Balance (8 page)

                He
chuckled. “I think I am the one that should be thanking you. You draped
yourself over me like a shield. I’m an old man and I’ve lived a good life. Next
time don’t bother.” He winked and tipped his hat. “And I’m sorry again about
your friend,” he added.

                “We’ll
get her back,” I declared.

                He
twisted his handle-bar mustache and said, “Okay,” and walked away.

                Shit,
this was so bad.

                Max
and Kai emerged from the woods. Both shirtless, in cut-off sweatpants, eyes
yellow.

                “It’s
not your fault.” Kai put a hand on Max’s shoulder, but Max shrugged him off.

                “Yes
it is! If I had mated with her, I would have been in constant communication.
She wouldn’t have been moping in the woods.”

                Kai
put his hands out to stop Max. “No, it’s my fault. I told her not to go alone.
She lied and said she would take someone with her. I should have assigned
someone to go with her to make sure.”

                Max
shook his head. “She’s smart and beautiful and she’s my mate. I should have
told her that. I should have married her! What the hell am I waiting for?”

                “It’s
my fault!” I shouted, shutting them both up. “Everything. Devon’s death. This.
It’s all my fault. The vampires want me!” I stormed into the house and slammed
the door, scooping up Luna and lying with her in my bed. This was getting to be
too much. All of these people were getting hurt over me. The vampires wanted my
blood. Maybe I should just do the spell with the witches and become infertile.
Not tell Kai. But the moment I thought that, baby Avery popped into my mind. I
wanted that with Kai. I shouldn’t have to give up on the dream of being a mother.
No! I stood. I just needed to find Layla and kill her once and for all, and I
would start right now.

                ‘Call
the council. We need to have a meeting and come up with an idea to find Layla
and get Tara back NOW,’
I told him.

                I
felt his feelings. Apprehension that doing so might cause me danger but also
that it needed to be done.

                ‘I
agree,’
was all he said.

                After
a while of sulking, I put Luna down and went to Emma’s to take my shift helping
with baby Avery.

                When
I got there, the lights were low in the living room. Avery was asleep in a
cradle and Diya was rocking her.

                “Hi,”
I whispered.

                Diya
gave me a look of concern. “Are you okay? I heard about the shooting … and Tara.”

                I
sighed and rolled my shoulders, remembering where the bullets had entered my
back. Amazingly, I felt fine. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks. Kai is going to the
council to have a meeting and we’re going to find Layla and get Tara back,” I
said with certainty.

                Diya
nodded and there was an awkward moment of silence. Then she gestured to Avery,
smiling. “Isn’t she perfect?”

                I
nodded, watching the tiny infant sleep. Her bottom lip was puckered out and her
breathing was slow and steady. “She is.” She was also our pack’s first cub.
Pride, adoration, love; those words didn’t even begin to express how we all
felt.

                “Guess
what? Trent and I are having a boy. We just found out today.” She smiled,
patting her belly.

                Wow,
a boy. Seeing these happily mated couples I had brought together having
children made me feel complete, like I had a purpose, a good purpose.

                I
gave her a hug. “That’s awesome. Have you thought of a name?”

                She
nodded. “Mason, after Trent’s father.”

                Now
that everyone was having babies, I was feeling my own biological clock ringing.
Seeing Avery born had changed something within me. The loss of Tara, the RAIDOS
shooting. I needed some good in my life. I had made a decision. I wanted a
baby. Now. I was ready.

               
‘Kai?’

                ‘Yes,
my love?’

               
I smiled
. ‘Throw out the condoms.’

                Excitement
burst through the mate bond and I chuckled.

                “So,
what do I do?” I asked Diya nervously, gesturing to Avery. I had babysat a little
in college but not a newborn. She was so fragile and tiny.

                Diya
chuckled. “Keep her alive. That’s about it at this age. Diapers and wipes are
over there. Wake Emma if she cries and starts rooting. That means she is
hungry.”

                I
swallowed nervously. “Rooting?”

                Diya
smiled at me. “Sucking fingers, making an O-shape with her mouth. Trying to
breastfeed over your shirt.”

                I
laughed. “Okay.”

                All
of a sudden, I heard snapping noises. I gasped and looked down as fur started
popping up all over Avery’s body. She was shifting.

                “Oh
my God, is that okay?” I asked Diya.

                Diya
smiled. “Perfectly normal. She is waking up. I’m tired. Text me if you need
anything.” Diya left.

                Avery
was now a furry, adorable wolf cub wrapped in a blanket. Oh my God. Cutest
thing ever! She gave a small growl and I picked her up and tucked her under my
arm. She leaned into my shirt and bit my nipple. “Ow!” I yelped and pulled her
away from my body.

                “You
little stinker. You hungry?” Making quick strides, I crossed the living room
and walked her down the hall into Emma’s room. She shifted again and gave a loud
human baby wail.

                Emma
sat bolt upright. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?” She looked frazzled, her gaze darting
around the room.

                “Yeah,
she’s just hungry,” I told Emma, sitting at the edge of the bed.

                “Aurora,
you’re here.” Emma smiled, taking Avery to feed her. I had seen Emma naked a
hundred times. Breastfeeding in front of me or any member of the pack was no
big deal.

                “Does
it hurt?” I asked Emma as her eyelids drooped.

                “Kinda.
But being full of milk hurts worse.” She leaned back, closing her eyes.

                “You
feeling okay?” I asked her, trying to keep her awake. She looked ready to drop
at any second.

                “Just
tired. No one warns you about that. The sleep deprivation … Awful. Headache,
hungr–” She fell asleep, her head rolling to the side. Her arm went slack and I
bolted forward, catching Avery and boosting her back up to latch.

                God,
being a mother was harder than I thought. Poor Emma. I had never seen her so
tired. Not even after Devon died. We expected mothers to labor for hours and
push out a human being. Then, when their body needed to rest, we woke them
every two hours to feed that human. Yikes. Was I sure I was ready for this? After
Avery was done feeding, I lifted her over my shoulder and instinctively patted
her back. She gave a big burp and I giggled, walking her back out to the living
room.

                Looking
into her green eyes, and at her fuzzy red hair, I saw that she looked just like
Emma. “I’m your godmother and the coolest aunt you will ever have,” I told her.
She scrunched her face and a huge rumbling sound came from her diaper.

                I
grimaced. “Thanks, kid.”

*

                After
staying the entire night shift, I woke on the couch to find Alexa shaking me.

                “Hey,
it’s my shift,” she whispered.

                I
peeked over, Avery was still asleep. Oh, man. I was exhausted. Avery had her
days and nights mixed up and only fell asleep an hour ago. I had been up all
night rocking her and cooing, taking her into Emma for feedings. How did
parents do this every night without a pack to help?

                I
extended my hand to Alexa for her to help me up and when my hand touched hers, I
was pulled into a vision.

                A
guy with short brown hair and kind eyes was chopping wood, a thin silver chain
tied him to a nearby tree like a dog. Alexa’s mate, I knew it. He was in a pack
in California, in the Redwood Forest. His name was Jameson, someone called his
name and he turned to look at him, his Alpha. Seeing his Alpha made my stomach
drop. I recognized him. It was Dane’s old second in command. After Kai had
killed Dane and taken over his Portland pack, his second went rogue and ran off
with a few of the others who didn’t want to join our pack.

                In
the vision, his Alpha barked an order at Jameson, who lowered his head and set
down the axe, walking towards him submissively and dragging the long chain
behind him like a slave. Then the vision changed and I was shown Kai and
Jameson’s Alpha locked in a brawl. Something filtered through the vision to me.
A knowing. The Alpha didn’t want to give Jameson up because he had a very rare gift.
He was a submissive who could amplify his Alpha’s dominance and strength
tenfold when they were close to him. His Alpha kept him very close, therefore
increasing his strength. The vision went back to the fight and I saw Kai being
thrown hard against a tree. The tree broke and Anna rushed the Alpha, knocking
him over.

                I
came out of the vision and Alexa was standing there with wide eyes and pale
skin. Alexa and I were extremely close. I was the one who changed her and it
had made us more bonded than others. A tear lined my eye. “I found your mate.”

                Her
hand flew to her mouth. “Really?” It seemed that every time I found a mate,
there was a problem.

                “But
… there’s an issue,” I told her.

*

                Izzy,
our pack member with two human children of her own, had rushed over to watch
Avery while Alexa and I found Max and Kai. I knew we needed to find Layla and
Tara and deal with the RAIDOS attack but Alexa’s mate was in trouble. Being
tied to a tree like a dog with a painful silver chain was not okay. This had to
be dealt with now.

                Kai
listened to me as I recounted the vision. When I finished, he nodded. “We can
go get him. My father is flying in from India and Shamus is driving down from
Seattle. By the time we get back, the meeting will be assembled and we can make
a plan to get Tara back and find Layla.”

                I
could feel Alexa’s excitement and apprehension.

                “And
RAIDOS? When do we pay them a little visit for shooting up our football game?” Max
glared, arms crossed.

                Kai’s
eyes went yellow. “They nearly killed my wife. We will retaliate. It’s just not
the right time. We have too much on our plates.”

                Max
huffed. I knew he was traumatized from carrying me off that field, bleeding and
so close to death, but I think most of his frustrations came from Tara’s
absence. I felt her there, in the pack bonds, but it was faint and cloaked with
magic.

                “Okay,
so Max, Anna, Jake, Kai, Alexa, and I. That’s the group in the vision.”

                Kai
seemed worried. “That’s all of my strong dominants. Who will protect the pack
we leave behind?”

                I
chewed my lip. “We will have to risk it. From my vision, it looks like we will
need all of the help we can get in order to get Jameson out of there.”

                Kai’s
brow furrowed but he nodded.

*

                We
decided to drive. It was only about six hours. We could do it in one day,
taking shifts. We had attempted to make contact with the Alpha, Harris. Since Kai
was now a member of the council, he had Harris’ contact info but calling him didn’t
go over so well. Harris told us to drop Alexa off and leave but we would not be
permitted to linger and he would not be allowing Jameson to leave the pack. Kai
tried to explain further but Harris hung up on him.

                Kai
slammed the cell phone down on the dash and I cringed as the screen cracked.
Well, there went $600. Angry dominant werewolves went through cell phones like
crazy.

                “He
hung up on me!” Kai roared. I’m guessing Kai didn’t get hung up on often.

                “I
haven’t been hung up on since high school,” I stated.

                Max
was staring out the window. I reached back and nudged him and he glanced my
way.

                “You
okay?” I said softly.

                His
energy was low. I felt his depression seeping into the pack bond; we all felt
it.

                He
simply shook his head but Kai and I shared a quick look.

                ‘Tara,’
Kai told me.

                ‘Yeah,
I figured. Any leads on where she is?’

                I
felt Kai’s anger rise up so quickly my breath hitched.

               
‘No.
They blindfolded her and then our bond was snuffed out. I can tell she is alive
but I can’t communicate with her.’

                Shit.
My mind went through dozens of ideas in trying to find the girls. Spells.
Trackers. Anything. But we couldn’t smell the vampires so our trackers couldn’t
get a trail, and if they had snuffed out the mate bond they sure as hell
wouldn’t be found with a finder spell.

                “Showtime,”
Kai grumbled, pulling the SUV up to a large cabin. Kai had said that most all Alpha
residences were on file with the council. I gazed up from the dash, the entire Redwood’s
pack was assembled in a semi-circle, with Harris in the middle.

                “Well,
shit. Homeboy looks ready to throw down,” Max said, cracking his knuckles,
readying for a fight.

                I
busted out laughing along with Alexa and the others.

                “Homeboy?
When did you join a gang?” I joked.

                But
Max’s jaw was set. He was a loose cannon. I could see it. He was waiting for
something to set him off so he could take out all of his aggression about Tara
on someone.

                We
jumped out of the SUV and I put a cool hand on his shoulder.

                “You
good?”

                His
eyes went from glowing amber to ice blue. He cleared his throat and nodded.

                Alexa
was wiping her hands on her jeans. Anna, the strongest member of our pack,
surveyed the situation as she jumped out of the car after us. I could see her
calculating how many people there were. Aside from having super strength as her
special power, Anna had really shown improvement in practices. She was a quick learner.

                I
took the lead even though Kai tried to walk past me and get in front of me.

                The
last time I saw Harris he didn’t want to join our pack and wasn’t strong enough
then to fight Kai. Now with Jameson by his side … I was worried about my vision
and what it meant for Kai’s safety.