Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] (11 page)

Riley ’s heart was beating so fast that he feared he might have a heart attack when he spotted Kenway, the large buffalo shifter, standing in front of his mate. If that damn shifter touched his mate, he was going to tear the man apart with his bare hands.

“ Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Chauncey shouted, holding his hands up as Riley made a beeline straight for Kenway. Riley growled when Chauncey stepped between him and his target. He wanted blood.

“ What in the hell is going on here?” his pa shouted as he climbed from the second truck, looking as if he were about to hand everyone in a ten-mile radius their asses. Riley didn’t care. His mate was in trouble, and he was going to make the bastard who fucked with his mate pay.

“ It’s just a misunderstanding,” Chauncey said quickly. “What’s to misunderstand?” Riley bit out as he pushed against the hands Chauncey held against his chest, stopping him from moving forward. “You said that Sterling was about to get pounded into the ground. It sounds pretty clear-cut to me.”
“Son, what’s going on?” his pa asked Sterling, pulling Riley’s mate aside.
Riley stood there glaring at Kenway, daring the man to say one single damn word. If the shifter so much as stepped one toe out of line, Riley was going to make the man regret moving here.
“I don’t want to say,” Sterling said quietly, his eyes snapping rapidly from Riley to Kenway.
“Did you threaten my mate?” Riley snarled, taking a step in Kenway’s direction, but Olsen grabbed him by the arm and helped Chauncey pull him back.
Kenway crossed his big, beefy arms over his chest, twisting his mouth to the side. “I would never threaten anyone smaller than me.”
“That includes just about everyone,” Chance said and then held his hands up when Riley glared at his brother.
“Talk to me, Sterling. What happened?” Pa asked Riley’s mate. “No one is going to harm you.”
Sterling glanced at each and every man standing there. Riley had rallied the posse, bringing every brother with him except Roman, who was working on expanding the rec center. A virtual army of Lakeland men surrounded the area.
“It’s stupid,” Sterling murmured as he adjusted the…was that a baby carrier Bacon was sitting in? Riley wasn’t sure giving the pig to his mate had been such a wise choice. His mate was treating the piglet like a small child.
Maybe he should have given him a goldfish instead.
“Sterling.” His pa said Sterling’s name in warning, but gently.
“He called me a weirdo and laughed at Bacon!” Sterling shouted, his eyes misting. Riley stood there gaping at his mate. All of this was because someone had picked on Sterling’s pig? Riley groaned.
What in the hell was he going to do with his mate?
The man was impossible!
Riley walked over to Sterling, grabbed him by the back of his neck, and hauled Sterling into his arms, planting the biggest kiss imaginable on his mate’s lips. He could feel his face, neck, and ears heating up to the point that it felt like the sun was scorching him when he heard hoots and laughter coming from behind him.
Gods, he wished his brothers would get a life.
This was the first time Riley had openly showed any kind of affection toward his mate in front of his family. He was aloof, moody, and quiet. But for Sterling, Riley would fall headfirst down that road into blissful mating.
“You finally fell on your ass!” Chance hooted from behind him. “I told you it would happen.”
Riley turned his head, feeling a growl vibrating in his chest. Even he was surprised when a chuckle fell from his lips instead. He hugged Sterling to his chest and grinned, enjoying the knowledge that his mate was safe.
Strange, but safe.
“Holy shit!” Gavin said as he took a step backward, his arms going wide as if to ward off trouble. “He’s smiling. I think the world is about to end. Save the children!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Riley shot at Gavin, but he couldn’t stop grinning.
“Did I miss something?” Kenway asked, looking so damn confused that all Riley could do was continue to grin.
“How about you come to dinner at the Lakeland ranch, and we’ll tell you all about it?” Pa asked the buffalo shifter.
“I definitely missed something,” the man muttered, shaking his head in confusion.
“What about Bacon?” Sterling whispered against Riley’s chest. “He made fun of my pet.”
Riley placed his hand on the small of Sterling’s back, guiding his mate toward his truck.“Hon, we really need to talk about this pig of yours.”

Sterling grumbled under his breath as he sat at the kitchen table with the rest of the ever-growing Lakeland clan. He was really starting to get tired of everyone making fun of his pet. So, he spoiled the pig?

So the fuck what?
He got it that pigs usually lived outside in the barn. He knew pigs were for meat. He even understood that he had probably gone a little overboard with the whole baby carrier and pink painted nails thing.

He had just never had a pet before, and he had adored Bacon from the second he set eyes on her. Receiving her as a gift from Riley just made her that much more special. What was he doing that was so wrong?

Riley loved his horse. He created a place in the barn for him and hand-fed him carrots and apples. He had even bought Warrior a special blanket to wear under his saddle. Was that any different than what Sterling was doing with Bacon?

Sterling frowned when someone else made a joke about the pink nails. He was too upset to pin the voice down, but it had to be someone at the table, which meant it was most likely a family member of some sort.

He couldn ’t stand it anymore.
Sterling pushed himself away from the table, grabbed his halffilled plate, and carried it over by the trash can. He quickly scraped the food off into the garbage and then rinsed his plate and set it in the dish drainer.
He paused at the sink, listening. He hoped that someone at some point would stick up for him, but they all just thought he was weird. Not even Riley said anything.
Sick to his stomach with heartache, Sterling walked into the living room and retrieved his pig. Bacon was sleeping peacefully in the soft little cat bed that Sterling had purchased for her. She looked like an angel in pink toenails and a bow.
He really didn’t see what was so wrong about what he had done. He loved his pig. He cradled Bacon in his arms wondering if maybe everyone was right and he was crazy. It was certainly looking like it.
Maybe he should just let Bacon live in the barn like the rest of the animals? Maybe she would be happier in the barn. Sterling walked right out of the living room, which was now full of people, and out the front door. He stepped off the porch steps and headed for the barn.
Was he being cruel to Bacon by keeping her in the house? What did he actually know about pigs beyond what he had read in the book in Pa’s library? Maybe pigs really needed to be outdoors. Maybe Bacon needed to be with her family.
Sterling’s heart weighed heavy in his chest as he walked into the barn and crossed to the pen holding the sow and her piglets. The mama pig was resting but raised her head when Sterling stopped at the railing, as if she knew he was there. After sniffing the air, and making a small piggy grunt, she dropped her head back down to the straw.
“What do you think, Bacon?” Sterling whispered softly to the little piglet as he held her up to his face. “Is this where you want to be?”
Bacon snorted and wiggled her little feet furiously.
“Well, that’s no answer,” Sterling huffed and settled down onto the floor in front of the pigpen. He cradled Bacon to his chest for a moment, stroking his hand down her back as he considered what he was about to do.
He loved Bacon, but he loved Riley even more. If he continued to spoil Bacon then people would continue to make fun of him. Not only did it hurt Sterling’s feelings, but it made Riley angry. And an angry Riley was a very bad thing.
Sterling knew what he had to do.
Tears started to fill Sterling’s eyes and spill down his cheeks as he pulled the bow from Bacon’s neck and then set her on the floor inside the pigpen. He pointed her toward the mama pig and her piglets and then scooted Bacon toward them with a hand on her rump.
“Go on, Bacon,” Sterling whispered.
Bacon snorted, sniffed the ground, and then spun around, making a beeline right back to Sterling. As soon as she reached him, she tried to climb up onto his lap. Sterling rolled his eyes and picked her up, setting her right back inside the pig enclosure.
“Bacon, you need to go to your mama.” Sterling hiccupped, trying to suppress the cry building up in his throat at the idea that his precious little pet was about to become just a pig again. “Go on, Bacon.”
“Bacon, now that’s a delicious-sounding word, but I prefer human.” Someone laughed quietly from the shadows. “Humans taste so much better.”
Sterling yelped and spun around so fast that he fell backward, hitting his head on the wooden railing of the pigpen. He rubbed the back of his head as he righted himself and searched the barn for the source of the words.
A shadow moved in the corner, sending shards of fear spiking through Sterling. It wasn’t so much the shadow that scared him but the sharp-looking fangs in the man’s mouth.
Oh, he was in such deep shit.

Riley frowned as he walked into the kitchen, the very empty kitchen. He thought that was the last place he had seen Sterling. He spun around and went upstairs, looking for his mate. Kenway wanted to apologize for making fun of Bacon, but Sterling needed to be there for that to happen.

The bedroom he shared with Sterling was just as empty as the kitchen had been. Riley started to grow concerned when he searched the rest of the upper floor and found no sign of Sterling anywhere.

He paused for a moment in the middle of the hallway and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to figure out where Sterling could be. A sudden thought hit him. Riley ran back to the bedroom and searched the room for Bacon. He even looked under the bed.

Riley ran out of the room and down the stairs as fast as he could, grabbing the handrail at the bottom to stop his forward momentum. He started toward the living room when he heard a loud squealing noise coming from the door in the kitchen. Riley instantly changed directions and ran into the kitchen, pushing the back door open.

He just about fell back on his ass when Bacon darted into the room and tried to climb his leg, squealing as loud as he had ever heard her. Riley bent down and picked the scared little piglet up in his arms.

The piglet squealed and squirmed until Riley set her down on the floor. The second her feet touched the hard tile, she ran toward the door and started rooting at the edges with her nose. Riley pushed the door open. His jaw dropped as Bacon took off toward the barn as fast as her four little legs would carry her.

“ Pa, Sterling’s in trouble in the barn,” he shouted just before he darted out the door after the damn pig. He was about halfway across the yard when he heard the kitchen door bang open and several sets of pounding feet followed after him.

Riley slowed his running down to cautious steps when he neared the barn. Bacon was wiggling and squirming for all she was worth as she tried to squeeze under the edge of door and get into the barn.

Riley quickly picked her up and rubbed his hand over her head. “Ssshh, Bacon,” he whispered. When he heard someone come up behind him, he turned and held Bacon out, knowing it was one of his family. He had called for help, and they would come. That was what family did for each other.

“ Take Bacon and keep her safe,” he murmured in a low voice. Olsen nodded and grabbed the little pig.
Riley turned back toward the barn. He pushed the door open just a crack and peered through the slim opening. At first, all he could see was the dimly lit inside of the barn, but as his eyes adjusted, Riley spotted Sterling crouched up against one side of the barn, a dark figure standing over him.
His heart thundered in his chest, almost drowning out the sound of the barn door crashing open as he slammed his hands into it and barged into the barn. Riley had only one thought in mind—
save Sterling
.
Riley started across the barn, hell-bent on killing the man who was gripping his mate, holding him against the wall.
Riley was sick and tired of danger all around his mate. He knew realistically that they lived in a dark world. A world filled with paranormal creatures that could turn rogue at the drop of a hat. Creatures so vile that most humans would go insane when coming across them. But he was fed up with his mate being so close to them, even being attacked by them.
Riley was going to keep Sterling safe if he had to wipe out every single rogue on the planet.
“No, wait!” Sterling called out.
Riley wasn’t sure if Sterling was talking to him or begging the man who held him captive. He wasn’t taking any chances. Riley may have ducked and dodged Sterling when his mate first arrived at the Lakelands’, but in the past few days the little human had taught him more about living life and loving than Riley had learned in a lifetime. He finally felt free, finally felt invigorated, and wanted his mate to know just how much he loved him.
He was not going to wait.
Riley roared as he grabbed the vampire by the back of the collar and tossed him across the barn. When the man landed by Warrior’s stall, Riley rounded and headed toward the guy. His steps slowed when the vampire didn’t get up, but cowered in a ball on the haylaced floor.
Just what in the hell was going on?
“Riley, stop,” Sterling said as he ran over to the fallen man and placed himself between the guy and Riley.
“Sterling, move.”
“No.”
“Sterling,” Riley warned.
“No, Riley. He came here looking for help. He had a creepy way of asking for it, but he told me he was starving.”
The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck not only stood up, but slid down his back. He knew how vampires fed. “Did he bite you?” Riley felt the rage filling him mounting. No one was using his mate as a blood donor, voluntarily or not. He was going to kill the bloodsucker if he fed from Sterling.
“No, he didn’t bite me.” Sterling stood, but didn’t move away. “He came to warn us that there is a planned attack against the wood elves. He came to warn us so we could stop it.”
“When?” Pa asked as he stepped forward and guided Sterling over to Riley, helping the vampire to his feet. “How do you know this?”
The man dusted himself off, glancing around at everyone with fear in his black eyes. His hands were wringing together, and he was shifting from foot to foot. He looked as nervous as a newborn calf caught in a lion’s den.
“I have a friend at the village. But we aren’t supposed to be friends because wood elves and vampires are enemies. Well, rogue vampires at least. But the elves hate any kind of vampire, and Terrik was afraid if anyone found out that we were friends, his tribe would disown him.”
Riley had seen the heated glares aimed at him when he was in the village of elves, and he was a bear shifter. He could just imagine what the elves would do to a vampire, friendly or not.
“So how do you know that there is a planned attack?” Pa asked.
Riley watched as the man played with the ends of his very long black hair, chewing at his bottom lip until Riley thought the man was going to chew it right off. He shrugged and then glanced up at Riley’s pa. “I’m from the Northern coven. It was a stupid bet, a bet that nearly cost me my life.”
“What bet?” Kenway asked, stepping forward and to the front of the crowd gathered around the vampire. Riley watched the buffalo shifter, seeing how Kenway’s eyes softened as he looked at the man.
“My friends bet me that I wouldn’t go down into the sewers where the rogues live. They bet me I couldn’t stay down there for an entire hour. I went”—the man swallowed hard—“and I heard them talking about an abundant feast they were going to have when they attacked the wood elves.” The man suddenly grabbed the front of Pa’s shirt, pulling at it. “You have to help them. Terrik is my friend. I met him in the city when the guy came into The Manacle. He’s a sweet guy and doesn’t deserve to die.”
Riley was stunned. Terrik was at The Manacle? The guy didn’t look old enough to be allowed inside those walls.
“He’s a really nice man, and I don’t want to see him become food for those nasty rogues.”
“Calm down…What’s your name?”
“Ross,” the vampire replied.
“Did you hear them say when they were going to attack?” Kenway interjected, his eyes focused solely on Ross, as if no one else was in the room. Riley had a sneaking suspicion the two were mates. He pulled Sterling tight to his chest, breathing in his mate’s scent, and thanking his lucky stars that his mate had been approached by a friendly vampire. He wasn’t sure he could take his mate being attacked again.
When Sterling and his brother Darcy had first arrived on the ranch, Sterling was attacked by a wolf bent on mating Sterling. Riley had thought he was going to rip the fucker from limb to limb. He knew Sterling was a very nice-looking man, but no one was touching a hair on Sterling’s head.
Ross nodded, his eyes darting over to Kenway and then back at Pa. “They are going to attack tonight.”
Since when the hell were rogues so organized? Riley was starting to feel like he didn’t know the world he lived in any longer. Rogues were solitary beings, covenless, packless, or tribeless.
He wasn’t too sure about the tribeless part. He’d never heard of a rogue fey before. But he knew that rogues gave up their humanity when they decided to give in to the dark side. They also gave up their chance at mating. A rogue couldn’t have a mate. They had no heart. A rogue vampire craved only blood, thinking of nothing else. A rogue shifter gave in to his animal side, caring for nothing but himself. What did a fey give up and why in the hell was he wondering this right now?
“I thought Ceri cleared out most of the rogue population down in the sewers,” Pa said as he turned on his heel, heading for the door, Riley right next to him, pulling Sterling along.
“Oh, my god,” Ross said from behind them. “How do you know about Ceri? I thought the legends were just legends.” He suddenly became paler than his normal vampire complexion.“The twins are real?”
Pa stopped in his tracks, looking back at the vampire. “They are very real, and the twins are awake.”
“How—How do you know this? How do you know Rhys and Ceri are awake?”
“Christian let the leaders know, and Maverick informed us so me and my boys could watch our backs.”
“This is not good.” Ross shook his head, once again chewing on his bottom lip.“If the twins are awake, everyone is in trouble. I’m not sure what rumors are true, but there is one rumor that the twin, Ceri, likes to eat rogues, literally.”
Pa looked over at Kenway, and Riley saw something pass between them. “Can you keep an eye on Ross?”
Kenway nodded at Pa, grabbing the vampire around the waist and pulling him close. “With my life.”
Pa nodded.
Pa began to walk again, talking to Riley as they made their way back to the house. “I want you to call Christian and let him know what’s going on. He needs to get over to the village as soon as possible. But we also need to call Maverick. Even though Christian will be there to defend the elves, I’m not too sure how well they are going to take to vampires, friendly or not, invading them.”
“Ahm needs to know. He said he was going to have shadow warriors guarding the village. He needs a heads-up. And the grey wolves are still there.”
Pa glanced Bryce’s way, his eyes going gentle, and then he sighed. “Call Ahm, but make sure Bryce isn’t around. I want Bryce to stay behind with the mates, Roman as well. I don’t need an added battle on our hands.”
And from the way his little brother had acted with Ahm, Riley knew his pa was right. Bryce looked like he was ready to kill the man.
“I’ll call Christian while you get a hold of Maverick,” Riley said. “And then I’ll call Ahm.”
Riley pulled Sterling into the house, Olsen handing Bacon to his mate. “You and I need to have a long talk when I get back,” he said before snapping his fingers at Sterling and then pointing to the steps.
Sterling looked surprised, but didn’t argue as he headed toward the steps.
Maybe there was something to this silent pointing thing that Sterling loved to do so much. Riley grinned. And when he got back, he was going to show Sterling just how empowering it felt.