Taking It Off for the Coyote

by Serenity Snow

  “Put this on,” Sydney ordered and Cambrie took the helmet and pulled it on. Sydney climbed on the bike and Cambrie got on behind her.

  Sydney started the engine just as a shot hit the ground next to them. Cambrie ducked her head and closed her arms around Sydney’s waist as they began to move. A bullet pinged off the bike and Cambrie let out a cry.

  She shivered from the wind tearing at them as they sped along, Sydney weaving and swerving her way through traffic.

  Sydney went through a light and horns blared. There was a crash behind them but Cambrie didn’t dare look. She tightened her hold on Sydney praying they didn’t have an accident.

  Sydney took a sharp turn and Cambrie’s heart stopped. She lifted her head as Sydney’s body tensed. A car was blocking the street ahead and a man was standing on the side a few steps from the vehicle. He had something propped on his shoulder and she knew it was a weapon.

  “Hold on,” Sydney said and they picked up speed.

  “No!” Cambrie squealed, the growl of the bike loud in her ears.

  A shot rang out and the back of the bike dipped as the front titled up. They sailed through the air and Cambrie’s heart stopped. They cleared the roof of the car with inches to spare and landed on the other side.

  Another shooter awaited them and they bore down on him fast. Sydney’s foot shot out kicking the man and the shooter flew backward before he could get his shot off. Cambrie’s stalled breath stuttered back into life as they jetted down the road now clear.

  Cambrie stopped shaking as they slowed to a normal speed, but her heart still hammered in her ears.

  The drive was only another twenty minutes long and then they were pulling into the garage at Sam’s business. The garage rolled up and Sydney pulled in taking the slot where the truck had been. Sydney cut the engine and put the kickstand down.

  Cambrie drew in a breath as Sydney climbed off removing her helmet. She ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes glowed and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

  “Are you okay?” Sydney asked meeting her eyes then. “You went so stiff on the bike I could tell you were terrified.”

  “I was fine,” she lied and got to her feet. “I just didn’t expect you to jump over that car.”

  Sydney shrugged. “It was that or go through it.”

  “And the way you just kicked that shooter, you could have wrecked.”

  “That wasn’t going to happen, Cam,” she said going to her and pulling her into a hug. “You were safe. I knew what I was doing.”

  Cambrie let her hold her needing Sydney’s touch to ground her, but she couldn’t hide the trembling of her body.

  “I’ve got you, baby,” Sydney murmured. “You’re okay.” Sydney kissed her ear.

  “Are you two done?” Sam called from the door that had been quietly pulled open ahead of them.

  “Don’t be an asshole, Sam,” Sydney muttered.

  “I’m okay, Sydney,” Cambrie said pulling away from her and removing her helmet. She rubbed her shaking hands on her jeans and met Sam’s cool stare.

  A cell phone rang and Sydney quickly pulled the small burner from her pocket. “Sam?”

  “I told you my position,” she said. “Postpone it.”

  Sydney connected and put the phone on speaker. “Cruise.”

  “What’s your answer, Sydney?” he asked.

  Sydney met Cambrie’s gaze. “Okay.”

  “They’re planning to attack in two days during a party,” Cambrie told him.

  “I figured,” Cruise said grimly. “Too many guards will be down with alcohol and merriment.”

  “I want to be there,” Cambrie said.

  “Cam,” Sydney chastised.

  “I mean it,” Cambrie told him as she held Sydney’s gaze. “It’s my fight too.”

  “Sydney, we need to meet,” Cruise told her quietly. “And keep your woman silent. This is a convo between dominants.”

  “I—”

  “Quiet,” Sydney ordered her and Cambrie glared at her. “When?”

  “Let’s make it ten tonight at the same place.”

  “I’ll be there,” Sydney said and disconnected.

  “I’m going with you,” Cambrie said.

  “No, you’re not,” Sam told her in an annoyed tone. “I’ll be with her, and you’ll stay here with Mica .”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “You want to be part of the pack? Then, you start acting like it here and now. I’m taking over Gray Tail, I’m your alpha, and you’ll respect my rules.”

  She opened her mouth and Sydney growled at her as she closed her fingers around Cambrie’s nape.

  “Enough, pup,” she said in a tone that was surprisingly gentle. “Sam’s right. He knows what’s at stake and he didn’t seem to want to deal with you. Let us handle this, and I’ll let you be on the front lines like you want.”

  She blew out an irritated breath. “Would you treat Adalyn this way?” she leveled her question at Sam.

  “Yes. Now, let’s talk about your old friends and see how to best evict them from our town.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Revealing the depth of her relationship to Samarra wasn’t something Cambrie planned to do. So she kept things concise and to the point.

  “My past with Patty and Sorrento isn’t as important as what she’s planning,” she said as she sat on the couch in the garage apartment. Sydney was seated next to her with her arm slung along the back of the couch.

  “What did the guy tell you?” Sydney asked quietly. She saw the struggle on Sydney’s face, but it was quickly replaced by cool reserved. “I saw you talking to him.”

  “What guy?” Sam demanded before Cambrie could speak.

  “We were attacked. I think they were watching Cambrie and probably thought she was alone or they thought they’d kill two birds with one stone,” Sydney answered.

  “Patty’s got the wolf alpha on board which isn’t much of a surprise. If she can’t turn any allies of her enemy, she’ll kill them.”

  “Jericho is a weak-kneed coward,” Sam muttered. “But I still can’t believe Jen didn’t us tell the wolves were truly entertaining working with the hyenas.”

  “This might just be part of the pack,” Sydney murmured. “Jen has the balls to come at us head-on.”

  “Patty. She probably offered him something he wanted but had no way of getting on his own,” Cambrie said.

  “Land to expand,” Sam muttered. “That asshole.”

  “What would happen if his pack knew he was breaking the alliance?” Adalyn asked from her position on a stool next to where Sam stood.

  “They might not care,” Sam told her. “Some of them might, but they won’t defy him if he can spin this to make it look like we broke faith with them.”

  “In what way?” Adalyn pressed.

  “Connie’s death,” Sam growled. “Jericho contacted Mal last night saying evidence suggests Sydney killed Connie for no reason. They’d already settled their beef at the club, but Syd took it a step further.”

  “How can he use that if there isn’t evidence?” Cambrie asked glancing to Sydney.

  “Mal and I are meeting with him later to find out,” Sam said. “It might not be enough for legal redress, but it just might be enough to convince his pack he has a right to move against us.”

  “Then, Patty’s plan to assassinate your mate would give you cause to move against her and her allies which would be the wolves too, right?” Cambrie asked.

  “There’s a hit on my mate?” Sam growled and her eyes turned murderous.

  “According to Gunner, the guy who attacked me, yes. It’s going to be a distraction if I know Patty. They’re going to use it to keep you busy while they attack. You’ll be isolated and on your—” The arrow flashed in her mind and she knew why she’d been so transfixed by seeing it this morning.

  “What is it?” Sydney asked, gripping her nape.

  “Everything I know about Patty is based on aggression to take something
or subdue a threat,” she murmured. “She tried to recapture me six months ago, and she wanted me to use my power against someone for her.”

  “Who?” Sydney demanded warily.

  “She didn’t tell me, but the principle thing is, I could have taken control of your entire pack through your alpha. I could have made her order deaths and even evacuation of your land. I could have handed her Gray Tail in a matter of a couple of hours considering what’s obviously going on there.”

  “Yeah there has to be some division,” Sydney said. “But how could you have taken control of Mal and gotten her to order deaths and stuff?”

  “It’s my power,” she said with a shrug. “I can control minds and borrow abilities. I can make you feel and see what I want. I can project pain into your body or emotion and if I feel it strong enough, it’ll kill you. Ask Sam.”

  “I’m not dead,” Sam said coolly.

  “She didn’t want to kill you,” Adalyn said softly. “Remember?”

  “I remember her hurting me,” Sam muttered. “And you.”

  “She didn’t hurt me like she did you,” Adalyn told her rubbing her arm. “Your control is excellent. Can you teach me?”

  Cambrie shrugged. “I’ll give you some pointers.”

  “Later,” Sydney said humor in her tone. “So, what about the hit?”

  “Nothing else, but Patty is planning to poison the resisters.”

  “But she won’t get them all,” Sydney said. “When?”

  “A party in two days,” Cambrie said. “The rest will be killed that same night.”

  “We should be there,” Sydney insisted. “They won’t be expecting us to come to the resisters’ aid.”

  “An alliance would give us a right to be there,” Sam said. “We can cut down some of Sorrento and Patty’s forces, force them to draw back. And they won’t be able to use Gray Tail land as a base to attack us.”

  “She won’t go away,” Cambrie told them. “She is here for revenge.”

  “On who?” Sam demanded.

  “You and Sydney more than anyone,” Cambrie told her.

  “Why?” Sydney demanded. “We don’t know her.”

  “Yes you do,” Cambrie told her. “You met her at least once, but you met her parents and her brother twice.”

  “Explain,” Sam ordered. “No one interrupts.”

  Cambrie nodded and looked at Sydney. “I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for you.”

  “I didn’t—what did I say?”

  “I saw what you saw,” she said. “I sometimes can. Usually it’s just a knowing, but you were projecting so hard that I picked it up easily and lived it as you relived it.”

  “The loss of my family?”

  She nodded. “I saw the first time you came up against the hyenas and then the second. You killed a man with an arrow on his arm. The man was Patty’s father. Her mother was the leader of the pack that attacked yours.”

  “They were relentless,” Sydney murmured and Cambrie put a hand on her thigh.

  “The destruction was unimaginable,” Sam whispered.

  “So she wants Sydney dead for killing her father?” Adalyn asked. “All this over that?”

  “Hyenas are matriarchal,” Cambrie told her and nuzzled Sydney’s jaw. “Her mother’s loss destroyed Patty’s life. What was left of the pack savaged her, disowned her. She’s angry over her father’s death, but it’s her mother’s life that changed her world.”

  “We’ll have to stop her at the party,” Sam said firmly. “That will ensure Jericho doesn’t act on his own.”

  “Will she be there?” Adalyn asked.

  “More than likely,” Cambrie replied. “She’s always part of major kills. If she’s not, she looks weak to her pack, and she wouldn’t risk it. There are two women who’d challenge her if she did that too many times.”

  “Possibility of retreat?” Sydney asked.

  “For Patty? None and Sorrento won’t leave her, but you know as well as I do that if you turn the odds against them, the others will retreat.”

  “How big a force does she travel with?” Sydney asked.

  “She wouldn’t have less than sixty here with her now,” Cambrie said. “They probably didn’t all come in with her. She’d rent a house in Mystic and one here.”

  “All right,” Sydney said. “Now that I have something to look for, I’ll find out where she is, and do some recon.”

  “I’ll come with and talk to Mallory,” Sam murmured. “We need to get the teams ready for attack and to show Patricia what warmed over revenge really tastes like.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Patty wasn’t really furious after hearing the news. A strange calm had settled over her, and now with her lover and a few others on their way out of town, she was mentally preparing for the battle ahead.

  Patty had already resigned herself to the fact that she might die here, but her legacy wouldn’t.

  “She’s not indefensible,” Sorrento said from her right as he sat at her desk working on her computer. “But we can pull out.”

  “We still have the element of surprise.”

  “We have no idea if she slipped into his mind or not,” Sorrento told her. “And we have to assume she did.”

  “Spring and Summerfield aren’t aware of who I am because I never shared enough of my past with Natasha for her to tell them anything important.” She was glad of that. Though she had to wonder just how deeply Natasha had seen.

  Natasha had told her once that she felt her pain, could see the cause of it. From then on, she’d guarded her mind and her “pain” against her freakish prying.

  “We’ll go through with it,” he said. “We should move the party up one night and poison the champagne rather than the food.”

  “No. We’ll stick to our plans. Don’t forget our goal isn’t Gray Tail. They’re just collateral damage.”

  It was too late to retreat. The rest of the pack was safe in Arizona. Her lover and child would be back there by this time tomorrow. And the day after, she’d be exacting revenge.

  ****

  “Well we know where she is,” Sydney said a few hours later as she leaned against the counter. She watched Cambrie slather bread with mustard. Her fingers were long, the nails clean and bare of polish.

  When she was on stage her nails were always colored and sometimes with decals adding to the beauty. Some of that turned her on, and she wondered if she’d Cambrie would paint her nails just because she asked.

  “Two places?”

  “She rented a house here,” Sydney said as her gaze slid down Cambrie. She hated seeing her in those jeans. She had a body that was made for dresses and girly blouses.

  “She wanted to be close to the action which is a good sign.” She added lettuce atop the cold cuts. “The rest of the pack won’t come if she’s killed. Sorrento has a younger brother who’s mated to a woman in the pack, but he’s not going to come seeking revenge. They aren’t that close.”

  “Good to know.” She pushed off the counter and moved behind Cambrie to release her hair from one braid.”

  “Sydney, don’t.”

  She combed her fingers through Cambrie’s hair before undoing the other braid. “You have nice hair. Why do you hide it?” She kissed the side of Cambrie’s neck.

  Cambrie shivered, her breath hitching from the contact. “I’m making lunch.”

  “It’s a sandwich not a soufflé.” She nipped the back of Cambrie’s neck. “I want you to dance for me after the meeting tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I like watching you,” she murmured.

  “You’re finally admitting it?” Cambrie asked humor in her tone.

  “I knew I was in trouble the first day I saw you dance,” she said and squeezed Cambrie’s hips. “I wanted you like I’ve never wanted a woman.”

  “Really?” she asked huskily.

  “You know it’s true. Is lunch ready?”

  “Yes.” She glanced over her shoulder and their eyes m
et. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Sydney kissed her jaw and gave her a smile. The woman just kept right on stealing her heart.

  “How about that dance tonight?” Sydney asked softly and her eyes filled with hunger and a heat that singed her.

  “If you’re good between now and then,” Cambrie told her breathlessly and smiled.

  Sydney’s gaze traveled up her body and then down it. “How about if I just make you feel good afterward?” she asked with a teasing smile.

  Cambrie shivered and it wasn’t just excitement. Sydney was trying to strengthen their bond by using the one thing she knew Cambrie loved. Dance.

  Cambrie shrugged giving her a look from the corner of her eye. “That would depend on how good you’re thinking of making me feel.”

  “So good you scream my name.”

  Cambrie moaned. The imagery alone was enough to make her hot. “In that case, I might be persuaded.”

  Sydney pulled her into her arms and kissed her, long and slow, their tongues gliding together, tasting, savoring each other. Cambrie curled her fingers around Sydney’s nape as she moved closer to her.

  Sydney’s arms came around her, sliding up her back molding them together. “I love your touch,” she said against Cambrie’s lips. “I don’t want to lose you, Cam.”

  Cambrie’s eyes slowly opened as her breath stalled. Sydney’s gaze was filled with warmth that washed over her, made her heart beat faster.

  “I might be falling in love with you.” Sydney’s words came out in a breathless whisper.

  She cupped Sydney’s face. “Then, you’ll have my heart forever if you treat me right.”

  “I can do forever with you,” Sydney whispered.

  She slid her fingers into Sydney’s hair and kissed the corner of her mouth. “You stole my heart the first time you looked at me. No one will ever love you more, Syd.”

  Sydney chuckled. “Damn you’re going to drive me crazy,” she murmured. “I can’t wait until tonight. So—”

  “Sydney?” A knock on the outer door drew a groan from her.

  “Anticipation increases the appetite,” Cambrie told her with a grin.

  Sydney nipped her bottom lip. “Come in, Mica.”

  Cambrie moved out of her arms and turned back to the meal on the counter. She cut the sandwiches and put away condiments.