Snow Wolf: Wolves of Willow Bend (Book 9) (5 page)

The tussling continued for another five minutes before Bridge cleared her throat. A light, if effective, reminder he was derailing their day. Nearly as disappointed as the kids, Diesel said, “Enough now.” Obedience rippled through the wild bunch, and they hopped down before immediately returning to their lineup—all except for little Anya. She raced over to him and held her arms up. Her parents shouldn’t have left the tiny one so soon, but both had needed the winter shift. They’d discussed it with Chowder and then with Diesel before he approved their request.

Scooping the barely four-year-old up into his arms, he indulged her with an affectionate kiss to the cheek. Her grip on his neck tightened and he rubbed his chin to her head. Little ones craved affection and, for once, he found himself with plenty to spare. “Anya can stay with me, Bridge. I will send her along within the hour.” His statement was both an order and a request.

Though only in her fifties, Bridge preferred the nursery assignments to all others. She’d been a Sentry in her younger years, but it had never been a good fit. “Very well, Alpha.” The acquiescence carried a note of amusement and—dare he say—approval? She waited till the last child, sans Anya, had joined the line before she rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

Cupping her cheek, he held her still a long moment. Like the children, contact with his wolves was also important. His distance had been noticed, but he’d never held himself aloof from their affections. His dwindling spirit and desire to continue had never usurped his far more visceral need to protect what was his.

“How is Lucky?” Bridge’s mate earned his name a dozen times over in his lifetime. The wolf had a canny sense of when danger approached. Another Sentry, he also divided his time between the roam with his pack and with his mate at the nursery. Somehow, his instincts always put him in the right place at the right time.

“He’s being stubborn. Chowder won’t let him roam just yet. The broken leg has healed well, though.” The wolf had been gravely injured during a fall from an ice wall…one that should have killed him. But he’d still pulled the younglings out of their predicament, broken leg notwithstanding.

“Good. Tell him I said you were in charge of him, and he’d do well to listen.”

Her laughter sparked true merriment. “I do that everyday and he grumbles, but obeys.” Another kiss, and she gave a second to Anya. “Be a good girl, okay?”

The little one nodded, snuggling to Diesel’s shoulder. She wasn’t budging from her claim to his attention. Cuddling her, Diesel left the school children behind and grinned at their studious return to their duties. His pack was strong, every single one of them, down to the delicate little flower in his arms. Chowder thought Anya had the taste of a healer in her scent, and Diesel didn’t disagree.

However, she was too young to do more than be looked after and be allowed to grow of her own accord. The underground complex never suited him, except today. He found himself seeing it through new eyes. What would Ranae make of the different chambers they’d carved? Some were designed to be forest, while others were open and terraced. Throughout it, running water created pools—both for moisture and to keep the water clean as it tumbled through the system.

His engineers had constructed a thing of beauty and, though many of the pack spent months below, the rotating light system gave them a taste of natural daylight and darkness so their days didn’t drag on them. The stone steps he followed down curved into a less used area. His office belowground offered him a private place for discussions when he joined them. Rare was the appearance he put in there, but they kept it clean and neat and no one else step foot inside except the two women he’d entrusted with its care.

Montana eyed him as he arrived—already forewarned, he suspected—and she had the doors wide open. “Should I send for some cookies, as well?” Her gaze rested on Anya as she asked.

“Cookies sound good, don’t they?” In fact, now that she’d mentioned it, his stomach rumbled. “I think sandwiches, too. What say you Anya?”

“Yes, please.” Soft, barely a whisper, her voice carried nothing but trust. “Can I stay here to eat?”

“Of course, but I need to talk to these two for a moment. Will you wait with Montana?” He could order her, but preferred to avoid it where the tiniest ones were concerned.

Anya switched her attention to Montana. “Do you have hot chocolate?”

“I think we can find some.” His assistant held out her hands, and Anya kissed Diesel’s cheek before stretching out to let Montana take her. “I’ll send for food for you, Alpha.”

“Thank you.” He cupped Montana’s cheek, and she rubbed against his palm. Affection offered and received, touch to reassure and reconnect. Leaving the women, he strode into his office, Julian on his heels. Though turning his back on the Enforcer wasn’t always wise, he didn’t doubt the man’s intentions. He had a mission in the Yukon, or he wouldn’t be here.

Inside, Grinder closed the doors to give them privacy and took up a guard position. Diesel crossed the dark wood floor to the desk he’d carved from an old ice ship. It had been one of the last projects he’d done with his own father, a rare time they’d shared together.

After a passing caress against the scarred wood, he reached into a drawer of the desk and pulled out fresh clothes. Shrugging into the t-shirt, he set his gaze on Julian. “Talk.”

The other wolf smiled then dropped into a chair opposite the desk, all pretense falling away. “Among the Three Rivers wolves was an Omega. She has joined with Willow Bend.”

Not that he cared, but Diesel nodded. “Mason’s pack has recovered nicely from Toman’s mishandling.” He’d never cared for the other Alpha on the two occasions they’d met. The man’s dominance had always been a question, but his politics had been solid and predictable. Mason Clayborne had not proven so easy to read, a good thing for most packs. “Why do I care?”

“Because she’s Dallas’ pup.”

The name aroused an old memory in Diesel. Leaving the jeans for later, he walked over to the bar and poured them both a drink. Like him, Julian preferred whiskey, so he didn’t bother to ask before he slid a drink across the desk before he took his own seat. “Well, that should make tracking her easier for you.”

“She won’t roam into Mason’s territory.” The unspoken accusation lingered between them.

“She was due to give birth, Julian. I wouldn’t send out my worst enemy to birth a pup alone.” Nor had he informed the Enforcers, which remained point of contention between them.

“You knew I was hunting her.”

“Not my problem. If you can’t catch her, maybe you shouldn’t share your constant failure in that department.” It amused him. Dallas was Julian’s white whale—he wouldn’t stop until he found her. “You didn’t come all the way here to talk about old business.”

“No, I didn’t. I have other news. Your wolf, Colby, passed away overseas several years ago.”

“So, you have confirmed his death.” Diesel long suspected it. He only sent word to the Enforcers after three years when Dodger—his name amongst the pack—had not returned.

“Yes.”

“How?” He knew the wolf passed, had felt the snap of the too-thin tendril of connection. Not knowing where he was or what he’d been doing, Diesel had not acted on the knowledge. It could have simply been time and distance that eroded their connection.

“A fire,” Julian said, before taking a long swallow of the whiskey. His expression shadowed. “He saved many lives, according to his daughter.”

Daughter.
The information jolted Diesel. “His mate?”

“A latent, like their child turned out to be. Both are in Hudson River.”

“They have a place here, if they want it.” No hesitation slowed his response. Diesel would care for Dodger’s mate and their pup, although she had to be a grown woman by now.

“Unnecessary, but you may wish to reach out to Brett. Colby—the daughter, not your wolf—is his mate.”

Mated to an Alpha. Dodger would be proud.
“Latents don’t always do well that high in pack structure.”

“She’s also a healer… and no longer latent. She’s shifted.” Julian shrugged. “The rest is their story to tell, so if you want it, reach out to them. The mate has remarried, a human this time, and seems settled. Your wolf saved many lives and is remembered well.”

“To Dodger, then.” Diesel raised his glass. At the door, Grinder put a fist to his heart and Julian held his glass high as well.

“To Dodger.”

They slammed back the whiskey and it was Julian who stood to retrieve the bottle.

“Thank you for bringing the information.” It cost him nothing to show gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” They were silent a long moment as Julian refilled their glasses then resumed his seat and set the bottle on the desk between them.

“How bad was the attack on Cassius’ pack?”

“Significant. More than a two hundred wolves dead—many women and children.” The information had Grinder growling, but he got himself under control.

Diesel swirled the whiskey in his glass. “What do you know of the Russian wolves involved?”

“Not much.” Julian reached into a pocket and pulled out his phone. He pulled up something on the screen then slid it across to him. “This one is nearly identical to the wolf taken in Cassius’ territory.”

Nearly identical.
Diesel studied the image. The man had a Slavic look to him, light hair, dark eyes.

“The next image is of the child they used in the attack on Sutter Butte.”

Child?
Diesel swiped his thumb across the screen then studied the delicate looking girl with the dead eyes. The lack of any emotion or animation sent a ripple of distaste through him. Only one pack in Russia he knew of used children as infiltrators. “Volchitsa.”

“You know them?”

“Not them, specifically.” Diesel slid the phone back. “But only one of the Russian packs would use someone so small to do so much damage. They raise them to be infiltrators—usually orphans, with no family group to protect them. They are trained from infancy then sent out to other packs to gather information.”
Information. Targets.
The little ones could do so much damage. “Malyutka have no future, no desire, no goal, save for the one they are given. Where is this one now?”

“Serafina Andre has her in Delta Crescent.”

“They should kill it.” Harsh, and even saying it aloud made him sick.

“She’s only a child.” Julian took the phone back.

“No, she is Malyutka. If her goal is to create chaos, she will try in Delta Crescent. If it is to kill an Alpha, she will do that as well.” His southern brethren would not understand, as with the damn Italian wolf they’d allowed to take up residence with her sixth pack. They would never see the child as a threat.

“It doesn’t matter what name you give her.” Julian’s tone suggested he didn’t disagree with the sentiment. “She’s a child. They will not kill her. Besides, she’s young enough. Perhaps in time…”

After draining his whiskey, Diesel set the glass down on the desk. “The only thing time grants them is it allows child to gather more information and grow. She will only get stronger. More determined.”

“Nothing we can do about that.” Sober understanding passed between them. Perhaps Julian had not strayed so far from who they’d been as boys. “I will carry your words to them, cousin.” The reminder of who they were to each other didn’t soften his stance. “They will not follow that advice any more than they followed it about Three Rivers.”

So be it
. “What of the male?”

“Cassius agreed with your take on that one. My last contact with Brett said he was interrogating the wolf. Afterward, they’ll execute him. It may already be done.”

Good.
Then the threat near the child of his pack had been eliminated.

“He won’t take chances with Colby’s safety or his pack. Not after what all has happened before.” Julian eyed the bottle, so Diesel uncapped it and refilled their glasses.

They saluted then drained them, and Julian refilled them again. The spread of the whiskey in his system heated his blood and chased away the last remnants of the chill. Diesel leaned back in his chair. “They will not come for me, Julian.”

“I know.” The other wolf shrugged. “Your fellow Alphas don’t understand. Most are too young to know the reasons why.”

Diesel smiled faintly. “Good. Don’t educate them. It was a long time ago.” Too long, and too forgotten by time. They needed to leave it there. “How much longer do you plan to stay?”

“I can leave in a day. We have to identify where the wolves are coming in…and deal with Three Rivers.” The admission didn’t surprise Diesel.

“So, they have finally come around?”

“To a point,” the Chief Enforcer admitted. “If they are being used as a launching point, they have already signed the writs of their destruction.” If they weren’t, the other Alphas might change their mind.

“I care not for their fate any more now than I did then.” Diesel had other things on his mind. Another someone, more specifically. “I will vote to the majority.” If it changed the sway of things, then he would let it happen.

“And if they are split?” came the dry response.

“Then kill them so I don’t have to have this discussion again.”

They locked gazes, and Julian didn’t disguise his disapproval. He shook his head and took a long drink. “We shall see what we shall see.”

Done with the conversation, Diesel stood. Julian didn’t leave his chair. “You will be returning alone.”

“That is up to her, isn’t it?”

“No,
cousin
. It is not. For now, you may inform Mason she is to be my liaison, so she stays.” A bold move, but he wasn’t finished. Meeting the Enforcer’s stare, he smiled. “If he doesn’t go for that, you can tell him she is my hostage—by way of the old laws.”

“Do you really want to pick this fight with him over the potential that she is your mate?”
So, Julian knew.

“If he hadn’t wanted it, he would never have sent her. Grinder will be your escort—and he will show you out. Safe travels.”

“And good luck to you,” Julian said, not turning when Diesel strode out. “You’re going to need it.”