FERAL BLOOD

THE ENEMY

Alaric Dickson gave his second in command a steely glare as they left from the Gathering. He was still unsure if he’d made out Greg's whispered comment correctly. They stepped into the privacy of the lodge Derrick Timber had given him as accommodations while he was here.

“What do you mean, she's gone,” He growled.

“She was taken by the Feral pack two nights ago. All four of the guards were killed along with three others from our pack,” Greg told him.

“How the hell did this happen?” He snapped barely containing his rage.

“They had a sniper.”

“What are they asking in return for her?” He demanded to know. His balled fists trembled. Alaric was barely containing his rage.

“They're not asking for a ransom,” Greg explained

“So why the hell did they take her?” He asked, exasperated with his Beta.

“Well...she was mated,” Greg said in a near whisper.

“What, Who?” His voice boomed in the large open combined living room and kitchen area.

“Victor Feral,” His beta said.

“To their Alpha. Was she willingly?” Alaric’s hands shook harder at the thought of his child being harmed.

“We believe she was forced into it.”

The utter horror that washed over him left a void in his chest. Only once in his life had he ever felt like this. That was when Mica’s mother died in childbirth. The feeling quickly became a blinding rage. “You know what to do,” He growled the words out. “I want him dead,”

“What about the laws?” Greg asked.

“To hell with the laws. Victor crossed the line by taking my daughter.” He roared. He took several deep breaths to try and calm himself down Alaric noticed his Beta seemed rather calm giving this news. He’d at one time wished to court Mica.

“Now I need to go explain to Derrick just what is going on before he hears it from someone else. This Alliance will only happen if Mica is mated to Jamie,” Alaric said a bit more calmly.

“The meetings will be over in a week, by then Mica will be back home and the Feral pack dealt with,” Greg reassured him and he turned and walked out of the room.

The overwhelming feelings of anger, guilt, and helplessness ran through him. He struggled to calm himself down in order to call Derrick. This was one of his nightmares come true. He’d left her and someone was able to hurt her. Alaric felt as if he’d failed his daughter by not being there to protect her when she needed him. He inhaled deeply again. He knew his Beta would make sure his daughter was returned back to him and Victor was dealt with.

Greg was a trained navy seal like most of his pack members. Alaric had made sure they had some sort of specialized training. His pack contained maybe twenty males, ten kinfolk female mates, and almost twenty-three pups of various ages, however, most of those were kinfolk like their mothers. They had only had the one She-wolf, his daughter Mica. Her mother too had been a she-wolf. The pain of that loss still wore heavy on his heart. Mica was all he’d left and now someone had taken her.

Without another moment's hesitation, he grabbed the phone to call Jamie's father. Mica as a she-wolf would ensure werewolf offspring were born to Jamie and that secured the linage of Derrick's bloodline. Without a she-wolf, there were no guarantees that a child would become a werewolf. That made his daughter priceless. He knew this mating was important to Derrick and his pack. Just as much as the Alliance was to Alaric. The Timber pack was plentiful with nearly twice as many werewolf males but not a single she-wolf. It would be good to have them on their side as tensions were mounting between several of the packs in the area.

* * * ~~~ * * *

Greg walked into his hotel room and tossed his jacket on the bed. He had stopped by the Chinese restaurant on his way and now as he put the bag on the small desk he didn't feel as hungry as he had been. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out and answered it. “Yeah”

“They agreed to the Alliance, subject to termination if Mica isn't presented to Jamie by the time he arrives back from his stint overseas,” Alaric said in a stony tone.

“That's not for another month,” Greg exclaimed.

“No, four months now apparently.”

“But Alaric that’s too long to wait,” He said. He couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Yes I know, but now at least we can try and avoid a full out conflict,” Alaric said. He sounded calmer than he’d been earlier. Not so willing anymore to spill the blood of his daughter’s mate and be guilty of breaking the laws.

“What do you want me to do?” He asked.

“Nothing yet. We will set up a meeting with Victor Feral for the return of Mica and go from there,” He explained

“But Alaric he forced her to “

“Enough, I told you what it was we were doing. Now we are to meet with Derrick first thing in the morning so make sure you’re there early,” He snapped before hanging up.

Greg growled as he tossed his uneaten supper into the garbage. He wanted to kill Victor right now. Alaric was being a pacifist again, unwilling to even defend his daughter's honor. The man didn't deserve to be Alpha, he fumed to himself. He went to his laptop and turned it on before he opened his secondary cell phone and made the call.

“Natasha,” He said. “Yeah, it's done.”

“Well, this is earlier than expected. Good and Greg if this doesn't work He will be very upset,” She told him.

“I know what I'm doing. You just keep up your end of the deal,” He told her then hung up the phone.

Greg hacked into Alaric's email again to inspect the communication he needed to intercept. One new email was there. It was only a short missive from a pack farther south. The Valtor's were interested in setting up a meeting with Alaric at his earliest opportunity. It needed to be deleted. No other pack was to get involved until after Greg was Alpha. The one message from Victor Feral he had saved to a thumb drive. It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to sit and watch. Not because Victor forced himself on Mica as Greg had told Alaric, but because Mica had actually accepted the mating of their enemy. He didn’t understand why she’d laid Claim to Victor.

It wouldn't matter soon enough though. When the dust settled he’d be Alpha of the pack and Mica would be his. Everything had been going to plan right up until Victor had taken her. It threw a slight monkey wrench in his plans, but in the end, he knew it would actually work to his advantage. His cell phone rang breaking his thoughts and he saw it was Natasha. He answered it. “Yes.”

“Change of plans,” She told him. “He wants the female.”

“That wasn't part of the deal,” He stammered.

“Listen Greg it wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. Now get your act together or you know what will happen,” She said coldly. The woman slammed the phone down, hanging up on him.

Greg stared down at the phone in his hand. This was not what he’d wanted to happen. Part of his reason for dealing with these people was Mica. The other was his brother Benjamin, now he could very well lose both if he messed this up. He needed to make a backup plan. One that would make sure he actually got what he wanted out of this and didn’t get his little brother killed in the process.

* * * ~~~ * * *

Frank Valtor stepped into his home and headed for the large kitchen. The squeals of laughter filtering up from the basement playroom told him most of his kids were down there playing. He smiled at the sounds. It was a blessing to have so many healthy, happy children and he was so very proud of them all. As he looked to the kitchen table he saw his wife Ajei sitting there. The newest addition to his family was cradled asleep in her arms. “Hey honey,” She said.

“How is he now?” Frank asked. After the late-night with a fussing newborn, he knew she must be tired.

“He’s finally asleep,” She said with a broad smile that made her coal-black eyes shine.

“You should go take a nap. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Frank offered as he took his son from her arms.

She laughed lightly and stood. “I’ll make some coffee,” She said. “We need to talk.”

“You need sleep, talking can wait till after you’ve had a nap,” He said. Ajei gave him a hard look that told him it wasn’t his wife who wanted to talk but the Alpha b***h. He knew better than to argue with her when she was like this.

Just as Frank sat down at the table, the back door flew open and his eldest son rushed in. Nick had a look of mischief on his face as he raced by the table. A moment later Shea burst through the back door. She was soaked from head to toe. Bits and pieces of a broken water balloon were stuck in his eldest daughter's long black hair, her eye makeup ran in black streaks down her cheeks. She looked furious. “Nick,” she yelled and the baby cried.

“Shea,” Ajei snapped.

“Oh damn, I’m sorry mom,” Shea said apologetically. She still looked ready to kill her brother.

“Go get dried off. Then you can take your baby brother for a bit,” Ajei said.

“But mom he—”

“I know he hit you with a water balloon. You’re not sugar you won’t melt. Besides, you’ll get him back later.”

As Ajei defused the situation, Frank tried to get the baby back to sleep while he waited for Shea to get dried off and changed. When she returned, he handed Ash over to her and watched her take him downstairs to the playroom.

“So what’s so important that it can’t wait?” he asked.

“It’s about the girl,” Ajei said.

“What about her?”

“She’s been mated to another,” Ajei told him. Frank looked at her hard. Sometime after he’d left this morning his wife must have had another vision. That meant his petition to the Dickson pack had been a waste of time.

“So we change our plans then,” He stated.

“Yes, we need to wait though. Her mate will contact you when the time is right. Until then things will have to play out the way they were meant to,” She explained.

He wondered why Ajei had a sour look on her face as she told him all this. Frank knew this Mica was extremely important to the future of their race. But his wife was vague on the details of it. All she’d told him was that their youngest son would have to mate Mica’s firstborn. Then the tides of change would begin, but even he knew fate was sometimes cruel and there was little one could do to change it. The look on Ajei’s face told him she hadn’t liked whatever it was she’d seen in her latest vision, and he knew better than to ask.

Ajei would only tell him what her spirits guides would allow. That made things a bit unnerving at times. Then again, at other times the spirits were extremely forthcoming with their information. Which had given his pack an advantage others didn’t have. The Shaman’s of the Valtor pack, all female kinfolk, had a reputation as being dangerous to cross. It was true. When one of the women took over their spirit animals; the result was an indestructible killing force. No one he’d ever heard of was able to defend against one of them.