lightning witch 02 - lightning legacy (25 page)

“What the hell are you doing up here? You should be down …”

He had a phone in his hand and looked out of breath.

“Sir, um, it’s the phone. I mean, it’s for you. It’s her.” His eyes were darting to gauge my reaction.

My own eyes went wide in shock. Why the hell was she calling me? I grabbed the phone.
Do not crush it, Mitch. Reign it in.

"Hello, Delaney." I closed my eyes, remembering the last time I said those words to her. I’d been looking at her glowing silver eyes. The only wolf I knew whose eyes glowed silver, not green. It was so erotic.

“Mitch.” Her tone was flat and emotionless. Not at all surprising, but I liked hearing the fight in her voice.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure?” There was no way this was a call to check up on me.

“Mitch, listen, I don’t have any time. I want you to swear to me you won’t hurt any of them.”

“Go on.” My brows furrowed. Just where was she going with this?

“I have a plan to get away and come up there tonight. But, the only way I’ll do it is if you meet me where and when I tell you, and you vow not to hurt them.”

“Why not just come here?”

“Because I don’t trust that you won’t hurt me. Look, I’ll be alone. I know you have a wolf here keeping tabs on me. He will tell you that I’m leaving alone. You meet me where and when I say and then swear to me neither you nor your pack will go after Reid or my friends. Then I’ll go willingly, without a fight.”

This was a trap. I was not dumb enough to think there wouldn't be something waiting for me. But, why now? Why not wait until they were all at their full power? None of this made sense. I could have a plan of my own though. If I had time to get the video out to the pack, I could maybe have some members there.

“Here’s the deal. If you don’t meet me, I’ll go seek aid from the Coven.”

“Why?” I asked. I just didn’t trust this.

"Because I love my friends and care if they die. I know how many wolves you have, and we can’t possibly handle them." She sighed. "Look, I just want them safe. I can get away tonight and meet you. I want to be one-hundred percent sure that you won't go after them. So, I want you to meet me at a neutral location. This is your last chance before I go to the inner circle." She sounded as if she believed what she was saying.

She had no idea that I only had the support of about a third of the pack. I could just not show up and then she would go to the fucking Coven. Two or three witches I could take, but the whole inner circle? Not a chance.

“I’ll send someone for you.” I could send Anderson.

“No. Are you a coward?”

"Fine, I'll meet you. But know, if this is some misguided attempt at a trap, it won't work," I warned.

The address she gave me was an hour outside of Atlanta. In the sticks.

“I’ll refrain from killing them as long as this is on the up and up, Delaney. But if it isn’t, I swear I’ll do worse than kill them.” My tone was calm and even.

I waited for a response, I only heard the faint buzz of an open line. I hung the phone up and looked up to meet Anderson’s eyes. He raised an eyebrow in question.

“We don’t believe her, do we?” he asked.

“Fuck no. Listen to me very carefully. I want you to get that video out to all of the pack. And tell them if they aren’t there, what happened to Mark would be a holiday compared to what will happen to them.” He turned to go do as I asked.

“Anderson.” He turned, waiting for my instruction. “If they don’t come, you will be the one on the chopping block. I’ll assume your note didn’t inspire.”

"Yes, sir," he replied.

I inhaled and caught the scent of his fear. He disappeared down the hallway, but that spike lingered. I let my eyes slide shut and enjoyed the sharp scent. Tonight would be the night this ended. I had no doubt that it would end in my favor. Delaney had no idea the rules of the game she was playing. In the end, I would do as I have always done. I would win, because I made the rules of this game.

I opened my eyes, knowing they were glowing green with anticipation. I had a game to get ready for. I smiled at the thought of tasting her again. Checkmate, Delaney

“TYLER, GOOD TO
see you again," I said, shaking the were’s hand. He was a fairly tall man with dark-brown hair and matching eyes. I met him when I was dealing with Mitch. I didn't recognize him at our last encounter though and nearly ripped his throat out. This was the wolf who had been spying on us for the last few days. Little did Mitch know, Tyler, his resident tech guru, was displeased with how he was treating the pack. He was our in, and he was how we would break Mitch's pack up within hours. He was out of town when Mitch started on his killing spree and then bided his time to find a way to get out from under the alpha.

“Same here, Reid.” His eyes darted from me to the three others. They lingered on Delaney for a moment before returning to me. He held a look of sympathy.

“Troy, Monique, this is Tyler. He is one of Mitch’s wolves. He was sent to spy on us.” Monique’s eyes went wide and Troy’s lips dipped into a frown.

“It’s a good thing too. Or else I wouldn’t be able to help you,” He replied, eyeing each of us in turn.

“Help us? Why?” Troy asked.

He explained what he told Delaney and me the day we went out to run. I thought back to the moment I nearly slammed her against that tree and almost ate her alive. I shook my head to try to get the thoughts out of my mind. That was the last thing I needed to think about right now.

Once Tyler finished his explanation, his gaze went to the side of the wall just beyond me. He tilted his head up, exposing his throat; he was submitting to me. I stifled a growl. The gesture was noted and I clamped my beast down. It wanted to grasp the flesh between its jaws and reprimand the disobedient wolf, but I choked the urge back.

“Tyler, what can you offer us? How can you help?”
Why should we trust you?
I didn’t add, but implied.

"I know half of the pack isn't behind Mitch. He had Anderson, his little bitch, call you and give you some conspiracy theory. The truth is, very few people agree with what Mitch did, and the vast majority of them are ready to turn on him. Reid, I told you all of this. Nothing has changed. I no longer recognize him as my alpha." I could hear the truth in his words.

"Have you been able to contact the pack?" Delaney had spoken the words before I had the chance.

"I have called many of them. The rest I’ll send an email to. They will show up,” he explained. He seemed to believe in his ability, but I, however, was not convinced. I looked over to Delaney, She didn't look convinced either.
Smart girl
.

"Why should we trust you? This whole story seems to be a little easy," Delaney asked.

We all seemed to ask this question in one form or another. I couldn't speak for everyone, but I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Look, I came to you. I'm sure you knew I was here watching you. Reid, I was not in a position to go against him until now. And, you know it's not like leaving was an option." He was trying not to get defensive, but it came through in his tone.

“What’s to say these people you contact won’t go running, tail tucked, to Mitch?” Troy asked.

"Nothing. But he is the maker of all of us, so the likelihood of that is low, as half of the pack would love the chance to kill him."

“Delaney called and set up a meeting with him, assuring him that we wouldn’t be there. I’m going to have to trust you to take my mate up there. We won’t be far behind, but still. Do you see why I’m questioning your motives?”

"Reid, I understand. If there were a way for me to have you trust me, I would do it."

There was a faint buzzing noise. Tyler’s eyes went wide. He fumbled in his pocket and retrieved his phone. He held up a hand gesturing for us to be silent. He swiped the phone and pressed it to his ear.

"Yes, sir."

His tone was a little too low for me to hear, but it was Mitch. Tyler must have had the volume on low.

“Yes, sir, I can do that.”

Pause.

“You can send out a mass email if you like, sir. The contact list is there. It has every member’s email.”

Pause.

"Okay, sir."

He hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket.

"That was Mitch. He has some video he wants the pack to see. I thought he wanted me to send it, but he is going to send it to the pack via our newsletter."

“What is the video?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t know, he didn’t say. He just said it was meant to rally the troops.”

“Can you intercept the letter before it goes out?”

Tyler was a genius when it came to technology. He was one of the youngest of Mitch’s wolves and he was turned because of his abilities.

“I need to go get my laptop from my truck. I’ll be right back.” He ran out of the room as though his pants were on fire. We all just looked at each other, trying to gauge our feelings about the situation.

“I don’t see another choice. If Mitch has some scare tactic to get the pack involved with what happens tonight, we have to trust this guy.” It was hard to disagree with Delaney’s point.

“I …” I started, but was cut off as Tyler came barreling back in the room with a large shoulder satchel? Bag? Who the hell knew what those things were called.

He opened his bag and pulled out a large industrial-looking laptop. He plugged it in and powered it up. After a few moments, he began fiddling with the keys. His expression was completely focused.

“What is the Wi-Fi password?” he asked, not looking up from his screen.

"Oh, okay, it's: capital B-i-t-c-h-p-e-a-s," Troy said confidently.

“Your Wi-Fi password is, Bitch peas?” I asked Troy. What the fuck did that even mean?

He raised his brow and squared his shoulders as he replied, “Yes, it is, because, bitch peas.” The last two words made it sound like he was saying bitch please.
Ah, okay, now I get it
. I just shook my head at him.

"Oh my God, Troy, I can’t even handle you right now," Delaney muttered, trying not to smile. "You have no goddamn sense." He just shrugged. I returned my attention to Tyler. He was smiling, but still typing away. After a few minutes, Tyler's gaze tore from the screen and went to mine.

"Okay. There is a feature that I put on the newsletter that makes it so I’ll have to approve anything that isn’t sent from this computer. When I get that notification, I'll intercept and encrypt the old video, then send out the new one to everyone."

"Wait, make sure you send the legit thing to Mitch and his lapdogs," Delaney added.

He nodded as his fingers began an intense and somewhat methodical dance with the keyboard. His gaze was locked and completely focused. He was in his zone. I knew that kind of focus, when I was tracking someone on a case.

"Okay, everything is in place. When he uploads the video, there will be a prompt telling him that he needs the approval of the creator, me, to send it out."

"That should piss him off," I said smiling.

“What if …” Delaney started, but was cut off as soon as Tyler’s phone began buzzing. I held up my hand to make sure everyone shut the hell up. Delaney scowled at me. She had such a cute scowl. I didn’t want to die a swift and painful death, so I refrained from telling her that.

"Hey, boss," Tyler said, as he put the phone to his ear.

Pause, I could hear Mitch’s voice rumble past the speakers. The tone was too low to make out clearly, despite my best effort.

"Yeah, boss, sorry, it's a feature with the newsletter. I'll approve it. You'll see it in your email in a few. Also, Delaney has been packing and just sent everyone off. She's alone. How would you like me to proceed?"

Pause and yet more rumbles from the phone.

“Got it.” He hung up the phone.

“Am I the only one who says goodbye on the damn phone anymore? It’s so obnoxious,” Delaney chided.

I could only smile. Maybe it was a wolf thing or a guy thing.

“Don’t laugh at me.” Her eyes were narrowed at me.

I shrugged and pulled her close. I placed a small kiss on her lips and she softened against me. The feel of her little body melting into mine would be something I would never take for granted again. Her heart fluttering against my palm was a feeling I lived for.

“Don’t look at her like that!” It was Troy’s voice who seemed to break the spell between Delaney and me.

I raised an eyebrow in question.

“Oh, when you look at her like that the next thing we know you’ll be hauling her off to get boinked.” He was indignant and it made me laugh.

“I don’t …”

“Got it!” Tyler exclaimed. He was impressed with himself. I returned my attention to him. “Now, what is this video?”

Though I couldn't see the computer screen, I could hear it. It was Mitch.

"Obviously, you forget who your alpha is. I think it’s time you remember just who it is you will be pissing off. There is a time and address along with this email. If you aren’t there, I’ll do what I’m about to do to each and every one of you in turn." His voice was tinny and a little distorted from the speakers, but it was him. We all held a breath. Tyler turned his laptop so we could all see the small screen. I squinted to make out just what I was seeing.