A Guardians Passion (37 page)

“Let us help. You know damn well what a war will cost us. Please.”

Vaegar snarled at Tarik’s suggestion, turning his attention to the mock council seated around the table. Exhaustion was prevalent throughout the room. Some hadn’t slept since the incursion began; others were tense with the level of activity and excitement in the room…and then there were the ones worried over relatives.

Lloyd, a skinny, surly wolf who served under Vaegar, was one. His second cousin had not been found, and his fury knew little of tact. “We don’t need help from vampires,” he sneered as if the very word were sour upon his tongue. “We’re doing just fine!”

“Child, hush,” growled Freya’s mother, seated along the same side of the table with only Gaea separating her from the hothead.

“What kind of time do you need?” asked Cole, ever the rock.

Tarik addressed Cole, but his eyes were on Vaegar. “We need a night at least, by tomorrow night. There are strongholds you have
not
broken. Am I correct?”

Freya hadn’t expected the missions to be a cakewalk entirely. Although the Sohon forces had been given the edge by Dona, their victories had not been easy ones. There had been wolf casualties and would be more as time dragged on. Some vampires had very adept guards indeed.

“Fuck that! You know what could happen in that time? I say we wait until—”

A loud
thunk
stopped Lloyd midspeech as Geraldine stabbed the blade of a broad, serrated knife into the table.

“I think someone has fleas,” Gaea wryly commented.

“Yeah, he’s just sitting over there itching from something. I could help with you that,” Geraldine replied, leaning over so that Lloyd could see the chilly look in her eyes. Freya knew her mother wouldn’t hesitate to silence the cub. He, however, dared to bare his teeth.

Geraldine showed her fangs as well. Aware of the imminent disaster, Freya wasn’t so much of a fool as to deny the logic in giving Tarik a boon. The animosity between wolves and vamps was nothing new, and wolves weren’t entirely saints in the equation. A war would do neither race much good, especially if it drew the attention and anger of those who would annihilate them equally—humans.

“We could use his help, Vaegar.” Freya spoke up, capturing her mother and Lloyd’s attention. “I want Di’Amanda, and so do you—her and Emily, the traitor. We can give them some time before we resort to sterner measures. Let him spread the news about this bullshit and shame out those who would jeopardize the safety of every fucking vamp until the end of days.”

Vaegar dipped his head in agreement. “Loath that I am to agree, I’ll give you your night,” he informed Tarik. Decisions and negotiations had never been Vaegar’s strong suit, to hear her mother tell it, but Freya had to give him points for at least managing to control some of the anger stirring inside him. His fists were clutched so tightly that she could hear the joints cracking. “Mind you, all of the captives will be examined. Reparations will have to be made to affected packs.”

Tarik agreed, wholeheartedly it seemed. “Most certainly. The peace must be restored at every cost and preserved. Those that partook in this affront will suffer my wrath as well as yours.”

I bet, Freya thought. While she could never have claimed to be trusting of vampires, Freya had no doubt that the elder meant every word he said. His wrath at a half-assed attempt at humbling weres would be severe…as opposed to full-scale annihilation. How furious would he have been then?

Vaegar moved to the chair at the head of the table and collapsed within it rather than sat. He turned his chair around to face the monitor with his decree. “Tomorrow night. Before dawn.”

Tarik’s right brow dipped in question as if the time frame were unreasonable. “We may need—”

“To work fast,” Vaegar added before waving a dismissive hand toward Cole. “Cut communication.”

“You really think they’re going to recover the other fourteen before dawn tomorrow, Vaegar?” Gaea asked, while Geraldine continued to stare down Lloyd.

“I think they’re going to try.”

Cole pried his eyes away from the monitors before him and stilled his fingers on the keyboard. “So, you want to call off the sieges?”

“We have to. The locations are dead. The fiends have begun to move shop and fortify. Their friends are rallying, and they are no slouches. The edge that Dona gave us is pretty much gone. We need him back, but witch or not”—his dark gaze drifted over to Freya for only an instant—“we will have our wolves back.”

Freya caught the look and understood that Vaegar was just as anxious as she for the swift return of Dona and her mates. The last thing Vaegar wanted was a war. He was a brawler, but that was under the consideration of his own life. Others mattered more, and he had already lost a great deal between Helena and Benna.

“They’ll be back,” Freya hoped aloud. “I mean, they are warriors, but asprega are not kittens…”

“I don’t mean to suggest that they are,” the Sohon alpha stated. “I’m sure they’ll be back soon, and we can take council. Perhaps Dona will know the new locations, have some advice for how to deal with the less than penetrable covens. Either way, we’re waiting.”

Lloyd slammed his hand down on the table, his face red. “Vaegar, I just don’t trust the corpses. Right now, Tarik is doing damage control. But don’t think that if we hadn’t found them out, if we hadn’t brought the fight to their doorsteps, that they wouldn’t have just scraped this shit under the rug and pretended not to know what was going on. If Freya or that omega of hers hadn’t survived, we’d have never even known that they had a hand in it until we saw wolves enslaved again or used for whatever sick purposes they have in mind. They should have
no
reprieve!”

Lloyd seemed to have a few wolves in agreement with him but none who were actually seated at the table. Freya was about to tell the wolf to shut the hell up, but her mother once again beat her to it.

“You must be fucking this one, Vaegar. Gammas don’t usually run off at the mouth so much.”

As laughter erupted around him, Lloyd’s already simmering temper exploded. He stood abruptly from his chair. “I’ve had just about enough of you, bitch.” He managed to take four steps around Gaea’s chair to get to Geraldine. He didn’t get in another step before she dropped him to the ground with a kick to the inside of his shin. She had swiveled in her chair but hadn’t risen. When he tried to get up, Geraldine dropped him again with the hammer of her fist. Again she didn’t need to rise.

Lloyd scrambled backward out of her range before getting up again. Showing fur and fangs, he looked ready…for an ass whipping.

“Settle the fuck down before I
allow
her to beat you senseless,” Vaegar roared loudly, the sound of his voice catching Lloyd’s attention. It took Vaegar a moment to get his breathing under control. “Forgive him,” he said to Geraldine. “He knows nothing of politics or the repercussions that would befall wolf and vampire should our feud draw the attention of those who outnumber us all. The vampires will get their time. We wouldn’t want to seem
un
diplomatic. That can come later.”

Freya understood, and she could tell that many of the more experienced wolves comprehended exactly what Vaegar was talking about. There were many supernaturals with spectacular gifts that leaned toward magic, but only a few races possessed the type of magic that could oppose the human weapon of science. Neither werewolves nor vampires fit into that category. Oh, they could get their revenge, as long as it didn’t mushroom out of control.

Ezra came up and slid into the chair beside Freya. Gazing up at her with those beautiful chocolate eyes, he seemed almost embarrassed as he inquired softly about her energy level. “The vampires will work diligently, even if they did have a hand in this. It is out of their control, and they have underestimated us far too greatly. Before we might have been crushed by this, but not anymore,” Ezra said. “You should rest.”

Freya raised her hand to his dreads. Damn, but he was just as sweet as Rayne had been before her beta had revealed his insistent streak. A true submissive, Ezra sought only to comfort her.

Bun had settled and was probably resting in her womb, but Freya was still electrified by the excitement surrounding her. Vaegar had stood up from his chair, advising the others to the same course Ezra had just suggested for her.

Her mother and Gaea were the first to rise from their chairs, swiftly followed by the others who had been in attendance. As Lloyd had never sat down, he made sure to keep a wide berth when Geraldine strolled by, scowling at him. Freya wondered for a second if he would be foolhardy enough to say something, but he proved that he had some wisdom.

“Go on, girl. Get some rest,” Geraldine advised as she headed toward the door.

While Freya was exhausted, it wasn’t to the point that she missed her mother’s arm around Gaea’s waist.

Ezra nudged her. “Before you know it, Fenris and Rayne will return, and they will not be happy with me if you are not well rested.”

She snickered before getting up from her seat. Ezra was right. If her boys—no,
when
her boys returned victorious, she meant to reward them both. While she might not have had the strength to do battle with Birathan, she had more than enough to do battle with Fenris and Rayne…and Ezra, after a nap.

“You coming?”

He blushed in his eagerness. “Of course! You may need some help relaxing, I’m sure.”

She started off to the room she had claimed, with her omega by her side. She had nearly made it to the stairs when Ezra excused himself.

“I’ll be right there. I just need to get a few things from the kitchen first, okay?”

It was fine by her. Freya’s thoughts were already on the firm mattress. She had a craving for crispy bacon, a BLT with lots of thick tomatoes, salt, pepper, and mayo. She was about to tell him so, but he was gone down the hall. Building her menu in her head as she climbed the stairs, Freya decided she would just send him back down for two BLTs or club sandwiches on toast, pickles, and some cookie-dough ice cream. Maybe she would even have a little chocolate before her nap.

Oranges were not on her menu.

The smell was faint, but it was certainly in the air, and it killed all hopes Freya had for rest. Heading to the command center, she didn’t want to panic everyone, but something wasn’t right. The mansion needed to be searched. She didn’t feel safe.

At the sound of an emergency Klaxon, Freya acknowledged and cursed her intuition at the same time. Ezra came running to her, terror in his eyes reflecting everything she felt.

She said the word that was surely on both their minds. “Asprega.”

Chest heaving in panic, Ezra reached out to her. “Alpha, we have to get out of here now.”

Running wasn’t in her nature. The mansion was theirs to hold, and it was filled with warriors. If there was anywhere she needed to be, it was with them. “No. We ain’t running.” Stepping in front of Ezra, she started toward the command center, only seconds before a crowd filed in behind her.

Geraldine strode back into the room with irritation in every step. She moved over to the far side of the room, where a large, familiar chest sat. Freya knew damn well who it belonged to and what was inside.

“What’s going on?” Lloyd shouted. Having been absent during the initial attack, he apparently had no clue as to what the scent growing stronger every second meant.

Geraldine punched in the combination that would give her access to her armory. “Seems that the asprega have returned. Cole?”

The silver wolf was back at the computers, eyes darting around at the various monitors. “They’re not outside of the perimeter.”

“Then they must be inside. Weapons,” Geraldine said, throwing the top of the chest back to reveal all manner of bladed weapons, explosives, and automatic weaponry. Freya moved toward the chest as if in a trance, the desire to destroy and the allure of instruments made for that purpose too enticing to deny.

“What?” Lloyd asked, still confused by the sound of it. “I thought your witches put down wards, bone powder, or some shit?”

Freya looked up at the ceiling, her head pounding in her efforts not to doubt Rayne. Dona, on the other hand… As much as she wanted to, Freya couldn’t bother with explanations with the citrus smell getting stronger. ”Just gear the fuck up,” Freya snapped as she accepted the two leather whips speckled with sharp steel razors that her mother handed to her. Freya thought of her own set back at the lodge. They weren’t nearly as barbaric. She tested their weight, flexed her wrists, and then adjusted her grip until she felt comfortable wielding them.

Gaea appeared inside the room with both of her battle-axes in hand. Surely she had brought them with her as Geraldine had brought her own stash of armaments, Freya mused.

While some clutched weapons, others
became
tools of offense. Vaegar’s face was nearly covered in fur, muttonchops thick against the sides of his face. His expensive shirt had already ripped around his biceps, neck too thick for the collar of his shirt.

“Dona and Rayne laid down barriers for the asprega, but I’m thinking these aren’t asprega exactly,” Ezra said, coming to her side. “They may be the females, the ones bred for Birathan that you mentioned.”

“Same species.”

The omega was shaking visibly but held his ground. “But not entirely the same, I think. The smell is slightly different.”

Freya turned to the slight omega. He was as brave as he could be, considering the worrying of his lip. While he had helped immensely back at the retreat, his greatest contribution had been alerting her males. She needed him safe. “Look, Ezra. I don’t want you in the fight.”

“But Fenris and Rayne…they told me to watch out for you.”

Her males had probably even thrown in a threat or two. Still, she would not waver. “If things get fucked, you need to be safe so you can tell my mates what went down.”

“But—”

She cupped a hand over his cheek and warned him gently. “But nothing. Be ready to haul ass.”

“Leave the cur alone, Freya, before he faints or something,” Gaea suggested.

She doubted very much that that would be the case. Ezra hadn’t failed her before; he wouldn’t now. “Got me, omega?”