d seen in the bedroom earlier between the vampires and the werewolves. The history and distrust between their races went deep, as did the history between the werewolves and the panthers. Would their differences eventually come between Caine and her, too? Her arms cinched tighter. She wasn’t going to let that happen to them.

  “Caine, we’re ready to call Jade back whenever you are,” Kaitlyn called from the office.

  Emma sat in Caine’s truck, her stomach knotted so tight she felt like she might throw up the food Kaitlyn had forced her to eat before they left. “You must eat, Emma. You look way too pale.”

  She looked pale because she was worried about her aunt. Plus, she didn’t know if the meeting they were getting ready to leave for would end in an all-out war between the panthers, vampires and werewolves. Where would that leave her and Caine?

  Landon leaned his elbow on the driver-side door as he spoke to Caine. “We’ll meet you there.”

  While Landon talked, Caine started to lift the silver chain over his head.

  Landon grabbed his wrist, his tone harsh. “We made a deal.”

  Caine’s jaw worked for a second before he gritted out, “We don’t know what we’re walking into. Emma’s life could be in danger.”

  “It’s not worth the risk. I’ve got your back. I’ll keep Emma safe.”

  Lowering the chain back on his neck, fury emanated from Caine. “She’s mine to protect.”

  Landon glanced Emma’s way and the curt edge in his tone softened. “Exactly why it’s not worth the risk.”

  When Landon walked off and slid into the car with Jachin and his Sweeper unit—who’d shown up only minutes before, allowing Talek to take Mira home—Emma asked, “What was that about?”

  Caine started the engine and stared straight ahead, his face impassive. “Nothing.”

  As he pulled away from the curb outside Kaitlyn’s house, Emma’s gaze drifted to his necklace. Kaitlyn had told her that silver kept the Lupreda from shifting. It wasn’t quite a full moon tonight, but Landon’s mate had also said the Lupreda did have control over their Musk forms—at least the older ones did. Which meant they could shift whenever they wanted as long as they weren’t hampered by the silver.

  “Are you too young to shift to your Musk form?” Emma asked.

  Caine’s hazel gaze glinted sharp and dangerous in the darkness between them. “Do I look like a young pup to you?”

  He looked on edge, but Emma wasn’t about to let him intimidate her. “What you ‘look’ is angry. Kaitlyn told me the Velius killed some of the Lupreda—zerkers she’d called them. If you’re not too young, why did Landon make that deal with you about wearing the necklace before he called Jachin to help me?”

  Caine turned a corner faster than necessary. The truck’s tires skidded in the slushy snow, then caught on the pavement, squealing in protest. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tight, while a vein thumped along his temple. Emma’s chest weighed heavy with worry. “Why doesn’t Landon want you to shift?”

  “Because I’m the last of them, Emma!” Caine shouted. Jamming his hand through his dark hair, he continued in a calmer voice. “I’m the only one left of my generation who hasn’t gone zerker. The pack learned from our mistakes.”

  Silence, thick with tension, descended in the truck and several seconds ticked past. Emma chewed her bottom lip, trying to understand. “He doesn’t want you to shift because it could be permanent the next time?”

  His narrowed gaze sliced her way. “I’d be neither human nor wolf, forever.” Staring at the road once more, he continued, his words cold and grating. “No one wants that. We called them zerkers for a reason. Not being able to shift back eventually screwed with their minds. They became dangerous, their urges more primal, their reactions unpredictable. That’s why they didn’t live with the pack. They used to live in the cabin we stayed in.”

  Tears threatened and Emma’s throat burned with the effort to hold back a sob, but she had to know the rest. “The cabin…But you called it your home.”

  “It’ll be my home when I finally go zerker,” he said, his words flat and final.

  Reaching out, she dug her fingers into the corded muscles that ran along his forearm. “If going zerker would force you to stay away from me, then keep your promise to Landon. Never take the damn necklace off—”

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.” He cut her off with a low rasping growl.

  “You can protect me just fine. You’ve proven that already. I’m not worth losing your humanity over.” Panic swelled her lungs, pushing the air out of them until she could barely catch her breath. “I don’t want to lose you,” she finished in a whisper.

  Caine quickly grabbed her hand and pressed his warm lips against it. The roughness of his five o’clock shadow, combined with his tingling kiss, skittered along her skin, sending tingles scattering down her arm. “I’m here, Emma. Don’t worry.”

  Emma laced her fingers with his, gripping his hand tightly. “I want to believe you’re listening to me, but I know you’re too stubborn. You’ll do what you want to regardless of my wishes.”

  Once Caine slowed his truck and parked it along the side of the road, his hazel gaze met hers. “I’ll grant your every wish if I can, but your safety comes above my own.”

  Emma shut her eyes and tears squeezed past the corners. Caine’s fingertips brushed away a tear and she opened her eyes to see his hungry gaze on her face. “I’m on shaky ground as it as, Emma.” His low, tortured voice slid over her like a velvet caress, while his fingers cupped her face, tilting her chin so she had to look at him. “It would rip me apart if anything happened to you.”

  How could she argue with that without sounding ungrateful? Appreciation and respect combated with guilt and anger at their situation. Emma pressed a kiss on his palm, then cupped the warmth against her cheek. “I’ve never felt more blessed than to have met you.” She spoke from the heart, even as she wondered what the outcome of this meeting would bring.

  Would seeing her among her people highlight their differences in his mind? She knew he felt protective of her, but would Caine’s loyalties to his pack and his own kind eventually pull him away from her, making him want to be with a Lupreda woman instead? Her chest ached at the thought. A knock on Caine’s window made Emma’s heart jerk. Caine’s hand fell away when Landon thumbed for them to accompany their group inside the pub.

  The moment Emma slid out of the truck, Caine wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close as they walked along the sidewalk. Dark shadows hid in nearby alleys, filled with day-old trash and dirty snow. Bums, stray dogs and cats foraged in and around the Dumpsters, looking for scraps. If a Velius jumped out of the alley in its panther form now, would Caine be able to inflict enough damage with his wereclaws and superhuman strength to protect Emma?

  He gritted his teeth and tensed in anger and resentment at the truth. Hell, no! Without his Musk form, he’d always feel as if he weren’t giving his all, using everything within himself to defend the woman he cared deeply about. Landon and his brethren wouldn’t always be around to help defend her, nor would Caine let anyone fight his battles for him. Ever. Was it fair to shackle Emma with a man who couldn’t defend her as he should? No, yet he curled his lip in a snarl at the idea of any other man touching her.

  By the time they neared the pub, Caine’s testosterone levels had elevated considerably. He was ready to take
down anyone, in any form necessary. Several more Lupreda converged with their small group, and Caine didn’t miss their rumbles of discontent. Some of the weres curled their lips in a low growl at the members of Jachin’s Sweeper unit who’d accompanied them from their vehicles.

  “Enough,” Landon snapped. The dozen Lupreda before him quieted and instantly splintered off, disappearing into the darkness to take the positions Landon had given them via his cell before they’d left Kaitlyn’s house. Once the Sweeper unit of six men dispersed to take up their own sentry duties on the rooftops and at the building corners, Landon, Kaitlyn and Jachin entered the pub, followed by Caine and Emma.

  Only a few steps into the crowded, dim pub, Kaitlyn looked at Landon. Placing four fingers at the corner of her eye, she signaled that she saw four Velius in the place, then she nodded to a man in a baseball hat and a woman with short dark hair sitting alone at a table in the far corner of the room. Caine inhaled in the direction of the table and instantly recognized the human man’s scent as the one who’d taken Emma from the club. The other four panthers must be positioned elsewhere in the room on guard duty.

  Steeling himself, Caine’s hand cinched tighter around Emma’s rib cage. Just because Kaitlyn saw only four Velius with iridescent sparkles on them in the crowd didn’t mean there weren’t other humans helping the panthers. He mentally cursed the “unknown variables” of the situation and followed Landon, Kaitlyn and Jachin’s lead toward the back of the bar. As they weaved around the various tables, filled with patrons watching the latest game and talking, drinking and laughing among themselves, Caine scanned the room for all possible exit points in case they had to get out of there fast.