Pack Bonds, page 8
part #4 of Amarok Series
“It is reassuring to see that my alpha has a mate who fiercely protects her,” Izekiel replied with his version of a smile.
“Your alpha, huh? Do you mean that?”
He nodded. “Yes. It may be strange circumstances but as long as Dean allows me to stay beside her, I will claim her as my alpha proudly and serve her with all my being.”
Dean nodded. “Don’t worry…Zeke. I’ll make you into a proper changer.”
“I look forward to it.”
Rachel chuckled as she looked between the two of them. “Deanna Amarok, a legendary blood wolf, takes the steps to build a pack and her first recruit isn’t a changer. If we weren’t keeping our existence secret from the world, I’d write a book about this. Anybody who ever heard it would think it was pure fiction.”
-
“Lake!”
Morgan put a hand over the receiver of his desk phone as he looked up to see Amos Rodriguez stomping over to his desk. “Look, I don’t have time for this right—”
Amos cut the call off with a sharp jab of his finger. Morgan took a deep breath and placed the phone back on its hook. “On second thought, it seems I have a little time. What can I do for you, detective?”
“Why are you simply sitting here at your desk when you’re supposed to be out there looking for my father?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, the department is dealing with more immediate concerns.” He couldn’t say that he was sitting at his desk to avoid running into the rogues making noise on the streets. They seemed to be out for blood. If he ran into one, it would no doubt escalate into a fight and he didn’t need the ensuing conflict being replayed on the eight o’clock news.
“That’s got nothing to do with this.” Amos slammed his hands on the desk and leaned down so their eyes met. “My father has dedicated over twenty years to the force. Now, he is out there. God knows what’s happened and you think a bunch of loudmouths are more important than finding him?”
Morgan held back a growl, standing up to break the eye contact. “I need to go.”
“Wait a minute!”
Amos grabbed his arm, but Morgan pulled it away without any effort, turning with a scowl on his face. “I have work to do.”
“Then let me see your files. I’ll find him on my own.”
“No.” The last thing Morgan needed was someone else getting involved with this mess. Especially someone as bull-headed as the captain’s son appeared to be. “Go back to work, Amos. I’ve got this well in—”
The sound of shouting interrupted him. Morgan turned to see a group of officers trying to hold down what was obviously one of the rogues, dragging him towards the holding cells. Five of them could barely control the skinny man with dark circles under his eyes. With a curse, he threw one of the officers off him, sending the man sliding along the tile floor. The rogue sniffed the air and his head snapped around, eyes focusing on Morgan. With a roar, he threw off the rest of the officers and charged toward him.
“Dammit!” Morgan shouted, running forward. He grabbed the rogue around the waist, lifting him by his belt and slamming him to the ground.
While the two of them struggled, Amos discretely reached into Morgan’s drawers, flipping through the files until he found the folder containing all the information on the night the hunters attacked. He tucked it under his arm inside his jacket and moved along the outskirts of the chaos, disappearing from the room without being noticed.
-
Beckett and Alpine sat across from each other in a parking lot behind a grocery store. They had come into some money from mugging a handful of the few pedestrians still on the street and bought several cooked chickens. Only bones remained of their meal and Alpine smiled with satisfaction. “The worst part of living wild is the food. I miss spices.”
“We’ve got some new information, alpha.” Beckett pulled out a stolen phone he had taken from one of the victims. “One of the young ones gave me an idea. Everyone is connected on the internet. I searched the name Freewood.”
He turned the phone toward Alpine who leaned forward to read the screen. It was a twitter page. The profile picture showed a blonde-haired boy with dark blue eyes posing without his shirt to show off a six-pack. “Kyle Freewood.”
“I heard rumors that Franklin has a nephew he is grooming to take over for him locally once he has control of the country.”
“It says he’s a student at a school. Two Points High.” He stood up and Beckett followed. “Gather the men. We’re going to get that boy, even if we have to drag him out.”
The back door to the store opened and a young employee came out, carrying a bag of trash. He was headed for the dumpsters but turned when he heard Alpine talking. His eyes went to the pile of chicken bones and he groaned. “Oh, come on! I’m not cleaning this up. Hey, you bums! I know you hear me talking to you. Come clean up this mess.”
He dropped his bag and came toward them with an authoritative frown. Once he came into range, Beckett grabbed him across the face, muffling his shout of panic. Without any effort, the rogue threw the man across the lot. The store employee hit the ground hard but scrambled back to his feet, holding his arm. He looked at the two rogues with fear before running back into the store.
Alpine sneered. “Let’s go. The quicker we get this finished, the faster we can get word back to the others. It’s time we finished this mess.”
“Yes, alpha.”
Chapter 6
Dean was laid out across the couch along with Rachel, Izekiel seated in front of them, watching a movie when the door was thrown open. Rosa entered with Dugen and Viktoriya on her heels and the tigress did not look happy. “Rach, pause it,” she ordered, flipping on the light. “Are the others, no, never mind. I hear them. All of you, get in here! And bring some chairs!”
Dean sat up as Rachel cut off the movie. “What’s going on?”
“Meeting,” Viktoriya said, dropping down onto the couch next to her. “The situation has escalated again. Some guests are coming over.”
“Guests?”
Clementine, Jerome, and Rudolph entered the living room, each of them carrying chairs. At Rosa’s direction, they arranged them in a half-circle in front of the couch. “Alright, I’m going to go change out of his monkey suit. Please don’t start a fight. Things may be a little tense, but we need to talk. Dean, that’s directed to you.”
Dean scowled but the redhead was already leaving the room. “What is she talking about, Vikky?”
“Earlier today, a group of rogues appeared outside of Two Points. Luckily, the rogues didn’t start anything on the grounds, and they were able to play it off as some delinquents making a fuss. Pruella has asked, no, demanded to speak to us. Chief says she’s heading over right now.”
“Vikky,” Rachel groaned. “We talked about the chief thing.”
“And we’ve talked about the brownie points thing.”
“Can we keep talking about the vampire thing?” Dean said, getting to her feet. “Pruella Blood is coming? Does no one remember the fact that we were fighting that woman a few nights ago?” She tilted her nose and sniffed the air, a growl rumbling out from her chest. “Too late.”
Moments later, someone rapped on the door. Dugen opened it and Pruella stepped in. As usual, the principal of the school was dressed in white; a simple gown with a jacket thrown over it. Her silver hair was tucked under a wide brim hat more appropriate for a bright summer day and she removed it as she stepped over the threshold, handing it over her shoulder to Addison.
The secretary was dressed in what Dean had begun to think as her working clothes; tight black leathers and heavy-soled boots. She wasn’t wearing her swords across her back, giving Dean hope the meeting wouldn’t erupt in violence, but she could still smell silver wafting off the woman, telling her that the secretary was armed.
“Dean Rock.” Pruella moved across the room and held out a hand. “Good to see you in good health.”
Dean bared her teeth, but the expression collapsed into a wince as something slammed into her ankle. She looked over to see Rachel smiling at her brightly as Viktoriya stood up, taking the offered hand. “Same to you, principal. You’ll have to forgive our recent absences but under the circumstances…”
“Of course. I also plan to address that. We can begin as—ah.”
Rosa entered the room, dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans. “Alright, everyone. Take a seat. Let’s get this started.”
The room found their seats. A heavy tension hung in the air, mainly generated by Dean as she glared at the principal. She didn’t like the vampire being this close. The beast felt the same way, stirring her aggression with its own tension.
Rosa clapped, drawing their attention to her. “Right then. Let’s get this meeting on the roll. I’m sure you can all guess what this is about, but I’ll state the obvious for form’s sake. Rogues have invaded Freewood and they’ve done it very publicly. I don’t know if they’re smart or incredibly stupid, but we can’t drive them out the usual way without drawing some unwanted attention. Now, I’ll turn it over to Pru.”
“Thank you. There has been some recent animosity between our groups. I won’t apologize for it and I don’t expect any of you to. I would hope that you don’t let it get in the way of handling the current problem.”
Dean stiffened as Pruella met her eyes. Viktoriya and Rachel each grabbed ahold her discretely; one grabbing her hand while the other placed a hand on the small of her back. She didn’t need the reminder. There was a bigger problem that needed to be solved at the moment, but their touch helped relax her. “I thought I told you we can handle our problems. We don’t need to rely on vampires.”
“I remember. But today, it is I who need you.”
That made the changers in the room sit up. Dean settled backwards on the couch. As usual, Pruella’s expression was impossible to read. She also noticed that while there were three alphas in the room, and two who technically wielded more, Pruella seemed to be negotiating with her. “Explain.”
“Rogues are nothing new. The real problem we are facing is the media attention they are drawing. The story’s been picked up by major stations. Because it is linked to murder, it will go national. My family is not happy.”
Pruella sighed heavily. “My approach to governing is not looked on favorably throughout the Court. I have many enemies. Exposure of the three races in my city would give them the reason they need to discredit me. They have already made a move. Someone is being sent to Freewood to ‘review the situation’.”
Rosa sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, hell no. No, no, no. Pru, is there anything you can do to stop this?”
“I’m afraid not. It is a direct order from the King, or at the very least someone who has his ear.”
“What’s the significance of this?” Dean asked.
“Dean Rock, when a royal from House Blood travels, they do not travel alone. He will bring his blood companions who feed him, which will include halflings under his control. He will bring lesser nobles to serve as his guards during the day, powerful undead to guard him at night, and humans to run errands. And those are the ones that he brings in publicly. More will be snuck in beneath my nose, that I guarantee.”
“And vampire power struggles are nasty,” Rosa added. “I mean, really nasty. When two people go to war, it’s not about them. It’s a war of bloodlines. The fathers, the children, the children’s children. Ever heard the term blood feud? They created it. If a royal aiming for Pruella is coming here, he’s coming to take her out, either directly or indirectly. You can bet your life that we’re going to get mixed up in it.”
“How do you know so much about it?”
“…I witnessed two vamps duking it out.” The redhead looked away, her gaze going distant. “Changers, we’re used to violence. We challenge each other. Bloodsuckers don’t stop at personal confrontation. They destroy every vestige of your life. Anywhere you’ve lived is burned down and anything you’ve created is destroyed.”
“She is not exaggerating,” Pruella continued. “Some nobles go as far as to murder any who knew their enemy so that their memory is erased from the world.”
Dean nodded. She didn’t understand the reaction of the Salvatores who seemed unnerved by the description of the vampires’ tactics. What exactly did they think war was? If anything, the cold efficiency Pruella described raised Dean’s estimation of the royal family. She didn’t know if she could as far as annihilating the enemies’ contacts. From Pruella’s tone, she didn’t think they would discriminate against women or children. “What do you need from us?”
“What you would do in the first place. Handle the rogues. My guest will do everything in their power to hinder me from helping, I know that. What I’m hoping is that they attempt to aid the rogues or antagonize them into more public offenses. It would greatly aide me if, should the attempt be made, you obtain proof. Despite the nastiness of my family, there are strict rules of engagement. If I can prove he actively worked against me, it’ll give me the ammunition I need to evict him.”
“And why are you asking us? You should have plenty of experienced people who can handle this.”
“Not a single one of them with a changers’ senses. Besides that, they will be expecting people from my House. The royal family laughs at the thought of peace between us. They will not expect you because they do not believe an alliance can exist.”
“Hmm. Alright then.” Dean got to her feet and Pruella copied the motion. She raised her hand. The vampire took it as a sign to shake hands, but Dean reached higher, gripping her forearm. Pruella copied the gesture smoothly. “You have our aide. We’ll look for proof against your enemy.”
“Excellent.” They released each other. “And what do you want in return?”
“Resources. Don’t worry, it will be a fair request that reflects our effort on the job. I can trust that you’ll uphold the bargain?”
“My word is impeccable. Now that we have an agreement, come back to the school.”
Dean scowled. “What does that have to do with this?’
“Several things. The rogues are hanging about. Tobias is asking after you and I think it would be beneficial for everyone if you talked. My enemy will no doubt take action within the place as it is a symbol of my ideology. Most importantly of all, it is the easiest place for us to pass information.”
“You have a point. Fine, we’ll be back.”
Pruella smiled thinly. She motioned behind her and Addison got to her feet. “Then I will see you tomorrow. And Dean? Despite this agreement, I still expect you to study. The same goes for you two, Volkov, Salvatore.”
Dean chuckled as the girls jumped. “I’ll say this. You don’t do things halfway, vampire.”
“Thank you. Then, we’ll be leaving.” They headed for the door. Rosa jumped from her chair and followed after them, slamming the door behind her.
“Right then,” Rachel said as she got to her feet. “I’m starved. Who wants pizza?”
-
Outside, a man in a dark suit stood by a dark luxury car impassively. He held open the back door for Pruella while Addison moved around toward the passenger’s seat. A discreet nod she gave him while ducking inside told him to leave the door open for Rosa to climb in after her before shutting it and taking his place behind the wheel. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“What was that in there?” Rosa huffed.
“Care to be more specific?”
“Don’t play games. You’ve already played enough of them. I thought the two of us had an agreement. I serve as your intermediary with the changers, you help me support them, we all skip into a happy, prosperous future together.”
Pruella smirked. “Yes, we agreed to something of that effect.”
Rosa growled, her pupils turning into slits as her skin rippled. “Then why did you address Dean? Don’t try and play it off. You know exactly how sensitive we are to gestures like that. That practically said you think she’s in charge. The girl’s hard enough to control as it is.”
The vampire sighed. “That, my dear Rose, is because she is in charge. Or at the very least, she soon will be.”
“Oh, come off it. She’s—”
“She’s been living with you, so I’m sure there’ve been signs. A mounting of aggression. Maybe a reluctance to follow direction.”
“I know the marks of a dominant, Pru.”
“Then you shouldn’t need me to explain this to you.” Pruella looked down at her with a hard glare. “She is an alpha and a blood wolf. You can’t win against that. It seems to me that you have two options; get out of the way or she will crush you.”
Rosa’s lips turned down. “I know the stories of blood wolves, same as every other. But she’s still an adolescent. I think I’ve driven cars older than her. Alphas can take decades to develop the instincts that drive them to claim territory.”
