The Alpha's Fight: Huntsville Pack Book 3 (21 page)

At that, Adele shifted into her human form. She didn't stand though, she huddled on the floor, her body shaking with sobs. "I didn't know. I thought there was something wrong with me." She turned her head and reached a hand out to Lia who grabbed it and held on. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Why don't you remember?"

"I got caught up in a bar fight at the Rowdy Howl and took a bad hit to the head. I remember almost nothing."

"Oh, the moon help me," Adele moaned. "It's all my fault."

"Perhaps," said the healer. "But you dig out of the guilt by helping her, not by burying yourself in drugs."

"I've been clean for weeks. I'm not buried in anything."

The healer shook her head. "No. You haven't. You just switched one drug for another. I can smell the vampire on you."

"It's better than where I was," Adele said, bitterness souring her voice.

"Don't you understand? I have the way out, child. You just have to follow it." The healer extended her hand. "Here, I'll show you. Lend me your strength and we'll share it with Ryder."

Adele hesitated, moving only when Lia hissed at her, "Do it. Please."

The healer took Adele's hand, and then grabbed Ryder's. Closing her eyes, she said, "You'll feel a pull but it won't hurt. Just let go. And just so you know, I like to use singing as my focus."  The healer hummed a few notes before launching into a folksy, lyrical song, her voice strong and clear.

Moon bright,

Moon's light,

Take my might,

Make things right.

This soul is weary,

the blood is slow,

but 'tis not time to go.

There's running to do,

Lots of living left,

The pack's strength

Howls to you...

Moon bright,

Moon's light,

Take my might,

Make things right.

This life's not done yet
.

Lia closed her eyes and swayed with the song. The lyrics were simple, but they carried power that radiated peace and calm. She relaxed into it, letting her troubles fall away. The song wasn't meant for her, but some of its magic washed over her anyway.

Light flickered on the backs of her eyelids and disjointed memories danced in her mind. She saw her mother, who had the same dark sable hair and hazel eyes as her. Celia had been her name and she carried herself with a quiet gentleness.

Her father had been tall with shoulders so broad he'd always entered rooms sideways. His strength had thrown her up in the air when she was little. For a second, she was airborne and a bubble of laughter rose in her throat. Lia swallowed it down, not wanting to interrupt the healer. The deep boom of her father's laughter echoed through her mind and tears burned her eyes because she knew that would be the only place she would hear it anymore.

Squeezing her eyes tight to push back the tears, her memories darkened. The day they'd lost their parents, towering black clouds had blotted out the sun. They were supposed to just run into town so her mother could pick up some groceries and for her father to discuss some pack business with the alpha. Their cabin sat in the middle of vast wilderness and it took an hour of driving on winding roads flanked by massive oak trees to reach their pack's town.

"You two stay here," her mother had told them. "We'll be back soon. Be good."

Lia smiled. Being allowed to stay home alone was a new thing. She already knew which cartoons she was going to watch, if the wind didn't knock out satellite signal.

"Clean your rooms and we'll make brownies when I get back." She'd pressed first Lia, and then Adele into a quick hug. "Luke, are you sure we have to go into town today? I don't like the look of this weather." Her mother peered out the window, her brow furrowed.

"The alpha's been waiting on my response for a week." Luke chuckled. "Don't worry, Celia. I'm too big for the wind. We'll be fine."

"You know, if you accept and become the pack second, you'll never be home," said Celia.

"I know, beautiful. But pack's pack. If the alpha needs me, the pack needs me."

"I'm just glad I don't have to go," said Adele, clapping her hands over her ears. "The wind would howl into the car." She always complained about car rides, oddly sensitive to the noise of the engine and the way the tires ground into the road. According to their mother, she'd screamed non-stop as a baby, only just tolerating it as she got older.

"And that's why you two stay here." Their father gave them warm pecks on the cheek, being sure to tickle them into laughter with his wiry beard. "Be good pups. All right?"

"Yes, Daddy," Lia and her sister said in unison.

After their parents left, Lia wrestled Adele for the remote and set it to Animal World. Cleaning her room could wait, the newest episode of Animal Babies was on. Adele slumped on the couch, arms crossed, her eyes narrow slits that shot daggers at Lia.

"What is it with you and this show? It's like watching your favorite snacks but never eating them."

Lia shrugged and turned up the volume.

"No," shouted Adele jumping to her feet. She clutched her head and spun in circles. "No, no, no."

"Chill, Adele. Sheesh." Lia pushed the volume higher. She loved her sister, she really did, but these weird fits she had got on her nerves. They came on without warning and could last for hours. Sometimes her sister even shifted and ran off, forcing their father to go look for her. Once she'd been gone so long it took three days to track her down.

Adele kept moving, her body jerking as if someone had pulled her puppet strings.

"What is your problem? Sit down, okay?" Lia patted the couch. "Just sit."

"No," howled Adele. She threw her head back and unleashed the full power of her wolf's voice.

Lia pulled on her sister's shirt, trying to force her to sit. "Be quiet. The whole pack will hear you and think something's wrong." Their closest neighbors were a half hour run away, but howls could travel even further. On full moons, the pack came out and howled back and forth at each other all up and down the west coast. "Do you want Mom and Dad to hear? They'll think something's wrong and come home."

Still her sister howled, her face turning red as she didn't stop to breathe. Lia clapped a hand over Adele's mouth, and then recoiled with a yelp. "You bit me!" Beyond aggravated, she stood and hauled her sister up to her feet. Dragging her by the hand, she shoved Adele into the room they shared and slammed the door shut. This didn't do much to muffle the howling, but it at least gave her a shot at watching TV.

Settling onto the couch, she pulled a blanket around her shoulders. The sky had gone dark as night and fat rain drops slapped the roof of their cabin, sounding like heavy footed squirrels. And of course, there was all her sister's howling.

"Jeez. What a crappy day." She sighed and focused on the television screen.

Adele came tearing out of their room a second later, her eyes wide and wild, her hair a mess and tears streaming down her face. She lunged for the remote and threw it...straight into the television. The screen cracked and caved followed by a soft electrical popping sound.

"What are you doing?" Lia looked at her sister in horror and for the first time fear stirred in her gut. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Adele put her hands on Lia's shoulders and pinned her to the couch. "Don't you get it? They're gone."

And just like that, Lia remembered the day her parents died. With a shiver, she opened her eyes, letting the tears that had built up flow free. The loss was fresh all over again. The healer nodded to her and continued to sing. She squeezed her sister's hand. They'd been through so much at such a young age, it wasn't fair.

The healer ended her song in a loud crescendo that shifted into a howl. Lia joined her, unable to resist the pull of the healer's magic. Adele and the sheriff's men added their howls to hers.

"It is done," said the healer after a moment of silence.

Lia took a deep breath, feeling a little lighter and more whole than she had in days. "So you're saying my sister can do this work? What you do?"

"If she applies herself, yes."

"Do you want to do this?" Lia looked at her sister, who seemed so small and vulnerable.

Adele thought for a moment and gave a slow nod. "I have to, don't I? I can't keep going on like this." She ducked her head. "I'm sorry I'm such a loser."

"Don't say that." Lia stood and offered Adele her hand. "From what the healer said, our pack failed you. That's what led you here."
And brought me to him
. She looked at Ryder, pleased to see him resting normally, like he was asleep instead of dying.

"Why did the vampires kill everyone?" asked Talon.

Adele shivered. "I-I don't know. They told us to stay put, that we would be safe."

Talon snorted. "Well, that was a lie. How is it that you're still alive?"

"I went for the duct once I realized they weren't going to let us live. I didn't see what happened, but I heard it." She paused and drew in a shaky breath.

"No one fought back, " Talon said. "There were no defensive wounds. No sign of a fight." This wasn't a question, but a statement.

"We didn't have a chance." Adele sniffed and scrubbed tears from her eyes. "They...controlled us. I heard them tell everyone to line up."

Lia winced. "How come you didn't line up, too?"

"I-I plugged my ears and thought about my wolf. I'm new. They didn't take as much blood from me. Maybe that makes a difference?"

Lia rubbed her sister's back, a sense of failure churning in her stomach. "I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."

Adele leaned into Lia. "At least I had someone who cared. I don't think the others did."

Talon waved to the door leading back up to the main floor. "We should probably get out of here. I bet they don't know they have a survivor."

"Where do we go?" Lia asked. "We don't know anyone here and you can't keep putting young women in the nursing home. Someone is bound to notice. And I don't think Ryder should go back to his home pack. Not until he's stronger."

"Or, hell, just awake." Talon regarded the unconscious man and sighed. "He's going to be out for a while, isn't he, Marie?"

The healer nodded. "Sleep is the best medicine. If you'll allow it sheriff, I have space for them and no one outside this room will know where they are. Do you trust your people?"

"With my life," Talon said without hesitation.  To his team he said, "Let's get everyone upstairs. Then we'll use the body bags from the van to transport them. If anyone's watching, we don't want them to think we found anyone living."

"What about the other bodies?" Lia asked.

"I'll have to call in the Pack Council. This kill count is way beyond what I'm equipped to handle." He moved for the door. "Come on. Someone pick up Ryder and let's move, guys. The longer we stick around, the more nervous I get. Something ain't right about this and we shouldn't be here any longer than we have to be."

Lia took a moment to hug her sister as one of the bigger guys in Talon's crew, heaved Ryder over his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm not sure I am, sis." Adele sniffed into Lia's shoulder. "Somehow things are worse than ever."

She pulled back and wiped away her sister's tears. "Then that means things can only get better, right? The bad guys are gone, you're alive, the healer seems to think she can help you."

"And this guy you like so much isn't dead." When Lia stiffened, her sister laughed. "I don't need light to see something that obvious. You held his hand just as tight as you held mine. I can read body language."

"He's been helping me find you."

"Oh, and that's all? Hmm. I'm not sure I believe that." Adele headed out for the stairs leading up to the main floor, pulling Lia after her.

"So far. We haven't gotten around to anything else. We've been kind of busy dealing with all this." She waved at the basement.

"It's over for now, child," came the healer's calm voice. She held the stairwell door open and motioned for them to hurry. "You'll have time to heal and be safe while you do it. At least for a time."

"What do you mean for a time?" Adele asked.

"Life is a storm and we only enjoy the lulls," said the healer. "May the moon bless us all with a nice long lull after this. Now, let's go. This place isn't for the living, it's for the dead."

***

T
alon had them wait in the lobby while he ran to his van, returning with something dark in his hands. He offered it to Adele.

"What is this?" She gave it a suspicious look.

"It's a body bag."

"I'm not dead."

"I know, but whoever killed everyone down there doesn't know there are any survivors. Humor me and use it just in case anyone is watching."

Adele gave a curt nod and spread the bag out on the floor. Lia helped her unzip it while Talon's crew did the same for Ryder, who was still unconscious.

Talon shooed Adele in. "It'll just be for a few seconds. Once we're on the road you can come out."

She gave the sheriff a sour look. "I guess it's better than walking through the parking lot naked."

"Probably," said Talon, zipping the bag up to her chin. "I'll leave the face open so you can breathe, but keep your head down."

"You really think whoever did this is out there watching?" she asked.

"I don't know," Talon said. "But this way we're sure no one can identify you and show up at your door in the middle of the night to finish the job."

The biggest men from Talon's team each took a bag and slung it over their shoulder. Lia rushed to the front door and held it open for them. The healer brushed past her first with a soft 'thank you.'

"So that's it," Lia said, mostly to herself. Maybe it was the stress, but she felt empty inside.

Talon clapped her on the shoulder and smiled. "Cheer up. We found your sister."

"Thank you for your help." She fell into step with him as he made for his van. His crew were already in the process of loading the body bags via the back doors.

"I just wish I could've helped those people in there." He jerked his head toward the strip club.