Phoenix's Fate (RARE Series, #2) (14 page)

Phoenix sat in silence for a moment thinking everything through.  He was about to get his fur on probably at the next full moon, he had a new mate and cub that depended on him.  His mate had two different crazy men after her.  He had to decide who was going to be his Alpha.  And he had to choose where to live.  Well, he was going to pick the easy one to answer first.  “We would like the home.  My condo is no place for a bear cub and Serenity will not be safe until Malcolm and the General are dealt with.”

“You got it,” Chase grinned.  “And you can let me know on the Alpha thing later.  But you will want either Angel or I with you on your first change.  It can be painful and we can help you through it.”

“Angel has a lot on her plate right now.  We’ll call on you when it happens, Chase.  Thank you.”

“Not a problem.  I need to get to work, but Jenna can show you to your new home.  I will see you at Angel’s this afternoon.”  Pulling out his phone to make a call, Chase walked out with a wave of his hand.  

“Well I do have one question for ya, Phoenix,” Nico said.  “When are you going to fix my chair?”  Serenity burst into laughter.  The sweet sound was music to Phoenix’s ears.

F
lame took aim and unloaded her gun at the paper target in front of her.  When the last bullet left the chamber, she set the gun down on the ledge in front of her and reeled in the target.  “Good shooting, Flame,” she heard a voice say.  Swinging around at the sound, she saw Rikki and another woman heading towards her. 

“Not good enough,” she responded.  “As much time as I spend here, you would think I could hit the target dead on every time.  But I’ll get there.”

“It’s alright.  That’s what I’m here for.  This is Jade, Angel’s daughter.  The both of you are in training today.  Right now we are shooting, then it’s hand to hand combat.  We are to be at Angel’s at 5 this afternoon for a meeting.”

As Rikki talked, Flame hooked up another paper target and sent it back out.  Picking up her gun and removing the clip, she loaded the bullets and slammed the clip back into place.  “What’s going on?  Why am I in on this meeting?”

“Phoenix’s mate, Serenity, needs our help.  Seems the General isn’t the only one after her.  The Alpha’s son of her old pack is stalking her.  Jaxson’s doing some research on it now, and we are meeting at Angel’s so he can give us the dirt.  Then we are going to decide how to proceed.”

“And I’m in?” Flame asked excitedly.  “You’re in on the meeting.  I can’t tell you if you are in on anything else.  I don’t know.  Bran’s going to be there, too.”  Flame stiffened, but kept silent.  “It’s alright,” Rikki told her.  “Angel already put him in his place and Chase backed her up.  When Angel is ready to bring you on, Bran will go back to being Chase’s beta.”

“And Bran was ok with that?” Flame asked.  “I find that hard to believe.  He has already made his opinion clear.  Loudly.  I am to stay at home and be the meek little mate while he goes out and kills all the bad guys.  Screw that.  That is not me.  If that’s what Bran wants, he can go find a new mate.  I don’t have time for one now anyway.”  Turning back around to face the target, Flame picked up her gun and quickly unloaded the clip.  Lowering the gun back down, she pulled in the paper target.  With a satisfied smile, she showed it to Rikki and Jade.  There was a huge hole right in the middle of the bullseye.

“Perfect,” Rikki grinned widely.  “Looks like you just need to get a little pissed off.  Oh, and for the record, Flame, Bran can’t find a new mate.  You are it for him.  Shifters are given one true mate, a soul mate.  If you reject him, he won’t find another.  Hell, I don’t even think he can have sex with another woman now that he’s found you.  I could ask him, though.  It’s been a while since I’ve been with a man and Bran is fine.  Maybe we could....” 

Before she could finish the sentence, Flame had her down on the ground with an elbow slammed into her neck, murder in her eyes.  Rikki wrapped her legs around Flame’s and quickly flipped her over, holding her down.  “Maybe you should think about that reaction before you so casually toss aside your mate.”  Jumping up, Rikki motioned for Jade to follow her and hooked another target up, sending it out for Jade to practice.

“Come on, Flame,” Rikki said, not bothering to turn around.  “Get off your ass and string up another target.  Let’s get busy.  Then we will work on your takedown technique.”  She knew she had pissed Flame off, but she didn’t really give a shit.  The woman needed to wake up and see what was right in front of her before she lost it.  Rikki was happy to be the one to beat some sense into her.  She was looking forward to hand-to-hand combat training.

E
veryone was at Angel’s when Phoenix and Serenity arrived.  They had spent the day shopping for clothes for Serenity and Hunter and moving Phoenix’s things into their new home.  Chase had sent two enforcers to shadow them, which had made Phoenix feel safe enough to take his little family off compound for a couple of hours.  Hunter was thrilled with his new room and excited to live with Phoenix and Serenity. 

Serenity had loved every minute of the day until it came time to drop Hunter off to Jenna and Jade, at which time reality set in.  She had been playing house, and now they were going to a meeting to plan out the best way to hunt down and kill a guy.  Even though Malcolm had made Serenity’s life a living hell for several years, actually planning a death did not sit well with her.  She could kill in a do-or-die situation, but premeditated murder was wrong.

Entering Angel’s home through the porch area, they walked through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement.  At the bottom of the stairs, was a room where everyone was seated around a large table.  Serenity was so upset when she entered the room that she forgot to block the thoughts coming from the others.  They all hit her at once. 

Chase was pissed because Angel had bitten him and started the bonding process. Angel was pissed at herself for the same reason.  Bran was pissed that Flame was in the room.  Flame was pissed because Bran was angry that she was there.  Rikki was pissed at Flame for being an idiot and rejecting her mate.  Serenity could not handle it all at once.  All of the anger slammed into her and she lost it.  “Shut up!  Everyone shut the fuck up!”

Surprised, the team turned in her direction.  Phoenix put his arm around her as he looked at her in confusion.  Taking a deep breath, Serenity closed her eyes and slowly built the wall in her mind, effectively blocking out everyone’s thoughts. 

Once she was able to function again, she walked over to the far side of the table and sat down in one of the available chairs.  “Sorry about that.  There was so much anger in the room, I lost control of my shields.  I’m ok now.” 

“Anger?” Phoenix asked.  “No one’s angry, Serenity.”  Closing her eyes against a developing headache, Serenity whispered, “They are all angry with each other for different reasons.  It just got to me.  It was too much all at once.”

“She’s right,” Angel ground out.  “There is a lot of anger in this room.  It’s coming from almost all of us.  With our gift, if we drop our shields, that much emotion would be painful.  Get it under control, people.  Jaxson, we need to focus on something else.  Tell me what you got.”

“I have good news and bad news.  After Serenity left, to put it mildly, Malcolm went nuts.  He tried to leave and look for Serenity immediately, but his dad wanted him representing the pack at some summit meeting.  He told Malcolm to stand down and they would find Serenity after the pack business was handled.  Malcolm killed his father in a fit of anger and took off, leaving his pack without an Alpha.  One of the enforcers took over as acting Alpha until Malcolm could come back and claim the position.  Malcolm never returned and the enforcer couldn’t hold the pack together.  The shifter council had to step in.  They disbanded the pack and placed the wolves with other packs in the area.  Malcolm was never found.  I can’t find any trace of him on my end either.  He is completely off the grid.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about her old pack hunting her down,” Phoenix said, “but why isn’t there anything out there on Malcolm?  It doesn’t make sense.  You’re the best at what you do, Jaxson.  If it was out there, you would have found it.”

“Maybe he’s living as a homeless person?” Nico responded.  “Then he wouldn’t have any credit cards to track, no car payments or rent.”

“That’s not it,” Chase told them.  “If he’s gone off the grid, it means we are dealing with a rogue wolf.  He’s living primarily in his wolf form.  Hunting, fishing, tracking as a wolf.  And he has no alpha to keep him in line.”

“Shit,” Bran cursed.  “If that’s the case, he is going to be more dangerous than we originally thought.  If he considers Serenity his mate, he will continue tracking her until he finds her, which is going to bring him here.  We need to be prepared.”

“So that’s the plan?  We just sit on our asses and wait for him to come to us?” Flame said sarcastically. 

“You got a better one?” Angel asked her.

“Well, yeah.  Have Serenity connect with him and find out where he is.  And then we hunt him.  Why sit and wait for him to get the jump on us?”

“No fucking way,” Phoenix growled.  “There’s no fucking way Serenity is connecting with that bastard.”

“It’s the only way, Phoenix,” Serenity said, the fear evident in her voice.  “Flame’s right.  If we sit here and wait for Malcolm to come to us, that makes all of us vulnerable.  If I can find out where he is, then we can track him.”

“And what if he turns it around on you, Serenity?” Phoenix demanded.  “What if he takes control of you when you connect with him?”

“That’s not going to happen.  I’m going to slip in undetected, get the information we need, and slip back out.  He won’t even know I was there.  I’m strong now Phoenix.  I have been perfecting my gift for years now.  I can do this.”  Reaching out, Serenity placed a hand on Phoenix’s arm, squeezing lightly.  “I can do this for us, for our pack.  I couldn’t live with myself if someone else got hurt because of me.”

“Phoenix,” Flame said.  “Serenity won’t be going in alone.  I’ll go in with her.  With our abilities combined, we will be strong enough to hide our presence from Malcolm.”

“The fuck you will,” Bran yelled.  Getting up he turned and slammed a fist through the wall.  Growling, he turned back to Flame and ordered, “You aren’t going anywhere near that fucker’s head.”

“What?” Flame retorted defiantly.  “You expect her to do it on her own?  It’s ok for her to do it, but not for anyone to be there to support her?  Screw that.  I’m a strong telepathic.  It’s one of the reasons the General wanted me.”

Pacing the floor, Bran growled louder.  “If both of you merge with Malcolm won’t it be easier for him to tell that you are there?  I don’t know much about this psychic bullshit, but I would think that the more people in his head, he would be able to detect it.”

“No,” Flame told him.  “That’s not how it works.  Basically, I will be piggybacking off Serenity’s link.  I will be there to help her hold the connection without giving away our presence and to help strengthen her gift.  She will be in control.”

“But you will be safe?” Bran questioned.  “I have a huge problem with this Flame.  I’m trying to get on board, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.” 

“We will be fine, Bran,” Flame promised.  “We are strong, capable women, and we can do this.  Trust me.”

Swallowing hard, Bran nodded and moved to stand behind Flame, placing his back against the wall.  If he could not talk her out of this crazy plan, then he would be nearby to support her.

“I still have a problem with this,” Phoenix insisted.  “It is my mate who is actually going into that sick bastard’s mind.  It is my mate who could get caught in there.”

“We need to do it, Phoenix.  We need to stop him before he hurts someone else.  I can do this.  I can track him and find him.  I can beat him at his own game.”

Taking a deep breath, he nodded once and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.  “I know you can, Serenity.  You are one of the strongest people I know.” 

Smiling at him, Serenity said, “Ok Flame, I’m ready.”  Flame came around to Serenity’s left side, Angel moved to stand on her right.  As Serenity looked up at Angel in surprise, Angel shook her head.  “I am not going to let the two of you enter that asshole’s mind alone.  Let’s do this.”

Concentrating, Serenity closed her eyes and merged with Angel and Flame.  She had never attempted anything like this before and was shocked at the amount of energy that flowed through her from the other women.  As soon as she felt confident that she would not give herself away to Malcolm, she went hunting.

It took her several long minutes to connect with Malcolm.  She had never before tried to connect with him; he was the one who always sought her out.  And, she was trying to go slow enough that he didn’t detect her presence.  Suddenly she was inside his mind.  It was a vile and hateful place, and without the added support of Angel and Flame, she would have left immediately.  As Serenity sifted through Malcolm’s thoughts to try and figure out where he was, she realized he was in his wolf form and was stalking prey.  At first she didn’t recognize the area.  The land did not look familiar.  But then she heard Jade’s laughter.  Malcolm was in the compound.  Somehow he had found her and he was inside the compound. 

Looking through his eyes she saw Jade pushing Lily in a swing up on a hill.  Hope, Faith and Hunter were playing nearby while Jenna was laying out a snack for everyone on a blanket.  As Malcolm stalked closer to Jade and Lily, Serenity screamed and broke the connection.

“Oh my God,” Angel cried.  “We have to get to the compound now.”  As she ran for the door she cried over her shoulder, “Chase, call your enforcers and send them to where that picnic area is with the swing.  That area where Nico and Jenna like to take Lily.  Malcolm’s there!  He’s after Jade, Jenna and the kids.”  As the team raced to their vehicles, Chase placed a frantic call to his head enforcer, Slade, to fill him in. 

J
ade was pushing Lily on the swing, laughing as Lily giggled and demanded, “Higher, higher.”  It was so nice to be free.  With the exception of the first four years of her life, Jade had been the General’s prisoner and had only seen the outdoors when she was being taken to and from the hole.  Never had she seen a sky so blue, or grass so green.  It was breathtaking and peaceful.  She wasn’t stupid enough to think she was completely safe.  The General was still out there, and he was looking for her.  But for now, she was happy and at peace.