blood 03 - blood chosen (10 page)

“What happened?” Adi asked softly, though I think they all knew, could all guess where this particular story would end. The truth was a river of boiling sludge, heard but not seen.

“Lacey was in the heat of her adolescence... headstrong and determined to do whatever she pleased.”

“That's no excuse...” Alan threatened and Lawrence nodded.

“You're right, of course,” he agreed in a low voice and the two males looked at each other for a moment that swelled, fighting between forever and brief.

Lawrence looked at Adi and Cynthia. “Tony showed interest and she shut him down. There were a few alphas in the pack who wished to fight for her, as all males do for an eligible female alpha and she conceded their call. But Tony... well, you know how he comes across.”

Cynthia did. He was ten thousand kinds of dickness.

“When one of the alphas fought in the rite... and won Lacey... won her acceptance, they were to be mated.”

“But Tony couldn't stand another winning legitimately and took her... by force,” Alan grated out, his voice harsh, his hands in fists by his side.

Cynthia turned to him. “What did you do?”

Alan turned eyes which blazed with his wolf, his energy like small fire ants that trembled between them. “I made him wish for death.” His fist came up in a great boulder of flesh above his head and his voice trembled with the next word, “Wish.”

“What about Lacey?” Cynthia asked, knowing that it was her that had been the wounded one he'd referenced. No matter how much he'd lied, he hadn't about her.

“She never mated... but, took much time to heal from what he did to her.”

“Why, Packmaster?” Adi cried, her voice vibrating with her contained rage. “Why was he not put to death for harming a female?” Her angry eyes widened. “That is what you extoll: how precious we are. It's all talk!”

“I had no one else! Our pack was a young one and we could not afford to lose an enforcer of his caliber and compromise our den... weaken it when it was just beginning.”

“So justice for Lacey was sacrificed for...”

“Everyone else,” Lawrence finished in a slow ache of words.

Truman broke the silence. “That was then. Now he's not needed. If he did this to a female of his own species, nothing will stop him. I've seen this again and again.” His eyes met each of theirs. “Laurent will never quit.” He let the eye contact continue. “Unless there's a permanent solution, he won't stop.”

Alan gave Truman a speculative look, his eyes scanning his features. “How permanent?” Alan had turned over a plan for that bastard's death a thousand times inside his mind.

Truman laughed without humor, a throat clearing, belly rumble of a laugh.

“Let's kill the fucker,” Adi seethed then she walked over to Lawrence and shoved the much larger male in the chest. “I renounce you as Packmaster.”

The silence fell like a great weight. “Adrianna, you don't know what you're saying,” Lawrence began.

Slash watched the girl he loved wallow in sorrow and rage and could offer nothing. Do nothing.

Adi swiped tears of anger off her cheeks and gave a single hard nod. “I do so... I very much know what the hell I'm saying. You sacrificed a female to that sadistic pervert. So you know what that told him? That he could do it again.”

“A precedence,” Cynthia said and all eyes went to the Northwestern Packmaster.

“Damn straight,” Adi said, giving Cyn a grateful look.

“I find my conscience is on holiday since I've become a werewolf,” Truman said randomly but oh so succinctly.

Alan gave Karl a sharp glance. “What does that mean?”

Karl looked at the group at large. “That I'm no longer a sworn officer of the law. Justice is a whole other flavor folks.”

Cyn met his eyes and they smiled in complete understanding.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Scott

Scott moved toward the voices. He knew when they ceased that the mixed group ahead of them had discovered their presence.

It was not an easy thing to sneak up on a pack of Were... or any supernaturals.

It was only himself and Emmanuel of the Northwestern pack that had sought out Tony and Jacqueline. Sadly, his duties seemed dim when compared to Julia's abandonment at the Region One compound. Scott understood that he'd be an absolute obstacle if he were there. But no amount of intellectual justification could take away his primal need to be with his soulmate, to dwell on the two males that would secure her immortality, her reign... that he'd share her with if Julia chose it.

It was untenable.

Yet... the Combatant in him liked it. The soulmate did not. If he had not been one or the other, maybe it could've been easier for him. But he was.

“They know that we arrive,” Emmanuel commented as they wove through the thinning forest that rolled smoothly into an open glen. Scott gave him a considering look. He liked the Were. Even though war and strife had punctuated over a century of conflict, Julia's presence had brought an uneasy, albeit temporary, alliance to the groups. Securing William's cooperation for the Southeastern coven had been a boon. He was their new leader by default now that he'd killed Merlin, who had been a cruel enemy of the Singers.

There was hope. But there was also uncertainty. Scott did badly with living in limbo.

They moved as one to where the Were and Singer stood. Scott released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when he laid eyes on Cynthia. It'd wreck Julia even more to have her one friend from before hurt... or worse.

How they came to escape Tony was a story Scott needed to hear.

“Packmaster,” Manny said by way of greeting and Scott moved to a flanking position, the new red wolf and one with a lightning strike of a scar across his face tracked his progress. Scott couldn't remember his name.
Buck
, he thought. No, that wasn't it.

“Emmanuel. Please, regale us with tales,” Lawrence enthused with a come hither hand gesture.

Manny sighed then looked at the Singer female and swallowed. She looked damaged. He lifted his nose, dull in his human form but much better than human. He scented blood, bruises, and sweat motivated by adrenaline. He surmised she'd done much to escape Tony.

“Tony is rogue,” Manny began with Scott warily watching the two Weres, who stood like wary sentinels beside the Packmaster. The quiet Were stood slightly behind the others.

“Well that's a no shit, Manny,” Adi exclaimed as Cyn hid a smile. Adi was amazing at picking up only the colorful vocabulary, Cynthia noticed.

Manny's eyes narrowed. “I fully anticipated having to trade my life for yours if it came to that, Adrianna,” he stated as a reminder. His deep eyes looked into hers and shame caused her gaze to fall to the forest floor, a rare event.

“I'm sorry... but that Singer bitch...” Adi's eyes swept up to Scott's in hesitation and when he shrugged, she went on. “Jackie-baby was working with him. And, she's a telekinetic, so she swarmed my ass and I went into a free fall in a full sprint.”

Ah... that was why the Singer was so battered,
Manny thought. Taking a rolling tumble off a werewolf at top speed will bang a person up.

Adi narrowed her gaze on Manny. “I see what you're thinking. I didn't let her go, I took the impact.”

Manny felt his brows rise. Adriana was harder on herself in a way he could never be. It would have been a certain death if Adi had not taken the brunt of the fall. “Where are they now?”

Cynthia shrugged then gave a weary smile. “I know it shouldn't be funny, but it's funnier than hell: we escaped because they were fighting,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and Emmanuel fought not looking at her as a female. He found himself losing that battle.
Damn.

Scott gave a derisive snort. “Figures.”

“What the hell am I missing, boys?” Truman asked.

Scott looked uncomfortable, then plowed forward. “My biological mother is Jacqueline, ruling monarch of Region Two.”

All fell silent.

Finally, Truman shattered the silence, “No shit?”

Scott kicked his chin up. “Obviously, wolf... I can't help who I'm related too. She tried to kill Julia through poison...”

“Caldwell?” Truman asked, stunned.

He nodded. “Has anyone told him what's going on?”

Adi raised her hand and Slash, who had remained silent all this time said, “Stories can be told later. Because,” he paused, the brutal mark of his face rippling with his expressions, “Tony and Jacqueline have found each other. And they will be looking to seek vengeance... gain power and control.”

The usual reasons people are rotten. “Spoken like a soldier,” Cynthia commented thoughtfully.

Alan looked at his packmate. “That is all that Slash is.”

Adi looked at Slash, who she'd always thought was a hottie male and didn't agree; he was more than just a soldier. Her brown eyes met his from the space that was so near but yet so far and she sighed. The simple truth was he was a good man. A good Were. Built like the rest of the Were, six and a half feet plus, with chestnut hair in the right light and pure black in the darkness. It begged to be swept off his brow that held eyes that were a slate blue, deepening to gray when he was angry, Adi knew. Her gaze shifted to the scar that bisected his face and Adi remembered when she'd asked him if she could touch it when she was a whelp and now she was sorry for that because he was self-conscious of it. She could close her eyes and remember the flat, smooth texture as it carved its way across his face. She'd been just old enough not to ask how it happened. If only he knew Adi never saw it; it was a part of who he was, it was just Slash. Sometimes Adi would fantasize that she could be with a warrior like him. But because of what had happened between Lacey and Tony, cross-den mating was forbidden.

Adi had never known the reason but now that she did, her hatred for Tony burned more brightly than before.

*

Slash

Slash drew upon his inner strength, curtailing his relief in finding Adrianna unharmed. He wasn't going to let his emotional bullshit leak all over the top of her. He noticed her studying him and when he felt the intensity of her gaze on his scar, he turned away from that burning stare. He'd felt the heat to his marrow and gave himself a mental shake. He knew what his face looked like. “Let us return to the compound. I thought it would be a rescue mission but now that Cynthia and Adrianna are out of harm's way, we should move to a more secure location.”

Lawrence lifted a palm in pause. “We are not a number that can defend if Region One doesn't receive us with open arms.”

The group became quiet and Scott stepped forward. “I can vouch for Manny and Slash.” He jerked a thumb at Truman and Lawrence. “I don't know the red and Lawrence's den has never been on friendly terms with Region One until most recently.”

Lawrence bowed his head. Finally he lifted it, locking gazes with Scott. “I think the time has come for us to suspend our rancor and engage in a treaty. There is now hope that our three species may coexist.”

Scott raised a brow.

“Word has made way that there needs to be one male of each to offer true unity and immortality to your Rare One through a true binding.” His hands came together at the center of his body, lacing tightly. The symbolism wasn't lost on Scott nor was the fact that
damn
, gossip traveled fast. Lawrence's words had been mild, but what he said made Scott want to tear off his head and shit down his throat. The burn was:
Lawrence was right
. Julia would spend the rest of her life, however long that may be, under threat of insurgence. But, if she could just align with fang, claw and whatever other supe, she would have everything. He didn't like the method but the result made his Combatant's heart beat solidly and without fear. The meld was another story. The proposal of the three husbands went against the very fiber of their meld.

Adi spoke before Scott could respond and maybe... that was a good thing.
In fact
, he thought,
it was.
“What about that dick hole, Tony?”

Slash grinned, he couldn't help himself, she was persistent as hell. It's what was so intriguing about an alpha female. Feminine packaging encased a core of steel. At least, that's what he thought she was made of: silk covered steel. His eyes moved over her in a visual caress then slid away before she was aware.

“Yes... what about him.” Cyn turned to Adi. “Of course, you're assuming he has one?”

Adi laughed. “Yeah, ya got me there.”

“Girls,” Truman said. They both turned to him. “Let's get back as...” He looked at Slash. “...the enforcer suggests and we'll think of a way to dominate his ass.”

Adi's fist rose in the air. “And that bitch he's with.”

Scott said nothing because there was nothing to add. His bio-Mom
was
a bitch. A conniving, murderous, greedy soul who would be better off dead.

Scott didn't know why it hurt to feel that way. It did. Even with her attempt on Julia's life, Jacqueline was technically his mother.

It sucked gorilla balls.

*

Jacqueline

“This is fucking idiotic,” Tony said.

Jacqueline gave him a condescending look and murmured. “If you have not ascertained my need for self-preservation at this point, you're even more intellectually impaired than I imagined.”

“Listen bitch...” Tony began and became short of breath. His wide eyes rolled to hers.

“You are a slow learner, Were.”

Jacqueline had him by the short hairs and she knew it.

“Sorry,” he squeaked out.
Goddamn...
how he wanted her... his mouth salivated with it, though he suspected she wouldn't like what he'd do.

Jacqueline released him and he took a great whooping inhale, starving for it.

Jacqueline's beautiful dark eyes focused in on the edges that she could see of Region One, ignoring him. “They already know I am here. The Combatant will detain me on sight.”

“How do they know?” Tony asked, rubbing his tortured throat. “Tracker?” His brows popped.