Morgan (19 page)

“You aren’t all going to be staying with me, are you?” Cameron felt the fear in Morgan and wished he could tell her not to worry, but he couldn’t.

Cameron kissed the top of Morgan’s head, holding her close as he tried to reassure her. “It’s a certainty that your father is on the way, Morgan. We can’t let him take either you or Bethany, but we also can’t let him use any of the other mates or their cubs as leverage. We are all going to be needed in this fight to keep you safe.”

“I can guarantee that one of us will remain here with you,” Evan said.

Morgan sighed as Evan stopped at the top of the drive and he appeared at the door an instant later. Cameron released Morgan to his brother. They didn’t know yet which of them would remain with her at the ranch, but he knew all of them would need to hold her for as long as they could before having to leave her.

The Alpha’s living room was packed with shifters, only a few of whom Morgan had previously met. “I think nearly the entire pride is here,” Cameron said. He refrained from voicing his next thought.
The Alpha may be anticipating a large number of shifters to be coming, but Petrov will not be taking my mate. She’s mine.

* * * *

Morgan watched as the assembled shifters parted for them. They all stared at her, their faces devoid of any emotion, as Evan carried her into the kitchen. Morgan’s scalp prickled as she felt the weight of their continued gazes.

“They all hate me,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around Evan’s neck and inhaling the comforting smell of the forest from his skin. Cameron and Ben kissed her cheeks and returned to the living room.

“No, they don’t, love,” Evan said. “I would be able to scent that emotion were it there, and it’s not. They are all angry at the atrocities your father has planned for his own children. They are holding back the rage of their cats. Keeping them calm with the promise of an upcoming battle.”

Morgan heard the words, but didn’t believe Evan. She knew the truth. She was the one responsible for this. For not just Bethany being in danger, but all of the mates.
Hell, the whole damned pride could be slaughtered because of me.
Morgan was sure of only one thing. Her father was now coming and she had started it all.

“Don’t, Morgan,” Evan whispered in her ear. “I can feel you in my heart, love. Don’t pull away from me. Not now that I will probably have to leave you here.”

She pulled back and looked at him. “I’m not, Evan. I’m just scared.”

“I’ll be scared every second I’m not holding you safe in my arms. But I have to make you safe. Your father’s scheme is an atrocity against everything a shifter lives for.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Evan. I’ll stay strong. Just come back to me.”

Morgan spoke the words she knew he needed, and wanted, to hear. He squeezed her tight before lowering her to stand in front of him. She didn’t know how she’d accomplish it, but she’d make her sister and this wonderful group of people safe if it was the last thing she did.

“Morgan, I’m so glad you’re here,” Peata said. Peata moved toward her, then stopped, her gaze fixed on Evan.

“I’ll come and say good-bye if I have to leave,” Evan said. He kissed Morgan’s cheek and went back into the crowded living room.

“Why don’t we have some tea?” Peata finished crossing the room and took Morgan’s hand in hers. “I see you’ve completed the mating. Your hands are all healed.”

Morgan blushed and nodded. She looked around at the women assembled in the kitchen. Melanie was there, feeding Matthew his lunch, and a tall woman with long black hair was feeding Lily.

“This is my mother-in-law, Neva,” Peata said. “Her husbands are out helping Finn’s father’s with the horses.”

“We’re going to be told what’s happening in just a few minutes,” Melanie said. “Cooper is outside telling the members of the pride that are already shifted where he needs them to go. Then he’ll come in to inform everyone here.”

“I’m so—” Morgan started, but Melanie furrowed her brows and stood up with her hands on her hips.

“You’re a mate to three members of this pride, Morgan. That makes you more precious than anything on earth to them.” Melanie picked Matthew up as he started to cry. “Shh now, baby. Mommy’s not mad at you.”

Morgan went to the sink and began rinsing the dishes and mugs stacked there and placing them in the dishwasher. She looked outside and saw five big men walking toward the house.
What would I do if this was a game of Close Combat? How would I get from the house to one of the vehicles while remaining undetected?

So as Morgan performed the innocuous task of clearing the kitchen, she began planning an escape. She would intercept her father before he made it to Eminence and make sure he never even came here. She would tell him she only came to visit Bethany’s grave.

She needed to get access to a computer before she left. It would be easy to hack into the Eminence sheriff’s department’s database and plant the report of Bethany’s death in a motor vehicle accident two years ago. He would have no need to come here if Bethany was already dead.

“Has anyone heard how Jordanna is?” Morgan asked.

“Jason is with her now,” Melanie said. “Finn said he’d call as soon as he’s heard from him.”

She could make sure Jordanna and her sister were safe forever. She’d make the whole town safe forever. Her heart ached and her head pounded at the thought of leaving her men, but she felt sure she was doing the right thing. None of these people had asked for or deserved the pain of losing any of their number.

It was only the women who were going to be in the safe rooms, but the men were in no way expendable. They were just as important as the women, something this pride of shifters seemed to overlook. Morgan couldn’t imagine the pain her sister would suffer if one of her husbands died trying to protect her.

She shuddered. “It’s just too horrible to even consider.”

Peata wrapped an arm around her waist. “Jordanna will be fine. Jason is a wonderful doctor.”

Morgan nodded and let her believe that that was what she’d meant. She had to get out of here.

* * * *

Evan was pleased that he had been assigned to guard the town. Despite the fact it meant he was twenty minutes away from his mate. It meant he would be joining Samson and Aiden in the interrogation of Petrov’s henchman when he awoke.

“I’ll keep Morgan safe,” Cameron said.

“I know you will,” Ben replied. “We’ll end Petrov and his whole organization, then we’ll be able to get to work on our new home.” Ben’s smile was strained, but Evan appreciated how he felt. Until Morgan was safe, none of them would feel happy.

“I know the valley you mentioned,” Cameron said. “It’s beautiful there. Morgan will love it. Our cubs will grow strong running through the forests there.”

“I spoke to the dads this morning,” Ben said, surprising Evan.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d had time to do that with all the lovemaking,” Evan said. Ben’s smile was genuine then.

“They’re coming down to see us,” Ben said. “Knowing Mom, they’re probably already on the way.”

“Watch Morgan, Cam,” Evan said. “I felt her withdrawing as soon as we arrived here. She thinks this is all her fault. I’m certain she hasn’t believed any of our assurances that it isn’t the case.”

“I’ll watch her. Stay safe, you two.”

Evan and Ben both went directly to the kitchen in search of Morgan. They watched her absently washing the same dish for a couple of minutes as she stared intently out the kitchen window.

“You’re right, Evan. I can practically hear her plotting her escape,” Ben said. "She'd make a terrible spy. She has been looking at all the doors while washing the same dish for the last five minutes.

Evan watched Ben stalk toward their mate and catch the dish before it hit the floor as she dropped it in surprise when he hugged her.

“I didn’t hear you,” she said. “Is everyone leaving?” Evan saw her looking around him at the people filing out of the living room.

Cam growled softly as he came to stand beside Evan. “What can we do to make her believe us?” Cameron spoke softly so that only Evan would hear.

“It will take time. She wasn’t raised a shifter, so this is all too new to her,” Evan said, his own cat growling its displeasure.

“We don’t fucking have time,” Cameron said.

“Then we keep her safe from herself as well as from her father.” Evan moved closer to pluck Morgan from Ben’s arms. Their lips broke apart noisily. “I love you, Morgan. Believe that, if you believe nothing else I’ve ever said.”

Their kiss was a clash of lips, tongues, and teeth. She seemed as desperate as he was to convey her love in the brief time they had.

“So you and Ben are leaving?” Morgan asked when he released her lips and allowed her some time to breathe.

“Ben will be on patrol at Jordanna’s and I’ll be in town. The pride is pretty much split evenly between the three places. Aiden is basing himself in town so he can go to wherever he’s needed most.”

“I love you, Ben,” Morgan said. She smoothed her hand down Ben’s face, his growl sounding loud in the quiet, now deserted, kitchen. The other women had left to farewell their own mates.

“I love you, Evan.” He kissed her palm and ran at full speed from the Alpha’s house. Ben met him at their truck a few seconds later.

“I’ve left on more dangerous deployments than I care to number, but leaving Morgan just then was the hardest and most frightening thing I’ve ever done,” Evan said.

He started the truck and followed Max Wilder and Barrett Pollock as they drove quickly down the road toward town. Max’s face showed his pain at leaving Peata and their baby behind, even though he knew they would be untouchable once they entered the safe room. Evan wouldn’t have understood that pain a few days ago. Now he did.

“I’m glad Asher is there with Calder. Those two are fucking deadly,” Ben said.

Evan merely nodded. Cooper had done a great job of dividing the men. Each group had a combination of fighters and trackers that made them forces to be reckoned with despite the decreased numbers that was necessary when dividing the pride between the multiple locations.

They pulled up at the sheriff’s station to see Hunter leaving to return home. His brother, Dane, was his deputy and his presence was needed in town to keep up a semblance of normality for the human population. Max parked beside them and he and Barrett entered the station.

“Stay safe, Ben,” Evan said. “See you later tonight.”

Ben got behind the wheel and started the engine. “I hope it will be over quickly. I need to hold her.”

Evan nodded and made his way inside. He wanted to start the interrogation of the hyena. They needed to find out everything they could from him.

When he neared the interrogation room he found Samson and Aiden looking thunderous. Max and Barrett were stepping away from them as though they were in danger of being caught in the conflagration if they actually exploded.

“What happened?” Evan asked, his voice barely audible. He worried for the safety of the building if the two supernaturals in front of him got any angrier.

“The hyena recognized Aiden was a vampire the minute he stepped into the room with him,” Barrett said. “We had only just arrived in the viewing room.”

“The fucker slit his own throat with his claws before Aiden could stop him,” Max said. “He’s a little upset that the shifter knew how to shield his thoughts from him, plus that he wasn’t fast enough to stop him killing himself.”

“I still found out a great deal as I followed him after his attack on Jordanna,” Aiden said. He sounded calm, but his eyes still blazed a fiery red. “He was unaware of my presence at that time and was therefore not guarding his thoughts.

“The other man didn’t do that,” Evan said. He looked at Samson and saw the big solider pulling his cat back under control.

“Did you get any information on where this useless sack of hyena stood in Petrov’s hierarchy?” Samson asked. He ran his hand over his newly shaved head. The fresh buzz cut combined with his massive build made Samson look more imposing than ever.

“I got the impression he was hired help,” Aiden said. “Brought here just for this job.” Aiden rubbed a hand over his eyes as though the burning red of them was causing him pain. “He travelled here on the same plane as Eamon, and the doctor, Otto Parran.”

“So the doctor may not be sharing everything he knows about vampires with his employer, Petrov.” Samson said. “I don’t know if that helps us or not.”

“The tiger shifter I killed was Petrov’s man,” Aiden said. “This hyena and his dozen or so comrades are here to guard Eamon Doyle. I think their loyalties lie with the doctor, not Petrov.”

“What else aren’t you telling us, Aiden?” Evan asked. The vampire’s scent was usually hard to discern, but right now his disgust and rage had a very strong smell.

“They have been given time with the vampire.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Samson said. “Is this something that we need to know in order to defend ourselves?”

Aiden sighed and rested his back against the wall. He slid down the wall until he was sitting with his head slumped forward on his knees. “Eamon is my friend. It was difficult to hear some of what has been done to him over the last century. I’m finding it even more difficult to speak of.”

Evan felt sympathy for the vampire, but they needed to know everything they could in order to fight the shifters coming for his mate and Samson’s. Hard or not, the vampire needed to share what he’d discovered.

“The doctor has been doing more than experimenting with IVF techniques in the time his work has been funded by Petrov.” Aiden looked up, the fiery red in his eyes gone. It was replaced by a cold grey that seemed devoid of anything but ice. “He’s been experimenting with ways in which vampire blood can be used to enhance all the inherent abilities of shifters.”

“Has he been successful?” Samson asked.

“With the hyenas, yes.”

Ben was stationed on the porch of the Prentiss home. He’d been there for the last half an hour, and they were expecting Bethany and Jordanna to arrive shortly. Finn’s roar sounded from inside the house. It signaled to all the men who had not yet shifted that he wanted to see them.