Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) (8 page)

She was breathing hard as she lowered herself onto the bed. He followed with her, remaining connected. She could feel that he was still hard inside her.

“You’re still erect?”

“I’ll be like this for a few minutes. It’s the way of the wolf.”

She moved her hips so that she could feel his girth deep inside. “I love it Fergus. All of it. Some of the blocks have weakened as well and I’m catching glimpses of how we were together, how many times we made love, the way we talked. It was beautiful.

“But there’s something more. I can feel the wolf developing in me. The howls, the intensity of every scent. In the middle of everything, I even wrinkled my nose like I’ve seen you do and bared my teeth. She touched her throat. And I’m sprouting fur, how is that possible?”

“I don’t know except like those before us, we seem to be sharing powers.”

He lifted up enough to kiss her cheek and to keep the full weight of his body from compressing her chest.

It took a long time before her breathing evened out.

She turned her head toward the window and saw that the late afternoon was finally making its shift to night.

“We’ll be heading out soon.”

“Yes. We will.”

~ ~ ~

Fergus felt like a man reborn. As much as he’d valued the dreamglide sex with Mary, real-time was so much better.

He drew out of her slowly and reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand. He pulled out several and tucked them between her legs.

“Thank you.”

He leaned down and kissed her back over and over. He eased off the bed, careful not to catch one of her limbs or her hand with his movements.

He was satisfied in the best way, because he’d succeeded in marking her. His seed combined with her orgasm had released his wolf-musk through her skin, something other wolves would be able to detect.

For a moment, he’d almost felt as though he could bond with her, but it hadn’t happened.

Nor should it have. Mary wasn’t a wolf, yet somewhere deep within his soul he’d been hoping to cross that magical line and make her his alpha-mate.

He’d felt something low in his abdomen as well, a force that had reached for Mary. Maybe she’d experienced something similar. But as her climax soared, the sensation dissipated. The part of him exhibiting fae traits had actually sensed that the bond had tried to form, but couldn’t.

The good news was that he’d felt anything at all. In the past, ever since Sharon died, his experiences with potential alpha-mates hadn’t yielded the smallest bonding sensation.

He took a quick shower to clean up and when he returned to the bedroom, Mary was sitting on the side of the bed her gaze fixed to the floor. She looked shocked out.

Oh, God, had he been too rough with her?

“Mary, are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

She looked up at him and shook her head. “I’m fine. It was wonderful. It’s just that I’m feeling as though something terrible has happened in Savage. Fergus, we need to get over there right away. Your pack is being hurt.”

He drew close to her and instinctively put a hand on her shoulder. But as he made the connection, his back arched painfully. The same sensations pummeling Mary now afflicted him.

He felt pain.

Fear.

His people racing around wildly.

His mind became fixed on the outdoor communal area of the Gordion Compound. He felt the presence of several bodies and a lot of blood. He recognized one of his betas, now dead.

Jesus. What had Sydon done?

He stood up. “I have to call Warren and find out what happened. I’ll let you know as soon as I reach him. Go ahead and shower, get dressed. Okay?”

She nodded, but tears were in her eyes.

He felt it as well, that some tragedy had happened. His throat was tight as he hurried to the guest bedroom.

Once there, he retrieved the phone Warren had given him to use, then called his fellow alpha. “What’s going on with my pack?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s hard to explain. Mary, as a fae, felt something and I did as well. Please, tell me what’s happened.”

“I just talked to Ryan. You have a young female wolf named Elena, new to your pack since she’s only been an
alter
wolf for a few months, right?”

“Yes. Elena.” She had dark brown hair, which she wore straight and cropped at her chin. The process of coming to Savage had been especially traumatic for her, since she’d lost the rest of her family through some tainted
alter
serum. She was a sweet girl still in high school. The women of his pack had worked hard to help her feel like they were her new family.

Fergus could feel what had happened to Elena at the same moment Warren spoke the words. “Sydon’s rogue wolves raped her, then were forcing her into a van with a lot of other women destined for the Naked Wolf on Savage Strip where they’d be put to work for the night.

“Elena started battling the nearest rogue wolf. Apparently, she got hold of a knife from his belt sheath. But instead of attacking him, she cut her own throat. She bled out before anyone could save her.

“Some of your male wolves went insane and started attacking the rogue wolves. But Sydon had already stripped them of their weapons. Only his rogues were armed. Fergus, you’ve got ten dead, eleven including Elena.”

Fergus dropped into the nearby chair and shaded his eyes with his free hand. Life in Savage was difficult at best. Wolf tempers ran on the fiery side and too many wolves lost their lives through hotheadedness.

Knowing Sydon’s new policies had driven his wolves to madness strengthened his need to get back to Savage.

Warren continued, “Fergus, there’s something else you should know. Though Sydon stopped the revolt almost as soon as it started, he’s used it as an excuse to imprison your most powerful wolves, Harley and Ryan included.”

“Fuck.” They were both alphas-in-training who Fergus relied on.

“You’ve got to get over here. You can stay in my compound as long as you need to and I’ll support your effort to get rid of this interloper. We’ll do whatever it takes. Shit, if Sydon gets the cartels entrenched behind him, we’ll have the devil of a time in the territory. I fear we’ll end up with a war among all fifteen packs.”

He knew what Warren meant, how a small portion of strife in one part of Savage could build easily into a full-scale nightmare. Mary was right to be concerned about an association with Savage. His land was a perpetual hot, dry wind headed for an already burning forest fire.

“Warren, listen to me. I’ve got a situation here, and I need you to go with the flow if you can. Mary is coming with me. I don’t know why, but the pack won’t survive without her. It’s just something I’m sensing right now. Can you live with that?”

Warren said nothing for a long moment, then finally responded. “These are extraordinary times, Fergus. I was with Mary when she brought you back from the dead. And I can feel it, too. There’s something about her that we need here in Savage. As much as either of us can comprehend what’s going on, I get it. You’re both welcome in my compound. Talk to you in a few.”

Fergus hung up, relieved that Warren understood. He heard the shower running. A moment later, when the water shut off, Mary called out, “I won’t be long.”

Fergus stood up and put on the leathers and black tank Warren had sent over for him. Socks and the heavy leather boots came next. He and Warren were almost the same size though Warren was taller if only by an inch.

He added the belt and holster, then checked the Glock Warren had provided. Satisfied, he slid it into the holster.

Every death of a pack member hit him hard. He conducted funerals as a necessary way to console his pack. But he was furious that Sydon had succeeded in getting so many members of his pack killed within less than twenty-four hours of becoming the Gordion Pack alpha.

Sydon, however, wouldn’t stay in that position for long, not if Fergus could help it.

As he thought the situation through, however, he knew he needed to talk to one other person. Sitting down on the side of the bed, he called the head of the Savage Pack Council, Andrew Dean, though he spoke with Dean’s assistant first. The assistant sounded flustered as soon as Fergus mentioned his name.

He waited, wondering what Dean would make of hearing from a man he thought dead.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Dean’s brusque voice hit Fergus’s ear. “Because I don’t think it’s funny. Eric Fergus died last night, you sonofabitch.”

“No, Dean, I didn’t.”

There was silence, then, “Fergus?”

“So, you recognize my voice?”

“Of course I do, but I was told by more than one reliable source that you’d been killed in a dominance battle with Sydon.”

“You were only half informed. The fae, Mary Somers, found me in the Graveyard not far from Revel Territory and with Warren’s help, she saved my ass.”

The silence that returned disturbed Fergus more than anything else could have. “Sir?”

“You know of recent events at your compound?” Dean’s voice was low and distressed.

“Yes, Warren just told me. But I can get proof in the form of an ultrasound picture that Mary took showing Sydon’s use of an illegal skewer during the dominance challenge. He punctured my heart and that’s how he almost killed me. Dean, I want my pack returned to me. Now. Call the council for an emergency meeting and get this done.”

Dean let loose with a long string of invectives, ending with, “That fucking bastard. But listen Fergus, you can’t tell anyone about the skewer.”

Fergus didn’t get it. “Why the hell not? I’ll be able to reverse his takeover.”

“I’m sorry, but it won’t be that simple. Not anymore.”

Fergus had expected some resistance, but not a flat refusal. He knew Dean. He was a good man. He was also frequently blocked by forces outside his control, some emanating from the cartels and others from the Five Bridges Tribunal itself.

Finally, Fergus asked, “What’s happened since last night, that proof of an illegal weapon won’t reverse Sydon’s status with the Gordion Pack?” Something else had to be going on.

Dean huffed a heavy wolf sigh that carried a grunt at the end. “The cartels have gotten involved. They’re backing Sydon. You know that there’s a heavy demand for female wolves in the sex clubs, especially when they’ve been dosed with amber flame. Sydon has given the cartels the right to take any woman they want from the Gordion Pack, mated to another wolf or not. My sources tell me at least five are headed to Savage Strip as we speak.”

“Warren told me Sydon was sending them to the Naked Wolf, but he didn’t know about the cartels. So, what are you saying? Can I expect any help from the council?”

“No. I’m sorry Fergus. It wouldn’t matter if you produced a thousand ultrasound photos. Though the council has to stand down, I won’t block you if you want to retake your pack. But only a dominance battle will serve. In fact, this phone call never happened. Do you understand?”

“I do.”

“Fergus, give him hell and I’m sorry.”

When Fergus hung up, he turned his phone over and over in his hands. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Mary. She wore jeans again, a pair of running shoes, and a couple of tank tops, one over the other like he’d seen some of his wolves do. One of the tanks was white, the other lavender. She looked beautiful with her long blond hair loose around her shoulders and a concerned glint in her light brown eyes.

He covered her fingers with his palm.

“Tell me everything,” she said. “Again, I’m supposed to help you, so use me.”

As he spelled out the atrocities underway at his compound, he watched her jaw grow tighter and tighter. He’d half expected her to break down and weep, maybe even change her mind about joining him in Savage.

Instead, she dipped her chin. “I’m ready, Fergus. Let’s go kick Sydon’s ass to hell and beyond.”

CHAPTER FOUR

MARY’S HEART POUNDED as Fergus held his arm wide for her. She stood with him on her back deck, the night sky showing a few stars despite Phoenix’s light pollution.

She stepped onto his right boot, unable to believe she was actually going to fly with Fergus all the way to Savage.

His sawdust voice hit her ear and sent chills over her shoulders. “Now, slide your arm around my neck.”

She felt dizzy as she lifted her arm and did what he told her to do. When he pulled her tight against his body and his wolf heat cascaded over her, she’d never felt more secure. “So, you’re going to take me high into the air?”

“I won’t go too far up, just enough to escape detection by the average eye.”

She was close enough to smell his wolf scent, which had the effect of making certain parts of her shiver and ache all over again. Deep within her abdomen, she felt that same strange tug which didn’t make sense to her. It felt sexual, yet not. It felt connected, oddly, to her heart, and she had no idea what it meant.

But it felt more wolf than fae, part of the sharing of inexplicable
alter
characteristics with Fergus that she doubted she’d ever comprehend.

As he rose into the air, she tightened her hold on his neck.

Fergus switched to telepathy.
Don’t choke me now.
But she could see that his lips curved.

Despite how nervous she felt at flying for the first time, she eased back on her grip. He held her firmly around the waist so she knew she was safe.

She forced herself to relax and take in the view. Over a month ago, when he’d carried her to safety, she’d been unconscious. Now, she could have a good look at the western section of Five Bridges.

So much of our land,
she said, staying mind-to-mind,
looks like we’ve been battling with tanks, mortars and grenades. There’s one stretch of well-kept suburbia, then next to it a hundred feet of torn up cement and asphalt with weeds growing through.

I think you’ve described it exactly.

He shifted direction slightly, easing more west than south. They’d soon reach Blackwater Bridge, one of the five main, tri-part bridges in their province, connecting the human part of Phoenix with both Revel Territory and Savage. Even at a distance of two miles, she could see the well-lit bridge and the searchlights indicating the border between the U.S. and Five Bridges.