The following morning, we packed everything we needed for the trip before heading to the pack house to have a late breakfast. Caleb and Jamie were nowhere to be found yet, but Aiden, my dad, and Augie joined us.
Augie nudged my side from his seat next to me. “Are you nervous about meeting the parents?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “No, I’m awesome. Why would I be nervous?”
Okay, I was a little worried, but I wasn’t going to admit it out loud. As fabulous as Liam’s mom sounded, she might hate me just because Liam loved me, and that petrified me.
“Whatever. Keep telling yourself that. I’ll leave my phone on for when you need to call me during your panic attack.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You love me anyway,” he taunted.
I glared at him. “Only some days. Today is not one of those days.”
“Enough, children,” my dad said, interrupting our banter. “You’re giving me a headache. Hurry up and eat before you’re late. Due to the last-minute trip, you guys get to fly commercial. In coach.”
“Seriously?” I whined. We usually flew private or first-class for long distances. Wolves did not like cramped space, and being squished next to human strangers in a tin can was not good for our wolf’s sanity.
“It’s only on the way there. I have a small plane on stand-by for the way home. You’ll be fine.”
Ha! He wasn’t the one who was going to end up squeezed between two strangers while a stir-crazy wolf paced inside his head.
We finished breakfast and as we stood to say goodbye to my dad and Augie, Zarai burst into the room. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.
“We found them,” she heaved as she stood next to the counter, glancing between all of us. “They’re moving this direction and they’re not far. You need to act now, or you’ll have a battle right here at the pack.”
Visiting the Catskills and Liam’s family was going to have to wait. I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad sign that I was actually calmer about facing Declan and Jaye than I was about meeting Liam’s mother.
“I’ll cancel our flights and notify Dad,” Aiden said as he walked out of the kitchen.
That statement reminded me that if Zarai hadn’t broken through Jaye’s shield, we would have been gone and the pack would have been down a lot of help. I shuddered at the thought and hoped this was once again a coincidence.
Caleb pulled Jamie closer, moving protectively in front of her. I saw the irritation at the move on her face and grinned. “We can’t let this fight reach the pack,” he said. “There are too many shifters here who can’t properly protect themselves.”
“I agree, Caleb,” my dad nodded. “But we can’t fight them out in the open. What if the humans see or, worse, get caught in the crossfire? We can’t chance that. How long do you think we have before they arrive, Zarai?”
She unfolded a map of the states, laying it across the counter. Pointing to a black dot, she said, “That’s them. If they keep moving at the same pace, then we have two hours at most.”
Shit. As far as I knew, we had no plan in place if the fight came to us. Everything had been based off the scenarios of Zarai finding them and us giving chase. My stomach turned at the thought of innocent lives being lost.
My dad pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing in and out a few times before speaking again. “Okay, we have contingency plans for this.”
Well, apparently I missed that meeting, I thought with an eye roll.
Dad glanced down at the map again, then turned toward Augie, Liam, and me. “I need the three of you to get all of the children, and anyone who doesn’t know how to or can’t fight, up the mountain and in the caves. Zarai, can you place extra protections around the caves when everyone is settled?”
She nodded. “I’ll have the three sisters stay with your pack just in case. Lex and I can handle Jaye on our own. Now that I’ve broken through her shield to track her, I can tell her strength isn’t what I feared. She hasn’t been a sorceress for very long and her constant use of power is draining her.”
“Very good. Caleb, will you help me get Rick, Sam, and Tommy? They can begin recruiting others to start patrols. I want every inch of the property surrounded. Just because Jaye is coming in from one direction, doesn’t mean that all of Declan’s team will be coming that way. Once everyone is settled, we’ll take a team of no less than fifteen, plus Zarai and Lex. I want everyone situated within the hour.”
With no time to waste, I grabbed Liam and Augie by the hands and led them out of the kitchen. This was it. This was what I had been waiting for since the moment I walked into my father’s office and realized that Cord was dead. The day had come for me to get the retribution my brother so deserved.
***
Once our pack members were settled, I followed my dad as he took the lead. We were joined by Augie, Liam, his brothers, and thirteen of our best protectors. We stood in a field on the outskirts of our property where we believed Declan and Jaye would be arriving. Zarai and Lex had their tracking map out, announcing an updated ETA every five minutes.
According to the witches, we would be seeing signs of Declan’s arrival within ten minutes. I shook my palms out and bounced on the balls of my feet. I was ready. We wouldn’t let Declan get away this time. I was tired of the chase and needed it to end today.
We’d spent the last hour rounding up all of our shifters. Not one was left in the main area of our pack. If someone wanted to participate in the fight, then we sent them to the boundary lines of our property in case Declan attempted to come at us from different directions than Jaye. Our solid fighters like Rick, Sam, and Tommy, were assigned to be with us where most of the action was likely to take place.
If pack members weren’t able to fight, Liam and I had led them up into the depths of a mountain behind our pack house along with the three witch sisters for added protection. Everyone was accounted for and we had little to worry about if all went as planned.
“I’m not sure how I feel about the eagerness rolling off you right now,” Liam said. “It frightens me a little.”
I smiled at him. “I will never be a damsel in distress. Not that there is anything wrong with those who don’t want to fight, but I will always protect what is mine. Right now, Declan is threatening my pack. I will never not be on the front lines for something like this.”
He tugged me closer, kissing the top of my head. “And it’s one of the many reasons I love you.”
“Good, because there’s no changing that part of me. Leaving my dirty clothes on the floor? Maybe. But this? Never going to happen.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that.” Liam laughed.
“Any minute now,” Lex said to my dad.
He turned, glancing at each of the wolves before him. “I know some of you have seen what Jaye can do already. I want everyone to shift now before they get here, except me and Augie. Once Jaye has been rendered useless by Zarai and Lex, we move in, but not a moment before. I don’t care if they taunt you or cast spells. Unless they are within physical striking distance, hold your place until I say. Do you understand?”
Nods and yeses went around the group as shifters began shedding their clothes. We spread out even further as each of us shifted. Liam was adorable as he stood in front of me, attempting to hide my body from the others. I shifted quicker than normal to appease his jealous wolf, while ignoring the physical discomfort it caused me to do so.
As soon as he was shifted as well, our wolves nudged each other, and I found myself nipping at his neck before I even knew what was happening.
Mate, my wolf murmured.
Easy, girl. No marking our territory before the big battle. We’ll work on that later.
Wolves liked to make a blood bond with their mates for a deeper connection, almost like the one Augie now had with my dad and the pack, but on a much more intimate level. The human part of me hadn’t thought of it yet, but listening to my wolf’s thoughts now, it hadn’t been far from her mind. We’d been so busy taking care of the humans, moving, and getting the house ready, that I hadn’t had a lot of time to spend with Liam in our wolf forms. Creating a wolf bond would be something we would need to discuss after our trip to the Catskills to speak with his dad.
I wasn’t going to create a lifelong bond with him without knowing for certain that nothing stood in our way. The wolf bond tied us together for life. A wolf could have more than one bond in their lifetime if their bonded died, but never multiple bonds at the same time. If a wolf didn’t get along with their bonded mate, they were left with no choice but to figure it out.
I wasn’t sure about the side effects of committing to Liam on that level, though. It meant that we would be able to sense how the other was feeling and push feelings back and forth with each other. We wouldn’t be able to convey words, but the feelings would be strong enough that we’d rarely be able to hide things from each other. I had been so independent most of my life, the thought of being tied to someone so closely freaked me out.
Before I could give it too much thought, Liam’s wolf pushed us back toward my dad and we stood on the front lines. My hackles rose as my wolf sensed the others coming near. Her senses were so much more powerful than mine. I almost forgot how in tune she was in a situation like this.
Liam growled next to me, moving closer without actually being on top of me. His charcoal wolf stood a few inches taller than my silver one, but I was fast, which had proved to be my saving grace on more than one occasion. I knew he was nervous, considering we had been split up during the last fight with Declan, but I’d been proud of him for not trying to hold me back. It made me love him even more than I thought possible.
“They’re here,” Zarai said softly.
My ears folded back as I turned toward where she was staring and saw the first wave of wolves coming through the trees. Of course, Declan wouldn’t be man enough to lead his own pack or what was left of it. He was a poor excuse for an alpha.
Six wolves ranging in color and size were the front line, followed by Declan, Jaye, and Rafe, who were flanked by ten or so more wolves. It appeared Declan had the same idea as my dad by having most of his team shift before facing us. It didn’t matter. They wouldn’t best us.
Jaye cackled as she strode toward us. “Sisters! How lovely to see you,” she said maniacally. “I’ve longed for this day since I began planning it.”
Lex sneered and leapt forward, but Zarai stopped her. “We assumed you were dead, Mari. How intriguing that you’ve taken your sister’s name.”
What the hell was happening right now?
Jaye or Mari, whatever her name was, had stopped fifty feet back from us. She glowered and spat on the ground. “She was no sister of mine! Though, her name was useful in keeping me under the radar. I got rid of her as soon as she began to question my authority. I will only offer you this opportunity once; leave now before the two of you share the same ending as Jaye.”
The look on Declan’s face was priceless. He had no idea what was going on, either, and I was enjoying every minute of it.
“What was your plan, Mari?” Lex snarled. “Use the shifters to attack us? It would have never worked. You’re a pathetic excuse of a witch. Jaye should have ended you when she had the chance.”
“Oh, dear Alexandria.” I guess we knew what Lex was short for now. “You underestimate me once again. You so foolishly believed the twisted words I forced out of her mouth. I made sure she caused quite the ruckus before I lured her back to me, so you didn’t come looking for her. I knew if she rejected you, your pride would prevent you from doing the right thing.”
Holy shit, this was some soap opera drama.
“You little bitch!” Lex roared as she shot out a spell toward Mari, and Zarai didn’t stop her. “You’ll pay for her death and all those after hers.”
Angry tears trailed down Lex’s face and my heart ached for her broken one. Lex was maintaining her composure so much better than I thought I would have been able to.
Mari had easily deflected the spell Lex shot at her and proceeded to move toward us. “I’ll give you both one chance to walk away and let me handle these wolves. None of this involves you, anyway.”
“You brought us into the matter when you decided to turn humans into shifters. We’ve never stopped protecting the humans, even from dark witches like yourself,” Zarai stated. “We won’t walk away until you’re stopped.”
“Don’t you mean sorceress?” Mari taunted. “Jaye’s sacrifice was the final boost I needed to finally ascend into my full power.”
Lex snarled, yelling obscenities. I was pretty proud of her then. She rivaled a wolf’s anger.
“Have it your way then. Be prepared to say hello to Jaye for me, because your only chance at leaving here is gone,” Mari snarled.
Spells and sparks began flying between the three witches. I moved forward, but my dad halted us by throwing his hand out and blocking my path. Declan did the same, curiosity on his face, not showing an ounce of sympathy for the woman he had called mate not so long ago. Mari lying about whatever plan she had would likely be her undoing.
Zarai and Lex parted, going toward Mari at an angle, moving strategically. I watched in fascination as both of their bodies became incased in a golden shield and their hands lit up in blue sparks. Shit was about to go down.
At the same time, my dad stepped forward and with every step he took, the rest of us followed close behind. I watched the witches as we did this, making sure to stay out of the crossfire. Mari wasn’t going down without a fight and she didn’t look the least bit scared of Zarai and Lex, causing me to worry.
Ja–Mari shot one magical fire ball after the next at the two witches. With each one, a tremor wracked their golden shields, but they continued to move forward with ease. I glanced between their increasingly blue hands and Mari. I hadn’t figured out what their plan was, but it had better be good. Their shield wasn’t going to hold up for much longer. And if they didn’t win, we were all fucked.