The Alpha's Daughter (40 page)

Mate! Her wolf's snarl had her head jerking
up to find Griz.

He was on his feet and running toward the
other stalker, another of Cho's crew. This one had no gun to make
him feel brave and the sight of the ghostly Griz charging through
the trees made him lose confidence in the knife he carried. He
glanced at his downed partner and raised his hands too late. Griz
ignored the offer of surrender. His fist plowed into the young
wolvers face, splattering his nose with a painful crunch.

Jazz ran to her dress and tossed it over her
head as she ran back to Griz.

"Go! I'll catch up," he shouted. "I'll catch
up. Pack first."

This time she obeyed and ran for the village.
Her mate was alive and safe though blood still ran from the wound
at his side. She could hear the Alpha's weakening call and feel the
fear of the women. The few old men who had stayed behind would mean
nothing if it was her father and his men confronting them. Who knew
how many of Cho's men he had sent into the woods to find them. They
were more familiar with the territory than his own wolvers would
be.

How far away were the wolvers of the pack who
had gone over the moon? It could be miles. Donna had laughingly
assured her that the running wolvers were very polite. They always
gave a newly mated pair as wide a berth as possible since new mated
lovemaking could get pretty loud and sound carried well in the dark
of night.

Tonight, Jazz wished they were rude and
inconsiderate. At least they'd be nearby. She ignored the stones
and twigs digging into her feet as she ran down the road and around
the curve. The fear became almost overwhelming and knowing she
couldn't allow that to happen, she slowed long enough to find the
room in her mind where she could shut the fear down and lock it
away.

She saw a man lying prone on the ground with
three women kneeling over him and Jazz knew immediately who it was
by the bright blue bib overalls he wore. Milt, the Alpha's Second,
had worn the new overalls in honor of the occasion. The woman in
the middle was his mate held by the twins to either side.

The Alpha was on his knees, struggling to
rise. The Mate struggled to support him. Why was no one helping
him? Why would no one step forward? Or was that what happened to
poor Milt?

Jazz slowed to a walk to give herself time to
catch her breath and assess the situation. She saw no sign of her
father or his men, only Cho Seaward and Cho, she hoped, could be
handled. Her relief was short lived when she saw the armed men with
him.

"Well look who finally arrived back to the
safety of her pack. Hey there, Bitch Queen. Have a nice night?" he
asked, taking in her blood smeared dress. He sauntered toward her,
waving the handgun he held. He called back to the crowd, "She's the
reason I'm here. Her and him."

He threw back his head toward the porch. Jazz
followed the motion to where Opal's cubs huddled in the corner and
Brad lay sprawled, his head cradled by a crying Livvy. Blood
stained the newly painted boards. Ellie sat beside her daughter
holding a towel to the young wolver's wound. Jazz let out a slow
breath of relief. Brad was still alive.

"They took away every fucking thing I wanted.
They took away my fucking pack."

"You didn't have a pack, Cho. All you had was
a band of rogues your father leads." Jazz wanted to keep his focus
on her before someone else got hurt.

"I was chosen to lead them! I knew that when
I was a pup. I told them I was chosen and my brother was my second.
I was chosen to be their Alpha. Your father even said so. He said
he'd show me how."

So it wasn't the father that named them.
Those wolvers probably thought it was cute back then, a pup telling
them he was chosen. She wondered how many of them thought it was
cute now. Her eyes flicked over the crowd, counting. There were
five that she could see, but the way the women and children were
pressed forward, there had to be more at the back.

Jazz smiled at Cho's stupidity. Her father
would say whatever needed to be said to get the job done. "My
father lies."

A backhand to the face was her answer. "Don't
you think I know that? The fucking bastard told me he wouldn't
help. Told me you were the deal, not me. You fucked me over again,
bitch. Now it's my turn. I have the Mate."

Jazz touched the corner of her mouth that had
split with his blow and turned away from the spittle that sprayed
her cheek. "And you think you can trade me for the mantle? Good
luck with that. My father doesn't have the power to grant you the
mantle and you don't have the balls to carry it. It wasn't me
fucked you over. It wasn't your brother fucked you either. You did
that all by yourself. Jeremy."

This time when he swung, she ducked and drove
her shoulder into his stomach. He grunted and fell back and it was
then she should have driven her foot into his face. The skirt of
the white silk dress prevented that. Jazz had to settle for a left
hook to the jaw. It landed with a satisfying crack.

Cho raised his gun and his fist. Jazz thought
he meant to threaten her to stillness so he could strike her again,
but it was a signal to one of his men.

"Another," he shouted.

The man standing alongside the porch raised
his gun and fired randomly into the crowd. A woman screamed. Others
followed. Several went to the fallen women. Donna, who Jazz hadn't
seen before, reached for the Alpha."

Cho waved his gun like a wagging finger in
Donna's direction. "Ah, ah, leave him to the old woman. If your
mighty Alpha can't stand the heat, he'll have to…" Cho shrugged,
"Die?" He laughed at his cleverness.

"Murdering women. There's a leader to be
proud of. Coward!" Jazz shouted at him. "Too afraid to face down
defenseless women and old men in a fight." She spat at his feet,
her spittle pink with her blood, but knew that she had lost. She
wouldn't sacrifice another wolver to this fight. The men of the
pack were coming and Griz would be here soon.

"
Keep them busy. Help comes."

Griz's voice in her mind sounded weaker than
it had before. She wasn't sure how this head thing worked. Was what
you heard in the voice what was true or could you hide what you
felt as you could when face to face.

"
Got it handled
," she sent back with
a positive lilt.

"
Liar."

Keep them busy, Griz said. "So, Cho, what's
the plan?" she asked like she really wanted to know. "Let the Alpha
die and a great big purple cape falls from the sky to the Chosen
One's shoulders? Or do you think shooting more helpless women will
make that happen."

"You think you're so funny. You think you're
so smart," Cho sneered and then he laughed. "I'll take this pack
and your father's, too. I'll have his Alpha's daughter as my
Mate."

Jazz laughed while her stomach churned at the
thought. "That and a dollar won't get you in the door at Starbucks.
My father has no love for his daughter. He thinks of me as a
bargaining chip and his bargain won't be with the likes of you.
You'll be dead before you can say, 'Hi, Dad!'"

"Do you think I'm a fool?" he shouted and
Jazz hoped like hell he didn't expect an answer. "I'll give him
something he wants more than you or an Alpha for his goddamned
pack. I'll give him a grandson to rule after me. He wants that. He
made the offer to my father, but my father, the fool, turned him
down. I won't."

The Alpha rose up to his full height and Jazz
knew the others must be near. She wanted to cheer, but she couldn't
give the game away. She stared at Cho pretending horror at what he
said. It wasn't hard. What he was saying was horrible.

"I thought I'd have to wait. I thought I'd
have to rot in this shithole and wait for my Queen Bitch to go into
heat," he said of the place he professed a wish to rule and the
woman he planned to take as his Mate. His sniff was long and loud
and disgusting. "But I won't have to, will I?"

Jazz's wolf bared her teeth and Jazz could
feel her clawing for release. Her wolf wanted to tear apart this
sonofabitch who dared to think she would mate with him.

When the Alpha spoke, all eyes, even those of
Cho's crew, turned to him. His power was waning, but no wolver
could turn away. "If you want my pack, Challenge for it."

"Alpha, no!" Jazz shouted, but the Alpha's
gaze was directed at Cho, who to Jazz's amazement, hesitated. He
had obviously never felt an Alpha's power before. Jazz wondered
what he'd do the first time he met an Alpha in his prime.

Voices echoed her protest and Jazz turned to
the Mate, but Miz Mary only offered a pain filled nod and stepped
back from the man she'd fallen in love with over seventy years ago.
She would support him now as she had then, with her shoulders back
and her head held high. The only sign of what she felt was in the
way she gripped the staunch Donna's hand.

It was a snapshot in time that Jazz would
remember for the rest of her life. She had no time to savor the
moment. All hell broke loose.

The Alpha's light flashed as he changed to
wolf. The change should have been too quick for the eye to see and
his light should have been blinding in its intensity. It was
another sign of his growing weakness that his change occurred so
slowly in a glow that was more moon than blazing star. It was
fascinating, yet heart wrenching to watch the old man's body
elongate and contract and reform itself into an aged wolf that
stood like the old man himself, weakened but proud.

Up on the porch, Ellie screamed as the screen
door slammed and her daughter was violently yanked to her feet by
her hair.

"Where is she?" There was no mistaking who
this man was or who it was he wanted. Opal's mate, Ray, had been
searching the house for the once again missing woman.

The scream seemed to awaken Cho, who along
with everyone else, was captivated by the old Alpha's display. He
shouted, "I Challenge for the Pack!" and instantly went over the
moon to become a young and healthy male wolf. The sudden light of
his transformation had barely faded before he leapt at the old
Alpha.

"No!" Jazz shouted at the sudden attack.

"
Down
!" came the order in her
head.

Without thinking, Jazz fell forward and
flattened her body against the road as a great golden brown body
soared over her. No one could make that leap so far and so fast and
yet Griz did it, soaring over the ground as if his wolf had
wings.

Like lightening striking the highest point in
a barren field, Griz landed atop the upstart wolver attacking the
aged Alpha. The force of the collision sent the younger wolf
tumbling away surrounded by the ball of fury that Griz had become.
Cho's frightened screams brought him no mercy. He had unlawfully
challenged the Alpha and now faced the wrath of the Alpha's
champion. There was only one way it could end.

A small army of men and wolves exploded from
behind the house, surrounding and charging the armed men that held
their women hostage. Gunshots were fired and chaos erupted as
enraged Gilead wolvers descended on Cho's followers. Flashes of
light burst in the midst of it all like fire crackers at a crowded
fair.

Pack Law declared that wolf must not fight
man, nor man, wolf. It was a primal law and so ingrained that some
of Cho's men who were willing to kidnap and murder, were hesitant
to break it. Several dropped their weapons and flashed to wolf.

Jazz dove for the man standing a few feet
away pointing the barrel of his rifle into the crowd. She drove the
barrel up with her right hand and felt the heat of the blast. The
sharp crack of sound lanced through her sensitive ears. The
would-be shooter tried to wrest the gun from her. His eyes widened
at her vicious grin when, nose to nose, she used the force of his
tug against him and forced the wooden butt up and into his throat.
He coughed, choked, and relaxed his grip on the gun. His mistake.
The next thing he saw was the barrel pointing at his chest.

"Not used to little girls fighting back, are
you?" Quick as a wolver's flash, Jazz flipped the rifle and used it
as a club, catching the wolver with a full swing behind the ear. He
collapsed to the ground. "That'll teach ya," she said and turned to
find her next target.

All around her, women cried out and reached
for the nearest pups, protecting what was most precious to the
pack. Some ran with them for the safe haven of the trees. Others
formed shields with their bodies, kneeling in groups of threes and
fours over the terrified pups beneath. Not all shied away from the
fight. Didi Haines sat on the chest of one rough character held
flat by four other young women. She held the heel of her five inch
stiletto under the man's nose and threatened to use it as a
probe.

"Not so quick with your grubby little paws
now, are you?" she bellowed at him. "Paybacks are hell, huh?"

A scream drew Jazz's attention to the porch
where a wounded Brad was fending off a snarling wolf in defense of
Livvy and her mother. Ellie's shirt was torn and spattered with
blood and a crooked line of red dripped from Livvy's forehead.
Brad's right arm was torn and hanging limp at his side. Opal's mate
was not one to follow the laws of man or beast. Ray's wolf was as
insanely frenzied as his human.

"Griz!" Jazz shouted, sure he'd made short
work of the cowardly Cho, "Help me!"

She ran toward Brad, expecting Griz to come
roaring in or at least to send one of the others to fight off
Opal's rabid dog mate. She felt the familiar tingle of change. The
Alpha had heard her call. Once again, she was caught on the run,
but this time she pushed off and the stairs to the porch were a
blur beneath her as she went over the moon and became wolf.