Chapter 26
Tyson had packed all Cersi’s clothes into the luggage he’d found before rummaging around and finding some boxes in a back room. Into those, he’d packed up some of the stuff he thought she might want to take to BlackLodge. Then, he’d he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Monster had gone to sleep, tired of the sport, and Tyson had eventually drifted off too. The buzzing of an incoming message on his phone woke him, and he jerked awake. Staring groggy eyed around Cersi’s apartment, it took a moment to get his bearings before he lifted his phone, punched in his code, and squinted at the screen.
The second he saw that the text was from Cersi, he snapped wide awake. The words that appeared next though had his mouth going dry. His belly clenched with nausea. He read the text twice before Monster roared to life inside of him.
‘Trouble at BlackLodge come quick!’
He was up off the couch in a flash, Cersi’s things forgotten as he raced from her apartment and down to his truck. A million scenarios ran through his head. Was Haddix hurt? Had something happened to one of his pack? Phone pinging again, he lifted it and felt panic seize him as he read, ‘Tyson don’t come home! They’re looking for you. Stay away!’
Enemies! Enemies were at his home, and Cersi was there too!
A wave of helplessness like none he’d ever experienced before crashed over him as he started his truck and tore out of the parking lot. It’d take hours to get home!
One eye on the road, the other on his phone, he called Cersi’s number, but it rang and rang. Hanging up, he called Haddix who answered on the first ring.
“What the fuck is going on?” he snarled.
He could tell by the gruff tone of Haddix’s voice that his wolf just under the surface. “Me and Vesa were in town. We’re heading home now. No one’s answering.”
In the background, he heard the distress in Vesa’s voice as she asked, “Why is Cersi at BlackLodge? And why are people after Tyson?”
He didn’t have answers to either question, so he clipped out, “I’m on my way!”
He hung up and drove as fast as his truck would take him. The ride was long and tense, and when he was thirty minutes from home, his phone rang. He answered without looking to see who it was. “What?”
Afften’s worry-filled voice carried over the line. “They took her, Tyson! The Council sent Regan and his men for you! When you weren’t here, they took Cersi! We tried to stop ‘em. Noah and Brayden were hurt.” The last was said with tears in her voice.
Somebody was gonna fucking die! No, not somebody. Regan, and his men, and the Council, and if anyone else so much as left a single bruise on Cersi, they’d die too.
He snarled, “You hurt?”
“No. They didn’t hurt me like they did Noah and Brayden.” Her voice went brittle like she was fighting back a breakdown. “They held me down and made me watch.”
And for that alone, they’d die because Tyson knew right at that moment how helpless Afften must have felt. It’s how he was currently feeling, and it was the most unsavory emotion he’d ever experienced.
“Tyson?”
His voice was polluted with his animal when he vowed, “I’ll make ‘em pay, Aff.”
“There are too many! You need to at least wait for Haddix.”
But he wasn’t waiting.
He hung up on Afften because he didn’t have it in him right now to soothe her or to ask just how bad Noah and Brayden were hurt. He was afraid to know. He just couldn’t talk. Monster was fighting for control, and honestly, if Tyson weren’t driving, he’d let the beast have his skin.
Stupid fucks!
They’d done the one thing he’d been trying to keep from happening, but now that was over. Tonight, when he got to where he needed to be, he was unleashing Monster. Everyone was gonna pay.
***
Cersi came to, blinking at walls made of skinned horizontal logs. For a moment, she thought she was at BlackLodge, but she couldn’t be. She was in too much pain and waking alone didn’t make sense unless whoever had her didn’t really give a shit whether she suffered or not. And suffer she did. Her shoulder hurt so bad that it brought tears to her eyes and actually made her belly heave. The small room she was in housed nothing but the cot she was laying on.
Shoving to a sitting position, she pinched her eyes closed when she swayed. Her head hurt so damn bad. She’d had a concussion before, and it felt exactly like this. Remembering that punch that had been thrown at her face, she figured she’d gotten knocked out because everything was black after that.
Lowering herself back onto the bed, she concentrated on simply breathing and taking stock of her body. Her arm and leg muscles were sore, and she figured that was from fighting. Her head and face were bad off too, but her arm was killing her. God, what she wouldn’t give for Tyson and his incessant administration of pain meds.
Tyson.
Just the thought of him had tears flooding her eyes. These people, The Council, were after him, but she didn’t know why. She hoped he’d read her text and had stayed away from BlackLodge, but the longer she lay there, the more she realized that Tyson wasn’t built like that. No, if he knew there was trouble at home, he’d have gone racing back. That thought had her pushing up again. She fought back waves of nausea as she scoured her pockets for her cell. Nothing.
The door opened, and Cersi tensed. She was braced to fight, but a tiny woman bent with age shuffled in. Her mostly gray hair was twisted into two long braids that framed her face and she wore glasses that had slid to the tip of her nose. Looking over the rim, warm brown eyes crinkled when the woman’s lips pursed in clear disgust.
“The boys were rough with you.”
Her voice had a slight cadence that Cersi hadn’t heard before, but judging by the woman’s odd red cotton dress with ribbons sewn along the hem and sleeves, she figured the woman was native.
“I’m Mary Alex.” The woman didn’t offer a hand though. Instead, she shuffled toward the bed planted her hands on her hips before staring down at Cersi. “So you’re the Monster’s mate, eh?” She grinned, her chubby cheeks lifting to push her glasses higher. “C’mon, my girl.” She turned and gave Cersi her back. “We have a healer, and you smell like you’re in much pain. Let’s fix that before Tyson gets here. I can’t have him killing all my boys.”
Cersi didn’t move though. Instead, she watched Mary Alex shuffled to the door before asking, “You’re…you’re The Council.”
Mary Alex cackled a withered laugh. “No.” Turning, she shot Cersi a wink over her shoulder. “I’m not on The Council.”
“Then who are you?”
Mary Alex’s answer was said boastfully and full of pride. “I am one of the Elders.”
Cersi stayed planted on the bed as she asked. “What does that mean?” She hadn’t learned enough about shifters, but she’d heard Haddix and his BloodMoons talk about The Council. From what she’d gathered, they were the governing party over shifters. Cersi had no idea what it meant to be an Elder.
Turning to face her, Mary Alex pursed her lips again before saying, “The Council is made up of both sexes of shifters, as are the Elders, but to make you understand, I’ll explain it like this. The Council is like the man of the house. Strong, hard-working, but thinking they’re in charge. The Elders, we’re the wives of the house.” She lowered her chin and smirked at Cersi. “Everyone knows where the real power lays and who calls the shots.” She lifted her arm and waved a wrinkled hand toward Cersi. “The Elders would have known better than this. The Council, not so much. They’ll learn when your Monster gets here though, won’t they?”
Cersi couldn’t mask the hope in her voice, “Tyson’s coming?”
Mary Alex frowned. “Of course he’s coming. The Council took his mate. Now they get to pay, and The Elders get to watch. I’ve admonished Regan before for acting without thinking. He refuses to listen. Now, Monster will knock the rocks out of his ears. If he survives, he’ll have learned.”
“I-I’m not Tyson’s mate.”
Mary Alex gave her a placating smile. “We’ll see, won’t we?” She motioned for Cersi to follow her. “Come on.”
Cersi made to stand, but moaned and went back down when the room began to swim.
“Oooh,” Mary Alex narrowed her eyes on Cersi. “You’re worse than I thought.” Clicking her tongue, she shook her head. “Too bad for Regan. You wait here, my girl. I’ll bring the Medicine Woman.”
Alone, Cersi replayed Mary Alex’s words. She’d called Cersi Tyson’s mate. When Cersi denied it, the old woman smirked knowingly and said they’d see. What did that mean? Guess it didn’t matter right now. What did matter was that Tyson was coming and he shouldn’t be. These people had been at BlackLodge looking for him. Now, he was coming straight to them. It made her feel sick that she might be the reason he was putting himself in harm’s way. She was mad at herself too for not asking Mary Alex what The Council wanted with Tyson. That should have been her first question, but her head was just too fuzzy, and there was a ringing in her ears that wouldn’t stop.
Closing her eyes, Cersi curled into a tight ball on the bed and breathed, “Don’t come, Tyson. Please don’t come.”