Wolf Tales 11 (16 page)

At least the wolves and Igmutaka were appropriately intimidating. Beth knew there wasn’t a darned thing scary about her. Wiping her hands on her dark slacks was out of the question, but her palms were sweaty. Maybe no one would notice.

She shot a quick, sideways glance at Igmutaka. Thank goodness for the spirit guide, because he sure had it all together. Plus, he was so damned gorgeous, everyone would be looking at him, not her.

She hoped.

With that thought in mind, Beth strode as confidently as she could across the hotel lobby to the registration desk. Igmutaka walked beside her and Mik and Logan surged ahead on leashes—two solid black wolves with glinting amber eyes, doing their best to look like large, well-trained guard dogs.

Their nails clicked noisily across the marble floor and Beth felt as if every eye on the place must be on them. With Igmutaka’s beauty and two huge, black beasts, it was going to be hard to escape notice.

She’d worn a navy blue tailored suit of Tia’s that made her look totally professional, and Igmutaka had borrowed a suit from one of the guys. He looked like royalty with his piercing emerald green eyes and that black hair neatly plaited in dozens of long braids and tied back in a queue hanging almost to his waist. The suit fit him perfectly, and the man had such an air of superiority about him, it was easy to imagine him as the ruler of a nation.

Unfortunately, it was also really easy for Beth to imagine him in her bed. Nick had had the same reaction the first time he’d seen the man. With an almost mystical, androgynous beauty, Igmutaka not only appealed to both sexes, he epitomized sex, and the dark suit only added to his allure.

As they drew closer to the reservation counter, Beth noticed the concierge signaling to security. It looked as if two burly guys in dark suits were going to intercept them before they got to the front desk.

Taking a deep breath, she continued walking as if she and the sexy guy beside her owned the place. From the way Anton had joked around, it sounded as if he’d practically had to buy the hotel to get permission for them to bring Logan and Mik in as guard dogs, so it was probably a pretty close analogy.

She hadn’t had the nerve to ask Anton how much extra it had cost to register with animals in a fancy hotel like this, but with any luck and Anton’s credit, they’d get through without any problem.

The guys in suits planted themselves in front of Igmutaka and Beth. Both wolves growled low in their throats. The larger of the two men paled a bit and glanced at the animals. Then he stepped forward and addressed Igmutaka.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t bring animals into the hotel. Regulations prohibit…”

“Excuse me.” Another man, another suit, but this one was nodding with deference toward Igmutaka, though he spoke directly to Beth. “My apologies, Ms. Garner. Welcome to the Four Seasons. Your reservation is just now being processed. I’m so sorry. We haven’t had a chance to inform personnel”—he flashed a quelling glance at the two men—“of your impending visit. Your Majesty.” Smiling, he bowed slightly to Igmutaka, who maintained his aloof and kingly air as if people bowed to him all the time.

He was a spirit guide. Maybe they did. Beth bit back a grin and avoided making eye contact with either Mik or Logan. “Thank you,” she said, nodding to the manager. “I’d like to check in and take the beasts up to our rooms. I imagine you’d prefer not to have them here in the lobby any longer than necessary.”

It never hurt to be as accommodating as possible. She smiled, the man smiled back and led them quickly to the reservation desk. Igmutaka never said a word, though his eyes followed the movement of everyone around them. Beth had a feeling very little got past the man. Ever.

She signed in under her real name, as Anton had instructed. There was no need to create any more confusion, in case she had to show her identification. As Anton had explained, he was good, but not that good, and there’d been no time to secure counterfeit paperwork for Beth or Igmutaka.

He said he’d described her as the royal’s assistant and explained to the hotel manager that she was stationed here in San Francisco, a city the royal family had only recently begun to visit in hopes of securing business for their developing nation. He had, of course, neglected to give a name to said nation, and Beth hoped no one asked.

If they did, she’d bluff, but she signed in and no one said a thing when they handed over the key cards to the room. She checked the number and quickly linked with Igmutaka.

We’re in. The room is next door to the one where Tala and Lisa are being held.

Igmutaka nodded imperceptibly in reply. Beth smiled at the bellboy, gave him the room number, and then she and her little band followed him to the elevator.

“They’re in.” Anton smiled at Luc and the rest of the pack. “I just heard from Beth. They’re in their room, next to the one where the girls are being held. Mik’s actually
picked up Tala’s scent, so there’s no mistaking they’ve got the correct location.”

“Good.” AJ slouched back in his seat. “I feel better just knowing Mik’s close by.” He glanced in Tinker’s direction. “They’ll be okay. Mik won’t let anything happen to either of our ladies.”

Tink nodded, but he kept his eyes on the window as if he expected Lisa to come walking up the front steps at any time. Then he checked his watch. “What time should we get ready?”

“After you eat.” Tia stepped out of the kitchen and waved her spatula. “It’s nothing fancy. I’m just making hamburgers for everyone, but I don’t want you going off without food in your bellies. The last thing we need is a bunch of hungry wolves who can’t concentrate on the job.”

She smiled, but Anton sent her a quick
thank you
for thinking of food. He tended to forget the practical side of things when faced with a problem, and Tia was right. As wolves, they were more easily distracted when they hadn’t eaten in a while. He stood up and obediently headed to the dining room.

The others followed. Keisha went on ahead and helped Tia get the plates on the table. Luc stood beside the double baby swing and teased his daughters. Anton had been in Luc’s head earlier, but he’d left as quietly as he’d entered.

Luc’s emotions were a mess, his thoughts so twisted up with relief for his wife’s safety, his fears for his daughters’ future, and his concern for Tala and Lisa, that Anton had backed out as much in self-preservation as to give the man privacy.

The weight of the entire pack rested on Luc’s shoulders, much as it often did on Anton’s. He didn’t envy the young man the job ahead. Once again he sent a prayer to Eve.

Anton felt a sense of calm settle over him and realized it was getting easier all the time to pray to her, a woman who
had shared his bed on more than one occasion. Of course, as Keisha had reminded him, he’d also shared Liana’s bed, and that had been while she was a goddess.

And afterward, as well.
Goddess or woman, they all had the same needs, the same perfectly beautiful bodies. He glanced at Keisha and realized he didn’t want to think of the night ahead. Not with the role his mate would be playing and the danger she could be in. Luckily the president appreciated the need for secrecy and understood how important it was, not only for his own safety, but the safety of the Chanku, that they find the one responsible for this latest threat.

This could not go on. They’d been persecuted long enough. It was time to end it—tonight, here and now.
Eve?
He found himself gazing skyward, though he knew she wasn’t actually in any sort of heaven overhead. No, she was on the astral plane, in her own
where,
her own
when,
but still he glanced up as he sent his thoughts her way.
Watch over us, Eve. Please. Give Luc the strength he needs to hang on, give Mik and AJ and Tinker the fortitude to get through the night ahead, to be strong for their mates and their unborn children. Watch over the women and their babies, and please, be with me.

He sighed and turned to Keisha. She watched him with so much love in her eyes it was almost his undoing.
Be with me, Eve … and please, don’t let me fail any of them, especially my beloved mate.

Eve didn’t answer him. He really didn’t expect her to, but he could have sworn he felt a soft breath of wind touch the side of his face. Somehow, that light caress filled him with the strength to accept the danger, the resolve to face the risks they would all be taking.

All of them depending on one another. He reached out and touched the minds of the others spread about the country.

Adam and Liana preparing to shift and run in Montana,
and farther to the east, to Colorado, where the pack had already made a kill and fed. He sensed their growing power, their unity.

Ulrich.
The man amazed him. He’d accomplished so much in his sixty-odd years, and yet he was still a young man, not only in body, but at heart as well, ripe with the love of his mate, generous with his support for the younger members of his pack.

Stretching farther, expanding his mental abilities to their limits, he touched on Baylor’s mind, on Jake’s. They were already back at the apartment, preparing to shift and run as wolves. Baylor was thinking of calling him, but he wanted to be certain the phone line was secure.

Anton stepped out of the busy front room and found a quiet spot in the hallway where he could concentrate on Bay. The link strengthened, and with it he sensed Bay’s surprise and then his quick acceptance of Anton contacting him mentally from so many miles away.

Cheaper than a phone call, eh, Bay?

Definitely. Thank you for a wonderful dinner. The meal was perfect, and the wine was excellent. Jake chose a good Sonoma cabernet. We did raise a toast to you and Keisha.

Anton grinned. Leave it to Jake to go for the best.
How were the seating arrangements?

Baylor’s satisfaction was clear, even through the distant link.
They couldn’t have been better. It was a productive evening. Hard on Manda, though. She recognized one of the men. He was Milton Bosworth’s assistant.
While Anton was still assimilating that shocking news, Bay gave Anton the name of the other young man, a current White House staffer, and possibly the source of their authorizations.

I confirmed his name online, Bay said. They mentioned names that link them to people I remember. Should help me follow up on others, see if they’re actually involved or not. The second two worked for my old agency, which reported
directly to Bosworth. They didn’t notice me. They were too busy celebrating the evening’s plans.

Anton pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. The idea of anyone celebrating an assassination attempt made him physically ill. Just as bad, how could they celebrate the kidnapping of two innocent, pregnant women? Wrong. It was just wrong.

Baylor’s report was concise and factual. He passed on the names he’d heard, the contacts, even the silly code names he’d picked up at dinner. Then he severed the contact. His pack was waiting.

Tia called them all to dinner. Anton took a moment to compose himself. Food was the last thing on his mind, but Tia was right. They couldn’t go into the evening ahead on empty stomachs. It was already after six. They needed to be at the Civic Auditorium by seven thirty.

He sensed his mate and raised his head. Keisha stood in the entrance to the hallway. Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she reached for him.

“I sense you in here thinking of all the things that can go wrong tonight, my love. Don’t borrow trouble.”

He laughed and linked his fingers with hers. Grumbling, he let her tug him toward the dining room. “You just think you know so much about me.”

She pointed him to an empty chair. “Sit. And I do. I know everything about you.” She took the seat beside his, leaned over, and kissed his cheek. “So count your blessings, because in spite of all I know, I still love you.”

Anton merely rolled his eyes and commented to no one in particular, “And here I thought she was an intelligent woman.”

A few laughed. Keisha snorted and passed the plate of hamburgers. Anton took one and glanced at the pack members sitting at the long table, each of them worried about the night to come, and realized what a blessed existence he had. These were his friends, many of them his
lovers. They believed in him and trusted him, and they loved one another unconditionally.

Keisha was right. It wasn’t all on his shoulders. Each person in this room carried part of the burden. Together they could handle it.

“I just talked to Baylor,” he said, focusing on Luc.

Lucien Stone—the leader of the San Francisco pack, the undisputed heir to Ulrich’s reign as the San Francisco pack’s alpha—nodded, silently urging him to continue.

“We now know who’s behind this whole mess.” When he mentioned the aide, no one seemed at all surprised. So many of the problems they dealt with went back to the era of Milton Bosworth and his cohorts in Washington. A man verging on insanity, for all intents and purposes, who had been a cog in the political machine in Washington, DC, for far too many years.

Now it appeared that one of his associates had filled the vacuum Bosworth’s death had left. A man who took fanaticism to a whole new level, according to Baylor Quinn.

And he was the one behind this entire ridiculous yet deadly plan. Caught up in the frenetic power plays rife in Washington politics, he appeared to have lost touch entirely with reality, and yet he had managed to hang on to enough power to control and direct the remnants of Bosworth’s secret agency.

Anton glanced at the clock. “We’ll leave for the auditorium after dinner. Igmutaka, Mik, Logan, and Beth are already in place at the hotel. Lisa and Tala know they’re close by. They’re in contact and okay for now. Our people will make their move to free the women at precisely eight fifty-three. Early enough to get them out quickly, and too late for anyone to get a warning to abort other plans. At that moment, Keisha will be covering the president, and AJ with Nick and Luc as wolves will move into position just behind the presidential box.”

He took a bite of his hamburger and chewed thoughtfully.
It was such a simple idea—if it worked. “Tinker and I will stick close to the president. Tinker, you’ll be in wolf form, but if we need your human strength, I want you ready to shift. All of you will have your standard breakaway collars.”