Earp & Chandra: The Sundance Series Book 2.5

by C. P. Rider

  Lucas sent Chandra a nonverbal message through the group bonds. In effect, he intended to remain in his fully shifted form until the other alpha was dealt with, so she would have to take the lead, since she was in hybrid form and could speak clearly.

  "Challenge witnessed by Alpha Lucas Blacke of the Blacke group of Southern California." Chandra infused her voice with the power of her alpha hyena. "This is a pack challenge, so both parties must shift to their animals before starting."

  Alpha Jessup shifted into her hybrid form as Miguel shed his clothing and slid fully into his animal. His amorphous transformation from an amalgam of human flesh and animal fur into an eight-foot-long, two hundred-fifty-pound arctic wolf had Chandra's heart beating out of her chest. She'd rarely seen a change like this, and only in top wolf predators akin to Lucas Blacke.

  She wondered how long it would take Miguel to kill his alpha, because while Jessup was strong and mean, he was next-level alpha strong. Why in the world had he waited so long to challenge her?

  From Chandra's limited perspective, she figured it was likely because he was young and didn’t feel ready to lead a pack, but given the power vibrating off the shifter, he absolutely was. He might need a little diplomacy advice, maybe a lesson in structuring a security team. A little help from someone with experience running things.

  Chandra smelled a side job opportunity.

  "Why are you doing this, wolf?" Alpha Jessup's voice reminded Chandra of a garbage disposal chewing on a stainless-steel spoon. "Turning on your leader is treason."

  "Treason?" Carter stood beside the enormous white wolf, his hip to the shifter's flank. "You dare to talk about treason when you tried to murder my mate and child?"

  Without taking her eyes off the white wolf, she said, "I have explained that your mate is inferior. Your child will be inferior, too."

  "Then why do you want her so badly?"

  "Her?" Alpha Jessup's gaze snapped to his. "A female? Have you named the pup?"

  "You have no right to ask me that. You have no right to anything that belongs to me."

  "The pup is mine. I will name it." She looked so confident, so artificially in control, it was almost sad. Chandra sent up a prayer to anyone who might be listening that she never attain that level of arrogance.

  Carter's demeanor changed. There was a sense of inevitability about his next words that broke Chandra's heart a little.

  "You abused the people who should have been able to depend on you to defend them. You used them for your own gain, and when things didn't go your way, you hurt them. Not only my family, but your own. Your wolves."

  "They are my people, not my family," she snarled.

  "They could have been family. If you hadn't…" He shook his head. "No, that's not true. They would never have been your family, because in order to have a family, there must be love. And there is no love in you. I see that so clearly, and I understand now why my father ran away with me in the dead of night to get away from you."

  She screamed, changing from hybrid to wolf as the sound ground out of her throat, ending in a cross between a howl and a roar.

  "Yes, I knew. Dad told me about it before he died. And you aren't angry because you missed him or me, so you can stop with that lie. You're only angry that two of your people escaped you."

  Another shriek, this one loud enough to make Chandra's ears pop, erupted from Jessup. The alpha was pissed.

  "I realize now that it was the greatest gift, he gave me, raising me without you around. A gift I will also give my daughter." He turned away from his mother and began to walk at a human pace back toward Sundance.

  Alpha Jessup howled, loud and long. She jumped, a six-foot vertical leap, legs flailing, paws clawing the air, as she reached for her son. In her desperation to stop Carter from walking away from her, the alpha made a huge mistake.

  She forgot her challenger.

  This was a mistake she would never make again. Miguel Vega lunged. His claws, like thickly curved thorns, sank into the alpha leader's throat and ripped downward. Tissue and cartilage lay in a bloodied clump on the dirt as Miguel separated the alpha leader's insides from the husk of her body in only a few choice swipes.

  Alpha Jessup sprawled on the scrub and dirt, staring at the retreating back of her child. Blood bubbled on her lips as she gurgled at him. To Chandra's ears, it sounded like she was saying, "Son."

  Perhaps, in the final moments of her life, the alpha had realized what she'd lost, and had sought to apologize to the one person who had wanted nothing more than to love her.

  If he heard her, Carter didn't show it. He didn't once look back. Instead, he focused solely on what was in front of him.

  His family.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The cave was as Earp had last left it, with one improvement.

  "Hello, Jedidiah." Dottie sat on a sleeping bag beside a fresh fire in the carved-out section of the cave. She held up a bottle of wine and a six pack of beer, and waved him over with a smile.

  Earp scuttled to the back of the cave, where the light of the fire couldn't reach, and slowly began the painful change to human.

  "Don't change on my account," Dottie called out. "I like you in all of your forms."

  Settling on shifting to hybrid so he could at least talk, Earp crept out of the shadows, dragging his tail behind him, and came to sit on the sleeping bag beside Dottie. "I'm not going to ask how you got in, magic lady, but how did you know to come here?"

  "Chandra told me." Dottie's starry blue eyes opened wide, the way they always did when she began a story. "Oh boy, when I heard that those terrible wolves had captured you, I was on my way to the attic to dig out my meanest grimoire and cast all sorts of nasty spells. Neely stopped me. She told me you were going to be safe because the Blacke group had things under control." She crossed her arms over her chest, rolled her eyes, snorted, and harrumphed.

  "I know she meant well, but that reassurance didn't exactly set my mind at ease. So, I told her that I was sure they thought they had it under control, but that was my boyfriend out there and I sure as sugar was not going to sit in my tower and twiddle my thumbs while he was in danger."

  Earp's heart warmed. Not many people in his life cared about him the way his sweet witch did, and he valued every harrumph and snort.

  "That's when Chandra said they would be sending you to your special hiding place once they got you away from that nasty alpha, and that I should wait here for you. To see if you needed help."

  "And so you did." Earp made a mental note to thank Neely and Smith for not letting Dottie put herself in danger on account of him.

  "Indeed." She swept one soft arm over a green straw picnic basket as if presenting a prize. "I brought food and medical supplies, and Dolores helped me cast a levitation spell so I could get myself and all this stuff into your favorite cave."

  "There's another cave I use near here," he said. "How did you know I wouldn't go there?"

  "I know this one is your favorite because hardly anyone can get to it but you—and now me. You talked about it that night we went for a soak in the hot spring, and again when we met for breakfast, and once over wine and cookies in the tower."

  He hadn't realized she'd paid so much attention. "You listened to me."

  "Of course I did. You're important to me. And I don't mind telling you, Jedidiah, it was not easy to sit here and wait for you. I was very worried." Dottie shuddered as she handed him a beer from the six pack.

  "It's all right. I'm safe. Not a scratch on me." Earp opened the beer and poured it into his wide mouth, clinking the can against his teeth. It was cool, even though it wasn't in a cooler. He'd been right about the cave being the perfect temperature.

  "Thank the goddess for that." She popped the cork on a bottle of wine and took a long swig.

  "How much stuff did you bring?" He gestured to the basket. "Looks like you packed enough for an army."

  "I didn't know if we'd be here for a while." She blinked as she surveyed the mottled gray
-brown rock walls of the cave. "It's quite lovely, though. I could definitely spend some time here."

  "With me?"

  "Yes." She gave him his favorite sparkly eyed smile. "With you."

  Earp suddenly felt a pressing need to shift all the way to human. "Can I have one of those sandwiches? I think if I got a little food in me, I might be able to shift."

  "You don't have to. I told you, I like you in all your forms."

  "Oh, I want to." Earp gave her a sheepish—Gila monsterish—grin. "Problem is, I don't have my clothes with me."

  Dottie paused in the act of opening the picnic basket and shot him the sexiest come-hither look he'd ever seen. "Oh Jedidiah, I don't see that as a problem at all."

  Later that day, they sat side by side at the mouth of the cave and watched the sun paint pink and orange streaks in the sky as it lowered to the horizon. Earp took Dottie's soft, pretty hand in his leathery, rough one.

  "This is my favorite thing in the world," he said, "watching the sun set."

  Dottie rested her head on his shoulder, and he stroked her long white hair with his free hand. "It's a wondrous thing, isn't it? So many colors in that wide, beautiful sky."

  "And watching it with my best girl makes it even more special. I'm glad I got to spend time with you before you leave for your daughter's place."

  "Oh goodness! With all the commotion, I forgot to tell you. There was a change of plans. I'm not going to see her after all. Dena and Delilah are coming to see me. Here in Sundance."

  "Oh." Earp didn't see how that improved things much. He still wouldn't be able to see her while her family was around.

  She squeezed his hand. "When you come to dinner, you'll have to wear clothes. Or, if you like, you can keep some clothes at my place, and I'll put them where you can find them. Delilah wouldn't mind, but Dena is a bit prissy. She's a lot like her father was." She rubbed her thumb over his rough knuckles. "They'll be here tomorrow afternoon, and I thought we'd have a barbecue since the weather is supposed to cool down to almost ninety-five degrees in the aft—"

  "Are you sure you want me around your family?" Earp looked down and away. "I'm not fit for fancy company."

  "It's not fancy company, it's family. And you're part of it. Dolores even asked if you'd come, and you know how she gets. My girls asked too. I've told them so much about you that Delilah said if you didn't show up, she'd be disappointed."

  "She said that?" Earp couldn't imagine.

  "She's a chef with a fancy restaurant up in Los Angeles and she's doing the cooking. She said she'd be insulted if you didn't come."

  "I'll come."

  "Good. It wouldn't be the same without you."

  Earp leaned into Dottie and rested his head against hers. They watched the sun sink until it had left the sky blue-black and brought out all the stars.

  Only this time, the stars didn't remind him of the eyes of a woman he'd known many years ago. This time they reminded him of the woman he held in his arms, the woman who was fast becoming not only the love of his life, but the family he'd always wanted.

  Chapter Eighteen

  "What do you mean you're going to Salt Lake City?"

  Neely and Lucas stood on either side of the sofa and barked the words down at Chandra.

  "Aww jeepers, Mom and Dad, can't I? All the other parents are letting their kids go."

  Lucas folded his arms and scowled down at her. "If all the other parents jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, would you ask us to do it?"

  Neely, who realized how ridiculously she was behaving a little sooner than her partner, came around the arm of the sofa and sat beside Chandra, tucking her legs beneath her.

  "We just worry, that's all."

  "About me," Chandra said flatly.

  "Yes," Neely and Lucas replied together.

  I have been on my own since I was sixteen years old. I'm a goddamned ex-assassin and alpha second of the Blacke group. "Exactly what makes you two think I can't take care of myself?"

  "It's not that we don't think you can handle yourself. Duh." Lucas came around the other side of the sofa, threw himself onto the cushions beside her, and stuck his legs out in front of him. "Just the opposite. It's that we…" He looked helplessly at Neely.

  "To be honest, we'll miss you." She pulled a pillow into her lap and played with the fringe. "A lot."

  "Miss me?"

  "Well, yeah. I just bought the entire series of Quincy, M.E., and Neely is making carnitas."

  "And cookies in the shape of a scalpel," Neely said.

  "Yeah, cookies too. Don't you want to hang out?"

  "Let me get this straight. None of us have slept in twenty-four hours, we've helped deliver a baby, witnessed an alpha challenge, and Earp and I dealt with those poachers…"

  "What poachers?" Neely asked.

  Lucas scowled and mouthed, Nice.

  "Besides, you hate old television shows," Chandra said hurriedly, to cover her slip. Guess he didn't want Neely to know about the poachers just yet. "I thought you were going to cry when you saw how many seasons of Mash were available."

  "I did cry. How dare you throw that in my face. And no, I don't like them all that much, but you do."

  He'd bought the series for her? Not only for her, but to watch with her? He and Neely both?

  Chandra hid a smile. "Don't you two want to be alone? Between the alpha battle with the late Alpha Jessup, and with the Reids living on the other side of your house—"

  "I put them up at John Boca's old place." He grinned at Neely over Chandra's head. "Remember him, sugar cookie? He's the wild boar shifter I wanted you to do a telepathic read on at the cabin—"

  "—and he tried to kill us both. Yes, I do recall the man, smart aleck." Neely scowled at Lucas. "A couple of the families gave the Reids a bassinet and baby supplies, and the house was fully furnished, since apparently even John's family hated the murderous jerk and wanted nothing to do with his stuff. Lucky for us."

  She said all this matter-of-factly, which told Chandra a lot about how much the spiker had changed over the past year. That skin of hers was growing thicker.

  "Anyway, Imogen, Carter, and ReAnne are going to stick around for a while, and everyone is excited about having a new baby around." Neely's face shone brightly.

  "You mean you're excited about the baby," Chandra said.

  "Yes, I admit it, I love to play with babies. But other people are, too. Everyone really came together for the Reids." Neely plucked at the pillow in her lap. "I feel so badly for Carter, though. It can't be easy to gain a daughter and lose a mother on the same day."

  "She was a shit mother," Lucas said. "They're safer with her no longer breathing."

  "I know. But that doesn't mean Carter won't struggle with it."

  "He's got his family to see him through," Lucas said. "A lot of people don't have that much."

  Chandra's cell phone blipped.

  "Who's that?"

  "Quit being nosy, Lucas," Neely said before turning to Chandra and waggling her eyebrows. "So? Who is it?"

  "My plans for the weekend." Chandra stood, and stretched her arms over her head. She'd showered and dressed in jeans, black boots, and a tight black top that laced up in the back. Silver earrings and a silver cuff on her wrist completed the look. It was as dressed up as she needed to be for what she was going to do.

  "Weekend? It's Thursday." Lucas sat up, narrowed his eyes. "You scored a side job with Alpha Vega, didn't you? You sly hyena."

  A crafty smile crept over Chandra's lips. "I'm helping Miguel Vega transport the body of his alpha to Utah, and I'm going to hang out for a little while and help him explain things to the rest of the pack. You know, act as a liaison to the new Alpha. Help him settle in."

  "Pfft. From what Carter told me, that will take all of six seconds. Every wolf in West Jordan hated Alpha Jessup, and they've been trying to get Alpha Vega to challenge her for the last year." He sat up. "Wait a minute. This isn't a job. It's a date."

  "Can't it be both?" Chand
ra asked.

  "Yes, it can." Neely grinned. "Lucas, Chandra is entitled to a private life."

  "We are her private life." He scowled up at his second in command. "When will you be home?"

  "Home?"

  "Yes, duh. Here. Home. With us—you know, your family." Lucas rolled his eyes at her.

  Chandra was used to being on her own. The one time she'd tried to plant roots and grow something with someone, it had gone badly. So badly she hadn't wanted anything more than the most superficial of relationships since then. If she was being honest with herself, she knew Miguel would be another in a short line of flings since Cynthia walked out.

  And that was okay. Right now, she wasn't looking for relationship roots. But there were other kinds of roots.

  Call me Russian thistle. She smiled to herself. A globe of tumbleweed, traveling wherever the wind blew her. As long as it eventually blew her back to Sundance.

  To her family.

  The phone blipped again.

  She glanced at the screen as she headed for the front door. It read: You still coming?

  Oh yeah.

  "See you later." She paused at the front door, her hand on the knob. "I'll be back Tuesday at the latest."

  "Cuidado. And have fun," Neely said with a giggle. "I want all the details when you get home. We'll go to the hot springs and drink prickly pear margaritas and bad wine."

  "And then you'll come over and watch this show with me, right?" Lucas asked.

  "Yes," Chandra said.

  "Hey," he said, suddenly serious. "If you get into any trouble out there, call me."

  Neely nodded. "Yes, please call if you need us."

  She wouldn't need any help, but it was nice that they cared.

  "Thanks, I will. See you both on Tuesday." Chandra walked out the door feeling settled, and a little stuck, but in a good way. In a rooted way.

  Miguel pulled up outside the gate and honked the horn of the Mustang. Chandra rolled out to meet him, knowing that after a weekend of fun, she'd roll on back home again.