Knight Rescue (Rise of the Wolf Nation Book 1) Page 13

  “Plus, Mistress has been feeding his beast energy constantly. My bitch sensed a pull yesterday but had no idea why,” Alpha Jayden said nodding slowly. “Great idea, get his beast healed so Alpha can eventually shift and finish healing.”

  “My bitch mentioned the same thing,” Alpha William said looking at Jasmine as if seeing her for the first time. “You’ve been working on Alpha the whole time.”

  She didn’t respond, instead she cleared her throat. “Does anyone else have questions regarding what I expect you to do until Silas returns?”

  “I sensed you linked to me the same as Alpha, does that mean I report to you?” Alpha Paxon from Arizona asked.

  “Yes. Until Silas returns the structure is the same. Asia is on the KnightForce desk, Jacques has Administration, Tyrone has Half-breed Issues and Concerns, that hasn’t changed. If you have an issue you’d like Silas’ input on, contact me.” She thought about everything that was said and unsaid. “Let me be clear, my mate will return soon. He’s not dead, it’s already been said - he’s healing. When he returns home, he’ll release me from this position when he’s ready, not a moment before. Until that time, we will continue as if he were on the other side of the door, with excellence and honor.” She took her time and met each gaze on the monitor, accepting their agreement.

  When they’d all agreed, she nodded. “Be well Alphas, look after the Goddess’ people.” She inhaled deeply once the monitor disconnected. “One down.” She looked at Jacques. “Are the Generals ready?”

  General Crall did not arrive at the Compound with the four Knights. As soon as the plane landed on American soil, he had been called to Washington immediately. The Knights arrived earlier that day and were undergoing tests and treatments with Dr. Passen.

  “Yes, Cain and Abel as well.”

  She looked over her shoulder at her kids. They returned her gaze with smiles, thumbs ups, and a couple winks.

  “My Shero,” Jackie said.

  “I know, right,” Renée said meeting Jasmine’s gaze. “I wanna be like you when I grow up.”

  “Me too,” Tyrone said.

  Rose bumped against his shoulder. “I know that’s right.”

  Danielle laughed and leaned against Tyrese. “Mom rocks. Did you feel the temperature drop in this room when they took too long to agree?”

  “Brrrr, it did get cold, didn’t it?” Tyrese said. “Now you know where I get that from.”

  “Get what?” Danielle asked, watching her mate.

  “My tough machismo.” Tyrese said with a straight face.

  Jasmine laughed. It was wonderful having the kids here. Tension rolled off her back and shoulders.

  “Are you ready, Jasmine?” Jacques asked from the controls.

  “Yes, thanks Jacques. I’m dressed and here, time to get it over with.” She inhaled, straightened in her seat and watched the monitor. This time Generals Crall and Miller’s faces filled the screen first. Next, Cain and Abel joined them.

  Since they knew about the Knights, but not that Silas had gone after the team personally, Jasmine danced around the facts differently. She didn’t mention the explosion, it was too easy for the generals to connect the dots in Honduras, she made it seem as if he were in Canada, without saying it directly, to check on expansion in that area and would be out of touch. Cain and Abel seemed skeptical but didn’t question her. The Generals thought it was a good idea. The meeting lasted less than 15 minutes which suited her fine.

  “Mistress, I heard from Hawke. He found the area where La Patron landed, but he was moved.”

  Jasmine couldn’t have heard right. Surely, Asia meant Silas walked, crawled or scooted away. “Moved?”

  “Yes. Hawke picked up another scent at the same place where he located La Patron’s scent. Someone moved him.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “WAKE UP NOW, LUCIAN.” Grandfather’s voice snapped loud in his ear. He jerked awake confused by the darkness of his bedroom.

  “Stop, leave him alone,” Raven yelled.

  Lucian rolled out of bed and ran barefooted to the living room. Raven’s face held a red palm print, tears rolled down her cheeks. Lucian took in her disheveled appearance in a glance and leapt forward. He slammed into the first full-blood security patrol, punched him in the jaw, knocking him sideways and ducked the blow from the second guard. The body that had been on the sofa was now on the floor.

  Lucian picked up the second guard and body slammed him on the hardwood floor. Chest heaving, he looked at the two fallen guards and pointed. “Which of you touched my sister?” He zeroed in on the bigger wolf, leaned forward and dragged him to his feet. Before the guard could speak, Lucian punched him three times in the face and then slapped him, leaving a similar mark.

  “Lucian,” his sister called as she picked their guest up from the floor and replaced him on the sofa.

  He glanced at her, grabbed the second guard and shook him. “Who hit my sister? You?”

  “No, Lucian,” the guard said blocking his face. “Honest I didn’t hit her. You know me better than that.”

  Chest heaving, Lucian stared at Berto, an old friend a few seconds long and released him. “Who is he?” he pointed to the guard lying on the ground.

  “New to the pack. Rick and that guy Franz, brought him in a few days ago. He’s learning the ropes, today’s his first day on security. Might be his last too.” Berto scowled at the fallen guard. “He picked up the human’s scent, ran in this direction before I could reel him in. Raven didn’t want him inside, he hit her while explaining she broke pack law.” He rubbed his chest. “You still packing a mean punch, did you have to hit me so hard?”

  Lucian took a step back and exhaled. “Berto, you know I don’t play with Raven’s security. He pointed to the other guard. “If you ever touch my sister again, I’ll kill you. Are we clear?”

  The guard glared at him as he tried to stand, stumbled and held onto the wall for a few seconds. “You’re hiding a human on pack land.”

  Lucian stepped closer. “Touch her again, ever, and I will kill you. Do you understand or do I need to kill you now? Make your decision.”

  No one spoke. Lucian’s muscles coiled in preparation to strike. He would break the fucker’s neck and toss him outside with the trash.

  “Fine, I won’t touch her, but I’m calling this in.” He strode toward the front door and stepped outside.

  Berto groaned.

  “What?” Everyone knew his Uncle didn’t bother with him or Raven. Chances are he’d ignore the guard or curse at him for disturbing his sleep.

  “That military dude is with Alpha Rick. Whenever that guy’s around Rick acts all tough and by the book with rules,” Berto said leaning against the wall. “Something’s wrong with that Army dude, he’s on some kind of drug, makes him...weird and shit. Nobody messes with him, no matter where he goes, reds, blues, giants, all the gangs give that motherfucker a pass, treat him like a real threat and it’s not because of the military either.”

  Lucian didn’t care about his Uncle or his friends. Something... no not something, someone, woke him. They told him something he needed to remember but couldn’t. “Raven.” He extended his hand to her.

  She took it.

  “You okay?” He placed his fingers beneath her chin and turned her face. The bruise was disappearing but he’d seen it and that was enough. This country was hard on women, offering them very little protection and not much in the way of legal recourse. He couldn’t protect every woman, but he’d die protecting his litter mates Raven and Tasha. Everyone knew they were off limits.

  “I’m fine, he caught me off guard, that’s all.” She glanced toward the door where the guard stood outside, no doubt speaking to Rick.

  “Sorry this happened to you.” He squeezed her shoulder and looked at Berto who wore a pained expression. She followed his gaze and then looked up at him. They both knew nothing good was going to happen when Berto pushed off the wall and took a couple steps toward them.

  He sigh
ed and met Lucian’s gaze. “Alpha wants us to bring the human to him. He’s got something going on and feels this man could be the answer.”

  Lucian’s gaze narrowed on Berto. Normally it wouldn’t bother him what happened to any human, so why did the idea of his Uncle taking this one send a streak of cold dread down his spine. He glanced at the man lying on the sofa and wondered why he couldn’t simply abandon him to his fate.

  Berto stepped closer. “Look, don’t fight him on this. He just needs to throw some meat at one of the gangs to seal a deal. You don’t know this guy, do you?”

  Lucian shook his head slowly. “No but I have this strange feeling I’m not supposed to let anything happen to him.” He stared at Berto. “Why do I have these inconvenient, weird ass feelings?”

  Berto chuckled. “Don’t know, you’ve always had them since you were a cub. Pick him up, bring him with us so you can protect him. You know better than to ignore your feelings.”

  “I’ll get my jacket,” Raven said running to the back.

  “She’s going?” Berto asked craning his neck to see down the hall.

  “Looks like it.” Lucian picked up the sleeping human, and held him in his arms while waiting for Raven. Lucian stared at the stranger for several seconds trying to recall the voice from his dream. Had it been Grandfather? He couldn’t remember. Who are you? Why is your life important? He wondered.

  Raven returned. “Uncle Rick doesn’t want me to come. He’s afraid Duke will kill the guard if he sees my face.”

  “Or Tasha, she’s meaner than Duke, tougher too,” Berto said. No one mentioned his Uncle’s response in Lucian accompanying the human, they all knew he would go regardless and they’d have to convince him to release the human instead of trying to take him, or there would be problems.

  “Lock the door behind us. I’ll let you know what happens,” Lucian told her as he stepped outside. Three additional guards stood off in the distance. Reinforcements he guessed, although if he were really angry, he’d shift to his two-footed beast and no one could bring him down in that form. Being the only one in the pack, or any pack in the region, with that ability was both a blessing and a curse. His Uncle wanted to use him as extra muscle in his illegal business deals. Disgruntled pack members wanted him to challenge his Uncle for the Alpha of the pack.

  He took off running.

  When he neared the mansion, without breaking stride, he held onto the human tighter, jumped and cleared the high railed balcony. His sister, Tasha, sat on a smaller sofa with Franz. Duke and a few other Sup’s stood further in the room. His Uncle stood in the middle of the room in front of the fireplace.

  “Franz have you met my litter mate’s son? As a pup, I called him runt. You can see he’s far from that now.” His Uncle smirked.

  Franz stood and walked toward Lucian. “Who is he?” he pointed to the man in Lucian’s arms.

  “A friend.” The words surprised Lucian as much as Franz and his Uncle. He had wondered how he’d help the human and hadn’t come up with a plan. Saving a friend was definitely in line with his character and something that his Uncle would believe.

  “You know this man?” his Uncle asked incredulously. “Is he someone from the hotel?”

  Lucian managed both hotels the pack owned. He looked at his Uncle and noted the cunning gaze, twisted lips and pinched nose as if he smelled something foul. Since that was the way he always responded to Lucian’s presence, he didn’t take offense. “Why?”

  That one word challenged his Uncle’s authority, something Lucian was careful not to do. He had no desire to become Alpha of a group of wolves chasing after power, selling drugs and weapons. But he had to make it known he was serious in offering the human protection. The silence lengthened as his Uncle stared at him.

  “I’m curious why he was in your... your parents’ home. Is he friends of the departed?” his Uncle asked.

  Lucian sensed Duke’s unease over his Uncle bringing their sire and mam into the conversation and decided to bring it to an end. “Not that I’m aware of... Uncle.” He turned slightly and looked down at Franz. “Why are you standing so close? Do you plan to stick me with that needle in your palm?”

  Franz looked up and met his gaze. “No. Not this time. I’ve been told not to do anything to you against your will which leaves us with a particular problem.” He walked back to the chair and sat next to Tasha. She placed her hand on Franz’ thigh and looked up at him with a silent plea. Don’t hurt him, please.

  “You can do better,” he told her.

  “Probably but I want him,” she said. “He’s useful. Understands and spoils me.”

  “Okay.”

  “This one isn’t interested in pack problems or dilemmas,” his Uncle said smoothly re-inserting himself. “Over the years we’ve all tried to get him more involved.”

  Duke groaned. “Don’t do this.”

  “Do what?” his Uncle said holding out his arms in an innocent gesture.

  “Explain the problem, Franz,” Tasha said, her gaze flitting between Lucian and Franz.

  Franz looked at Rick who nodded as he walked back to the fireplace.

  Lucian glanced behind him and walked toward a long sofa. “Can you move please so I can lay him down?” he asked the three men sitting there.

  They nodded and stood.

  Lucian gently lay the human down and covered him with the brown chenille blanket that had been draped across the back of the sofa. He sat at the head of the stranger and looked at Franz in expectation.

  Duke watched, took a deep breath and shook his head.

  Franz cleared his throat. “There was a death, two Red Wolves were murdered. The gangs have been looking for whoever did it because if you can snap the neck of two wolves and get away with it, what’s to stop you from taking out four or seven or ten?” He looked at Rick and then at Lucian.

  “We need the Red Wolf to get something really important for a special project we’re working on, they won’t do that unless we help find the man or men responsible for Tag and Squire’s death,” his Uncle said.

  “Okay,” Lucian said and looked at each man, waiting for them to continue.

  “Some people think it was a human who did it,” his Uncle said.

  Lucian laughed. “A human snapped Tag’s neck and then took on Squire? How? Drugged them?”

  “No drugs were in their system,” Duke said frowning.

  “Explain how a human could snap the neck of any full-blood, let alone two,” Lucian said.

  Several members frowned as they thought it through.

  “You may be right, nephew,” his Uncle said slowly. “But you could, couldn’t you?” He pursed his lips. “You could snap Tag’s neck, right?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never tried to snap a neck like you have, Uncle.” Lucian met his Uncle’s hard gaze with silence.

  “I was at a dinner party when those two died... you?” his Uncle said softly.

  “Not sure when they died, but after work I went home and went to sleep, like always.” He waved down his Uncle’s next comments. “Can anyone in here still smell a lie?” he looked at the full-bloods scattered around the room. Several raised their hands.

  “Good. I did not kill Tag or Squire or anyone else. Not yet.” He stared at the guard who hit Raven. The man moved to the back of the room. There was a smattering of laughter around the room.

  “He’s telling the truth,” a couple of pack members said as they nodded to him.

  “Now that we know you didn’t kill them, can you vouch for your new friend?” Franz asked.

  “No, I can’t. When he wakes he will answer for himself,” Lucian said with a note of finality.

  “Red Wolves are searching for some humans who escaped a burning fire. Seems they blew up a house and can’t find the remains,” his Uncle said.

  Lucian looked down at the human and then at his Uncle. “He wasn’t in a fire.” Several pack members looked at the human and nodded their agreement. “What’s really going on?” He grew tir
ed of the back and forth, it was time to go home.

  “Do you really want to know?” his Uncle snapped.

  “I asked.” Lucian held his gaze for several seconds and only looked away because he didn’t want anyone to think he wanted to challenge his Uncle.

  “Follow me.” His Uncle looked around the room. “Franz, Tasha, Duke, you come too.”

  Lucian watched his Uncle leave the room with trepidation. When he called Lucian’s litter-mates as well, his gut clenched. Something was wrong with Tasha or Duke, possibly both given they’d been taking drugs lately. Tasha and Franz remained seated until he rose, turned and picked up the human.

  Something told him this wasn’t going to be good.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  SILAS GASPED AS HE opened his eyes. The sun blazed brightly in the cerulean blue sky. Water trickled nearby in a stream. A cool, comfortable breeze caressed his skin. Soft grass, green and vibrant covered the valley and hilltop.

  He frowned. Valley? Hilltop? “Where am I?” he tried to move but couldn’t, not even the simple act of turning his head. He reached out to Jasmine and received static. Concerned he reached out to Angus, Hawke, Jacques, the twins, David, even a few Alphas. Nothing but static.

  What happened? The Knights! He went to save his Knights. They boarded the plane... he frowned in concentration. They left with the General for West Virginia to his Compound.

  That’s right, they’re safe. The tension eased and then coiled around him again. “Where am I?” he asked again, hoping he’d remember something that would clue him into what happened.

  Still nothing. He sought his beast and was surprised at the amount of energy it used. Where was the energy coming from and why? No matter how hard he tried he had no memory of anything after the Knights boarded their flight.

  No idea where he was.

  No idea what kept his beast so busy.

  No idea how to get home, especially since he couldn’t move.

  In the distance, he heard the soft footfalls of a wolf and resigned himself to whatever the Goddess allowed, he belonged to her.