Wolf Mountain Peak Complete Series, page 83
part #1 of Wolf Mountain Peak Series
“I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now,” his baritone ripped through the silence as he scraped his fingers along his jaw. “Look on the bright side, though. You’re still alive.”
“Yeah, because Julia had a hunch,” Kate groaned, running her hand through her hair. “My God…” she heaved a long, heavy sigh. “How could I have been so stupid? I mean, why did I think I deserved that bonus? Who am I, the next Adele?”
“You wanted to believe it was natural. And you did,” Dean voiced his opinion, casting an appraising glance down at her. “You can’t blame yourself for believing in a dream.”
“I should have suspected something was wrong,” she retorted, shaking her head in disapproval. “A hundred thousand was just too much.”
“It was,” he agreed with a nod. “Look, you have to stop beating yourself up over it, okay? You made a mistake. It happens. We should focus on paying those bastards back.”
“Did you hear who Alstead was working for?” Kate asked, turning her head to the left to face him.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” Dean’s voice went down an octave as he remembered the wizard’s disappearance from her dressing room. “Julia told us everything when we arrived. We were all shocked, but…” he paused; “we’ll deal with it.”
“I’m a little confused,” Kate confessed, reaching her hand towards his forearm. “She was able to smell them, and they failed to smell her? Or you?”
“Helena may have been down on her luck, but she’s got a hundred bottles of different scents we can choose from,” he replied as a smile of contentment burst upon his lips. “They worked like a charm, didn’t they?”
“Yeah,” she muttered, running her gaze down his chest. “Listen, about the other night, I, um…” she faltered. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I thought I couldn’t be much help.”
“The first person you should apologize to is yourself,” Dean stated in a stiff tone of voice as he shifted his attention to her. “All this time, you’ve been refusing to believe that you’re capable of much more than just moving boxes with your mind. You think magic is some kind of game. I’m not saying you should give up everything and focus on only magic, like Helena did; just take it more seriously.”
“Oh, I will,” Kate gave a quick nod as she stroked his wrist. “Trust me, I will. Helena and I had a little chat this morning about that. She helped me see my mistakes. Starting tomorrow, I’ll do everything I can to rectify them,”
“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Dean said, his voice overflowing with admiration as he smiled down at her.
“The first thing I’m going to do is help her get her sight back,” she announced, leaning closer to him. “I don’t care if I have to go through my mother’s entire book. I don’t care if I have to read a hundred books that size. I’m not leaving her like that.”
“And if you don’t find anything?” he inquired, slightly raising his tone; “then what?”
“I’m not going to stop,” Kate declared, her tone firm as she looked into his eyes. “Those sons of bitches have to pay for what they did to us. If reading all of her books is what it takes, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Well, they did something good,” Dean concluded, returning his gaze to the road up ahead.
“What’s that?”
“They woke up your spirit,” he explained, reaching his arm to pull her close. “I hope it’s as powerful as I think it is.”
“I hope so, too,” she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder. Feeling her warm body on his, he decided not to speak any further. He had succeeded in what he had been doing for as long as he knew her. Once more, he had soothed her. The sobbing woman was no more. For the moment, at least, she was relaxing in his embrace. Dean pushed her hair back from her face, and then caressed her skin, at the same time wondering about the effect her ordeal would have on her. In his heart, he hoped and prayed that his Siren would finally show their enemies her true colors. Not the sweet side of the woman he had fallen in love with, but the wrath of the witch that had been hiding inside her.
Chapter Seventeen
The next morning, Dean was in the best mood he had been in for a while. Although he was tired and sleep-deprived from the eight-hour drive to and from North Haven, he had every reason to feel good; much better than he had been, just twenty-four hours earlier. Whatever plan their enemies had devised to destroy the pack, had failed miserably. Their scheme might have broken Kate’s heart, but she was safe and sound. And, now that she had agreed to acknowledge her heritage, the future looked brighter for them. Still, the issue of Helena’s blindness, and the fact that they still had not come up with a strategy to face their rivals, shattered that mood. Yes, there was hope, but there was still much work that needed to be done.
Raul pulled the cover off a red Harley Davidson, and laid it down in the corner. Marveling at the classic motorcycle, Dean picked up a wrench from the toolbox in front of him. But, before the brothers could start working, a familiar, male voice interrupted them. Averting his gaze from the counter, Dean looked up at the door. Cliff had only just walked into their workshop, and he was not alone. Helena was with him, holding on to his shoulder for support.
“Easy…” he uttered, staring down at the floor. “Careful now; there’s a big, box cover to your right. Man, what a mess.”
“Good morning to you, too, officer,” Raul spoke, a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he stepped ahead of his brothers.
“Good morning, boys,” Helena assumed her usual, feathery voice, just when her boyfriend had parted his lips. “I heard you ran into some trouble last night.”
“That’s not entirely accurate,” Raul disagreed as lips curved into a smug smile. “We actually brought trouble to a couple of bloodsuckers and Bethels’ bitch. It wasn’t pretty. Who told you about it?”
“Julia,” Ray interjected. “She couldn’t sleep last night. She went over to her place, at the crack of dawn.”
“I don’t mind waking up early, but this had to have been the most brutal way to rise in the morning,” Helena complained, her voice picking up volume. “I could barely keep my eyes open, and she kept squeaking about how you guys disposed of the vampires. Thank God it didn’t last long. She then started telling me about how Kate took it.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t pretty, either,” Dean said as he slowly headed towards her.
“Guys…” Helena sniffed the air around her. “Can you smell it?”
“Smell what?” Dean asked, tossing the wrench across the counter on his right.
“The rat, second son!” she responded in an emphatic tone as she furrowed her brow; “the big, fat rat! I mean, Leonard Bethels offered her ten million dollars to partner with him? What for? Kate doesn’t even like magic to begin with. I don’t think he tried to steal her from us for her powers. There’s got to be more; a lot more.”
“Like what?” Dean shrugged his shoulders. “What else could he want from her?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Helena sighed. “Seriously, do you really think that a wizard so strong as to somehow be able to shield vampires from sunlight is interested in a fledgling witch like Kate, because he believes in her abilities? Because: I don’t.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t add up,” Raul agreed, a touch of tension in his baritone. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking about a battle plan these days. We know where Damian’s clan lives. We could attack them there, but it’s a little too public. What if we did it late at night, say 4 a.m.? The chances of us being detected are second to none.”
“I can understand your frustration,” Helena attempted a more mellow tone as her face loosened. “Believe me; I would love to torch them, just like I did to Redfield’s clan. But, now is not the time to make rash decisions. A million things could go wrong, Raul. Even if you go in unnoticed, the noise alone is enough to get you in trouble, not to mention all the mess you’ll cause. No. We need something a lot quieter than an all-out attack.”
“I’d suggest a kidnapping, but those bastards don’t sleep. We can’t surprise them in their apartments,” Dean concluded, dragging his gaze away from Helena as he pursed his lips.
“Well, no, but we can pick them up from the street,” Helena suggested, raising an eyebrow. “If they live among humans, then they socialize with them. They go to their bars, their clubs…”
“Don’t say ‘restaurants.’” Ray interrupted with a chuckle.
“I wasn’t going to,” Helena gave a huff of exasperation. “Now, I see how you can stand Julia. You just love to be funny.”
“So, you’re saying we should stalk them,” Raul groaned, casting a fierce glare down at his brother over his shoulder. “Isn’t that dangerous? Kidnapping someone in the middle of Manhattan doesn’t sound like a walk in the park to me.”
“Bear with me,” Helena urged as her voice returned to its normal standards. “Use the pack. Take, I don’t know, fifteen, maybe twenty wolves with you, and go back to New York, tonight. It’s Saturday; they’ll want to go out. Vampires may be unpredictable in general, but they love darkness. Most of them will try to use the alleys to get to their destination. Mask your scents. Grab as many as you can, and the rest of them will come to you.”
“We lure them out, instead of flushing them out. I think it’s great,” Raul praised, nodding at the same time. “I’m not sure about ‘as many as you can’ part, though. The more we kidnap the more chances we have of being noticed. What if someone escapes? We can’t chase them.”
“Good point,” Helena commented. “Two or three would do just fine.”
“We miss you,” Dean confessed, admiring her indomitable spirit as he stared down at her pinkish eyes. Even in blindness, their beloved witch would not abandon them, and still offered them her valuable input. “I’d love it if you came along. You, too, Cliff,” He added, lifting his gaze to meet her boyfriend’s.
“Hell, yeah, count me in!” Cliff exclaimed as his eyes glinted with excitement. “What time are we leaving?”
“Eight o’clock would be okay,” Raul stated, glancing at Helena and Cliff, one at a time. “Let’s go hunt some bloodsuckers.”
Chapter Eighteen
Understandably, Dean had his reservations about the whole project. This would be much more complicated than a simple reconnaissance mission. They would be in unfamiliar territory, attempting to do something they had not done before. Worst of all, they had to work among nosy humans. If anything, they all had to be on their toes, and even that might not be enough. The vastness of the area in which they had to attempt this endeavor, did not allow them to maintain complete control. They needed large numbers; numbers they didn’t have. However, Dean did not voice his concern. Damian had made a wise choice in selecting a crowded neighborhood. They could not do much else to lead them away from the bustling city. By kidnapping a few of their adversaries, the Paxton pack stood a better chance of facing them in the kind of battle they had known for hundreds of years. Their plan might be somewhat perilous; yet it was the only action they could take.
Spirits were high as the pack gathered around in the Bradford’s yard that night. Shifters teased one another, and made crude jokes in their usual fashion as if they were going away on a holiday, not on a mission against their natural enemies. Regardless of their sense of humor, though, Dean was savoring each and every moment of this. The shifters were, once more, united in their common interest. The disputes in “Joe’s” diner were long forgotten. Now, all they were concerning themselves with, was their fight against Damian’s clan. They were brothers in arms, ready to kill or get killed for one another.
, however, their plans of abducting a few vampires that night were woefully overthrown. Minutes before their departure, while Dean gazed out at the blackness of the hill ahead of him, he caught a glimpse of two, separate pairs of red eyes as they crossed the woods. One moment they were behind the trees, and the next they were both visible, never far from each other as they closed in on the Bradford estate. The skin on his face tingled with fear. He wasn’t afraid of them in combat, but he knew how sinister they could be, particularly when someone had interfered with their plans. The two vampires sprinted up the hill outside the Bradford’s yard as Raul sauntered towards his brother. In a split second, one of them blurred close to the Alpha, not leaving him a chance to speak.
“Wolf Mountain,” he smirked, revealing white fangs and teeth. “Come now, or two humans die.”
“Two humans?” questioned Dean in disbelief, escaping on a sigh, as their foes rushed back into the darkness.
“I hope they are all there,” Raul grumbled, his face twisting in an expression of rage as he turned around. “Boys!” he shouted, putting his hands on his waist. “They’re trespassing again. What are we going to do about th…?”
“Hold on,” Kate’s feminine voice rose above the Alpha’s as she strode out of her cabin, her gaze fixed on her mate. “Don’t forget who you’re dealing with. This could very well be a trap.”
“A trap?” surprised by her theory, Dean cringed. “They said it themselves, Kate. They’ve got two humans. What should we do, let them die?”
“They could be hiding anywhere along the way, for all we know,” Kate rebutted as her quick footsteps closed the distance between them. “We hurt them last night, and they’ve got Bethels. What if he’s waiting for you out there?”
“What are you suggesting?” Raul questioned in a bass-deep voice as he shifted his gaze to her.
“We teleport,” Kate’s answer came fast as if she had been expecting the question. “If there’s anything wrong, then we teleport right back. Take my hand,” she added, reaching her arms towards the Alpha and her mate.
“Kate, you’ve hardly been able to teleport yourself,” Dean pointed out, his baritone filled with tension. “How can…?”
“Trust me,” she interrupted, her voice stiff as she clutched his hand in hers. Out of nowhere, he found himself in a dilemma. Could he really do as she wished? In any case, he couldn’t deny that she had a point. Dean and his brother could well walk into a trap. So, he closed his eyes, and held her hand as a plume of yellow smoke shot up from the ground before them. He felt a tickling sensation on the back of his neck as the smoke surrounded them. The shifters’ voices around them began to fade as a gust of wind blew through their hair. A beacon of hope lit up within him. He had experienced this with Helena, and every sign so far was telling him that he had made the right choice.
The moisture on his forehead suddenly increased as two, female moans filled his ears. Puffs of yellow smoke were still in the air as his eyes snapped open. Dean threw a few, frantic glances around him, feeling his heart racing in his chest. The vampires had not lied to them. They were on familiar ground, just beyond the scorched patch of earth that Helena’s masterpiece had left behind. Two young women, one of them a brunette, were tied to a tree across from them; yet, the vampires were nowhere to be seen. Still, before any of them could speak, two figures entered Dean’s line of sight, breaking out of the forest to the left as they blurred towards their prey.
“How did you get here so fast?” The one on the left asked, stopping right behind the brunette.
“I helped them,” Kate replied as she slowly turned around to face them. “I’m Kate Brooks. I’m the one your wizard is after. Let those girls go.”
“Not going to happen, witch,” the same vampire grunted as he thrust his arm up to the brunette’s head. “You killed two of our own yesterday. The humans die. Tonight,” He went on, pulling her hair as he tilted his head down. Dean clenched his fists, watching as his fangs lengthened, dangerously close to her neck. “We wanted you to see this.”
“Cut the rope; let them go you fucks!” growled Raul, his face contorting in rage as a yellow glow spread over his eyes. “Do it now, or I’ll rip your fucking skulls off!”
“Take me,” Kate interjected, taking a short step forward. “It’s me you want. Come on. Let those girls go, and take me instead.”
“Kate; what the hell?” whispered Dean, averting his gaze from the girls and vampires to look down at her, shockwaves ripping through him like bolts of lightning. His mate whirled her head around as a ferocious snarl rose up in his throat.
“It’s the only way,” she winked at him, turning his bafflement into a mix of curiosity and frustration. By then, his beast was dying to get out. Everything in him rebelled at the thought of letting his beloved Kate go anywhere near those vampires. But, much to his annoyance, this was completely her decision.
“Marcus, the witch is right,” stated the other vampire, finally opening his mouth. “The boss would be thrilled to have her.”
“Alright,” Marcus smirked, tilting his head back up as he reached into his pocket. “Release her,” He urged, staring at Kate as he pulled a small knife out.
Dean exhaled hard, barely containing his wolf as her confident footfalls led her away from his spot. There was nothing he wouldn’t like more, than to allow his beast to take charge. He couldn’t be reasoned with, bargained with or feel any kind of remorse. The wolf was governed by pure instinct, and his instinct was shouting within him, commanding him to not allow this. However, there were more factors to take into account other than his nature. The two women were still around. Shifting would put them in harm’s way.
“Go!” Kate cried as the brunette was cut loose. “Where is Bethels, anyway? Why doesn’t he show his face around here?”
“You can ask him yourself. You’ll see him soon,” responded Marcus, glaring down at her as the two humans exploded forward, across the burnt-out part of the forest.
“Okay, let’s get this over with,” she suggested, holding both of her arms out, palms facing upward. The two vampires reached and grabbed her wrists as Dean shook his head in despair. Flexing his muscles, Marcus attempted to spin her around. His smirk was wiped off his face as he noticed that she remained bolted to her spot. Kate glanced up at him, and then at his comrade as a sarcastic smile spread across her face.
