A Cub For The Billion-were (Alpha Billion-weres Book 2)

by Georgette St. . Clair

  “What do you want with me?” she demanded.

  He snorted in contempt. “I don’t want shit with you. We want Jeffrey. Grant can trade him for you, or we can send him pieces of you.”

  She went cold and blinked back tears. Yes. She would have to make them kill her. She couldn’t let these monsters use her to get to Jeffrey.

  She’d been so close to happiness. She’d had love, and family, and friends.

  “Grant will never give Jeffrey to you,” she said, squirming on the floor of the car as she worked her hands behind her. There. The cuffs were off. She’d just have to wait for an opportunity.

  “His loss. There are other things we can use you for. The boss said you’d be good for breeding.” His gaze roved over her in a way that made her want to vomit.

  Boss? Breeding? What the hell was he talking about?

  “I’m not one of you,” she protested. “I’m not a werewolf. And Jeffrey’s only half wolf.”

  “Yeah. That’s what makes him special.”

  Had years of drugs and booze fried his brains? What was he talking about?

  “Who’s the boss?”

  He shuddered, and a fearful look crossed his face. “You’ll find out soon. Then you’ll wish you didn’t. You made lots of trouble for him. Should of just gave up the kid when you had the chance.”

  “Told you so,” Rhona sang from the front seat. “If you had just let me have him when I first came to your house, none of this would have happened. He wasn’t yours. You had no business keeping him.”

  Celeste ignored her. “Where’s Jennifer?” she asked Boone bitterly. “She didn’t want to come to the party?”

  “Bitch is dead. I killed her weeks ago,” Boone snarled. “Shot out her tire. She hit a tree, and now she’s barbecue.” He sniggered at that.

  Celeste froze. Boone had caused the accident – and he thought he’d killed Jennifer. But he was wrong, she was sure of it.

  “Is that so,” she said flatly. “Why would you have done that?”

  He snorted. “She was supposed to meet me and give me that brat of hers. She came to the meeting spot, but then she took one look at me and kept driving.” Then a pouty look crossed his face. “Wasn’t my fault. I was supposed to come alone. My boys was hiding in the woods, but they didn’t hide good enough, and she saw them. I kilt them after I shot her tire out. Ripped their throats out.”

  Now the car was going up an even bumpier road.

  “She was just going to give you her son?” Celeste snorted. “No. Jennifer never does anything for free.”

  “I told her I’d give her a million bucks for him.” His expression went sly and greedy. “I got a real interested buyer. The boss man. I was supposed to hand that brat over six years ago, but she found out about it and took the kid and ran. Guess she needed money real bad now. So she came back and told me she knew I had a rich guy who wanted the kid, so she’d sell him to me.”

  Jennifer, you bitch.

  “Who’s the rich guy? The boss man?”

  Boone punched her in the side of the head, and she saw stars.

  “I told you don’t fuckin’ ask that!”

  The car rolled to a stop.

  “Remember. I get to watch,” Rhona sang out. “Maybe I’ll even help.”

  Boone kicked the back of the driver’s seat. “Shut the hell up, you old cow, or I’ll take care of her and you at the same time.”

  Rhona spun around to glare at him. “I already told you, I took precautions. If I don’t return safely, everyone will know about you and Talbot.”

  “Don’t say his fuckin’ name!” Boone screamed with rage and kicked the driver’s seat even harder. Rhona threw the door open and jumped out of the car.

  Wait, Talbot? Talbot the rich werewolf? Talbot who was working with Grant on the database?

  She had to tell Grant. She had to warn him. But she’d never be able to warn Grant, because she was going to die here.

  Why did Talbot want Jeffrey? What would he do to him? What would he do to her, if she didn’t fight to the death right now? Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

  Boone opened the car door and stepped out. Then he grabbed her and hauled her out, punching her in the head several times as he did so. She kept her hands together behind her back, wincing in pain each time he hit her.

  She rolled away from him and leaped to her feet, her hands still crossed together – for now.

  They were at the end of a long dirt road, in a thickly forested area. She suspected that Talbot or his men would be coming any minute, to fetch her.

  “You never were going to give Jennifer that million, were you?” she demanded.

  “Hell, no. Why split the reward?” he sneered.

  “She knew that. She sent someone else to the meetup to see what you’d do.” Someone else just as disposable as Jennifer, Celeste imagined. Someone who would never be missed. “You didn’t get a good look at her when she drove past, did you? It was the middle of the night. And then the car blew up. You killed the wrong person.”

  At that, he froze, staring at her wide-eyed. “Why would she do that?”

  He really was that dumb. He really had to ask. “Because you’re a slimy, lying little toad, and she knew better than to trust you.”

  He swore a blue streak.

  “That fucking whore!” he screamed, his face red with rage.

  She started backing away from him. “That means she’s out there somewhere, Boone. I’d watch your back.”

  “She’s getting away!” Rhona wailed.

  Boone hurried towards her. When he got close to her, she lunged forward violently, head-butted him and broke his nose. He staggered back, screaming and wailing.

  Then she turned and ran for her life. She raced into the woods. She could hear Rhona thudding after her, big and awkward.

  “Stop! I’ve got a gun!” Rhona screamed. A shot whizzed past her ear.

  She dodged behind a massive oak tree.

  “Don’t make me shoot you!” Rhona whined. “I don’t get paid if you’re dead!”

  Frantically, Celeste looked around for anything that she could use as a weapon. There was nothing. No big sticks.

  “I’ll kill you!” Boone screamed, his voice high and shrill, and she heard his footsteps slamming into the ground.

  This was it, then. She’d make her last stand here, make them chase her down and kill her so they couldn’t use her as bait. She’d do it for Jeffrey.

  She turned and ran, and behind her she heard screams. Horrible, gurgling screams.

  She swung around wildly. Wolves were attacking Rhona and Boone. Boone had struggled free and was lashing out with wild, haymaker punches. With a shout of fear and anger, he pushed Rhona to the ground between the wolves and himself. He turned and broke into a shambling run, but the wolves fell on him too, and he went down under the weight of their bodies.

  Moments later, the wolves shifted into human form. Mandy, Grant and Austin ran over to her.

  “You found me,” she sobbed, falling into Grant’s arms. “Oh, God. I thought I was going to die out here. How did you find me?”

  “It was Austin,” Grant said, hugging her and stroking her hair. “He slipped a tracking device into your pocket this morning. I didn’t even know until you went missing. Then he told me.”

  Austin walked up to her, covered with gore. “I track for a living,” he said. “I knew you and Jeffrey would be targets, so I put trackers on both of you.”

  Celeste stiffened and looked at Grant. “Talbot,” she said. “Rhona said that Talbot was behind all of this. They want Jeffrey for something, and Boone – that’s the guy who was chasing me – he said something about how they could use me to breed. I don’t know what it all means, but…”

  She started crying, hard, and found she couldn’t stop.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They got back to the house an hour later. Grant had already called Cliff and told him what had happened. Jeffrey was safely back at the house; Pete a
nd the other werewolves had hustled him home as soon as they’d been notified that Celeste was missing. Jeffrey had never been told that Celeste was in danger, however; they’d hoped to get her back before they had to tell him, and they’d succeeded.

  As they walked in to the foyer, Reynaldo came to greet them, his expression tense. “Cliff’s not going to die,” he said.

  “That’s not exactly reassuring. What happened to him?”

  “Talbot apparently found out that he’d been identified, and he was already fleeing the lodge with his men when Cliff and the others went after him. There was a fight. There were serious injuries. Cliff was badly hurt, but there’s a healer with him, and he’ll recover.” Reynaldo rattled off the news quickly. “Six of Talbot’s men were killed. His Beta and Omega survived, and now they’ve turned on him. They admitted that they’ve known he was up to some shady dealings and they were plotting to challenge him. They’ve been taken into custody and we’re interrogating them to find out what we can.”

  “What about his pack?”

  “His pack has been notified.” Reynaldo’s tone was grim. “If he tries to go back there, they’ll do their best to arrest him, and if not they’ll kill him. As far as we can tell, most of them had no idea what he was up to. His loyal supporters went to the lodge meeting with him, and died. His pack has agreed to let a Truth-Maker visit and speak to any pack members, including the elders, and they’re going to give full access to Talbot’s property, his office, his files, anything that might be useful. But it’s going to take time.”

  “Do we have any idea why Talbot was so obsessed with getting his hands on Jeffrey? Or why he’d talk about…breeding Celeste?” Grant was fighting for self-control, but that last part came out on a growl and fur covered his entire body. The thought of anyone else taking his son – of anyone being with Celeste – made him homicidal. He shook himself, hard, and struggled to force his beast back down. It hurt; his skin burned and his bones throbbed with agony. His beast wanted out. His beast wanted to hunt and kill.

  Celeste reached out and lightly stroked his arm, lending him her strength. “I’m still here,” she murmured to him. After everything she’d been through, after the beating she’d taken, she was thinking of him, not herself.

  I love you. I will never let you go.

  “Not yet,” Reynaldo said, shaking his head regretfully.

  “Call Taylor,” Celeste urged him. He pulled out his phone and dialed.

  She answered on the first ring. “Grant. Everyone okay?” He could hear the strain in her voice.

  “Fine. How is he?” he asked.

  “He’ll be okay. Rusty got hurt too. We’re lucky there were healers here. They’ll be all right within a couple of days. Talbot got away, though.”

  “We’ll get him,” Grant vowed. “Do we have any clue yet what’s behind all this?”

  “No, this is all just unfolding now. I can’t believe it. He seemed totally normal to me. Honestly, I thought Cliff was exaggerating when he said that Talbot was known as a bully and a hothead, because he was always really chill here. He didn’t get involved in a single physical fight. Oh, here’s something weird, by the way. When everyone went after him – he still didn’t shift. He used a gun with silver bullets, then ran to his helicopter and took off. Left his men behind to be killed.”

  “That’s strange. I’ve seen him shift before at the slightest provocation,” Grant mused. “So I know he can. I don’t know what his game is, but we’ll find out. I just hope nobody kills him before I get to have a little chat with him.”

  Celeste headed off to their room to take a shower and some painkillers, while Grant went to tell Jeffrey that she had a headache and needed a little alone-time. Fortunately, Mandy and Truman were there, and the house was crawling with werewolf security. He’d have plenty of entertainment, and these days Jeffrey no longer feared abandonment every time Celeste left the room.

  After her shower, Celeste lay down on their bed with an ice pack pressed to her head where Boone had hit her.

  Grant came and sat down on the bed next to her. “Are you feeling okay? Next month, we’re going to start prepping you to turn. If that’s what you want,” he added.

  “Yes. I’d be stronger,” she said. “I’d be able to defend Jeffrey if anyone came after him.”

  What an amazing mother she is, he thought, and she doesn’t even realize it. She’d make a perfect werewolf. She was fierce, and strong, and loyal to her mate and her cub.

  He trailed his fingers lightly along her arm.

  She stifled a moan of desire. He stopped instantly.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  “Not at all.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I’m torn between wanting to rip your clothes off and wanting to curl up in pain.”

  He lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. “We can just lie here together,” he said. “We’ve got all the time in the world to be together.”

  “So what happens now?” she asked.

  “Well, the humans are going to figure out pretty quickly that Rhona is missing, but there’s nothing tying it to us,” he said. “The final hearing is just a formality at this point. The judge will give us full custody of Jeffrey, and we’ll hightail it back to Hidden Hills. You guys will be safe there. We’ll keep searching for Talbot until we find him. He’s been burned. He can’t go back to his pack, and now that we’ve got most of the werewolf packs signing up to the database, everyone will know what he looks like. He won’t be able to take refuge anywhere. He’s been used to a life of luxury and privilege for a long time now; he’s not your typical feral rogue who’s happy squatting in the woods. He’ll screw up.”

  “He’s a computer security expert,” Celeste mused. “He was going to help design the database. He was really gung-ho about it.”

  “Yes, he was,” Grant said. “And when we were meeting at the lodge and it seemed as if the database was never going to happen, we think that Talbot took action. Anthony Craddock said he’d never go along with the database, and the next day, that very public lone wolf attack happened in upstate New York. It was an attack so obvious that it seemed as if the werewolf wanted to be noticed. After that, most of the packs that had been resisting felt like they had no choice but to sign up. We think Talbot staged that attack, and most of the other lone wolf attacks that happened in the months leading up to our meeting at the lodge, and we think he sent those men to attack us.”

  Celeste lay there quietly for a minute, deep in thought. “He wanted to have access to information on every werewolf in existence. What was he looking for?”

  “Good question. He’ll never have access to it now, though. Our pack and Ford Blackwood will be starting from scratch to design the software for the database to ensure that he can’t get access to it. Don’t worry about it right now. You’re safe, Jeffrey’s safe. Get some rest.”

  He wrapped himself around her, reveling in her warmth and softness, and gradually, her breathing slowed and she dozed off. He put the ice on the night stand and fell asleep next to her.

  A knock on the door woke them up. They sat up, yawning, and saw Mandy standing in the doorway. Grant glanced at the wall clock; they’d been asleep for three hours.

  “Hey, I hate to bother you, but I’ve come up with some interesting information,” she said. She walked in. “What gives? You’ve both got all your clothes on. Has the magic died already?”

  “I just got the tar kicked out of me a few hours ago,” Celeste grumbled. “I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t put me in an exceptionally randy mood.”

  “It doesn’t?” Mandy looked at her questioningly. “Humans are strange.”

  “You came in here to annoy us for a reason?” Grant said, exasperated.

  “Well, other than the fact that I genuinely enjoy annoying you, yes, I did.” Mandy sat down on the bed next to them.

  “Please, make yourself comfortable,” Grant growled. “It’ll be just like old times when you’re on my bed not having sex
with me.”

  “And to think, you paid me for that. Weirdo. Anyway, if you’d just let me talk, I could let you get back to not having sex with your mate,” Mandy said impatiently. “I’ve done some asking around. An interesting thing happened about fifteen years ago. A lone wolf disappeared. He was a rarity. Like Jeffrey. His mother was actually human when she gave birth to him. He was kidnapped by a man who shot him with a tranquilizer gun. He was with another lone wolf at the time, who managed to escape, but there was no way to safely report it. As a lone wolf, he would have risked being killed on sight if he tried to approach an official pack.”

  “So how did you find out about this?” Grant asked her.

  Mandy shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. It’s important information. And here’s another thing. The year that lone wolf disappeared…it was the same year Talbot came out of nowhere and took over a small pack, then started building his way up. I heard Austin and Reynaldo talking about it a little while ago. Apparently Talbot had some story about coming from a really small, completely isolated pack in Canada, but Cliff started making some inquiries. It seems pretty clear that the pack doesn’t exist. He literally came from nowhere. I can’t quite wrap my head around what’s going on, but this is somehow connected to why he wants Jeffrey.”

  Celeste sat up. “Are you a lone wolf?” Then she looked at Grant. “Because if she is, you can’t kill her. No matter how annoying she is. She risked her life to save us.”

  “She’s not a lone wolf,” Grant said. “I know her pack.” His eyes narrowed. “She’s a member of the Network. And all those people who came to save us when those men tried to kidnap Jeffrey, and the people who came to rescue us when we were in upstate New York and then vanished? You called them, Mandy. They were lone wolves.”

  Mandy quirked an eyebrow. “The hell you say.”

  Grant nodded to himself. “That explains a lot. Like why you were free to just ditch everything and come hang out with me whenever. And why you agreed to come to this meeting at the lodge. You wanted to know what we were up to, and how it would affect the Network.”