Inequities (8 page)

He laughed quietly and ran after the two. He kept downwind. No need to alert them to his presence.
At least not yet.
Ryerson hated the fact that the two seemed so happy. That should be him out there running with Vivian. Vivian mated to a wolf was unnatural. Their children would be mutants and he bet they wouldn’t be able to shift either. His pappy had told him stories about shifters who intermingled. Some of the kids had to be put down. What kind of life was that?

Better he put them both out of their misery now.
And if it got him his war?
More power to him. The pair stopped on the edge of the woods. The wolf’s snout rose high like he smelt something. It couldn’t be him. Ryerson was downwind and concealed behind a tree. He stood motionless until the wolf returned his attention to the fox. Good. He still had time. He wanted the pair to move further away from the house.
Less chance of others coming to the rescue.
He wondered who he should kill first. He’d probably wound the wolf so he could watch his mate die. It’s what he deserved for taking something that wasn’t his.

Ryerson hated the man with a passion he usually held in check. Well no more. His wrath would be known. He raised his gun and held his aim true and got the cocksucker in the hind leg. The yelp was small. Ryerson looked behind him, but no one rushed out of the house. Good. He moved silently towards his prey.

Chapter Seven

Something wasn’t right. Russ lifted his nose, but didn’t smell anything. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. He turned to his little fox and was about to shift when he was hit in the back paw. He yelped and shifted as fast as he could. Contrary to the myth, you didn’t heal instantly after that first shift. It took a few times and still it wouldn’t completely heal without help.

Russ clutched his leg and looked around. He needed to get Vivian to safety. When he went down, she shifted as well.

“Run.”

“No way am I leaving you here. What happened?” Vivian looked around.

Good, she was being cautious.

“I was shot. You need to get to safety.”

“Not without you.” Vivian reached down to help him to his feet.

“Well, well, well.
Looky
what we have here.
An abomination of mating.
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Vivian, you should be ashamed of yourself. Think of your children. Do you really want to have to put them down? Come with me and I won’t tell a soul.
Promise.
We’ll keep it between us.
And if he already got you with child?
I’ll take care of the beast for you.”

The hatred rolling off the man was palpable.

“What have you done, Ryerson?” Vivian stood her ground. If it was in a different situation he’d be so proud of his little Amazon, but the crazy had a gun. “I know my parents told you to go home and leave me.”

“You’re under duress.
Understandable.
That or the wolves brainwashed you. Let’s go home.” Ryerson made a grab for Vivian.

Russ growled low in his throat. No way was this happening. He threw his head back to howl.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you.” Ryerson had the gun aimed at Vivian’s head. He couldn’t chance it.

“
It’s
okay, Russ. I’ll go with him. Find me.”

“Now, now, none of that, Vivian.
He won’t be going anywhere.”

Another shot echoed in the twilight. Russ’ world went dark and there was nothing he could do about it. The bastard had won.

Russ didn’t know how much time had passed. He’d blacked out against the pain. The bullet had hit his shoulder just missing his heart. He needed help. No way could he leave Vivian in the crazy man’s hands. Who knew what he would do? Russ had a feeling Vivian wouldn’t make it home alive. There was something in Ryerson’s gaze that would haunt Russ until the day he died. The man was crazy.
And if Russ wasn’t mistaken—magic drugged.
The power the fox held didn’t feel natural to Russ. He’d seen it one other time, right before his parents died. The other shifter didn’t seem—right. There was no other word for it. Russ could smell the imbalance before his pack mate was brought down and Ryerson smelt the same to Russ.
Unnatural.

He was naked and helpless, but not for long. Russ howled at the moon. The back door crashed open and Greycen stumbled out with Peter, Max and David on his heels.

“Bella told us to hurry. What the hell happened?” Greycen demanded. “Where is Vivian?”

When this was over he owed Bella a big kiss. Thank goodness the Ancients had given her a vision.

“Ryerson has her and he’s magic drugged. There is no telling what he’ll do.”

“You need to shift a couple times so we can get looking. I’ll go get some bandages.” Peter rushed back to the house.

“Get him clothes too,” Max called to Peter.

“I need someone to start following her scent.
Greycen?
You’ve know her the longest. Go. Find her. Max, go with him. You have the magic in case you need to counter anything Ryerson throws out there. I’ll be close behind.” Russ would have justice in this.

“I’ve never dealt with a magic drugged person. I have no experience and you know my power is still new to me. I could fuck up.”

“I have faith in you, Max. You’re strong. Just focus on getting her back,” Russ encouraged.

“I can go,” Peter broke in as he handed the clothes over to Russ along with the bandages.

“What?” Greycen answered for him.

“I know some about being drugged with magic. I can help.”

Russ didn’t have time to question Peter on where he’d experienced the drug. There would be time for that later.

“Then go. The three of you leave now. There is no telling what he’ll do in his rage and Vivian has to be scared.
Hurry.”

The three men turned and walked off into the night. Russ had never wanted to follow so badly in his life. Vivian, his life, was out there somewhere and he needed to get her back. Peter had dropped the bandages. Russ sopped up some of the blood and was about to reach in for the bullet when a pair of hands stopped him.

“Let me help.” Valerie looked off to were Max disappeared.

“He’ll be fine.” Russ assured her.

“I know.” Valerie turned to his wound. “I’ll get the bullet out and you can shift. It should heal it up enough for you to function. I know you’re going to charge after them.” Valerie was efficient and Russ was ready to go in a matter of minutes.

But he had to do something first. As much as he didn’t like Vivian’s old tribe, he needed to warn her parents on what might be coming their way. He wouldn’t give Ryerson what he wanted, no matter what. There would be no war between the foxes and wolves. Something would have to be done with the attitude the den seemed to have, but that could be taken care of
after
Vivian was safe where she belonged. Maybe they could plan a trip out.

Plan firm in mind, Russ went to get dressed and grab the phone Vivian had used to make her call earlier.

Time to get his family home and settled. He’d send David and Bella back to investigate and if things were good, the pack would be home by tomorrow. It was about damn time for things to return to normal. The fucking Ancients had better be done with their testing. They needed a break. He knew they were the ruling force and the creators of shifters, but enough was enough.

“Did you hear that?” Russ looked up towards the heavens. “We need a break. You can’t keep throwing this shit at us. We took care of the Vessel. Give us peace.”

A gentle breeze was his only warning.

Bringing the tribes together will be the last test of your worthiness. We need a strong front as we go forward. Shifters will be exposed.
Soon.
If we are not united much will be lost.
The Vessel going home is the beginning of the end of our hiding in plain sight. Find your mate and hurry. You’re running out of time.

Pain slammed into his head. It was always like that when the Ancients talked to him. Fuck. Russ staggered and fell on his ass clutching his forehead. Russ bolted up and raced to the house. He knew where Ryerson was taking Vivian and he didn’t have much time.

* * * *

“Where are you taking me?” Vivian wrapped her arms around herself, wanting to hide her nakedness.

“Shut up and put this on. You disgust me.” Ryerson took his shirt off and threw it at Vivian.

She didn’t want his scent on her, but she wanted him looking at her even less.

“If I disgust you, why didn’t you kill me when you shot Russ?”

Oh, god. Russ. He’d gone down and not moved. He couldn’t be dead. Fate wasn’t that cruel. She refused to believe that he would be taken away from her. Vivian covered her mouth to hold in the scream. She wouldn’t cry. Not in front of Ryerson. She stood up straight and glared.

“Because, Princess, I need a body to show Mom and Dad.”

A body?
What was he talking about? Oh. No.

“You’re going to kill me. Why didn’t you already?” Vivian resigned herself to the worst. As much as she wanted Russ to save her, she was going to have to get herself out of this mess. And she didn’t have the first clue on how to do that. She wasn’t a warrior. She had bodyguards for goodness sake.

“I didn’t want any more of your
friends
to come out. Did you rut with them all?
Fucking beasts.
You should have stayed home like a good little girl and fallen in with my plans. But no, you had me traipsing all over the place going after your ass. You’ll pay for that.”

“Mom and Dad won’t believe you.”

“Yes, they will.” Ryerson’s eyes flared an unnatural red.

What was wrong with him? Ryerson had always been ruthless, but this was new. He held no magic that she knew of. None of her den was strong with it.

“Even if they do, how are you going to get rid of them and take over?”

“War my dear.
Plain and simple.
They will be casualties after they’ve declared me their heir. Then I don’t need them and the tribe will be mine. Now shut up. I need to get a little further away before I take care of you. Make sure I’m not followed.”

Her parents were going to die and it was her fault. Damn it. She’d told them to make Ryerson their heir. After they saw her dead body, it would be easier to hand things over. Her den might not understand that love was all that mattered and killing her parents would only make things worse.

What was she going to do? Vivian looked around the landscape to see if there was anything around to help her, but she was drawing a blank. Ryerson was stronger than her. She’d need something to give her leverage over him. The area had very little vegetation and no fallen tree trunks to help.

Vivian stumbled over a root in the ground. Maybe she could slow things down? Someone had to know something was wrong by now. Didn’t they? She hated feeling like a damsel in distress. She was
alpha
. Not some weak-willed ninny.

She twisted her ankle in the root.
Purposely landing on it wrong.
It hurt, but was worth it to slow Ryerson down. If he were to be believed he wouldn’t kill her yet.

“What the fuck? Get up.”

“I can’t.” Vivian played up the whine in her voice. He needed to think her weak. “I—it hurts. I twisted it.”

Ryerson bent down and dragged her to her feet before hoisting her over his shoulder. She should have thought of that. It wouldn’t slow him down too much. How much time had passed? Had someone found Russ? Was he still alive?

Please be alive. Oh, God. Please. I love you. Don’t die.

Now that she was hidden from Ryerson’s view she let the tears fall. Her heart hurt and she couldn’t imagine a life without Russ. Not that it would matter if Ryerson succeeded in killing her. It took her a few minutes to realise the good thing about her position. She could reach the gun. The idiot had put it in his pants. It peeked out.

Vivian took a deep breath, closed her eyes and made the grab. She threw her weight at his back making his balance off. He stumbled and she fell, the gun now in her possession. She shuffled away from him. The leaves and twigs dug into her ass.

She could do this. Save
herself
. The only problem she had
was not knowing
where she was and how far they’d walked. She needed civilisation, but she had nowhere to hide the gun. She’d have to take over now.

“Stay where you are,” Vivian shouted.

He laughed. The stupid crazy man—laughed.

“Put the gun down, Vivian.”

She had this strange urge to listen to his command. Vivian shook her head. No. She was in control.

“I said stand down or I will shoot you.”

“You don’t have it in you. Give it to me.”

Ryerson got off the ground and stalked towards her. She didn’t want to, but she wasn’t letting him take over. She closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened.

“Stay back.” Vivian moved backward.

What was wrong with the gun? It didn’t fire and he was getting closer.
Safety.
Shit. Yes, she had to take it off. He wouldn’t have the weapon down his pants ready to fire. Vivian took a second to look down at the gun. That was all he needed. Ryerson pounced on her as she switched the safety to the off position. Her finger squeezed and the gun went off.