Augie let me breathe through my rage until I was able to calm my wolf. She was not happy with the information given to us, and she made sure I knew it. It was a lot to process on top of Cord’s death. It was in our innate nature to care for the humans. We had been created centuries ago as protectors for them, but when humans turned against us, our ancestors had hidden. Even after that, we still protected humans against other supernatural beings as much as we could without revealing ourselves, and we always would.
I felt my wolf pacing within me, begging to let the shift take over, so she could take charge of avenging Cord. She was just as eager as me, if not more.
“What were you working on before today?” I asked when I could finally form the words.
“We were trying to get our hands on one of the turned humans. We need proof of what they’re doing. Gerald knew that if he brought the rest of the council to Declan’s door, they wouldn’t find anything. The likelihood of the sorceress having the humans shielded somewhere is too high to risk tipping our hand and letting them get away.”
Wolf shifters were never turned; we were all born with the Lycan gene passed down from both parents. No wolf had ever been able to conceive a child with a human before. I had never heard of a hybrid until now, and it made my skin crawl. Our life was not an easy one and bringing a human into it was wrong for so many reasons. Especially when these people likely never signed up for what Declan did to them. My dad was right to get proof. If the stories I remembered about the Rocky Mountain alpha were accurate, he would be hard to best.
I nodded and stood up from the table, making my way back to the wall, so I could see the other photos. The first thing that caught my eye was a flier in the middle of everything for the Decennial Gathering. I hadn’t thought much about it since I hadn’t planned to go. It usually consisted of a bunch of hot-blooded males trying to prove they were better than each other. One giant pissing competition that didn’t pique my interest. But now, everything was different.
In reality, the gathering had been created centuries ago by our ancestors as a way to get the alphas together to work on building friendships between the packs. Deals and trades were often made during the event, but for the most part, it was more about just catching up with the other packs.
“I’m going to have to go to this, aren’t I?” I asked, pointing to the flier.
“Cord had planned to. He was hoping to meet with the other alphas and see who we could bring in to help us. Your dad was pretty certain that Elijah from the Catskills pack would help, but he wasn’t sure about the rest. We also planned on bringing Davis in soon and sending him to Declan’s pack during the gathering, so he could try to get close to some of the humans they’ve taken and changed. We’d like to figure out if they volunteered for this. If not, bring them back to our pack to protect until we figure everything out.”
I glanced back at the flier and noticed the date for the event was August first. That was only four days away. Cord had been at this for months. I had three days to attempt to get up to speed before we’d have to travel to Thunder Springs, Arizona. The meeting place changed every ten years, and this time, the Southwest territory picked the location. I was not looking forward to the dry heat or whatever else the gathering might entail.
I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to take away the stress of the day. “I don’t have enough time to catch up on everything I should before we need to leave, Augie.”
He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “No, probably not everything, but you’re smart, Tay. Cord may have had his brute strength, but you excel with your mind and intuition. I know you can do this. You have time to learn just enough, and I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
I nodded and smiled my thanks. His ability to keep me grounded when I was ready to freak out was one of the many reasons he was my best friend. I moved on to another wall where my gaze stopped on a shifter I wasn’t familiar with. He was from the East Coast territory and hopefully as honest as their alpha was by reputation. I took a good gaze at his picture and then looked again. I let out a low whistle and glanced back at Augie. “He’s not bad on the eyes.” I grinned, wondering if the trip could be for both pleasure and business. I could certainly use the distraction after everything I’d learned.
“And he knows it. Cord told us was pretty arrogant, so we likely aren’t going to involve him unless your dad insists on it.”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, the hot one would be an ass. I’d have to forget the pleasure part and focus on my need for allies. His name was Liam, twenty years old, and gorgeous. Crap, I needed to quit thinking that. He had short dirty blond hair, with striking seafoam green eyes. He had a broad build, but wasn’t overly muscular, just how I liked my men.
Damn it, Taya. Get it together. I was eighteen, old enough to handle my hormones around hot shifters. Hopefully.
I quickly moved on from the East Coast territory wall and went back to stand in front of Declan and Rafe’s pictures. They were the ones I needed to focus on for the time being.
“Tell me everything, Augie.”
I spent the rest of the late afternoon doing nothing but learning everything I could about the demon spawn who had a hand in my brother’s death. They were about to regret ever messing with my family.
***
About an hour after it got dark outside, Augie and I finally made our way back to the pack house. I needed to find my dad and make sure he knew I planned on attending the Decennial Gathering. We couldn’t miss an opportunity to get closer to the Blacks and learn more. Plus, the vindictive side of me hoped I could challenge Rafe and kick his ass in one of the courses I knew would be set up. That would make me feel slightly better.
I found Davis in the living room first. “Hey, do you know where my dad is?” I asked.
He looked up, almost as if he was surprised to see me. “He’s in the kitchen.”
No shocker there. My dad was a stress-eater and cooker. Thankfully, he was also an excellent cook, so it was no hardship on the pack when he decided to take over making food for everyone.
“He’s making chili,” Augie sighed with happiness, “and cornbread.”
“Come on, piggy. Let’s get you fed.”
He pushed my shoulder, moving me out of his path, and plowed his way toward the kitchen. I followed at a slower pace, not quite ready to see my dad. As much as I wanted to argue with him, he was my alpha. If he genuinely didn’t want me to go to the gathering, then I wouldn’t be going. He didn’t often enforce his alpha power on me, but I knew it was there, and he’d use it if he felt it was necessary.
By the time I arrived in the kitchen, Augie was sitting on a bar stool at the granite counter, devouring a bowl of chili.
I laughed when I noticed cornbread crumbs all over his shirt. “Slow down before you choke. I might enjoy punching you in the back too much while trying to dislodge any food.”
Augie flipped me off and kept shoveling the food down anyway.
Our kitchen was massive. A nook was off to the left in the bay window. An island with seating around it was in the middle, which was where Augie was currently eating and making a mess. The cooking area was impressive. We had four ovens and cooktops, three microwaves, and a fridge and freezer set up to make any top chef envious. At least twenty massive shifters could fit in the kitchen comfortably at any given time.
My dad kept his back to me, so I strode over to him. When I reached him, I placed my hand on his back and whispered, “Hey, Dad.”
“Hi, Sweet Girl.” His tone was broken, so I decided not to push anything for the time being.
“Can I help?”
He turned toward me as a small smile played on his lips. “I’d love that.”
Tossing me an apron from the drawer next to him, he stepped aside so I could keep an eye on the current batch of chili while he started a new one. Our pack had well over a hundred members, and at least fifty of them stopped by for dinner at various times throughout the evening. I hadn’t kept up on the numbers recently. That was something I would need to rectify soon.
We moved about the large kitchen with ease, and I was surprised to find some of the anger and sadness gone for the time being. I knew without a doubt that this was the calm before the storm, but I’d take advantage of it while I could.
After we were done cooking and most of the pack had been fed, I followed my dad to his office. Augie joined us, and we took our seats. I had high hopes that our conversation would end better than the last one had.
“Gerald, I went over everything in the training office with Taya today, and I didn’t hold back anything. I know she has some catching up to do, but I have full faith in her ability to do so,” Augie said first.
My dad nodded. “I hate to agree with you, but I know you’re right.” My eyes widened, but he held his hand up before I could speak. “Taya, I know you’re more than capable of stepping in for Cord. I’ve thought of nothing other than the both of you today and what was best for not only our blood family but our pack family. Even though I have faith in you, I’m not happy about the situation. You’re my daughter. A daughter I thought I would never have. To put you at risk goes against everything I believe in.”
I softened my tone as much as I could, not wanting to make this any harder on him than necessary. “I may not have trained as much as Cord, but I know I can do this, Dad. We have three more days before we need to leave for Arizona. Send your best to come kick my ass up and down the training field in case I’m challenged. I’ll send them home crying every time. I’m smarter than most of the men in this pack, even though I may not be as strong physically. They’ll underestimate me, and I’ll have the advantage.”
“She’s right,” Augie said. “We talked about strategy today, and Taya has some good ideas depending on how things play out.”
“That’s what I am afraid of,” my dad groaned. “What if things don’t go as planned? I can’t stand the thought…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew his thoughts were dark. There were a lot of things we couldn’t plan for, but that was part of life. We just had to deal with it as best we could.
“We can’t let Declan get away with this,” I said. “I have to try to at least finish what Cord planned to do. He’d want this, too. Let me work with Augie and Davis. We can’t ignore what you guys have learned, especially now that they’ve taken Cord from us. I doubt they plan to stop with him, either. We have to be on the offensive.”
Dad nodded. “You’re right. We have to try for the sake of all the packs, and when this is over, we will bring Declan down for good. I won’t allow him to hurt another shifter or human again. He’s gone too far.”
I wanted to scream out in victory. The determination in his voice told me my dad had finally seen reason. He would remain political for the good of the pack and do things as they needed to be done, but he was done playing nice, and it was about damn time.
“Get some rest tonight, Taya. Nobody will be taking it easy on you tomorrow.” My dad grinned at me and, for the first time in my life, I felt like his equal instead of just his daughter.
Augie tugged on my arm, and I followed him out of the office after saying goodnight to my dad. He walked me to the stairs that led to my room. “Want me to stay with you tonight?” he asked.
My first instinct was to tell him no, but I knew the smart thing was to get my emotions under control sooner rather than later. I needed my best friend more than ever.
“That would probably be a good idea.”
When we got settled in bed, Augie opened his arms to me, and I slid into them. Once I was comfortable, he tightened his hold on me, and I felt the barrier I had established earlier crack. “Augie, what are we going to do without him?”
He gently stroked my hair in a comforting motion. “First, we’re going to stop Declan, then we’re going to live. Cord always wanted that for you. It was why he didn’t push Gerald to allow you to train with him all these years. Cord knew you could do it, but he didn’t want you to have to deal with everything he did.”
Cord may have only been born minutes before me, but he played the big brother role perfectly, as if he’d had years to prepare. He was always looking out for me, even when I didn’t know it.
“I think he knew something was going to happen. This morning before he left the house, he came to see me.” I paused, trying to keep the tears at bay, but failing epically.
Augie pushed me back and brought his face level with mine. His long fingers traced the line of tears falling from my eyes, and he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to, but I know I should. I’d rather break in front of you than someone else when I least expect it.”
The crooked grin I loved so much appeared on his face. “Can’t let the world know the badass Taya Rush has a heart, can we?”
I punched him in the gut, then hugged him, because he was right. He knew me so well. Others always assumed we would end up together, and some days I thought about how easy it would be, but Augie had always been like a second brother to me. The thought of taking our relationship to another level made my skin crawl.
“What did Cord say when he came to see you?”
Before I began remembering my last moments with Cord, I took a deep breath and calmed my racing heart. I hoped to get through the conversation without being overcome with pain, but it was a lost cause. Augie’s comforting embrace helped me to continue without completely losing my shit, but nothing would stop the agony.
“It was more so what he did than what he said. Just the way he stared at me as we talked. It was as if he was trying to memorize everything about me. Then, when we hugged as he was leaving, it was different. He held on tighter and longer than normal. There was no teasing or messing up my hair. I asked him if he was okay, but he just said he loved me and everything was fine.”
I shuddered as my thoughts turned ominous. “I should have pushed him to tell me more. If I had, then I would have been with him earlier. I wouldn’t have let him out of my sight. He’d probably still be alive if I had.”
Augie shushed me and shook his head. “You can’t think like that. Cord wouldn’t want that for you. It’s more plausible to think that if you had gone with him, your dad and I would be grieving both of you instead of only Cord. I don’t imagine Declan left anything to chance when he sent someone after Cord.”
Those words had my skin heating up all over again. I was going to respect my dad’s wishes for doing this the political way as long as I could. He just better hope Declan or one of his minions didn’t push me when our paths cross at the gathering or I’d make no promises for my reactions.
“Calm down, killer. I know what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling. Just focus on what we do know and learn all you can in the next couple days. That’s almost as important as making sure Declan pays for all he has done, not only to our family but to the humans.”
Ugh. I hated when he was right. I hated that I couldn’t storm the Rocky Mountain territory and make them all pay right then. I hated that I was going to have to come face to face with the people responsible for taking away my twin and do nothing about it.
“The only good thing about waiting is that the longer we pretend to know nothing, the longer I have to decide exactly how I plan to make them pay. The ideas are already coming in.”
Augie laughed. “I don’t want to know what your crazy mind has thought up already. It would probably give me nightmares.” His arms constricted around me once more, and he placed another soft kiss on my head. “Sleep, Taya. I’m going to make sure you get your ass kicked over and over again tomorrow until you’re begging for mercy. You’re going to love every minute of it.”
I heard the smile in the tone of his voice. I was glad to give him something to focus on right now, even if it caused me physical pain. Anything was better than the emotional hurt I knew we both were keeping on lockdown.
I had been talking a big game about stopping Declan and getting justice for Cord, but as I laid there unable to shut my mind down, I wondered what else I might lose in the process of trying to do so.