Chapter 12
I wasn’tsure what time it was when I stirred. Gabriel would have closed the curtains before going to sleep, to protect himself from the sun’s lethal rays. This setup was crucial for him, but sometimes, it left me feeling a little disoriented, clueless as to whether it was dawn or noon outside. Thankfully, someone had furnished this room with a nightstand and an alarm clock, which, upon a quick glance, showed that it was a few minutes past sunrise. I must have just missed Gabriel settling in for the day.
Turning slightly, I took a moment to study him as he lay beside me, his features relaxed in “death,” a stark contrast to his usually vibrant self. Despite knowing he couldn’t feel my touch, I reached out and gently brushed his cheek. It was strange to think of how important this one person had become to me. When I was younger, there were moments I’d doubted I’d ever find a connection like this, despite how badly I wanted it. It was difficult growing up alone without any family to call my own. It made me believe that maybe I’d never find anyone, and that maybe life had different plans for me. I remember trying to convince myself that it was okay if I never found someone else.
So, imagine my surprise when Gabriel—a vampire—barged into my life and made me feel things I’d never believed possible. These emotions brought out the protective nature within me. He was, in every sense, my soulmate. He not only understood my flaws and strengths, but embraced and celebrated them. With him, I found a love that was powerful and all-consuming. Despite him being a vampire, he was the one who brought light into my life. A light I couldn’t afford to lose. I refused to let Adrian or the Academy rip him away from me.
I’d kill them first, and I wouldn’t feel any remorse either. Not after all they’d done.
A rumbling in my belly distracted me from any further thoughts. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon, so it didn’t surprise me that I was hungry. Sliding out of bed, I tiptoed to the door, which made me chuckle, since Gabriel couldn’t hear me moving about, then stepped out into the hallway. A quick glance in both directions showed both Jaden and Lucy’s doors still shut, and if I strained my senses, I could hear them all snoring away.
I eased down the stairs, my nose leading me into the kitchen, where I caught sight of a coffee maker percolating away. Either the coffee maker had a timer or someone was awake. I leaned around the corner and found Aimee, the alpha of the New Orleans Pack, sitting at a small table basking in the early morning sunlight. She clutched a coffee mug between her hands and stared out the window, clearly lost in her thoughts.
“Oh, uh, morning,” I murmured, hoping I wasn’t disturbing her.
I didn’t have a great history with pack alphas. I’d never met my biological father—he’d died before I found any family—and then my half-sister Olivia had tried to usurp Lucy from her position with the Mississippi Pack. Lucy was the only one I knew and trusted.
Aimee cocked her head toward me, then lifted the coffee mug to her mouth. She took a sip, then lowered it down onto the table. “You’re up early.”
I nodded. “Downfall to going to bed midday, I suppose. I don’t think I could sleep more even if I wanted to.”
She chuckled, then gestured to the seat next to her. “Join me, then.”
“Mind if I pour some coffee first?”
“By all means,” she said, smiling. “I made plenty, and I can always make more if needed.”
I ducked my head, then hurried into the kitchen, eager for a sip of steaming deliciousness.
“Mugs are in the cupboard above the sink,” she informed me before taking another sip.
I thanked her, then pulled open the door and grabbed a mug that read, “If I made wolf puns, they would be howlarious.” I snickered at the image, then filled the cup right to the brim. It took a bit of grace to carry it to the table without spilling, but I managed.
Aimee’s eyes widened at the sight of my nearly overflowing cup and laughed. “That kind of morning, huh?”
“That kind of month,” I grumbled.
“Yes, Sam gave me the highlights when he first arrived, and Avery debriefed me last night. I am so relieved she’s alright, and grateful to you for saving her. But I’m also sorry to hear about your struggles. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.”
“I will, thank you. Right now, I think we just need a place to stay. I agreed to help Avery deal with Nash, which may be the lead we need to find Adrian. That’s the kind of math I like.”
“You don’t have to stay and deal with this,” Aimee said. “While I would appreciate the help and would love nothing more than to have three bona fide vampire slayers on our team, along with my big brother, I would never hold it against you if you chose to leave. You have so much on your plate already.”
“Thank you,” I said before lifting my cup to my lips. The heavenly smell of coffee assaulted my nose, and I sighed contentedly. “But I told Avery I would help, and besides which, we can’t leave until we deal with Adrian.”
“Very well,” Aimee said. She sipped from her own cup and resumed gazing out the window.
Were the situation different, I might have wondered what an alpha werewolf thought about, but I had a feeling I knew exactly where Aimee’s thoughts had strayed.
“How many wolves have you lost?” I asked.
“Avery would have been number four.”
I recalled Avery’s story yesterday. “She mentioned that this started about a year ago?”
“Thereabouts,” was all Aimee said.
“And Sam didn’t know about this?” It seemed a logical conclusion since I hadn’t heard about it. While Sam and I weren’t buddy-buddy close, he would have told Lucy, and she would have mentioned it to me.
“This isn’t Sam’s pack anymore,” Aimee said, though her words sounded sad. “He has his own people to worry about. And as the alpha, this is my problem to handle. Not his. I can’t run to my big brother whenever there’s trouble. If I did that, I wouldn’t be worthy of holding the pack alpha title.”
I understood that. Werewolf politics at its finest. “What about your father? He was the previous alpha, right?”
She nodded. “Same rules apply to him. He knows about the missing werewolves, and he’s advised me as best he can. But at the end of the day?—”
“You have to handle this yourself.”
“Mmm,” she hummed her agreement. “This is my first test as alpha. I don’t begrudge that. I just wish it wasn’t at the expense of my people.”
“Well, I hope we can help. Jaden, Josh, and I are experienced vampire hunters. So hopefully we can put this to bed quickly, before you lose any more werewolves.”
“Agreed,” Aimee said. Then she turned and looked at me—really looked at me—for the first time. “How are you? Yesterday was…”
“Hard,” I said, finishing her sentence. “Yesterday was hard. And emotional. And heartbreaking. And every other word you can think of.”
Aimee repositioned herself, her gaze returning to the window. “I know all too well how it feels to lose someone you love. I’m sure you know our history?”
I recalled everything Avery, Sam, and Lucy had ever told me. The New Orleans Pack had been through a lot recently. Much like the Mississippi Pack.
Aimee took another sip, her thoughts far away. “I had a human born sister named Isabelle. We called her Izzy. But she’s gone now. Dead. Thanks to Corbin and his people. You know of Corbin?”
Oh yeah, I knew all about Corbin.
“That whole situation was the reason why I introduced the pack to an entirely new training regime. My father was an amazing alpha. He was kind but stern, caring but tough…he knew how to rule the pack. But I felt like we could do more. I didn’t want our people to ever hurt again like that. So I created a system that I thought would keep us safe. I had them train in the bayou, created safehouses, new security systems, new rules and regulations to ensure everybody was always accounted for, but it made no difference when we were finally tested. Alexander, Dana, Joseph, then Avery. And Avery, as I’m sure you might have guessed, is a strong werewolf.”
Fifth highest in rank, she’d mentioned.
“If this vampire could steal one of my top ten, then I failed them.”
I reached out and placed a hand over Aimee’s, drawing her attention back to me.
“You didn’t fail them,” I told her. “Look at me and my friends. Look at what we’re facing right now. My friend Chris was one of the top slayers in the Academy, and he’s gone. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how we train and prepare. The fact is casualties are inevitable. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and correct them.”
“Easier said than done, I’m afraid,” Aimee said.
“Agreed. But there’s really nothing more we can do. My friends and I will stay until we’ve taken care of Nash. Once he’s gone, you’ll be able to sleep a little easier.”
“Perhaps we can help you with your problems too. I doubt Gabriel’s father expected you to seek help from the local werewolf pack. That gives us an advantage. I can ask my people to keep an eye out for him as well as Nash.”
“Thank you,” I breathed, relief crashing into me. “I would really appreciate that.”
“Of course. Now?—”
My stomach chose that moment to protest very loudly. I winced and stared at my belly, offended.
Chuckling, Aimee rose from her seat. “How about I make us something to eat?”
“I would appreciate that as well,” I said, laughing with her.
“Trust me,” Aimee said, winking. “I know firsthand just how insistent our wolves can get when they’re hungry.”
* * *
It didn’t take longbefore the heavenly scent of pancakes, bacon, and eggs lured others into the kitchen—others with appetites as wolfish as mine. There were enough chairs for Lucy, Sam, Aimee, and me, but the poor table all but bowed beneath the weight of food. A weight soon made lighter by our never-sated tummies.
Only after I’d had my fill did I sit back with a sigh. Lucy glanced my way and chuckled at the sight of my distended stomach.
“It’s good to have you home, Sam,” Aimee said. “I’ve missed having my big brother around to annoy.”
Lucy and I laughed at the mischievous glint in Aimee’s eyes. Sam merely shook his head, clearly used to his little sister’s antics.
“Where are Fynn and Annalise?” In all the drama yesterday, I hadn’t found the chance to ask about my niece and nephew.
“With Vlad and Anna,” Lucy said. “And Cole during the day. We didn’t want to bring them in case…”
In case something very bad happened. Yeah, I could understand that. I would hate it if Gabriel’s and my drama brought harm to the kids.
“Cole’s okay with that? I assume he’s taking care of the pack in your absence too?”
“He’s fine with it. The kids think of him as an uncle, anyway. And the pack pretty much manages itself these days,” Sam said.
I had to bite back a smile. When Sam and Cole first met, they hadn’t exactly gotten along. Cole was Lucy’s second in command, and he’d been determined to teach Lucy how to fight. Which meant she’d suffered some lumps, bumps, and bruises along the way. Sam hadn’t appreciated his methods at the time. It’d caused some tension among Lucy’s mate and second. Now, they were chummier than ever. I would dare say Sam even considered him one of his closest friends, alongside Vlad, which was even stranger, considering those two had loathed each other before Anna and Lucy ever stepped foot in their lives.
“And what about Avery?” I asked, since she hadn’t joined us at the breakfast table.
“I sent her to the pack doctor last night. I wanted her checked over for any injuries. Last I heard, they’ll be here in a few hours to discuss the game plan.”
“Did the doctor clear her health?” Lucy inquired.
Aimee nodded. “Thankfully, no lasting damage. She needed a good meal and a fair bit of rest, but whatever that vile leech did to her, it thankfully wasn’t permanent.”
The table fell quiet for a moment before Aimee glanced at me. “Avery informed me that you checked all the rooms before leaving the warehouse. And you didn’t find anyone else?”
I shook my head, my mood darkening as I thought about that hellhole of a place. “Once I realized the warehouse was being used to hold werewolves, I checked every room I saw. Now, I won’t deny the possibility that there could have been rooms elsewhere. We hardly had the time for a thorough investigation. But there was no one else in our section of the building.”
If I hadn’t been watching Aimee so closely, I might not have noticed the slight droop of her shoulders. She must have been hoping to find her other three missing pack members.
“Avery told me that Nash went into great detail about what he, uh, did to the other werewolves,” I said. “It sounded…well…” I drew a deep breath and blurted out what she needed to hear. She was the alpha, after all. “It sounded like there weren’t any other survivors.”
Aimee gave a slow nod. “I suppose, in a way, I should be grateful for that. No survivors means no one else is suffering at that lunatic’s hands. Did Avery tell you anything else? We haven’t been able to chat in depth yet. I was more concerned about her wellbeing at the time.”
“She wasn’t able to give me too much information, either. But from what she did divulge, I got the sense that this vampire enjoys what he’s doing. When we were escaping, we came across a storage area filled to the brim with cages exactly like the ones that had held me, Avery, and Gabriel. These cages…”
I shuddered as the memories came over me. But rather than hide from them, I embraced them. I had no reason to fear them anymore.
“Nash designed those cages specifically to hold werewolves. I could shift and stand up in them. I had a little room for maneuverability, but not enough room to do any damage. The reinforced steel bars didn’t budge, no matter how hard I threw myself at them.”
Lucy took my hand and squeezed it. I appreciate the gesture, but I didn’t need it.
“The room we were in was more like a prison cell. Concrete walls and floor. No windows. One door in and out. Gabriel and I only managed to escape because the guards didn’t expect to find him awake when they came to inject him with his next dose of holy water. We surprised them, then managed to free ourselves.”
Aimee listened intently, nodding when appropriate. Her gaze was distant, but I had a feeling she was memorizing every word I said, perhaps even picturing it in her head.
“This vampire has so many of these cages,” I continued. “Too many to count. The only conclusion I could come to was?—”
“He’s selling them,” Aimee murmured. “If every other room already had a cage in it, like you said, then why the stockpile?”
I nodded, silently agreeing with her.
“And if he’s selling them, then who’s he selling them to?” Sam added.
“Other vampires?” I suggested. “Who else would want to hold a werewolf?”
“Hunters,” Lucy said. “Poachers. I bet a werewolf pelt goes for quite a bit on the black market.”
“Transportation too,” Sam said. “If you’re trafficking in a rare commodity like a werewolf, you need to have the means to move them.”
“And the space to keep a few for yourself,” Lucy finished.
I stared at the two of them, hating every word they said, but knowing it was likely all true.
“Which means there’s a network out there,” Aimee provided. “There must be a client list somewhere.”
“That would make sense,” I said. “I wondered how Adrian was involved. Maybe he wasn’t involved, per se. But maybe he knew of Nash and Nash’s unique product.”
“Calls Nash up and says, ‘Hey, I have a werewolf I need to hold for a few days.’”
I nodded. “It adds up.”
“But it does beg one question,” Aimee said. Only when she had our full attention did she speak it aloud. “How much does Gabriel know about these cages?”