The First Alpha, page 6
Finally, reluctantly, she sent the wolf to the back of her mind and brought forth the human, instantly feeling the heat of the sun on her bare skin as her coat receded.
"What was that?" cried Cassie, her tears already beginning to flow. "What the hell just happened to us?"
Adam stared at her from his trunk, still panting from the exertion of the run and shaking from the shock of this new discovery. "My God," he whispered. "It's just as Jacob said!" His skin felt as if it was crackling with electricity; as if a bolt of lightning had passed through him, leaving him unscathed but for the bright flashes still sparking in his vision.
Cassie looked afraid. "What are you taking about? Who's Jacob?" Tears now streamed down her cheeks and she buried her head in her hands, rocking back and forth in the long grass.
"Please, don't be afraid," urged Adam, attempting to push himself to his feet. His legs barely responded to his wishes. His muscles shook, and it took a supreme effort to stumble to Cassie's side.
"Please, Cassie," he whispered, wrapping an arm across her heaving shoulders and holding her close as the tears flowed. "Please, you don't need to be afraid. Look at me."
Cassie raised her head and looked into his clear, excited eyes through a blur of tears. "I don't need to be afraid? I don't need to be afraid?! Did you really just say that?" She bunched her hands into fists and beat his muscular, naked chest as she gasped with sobs. "What the hell do you mean, don't be afraid?"
Adam felt his heart freeze in his chest as he took her by her wrists, holding back her blows. This hadn't been how he'd pictured this moment every day for the last three thousand long, lonely years. Not by a long stretch. "Cassie, why are you crying? Please, this is call for joy!"
"Joy? How could I possibly feel joy? I've just found my fated mate, and I'm already promised to another. Don't you see? I can't be with you! I have to marry Lucius!"
Adam didn't understand. This wasn't at all how Jacob had described his moment of awakening. But for the shock of the thunderbolt as they'd kissed it little resembled the moment of pure happiness his old friend had promised him. For thousands of years he'd imagined this moment as an instant bolt from the blue, an immediate tethering of two souls, inextricably linked together by fate. As he searched Cassie's tearful, bloodshot eyes he couldn't see any of that. He felt it in his own heart, but it seemed as if Cassie saw their pairing as an obstacle to overcome, rather than a dream come true.
"But Cassie," he pleaded, an edge of desperation in his voice, "this is destiny. Don't you see? Lucius doesn't matter. He can't stand in the way of a pairing. No wolf can. Not even one who calls himself an alpha. Don't you understand?"
Cassie tugged her arms from his grip, stood from the grass and paced across the clearing. "No, Adam, it's you who doesn't understand. Lucius will stand between us. He'd sooner kill the two of us than suffer the indignity of losing his bride. If I tried to leave with you it would cause a war. He'd slaughter my entire pack!"
She stood in the center of the clearing, squeezing her hands into fists and waiting for the tears to dry. "Look," she said, taking a slow, deep breath, "I understand what just happened. I know all about destiny, and I know I'm supposed to join with you, but you have to understand that it can't happen. Not like this. Not now. It just can't be with you. I --"
"Yes, Cassie. Yes, you can." Adam was on his feet in a second, standing in front of her and taking her by the waist with his hands. Despite her overwhelming fear Cassie couldn't help but feel the heat that passed between their bodies. "I've waited for you my whole life. I'll fight for you now. I'll fight for your tribe. I promise you, your people will be safe from Lucius."
Adam pulled her towards himself and Cassie found she couldn't resist. She submitted to his kiss, allowing the delicious, forbidden emotions to wash over her as his tongue parted her lips and his hands gripped her tightly. Between her legs she felt the warm, insistent throb of her arousal, and as she felt the firm warmth of his body against hers she knew there was nothing she could do to resist him. She knew she'd prefer death than a life with Lucius, knowing her mate was out there waiting for her.
What's more, for the first time since her life had been turned upside down she felt as if she had real strength behind her. Before it had been her against the world, with everyone from her mother to Megan to the Council itself pushing her towards the edge of a deep, dark chasm. Now, with Adam standing beside her, she finally felt ready to push back. Nothing could be allowed to break the bond of their souls. She'd fight for her mate.
If war came, they would face it together.
*
Rutherford was waiting for them when they returned home, still sitting in the same seat at the kitchen table, still with a glass of beef stock before him.
"Oh, Miss Cassie, Master... I'm sorry, son, I didn't catch your name. I'm so glad you're back. Master Lucius was on the phone. Help said he'll be dropping by in two hours."
Cassie and Adam exchanged a sharp, hunted look. They needed more time.
"Well, I say two hours but I think he called just after those dogs ran out the door like they were being chased by wasps. Though I think that might have been a while ago now." He dipped a finger in his glass. "My beef drink was still warm."
Adam scooped up the bacon-filled frying pan Cassie had discarded the previous day and strode to the stove with a sense of renewed purpose. "OK, we need to hide the fact that I was here. It might buy us a little time if Lucius thinks you're alone. The moment he senses me all bets are off. "He fired up the stove and dropped the pan over the flame. "Close the windows," he ordered to Cassie. "We need to mask my scent."
Almost immediately the day-old fat begin to spit and sizzle in the pan, and the air filled with thick, greasy smoke. "Cassie, how good is his nose? Do you think this will be enough to throw him off?"
She shook her head and nodded to the large crimson stain on the pine floor. "It doesn't matter. Even if he can't smell you he'll scent your blood. We can't just throw a rug over it and hope he won't notice." She scowled, cursing the sharp nose of the wolf. If Lucius had been a human they could simply run. He'd never find them.
"We'll have to take that chance. Cassie, go and find anything you can that has a strong smell. I'll get a rug."
He stalked from the kitchen through to the front of the house, and as he noticed a thick bearskin lying in from of the fire in the living room his ears pricked up. The distant sound of an engine set his nerves on edge, and he rushed to the window to scan the long gravel track leading to the house.
Cassie rushed down the stairs in her silk nightgown, spraying a spritz of sweet, citrus perfume with each step. The air filled with a sickly tang, but if it didn't dissipate too quickly it might be just enough to cover the unmistakable edge of blood in the air.
"What is it?" she cried with alarm when she saw Adam peering out the window.
Adam relaxed. "It's nothing. Thought I heard a car." He turned to Cassie with excitement in his eyes. Despite the fear he felt, the alert fear of a wolf deep inside enemy territory with danger at every turn, he couldn't contain that small part of his mind that reveled in the danger of it all. For thousands of years he'd waited for this, and now it had finally arrived he knew he'd never truly been alive before this day.
"We have a half hour head start, maybe an hour if we're lucky. We'll head north. I know people up there who'll help us."
Cassie stood frozen, feeling the same mixture of terror and excitement as her mate. "Yes, he will catch us. Don't you see? This is all his territory. Everything north all the way to the border belongs to Lucius. There's nothing for us up there."
Adam set his jaw with determination. "We run, or we stay and fight. Which will it be?"
Cassie couldn't decide. If they stayed to confront Lucius they'd most likely die. If they fled... if they tried to reach the edge of his territory, to gather allies and prepare for war, they'd likely be caught and killed before they saw another day. Run or fight? Run or fight?
The decision was made for her. Echoing from the kitchen came an anguished cry. Adam bolted from the room and ran towards the source, closely followed by Cassie.
They found Rutherford hunched on the kitchen floor, his arthritic knees drawn up towards his chin. Around him a pool of fresh blood slowly crept across the floorboards.
"Rutherford!" yelled Cassie. "What have you done?" She fell to the ground beside him, her silk nightgown stained crimson with the old man's blood. In his hand Rutherford clutched the steak knife he'd used to stir his drink, and at each wrist a deep gash pulsed with every thready, weakening heartbeat.
"Oh, Rutherford," she gasped through her tears, "Why did you do this to yourself?"
Rutherford looked up at her, his eyes unfocused and dim. "It was the only way, Miss." His voice was little more than a whisper as his final breaths counted away. "It was the only way to cover up the young Master's blood. Please, you have to get him out of here."
Robert looked down at the frail, hunched body of the old man and turned to Cassie. "He knew his blood would cover my scent?"
Rutherford smiled weakly and looked up at Adam, attempting to wink. "I'm not as daft as I look, young Master. Not quite as daft as I like to make out." His heart beat slowly now, and the pulse of blood from his torn wrists slowed to a trickle. He turned back to Cassie, reached up to tenderly touch her cheek with the last of his energy, and beckoned her to come closer.
Adam watched as he whispered his final words in her ear, and frowned as a look of confusion spread across Cassie's face, followed closely by horror. He couldn't hear the old man's words, but he could see in Cassie's reaction that they were more than just a whispered goodbye.
"No! Please, no!" she wept as Rutherford's final rattling breath escaped his body. Cassie clutched his hand in hers, holding tightly until Adam tried to pull her away.
"He's gone, Cassie. There's nothing we can do for him now."
She shrugged him off and wrapped her arms around the limp, lifeless body, lifting Rutherford into her lap, allowing her tears to fall with tiny, silent splashes into the creeping pool of crimson surrounding them. She stared into the distance, her eyes focused on something far, far away.
"Cassie, please," pleaded Adam. "We need to get out of here. Now."
Cassie looked up at him with tearful eyes, cradling the old man tightly in her arms, and finally found the strength to speak.
"He was my father, Adam," she whispered hoarsely, choking back tears. "Rutherford was my father."
*
"His mind is slipping, Willem. You must have noticed it by now." Evelyn placed her fork on her plate and dabbed at her thin lips with a white napkin. She glared across the table at her dining companion, a well built young man with close cropped red hair and a thin, fussy mustache.
Willem Darkfang frowned into his bourbon, carefully avoiding Evelyn's steely glare. Just to speak ill of his alpha could be punishable by death. He didn't want to commit to anything until he knew he could trust her. Well, as far as any sensible man could trust Evelyn Darkfang, the scheming wife of his alpha.
"We all have our bad days, Evelyn," he replied diplomatically. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Evelyn scowled at her husband's second in command, mentally formulating a suitable punishment for his blasé manner to be inflicted when the time was right. "No, Willem, he doesn't just have bad days. Don't treat me like a fool. He's been fading ever since Cassie was born; ever since he became mortal. He forgets things. He didn't recognize Lars Whitetail when he visited last week. I had to take him aside and remind him who he was." She banged a fist on the table, attracting curious glances from the other diners. "Lars sensed weakness, Willem. I smelled it on him. Even now he's probably working out how to turn it to his favor"
Willem felt distinctly uncomfortable with the conversation. Of course he'd noticed Rutherford's recent... how to put it kindly... eccentricities. He couldn't help but notice. Willem spent more time with his alpha than even Evelyn did, and he'd have to be blind to miss the evidence in front of his nose. The alpha was a mere shadow of the man he'd once been. Oh, he still had the same sense of honor and justice that had made him a popular ruler, but his mind... it came and went.
Even so, there was simply nothing he could do. In many ways the society of wolves was simpler than that of the humans. An alpha held his position for life. There was no mechanism for removing him from power, not without spilling his blood in the rite of Challenge. Willem respected - even loved - his leader far too much to even contemplate that. He had no desire to advance his standing by stepping into a pair of dead man's shoes, and it worried him deeply that Rutherford's wife seemed to be suggesting it.
"What would you have me do, Evelyn? Would you have me call your husband to Challenge for leadership of the tribe? Would you have me kill him? Even were I at all inclined to do so there would be no honor in my victory, to slaughter an old man. Even if I killed him - something I'd like to make crystal clear I would never consider - I'd be left weakened. I'd win no respect from the other tribes. You must know that."
Evelyn gave a hollow laugh. "Don't be foolish, Willem, of course I'm not asking you to kill my husband. Do you think I'm some kind of monster?" She shot him a sharp look across the table. "Don't answer that. No, there are other ways to deal with the problem that will not require bloodshed. I just need to know that you'll be ready to assume command when the time comes. The next Long Night. Do you understand?"
Willem frowned, curious as to what Evelyn had up her sleeve but almost afraid to ask. "What can you possibly do, Evelyn? How can you remove Rutherford?"
She shook her head and dropped her napkin on her plate. "It's best that you don't know, Willem. It's best that nobody knows. We need a strong leader for the trials ahead, and I'd like to make you that leader. I just need one assurance from you, Willem."
He cocked his head. "An assurance?"
"Yes," she replied, leaning in close and lowering her voice to a whisper. "I need your assurance that Cassie will never hear a word spoken about her father. Not a word. She'll be needed in the future, and I won't have her turned against me. Do I have your word of honor, Willem Darkfang?"
The young man nodded sadly, his heart already heavy with the shame of his betrayal. "You have my word," he replied. As Evelyn stood and walked out without another word he looked down once more into his bourbon and sighed. He had a feeling there would be little honor in what was about to happen.
*
The full moon lit their way to the forest, Evelyn leading the way and guiding her husband over the gnarled roots that crossed their path. "Where are we going, Evelyn? This is most improper, you know. If the Ironclaws wish to negotiate they should have the courtesy to come to my territory."
Evelyn was glad for the shade of the thick foliage overhead. Had Rutherford been able to make out her expression in the moonlight he may have wondered about the concern on her face. Not for what she knew was about to happen, but for the fact that Rutherford was having an 'on' night, lucid and aware. It would have been much easier if he'd slipped into that other world he inhabited an ever-increasing portion of the time.
"We already negotiated, remember? Lucius Ironclaw visited last week. You talked about trade agreements. You remember, don't you, darling? We've come to sign a treaty with him." She knew there was no chance her husband could recall the meeting. It hadn't happened. Lucius had visited only Evelyn, and in secret.
Rutherford brightened after a moment, covering his confusion. "Oh yes, now I remember. Interesting chap, that one. Seems to have his eye on becoming the alpha when his father passes, don't you think?"
Once again Evelyn was thankful for the darkness under the canopy. It hid the tears streaking down her face.
The forest began to give way to low, scrubby grass, and just beyond the trees a gate glinted in the moonlight. Evelyn pushed it open and guided her husband through, careful to turn her head so he wouldn't see her face. Beyond the gate a large house sat in darkness on the other side of a broad, manicured lawn. "Through you go, dear. Lucius is waiting for you."
The moment Rutherford stepped through the gate Evelyn pulled it closed behind her, snapping in place the padlock Lucius had left hanging on the frame. Rutherford turned back with surprise, a confused, questioning look in his eyes. "Evelyn?" he asked, peering through the iron latticework. "What on earth are you doing?
Evelyn broke away from his gaze, too ashamed to look him in the eye. "I'm so sorry, my love. It's better this way. Lucius will take care of you now."
As she spoke a light switched on at the back porch, and two large wolves padded slowly, carefully from the house. Evelyn watched through tearful eyes as they approached, trying and failing to ignore her husband's frantic pleas as he shook the heavy gate with all his strength. The wolves arrived and shifted into human form, each taking one of Rutherford's arms and tugging him easily from the ground. They carried him back towards the house, ignoring his cries.
"I'm so sorry," whispered Evelyn, far out of earshot of her husband. "Forgive me, Lord."
