[Southern Arcana 3.0] Deadlock (34 page)

This was who he was. The strongest wolf. A predator.

He pounced, and Cesar met him full-on in the middle of the clearing with a crash of bone and hard muscle. Heavy and bulky, but still slow. With the wolf as his giddy ally, Alec was faster.

He landed the first bite, a vicious clash of teeth that should have closed around Cesar’s throat but hit his shoulder instead. Alec clenched his jaw and hung on as Cesar twisted and clawed and finally wrenched free, tearing the flesh of his shoulder in the process.

No more mercy. No more chances to yield. Alec charged, ruthlessly pressing his advantage. He tasted blood and fur as he bit down again and again, driving Cesar across the slippery grass.

Cesar growled and stumbled, fell. There was no final surge, no last-ditch attempt to drive Alec back. He struggled to rise and failed, his eyes wide and desperate. His sides heaved, and he kicked at the grass as blood welled from his wounds.

Kill kill kill.

Alec took one trembling step backwards. His rear paw slipped on a leaf, and his claws dug into the dirt.

Bite. Rend. Win.

Another step as the wild creature inside him howled protest. They were stronger. Better. They deserved triumph, and their enemy deserved death.

He lifted his nose. Scented the wind. So many smells, so many people. But
she
was there, so attuned to him that he thought he could pick her heartbeat out of the crowd. Racing. Scared.

She would understand the need for total victory. She might even forgive him.

Alec didn’t want her forgiveness and understanding. He wanted her trust and pride.

If becoming a wolf had been easy, finding the shape of a man was a trial. The wolf was confused, edgy, but with their adversary brought low he was no longer frantic. Alec called magic and felt the change, maybe a few seconds slower than usual, but soon he knelt on the cool grass. Naked. Bloodied.

He wiped his face on the back of his arm and ignored the streaks of red as he rocked to his feet and turned to find one man in the crowd. Diego Mendoza. Carmen’s father. Victory lurked in his eyes—the knowledge that he had a son on the council now. Diego had risked his youngest son’s life and had nearly killed his daughter, all in a quest for power, and Cesar’s death would bring that power one step closer to his grasp.

Alec had no intention of letting Diego win. “Come here and get your brother. If a doctor can hold him together, he’ll live.”

The victory melted into confusion. Diego started forward, then stopped.

A growl rose up, and Alec didn’t check it. “
Now
.”

The command broke the man’s paralysis. He rushed to his brother and picked him up, blood soaking into his shirt. His gaze found Carmen, then darted to Alec and away, and he carried Cesar off through the crowd.

“Diego.” Not a shout, but it cut through the unnatural stillness nonetheless. The man froze and looked back, and Alec felt his lips turn up in what must have been a chilling smile. “You and your brother have until midnight to get the fuck out of my state. You won’t come back. You won’t contact your children. If they want to talk to you, they’ll call you. If you have a problem with that, you can challenge me now.”

The last bit of triumph faded from Diego’s expression, and his lips barely moved as he spoke. “Understood.”

He left in silence. Alec bent and pulled on his jeans, though he didn’t bother with his shirt or boots before glancing over to where Andrew stood. The man walked forward, heeding the silent summons. Julio followed, a little more slowly, though all but the worst of his wounds had already closed.

They stood beside him, and he turned to find the final two members of the Southeast council—Alan Reed and William Levesque. Reed stood with his younger brother, both immaculately dressed and wearing identical blank expressions, though Alan’s jaw tightened whenever he looked at Julio.

Levesque, on the other hand, looked scared, his hands in tight fists, his eyes darting about the crowd, as if wondering who else Alec might pull from among it to challenge the only remaining council members. Good. That fear would keep them in line for the time being.

The final murmurs around them faded as Alec fixed his attention on Reed. Traditional words and forms didn’t matter—there was nothing traditional about what he was about to do. “I lay claim to leadership of the Southeast council, and the right to sit on the Conclave as its representative. You can challenge me for that right, if you’d like, but Andrew Callaghan and Julio Mendoza stand behind me.”

Judging from their expressions, the men had already made the connection—anyone who cared to go against one of them would have to face all three. It wouldn’t hold the challenges at bay forever, maybe not even for long, but today…

No one spoke up. No one dared.

Alec slanted a look at John Peyton. “Well?”

“Are we done?” The Alpha surveyed those gathered, but silence reigned, and he pulled himself up to his full, considerable height. “I hope everyone here will listen and heed my words. The next time anyone has grandiose ideas of the wealth and power to be garnered through our leadership, remember one thing.
Leadership
. If you can’t or won’t set a positive example for those you aim to lead…stay the fuck out of it.”

It was better than Alec had hoped. It was damn near validation, and everyone standing there knew it. Word would spread—to the other councils, to the men who had considered vying for a spot on them. To turned wolves like Andrew, who had never in the history of their people managed to have a voice without having that voice taken away.

The culminating achievement of Alec’s life, most would say, and he might even agree. But he didn’t want his parents’ proud smiles or the satisfaction of seeing respect in the eyes of strong leaders. He didn’t want the wariness in the gazes of those who knew their own closets held too many skeletons, or even the relief and happiness that filled the faces of his friends.

He looked to Carmen, who stood still and pale, her cheeks wet with tears. When his eyes met hers, she broke away from the onlookers and ran to him.

He hurried to meet her, unwilling to touch her with blood under his bare feet. Her body barreled into his and he closed both arms, savoring her warmth. Soft and alive, she was his. His muse, his life, his lover.

His
.

The crowd didn’t matter. Alec buried his face in her hair and whispered, soft and rasping. “Let me feel it.”

She dragged in a rough breath, and her emotions enveloped him. Fading sadness and fear, eclipsed by relief and pride and a need so sharp it almost cut.

The air left his lungs in a ragged sigh, and tension unraveled as he held her. Needed her. Loved her. This was what made it worth it, what would keep making it worth it while they fought their way up an impossible hill. The little bits of life that were nothing but sweetness and light.

Shapeshifter society had been dark for too long. Together they could turn up the sun.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alec watched the dust cloud from the final unwanted visitor disappear down his driveway and let out a quiet breath. “So,” he said to Andrew, who stood at his side, “how’s it feel to go down in history?”

“Pretty damn surreal.” The young wolf kicked at a piece of gravel. “Thought they’d never leave.”

It had taken them three hours to extricate themselves from sycophantic new admirers and faux-sycophantic enemies hoping to spot a weakness. Julio handled it with practiced ease, though his straightforward bluntness had blanched more than a few prissy faces. Alec was used to having the well-bred wolves stare at him as if he had two heads. Andrew, though…

Well, he’d get used to it too. He’d have to. “It helps that they expect you to be as ass-backwards and uncivilized as I am. My reputation can precede both of us.”

“Yeah.” Andrew squinted at him in the dying light. “So, it’s our job to take care of shit that goes down around here.”

“Yeah. We can do it different. Make alliances with other people. Psychics, the lions, the spell casters.”

The younger man nodded. “I want to look for the guy who attacked Kat. They still haven’t found him, right?”

One of a hundred loose ends Alec wouldn’t have time to deal with now. “No. I can probably get you the surveillance footage from his escape, and any files Jackson has. I’m sure he can help you out.”

Andrew shoved his hands in his pockets. “What about you and Carmen? Headed to New York soon?”

“We’ll have to spend some time there. Maybe a lot of time.” Alec’s gaze drifted to the other side of the drive, where Carmen stood with Julio, Miguel—and Kat. Though her hand was curled tight around Miguel’s, Kat’s gaze kept darting to Andrew with a furtive desperation Alec recognized—she was reassuring herself he was still in one piece.

He wanted to say something, but even he learned a lesson if you hit him with it enough times. Andrew would talk about Kat’s safety, but he wouldn’t talk about Kat. Alec changed the subject. “You and Julio will need to run the day-to-day stuff here. But we’ll have a few months to settle in. Get the lay of the—”

“I’ve got to go,” Andrew cut in with a rasp. When Alec looked up, he found Andrew turning away from Kat and Miguel and their joined hands. “Tell Kat that I—fuck.”

Six months ago, Andrew had stood in this same driveway as a newly made wolf, every instinct focused on Kat. He’d needed her so hard he’d hurt her, uncertain in his strength and the demands of his body. Sometimes Alec thought that each second the man had spent training since had been a desperate attempt to find control, to convince himself a fragile human woman would be safe in his arms.

Six months might not be enough. Six
years
might not be enough. Alec knew all too well how terrifying it could be to ride that edge of control and wonder if letting go would hurt the person you loved.

Carmen’s quiet empathy had given him peace from that fear, but there was nothing quiet about the power in Kat. Too easy to envision a thousand ways she and Andrew could hurt each other—
kill
each other. No easy answers there, and nothing he could say to comfort Andrew.

He still tried, because magic hung in the air and, for the first time in years, Alec wanted to believe in happy endings again. “Life cycles around, Andrew. Sometimes we get second chances. Maybe yours will be with her, or with someone you haven’t met yet. But trust me. It can be just as good the second time around.”

The declaration startled a grin out of Andrew, a broad smile that made him look, for just a moment, as laid-back and carefree as he’d been as a human. “You’re a hopeless fucking romantic.” He clapped Alec on the shoulder and dug his keys out of his pocket. “Congratulations.”

Alec returned the smile. “Go get some rest. Sleep late tomorrow—it’s the last chance you’ll get for a really long time.”

Andrew started to his car, and Alec turned toward Carmen again, but stopped when Jackson ambled down the porch steps. He lifted a hand, and the wizard shook his head with a laugh. “How’s it feel to be the big cheese around here?”

“Always have been, man.” Alec jerked his head toward the path around the house. “Walk with me?”

“Only if ‘leave the gun, take the cannoli’ isn’t going to be part of the conversation.”

Jackson seemed pretty fucking pleased with the world, though Alec supposed he’d been like that for a while. “Nah, had my fill of politics and violence for the night. I was thinking we should talk about the business.”

“Uh-huh. You leaving your name on the window for show, or did you have something else in mind?”

“We were always helping people, a few at a time. Supernaturals knew they could come to our office to find me. I was thinking maybe we could take that to the next level. Do more.” He smiled. “C’mon, Jackson. You know you wanna save the world with us.”

Jackson pretended to consider it. “Can saving the world wait ’til I get back from Vegas?”

His partner had joked about drive-through Las Vegas weddings so often Alec didn’t have to ask. He wasn’t surprised by the spike of happiness—Jackson deserved the love he’d found with Mackenzie—but it was oddly relaxing not to feel the usual accompanying jealousy. “About time. You better be damned ashamed if I end up hitched before you do.”

“No way. It’ll take a year to plan the kind of to-do y’all have to make.” Jackson glanced up at the darkening sky. “I’m engaged, you’re engaged, and no one’s dead. Seems like a good night for a party.”

“You’d know all about it.” Alec clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go get things started? I’ll be along in a few minutes.”

Jackson retreated into the house, and Alec sighed and glanced back to where Carmen still talked to her brothers. All he wanted in the world was a few uninterrupted moments with her. A chance to celebrate in private.

Maybe this was his first test as the leader of their region—smile and play host when he really wanted to chase his lover through the woods and take her where he caught her. The urge had been with him since the fight, but looking at her now, in the uncertain twilight with the wind stirring her hair and her eyes alight with pleasure…

Christ
, he needed her.

He always would, and maybe that was the best part of all.

The house bustled with celebration. Music spilled out of the open doors and windows into the night, following Carmen as she slipped off the back porch and went in search of Alec.

Cicadas sang through the deepening darkness as she walked through the back yard. He wouldn’t return to the clearing, not so soon after the fights that had stained the ground that afternoon, and the barn was dark.

She followed her intuition more than anything, and it led her down a path she only vaguely remembered. It wasn’t until she heard the lapping of water that she felt him—Alec, deep in thought. Pensive.

Wondering.

Moonlight glinted off the lake’s marshy surface as she walked up to stand beside him. “Jackson and Mac went for pizza.”

His fingers curled around her hand. “With the way things are carrying on in there, I hope they took a moving van to bring it back in.”

“I hope they don’t get too much. Five minutes after they left, Walker and his brother showed up in a catering van. They’re boiling shrimp in your kitchen as we speak.”