Haulcon's Revenge (9 page)

An unwise move.

Wisdom and patience were what he had plenty of, he’d learned well from his deceased Alpha.

When he did get to his people’s territory, Jacin would learn never to fuck with the decree of an Alpha.

~YH~

“
Here you go, Mr. Cook.” Adair entered the Editor-in-Chief of National Geo Archives office and set her prints and article down before him. “It’s my spread on wildlife births for next month’s magazine.”

“
Ah, Pinkie the Survivalist , on time as always.” He chewed on the end of an unlit cigar as he observed her. She knew he’d stopped smoking over twenty years ago, but he enjoyed the prop of it. “Thanks for this.” He flipped through the pictures and skimmed the article.

She smiled and the nickname then recalled how his gift to her had helped her save Haulcon’s life. “You’re welcome.”

He pointed to the chair that sat across from his desk.

She took it.

“
So, how are the venomous snake shots coming along?”

“
It going.” She glanced toward the wall, pretending to admire all of his plaques and awards. Things she’d seen before.

“
You haven’t gotten yourself bit out there now, have you?”

She laughed. Her laugh wavered at the end as she thought about one wild being she’d gotten too close to and come away with more than a bite. “No. I’m pretty cautious. I give all those wild animals their distance and respect.”

“
Good to hear. I couldn’t do it. I enjoy the pictures, video footage on our website, but I learned a long time ago my best work is done from behind a desk.”

“
We all have to know our place.” She lowered her eyes to her hands resting in her lap.

“
What’s up, kid?”

Only Mr. Cook, at one of three places she worked doing freelance work, could make her feel like a young girl around her grandfather again.

“
Nothing really. I’ve just been getting a little restless I think.” She met his gaze. “Feeling like I need a change of scenery.” She finished off her statement with a shrug.

“
How is it that a lovely, sweet woman like yourself hasn’t settled down? Isn’t dating?”

She guffawed. “How do you know I haven’t dated?”

“
My wife and I raised five daughters. All married with children of their own now. But, I know that when they talked about leaving the area, feeling restless, they were either hurt by some man, or feeling as if they would never have one in their life.”

Damn he was good. She didn’t let on which she was. “Look I just figured I could probably get some better shots on location in either Arizona or Nevada side of the Grand Canyon. I’d hire a guide.”

“
The GC, hmm? Must be some guy.” He shook his head. “Okay, I’ll make you an agreement, if you do the research and present to me what type of species you will be following, the area, days of your expedition and the full cost, including hotel and guide, then I’ll consider approving it.”

Smiling, she said, “Thanks, Mr. Cook. I didn’t want to take my offer to another magazine.” She rose.

“
You mean Babies and Papas USA or the newspapers society page. Yeah, those two other places you shoot for would have jumped all over it.”

He got her and they both knew it. She winked at him and left his office feeling a little lighter in her steps now that she had a plan. There wasn’t any reason for her to journey back into the mountains and risk running into Haulcon and his kind. She’d stick to the city or other lands.

As she moved past the offices and cubicles of the magazine she smiled and waved at familiar faces and made promises of drinks or dinner soon. These people she considered barely friends, more like associates, but she did like them. However, being raised on a farm with her grandparents she didn’t have a lot of interaction besides school with people her age. She enjoyed her grandparents company but with them being up in age, she wanted to make sure she spent a lot of time with them, especially since her father was so distant to her.

Her career path was a solo mission most of the time. She went out for hours, sometimes days to get the perfect shot and wrote up her own articles about the animals she studied. That kind of schedule didn’t leave a lot of time for ‘girl’s night out’. When her phone rang it was mostly assignments. On occasion her father recalled he had a daughter and would return her call—rarely.

Headed out toward industrial park to the research center Adair hopped into the first elevator that opened. She had to ride it up to take it down to the garage, but she didn’t mind. That was one good thing about being a freelance photographer/journalist—you were never really in a rush to get anywhere. As long as she met her deadlines, her time was her time.

In her jeep, she revved up the engine and backed out of her spot. She traveled through the underground garage until she got up to street level. Rolling her windows down she enjoyed the fall breeze that came in as she merged into city traffic. This was one meeting she wasn’t looking forward to having.

Seeing her dad always made her just a little anxious. Today was no different. She was feeling more out of sorts and disconnected to the world around her than she normally did. She refused to think it had anything to do with one sexy, tall, dark and dangerous valf and just preferred to think that she was going through some late twenties midlife crisis.

Whatever it was, she’d be glad when the feeling went away.

~YH~

“
I swear if anyone can dodge the valf reaper’s sickle it is you, my friend.” Friedol broke through the curtain of the water and clasped Haulcon’s forearm, pulling him forward into a tight embrace.

Haulcon returned the hug as he watched Nyca, Marco, Tison, Larina and Chrysen come in after his best friend.

“
What was I to do? I know you are no good on your own.” Haulcon clapped Friedol on his back before stepping away and greeting the others.

“
Alpha, it’s good to see you alive.” One after the other repeated a variation of that phrase.

“
Trust me when I say it is good to be alive. I’m glad you all were able to come. How do you know you were not followed?” He asked looking around the small group of male and female valfs, some of their best defenders.

“
We all went out different directions in pairs at different times then regrouped,” Friedol answered.

He nodded. “Good. Nyca, did you fill them all in?”

“
Yes.” Nyca confirmed.

“
I was able to sneak into your room, and get you some things.” Larina handed him a black bag.

He peered inside and saw his black pants, shirt, boots and his long coat. The valf female had thought of everything. “Good work, Larina.”

Tison leaned over and kissed his mate on her temple.

“
Now we want to know how we’re going to take out the fucking murderous usurper.” Tison, who had been a member of Ridok’s protection making him now head of Haulcon’s protection detail, growled out.

Haulcon could see by the darkening of his pale, golden eye color the valf was more than ready to fight.

“
Precision and team work. I will explain my plan but I want one thing to be clear.” He met each of their gazes before saying “I want to be the one to kill Jacin.”

“
Our word, Alpha.” They all chanted.

Filled with pride at their loyalty, Haulcon began telling them his idea. Time was of the essence and he wanted the job done today.

“
There’s something you should know, Alpha,” Chrysen began after they had made plans for the attack on Jacin and his followers.

The disconcerting look on her face gave Haulcon pause. “What’s that?”

“
There are valfs that are still disappearing.” Chrysen glanced around at all the other faces of those gathered around Haulcon seated in a circle before she continued, “We thought that was what had happened to you—the vanishing.”

“
It is the reason we had been taking shifts scouting the areas where other bodies had been found,” Nyca added.

“
It is possible that Jacin is behind those disappearances too,” Haulcon pondered. Before he’d been duped by Jacin and his supporters, he’d been in the process of trying to uncover the mystery behind why there were members of his clan that came up missing and then were found dead on the outskirts of the human city.

“
Jacin is using their deaths as a reason for us to rally together and take the human city,” Tison informed him. “His plan is for that to happen in the next few days.”

“
After his offering ceremony tonight,” Nyca said.

“
What he hopes will be his offering ceremony. When in fact, the night will belong to the rightful leader of the South-East Valfs--Haulcon.” Friedol placed a hand on Haulcon’s shoulder.

Accepting his words, Haulcon gave him a nod. “These disappearances cannot continue to happen. Is it still those that are weak that have gone missing?”

“
Yes. The old, young or frail,” Tison confirmed.

Haulcon sighed heavy. This appeared to be something that Jacin was behind, but he’d never been able to figure out why his foe would do it. What would be his gain?

“
I’m sure you are correct, Alpha. Once Jacin and his poison are eradicated this issue will also go away.”

Haulcon remained silent. His heart was weighed down with the loss of those that counted on him for their safety. He made a silent vow to himself that he would protect his people no matter the cost.

~YH~

“
Welcome to James Ellis Research Laboratory, how may I help you?” There was a red-headed woman at the desk in the front lobby. It was a small area. Not many people had reason to visit a research lab. To the right was a security door that had a passcode as well as a badge swipe to get into.

“
Hi, I’m Adair Ellis, I’m here to see my father.”

The small woman’s lids stretched with shock. Adair could understand. She didn’t look anything like her dad. She was the spitting image of her mother though. Her father was tall, lean to the point of emaciated from his lack of nutrition, and he had a yellow-gold complexion to her darker skin.

“
Nice to meet you. I’ll get an escort out here to take you back.” The woman picked up the phone and made a call.

“
Thank you.” Moving to the line of chairs against the wall, she took a seat. Grabbing a magazine from the small square table she flipped through it. It was filled with a lot of medical and scientific mumbo jumbo that she didn’t even begin to try and comprehend.

“
Ms. Ellis.” She glanced up to find a Hispanic man sporting thick wire-framed glasses with long wavy brown hair that curled against the collar of his white lab coat. He stood holding open the security door.

“
Yes.” She dropped the magazine back onto the tabletop as she rose and crossed to him.

“
Nice to meet you.” He held his hand out for a shake. “I’m Chris Rodriguez. I work with your father. I’ll show you where he is.”

“
I appreciate it.” This was only the second or third time in the last five years she’d been to her father’s work place. It was so sterile and colorless, every hallway looked the same. She always felt like a rat in a maze with no hint to where the cheese was located. “How long have you been working here?”

“
Almost a year now. I heard about the cancer studies and research your father was doing and I just had to be a part of it. The man is brilliant.” The young man’s eyes lit up and Adair could almost swear she saw him take a few dance steps.

“
He is smart.” That was something she could not argue with. Jameson Franklin Ellis had published so many articles in the scientific field on cancer that she knew one day he’d be granted the Nobel Peace Prize for the countless lives he was bound to save. He just sucked as a dad. Father of the Year was one award she wouldn’t see presented to him.

Chris continued to talk about all the different studies he and her father were doing. Adair listened half-heartedly.