Divided Loyalties-epub (15 page)

Hayden’s lips twitched, and she swore she saw a flicker of change in his eyes. “Exactly. But we go in groups of two.” He cupped the back of her head, pulled her to him, and kissed her hard and quick. “You’re with me.”

He’d get no argument from her. She didn’t know the others well enough. They didn’t know her or her ability to fight, and they didn’t know they could trust her. She knew it, felt it in the way they looked at her and approached her. There was a hesitation in every word and movement.

So, no, the enforcers and soldiers wouldn’t be comfortable fighting beside her.

Cameron cleared her throat. “Keegan, Blaine, Tanner, and Alec had already gone through the tunnel back to the den. They’re waiting on you guys before going topside.”

Hayden nodded as his mother, Dane, and Torin moved to the door they’d take to meet up with the others. “Keep the Pack calm and safe, Cam.”

She rolled her eyes and turned her back on him to help Sasha with Kyle. Hayden glanced at Christa, then motioned to the door.

The stepped out into the tunnel and saw Alec walking toward them.

Alec stepped around Hayden to stand by the door they’d taken. “Blaine and Luna paired up and are heading up to the west side now.” He held up a hand. “Before you say it, I told them the same thing. I don’t like for them to be paired together either, too risky. Blaine just plain refused to listen to his Marshal, and Luna growled at me. I’m not arguing with mama wolf.”

Hayden shook his head. “Who else has gone up?”

“Ana and Kieran took door number three to the south end.”

Hayden rolled his eyes as they continued down the tunnel a few more feet. “Torin, you, Keegan, and Alec take the north-west end of the den. Tanner, go to the Alphas. Christa and I are going to Ana and Kieran.”

Alec nodded just as another explosion sounded from topside. Pieces of rock and dust fell from the ceilings as the ground beneath Christa’s feet shook. She reached out and gripped Hayden arm out of reflex.

Torin let out a soft growl. “Let’s getting moving people.”

Christa agreed and started moving as Hayden did. They cut off to the right and moved down the tunnel a few yards until they came to a dead end. In front of them was a large slab on the ground. Hayden bent and pushed it to the side, revealing a storage compartment loaded with weapons.

“This is handy.”

He peered up at her, one slid of his mouth lifting. “We got taken by surprise once. It’s not happening again.”

A few moments later, they exited the tunnel into the forest just outside the main entrance of the den. Fury burned through Christa as she took in her surroundings. Rogues and mutants were setting fire to buildings as they passed them. A few were breaking windows and smashing headlights on cars.

He gut churned when she spotted a few Shield members helping out in the destruction.

She caught a flash out of the corner of her eye and allowed her instincts, along with years of training, to take over. Spinning around, she kicked her leg out and caught a shifter in the chest with her booted foot. Surprise lit his inhuman eyes, and he stumbled back a few steps.

Then, almost out of nowhere, humans and more shifters that Christa believed were rogues surrounded them. Her assumptions were confirmed when Hayden gritted out, “Fucking rogues. The humans are infected, yet they haven’t changed.”

Yeah, she noticed something wasn’t right with them. Just like her soldiers from Shield. She hadn’t seen it at the time, but now she noticed the dark hunger in their eyes, the zombie-like stares.

Christa didn’t hesitate, her focus sharp and directed at the monsters that had full-out attacked the innocents of the den. It pissed her off they’d come in and destroyed their lives, again. Raising her gun, she fired several rounds, taking out three infected humans. They fell to the ground.

Rogues rushed them then, and Christa was ready.

“Aim for the head,” Hayden shouted from somewhere behind her.

No problem.

She fired again, but the fucker moved too fast. He charged her, and she darted to the left as she released the empty clip and pulled out another from her pocket. Just as she clicked it into place, the rogue barreled into her back, sending them crashing to the ground.

Her shoulder hit the cobblestone street. Pain exploded through her shoulder and arm. Taking deep breaths, she pushed the pain away and rolled away from the rogue so she faced him. She gripped the gun tighter, aimed, and fired, hitting the male between the eyes.

Christa pushed herself to a stand and tried to move her shoulder. Sharp, burning pain made her cry out.

Fuck.

Hayden was there in a flash. He gripped her bicep, intensifying the pain.

“You are so not helping,” she ground out. Her chest rose and fell as she tried to breathe through the pain, meeting his green graze. There was no emotion on his face, but his eyes held a tender concern that made her chest tighten.

“It’s dislocated.”

She rolled her eyes. She knew that.

Scanning the area, she saw bodies on the ground but not a rogue in sight. “Where did they go?” He couldn’t have killed them all.

“The rogues ran deeper into the den.”

She met his gaze again. “Pop my shoulder back in place. I want every last one of them dead.”

His lips lifted in a wicked, yet approving, smile. “Brace yourself.”

She did, but nothing could prepare her for the sharp snap of her shoulder being jerked back to where it belonged. She screamed and gripped Hayden’s forearm so tight her nails dug into his skin.

With a finger under her chin, he lifted her head so she stared into his green depths. His expression held concern and hurt. She cupped his cheek and stood on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips. “I’m good.”

After a brief pause, as if he didn’t believe her, then he jerked his head toward the road. “Let’s go kill some rogues.”

She was on board with that. Yes, her shoulder was on fire, but she could fight.

They took off down the cobblestones into the heart of the den. They found Ana engaged in hand-to-hand with a large-ass mutant. She moved with the grace of her leopard. She ducked when the creature swung an arm rounder than her head while, at the same time, she kicked out and swiped his feet from under him. The mutant dropped to the ground with a loud
thud
.

Ana placed a foot on the beast’s chest, drew her gun from her thigh holster, pointed it at his head, and fired. She turned then, narrowed her eyes at Hayden, and then raised her gun.

Christa’s heart dropped. “No!”

She ran to Ana, but she fired before Christa could get to her. Still Christa charged the female, tackling her to the ground.

Ana cursed as they hit the ground and flipped them over to pin Christa to the ground. “Stop, human. Look at your mate.”

Heart pounding and tears blurring her vision, Christa looked over at Hayden. He stood unharmed. About a foot behind him lay a mutant. She peered back up at Ana and frowned. “I thought…”

Ana rolled her eyes, stood, and offered her a hand. “I know. I’d kill anyone who threatened my mate. So, yeah, I get it.”

Christa glanced at Hayden, who was stalking toward her. For the first time she realized just how much she wanted to be a part of his life.

But now wasn’t the time to have that conversation. They had to secure the den and control the fires from the explosions.

Hayden stopped next her, so close his hand brushed hers, and spoke to Ana. “Thanks. What’s the status?”

Ana holstered her gun. “There wasn’t a large wave. The explosives did more damage. This area is secure now. That fucker,” she nodded to the dead mutant behind him, “was the last one.”

Hayden nodded. “Where is Kieran?”

“He chased a few rogues into the woods. They aren’t so big and bad when their pets are dead.”

Hayden grunted, linked his fingers with Christa, and started walking farther into the den. By the time they got to the center, Luna, Blaine, and the others were there. Blaine looked beyond pissed, and Luna appeared as though she wanted to tear something apart.

Blaine greeted them with a nod before saying, “Bastards hauled ass after seeing the den had been evacuated.”

Christa clenched her jaw. “They most likely had orders to kill the innocents, and when they found none, they retreated.”

Luna nodded. “I agree. Either way, we got the message. It’s time to deliver ours.”

Christa couldn’t have agreed more with the Alpha. She scanned the area around her, and her heart broke. About sixty percent of the homes and buildings around them were burning, and another ten percent were nothing but piles of stone and wood. It was going to take months to repair the damage.

Blaine let out a low growl, drawing Christa’s attention back to the group. “Ana, can you do something with the fire?”

Ana peered around and gave a short nod before raising her arms. She speared them wide then brought them together slowly until her palms pressed together. The flames seemed to react to her motion and extinguished when her palms met.

“Nice,” Christa said.

Ana shrugged. “I’m an elemental. I can control the major four elements.”

“Ana wasn’t allowed to use her gifts when she lived in the Onyx Pack. Rather, she didn’t want Felix to know about her gifts,” Blaine growled out.

Luna started walking toward the Medical Center. “Let’s see how much damage there is to our communications system and call a meeting. I’m sick of sitting by because of old laws that need to be updated. I’m going to motion to search for and capture anyone involved in rogue activity.”

Hayden followed his mother into the Medical Center with Blaine, Keegan, Kieran, and Alec following behind. Ana, Christa, and Dane went to assess the damage to the den since Ana and Christa weren’t a part of the Pack hierarchy. Dane just opted to sit out.

It was no surprise to Hayden that Dane didn’t want to sit in on the meeting. As the Beta wolf, he had every right to offer his opinion and listen in. However, Dane didn’t like tight places or being around too many people at once. He managed within the Pack on a daily basis, but he took every opportunity to sneak off to be alone.

If Dane had been an alpha male, Hayden would be concerned that his brother would leave the Pack to be a lone wolf. But Dane was a beta, both in his birthright and his nature.

When they entered the office Dani and Sasha shared, Alec moved to the computer and the comm. After a few moments, he had the computer screen on and a message sent to the Elders to join an emergency meeting.

Micaela Callahan from the Evers Creek Pride in the mountains of Virginia was the first to dial in. Her straight black hair was down, cascading over her shoulders. She didn’t appear happy to be called into the meeting. Her dark brown eyes stared at them through the monitor, her lips pursed into a thin line.

“Blaine, Luna,” Micaela said with no emotion.

Luna didn’t bother with a formal greeting. “We’ll give the others another five minutes before we explain.”

Micaela lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Very well.”

A moment later, Ryker Stone from the puma Pride, Crimson Stone, and Donovan Parker from the bear den, Blackrock, joined the video conference. Both the puma and the bear looked puzzled, but not as annoyed as the tiger.

Hayden didn’t know Micaela well, but figured the scowl was a personality trait.

Luna tapped her fingernails on the table to get everyone’s attention before she spoke. “About an hour ago, we had to evacuate Ashwood Falls. Just as we were getting the last of the Pack through the tunnels, we were attacked.”

The three Elders on the screen burst out in curses and started talking at once. Blaine placed his forefinger and thumb in his mouth and blew out a whistle. Everyone instantly quieted. “We need to amend some laws and put into place some kind of police force to hunt down the rogues and end them. I’m tired of sitting here and waiting for the next attack. We need to take action.”

Micaela was the first to speak up. “I agree. Felix has to be stopped, along with his followers. It needs to be done soon before copycats start popping up.”

Ryker spoke next. “I motion for an enforcement agency, but who will head it up?”

Kieran put his bid in. “I can. Ashwood Falls has a damn good tracker that could be my first.”

Donavon made a noise deep in his throat. “I can ask for a volunteer or two. Our Alpha will not make them do it.”

Keegan growled. “Neither will we, but I’m sure our enforcers will fight for the chance to legally hunt them down with a kill order.”

“As will the Pride,” Micaela agreed. “We have a couple of Trackers who would love to sink their fangs into the rogue scum.”

Hayden held in his amusement at the tigress’s statement. That was one female who held a grudge against Felix and the rogues.

Luna sat back in her chair with a satisfied smirk on her face. “Hayden, you and Alec get with Travis and form a team. I think it’s best that each Pack, Pride, and Den have their own small team that can cover their territories and surrounding areas. However, all the teams must be able to work together without question and at a moment’s notice.”

Blaine finished a text and laid his cell on the table. “Jared’s going to draw up a treaty and work with each of the Alphas to allow the teams entry into their territories.”

They all gave a short nod. Hayden took the brief silence to speak about the issue at hand. “I have someone who might know where Vance is hiding, or at least can find out.”

Luna turned her gaze to him. “Your mate is human.”

“My mate will know how to get in touch with him, make the phone call, and will stay safe with the Pack,” Hayden growled out.

Luna laughed. “My dear son. Christa will not stay with the Pack and hide. I saw her fighting out there. She was born to hunt rogues, and you can’t stop her.”

Hayden ground his molars to keep from arguing with his mother in front of the Council of Elders. Christa would help, he had no doubt about that, but he would not allow her to risk her life by following a kill order.