From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (35 page)

With a sigh, we began the short trek up the driveway, and when we were near to the end I paused, somewhat stunned to see not only my mother’s car, but Tom’s as well.

“What is it?” Race asked.

“My mother’s here…and so is our
Packmaster,” I replied, swallowing my nerves and moving forward again.

Race and I walked to the back door of the house, and though I knew there was no reason for my sudden trepidation, I was nevertheless nervous as we entered and made our way through the kitchen. We’d not made it past the dining table when my mother nearly bowled me over, wrapping her arms around me in a tight embrace.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re safe,” she said as she stood back. “Why didn’t you call me?”

As I glanced at Race I felt a blush light up my cheeks.
He smiled back and gave my hand a light squeeze as I replied, “We were, um, busy. And then we had to stop by the bank.”

“I heard you were there—your father actually did call
, seeing as he had to handle the transaction himself,” Mom said in a mildly admonishing tone. “That’s quite a sum of money you deposited, Race.”

I glanced at Race again. I’d actually been rather surprised when after our second session of limo sex he mentioned that he still needed to deposit Vienna’s check. I had asked him if he even still had it, fearing that perhaps at some point during his two transformations he had somehow lost it; Kevin Tracey would certainly have taken
advantage of the loss. Race had assured me that whatever magic that made him what he was—that enabled him to keep his clothing intact when he changed forms—also allowed him to retain whatever was in his pockets at the time. He had proved it by pulling the envelope from one of those pockets and showing me the check within.

“It’s compensation for lost property as well as severance pay, Mrs. Singleton,” he told my mother. “And probably far less than what I deserve.”

Mom sighed and then looked between us. “I’m sure you’ve realized Tom is here, as is Martha. They want to talk to the two of you,” she said, turning around and leading the way into the living room, where my pack’s brother-sister Alpha pair waited along with Mark and Saphrona. My brother, naturally, wore an expression that clearly told me he was pissed we hadn’t called him for help. Saphrona merely looked relieved to see us. Tom and Martha both wore looks of appraisal.

Tom stood as we stepped into the living room. “I hear there was…an incident, m
y L—Race. Juliette. Would you please explain it?”

I felt Race becoming annoye
d, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze to remind him that Tom was on our side. He was also still my Packmaster, and he would be until such time as Race and I were formally recognized as the Dayton wolf pack’s Alpha pair. In short sentences and a clipped tone, Race described our day up until we’d talked into the house just now (minus the intimate details), beginning with Diarmid Mackenna’s phone call and ending with the fight between himself and Kevin Tracey. I filled in the gaps with my own recollection and observations, including my own tussle with the werewolf.

“Whoa, wait a minute,” Mark interjected. “Let me see if I’ve got this shit straight—that
fucktard that crashed our party yesterday tried to get one of his bozos to kidnap my sister, so you challenged him in defense of her and the bond you share…and now you’re the leader of the guy’s pack?”

Race looked over, and despite all the tension of the day, he smiled at Mark’s tone of incredulity. “It would seem so.”

Tom and Martha exchanged a glance. The former of the two sighed as the latter said, “Well, that certainly explains why Kevin Tracey’s filed a formal protest with the Council of Families.”

My mate scowled. “He’s done
what
?”

“Basically he has challenged the outcome of your challenge,” Martha explained.
“Kevin doesn’t want to lose command of his pack—being a Packmaster is a position of honor and prestige in our community. He stands to lose every ounce of power and authority he’s built for himself over the last fifteen years.”

“Well too
fuckin’ bad for him,” Race retorted. “He doesn’t deserve it. He threatened Juliette’s safety and actually thought that her disappearing would entice me to mate with his daughter, when clearly neither of us wants anything to do with the other in that way. Kevin Tracey is an idiot and doesn’t deserve to be in charge of a fucking Little League team.”

“He can’t possibly think the wolves will still respect him after what he’s done,” I added. “Not only for what he tried to do to me and Race and Anna, but for the simple fact that he fired the entire repair shop staff because they accepted Race’s claim to the
leadership. Tyler Givens even told him to his face that he wasn’t worthy to be their Alpha when he attacked me.”

“My Lord, I must ask you,” Tom began, regarding Race intently. “Do you truly desire the leadership of the Dayton wolves?”

Race turned to him, saying, “To be honest, I didn’t at first. I just wanted that moron to pay for putting Juliette in danger. Now I want more than that. I want to put that controlling SOB in his place, to prove to him that he can’t treat people like shit and get away with it. Not anymore. Given my past, even I wouldn’t consider me leadership material. Was a time I could barely be responsible for myself, and now I’m not just responsible for me but Juliette too, and now also forty-nine other people I never would have
had
to take responsibility for were it not for Kevin Tracey’s fuckin’ stupidity.

“But those people deserve a better leader than
Kevin’s been to them, and at least if I fuck something up I’ll be doing it honestly.”

The canine Alpha pair studied Race for a long moment,
then looked at one another. They seemed to communicate a great deal in those moments of silence, and then Tom looked back at Race, saying, “You have our full support.”

“You need to contact the wolves who witnessed the challenge,” Martha added. “Reiterate the necessity of being honest about what they heard and what they saw. It’ll be in their best interests to tell the truth, as usually the Council has ways of ferreting it out when a shifter lies.”

“Why would the wolves even want to go back to this Tracey guy?” Mark wondered. “If he was pissed enough at being beaten to fire every one of them that worked for him, then who knows what he’d do to them as punishment if the challenge happened to be overturned?”

“Alex told us in the alley in Columbus that Kevin would kill him if he didn’t come back with me,” I said then. “I thought he was just being melodramatic, but now I think maybe he wasn’t. Thinking about it now, I believe he was genuinely afraid.”

“Saphrona, call your dad—he should still have the kid under lock and key somewhere since we haven’t yet called to tell him he can release him,” Race said. “We’ve got Tyler’s number, so I’ll get the ball rolling on that end. Looks like I might have to hold my first pack meeting ahead of schedule.”

Saphrona already had her cell phone in
hand, her thumb paused over the keypad as she looked at him to ask, “What should I say to Diarmid when he asks what he’s to do with the boy?”

Race looked at me.
What do I do?
he asked silently.

It pleased me that he was asking for my opinion instead of simply making the deci
sion on his own, which was a power granted his new position he could certainly exercise if he wished. I repeated the words I had said to him earlier that afternoon:
What kind of Alpha do you want to be?

Race nodded mutely
after a moment and looked at Saphrona. “Tell Diarmid to bring my wolf to me.”

***

Contrary to what I had first believed, we didn’t have to wait very long. I’d thought Diarmid and his goons had kept Alex locked up at the Mackenna building, but it appeared I was wrong given that Lochlan’s Escalade came roaring up the driveway about 20 minutes after Saphrona’s hurried phone call. It stopped and the engine shut off as Race led the way out the back door, but only one door opened and shut on the vehicle. When I came down the back stoop and looked over, I noticed an edgy-looking Alex sitting in the passenger seat biting his nails. His injuries seemed to have healed, for which I was thankful, so I remained silent as my brother, Saphrona, Mom, Tom, and Martha all joined us.

The appearance of so many seemed to agitate the boy further as Lochlan turned upon stepping to his sister’s side. Race drew in and released a breath, then said, “Come on out, Alex, no one is going to hurt you.”

The timbre of his voice caused the boy’s eyes to widen. He stared openly for another long minute, then slowly pushed the door open.

Why is he staring at me like that—like he can’t believe…whatever he can’t believe?
Race asked me silently.

It’s your voice
, I replied.
When a shifter becomes an Alpha, the magic changes something about their voice that enables them to give orders that must be obeyed. Alex knows by instinct that you’re his Packmaster now
.

Race nodded mutely as Alex stopped about five feet in front of him. “Sir,” he said with a stiff nod, his eyes suddenly cast downward.

“Look at me, Alex,” Race said. Alex looked up, his eyes still slightly wide, blinking under the scrutiny.

“I understand that you were acting under orders from your Alpha,” my mate began, “but Kevin Tracey isn’t your leader anymore. I am. He’s pretty pissed about that, by the way, which means he could take not only your failure but his own out on others—including you. So you’ve got three choices, kid: Remain loyal to a man you claim will want to kill you the moment he sees you, take your chances with me, or attempt to join another pack.”

Alex swallowed. “Are you going to kill me?”

I noted that a muscle twitched in Race’s jaw, but his voice, though tight, was calm as he replied, “This morning I
wanted to. Now… now I just want to put what happened behind me. I reacted in a blind rage, but no matter how justified I may have been, I know I’ve got to be a better person than that if I’m going to be a better leader than Kevin Tracey. So you get a pass this time.”

The young man in front of us visibly relaxed.
“I thought Doc Bloodsucker here fixed me up just so you could kill me there for a second,” he told us. “I…I really didn’t want to do it, you know. I knew it was wrong.”

“Well then, sleep easier knowing this, kid: I’m going to make it a standing order that if I ever tell any of you to do something that goes against what you believe in—if you think I’m giving an order that’s plain fucking nuts—you don’t have to do it,” Race returned. “I’ve been thr
ough enough of that shit myself—doing something I didn’t want to because someone ordered me to do it. I’m not going to do that to anyone else.”

Alex blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “So what’s this mean now?
For the pack and all?”

“What it means is the pack has the same options as you: stick with Kevin, take a chance on me, or try another pack
,” Race replied. “I know that some of them—the witnesses to my challenge—have acknowledged my claim, but they’re still free to change their minds. I’m not holding them to anything at this point.”

“Is there going to be a pack meeting soon? That might be the best way to get your message across, getting everyone together and telling them about what’s happened.
Even…even what I did.”

Race sighed and took a step forward. Alex tensed as if he expected to be struck but he didn’t step back. Putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, my mate said to him, “
I may just have to tell everyone, but if only, as you so aptly put it, to get my point across. And since you mentioned a pack meeting, I’ve already put that in motion. Tyler and some others who were at the gym when this all went down, they’re spreading the word even now.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Tyler might be a bit of a meathead sometimes, but he’s a good guy. And he’s one of Kevin’s lieutenants…or he was. If he’s accepted your claim, you’ve already got a pretty good
following. People listen to him, and if he says they should follow you, they will.”

Patting Alex’s shoulder Race removed his hand and stepped back. He glanced at Tom and Martha, who regarded him with what I knew to be pride,
then he glanced at me before turning his gaze back to Alex.

“If he’s that charismatic, then that is definitely a point in my favor. But like I said, I’m initially going to leave the choice up to each individual. If they choose to pledge their loyalty to me, then… Well, let’s just say we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, eh?” Race said.

“Well, I know one thing,” Alex said, then dropped suddenly to one knee and bowed his head. “You had every right to take my life for what I did today, but you did not. For that I am ever in your debt. And because you showed mercy, you have my loyalty.”

A split second before we all heard his laughter, I felt Race’s amusement, though even connected to him as I was,
I could not fathom what he found so funny. Alex was frowning even as Race was helping him to his feet.

“Not sure what I said was funny,” he said with a frown.

Race shook his head. “I’m not mocking you, Alex. It’s just that before today, I would have called myself any number of things. ‘Merciful’ is not one of them.”