Claiming Shayla (29 page)

* * * *

It had been a scorcher of a day. Even now, as long shadows faded to night, humidity hung in the air like a moist blanket. In deference to the heat, Ashley wore a thin, dark blue tank with spaghetti straps that bared her belly button, and a faded pair of denim short cutoffs.

It had been two weeks since the incident with Wesley. Two long, frustrating weeks and she was no closer to her goal of being top bitch. She inwardly cursed her lack of progress as she made her way to the pack’s gathering place, deep in the woods in the state park.

The alpha, or rather his bitch, Ashley thought bitterly, had finally allowed her to come and clean, but
only
on Tuesdays and Friday at the time
she
designated. No more coming and going whenever it pleased her, and she was restricted to the first-floor common areas like she was some criminal who couldn’t be trusted around the alpha’s personal items.

Ashley could have made this new schedule work to her advantage, except every time she arrived at the house, the alpha had also been present, hovering over his mate. Seemed she suffered from a severe case of morning sickness, and it left her incapacitated. Weak! This was what happened when an inferior human was allowed to mate with one of their kind. Their puny bodies couldn’t handle it. The woman couldn’t even shift. She deserved killing.

A trio of voices called out, “Hello, Ashley,”

She waved in greeting, pasting a bright, fake smile on her face.

As she got closer to the meeting place, she ran into more pack members. It was the night of their quarterly howl, when the Sparrowhawks came together to run and socialize as a pack. The first thirty minutes or so was devoted to pack business. Then the floor opened for members to share news or bring issues to their leaders’ attention.

As a rule, howl attendance wasn’t mandatory, but no one missed if it could be helped, afraid they’d miss the latest news. From the many faces she’d seen, tonight would be no exception. Their pack was small compared to others, less than one hundred total. When Ashley arrived at the clearing, a quick scan showed a little over half of their numbers were present. More were arriving by the minute.

Another glance revealed the alpha, his bitch, Caleb, and Michael had yet to arrive. Wesley and the other elders were huddled in a group, talking among themselves as normal. There were other groupings as well. Some families stood together. The young, unmated males gathered in a small group, casting the occasional lascivious glance at the unmated females, who stood in another group. Ashley went and joined the unmated females.

The mood was jovial. Numerous conversations, the occasional burst of laughter, and called-out greetings filled the night. Wolves were social creatures by nature, and there was nothing like a run with fellow pack mates at night while the moon rode high in the sky. The ability to shed their human skins and run as the animals they really were.
That
was something Rory’s human mate would never know.

Full dark had fallen. The muted glow of the moon shone on the clearing as the humidity gave way to a layer of fog hovering over the treetops and no breeze of which to speak. Deep in conversation with a female adolescent she was particularly fond of, Ashley was slow to note the change of atmosphere. Little by little there was a beat of stunned silence, then a wave of hushed whispers.

“What’s he doing here?”

“Who’s that?”

“Is that Wolfe?”

“…alpha…Raven pack…”

“…pregnant mate…”

“Kian, my God, haven’t seen him since…”

“Thought he’d left…”

The alpha had arrived, and he wasn’t alone. Rory strode into the center of the clearing. Behind him was the human. But it was the ones who followed that caused the uproar. Kian, his black hair unbound, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that clung to delineated muscles that did nothing to hide his feral nature, trailed close—almost protectively—after the human female.

Ashley was so rattled by Kian’s seldom-seen appearance, she barely noted Caleb and Michael bringing up the rear. Rory took his place on the mound, in the center with the human female to his immediate left and Kian on his right. Caleb and Michael took guard position in front of the alpha pair at the base of the small rise.

Then Ashley noticed the other four. A mixed-race, pregnant female stood next to Shay. Hovering possessively on her left…was that
Alex Wolfe
, the Raven pack’s alpha? No wonder the pack was uneasy.

While Ashley was still recovering from the combined shocks, Shannon strode into the clearing with a tall man with dark hair, a goatee, and the face and body of a Playboy model less than a step behind, his hand at the small of her back proclaiming his ownership. Shannon walked to Kian and stood beside him, with the male to her right.

Rory made no move to quiet the group. He let the conversations continue until gradually, silence fell. Then his voice rang out. “As you know, from the time I became alpha, I’ve made changes in an effort to pull this pack into the twenty-first century. Many of our old ways were outdated. Some downright illegal. If we’re to thrive and grow in this new world of instant messaging, camera phones, and global networking via the Internet, we have to change.”

He paused, looked around at each group assembled before him. His gaze lingered briefly on the elders before returning to the rest of the pack. “Some welcomed the changes as long overdue. Others”—again his gaze went to the elders—“fought me tooth and claw, even as they benefited from the very changes initiated.”

There were some murmurs from the pack, the tone of which seemed to acknowledge Rory’s statement as being valid. The council appeared outraged but, after casting a leery glance at the still-muttering pack, remained silent.

“Tonight marks another new beginning for the Sparrowhawks. Even as the wolf who stands alone dies alone, so too does the pack without allies, destined to fade into obscurity.” He pointed to the Raven pack’s alpha. “A few months ago, Alex Wolfe found and mated his one, Kiesha Morgan. His one is cousin to mine, Shayla Morgan.” He gestured to Shannon. “You all know my sister, Shannon. She’s now a member of the Raven pack, with my full approval and blessing. Based on the blood that binds us, the Ravens and Sparrowhawks have entered into an alliance.”

While the pack was adjusting to the news, Rory nodded to Alex, who howled. A chorus of howls answered him, and more than just a few. Ashley spun with the rest of the pack, looking into the surrounding forest. A multitude of glowing eyes stared back. The outline of wolves formed as they drew closer—much larger, much stronger wolves. They surrounded the Sparrowhawks. Ravens, in wolf form.

There was more nervous chattering as the Sparrowhawks defensively drew closer together.

“This is an outrage,” Graham snarled, a hint of fear in his eyes.

“You made a decision without discussing it with the council? Why weren’t we notified of your intentions?” Bertram asked.

Wesley looked around at the wolves, then at his nephew. His face mottled with fury.

Rory’s left eyebrow arched. “I’m alpha. I discussed the issue with those who mattered—my mate, my brother, my men—before approaching Alex with the offer of an official pack alliance.”

It was a verbal slap in the face.

“And I, in turn, discussed it with my mate, my second, and my elders before agreeing,” Alex added.

“Where is your second?” Graham asked.

“She wasn’t needed for this,” Alex answered.

“
She
!” the old fart choked. Ashley rolled her eyes. The ancient wolf needed to do everyone a favor and die. She didn’t care that he was her uncle.

Alex didn’t bother responding, but his mate leaned over and whispered something to the human. She, in turn, rolled her eyes, then whispered something back. With their faces that close together, Ashley could see the family resemblance.

“What, exactly, do we get out of this alliance?” Bertram asked.

“More resources, more business prospects, a bigger pool of mates to hunt in. The Raven pack has medical resources we don’t. Their pack’s larger, stronger, more modern. It’s what we’re trying to become,” Rory said.

At the mention of mates, all the unmated males and several of the unmated females perked up. The females looked at the surrounding males with a gleam in their eyes, and some began primping. The Ravens’ males returned their looks with interest.

While hunting outside of your pack wasn’t forbidden, it wasn’t always strategic to do so, as pack politics tended to come into play. This new alliance with the Ravens just opened up a world of opportunity. Not that she cared. She already had her sights set on a mate.

“What are they getting out of it?” Wesley asked. “Seems like everything’s weighted in our favor.”

The Ravens’ alpha-fem spoke up. “We get the privilege of making sure you fuckers know if you touch my cousin or her child, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Alex closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face. Rory and his siblings grinned. Shannon’s male didn’t show any reaction. He kept watching the pack, his gaze going from person to person as though looking for something. And the human? Well, she laughed.

“That’s not the way I would have phrased it,” Alex amended, “but what she stated is the truth. Because of our mates, Rory, Kian, Shannon, and I are family now. Their enemies are mine,” he finished in a hard voice with a cold stare. Gone was the affable persona, and in its place was the alpha that ruled a pack of over two hundred.

Ashley’s gut twisted, and her blood ran cold. She took in the posture of the group standing before them, shoulder to shoulder, and felt her dreams go up in smoke. Only a fool would go after the human now, and though Ashley was many things, foolish wasn’t one of them.

Chapter Seventeen

As the pack dealt with Wolfe’s announcement, a confusing blend of scents swept through its midst, mirroring her own—fear, confusion, dismay, a hint of anger, and a whiff of trepidation.

“Which brings me to our next order of business. Laurie Bell, please step forward,” Rory requested in a mild tone, breaking the silence.

The strangeness of the request had her forgetting her own problems. Laurie Bell, her slim body encased in jeans and a white T-shirt, long hair gathered in a ponytail at her nape, pushed her way through until she stood a few feet in front of Caleb and Michael, a quizzical expression on her serene, Madonna-like face. God, just for once Ashley wished others could see behind the mask her mother wore.

Alex and the male with Shannon moved to stand slightly behind and to either side of her. Ashley’s, along with every other pack member’s, interest sharpened. Why had they flanked her like that, she wondered as Rory stepped past his second and third until he stood directly in front of her mother. She moved to a better position that allowed her to see her mother’s expression and still keep everyone in view.

If the two men standing behind her mother perturbed Laurie Bell, it didn’t show. She kept the same placid, mildly confused but agreeable expression on her face. “Yes, alpha?”

“Laurie Bell, you’ve been accused of a heinous crime against the pack. How do you plead?” Rory asked, his expression neutral.

Her mother tilted her head to the side, a faintly amused smile on her face even as her brows furrowed in puzzlement. “All right. What’s the crime?”

“Attempted murder of the alpha pair’s unborn child,” he announced.

There were gasps and cries of outraged denial from the pack. Ashley whistled under her breath. Man, that was ballsy, even for her mother.
Did she really believe she wouldn’t get caught? What am I thinking? Of course Laurie Bell thought she’d get away with it.

Laurie Bell’s mouth dropped open, and she brought her hand up to capture her gasp. “You’re serious? Someone actually accused me of doing something so…so dreadful?” Tears welled up in those innocent-looking eyes.

“How do you plead?” Rory repeated.

“My God, you actually believe…” Her voice trailed off, and she examined the alpha’s expression. He didn’t crack a smile. No mercy there, Ashley thought. Her mother’s gaze slid past Rory to zero in on the human. “Shay, I’m a healer. I save lives, not destroy them. You can ask any person in this pack. I would never do something so…so…” She shook her head, apparently too overcome to speak. The sheen of tears sparkled in her eyes.

Bravo, Mother, bravo! Talk about an award-winning performance. If I didn’t know you to be the viper you are, I’d believe you. I can’t even smell your lies.

“You plead not guilty?” Rory asked.

“Of course I’m not guilty,” her mother responded, her voice containing just the right amount of injured outrage.

“What’s the meaning of this? Who would dare point the finger at Laurie Bell, after all she’s done and continues to do for this pack?” Uncle Graham demanded.

Questions were shouted out as the pack demanded more information. Laurie Bell was a beloved member whose legacy as a pack healer went back several generations. Ashley wasn’t surprised only she, and possibly the alpha, believed her mother capable of murder, and even Ashley wasn’t sure. God knew her mother was cold enough to accomplish it.

Rory ignored Graham and the others and nodded. Alex and Shannon’s male stepped closer to her mother, each one grabbing one of her mother’s arms, holding her immobile. Then before the pack’s shocked and horrified gazes, Shannon’s male bit her mother on the neck, drinking her blood.

Vampire!
Shannon’s male was a vampire? Shannon had mated a vamp, for there was no denying the two were mated. Ashley stood frozen with shock, watching the tableau unfold before her.

Some of the men protested and moved forward as though they would put a stop to whatever was happening. Alex snapped his fingers, and quick as a blur, there was a wall of Raven pack wolves standing in the way. Knowing they were no match for the others, the Sparrowhawk men settled down, resorting to angry mutterings and hostile glances.

The vampire raised his head, fangs showing clearly in the moonlight. He closed his eyes and licked the few drops of ruby-red blood spotted on his lips. There was a tense silence as everyone waited to see what would happen next. Ashley didn’t know much about vampires and their powers. Most of what she’d heard was probably rumor. She did know that shifters had a natural immunity to some of their more powerful psychic powers.

Suddenly her mother shrieked, “Get out of my head!”

All movement ceased. Ashley’s startled gaze bounced from her mother to the vamp.
He was in her head? How was that possible?
Unless it had something to do with the blood… Ashley glanced around at the older pack members. Their gazes were somber, knowing.

“Nikolai?” Rory asked.

“Guilty as charged,” Nikolai stated calmly as his eyes opened.

“You can’t prove anything, you bastard! Let me go!” her mother shouted furiously, the mask beginning to crack.

Ashley heard the mutters.

“He read her mind.”

“That’s impossible.”

“He’s a vampire.”

“He took her blood. Never give blood to a vamp. It gives them a path in.”

“On the contrary. We have proof. We took the herbs you gave Shay to an herbalist in Fort Knox. He’s the one who told us what you did,” Rory said in a voice gone as cold as his expression.

There were more gasps. More whispers, but opinions were divided. The mood of the pack shifted from angry disbelief to denial and uncertainty.

“He’s a liar,” her mother hotly denied. “I’d never do such a thing.” Laurie Bell glanced at the council, the pack. “You know me. I delivered most of you, doctored the rest. There’s been a mistake.” She turned back to Rory.

“It’s no mistake,” he said in a flat voice. “You own a shop. You knew what that particular blend of herbs would do to Shay’s body, to the babe.”

Oh God, this was awesome. Damn, all she needed was popcorn. It was about damn time someone else knew what her mother was capable of. Ashley felt the gazes of others searching her reaction to the unfolding events. Seeing what she knew, if she knew anything at all. She held in a smile, struggling to look as horrified and stunned as the rest.

“I want to know why.” The human’s quiet voice cut like a knife through the uproar that had risen at Rory’s words.

“Why what? I didn’t
do
anything,” Laurie Bell protested. “Shayla, I know you’re new here, but believe me, this is all a terrible mistake. I’m a woman, a mother. A midwife, for God’s sake. Bringing healthy children into the world is what I do.”

The human stared at her out of a face set in stone.
No sympathy there, either, Mother.

Laurie Bell glanced around wildly. “Why aren’t you listening to me?”

“I’d also like to know why,” Shannon stated. “Nikolai, can you…?”

All eyes turned toward Nikolai. He nodded. Then his eyes lost focus.

Her mother began struggling. “Stay out of my head!”

“She’s fighting me,” he said to Rory in a low voice that still managed to carry. “I need to get in front of her.”

“Kian,” Rory called.

Kian left Shayla’s side, stalked toward Laurie Bell like the predator he was, and grabbed hold of her arm. From the way the muscles in his arms bunched, Ashley would bet money that his hold was painful. Nikolai joined Rory in front of her mother. As he stared into her eyes, her mother screamed her rage. Her eyes changed and jaw elongated. The scream morphed into a deep-throated growl.

“She’s trying to shift,” Alex warned.

Nikolai’s eyes flashed red as he firmly ordered, “You will not shift!”

Ashley watched in horrified fascination as the wolf seamlessly faded away.

The scent of her mother’s fear rose in the air. She stared at the vampire like he was the devil coming to steal her soul, eyes wide and glassy.

Nikolai’s hand clenched on her jaw, and he leaned in close until they were eye to eye. His were a red flame of power. “Bitterness. Hate. So much hatred.”

Laurie Bell shook her head and threw her body back, trying to escape his grasp.

“Betrayal,” Nikolai continued, moving with her. “Love and hatred, intertwined.”

“Noooooo!” she moaned.

“I see a man, one she loved heart and soul. He turned away, mated someone—”

She turned to Rory, hatred in her gaze. The mask was finally gone. “Stop! I’ll tell you all. Just make him stop,” Laurie Bell demanded.

Rory considered, then gave an abrupt nod. Nikolai released her and stepped back.

Laurie Bell angled her gaze up toward the alpha’s mate. “You want to know why? I’ll tell you why. Magnus was mine. Then she came along. She was nothing. Less than nothing, but he mated her. When I asked why, you know what he said? The bastard actually
fell in love
with her. An omega. A nobody.”

At her words, Wesley protested. Magnus’s mate had been his sister, after all. No one paid him any attention, too caught up in the drama.

She turned her venomous gaze on Rory, then Kian. “When she got pregnant with twins, Magnus was so happy. Even happier when it turned out to be boys. The pack began to accept her. I couldn’t tolerate it. She had my man, my children, and what did I have? Nothing but pitying looks and questions about my suitability to be a mate.” Laurie Bell’s rage was palpable. Her voice and body trembled with it.

“He got his precious sons, but I made sure he didn’t enjoy them, enjoy
her
.” She smiled then at Rory and Kian, and it was purely evil. “If Magnus had been this much slower”—she held her thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart—“getting into the room, you both would have been…” She snapped her mouth closed as though realizing she’d said too much.

“Would be what?” Rory asked in a dangerous voice.

Laurie Bell tightened her lips, refusing to answer.

“You will speak the truth, all of it,” Nikolai ordered. Ashley could feel the power in his words. They pressed on her mind and in her heart, and she had bite down on the urge to blurt out what she’d done. As insurance against confessing, she retreated farther into the safety of the pack, her hand covering her mouth.

“Dead. As it was, I damaged his precious firstborn so he couldn’t lead. Told him it was because his bitch was so weak that his sons were flawed. He died believing it.” She cackled, her laugh so manic Ashley felt the hairs on her nape rise. Her mother was well and truly crazy.

“No matter how much she tried, I never let her or anyone else forget she wasn’t good enough,” she continued. “I was happy as long as the three of you were miserable, but then you brought
her
here,” she said to Rory, nodding her head in the human’s direction. “Your pregnant mate. And you were
happy
—” She spat.

The interrogation began. The Raven pack’s alpha and mate, Shannon, and the human all asked question after question, demanding answers when Laurie Bell hesitated or resisted. At one point she bit her lip bloody trying to keep silent, but in the end, the combined powers of the vampire and Rory were too strong.

The whole sordid tale came powering out of her mother in fits and starts as she fought the compulsion. It infuriated her, but she told them all, and she spoke the truth. How she’d tried to smother Kian to death at birth because she couldn’t risk breaking his neck as she’d wanted. How she’d seduced and mated Magnus’s beta so she could remain close to him. How she’d fed Magnus’s mate, Susan, insecurities, causing trouble between the couple at every opportunity, and never let them know a day of peace.

When she got to the part of how she’d pushed her mate into challenging Rory for the position of alpha, Rory bellowed out, “
Enough
!”

The force of his power sent most of the pack to their knees.

Laurie Bell’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. If looks could kill, the look she shot Nikolai should have incinerated him. She closed her mouth, a disdainful expression on her face.

Ashley was devastated. For the first time she realized that nothing she’d done and nothing she could ever do would make her mother love her, or approve of her. Laurie Bell hated her, not because she wasn’t a healer, but because she didn’t come from Magnus’s seed.

Sick at heart, she turned and left the clearing. She didn’t care what became of her mother, just as her mother had never cared about her.

“RORY,” SHAY CALLED in a soft voice.

She knew her man, and he was all but vibrating with fury. His claws were out, and through the bond she felt the struggle he had to control his beast. Her mate wanted blood. No, he wanted to gorge on Laurie Bell’s flesh and wallow in her blood.

“Rory,” she called again, “I need you.” Through the bond she pushed, hoping he’d hear her,
“Please, come to me. She’s not worth it. Remember the plan.”

It was touch and go, but finally he returned to her side. Shay immediately burrowed close. Rory wrapped his arms around her and held her to him. Now that he was with her, Shay realized she was shaking.

So much hate. So many years of misery, attributed to one woman. It was sickening and so very sad. Shay still intended to make Laurie Bell pay for what she’d done. Justice demanded it, but she was woman enough to feel compassion. She couldn’t imagine the pain of giving someone all of you, only to be rejected, tossed over for someone you considered less than your equal.