Willing Sacrifice (4 page)

Gage opened one of my eyes. "Sorry, I didn't think you would have left any other way."

I looked at my unfamiliar surroundings; I was obviously in some sort of chain hotel of some kind. "You drugged and kidnapped me?"

"It’s just abduction if you’re over eighteen." He said, and he didn't sound the least bit sorry for it.

"Elder Coon can't kill me." I crooked out. "I didn’t break any rules this time."

"Elder Coon doesn't want you dead, Sugar."

I sat up with some effort and leaned my throbbing head against the headboard feeling the tenderness of a lump developing where it touched. "I find that hard to believe." I rubbed the lump gingerly.

Gage sat down on the bed and felt the lump for himself. "I think we'll hold off on calling Elder Coon ’til we get this taken care of. You aren't going to be any good to your pack until you’re healthy.”

"It’s just a little bump, I'll be fine." I straightened up and hitched my chin. "If I could kick your ass I would." I narrowed my eyes at him and growled.

"You're not your old self yet. Putting you in the pack right now would be a suicide mission. You're still in there somewhere." He reached forward and moved a wild curl of hair out of my face. He checked himself nervously and moved to a chair at the desk in the corner of the room near the window.

I thought about what he said. "Do you know why I didn’t die? I don't know if I loved Jack as much as he loved me; maybe that's why? To be completely honest with you we weren't even truly mated. We got married and then he died. He would have been too weak..." I shrugged, embarrassed about saying it all out loud.

He leaned back, looking a little shocked, but quickly changed the subject. "I'll go get you something for your headache."

I got up and headed for the bathroom but stopped just outside the open door. I wanted to see my reflection, but I wasn't sure I could. I hadn't seen my own reflection in anything but dark glass for the better part of fifteen months. I didn't feel like the same person any more, I wasn't sure I could face her again. After everything that had happened I expected to look like a twisted mutilated old hag – not a young woman at all. I had suffered too much to still be young.

Head down I stared at the sink as I flipped the light switch on. I took a deep breath and a feeling as if I were falling came over me as I looked up... My vision was still a little blurry from sleep but I blinked several times at the girl in the mirror. She was scary skinny and a little pale, but she was me.

Gage came back in the room carrying a full bottle of aspirin in his fist. We heal fast as a species; I heal faster because I'm Alpha. This works in our favor because Alpha's tend to fight more and need to be healthy to protect their packs.

He stood back to survey the swelling and I wiggled nervously under his assessing stare. He hardly ever spoke without being prompted and it had me on edge.

"So can I go out to face my adoring public yet?" I asked after he turned away quickly and started picking up pieces of the aspirin bottle’s broken safety seal from the sink without answering me.

“Why don’t you talk to me?” I asked.

When he didn't explain, I grabbed his arm. "You never say anything unless I ask."

"I’m not here for you." He answered simply and pulled his arm away as if my touch burned.

I left the bathroom feeling defeated. There were no scars on the surface, but inside I still felt weak. "Is it because you think I’m ugly?" To be completely honest I wasn’t used to being ignored or disliked by men, women yes but never men. He looked me directly in the eye, something not usually done in our world, and he pinned me in place with that stare but again he didn’t answer me.

He turned and washed his hands under cold water for what seemed like forever before he followed me out of the bathroom, but when he finished he took a breath to speak. "I didn't say you were ugly, but you have gotten the attention of an Alpha, and he's marked you as his.”

Sometimes I couldn’t get used to the lingo, and a phrase like that just brought images of dogs peeing on fire hydrants to mind.

"What does he want?" I asked with some serious concern. I was already considered so different from the rest that I didn't need to add unwanted attention from an Alpha to the list.

I narrowed my eyes when he didn’t answer me. “Why send you?”

"I'm special." He said snidely but when he saw I wouldn't move on the subject he shrugged. "I was chosen because Elder Coon thought that sending someone like me would make it easier on you to return to the pack.”

I shook my head. “You’re bait? She sent you because you’re hot and she thought I’d just run off into the sunset with you without question?”

He shrugged, “She was wrong wasn’t she? The first time you laid eyes on me you tried to kill me.”

“That's why Elder Coon has her claws in you then, because you’re pretty?”

He spared me the nasty look. "She promised to have me trained as an Alpha for the next Challenges. I didn't believe it at first, that she would want to take me under her wing. But then I found out that it came with a price." He shrugged again.

"So, why do you need me? Why don't you go beat up the bad guy by yourself?" I was being petty in my argument but I had a valid point.

"I need to get into his pack. We need to find out what his weaknesses are."

“I don’t care what they are. If you want the pack so bad, just take it.”

"You're not ready to hear the plan yet." He walked out the hotel door and left it open for me to follow. "When you’re ready I'll leave it to Elder Coon to explain."

"Do you like being her pet?" I asked nastily. "It looks to me as if more than one of us is marked." I walked ahead of him taking the flights of stairs one leap down at a time. I felt trapped in what was going on and I was just too scared to run away because being alone to face Jack again was scarier than facing Elder Coon.

Once at the exit to the building I had to wait because I had no idea where we were. "Where are we going," I asked while climbing into his gorgeous very expensive car. I wasn't a pro at guessing specifically what make and model the car was but inside, Aston Marten was embroidered on the two tone leather bucket seats. I tried not to look super impressed. I wondered if he traded his freedom to Elder Coon for this car as well or if it was simply a sign on bonus.

He sighed after starting the car, "I have to call Elder Coon this morning. We’re meeting her in Howland."

And just like that my mood plummeted again.

I got out of the new hotel’s shower to the hushed sound of voices whispering just on the other side of the door. We beat the Elder here so I decided to wash off some of my anxiety along with two days worth of filth. I recognized one voice as being Gage, so I had to assume our Elder Coon was making her personal appearance this afternoon.

I pulled on a fresh tee-shirt over my dirty jeans and tried my best to gear myself up mentally before facing the Elder. As far as a meeting between two dominant wolves went, it was a psychological whirlwind. Everything that was said held undertones of double meaning.

When I opened the bathroom door they were both standing near the large window in the living space of the hotel suite.

"Good morning Elder Coon." I said as more of a statement than welcome.

She looked just as old as I remembered but I could feel strength rolling off of her in waves. She glanced at Gage and waved him out, like a queen dismissing a lowly servant. I didn't watch him leave but she cleared her throat as soon as the door was closed behind him.

I didn't speak, she had come all this way – she could start the conversation. She watched me with a sharp judging gaze before she tilted up her chin. "Sugar Coon, you don't seem to be fairing well without your pack."

"Don't play that game with me; you need me, remember? The least you could do is swallow some of that pride of yours and tell me what it is you want from me." I was being brave, but technically I had nothing left for her to take away so she had no power over me.

She sighed, "Alpha Coon," She corrected herself through gritted teeth. "There have been seven new Alphas in your pack since you were exiled." She let that sink in before continuing. "None have held the rank for longer than a few short weeks, until an Alpha migrating from the western shore went in search of a new pack." She clasped her hands together and sighed. "You need to regain control, if possible before the Challenges this coming summer.”

I waited for her to continue but there didn't seem to be anything else she wanted to say. "So you think I am going to go back there and fight off an Alpha that nobody else can beat? I know you think I'm crazy but I'm not suicidal."

She smiled at me then, and at first I thought she was going to lunge across the space between us and put me out of her misery, like an irritating mosquito. "Sugar, did you ever stop to consider why Jack didn't kill you on sight? You are a pretty girl, but he had his pick of any of the top bred females in any of the packs he chose." She paused then pointed to herself. "I told Jack to think first before taking your life."

"Why?" I asked, though I didn’t believe a single sugar coated lie that came out of that woman’s mouth.

She tilted her head again and brushed invisible dust from her immaculate clothing. "Sugar, I am just like you. It was easier to hide someone like us back when the world was larger. My husband and I were considered lucky to have three children, but the truth of the matter was my husband and I both knew why. Our daughter was killed tragically but our two sons grew up to be stronger and more powerful than either my husband or I could have ever been. They had children of their own, and they were strong as well, but the little boost my bloodline had given the race is fading fast. Maybe it would have been different if our daughter had lived, maybe not." She sighed as if physically shedding the weight of the secret. "I am sorry about what happened to my grandson, I loved Jack dearly but if I had confessed my secret to anyone, every single child of my bloodline would have been hunted and slaughtered.

I had a hard time finding sympathy for the woman who had left me and my family at the mercy of a madman, but I didn’t want Jack’s brother, sister in-law or nephew in danger either.

She continued after the appropriate pause for effect, “I thought Jack was stronger, and to be honest I didn't think you would have bonded so closely so quickly. I had no way of knowing he was really going to die." Her voice started to crack with emotion but I remained impassive to her pain. When a werewolf is imprinted to their mate it isn’t a sudden death. It takes around a year for them to slowly wither and die. It was no shock to her; she saw it coming, just like everyone else.

"He did die, and he left a woman who is completely ignorant in the laws of this race to rule his pack. I may not have died, but I prayed for death almost every day. I loved Jack and without him, I really have no reason to stay, or return to the pack."

She shook her head sadly, "Sugar, very little is left of the pack you knew. This Alpha, he breaks no rules but he bends them as far as they will go. We have no control over him. Before you decline my offer to regain leadership over the pack that is rightfully yours, consider the people you left behind. Consider how much Jack gave for his pack before you walk away."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You think I just walked away? I almost died and because I wouldn't be with a man I considered to be inferior to me and the man I had just buried, I was banished." I shook my head and laughed, "What makes you think I can beat the man who beat him?"

"There is more than one way for a woman to have power over a pack, Sugar." Her face was stone cold when she said this. "Little progress is made without great sacrifice my dear, and it is not up to you to decide who is your inferior. In our world a woman doesn’t have that luxury."

Leave it to an Elder to knock me down a peg or two. I paused considering my options. "Does he know I'm coming?"

"He's requested it and we are going to give him pretty much what he wants, until he gives us what we want. He will mess up, and I need you there to report it back to me." She pulled out a cell phone and dialed. "And just in case, I'm sending Gage with you." She must have seen the look on my face but she turned towards the window and demanded to speak to the new Alpha. "I'm here with Alpha Coon."

She paused to listen to a response. "I've reinstated her title to avoid any confusion on your part. She will be arriving shortly and I expect my Granddaughter will be treated appropriately. Do we understand one another, Alpha Piorer?"

She hung up the phone and turned to face me. "You leave in an hour." She put the cell in her Prada bag and walked towards the exit. "I expect the conversation we just shared will stay between us."

"Yes, Elder Coon."

"Sugar," She turned to face me with her hand on the knob. "I am sorry I've had to ask this from you. Jack would have wanted better for his mate, but you should be in a pack for your own safety regardless. If something were to happen and you could not stay within your pack I would like you to choose another rather than living in an isolated confinement of your own making. We tend to punish ourselves the hardest, but Jack wanted you safe, as do I."

If only she knew what Jack truly wanted from me she wouldn’t have said that last part out loud, though I am pretty sure the statement still held true regardless.

The door was only closed a moment before Gage returned like some sort of werewolf boomerang.

"Who are you in all this, Gage?" I asked as I slapped two pieces of peanut butter toast together.

"What?"

"Well, I am a lowly pawn pretending to be a queen on the chessboard... but where do you go?"

"I'm a knight pretending to be a pawn." He answered flatly.

"It won't work; he'll see you a mile away." I walked to the far end of the room overlooking the pool and hopped up on the windowsill. "If I know your strength, anyone can."

"He's cocky and he's way too proud to admit that he is nervous about another male. Plus," He added with a sarcastic smile. “I am your pack now. He’s requested you to join him and thereby your pack as well.”

I tucked that little piece of information away for later. "Can you even beat him?" I asked.

"Probably not, he's killed the last two contenders and I'm not eager to try anything ’til I know him better." He made himself a sandwich out of the remaining bread and tossed everything else in the trash before continuing. "We'll leave now and do some clothes shopping before we get there so you can present yourself to the Alpha."

"What?" I mumbled past a mouthful of peanut butter sandwich. "Present myself? I'm not a fucking fruit basket!"

He grinned knowingly. "A queen doesn't dress like a pawn."

I felt myself pouting; I couldn't help it. "Jack liked the way I dressed." I mumbled between chews.

"Jack was just smart enough to see beyond the wrapper. The Elder left you a substantial amount of money for anything you might need."

"Why?"

"She told me to tell you it was because you are doing her a favor." He continued. "As is custom the majority of Jack's inheritance money goes to the eldest member of his family... that's Elder Coon and she's given it to you."

"I don’t belong to her,” I said, but it sounded like I was trying to convince myself, more than anyone else.

Gage swallowed the rest of his sandwich nearly whole. "Are you ready to go?"

I threw the rest of my uneaten sandwich in the garbage, my appetite abandoning me in the face of fear. "Fine whatever lets go; at this point I might as well put my uterus on eBay."

"You think that's the only reason he wants you?" Gage asked.

"Why else? I'm stubborn, temperamental, immature, and egocentric and I have the manners of a water buffalo in estrus. A great ass isn't worth all that."

"Is that why you do all that then, to push people away?"

It was my turn to shrug.

He opened the door for me and ushered me forward.

"Gage, why were you arguing with Elder Coon?" I asked remembering the hushed whispering I heard.

"I'm not as convinced of the Elders’ plan as you assume. Alpha Piorer is incredibly smart and incredibly dangerous... he's a darker younger version of your Jack."

"Jack was darker than you think." I countered playing with the medallion again.

Gage beeped the locks open on his really hot car and climbed in.

"What am I walking into here?" I said as I sank into the butter soft leather seat.

"You're doing your job, and protecting your pack. It’s one thing to bow out to a superior opponent, but it’s quite another to allow a man like that to turn a healthy pack into a harem." He slammed the car into gear and let out a little of his frustration on the driveway’s cracked pavement. "No matter what I think, Elder Coon is in control."