CHAPTER ONE
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SILAS KNIGHT, ALPHA for the North American Wolf Nation, jerked awake and sat ramrod straight in bed. Inside his head a jumbled mass of screams, and yells for help cleared his mind of the last remnants of sleep. “Who is this? Where are you?” he asked mind-speaking as he jumped out of bed and moved quickly into the living room to avoid disturbing his sleeping mate.
Garbled sounds continued, like an out of tune old radio. Based on the various tones he assumed more than one person called out to him, but he couldn’t lock onto any of them.
“This is your Alpha, La Patron, talk to me so I can lock onto you and help.” Mentally he searched through a sea of connections of those who over decades pledged loyalty to him, but there were too many. Millions in fact. He needed a specific voice or a metaphorical hand to grab the right person. “Goddess help me to see, to find them,” he prayed sensing time was short. The noise continued. An occasional understandable, word offered Silas hope. He would lunge for that utterance and attempt to track the wolf but the connection always fizzled.
“Damn it,” he muttered as he ran his fingers through his shoulder length hair. “Angus?” he called to his brother and second in command after Jasmine, his mate.
“What’s wrong, Silas?”
“I’m getting a SOS from someone but can’t lock onto them. What did you do when you had that problem with that KnightForce trainee?”
“Searched the list of trainees, got the name of who was missing and caught his scent. You were there. Something tells me this is different. Do you need me to do anything?”
Silas would never get back to sleep without solving this riddle. “Meet me in my office.”
“Be there in a bit.” Angus disconnected.
Silas released a long, sigh as the noise abated in his head. Sorrow leached from him as he realized that likely meant he had lost those wolves. He pulled on a pair of jogging pants, tee shirt and slippers before heading toward his office.
This area was closer to his office but lacked the warmth of the residential wing where Jasmine and Renée ’s artistic talents had free reign. Dim lighting dotted the shiny concrete floors. The quiet in the hall, and beige naked walls suited his mood. Morning would be soon enough for the hustle and bustle of the Compound.
Once he entered his office, the noise in his head altogether stopped. His chest squeezed tight, causing him to reach for the wall in support for several minutes before making his way to his inner sanctum. Pack members just died. Their death left a hole in his heart and anguish in his soul.
Where were they? Who were they? He sat slumped in his office chair and stared at the wall.
Angus stepped into his office, dressed similarly and dipped his dark head. “Something happened. Since we talked. What?”
“They’re dead,” Silas met his brother’s shocked and then saddened gaze.
After a few moments of silence, Angus sat in the chair in next to Silas. “Tell me what happened.”
Silas gathered his thoughts. “They woke me up. I was sleep and I heard screams, yells, and cries for help. I got out of bed, and tried to find them but couldn’t locate any of them.” He met Angus’ gaze. “How could I not find a pack member? I should’ve been able to do that and help. That’s why they called to me, for help.”
It hurt to think, to talk. He couldn’t recall a time in decades when he had failed the pack so miserably.
“Silas what’s wrong?” Jasmine asked in a drowsy voice.
“We lost pack members,” he said.
It took a few seconds for her to respond, but her voice sounded clearer. “When you say lost, do you mean they can’t find their way? Or...”
“Dead. They called out to me for help but I couldn’t find them.”
“Silas.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I need to find them, bring their bodies home.”
“You know where they are now?” she asked logically.
“No,” he snapped. “I just... I need to find them and find out why I couldn’t answer when they called. I should’ve been able to do that, Jasmine. But I couldn’t locate them.”
“Let’s walk through it,” she offered.
“Angus is here, we’re going to see what we can find. I didn’t mean to wake you,” he apologized.
“Your pain woke me.” Jasmine walked through the door dressed in a pair of jogging pants and his long black tee shirt. She’d once told him she preferred sleeping in his shirts because they were long enough to cover her private areas and smelled like him. Whenever he was late to bed, she’d be dressed in one which he promptly removed. Flesh to flesh was the only way to sleep.
“Hi Jasmine,” Angus said standing to kiss her on the cheek. “Sit here next to him, I’ll sit at the desk.” Angus actions followed his words, and soon they were all seated.
Silas took Jasmine’s hand and covered it with his other hand, holding her captive. She leaned forward, brushed her lips against his. “We’ll fix this.”
He nodded, appreciative of her not absolving him of any blame. She knew him well enough to know he blamed himself.
“Step by step,” she said in a no-nonsense tone she’d used over the years when giving their four pups instructions in the nursery. “You were asleep, so this contact had to be a strong connection to wake you. Who can do that?”
Silas glanced at Angus, who nodded while looking at Jasmine with a glimmer of pride in his eyes. “In theory, any pack member who has pledged loyalty to me can reach out for help. They’ve been trained to contact their local pack Betas first and then go up the chain of command.” Now that the screams and yells stopped, he shut down his emotions to pick apart the problem. “I can’t recall the last time a citizen reached for me instead of their Alpha.” He looked at her.
“Have any Alphas contacted you?” Angus asked.
“No. Which is strange. They should’ve sensed the call just as I did,” Silas said thinking it through.
“If it was a member of their pack,” Angus said.
“Well yes. Of course.” He eyed his brother. “Are you suggesting this call was from someone not in the States? Maybe Mexico or Canada?” Silas asked. Although he was Alpha for North America he focused on the United States. It had always been that way and he wasn’t interested in changing.
“Not suggesting anything,” Angus said leaning back in the chair. “Just throwing out ideas, hoping something might stick or stand out so we can solve this riddle.”
Since that was how they normally operated, Silas nodded and looked at his mate. “This cry for help didn’t feel like strangers, which it would be if it were Canadians or Mexicans.” He closed his eyes, listened deeply for echoes of their cries. “I knew them. They knew me. At some point, I interacted with them. But something stopped our connection, stopped me from identifying and locating them so I could help.” He looked at Angus. “I don’t like that. It’s not good for an Alpha to lack the ability to find his pack-mates.”
Angus nodded. “True. Are you thinking about the collars we took from the Liege all those years ago?”
Intrigued, Silas turned to face him. “I wasn’t until you mentioned it.”
“Back then they created those bands that blocked you from controlling the wolf. It’s been almost two decades since then, what if someone’s been working on an improved version and used pack members to test it?”
“It’s a jarring thought,” Jasmine said softly.
“It’s been quiet on that front for years, hard to believe they’ve been practicing all this time and us not know about it.” He met Jasmine’s thoughtful gaze. “Your group of women thwarted hundreds of researchers, rogue wolves and enemies. How’d they get past our women to take our own, I’d like to know.”
“That only works in this country,” Jasmine reminded him. “If this happened on foreign soil, the women would miss it. Maybe that’s the key,” she added.
“Or it could be someone in KnightForce,” Angus said pulling out his phone. “Or one of our Knights. Cain or Abel would know. I’m sending out a roll call for all KnightForce members to check in with the office within two hours. We’ll know one way or another if any are missing.”
Pleased with that idea, Silas pulled Jasmine onto his lap. The closer they were, the clearer he could think. “Good idea,” he said. “I’ll have Cain do the same for the Knights. If this happened on foreign soil, that would be the Knights.”
“Both groups trained here at the Compound, you met them all which would make a more intimate connection,” Jasmine said snuggling against his chest.
Silas nodded. “Which means I should’ve found and been able to help them. The connection should’ve been stronger.” He looked at Jasmine and then Angus and explained the noise, the occasional words and his efforts to find them.
“I can’t think of anything else you could’ve done,” Angus said, earning a pleased smile from Jasmine. Since she could only mind-link with Silas and Asia, he knew she hadn’t prompted his brother’s comment.
“Have you contacted Cain or Abel?” Jasmine asked before Silas could reply to Angus.
“No. I’ll take care of it now.”
“Cain?”
“Silas? Sir?” Cain added. These twins were older than Silas and were in this country before the Goddess sent him to organize full-bloods into a pack. He wasn’t sure of their ages, and they never offered that information. They were excellent trainers and took over the bulk of the Knights and KnightForce instruction.
Silas told Cain what happened and then ordered a check-in of every Knight.”
“That’s disturbing on multiple levels. I’ll send the order now for immediate check ins.”
“Good, let me know if anyone doesn’t get in touch,” Silas said feeling better for being pro-active.
“Yes, Sir, will do.”
Angus stood, stretched and headed toward the door. “I’m going to my office to set up a relay for when KnightForce checks in. I’ll have the information sent to my system and here to you, is that good?”
Unable to fault the plan, Silas nodded. “Thanks, I’ll breathe a lot easier once I know who we lost.”
Angus nodded, winked at Jasmine and left.
“It’s a good thing all our pups are accounted for,” Silas said.
“How do you know that?” Jasmine asked as she leaned back and stared into his face.
“Deeper connection since they’re a more intimate part of me, so are you.”
Jasmine frowned. “But I can’t mind link with any of them.” Her limited mind-linking ability had been a sore spot for her and his pups for years. Both had petitioned the Goddess for an expanded list of contacts to include their pups. So far, nothing had changed.
“Nothing would prevent you from sensing something was wrong with our litter or the twins. As their mother, you would know in here.” He tapped her chest and then her forehead with his finger-tip.
She kissed his forehead. “I wish you’d told me this before I woke up Adam to check on him and Bella, or Jackie and Quinn.”
He chuckled. “You called them? This early?”
“Yeah, I knew something was wrong because you were hurting. I just wanted to be sure those two who aren’t here were okay.”
“Jackie’s back in Texas?”
“Yeah, they’re working on the clinic. Seems to be going great, she sounds happy.” Jasmine rested against him again.
“No question. That project is tailor-made for those two. René still after them to set a wedding date?”
Jasmine released a long sigh.
He smiled.
“She really wants to plan a wedding, a big one. With Adam and Bella remaining overseas, and Jackie’s disinterest in moving faster, Renée ’s been in a pique.”
“Maybe she should wait to plan her own,” he suggested.
“I mentioned that but she’s convinced her mate is somewhere down the road and she has so many great ideas now. Blah, blah, blah.”
He chuckled. “That’s my beauty, she’ll run her mate a fine dance.”
“Yes, she will. Have you heard any more on Sarita? Asia said she left Hawke’s sister and returned to her grandparents before going back to school.”
“That’s all I’ve gotten as well. David hasn’t mentioned anything to me if that’s what you mean.”
“Oh. How’s he doing? I mean really doing? He’s so closed off and has always been the hardest to read. I can’t tell if he’s okay with Sarita being away or furious inside.”
“He reminds me of the way I was before you came into my life. Solitary, yet amicable with the right people. He’s been working with Angus in his lab, and is interested in stone-work. Angus says he has a gift and may even have the sight for spell-crafting, like Amynta, Asia’s mom.”
“I know who Amynta is, saying her name doesn’t stop me from being uncomfortable with him dabbling in those things.”
“Angus created the chameleon bracelet. It’s a powerful weapon we keep hidden. He used his knowledge of stones, spell-crafting and things you may not understand to help us. That gift is a part of my line, the Black Wolf. The craft needs to be taught and passed on to others so we never lose the knowledge. I thought Jackie would’ve been interested.” He shrugged. “David is and Angus is pleased to share what he knows with him. Hopefully one of his sons will learn as well.”
“That would be nice,” Jasmine said after a brief silence.
He brushed her hair away from her face and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Go on back to bed, I’m going to be here for a while.”
She yawned and stood. “I’ll lie here on the sofa, keep you company.”
He watched as she moved toward the extra-long, dark comfy sofa and stretch out.
“Let me know when everyone’s checked in so we can decide the next step,” she said before yawning again.
“Will do, Sweet Bitch.”