KnightForce Deuces (10 page)

“Well done, Alpha. That is how you should’ve
stated your case initially but you are frustrated. I understand,”
Angus said smiling. “I’ll meet you inside shortly.”

Chase left Angus and went inside.

“Silas?”

“Yes?”

Angus relayed Alpha Chase’s request and
replayed the conversation.

“You threatened to remove his Alpha
status?”

“Yes. He knows the rules. Just because he
doesn’t understand why you’re doing things doesn’t mean he has a
choice to follow your dictates
,” Angus said, his tone
hard.

“True but Chase is hurting that’s all.
Figure a way for him to be involved with the capture of the rebels.
But don’t change your mission
,” Silas said. He paused and
released a long breath.

“What
?” Angus asked stepping out of the
car.

“Nothing. Keep me informed of
everything. If you go off radar again, I will be sending Chase
after you. So remain available.”

“Will do. Wish me happy hunting
,” Angus
said, shoulders straight, head up, eyes alert as he walked toward
the building.

“Happy hunting
.” Silas paused and then
sighed.
“Be careful and don’t eat anything you don’t scent
first.”

“Geez, make one mistake, lose some blood and
everyone starts worrying I can’t do my job
,” Angus teased. When
Silas didn’t laugh, Angus released a stream of air. “
Okay, I
promise. I’ll report later after I find the rebels.”

“Appreciate it.
” Silas
disconnected.

Accustomed to his brother’s abruptness, Angus
headed inside with the good news. Chase’s face relaxed and showed
visible relief at Silas’ decision.

“Bless the Goddess and La Patron as well,”
Chase said and slapped Jasper on the shoulder. “What can I do to
help catch those bastards?”

“We are going hunting,” Angus said
grinning.

“Do you want to see the reports on the
kidnapping first?” Chase asked.

“No, I read the ones you sent Silas on the
flight. The report mentioned clothing, you have those here?” Angus
asked.

“Yes, I’ll send for them. Perhaps you can
identify one of the scents on the strip of fabric, I haven’t been
able to,” Chase said as they walked down the long hall.

“Are we going to return to the place they were
taken?” Jasper asked.

“No. According to the filed reports from your
forensics team, that area’s been covered. I’m hunting prey
differently. Is there a nearby club where full-bloods hang
out?”

Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and
nodded slowly. “A few. Tell me what you’re looking for and we can
eliminate a couple.”

“The place needs to be easy-going but
intolerant of half-breeds. Like a neighborhood bar where the locals
congregate and share ideas. If I were recruiting for the rebels,
that’s the type place I’d work,” Angus said.

“Why not one of the larger clubs?” Jasper
asked.

“Too many people, strangers coming in and out.
I wouldn’t know what they think or how they really feel about the
cause. Alphas or trainees could easily infiltrate and without the
ability to scent an Alpha’s lies, they’d be caught. Rebels pay with
their lives for going against La Patron so they’d need a safe place
to operate where they could watch and get to know the clientele.
That would be a small, out of the way place. No one would notice or
pay much attention as they operated incognito,” Angus
explained.

“Makes a lot of sense,” Chase said. “I’ve sent
men searching for rebels at larger clubs, we’ve caught a few but
they didn’t know anything. When the half-breeds were first taken,
we raided several full-blood establishments during our search. The
rebel sympathizers knew very little of the organizational
structure. As I told you on your last visit, they’ve gone high-tech
leaving vague trails that go nowhere.”

Angus nodded. “I gave that information to the
computer techs at the compound. Eventually, La Patron will crack
the codes on those or find a way to corrupt and shut them down. The
way it was explained to me, a person is only invisible online until
a better hacker finds him. And Silas has the best working on
this.”

Chase nodded. “I pray to the Goddess we find
the kidnappers holding the half-breeds before it’s too
late.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Angus held up his bag.
“I need a place to prepare.” He showed them a very thin mask
similar to Alpha Chase’s face and explained his intent to go to the
club as one of Chase’s relatives. If there were any rebels in the
bar, capturing someone in Chase’s family would be too hard to pass
up. Chase agreed and showed him into a room where he could complete
the transformation.

Since Silas didn’t want anyone else to know
about the chameleon, this ruse allowed Angus to use his bracelet
without questions. During the next hour, Angus altered his
appearance with the mask and make-up in case someone watched. When
he was almost finished, the tingle from the chameleon dissolved the
mask as he took on the altered appearance.

Alpha Chase and Jasper were both stunned at his
finished look and commented on how great a job he’d done with the
makeover. Angus and Jasper talked strategy for the night and then
decided how they’d work the bar. Nothing too hard to pull off, good
cop, bad cop with Jasper taking the latter. They headed into town
and entered a local full-blood dive. Heads did a double take as the
two men sat at the bar, ordered drinks and started
talking.

Angus scoped out the full-bloods in the back
playing pool, those sitting at tables nursing drinks and the few
dancing on a small dance floor to music from the speakers. A few
called out greetings, Jasper responded, looking around.

“All of these are solid pack members. Can’t
believe they’d be involved with what happened to the
half-breeds
,” Jasper said before taking a long pull from his
bottled beer.

“That’s what we’re here to discover. I
believe there are some answers in this place, not everyone is who
they appear to be,
” Angus told the Beta through their newly
formed link.

Jasper sighed long and stared at the dark
bottle he held loosely in his fingers. “
That’s hard to accept,
it goes against everything we believe in as pack.
”

Angus agreed but didn’t remark.

“Hello, I don’t believe I know you,” a
stunning, red-headed, full-blood said, as her blood-red fingernails
trailed down Angus’ arm.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know her either,”
Jasper said in a dismissive tone, playing his role to the
hilt.

“No? Why not?” Angus’ gaze slid from the
woman’s 36DD chest, to her small waist and full hips. If she didn’t
have the scent of over a dozen wolves on her, he might’ve been
interested in the red-haired beauty.

She hit Jasper’s shoulder. “Yeah, why
not?”

“Take it easy, Peaches. He’s new in town,
you’re not what he needs tonight,” Jasper said and ordered a beer
from the tap.

“Scent it first
,” Angus said.
“
There’s a strange odor in this place, I can’t place it
yet.”

Jasper held the drink a few seconds and then
slammed the glass onto the bar. “What the fuck?” He grabbed the
bartender before he could react. “What’s that shit you put in my
drink?”

The man’s eyes bulged as he tried to break
Jasper’s tight grip. Angus watched the two but was aware of every
person in the room. Everyone on the dance floor stopped and watched
Jasper shake the much smaller wolf. The full-bloods playing pool
crowded the entryway into that area and cheered Jasper on. Those at
their tables picked up their plates and drink glasses, moving to
the other side of the room. Obviously they had seen Jasper in a
rage before and expected some action.

The female took his arm as if to pull him away
from the action. A slight sting penetrated his arm, he looked down
at her. Focusing inward, he searched for the drug racing through
his system to capture and push it through his skin. The light
almond scent of the water-based solution made it easy to trace and
soon he sweated it out through his pores.

Her smile slipped the longer he stared. She
took a step back. He grabbed her arm, holding her in place then
took the needle from her pocket. He sniffed the contents, glad he
had eaten the root from the continent which counteracted whatever
she shot into him.

She struggled to break his grasp but couldn’t.
“Why’d you shoot this shit into my arm?” He inhaled again trying to
identify the components of the drug. It reminded him of the odor in
the strip of fabric Chase had given him but he couldn’t be
sure.

“What?” Jasper said, turning to look at them.
He snatched the bartender from over the counter and threw him
across the room into the wall. Dust and plaster fell on top of the
tables on impact. Then Jasper came and stood on the other side of
the woman. “You in this shit too, Peaches?”

“What shit? I don’t know what you’re talking
about.” Angus smelled the lie and contacted Chase to come pick up
the woman and bartender.

“No?” Roughly, Jasper searched her and
retrieved another capped needle and small white pills. He shook his
head and stepped back, holding the evidence of her treachery so she
could see.

“Those are my personal stash. I take pills and
shoot up sometimes, no harm in that,” she said. Her eyes roamed the
bar and then settled on a place behind Angus’ head. Smiling, her
entire demeanor changed as a look of relief filled her
eyes.

Angus slid from the stool and prepared to
shift. His adrenaline spiked as he inhaled. Mentally he ran through
his defense strategy if someone came at him from behind.

A rumble of engines from outside caught
everyone’s attention. Peaches struggled in earnest as she scented
her Alpha. Jasper held her tight. Wild-eyed, she glanced around the
room. Whoever caused that cocky smile on her face to blossom, had
either disappeared or made it known he wouldn’t interfere. Angus
inhaled to pick up a scent but there were several full-bloods in
the place and he hadn’t matched their scents yet.

Alpha Chase strode inside, stopped and looked
around. Frowning, he walked to Jasper and Peaches. His face
darkened and then he slapped her. She fell to the floor but didn’t
speak. Jasper went and retrieved the bartender from the floor as
Chase grabbed the woman by the arm, pulling her to her feet. Tears
streaked down her face; hatred, directed at Chase, blazed in her
eyes. That struck Angus as odd. He stopped the Alpha before they
walked out the door and placed his hand on her arm.

“What’s going on
?” Angus asked Chase
through their link while sifting through her memories.

“She’s a former lover and has been
angry with me ever since I turned her out of Alpha house. But to
betray me in this manner, I cannot believe it.”

Angus heard the sorrow and anger mixed in
Chase’s words. But Peaches had an interesting list of men she
played with. Several were rebels. Angus wondered if Chase had any
idea he had been in bed with a rebel sympathizer. He doubted it.
Unfortunately, her reasoning for turning to the rebels were tangled
with her relationship with Chase. Angus found no thoughts of
rebelling against Silas, most were targeted at bringing her Alpha
to his knees. She blamed Chase for her fall in the eyes of the pack
and her inability to find another lover. A scorned full-blood
bitch, a dangerous adversary.

“I’ll come with you, I want to question
her
.”

Chase nodded and they took the two out of the
bar. When they reached outside, Peaches’ head snapped up and she
narrowed her gaze into the darkness. Angus inhaled and caught a
scent. “
Someone’s out there. Do not engage; just memorize his
scent
,” he told Chase.

Angus checked the vehicle he and Jasper arrived
in. Someone cut the tires, probably before Chase and his cavalcade
arrived. Leaving it behind, they returned to the Alpha house in the
car with Chase. On the long private road leading to Chase’s
mansion, a lone wolf ran across the road and stopped in the middle
of the road.

“Oh yeah
,” Angus said, itching for a
fight.

Chase snorted. “
It wouldn’t be this
simple
.”

He continued down the road, stopping when the
bumper touched the wolf’s chest. Chase looked at Angus. “
Your
call
.”

“I’ll stay and guard the prisoners and allow
your pack to have some fun
.”

Chase grinned.

Jasper stepped out of the car with the driver.
The wolf on the road attacked. “
Tell him not to kill him
,”
Angus told Chase.

Two other wolves ran from the field and joined
the fight. Chase sent out a call and a few moments later, 10 wolves
from his pack surrounded the three who attacked Jasper and the
driver. The attacking wolves refused to surrender. Jasper and the
driver changed places with three other pack members and then those
three changed with three others until the wolves that attacked
could barely stand.