Pack Bonds, page 25
part #4 of Amarok Series
“Part of our agreement is that you don’t question our motives.” Van snapped his fingers and the wall of vampires parted behind him. Two men with their weapons hanging from shoulder straps stepped forward, dragging a large case behind them. They left it a few feet in front of Beckett before retreating, the vampires closing ranks in front of them. “A sample. I’ll be in touch.”
Without so much as a word, the vampires retreated, fading into the darkness of the tunnel. It was several minutes more before the last of their footsteps faded away. Then Beckett flipped the latches and opened the case.
He grinned at the firearms in the case, lifting a sleek automatic rifle. Spotting a gap between the lining and the bottom, he passed the weapon to a rogue behind him and lifted the top, revealing another tray.
There were three altogether. The case contained two automatic weapons, four handguns, enough ammo for a raid, and several bundles of cash that added up to $125,000.
Beckett tucked one of the pistols into the back waistband of his pants and stuffed several wads of money into his pocket. “Alright, you bastards. Looks like we’re going to get the chance to raise some hell after all.”
The rogues raised a cheer. He kicked the case toward them and they reached into it greedily, fights breaking out as they struggled over the weapons and money. Beckett laughed. This city didn’t know what was going to hit it.
“We came here for a fight, didn’t we? To get back at the bastards who look down on us, chasing us out of their cities and hunting us down like dogs. Well, we’re going to get our revenge!”
The rogues not involved in the struggle hollered their agreement.
“I’m not your alpha,” Beckett continued. “I won’t stand here and tell you to follow me. It’s every man for themselves, the same as it’s been from the day we were exiled. There is one rule though. No one surrenders. If I see anyone of you taking the coward’s way out like that traitor Alpine, I’ll put a bullet in you myself!”
The rogues shouted in agreement, their voices echoing far through the tunnels as they took off in different directions.
Chapter 16
Viktoriya eyed the apartment building critically, making thoughtful noises. A glance around the area revealed one obvious sentry watching them from the roof of the nearest building and she had to think that him showing himself was to draw attention away from the better-concealed sentries.
Curious eyes watched her from the windows, obscured by the shadows of the rooms. They retreated when Dean stepped from the car, presumably to retrieve Alpine.
“For supposed allies, they don’t seem eager to meet us,” she mused as they walked toward the front door.
Dean moved ahead of her. “No one’s going to get over their biases in a day. I appreciate a little caution.” She threw open the door and her party trooped in, the others hovering close to the door as Viktoriya and Rachel followed her to the middle of the lobby.
Changers peered at them curiously from above. There was a quiet whoosh of air as a dark object appeared above them. Alpine bent his knees as he landed, straightening up with a small grimace. He stayed at a distance, watching them with the same apprehension as the other members of Dean’s group watched him.
“You look a little stressed, Al.” Dean glared at him when he didn’t answer or move, his shoulders stiffening as he looked passed her to Clementine, Rudolph, and Leonardo. She growled, bringing his eyes back to her as she stepped forward.
She didn’t have to call out. The beast sensed her motives and came forward, the bonds appearing before her. The rays of light weren’t the solid lines they’d been when she claimed Alpine. Had she made a mistake in leaving them so soon?
She made a note of it as she reached out to Alpine’s line, where the others connected. In response, they all began to glow brighter. Alpine’s shoulders relaxed, his eyes going to the floor. Above, the changers hanging at a distance moved forward, leaning over the balcony as the pull of the bonds beckoned them.
“I’m the same person I was before,” Dean said, projecting her voice so it echoed through the building. “And the promises are made are still the same. This is the road I’m walking down. Again, I’ll offer you a choice. Accept me or walk away.”
As before, no one chose to leave and the bonds in her grip grew stronger. The beast stepped backward and Dean’s lips tightened as she fought down a grimace in response to the pinprick of pain in her skull. “Good then. Now, since we were cut off before, one more time with the introductions.”
Dean gestured to Viktoriya and Rachel. “Girls, this is Alpine, the rogue leader whose been causing so much trouble. These are my mates, Viktoriya Volkov and Rachel Salvatore.”
Alpine inclined his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet the ones who can leash our alpha so thoroughly.”
“Leash?” Dean growled, but the word was drowned out by Viktoriya’s voice as she took Alpine’s hand. “I can say the same for the one who showed such initiative. Not many would challenge Franklin.”
“…You’re one of his people.”
“Was,” she emphasized, blue eyes narrowed.
She released his hand and Rachel stepped up, ignoring Alpine’s outstretched hand as she circled him, tsking as she took in his dingy appearance. “First thing we need to do is get all of them cleaned up. Great to meet you by the way.”
“Likewise,” he said, lips quirked in amusement as she finished her examination, tilting her head backwards to look at the curious faces watching them.
“Are any of you guys going to come down here? No? Okay, I’ll come up.” Rachel headed for the steps. Dean whistled softly, grabbing the attention of her three guards. Locking eyes with Leonardo and Clementine, she inclined her head toward the stairs. Rachel’s brother moved off eagerly, the blonde scowling as she followed.
“What kind of changer is she?”
“Tiger with a little something special mixed in,” Viktoriya answered. “No, the forwardness isn’t a shared trait among them.
At least, I don’t think it is. Her mother’s kind of the same to be honest.”
Alpine huffed. “Suppose I should be glad she’s in such a friendly mood. After the other day, I wasn’t sure what to expect during this meeting.”
“I told you I could handle my mates,” Dean said, raising her chin.
“Did the flowers help?”
“That was your idea?” Viktoriya smirked as he nodded. “No, they didn’t, but Rosa liked them. We gave them to her.”
“So much for your rules on women.”
“Oh? Then how did you handle it?”
“We settled it in blood.” She puffed up at his incredulous stare. “They very clearly communicated their…”
“Grievances,” Viktoriya supplied, looking nervous.
“Grievances to me. With bullets. And a bat. And a nasty thing called a, what was it? A bearsnap?”
“Beartrap.” She was blushing from the look Alpine was giving them. “It made sense at the time. No one was hurt too bad.”
“They apologize very well,” Dean purred.
“I stand corrected, alpha,” Alpine said slowly. “It would appear you are worse with females than I could have ever imagined. Fate chose your mates perfectly.”
Dean scowled while Viktoriya laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. We can pick up with the pleasantries later. At the moment, there’s work to be done.” She looked at Dean and stepped back, giving her the floor.
Dean contained her surprise at the gesture. Normally, the blue-eyed demon of efficiency didn’t bother waiting for anything before enacting her plans. But she had said it herself. With Alpine’s people behind her, Dean would be considered a full-fledged alpha. Appearances needed to be maintained.
Clearing her throat, Dean raised her voice so the others above could hear. “As you know, not all of the rogues you brought with you chose to align themselves with me. Rather than leave the city, they’ve decided to cause trouble for us. We’ve had a good amount of success rounding up the stragglers, but a handful are hiding out in the sewers.”
Alpine frowned. “If that’s where they are hiding, I have a good idea who's leading them. Beckett, a wolf. He told me that if things should go south, he had experience moving between the city’s underground.”
“We’ll need everything you know about him. The plan is to enact 24-hour patrols. Combining the manpower of all the changer groups in the city, we can cover Freewood without any gaps. Then it’s a matter of time before they come up.”
Dean put her hand behind her, pulling Viktoriya in front of her. “Talk with Vikky. She’ll help you organize your people.”
“I’d also like to start interviewing people. Right now, everyone’s scraping resources up from wherever they can find them. It’s not good for many reasons. We need to find…ugh, we need a name and then we need to give these empty-handed wolves some gainful employment.”
Alpine nodded. “I don’t know how much we can do. Changers aren’t known for attending higher education.”
“Yeah, but there are plenty of professions that can easily be done because of changers’ natural strength and endurance.” The two of them talked while heading up the stairs. Dean glared at Rudolph. He jumped under her gaze, edging toward the door. Her lip curled upwards and she pointed at the steps. The large boy made a sound similar to the whinnying of a horse and shuffled his feet.
She growled. “Who are you scared of more, me or them?”
Rudolph froze as he thought about it. Then he reluctantly started forward, picking up his pace as he skirted past her and up the stairs. Dean chuckled as she followed after him.
-
Beckett scowled at the trill chiming of the doorbell as he stepped into the diner. He drew eyes to him and his survival for the last several years had depended on him doing the exact opposite. Not that it mattered much. His presence was well known throughout the city and he was beyond the point of fleeing for his life. Still, old habits died hard.
The vampire was easy to spot. Here he was, sitting in the furthest booth from a door in a cheap diner, cutting into his eggs and pancakes with short, precise movements, the napkin tucked into his shirt completely at odds with the easy-going crowd. That was without using his nose. The floral scent of magic was easy to spot, even through the complicated scents pervading the establishment. It made his wolf bristle within the recesses of his mind as his subconscious recognized an enemy.
Beckett slipped onto the opposite side of the booth. A waitress had spotted him at the door and hesitantly came over. “…Can I start you off with something to drink?”
He looked across the table to Van who waved his hand broadly. “Feel free to indulge yourself.”
“You’re gonna regret that.” Beckett eyed the waitress who was trying hard not to show how uncomfortable she was as he picked up a menu. He scanned it briefly before declaring, “Give me one of everything.”
Her eyes widened. “Um, do you mean--”
“I mean one of everything.”
“Right. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
He huffed as she scurried away, turning back to his unexpected sponsor. “Never expected you to eat in a dump like this. Too cheap for one of the mighty vampire overlords.”
Van put another dainty forkful in his mouth, chewing slowly and methodically before swallowing. “I am not one of the overlords you refer to. I simply work for one. Eating in a greasy trap like this appeals to me every once in a while. Variety is not a taste, but a necessary spice of life to those who live as long as I have.”
“Sure, bloodsucker. Why did you call me here?”
“You rogues aren’t doing so well. Even I didn’t expect the changers to organize so effectively so soon.”
Beckett growled. The patrols had been hell to deal with. His people, and he called them that loosely, had been slow to emerge from the sewers but the Freewood changers pounced on them immediately. Day and night, they were hunted. The day before, Beckett fought off four men moments after using a wad of the gift money at a drive-thru and barely managed to escape with his life. “Those bastards. Won’t fight us fairly. But then again, I can’t expect anything else from cowardly alphas.”
“I take it from your statement that your exile was likely the result of a challenge gone wrong?” He chuckled as Beckett’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I wonder if all of this anger is simply because you are a sore loser.”
“A SORE--” Beckett snapped his jaws shut as the waitress appeared at the table, carrying two plates. She jumped at his aborted shout, quickly putting them down and running off. He grabbed a pancake from a hot stack and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing rapidly. “I am not a sore loser,” he grumbled, spraying bits of food across the table. “I was cheated out of a fair fight and chased from my home. Then the other alphas chased me from their territory, fearing a challenge.”
“I see.” Van eyed his atrocious manners disdainfully, putting down his silverware as he lost what remained of his appetite. “Enough about the past. We’re here to discuss the future. I am again willing to offer you aid but first, I need to be sure as to your intentions.”
“You already know my intentions. To strike back against those cowards, especially Alpine.”
“Yes, that’s all good and well. What I need to know is your resolution. Do you want to get out of this city? If so, I can’t help you as that goes against my mandates. But, if you are willing to sacrifice everything for your cause, then I may be able to provide a sufficient opportunity.”
Beckett snorted, finishing off his second plate as the waitress returned with a tray laden with four more. He waited until she’d finished placing down her burden before speaking. “Stupid leech. There is only one fate for those who lose favor with their alpha. This is the second time I’ve done so. You think I expected to make it out of this alive?”
“Admirable.” Van pulled a small piece of folded paper out from inside his pocket. “Then go to this address. Bring others who share your resolve.”
Beckett grabbed the paper and shoved it into his pants. “Since when do you give me orders?”
“Just this once. This will be the last time we will provide support, Beckett. To be honest, we were hoping for a more drawn out confrontation but with the difference in numbers, that won’t be possible. Therefore, we will provide a single opportunity for you to cause as much devastation as possible.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Excellent.” Van stood, placing a few bills on the table. Then he slid a much larger wad of cash across to Beckett. “That is only a little of what we will offer you. Choose your team wisely. I would hate to see your great moment of glory interrupted by greed.”
-
“Hey, Torque. Switching time.”
Timothy Kramer looked up as his best friend, David Husk, laboriously climbed over the roof he’d been perched on for the last half hour.
The two of them wouldn’t be anyone’s first pick for a successful duo. Both were large in stature, but their origins couldn’t be more different; Torque was a bruin, bear changers noted for their isolationist tendencies, while David was a rarer bison changer who thrived in a herd.
Predator and prey. Headstrong and sensible. Still, this was the City of the Free, as it was known amongst those seeking its protection. People of all kinds walked these streets. Stranger things had happened.
“You’re early,” Torque said, passing over the camera. They’d splurged on a telephoto lens, a serious blow on their meager paychecks, and the two changers handled the equipment as if it were made of glass. “I’m supposed to be out here another two hours.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got work in the morning.” David kicked away snack wrappers to squat beside him. “What have we got?”
“Idiot. You forgot I put in for vacation. A vampire walked into that diner over there. Thought it was weird for one of them to be slumming it in a place like this, so I set up shop taking pictures of everyone coming and going. We might get lucky.”
“Lucky is the keyword there.” David raised the camera and snapped several photos as a family of five walked out the door. “You know every stray in the city is after that money. And to get on the wolf’s good side.”
“Don’t I know it.” All of them recognized what a gem Freewood was, though it took the frightened ones some time to realize it after running away. The support offered by the Salvatore family was invaluable, especially for changers who didn’t adhere to strict pack structures. They had nowhere else to go.
And things seemed poised to get better with Franklin, their greatest enemy, dead and cremated. Rumors had it that Rachel and her mates were taking over. “Why does she have to be mated?” Torque grumbled.
His friend chuckled. “Told you it wasn’t going to happen.”
