Reina's Mate (8 page)

That's right you little punk. Let's see you
try anything.

Honestly, if it had been up to me, I didn't
know if I'd let him live. It was obvious he only felt contempt for
Reina.

Terrence took him gently by the shoulder and
escorted him into an empty room. I waited as he cut off the
restraints and locked him inside, closing the little window that
would let him see inside if he needed to.

I turned to leave now that the prisoner was
secure, but Terrence stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“
It's good to have you
back Griff.”

I looked back into that steady face.

“
It's good to be back.
Circumstances not withstanding.”

He grinned, his teeth a flash of white
against the rich brown of his skin.

“
Yeah. I hear you. But
just so you know, I can see how much Reina cares about you. She's
never looked at another guy like she looks at you. That was true
even before you left. She just wasn't ready to go after what she
wanted then.”

I held his words close to me as I went back
out into the night.

Chapter 6

Griffith

We gathered around a map of our territory,
figuring out a new strategy for defense now that we knew Manny
wasn't above using explosives.

And if he was using explosives, I wouldn't
rule out guns either.

A fight like this one should have rules. No
weapons besides teeth and claws and no indiscriminate killing.
There weren't enough of us to justify killing those that didn't
need to be killed.

He'd violated that agreement. One we'd all
lived by for centuries.

The easy thing to do would be to fight back
with the same. Nobody would blame us.

But Reina wouldn't be who she was if she
took the easy way.

“
Bar, tell everyone what
you told me earlier.” She gestured her forward.

All eyes turned to the small but powerful
Asian woman as she stepped forward confidently.

“
Manny has a reputation
for being ruthless, I'm sure you all know.” Murmurs of agreement
sounded through the room. “Well, he doesn't exactly treat his own
pack with kid gloves either. Merrell, the man you took prisoner, is
one of the few who outwardly worship Manny. His reputation has
attracted some groupie types- sadistic fucks who buy into the hype
that Manny sells. I'm guessing the others sent with him were the
same type.

“
Those are the only ones
he can really trust completely. There have been grumblings of an
overthrow for a while. Problem is, Manny rules with a fucking iron
fist. Anyone who betrays him is skinned alive in the public
square.”

Fuck.

I listened as gasps and incredulous
exclamations erupted.

We knew he was ruthless. But this was past
that description.

That was more psychotic than anything.

“
Why wouldn't people just
leave?” someone asked.

“
It's not that easy. We're
not technically prisoners, but everyone is watched pretty
carefully. And I know for a fact some of his lackeys are planted to
spy on everyone. Plus, he'll find you if you run and drag you back.
I guess he's afraid it'll give everyone the wrong- or I guess the
right- idea if someone succeeds in making a life away from the
pack.

“
Apart from that, there's
oil on part of our land. Which means the pack is rich. People are
willing to put up with a lot for a cushy lifestyle.” The bitterness
in her tone over that was obvious and understandable.

“
Anyway, the reason I'm
telling you this is because there's a group that is more than ready
for a change in the pack. All we need to do is give them backup.
With them inside and us outside, we should be able to take Manny
down. The only ones who will really care about him are the
groupies. On a side note, you should really kill Merrell. There's
no way you want that sick fuck in your pack, even if his surrender
was sincere. Which I'm positive it wasn't.”

“
Then why did you leave?”
I looked out to see Maggie's suspicious face.

“
Well, I had Reina here.”
She looked at Reina. “I figured defecting to her pack was my best
bet to get out of there.”

I would have been worried about the way she
was looking at Reina if I hadn't seen how she looked at Sofia. She
was definitely already a goner there.

“
Ok, how soon can we
coordinate with them?” Reina asked, pacing.

“
I already spoke with
them. They can be ready to move in a few hours.”

“
Good. Let's hit them hard
and fast.”

We spent the next hour figuring out the best
way to go about this with the least amount of casualties.

According to Bar, Manny did have a weapons
vault, but only a select few were allowed inside.

He was the paranoid sort.

Though maybe you couldn't really call him
paranoid. Not if a significant portion of his own pack would be so
ready to take him out.

In any case, that helped us. We wouldn't
have to worry about a hail of bullets from every guard posted. Also
explained why we hadn't been blown to hell when we'd gone to get
Sofia.

Manny couldn't simply be picked off at his
home either. What he called his home might as well be a bunker and
he was guarded by only his most trustworthy followers.

This was starting to feel less and less like
a pack and more like a cult.

Maybe there was something in the water.

What we really needed was something big
enough to put Manny on the move. After his attack on us, he would
be sure to be doubly careful.

So, we needed to pull him out of his
fortress and get him in front of enough of his pack so one of the
mutinous crowd could challenge him.

It would be difficult for him to dismiss the
challenge if it was issued in front of most of his pack.

We'd finally decided on the simple and
direct route.

Bar knew the evacuation route that they
would take should they have to leave in a hurry. The entrance to it
was hidden and well-guarded.

If we took care of those guards, we could
use it to drive straight into the heart of their territory.

It wasn't a good idea to piss your pack off.
Bar had no reservations when it came to taking Manny down.

With our plan sketched out, we got ready to
go.

We needed to leave a certain number behind
as guards. The rest piled into their cars and we got on the
road.

Reina got into my car, along with Bar,
Sofia, and Sultan.

I had reservations about taking Sofia with
us after what had almost happened, but Reina had relented.

The drive there was tense and quiet. I
focused on the road as everyone stared out their respective
windows.

Finally, we got where we needed to be.

“
Stop here. Any closer and
they'll hear us coming.”

I nodded, coming to a smooth stop at the
side of the road.

We got out and waited as our caravan slid to
a stop behind us.

“
There are about twenty
guards at any given time, with a closely guarded rotating schedule,
so I have no idea when the shift is going to change. That means we
need to be as fast as possible.”

I didn't tell Bar that we already knew all
of this. It didn't hurt to reiterate.

We nodded.

She melted into the trees.

We followed just as silently.

The way on foot wasn't short, but it didn't
feel as excruciating because we were able to expend some of our
energy in the run through the dense forest.

The guards were on alert, but they weren't
expecting us to come in such a large number.

It went like clock work. We beat them
soundly, only minor injuries on our side.

Half the guards surrendered and the other
half were put down hard.

We'd come prepared. Frisking the remaining
guards, they were restrained and gagged.

We'd come back for them later.

The run back to the cars was quicker, the
need for quiet not so paramount.

Hopping into the reinforced SUV, I gunned
the engine. This part of the plan called for speed over
stealth.

Grinning, I stomped on the gas.

Calling the evacuation route a road was too
generous.

It was basically an overgrown dirt track.
Going fast on it wasn't something I would recommend, but we needed
to give them as little warning as possible.

There was no way to stop them from hearing
us. So we'd simply decided to get there as fast as possible.

“
Right!”

I jerked the wheel, getting off the main
track and onto the ground, in a clearing that narrowed down into
another trail-like road.

“
This is going to end at
his house.”

I nodded, keeping the breakneck speed
going.

Trees scraped the top of the SUV as we
hurtled down the narrow road to his house. I saw the light up ahead
that signaled a clearing.

“
Get ready!”

Punching the accelerator, we flew out into
the open.

I caught a glimpse of surprised faces.

But then they were all jumping out of the
way as I jammed the accelerator with a strong stick cut for just
that purpose and we jumped out of the car, rolling to lessen the
impact.

Ouch. That hurt.

Action hero I clearly was not.

I shook it off, never more thankful of my
sturdy werewolf constitution.

We stood and watched as the hurtling SUV
slammed into the side of the house.

Manny's guards also gaped at the broken in
side of the place, too shocked to pay any attention to us.

We took the opportunity to drift back under
cover.

By this point, if our reckless ride through
the road hadn't caused people to pay attention, the massive crunch
of the car hitting the house would have.

All we needed to do was wait for everyone to
come running.

Reina and I crouched down together to
watch.

The front door slammed open as Manny
appeared on the porch, pissed.

Hello, dead man.

“
What the
fuck?!”

There were about ten guards in total. They
took one look at Manny's face and took a couple of big steps
back.

“
What the fuck just
happened?” he roared, turning to look at them.

“
They just came out of the
evacuation route,” one of them blurted out.

Wrong move.

Manny focused on him, striding over to lift
him by the throat.

“
They who?” he grated
out.

That snapped the rest of them out of their
shock.

This might not go exactly as planned...

I tensed, Reina stiffening beside me.

That was when a group of wolves streamed in.
There was the other part of the plan.

The one in front changed, revealing a large
man in his thirties. He was well-muscled and confident as he strode
up to Manny.

“
I'm issuing a formal
challenge.”

Manny gaped at him, the poor guard still
dangling from his meaty paw.

I watched his face flash to anger. And then
to calculation as he absently dropped the guard.

“
You what? Think about
this long and hard Lucius. I won't spare your life.”

The man, who must have been Lucius, bared
his teeth in a grin.

“
I won't spare
yours.”

Everyone's eyes were on the tableau they
made. Manny had a couple of inches on Lucius, but they were both
strong and intimidating.

What worried me was the viciousness in
Manny's eyes.

I hoped Lucius was on his game.

As they were talking, more of their pack
members slowly trickled into the clearing, until there wasn't much
we could see.

Reina and I looked at each other.

And then up at the tree we were next to.

“
Just like old times,” she
whispered, swinging up onto the first branch.

I grinned, following her up.

We were up high enough in a couple of
seconds, with a good view of the two fighters circling each other
in the middle of the ever growing crowd.

I'd put it at a fifty-fifty shot who came
out on top.

And that was being generous. I was hoping
Manny had become content in his position and lost his edge.

Thirty seconds into the fight, I realized
that hope was thoroughly squashed.

The two broke apart again, both bleeding and
bruised already.

Manny spit out blood, a small chunk missing
from Lucius's shoulder.

The man was an animal.

I held my breath as Lucius went in with a
fast kick, his face determined.

It landed and Manny grunted, stumbling to
the side.

Come on.

But when Lucius closed in, Manny grabbed him
by the neck and pulled his head down into his knee.

I winced at the crunch of what was probably
his nose breaking.

But he didn't stop there.

He kept going, hammering his knee into
Lucius's face until people were looking away, wincing at the
sounds.

Finally, he threw Lucius aside, his face a
mess of red, completely destroyed.

Gone.

“
Anyone else thinking
now's a good time to challenge me?” Manny roared into the crowd,
circling so he could glare at everyone. He was covered in blood and
gore, his face alight with a manic glee that underscored the fact
that he'd actually enjoyed what had just happened.

This was the guy Reina's dad had decided to
strike an alliance with? He needed to be put down like the rabid
dog he was.

Nobody moved forward as he put out that
blanket invitation.