Chapter Eleven
After dismissing Lucien quickly from her mind, Najha walked over to one of her fellow lycan. She’d gone to school with this young adult. “What have you found? Cade?”
“Yeah, he must have shifted and gone in after the escapees. I found his path over here.” He pointed toward the thick brush.
“Tommy, why aren’t you going in to find my dad?”
He shook his head. “Your father told me to hang tight here, just in case some of the prisoners returned to the bus.”
“Like that’s going to happen.” Najha didn’t wait, she hung her dragon sword across her chest, so it hung in the back for easy access. “I’m going in.” She didn’t wait for a reply, she started running. Once she lost sight of the humans which were gathering near the overturned bus, she shifted quickly into her wolf. Her wolf was one of the strongest but smallest. In her petite form, she was able to travel lighter and faster.
Najha ran through the forest, her sword hanging from her back with an attachment Aiden and Dante had made for her. Even in the smallest form, her wolf easily carried the heavy piece of steel with her. She never left home without it, even in her wolf form. The small pack she carried held many other weapons to fight rogues and Bolnav was attached to her body. With her muscles working hard running through the deep brush, Cade’s scent was strong for her and the trail fresh. He’d been running hard in wolf form. The scent of humans was covered by a metallic scent.
One of the prisoners must have been shot because the trail of blood was obvious on the forest floor. Stopping quickly, she sniffed around some until she found what she’d been looking for. A knife lying face down in the dirt. Shifting back to a human, she picked it up and looked it over. It was Cade’s. She’d given it to him for his birthday a few years ago. Why he’d left it lying in the dirt was a mystery to her.
Shifting again, she followed the trail leading to another scene in the woods. This time, there was human blood along with organs and intestines. She sniffed them with her wolf sense. Letting out the long breath she held, she knew it was human and near death.
Again, on the trail, she followed it until she knew her father was just ahead. She shifted quickly to human and grabbed her pack from around her neck. Then threw on the jeans and t-shirt, along with socks and boots. She picked up her sword and unsheathed it quickly.
Creeping slowly forward, she moved silently across the forest floor without being heard. She didn’t want any distractions from her that would perhaps get her father injured or worse, killed.
She knew he was in human form and had apparently never shifted because he was fully clothed. She knew for a fact she was the only wolf to carry her stuff with her. She’d always been uncomfortable around the men in her nudity. It still didn’t explain why she’d tracked him all this way in wolf form when she found him still in his sheriff’s uniform. The lycan smell she sensed before was from another lycan? Several thousand yards further, she found her father kneeling over a man lying on the ground. “Dad.”
With a frown, Cade looked up. “What are you doing out here?”
“Looking for you. Mom was worried, and so was I.”
“No need, I got this.” He’d gone back to studying the dead man on the ground.
“I know, Pops, but sometimes we have the right to worry, you know? Did you?” She pointed at the body.
“No, I didn’t, and I’m not sure what got him. He was one of the escapees from the bus. There are three more out here. I’m afraid most of them are gone. I found a few body parts back along the trail.” He pointed behind her.
Najha nodded. “I found that too. What do you think is getting them?”
“I’m suspecting a Bolnav. Lucien doesn’t allow any of his people to feed from a human vein any longer. These men are drained of blood, totally. Something evil is killing them. This man has his entire left part of his throat ripped out. I say good riddance, but I can’t tell anyone else what I’m thinking. I’m trying to figure out a reasonable explanation to give to the rest of my men.” Cade brushed off his hands before standing up.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. This guy was bad, really dangerous. I just wish I knew what was killing them. This thing has the dark death smell with it.”
She thought of Lucien, wondering if his people knew of this. When he’d been so concerned for her, she should’ve asked him. She hadn’t thought about talking to him. Why she’d sent out thoughts to him in the first place was too worrisome for her to sit and think about anyways. She was working here and didn’t want to constantly worry about her relationship with Lucien.
‘Woman, you should be an author, as you are full of ideas that aren’t true. Of course, I didn’t know anything about these men or what is killing them. Stop putting those crazy ideas in your mind.’
Najha tried to remain calm and collected around Cade. Lucien’s words rubbing her mind softly had her flustered and just a little confused. ‘What are you doing lurking about inside my head, Lucien?’
She felt the laughter before hearing the words softly in her mind. ‘You invited me in, love.’
‘I did not!’
Again, the laughter then nothing.
Najha stumbled a bit before righting herself up on her feet once again.
“You ready to go home, baby? Get some sleep. I know I am. I’ll send the crime scene back here to document and file the proper reports.” Cade put his arm around her shoulders and led her back through the woods.
“You sure about that? If this was a rogue, won’t they be suspicious?”
“Nah, I took care of the scene enough, so it looked like an animal attack, nothing more.”
“Okay, if you’re sure. Don’t you think we should continue on and see what else is out here? By the way, Mom is tracking from my house.”
“She is? Silly woman. Sorry about not answering my cell phone. I left it in my car before coming out here. I was too far out when I realized it.”
“That explains why she got no answer. You had us worried.” Najha loved her stepfather, he’d been around her since she was a baby. Although her biological father was a bad-ass, she loved him as much but differently.
Cade was an absolute sweetheart and treated her mother with special, loving care.
As always, Cade would be the one to forgive her quicker than Thorn. She wanted to ask him to help her with the little problem of Lucien, but she didn’t want to put him in a position to choose. Somehow, she knew Thorn would disown her if it came down to her just plain following her heart.
It was something she wasn’t willing to do for anything. Finally, she felt relieved that she’d come up with a decision. Letting that part of her heart go was easy, she would fight for her people, nothing more nothing less. Najha wanted to be the warrior she was bred and born to be, and that would have to do for her. Holding tears in check, she turned to Cade. “I’m ready to go further with my education. I’ve decided to follow in your footsteps. I’m going to sign up for college, for law enforcement. I want to be a sheriff.”
He stopped walking and spun on his heel facing her. “Really? What the hell brought this on, Najha?”
“It has been there all along. But seeing you today and what I can do to help this town was clearer to me than ever.” She bit her lip and looked away, her heart hurting. She wasn’t sure about anything but knew she couldn’t talk to anyone about this. It was the only way to make her people proud of her. Mating with a vampire wasn’t it.
Having him inside her head and knowing she was a lycan and his mate, this was it. It was too much to hope that Lucien could make this right.
‘Najha? It’s dark out, I’m coming to you.’ Lucien was back and in her head.
Frustrated, she connected with him, letting him see her thoughts and who she was with. ‘Go away! I’m with Cade and we’re trying to take care of the thing that’s out here killing people.’
‘I can see you’ve made a decision without talking to me.’ Lucien’s tone was harsh and angry.
‘Yes, it’s the only way. I need you to respect me. I’m not old enough to mate with a man, and I want my space for a while longer. You need to honor me on this, Lucien.’
‘I can’t wait. I need to claim you. I don’t care if you want to go to college to be a doctor, lawyer or whatever for ten or more years, I don’t care. But don’t leave because you don’t think we can resolve this.’
‘It’s the only way.’ Najha wanted him to believe her and honor her wishes. This was a problem with no answers.
‘We’ll talk about this together. I’m coming to you.’
Lucien was gone from her mind. The loneliness returned and she couldn’t help but feel excitement at seeing, touching, and being near him. Even if it was for the time it took to figure out what the hell was going on around her home.
*****
His lair was in a subterranean room that was specifically designed for rest and healing. Used to having nice things, it’s décor contained all the necessities and perks of a fully functioning space to live.
Lucien waved his hand and was now dressed and ready to leave the house. It had finally reached nighttime and with the dark, he needed to travel outside his lair. His body well rested was once again strong, alive, and well.
As a vampire, there was nothing he could do about his condition to the sun. The night was the time for him and his people. He’d stayed awake most of the daylight hours wishing and praying Najha would be okay. The worry and no sleep should have made him tired and unable to feel so refreshed. Why? Maybe it was because she was his mate and her lightness overcame his darkness and evil.
Every time he connected with her, he felt stronger. Joy and hope was alive and well inside his heart and soul. He only had to convince her he would take care of this for them. Her idea to run off to college and become a cop? What the hell was she thinking?
The first thing he needed to do for her was help her find out what was out there in lycan territory, killing those people.
Lucien quickly placed a large oriental rug hiding the lair on the ground level of his residence.
As he walked through his bedroom, he imagined what it would be like to have Najha come home with him to this house. Would she be happy here? He didn’t know and probably would never find out. He quickly left the house to find her now. Help her, then make her listen to him. They had to find a way to be together. Walking outside to the dark sky, with a half-moon shining brightly, he stepped up to his Harley and sat down.
Adjusting his bandana on his head, Lucien looked the part of a badass MC President with his leather jacket and chaps hugging his large muscular body. His black boots sat firmly on the ground while he started the bike. After it warmed up, he kicked the stand up.
He took the road into town and soon was surrounded by the rest of his men. As was usual, they shadowed him. The lot of them were imposing and loud with each on their own Harley. The noise was deafening against the mountainside. They entered Shades Run. Lucien needed to find Najha and find out if Cade was home safe and sound.
Reaching his destination, Thorn’s clubhouse, he found all the motorcycles along with one lone red Ninja…Najha’s.
“What are we doing here?” Vlad asked as he and the rest of his men joined him to enter the clubhouse.
Lucien answered him without looking at him, “We are looking for an evil who’s killing on the lycan side.” He walked in and found Dante, Thorn’s son, leaning up against the bar.
The younger lycan nodded his head and smiled. “Lucien, how are you?” Dante extended his hand. They shook and hugged.
“Dante, good to see you.” Lucien patted the other’s back. “Thorn in?”
“Yeah, he’s here. Lucien…my sister is too.” Dante smiled and winked. The lycan seemed to be enjoying this.
Well, Lucien didn’t want to give him anything to feed the other’s ego. “So? I’m not here for her. I need Thorn, club business.”
Thorn walked out of their meeting room. “Hey, Lucien, good to see you again. How are you?” They hugged and patted the other’s back.
Lucien stepped back. “Are we forgiving each other this easy? I’m still angry.” He chuckled.
Thorn smiled and waved his hand. “You know it won’t resolve until one of us punches the other in the face. So grab a drink and come into my office, we need to talk.”
“I agree.” Lucien raised a brow at him then walked over to the bar.
Vlad stood next to him. “Do you want to do this alone, boss or you want me to have your back?”
“I’m good. Thanks though.”
Najha walked into the bar area with a couple of young male lycans accompanying her.
Lucien’s mood went from good to violent, in a matter of seconds. He wasn’t a jealous sort of guy. But this wasn’t going to work for him. He took in a deep breath and could smell her excitement of just seeing him.
She smiled and waved.
He tried hard to be patient and warn her first, ‘Get rid of them,’ he growled.
She answered back, her mood not happy, ‘Bite me,’ as she patted her ass signaling him to fuck off.
He winked and smiled at her. Lucien’s stare remained on Najha, but he spoke to Thorn, “I mean it. Tell her this isn’t working for me.” He pointed to the young lycan with his mate.
Thorn growled and motioned for him to follow him. “Not now, Lucien. Let’s go.” Thorn was every bit as large as Lucien. Many times over the years they’d beaten each other just for the fun of it. They’d both suffered bruises and cuts all over. Having been friends since childhood was unheard of by their people.
“I respect you enough I’m not going to beat the snot out of you for lying,” Lucien said as he followed Thorn into a big office.
“Yeah, I know,” Thorn grunted before sitting down, he pointed to the leather chair in front of a large dark wood desk. “I’m glad to see you, Lucien. Sorry, about not telling you my daughter, Najha, was mine and she’s a full-blood.”
“Explain her darker skin. Who’s the mother?”
“Myra Mills. As you know, she’s of the Asian descent. Next?”
As usual, the condescending bastard was so smug he’d thought he’d been forgiven too quickly. Lucien wanted him to suffer for a small period. “There’s no next, you son-of-a-bitch. Why did you keep her a secret, even from your people?” he barked out.
“Look I don’t have to answer you for my people. But I didn’t tell you because it’s not something I wanted you all to know about. Right after Najha’s birth, Myra and I decided to give the girl a chance to grow up and live as a child and young teenager. Not the lycan warrior she was born to be. You know damn well, if everyone knew I had a daughter, they would have used her to control me. I’m not about to let that happen. ”
“Well, that’s a start.” Lucien knew it took a lot for Thorn to offer that half-assed apology. He understood the why however, the lying to him still rankled. “Why me, Thorn? Why couldn’t you trust me enough to meet your daughter? You know I would have been able to tell she was my mate. Maybe we would have been able to come up with a solution.”
Thorn slammed his hand on his desk. “Damn it! Lucien, I’ve racked my fucking brain for answers, and I don’t fucking know. We need to go over the journals, scrolls, and whatever else we can find that first started this law. I believe it was a war that was going on among the different species. My dad is the only one left that can help us with this. Najha is miserable, and the darkness is stalking her. How have you maintained your darkness without her?”
“I have had her with me. I think by accident, we joined souls in Bainbridge. She’s always dashed away from me so quickly. She hid the fact she was a lycan, but how?” He was barely holding it together. Lucien felt furious but at who he wasn’t sure. Maybe at Thorn or himself. He was forcing the leader of the lycan into a corner, and he couldn’t stop the speeding train from colliding. Their tempers were roaring, and neither wanted to admit they were wrong. So instead, he held his body tightly controlled not letting it unwind until he figured out what the hell he was going to do with a lycan female as a mate. Suddenly, he realized what Thorn had said before he spoke. “Did you say, warrior?”
“Yes, she is a warrior for our people and a damn good one at that.” Thorn leaned back in his chair with his arms folded over his wide chest.
Lucien didn’t know what to think about this fact. He would need a little time to grapple with this news, so he changed the subject. “What did you want to meet about, Thorn? It wasn’t your daughter.” He went straight to the point.
“Guns, we need to shut down the SS&R gun trade.” Thorn just went for the jugular and straight to the point as well. “They’re running more guns out, and my people are concerned.”
“We need to gather the men. I want to tell everyone what’s going on around here.” Lucien nodded.
Thorn and Lucien walked back into the clubhouse where the other men were.
Thorn whistled loudly. “I need all the men of both clubs in Church, five minutes.”
Vlad and Kaden gazed at Lucien.
He nodded, and his men obeyed.
The stomping of booted feet was loud as the men all traversed to the large conference room in the lycan clubhouse.
Before Lucien turned to go in, he spotted Najha standing alone beside the back door. He hoped she would be out here when their meeting was over so he would have a chance to talk to her.
She nodded once then turned and walked outside.
After they all joined in the larger room, it suddenly appeared way too small for the larger men to be gathered in. Along the walls stood all his men, seated around the table were the larger muscled lycan men who were even bigger and wider than the smaller but just as tough vampires. Lucien had always respected the man sitting across from him, Thorn. But after finding out he’d hidden a daughter away right under their noses for over twenty years, he had to wonder about what other lies the man had been keeping.
Before the meeting was called to order, Lucien asked Thorn a question, “Thorn, everyone in this room has a right to know what you’ve kept hidden from most of us.”
“You’re absolutely right. I kept my daughter…”
The entire room erupted in chatter.
“Quiet!” Thorn slammed his hand down on the thick oak wood table.
The men in the room instantly turned to silence. The men were ashamed of their reaction. Something they didn’t do ever.
Lucien had been surprised as well. He glared at his men who in turn lowered their heads, submitting to his leadership. “I’m ashamed of all of you. Thorn, please explain.”