My Warrior Wolves (A Werewolf Shifter Romance) (Sanctuary, Texas Book 4) Page 2

  Except no one let me grieve. Not for a second. Everyone wanted something. And I had nothing left to give. If my parents had survived, I’d already be gone. If it were one of the other more seasoned males vying for the alpha position –anyone but my uncle –I would already be gone. But it wasn’t. And I was stuck. My parents would’ve expected me to do everything in my power to keep their legacy going. I wouldn’t disappoint them.

  “You’re in heat, Charlie. But you haven’t made a move on anyone in the pack,” Dean said slowly, moving closer to the front of the crowd. “If you were truly invested in this pack, you would’ve already bonded with the male that triggered it. Instead, you show weakness by trying to lead by yourself. Lycan packs must have a pair.”

  My uncle’s lips curved into a smile that made my palms sweat. They really were going to try and steal the pack from me.

  “Why don’t you just step aside and let the male heirs decide who’s going to step up for this pack?” Dean asked, flashing a dark look at our uncle.

  Damn. Not only were they both trying to shove me out of my rightful place, they were going to fight each other. Either one of them as alpha for this pack would be chaos.

  Uncle Victor was a power-hungry asshole who would use the pack to further his needs. While my cousin Dean was only twenty-five years old, a baby in comparison to my eighty years of experience in the jacked-up place formerly known as the United States. He just didn’t have a clue.

  He wouldn’t continue the smuggling runs. Neither of them would, and that mission had driven my parents since the Riots. The pack had been founded on helping trapped families. All of that would disappear if I lost control. I didn’t want to continue the rescues either, but my parents would turn in their graves if I didn’t. So I would continue on the path they’d set for the pack.

  If I called Travis and Garrett, they would just tell me to leave. Tell me to come back to Sanctuary and live with them and abandon the pack that didn’t think I could lead without a male at my side.

  Though tempting, I’d be lying to myself if I denied I’d considered the possibility. But abandoning my parent’s legacy wasn’t what I’d promised them a few minutes before they’d been murdered by that fucking psychopathic lunatic, Xerxes.

  My fate was sealed. I stayed with the pack no matter what.

  I remembered life before the Riots of ’46. It’d been easy. Lycans took everything for granted. Our kind had become complacent and careless. We paid for it and brought all of humanity down on our backs and on a handful of other supernatural races in the process.

  Tap. Tap. Tap. I turned. Kara, now a single mother of two little ones, stood in the kitchen doorway. Her husband had died in the massacre at Vicksburg Bridge. She approached slowly, her gaze darting between my uncle, my cousin, and me.

  “There’s… there’s a man at the door who says he has a message from Xerxes.”

  “What!” Bile rose in my throat, burning through the top layer of skin, making me grimace. I lunged for the hallway, but my uncle grabbed my upper arm before I slipped away.

  “Stay calm and hear him out, Charlie. He’s got a valid point to make.”

  I shoved away from him and shuddered. “What the fuck, Uncle Victor? You invite the enemy literally to our doorstep and you want me to stay calm?”

  “It’s time for things to change,” Dean said, stepping up to stand next to me. His six-foot-eight frame made me overwhelmingly aware of how much smaller I was compared to either of them.

  If it came down to it, I didn’t have a chance in hell of winning this fight without help.

  I wanted time to consider my options.

  Time to grieve.

  Time to let the pack heal from the losses we’d suffered before I tried to fight with Travis and Garrett about staying here. And we would fight.

  I already knew they didn’t want to stay in Ada.

  But there was no time left. If I didn’t call them, I might lose the pack forever.

  Chapter 3

  TRAVIS

  “Charlie is the only one left in Ada who could help, but…”

  “I know,” Riza said. “But this is my sister. I won’t leave her. She would go back for me.”

  “What about your baby, Riza? You can’t go crawling around a military state when the biggest badass on the planet is searching for you,” I said, crossing my arms resolutely over my chest. It was ridiculous. The idea of that little female fighting any regular-sized person was amusing.

  She pulled away from Mikjáll and reached for my arm. A few seconds later, a jolt of electricity arced from her fingertips into my skin. Holy shit. I’d never come so close to biting my tongue clean off.

  “I’m perfectly capable. I just need a little assistance,” she answered, her voice dark and filled with a determination that reminded me of Charlie. This little fox was ready to dive into the henhouse.

  Her electric display didn’t convince me she was ready to deal with hens that bit back. We needed Charlie, or at least one person from the pack, to guide us. They knew all the back ways in and out; without that, we would easy targets.

  “Give us a little time, Riza. Let me make some calls,” Mikjáll said. “I assure you, we will get your sister back. I will personally make sure of it.”

  The little female visibly relaxed against Mikjáll’s body. A surge of jealousy heated my body, and I clenched my hands into fists. He better not expect us to contact Charlie. She’d made it clear that we weren’t welcome in Ada without her permission. Neither of us would cross the line she’d drawn. No male Lycan would disrespect a female who’d said no.

  “We can’t ask the pack in Ada,” I said slowly, waiting for the Drakonae to get pissed and lash out. He didn’t, though.

  “I didn’t think we could. They took a terrible hit. But there are people here who might help. Would it be too much to ask you to reach out to Charlie and ask what route would be our best option? She would have more knowledge of the least patrolled highways than anyone in town.”

  Maybe. It was possible we could get away with a harmless question like that. But I wasn’t putting it past her to ignore our call completely. I’d left my cellphone with her so that she could contact us —just in case she changed her mind. It’d been enchanted by Meredith Bateman, one of Sanctuary’s resident witches, so the signal couldn’t be tapped or traced by any government.

  Garrett’s phone buzzed on the bar top behind us. The face of the glass lit up, and my name flashed on the screen. I reached for the device, but Garrett was quicker.

  “Charlotte?” he asked, using her full name.

  In my mind, she was Charlie—tough, badass, a survivor who fought for what she wanted. But hearing him use Charlotte reminded me that, just because she had hard edges, I couldn’t forget that she had a softer side as well —even if she’d forgotten.

  His voice softened, and my heart raced, listening for her response. Why had she called? Was something wrong?

  “I have a problem, and I need you two to help me.”

  I could hear her voice perfectly though she was on the other side of the line.

  “We will be there in a few hours,” Garrett shot back, glancing at me. His eyes reflected my worries. Something was really going to hell if she was asking us to come to Ada. She knew we wanted her. And that we wanted her to come back to Sanctuary with us. We both ran the tattoo shop now and couldn’t imagine leaving the friends ---make that family--- we had here.

  “This doesn’t mean I’m changing my mind about leaving, but an uncle and one of my cousins allowed a Lycan loyal to Xerxes into my living room. I’m upstairs right now, but I have to go talk to this asshole…”

  Her voice faded away, laced with fear and uncertainty. Just the fact that she made the phone call was a huge step for us. It gave us another chance to try and seal the mating bond. But the call also meant she was desperate. I hated that she had to feel so lost before she sought us out.

  “Do your best to stall, Charlotte,” Garrett said. “We are coming.”r />
  “Thank you,” she whispered before the line went dead.

  “Sounds like she’s having a crisis up there,” Mikjáll said.

  “We leave in twenty. I’m sorry, Riza.”

  The female shook her head. “She’s your mate. I understand. We will find others here to help find my sister, right?” Riza asked, tipping her head up to meet Mikjáll’s gaze.

  “Yes, we will, my dear.” Rose’s calm voice carried across the still-quiet bar. “Boys, I expect you to do whatever is necessary to help your mate.”

  I nodded, surprised to see Rose in Riley’s bar. It wasn’t often that she left the cafe. She lived above her restaurant and rarely left the center of town.

  “Mikjáll, take Riza, go get the baby, and take them both to the Castle. They need to be under guard while you are not at her side. I’ll make a few calls and meet you outside the cafe.” The small Persian woman turned to the Kitsune female. “Do you know why Xerxes wanted your baby?” Riza shook her head and frowned. “The blood of a Kitsune infant can transfer its abilities.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, taking a step toward the group and motioning to my brother to stop.

  Rose looked at me for a moment, the wisdom and pain of millennia weighing her down. She turned to Riza and spoke again. “Xerxes is trying to mask his DNA.”

  “How do you know Xerxes still has Riza’s sister?” Mikjáll interrupted. “The video showed her with the Governor of the SECR.”

  “He wants power. The only way he can get more is to convince the human population he’s one of them. The Washington Republic has been developing scanning technology for years. It only makes sense that he has her.”

  My stomach threatened to crawl up my esophagus. Scanners. At least at the moment we had a fighting chance to hide and avoid detection, but if scanning tech was implemented across the Republics, it would only be a matter of time before it was installed on satellites. “He’s preparing for a move on the WR, isn’t he?”

  Rose nodded. “Him allowing Sochi on the news is a lure. Our only advantage is that Riza and her baby are safe in Sanctuary. They must stay here. We need to get her sister out of there before…” Rose cut herself off and frowned.

  “What?” Riza begged. “What is he going to do to my little sister? She’s sixteen! You said only an infant’s blood was useful to him. He can’t use her unless—” A sob wrenched from her tiny body, and Mikjáll caught her before she collapsed to the ground. “Please help her, please! You have to get her back!”

  “We will, Riza,” Rose spoke calmly, reaching forward to touch Riza’s arm. “I promise we will get her back.” Rose turned to face me again and nodded. “Go to your mate. We will help Riza. And I am coming, too.”

  My heart hurt for the Kitsune, but Rose knew Garrett and I needed to get to Charlie. Still, I was shocked Rose was willing to leave Sanctuary to go after this young girl.

  “Thank you, Rose.”

  Chapter 4

  CHARLIE

  Voices filtered up the stairs as I made my way down into the living room. The scent of strangers was thick in the air, mixed with arrogance and disgust.

  I rounded the corner and entered the great room of the lodge.

  Uncle Victor sat in one of the high wing-back chairs in front of the fireplace. Dean stood behind him with a smug look on his face that made me want to pummel him. An unfamiliar Lycan male sat on the couch, flanked by two more unfamiliar Lycan males, both dressed in full body armor. Thoughts of strangling my uncle and cousin on the spot danced through my head.

  “You had no right to invite them into our home without my permission.” My voice was cold, calculated, and—I could only hope—pissed enough to get my attitude across quickly. “I am the pack alpha until the pack tells me otherwise.”

  “I think you’ve made quite enough decisions for this pack, Charlotte,” Victor growled. “You need to listen to Martin. He comes with a peace offering from Xerxes. Don’t you think this pack has seen enough pain and suffering for a lifetime?”

  “Get out!” I glared at the stranger on the couch. “Get out of my home. Now!”

  “I think you should hear me out, Charlotte. Don’t you think the pack deserves to have peace?” The stranger stood and held up his hands as if he were surrendering. But that was the furthest thing from his mind; I could smell the arrogance coming off of him and his companions.

  Why couldn’t Victor and Dean smell the lies? Were they so terrified of fighting for a just cause that they would surrender to my parents’ murderer? Could they really be this blind?

  I snarled, struggling to hold back the wolf inside that wanted nothing more than to rip his throat out. My vision changed, and I knew my eyes were bright yellow. How dare he have the audacity to waltz into my home after what Xerxes did!

  Moving slowly, I approached him until I was barely a foot away. He was taller than me, but I didn’t care. I tilted my chin up at the traitorous bastard and growled.

  “I watched him brutally stab my mother and slice her throat open in front of me. He enjoyed it. He teased my father as he gutted my mother in front of us both.” My gaze swung to my uncle, and I saw the slightest hint of guilt, maybe even remorse. “Then he killed my father.” A sob slipped out. The memories of that horrid night filled my mind. If not for Manda distracting him, I would’ve died that night, too. He would’ve killed me, and Manda had known he wouldn’t kill her.

  But Manda had wanted to die. She’d hoped for it.

  She’d thrown herself into the Phoenix’s fire. After risking everything to get us out, she still tried to end her life. It was her fault half the pack was dead, but if it hadn’t been for her… I’d be dead.

  “War has casualties, Miss Mason,” he replied, his tone flippant and uncaring. “Xerxes is offering your pack peace. They merely have to serve him when needed and pledge loyalty to my alpha. Join my pack and your lives will cease to be torture. He will stop hunting you.” He glanced around the room and then looked back to me. “All of you.”

  My mouth ached, and I mentally pushed my wolf back. She wanted his blood… any blood as retribution. But it wasn’t the right time. This bastard likely had dozens more soldiers with him waiting in the shadows. Our numbers were so low.

  I needed help. I hated that feeling.

  My parents told me after the Riots I would one day lead the pack. Every decision I made would be scrutinized. And they were. My choices had brought me to this crossroad.

  This next choice would not only define my life, but the life of everyone in the pack that looked to me as their leader in the absence of my parents.

  I glanced past the emissary into the hallway and saw one of the now-single females standing silently, watching. Several other moms stood behind her. All of them had lost their husbands and mates.

  “Gina,” I said, gesturing to the youngest woman in the front of the hall. “Would you and the other ladies please show our guests into the kitchen? I need to speak to Victor and Dean alone.”

  She nodded and went into the main room.

  I turned to the emissary and his two thugs and motioned them to follow the women. “Please, excuse me. But I need to speak privately with my pack about your proposal.”

  The traitorous scum smirked, and it took everything inside me not to lunge at him. They followed Gina and the others out of the main room, disappearing down another hallway that led into the lodge’s huge kitchen.

  Turning my focus back to my uncle and cousin, I released the growl I’d been holding back.

  “Dad’s office. Now.” I stormed out of the room and didn’t turn around again until I was on the other side of my father’s large office and fortified behind his massive mahogany desk.

  My uncle perused the room, and his gaze lingered on my father’s desk chair. Great significance rested with that chair. Leaders sat there. Alphas. Even though I wasn’t seated, I had taken my position behind the desk, leaving him and Dean on the other side.

  “Charlie. This is what’s best for the pac
k. We don’t have the resources to keep doing…”

  “What? To keep helping our people? People Xerxes also slaughters if they don’t agree to his terms.”

  “To be a Lamassu’s bitch.” Victor’s lip curled, and his dark eyes briefly flashed yellow.

  I scoffed. “I’d rather be Rose’s bitch than yours. Tell me you’re not stupid enough to believe that lying asshole, Uncle.”

  “He’s offering us a way out, cousin,” Dean spoke up. “I’m with Uncle Victor. My father would still be alive, as well as yours, if we didn’t send pack into the SECR again and again and again. The smuggling has to stop. We can’t keep sacrificing lives for everyone.”

  “So who deserves to live, Dean? Who gets to choose? You’re telling me you want Xerxes to have that right. To have the right to choose whether we live or die. We will be at his beck and call, just like the asshole in our kitchen.”

  “Hush, Charlie. You know he can hear you,” Victor said, raising his hand to shush me. “You’re being unreasonable. My brother and your mother fought the good fight, and they paid the ultimate price for their choices. You almost did, too. Don’t you want a chance to live without all of this?”

  “That’s just the point. You can’t get away from this!” I waved my hands around the room. “This is never going to change if you capitulate to his demands. At least my parents had the balls to fight for their species’ right to survive. You just want us to beg for scraps.”

  “Better to beg sometimes, Charlie, than to starve,” Victor answered, narrowing his eyes.

  Coldness swept through me, and I knew I’d lost them both. Dean was young and male, and he would do anything his uncle said was right. The only reason I had an opinion Victor couldn’t manipulate was because I was old enough to see through his bullshit.