Maikoda: Power of the Moon (Blue Moon Trilogy Book 2) (19 page)

              She raised an elegant hand and waved it airily at the room and his confines. “It is for your own safety that we have acted this way, I promise you and I also promise that as long as you are our guest, no harm shall come to you.”

              He nodded curtly. As much as he hated his current situation, for some reason, he believed her. His years of experience as a Hunter; capturing, imprisoning, interrogating and even killing his own kind had made him an excellent judge of character, even better than any other member of the Council. 

              He had even known that Suzette would eventually turn out the way she did, he had simply hoped that she would rise above the temptations and make better decisions. Use her powers for the betterment of the tribe. Unfortunately, she had chosen another path. So, he trusted his instincts. He trusted what had made him a successful Hunter. Something else was happening here, everything was not what it seemed to be.

              “When will you allow me to leave?” He eyed the woman in front of him, gauging her reaction.

              She quirked her lips. “When it is safe.” She looked at him as if she knew this answer would not please him and she was right. 

              “When will it be safe?”

              Her voice drifted back to him as she turned and walked away. “When we have dealt with our little rogue wolf problem.” A wrought iron door closed behind her with a resounding clang.

              Martin frowned. Wolf problem? Just like him? That meant she was definitely a Were. Was she saying that there were others here who were not a part of their pack? If so, had he, Layla and Brett accidentally stumbled onto some turf war? Or was it something more sinister?

              Did Kuruk or even Suzette have the connections to make the local packs as nervous as this and if so, did that make this woman his ally? Could he trust them with their problem? He sighed, until Layla figured out where he was, he could do nothing but wait, unfortunately.

*

              Suzette paced the small room, her hands clenched into fists. She was tired of this godforsaken land, this nothingness that marked this new territory. She looked over at the remaining members of her pack. Ouray and Amy were huddled together near the window as they watched the snow fall in flurries onto the dark ground. 

              In addition to her cousin and her new second, only two other Weres remained in the room, their faces dark and brooding. She was less than enthralled by the snow than her pack was, refusing to see beyond the wet and cold.

              A pack of five. Less than a month ago, she was one of the most feared Alphas in Were society, now she cowered in a house in the barrenness of Alaska, barely surviving off wild animals and the occasional human. 

              Walking into her bedroom, she sat down on the plush bedding. The two bedroom house was not as ideal as her old mansion on Bayshore had been, but she made do. As alpha, it was her right to take the master bedroom and she gave Amy the second room.

              The boys slept in the large living room on the floor as they deserved. She ignored the fact that Ouray had practically moved into Amy’s room and wondered if he had charmed her. It would serve her right; she glowered as she watched her younger cousin flip her long blonde hair.                Her own hair had been longer…and prettier; the fine blonde strands her signature, until Layla had gotten lucky and almost killed her. She fingered her short tresses. Her father’s punishment. A shameful look; a shorn Were. Teeth clenched tightly, her nostrils flared. Layla would pay.

              Opening the silver attaché case that rested on her bed, she pulled out a sheaf of papers. Things were not going well. Her father had sent her to search for three things; the dagger, the bracelet and the Hania. According to her father, all of these were necessary in order to complete the ritual that would result in the transfer of power from Mai-coh to her father—to herself, she corrected with a smirk. 

              Her father was really foolish to think that she would allow him to harvest the greatest power in the Were world. So that he could rule with his outdated and antiquated methodologies. There was also something he didn’t know about the dagger. Something she had discovered on accident.

              The dagger had powers of its own. Besides transferring power, the dagger was able to find and control the Hania if the right spell was used. She frowned. That was the problem. She was still trying to find that spell. But until then, it remained her little secret.

              She unfurled a map and ran a long finger down the trail she wanted to try. They were having difficulties finding the Were village that the bracelet was reportedly in. Someone had a really strong gift and was masking the village from her, but, it was simply a matter of time. With Ouray’s ability to charm, Amy’s ability to sense deception and her own strong sense of smell, they would find it eventually. 

              The only problem was that Alaska was a fucking really big wilderness and even with five transformed Weres searching, it was still a lot of ground to cover. They also had to be wary of the local Weres. So far they had found two and killed them.

              It had been a necessity. Were blood helped her heal a lot faster. It was only because of Were blood mixed with the blood she had taken from Brett that she had been able to escape her ordeal with Layla. Her eyes flashed angrily as she thought back to the Were who had made her life hell. 

              Regardless, Layla would be here soon to find the dagger and the bracelet, she mused. Perhaps she should let Layla do all the hard work and then simply take the items after they had been found. Hopefully, the stupid wolf knew that she needed to be in Alaska. Perhaps not, she thought. 

              Layla might know Mai-coh’s location and might hide him until it was time. After all, the ritual wasn’t until New Year’s Eve which was months away. In waiting, she risked that Kuruk would also discover the secrets of the dagger and its location. Perhaps she needed to continue looking regardless.

              Suzette shuffled through the papers as she searched for one item in particular. They would have to hunt tonight. The local Weres were on the lookout, but she knew where she was going to hunt and she knew who she wanted. On her way into town yesterday she had passed a dance studio—Moondancer, it was called. She smelled the strength emanating from the silver-haired woman who ran the place.

              It would be difficult, but she was confident in the ability of her pack and in their combined strength. Besides, with blood that strong in her system, it was almost guaranteed that she would be back to her old self in no time.  She smiled.  It was time for the hunt to begin.

*

              The glaring lights of the all night supercenter greeted them and Brett quickly parked the car. Layla glanced over at him. His jaw was set and she knew that this plan was going to be very risky. Already their team was falling apart and they had yet to even begin to search for her sisters, much less the tools she would need—if she was the Hania—to help her father. 

              Layla swallowed thickly. She would have to kill. She turned her mind away from the horrible thought and unbuckled her seatbelt. It was something she would have to do and no matter how much she dreaded doing it, she had an obligation, if she was the one. Brett opened the door and the blast of cold air stole into her lungs. Shaking off her doubtful thoughts, she quickly gathered her purse and followed him into the store. 

              “What do we need?” she asked as they walked to the auto and home improvement section. Not that she would have cause to purchase similar items in the future, but she wanted to know how much of this McGuyver stuff he was familiar with. 

              His lips twisted into a smile. “Well, for starters, we’re gonna get a few rolls of duct tape, some pieces of PVC, a car battery and a couple of flashlights.”

              “We only need one flashlight. I can see in the dark,” she reminded him.

              “The flashlight is not for use as a light. I need the coils inside it.”

              “Oh,” she said, slightly embarrassed. 

              Brett touched her cheek. “When making a flash bomb, you need a detonator. You can use better equipment, but a flashlight is cheap, easily accessible and does the job.” He shrugged. “Now, we just need to get some supplies from the garden center and the car care center. With the right ingredients, I simply throw it, they mix and boom.” 

              He wheeled the cart around and hurried through the store, also making a quick stop in the electronics department, before he finally seemed satisfied that they had everything they needed. As they headed to the checkout line and Layla chewed her lip, nervously. She hoped the clerk couldn’t figure out what they were making and that the credit cards Martin had given them were still good. Prison in Alaska didn’t seem like a good idea. 

              Within minutes, they exited the store, card and purchases in hand and quickly drove into the dark night as Layla closed her eyes again to get the trail back. Almost immediately, the scent trail loomed in front of her, weaving in and out of the trees.

              As before, she instructed Brett and the two moved along the snow slick road deeper into the forest. The stillness grew around them and Layla shivered at the touch of unease which ran through her. 

              Suddenly, the road ended. The road and the scent trail. There was nothing else. It was a dead end. Brett turned off the car and twisted in his seat to look all around him. Nothing but trees and the dark lonely road they had followed behind them.

              Her face flamed as Brett looked back at her. She didn’t know what had happened. When she had pushed herself like Martin had taught her, she had been able to see—for one brief moment—the end of the trail. It was a village and it had been huge. All she had to do was simply follow the road. 

              She cleared her throat, uncertain how to explain her error. “Um…”

              “Looks like we are going to have to do this the hard way.” He grinned at her as he grabbed the bags and opened them. 

              “We are going by foot.” He pushed the bags out of the way and moved to the back seat of the car, his long legs angling for room. “It’ll take me a couple of hours to get all this stuff together. Try to take a nap.” 

              He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. “I’ll wake you when I’m done and don’t worry, I’ll be careful not to mix anything just yet, don’t want us going up in flames.”

              Layla nodded and leaned her head back on the seat as Brett moved the driver’s seat up to give him more leg room. She was feeling a bit tired. Even though she had napped on the plane, the stress of the evening had been weighing on her and even now, her eyes closed heavily. It seemed like she had only blinked when Brett was shaking her awake.

              “Baby, we have to go.” He touched her shoulder again, his voice a whisper. “Someone is out here.”

              Layla’s eyes popped open. She took a deep breath. Someone was out there. She couldn’t identify the scents, which meant they were masking or they were new to her; their scents unfamiliar. They were definitely Weres though and there were quite a few of them. 

              She moved slowly, not wanting to incite them even as she wished Martin was here to help. It was common sense that if her father had come this way and he was supposedly Mai-coh, there was a chance that there would be a fairly large werewolf population. She didn’t doubt that an area like Alaska with a large native population would have Weres.

              Based on the scents, there were at least 20 Weres coming their way and she was sure they were probably only a scouting party. With Martin with them, they may have stood a chance; after all, they had taken on about that many at Suzette’s mansion only a month ago. Now, they were one man short and dealing with the unknown. She and Brett alone were not going to be able to handle this many.

              Brett grabbed a few items, his moments quick and sure. She glanced at him, her eyes shadowed. He held a few of his creations in his hands. They were long and covered with black and gray duct tape. Wiring poked out in some areas and she guessed these were a few of the bombs he’d constructed while she was asleep.

              He reached for her and she shook her head, her fingers to her lips. He nodded, understanding her request for silence. She took another deep breath to confirm what she already knew and looked at him.

              “About 20 of them,” she mouthed, careful to not make a sound. 

              His eyes widened and his hand clenched around his contraptions.

              She frowned at the crunch of boots on the snow. They certainly weren’t masking their approach now. Were they that confident that they would not be met with resistance? She waited for the familiar clenching in her stomach or the pounding in her head, her body’s way of alerting her to danger. When neither happened, she cautiously opened the car door, uncertain as to what was going to happen. She knew they were there, but none of her senses were warning her. 

              Brett grabbed her arm to pull her back as the first Were broke through the trees. She knew instantly this was the trail weaver. Colors flowed around her and it was all Layla could see for a moment. The older Were looked at her and smiled, her teeth brilliant in the light of her scent trails. Her hair glowed; a silky, silvery, shimmer that matched the moon above their heads.