Rogue Alpha (Jacky Leon Book 7), page 27
“Well… damn,” he mumbled, then left the barn.
33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I followed Fenris out, and we headed to the house at a jog, trying to stay half-crouched as we moved. We reached the edge of the house, listening to the music and chatter inside. Too many people were talking over each other to catch more than fragments of the conversations, but it didn’t matter. Fenris pulled out his knife, flipping it in his hands a few times before nodding to me and stalking around the house. I drew my sidearm and followed him in the shadows, the moon bright overhead.
When we reached another door, Fenris stood straight, grinned at me, and kicked it open, sending it flying off the hinges into the house. Someone screamed as I heard the door slam into something or someone. Fenris ran in, and I was two steps behind him. As he ran for the first person he saw, I lifted my gun and fired at another, dropping the woman standing next to Fenris’ target. The woman Fenris had attacked was bleeding on the tile floor, her eyes empty and glassy.
Good job. Now, on to the rest.
“We’re here to put an end to this,” I roared from our place at the back door. I took another step, noting we were in the kitchen. I looked over the walls, not seeing keys hanging anywhere. Fenris growled as he looked around the kitchen, ripping open drawers.
Hairs stood up on my skin.
“Sure you are,” someone said softly.
I took another two steps and looked through the doorway into an open room with a dining table. Around it stood nearly a dozen people, and that was just what I could see. Tywin was there, but Shamus wasn’t, though I could only see half the room. I didn’t know which one of the silent people had just spoken, but I had a feeling there was a reason they weren’t reacting to me.
“Look at you, pretty cat,” an elderly woman said, the same woman who had spoken just a moment before. She was sitting at the head of the table. “Those big gold eyes and ferocious courage. You must be the little daughter of Hasan… Jacqueline,” the witch said softly, and something rolled over me, but I couldn’t smell anything in the air except the people, food, and blood. There was no magic in the air, but I felt something, and I didn’t like it.
I tried to pull the trigger, kill this elder that had to be Grandmama, but my finger wouldn’t move.
“While you might be the daughter of a Tribunal member, you are an unwelcome guest in my house. I do not take kindly to unwelcome guests,” the elderly woman said, slowly standing. A younger woman brought her a cane, and the old woman walked toward me. Fenris snarled as the woman stopped in front of me. “Quiet, Fenris. I will handle you next. For your intrusion, you shall join us. As of tonight, you will both be as the moon cursed should have always been—the beasts of war by which we shall conquer this world.”
She lifted a hand and nearly touched my cheek. I was shaking as I tried to move, but Fenris’ laugh echoed in the kitchen, and it stopped the witch from touching me. She turned to him, the confusion she felt matching my own. I was almost always confused when Fenris laughed, so I could relate to the witch holding me prisoner in my body.
“That’s not my real name,” the werewolf said, sounding superior. His accent changed, becoming smoother, a little more refined, sounding strangely familiar. The old woman’s eyes went wide, and three younger members of the crowd rushed for their matriarch’s side to help her back into the dining room. I heard him walking, and he stopped behind me, leaning over my shoulder. The old woman had already backed into the dining room. “You can’t get us all.” He waved his hands around me. “And this one is already taken.”
Fenris wrapped an arm around my waist, easily lifted me, and threw me out of the house. By the time I landed in the grass outside, I could move again, testing my hands as relief filled me. A growl vibrated my chest, but it wasn’t my own. It was coming from inside. A scream filled the night air, and the windows of the home shattered, raining glass on me.
I ran back for the house, leaving my gun, and unsheathed the knife I had strapped to my thigh. As I entered the back door, someone screamed in a language I didn’t understand. I ducked as something flew at me and went into the wall behind me. I launched myself into the witch and shoved the silver knife into her chest. Flesh, muscle, and bone parted easily, and she was dead before we hit the floor. Yanking the knife out, I ran for the dining room to see Shamus thrown into the table by Fenris, partially Changed. Fur was growing on his face, and his teeth were more wolf than human. I didn’t know of any other werewolf who could do it as well as he could. I didn’t know how or why he could, and I didn’t feel like asking. I jumped around Shamus as he tried to get up, his body shaking.
“Don’t kill him,” I ordered Fenris, knowing Shamus was probably fighting because Tywin ordered him to. “The pain could give him the ability to fight back against the control. It worked for Ranger.”
“Just needed to get him out of the fight,” Fenris growled in return. “Don’t move from that spot, boy. We don’t want to kill you.” Then the wolf started following me. “They ran out the front. Tywin had Shamus jump on me as I tried to get in there to kill them.”
I shoved through the front door to see the witches now in a circle outside the house. They chanted together, Tywin in the middle. From across the yard, I saw him turn to me, and on the wind, I smelled fear. His.
“Are they…” I ran faster, only for something to knock me off my feet. Teeth ripped into my shoulder as something grabbed my left leg and yanked it. I swung my knife wildly, cutting something, a yelp all I got as the werewolf released my shoulder. I stabbed down into the wolf on my leg, snarling as it died. Fenris jumped over me and took a werewolf into the dirt, wrestling it down.
“Stop—” Fenris screamed, but the wolf’s returning whine of pain was louder. “Stop them!”
I nodded and ran for the witches again, limping on the bleeding leg. I dodged a werewolf flying for me, wondering where the hell they had come from. There was no way someone from the pack had gotten here so quickly. It took me a second to figure out a reasonable explanation as I faced off against the wolf who had missed me. I lifted the knife, ready to fight with everything I had.
Damn, were these the guards from the pack house? Where have they been all fucking night? Was Tywin keeping them close in case something happened?
The werewolf snarled, but he wasn’t the one who attacked me. I heard the crunch of grass just in time and spun. I was tackled, teeth too close to my neck, but the wolf was dead. I pushed it off as I pulled the knife from its chest, only for another werewolf to appear over me. It didn’t get the chance to bite me, something pulling it away and sending it out of my view.
Fenris yanked me to my feet and snarled over my head. He shoved me toward the witches, then groaned. I felt it, too. Something yanked on the curse, and my hands shook as the Change started.
“What?” I practically growled as I fought the Change.
“The spell,” Fenris snarled. “They’re using the moon. It’s…” He nearly fell.
It’s only one day off full and is already strong.
I started walking as quickly as I could for the witches as werewolves howled. I was nearly at the circle when a werewolf knocked my legs out from under me. I went rolling through the grass and snarled. When the werewolf came for me again, I grabbed it, seeing the fur on my hands. My fingernails were pointed and slowly becoming cat’s claws. I roared and shoved the werewolf to the ground, sinking my claws into its neck until blood covered my hands. I pulled my fingers out and got up, roaring again when another werewolf ran for me. It leapt, and I grabbed and threw it several yards, using its momentum against it.
I saw Fenris running for the witches, and a wolf jumped on his back. He started fighting with it, so I went for the witches instead. When I was nearly there, one turned around, summoning fire in her hands. She threw the fireballs, but I was feeling agile, jumping away from them. They set the grass on fire, and I kept running.
Finally, I jumped on the witch and killed her, but the chanting witches didn’t stop. I stumbled into the circle as I tried to stand, and something shoved me in the back. The smell of magic filled my nose.
“Jacqueline, you cannot stop this.” The way she said my name made something roll over me again. I could smell the magic of the circle, but not anything new from the obvious spell the old witch just cast. “This is the destiny of the moon curse,” the old woman said, stepping into the circle with me. “Look at how we can use the moon, so close to full, to control you. We’re summoning its power, which is activating your curse. You were made to answer to witches.”
“I answer to no one,” I snarled. “Not you, not the werecat that Changed me. No one.”
“Grandmama, just kill her,” a witch pleaded. “We decided the werecats were more of a nuisance. We don’t need her.”
I looked beyond the old woman to see Fenris wrestling against several werewolves ganging up on him. Beyond him, I saw someone else walking slowly out of the house, holding his side. Power swirled around me, and I knew I wasn’t getting out of this circle.
“She’s locked in place. She’s not a threat to me,” the old woman replied, waving a dismissive hand. She came closer to me, studying me, then smiled. It was so friendly, pulling at my heart in ways only one other smile could. Subira had the same warm, motherly love and affection in every one of her smiles. “We should talk, Jacqueline. We might agree more than we disagree.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied, trying to move my feet. I couldn’t move my arms, but I could turn my head, wiggle my fingers. I couldn’t do any of that earlier when I had been frozen in the kitchen. “What is this?”
“Ah, just an old trick of mine that proves useful more often than not. With a real name, I can freeze someone into place. It’s more powerful in my home. It’s a great way to keep children from running off when I need to speak to them.”
“We don’t need to speak,” I snapped.
“Yes, we do.” She patted my cheek, patronizing me. “Hear me out, sweet girl. I would let you keep your werewolf,” Grandmama whispered, touching my cheek.
Desperate need rolled through me, a yearning that couldn’t be calmed. Heath and me forever, no one trying to bring us apart.
“You love him, your Heath Everson, but we have all heard the whispers. Traitor to your family, to your father. A rebellious child he needs to bring in line. And that’s just you. There’s also your werewolf… Heath Everson, a rogue Alpha acting outside of Callahan and Corissa’s rule. He’ll be put down, eventually. They won’t let the threat of his power keep growing while he makes love with a woman from a species they almost wiped out. Eventually, they will come for him. We would let you be together. The reason your kinds fight against each other is you’re missing the stable hand of the witches.”
I watched the limping figure walk down the drive. Fenris was warring with seven werewolves across the flaming grass as it spread quickly, although it didn’t come near the circle.
“Be mine,” the old woman murmured. “You would be glorious. You are powerful and proud, Jacqueline. I’ve always been partial to the proud and solitary werecats. You stand alone, even when you stand for others. I would give you the space and time to become everything you are meant to be. You and Heath Everson could rule this world together. Take power from the hateful old warmongers and usher in a new age with our help and guidance. No one would threaten you and your love ever again. No one would dare. I wouldn’t let them destroy you, and if someone raised their hand against you, we would destroy them together. Nothing will ever threaten you again.”
I heard every word and felt an undercurrent of shame at the temptation.
I don’t want to rule.
I don’t want to hurt people.
I just want to live my own life.
But I could stop all of it if…
I closed my eyes, fighting it.
“We believe we can bring peace to your kinds if you let us do as we’re destined to,” the old woman continued, her words a tempting apple.
All I had to do was say yes and take a bite.
I knew the words were a slow but delicious poison.
The figure staggered as it entered the barn. The chanting grew louder, and the thick scent of magic was more powerful than the burning blaze spreading around us. I couldn’t see the barn anymore.
I looked up, finding the moon in the sky.
“What’s the cost?” I asked, grateful I wasn’t looking at the witch anymore. My bones were trying to crack and break, and the pain of fighting the Change was clearing my head. I would Change, eventually—there was no stopping it—but if I fought it, I hurt. A lot. It was a pain I was well accustomed to, but it was still pain. Pain was good to clear the head of someone being magically manipulated.
“Excuse me?”
“There’s always a cost,” I said, my throat aching. My vocal cords were trying to Change, and I couldn’t let that happen. I needed to be able to speak. “Kill my father? My siblings? Lose control over my mind and the ability to make my own choices? Would you control me like you do Tywin?”
She grabbed my chin and tried to pull my head down, but I was stronger. I couldn’t lift my arms and attack her for some damn reason, but I could keep my eyes off her. The old hag couldn’t force me to look at her. The moon was the only thing I wanted to see.
“It would be for the betterment of all,” the old witch snapped.
I could finally smell the lie.
Through all the magic, I smelled the truth, and a moment of clarity was what I needed. Her need for power, her belief I was subhuman, something she could cage and keep as a slave to her whims and goals.
“No,” I snarled.
“Then you can die,” the old crone snapped.
I couldn’t move, so I was pretty sure she was right.
But death didn’t come.
34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
I looked away from the moon to see a large wolf over a body. By large, I mean it was absolutely massive. Taller than myself as a werecat. Blood dripping from its mouth, the werewolf threw its head back and howled.
There was only one werewolf that matched the beast in front of me.
Heath.
I reached for him, realizing I could move, but pain quickly sent me to my knees. Around me, the witches were screaming and running in different directions like mice scurrying away. Easy prey, all ready for the taking. Blood hit me as I tried to rip my clothing off my broken body. Once I was naked, I let the Change rip through me, leaving me in screaming pain through every second until it was just a roar. On four paws, I stood, seeing the devastation around me.
Heath was bigger than Fenris, his coat shining in the moonlight as the two werewolves hunted down the witches, killing them as they tried to fight back. I joined the attack, yanking a witch off his feet when I reached him and tore open his gut with long claws. I roared over the body, then charged for the next, pouncing from behind. The witch was dead on landing, my five-hundred-plus-pound body doing all the damage needed.
The fire was growing around us, and when a werewolf howled, I ran for it, going through the flames without care as I tore across the field to the source of the call. I saw him on a hilltop with Fenris. Heath threw his head back for another howl.
“Heath—”
“Tywin is dead,” Heath said, his ice-blue eyes locking on mine. “Shamus let me out, and he’s injured, but he’s going to the road to wait on any of the pack to arrive. The Change healed him well enough. He’ll survive and go home to his children, thanks to you. There’s one witch still alive. Fenris and I are letting her run for a little while and tracking her until she’s out of energy. Will you join us? It will get us away from the fire.”
I was taken aback by the professional, clipped way Heath was talking, but by the end, he sounded more like himself.
“Of course,” I answered, looking back at the flames. I ran to him and took off next to him after this witch. I could see her from the hilltop, running through the field. Fenris followed on our heels. I looked back at him, and he gave me a wolf grin.
“Is he pack now?” I asked my fiancé.
“Yes. They all are,” Heath answered, sounding tired. “We’re going to work through everything once we can get back into human form.”
“We will,” I agreed. “You should know, it doesn’t matter if you keep all of them or send them all away. I’m still going to marry you.”
“For that, I am very thankful.”
We gained on the witch, circling her. I normally didn’t hunt with Heath on full moons, and that’s what this was—a werewolf hunt. We were herding her, driving her in different directions as she tried to run. I could tell Fenris was having fun as he hopped in front of her and forced her to change directions. She turned to me without realizing it, and I bared my teeth with a snarl.
Finally, she was left panting and fell to her knees. She was crying, and I didn’t know if I needed to feel guilty.
Heath started Changing back into his human form. He’d only just shifted, so I was amazed to see him get through his Change in his crisp five minutes while Fenris and I kept the witch from trying anything.
He stood up, naked in the moonlight but no less dangerous or confident. He walked up to the witch and took a knee in front of her.
“You’re going to tell me everything,” he said, the command clear. “This is over. You know you’re going to die. I just want answers. I could let these two chase you around for days. Staying in these forms would be easier than returning to their human bodies after the magic you’ve done tonight.” Heath smiled. “Or we can skip the hunt and just tree the prey. No lying. If you lie, I’ll let them chew on you in places that won’t kill you.”
“What do you want to know?” the young witch asked, still trying to back away from Heath, tears rolling down her face.
