She shook her head. “George, I appreciate you care about me. Savage is dead. Make your oath to Hayden. Let me do what I have to do.”
“I took an oath. To my Alpha, to Savage. Hayden is a great male. No doubt. I will not take another oath with one still in play.”
She placed her hands on his arm. “Your Alpha is dead; that relieves you from watching his mate.”
“I don’t see it that way, Sydney.”
Bone-tired, she leaned against the car. “Then what do we do? You can’t watch me twenty-four hours a day. I’ll leave when you fall asleep.”
“Then you’re going to have to take me with you. Where you go, I go.”
He had to be kidding. “What?”
“If you are going to kill True Believers, you’re going to need my help. I won’t let you get hurt. I promised my Alpha.”
“I….” She should argue. But she wasn’t going to. “It would be nice to have the company. I’m about to do a dark thing. I think if you came, it might stop the darkness from eating me up inside.”
He motioned toward the car. “I love you, Sydney. You’re my family. I watched you agree to die to save Savage from the Garto. I knew I would be glad to serve you all my days.”
She searched for Savage’s words. “You honor me.”
He really did.
****
She had a stop to make before she could start her journey. Her last conversation with Savage weighed on her. The stupid tattoo talk. Why couldn’t she have said something really profound? But it had been all she could focus on for the entire five days while she sat silently and let Hayden take care of everything around them.
Her pack had taken to Hayden. He was Savage’s brother, which helped. Somehow the man was going to keep up San Francisco and Napa together. She had no doubt he could do it. Savage wouldn’t have named him successor if he couldn’t.
Her last hug with Rose, Archie’s mate, hung over her. They’d both lost their men. Rose was home raising a little girl by herself. Maybe the Moon had been smart when she’d taken Sydney’s baby. She didn’t have to make this okay for anyone else.
George raised his eyebrows when he saw where she stopped. “Are we going to Ginger’s place?”
“Tammy told me it was where Savage got his wolf tattoo done.”
Her protector nodded. “I remember when he did. Right after I came into the pack. Ginger does good work. Does she know you’re coming?”
“I texted her and asked her to be here.”
“What are you going to have done?” George got out of the car when she did.
“Savage’s wolf tattoo. I want her to give me as close to the same one as she can. Particularly, the red eyes. My mate chose that so he’d never forget the blood in his life, the hardness. He’d see with his eyes, not his heart. I want it. I’ll never forget the past and why I have to spill some to make this right.”
George took her hand. “I meant what I said. I will go with you to the depths of the most horrific pits in the universe. But he wouldn’t want this for you.”
“I don’t know. Savage was pretty big on vengeance. I think he’d find this really fitting. If I softened him a bit, and I know that’s what you were all saying—then he made me tougher. I owe this to his memory. If you screw with an Alpha, you’re going to suffer losses.
Ginger was a pack member Sydney hadn’t gotten to know well. But when Sydney reached out, Ginger answered. Tall, with a ring through the center of her nose, she had the longest, shiniest black hair Sydney had ever seen. She agreed to do what Sydney wanted but cautioned her it was likely going to take several trips to see her to get it close to what Savage had done.
That was going to be a problem.
“Here’s the thing.” She leaned forward. “I haven’t expressly told the new Alpha or anyone else where I plan to go. I don’t know if Hayden will really mind I’m disappearing. He might, in as much as he’s Savage’s brother and he’ll think he’s duty-bound to look after me. If he asks, I’d rather he not find out. At least not yet.”
Ginger nodded. “The blood oathing will start next week out of respect for Savage. It’ll take three weeks to get done. I’ll put myself toward the end. Then if he asks, I’m going to have to answer.”
“Fair enough. Can we have this done?”
She nodded. “Should I expect all your visits to be after hours and unexpected?”
“Yes.”
George sighed loudly. “Well, fuck then, I’m getting something done, too. It’s been too long. How about a pirate skull? I think it’d look cool on my arm.”
Sydney held Ginger’s gaze. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you. Anything for Savage. Please don’t get killed, ma’am. We need you. I know you don’t feel it right this second. But we do. When you’re done with whatever journey you’re taking, come home to us.”
When she’d been younger, she’d not been able to see a future past the Garto. Then there had been nothing past moving to San Francisco. There was no time anymore past killing some True Believers. If the future continued after she was done, she’d figure something out.
****
The outline of her tattoo burned on her back. It was funny to feel it and to be putting her old clothes back on. Such a contrast in the two parts of herself. She finished braiding her hair and stepped out of the ladies’ room. George waited for her by the car.
He grinned before he shook his head. “It’s been…what…four months since you dressed that way. I’ll admit, I’d forgotten how you used to look. You don’t even resemble yourself anymore.”
Savage had worn makeup as his mask; she could don a good look of being “not part of the mainstream world” without even blinking.
“Shall we do this?” No one would notice her; they’d discount her as had always happened been when she went out in public dressed this way. If things went as planned, she’d be well in the middle of their compound before anyone even realized she was there.
George nodded. “For Savage.”
It still hurt to hear his name.
She stepped forward, and George stopped her. “No. I’m sorry. I thought I could, but I can’t. You made our Alpha so happy. Every second he was with you. I let myself believe for a while we could do this. For Savage. But the look in your eyes, this isn’t you. I know you want it to be. If you’re badass Sydney, then you think you can survive. You can make it through the long hours. I can’t even begin to imagine it.”
Here she let herself fall for his act. “If you aren’t going to help me, get out of my way.”
“No.” George didn’t let go. “Seeing you dressed the way you are, it only serves to remind me how little amount of time has passed since you were this girl. You were brave. From what I hear, you snuck to San Francisco and marched into the club. What happened when you did? You turned and fled. It wasn’t for you. It’s not interesting to me either. I want a mate, a true one, and I want to care for her when she’s in heat. I’m not looking for a lot of practice before then.”
“Do you have a point?” She could barely speak above a whisper.
“You’re going to walk in there, and there won’t be any changing your mind. You are the woman who walked in front of the Garto and slit her wrist. You are that woman. You aren’t this. You want vengeance? So do I. So does the whole pack. We’ll get it together. Not you, suddenly playing some part you were never meant to play.”
His words burned her brain. “I can’t go to the house. To his space and wait every day for his scent to disappear more and more until it’s like he was never there at all.”
“Then let’s not go there. We’ll go somewhere else. This is California. Have you been to the beach? Put your feet in the Pacific?”
“George.” She shook her head. “I won’t have you wasting your life worrying about me.” He should have a life that wasn’t about following her around. The one he wanted with the True Mate.
Her friend touched her shoulder. “Savage is gone less than a week. In a year we’
ll talk about what we should do.”
“I still want to kill the True Believers.”
“You killed a whole bunch of them when you released the gas into the basement.”
He did have a point.
****
Savage woke up in total darkness. Oh what the hell? He’d been talking to Lily and the Alpha, yelling at the Moon, and then the Alpha had explained to him how he should have died the night with the Garto, as he the Alpha had, and this would have all been behind them. He’d already have come back. The Moon saved both of them.
And he was where? He breathed in deep and felt around. Wooden box, soft felt beneath him. Oh Moons be damned, they had buried him. He was in a fucking box.
A coffin.
How much time had passed? Must have been more than five days.
Savage kicked upwards. He wasn’t going to come from the dead only to die in the box. One kick. Two. Three. Shit, he was weak. He needed food. And probably sleep. And Sydney’s body pressed against him for days.
A noise caught his attention, and suddenly the lid of the coffin was ripped open. Someone with a flashlight shined a beam right in his eyes.
“Oh, thank the Moon.” Alexei shook his head before he reached down and pulled Savage out of the coffin. “You weren’t in there too long were you? Took me a week to get myself out.”
“I’ve never been so glad to see anyone, Alexei.” He sat up on the side of his coffin slowly. Alexei handed him a bottle of water, and he drank it slowly. They were both in a large hole which must have been filled with dirt, covering his coffin. Alexei had to have dug him out.
The other Alpha took a sip from another bottle of water. “I only got the signal to come this morning. Frickin’ Lily does things in her own time.”
“Hey.” Savage shook his head. “Don’t curse about the mother of us all.”
“I see she got to you.” He laughed, throwing his head back. “See how you feel a decade from now when you’re trying to read something and suddenly every random woman walking into the coffee house is channeling her. You’ll be thrilled, I assure you.”
“How much time has gone by? Since the night with the True Believers?” It felt like yesterday to him. He knew his brother had waited at least five days to bury him.
Alexei set down his bottle. “Took you ten days, cousin. I was starting to lose my faith. Thought maybe you were as dead as everyone else thought you were.”
Ten days. Sydney had suffered so long. “Have to get to my mate.”
“Right. Let’s get you out of this hole. Hands around my shoulders, I’ll climb out with both of us.”
“Savage?” A voice he didn’t expect to hear called down to him. “Shit. Is it really you?” His brother jumped down into the pit with them and threw his arms around him. He was stiff; it was hard to hug but he managed. If he felt tears streaming down Hayden’s cheeks, he didn’t mention them. “And fuck you Alexei for not telling me.”
The Alpha from Boston stood. “Your mate get signaled?”
“I almost didn’t believe her. It seemed too long. I came anyway.”
Savage had so much to say. “For my part, I’ll never thank you enough for getting me. So much has happened.”
“Then it’s real.” Hayden looked back. “You’re Alpha Prime. That has to be it.”
“No.” He and Alexei answered at the same time.
He kept speaking. “Alexei is the Alpha Prime. I’m convinced. The first of us to return after….”
Savage didn’t finish his thought. The Alpha Prime hadn’t told anyone how he died. He must have his reasons. Savage wasn’t going to screw them up.
“Barrett and I have roles to play. Big ones. I have to find the Fallen. I’m not Alpha Prime.”
“Sorry you had to die to come around.” Alexei shook his head. “I’ll take the blood oath from you when you’re feeling better.”
“All of this was supposed to happen. There are things I want, things I need. I see them clearly. And I’ve promised them I’ll do a job. Think of me as the Alpha Investigator now or some shit. I’ve got to figure out who is funding the True Believers. He’s one of us. Can we talk about this later? I need to see Sydney. She’s going to be a mess.”
His heart bled from needing her.
“Um.” Hayden’s spine stiffened. “I’ve lost her. I mean, I’m sure she’s fine. We think your dominant George is with her. I have no idea where she’s gone.”
His ears rang, and for a second the world shifted on its axis. Hayden and Alexei both jumped, the Alpha from Boston shaking his head. “You’ve got to be careful with the new powers. They really burn.”
He wanted Sydney. And he wanted her immediately.
Chapter Seventeen
He’d eaten but he couldn’t sleep. Not until his mate was found. Alexei sat next to him on the couch.
“The power is disconcerting at first. They send us back with so much more.” Alexei cocked his head to the side while keeping his voice low. “We’re not as we once were. Like it or not.”
“I’d be happy to discuss the ramifications of returning from the dead a changed werewolf after my mate is located.”
Hayden sat down across from him. “I know you’re furious. I really thought she headed home to rest. I had no idea she intended to take off. We’re looking. Max is frantic. They’ll all be even more so since you’re here. The word went out. I’m not putting it through email. Face-to-face communication only. Soon, everyone will know the Alpha from San Francisco rose.”
His brother sounded proud, as though Savage had anything to do with it. The Moon could have chosen a different direction, and he’d be cooling his heels trying to breathe until he could see Sydney’s face again.
“I think we need to talk about what’s happening. Hayden, you need to hear this, although it’s really Alexei who I’m pointing my finger at.”
The Alpha from Boston—scratch that, the Alpha Prime—nodded, suddenly interested in his whiskey. “You want to know why I haven’t warned them all yet. Why you didn’t know.”
“Hate to interject but know….” Hayden’s voice drifted downward.
“Why every major pack in the country is going to have an Alpha rise from the grave.”
Silence filled the room. Alexei was not answering and, although he masked his scent, Hayden was clearly dumbfounded by the way his mouth hung open.
“Lucian didn’t make mistakes. I mean, he did. Lots of them.” Alexei shook his head slightly to Savage. Once again, he wasn’t going to be mentioning having been murdered. “But he had a mission. The many to rise up against the fallen.”
“Like the song.” Hayden supplied.
“Right.” Savage nodded. “Exactly.”
“He had a plan, given to him by the Moon. Pick the Warriors. Pick the ones to win the fight. Save the daughters and sons of Lily.” Alexei put down his drink. “And he did. I know you weren’t among them Hayden. Seems to me you’re not likely to die. At least not to rise up and fight.”
“I don’t think everyone he picked is going to either.” Savage’s head hurt. Exhaustion weighed on him heavily. How he was supposed to feel post-death and rebirth he had no idea. What was normal? All he knew was there would be no relaxing until he had Sydney with him. “I was almost not returned. Think I may have pissed off the Moon on occasion. Not oathing you, Alexei. Insisting it was my way or the highway.”
“Or she was teaching you a lesson. Made you sweat it out a bit,” Hayden said. “You’ve always been hardheaded. Showing you that you really did want to play a role in whatever this is.”
“The problem is…Lucian picked us, trained us, encouraged us all to usurp the leadership and make ourselves Alphas. One of us is actually the problem. One of us is secretly running the True Believers. I have been charged with figuring out who.” He looked at Alexei then straight on. “I guess you have been charged with taking care of the problem once it’s identified.”
Hayden lifted his glass. “Cheers to me not wanting to be either of you.�
��
His wolf prowled inside of him, the first Savage had felt him since he’d died. He took a deep breath. If his wolf was okay, they’d make it through this. Once he had Sydney. His body was weak, or he’d be prowling the streets, not resting til he found her wherever she’d gone in the world.
“Not every Alpha in the program has died,” Hayden added. “Cyrus. Who is more powerful than he? Travis? Hell, there’s only three of you so far. Beaux Nelson got ousted from Lucian and he’s pretty damned powerful.”
Alexei nodded. “Cyrus didn’t die, but Betsy did. Interesting, right? She rose again. “
“I thought she was saved by Lake.” Hayden held Alexei’s gaze.
“That’s how it looked. Lake doesn’t know how she brought her back. I suspect she didn’t. The women seem to rise faster. They’re stronger than us in a lot of ways. Truer to themselves. They have less to be accountable for. Remarkable women. Beaux didn’t die, you’re right. But Lake did. I was there when she rose. Cyrus’ Betsy just had a baby. She’s obviously focused on their son. But before that she was downright spooky with her Moon talk. Lake is the Healer Prime. You’re not left out of this, Hayden. Your mate, human though she is, sees more fated destiny than any of us combined. And as for Travis…he hasn’t died. Yet.” Alexei shook his head. “Maybe he won’t. Maybe Lilliana will. Maybe neither. Lily doesn’t share her plans with me. Only what she orders me to do.”
“If only Lucian had lived. I mean I hate to say that.” Hayden looked out the window. “So we all could have known what was going to happen. Why not warn them, Alexei? Tell the others what’s to come.”
“Not all of them are going to go come back from death. Some people will stay dead. I won’t be responsible for giving false hope to grieving families. Right or wrong. That’s between them and the Moon. And as for Lucian…I think what had to happen happened.”
Savage pushed himself to his feet. “I have to find Sydney. I’m going to limp my way out the door. I’m not returning without her and….”
Alpha Enticing Page 20
