My Alphas: The Complete Series (30 page)

She didn’t know the rules to this new game but she was determined to learn them.

Cass leaned against the table, both Alphas within reach and listened, lightly touching one and then the other.

Edon told them about the stranger roaming their territory, dismembering Turo pack werewolves and building macabre piles of their dead.

“I think it is Javcer, Carcer’s brother,” Rey said.

He told them about coming upon Huncer and chasing him across the territory before capturing him.

Cass watched him as he spoke. Even Rey seem surprised he hadn’t killed the werewolf and then doubly surprised he’d let him go with an instruction to return in two weeks.

“So there is a split in the Turo pack?” Cass asked, looked at her two Alphas, “And you’ve already arranged to meet with Javcer? This is perfect.”

She pointed down at the map.

“They must be hiding out somewhere here. Look, there is a circle of dead around this spot here. We must contact Javcer, bring him and his pack to our den.”

“We don’t bring rival packs to our home,” Rey said.

“The risk is too great,” Edon added.

Cass looked between them, feeling her enthusiasm getting ahead of her. She remembered what Vara had told her. She was the balance, the soft but unstoppable power between them. She was the Pack Mate and responsible for not just them but the pack… and her unborn future children.

“I have an idea,” Cass said.

*

Rey sat in the mid-morning sun in wolf form, every muscle vibrating with tension as Javcer and the outcast Turo pack werewolves came over the hill. Javcer was much like his brother - big and covered in thick black fur, standing taller than any other werewolf with him. By his side was his son, Huncer, brown and smaller but still growing.

Rey glanced sideways at Edon and saw him clenching his teeth together, his fingers curled. He was in human form, standing next to Cass.

Cass’ idea had been a novel one and she’d convinced them by saying they were stronger together than apart. So they had agreed to a meeting with Javcer to discuss an alliance.

And then Cass had told them she would be there too.

The three of them had argued then, Cass refusing to be locked up in the high room and although Rey had been annoyed at the little human, he admired her spirit.

And so, somehow, they’d given way on that too.

In the days since, Rey had puzzled over how the Pack Mate managed to get her way so frequently now. In the past he would’ve ignored her, hauled her over his shoulder and locked her away until the negotiations were done. But now… now, he listened and for some reason, made a different choice.

It was as though since the thrall, she’d been unlocked, parts of her coming out, some wild and more fierce and he found his desire for her had grown exponentially. She was still submissive at times but in other moments she was as fierce as any werewolf.

Some indefinable sadness had fled and Rey could recognize it because he felt it too.

But there was still one spike of anxiety she was carrying around. She was still not with cub.

After a particularly wild session on the banks of the stream, Cass had whispered to him, asking if he could smell if she were pregnant. He’d told her she wasn’t and felt his little mate tense beside him. He’d stroked his hand down her back and kissed her until she relaxed and soon she was climbing atop him, her eyes wild, her face red. In the middle of their passion, Rey had grabbed hold of her, stopping her movement.

“If you’re not with cub then we will try again until you are,” he declared before they continued on.

He knew it was on her mind but there was little more he could do about it. She was either with cub or not and if she was it was either his or Edon’s. If it was his - good. If Edon - still good. The next would be his.

Rey focused on Javcer and his werewolves as they approached the guards. There was a line dug into the hard soil and the message delivered had been clear: cross this line in wolf form and you will die.

He saw Javcer walk up to the line, look down at it and then back at them. He lifted one giant paw and then thudded it down on the line so half his foot was over the line.

Rey felt himself bristle involuntarily and so did the werewolves around them. The entire pack was spread around the den, most in the open, others hidden in case this all went terribly wrong. Only a few scouts remained further out, keeping a close watch for anyone else approaching.

He saw Javcer lift his paw and stomp it down on the line again, this time producing a small cloud of dust.

Rey felt the desire to run forward and kill him rise up but managed to hold it back. This was typical Alpha behavior. If he’d gone to a meeting with the same rules he would’ve done precisely the same thing.

Javcer’s point made that he didn’t follow rules put upon him by others, he shifted and his entire pack followed. They numbered twenty in total, having apparently convinced some Turo pack werewolves to join them.

Now in human form, they crossed the line and walked closer. As they did, Rey growled, a low tone of warning.

If any of them even blinked the wrong way at Cass their head would be separated from their body before they could take another breath.

Javcer and his pack stopped about ten feet away and then Javcer cleared his throat before looking at Rey.

“You, son of Arey. You could have killed my son but you did not. You have my thanks. Ask of me a favor and if I can grant it then I will.”

Rey glanced across at Edon and saw his eyes widen. Could it be that simple?

“We seek-” Edon begun.

“ONLY HIM!” Javcer roared, his face purpling.

All around, werewolves were instantly on alert, the both packs humming like a plucked guitar string. Cass jumped back a step, gasping.

Rey nearly leapt at Javcer, his naked throat almost too inviting to resist. He held it back and then shifted to human.

Before he could speak though, Edon turned to Cass and breathed in deeply. The surrounding werewolves did the same and then the scent hit Rey.

He turned to Cass.

“You’re with cub,” he said.

This should have been a joyous moment but all Rey felt was the cold bolt of fear. Another pack Alpha was too close to his mate, he could kill her, he could kill his child.

Before he could leap on him, one of their scouts came pelting over the hill. Marey, her white fur streaked with blood. She howled as she ran down toward them.

Invaders coming.

She skidded to a stop and shifted, her body covered with thin scratches.

“The Turo pack! They’re coming now!” she yelled.

The cold fear inside Rey deepened in an instant, blinding in its power.

He turned to Javcer. “Ally with us and destroy the Turo pack,” he demanded before turning to Kale.

“Take the Pack Mate inside,” he instructed before shifting.

He heard a piercing howl from the other side of the hill.

Carcer was coming.

*

It all happened so fast Cass had no time to think, let alone say something.

She was shaking in terror as Javcer and his pack came over the hill, the black werewolf taking her back to a stream long ago, her body frozen in fear. But then he transformed and came closer.

They had a plan,
her
plan. Ask him to ally with them to fight off the Turo pack. He would either accept or not. If he did, then they would become stronger. If not, then they would let him go on his way so he could continue killing his old pack members. A civil war was still good for the Arctos pack.

But then a lightning bolt from the sky had struck.

Cass was pregnant.

She saw the moment her scent changed, Edon turning toward her, breathing in and then the werewolves all around her, their eyes widening one by one.

Her heart had thudded, a painful jolt but there was no time for any words because Marey came bolting over the hill and Cass was off her feet being carried up into the den. She yelled and struggled but she was no match for the werewolves and soon she was put down in the high room, the door slamming shut and Kale bolting it from the inside.

“We have to help them!” Cass yelled, leaping to her feet.

Kale didn’t take her gaze off the door.

“No, we must protect you and your cub. You cannot help them now.”

Cass heard a roar and it called to her blood. Edon, his deep voice commanding in its authority. She rushed to the small hole that served as a window and looked down.

Below, almost every pack member was gathered near the front of the den in werewolf form, teeth bared and growling. She saw Edon, Rey and Javcer, hulking giants above the others, moving to the front.

Streaming down the hill came an endless flow of werewolves, bolting with terrifying speed, leaping over fallen trees and boulders, sprinting toward the mingled Arctos and outcast Turo pack.

“Come away from that window,” Kale commanded and then Cass felt her hands on her shoulders, pulling at her.

She whirled around. “Let go of me!” she yelled.

Then she saw the rifles and ammunition she’d so carefully arranged.

She turned back to the window and saw the two werewolf battle lines hit. Roars became screams and blood splattered up into the air.

Cass lost her breath and her body froze as she saw
him
.

The one called Carcer.

The one who’d tried to attack her on the bank of that stream ten years ago. The one who would’ve killed her had Edon and Rey not been nearby. He was running down the hill near the back of his pack, gathering speed.

Cass looked down and saw both Edon and Rey fighting off multiple werewolves simultaneously. Neither of them had seen him.

Time slowed and quickened and Cass moved through syrup, pulling herself through the heavy air, past Kale and toward the rifles. Then suddenly she was there, hands fumbling ammunition, trying to load one. She dropped a shell, realized it was shotgun ammunition and forced herself to breath and slow. She reached down and picked up a bullet, forcing her shaking hands to pull back the bolt and load it into the chamber. The rifles were all single shot and with the door barred she couldn’t do anything but this perhaps was a chance.

Cass turned, the loaded rifle in her hand, seeing Kale looking at her and then there was sound and light and pain as something terrible and gigantic exploded outside the window and Cass crashed into the wall. She saw the stone floor covered in rubble, the window gone and a giant hole in its place and then she saw it filled with the giant shadow of a werewolf.

*

Edon fought with tooth and claw and let the pure fury of battle flow through him. He flung one werewolf off him and into another and then ducked, avoiding another werewolf intent on sinking his jaws into his throat.

He felt Rey kill that werewolf as it landed and then Edon turned to crash another to the ground who had moved behind Rey.

The battle was not going well.

Even with the Turo pack outcasts and Arctos pack working together, the remains of the Turo pack still outnumbered them and in a battle like this where strategy had broken down, that was all it came to.

How many teeth did you have? How many claws? How strong was your pack?

The Turo pack werewolves had swarmed toward Rey and Edon and although they were fighting Javcer too, he wasn’t their main target. If Carcer and his pack could kill Edon and Rey then the Arctos pack was done.

Edon snapped at one wolf, breaking its leg and then felt jaws close on his shoulder. He howled, twisting away and then they came free as Javcer gutted the werewolf with a vicious swipe of his claws.

There was no time for acknowledgment - that could come later if they survived.

Rey knocked another Turo werewolf aside and Edon moved in perfect harmony, snapping its legs out from under him.

They were working together as one but even that near-supernatural connection wasn’t enough. There were too many Turo pack werewolves.

Then Edon heard a piercing high-pitched squeal and the wall of the den high above them exploded, heavy chunks of stone showering down on them. He saw a werewolf go down under a piece as big as a man but didn’t see if it was a Turo or Arctos pack member.

The explosion temporarily paused the battle, every werewolf turning and looking upward for an instant before continuing their fight.

Edon felt the curse return.

Cass was in that room. They had used some human weapon to attack.

He killed a Turo werewolf in one vicious move, ripping its head from its shoulders and then he looked up to see Carcer climbing the wall, moving so fast he was practically running vertically in wolf form.

Edon howled to Rey and together they followed.

They had to protect Cass.

*

Cass tried to scrabble to her feet but her body wasn’t cooperating. Her head was ringing and her vision doubled, sparks of light shooting across it. She saw a dark shadow and then felt the solid thud of a werewolf land in the room.