Angus smiled at her bravado, even she didn’t
believe the words she spouted.
“Old day, new day, I don’t really give a fuck,”
Angus said looking at his fingernails and then released his claws.
The light gleamed off the thick, pointed tips. “Today is the day
I’m interested in. Why’d you try to kill me?”
“What? That wouldn’t have…” Her eyes widened.
She tightened her lips and looked at her hands folded in her
lap.
“Is this how all newcomers to the area are
greeted, with a needle?” he asked clicking his claw-tips on the
table. Her eyes followed his movements and then rose to meet his
gaze.
“Who are you?” she asked and then looked at
Alpha Chase. “Is this La Patron?” she cut her eyes to Angus’
partially shifted hand.
Angus and Chase laughed.
Her cheeks reddened but she didn’t look away.
“I heard he could change his appearance to look like anybody.” She
rolled her eyes at Chase. “Everybody knows you don’t have
litter-mates, so trying to pass him off as one was
lame.”
“No… everybody doesn’t know that,” Chase said,
in an affable tone. “Everybody thinks that. There’s a
difference.”
Peaches’ head snapped toward her Alpha. “You
don’t.” She didn’t sound as sure this time.
“Silas if you have a few minutes, there are
two rebels I’d like you to scan
,” Angus said. He frowned when
Silas didn’t answer immediately.
“La Patron?”
“One second I’m finishing something at the
moment. Give me 10 minutes
.” Silas said.
Concerned, Angus half-listened to the
conversation between Alpha Chase and Peaches.
“
Hawke
?”
When there was no response, he knew something
was wrong. He stood and left the room.
“Tyrese?”
“Angus?”
“Yeah, how’re things going
?” He walked a
few feet down the hall and leaned on the wall.
“Um, not too good. First Froggy, then the
guy in security and the lab tech, it’s getting
crazy.
”
Angus frowned. “
Froggy? What about
him
?”
Silence.
“Tyrese? What’s wrong with Frogs
?” Angus
snapped.
“Talk to Silas. I gotta go
.” Tyrese
disconnected their link.
Angus closed his eyes and pleaded to the
Goddess that his friend was okay. “
Frogs
?” he tried to reach
the older man through their link and like Hawke, there was no
response. What the hell happened after he left?
“Sorry about that, now what do you
need
?” Silas asked.
“What happened to Frogs
?” Angus asked
slowly. His heartbeat quickened as dread blanketed him.
Silas exhaled. “
Some kind of poison, we’re
not sure yet.”
“Poison? How?
” Angus couldn’t understand
how this happened. Compound security was tight with a series of
filters and high-tech scans.
“Hawke thinks the water was
contaminated. David sensed some men on the grounds, not inside the
compound but nearby. We’ve tracked down the delivery men but
they’ve disappeared.”
“I saw them, on my way to the gym to check
in with Frogs. Fuck, fuck, fuck
.” He ran his hand through his
hair, grabbed the ends and pulled hard. Still the pain barely
registered compared to the gaping hole in his chest at the news he
lost his friend.
“We have one of the men on tape
washing his hands, that’s the only connection we can see. If the
poison was on his hands—”
“They could have left poisonous residue on
any of the boxes or packages and anyone handling them would’ve
eventually washed their hands. All the gray water is recycled, if
the strain is strong it may’ve survived that process
.” Angus
paused. “
Just Frogs, right
?” Based on Tyrese’s slip, he knew
better but he needed to hear Silas say it.
“Two more and we almost lost
Hawke.”
“What?”
Angus shot off the wall and
walked in a tight circle in the middle of the hall. His fists
opened and closed as he imagined what Asia and Damian went through
when Hawke went down. They would’ve felt it, possibly been affected
by the poison in Hawke’s system.
“Yeah, it was rough for a few minutes. Asia
pulled him out of it. He’d been working this thing for over 24
hours without rest, wore his body down and it cost him. Cost us. He
and Asia are resting now
,” Silas said.
“What about you?”
“Similar to Hawke but my situation is
different. I’ll rest in a bit
.” He sighed.
“What? Something else is happening. Tell
me
.” While he understood why Silas hadn’t told him about Froggy
and the crisis at the compound, he didn’t like it. There had been
nothing he could’ve done and the information he gleamed from
Peaches and Brennan was something they could use
immediately.
“Rose had the babies - Ryan and
Ryder.”
“That’s good, right
?” He prayed nothing
went wrong with the delivery.
“Yes, but one wasn’t
breathing.”
Angus closed his eyes and dropped his chin to
his chest. “
Please tell me he’s okay
.”
“Oh… yes. Sorry, he’s okay now. Matt knew
exactly what to do and handled it, so he’s recovering. Rose and
Rone seem to be recuperating
.”
Angus went over everything Silas said and
failed to see the problem. He hated when Silas took a long time to
get to the point. Normally, that only happened when Silas screwed
up. “
Bless the Goddess, what did you do? Did you piss off your
mate
?”
Silas didn’t answer.
“What did you do?”
“We’re under quarantine because of the
poison. She wanted me to send for Matt to deliver the baby, I
reminded her of the quarantine
.”
Angus shook his head and thanked the Goddess he
had not found his mate, because common sense seemed to take a
hiatus from the mated couples he knew. For Silas to mention that
tidbit of information meant he was suffering from the fall-out. He
pondered how to offer comfort without giving the impression he
agreed with Silas’ asinine handling of the matter. “
Did you tell
her that before Rose went into labor or after?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does. If you told her before, she
won’t be too angry because it’s not personal. The mandate was for
everyone. But, if you told her after she told you Rose was in
labor, then you are in the proverbial doghouse. Especially with the
delivery having problems
.”
“Yeah, we will muddle through as always.
What do you need from me
?” Silas asked in an implacable tone
ending the subject of his mistake with his mate. Angus knew better
than to push. When it came to Jasmine, Silas tolerated zero
interference. Sometimes he listened to Angus’ criticisms as long as
the remarks never extended to Jasmine. No matter what they went
through, Silas protected his mate on every front which tickled
Angus because Jasmine was normally right.
Angus exhaled and pushed the death of his
friend aside until he could mourn privately later. He told Silas
about Peaches and Brennan.
“Let me see Brennan first and have Peaches
in a position to watch
.”
Angus liked that idea and had Alpha Chase set
it up. A few minutes later, Angus entered the small, bland room
with a large monitor stretching the length of one wall. Angus
recognized it as the room where Alpha Chase met with Silas for
their monthly Alpha meetings. He moved toward the table with
Brennan followed by Chase. Brennan tried to sit on the floor but
was forced to sit in a wooden chair near the table.
Peaches sat in another room with Jasper,
watching.
“We’re ready
,” Angus told
Silas.
A few seconds later Silas appeared on the
screen. Angus leaned against the wall to watch. Just because Silas
didn’t travel as much as he had before he had a den didn’t mean he
was less powerful. Angus believed the opposite happened. He
recalled the tape of Jasmine sending fire into a former lover of
her mother’s when he tried to kill Asia. That had been pretty.
Challenges were a part of pack life. Normally, Silas enjoyed
playing with challengers but with everything going on in the
compound, Angus knew this would be quick.
“Greetings, Sir,” Alpha Chase said.
“Hello Chase, I heard you’re having a rodent
problem in the mountains.” Silas looked at Brennan.
“Yes, Sir. We’ve caught a couple we’d like you
to meet,” Chase waved at Brennan who stared boldly at Silas,
curling his lip. Angus gasped as the surge of energy from Silas
passed through him to connect with the rebel. The next moment
Brennan’s wolf lay on the floor panting and whining.
Peaches screamed.
Silas linked with Angus as he rifled through
Brennan’s mind gathering information. The gray wolf mewled and
yelped on the floor, unable to rise.
“You’re right, he was one of their leaders.
Seems they are trying to structure their organization like
mine
,” Silas said.
“A leader in every state
?” Angus asked
unable to believe they’d take on such a monumental task.
“Yes, they have 10 so far and are
recruiting but he doesn’t know who’s financing them.”
“Any information about someone named
Rain
?” Angus asked.
“Let me check
,” Silas said.
Blood pooled on the floor beneath Brennan’s
mouth as he released piteous sounds no doubt begging for death or
release. He would receive one, not the other.
“The name is there but he doesn’t know much
about him. They’ve compartmentalized information so if one is
caught, they have limited knowledge
,” Silas said.
“Hmm, smart I guess
,” Angus
said.
“Did you see the names and places when you
searched his memories
?” Silas asked as Angus slid out of
Brennan’s memories.
“Yes. I’ll visit them tonight. I’d
like to return to the compound –”
“We’ll talk about that later, right now I
need to send a message. Bring the girl
,” Silas said.
Angus waved to Jasper and he escorted Peaches
inside the room. Visibly shaken, she gazed at Brennan’s wolf lying
on the floor taking shallow breaths.
“Who is Rain?” Silas asked.
Her face blanched. “I…I…Sir.”
A blast of heat scorched the room. She screamed
and jerked backward as if slapped. Next her body shook as Silas
rifled through her memories and then shared the information with
Angus. When Silas released her, she fell, holding her throat
gasping for air.
Brennan flowed into his human skin, curled into
a ball and lay naked, shaking on the floor.
“Stand up, both of you.”
Peaches stood first, looking down at the floor.
Brennan took a little longer and after stumbling twice, held onto
the chair and looked down. The earlier derision he’d worn was now
replaced with a certain sense of dread. Whatever he believed about
La Patron before, had undergone a radical change now that he’d met
his Alpha. Angus sensed it and was sure Silas did as
well.
“Alpha Chase, these two have conspired against
you with the express intent to cause havoc in your pack through
lies and murder if necessary.”
“No. That’s not true,” Peaches cried, tears
streaming down her face. “That stuff wouldn’t have killed you, I
told you that. Just make you sleepy so we could take you to the
warehouse for questions. That’s all. Believe me, I didn’t murder
anybody. I wouldn’t do that!”
Silas and Angus looked at Alpha Chase. It was
his decision.
“But you worked with the rebels and they’ve
killed half-breeds,” Chase said in a hard voice.
Her mouth dropped open and then she snapped it
shut. “What? No, we haven’t. Ask the others, they’ll tell you, we
haven’t killed anybody,” she said truthfully.
Angus wondered if she knew Brennan ran the
territory, he didn’t think so. Not once did she look at him as a
leader. “Jasper, bring the others in here,” Angus
ordered.
The three who attacked them on the road entered
and stared at Silas. One had the good sense to bow and keep his
eyes averted. The other two stumbled into each other with their
eyes glued to the screen.
Silas pulled all three of their wolves and
shared the limited information he garnered from them with Angus.
None of them knew Brennan ran the area. They reported to one of the
men in Brennan’s organization.
“These men are just going along with some
friends and don’t know anything. The one with the blonde hair is
Rain, her lover, although he has several
,” Silas said to Angus
and Chase. “
Release these three, hold the girl a while longer
and then release her. I will add my power with yours Chase so you
can make the rebel talk, ask him about the
half-breeds.
”