Second Chance Mate (The Force - Book 2)

Chapter 3

It had been two weeks since Mace and Jessica returned to the estate alive. Two weeks since, The Force lost its opportunity to take out Cain. Cain, an old Vampire who has lived for over two centuries, escaped from The Colony, an underground prison governed by The Royal Courts. Some of the most dangerous and oldest Vampires and a few feral Werewolves were held captive in The Colony. Mostly for testing and whatever research they were doing. At least, that’s what everyone thought – trying to find a cure for the disease.

After Cain and the other prisoners broke out a few months ago, The Force was tasked with capturing and bringing back Cain. Mace had every intention of capturing him, but he would not bring him back alive. Especially not after he almost lost his mate to him. His line of work was dangerous and s**t happened.

All of Mace’s pack members had finished relocating to the estate, an idea his mate had, bringing his pack members together, taking a traditional approach. When she first suggested the idea, he wasn’t sure how his pack would react. To his surprise, they were eager to come together.

Sitting in the conference room with his warriors, they needed to re-strategize. Information they learned from recovering Jessica after she was taken was disturbing. In the past, Vampires only had one, maybe two bondservants; one or two Vampires they turned to make up their Coven. What they experienced a few weeks ago, was a small army of bondservants and newly turned Vampires, which they had never experienced before. And Mace knew there were more.

The Coven was not prepared to face his pack. They were not trained. Mace needed to find Cain’s Coven and take them out while they were still vulnerable, before they became stronger.

What made matters worse, the newborns were under his control. A newborn Vampire had an extreme craving for blood and often went on a killing spree. A feeding frenzy took over until their body completely adjusted to the disease.

“But this doesn’t make sense. How could Cain control newborns? Why were they not out hunting for blood, instead they were housed up in the abandoned building?” It wasn’t until Victoria killed Gabe and his blood seeped through the wooden floors, enticing the Vampires to come out of hiding.

Mace thought a lot about how this could have occurred. “The only explanation is that whatever testing they did at The Colony must have enhanced Cain’s ability to control bloodlust for himself and those he turns.” It didn’t make any sense, but there was no other explanation. Everything The Colony did was top secret. “D have you been able to break into their servers to see if you can find out any information indicating what they’ve been up to?”

Shaking his head in disappointment, “So far no. Whatever they have been doing they haven’t stored electronically, at least not what I can find.”

Marcus interjected, “The King called for an update on our progress with Cain. Do you think we should share what we’ve learned?”

Werewolf packs all had Alphas. Mace was The Force’s Alpha and leader. Packs had territories they governed. All territories resided in a region ruled by a King and sometimes a Queen. In North America, the regions were divided into four: north, south, east, and west. Each region had appointed packs to carry out and enforce laws overseeing other territories. Often, larger packs enforced the King’s laws with smaller territories – packs. The Force was one of the packs the King appointed in the south.

Mace thought about how to handle his king. Being that The Colony was the one responsible for keeping Cain in captivity for over a century and was responsible for letting him get out and wreak havoc in his territory was a complication. Especially because The Colony was governed by the Royals.

“No, let’s keep what we’ve learned to ourselves, for now. We will share the information when the time is right. For now, just tell him we thought we had a trace on Cain, but the lead fell short.”

There were dire consequences lying to the King. He was not one to be messed with. But what they would report was technically true. If it wasn’t for Cain pushing Jessica off of the top of the building and Mace having to go after her to save her, they would have had him.

“You can give him an update on the number of Vampires we killed to show him we are still making progress.” That should keep him somewhat satisfied, for now.

“Any other updates before we move on to our new assignments?” Mace scanned the room.

Ajax sat up straight in his seat. Even though he was responsible for Jessica being taken under his watch a few weeks ago, he redeemed himself when the pack was set up in an ambush. He has never worked so hard to earn his Alpha’s respect back, nor would he ever stop trying. “The Royal Court’s warrior training program is having their examination today. I scouted out the candidates, a few promising warriors. If some of them do not pass, it might be worth looking at recruiting them. Maybe even assist with updating our training program.”

Mace nodded, acknowledging Ajax as he sat back down and sighed. “We need to look at new assignments and teams for rotations.” The Force was responsible for taking care of the Vampire infestation problem in their territory and neighboring territories. Now learning Cain was building his own Coven, an army of Vampires and bondservants, Mace needed to adjust how they were going about their duty.

It was not likely Cain would be carrying out such a large undertaking in the city. No, he needed somewhere remote to do whatever it was he was doing to go unnoticed. Plus, if a newborn got out, it would be easier for him to control any clean up in a remote area than a large city. Mace shared his new duty assignments and teams. He didn’t eliminate the city, but he was funneling the majority of his resources to more remote areas and smaller towns.

Hunter looked at the new strategy and he thought it was a good plan. Looking over the map, he thought to himself – if he was Cain, where would he be hiding? Hunter pointed to the northern part of the territory, “I will take this area with my team.” Mace looked up at him. He had originally assigned him to the city. He knew the city inside and out and could cover a lot of ground faster than other teams. The look of determination in his eyes told Mace he was going north with or without his permission.

“Alright, I’ll make the change. We start the new rotations and schedules tomorrow.” Looking back at the map, Mace wondered why he picked this area out of the others. It was the closest part of their territory to the King’s land. Why would he want to be so close to the King’s court or training area? Hunter was his best tracker, he trusted his instincts.

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