“How do we know bears haven't picked 'im up?” Harkins asked.
“Troy had to know this would happen. After the care in planning everything, starting with Dashiell's invasion, he would be smart enough not to get caught now,” I said. “We know where to find him, but we won’t be able to get through the enforcers alone. He’s hiding in the mayor's mansion.”
“Where he's known to have been staying?” Cole asked.
“Trust me,” Trixie said. All eyes turned to my mate. “He's been working to fortify the defenses. He would not leave.”
“How do we break in?” Harkins asked.
Trixie smiled at the scarred enforcer. “I know one of the guards.”
We made only one stop on the way, the Come On Inn. Cole and Harkins waited outside, while Trixie and I went in to speak to Liam Blake. The huge, bearded grizzly sat behind the desk, wearing a red plaid shirt just as he always did. I wondered if his wardrobe contained rows of jeans and red, button-down shirts or if it was always the same outfit. His scent didn't bother me the same way it had before, a surprise. It seemed I was becoming accustomed to bears, a scary thought.
“Trixie Walker, Lance Tenbrook,” the bear said. His face showed no expression, and his voice held no emotion.
“Mr. Blake,” I said, “thanks for helping Trixie get me out of that cell.”
“It was her information that set you free, not some personal favor,” he answered.
“Understood,” I said.
“Mr. Blake,” Trixie said, “will the Tribunal be pursuing my brother for his crimes?”
“I imagine so,” he said, “but it's not my case. The Pattersons will decide how to proceed.”
“How long will that take?” I asked.
“As long as it takes,” he replied.
“We are going to remove him from alpha status as soon as we leave here,” I said. “I have a feeling your presence may be beneficial.”
“I will not interfere with the inner affairs of a pack,” he said, sitting perfectly still and giving away nothing.
“I'm not asking you to,” I said.
We left the bear in his seat behind the counter. Knowing Blake, he would show up late, but he would come.
“Let's go,” I said when we met back up with Cole and Harkins outside. It was a short walk to the center of town, to the mayor's mansion. The sun sank behind rooftops, shrouding the world in an evening glow. We stopped just out of sight of the guards, one posted at each door.
“There,” Trixie whispered, pointing to the side of the tall, brick building.
A man stood by the door, about my height, but with a thicker build. His hair was short and brown, and his face was hard. By looks alone, this would not be a man I would have expected to be sympathetic to Trixie, or to anyone.
“You go first,” I said, quietly enough that no one outside of our group could hear me. “We’ll circle around the back, and knock him out from behind.”
Being back at this place, with Cole by my side, reminded me of the night we had come for Hailey. We’d been a small pack in the dark, greatly outnumbered. I was glad that my brother was with me for the challenge. Even though Troy seemed to have fewer guards than Dashiell had, it wouldn't be possible for me to reach Troy alone. This night we would rescue Mara, and I would leave as alpha. All reservations were gone. This was my duty.
Trixie studied each of our faces, as if looking for uncertainty. Then she put her hand in the pockets of the leather jacket and strolled toward the enforcer with small, gentle steps.
We set out right away, moving through the streets just outside of the guard's line of sight. Cole and Harkins stayed close. When we reached the backside of the mansion, we crossed the open yard to the brick building. Considering the size of the three of us, we were relatively quiet moving in heavy boots. I was first to cross, with Cole and Harkins behind me. Both stepped in the bootprints of the man before him, like our Northern Rocky Mountain wolf brethren. The only trace left behind was a single set of footprints in the snow.
Voices carried around the corner of the building.
“She cried when I brought her in last time,” a male voice said.
“Can you blame her?” Trixie asked. “The poor thing has been through hell. She deserves a chance to talk with her friend.”
“I took the risk before. I can't do it again. Someone could see,” the man said.
I peeked around the corner, and found the enforcer's back to me. I waved for Cole and Harkins to join me. My brother looked around the corner, then before I could make my move Harkins dove at the big man's back, wrapping his arm around his neck. The larger man scratched at Harkins's arms, but didn't make a sound as his body was slowly drained of its strength. His tense arms relaxed and fell to his sides, and his body slumped into Harkins's chest. The enforcer laid the larger man down in the snow. With his eyes closed, and his chest gently moving up and down, Troy's guard looked peaceful as he slept.
Trixie looked down at Harkins's work with a slight smile that told me she approved. I dug through the unconscious man's pockets and found his keys, and used them to unlock the door behind him. We entered the mansion through the same door we had used when we had rescued Hailey.
The hallway was cleaner than it had been the last time I’d been in the building. Someone had scrubbed the mud from the floor by the doorway. I looked at my companions, then slid off my boots and socks and set them by the wall. Trixie, Cole, and Harkins did the same. There was no reason to alert Troy to our presence before we had to.
Trixie led the way down the quiet corridors to a large room full of books. The hardwood floor was well-worn, and the ceiling was high, with an ornate chandelier hanging from the center.
A red-haired man sat at the large wooden desk. His eyes were a sparkling green, the same set I cherished on my mate. The resemblance was clear, but their personalities were nothing alike.
“Troy,” Trixie snarled, fists balled.
“Did you see what he did to my chair?” the man asked, like we were here for a casual visit.
We stood just inside the doorway to the library, stiff and ready for a fight, but Troy seemed perfectly at ease. He must have known why we had come, but his body language told me he felt confident and in control.
“That barbarian nailed metal to the back like it was some kind of junk yard throne,” he said. Troy touched the back of the chair over his shoulder, where metal strips stuck up off of the otherwise elegant, wooden piece.
Ignoring the diversion from our purpose, I focused on why we had come. “Troy Lynch,” I said. “I challenge you for the title of alpha of Sawtooth Peaks.”
“And Sawtooth Valley,” Trixie added.
“And Sawtooth Valley,” I agreed.
“Last I heard, you hadn't taken a mate,” he said, tapping his fingers on the arm of the jagged throne. He shouted, “Mara!”
The frail blonde entered the room from a second door. She kept her eyes down and didn’t look at us. I understood Trixie’s concern for her, the thin woman looked like she was wasting away.
“Here’s my mate,” Troy said, pulling her to his side by her elbow.
Mara flinched at his touch.
“I'm his mate,” Trixie said, and pulled her hair back off of my mark, showing it to her brother.
“Well look at you two,” Troy said. “Already moving on from your loss.”
His shoulders remained relaxed, and the situation seemed to amuse him.
“Why?” Trixie asked, fists clenched.
“Why not?” her twin answered. “It was always Trixie and Stratton. Best of friends, leading the pack, having everything.”
“We never did anything to you,” she said.
Troy's laughter filled the air, a sick cackle that cut through the silence. Tension emanated off of my companions. Was Troy mad? He certainly had a way of setting others on edge. His strengths lay in words and underhanded actions. It was his unpredictability and deception that made him dangerous.
“Let's not linger on hurt feelings an
d sorry tales,” Troy said.
I had heard enough. Though he had gotten this far with deceit, I had the upper hand physically. His confidence continued to concern me, but there was no need to prolong the inevitable. If he had some kind of trick coming, it was better to get it over with.
“Prepare yourself,” I growled, and dropped my jacket to the floor.
“What chance would I have in a fair fight against you?” Troy asked, emerald eyes ablaze, then snapped his fingers. Six enforcers entered through the side door that Mara had used. “I only play to win.”
Troy's face split in a wicked grin, and he pulled a gun from his lap as he stood from the desk chair.
Trixie ran between me and her brother in an attempt to shield me from his wrath. She could not protect me from him, and I would not allow her to be injured in the crossfire. I stripped the last of my clothes and shifted to wolf form for the battle Troy Lynch could not avoid.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Trixie
The still room turned into a whirlwind of cracking bones and snarls. Fur-covered giants tore into each other’s flesh with sharp teeth. Lance bounded fearlessly after Troy without regard for the pistol in my brother’s hand. Lance’s sharp teeth showed, and his blue eyes were determined. I stood in awe as he dove past me as a huge silver wolf.
Troy fired a shot, but Lance ducked to the side and the shot went past him. The sound was deafening, causing pain in my ears, and lessening what I heard of the fighting wolves.
Harkins, the scarred, gray wolf, fought bravely at Cole's side. Cole was the larger, more intimidating wolf to be sure, but Harkins fought with everything he had, clearly the more experienced fighter of the two. They held their own against four wolves who surrounded them, taking one down within a matter of moments. I hated to leave them behind, but I had to protect Mara, and I had to help Lance.
Mara stood in a daze by the desk. Avoiding the flailing claws and teeth, I ran around the side of the room and grabbed her hand. My eyes remained on my mate as he chased after Troy, following him out of the library.
“Come on,” I said to Mara, leaving Cole and Harkins behind, and chasing after my brother, my mate, and the two enforcers who followed them down the hall. My heart raced. Troy couldn’t shoot him. Troy couldn’t harm my mate.
Snarls and growls surrounded us from up ahead and behind. It wasn't possible for the others to gain too much of a lead on me and Mara with Troy still running in human form. I needed to reach Lance. Eyes forward, racing as quickly as I could, I pulled Mara by the hand. She followed without protest, keeping the unforgiving pace that I set.
Another gunshot sounded, a powerful boom echoing down the hall. I froze, and Mara ran into me from behind. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest, and my pulse pounded in my ears. An image of Lance, a huge, silver wolf flashed into my mind. His metallic fur was stained red, and he didn't move.
Terrified, I stripped my clothes and sprinted forward as a wolf. My senses heightened with the transformation; my hearing surpassed what it had been before the gunshot. Snarls and tearing flesh came from both directions, behind me in the library, and ahead in the foyer. The smells of fear and blood filled the air. I had to get there, now.
Droplets of blood were splattered across the oriental rug in the foyer; a chair was overturned. I followed the damage out the front door, and finally caught up. The courtyard was lit by street lamps, spotlights on the scuffle beneath. Two gray wolves dove at Lance as he held them at bay. My mate towered over his attackers, dodging every time one charged, and countering with his teeth. I had never seen him fight before, and the sight was as impressive as everything else about him. He took on the two wolves, without letting my brother escape.
Blood soaked the fur of Lance’s neck, dripping from where his ear had been shredded by Troy’s bullet. Troy stood a few feet ahead, aiming to take another shot, one that I couldn’t risk hitting its mark. I darted straight for him, avoiding the other wolves. I had to stop him from shooting Lance, but the distance was too great. Even racing at top speed, I knew I couldn’t make it in time. The icy wind stung my eyes, and the soft powder gave way beneath my feet. My chest was tight, and I couldn’t breathe. I had to help Lance.
Troy’s eyes flicked toward me. My twin turned and pointed the gun in my direction. The hammer clicked.
A small gray wolf dove at Troy from his side. Mara. It was the first time I had seen her in wolf form since before all of this started.
“Stupid bitch!” Troy screamed.
The pistol fell to the snowy earth as Mara's teeth tore through the flesh of Troy's arm. I hadn't noticed her following me after the gunshot. My focus had been solely on Lance. With a closed fist, Troy swung at Mara's face, knocking her to the ground. He reached for the gun, and I growled by his side.
“Touch it, and I tear your throat out.”
My twin stood slowly, hands in the air. I glanced back at Lance, who had taken down one enforcer, and had a clear advantage over the other. The remaining enforcer's fur was covered in blood as he limped in a circle around Lance. My mate seemed to have taken no further injury during the time that he had taken down one wolf and wounded the other. The smaller wolf reeked of fear, while Lance showed nothing but determination.
I flicked my eyes back to my twin, who turned his head to the side.
“Don't move,” I growled, showing him my full set of sharp teeth.
“So how'd you seduce this one?” Troy sneered. “You seem to have a way of placing yourself as the alpha's mate.”
“Screw you,” I growled.
“Sure, you can judge me for my actions,” he said. “But really you've done the same, tethered yourself to the position of power.”
“I don't need to be in charge. I never cared about that.”
“Really? It seems like you're ready to let your mate be killed for another chance to gain that place,” he said and looked at Lance.
I followed his gaze, afraid that his words held a shred of truth, that Lance could be in mortal danger. But Lance was okay. Mara was rising.
I turned back and found Troy running. I growled and chased after him, but he stopped as Harkins and Cole closed in on him from both sides, snarling with their heads held low.
“Okay, okay,” he said, slowly stripping and dropping his clothing to the ground. Others gathered between the houses, a crowd drawn by the commotion at the center of town, a crowd to witness the challenge for the status of alpha of their pack.
Lance stood victorious over the wolves Troy had sent to attack him. The gray wolves lay in the trampled snow, motionless and covered in blood.
My mate snarled, crimson staining the silver fur of his face and neck, a fearsome alpha male made even more threatening by his injuries. Backed into a corner and forced to fight, Troy stood a much smaller, gray wolf. What he lacked in size and strength, he made up for in cunning and cheap tricks, but it wouldn’t matter in a duel with Lance. Under the circumstances, there was nowhere left to run, no one left to fight Troy’s battle for him.
“Troy Lynch,” Lance growled. “Again I challenge you for the title of alpha of both Sawtooth Peaks and Sawtooth Valley.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Troy scoffed.
Lance stalked forward, head low, staring down the smaller wolf.
“How did they treat you in prison?” Troy taunted. “They were eager to take you down.”
Lance only growled and followed as Troy ran away, circling the courtyard and attempting to distract my mate with his words.
“It was easy, really. The Pattersons really hate you. How long before they come back and get you on something else, or maybe target your mate?”
Lance dove forward, sinking his teeth into Troy's leg. A pained howl echoed through the night. Lance released him and Troy limped away.
“Concede,” Lance commanded.
“Afraid they won't respect you as alpha?” Troy taunted. “Mated to a secondhand she-wolf.”
“Concede,” Lance repeated.
Troy let
out a terrible sound and bolted toward Lance. In response to the charge, Lance lowered his chest to the ground, reaching his front paws forward. Changing direction at the last second, Troy sprayed snow up in Lance's face. It may have bought him some time, but Lance dove into the smaller wolf, teeth first. Lance pulled back, dragging Troy’s leg with him, and toppling the smaller wolf.
Troy lay on the ground, red tainting his gray coat, at the feet of my battered mate. Part of me felt sorry for my twin, pained from the bite in his side. But Troy had lost any right to my sympathy with his acts of violence and malice.
Lance bared his teeth to the smaller wolf at his feet.
Troy cringed away from the massive, silver wolf. “I concede.”
Lance stepped away and padded to my side. Nuzzling his neck with my muzzle, I inspected my mate's wounds.
Loud enough for all to hear, Lance bellowed, “I, Lance Tenbrook, claim the right of alpha of Sawtooth Peaks and Sawtooth Valley.”
I watched proudly as my mate took his rightful place, the leader both packs needed and deserved.
Applause came from the wolf shifters in the crowd, none sorry to see Troy fall. Lance was the one who had provided for them, helped them. The humans were left to ask what was said, speech among wolves sounding only like howls and growls to their ears.
With the fight ended, our companions approached their new alpha.
Mara gasped, and I snapped my attention to her. Troy stood as a human, naked in the snow, pointing the gun against her head. Before I could move to help her, Troy’s arm was pulled up in the air, thick fingers holding it in place, and an elbow squeezing his throat. A final gunshot sounded in the courtyard, silencing the crowd. All eyes turned to Liam Blake, the giant, and the naked, red-haired man he held in his arms.
“Let me go,” Troy growled, struggling to free himself.
“You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Lance Tenbrook, Trixie Walker, and Mara Lynch. You’re also wanted in connection to the death of Stratton Walker, and stand accused of obstructing a Tribunal investigation,” Blake said.
Werewolves & Whiskers: Sawtooth Peaks Wolf Shifter Romance Box Set Page 43
