Kellen's Tempting Mate (21 page)

“In another five minutes they’ll have to give up and head toward their master,” Damien grunted.

What felt like more than an hour later, the men below stopped attacking the skies in the hopes of ferreting out Damien and Lucas. Their voices carrying in the wind.

“
Do you think the boss man was wrong, and we were just tossing our power around for nothing?” One of the men said, sounding winded.

The younger of the two shrugged massive shoulders. “Who knows, and who cares. We had a job to do and we did it. You saw those men just as I did. Now, we can tell Mr. Watson we scared the baddies off, and maybe be rewarded.”

Unholy glee entered both men’s eyes that even the distance couldn’t diminish. Lucas focused on the one who’d spoken last, and eased into his mind. The things both were guilty of since their turning gave them a death sentence they wouldn’t need approval of the Council for. He forwarded the images to his father, knowing Damien was seeing it as well. The sight of Nigel Watson performing blood rituals gave him pause, which tipped the vampire off that something wasn’t right, and had him spinning in a circle.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Ron?” The older vampire questioned.

Ron rubbed his temple. “I think I expended too much. Let’s go before the sun rises.”

Having formed a link with the soon to be dusted man, Lucas allowed them to leave.

“Did you go into the other’s mind?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah, it’s not pretty. He’s been tried and found guilty as well.”

After the sun was up for a good fifteen minutes, they floated down to the ground. Laikyn’s home had been used by the men, but they were hoping it wasn’t trashed. If it had been, they’d be sure and return it to an even better condition. No way would they allow those abominations to sour the shifters minds to their kind.

“You do know she’s not ours, right?” Damien smirked over his shoulder.

With a glare, Lucas opened his senses to make sure there weren’t any more surprises waiting inside the home. His brother’s comment didn’t sting the way he’d thought it would, meaning neither of them were nearly as invested in the she-wolf.

“We need to get out more, brother.” Lucas walked up behind Damien once they were sure the home was secure.

Inside was only slightly messed, had they been human the fact someone had been there would have went completely unnoticed. Shifters would have smelled the funk long before even Damien and Lucas being half-breeds.

“Really? Funk?” Damien raised his eyebrow.

“They smell like rotting cabbage. Who the hell likes that stuff?” Lucas walked to the fireplace, staring at the pictures lining the mantel.

“Don’t touch anything,” his brother’s growl came before he could touch the family portrait. “Let’s just see if there are any clues of the vamps, and then get out of here.”

The need to eliminate the threat and then leave, rode them both hard.

Taking to the skies again, they had a direction, and a better idea of where to look. With the vampires traveling in packs, Lucas and Damien stayed close together even in the daylight. “Did you pass the information we learned to the alpha?”

Damien’s eyes cut to him as he mentioned the other man. “I thought you did?”

Opening the link to Kellen, he waited politely, a term many didn’t equate with Damien and him, and then gave him the latest news.

“They were in my mate’s family home?” Kellen’s tone became what Lucas called deadly.

“There were only two there when we arrived, but we smelled the master and several others. Her home wasn’t destroyed, yet the stink was offensive to our nose. You full bloods would have been able to smell them long before us, and vice versa. We left things as they were since they hadn’t destroyed it, and in case they returned we didn’t want them to know we were on to them. However, if they do damage anything we will replace and or repair.”

“Did you kill them?” Laikyn’s sweet voice interrupted his reassurance.

Shaking his head, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Again, we couldn’t or we would have tipped our hand. They are our lead to the master.”

“When you find him, I want to be the one to end him, Cordell.” Kellen didn’t ask.

Damien looked at Lucas, but let him take the lead. “Mr. Styles, I’m afraid, until he does damage to you or yours, he is ours to take care of. He’s broken the laws of our kind.”

“What the ever loving fuck does that mean?”

He could imagine the alpha was ready to rip his throat out. Lucas stared at Damien, then shrugged. “Meaning, until the time comes where the crimes against one of your pack is more heinous than that of ours, my brother and I will be taking Nigel Watson before our King. There I can promise you he will see his end, along with those who are following him.”

The growl that came through would have had lesser men pissing in their pants. Damien and Lucas had faced bigger beasts, and lived to tell the tale. “We understand you’re upset, but these are our laws.”

“Screw your laws. If that fucker shows his fangs near me or mine, I don’t give no fucks about you and your king. I will kill him and all who stand in my way,” Kellen said.

Lucas nodded even though Kellen wouldn’t be able to see. “I would be disappointed if you didn’t. Rest assured we hunt him while he sleeps, so the chance of him coming at you again is slim.”

A grunt was his answer before the connection was cut.

“Well, that was fun.” Lucas glared at his brother who was chuckling.

“Hey, I would have been the one to reach out, but he seemed to like you better.”

Kellen didn’t like anyone other than his people, and now Damien and Lucas were so far off his like list, Lucas and his brother would need to go in with full armor. Again, it wouldn’t be the first time they had to do so.

His brother’s chuckle had him bumping him in the air. They began their descent to the ground, coming in slowly to the rock cave where the two vampires they’d tracked had disappeared into. Opening his senses, he found several other beings inside the cavern, along with the being they came for.

Hitting the ground, he and Damien shifted to their wolven form when a large net fell out of the tree, trapping them both. Lucas tried to shift back to molecules, quickly realizing the netting was made of silver. His wolf whined as the harsh metal bit into his fur.

Damien rolled out from under the enclosure, only part of his body having been trapped beneath. He lay panting from pain, his dark eyes stared at Lucas. “
I will get help
.”

Lucas tried to get up onto all fours, but the weight of the net, combined with the silver, made it impossible. “
Call out to Kellen.”

His last sight was of Damien shifting to his human form, and then darkness took him.

****

K
ellen felt the mental knocking again from the Cordell twins. His first thought was to ignore the men. Anger at the bullshit they had given him about their rules of taking the man, who had tried to take his mate before their Council, ate at him. A vision of an injured wolf trapped beneath a silver netting had him bolting upright.

“
The vampire has set a trap. Lucas is injured and if I don’t get him free, he will die.”

He couldn’t ignore the plea from Damien any more than he could from one of his own. “
Where are you?”

As Damien showed Kellen where they’d flown, his body froze. They were closer to Rowan’s home. Through the pack link, he sent the info to Rowan and Xan, unsure where the men were. He’d been sure all the pack were staying within the compound, but he’d taken his mate to his home. Now, he wanted to kick himself.

“
We are at the club, along with Xan and Breezy. I just checked my security footage and nothing is showing up, not even a tree has been trampled.”
Rowan assured him.

Kellen shook his head, wondering why the man thought trees would be torn down, but didn’t ask. “
I want everyone to stay at the club, and don’t let any strangers in. Period. I’m bringing Laikyn back, and then I’m taking Coti and Wyck with me. The Cordells are in trouble.”

“I’ll go with you,”
Rowan said
.

“No, I need you and Xan to protect our mates.”
Kellen held Laikyn closer.

“
You’re the alpha, aren’t you more important than me?”

His mate whimpered.

“
I’m the alpha, and I make the rules. Protect my mate like you would yours.”
Kellen cut the connection with Xan and Rowan.

“I’m going to need you to be the mate to the alpha and show everyone you’re strong. You need to lead the women, like I lead the men. Can you do that for me, Mon Chaton?”

“It’s not fair. We just got together. What if...” she stopped on a cry.

“Have you so little faith in me?” He lifted her into his arms, striding out to the garage and his XV, wishing he had time to reassure her.

Laikyn wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “No, I just hate that I brought this here. It’s my fault.”

Kellen placed his mate in the passenger seat, gripping her chin in his fingers. “When I get you back home, I’m going to have to teach you a lesson on placing blame where it belongs.” He bent and took her mouth in a hard kiss. Her flavor exploded in his mouth, making his wolf demand more.

“Promises promises,” Laikyn whispered when he let her up for air.

“Buckle up, baby.” Kellen shut the door, then hurried around to the driver’s side. He could have shifted and reached the vampires quicker, but he wasn’t leaving his mate unprotected.

The drive to the club was made in silence, his hand holding Laikyn’s. Wyck and Coti stood outside, their bodies tense. He pulled close to the door, and was pleased when his mate waited for him to come around to her side. “I love you. When I close my eyes it’s you I see. You’re in my soul. Without you, I’d wither up and die. Stay safe for me, Laikyn.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “You are a romantic at heart, Kellen Styles.”

“Only for you. Now, if you don’t get your fine ass in that building and stay safe, I will turn you over my knee, and you won’t be able to sit for days without thinking of me.” He opened the door.

“Great, now everyone is gonna smell my arousal.” She laughed, wiping a stray tear.

“Go on. I’d rather them smell that than your sadness.” Kellen tapped her heart shaped ass.

She gave a little yelp, turning at the door to glare at Coti and Wyck. “Keep your alpha safe above all else.”

The two large men nodded, then they all shifted seamlessly.

“I love you, Kellen.”

He trotted over and butted her until she was inside with Rowan at the door making sure he shut and locked them inside. No words were needed.

Although in human form both Coti and Wyck were much bigger than him, in their shifted forms, Kellen actually was larger than all of them. He didn’t question the semantics, assuming it was due to him being the alpha, but racing off with the two largest wolves of his pack, Kellen knew they were a force to be reckoned with.

Their paws ate up the ground, ears and eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Kellen knew the woods surrounding his land like the back of his hand. Nearing the spot Damien had shown them, they slowed a few miles out, smells filtering through their senses. His nose was the first to pick up on the rotting foliage, something that shouldn’t be happening in such a lush environment. He indicated through their link to both men with him to slow and then stop, showing him what he saw.

In their wolven form colors weren’t as vivid, so Kellen shifted back to human while Coti and Wyck kept guard. He didn’t have to walk far before finding what was causing the smell. Several bodies lay discarded, drained of blood.

“
These look like fresh kills,” Kellen said
.

“
Why do they smell like rotten eggs?” Wyck’s tone was one of disgust.

Kellen had no answer, and didn’t want to stick around to find out. “
Don’t disturb the bodies. Let’s circle around them. The Cordells are about a half mile from here.”

He showed them the caves in their mind in case they had to split up. Kellen shifted back, leading the way around the dozen dead men who’d been the vampires’ meal.

“I see the wolf in the net. Are you sure this isn’t a trap for all of us?”
Wyck never one to trust easily raised his head to the sky, inhaled deeply.

Kellen knew the other brother was near, and waited patiently. Moments passed and then Damien solidified before him. Kellen shifted to human as well.

“Neat trick. Why didn’t he do that?” Kellen nodded toward Lucas who lay panting, his eyes looking pained.

“We have the same reaction to silver as you. Why did you not bring anything to remove the net?” Damien looked around Kellen.

“Don’t question me, boy. I have a plan, but I wasn’t risking my people. Besides, do you see a vehicle trail around here?” He held his arms out to his sides and spun in a circle. “I’d say your friends had the one trap, and maybe more inside if you’d have made it further. Now, we can stand out here and have a pissing contest, or I can head to Rowan’s and be back with what we need. His home is on the other side of these caves.”

Damien hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

“I bet that hurt,” Kellen taunted, but didn’t wait to hear anymore. He walked over to the downed wolf. “Hang in there, I’ll be back and get you out of there.”

A vision of the kid in the hospital flashed in his head. He wondered if they’d need to call Jennaveve to help this one, too. With a shrug, he shifted again, his body flowing into the big black beast without any of the repercussions the rest of the pack would suffer. It was good to be alpha. He sent up a silent prayer to their goddess for her gifts.

Wyck and Coti kept pace with him, their attentions alert to any more traps the vampires may have set for intruders. They reached Rowan’s and just to fuck with his newest member, Kellen looked at Wyck and gave a nod.

With a growl, Wyck took off at a full out run and knocked over a good sized tree, knowing Rowan would be getting alerts on his phone.

“Why the hell would y’all do that to my poor tree?”