Chapter Nineteen
Sherese
I don’t want to have this conversation, but I also want her to understand. I don’t want her to think I’m just being a jerk. “The first and last time I used my healing power, they found me.” I don’t say anything more. Even that feels like too much, but a look of such understanding crosses her face.
She doesn’t have to ask who; she just knows. “I’m sorry.”
And then it’s like she and I are the only ones in the room. “My friend was hurt in a bus accident. I…” I shrug. “I didn’t even know I had healing power.”
“How old were you?” Sage asks softly.
“Fourteen.”
“That’s really early.”
I don’t really know what to say after that, so I don’t. Thankfully, she lets it drop. Garrett joins us a moment later, and Ava and Bryce walk out behind him, hand in hand. “How’s Emma doing?” Sage asks right away.
“Better. She slept.” Garrett’s words are terse, and I can see he’s already agitated this morning.
I haven’t been around wolves long, but what I have seen is that they’re really, really protective of their mates.
The front door opens, and Raechel strides inside, followed by Max and Liam.
I realize with a start that Leo is sitting at the small table in the kitchen with his laptop open in front of him and a coffee cup beside him. I wonder how long he’s been there.
“Morning, everybody,” Liam says as he joins us. Max and Raechel find a space to stand.
“Where’s Talya?” Ava asks.
Liam smiles. “She’s watching the little ones. Ours and Paul and Sage’s little one.”
“Let me take Paul and Sage back to check on Emma, and then I’ll update you on what we know,” Garrett says to the group and then walks down the hall. Paul and Sage follow him, and it gets quiet for a moment.
“Hey, Chica, you’re looking a little sleepy over there. Did we get you up too early?” Raechel asks, leaning forward on the barstool she’s sitting in and grinning at Ava.
“Hey, I’m as shocked as anybody to see you here. I figured you’d still be in bed,” Ava retorts without missing a beat.
Raechel sighs. “Ah, I’ve missed you.”
“Hmmm. Wish I could say the same,” Ava says in a straight voice.
Raechel laughs, and Liam looks between the two of them. “You two have a strange relationship.”
“It’s a love/hate one,” Ava says, but I can see the corners of her lips twitching, like she’s trying not to smile. When Garrett comes back into the room, everyone’s smiles fade.
“Thanks for coming early this morning.” The front door opens again, and I watch as Kyle and Madison join us. “Thanks for coming,” Garrett says to them, and they nod. “How are vampires getting on pack lands?” He is not happy, and the look he levels at his enforcers shows it.
“The only thing we can figure is that they’re using something to mask their scent,” Kyle speaks up. “There’s no sign of them until they show up.”
Garrett looks to Max, who’s standing behind Raechel with his arms crossed.
He nods but doesn’t say anything. Garrett runs a hand through his hair, and I wonder if the alpha slept at all last night.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t. “Last night, when they showed up, we had no warning. They went for Daniel.” His jaw tightens, and I wonder if his teeth are going to crack.
“They hurt Emma in the process, sent her into early labor. Paul, Sage, and Ava were able to help stop the labor, but we’re not out of the woods yet.
Sherese ran after the vampires and got Daniel back.
” His dark eyes meet mine, and I almost react to the intensity there.
“Thank you.” I only nod. He faces the group.
“There’s no way any of us would have gotten to him in time.
I owe Sherese everything. On a side note, she’ll be fighting in Fight Night on Friday as a way of our appreciation.
” The room is absolutely silent; I can tell he’s thrown everyone for a loop.
Raechel cocks her head to the side. “Your way of saying thank you is to make her fight?”
“Actually, it was Hunter’s idea,” Garrett says.
“Who’s she going to fight?” Raechel asks.
“She should fight you,” Bryce says, surprising me.
Raechel’s eyes widen in surprise, and she looks over at me again. I can tell she’s mentally categorizing me. “Can you fight?”
“Can you?” I retort without thinking.
A slow grin fills her face, and I make a mental note to ask Bryce what he knows about her fighting skills. “I’ll do it,” she says. Max makes a low sound in his chest, and she pats him. “It will be fine, Big Guy.”
“She’s a vampire, Raechel.” This comes from Madison, whom I don’t know at all. She doesn’t sound malicious, but it still hits hard. I force myself not to react and not to feel anything.
“Who’s sitting right here and can hear you?” Hunter says in a voice that I don’t hear often from him.
Kyle steps forward, but Madison puts a hand on his side. “He’s right. I’m sorry,” she says, meeting my gaze head-on. “I shouldn’t have said it that way, but the truth remains.”
“Have a little faith, Maddie,” Raechel says with a grin. “I can fight a vampire. It will be good. I haven’t had a challenge for a little while. Even if she’s a terrible fighter, she’ll be fast. That will count for some good competition.”
I really need to talk to Bryce about her. Just how good a fighter is this girl?
“Is everybody good with this?” Garrett asks.
Liam looks between Raechel and me. “I don’t think Max or Hunter should be near the ring.”
That earns him a double growl, and I whip my head to look at Hunter. But he’s not looking at me; he’s glaring daggers at Liam. Liam puts his hands up. “I get it; I really do. But I think it will be a mistake to let them near the fight. Just sayin’.”
Garrett watches everything going on and then nods.
“Liam and I will officiate this one. That’s the only way this fight takes place,” he says, glancing at Max and Raechel and then me and finally, Hunter.
Hunter and Max finally agree, and I wonder why they’re bringing Hunter into it.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s responsible for me in some way.
But I stay quiet; there’s been enough attention on me during this meeting.
“Now, back to last night. The vampires that attacked are all dead. We made sure of it.”
“Ajax is dead?” I can’t help it; it just slips out. Relief flows through me so swiftly; I’ve always hated him. He was always one of the cruelest people there.
Garrett’s gaze pins me in place, and this time I can’t help but react to the intensity there. “Ajax was part of this?”
And just like that, dread crawls up my spine because if he didn’t know, then Ajax is definitely not dead. I don’t look away from the alpha. “Ajax coordinated the attack.”
I hear somebody swear, but I’m not sure who it was. The alpha doesn’t look away, and I can literally feel his power grow. It suddenly feels like I’m suffocating. “Garrett,” Bryce says in a quiet voice. “It’s too much.”
That suffocating feeling is gone, but the look Garrett is giving me is no less intense. “Talk me through exactly what went down last night. You knew the vampires were coming when we met you in the woods. That’s the reason you ran, right?”
I stand tall and meet his gaze head-on and think back to that moment. The moment when I knew the vampires were upon us, I grabbed Daniel and ran. “Yes.”
“How?”
I debate a moment, wondering if I should tell him the truth. “I can feel vampires.”
He studies my face. “Can all vampires sense each other?”
“I don’t know. I just know I can feel other vampires; I get this...sensation. I can also pinpoint their location. Last night, they suddenly came up on my radar, and there was no time to do anything but run. I knew I was the fastest one there and the best choice to take Daniel.”
I can tell he’s not very pleased with my assessment, but he doesn’t argue. “How does Ajax fit into all this?”
“He was the one coordinating the attack. When I got to the drop site, he was waiting,” I tell him.
“Ajax has been after Emma for a while,” Ava says softly. “He has a score to settle with her.” Ava shakes her head. “He’s not going to stop, Garrett. He blames her for the death of his pack and his alpha, Emma’s brother.” I knew this; Ava told me after we first made it out.
“I was the one who killed her brother,” Max says gruffly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ava says, not backing down. “He’s holding Emma responsible. He's going to keep coming at her.”
Garrett stares at her and crosses his arms over his powerful chest. “I’m going to end this thing.” He looks around the room. “I’m going to go to the vampire site, find Ajax, and do what I should have done a long time ago.”
“When?” Liam asks.
“As soon as Emma is cleared by Paul.”
Liam faces Max. “Team?” Max doesn’t say anything.
“We already lost one the last time we went there,” Liam reminds everybody, and silence descends on the room. I know they’re all thinking of the alpha they lost.
“We lost two of them,” Ava corrects. I think of the alpha Cade and his mate Amber. I hadn’t known them personally, but they meant something to Ava.
There’s a soft knock on the front door, and it opens. Talya walks through, and Liam walks over to her immediately. “Hey, Love.” He kisses her and then holds her hand.
“Who’s with the kiddos?” Raechel asks.
“Star’s watching them.”
“Oh. I haven’t seen her in a while. How’s she doing?” Raechel asks, and I can hear the concern in her voice.
Talya gives her a sad look, and I wonder what it is I’m missing. Talya must notice my look. “Star’s mate was killed in a vampire attack.”
“I don’t understand. I thought mates died when the other one is killed.” I look around the room, trying to understand.
Bryce frowns. “That’s usually the case.”
Garrett nods. “Yes, but Star and Steven hadn’t been mated all that long. And neither of them was a dominant wolf, so their bond was much weaker.”
Bryce stares at Garrett. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah. We didn’t either until it happened to another young couple in our pack. It didn’t use to be that way, but it’s changed in recent years.” He shakes his head. “But a lot of things have changed in recent years.”
“Yeah, like mating humans,” Liam says with a smile as he tugs Talya into his arms.
“There’s nothing to worry about in your bond,” Garrett says to Bryce. “It only seems to happen to less dominant, newly mated couples.”
“Well, nothing to worry about for us then,” Ava says, patting his chest. “You’re plenty dominant.” He smiles down at her, and I look away from the lovebirds.
“So, back to the task at hand. My thought is to infiltrate the facility with a small team, take out Ajax, and get out,” Garrett says.
“You sure you want to risk going back?” Bryce asks.
Garrett doesn’t hesitate a second. “Yes. I need to end the threat to my family.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Liam says. “We’ll work on the logistics.”
I finally speak up. “That’s not going to work.”