by C. T. Adams
This last step would finalize the binding, so he yanked hard on the threads of magic, pulled them into cords, and then into ropes as the others gasped. Close, so very close—
And then the world dropped out from under him.
He heard a scream in his mind that tore at his heart, and ammonia panic, fear and… peaches filled his nose as he stumbled and crashed into the table—scattering the contents of the coffee tray against the wall.
The scenery shifted and he was in Rosa and Paco’s house, staring down at their bloodied bodies. Then he heard Cara’s voice, calling out for the children in panic—feeling her feet stumble down the hallway to the bedrooms. Relief flooded through Adam as though it were his own as she picked up little Felix from his crib, whole and safe, and hugged him to her with enough desperation to make him squirm and cry.
Raul, wide-eyed with fear, came racing out of his room and clutched at her leg, crying hysterically, screaming about birds that came and took away Gloria and the other girls, and how Mama and Papi fought them. Now Tommy and Jill’s fear added to Cara’s, but there was nothing he could do to break away.
He watched as Cara put Raul back in his room with the baby, told them to stay put and blocked the door to be sure they did. Then he felt her returning to the slashed and broken bodies on the blood-soaked carpet. Sobbing freely now that the children couldn’t see, enough to nearly break his heart, she knelt beside Rosa first and began to fill her with healing magic. But her sister was human and it took every bit of Cara’s limited ability just to bring her sister back from the brink—close the worst of the gaping wounds. Near collapse, she moved to Paco’s side. But even a Sazi can only take so much damage… there was no pulse. His heart had stopped.
She didn’t let that stop her. His skin was still warm, and her magic could feel a delicate, fragile thread of life still inside. She leaned back his head and centered his body and started CPR. Breathe twice and press three times—then slam his heart with magic like some sort of metaphysical cardiac defibrillator. Adam felt her heart start to slow even as the spark of life grew in Paco. But it wasn’t enough. He was too far gone.
Jesus! She was going to kill herself if she didn’t stop. But in those few seconds in her mind, he knew she wasn’t planning to stop. Pack was pack—familia was everything, and if she died so they could live, so be it. That was the duty of the Alpha.
Adam felt his heart race. He had to help. He couldn’t let his mate die. More important, he didn’t want her to die, not now… not when they’d just—
He rose to his knees and opened himself, tried to offer up his power to her through his mating tie. But the binding ritual was preventing his magic from reaching her… unless—
There was no permission necessary. He felt the three wolves in the room offer themselves to the struggle. He called again on the moon, summoning every ounce of magic in his body, until he was a pillar of pure fire. He pushed out another flare of magic, a fourth thread, pulling on the unity of the nearly bound pack to increase the strength. It passed beyond the circle of the group like a spear, cutting the air with fine precision. Beyond the parking lot and past the highway, magic pushed through the alien environment of asphalt and brick until it reached the forest of pecans and a little adobe house. Near the end of his own strength, he finally felt her, now collapsed over Paco’s body. There was no time to ask, and her reserves were at their end so she wouldn’t be able to resist.
“Cara?” He breathed the word into her mind and felt a spark of recognition just before he felt the binding magic slice through her body. A ragged scream erupted from her that caused Raul to begin shouting her name and banging on the bedroom door.
Far from the careful, slow transition to awareness the others had, Cara was immersed in the tiny pack in his room. Her heart started to beat painfully fast and she held her hands to her eyes to stop the stinging as fire burned across her mind. He felt the pain along with her and wished it didn’t have to be this way.
What’s happening? She screamed the words into his mind. What in the hell is happening to me?
We’re here for you, Cara. Adam kept his voice low and soft and let himself wrap around her, let her feel his presence and concern. Draw on our strength Finish healing Paco while you still can.
Adam? He heard the surprise in her voice, felt her head spin from side to side, trying to find the source of the voice.
Yes.
The others joined in. And Eddie, mija. We’re familia now, Cara. Do as the alpha says. Take my strength to save my brother.
And mine, said Jill, softly into their minds.
Me, too, Tommy added. Pack sticks together.
Tears were running down her face and Adam could feel them as though they were his own. She shook her head, both in confusion and pain. I don’t understand.
Like you did with Lucas, Carita —to save me. Now it’s my turn to repay that. Take from us to heal your family.
And with a breath of hope that made his new pack smile, she began.
Chapter 28
CARA POURED THE last bucket of water, brown tinged and smelling of blood and vomit, down the toilet—then flushed. She paused at the sink long enough to stare at the dark circles under her eyes in the mirror and slosh and spit some mouthwash from a tiny paper cup covered with seashells. It took two tries before she could get the foul taste out. Only Raul had seen her throw up, but the scents from the battle, combined with the disorientation when Adam cut off the flow of magic had just been too much.
After stowing the bucket in the hall closet, she stood at Rosa and Paco’s bedroom door, watching them breathe slowly on the double bed while Raul snuggled between their pale, injured bodies, twitching fitfully in an exhausted sleep. She’d nearly lost them and even now it would be touch and go.
Then she looked around the living room. It would have to do—she’d done as much as she could. Company was going to be here any second. The big area rug from the bedroom covered the stains on the carpet. The scent lingered, throwing images into her mind every time she caught a whiff. But the bare spot next to the wall was the hardest to look at and her eyes immediately moved away from the blank white paint. The whole room felt… wrong. She’d hated to throw Paco’s favorite recliner into the fire pit behind the shed, but there was no salvaging it. She’d have to buy another for the day he walked down the short hallway from the bedroom again.
If he ever does.
She could heal broken bones and torn muscles, but she just didn’t know what to do when the parts were missing. Could he grow back most of his right foot? Would he ever be able to run with the pack again if he couldn’t? Would he lose his job? How would she explain the scars on both of them to the town without involving the hospital or filing a report with her own office? Rosa almost lost an eye and without plastic surgery… well, people would notice a four-inch long jagged scar running from her temple to her jaw.
So many questions—not the least of which were the ones that haunted her, reminded her of her failings. Why didn’t I stop by before I opened up the barn? Why was I stupid enough to make all the calls to the pack to cancel the fiesta, except for the hunt? Where the hell have they taken the girls? Are they even still alive? A buzzer from the tiny room off the kitchen made her start. The clothes were ready for the dryer—another reminder. She looked down at the simple sundress she’d grabbed from Rosa’s closet after ruining her outfit when her stomach heaved. It all came back to one thing. I should have been here.
A car door slamming outside and footsteps running toward the house made her stomach roil again. She couldn’t face them, not right now. She was out the back door before they made it in the front. Not even hearing Eddie and Adam calling her name stopped her as she bolted into the thick stand of trees.
It was close to an hour later when she felt the crackling of Adam’s magic approach. The difference from just a day ago was amazing. He’d been powerful before, but now there was a sense of majesty to his aura—one she’d never felt before, except in Lucas and som
e of the council members. He stayed out of sight for a long moment, but he didn’t try to hide his scent. It was filled with worry and concern and just a trace of horror… apparently he’d stayed in the house long enough to see the carpet and the wounds. Cara didn’t greet him. She continued to sit cross-legged under her favorite old live oak, picking cactus spines from the soles of her shoes with ragged fingernails and squishing fire ants, which managed to sting her bare legs. Would he approach? She knew she should call out to him, just as she should move away from the ant hill, but she just couldn’t seem to care.
It had seemed such a good idea earlier to ask the pack members who didn’t shift not to come tonight. Rosa and the kids aren’t feeling well, she’d told them with appropriate sympathy—all so she didn’t have to introduce Adam to more than those he would hunt with. Rosa had agreed, and wasn’t terribly surprised that he would be joining the pack. After all, it had been the first man Cara had ever brought to her home. How could he not wind up pack? So, Rosa had offered the excuse, suggesting the flu so the human pack members would be happy to stay away.
Every lie has a price, her mother had always taught. And those made for prideful reasons are doubly expensive. How many choices lately had she made for prideful reasons?
She spoke without planning to. It was just supposed to be musing. “Would I have known?” Looking up, she could just make out the line of his body past the thick bower of twisted ivy that draped down from the branches. Now that the words had reached air, she had to know. “If the pack was bound, would I have known they were in trouble? Would Sharon, Luis, and Eddie have known; have come to help?” He paused for long enough that she stopped plucking spines. “Please don’t lie to me. I need to know.”
He pushed apart the tangle of green and stepped inside her haven, where she’d always hide when bad things happened or she needed to think. God, he was so handsome, even when he looked sad. But even over the sorrow, he smelled brave and proud and she felt tears come to her eyes, because she knew the answer. But she couldn’t pull her gaze from his face as he sighed, tipped up his head to stare at the mass of waxy leaves, and ran his fingers through his hair, smelling of sorrow and burnt metal frustration.
“Yes. You would have known.”
She nodded and lowered her gaze to her task again, not caring that tears were running down her cheeks to wet the thin cotton dress as she plucked out another needle-sharp spine and tossed it into the distance. “I looked for tracks before I started cleaning. There’s not so much as a feather, or even a scent to follow. The girls could be anywhere by now.”
“We’ll find them.”
She nodded even though she didn’t believe him for a minute. Taking a deep breath she gathered her courage to speak. The words were harder than she’d thought they’d be. It took more than one try and her hands startled to tremble. But she had to do right by her family. “The pa… the pack is yours now, Adam. You were right, I was wrong.” The next deep breath was marred by a thick, wet gasp. “So very wrong. I failed my people. I don’t deserve to be their—” She couldn’t finish. AU she could do was bury her face in her hands and cry, great heaving sobs of grief and fear that shook her shoulders. She couldn’t even take a full breath without it cracking, breaking into a thousand bits of sound.
Cara heard him, felt Adam come to her, sit down and wrap himself around her. She didn’t want him to, and yet she did. Pushing at his chest only served to make him pull her closer and press the side of her face against his warm neck. He held her until she stopped struggling and clutched at his back, and then until her tears slowed. Long minutes passed where all she could hear was the steady beating of his heart and the rustle of the leaves in the wind.
Finally, when the pulsing of his power against hers had lulled her into resting quietly against his body, he spoke. “You weren’t wrong, Cara. You did what you thought was right for your people.” He pulled back slightly and raised her chin to look into her eyes. His scent turned to determination, with a healthy dose of pride. “Your people. You can’t second guess the past. You can’t know you could have gotten here in time, and you did something I never could have. You healed them. If I’d been the pack leader instead of you, Rosa and Paco would be dead now.”
She snuffled as he released her chin, then she rubbed at her swollen nose with the back of one hand. “Fine. I’ll be the pack’s healer then. But I’ve never really been an Alpha—not like you have. I… saw things… while we were connected. I never knew what real Alphas have to go through. I’ve just been fucking playacting, pretending I’m adult enough to run a pack. And my family has suffered because of it.”
Adam snorted and pulled away from her, leaning back against the trunk of the tree and crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh yeah. I’ve been a great Alpha, a terrific one.” He held up a finger and his scent turned fiery hot with anger. “I run the pack for one night—just one, and I manage to screw up all our lives forever. Those skiers saw our pack hunting because of me, Cara. I picked the route. I ignored everyone’s advice to stay to the deep woods, because I was tired. I’d just come off-shift and didn’t want to drive for an hour each way.” He shook his head, eyes now glowing a bright blue. “I should have just let Tyr take my position when he challenged me. I deserved to move out of second position for breaking the First Rule and letting the humans live to report what they saw. But instead, I killed him.”
He must have noticed her surprise, because he nodded. “Yah, you heard right. Tyr Isaacson was the pack leader’s son. He confronted me when he read the newspaper account of the massive pack of wolves the two hikers saw. I saw them in the trees, just like Tyr did. They would have been easy targets and nobody would ever know… but they were just kids. I couldn’t bring myself to order the pack to hunt them down. And when he challenged me, in private—instead of blowing it off, I accepted.”
A profound sadness swept across his face and he closed his eyes, “Tyr’s dead, Josef’s dead, and so are Mark and Vivian’s sister, Tabitha. Who knows how many girls have been enslaved and tortured on my watch. Christ, Cara! I’m a cop. Following the rules is all I have —it makes me… me.” He looked at her with eyes blazing and self-loathing bleeding from every pore. “You have nothing to apologize for, and are a far better Alpha than I’ll ever be. You offered your life for your pack.”
“So did you.” She ignored his startled look and confused scent to continue. “Just now. You didn’t have a clue what would happen when you broke that ritual—but y’all did it to save me, and my family. And like you said, you can’t second guess the past. Not a whole lot of other people would do what you did today.” She took a deep breath, letting it out slow, her thoughts flashing back to her conversation with Ten Bears. It was time for her to let go, for the good of all of them. “Maybe you don’t deserve to lead the Minnesota pack—I don’t know. I can’t judge who did what for how many cookies. But you’ve earned your place in this pack. I don’t think there’s any question anymore that my people will accept you as their leader, especially after Eddie talks to them tonight. I didn’t offer you my place for laughs, y’know. I wouldn’t offer it unless I was willing to step down and follow you, my Alpha.”
Cara bowed her head and waited for him to respond. But instead, he rose to his feet, pausing to stare down at her briefly. She couldn’t sort one scent from the next and looked up to see his face. He’d already turned, though, and she watched him walk out of the grassy, acorn strewn hideaway—leaving her to wonder what would happen to her family if he refused.
Chapter 29
WE FOUND THE birds, Alpha.
Adam’s eyelids snapped open, the tiny bedroom filled with a young boy’s toys suddenly superimposed with the image his pack was seeing miles away. Adrenaline started his heart beating faster. He shifted Cara’s arm, wrapped tightly around his chest, so he could grab his watch. It was already after seven. Night was nearly here. He ruffled his fingers along the edge of Cara’s aura and was relieved to find that Jill’s advice had been on the mon
ey—staying in close contact, skin on skin, had allowed her to heal faster than if she’d just tried to tough it out. He just hoped she wouldn’t be mad when she woke up and found him here with her.
He shifted his body on the narrow twin bed and let his vision slip inward until he could see the steep cliff face clearly. The long crack in the rock must open into a cave. He could only pray the girls were with them. Five birds, or were there six? Was that a sentry in the nearby tree? Don’t approach them, he whispered into the minds of his wolves. Stay low, keep upwind and get back here.
Eddie and Tommy turned and slunk back into the trees, moving with flawless precision, born of the mind-link. Eddie knew the territory well and Tommy stayed glued to his left quarter, letting the smaller red wolf guide him safely home.
Then he focused on Jill and slipped into her mind to see the long expanse of highway and the familiar sound of a man and a woman talking animatedly. The flight from Austin had arrived right on time. They were on their way here. It hadn’t been cheap for Mike and Sheila to coax that young family out of their place on the plane, switching them for their own tickets a day later, along with a fistful of cash—but it had been worth every cent. They needed every possible wolf here if they had any hope of getting the girls back. Luckily, Lucas had agreed an offensive strike was their best chance. Admittedly, he was more concerned about Ziri than the other girls, but then he apparently had gotten a report from Bobby and Tony that worried him. It was frustrating to Adam that the Wolven chief wouldn’t reveal what the situation was—only that it was serious enough that every wolf in this pack was suddenly expendable.
Adam didn’t plan to lose anyone tonight, though. Nobody else was going to die on his watch, except a flock of murderous birds. For that to happen, they were going to need split-second timing, and a fully bound pack. He wished he could trust the information that had been leaked to them by an anonymous caller. Unfortunately, every cop knew that information was only as good as the source. He wasn’t sure. It made him nervous. The whole thing seemed almost too convenient.
