Pack Bonds, page 11
part #4 of Amarok Series
“Remove the body,” Alpine told the others lingering in the alley. “Wrap it up in something and drop it in a dumpster far from here. Sweep the alley on the way out and for gods’ sakes, make sure there aren’t any witnesses. The last thing we need right now is the police getting involved.”
“Alpha.”
He looked up as Beckett dropped down on his left. “The Freewood wolves are howling. When I went to investigate, I found two of them waiting for us in an open field. Should we attack them now?”
“No. Broad daylight and an open field…that sounds more like a meeting than a declaration of war. Fine. I’ve been waiting to hear what these people have to say for themselves.”
“Do you trust them enough not to take advantage of your honor and lead you into a trap?”
“You make a good point. Get the men and surround the place but remember, don’t make a move unless they do. Otherwise, we are no better than them.”
“Then let’s hope they make a move.”
-
Alpine approached the lot slowly. Beckett had described it as a field, but it was undeveloped land between an office space for rent and a small, deserted gas station. Plenty of sightlines and few places to hide. True to the rogue’s word, only two men waited for them, though Alpine didn’t doubt more could reach them at a moment’s notice.
“It doesn’t seem like an ambush,” he told Beckett beside him. “Keep everyone back.”
“We’ll be ready.”
His people kept back as he continued forward. Once he was closer, Alpine noticed one of the people waiting for him was Kyle Freewood, though his serious demeanor didn’t immediately register with the carefree youth in the pictures they’d found on the internet.
Next to him was a solidly built man with nape length dark hair and thick sideburns. His brown eyes watched Alpine with cool intent as the rogue leader came to a stop, his muscular arms hanging loosely at his sides contradictory to the tension Alpine read in his shoulders. “You must be Franklin.”
“No.” The man stepped forward, putting Kyle behind him. “Franklin’s dead. I am Dugen Alexin, the current alpha of the Freewood pack.”
“I am Alpine Locklear.” Alpine looked to Kyle. The youth remained steadfast beside the man who must have presumably killed his uncle to take his place. He gained a bit of respect for them. “You killed him?”
“Aye.”
“Maybe you wolves aren’t all traitors then. At least, I would like to say that but…” He breathed in deeply. Even at a distance, he could detect the offensive smells clinging to them; fae and vampires. “You seem to be as deeply entwined with the enemies of our race as your predecessor. Your friends took out one of my men.”
“I have nothing to do with Franklin’s dealings with the Council. As for your man, if one of my people came across a hostile rogue invader, the outcome of such a meeting is rather obvious.”
“Fair enough. But did you know about that man’s schemes?”
“Aye, though sometimes I believe I knew nothing at all.”
“Don’t think that makes you less guilty. Franklin should have been challenged the moment anyone discovered a hint of his treachery.”
“Franklin’s methods were questionable, but his intentions weren’t evil. He chose a questionable strategy to get desired results, something you should understand.”
Alpine sneered. “What are you talking about?”
“The wolfsbane was unnecessary.” Dugen growled low in his throat. “We can handle this between ourselves. Rather than making a racket amongst humans, the two of us can settle this like men.”
“That sounds fine to me. I thought you Freewood wolves wouldn’t understand the concept.” He pulled off his shirt. A black tribal tattoo of a snarling wolf that spanned his chest was bisected by two puffed up scars, mutilating the beautiful artwork. Alpine slapped a palm against them. “Hunters. Sent after me by that coward. The silver poisoning almost killed me.”
“It seems we have something in common.” Dugen removed his shirt and Alpine frowned at the white bandages covering his shoulder. “Silver-capped spear. I wasn’t quite on death’s door but surviving any wound inflicted by that cursed metal is an accomplishment.”
“Franklin do that to you?”
“No. Vampires.”
Alpine huffed, reaching down to pick up his discarded garment and tucking it under his arm. “One week. The silver should be out of your system. Then we will settle this.”
“We can settle this now.”
“Do not insult me!” Alpine roared. “We will handle this as our forefathers; two dominants and two wills, with nothing between them.”
Dugen nodded slowly. “Aye.” Kyle grabbed his shirt off the ground and the two turned to leave when a shout made them pause.
Alpine bared his teeth in imitation of a snarl as they looked back at him. “One week, Dugen Alexin, or we will handle this the way your predecessor preferred. I know what a war on the streets would mean for all of us, but I am prepared to take that risk if that’s what it takes.”
Dugen held his stare but Alpine was steadfast. He had no doubt the rogue leader would make good on his threat and that made him rethink everything he’d assumed about the invaders. “Understood.”
-
The three of them entered the classroom. As usual, they drew attention. Dean spotted two open seats near the windows. She nodded her head towards them. “Good?”
Viktoriya nodded. “Too bad we didn’t get here earlier. We could have sat together.”
“We’re still going to.”
“Dean, hey. What do you mean?” Dean ignored her as she moved across the room, stopping in front of the desk behind the window seat. A fresh-faced boy sat there surrounded by his friends. They stopped talking as her shadow fell over them.
Dean met his eyes. Her first reaction was to snarl at him, but remembering Viktoriya’s words, she kept her face neutral. “Hey, um…”
“Gil. Well, it’s Gilroy but people call me Gil. And you’re Dean, yeah?”
“Yeah. Listen, Gil. You’d be helping me out if you let me have that seat.” She looked over at Viktoriya and Rachel, who smiled on cue. “We like sitting with each other.”
“Right. I get it. The Love Triangle.” He laughed with his friends. “You have to tell me how you managed that. Like, how come they don’t get angry at each other—”
The bell rang again. Dean looked over her shoulder as Tobias walked into the room. He nodded in her direction with a pleasant smile and she returned the gesture before turning back to Gil, slamming her hands on the desk. He jumped, his sentence cutting off midword. “Look. I need that chair. Get out of it.” A loud clearing of someone’s throat made her turn around to see Viktoriya glaring daggers at her. Dean turned back with a roll of her eyes. “Please.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Gil stood from his chair. Dean flashed a smile she meant to be friendly. The boy paled and quickly moved away. Shrugging, Dean dropped down into the empty seat. Rachel and Viktoriya took the empty ones in front of her. Dean pushed the desk until it was behind their chairs.
The move drew attention from the room, including Tobias’. Unlike them, he didn’t react at all to the scene. “Good morning everyone. Shall we begin?”
-
Dean braced herself against the cacophony of noise in the cafeteria. Without the stress of a recent fight agitating her and having prior experience, the close confines were much easier to handle. She sat down at a corner table with her back to the crowd, her mates on either side of her.
It didn’t take long for the others to show up. She recognized them now; Logan in the front, his girlfriend Marjorie the swimmer at his side, and the junior journalist Spencer at the football star’s back. They sat across from the changers with easy smiles, a far cry from their first meal together. “Dean, you’re not escaping this time. I’m bringing you to the field and getting you in gear.”
“While I’d love to crush you at your own game, it’s not going to happen.”
“Aw, come on. Why not?”
“…I’m already apart of another club.” Earlier, Addison had discretely cornered her and informed her that none of the school’s ‘special’ students were allowed to participate in sports, for obvious reasons.
“Crap. I was about to ask you to try out for the swim team.” Marjorie looked toward Viktoriya. “Don’t suppose you’d be interested?”
“I have a job.”
“How come no one’s asking me?” Rachel asked with a huff. “I’m athletic.”
Logan laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way but you don’t look like the type to sweat too hard.”
Dean looked over at Spencer. The boy’s shoulders were hunched in and his gaze moved over the table hesitantly. She noticed his fingers lightly scratching the table’s surface and could imagine him scribbling something onto the little pad of paper he carried around.
Leaning forward, she slapped the area next to his lunch tray to catch his attention. “You can write.”
Spencer’s brows furrowed. “I thought you said…”
“I know what I said, but you look like someone stole the fattest chicken in your yard. I’m changing my mind. Go ahead and write, but I want to see whatever you come up with.”
“For real?” He pulled out his notebook, holding it over the table uncertainly until she gave him another nod. “Cool.”
“Good for you, Specs,” Logan said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Though what changed your mind? You were ready to take his head off when he tried it before.”
“I was having a bad day. And the girls are trying to get me to be more sociable.”
“That’s right.” Rachel reached up, grabbing Dean by the ears and turning the taller girl toward her. “She looks like a big, grumpy bear but she sweetens up with a little honey.”
“Depends on who’s dishing it out.” Dean swallowed her laughter in a kiss. The two of them were completely absorbed with each other and oblivious to the looks the three students were giving them, along with a few others in the cafeteria.
Marjorie elbowed her grinning boyfriend in the ribs to stop his goofy smile, turning to Viktoriya with a flushed face. “That doesn’t bother you?”
“Hmm?” Viktoriya looked up from her food, swallowing quickly. She looked over to her mates and then backed to Marjorie with a confused expression. “No. Why would it?”
“It’s, well. I mean, don’t any of you ever get jealous?”
“Jealous, huh.” Viktoriya tilted her head back in thought. Then she nodded to herself. “Okay. So, if another girl kisses your boyfriend there, you’d be upset because you consider him yours. No one likes having what’s there’s taken away, right?”
“Sure, I guess.”
Viktoriya pointed at Dean. “She’s mine.” Then she pointed at Rachel. “She’s also mine. No one’s taking anything away from me. Why would I be jealous?”
“Can I quote you on that?” Spencer asked.
“Go ahead.”
“And Vikky is all ours,” Dean said breaking away. “Though I wouldn’t dare try a similar display. Don’t want my eyes getting clawed out.” She laughed as the students gave her questioning looks. “Red, how would you say this?”
“Vikky’s shy.”
“Shut up,” Viktoriya said with a red face. “I’m not shy. It’s just—” She was interrupted by her phone ringing. Holding up a finger in a silent ‘excuse me’, she answered. “Hello? What…yeah, okay. Tonight. Your place? No, should be fine. We’ll see you then.” She hung up and looked over at her mates who were watching her. They didn’t have to exchange words as the two of them had heard both sides of the conversation.
“You guys look pretty serious.”
The three of them turned back to Logan. Viktoriya raised a hand in dismissal. “It’s nothing serious. We…got invited to dinner. With my…uncle and his family.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Rachel hummed. “Not so much. At least, not anymore. Let’s say our families have some history.”
“Wait, do they not get along?” Marjorie asked, practically leaning over the table. “Did they try to keep the three of you apart?”
“They tried.”
“Kind of.”
“Bastards.”
The three mates looked at each other. Dean shook her head. “Kind of? That’s like saying foxes kind of hurt rabbits when they eat them.”
Viktoriya shrugged. “I was trying not to paint too bad a picture, you know? Since it’s all over.” She looked past her to Rachel, raising an eyebrow. “Holding onto grudges isn’t healthy.”
“Don’t care. They…” She paused, looking at their captive audience of three. “…put you on house arrest and would have kept you locked up in that…room forever.”
Spencer was scribbling fast enough that it was audible while Marjorie stared at them with starstruck eyes. “Oh my God. It’s like Romeo and Juliet.”
Dean tilted her head. “The heck is that?”
“You don’t know? Shakespeare? You don’t know who Shakespeare is? Wow, okay. It’s about a girl and a boy who love each other but their families are feuding so they can’t be together.”
“Huh. That’s the two of them.”
“Wait, seriously?”
Rachel sighed. “Our families have some issues with each other yes and because of that, we had a few issues but everybody’s working it out now. Forget that.” She leaned forward, gesturing for Marjorie to do the same. “If you really want to hear a story, we can talk about how Dean busted Vikky out of her jail.”
“Busted her out?”
“I’m not exaggerating. She broke down the door.”
Dean smirked. In actuality, she had pulled apart metal bars infused with silver, but the three students looked suitably impressed without having the actual details. Especially the girl. Marjorie looked between the changers with wide eyes as Rachel retold the story, substituting the relevant details.
Logan seemed to be considering her. “You look like you want to say something.”
The football player held up his hands. “Naw. It’s nothing bad.” His hands came down as his brows furrowed. “…Did you really knock down the door?”
“I did.”
“Man, you’ve got balls.”
“What?”
“I mean, you’ve got guts. Backbone. I don’t think I could do something like that. Even if…” He looked over at Marjorie who was still engrossed in her conversation with Rachel. “You’ve got to know to do something like that. That you’re in love.”
Dean studied his intense look of concentration. She’d heard that humans didn’t have mate bonds, that they blindly searched for the one they belonged to with no certainty that their feelings were well placed or that they would ever find their match. Compared to that, going after her mates didn’t seem brave.
Reaching forward, she grabbed his shoulder, waiting until he looked into her eyes. Then she squeezed once and let him go. She could tell he got the message from the small smile he wore.
“You’re not bad at all, Dean.”
Dean was starting to get the same opinion of the humans. They reminded her of small animals in the forest. Weak as they were, they had their proper place in the ecosystem and shouldn’t be discounted. A few of them managed to surprise the predators that lorded over them. “I’m starting to feel the same about you…Logan.”
Marjorie leaned back in her seat with a sigh. “Wow. That sounds like it was awesome. Must feel nice, having someone who would go to bat with you like that with this new gang hanging around.”
Logan gave her an offended look that she rolled her eyes at. “Be serious. You’re not going to fight a group of guys.”
“No, but you don’t have to put me on spot. Dean’s not going to fight those crazy guys either.” He looked to her, giving her an incredulous look when she cracked her knuckles threateningly. “…Would you?”
Viktoriya’s eyes hardened with determination but Rachel drew their attention away. “You guys don’t have to worry about that gang. I’ve got a feeling that they aren’t going to be a problem for much longer.”
Chapter 8
Big, gray letters outlined in red spelled Blood and Steel across the face of the building, a black cutout of a wolf with a barbell in its mouth above it. Full windows on the first floor showed one side of a large boxing ring. Dean peered at it with interest. “What is this place?”
