Alpha Unleashed (11 page)

“I know exactly who to blame.” Cosette patted my hand on her sleeve. Her fingers were gentle, but her eyes burned cold fire. “And take your own advice. You couldn't have stopped it either.” She slipped away and I wanted to listen, but I couldn't help the guilt.

Even worse, my gut told me we were one step closer to meeting Luciana in that church.

When Dr. Gonzales came in to confirm the deaths, I went to stand in the road with Meredith and Donovan.

Wondering what Luciana might do with her new power would only freak me out.
First thing's first.
“What do we do now?” I asked Donovan.

“About?”

I motioned around me. “This place. All the bodies. And who do we tell? I'm sure some of these people have friends and family that should be told that their loved ones are dead.” God. Someone had to call Tia Rosa. She was going to be devastated. I had to tell Mom. And my brother.

And Claudia and Raphael. What was I going to say to them? How could I tell them that everyone they knew was dead?

Mr. Dawson joined us on the roadside. “If it were my pack, I'd notify the families and then burn it all to the ground, but these are witches. I don't want another coven coming here and saying we killed them. It could start a war.” He blew out a breath. “Some of the local cops know about the pack. I'll call them. But first, we should call your father. I want him here to make sure we handle this right.”

I pointed to myself. “My dad?” He was a normal human. No witch or wolf or fey in him at all and I wanted him as far away from this as possible. “Why would we call him?”

“He's our PR guy and lawyer. If this gets out, we need to make sure we're covered. I want him here before we contact the authorities.”

He had a point, but I still didn't like it. Not even a little bit. “I can call him.” I pulled out my phone, and was shocked to see it actually had service.

I snorted. That bitch. Luciana had put the kibosh on all forms of communication, but with her wards gone, I had full bars. Something I would've killed for when I was staying here.

Dad went into problem-solver mode as soon as I told him what was up. I could hear him getting dressed through the phone as I explained the situation. When he hung up, saying he'd get here as fast as he could, I settled down to wait. Cosette confirmed all buildings but Luciana's house were free of magic and then disappeared again, but I knew she wasn't gone for good. Not yet, at least.

After the magical all clear, the eight Cazadores broke up the compound, searching the buildings one by one, just in case there were other enemies hiding. I understood it had to be done, but it still seemed wrong. Weren't they disturbing the scene of a crime? Or maybe I watched too many crime shows.

They agreed to save Luciana's house for me, but I didn't want to go in until I absolutely had to.

At least I wouldn't be going in alone this time. Dastien wouldn't let that happen.

It seemed like forever, but wasn't more than thirty minutes before my father pulled up.

I stood, brushing the dirt off my jeans. Then a second car rumbled over the cattle guards. And a third. And as fast as that, three cop cars were pulling onto the compound. I turned to Mr. Dawson. “I thought you didn't call them yet?”

He came to stand next to me. “I didn't.” His voice had a bit of a growl in it.

This was so not good. “Then what are they doing here?” My voice sounded a little high, and I cleared my throat.

“I don't know.” His growl deepened.

“What if they're not the cops on your payroll?”

“I don't have any cops on my payroll.” He crossed his arms. “I just hope these are the ones I know.”

I wiped my sweating hands on my jeans. “And if not?” I knew I was annoying him, but I wanted to know the answer. We'd found a compound full of dead bodies and our first reaction hadn't been to call the cops.

Which made us look really bad. Basically suspects.

“Then it's a good thing your dad is here, because we're going to have a hard time explaining this.”

I swallowed. Going to prison for murder might stop my vision from happening, but it wouldn't stop Luciana, and we'd be sitting ducks behind bars.

Except I doubted the Weres would take kindly to being shoved in the backs of cop cars. The Cazadores already formed a loose circle and their eyes glowed as their wolves neared the surface.

I swallowed again, praying this didn't turn into a fight.

Chapter Eleven

We all gathered as we waited for the cops to leave their cars. The Cazadores stood behind us—me, Dastien, Mr. Dawson, Cosette, Chris, Meredith, and Donovan.

The first cop out was a lady. Her crisp uniform made her look more boxy than she probably was. Gray streaks ran through her hair, which was tied into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. “Michael,” she said as she strode toward us. “I'm surprised to see you here.”

Mr. Dawson met her halfway between the cars and us. “Honestly, I'm surprised to be here myself. How are you doing, Marlene?”

“Not good. I have four dead bodies in town. All of them listed this as their home address.”

Shit. I hadn't even thought about the
brujos
who lived off the compound.

Mr. Dawson widened his stance—like he was bracing for a fight—as five more cops approached. “Where did they die?”

“Two at the movies. Two at a Whataburger. Witnesses said they just dropped and shriveled up. They all list this as their residence, and everyone in town with a decent-sized brain between their ears knows that the people down here are off. And now you're here.” She paused, pressing her lips together, and then tilted her head as if considering the situation. “So, what's really going on?”

Mr. Dawson huffed. “How many here know about us?”

Us
meaning the pack. I crossed my fingers and hoped for best.

“All but Johnson.” She motioned with her thumb to the young cop who stood back from the others. He looked a little pale and his skin glistened with sweat, but he was holding on. His night was about take a turn for the weird. “It's his first day on the job, but he's a good kid.”

“Hell of a first day,” Mr. Dawson said. “These bodies aren't for the squeamish.”

Dad cleared his throat. “Marlene. Good to see you.”

Marlene didn't even try to hide the disgust on her face. “What do you need with a lawyer?”

Yikes.
Wonder what Dad did to piss her off?

Mr. Dawson shrugged. “Just covering my ass. There's a lot of death here.”

Marlene cussed softly. “How many you think?”

“Over fifty before we stopped counting. We haven't found anyone alive.”

“Jesus Christ Almighty.” She put her hands on her hips “What is this place? I always thought it was some kind of cult, but with you here and the look of those bodies… Please don't tell me I've got some kind of Satanic ritual suicide on my hands.”

I held my breath as I waited. Telling the cop too much wouldn't fly, but if we didn't say enough there was no telling how she'd react.

“In a way,” Mr. Dawson answered. Perfectly vague.

There was a long pause, and I chewed my lip. Cops made me nervous and if this didn't go well, there were two very possible and equally awful outcomes. The Weres—especially the Cazadores—could freak and kill humans. Which would be horrible. Or we could cooperate and then we'd rot away in prison while Luciana got to play tiddlywinks with all her new powers. Also horrible.

“We're going to search the place. I'm leaving these nice people with you, Johnson.” She yelled the last over her shoulder at the young cop. “He's seen about all he can handle,” she muttered under her breath, but all us Weres could hear it. “If you wouldn't mind, stay here while I check things out,” she said to Mr. Dawson. “I know I can trust you to keep yours calm and under control.” There was a hint of threat in her words that set me on edge.

“Of course. We'll be right here,” Mr. Dawson said. He seemed so much calmer than I was, but it had to be a show. I mean, what were we going to do? Cops plus dead bodies equaled arrests. Didn't it?

A trickle of sweat ran between my shoulder blades.

She strode past us with her four other colleagues and started going from house to house. They talked among themselves as they went. Giving theories. Debating what was going on.

Were hearing came in handy.

Some of the houses had more evidence of magic users—herbs and spell books—so they kept throwing the word “cult” around.

I should've been happy they thought it was a cult. That meant that they probably wouldn't arrest us. But as they deemed the artifacts evil and the coven Satanists—it bothered me. It wasn't true. At least for the majority of the coven. Luciana was her own special case.

When I heard something break in my cousins' house, I ground my teeth. Only Dastien's firm grip on my arm kept me from going in.

“They're just doing their job,” Dastien said.

“I know.” I stared at my cousins' house, waiting for the cops to come out. Too bad I was one of the most impatient people I knew.

I sat back down on the dirt road. Dastien stood behind me, and I leaned against his legs, reaching around to hold one of his ankles. He grounded me as I relaxed.

Eventually my eyes grew heavy, and he sat down behind me and pulled me into his lap. He slid off my messenger bag and set it beside him.
“
Sleep,
cherie
.
”
He whispered as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

The command in his words rolled through me. Fighting it was an option, but I didn't really want to. It was already past two in the morning, and I was exhausted. I let my eyes drift closed as a deep and easy sleep took hold of me.

I didn't wake until Dastien's voice rumbled against me. “You don't want to go into that house.”

“You don't want to be telling me how to do my job,” Officer Marlene's tone was snippy. “I've worked in this town long enough to not be afraid of you and your kind. At least not while that one is around.”

I opened my eyes and it took me a second to really comprehend what was about to happen. They were at Luciana's door. They didn't know her house from any other. They didn't know what they were about to walk into.

I jumped up. “No! Don't go in there.”

The newbie cop—Johnson—pushed me as I started toward them. “You want to stay where you are.”

“Get your hands off my mate.” The words were more growl than anything, and the threat behind them was enough to set even me on edge.

But Johnson was a moron. He didn't see the fury bubbling under the surface. And he certainly didn't know Dastien could turn into a wolf in a split second and rip out his throat.

Instead of calming the situation down, Officer Johnson did the worst thing possible and reached for his gun. “You need to sit your ass down while I deal with her.”

Oh no he didn't.

Cold fury ran through our bond, and I knew Dastien was about to lose his shit.

Marlene stopped on the porch. For a second, I thought she was going to listen to me. “Johnson. You do your job. Keep them under control while I go in.”

Terror gripped me, and suddenly I didn't care so much about being thrown into the back of a cop car. “You don't understand.” Officer Johnson grabbed my arm as I tried to move toward the house, but I ignored him. She couldn't go in there. “The owner of that house was the leader of these people. It could be booby trapped. There could be dangerous things in there. Things you don't have the capacity to deal with.”

“Young lady, you'll want to watch how you talk to me.” She pointed her finger at me. “You sit your ass down. Understand that I'm an officer of the law, and if there is something dangerous in there, then
I
am the one who should deal with it.”

Another growl added to Dastien's.

This was going south. Fast.

“They have nothing to hide and no part in this,” Dad said as he moved to stand between the growling alphas and the cops. He turned to the one who was still grabbing me. The cop's fingers dug into my skin. If I were still human, I'd have bruises, but I wasn't that fragile anymore. “Let the girl go. She's going to cooperate fully.”

The young cop listened to Dad, finally letting go. I caught Dastien right as he was about to reach for the guy's throat, and pushed him toward Dad. I kept his gaze as I lowered my voice, talking fast. “They can't go in there. It's too dangerous.”

The spot between Dad's eyebrows wrinkled as he leaned toward me. “Why?” He whispered.

“It could have wards or…” I didn't even know what to expect. It could be anything, but it wouldn't be anything good. “Who knows what black magic she left for us to find?”

He pressed his lips in a firm line as he stared at the house in question. “We can't stop them, kiddo. They're going to do their investigation, and then they're going to come question all of us. Then we go home. But right now, they're in charge.”

“This is beyond stupid.” I needed my messenger bag. It was still on the ground where we'd been sitting. I reached into it, touching the vials inside and dreading whatever chaos was about to be unleashed. Luciana wouldn't abandon her compound without leaving a nice surprise or two for us to find. “They're a bunch of fucking idiots. They don't know what they're messing with.”

Dad smiled, and little wrinkles formed in the corners of his eyes. “I'm not going to argue that point. I raised a smart girl.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and squeezed me into his side. “Even if she does curse like a sailor.”

I shook my head. The vials in my hands grew slick with sweat as I grasped them. There was a small tingle of magic as they went through the door, and it was growing. It danced across my skin, making all the little hairs on my arms stand on end.