Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) (11 page)

The Savage Pack Council didn’t have a lot of rules, but assassination would have removed Fergus from ever becoming alpha to the Gordion Pack again. Though for a few seconds, he actually considered doing Savage a favor and getting rid of Sydon for good anyway.

Living as an
alter
wolf had forced Fergus over the years to develop his own creed. In the chaos of their world, the values he upheld kept him sane.

So, instead of killing Sydon flat out, he moved back into the long hall again, just a few feet, so Sydon wouldn’t be able to see him. He waited.

What Fergus couldn’t believe was Sydon’s arrogance that he would come down to the dungeon level alone, without back-up, when by now he would have learned or possibly even heard that shots had been fired.

What weapon is Sydon carrying?

A sword, right hand.

Okay. I’ve got this.

Fergus rounded the corner and Sydon came into view as he reached the bottom step.

Fergus took several steps in Sydon’s direction, his Glock pointed at chest level.

Sydon stopped in his tracks. “Impossible.”

His black brows rose as he stared at Fergus. His hair was as oily-looking as ever and hung in long curls past his shoulders. He had an emaciated look and coal eyes which had always made Fergus wonder if Sydon took witch herbs.

For one of the first times ever, Sydon actually looked surprised. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Not quite. Drop your sword.”

The weapon clattered on the stone.

Sydon sneered. “You were flat-lined in the Goddamn Graveyard.”

“I had some help.” To Mary, he telepathed,
How we doin’? How’s Warren? Anyone else coming up the hall?

No bad guys in any of the nearby halls. I’m moving the dreamglide closer to the dungeon. Okay, I’m here. I can see you at one end and Warren is issuing orders at the entrance to the dungeon cell. Whatever happened in there appears to be over.

Good.

Fergus shifted his attention back to Sydon. As he stared at the wolf who consistently caused misery in Savage, he wanted nothing more than to put a bullet through his heart. But the best he could do was make the situation clear to Sydon. “We’ll be battling again soon. Though, for now I’ll be keeping you in a cell down here.”

He wasn’t taking any chances, however. He lowered the angle of his Glock and fired. The bullet pierced Sydon’s thigh.

Sydon shouted his pain as he fell, then shifted into his wolf state and lay trembling on the floor. He was a black wolf with a stripe of silver down his back.

Fergus moved to stand over him. “You should be able to heal yourself by tomorrow night, then we’ll have a real battle, you sonofabitch.”

He contacted Warren.
I just shot Sydon in the leg to incapacitate him. Do you have his rogue wolves contained?

Most of Sydon’s team are dead. Yours are still with us, though a couple are beaten and cut up, but they’ll survive.

Fergus breathed a sigh of relief.
Good. How about sending a couple of men down here. I want to move Sydon into a cell and lock him up. But we’ll need a muzzle.

I’ll bring help myself.

A half minute later, Warren arrived with three of his men. Each had wild, triumphant battle eyes. They’d engaged Sydon’s forces and prevailed.

Fergus directed them to shove Sydon’s ass into the nearest cell and lock him up.

During the next few seconds, Warren’s team muzzled Sydon, hauled him to the cell, then threw him inside. Sydon thrashed and whimpered because of the pain, but Fergus had no sympathy for him. With the door shut and locked, Warren ordered his men to remove the corpse at the top of the hall.

Fergus joined Warren near Sydon’s cell. From there, he had a view of the clean-up in progress all down the hall.

Warren waved his arm off to the side. “I’m having the dead moved into the adjacent cell until we can get them taken to the morgue.”

Fergus nodded, then looked inside Sydon’s cell. He lay shaking.

Warren crossed his arms over his chest, a hard expression on his face. “I’m glad you shot him. He can’t do much harm in this condition. But are you sure you don’t want to finish him off?” He growled his anger and added a disgusted grunting sound.

Fergus understood where Warren was coming from. “Believe me, I’d like nothing better. But he’s pack-bonded. If I kill him straight out, I’ll lose the pack forever. Given what Dean said about the cartels, the council would probably be forced to assign a drug-friendly alpha instead. Besides, I want to defeat Sydon in a legitimate dominance battle. Nothing else will do.”

Warren shook his head, his lips turned down. “Something isn’t right with this wolf.”

“I know. I feel it, too.”

Fergus stepped away from the cell a few feet.

Warren followed, then said, “Let me bring some of my men over here to take care of Sydon’s rogue wolves. The team we have down here might be able to do it themselves, but a larger force will subdue the wolves faster with less chance for hurting your pack once the battle engages.”

Fergus was relieved. He could sense that the pack-bond had already started to form between Sydon and the rest of the Gordion wolves. It was a peculiar, amazing process, one that he’d experienced and loved.

But the bond was neutral, without discernment, which meant there were good men at the head of packs and several bad ones like Sydon. The close pack ties were the best and the worst of Savage. The bonding process in the hands of strong, ethical leadership could create a harmonious supportive community. In the wrongs hands, death always followed, reminding Fergus he had eleven funerals to plan.

“I won’t refuse that offer.”

Warren got out his phone and contacted his beta in charge of the Caldion compound. “Alessandro, I want a hundred of our best warriors over here ASAP. And I want them armed, swords, handguns and AR-15s.”

Fergus watched Warren for a long moment as he added a few other pertinent directives. Warren had been a good friend for several years. He’d battled drug-runners alongside Fergus while serving on the Savage Border Patrol. He’d been one of several wolves to demand tighter regulations for dominance fights so they could never be used to kill wolves of significantly lesser power. Warren was the kind of man you laid down your life for.

When Warren hung up, he said, “My men will be here in less than a minute. They’re ready to take on Sydon’s rogue wolves. So, how do you want to handle this?”

Fergus thought for a moment. “Let’s ask Mary what’s going on out front. We can start there. Keep Alessandro on the com.”

Warren held up his phone. “He’s right here.”

“Good.” He pivoted away from Warren slightly, turning in the direction of the stairs. “Mary, you there?”

Her voice entered Fergus’s mind.
I’m here.

Can you bring Warren in on this conversation?
He had no idea if Mary had that kind of capacity, but they were both experiencing new abilities. Maybe it was possible.

Let me try.
He felt her telepathy expand to include Warren as she drew him into the conversation.
Warren, are you reading me?

Warren met Fergus’s gaze, his unscarred right brow high on his forehead.
Yes, I am, Mary.
He looked startled. Fergus didn’t blame him. He’d had the same reaction several times during events of the past few hours.
And I appreciate what you’ve done for us.

My pleasure,
Mary said.
Now, how can I help?

Can you get to the front entrance?
Warren asked.
My men are headed in, and I want to relay the positions of the enemy before they arrive.

I’ll get right on it,
Mary said.
But I’ll need to head back to the foyer.
Two beats later, her telepathic voice sounded agitated.
Fergus, Warren, something’s happening outside the compound.

What do you mean?
Fergus asked. His whole body tensed up and he drew his Glock. He started to head to the stairs, then decided to wait. He needed to know everything that was going on before he left the third level.

Mary continued,
I’m watching dozens of rogue wolves launch into the air, while some are shifting to wolf form and running hard. All are heading due south. They’re wearing gray logo patches and they keep streaming out of the complex. I can see Warren’s men in the distance off to the west, but by the time they arrive, Sydon’s force will be gone.

Fergus finally holstered his Glock. He turned in the direction of Sydon’s cell. The part of him that was sharing Mary’s fae abilities sensed a powerful energy emanating from Sydon.

Fergus got it.
Sydon heard Warren’s orders to Alessandro and he contacted his men. He’s sent them away.

Mary said,
That’s what it looks like from here.

Fergus looked around.
Mary, would you reenter the compound and check out our location again? I need to know if there are any more of Sydon’s wolves on the lower two levels.

Will do.

He turned to Warren. “Did you get all that?”

Even Warren smiled. “I sure as hell did. I would have been happy to battle Sydon’s wolves, but that would have meant a lot of bloodshed all over your compound. This is much better.”

Fergus had to agree. But it also meant a future reckoning with Sydon’s force. For now, he focused on securing the safety of his pack.

Mary’s voice sounded once more.
There’s no one on the third or second levels that look like rogues. I see a lot of shifters hunkered down in odd rooms here and there. Some are hiding. Others I can tell have been hurt.

Okay. Thanks. But stay put. In real-time, I mean, over at Warren’s house. I’ll come and get you in a few minutes.

I’m not going anywhere. And right now I’m hovering above you. The halls on the third level are clear as well as the stairs.

Fergus addressed Warren. “I want to do a room-by-room search of the compound. Why don’t you and your men hunt through the grounds and the surrounding forest for any of Sydon’s wolves and I’ll round up my team and do the same for the compound.”

“You got it and by the way, we couldn’t have done this without Mary.”

Fergus nodded slowly. “I know.”

Warren called to his team in the dungeon cell and soon had them flying up the stairs, with Warren in the lead. Fergus headed back down the hall and went into the cell that held his men.

Harley came up to him immediately. He was limping with a severe gash on his leg. He had long thick auburn hair and his blue eyes were pinched from pain. His face was bruised as well. “We thought you were dead. But Warren filled us in. Did Sydon really use a skewer during the battle?”

“He did. We can go over the details later, but right now, I want to know what happened in here.”

Harley gave a quick report, which confirmed what Warren had told him.

Fergus planted his hand on Harley’s shoulder. “You’re all alive and that’s what matters.”

Harley’s eyes filled with tears. “Fergus, we lost men tonight and our youngest female wolf. Sydon and his men … vicious … without souls. We didn’t have any weapons. We couldn’t do anything.” He shaded his eyes with his hand.

“I know you, Harley. You did what you could. This is on Sydon, no one else. But I need you to focus right now. We’ve got to secure the compound.”

Harley nodded and worked to compose himself. He stared at the stone floor for a long moment and took several deep breaths, releasing each one with a hoarse wolf sound. When he’d come back to himself, he said, “Tell me what you need me to do.”

Fergus took a moment to adjust as well. He wasn’t used to feeling so separated from the pack. Because Sydon had begun the bonding process, Fergus felt the distance between himself and the men in the cell like a chasm difficult to cross. But it was just one more reason to make sure the dominance battle happened as soon as possible.

As he glanced around at the wolves, he knew one thing for certain. They might not be bonded right now, but these men would follow his lead. He updated them on the departure of Sydon’s wolves and that he’d wounded Sydon to make sure the bastard didn’t do any more harm tonight.

A cheer went up that made Fergus smile. This was a beginning.

But there was work to be done to make sure all the Gordion wolves were safe. He instructed his team to make a room-by-room search of each level. “And let our people know that Sydon has been contained and that I’m calling for another dominance battle for tomorrow night.”

With his men hunting through the halls, Fergus waited in the central broad hallway of the third level, which housed a long oval running track. Any of the wolves could use it when they needed to take off on all fours.

At least forty Gordion wolves, male and female, were found on the third level, all in hiding. Fergus told them to be very quiet, though most of the women had tears running down their cheeks and at least half reached out and physically touched him.

He examined every person. He found bruises on many of them and healing cuts on quite a few. It was clear Sydon and his men had brutalized the entire pack.

Those who had previously served in guard capacity for Fergus were given weapons that came from Sydon’s men. With his team’s number now at nearly thirty, he instructed them to do a dedicated search of the second and ground levels.

He knew Warren’s team would scour the exterior of the compound and the nearby pine trees.

Fergus stayed on the second level while his men did the search. More wolves emerged from hiding places. At least a hundred of his pack of six hundred were now gathered on the second level.

He did the same as before. Despite the fact he could feel Sydon’s bond on his pack, more wolves wept and touched him. He searched the faces of everyone present and comforted those he could.

What surprised Fergus was that there was no sign of any of the rogue wolves. Somehow each had been given the order to retreat and they’d taken off. Which meant Sydon had power, not a good sign. No matter what happened in the coming dominance battle, Sydon wasn’t going away anytime soon.

Warren contacted him soon after.
We found no sign of Sydon’s men on the outside of the compound. We’re combing the forest now.