Nearing the main lodge, Bracken spotted Zander leaning against an SUV, waiting for him. The enforcer tipped his chin in greeting and said, “The Tundra wolves are still at the border. Nick isn’t willing to let them pass.”
That was no surprise. Nick was acquainted with Brookson, and from the way he’d spoken about him in the past, Bracken got the feeling that Nick respected him. Still, he wouldn’t want the relative of a person who had attacked his pack member on his land. “How many of them are there?” Bracken asked.
“Five.” Pushing off the SUV, Zander fell into step beside him as they headed through the lot. “Brookson brought three other males and one female. And no, it’s not Claudia. He hasn’t mentioned Madisyn. Just said that he’s here to speak to you. But it’s highly likely that this is about what happened last night between her and Claudia.”
Yes, it was. Which was why it hadn’t been easy to convince his mate to remain at their lodge. Maybe Shaw Brookson had come to question them about it, maybe he’d come to make peace with them, or maybe he’d taken offense to his daughter being injured and barred from the club. Whatever the case, it would be somehow related to Madisyn. Naturally, she wanted to be there. But Bracken didn’t want her even in the general vicinity of anyone who would so much as wish her harm. No fucking way.
While she understood why he felt that way, his request for her to remain behind still made her bristle. Okay, fair enough, he hadn’t actually asked her to stay behind. He’d insisted on it, which was a dumb move on his part. They’d argued for a good ten minutes about whether or not she should go with him.
Shaya had smoothly stepped in, pointing out that there was a smaller chance of trouble breaking out between the packs if the female who’d beaten his daughter wasn’t in Shaw’s sights. Not wanting Bracken to end up in a fight, Madisyn had agreed to remain at the lodge, but she’d shot him a look that said she’d happily rip off his balls and shove them up his ass.
No male shifter liked being in his mate’s bad graces, but Bracken would rather she be pissed at him than be anywhere near Shaw Brookson. The wolf was dangerous. Ran a tight ship. Punished disobedience hard. And he showed little mercy to anyone who messed with him, his pack, or his family.
Shaw liked Nick well enough, so there was a chance that this wouldn’t turn ugly. But Bracken wasn’t taking any risks with Madisyn.
Reaching the border, Bracken took in the scene ahead of him. Shaw was standing a few feet away from their territorially marked trees, and a powerfully built male stood on either side of him. A fourth male and a female were leaning against the Range Rover that was parked on the dirt road a little behind the Alpha. No one appeared confrontational, nor did they appear friendly.
Nick stood directly in front of Brookson, his posture deceptively loose and relaxed, flanked by Derren and Eli. Five against five, Bracken thought. If a fight broke out, the sides were evenly matched.
At any other time, Bracken and Zander—as enforcers—would have each moved to the edges of the short line of Mercury wolves, giving their Alpha extra cover and placing Nick directly in the center. But since their visitor had come specifically to speak with Bracken, he sidled up to Nick while Zander stood at Eli’s other side.
Shaw’s gaze locked with Bracken’s, intent and probing. Nobody spoke or moved. There were none of the usual sounds of squirrels chattering and birds chirping. Hell, even the breeze seemed to have halted. There was only the drone of an insect—and that drone abruptly cut off when the male near the Range Rover slapped his neck.
Finally, Shaw inclined his head. “Slater.”
Bracken gave him the briefest nod, because there was no sense in offending the guy until they knew for sure that he hadn’t come in peace. After Shaw and Nick had each introduced their wolves, Bracken addressed the Tundra Alpha. “What do you want?”
“My daughter was attacked at your pack’s club last night.” He paused, as if expecting Bracken to respond. He didn’t. “The culprit was a cat shifter,” Shaw went on. “I hear she’s also your mate. From what Claudia told me, the cat was upset that Claudia bought you a drink. My daughter tried to apologize for any offense taken. Instead of accepting the apology, the cat attacked and injured Claudia.” There was no inflection in his voice, no sense of whether the Alpha truly believed Claudia’s version of events. “Adding insult to—no pun intended—injury, you then also barred Claudia from the club.”
Bracken lifted a brow. “Is your daughter in the habit of trying to apologize to people by cornering them in their break room, having her team block the door so no one can pass, and then telling them how their mate would prefer her over them any day?”
Instead of bristling on his daughter’s behalf, Shaw sighed. Impatience flashed across his face, and he shook his head. Yeah, it seemed he had no trouble believing that his daughter would do that.
“No one who tries coming between mates ever comes out of that situation unscathed,” said Bracken. “Either Claudia was goading Madisyn into a fight, or she didn’t think my mate would dare act on her anger. In any case, your daughter quite simply fucked up.”
The male standing on Shaw’s left, whom the Alpha had introduced as his Beta, Joe, subtly shifted position and said, “We don’t have a problem with you or your pack, Slater, but we want justice. I’m asking you to step aside while we deal with the insult that the cat paid to Claudia.”
Anger spiked through Bracken, and his wolf snapped his teeth. Balling his hands into fists, he glared at the fucking idiot who sounded like a knight set on avenging his damn princess—he obviously had a thing for Claudia. “Basically,” began Bracken, voice deepening, “you want me to grant you permission to harm my mate?” He sounded dangerous even to himself.
Joe and the other male flanking Shaw stiffened, while the last two Tundra wolves pushed away from the Range Rover, on high alert. Shaw, however, didn’t move an inch.
“You know a thing or two about the need to seek justice,” said Joe.
Bracken inclined his head. “I do.”
“Then you understand.” Joe lifted his chin. “We can’t and won’t allow what the cat did to go unpunished.”
The bastard had to be smoking fucking crack if he thought he’d ever even have the chance to touch Madisyn. Dismissing him, Bracken cut his gaze back to Shaw. “Maybe you believe the lump of shit your daughter fed you, maybe you don’t. But you have to know that you’ll never get your hands on my mate. Never.”
“Claudia insists that the cat attacked her, unprovoked,” stated Shaw, though he still didn’t display any hint of whether he believed her.
Bracken snickered. “Claudia messed with the wrong person, and she paid for it. If her ego took a beating, that’s not anyone’s fault but hers. Your Beta talks about seeking justice, but justice was done . . . just not in a way she liked. And if you or anyone else dares to harm Madisyn, I’ll take care of it . . . and that won’t be in a way you like.”
Shaw’s jaw tightened. “It is not wise to threaten me.”
That made Nick bristle. “It’s not wise to approach my territory, lay a serious and very false accusation against a member of my pack, and then actually fucking suggest that we just hand her over to you because, hey, your daughter didn’t like that she got the shit smacked out of her.”
Joe opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he saw on Nick’s face made him snap it shut.
“I’m done here,” Bracken announced. “Stay the fuck away from what’s mine, Brookson. And advise your daughter to do the same.”
Shaw took a few steps forward, but they weren’t aggressive or threatening. He sighed, suddenly looking very tired. “When I first saw my daughter bleeding and bruised, my initial instinct was to drive down here and pummel the lot of you. But a member of her team pulled me aside and told me a few things that contradict her story, things that sounded much more believable than her account.
“I love my daughter, but I’m not blind to her nature. I know how stubborn she can be when she gets an idea into her head. I know how badly she wants you for her bodyguard, Slater, and I know she was quite confident that you would eventually give in and accept her offer.”
“I told Claudia right from the start that the position held no interest for me,” said Bracken.
“She was sure you’d change your mind in time. But then you mated, and she understood that you couldn’t act as her personal bodyguard. Still, she was hopeful that you and your mate would join our pack and that you would then still join her team.”
“She said as much to my mate. But I think you and I both know that—just as my mate guessed—Claudia was confident that she could lure me away from Madisyn since the bond hasn’t fully formed yet.”
Nick slanted his head. “You don’t believe her story, Brookson, but you came here anyway. Why?”
Shaw rubbed at his brow, as if feeling the beginnings of a headache. “Because I’d hoped that I was wrong. Hoped that the member of her team who contradicted her version of events had simply misunderstood the situation. No one wants to think that their daughter would willingly cause such a mess and then lie to them about it out of hurt pride.” He looked back at Bracken. “You dented her pride when you turned her down, and your mate dented her pride by defeating her. Claudia’s pride has always been a delicate thing.”
Several cell phones began beeping at once. Bracken stiffened, because the sounds came from the phones of the five Mercury wolves . . . and that particular alarm meant that someone had pressed their panic button. The hairs on his nape lifted as intuition nabbed at him. His inner wolf tensed, pulse quickening.
Shaw gave them a mockingly rueful smile while his gaze turned cunning. He no longer looked tired. He looked cold. “Still, I can’t overlook the insult your mate paid to my daughter. Not with the reputation I have to maintain. A man like me has to be seen as someone who deals with such situations swiftly and harshly. And, well, I was offered a very nice sum of money from a business associate of mine to keep you busy and then kill you all. He needs to make an example of what happens when even just one person crosses him, which is something I understand. I must say, your mate is very good at making enemies, Slater.”
As the truth hit him, Bracken cursed viciously, and anger rushed through his body. Shaw was no more than a distraction. A distraction that had served to not only separate the strongest of the pack from the others but also to separate Bracken from Madisyn. And now he had to wonder if Ally had foreseen this and then pressed the panic button.
Muscles quivering with the urge to move, his inner wolf growled at Bracken, wanting him to go find Madisyn. That same urge rode Bracken. The only thing keeping him from rushing to her in a blind panic was that Archer couldn’t be too close, or they would have received phone alerts that the security sensors had been tripped. That meant that Madisyn knew there was a threat, and she had time to seek a safe place to lay low.
Nick spoke, “We’ve got this, Brack. You go to your . . .” He trailed off as several other wolves prowled out of the trees.
Shaw chuckled. “I forgot to introduce my other enforcers and their mates.”
Son of a fucking bitch. As that familiar ice-cold rage trickled through his veins and settled over him, Bracken drew in a breath through his nose. He wanted to get to his mate, but he couldn’t leave yet. Not when it was now twelve against five. If he didn’t help hold off the bastards, they’d kill his pack mates and get to Madisyn anyway.
Like him, Nick, Derren, and Zander would also be worried for their mates, just as Eli would be worried for his mother and sister—they were all in the same boat. Sort of. It wasn’t their mate who was the fucking target, it was Bracken’s.
“You motherfucking prick,” Nick snapped at the Tundra Alpha.
“Madisyn will be okay, Brack,” Derren said in a voice too low to carry to the Tundra wolves. “She has Jesse, Marcus, and the girls.”
Yes, she did. And if the Olympus Pride was with Archer, she’d have the pallas cats too once the pride switched to her side. Bracken wasn’t sure how big the pride was, but he did know that just one pallas cat was hell to take on.
He drew in another deep breath, reminding himself that the Phoenix Pack would also have received the alarm, and they would soon arrive to provide backup. Once they did, Bracken would go to Madisyn. But if he felt any pain or fear pulse down their mating bond in the meantime, he was going after her no matter the fuck what.
“You made a mistake coming here, Brookson,” said Nick as they all began to shed their clothes. “And now you’ll pay for it.” Almost as one, they all shifted into their animal forms.
Bracken’s wolf peeled back his lips, baring his teeth. The Tundra Alpha didn’t lunge. He howled, calling to his wolves. They all charged.
Cell phone in hand, Madisyn dashed down the stairs, heart pounding in her chest, anxiety clawing at her insides. She skidded to a halt in the kitchen, where she found everyone gathered around the island. No, they were gathered around Ally, who was propped on a stool, her eyes completely white. The shocking sight made Madisyn do a double take.
“She’s having a vision,” Harley told Madisyn. “She’ll be fine in a—”
The Seer’s eyes cleared, and dread quickly filled them. She jumped to her feet, breaths coming short and fast.
“Ally, what’s wrong?” demanded Shaya, grabbing her arm.
Ally’s gaze sought out Madisyn. “They’re coming.”
Madisyn swallowed. “I know.” She held up her cell, and the words poured out of her in a rush. “Vinnie Devereaux tried calling me, but I was so busy, I didn’t hear the phone ringing. He left me a voice mail to tell me that Archer and a shitload of his allies are planning to creep up on the southern border of our territory. They’re probably here by now.” And her cat was going apeshit, hissing and spitting. “Apparently, Archer also has some kind of distraction organized.”
“Claudia’s father,” muttered Roni. “Fuck, we should have seen it.”
That was Madisyn’s guess, which was why she’d ignored her first instinct to call Bracken. She didn’t want to divert his attention while he was dealing with a dangerous situation of his own.
Pacing, Shaya spoke into her phone. “Kent, get the pups down to the panic room now. Is Caleb still at the motel? Call him. Tell him to stay right there.”
“I pressed the panic button,” said Marcus. “Everyone will get the alert, so the guys will realize something’s wrong. The Phoenix Pack will receive it too. They’ll come.”
Jesse stood in front of Ally, all business. “How many does Archer have with him?”
“I don’t know exactly how many, but there were a lot,” replied Ally, rubbing her neck. “I saw at least forty people creeping through the woods toward the southern border, but there could be more.” She asked Madisyn, “Did Vinnie Devereaux tell you how many are coming?”
“No.” Madisyn’s grip on her phone tightened as she felt pulses of ice-cold rage shoot down the mating bond. Shit. “He mustn’t have known, or he would have said.”
“We have two choices,” said Shaya, still pacing. “Retreat, which would bring the bears deeper into our territory—and near the pups, which I’m not up for—or we take the fight to them, near the border.”
Jesse didn’t hesitate. “I say we keep it near the border.”
Marcus gave a curt nod, face harder than she’d ever seen it. “We know this land. They don’t. And backup will come soon. We just have to keep them busy until then.”
Jesse looked at Madisyn, jaw clenched. “Bracken will hate me for life if I don’t at least ask you to stay here.”
“I know, but I can’t,” said Madisyn. “If we don’t hold them off, they’ll spread all over our territory like ants and find me anyway. I can’t go to Bracken because that would just put me in Shaw’s sights. Plus, Archer’s come here for me. He’s more likely to stop in his tracks if he sees me than if he comes across a group of you.”
Gwen walked out of the room, stride purposeful.
Harley frowned at her back. “Where are you going?”
Within moments, Gwen was back, carrying a huge box. She looked up at Madisyn as she opened it. “I got you a little collection of my idea of treasures as a housewarming gift.” Pulling out a handgun and a box of ammo, Gwen said, “All I need is a comfy tree.”
Madisyn and her cat stiffened as they sensed . . . “Bracken just shifted.”
Shaya slapped a hand to her stomach. “So did Nick.”
“Zander’s done the same,” said Gwen.
“And Derren,” began Ally, “which means a fight has broken out, and they won’t be joining us anytime soon.”
Cursing, Shaya waved at the patio door. “We don’t have time to talk about this anymore. Let’s just go. Ally, where exactly did you see the Mavericks and their allies?”
“They were coming up behind the gnarled tree that Harley likes to climb,” replied Ally as they all quickly filed out of the lodge.
“Then that’s the direction we’ll head in,” said Shaya.
Madisyn twisted her mouth. “We could head right for them and confront them as a group . . . or we could try something else.”
Shaya blinked. “Like what?”
Sharp teeth dug into the gray wolf’s rear leg and dragged him off his dazed opponent. With a menacing growl, the wolf whirled and viciously slashed at his attacker’s muzzle. Yelping, the white wolf bounded backward, blood splattering across the ground.
Wanting more of that blood, the gray wolf snarled, stalking him. Circling him. Ears flattening, they sprang. Collided hard. Fought like they were caught in a frenzy.
The Tundra wolves were strong. Quick. Cunning. They attacked in pairs. Just when the gray wolf would take down one, another would appear, stopping him from making the killing bite. A clever trick. It only made the Mercury wolves fight harder. Faster. Dirtier.
The air rang with snarls, growls, yelps, and grunts. Blood matted the gray wolf’s fur—some of it his, some of it not. The stench of it was heavy, along with the scents of sweat, fear, and fury.
His injuries stung and burned. But adrenaline coursed through him, dimming the pain. It enabled him to keep fighting hard.
The gray wolf body-slammed his opponent, unbalancing him. Legs going out from under him, the Tundra wolf crashed to the ground. Before the male could rise, the gray wolf pinned him flat and sank his teeth down hard into his neck, severing arteries.
Leaving his enemy to choke on his own blood, he turned to see that his other opponent had stumbled to his feet and was preparing to pounce. The gray wolf growled, goading him. Together, they lunged.
The gray wolf savagely slashed, bit, and mauled. Tore into his opponent again and again, overpowering him. Weakening him. Slowing him down.
Yet another enemy joined the fray, biting into the gray’s wolf flank. He ignored the pain. Focused instead on the wheezing opponent in front of him. The other wolf was now badly wounded and weak with blood loss. But then razor-sharp teeth ripped through the gray wolf’s flesh and scored bone, sending little reverberations down his leg.
Lips peeled back, the gray wolf spun sharply, dislodging his attacker. It was the Beta they called “Joe.” Leg burning, the gray wolf swiped at his muzzle, scoring deeply.
The Beta bit into his ear and yanked, eliciting a yelp from the gray wolf. And then they were lunging at each other. They crashed, furiously clawing and biting and growling.
The gray wolf fought hard. Brutally. Showed no mercy. Refused to submit. Sank his teeth past fur and flesh, clawed through muscle, scraped bone. The Beta was every bit as vicious, targeting existing wounds, deepening them.
The gray wolf blinked, startled, as a blinding rage vibrated down the mating bond. His mate was alive, she was unhurt, but she was facing down something or someone. The wolf felt her determination to kill them. His legs shook as he fought the drive to rush to her and—
A hard weight slammed into the gray wolf, blindsiding him. He landed hard on his wounded shoulder, and white-hot pain lanced through him. And then the Beta was standing over him, teeth bared.