Shifter Legends (13 page)

He was the one thing she wanted.

Briana stepped away from him, breaking that bond. It left them both a little empty, but she needed to be able to focus on the issues at hand.

“Just got out of a meeting. They want… they want to admit you to the Pride Council.” Grant looked her up and down, his face stoic as he said it.

She knew it was not something he wanted to say. Not yet.

 “Do you think I am ready?” She asked, worry fresh on her face. She had gotten used to ignoring the voice inside of her that screamed at her to act feral. To just go with her instincts. It wasn’t always rational. It wasn’t always patient.

“It isn’t about that, Briana. You are a very special Alpha.” Grant wasn’t going to lie to her. She knew he couldn’t, but she could tell by his voice that he was trying to hide something. Protect something. “You have a lot to offer the Pride Council.”

“Yeah, I hear about being a ‘Super’ Alpha all the time. What a dumb name to call it.” She shook her head and dismissed the term.

“People call it that because they can’t really conceive of what you are. The truth is, you are more connected to your cougar than any of us. You have the most potential. You, and people like you. It all seems like super-hero powers to them.” Grant reached out for her and wrapped his hands around the small of her back.

“What am I?” Her voice was so small as she said it, thankful her cougar didn’t speak up. She had gone silent, and it made Briana grateful.

“You are what our people used to call ‘The Hunted’. The ones we sought to collect, or kill. In a way, we still do.” He gave her a sad smile and then kissed her forehead.

“What does that mean?”

“We got a message today, from the pride who is challenging us. They want our territory, sure, but they also want something else, and they will go away.”

He was so hot, even when he was trying to be serious. It was hard for her to concentrate. Briana bit her lip to bring her back to the present.

“What is it?” She asked.

“You.”

Briana’s adrenaline shot up, understanding that her own life was being threatened.

“Why me? Why not you? Why not someone with just as much power, but more control? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“You are not yet tied to a Pride, Briana. You can be swayed. You are stronger than I am, stronger than any of us, and you are the one they want.”

“But I am mated.” Surely they couldn’t take that away from her.

“An easy thing to fix.” He shrugged, “I’m only telling you the truth. We could unbind and they could choose a mate to take over. A mate to rule you, which is why we think we know who the pack is. Max Bailey, the leader of the Warren Pride. He is one of The Hunted. He rules his pack with a power that no shifter should have. If he thinks he can control you… he would take you.”

“Just because of what I am?”

“Together, you could overcome the Elder Council, Briana. Together, his pack would be unstoppable. Clubs from all over will try to encroach on our territory for you. They were already trying to put in, you just made the deal sweeter.” Grant tugged on his cut, the leather vest reminding her of his power as the Vice President of the Motorcycle Club.

She swallowed. All of this, because she was so powerful? It made so little sense. Briana was never given so much as a glance before she turned. Now, all of a sudden, everyone wanted her. Everyone pushed her. Everyone, but Grant.

“Well, I won’t go.” She was stubborn and strong. No one could take her away from her Pride. No one could take her away from Grant. She wouldn’t allow it.

“I would never allow them to take you, Briana. Not that I could ever change your mind, anyways.” He chuckled at her stubbornness, pride in his voice. “None of us want you to go. Especially me. Which is why they are offering you a seat on the pack council.” He stroked her back.

“I have no choice, but to accept?”

“It would mean that you do not have to go through the trial.” He made a good argument, but it wasn’t without flaws.

“Yeah, but then how would the other recruits ever respect me?” She knew she had a point.

“They have no choice. You are mated to the Second in command and are an Alpha in your own right.” Grant’s jaw hardened. He was protective of her, and she could tell that even in theory, the idea that she would be disrespected was too much for him to bear.

“No. I will commit to the trial. Then I will join your council.” She needed to know that they respected her, truly respected her, not just because they were subservient, but because she was worthy.

“As you wish. I will let the council know immediately.” Grant gave her a small kiss before he let her go, turning and walking away from Briana.

There was so much she wanted from him. So much she wanted to say, but she knew that they were trapped in their roles. Trapped in the Club.

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“Will she join?” Book leaned in close to him, his hand on his shoulder. They were in the smoky room of the bar, the one where the club met. His personal retreat away from the Pride, or at least parts of it.  A bunch of guys stood around their hand-crafted wooden table, the one with “Demon Hunters Hyde City Motorcycle Club” engraved into the pristine walnut. The only demons they hunted were their own, but it was a fitting name.

Briana was more than just a calculation to him. He loved her. Loved her with every fiber of his being. But when he admitted that she was really “The Hunted,” his guilt gnawed at the pit of his stomach. That was all she was to him, to the pack, at first. Just an asset. Just someone who could be useful in a fight. Someone to use for political leverage.

He never wanted her to know that. He would fight to keep that secret.

“She will, after she completes the trial.”

“Seriously, she has to be that stubborn? You couldn’t convince her otherwise? To have her here, getting orders and planning for the attack, would have been more useful.”

“Briana feels she has something to prove, Book. Don’t you remember what that is like?” Grant’s eyebrows drew in, his anger at the Alpha evident.

“You are right, I am sorry. I did not mean to insult your mate, Grant. I just… I can’t imagine what it is like to care so deeply for someone.” Book turned and sat down at the war table. They called it that in times of battle, a map of their entire lands on the table.

Book’s whore of a wife was nothing but trouble. Grant knew she had to be dealt with, knew she was the leak that was putting out all their information. It was much more serious than Book was willing to admit, but a pretty face had always been his weakness.

“Why not break from her? You are the Alpha.”

They had this argument a dozen times. Grant already knew how it would end, but when Book looked up he saw a different look in his eyes. One with hope.

“I planned on it. Right after the battle.” Book looked up at him, desperation in his eyes.

Book and Grant argued, but they were like brothers. They grew up in the Pride together, and they knew they were destined for the cut long before it was given to them. The two had been inseparable all throughout their rearing. Just because they yelled and screamed at one another, it didn’t mean they didn’t share the love of brothers.

“You need to stop blaming yourself for this. How could you know she was doing nothing but playing you? For five years you have dealt with her crazy ideas. I would never have lasted that long.” His eyes glowed. He would have ripped her throat out, probably a dozen times. At least in his mind.

They didn’t kill innocents, and they didn’t kill women.

“You wouldn’t have mated her in the first place.”

“I mated Briana, didn’t I? I didn’t know if we would be compatible or not. I just took that chance. For the Pride.” Grant blew the breath out, the admission in the air.

“She is worth it, Grant. Every bit of her power will help us.”

“Yes, but who will ever help me if she finds out?”

“Just make sure she never does.”

Grant couldn’t take the arguing anymore.

“You wanna take it to the council?”

He was talking about the Pride Council. About Olivia. She was one of the most influential members in the co-ed group. They needed to be consulted. The entire group had come together, arguing about the best course of action, arguing about how to steer the battle to their places of defense. To lead Max into the various areas that would leave his pack the most vulnerable. He was a smart man. Grant would be surprised if scouts hadn’t been surveying the area for quite some time.

“I don’t think we should wait until they come to us. Now that we know who they are, why shouldn’t we go to them?” Olivia huffed, clearly as irritated as Grant was.

She thought she was a big bad bitch because she was Book’s ol’ lady. Well, not for long. She didn’t deserve to be mated to such a good man.

“Because we have the best defenses imaginable, Olivia. We have been over this. I think we should call them out. Move up their time table. Bring them to us faster. By reporting it to the council they lose all preparation time.” Henry, the third Alpha, was always more rash than the others.

“That would be perfect, to decrease the amount of time we have to prepare our own recruits and lower level fighters,” Book responded. “We’ve been training the boys in the club to a new level. That, with all the new recruits and prospects. It has to be enough.”

“What if it isn’t enough?” Olivia asked, pressing the issue. She loved to get the last word in.

“So what, we are just helpless?” Grant asked, frustrated. “Is that what you think, Olivia?”

“We aren’t helpless. We know who. We know where. We just don’t know when.” Book examined the group. “All we can do now is prepare. Grant, you get the new recruits ready. Train them. Show them exactly what they need to do to keep the Pride going. The club will do the rest. Got it, VP?”

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

Briana wandered into Grant’s room, her face filled with desperation as she searched him out. She hadn’t seen him all day, and when she asked around for him she found out that he was in very serious talks with the club, and the Pride.

 Talks that she could have been in too, if she had just said yes to him. Just joined the Pride and taken her place as an Alpha. Her stupid pride was always coming between her and what she needed. Her stubbornness coming in between her and what she wanted. At least what she wanted at the moment.

She needed to feel Grant’s touch. To hear his voice. To know what was happening. She was just too fragile right now. Too fragile to listen to her cougar. Collapsing on his bed she breathed in the smell of him on the sheets. The whole room smelled of him, one of the perks of life as a Shifter, but the bed was especially strong.

Briana tried to shake off her sullenness as she rolled over on Grant’s bed, padding to the locked door. An impatient knocking didn’t do much to help.

She swung it open to see Grant standing there, his raven hair tied up in a ponytail, and his signature plaid shirt open over a black tank top.

“Where have you been?” She asked, trying not to look too sullen.

“Chasing a lead the club had me track down.” “For what?”

“To find someone.” He looked a little edgy. Grant shrugged, “We had a lead on someone who could be an asset to the club.”

“Who, Grant?”