Chapter Four
Len waited for Kevin to tell her whatever he planned to. It wasn’t usual for him to hold her hands. That meant whatever he was about to drop on her must be bad. “Just spit it out.”
He sighed. “You found out Gargoyles exist, but they aren’t the only thing in this world that you thought were just legends or something made up to make good horror movies.”
“Fray told me. Vampires are real. He kind of let that slip.”
“Werewolves are real, too.”
She let Kevin’s announcement sink in. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise after watching Fray grow wings. She nodded. “Okay.”
“Your dad is our alpha. Moe leads our pack. We’re Werewolves. I’m his lead enforcer. It means I’m in charge when he’s out of town, like now. Those Gargoyles have invaded our territory and are trying to take it over. We have to kill them, or they are going to try to kill us.”
Len smiled, figuring Kevin was messing with her. No way was her stepdad a Werewolf. “Right.”
Kevin released her hands. “It’s not a joke. We’re not like those movies you’ve seen. We can shift any damn time we want, and we don’t go all homicidal when we’re in fur. We know who we are, think clearly, and would never randomly attack people to eat them. They’d taste like shit, and we avoid killing anyone unless we absolutely must. I prefer to take down a rabbit or two myself when I’m out hunting in my wolf form. It’s forbidden to tell humans about us. I don’t want you to be upset that Moe and your mom kept this from you. No one in this pack would hurt you, but sometimes other shifters come through our town. You might have said or done something to tip them off that you were aware of what they were. That would have made you a danger to them. They possibly could have tried to kill you for knowing what they are. Moe would have had to assign you guards to make sure that never happened and that you were protected at all times. You’d have hated that. You like your freedom.”
She searched Kevin’s eyes to read his mood and wished she didn’t know him so well. He was being serious. “Shit.” A hundred questions filled her mind. How had her parents hidden that from her? She tried to think back to any hints she might have missed. Nothing popped out at her except how weird Moe could be about smells.
“We take that rule about protecting our secrets from humans very seriously. It’s how we’ve survived. Humans used to kill us if they even suspected we were different. The world isn’t ready for our kind or any other species. Humans would see us as a threat. I know this comes as a shock, but nothing has changed. Moe loves you,” Kevin assured her. “You’re family to this pack and accepted. Okay?”
“I need a drink.” She swallowed hard, reeling from the shock. “Can I go inside? I know where your mini-bar is.”
“You can’t tell anyone about us.”
“Like they’d believe it. I won’t.”
He stepped aside. “Help yourself.”
Len walked past him inside his house. Kevin’s wife waited inside, just wearing a robe and looking as if she’d recently climbed out of bed, too. Gina gave Len a tentative smile. “I can make you breakfast. You shouldn’t drink on an empty stomach.”
“You heard that?”
Gina inclined her head. “I’m a Werewolf too. You’ve known me since you were a little girl. There’s no reason to be afraid of us. You know that, right?”
“I’m not afraid. I’m stunned. Like, my brain is just frozen in my head.”
Gina came over and put her arm around Len. “You’re handling this really well. I once had a human friend who discovered the truth about us. She locked herself in the bathroom, thinking I’d try to eat her or turn her into one of us.”
Len glanced at the woman’s mouth, suddenly feeling leery.
Gina grinned wide, showing off her normal-looking teeth. “I only bite Kevin, and that’s when we’re having really amazing sex. He’s right. People would taste like shit as a food source. Not to mention, that’s not how Werewolves are made. We’re born. It’s possible to change someone over through an attack, but it’s usually fatal and very gory. In some cases, a human woman can be changed over if she’s mated and has a bunch of babies.”
“Why? Do I want to know?”
“Blood exchange happens between a mother and her fetus. After a few pregnancies, it’s usually enough for them to start to change into one of us. Not always, but by pregnancy number four or five, if a woman has that many with a mate, it’s always happened in the packs that I’m aware of.”
Her brain began to function again, and she was pretty sure it might explode from information overload. All that crazy was too much to take in. Werewolves were real. The people she knew were shifters. “I need that drink.”
Gina led her into the finished basement and flipped on the lights. She walked behind the bar and pointed to a barstool. “What do you want?”
“Something strong. It’s been a rough night and morning.”
“Got it.” Gina lifted a dark bottle and set a shot glass down, filling it. “There you go. Watch it. I know you don’t drink often. It’s got a kick.”
Len wrapped her hand around the small glass and downed it. Regret came a moment later. The whiskey burned all the way from her throat to her stomach. She put the glass down.
“Better?”
“Not yet.”
Gina poured her another shot. “Moe and Lisa agonized over telling you about us, but they wanted you to have a normal life. I hope you’re not mad at them.”
“I didn’t even suspect.”
“Of course not. They were very careful. We all were.”
“Is my mom a Werewolf too?”
“No. One day that might change, though. They’ve talked about having kids but haven’t decided yet.”
Len was glad she was seated. “Mom is a little too old for that.”
“She met Moe when she was in her late twenties. They mated, and her body stopped aging like a human’s. He has her drinking some of his blood. That’s the result. Didn’t you notice how young she still looks? People sometimes mistake you for sisters.”
“She said it was good genes.”
“It’s what we say to people who notice that we don’t age the way they do. She could have babies if she wanted to. They are still considered newlyweds for our kind. Sometimes, a mated couple can spend three or four decades together before they decide to start having children.”
Len downed the second shot. It went down easier. She put the glass down. “One more. Please.”
Gina poured.
Len drank it. She put the glass down again. “Three or four decades? Is that what you said? That’s the time they decide if they want kids?” She couldn’t even wrap her mind around it.
“We live much longer than humans.”
The drinks caught up with Len. She waved off having another shot poured. “I’m feeling it.”
Gina put the bottle away and leaned against the bar, drawing close. “Do you want to talk about Fray?” She sniffed. “Because there’s something to tell.”
Len shook her head.
“You’ve always liked him.” Gina looked toward the stairs and lowered her voice. “What’s it like to sleep with a GarLycan? I’ve always been curious.”
“A what?”
“Fray is a half-breed. Gargoyle and Lycan. Um, Werewolf. They call it the L word. We call it the W. You didn’t know that?” She paled, straightening up. “Damn.”
“He said he was a Gargoyle.”
“He mostly is. I mean, I can’t pick up any Werewolf scent coming off him. His mother was Moe’s sister, but he takes after his father. Fray and his twin brother inherited the silver eyes from their dad. That’s a Gargoyle trait. So are the wings, being able to fly and changing their skin into armor.”
“And the pot of shit thickens,” Len muttered and put her elbows on the bar, covering her face with her hands. It sank in. “Damn it. That makes Fray related by blood to Moe. I just messed around with my what? Cousin?”
“It’s by marriage instead of blood. That’s not technically incest, and you didn’t even know. Fray did. Moe is going to be furious with him for putting his hands on you.”
Len looked up and crossed her arms on the bar. “It’s none of his business. I’m twenty-four, not sixteen.”
“Moe practically adopted you. He claimed you as his daughter to the pack. That’s official stuff. He made it law that only humans could date you.”
“Because I’m not a Werewolf?”
“But you’re pack. Fray and Chaz agreed to follow pack rules when they are in our territory. They are considered pack too because they are Moe’s nephews.”
Len took a few deep breaths. “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me they are the sons of Moe’s sister? I didn’t even know he had a sister.”
“She died some years ago. Fray and Chaz don’t come around often. They live with their clan in Alaska. The clan consists of full-blooded Gargoyles and GarLycans.”
“This has got to be the worst twelve or so hours of my adult life.”
“You’re alive and where it’s safe. Don’t say that.”
Len felt a lot calmer and relaxed with the buzz of alcohol. “Evil Gargoyles are living in the old Morter mines. They’ve kidnapped women and are hurting them. The guy I’ve had a crush on forever has wings and isn’t even human. We spent the night together, which was something I used to fantasize about, but it only happened because we were attacked by said evil Gargoyles. He never would have touched me otherwise. I’m sure of that.”
She licked her lips. “Oh, and he’s my cousin by marriage. That’s like a ticket straight to hell because I can’t think of him and say ewww. He’s still totally hot to me. Plus, let’s not forget my stepdad is a shifter, and everyone has been lying to me, including my own mother. Yeah.” She lifted her hand and made a thumbs-up gesture. “Tell me how much more fucked up this can get. Did I forget to tell you that I know Vampires are real? I’m so going to start eating garlic and keeping a handy dandy stake next to my bed.”
“Garlic doesn’t do anything to Vampires, and a stake to the heart would hurt them, but they’d just pull it out. They don’t die from that. You have to remove their heads or force them into the sun to burn to ash.”
“Pour me another one.”
Gina didn’t move. “Do you want to know how much worse it can get? I’ll tell you. Those Gargoyles could wipe out this entire pack. They are stronger and faster than we are. They fly, for fuck’s sake. They can armor out their bodies until bullets just bounce off their skin. They are Gargoyles, which means they won’t want to share the territory. GarLycans are friendly to packs because we have common bloodlines. Not so with full-blood Gargoyles. They look down on us as if we’re insects that annoy them, something to stomp out of existence. They’ll turn on humans next. I heard what Fray said. Did he explain what scavengers are?”
“No.”
“It’s some messed up shit. Certain bad Gargoyles will kidnap a woman, rape her until she’s pregnant, and kill her after she gives birth and breastfeeds the baby for about six weeks until it can survive by eating solid foods. They don’t want that child to have anyone to grow an emotional attachment to. Those children aren’t seen as members of their clan. They treat those kids like a defense force, to do whatever their lord orders. He’ll send them out to get food or whatever he wants. Those kids don’t ask. They’ll take. He’ll also order them to kill his enemies. That’s anyone who this lord deems a threat, like Werewolves. They encourage those kids to be brutal and not to feel things like compassion. That clan will wipe out every Werewolf within however many miles their lord claims as his territory. That means Moe and your mom since she’s his mate. Kevin and I. Everyone you know since you were raised in this pack. Clara. Paulie. Mike. Dennis. Ava. Mitch. Should I go on?”
Tears filled Len’s eyes as the grim situation became clear, and she reached up, wiping them away. “No.”
Gina straightened and swiped the glass off the bar. “The men are going to be planning strategy to deal with those Gargoyles. We must plot out the best way to terminate the threat before they come after us. I figure we have an hour before we need to go to Moe’s place. It’s the pack house. You can take a shower while I make you something to eat. You can also borrow some of my clothes. We don’t have much time, so get up.”
Gina rounded the bar and gripped her arm, hauling Len off the barstool and toward the stairs.
Len stood on unsteady feet. Three shots might have been too much in a short time. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m not trying to be a selfish ass. I’m just in shock. Do we stand a chance of winning against those Gargoyles?”
“I was being overly harsh. You’re handling all this better than the last human that I knew, as I said. You didn’t lock yourself in a bathroom screaming and sobbing. Our pack has the advantage. Fray is with us. He’ll help us fight and tell us the best way to kill Gargoyles.”
“Fray said Chaz is coming here soon.”
“That’s even better. How many Gargoyles are there?”
Len shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
* * * * *
Fray accepted the borrowed sunglasses. “Thanks.”
Mitch stepped back. “I know you hate showing your eyes. Good thing you had spare clothes in your bag. You’re taller than anyone in the pack. It would have been tough to find pants that fit you.”
“Thanks for letting me use your place to shower.”
“It’s best that you washed off Len’s scent. Some of the guys would be pissed otherwise.”
“I’ll deal with my uncle. It’s nobody else’s business.”
Mitch snorted. “You think that’s why they’d want to deck you?”
Fray put on the sunglasses. “They enforce Moe’s rules. I get it.”
“Do you know how many of the pack have asked for permission to date Len? Moe denied every damn one of them. Hell, I even asked. He didn’t want this life for her, but some didn’t agree after she had dated that teacher. Man, that human was a prick. He was fucking around on Len before she dumped him. Moe was ready to let one of us make him disappear.”
Anger stirred in Fray. “The professor cheated on her?”
Mitch nodded. “The son of a bitch showed up for a BBQ reeking of some other woman. Len couldn’t pick it up, but we all could. I purposely tossed the football at him to knock his ass into the lake. It turned my stomach thinking he might go home with her and take her to bed when he’d just screwed someone else. I nailed him in the nuts hard enough to keep his mind off sex for a few days.” Mitch grinned. “Accidentally, of course.”
Fray snorted. “Good. I would have done worse.”
“That was another reason I knocked his ass into the water. I was afraid some of the younger guys might kill him if they got close enough to catch his scent. It felt good to hurt him, but they would have wanted to rip him apart. Len is special, and there are a number of the pack who have shown an interest in her. It’s caused Moe a lot of grief over the past few years, especially after that day. Everyone has always accepted that Len would be safer with humans, but that made quite a few of them think otherwise. That asshole could have given her a sexual disease or worse. There was a story running on the news that week about some jerk who cheated on his wife. His girlfriend got tired of waiting for him to file for divorce. She murdered the wife to eliminate the competition. What if some human that prick was fucking decided to murder Len to get her out of the way?”
“That’s why Moe put her off limits? Humans aren’t safer.”
Mitch seemed to want to say something but didn’t.
Fray closely studied him. “Why would she be safer with humans? Is there something going on inside the pack that I don’t know about? You guys are human-friendly. Nobody challenged Moe when he mated Lisa. Is there trouble with that now?”
“Moe would have told you if he wanted you to know.”
“Who the hell in this pack is threatening Moe’s mate?” Fray would take care of it.
“It’s not that. Everyone loves Lisa.” Mitch lowered his voice. “Ever hear of the Folson pack?”
“Yeah. They live to the south.”
“They’ve been breeding pups like crazy for the past twenty years. Moe sees the writing on the wall.”
Fray understood right away. “He thinks they’ll attack to expand their territory.”
“We know a war is coming. Moe doesn’t want Len in the middle of it. We might be able to hold our territory against those numbers, but we’ll take heavy losses. That’s a given. It’s just a matter of time before shit hits the fan. He wants Len married to a human.”
“Why the hell didn’t he tell me or Chaz?”
“It’s not your problem. You’re pack, but you don’t live here.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Mitch sighed. “He’s alpha. Between us, I think Moe fears it will make him look weak to ask for help. I can’t say it aloud to him because he’d hand me my ass for even suggesting such a thing, but I tried to put myself in his shoes. That’s the reason I came up with.”
Fray reached out and gripped Mitch’s shoulder. “I won’t say a word. Thanks for telling me. Chaz and I will handle it. Moe doesn’t need to know we ever had this discussion.”
“You honestly believe that you and your brother can stop a war from happening?”
Fray released him and grinned. “My brother and I are part of this pack. You’ve never seen us pissed off or had a reason to fear us. Not so for Folsom. We’ll handle it right after we deal with this Gargoyle colony problem. The alpha of Folsom will be informed of your pack’s tight association with both my clan and the VampLycans. If that doesn’t make them rethink a war, they will be dead morons. Either way, the threat to this pack will be over.”
“Thanks. It’s been a huge worry.” Mitch suddenly smiled. “Maybe Moe will reconsider letting Len mate to one of us.”
That angered Fray. He didn’t say anything, though. He could almost see Mitch’s mind working. The Lycan had admitted he’d asked Moe to date Len. It wasn’t going to happen. Fray would make damn certain that none of the pack tested a mating with her. The only one she’d be inviting to her bed would be him.
He leaned down and opened his backpack, removing his cell phone. He punched in the code to unlock it and tried to call Chaz again. It kept going to voicemail.
“Goddamn it. Where are you? Get to Moe’s when you get this. I hope you got my earlier messages. If not, there’s a newly formed G colony trying to dig into territory here. I ran into them and had to pretend I wanted to want to join. I escaped, but they will be looking for me. Be careful.” He ended the call and slipped it into his shirt pocket.
“Where is Chaz? You two usually travel together.”
“He wanted to visit some woman he met in Colorado the last time we visited a family-associated pack there.”
“You ready to go?”
“Yeah. Let’s stop at Kevin’s to get Len. I’m not letting her get too far from me until she’s somewhere safer. The Gargoyles know her scent.”
His phone rang, and he lifted it out, answering after seeing Chaz’s name on the screen. “Why the hell haven’t you been picking up your phone?”
“Colorado didn’t work out. She mated someone. Fucking her again was out. I partied with the pack. What’s up?”
“I take it you didn’t hear my messages?”
“No. I just saw I missed a bunch of calls. Sorry. We went swimming, and I forgot to get my phone when I put my clothes back on.”
“There’s a group of Gs that flew into Moe’s territory. I ran into them at my motel with Lenore there. They are setting up a colony here.”
His twin sucked in a sharp breath, probably shocked. “Shit. Are you okay? Is she? What in the hell was she doing at your motel?”
“I’ll explain that later. We escaped them about an hour ago, but they’ll be looking for us. Get here as fast as you can.”
“Colony? Not clan?”
“That’s what they plan to start here.”
“Fuck,” Chaz snarled.
“Yeah. They have already kidnapped some breeders.”
“How many bastards are here?”
“Six males. They’ve taken at least eight humans, but they plan to steal more.”
“I’ll call Dad and have him head this way. He’ll want Moe’s pack to be protected. He won’t be able to get to us until early tomorrow, though.”
“I’m aware.”
“Fuck. Okay. I’m throwing my stuff into a bag right now. I’ll take the first flight there, or I’ll find something to drive. Whatever is faster, but I’m coming, bro.”
“We’re heading to Moe’s place. He’s out of town.”
“Where is he?”
“Moe took Lisa on a cruise ship vacation.”
“Did someone inform him?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m hoping we can wrap this up before he gets home.”
“Me too. I’m coming.”
“Be careful. They are old school, planning on making a lot of scavengers.”
“Fuck. They have zero honor.”
“Exactly. They’ll try to take out the pack.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Chaz swore.
“Damn straight,” Fray agreed. “See you soon, and keep your damn phone close.”
“Will do.” Chaz disconnected.