Claiming His Fire (10 page)

“What situation?”

He shook his head. “Nothing…never mind.”

I brought my hand to his arm. “Secret-agent-shifter stuff?”

He nodded and stared down at me, breathing hard, so close I could feel the heat rolling off his body in waves. I wanted him closer, wanted to feel more of him. Wanted to wrap myself around him and hold on tight.

Beyond the tug of my thread and the call of the Fates, I wanted him. And that might have been the scariest thing to think about all day.

“Soot.” Shadow swallowed hard, running a finger down the side of my face. “You burned yourself.”

“Happens all the time,” I whispered, mesmerized by him.

His eyes danced along my face, my jaw, my neck. “You’re okay, though, right? They didn’t hurt you?”

“No.”

“Liar.” With soft hands, he untangled my arms, gently stroking above the burn marks. “You need a salve for these burns.”

I shrugged, my heart racing and my mouth dry. “Not really. I’m used to it.”

“I hate that you do this to yourself.” He looked up at me again, inching closer, pressing himself against me as he lowered his voice and whispered, “They scared you.”

It wasn’t a question, more a statement of fact. And though normally I would have brushed it off with sarcasm, I could only nod.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t paying more attention.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”

He looked pained, at war with himself, before he let me go and took a step back. “I shouldn’t have been so distracted. I promise to do better, to pay more attention to you.”

I raised my eyebrows and wrapped my arms around myself, cold again now that he’d left me behind. “What if I say no?”

Shadow smiled, soft and sweet and meaning more to me than he could have ever known. He leaned over me, bringing his face so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek, the warmth of his skin. And then he growled.

“Whether you need me or not, I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”

“What the hell did you think you were doing out there?” I stormed through the open door, ready to smash some mountain-shifter heads. Rebel smirked as he slid in behind me, plopping into his chair and kicking his feet up on his desk, the picture of cocky ease.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing with an out-of-control fire witch?” the larger of the two asked.

“The witches are with us,” Rebel replied, a growl to his voice. “They’re guests of the Feral Breed and accepted by our team, which includes President Blasius Zenne. That girl or any of the others you may meet here are not to be touched.”

The visiting shifter glared but nodded, understanding an Alpha’s rule when he heard one. As he should… Killian O’Shea was Alpha to his own pack located deep in the Appalachian Mountains. They were new to the NALB and had unfortunately been both highly blessed and sorely injured over the past few months. Blessed that the pack had attended their first Gathering in December, the yearly social event where packs of the NALB came together to meet and hopefully find their fated mates. The Southern Appalachia pack had gone home with six new mates, including a shewolf named Lyra, who was Killian’s other half. They also brought a shewolf named Kalie home with them. Mated to Gideon Kelly, the smaller visiting shifter in the room, Kalie was an Omega. And like all Omegas, she had been honored by the mountain pack… She’d been positively cherished, especially by Gideon.

Until she became another victim of the Omega kidnappers.

A group of shifters had infiltrated the pack and stolen Kalie away in February, killing many of their packmates and nearly killing Gideon himself in the battle. Killian and Gideon along with Killian’s sister Moira, one of the two mates of Blaze, had been obsessively searching for the missing Omega, trying to use Gideon’s mating bond to find her. But the kidnappers had figured out a way around the bond, leaving Gideon nothing but static where her pull should have been and frustrating all of us searching for her.

“So what’s the situation?” Rebel asked, glancing from one to the other. “Someone want to fill me in?”

I stared at Killian. He hadn’t wanted word of how the kidnappers had almost decimated his pack to get out, but I’d told him we might need to tell a few of the guys if we were going to get my den’s help to find Kalie. Still, I left the decision up to him. His pack, his secret, his choice.

“This is Killian,” I said, nodding toward the two visiting shifters, “Alpha of the Southern Appalachia pack, and his packmate, Gideon. The guy Scarlett lit up is Cahill. Guys, this is Rebel, president of the Great Lakes Feral Breed den. A man I trust and respect.”

Killian sighed and gave me a scowl before angling himself toward Rebel. “Shadow’s been working with us to find our kidnapped Omega packmate who’s mated to Gideon here. Their bond since those bastards took her has been staticky at best and damn near nonexistent at worst. Until yesterday.”

“What happened yesterday?” Rebel asked.

“I felt Kalie.” Gideon leaned forward, a fanatical gleam in his eyes. “One minute there was nothing, and the next, I was up and moving and ready to race through the woods to get to her.”

“They called Jameson,” I said, meeting my den president’s surprised eyes. “He and I have been partnered up for the past few months on this case.”

Gideon nodded. “Killian, Cahill, and I jumped in the truck and headed in the direction of the pull right away. We also called Jameson as Blaze had instructed us to do. We were on our way through Ohio when the bond went quiet again, but not as quiet. I can feel her, but it’s as if there’s a veil between us.”

Rebel groaned and leaned back, his eyes hard and filled with anger. “Are they drugging her?”

I shrugged. “Jameson and I have been working with the packs where Omegas have gone missing, plus a few key informants, to put some pieces together. One of the Cleaners rescued a pair of Omegas from down south, including the fifteen-year-old girl everyone was in an uproar about a few months ago. Both had been drugged at some point along the way, though not continually. But Kalie is the only mated Omega we know of who’s been taken.”

“Because of the bond.” Rebel frowned. “I can feel Charlotte wherever she goes because of our mating. They’re drugging Kalie because they don’t want to be found.” He shook his head, his brow pulled down. “I didn’t even know there was a way to hide the bond.”

“Neither did anyone else, including Blaze.” I nodded once as Rebel’s surprised eyes met mine, letting him know I was just as shocked. No one had known until Kalie. No one had even guessed it was a possibility.

Rebel pulled out his cell phone, sending a quick message before looking back up at me. “I’m assuming you need help if you’re bringing me in on this.”

I nodded. “Jameson’s on his way, but we’ll need more manpower than the five of us. Gideon won’t even count in the fight because his entire focus will be on getting Kalie to safety. We’ll get Blaze to send a team of Cleaners as well, but again, their focus will be the Omega, as it should be. We need a handful of guys to have our backs.”

“I figured as much.”

The door opened, and Gates and Beast strolled through. Sibling shifters, both mated, the two would have looked exactly alike had it not been for the scars running down the side of Beast’s face and the heavy beard he wore in contrast to his clean-shaven brother. My nerves settled just knowing they’d been the ones Rebel had called to help us. Gates was a powerful enforcer, trained in fighting styles that kept his enemies on their toes and made him nearly impossible to beat. Beast was…well, he was a beast. When he fought, he won. Unless it was against his brother. And both would understand the anxiousness Gideon felt. They were the perfect choice for the job.

“Everything okay in here?” Gates asked, eyeing the crowded office.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Come in and shut the door.”

Rebel steepled his fingers under his chin. “Gates and Beast, this is Alpha Killian and Gideon from the Southern Appalachia pack. Gentlemen, this is Gates and Beast. Two of my best.”

“I see Zippo barbecued some shifter ass,” Beast said, glaring at Killian and Gideon. “He one of yours?”

Killian nodded. “Yeah. Cahill’s our packmate.”

“He’s out on the curb. You can pick him up when we’re done here.”

Gideon glared. “He’s our pack, and now he can’t even be in your building?”

“He hurt one of ours,” I said, stepping closer and growling under my breath. “He’s lucky I didn’t skin him alive for touching her.”

Beast gave me a confused look before refocusing on the two visitors, backing up my growl with one of his own.

“I apologize for my packmate,” Killian said. “He was out of line to attack the woman the way he did.”

I stepped back, catching Beast’s eye and giving him a nod. “Fine. But keep him away from the denhouse. He’s not welcome here.”

Rebel, Beast, and Gates all stared at me, the pressure of their gazes harsh against my skin. But this was one time when I wouldn’t let something like a secret keep me from saying my piece. Scarlett was my mate, and I would keep her safe by any means necessary.

Once I was sure my point had been made, I leaned against the wall and addressed the group.

“Gideon’s mate is an Omega, and she’s been kidnapped.” I waited as Beast and Gates growled, that fact hitting too close to home for both of them as I knew it would. “Short version: some group is stealing Omegas and possibly drugging them. Whatever they’re using is strong enough to dull the mating bond so they can’t be tracked. We’re making the assumption that it’s the same group that tried to snatch Kaija back in October.”

Gates growled. “Fuckers said their boss wanted to add her to his collection.”

“Why only Omegas?” Beast asked, looking serious and pissed as hell. His stepdaughter was an Omega, the first that we knew of born to a human mother. He had just as much to lose, if not more, than his brother should these kidnappers get away with the shit they’d been doing.

“We know they keep them alive,” I said, pushing off the wall to pace the length of the small room. “Cleaner Beelzebub happened to find his mate on that mission to rescue the fifteen-year-old Omega. The two women had been being held prisoner, and his mate said they called her the dud after they found out she was sterile.”

“So they want to breed them.” Rebel shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. I met Gates’ furious stare and nodded. Gates’ growl turned darker, louder. Beast joined him, the two filling the room with the threat of a battle no enemy would survive.

Rebel gave the two a dark look. “I know this is personal to you both, but we need to keep calm while we figure this shit out.”

When Killian gave me a confused look, I shrugged. “Gates’ mate is an Omega and was almost taken, and Beast’s human mate just gave birth to an Omega shewolf.”

“Well…fuck.” Gideon shook his head, his shoulders sagging. “Blessings to you both, for the matings and the baby. We had hoped for the same, but…”

When he sagged, his emotions obviously holding back his words, Killian leaned forward. “They killed half our pack, focusing on our shewolves and our pups. They purposely destroyed our pack by using our weaknesses against us. We’re a strongly bonded pack, an old one. We were able to fight back and kick them off our mountain, even taking a few out along the way. But it’ll be decades before we can rebuild our numbers, and longer before those scars heal. I can only imagine the devastation these animals cause when they take on a smaller or younger pack.”

I nodded, looking to Rebel. “They’ve decimated four packs that we know of, taking out every single member.”

Rebel’s eyes went wide. “Jesus, fuck.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “When will Jameson be here?”

“Within the hour.”

“Can I see?” Gideon asked suddenly, surprising me, looking at Beast. “Do you have pictures of your daughter?”

Beast blinked twice, seeming startled by the request, but pulled his phone from his pocket. “Of course.”

Gideon and Killian scrolled through the pictures, Gideon’s face a mask of pain, Killian’s almost furious.

“Kalie and I wanted to have pups right away. We spent her heat cycle away from the pack for some privacy, you know?” Gideon said, his voice harsh and filled with pain. “The fuckers who took her, they snuck into camp not long after we got back. They killed our packbrothers and sisters, our young ones. They took away a lot of our future as a family and a pack.”

Killian handed the phone back to Beast, his eyes darkening and a low rumble sounding in his chest. “I want these fuckers dead for what they did.”

“I understand that and will do whatever I can to help,” Beast said, laying a hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Do you have a picture of your mate?”

“Of course.” Gideon pulled his own phone from his pocket, scrolling through pics with a wistful smile on his face. “Here she is. My little firecracker.”

My gut clenched at the nickname, my thoughts immediately going back to Scarlett, my own firecracker. Jesus, if she were in danger like Gideon’s Kalie, I’d be a wreck. A violent, raging wreck ready to take on the world.

Gates took the phone first, smiling down at the picture. “She’s lovely, Gideon.”

I took my own look, nodding and passing the phone to Beast. “She’s beautiful. We’re going to do our best to find her.”

Gideon sighed. “I just…I want her back. If I would have known—”

Beast’s growl interrupted Gideon and had Killian jumping to his feet, ready to defend his packmate.

“Motherfucker.” Beast swiped past a few more pictures. “I’ve seen her.”

“What?” I stepped up behind him, looking at the pictures again. “When? Where?”

“February.” Eyes wide, Beast looked up at his brother. “The sick redhead I saw that day you arrived. The one Aaric’s pack brought in.”

“Are you sure?” Gates asked. “You only saw her for a minute and from far away. Are you positive it’s her?”

“Absolutely,” Beast said with a nod. “That scene has played out in my nightmares a million times, but she always ended up replaced with Calla.”

“Who’s Calla?” Gideon asked.

“My mate.” Beast turned to Rebel, the two of them looking as if the pieces of some puzzle only they could see were suddenly coming together. “She was pregnant when I met her, and the father of the baby is the Beta of the local pack where she’s from. I was doing recon on them as I planned how to get her out of town safely when I saw the redhead. Aaric’s pack has your Kalie in North Dakota.”