“Ah, yes. Well, the Whites are notorious human-haters. He probably wanted you away from Brick. But don’t take it personally. He’s Brick’s second-perhaps not the biggest or strongest in the Blackthroat pack but certainly the most vicious. His urge and duty is to defend his alpha and the pack at all costs.”
“It’s hard not to take it personally,” I mutter as Ariadne appears with bowls of Greek yogurt topped with juicy raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
“I know. When I mated Brick’s father, it should have heralded an end to the rivalry. It was a golden opportunity for joining the two powerful packs into one. But our seeress saw only doom.”
“Seeress?”
“Oma. She’s not really anyone’s grandmother, though. She’s a virgin, which is necessary to hold her power. During the years of witch hunting and trials, the Adalwulfs saw an opportunity. They offered their protection to a witch coven in exchange for access to their powers. One of theirs was brought into our pack and bred with our kind. The Seeress’ power is interwoven with the alpha’s. Her sight guides his power, but she also draws power from him. Oma has been alive an unnaturally long time. She would have died long ago if she were not sucking the life and sanity from my brother, Odin. I suspect both will die soon.”
A shiver runs across my shoulder blades and down the outside of my arms to my pinky fingers. There’s something creepy and wrong about what Catherine just described.
“You must understand, my brother and nephew will stop at nothing to destroy the Blackthroat pack. They are absolutely brutal. Odin is insane-poisoned by the Seeress. And Aiden is worse.”
“The Blackthroats don’t have a seeress?”
“No. With Brick as alpha, they are far more modern as a pack.”
We finish our breakfast and thank Ariadne when she comes to clear the table.
“Let’s take a walk on the beach,” I suggest. Catherine accepts with a gracious nod and leads the way down the stone path to the sand. I study her movements as if I’ll be quizzed later. Not to be weird, but I’d love to have half her elegance and poise.
If Brick and I do marry, she’ll be my mother-in-law. Would we live in the Berkshires?
I can’t think about that now.
A wet breeze blows off the sea. Catherine looks down the endless beach, her expression clear. Her skin is flawless, her makeup perfect, her shoes and jewelry understated in a way that tells me they’re eye-poppingly expensive. She looks fit to grace the cover of a magazine. She always does. And yet, my overall impression of her is that she’s profoundly sad.
“My family used me as a weapon to destroy my own mate. The only reason I didn’t let myself die of grief was because Scarlett was still young. I couldn’t let her lose both her parents.”
I reach out and squeeze Catherine’s hand.
It feels intrusive to ask, but I need to know everything. I need to know how the Adalwulfs work and think. “How did…how did it happen?”
“It was his birthday. I bought him cigars from Cuba, and I came over on my visiting day. After we were intimate, he smoked one of the cigars.” Her voice wobbles. “It was laced with silver powder.”
“Silver kills shifters.” I remember the employee handbook forbidding silver cutlery.
“Yes. You know why they worked so hard to frame me as the poisoner? Murderer? Because they knew Brick wouldn’t take revenge against his own mother.” Her eyes crinkle, fathomless with unimaginable pain. “He hates me for what he thinks I’ve done, but he couldn’t destroy me.”
“If it had been an outsider, Brick would’ve rallied his entire pack and wiped mine off the face of the earth. Even at eighteen, he could’ve done it. He’s ten times the leader his father was.”
I suck in a breath.
“Have you told him that?”
“They wanted to sow turmoil, and that’s exactly what they did.”
“That’s diabolical.”
“It is. I know you’re new to our world, but you’ll learn how ruthless the Adalwulfs are. Odin is dying, but he’s a megalomaniac hell bent on destroying our pack. And Aiden is worse.”
“You hate them,” I realize, hearing the rancor in her voice. “Even though they are your family.”
“Odin killed my mate. I will never forgive him or Oma. When it comes down to it, I don’t belong with the Adalwulfs.”
“And Brick won’t let you join the Blackthroats,” I murmur, comprehending the enormity of the situation.
“My family would kill me before they let me defect. That’s what they told Bruce when we realized we were mates.”
Chills sweep down my arms again.
“What else am I to tell you? Do you know about wolves in the wild?” When I shake my head, she says, “They’re led by an alpha pair. A male and a female, the main breeding pair. For years, biologists thought the male alpha led the pack. It wasn’t until a volunteer reviewed data, that they realized the female alpha made the decisions, and the male fell in behind her. Most of the time, when the pack is moving, the alpha female is out front. She chooses where the pack goes and where to make her den.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Neither did the biologists until a volunteer correctly reported what she observed. She saw what the biologists overlooked because they were men who imposed their own world view on the facts, and she was a thirteen-year old girl.”
I chuckle.
“I thought you’d like that story.” Catherine heads closer to the surf and stops to shade her eyes and look out to sea. I do the same.
“Wolf shifters aren’t that different,” Catherine says. “The men think they lead, but they’re nothing without a mate. They are meant to be part of an alpha pair.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
She turns to face me. “You are an alpha, just like my son. Equal to him, in fact.”
My throat is tight, so I swallow a few times. “He told me I’m weak.”
“Strength isn’t always about muscles and speed. Fangs and claws. You are his mate, Madi. That means you are destined to lead the pack. At his side. As Brick’s equal.”
I pause because in the distance, there’s the sound of a helicopter. I turn east, shading my eyes against the bright morning sun. A dark shape appears, flying low over the sea. A helicopter.
My heart leaps. Is it Brick on his way back?
Another black helicopter appears beside the first. Then another. And three more behind them.
Are all Brick’s top wolves coming back with him? In their own helicopters?
Catherine sucks in a breath, her cheeks gone pale.
Something’s wrong.
A few hundred feet away on the beach, the guard on patrol is shouting into his walkie-talkie before holstering it with a curse. “Signal’s down. They’re blocking it.” He whirls and runs towards us, gripping his automatic weapon in both hands. “Get off the beach! We’re under attack!”
More black helicopters appear, blotting out the sun. There’s a dozen of them in a precise triangle formation, like they’re part of a military exercise.
Catherine grabs my arm. “Run!”
I dash along beside her, tripping in the sand. Only Catherine’s death grip on my biceps keeps me from face planting. We hurtle back towards the main buildings, the guard covering our backs.
“What’s happening?” I pant.
“Adalwulfs.” Her voice is grim.
I glance back. The helicopters are almost to the beach. “Wh-“
“No time. We need to get inside.” She pulls me along. We race up the dune.
We’re almost to the patio when there’s a rat-tat-tat sound. I duck automatically, racing to hunker down behind the patio table. Beyond the dune, the guard is making a stand, aiming his Ak-47 at the helicopters.
There’s a whistling sound and the beach explodes. Sand flies into the air. A buzzing sound fills my ears, and the stench of smoke and mortar stings my eyes and nose.
The sand rains back down. There’s no sign of the guard with the gun.
“This way!” Ariadne is there, her eyes glowing amber. “There’s a safe room!”
Catherine hauls me up and pushes me across the pavers to the door. “Quickly.” She’s breathless, or maybe that’s the ringing in my ears.
The sound of gunfire and the blast of heavy artillery shakes the house. Will they fire on us?
My whole body is shaking. I race with her through the sitting rooms, dodging around the beautiful furniture. I bump into a pedestal holding a blue and white vase, and the whole thing crashes to the floor. Glass shatters. Catherine and Ariadne don’t pause. “This way.” Ariadne leads us through a kitchen, into the pantry, where she moves a one pound can of Manzano tomatoes and opens a hidden panel to reveal a keypad. “Stand back.” We do, and the whole shelf swings out. Behind it is another keypad and a steel door. She presses in the code. The door opens with a hissing sound. There’s a narrow room with a bed. No windows. Just looking at it makes me claustrophobic.
Ariadne makes an urgent motion for me to enter with her.
“Get inside,” Catherine orders when I hesitate. “You’ll be safe.”
“What about you?”
She shakes her head. “They’re not here for me.”
I stand my ground. “Tell me what’s happening.”
Catherine’s pupils are constricted to tiny dots. As strong as she was on the beach, she looks frail, like a hearty wind could blow her away. “I didn’t know. I swear it on my mate’s grave.”
“I’m not blaming you.” I grip her shoulders. “I know you didn’t betray us. But I need to know what’s going on.”
“It’s stupid. This has Odin’s pawprints all over it. He’s gone mad. Those helicopters have the mark of his personal guard. This is his last stand, and if I know him, he won’t hold back. He’ll throw every wolf he has at our defenses until they break.”
Another blast shakes the house. Cans rattle on their shelves, and Catherine shudders as if she’s been hit.
“Get in the safe room!” Ariadne yells. “I am shutting the door!”
“Please.” Catherine adds. “You must be safe. My son will never forgive me if you’re not.”
I let her push me into the room, and I wrap my arms around myself as Ariadne locks the door. The dim lights switch on as soon as the door shuts and locks.
“Madi,” Catherine calls. The sound is muffled, but I hear her.
“Yes? I’m here.” I lean against the steel door.
“Whatever you do, whatever you hear, you must stay in there.”
I open my mouth, but another explosion swallows my okay.
Am I really safe in here? What if they bomb the house?
What the fuck is Odin thinking? This will create an international incident. Or maybe not because the island is private and remote enough.
I had no idea the Adalwulfs would be so reckless and risk so much. When it comes to pack warfare, I’m in over my head. It’s clear Brick and his top wolf weren’t overreacting when they said their enemies were ruthless.
That poor guard. And what about the rest of them?
The safe room is tiny and horrible. I pace back and forth, it takes five steps to go from one side of the bed to the other. Ariadne huddles on the bed, chanting something that sounds like a prayer under her breath.
The seconds tick down, dread building like poison in my system. Have the Adalwulfs landed? With as many of them as there are, they could take the beach.
Through the thick door, there are shouts.
I press myself against the door, trying to hear more. Gunshots make me cringe, but I stay where I am.
Rough bootsteps march by. A man’s voice barks, “Where is she?”
I can’t hear Catherine’s soft answer. More angry interrogation and a harsh slapping sound and a soft cry.
“No,” I shout and pound on the door. “Don’t hurt her!”
“Quiet,” Ariadne hisses.
The sounds of violence and distress continue. I look around for a weapon or a way to call for help. My hands shake with adrenaline, so I make myself slow down and check a cabinet, but there’s only jugs of water and energy bars, first aid kits and gas masks. Nothing I can use to help.
I find myself standing in front of the door, whispering, stop it.
What am I doing? She told me not to leave, but I can’t just stand here and listen to them kill her.
Strength isn’t always about muscles and speed. Fangs and claws. You are his mate, Madi. That means you are destined to lead the pack at his side. As Brick’s equal.
A leader wouldn’t cringe in a safe room and leave a sixty-year-old woman to face the enemy.
A keypad is by the door. I glance at Ariadne. I have a feeling she wouldn’t open this door if I asked. What’s the code? I hit a big green button, hoping it’ll override things.
“Don’t!” Ariadne shouts.
A pause and then the sound of hydraulic pressure releasing. The door swings open.
Catherine’s crumpled on the tiled floor. A huge man in black body armor stands over her, a machete upraised to strike.
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