Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 08 - Revenge (15 page)

When the six attackers saw more than twice as many wolves coming for them, they ran.
No mercy
, Ryder told himself as he pursued.
Neither he nor the wolves running with him broke his vow.

Attacks on his home, his pack, his family—Marcus was in a rage such as he’d never known. When he came upon the men in the trees beyond the compound, he tore through them, uncaring if he was hurt. He’d had enough. Enough of shifters trying to kill him, enough murdering bastards and bloodshed. Enough evil. Enough of his mate having to kill.

Marcus wasn’t the only one. Aidan was as ferocious as he was, killing quickly, not necessarily neatly. In minutes they were done, with Nathan never having to shed blood and Zane taking care of the last enemy.

He wanted to go home. Needed to, because it felt like nothing would ever be normal again. Keegan should be on the way with Sissy. Someone else in the guards was bringing Juanita and Guillermo—who might not survive as he’d been shot in the chest. Marcus would have that on his conscience. If he’d not sent for those two, they’d be safe and happy in Ensenada. If he’d only known Dirk was already here—

Marcus couldn’t look at Nathan, because he couldn’t stop the self-recriminations. So many had died all because he hadn’t figured it out—
“Neither did I, Marcus. I think I’m smart, and yet it never occurred to me that Dirk would have found out what we were doing. Keegan said everything’s traceable online, and he was right, I guess. So is it my fault, too then?”
There was no answer Marcus could give. He felt like he’d failed, even though in the end, they had stopped Dirk and his assassins. The cost was too high.
“If you failed our pack, so did I. So did I.”
Nathan sat beside him and leaned against Marcus.
“Sometimes, people fail. We can do our best, but without…without the tools we need, or that shot of luck, whatever, we still fail. We aren’t perfect. We didn’t kill our pack members. If we failed, it was because we didn’t comprehend the extent of the evil we faced.”

“I was overconfident.”
Marcus knew better than to think he was invincible, but he still had thought no one would truly dare to come at him like Dirk had.
“I love my pack, all of them, but especially this one that is filled with people who’ve chosen to live with us. You, and them, mean everything to me.”
Marcus stood up then, careful not to jostle Nathan. He didn’t like the way his thoughts were heading, because when it came down to it, he needed to grieve with his people, not whine and bitch about himself.
“Come on, let’s go home.”

He and Nathan, along with Aidan and Zane, all stayed close together, more for comfort than anything else, as they headed for the compound. Marcus began composing a mental list of things to be done. Those of his guards who’d been killed were being brought home by the ones who’d stayed at the tarmac to watch over the jet’s passengers. A few would take care of Dirk’s remains, along with his guards. Marcus trusted his men to do their jobs. He hoped they still trusted him to do his.

Sombre was the mood for the entire pack. Nathan felt it, and he knew Marcus did, too, as they entered the living area. They all shifted, Aidan and Zane beside them.
“Get your arm checked,” Nathan told Zane.
Zane ignored that and looked around. “At least there’s no damage in here.”
“No, but there’s broken windows towards the back, and a hell of a lot of appliances that need to be moved,” Ryder said, walking into the room from the hall. He didn’t quite smile, but he was obviously relieved to see them home. “Welcome home.” Ryder strode right up and hugged Nathan. “I’m sorry.”
Jeez, Nathan was going to cry if he didn’t get a better control on himself. “Me too.” He patted Ryder’s back until Ryder let him go. Ryder immediately hugged Marcus, and Nathan was relieved to see him return Ryder’s embrace. Another pat on the back then Marcus released Ryder and waved him off. Nathan thought the bonds of friendship and respect between the two men would only continue to grow stronger.
Marcus grinned and gestured to Ryder’s retreating form, though he was watching Aidan.
“What do you think, brother? Will he do as the Alpha Anax of South America?” Marcus asked Aidan.
Aidan stared off in the direction Ryder had gone. “He’s powerful, but is he ready? I don’t know.”
“That is something to dwell on another time.” Marcus glanced down at himself, then at Nathan. “We managed to lose most of the shit we had on us with all the shifting we did, but a shower is still in order.”
“It is,” Nathan agreed. As well as a seriously long session with his toothbrush and paste. He could still taste things in his mouth that he couldn’t bear to think about.
“Same for us, and Zane is going to get his arm checked out.” Aidan tucked Zane up against his side. “We’ll come to your rooms when we’ve taken care of both of those things.”
Marcus held up a hand to stop them from leaving. “Make it the great hall. I need to speak to the pack as soon as possible. There will be a lot of grieving, and sacrifices made for our lives need to be addressed. If anyone needs to shout or cuss at me, I want them to do it and not let the pain of loss turn into the poison of hatred.”
“Good idea, bro. We’ll see you there.”
Aidan and Zane’s rooms were in a separate wing that ran parallel to Marcus and Nathan’s. They took the hall to the left, Nathan and Marcus, the one beside it.
“I suppose everyone’s still in the safe rooms,” Nathan murmured. “We’ll need to let someone know to have them all come to the great hall.”
“We’ll stop by security and tell them.” Marcus sounded so tired, as if his soul was worn thin. It worried Nathan, but he had to believe they’d get past it. “I want to make sure Keegan made it here with Sissy, too. And Guillermo and Juanita.”
“Shania is going to be busy.” Nathan wished that weren’t the case, but at least they had an amazing doctor in Shania.
“At least she has patients.”
Nathan got it, and was relieved as well there were some wounded, not all dead. “Do you know what you’re going to say to the pack?”
“No, not really.” Marcus stopped at the security office and opened the door. All the guards were on alert, watching monitors, but Jasky turned his head to them.
“I’m glad you’re back, Alpha Anax, Nathan. We were worried, but your pack has faith in you both, and we knew you’d return to us.”
There were murmurs of agreement from everyone in the room, and some of the horror of the day lost its edge. For Marcus, too—and they both needed that, needed the reminder that they were good, and loved, and they tried to do their best for their people.
“Thank you,” Marcus said gruffly. “Could you please have everyone gather in the great hall in an hour?”
“Yes, sir.” Jasky got up. “I’ll get on notifying everyone right now.”
“Good man.”
Jasky left.
Marcus looked around the room at the others. “All of you are good men and women, good shifters. Thank you.” He backed out and shut the door.
“We have a good pack.”
Marcus shook his head. “No, we have a great pack.”
Nathan couldn’t argue with that. They headed to their rooms. Marcus typed in the security code on the keypad. Once inside with the door locked, Nathan flung himself at Marcus, needing to hold his mate and be held in return.
“I’m so sorry you had to kill,” Marcus murmured, hugging him with the perfect amount of strength.
Nathan shuddered. “I wanted to. I wanted him dead, dead, dead. That side of me always scares me. How can I be rational and sympathetic yet still want to kill? I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Right. My wolf.” Nathan knew that. He was just tired and heartbroken.
“I was thinking about stepping down.”
“What?” Nathan gasped. There was nothing else Marcus could have said that would have shocked him more. “But…but you love being the Alpha Anax!”
“I do,” Marcus agreed, still holding him. “But I don’t love being the cause of any of my pack members’ death. I don’t love the violence, the way we shifters settle our differences with blood and death.”
“So change it,” Nathan told him. “Change what you can. We’ll do it together, even if it’s just little bits here and there, even if we never finish in this lifetime.” He wiggled until he had enough room to look up at Marcus. “But don’t just quit. Then you’re saying there’s no hope, that this is all we’ll ever be, all the packs you love will ever be. You won’t do that, Marcus. You can’t.”
Marcus looked away, swallowing noisily, his throat making a clicking sound. “I thought I could. If it was for the good of the packs, I would. Ryder could—”
“No.” Nathan shook Marcus a little when he said it. “Absolutely not. I’m putting my foot down on this, Marcus. You won’t toss all hope. You won’t run away.”
That got Marcus to look at him again. “I wasn’t talking about running away! I’m not a coward!”
Nathan touched his jaw. “We all are, when we think we’re going to keep getting hurt. We want to run, to keep ourselves safe. If you left the packs, I’d go with you, you know that, and we’d both suffer. It wouldn’t be better for the packs, who need a strong leader, someone who isn’t perfect, because perfection is a lie that hides a host of sins. They need someone who can be honest with them, who loves them enough to stay.” He kissed Marcus’ chin since he couldn’t reach his lips. “Ryder needs you to stay, to show him how to be the Alpha Anax he’s destined to be.”
Marcus stared at him for a long time, then he gave the barest hint of a smile. “How is it I ever forget that you are always right about things like this?”
“I’ll make sure to remind you often. Why don’t you check on Sissy and the others, and I’ll get our shower started?”
“Okay.” Marcus reached for the phone and Nathan walked to the bathroom. First things first, he loaded his toothbrush up with minty paste and started scrubbing away. While he brushed his teeth, he kept from looking at himself in the mirror. If there was anything gross on him, he didn’t want to see it. He also turned on the shower and by the time a good steam was building, Marcus came into the bathroom.
“Keegan and Sissy are back. Shania is treating Sissy and Guillermo both. Juanita has told her about this poison Dirk used on his enemies, and”—Marcus arched both eyebrows— “it seems Ryder neglected to tell us that Casey found his mate.”
Nathan spat out a mouthful of froth. “Really? Who—” He stopped, horrified by the possibilities. “Please tell me it wasn’t one of the fuckers who was shooting at the compound.”
“Nope,” Marcus told him. “But I’m not sure his mate is safe. Casey was not happy when I told Shania to keep the man sedated and secured to the bed.”
Nathan gave Marcus a narrow look. “Why would you do that?”
Marcus looked worried when he answered. “Because he fits the description for one Piper Briones.”
Nathan choked on the spit he’d been swallowing, sending him into a hacking fit that had Marcus thumping him on the back. “Stop that,” Nathan gasped when he could breathe, “It doesn’t help.”
“Sorry.” Marcus kissed the top of his head. “Anyway, Shania said the guy looks like he’s been abused over a long period of time. She doesn’t think he’d have been capable of killing Little Joe like he was, so if she’s right, then it must have been Dirk or one of his goons who did it.”
“She’s keeping Piper tied and sedated, though, like you said?” Nathan didn’t like the idea of doing that if Piper was harmless, but he liked even less the thought of Piper killing someone because he turned out to be a psycho.
“Yes. Casey will deal with it.” Marcus took the toothbrush out of Nathan’s hand. “I think you might still have some enamel left if you stop now.”
Nathan wrinkled his nose at Marcus. “I hate the taste. It doesn’t go away even after I brush a couple of times. Maybe a strong cup of coffee will help.”
“After we are clean.”
“Yes.” Nathan wouldn’t argue with that.
They showered off, scrubbing each other twice before declaring themselves as clean as they could get. A quick towelling, and, despite Marcus’ teasing, another round of tooth brushing, and Nathan was on his way to being ready.
Marcus wasn’t far behind him, and they ended up making it to the great hall with minutes to spare.
Inside the hall, hundreds of shifters were gathered. Some were crying, some talking, but when Marcus entered, quiet swept over them all.
Marcus walked up the steps to the small stage with the podium on it. As much as Marcus bitched about feeling like a preacher behind that podium, he always leaned on it, bracing his forearms on the top and leaning towards his pack. Today was no different. Nathan stood to Marcus’ right as he began to speak.
“Today we have lost too many members, too many brave men and women whose only desire was to keep their pack safe. They died trying to protect me, and I will never forget their sacrifice. Not one of them deserved to leave us, not one of us deserved to lose them. I grieve, Nathan grieves, our pack grieves as one for them. They were loved, respected, and they will live on in our memories. These men and women”—Marcus read out the names of the deceased as sobs could be heard throughout the hall—“will all be honoured. Today, every day, every day that we live and strive to be worthy of what they did for us. I will strive to be worthy of what they did for me. I loved them, every one. I will miss them, every one. I will remember them, every one.
“And I will find a way, with the help of you”—he looked out over those gathered, turning his head slowly, and Nathan knew he was seeing each one of them—“to prevent anything like this from happening again. I will do everything I can to form peaceful bonds with the Alpha Anaxes worldwide. We will learn from this, and grow, and we will keep the memories of those lost today in our hearts.”
Marcus stood up straight then, and walked out from behind the podium to stand at the edge of the stage. “I want to thank you, every mother, father, sister, brother, friend—every relative of those lost today. They are not gone. We carry them with us.”
Nathan waited until Marcus finished talking, then he wiped the tears off his cheeks and joined his mate in going up to every family member who had lost a loved one to death that day. By the time they were done, he and Marcus both were wrung out, aching inside, but Nathan knew they could begin to heal, just as their pack would.
“One thing before we go back to our rooms. I want to see Piper.”
“Of course.” Nathan hooked his arm through Marcus’. “Let’s go.”
Shania was in the medical centre, talking to Casey quietly over a still, too-thin man who was covered in freckles and scars. Both Casey and Shania glanced at them as they came in, then resumed their conversation.
“I’m sure he’ll be all right eventually—physically,” Shania added. “Psychologically, I don’t see how he’d be Johnny Joyful when he’s obviously been abused to the point that he’s lucky to be alive.”
Nathan had to agree. Marcus had looked like Piper, all bones and thin skin, like death had decided he wasn’t worth having. The similarities had him wanting to accept Piper right into the pack, but he wouldn’t. They couldn’t, until they knew him better.
“I can feel him,” Casey said, turning a pleading look to Marcus. “I can. He isn’t a monster, he’s a terrified man who didn’t know where to go or how to survive on his own once Drake and the others had been brought here.”
“You know who he is?”
Casey nodded at Marcus. “Yes, I told you. I can feel him. I know.”
“I’m not turning him out.” Marcus moved closer and held out a hand. “May I?”
“You don’t have to ask me,” Casey muttered, scooting over to make room for Marcus to stand beside him.
“I do, actually. He’s your mate and I wouldn’t presume to do what I’m about to do without your agreement. Nathan.” Marcus held out his other hand and Nathan took it. Then Marcus touched his free hand to Piper’s temple.
It was like a jolt from a nightmare, the black, oily memory of pain and fear. Nathan held on to Marcus, trying to help him sort through the morass of feelings coming from Piper. Delving into another’s mind wasn’t something Marcus did often—wasn’t something he could do often. It drained him when he went deep.
Part of that was because Marcus kept a tight rein on his mental probing, not just poking in willy-nilly to see what was what. He knew what he sought—rage, hatred, betrayal—and luckily found none in Piper.
“That’s enough for now,” Marcus rasped. “He is walled off in places that might hurt him if I tore into them, so I won’t. When he’s capable of coherent conversation, I’ll want to talk to him, but meanwhile, untie him, Shania.”
“Thank you,” Casey told Marcus.
“Don’t thank me yet. I’ll have Keegan set two guards in here. I’m sorry, Casey, but I can’t take any chances.”
Casey bobbed his head. “I understand, sir, but thank you anyway for not making him stay bound, or sending us out.”
“I wouldn’t do that. If you need me, Shania, call. We’re going to get some sleep.”
“I will. Good night.”
Nathan doubted it would be that night, but eventually, he and Marcus would sleep without the pain of loss being so bright.