Taken By The Alpha (Timber Valley Pack) (10 page)

              She quickly filled her mother in on what she’d found out. “So you need to get off the property right now. You should probably go consult a lawyer so you don’t end up letting you drag you down with him.”

              After a long pause, her mother said “Well, they’re not wolves, are they? They’re only gophers.”

              Katrina gasped. “You are serious? You are okay with him enslaving and abusing a peaceful group of shifters? Wolves against
gophers
? That’s disgusting.”

              “The pack is the most important thing. The pack always comes first, and this has enriched us considerably.”

              “The honor of the pack is the most important thing,” Katrina said heatedly.   Then she reached for the only thing that her mother cared about – their reputation. “People in town are already starting to catch on. When everybody finds out about this, our pack will universally be loathed, and other packs may very well come to the rescue of the gophers out of principle.”

              “I suppose.” Her mother didn’t sound convinced. “Maybe not, though. Your stepfather’s going to be a lot more powerful, soon. He’s got some great plans.” She lowered her voice. “He’s going to be one of the Elders.”

              “How? The Elders are a lifetime position,” Katrina protested.

              “Well, things happen, you know. And he’s positioning himself in such a way that, should one of their seats become empty, he will be popular enough that he’ll have an extra shot. And with all those charity balls that we’ve been giving, people may not even believe it about the gophers. We can say they signed a contract with us and now they’re trying to get out of it.”

              Katrina went cold.   Her stepfather’s ambitions were endless. He’d somehow arrange for an Elder to die, and then take his place.

There had been recent reforms on the Council of Elders, including allowing female pack members to choose their own mates rather than requiring their Alpha’s approval, and allowing pack members to leave their packs without repercussions. She knew that Roman didn’t approve, and he was always talking about reversing the reforms that had been achieved.

Roman in a position of power like that…it would be a nightmare.

“Come back and we’ll talk about it,” her mother said. “We’ll figure out what to do. Where are you right now?”

              Katrina hung up the phone without answering.  She dialed Maddox quickly. “Where are you?” he demanded, his voice furious. “Lula claims that she saw you shoot and kill Michael.”

              “Killed?” she cried out. Her blood ran cold. Lula had killed him after all. “Me? Lula shot him with the tranq. She’s the one who tried to help me escape the first time, and she put cyanide in the darts so that I’d kill people while I tried to escape and you’d blame it on me. And Teresa’s in on this somehow. Have you talked to the gophers yet?”

              “The gophers? What? How is Teresa in on this?”

              “I woke up in a car trunk, and she was driving the car,” she said hurriedly. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk. I’m headed back to your property and I’ll explain everything when I get there.” She hung up before he could say anything else, dropped the phone, and shifted. Then she ran.

              Would he even want her back? He’d sounded enraged when he’d answered the phone.  Was he angry at her because he believed Lula, or angry because of what had happened?

              Michael was dead, Michael was dead…she wished she could shift to human form and cry. She wished she could howl, but she didn’t dare make any noise. She just kept running.

              A few minutes later, the wind shifted, and she realized that she smelled several of her packmates nearby – and getting closer.

              Her mother had sold her out.

              She picked up speed, frantic, but within minutes they were on her and she was surrounded.

              She stopped, panting for breath, and shifted. Her stepfather’s nephews Daxon and Tor were there, and a couple of other pack mates who’d come over with her stepfather. No-one from the Mordhaus’ original pack.

              “What the hell do you want?” she demanded angrily. “How dare you chase me down? I have the right to run wherever I want.”

              “Your mother wants to talk to you,” Daxon said, looking contemptuous.  He’d carried a cell phone in his jaws and dropped it on the ground when he shifted.  He picked it up and dialed while Katrina stood with her arms folded, glaring at them. They had absolutely no right to keep here here. Then again they had no right to imprison the gophers and steal from them and enslave them; obviously they weren’t too concerned with the finer points of The Covenant.

Daxon handed her the phone. “I want you to know this is for your own good,” her mother said, in her haughtiest tone. “Your stepfather has picked out a very nice Alpha that you’ll be mated with, a man with an excellent bloodline and a very good reputation. You have been carrying on with the enemy in a disgusting and disgraceful fashion.  Clearly you need to be taken in hand and shown some discipline before your terrible behavior becomes public. Now, I’ll have you know-”

              Katrina spit out a curse word as she turned and hurled the phone against a tree, and it shattered.

              Daxon cuffed her on the side of the head so hard that her ears rang.

              “That’s from your stepfather,” he snarled. “He said to do that if you gave us any trouble. And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

              Maddox summoned every bit of his strength to keep his rage under control.  Roman had called him up and told him if he wanted to see Katrina alive again, he’d meet him at city hall in Greensville – without making any phone calls to the Council of Elders. He’d claimed that if Maddox made any calls, he’d know. Maddox had decided not to risk it.

              He’d arrived first, and was pacing the floor when Roman walked in to the meeting room, alone, carrying a laptop, and shut the door behind him.

              “There’s no reason I shouldn’t tear your head off right now,” Maddox snarled, letting his fur sprout on his face. “And by the way, even though you’re trying to hide it, I see you’re favoring your left side. Was it the silver knife? Because I’ve done some checking, and I’ve heard about the assassination attempt.”

              “You’re so clever.” Roman’s lip curled in a sneer as he set the laptop. “I think you’ll want to watch this video before you make any fatal mistakes.”

              Roman opened up his laptop and clicked on a video.  It showed a horrifying video of a big grey wolf dangling from chains, being skinned alive.  His animal screams and pleas echoed from the laptop’s speakers. A small smile twitched at Roman’s lips.

              “That was my father,” Roman said proudly. “After he decided that I was too weak to be an Alpha, and tried to drown me in the pond behind our house. I showed him who the weak one was.”

              “If you’re trying to show me that you’re a sick, twisted asshole descended from a line of sick, twisted assholes, I already knew that.” Maddox bared his fangs.

              He clicked off the video, then clicked on another one. This was a live feed.

              Maddox struggled not to suck in his breath.

              Katrina sat tied to a chair. Her lip was swollen and bleeding, and she had a copper collar on her neck, preventing her from shifting. A man stood next to her. As Maddox watched, he cuffed Katrina on the side of her head. Katrina turned and spit blood into the man’s face, and snarled something that he couldn’t make out.

              Maddox shifted and lunged, and Roman shifted too. Maddox knocked Roman to the ground easily and stood over him, his jaws snapping at Roman’s neck.

              Roman didn’t try to fight back, just lay on his back with his paws in the air.

              Then Roman shifted back to human form. Maddox shifted too, kneeling over Roman and snarling.

              “Do you know how bad I’m going to hurt you before I kill you?” he growled.

              Roman struggled to a sitting position. “Nice fighting spirit. Save it for the Arena,” Roman said. “You’re going to need to make a good show of things before you throw the fight and let me kill you.”

              “Let’s add crazy to sick twisted asshole. You think you can get away with kidnapping Katrina? In what fucked up world do you think I’d let that happen?”

              “I always knew you had a thing for her,” Roman sneered. “You were panting after her every time you laid eyes on her.

              Comprehension dawned, swirling with his choking rage. “That’s why you let her go shopping in town. That’s why you hadn’t issued an edict or reacted to my ban. You wanted me to take her hostage.”

              “I played you like the stupid pawn you are. In case you’re wondering, I’m the king in this analogy.” Roman’s tone was loathsomely smug.

              “And you decided to have the death match in a month so I’d have time to fall for her. And you sent Teresa over to spy on us. She was the one who’d been calling your pack. She let you know that Katrina and I were mating. How the fuck did you get Lula to go along with your demented scheme?”

              “Teresa convinced her that she’d help Lula get together with you.  Lula had no idea that I’m going to kill you,” Roman shrugged. 

              “Teresa shot that grenade into Katrina’s room. She could have killed her.”

              “No, she couldn’t. The grenade was a dud. We just wanted to make sure Katrina would go running to you for comfort. Now, I want you to think about that video you just saw. If I’d do that to my own father, imagine what I’d do to a spoiled, disrespectful little bitch that I don’t even like.”

              Maddox let out an involuntary snarl. If Roman weren’t holding Katrina hostage, he’d have killed him on the spot for speaking about Katrina like that.

              He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was letting Roman provoke him, and showing his hand. He was letting his emotions rule his head.

              “When we enter the Death Arena, you’ll make a good show of fighting for the first couple of minutes, and then I will rip your throat out. I can promise you it will be quick. Then I will let Katrina live. There’s an Alpha that wants to marry her, and his pack would make a valuable alliance. If you fight and succeed in killing me, my family will peel the skin from Katrina’s flesh.”

              “And you think her mother will let them get away with that?” Maddox snarled.

              Roman threw back his head and let out a harsh, barking laugh.

              “It’s been three years now and that bitch still hasn’t produced an heir for me.  Right after I kill you, I’m dumping her and marrying Teresa. She’s excellent breeding stock, attractive, appropriately submissive and she’s proven that she is fertile and can give birth to sons. She’ll give me Alphas. Of course I’ll have to kill both of her sons, she’ll need to be one hundred percent devoted to my children, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with that. She won’t have much choice.”

              He stood up, closing his laptop, and walked to the door. He glanced back over his shoulder and said “I’m sure that you’ll make the right decision.”

              Then he left the room.

              Maddox sat there, gritting his teeth, his blood boiling.  His mate was being held hostage, she was being hurt, and if he tried to rescue her Roman’s men would kill her long before he could get to her.  Katrina, his feisty, beautiful, kind-hearted, Katrina was being hurt right this very minute and he was supposed to be protecting her and he couldn’t.

              His mate or his pack. His mate or his pack.

              What would he choose? How would he choose?             

The testing was finally complete, and both Roman and Maddox had passed. The Council of Elders were satisfied that neither of them had used any enhancements, magic or otherwise.

There was a massive crowd sitting in bleachers on both sides of the field, with dozens of Wardens standing by to keep order. Killingworths and their allies on one side, Mordhaus pack and their allies on the other side.

The Council of Elders, of course, were sitting in front of the bleachers, where they could supervise the action and ensure there was no cheating.

Roman strolled on to the field, waving to his pack, smiling hugely. Teresa was sitting in the front row. Confident of his victory, he’d already given Janet the news of her replacement the evening before and hustled her off to a small cabin on the far edge of the property. She’d wept and wailed and begged in a most irritating fashion; it had been a relief to get her out of his sight.

He and Teresa had celebrated all night long; it wasn’t a full moon yet, so it was unlikely she’d be pregnant, but it wouldn’t be long now.

Oddly, she didn’t look as excited as he would have expected. Did she look worried? She did. She actually looked panicked.  Well, that was downright disrespectful.

Maybe she wouldn’t make the perfect Alpha’s mate after all. He felt a ripple of anger run through him. How dare she give the appearance that she thought he might lose?

There were plenty of suitable replacements who were eager for the honor of being his mate. He would tolerate no disloyalty, nothing less than the adoration and respect that he was due. That was one thing he’d say for Janet, she made it clear to everyone that she worshipped the ground he trod on. That was the only acceptable demeanor for an Alpha’s mate. If only she’d given him an heir.

Maddox threw open the flaps of the tent where he’d been undergoing his own testing, and began striding across the field towards him.

Roman cast a final irritated glance at Teresa – and saw her gesturing frantically towards the side of the field where the Killingworth pack was sitting. There was a Warden standing behind Teresa, Roman realized. Why was he there?

Roman looked where Teresa was pointing – and a bolt of horror shot through him and made him gasp.

Katrina was there – right in the front row.

How? She hadn’t been there when he’d walked into the tent to get tested, but that had been several hours ago.

  Katrina blew a kiss to Maddox, then gave Roman the finger.  She was sitting next to a female gopher shifter. Stacey something. And Stacey’s parents. No. No, he had them locked up. How were they here?

He looked at the bleachers on the other side of the field, and felt sick. All of the gophers were there. All of the gophers were sitting together. That shouldn’t be. He always kept the families separate.

Maddox was almost on him now. This could not be happening. Everything was falling to pieces. This never happened to him. He was Roman Coffman. Everything went his way.

Wardens were standing in the bleachers next to his nephews, and his nephews looked frightened and angry.

“Hey, old man!” Maddox barked at him. Roman swiveled back to look at him, his eyes wild with panic.

“You know what gophers are good at, asshole?” Maddox flashed a feral grin. “Digging. Katrina told them where their families were, and this morning, as soon as you left your pack property, they dug a tunnel and freed them.  Then they dug Katrina out, with help from my men.”

Roman’s fell back a step, and terror washed over him. He struggled for words, frantically tried to think of a way out, but he could only make gurgling sounds of panic. He was about to die.

“Now, let me tell you what’s about to happen,” Maddox said grimly. “I will kill you, and then I will hunt down and kill everyone who helped you kidnap Katrina and imprison those gopher families. Your family name will be spoken with contempt and disgust for generations to come. And you know what? Your father was right. You are weak and pathetic and you’re no Alpha.”

“I surrender,” Roman said quickly, eagerly. “I have money hidden. You can have all of it. Millions of dollars. You can have my pack. I’ll walk away.”

There was no mercy in Maddox’s furious gaze. “Not after you kidnapped and hurt my mate and terrorized the god damned town, you won’t.”

Roman reeled back. He barely heard the Elders stand up and make the traditional announcements, and before he knew it, Maddox had shifted and was running towards him. He was massive, his eyes were glowing with rage, and his lips were wrinkled back, baring his fangs.

Roman shifted quickly and, panicked, turned and ran. He heard boos and jeering from the crowd.

“Coward!” they screamed at him.

Maddox slammed in to him and tore into his back with his fangs.  He felt hot, searing pain, and blood pouring onto his fur.

Roman was pinned on the ground underneath him. He lunged upward, aiming for Maddox’s throat, but his unhealed wound stiffened him and sent pain tearing through him when he moved too fast. Maddox dodged him easily.

Roman managed to roll out from underneath Maddox and scrambled to his feet.  He backed up, and Maddox advanced on him slowly, drawing the moment out.

Blood coursed down Roman’s back, and his mind was blank with terror. 

He pictured his father’s sneering face, heard his shouted taunts, felt the agony of his father’s boots slamming into his ribs again and again. Was that his father, or was that Maddox? 

He let out a whimper of fear, and realized he’d urinated, the stench burning his nostrils.

Maddox launched himself through the air again. The last thing Roman felt was Maddox’s teeth closing on his throat, and then searing, burning pain.