Retribution (Moonstruck Genesis #4)

Chapter 12

ANTOINE STRETCHED, listening to the sounds from the bathroom. His mate was taking a shower and it took every ounce of his restraint to stay in bed rather than joining her. He had a lifetime to love this woman. Him. Antoine Fontaine. A man forever alone, always apart from his blood family, loved but never fully trusted.

Flat on his back, he tucked his arms under his head, listening to the noises coming from the bath. His life had changed so completely since Rudek Tornjak claimed Isabella. She’d always been more sister than niece, but with the arrival of her mate, Antoine had discovered connections to a world he’d only hoped existed. He was not the only Wolf in the world. He wasn’t a freak of nature. And the others had accepted him. As an equal. As a brother. As family. He was the one who kept them at arm’s length.

Until now.

Now, he worried about them, these people who claimed him, who pulled him into their lives. Forces conspired against them—both external and internal. To his knowledge, Nate had not returned. He couldn’t pretend to know what the other man had endured at the hands of their enemies, but like the others, he’d vowed to fight those who planned to harm the Wolves. Unfamiliar emotions blazed in his chest. Love. Loyalty. He didn’t realize he was growling until DJ appeared, a concerned frown marring her pretty face.

“What’s wrong?”

He patted the bed beside him. “Come here, bébé .”

She backed away but was laughing. Her eyes sparkled and her lips pursed into a little moue he wanted desperately to kiss. “I don’t think so. I’ve gotten to know your bed—”

“Our bed, bébé .”

DJ’s skin pinkened in a full-body blush. “Yeah, about that. We need to talk. But put clothes on.”

As she turned to find the trail of clothes they’d left in their hurry to get to bed, Antoine rose and padded over to her. She turned and came nose to chest with him. She thumped him. “Don’t do that.”

He preened a little when her gaze dropped to his cock. It arched toward her, thick and heavy with wanting her. He curled one hand around the back of her neck. “But you like me naked so much, chère .” Leaning in for a kiss, he froze.

Head up, nostrils flaring, he stared out the window. Too late, he realized intruders had crept into the clearing. He spun DJ and shoved her toward the bathroom. “Shotgun,” he ordered.

She grabbed the gun from the rack on the wall and he tossed a box of shells to her. He was in mid-change when four men stormed through the door. The first one went down as DJ fired, but too late she realized he wore a bullet-proof vest. The two men behind him raised weapons and something hot, like a bee sting, hit her shoulder. She looked down at the dart and tried to pull it out, but her hand wouldn’t work. Antoine had changed, but he was in trouble. His front feet scrabbled at the wooden floor, but his back feet didn’t work at all. Two darts decorated his hindquarters. A third hit his shoulder and he went down with a whimper.

Je suis désolé, bébé . As darkness swamped her, Antoine’s voice wrapped her in warmth. I’m sorry, bébé. I could not save you.

“M’sorry, too,” she mumbled. She couldn’t save him either.

SEAN SWORE a blue streak and slammed out of the door, his laptop in hand. “Mac!”

Mac and Hannah spilled from their RV. Jacey emerged from the one she shared with Nate, followed by a large, silver brindle wolf. The Marine hadn’t changed back since the previous day. Rudy and Izzy weren’t far behind. Liz, Annie, and Sally gathered up the children, with Liam’s help, and guided them toward the play area where a sandbox and swing set had been built.

Lightfoot padded out of the underbrush, where he’d been on sentry duty. He nodded toward the others. “Danny just relieved me. I’ll fill him in when we’re done. What’s up, Sean?”

Sean set his laptop on the picnic table and spun it so the others, now crowded around, could see. He played the video news report again. A network talking head, with perfect hair, teeth, and designer suit, read the teleprompter with perfect diction.

“The senator’s body was discovered early this morning in what authorities are describing as a murder-suicide. The identity of the young woman is being withheld pending notification of her family. Inside sources have told us that she was an intern in the senator’s office. Again, for those of you just joining us, after a nine-one-one call from a neighbor, members of the Washington D.C. police department discovered the body of Senator Lewis LaMotte.”

Mac’s SAT phone warbled and he turned away from the news report to take the call.

“Harjo?”

The Wolves’ former commanding officer sounded like he was wrapped in crinkly paper as he replied. “Have you seen the news, Mac?”

“Affirmative.”

“I had an appointment to meet with LaMotte this morning.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Interesting timing, don’t you think? The man called me , Mac. Said he had some information. And now he’s dead. In a condo with his name on the lease, with a young woman who worked in his office.” Interference crackled on the line then cleared. “Sorry. I was in the parking garage. I’m clear now. Mac, if he was part of Black Root’s Washington connection, they screwed up.”

“Why?”

“LaMotte was gay. He’s been in a committed, if very private, relationship for the past twenty years.”

“Any idea what he wanted to tell you?”

“No. Sadly.” A pause filled the line with silence. “Mac, my sense is that Black Root is up to something that LaMotte couldn’t stomach. He tried to leave. And he wanted someone to know why.”

“Are you and Amy safe?”

“Always.”

“Don’t be a hero, Harjo.”

Harjo’s amused chuckle rumbled in Mac’s ear. “Not me, Sergeant Major. I leave that up to you grunts.”

“Roger that, sir.”

With that sign off, Mac relayed the information to the others. “We need to find Black Root’s operations.”

A grim smile filtered across Sean’s face. “Damn straight. I’ve been working on a few little surprises for the motherfu—” He bit off the word as his son Cody ran into the circle and threw his arms around the big man’s thighs.

“Dad, will you make pancakes for breakfast?”

No one snickered, and it wasn’t due to the scowl Sean leveled on each of them. Innocent moments like this were too few and far between in their lives of late. They lived under constant threat. And they were all damned tired of it.

“You bet, buddy. Tell your mom I’ll get started on the batter here in a little bit. I need to talk to the grownups first. ’Kay?”

“Okie dokie.” The boy trotted back, sunny smile firmly entrenched on his face.

Sean’s face more resembled a storm front. “This fucking ends now.”

“Yes,” Mac agreed. “It does.”

“Rudy?” Izzy tugged on her mate’s arm. “Antoine. He’s not answering his phone.”

Laughing, Rudy dropped a kiss on her forehead. “ Láska , Antoine is moonstruck. We will not see him or his mate for days.”

She shook her head adamantly, red curls flying. “Something is wrong. I feel it in my bones. Please, Rudy.”

The Wolves all exchanged looks. Nate, still in wolf form, chuffed softly. He would guard the perimeter of their camp. Lightfoot ducked into his RV, snagged his sniper rifle and headed to his nest in the top of an old cypress tree. Sean, Mac, and Rudy already wore sidearms. Whenever they dressed, all the Wolves put on their weapons before they put on their boots.

Sean went over to the play group to apologize and to promise pancakes for dinner instead. With a lingering kiss for Annie, his mate, he joined the other two and they headed toward Antoine’s cabin.

Now that they were away from the others, Sean could broach a delicate subject. “What are we going to do about Nate?”

Mac didn’t break his jog. “Have to admit I was surprised when he hadn’t changed back by this morning.”

“Antoine spent far more time as wolf than he did in human form,” Rudy added. “I admit to worrying about him until his mating the deputy. Some things come instinctively.”

“And there’s the problem.” Sean grimaced. “For all Nate has adapted, he’s not really a Wolf. They fucked him up royally. What I don’t get, is why does he retreat to the wolf?”

They trotted in silence for almost half a mile before Mac replied. “The wolf is primal. Pure, in a way. Hungry? You hunt and eat. Horny? You fuck your mate. Sleepy? You find a den, curl up and sleep. You don’t have to think. It’s, as Rudy pointed out, instinctive. There’s no room for emotions in the wolf’s brain.”

“Huh. Hadn’t considered that.” The corners of Sean’s mouth turned down, not in a frown but in an expression of contemplation. “But yeah. It’s quieter there. I mean, we’re all still cognizant of the human part of us, but the wolf is like a filter. I don’t think, I just…do.”

“Since Jacey is comfortable with Nate’s wolf, I think he retreats there when the world gets too noisy.” Mac continued on for several steps, then halted and dropped down. Sean and Rudy followed his actions.

“Smell it?”

The other two lifted their faces and drew in deep breaths through their noses.

“Humans.” Sean sniffed again. “Four of them.”

“And a Wolf,” Rudy added. “Not Antoine.”

They spread out, fading into the underbrush. They approached the clearing on three sides. An eerie hush hung over the cabin like a pall of invisible smoke. Wildlife remained silent, their stillness having nothing to do with the predators advancing on the cabin. After a series of hand signals, Rudy approached the cabin from the blind side. He knew where to place his feet on the worn planks of the front porch so no creaking gave away his position. He lifted a head and peeked in a front window. With another flourish of his hand, he indicated the place appeared empty.

Still cautious, he neared the front door. It swung open on oiled hinges as he nudged it. His nose told him what his eyes already had. Antoine’s cabin was deserted. And neither Antoine nor DJ had gone willingly. He gestured for Mac. Sean remained hidden as a rear guard.

Mac scanned the scene and summed up the situation. “We’re fucked.”

“They were alive when they were taken.” Rudy paced inside and stopped next to the bed. Dropping to a knee, he picked up something hidden by the edge of a homemade quilt. “Tranq guns.” He held up the feathered dart.

“We’ll get them back.”

“Yes,” Rudy agreed. A calculating smile slashed across his face. “And then we will send the bastards to hell and beyond.”