Deadly Pack (Deadly Trilogy Book 3) (17 page)

“Dom,” I called, and waved a hand for him to come over, when I spotted him in wolf form, running through a drill with Luken.  They both stopped at the sound of my voice, and Dominic glanced my way, just a quick turn of his head, before he deliberately turned his back to me, and squared off with Luken again.

I heard Jade stumble down the steps, following me.  I glanced over my shoulder as she did a little hop skip, catching her balance.  She shot me a flustered and slightly confused smile, and jogged to catch up.  “What’s up with him?” she asked warily, as she reached me.

I cut her a quick sideways look and grinned.  “He’s giving me the silent treatment, I think.  He’s not a fan of my plan.”  I was too wired to really care.  Completely wound up.  My entire body was buzzing with energy.  My hands, my legs, even the inside of my stomach felt like a live wire, sparking and tingling.

“I’m not entirely sure I like it either.”  She laughed.  It was just a little laugh and it sounded panicked.  “I’m also not even sure I know what it is anymore.”

I stayed silent, searching the clusters for Erika.  My head was just too full to try and get anything out.  Jade’s dad was a shifter.  A full-blown shifter.  That was big.  Huge.  And Erika’s plan, combined with mine … I had to tell her.  Had to talk to her.  I needed every little detail.

Jade waited for a moment and then she let out a long, dramatic sigh.  “You want me to talk to him?”

“Nope.  He’ll get over it.”  I continued scanning the yard, and finally spotted Erika tucked away under a tree.  “Come on, we need to chat with Erika.”  I reached out and took her hand, and together we skirted the yard.

When I’d first met Jeff I thought something was wrong with me.  I felt like I was losing my senses.  I’d been going crazy these last few weeks trying to figure why I couldn’t smell his animal.  Had he been taking some kind of drug that masked his scent?  Or was there some kind of herb he was using?  I knew it had to be something and I knew it wasn’t just me.  My pack didn’t smell the cougar in him either.  But the reason had been simple.  The reason was his species.

Jade didn’t get it.  I knew I probably should have taken the time to try and explain it to her better.  But really, I didn’t know much more than what I’d already said.  Shifters, real, full shifters, carried only the scent of the form they were in, while they were in it.  It had something to do with the multiple animal thing.  That’s what the shifter from my dad’s pack had told me when I was a kid, and even to him it had been a mystery of sorts.  He’d called it nature, but I remember telling him it was magic.

Damn, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put it together.  It was all there, staring me right in the face.  But in my defense, I hadn’t come across a full shifter since I was seven and that was a long time ago.

What Jeff had said about the wolf pack pushing them out of Dog Mountain could very well be true.  From what I’d been told about the Dog Mountain pack history, the cougars had been around tormenting them from before Jeff was even born.  And Richard had said the same thing before he died.  It would explain the bad blood between my pack and his.

I wondered if the cougars even knew what he was.  Shifters weren’t a common species to come across.  But as Jeff told Jade, times change so maybe they did know.  Maybe he’d promised them world domination or some crap like that, and with the rest of the stuff he’d spewed at Jade about uniting shifters, and being unstoppable, well, it kind of made sense that they did know.  So even though she told him to run, my gut was telling me he didn’t go far.

And that was exactly why Erika’s plan was brilliant.  With a few tweaks we could make it look like Jade had a change of heart after seeing her father.  She could deliver the females as a peace offering.  The first step in uniting our packs.  It was perfect.

But really, uniting shifters was a joke.  There was a reason why packs didn’t mix, especially wolves.  We were too damn territorial.  Another pack coming in, all it would lead to is one big pissing contest.  Sure, we could work together when necessary, but even then it wasn’t an entirely comfortable union and it typically ended as soon as the job was done.

The whole unstoppable thing was a joke, too.  What did he think?  We’d just come out in the open and take over the world?  Even if he managed to get enough shifters on board, humans would be an entirely different story.  Dog Mountain was unique.  They accepted us probably because we didn’t let our pack business spill too much into their day-to-day lives.  But humans as a whole, in big numbers, they’d panic.  And they had a whole lot of guns and testing facilities.  Shifters, Weres, we’d never stand a chance against human technology when that panic set in.

So what would that leave him?  Maybe he’d be able to rule the shifters.  Maybe a few were-packs would join in.  But in the end, he’d still be a nothing.  A blip on the map.

Erika was sitting, tucked under a tree watching Craig’s every movement as if it were the last time she’d ever see him and she was trying to commit it all to memory.  As we reached her, Jade squeezed my hand tightly.  I didn’t know if it was some kind of warning or her nerves, but I rubbed my thumb in small circles on her palm between our clasped hands, figuring it might soothe her either way, and said, “Hey, Erika.”

Erika startled and looked up at me with wide eyes.  “Oh, hey,” she said, and faked a smile as she glanced between Jade and me, before she let her gaze fall back to Craig.

I watched her faze us out, as if she’d already forgotten we were there, and I wondered if she knew how damaged she looked. 
Probably not
.  It was like her heart wasn’t just broken, but had been torn clean out and was lying at her feet.

Seeing her damage
d managed to tamp down my excitement, and made me feel like a piece of crap, because it was partly my fault that Craig wouldn’t speak to her.  I let go of Jade’s hand, crouched down beside her, and placed a hand on her bent knee.  “If you want to talk to him, I’ll pull him out of there.  Mark could take over.”

Erika considered it, and then shrugged.  “Nah, it’d just piss him off.”  She noticed Jade looking at my hand and quickly brushed it from her knee.  The fake smile made another appearance.  “Besides, it’s just hit 11:00.  Landon will be here any time now.  No point in Craig wasting his anger on me when he could use it fighting.”

I glanced up at Jade.  I was completely lost on what to do here.  I didn’t know if this was some secret girl code like the word
fine
which I knew from experience meant anything but
fine,
or if Erika was serious and she really didn’t want to talk to Craig.

Jade watched us for a long second, before she slowly bent down and took a seat beside Erika.  She kept her expression carefully still as Erika shimmied back from me.  She didn’t want to scare her, I realized.

When Erika stopped squirming, she said, “I told Aidan about your idea.”  Her tone was soothing, sweet even, and just as fake as Erika’s smile.  “He said he likes it.”

Erika glanced at me and hesitated.  “You like it?”  She blinked and smiled for real.  “Really?”

I grinned and the excitement started to bubble up again.  I was about to tell her and Jade the new plan that was forming in my mind when Craig, his voice growled, asked from behind me, “What’s going on here?”

Right,
I thought.  He was always watching her, too, even if she didn’t realize it.  My grin widened at the stunned look on Erika’s face as her eyes slid past me to look at him.

I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Grab Beck and Mark, and tell Dominic to get over his issues and get over here.  There’s been a change in plans.”

~ JADE ~

It was nearly 11:15 when Dominic finally shifted and joined us.  Fifteen long minutes and my heart was still beating wildly in my throat.  I wasn’t sure I liked hyper Aidan.  Actually, it was kind of unnerving.

Dominic paused at the edge of our little meeting, and when he noticed that Aidan hadn’t waited for him, I thought he looked disappointed for a quick second, but then his closed off mask fell back in place.

The pack had formed a semi-circle around Aidan, listening as he explained what we were going to do.  Heads nodded.  Grunted agreements sounded.  They liked it.  Really liked it.  And it made me feel sick with worried nerves.

I can do this,
I thought, swallowing hard.  It was a piece of cake and I wouldn’t be alone.  The pack would be close by.  The women would be with me. 
I can do this.

I was standing off to the side of the gathering with Marcy and Mom.  Marcy clung to my hand.  She was shaking, her hand trembling within mine.  “He’s kind of scary focused,” she said in a hushed whisper.

“I know,” I whispered back, because he was.  I thought it was more than just focused, though.  He commanded attention.  He was determined.  He was ready for war.  And his vibe summoned the same reaction from the pack.  Everyone seemed just as ramped up as he was.

“Jade,” Beck said, causing me to blink and look up.  He was giving me a look, as if he were expecting me to answer a question.

“Yes?”  I said, and I was sure my face was utterly blank.  I felt my heart flutter madly with panic that I’d missed something important.  “Sorry, what?”

He grinned that
you’re a pain in the ass
grin he had just for me.  “Are you good driving Jared’s old truck?”

The truck was a monster.  It was huge.  I hated riding in the passenger seat, and I really wasn’t looking forward to attempting to maneuver it down a narrow, hardly used, dirt road.  I swallowed.  “I think so.  But I want one of you guys with me so my driving it won’t be an issue.”

“I don’t know about that,” Mark said.  “I think it might look suspicious.”

I quickly shook my head.  “No, it wouldn’t.  I’m just there to deliver the goods.  And besides,” I shrugged, “I’m also the alpha female.  It would look suspicious if I went alone.  They’d expect me to bring someone, wouldn’t they?”

“His new idea is to send you.”  Dominic’s voice was deathly calm and his eyes sparked.  He tilted his head to look at me.  “You’ve only been a wolf for a couple weeks, Jade.  You can’t seriously be considering this.”

“I’m not going alone, Dom,” I said, and waved a hand toward Erika and her group.  “They’re all coming with me.  They’re the distraction you all need.  And I’m going to give them their dead and the two that are still alive.  It’ll keep them busy while you guys get those kids and if it doesn’t ...”

“Dammit, Aidan!” he shouted, cutting me off and turning his flaring eyes on my mate.  “This is crazy!”

“What am I supposed to do, Dom?” Aidan was shouting, too.  His hands curled into fists and his face flushed with color.  The muscles along his neck were straining against his skin.  His inner-wolf was coming out.  I could sense it in my bones, and I could smell it in the air.  It was like an electrical current, the power of his scent, the raw authority of his gaze, traveling through the space between him and Dominic.

Dominic threw his hands up in the air.  “You’re supposed to protect your mate!”

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Aidan said.  “You really think I want to send her in there?  Because I don’t.  I don’t want any of you to have to do this.  But the only other option I’m seeing is forcing you guys to move.  Except when I think of doing that, it makes me sick.  I can’t walk away knowing
the kind of hell this town would suffer through when we leave.”

Dominic growled and I felt a tremor of pure alpha-energy roll off of Aidan.  The pack was getting nervous, fidgeting and twitching.  His golden eyes sharpened their focus on Dominic and he took a step toward him.

“Aidan,” I said.  I dropped Marcy’s hand and walked the few steps to plant myself in front of him, trying to block Dominic from his view.  I placed my hand on the swell of his pec, putting pressure on it, to draw his attention to me.

“Jade.”  He was aggravated.  I could hear it in his voice and smell the heat of it in his scent.  He looked down at me and there was a warning in his gaze, a warning I knew well.

I chose to ignore it and I waggled a finger at him, grinning.  “Don’t even try that
I’m the boss
look with me.  It is so not going to work, buddy.  Not this time.”

Aidan let out a growl, low and frustrated, and his eyes flashed brighter.  I thought I was probably pushing it, but I couldn’t stop myself.  I dropped my hand from his chest, put it on my hip, and pursed my lips. “Did you really just growl at me in front of everyone?  Not cool, Aidan.”

“Jade.” It was Dominic this time, and although his voice was gentler than Aidan’s, it held the same aggravation in it.

I spun on him and glowered.  “Don’t you ‘Jade’ me.”  My whole body was shaking and I couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or if I was just plain angry.  “You’re being ridiculous.  I don’t need to be protected.  I think I’ve proven that to all of you a few times now.”

Someone chuckled, deep and scratchy, from behind me.  “I leave you guys alone for a few hours and you’ve already managed to piss her off.”

I turned on the voice, feeling something close to fury erupting in my belly.  “I’m not pissed off,” I growled.  My words were followed by a gasped in breath, as I focused on who the voice belonged to.  Tommy was back
, and with him, was Landon.