Sword of Mercy Read online

  Hawke looked over his shoulder at her. “What? What do you mean it’s familiar?” He inhaled and frowned. Slowly he turned and looked at the man.

  “Who the hell are you?” He eased up on the hold without letting go.

  “Niall.” The name meant nothing to Hawke. He glanced at Asia for an answer.

  “He smells like you,” she said sending a caress through their link.

  Hawke opened his hand and stepped back. Niall dropped to the ground gasping for air and rubbing his throat. “You didn’t have to do that,” he complained.

  Hawke looked at the others they’d killed and then turned back to Niall. “Why did you attack my mate?” If Asia picked up the similar scents, Niall should have known she was his mate.

  “What? We did not attack him.” He pointed at Asia. “We were using this old tunnel as a shortcut and walked into this room. You were on the floor and he attacked without asking questions.”

  “It’s true. I could not allow them to come near you while you were in that condition,” Asia said. Hawke sensed her shame at the needless killing. He strode to her, place his finger beneath her chin and kissed her.

  “Never be ashamed for protecting your mate. I would’ve done the same thing. We are newly mated and things we do now, we may not do later. But we live in the now. I am proud of you, my Precious.”

  He turned toward Niall. “Who are you?”

  “I told you–” Niall stood and faced him.

  Hawke waved down his words. “My mate says you smell familiar, who are you to me?”

  “Your litter-mate. That’s why my life was spared. Litter-mates cannot kill each other.”

  “Is that true?”

  “Yes, several times Angus told the story of his meeting with La Patron. It’s true.”

  “Who is that?” Niall pointed at Asia.

  “Timber, my mate.” Hawke glanced at Asia to see her reaction to the name he’d won on a bet with her. She didn’t like it then or now.

  Niall nodded at Asia and took a step back.

  “Is this your home?” Hawke asked, looking everywhere except the dais.

  “No. We use it as a short cut from time to time. I heard you had been released and wondered if you’d pay a visit.”

  Hawke scowled. “Released? Visit? Why would I visit you? I didn’t know of your existence until a few moments ago. And would’ve killed you without a thought.” He looked at the bodies on the ground and then at Niall.

  “I see. I thought you came to assist… but no I suppose you have no idea. You killed the men I hired to retrieve me mam. She was taken a week ago by another Alpha north of here. We were on our way to get her back.”

  Hawke frowned. “What?”

  “Your mother, Hawke. Someone kidnapped your mother. They were on their way to rescue her, but we, I killed them.”

  He looked at Asia and read the regret in her gaze. “Who is the Alpha?” he asked, knowing for her sake he’d get involved.

  “Verrick,” Niall spat his name.

  “Verrick, the one we met before?” Asia asked.

  “In the Ukraine?” He asked Niall.

  “Yes, you know him?”

  “No.” The blasted man had tried to have his mate arrested for releasing the test wolves from Lancaster’s Castle. Some of the wolves had no restraint and attacked humans, putting them all at risk. Asia had done what any of them should have done, but Verrick hadn’t seen things that way.

  Niall looked at the dead men on the ground and then at Hawke. “Did you have to kill them?”

  Hawke rubbed the back of his neck and met Asia’s gaze. “What do you want to do? Our mission is clear, shut down the Liege, stop them from stealing pups. This is a detour.”

  “One that I caused.”

  “If it comes to placing blame, I caused it. You were protecting me.”

  “What happened? I felt your pain and then you snapped out of it.”

  “I’m not sure. Something about the dais, looking at it ripped me apart. Does it look familiar to you?”

  “Well, I need you to help me rescue my mam, since you killed these guys,” Niall said, rocking on the balls of his feet.

  Asia looked at Niall and then Hawke. “No, it doesn’t. Maybe this is why you needed to return, to see this place. Maybe something happened to you here.”

  He nodded and looked at Niall. “What do you know about this place? The history of it?”

  Niall shrugged. “Nothing, just an old tunnel that cuts through pack lands. Mam would know any and everything about this place. She’s the pack historian. Can we go get her now?”

  “We need to do this, make it right,” Asia said. “Plus, she’s your mom. You can ask her questions, get answers, find closure. Don’t you want to know what happened? How you wound up with the Liege?”

  He nodded and searched his emotions. “I don’t know her and have no feelings for this woman. But it’s important to you, so we will leave and reach Verrick in a few hours before nightfall. Perhaps he will release her and we can return to Chacal’s before midnight. I want to rest in your arms again.”

  Asia nodded and looked at Niall. “He looks like you a little. Smaller, but there is a resemblance.”

  “Let’s go, woman.”

  “Woman?” Niall asked, staring at Asia who looked like a man. Neither Hawke nor Asia explained as they turned and walked back the way they came. They needed to inform Radoff of this space and the four bodies on his land.

  Chapter 11

  The three of them walked toward Radoff and a few of his pack members standing near their vehicle. Radoff frowned at Niall, looked at the building they’d just left and looked at them again.

  “Who is this?”

  “Niall, my litter mate,” Hawke answered not bothering to explain the new connection.

  “Hello,” Niall said, looking at the other men.

  “Where’d he come from?”

  “There is a tunnel beneath that building and four bodies,” Hawke said.

  Radoff stared at him and then looked at Niall. “Okay, I’ll take care of it. But someone needs to tell me what is going on.” He waved his hand toward the house and three of his men jogged in the direction Asia and Hawke had just left.

  “Mistress?” Asia called while Hawke and Niall spoke to Radoff.

  “Asia? Good, I meant to contact you, Maheegan should be arriving in an hour at a small airport in Suceava, that’s the closest one to the co-ordinates Silas picked up from Hawke.”

  “Okay…let me write that down.” Asia pulled out a small pad from her pant pocket and wrote the information down. She’d forgotten about Maheegan. With the trip to Verrick how would they work this out?

  “So what else is going on?”

  “Ma’am?”

  “You called me, what happened?”

  Asia turned from Hawke’s gaze, inhaled and told Jasmine what happened in the basement. “Okay. I understand you need to fix that. But pick up Maheegan first so she can get started. That Alpha said she could go through the journals, right?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” she said, relieved Jasmine wasn’t too angry. “Hawke has the translated copies as well.”

  “But not the images of the marks?”

  “No, Ma’am, he doesn’t.”

  “That’s a big part of the reason she’s coming so she’ll need access to the physical journals.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll let Alpha Radoff know she’s coming.”

  “Good. Good. Be careful with that Verrick guy. He knew more than he let on before. Alpha’s have the ability to mask their scents so you won’t know if he’s telling the truth or not. Good luck finding your mother-in-law.”

  “What? Who?”

  Jasmine’s laughter filled their link. “Technically, that’s the title for his mom. But I’m not going to push, you’ve got a lot of things going on right now. At least you’ve had a break from those blue things.”

  Asia nodded. “Yes. The castle fell. Lancaster is on this continent, so the peace will not last.�
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  “True. But he doesn’t know you and Hawke are mated. Nor does he know you are in his back yard.”

  “That’s a good thing. I will keep you informed of our progress.”

  Chapter 12

  Maheegan and Alpha Radoff headed back to the castle to look at the journals. Hawke suspected something happened between those two at the airport, but Niall had pushed for them to get on the road to Alpha Verrick’s and he didn’t have time to ask questions. But Radoff had looked stunned when Maheegan greeted Asia and then the woman's face reddened when she inhaled and met Radoff’s gaze. After that, Hawke doubted either Radoff or Maheegan heard a word he or Asia said since they never took their eyes from each other. After securing the older woman’s luggage the two waved goodbye and walked away holding hands with broad smiles.

  Hawke looked in the rear view mirror at his litter-mate and then back at the road. He had what Asia called family. Impossible to believe after all this time. Where had Niall been all his life? Niall’s scarred face, black hair and hazel eyes tied them physically even though Hawke stood a foot over his brother’s shorter and thinner frame. Remembering the brief fight in the basement, Hawke would say Niall did not spend a lot of time practicing self-defense.

  “What do you do?” Hawke asked and glanced at the startled expression on Niall’s face.

  “I was a chemical engineer for a large company near Chisinau.”

  An odd note in the tone of his voice struck Hawke. “Was?”

  Niall nodded, but didn’t say anything else.

  “What happened to him?” He asked Asia who sat in the passenger seat.

  “I don’t know. Ask him.”

  “Is that customary?”

  He felt her gaze, but kept his eyes on the road.

  “You’re asking me? How would I know? I don’t have any litter-mates or experiences with any.”

  “But you’ve spent time with your Mistress’ pups. Would they ask personal questions when the other person doesn’t volunteer the information?” He had no idea what was proper in this situation.

  “Hmm, Rone and Rese would ask. At least I think they would. You could ask through his link.”

  The car swerved as Hawke jerked and then looked at her.

  “Hey, watch it. I want to get to Verrick’s in one piece,” Niall said, straightening in the back seat.

  “You should be able to link with him,” Asia said without looking at him.

  “No.”

  She shrugged and continued looking out the window.

  Hawke glanced in the rear view mirror at his litter-mate again. “How did you hear I left the castle?”

  Niall shrugged. “I saw the news. The castle fell, explosives, something like that. Figured you’d made it out, didn’t feel like you were gone.”

  That confused Hawke. “Feel like what?”

  Niall turned and met his gaze in the rear view mirror. “Are you telling me you don’t know anything about litters? How they work?”

  Hawke glanced at Asia for help. She continued looking out the window. “Would I have tried to kill you if I knew I could not?”

  Niall shrugged again, but didn’t speak.

  “Feel. Like. What.? Hawke asked again, a low growl slipped through on the last word. Niall met his gaze in the mirror.

  “Litter mates can tell when one of their mates dies. There… I said it. Happy?” He turned to the window and stared with a mulish expression.

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Hawke told Asia, confused with the conversation.

  “Maybe one of your litter mates died and he felt their death. For answers you have to talk to him.”

  “He doesn’t want to talk to me; he acts as if I’ve done something wrong.”

  “Ask him.”

  Hawke sensed no animosity or sarcasm from her. “Why do you want me to talk to him? Is there something we need to know?”

  Asia spun to face him with nostrils flared. “I would give anything for the opportunity to talk to someone about my past, my family, my litter-mates. You have this chance to find out who you are, to fill in the blanks of your past, to discover your heritage and you’re asking me questions.” She closed her eyes and exhaled.

  The heat of her frustration scorched him. How could he have forgotten the reason she showed up to the castle where he’d been a prisoner for over thirty years? She had been on a quest to free her former mentor to ask the same questions she posed to him.

  “Talk to your brother, talk to your mother, question them until every blank in your mind is filled and every block is colored. History can help uncover destiny. For some reason the Goddess has favored us with a huge task. Maybe something happened when you were a child, there was a reason the Liege took you and not Niall or any of the others in the litter.”

  Hawke stared straight ahead as each word she spoke created pictures in his mind. His mate was right, there were too many blank lines and uncolored images for him to make sense of anything. He pulled the car over to the side of the road.

  “Hey,” Niall said, frowning. “Why’d you pull over?”

  “How many were in our litter?” Hawke demanded.

  Niall’s eyes widened and then he looked away.

  “How many?” Hawke said in a low tone. Asia touched his arm.

  “Six.”

  Hawke’s jaw dropped and then he closed it. “How many still live?”

  “Three.”

  “Who is the other?”

  “Pia.”

  Hawke ground his teeth in frustration at Niall’s short answers. “Where is he?”

  “She is in Egypt with her mate.”

  “Our sire?”

  “Dead.”

  “When?”

  “Ten years ago.”

  “What happened?”

  “He kept leaving, finally never came back…like you.”

  Hawke ground his teeth at the comparison. “I did not leave, I was taken.”

  Niall turned slowly and met his gaze in the mirror. “Taken? By who?”

  “The Liege. I have been a prisoner in Lancaster Castle since I was a pup. I have no recollection of anything before that time. Believe me, I did not run away or leave on my own.”

  Niall continued staring and then nodded slowly. “Well, that might explain your ignorance on pack protocol and biology.”

  “You thought I ran away? Left the pack on my own?” Hawke couldn’t wrap his mind around such nonsense. No pup would do that, would they?”

  “After you left…disappeared. We were forbidden to discuss anything about you. We called you Omari meaning first born. Hawke suits you better. Over time I stopped asking and life went on.”

  “Omari, I like it,” Asia said.

  “You said you felt the deaths of the other litter mates, tell me about that.” Through the years he experienced many things, but had no point of reference, maybe this explanation could clear up a few things.

  “There is a tearing, or searing pain that accompanies their crossing and the length of time you feel it depends on the way they died, the amount of pain they endure. Afterward, there’s emptiness in that place. Pia says when I mate that space fills, everything heals because of the completeness of being mated, but I don’t know if that is true. She is a romantic bitch.”

  With all the beatings he endured, the surgeries he begged for, and the computer chip that controlled him, Hawke couldn’t recall anything close to what Niall spoke of. He glanced at Asia and she squeezed his arm in understanding. Hawke started the car and pulled onto the road.

  “What is the name of our pack?” he asked.

  “Fekete Farkas Clan, that’s the legal name anyway. It’s been shortened to Farkas over the years.”

  Asia met Hawke’s surprised gaze. They had seen that clan in the journals. Nikolas had been Alpha of that clan when he met Konstantin. “That’s Hungarian, what’s the history behind that?” Hawke asked, glancing at Niall in the mirror. “We a Hungarian pack?”

  “Not that I know of. I’ve nev
er been to Hungary. Unlike most packs, we didn’t get a lot of pack history lessons, just the names of a few former Alphas. The pack’s been around since the late 1800’s so it’s older than most.”

  “You left and went to college?”

  Niall glanced at him and then stared out the window. “Yes. I have no interest in clan politics, and as the runt of the litter, I opted to use my mind instead of my fists.” His tone indicated he thought Hawke mastered the second option.

  Rather than debate intellect, Hawke asked pointed questions about pack life. “Who is your Alpha?”

  Niall’s brow rose. “Don’t you mean our Alpha?”

  “No. I have an Alpha, La Patron. Who is yours?”

  Niall’s eyes widened, and then he leaned back against the seat and laughed. Tears rolled down his cheek from laughing so hard. Asia glanced over her shoulder and then shrugged.

  “I guess he thinks it’s funny.”

  “I suppose. But it makes me more curious.”

  Asia nodded.

  “What is funny?” Hawke asked after a few moments when the laughter didn’t stop.

  “They… no, he thinks you are returning to challenge him for Alpha. It was one of the reasons he wouldn’t help me go after mam. He would love for us to just disappear.”

  That made no sense. “Why would I return to a pack that gave me away, or serve an Alpha who had a part in that?”

  Niall shook his head. “No, our sire, Hiram, was Alpha and the last direct descendant of Nikolas the Alpha who started the clan, when you disappeared. Not that interloper, Muzik, who runs the clan now. He challenged Jirek on the return from a battle knowing Jirek had fought the previous five hours and won.”

  “Jirek?”

  “Litter-mate number three, and previous Alpha after, Lorenzo, litter-mate number two and first Alpha after our sire’s death. Lorenzo died in battle protecting the clan.”

  “After Hiram died, Lorenzo became Alpha, and he died. Then Jirek became Alpha, he was challenged and killed by the current Alpha? Did I get that right?” Hawke said.

  “Yes. Muzik thinks you are returning to take the Alpha spot which belongs to you.”