Chapter Twenty-Three
The flight back to New York would take at least nine hours, even in the sleek private jet that Grant had chartered through one of his shell companies. Quinn had copied half of the data while they were on the ground so he could work on the encrypted files and scan them for any important data while they were on the flight. The rest he could easily access once they were in New York, thanks to the backdoor device Killian had managed to install on the High Council's main servers.
Meredith sat in the plush leather chair, trying to read her book with just her right hand. It was a little tricky, seeing as Daric had the fingers on her left hand threaded through his. He, apparently, mastered the art of flipping the pages with one hand as he was engrossed in his own book. With a sigh, she ended up putting the book on her lap. Across from her, Connor scowled. He was not happy when he saw the palm print on her face, but she quickly explained that she did it to herself. Her brother was overprotective, but this crap was getting old. When she whispered a joke to Daric about joining the mile high club, he growled, and she forgot that he had enhanced senses. So, she tried to keep the PDA to a minimum, but he couldn’t begrudge her holding hands with her boyfriend, right?
Oh God, was Daric her boyfriend? That seemed like a weird term for what they had going on.
Her inner-she wolf yipped in happiness. No, he’s our mate. Ours.
Hmm…mate didn’t sound bad. It was less trite than boyfriend and more succinct than just lover.
“I can hear the wheels in your brain turning,” Daric whispered in her ear as he leaned over to her. “Care to share what you’re thinking?”
She laughed. “I don’t think Connor wants to hear what I’m thinking right now.”
“It can’t be worse than what I’m thinking,” he teased, his breath hot on her skin.
She sighed. “How many more hours until I can get you alone?”
“About eight more hours,” he replied.
Meredith frowned. “Stupid brothers.” They hadn’t had sex since they left for New York and she was getting antsy. Obviously, since the airplane had no bedrooms, they couldn’t do it there. Their hotel room in Lausanne had paper thin walls, and as soon as they started to get hot and heavy, Quinn pounded on the wall and told them he was going to sic Connor on them if they didn’t keep it down. Needless to say, they spent a very frustrating night not getting any action.
“We could wait until everyone is asleep. I think I could probably hold you up against the wall in the lavatory,” Daric teased.
She groaned, the image of them fucking upright in the bathroom made her clit throb and sent her nipples puckering. Hmmm, maybe she could wrap her legs around his waist while he thrust into her. God, she could almost taste his skin. She shook her head. “You’re way too tall, you’d hit your head on the ceiling.”
“It would be worth it.”
“Knock it off, you two,” Killian warned. When Meredith opened her mouth to protest, he shut her down. “Don’t even think about it. Keep it in your pants for another couple of hours, okay?”
“Fine,” she grumbled, sinking back into her seat.
Daric lifted the armrest between them. “Come, min kjære,” he said, pulling her to his side. “Take a nap. You’ll feel better in a few hours.”
She settled against him, breathing in his scent, which always brought some comfort to her. Closing her eyes, she let sleep take over.
Raised voices woke her up and she jolted upright. She wasn’t resting on Daric’s chest anymore, but rather, she was laying on the reclined chair. “What’s going on?” she asked sleepily. Her brothers and Daric were all surrounding Quinn.
Killian’s face was drawn into a grave expression. “Quinn found something.”
“What is it?”
“A directive from the Council,” Killian replied. “They’re sending people to New York to take Daric and someone named Sebastian Creed.”
“Fuck!” Meredith sat up. She looked at Daric. “Shit. When?”
“Today. They should be getting there the same time we are.”
“Great, just great,” she moaned. “They might discover our little trip if they get there and Daric’s not in his cell. What are we going to do?”
“We could probably beat them back to Fenrir,” Killian said. “I’ve already called Grant from the satellite phone. He’ll delay them as long as he can. That’s not our biggest concern now, unfortunately.”
Meredith frowned. “Wait, there’s more?”
Quinn frowned. “Possibly. I didn’t download the entire database, just bits and pieces. But, there’s definitely something fishy going on in there.” He typed on the keyboard.
“What is it?” Daric asked.
“Lone Wolves are pretty much independent. We don’t have clans or Alphas, but we’re still under the Council’s authority.”
“Yeah, I know,” Meredith groaned. That was the reason she was serving her time, after all. Despite being independent, she still had to obey the Council. She hated having to register as a Lone Wolf, but she had no choice. Following rules helped keep order and prevented the humans from finding out about Lycans. After all, if the world were to find out about werewolf shifters, many of them, especially Lone Wolves like her without the protection of a clan, would end up in zoos or in labs.
“Well, I don’t know what’s going on exactly,” Quinn said as he stared at the screen. “But someone in the Council has been accessing the files of Lone Wolves over and over again in the past weeks. Not just reading, but making copies and searching through confidential files.”
“Is it a hacker?”
Her brother shook his head. “No, the Mac addresses are definitely coming from inside the Council. One machine.”
“Whose?” Killian asked.
“I can’t tell yet. I have to download that information when we get on the ground. I’ve just been doing a general search for anything in the databases with keywords related to Lone Wolves and came up with fragments of disturbing messages. Whoever did this tried to delete their tracks by trashing them, but they’re still there. Once we get on the ground and I have a better connection we can figure out who it is and it’ll make it easier for me to search.”
“Fuck,” cursed Killian. “Alright. Well, we still got a couple of hours before we land. And as soon as we do, we’re hitting the ground running. Get some rest.”
***
Killian wasn’t kidding when he said they’d hit the ground running. Alex Westbrooke was already waiting for them on the tarmac in the tiny private airstrip just outside Jersey City. They quickly filed into the van and Quinn booted up his laptop to try and download as many of the files from the Council as he could.
Alex drove like a madman, cursing when they hit the traffic at the tunnel. They were still ahead though because if the Council arrived before them, he would have gotten a call from Alynna or Nick. Once they got through the jam, Alex stepped on the gas and didn’t take his foot off until they were in the garage at Fenrir. He barely cut the engine when they filed out of the van and took the elevator straight up to the executive floor.
“They’re almost here,” Grant said as they entered his office. Alynna, Jade, and Sebastian were already there.
“Any luck?” Killian asked Quinn, who had quickly sat down on the couch, his eyes never leaving the screen of his laptop.
“Almost there.”
“Can’t you tell the Council not to come here?” Alynna asked her brother. “You’re the Alpha! Rescind their invitation.”
“I’m sorry, Alynna,” Grant said. “It doesn’t work that way.”
“They can fuckin’ try to take me,” Sebastian gritted. “Just fuckin’ try, and I’ll burn them to ashes.”
There was a loud commotion outside, and Meredith knew what it was. The Council had arrived.
The door opened and Jared had barely announced them when Lljuffa Suitdottir and Rodrigo Baeles entered, followed by six burly Lycan men. They were the enforcers of the High Council, a group of highly-trained, elite fighters who protected the Council and, in cases like this, did their dirty work.
“You know why we’re here,” Rodrigo said, his usually friendly demeanor gone. “Hand them over, Alpha.”
Lljuffa had her eyes trained directly at Grant. “Alpha, please cooperate.”
“You can’t!” Jade said, clutching at Sebastian’s arm, her eyes glowing an eerie green. “You can’t take him!”
Rodrigo nodded to one of the men, who approached Sebastian. He pointed a weapon at him, and when Jade tried to put herself in front of her mate, Sebastian’s eyes changed to their burning gold color, indicating that The Beast was ready to rip out of his skin.
“Stand down!” Grant ordered.
“Take him!” Rodrigo hissed.
“Lljuffa, Rodrigo,” Grant said in a warning voice. “Do you have the resources to keep Sebastian from shifting? Can you stop him from shifting and tearing this whole building apart? I keep telling you; you have no jurisdiction over him. He’s not pledged to you or to me. But, if you insist on taking him, you can bet I will fight you with everything I have, not to mention his own resources. You don’t want this type of war on your hands.”
Lljuffa’s icy eyes hardened, but she gave a short nod. Sebastian’s eyes returned to normal, his body relaxing as Jade collapsed against him in relief.
Rodrigo’s face fell. “Fine, but the warlock is coming with us. He must pay for his crimes against the Lycans and suffer for his collaboration with our enemy.”
“No!” Meredith protested. “Alpha,” she looked over at Grant, pleading to him, “don’t let them take him. You know he’s not a bad person!”
“He’s our prisoner,” Grant said.
“A prisoner?” Lljuffa asked in a mocking tone. “Then why isn’t he in a cell?”
Grant’s jaw tightened. “He is pledged to me—”
“Stop it, Grant!” Lljuffa cut him off. “You know that’s a flimsy excuse. His pledge means nothing. He is not a Lycan. The warlock or Creed, it’s your choice.”
“Neither,” Grant said, standing up. “If it’s a war you want, it’s a war you’ll get, Lljuffa.”
There was an audible gasp in the room, and the air went heavy until it was so thick it was like breathing molasses. Meredith was choking, her inner she-wolf begging to be let out. Everyone around her was already on the verge of shifting.
“Stop,” Daric said. “There is no need for violence.” He stepped forward, and Meredith grabbed onto his arm. “No, min kjære,” he whispered. She looked up at his blue-green eyes and his handsome face. He seemed to be silently pleading with her to trust him. With a slight nod, she let go of his arm, her heart thumping against her chest. She hoped what she had read was right.
“I will come with you peacefully,” Daric said, stretching his arms out. “But only if you take me personally. I will not go with your goons.”
Lljuffa and Rodrigo looked at each other.
“Fine,” Lljuffa relented. “Come with us, warlock.”
The two Lycans reached out to him, but he grabbed them first. His fingers wrapped around each of their arms, his body stiffening as the visions flooded his mind. They didn’t make sense. It was like two competing channels on a television screen. Letting go of one arm, he hoped he had picked the right person. The visions cleared again. A rooftop on a moonlit night. A man in the hat in front of him. Hands pushing him over the ledge and a desperate scream. The sound of flesh and bone hitting the pavement.
When he released the hand, he looked up slowly, tracing the path upwards to the face of the person who killed Archie Leacham. “You. You did it.”
Rodrigo’s eyes flashed with panic for a moment, but the Lycan composed himself. “Are you coming with us now, warlock? Or,” he looked over at Meredith. “Will there be violence?”
“I’m not going anywhere, cur,” Daric said in a menacing tone. “You killed Archie Leacham. Why?”
“Who?” Rodrigo asked smoothly without missing a beat. “I don’t know what you’re talking—Fuck!”
Meredith didn’t know what came over her, but all she could think and see was red. She pounced at Rodrigo, somehow grabbing a letter opener on Grant’s desk as she leaped over it on her way to the other Lycan. Bringing the slim metal tool to his neck, she twisted around so she was behind him and her other arm was around his waist. “You slimy son of bitch!” she shouted. “You killed Archie! You killed our dad!”
As the Lycan enforcers advanced towards Meredith and Rodrigo with their weapons raised, Killian and Connor hunched in on themselves, and their wolves burst from their bodies. Killian’s animal was pitch dark, like his hair, with eerie turquoise-colored eyes. Connor’s, on the other hand, was light gray, but a monster and feral-looking. The animal had to have been over eight feet tall on its hind legs, and his face bore the same scar as his human form. Large teeth were bared, growling at the enforcers, who were all now on the verge of shifting as well.
“Stop!” Lljuffa ordered. “No more shifting! I forbid it!”
The enforcers looked confused and backed away from Meredith and Rodrigo.
“Stand down, Killian, Connor!” Grant barked. The two wolves slunk back but remained in their Lycan forms.
“Get this crazy bitch off me,” Rodrigo moaned as Meredith pressed the tip of the letter opener deeper into his skin.
“Tell us why you killed him!” she hissed.
“You all are insane! I didn’t kill anyone!”
“I saw it, in my vision,” Daric said. “You can’t deny it.”
Rodrigo looked around, “What are you waiting for? You all would take the word of a warlock and his stupid whore Lone Wolf over mine! He’s lying! He didn’t see anything! Why would I kill anyone’s father?”
“Because he knew what you were doing,” Quinn answered from where he was sitting, his voice edgy, but eerily cold. “It was you. All these years. You orchestrated everything.”
“I don’t—”
“Shut up!” Meredith pushed the knife harder, breaking the skin, so a drop of blood formed at the tip.
“You knew Archie. You were his contact in the Council. He came to you for help and told you what he’d discovered.” Quinn stood up, taking his computer with him. He went to Lljuffa, showing her the screen. “You tried to erase his messages from your phone, but I found them. And you’ve also been accessing the files of the registered Lone Wolves around the world.”
Lljuffa’s face went pale, then her eyes grew hard as diamonds as she read from Quinn’s screen. “Rodrigo…this…why?”
“Yeah, tell us,” Meredith snarled. “Did you kill my biological dad? To wipe out our clans?”
“I…” He relaxed against her. “Stefan threatened me. He made me do it! Please!” he begged.
“You’ve been planning this for over twenty years,” Quinn said. “I found your private files, traced where you copied them from the main Council server to your laptop. You have files of over thirty Lone Wolves going back for the last two decades. All of them abandoned after their families and clans were wiped away, or other clans refused them. You bribed Meredith’s Alpha so she’d be sent away, didn’t you? I bet I could find the payment for that.”
Meredith’s blood froze, and her heart beat against her ribs. “No…”
“Shut up!” Rodrigo screamed. Feeling that Meredith’s grip loosened, he wrenched away from her, grabbing the knife from her hand and turning it on her.
“No!” Daric yelled.
“Uh-huh, warlock,” Rodrigo warned. “Don’t even think about it. My lovely Lone Wolf, why couldn’t you have just let things be?” His eyes were wild, looking at everyone in the room. Lljuffa stood there in shock, while Grant remained very still. Everyone in the room remained rooted to their spot. “Archie came to me with what he had found out. That old fool. All this time he suspected something was going on and he was right. Too bad he came to me about it, thinking I was going to help him. I had to kill him of course, and made it look like a suicide. Thanks to Stefan, covering up my tracks was easy.”
“Why?” Grant asked. “Why were you trying to make more Lone Wolves?”
“The Lone Wolves were going to make the perfect soldiers,” Rodrigo explained. “With no clan or no Alpha ties, they would have been receptive to Stefan’s mind control spell.”
“Rodrigo!” Lljuffa gasped. “All this time…”
“What, you think I worked, clawed, and killed my way to becoming a High Council member for the fun of it?” He laughed. “Yes, I’ve been working with Stefan all this time.”
“To wipe out our kind?” Grant said. “You would do that?”
“Stefan’s not going to destroy all the Lycans,” Rodrigo said. “Just the ones who would refuse to bow to him once he conquers this world.”
“And I suppose you were going to be his right-hand man?”
“Of course! He promised me,” Rodrigo replied. “I would be Alpha and leader of all the remaining Lycans.”
Daric let out a laugh. “And you believed him? Stefan is not one to share power. He would have killed you, too.”
“You’ll never find out now, will you?” He looked at Meredith and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’m going to leave here now. If any one of you tries to stop me, I’ll slit her throat.” He gave her a lascivious look. “Maybe I’ll keep her for a bit. She looks like she’ll be fun in the sack.”
“I will strip every last bit of skin from your body before I let you touch her,” Daric threatened.
“Oh yeah? I don’t see how—Fuck!” Rodrigo let out a pained howl as a large, gray blur leaped from behind him. He screamed in agony as a massive paw swiped at his back. Jade had shifted into her wolf form and knocked him down. Rodrigo rolled away, and the gray wolf landed on all fours, fangs bared.
Meredith sprang into action, giving her best friend silent thanks as she dove towards Rodrigo, making him shriek in pain as she landed on top of him. “Murderer!” she screamed as a fist landed on his face. Her hands curled around his neck, fingers squeezing tight, all the while it seemed like the oxygen was being sucked out of her own lungs. She couldn’t breathe, and pain gripped her body. Her vision blurred around her, except for Rodrigo’s face as it turned blue. The she-wolf was demanding to be let out, to rip Archie’s murderer to shreds. She sent it a warning growl. No, she would have to do this. She wasn’t going to let the she-wolf take over the responsibility and pain and get the blood on her paws. Not this time.
“Meredith. Meredith!” Daric’s voice somehow broke through to her. “Stop. Don’t kill him.”
Her fingers loosened, and Rodrigo began gasping, but he was too weak to fight her off. There was something sticky on her knees, and she realized he was bleeding out fast.
“Don’t do it, Meredith,” Daric said softly as he knelt beside her.
“Why not?” Her fingers tightened again. “He killed Archie. He destroyed my life. All our lives.”
“And he will pay for his crimes. But Archie would not have wanted you tainted with blood and guilt.”
Tears began to flow down her cheeks, and Meredith looked back down at Rodrigo. No, she had to kill him. Make him pay.
“Please, Meredith,” Daric said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Killing him won’t bring your father back.”
She let out an agonizing sob and fell to the side. Daric caught her and embraced her, drawing her into his arms. The dam of her emotions broke and rushed out—rage, pain, regret, relief—and she continued to weep and rail at him, beating her fists on his chest.
“Let go of me!” Meredith struggled when Daric picked her up.
He ignored her and held her tighter. “I’ll take care of her,” Daric said to no one in particular as they left the office, and Meredith’s protests grew louder.