Electric Storm (13 page)

Her knee-jerk response drew him up short. “You need to relax. I’ll fix some tea.”

She swallowed down a wild laugh. As if tea would fix everything. When she would’ve protested and escaped like a coward, Dominic narrowed his eyes. “And while you compose yourself, we’ll explain a few things about pack.”

The muscles of Jackson’s back tensed, and he purposely kept his face averted so she couldn’t read him. She hesitated, desperate to know at least some of their secrets when so many of hers lay exposed.

No one moved until she gave a hesitant nod. She suspected her agreement was only a formality. Once in the kitchen, Taggert seated her and went about preparing her a cup of tea. She watched his hands, unable to face him after what happened.

“Don’t worry about me.” Raven waved him off, hating to be waited on by anyone.

He didn’t bother to turn around. “The tea will help calm you.”

A nervous laugh bubbled up from her chest. “What you have to tell me can’t be worse than what you’ve just seen me do.” The slight hitch in his smooth movements made her swallow hard.

She ignored Jackson as he sulked across from her and stared at Dominic, seated to her left at the head of the table. He gazed at his hands, so silent, as if dredging up the past was a physical ache.

“I was part of a pack for a few months before the labs. From what I remember, there are two ways to induct members into a pack. The most common is by gaining council approval. Though hardly used anymore, the other is by mating. Mating or breeding had always been survival of the fittest until the last hundred years. Things grew lax. Technology, the fear of human discovery, and the Paranormal conflict ten years ago–”

Jackson snorted. “You mean the slaughter.”

Dominic continued as if not interrupted, his intense gaze fastened on her. “–the population of the paranormal community began to suffer. Low birth rates. Hard pregnancies. Infertility. Pack members unable to shift. So the council took over. Mating became political for some and survival for others.

“Shifters now must have approval from their alpha to breed. Alphas are the exception, required to mate with as many as they choose in the hopes of producing the best and strongest shifters.”

Some of the information wasn’t anything new. “I’ve read about the decline, but hadn’t realized the extent.”

“Try living it every damn day, watching your pack crumble as fewer offspring are born each year.”

A knot of anxiety formed in her chest. She flicked a glance at Jackson’s stern face, not liking where this was going.

“What have you read?”

She blinked, caught off guard at Dominic’s simple question. “Just what you said. The males in the community are having trouble finding a mate. It’s worse for some breeds. They’re dying out because they can’t find compatible females that can carry to term.”

Dominic cleared his throat. “That’s not exactly true.”

Her brows wrinkled in confusion. “Which part?”

“Leave it alone.” Jackson’s heated words took her aback. You’d think she’d be used to his rudeness by now.

“She needs to know.” The snap in Dominic’s voice sent a tremor through her gut. “Breeding between other races isn’t a sure thing. If carried to term, the newborn isn’t guaranteed to have the gifts of their shifter parent. Jackson reacted to you and Taggert because you awakened his wolf.”

“Beg pardon?” Raven blinked, completely baffled.

“Jackson’s wolf wants you.”

She looked at Jackson, his animosity vibrating around him, and laughed. “How can you be serious? He wants nothing to do with me.”

A growl rumbled out of him, and her amusement died quickly. Those eyes darkened, splinters of yellow interrupting the brown. The stare dried the spit from her mouth. Power boiled out of him, cresting over her. It was rough, untamed and delicious to touch.

He broke the stare first, dropping her back into the conversation with a rude plop. She was missing something important. “Okay, what does that mean exactly?”

“Females choose their mates. The more alpha the female, the more males she attracts.” Dominic fell silent, staring at her.

“So?”

Taggert set the mug in front of her. She took a sip when Dominic spoke again. “His wolf is jealous.”

The liquid sprayed the table. “What?” She glared at him for his cruelty and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You must be mistaken. I’m not a wolf. I don’t count.”

“Sometimes men must find other avenues.”

Raven felt her eyes widen to saucers. She looked between Taggert and Jackson and blinked once in understanding. So it wasn’t her that set Jackson off. It also explained why he was so protective of the boy. “You mean they–”

“Oh, hell no.” Jackson snorted. “He meant humans.”

“Okay. So your wolf chose a human.” That was a little better, wasn’t it?

Dominic shook his head, his green eyes dark. “Wolves never awaken to anyone but potential mates. One of their own kind. Once awakened, they don’t care about anyone else. Men can select a human if they don’t believe they’ll ever find a mate or if they’re too weak no wolf would take them. No great loss. With the shortage of female shifters, most wolves never awaken.”

There was an awkward pause when Dominic spoke again. “His wolf is jealous you chose Taggert as mate material and not him.”

“But I’m not a shifter. I was born with no animal connections at all.” Raven chose her words carefully. “And from my reading, it’s the female that locks the match into place. There’s some sort of blood ritual.” Her brows wrinkled as she fought to pull the facts from her memories. She fiddled with the cup as all eyes focused on her.

Dominic took a deep breath, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes and down his face. “Mating is a duty, not a human partnership, not dating. They’re looking for the best genetic materials to produce cubs.

“For the men, they’ll parade and show off their skills and wait for the female to indicate interest, but it’s up to the breeding woman to initiate contact. An alpha female will choose the best and the strongest. Everyone else is expected to make do.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Only an alpha female or committed, pre-approved couples mate by taking blood. Once the connection is in place, the enzymes in the blood ensure the male will only want her.”

“And if they exchange blood?” Tension spiked in the room at her innocent question.

“No.”

There was a slight waver in his voice that caught her attention. “No?”

A gusty sigh escaped. “There’s a romantic fairytale whispered amongst kids about Consorts. It’s rare, a privilege granted to alphas and only if the council approves the union. Not only does it take two alphas out of the gene pool, it would bring about alliances between the packs involved.”

“And if two shifters fall in love?”

“They’d be fine as long as they don’t breed. A death sentence can be enforced if they breed without approval. The cubs could be inducted in the pack or labeled rogue and kicked out.”

“What happens to the Consort’s previous mates at this bond?” Dominic’s eyes hardened, and any resemblance to her friend was replaced with the uncompromising leader. Her heart hiccupped in her chest.

“It depends on the strength of the alpha. Prior bonds should break at the exchange of blood. The fully bonded alpha male usually kills any who show signs of too much possessiveness. The rest will be ordered to breed again or, more often than not, the men become the female’s protective guard. True Consort bonds cannot be broken once formed.” He blew out a breath, avoiding her gaze.

Dominic wasn’t finished. An awful feeling that he saved the worst for last crept over her. Nerves jangled to life, and she settled herself firmly back in her chair, bracing herself. “Just spit it out.”

“I’ve read the reports of what they did to you in the program. They injected you with a number of different shifters’ DNA. I’m guessing you have enough wolf to bring it out in them. Your innate gift boosts the impact.” He paused meaningfully. “That’s why shifters and vampires are so drawn to you.”

“That’s not possible.” The chair screeched across the floor when Jackson stood. Betrayal lined his face when he gazed at her. “A person can’t survive an infection with multiple shifters. Not only does it take a major blood transfusion to infect a person, most don’t survive one animal much less multiple.”

A buzz filled her ears, her lips felt numb when she replied. “I didn’t survive.”

 
Chapter Ten

P
ounding on the front door interrupted the taboo discussion in the kitchen. Raven bolted from the room, eager to escape Jackson and the bomb she’d just dropped.

“What the hell does she mean?” Jackson’s words were drowned out when something heavy smashed against the threshold. The reinforced wood shook but held under the strain, and Raven rushed toward it like a lifeline.

“Raven, wait.” Dominic’s footsteps thundered after her. The closer she drew to the entrance, the greater a sense of urgency swamped her. The only thing that mattered was opening the door. She disengaged the bolts and threw the door wide.

In poured Jeffrey Durant with a bundle of muddy rags in his arms. His clothes were soaked, his wild hair plastered to his head. Mud splattered the hard granite lines of his face. His normal green eyes were molten gold in his agitation. Her heart thudded in her chest at finding a man like him in such disarray. When Raven tore his gaze away from him, she glimpsed pale flesh peeking out from the burden he carried.

“I need your help.”

The roughness of his voice scraped against her soul, his anguish a living thing.

“This way.” She didn’t hesitate, ushering him into the study and pointing to the chaise in the corner. Something about his desolateness made her unable to turn him away. His pallor concerned her, and she searched him for injury, seeing nothing under the coat of mud. “What happened?”

“Rumor says you’re the one to go to if you want the impossible done. She won’t wake up.” With infinite care, he set the bundle he cradled on the couch.

His voice was so baffled and lost, her breath caught. Focusing on the bundle, all she could tell was female. Young. Barely clinging to life. “I’ll need you to step back so I can examine her.” Wild, golden eyes met hers, so dangerous and threatening, but neither could hide the plea underneath.

If she took this final step, all her secrets would be exposed. She’d have nowhere else to hide. Some of her hesitation must’ve shown.

“Her name is Cassie, an orphan I’ve adopted into my pack. My cub.” He cradled the girl’s small hand in his, her nails torn and dirty. The chit had the courage to fight back. That small detail shredded Raven’s resolve to remain unaffected.

Raven edged closer, and he allowed her to draw back the rags. A frown pulled at her brows. “I don’t sense her animal. She’s not healing.”

“She’s pack by courtesy. Human. I’m teaching her to run errands and take care of the business portion of the club when I’m called away to deal with the non-human clientele.”

The girl couldn’t be more than twenty-five. Slight figure but not delicate. A cold sweat covered her form. Tattered clothing stuck to her body. Her heart beat erratically, her breathing shallow.

“I smell blood.” Peeling back Cassie’s sleeve, she saw congealed blood from a two-inch swath of missing skin at her wrists. Gorilla tape, not manacles like the other victims. Bruises dotted up her arm.

Dreading what she’d find, Raven twisted the girl’s arm up, startled at the searing heat. When the veins appeared clean, part of her anxiety eased. No IV or needle marks. Not the labs. Her mind began functioning again. “What happened?”

“I found her outside of town, thrown away at the side of the road like trash.” Rage coated every word, batting against her like a big cat’s paw, his control held by strings. “Someone called to say the club was in danger. They wanted a meeting. It was urgent. Since I wasn’t there, she went in my place.” Guilt thickened his voice.

“You suspect paranormals?”

“Yes.”

Working on instinct, Raven lifted the pant legs. Her ankles were treated the same, the left leg so battered it appeared blackened by infection. “The wounds have been allowed to fester.” The fever was worrisome, but Raven saw no other wounds, nothing that would prevent her from waking. Nothing that would kill her so slowly.