After the Moon Rises (14 page)

Landa sucked in a breath as the ribbons of magic dissipated into the air. Zane slumped against the wall and Margie raced to his side, kicking the torc out of the way.

“Zane! Are you okay?” Margie grabbed his arm and shook it, watching as his chest rose and fell. At least he lived.

“Is he ... well?” Landa gasped, crawling to where Zane lay.

“He’s breathing. What did you do? I’ve never seen a spell like that.”

“It was different than the band I wore. The magic was more ingrained with his essence. I’m not sure how he’ll be when he wakes.”

“How he’ll be?”

“Sid trapped their powers, his enforcers. They all should have been alphas, but the torcs suppressed and contained their powers. When I removed the torc, the barrier to Zane’s powers was removed, but I’m not sure if that means his alpha powers were also removed, or if they are ... coming online so to speak.”

Zane moaned and Margie rubbed his arm. “Zane?”

His eyelids fluttered, opening with all the speed of a turtle. “What—”

“Landa removed the torc.” Margie stroked the hair off his forehead. “How do you feel?”

His forehead knotted into a collage of lines. “Like all my blood was drained and replaced with fire.” He struggled to sit upright, waving off Margie’s hand. “But it’s starting to feel better.”

“The torc is gone, but I’m not sure what happened to your alpha powers.” Landa fisted her hands in her lap. “You’re free of Sid, but I just don’t know about the rest of it.”

Zane’s fingers grasped Margie’s, his thumb running over her knuckles. He gave her a wink, a half smile on his lips. “Thank you for getting it off, Landa. Whatever happens, at least I’m free of Sid.”

“Do you feel like coming to the pack meeting?” Margie patted the back of his hand.

One eyebrow tried to meet his hairline. “Of course.”

Males. Shoot them with bullets, zap them with magic ribbons and they keep right on going, pretending there were no problems. No matter what you did to them, their response remained, “it’s merely a flesh wound, no big deal.” It might be annoying if she didn’t have so much respect for him.

She’d probably still be ass down on the ground instead of getting to her feet like Zane.

He put a muscular arm around her shoulders, drawing her against him. Small tremors ran from his arm into her shoulders as he reached a hand to help Landa up.

Ah, so he wasn’t as impervious as he seemed.

Margie opened the door, glancing over her shoulder at Landa, catching the blonde with her hands behind her back. Landa’s eyes popped wide seconds before she dropped her gaze and brought her hands to her front, straightening her shirt. If not for the flash of guilt crossing her face, there wouldn’t have been anything unusual in the gesture.

Don’t-ask-don’t-tell might be repealed, but she couldn’t hold up the pack meeting to discover what Landa had going on. For all Margie knew, she caught the blonde scratching her bum.

“I’ll close the door, alpha.”

Right, she might want to get a move on instead of standing in the hall staring into her office.

“Thanks, Landa.”

Margie held onto Zane’s waist as they walked down the hall, Landa walking a respectful distance behind them. The farther they walked, the stronger Zane became, until his arm no longer shook and he didn’t need to lean on her.

But he still kept an arm around her shoulders.

She liked the heavy feel of his arm, liked the heat as it radiated into her body. Maybe it was the hormones, or maybe it was the male, but she wanted this mating.

Obviously the hormones talking, as she didn’t want to give up the running of her pack. This was her pack. Not his. Selfish? Most definitely. But then, she’d done a good job running it, if she said so herself.

When her father died, and she fought for alpha status, she had to prove herself, like every new pack leader. Just because she had been the previous alpha’s daughter, didn’t mean she had a free ride to the leader’s chair. Nope. She’d worked hard to inspire trust and gain respect.

It might be selfish, but she didn’t want to share.

She wanted her pack and her mate. Was that too much to ask? Apparently so. Guess it was time to learn how to share.

“Where’s this basketball court?” Zane’s eyes twinkled at her.

Why did he have to go all smiling and twinkling-eyed? Her insides melted with one glance from him. With any luck Sid would be gone soon, meaning she and Zane could finish what they’d started in the infirmary.

Margie let the smile break over her face. “It’s in the gym. We’re in the main ranch house now. The gym’s a couple hundred yards in the back.”

Dropping her arm from around Zane’s waist, she pushed open the door leading to the outside. Zane caught it, holding it open for Landa, his arm falling back to his side. Residual heat slipped away from her shoulders, leaving her chilled in the evening air.

In one day she’d gone from never wanting a mate, to being unable to imagine life without one. Wouldn’t the elders be pleased? She’d find the answer to that question in just a moment.

The sound of her pack’s voices reached her ears before she touched the door to the gym. Zane held the door open for her to walk through and she marched into the chaos of voices, he and Landa trailing behind.

Her pack of forty sat on bleachers, their nervous voices rising and falling like the hum of insects on a hot summer day. Some knew what was happening, others only knew about Mike’s injuries, and all were worried. She rarely called meetings like this. The last one had been when the pack tried to take Elizabeth, Tom’s daughter, to live with them.

The biggest mistake of her leadership. Embarrassment still stained her cheeks at the thought. What she had been thinking was clear. How those thoughts translated into actions were another matter. Her reasons remained. All werewolves should band together, live together, not apart.

That’s why she sent Big G and Jace to have Elizabeth returned to the pack. Elizabeth would turn furry while Tom never had. It had been her mistake to assume Tom knew why Big G and Jace had come for the girl. How was she supposed to know that Tom’s mother never explained his recessed werewolf genetics? Margie rarely saw Tom and the grocery store aisle was not the place for a conversation on their heritage.

Luckily for her everything turned out well. Apologizes were made and accepted. Tom mated Vonda and the mating caused his werewolf genetics to come front and center. The two were now cherished members of the pack. Although Margie was glad to note they weren’t here. Unlike the rest of her pack, they lived on Tom’s ranch.

Tonight she would lead her pack to the edge of danger and hopefully things would go as well as the last time she called a meeting.

Someone saw her and started a wave of silence that rolled through the gym like a blackout. The click of Landa’s boots as she walked across the wooden floor to park it on the front row echoed in the enclosed space. Who imagined she’d ever draw comfort from a mate standing by her side?

Margie sucked down a deep breath, facing her pack. God help them all, they were going to need all the celestial aid they could get.

“Thank you for coming.” As if they had a choice. Alpha spoke and the pack jumped to follow. But still, it paid to be polite. “I have bad news. Perhaps you’ve heard about Mike?” Judging by the murmurs, a good deal of people, if not the whole pack, knew. “Mike was injured by a demented pack leader named Sid. Sid kept Landa chained and she barely escaped him.” Landa’s face flamed as the pack turned her way, shock scattered across their faces.

“Zane, the were we rescued last night, was sent after her, but refuses to return to Sid. Now Sid is here and wants what he thinks is his. We need to stop him. We need to ensure that what he did to Landa never happens to another female. Does anyone have objections to us taking him down?”

Murmurs abounded, but no objections. At least not to Sid.

“How do you know Zane isn’t lying? That this isn’t a trap?”

She expected that question, expected it and knew the answer. Things would change once she opened her mouth. The sharing she feared would start. She was alpha. She was brave. Really. Sharing was a good thing. “Zane’s my mate. I know he’s not lying because I sense no deceit through the mating bond.”

A pack of hunters could have run through the gym and no one would have moved after that little news ditty. The entire pack, from the children to the elders, stared at her like she’d returned from the dead. Then as one their faces morphed into grins as cheers broke out.

Embarrassing. Obviously the elders weren’t the only ones who thought she needed to get a move on the mate hunt. At least they had a bit of happy news before Sid came to break up the party.

“Okay, okay. We’ll talk about that one later. But suffice it to say, I know Zane’s not double crossing us. Sid’s out there. And we’re going to stop him.”

****

Zane watched his mate discuss ways to stop Sid, watched her interaction with her pack.
His pack
. He swallowed. What was up with that dry throat? He wanted to be a pack leader almost as much as he wanted his alpha powers.

Or at least that’s what he enjoyed telling himself.

Outside of internal-fantasyland, he’d rather let Margie lead the pack. It felt more secure that way. Not to mention the rush of knowing his mate had controlled a pack for years all alone.

Margie paced a line in front of the bleachers, answering questions and instructing those who wouldn’t be fighting to help Allen in the infirmary. As he learned earlier in the day, the infirmary was the safest place on the ranch. Not even a pissed off werewolf could get through those locked doors.

He wanted to grab Margie and pitch her into the safety of an exam room.

Somehow he didn’t think she would appreciate the gesture.

For better or for worse they were in this together. On the plus side, listening and watching how she handled her pack would teach him about how to do the same. He needed all the help he could get with pack leadership.

“Zane?”

Shit, instead of imagining himself running the pack, he should be paying attention to what went on around him. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
I’m a daydreaming fidiot.

Margie’s lips turned up as if she heard his inner thoughts. Which in his current state of mind, she very well might. “We were wondering how Sid normally attacks a pack. What’s his MO?”

“He doesn’t do it often. The last time he walked right up to the door, knocked and killed or captured everyone. No sneaking around for him.”

“An egotist?”

“Yep. Overthrowing your pack might not be on his agenda. He wants Landa back and he wants me to return too. You’ll have the element of surprise.”

“Great. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Oh, hell no. No, no, no
. Everything in him cringed as Margie explained how they were going to defeat Sid. His mate would play a leading role. A dangerous role. A role he should be playing. So why wasn’t he front and center in the upcoming battle?

“Margie. With all due respect, I should be the one to draw him out.” Zane crossed his arms and gave her his best glare.

A raised eyebrow was her response to his tough stance. “Maybe. But I have a little secret that will surprise him. The plan goes as stated. Does anyone else have a problem with it?”

Judging by the headshakes and relative silence, no one agreed with him.

Shit.
Until they mated, until their bodies joined as one, he had no right to tell her how to run her pack. No right to insist she not put herself into danger. No rights at all.

Damn shame he didn’t have time to claim those rights.

A wave of humid air laden with the scent of impending rain greeted them as they left the gym, heading for the gravel drive he was told led to the main road. Margie motioned for her enforcers and Landa to follow, but Zane walked beside her, his baby blue slippers sliding through the grass.

“Your idea is insane,” he growled.

Margie placed a hand on his arm. “No, it’s not. Trust me.”

Okay. He could do that.
Right?
Right. Trusting one’s mate went without saying, but watching her put herself in harm’s way was a whole other thing. He had this almost overwhelming urge to insist she not offer herself up for proverbial slaughter. To make a nuisance of himself until she did what he wanted. Zane pressed his lips together and clenched his fists.

Why the hell did he feel this way? This urge to protect, to kill, went way beyond how he had been told males felt when meeting their mate. This urge, this need was totally unlike him.

Your alpha powers are coming out.
Margie’s voice echoed through his head.
You’re more aggressive. Or maybe you’re just turning into one of those overprotective mates?
Humor tinged her voice.

How the fuck did you know what I’m thinking?
Gravel crunched under his slippers as he came to a complete stop in the drive.
Did she read minds
?

Margie continued walking, forcing him to keep up.
Telepathy is a bit tricky as an alpha. It takes awhile to get used to. Watch that your emotions don’t come to the forefront when you see Sid.

What do you mean…a bit tricky?

Margie sighed.
You learned telepathy at puberty, right?

Zane nodded.

You had to learn not to broadcast all your thoughts, how to put up a mental barrier so others didn’t hear you.
She paused.

Go on.
He made a circle motion with his hand.

Well, alphas can communicate the same way with other alphas. Even if the alpha doesn’t lead a pack. It’s like a whole different channel. You have to learn to erect a whole different set of barriers around other alphas.

But not other pack members?

Right. Only alphas. That’s how a pack leader knows which children will be alphas and which ones won’t be. That and the aggressiveness most males show.