BirthStone (33 page)

Tyrone shifted into human, his need to run
buffeted Silas. He gazed at the three men and waved them off. “Go
run, get it out of your systems. The police will clean up this
mess.”

The three turned and ran toward the
outskirts of town where they would shift. Silas turned to Captain
Samson. “Be patient.”

The captain gave a half nod.

“
We got him, Sir. Security is bringing
him and his guest to you. You can release the captain, the bomb’s
deactivated. The man he’s with is a doctor, like Passen. I pulled
as much data from his laptop as I could before it was remotely
destroyed. He’s one of the men from the other team, Sir. Seems
Merriweather was playing both sides.
”

Silas had suspected that when he saw the
hybrids. There were too many of them, plus Griggs hadn’t been
interested in improving or changing half-breeds. “
Thanks.
”
He released the captain.

“My men are bringing Merriweather to me now.
I plan to kill him, so if that’s a problem for you, you need to
leave now.”

The captain wiped his mouth with the back of
his hand. There were still sticky patches of white glue on his
face. “If you’d allow it, I’d shoot him my damn self. Son of a
bitch sent those assholes into the station and jumped me. I didn’t
even hear them coming.” He ran his hand over his short cropped
hair. “I’ll go inside, wait it out.” He pointed to the pile of
broken bodies. “What do you want me to do with those?”

“Get rid of them.” Silas glanced at the heap
and noticed the gleam of metal on the necks of each one. “Hold on.”
He stepped to the one Tyrone had killed and yanked off the
necklace. Mark had worn a gold circle similar to this. Silas had
assumed it was jewelry. Could it be more? Was this what Asia had
mentioned to Jasmine?

“Take off as many of these as you can,” he
told the captain. “I want to have these examined.”

“Yes, Sir.” They worked quickly and in
silence until they had collected the gold bands. “Keep these with
you.” Silas handed the ones he'd collected to the captain. “I’ll
pick them up after.”

The captain accepted the additional bands
and headed inside the building. Silas leaned against a tree in the
shadows as he waited for Merriweather to arrive.

“
Jasmine?”

“
Hmmm?”

“
You asleep?”

“
Kinda, the TV’s watching me.”

“
How’s your mom?”

“
Not good. Mark wasn’t lying; she’s going
through withdrawal and is in a lot of pain. She cursed Jacques out,
snapped at me, and cried asking for Mark. We decided to wait until
she’s through all this before I tell her he’s dead. Pity, I think
he really loved her, well as much as he could love someone with
that thing in his head.”

“
Yeah.”

“
They set her up from the beginning,
chose her because she was my mom, and then tried to destroy
her.”

“
Or they wanted to use her as a guinea
pig for a new product. Maybe they wanted to see how the poison
affected breeders, you never know with those assholes. I’m sure
quite a few humans already died testing that stuff.”

“
Hmm…more stuff I don’t want to think
about right now.”

He chuckled imagining her lying on the sofa
in the family room waiting for him. “
I’ve got one more thing to
do before picking up where we left off.”

The smile she sent him slid across his chest
and spread out.
“You left me hanging…again
.” A picture of
her pouting lips filled his vision. He chuckled.

“
An emergency arose, but I promise to
make it up to you.
” He deepened his voice, enjoying the shiver
she allowed him to feel through their connection.

“
You better. My skin is all prickly and
stuff, is that normal?”

“
Yeah. You need to release a different
kind of energy. I’ll be in a similar state when I get there, so be
prepared.”

She growled.

He purred and she laughed. “
Hurry home, I
need you.”

He straightened as a large dark Suburban
pulled into the parking lot.”
You can bet on it.”
He
disconnected as one of his security members stepped out of the van
and moved to the side. Silas ran a scan, and sent the man
verification. The other door opened and the process was
repeated.

One of the security men opened the back door
and pulled a blindfolded and bound Merriweather from the truck.
Silas waited for the other occupant to be removed from the
truck.

“This one is dead, Sir.”

Silas shook his head at the waste. “Pull him
out and toss him on the pile with the others.” He waited until his
instructions had been carried out. “Go inside and ask the captain
if he needs your help moving the bodies. If he does, assist him and
then leave. If not, return to the compound. Silas ignored
Merriweather, who had been pushed to the ground and lay struggling.
A glint of metal caught Silas’ eye. Merriweather wore one of the
gold collars. Did the man have to be free of the metal bands that
were wrapped around his body to activate his hybrid beast?

Excitement rose inside his chest. Instead of
killing the bastard outright, Silas would allow his hybrid to
fight. The prospect of beating Merriweather’s ass before destroying
him was a pleasurable bonus. He stooped next to the man and ripped
off the duct tape that served as a blindfold. Beads of bloods
formed where the tape pulled off skin. Not wanting to hear the
man’s voice, Silas left the tape covering his mouth in place.

“Hello, Alfred. I understand you’ve been
trying to arrange a meeting with me.” The man’s eyes narrowed as he
stiffened. Silas fingered the gold band around the man’s neck,
enjoying the pungent smell of fear that wafted to his nostrils. “So
you want to be a super soldier, huh? Sold your poor mama out,
didn’t you? She thought she had all of those hybrids on drugs,
ready to step into the public and tell the world about wolves.”
Silas chuckled at the surprised glint in his nemesis’ eyes. “You
played her like an old violin. Strange thing happened when my
alphas hit all those safe houses, few of the breeders had any idea
what was going on, many never gave their pups the shots. You
exaggerated the numbers for Corrina, didn’t you? You played double
agent and gave away her secrets to the highest bidder.”

Disgusted with the stench of greed rising
from the man, Silas stood. “You’re garbage, Merriweather. You mean
nothing to no one. If the men you worked for valued you, they would
have executed you like they did the good doctor.” He ignored the
surprised expression in Alfred’s eyes. “They used you and your
mother to stall for time. They never intended for the world to know
about us or what we can do. Not when they are trying to mimic me
and my abilities. Her plan was doomed from the outset, they gave
her enough rope until she hung herself.”

Merriweather jerked against the metal rings
holding him.

The captain stepped out the building,
followed by the two security workers. In silence they headed to the
back of the Suburban, opened the doors, and tossed the bodies
inside. When they finished, the captain held up a bag.

“
Take that to the lab, give it to Dr.
Passen,
” Silas said to security. The man accepted the bag from
the captain. The three men entered the truck and drove off. He
looked down at Merriweather and smiled. “Time for justice to be
served, wolf-style.” The man struggled against the metal bands in
earnest.

Silas strode to the middle of the street and
called his people to him. Within minutes, the street was crowded
with full-bloods and half-breeds, with more on the way. Silas
noticed that the twins and Leon pushed their way to the front,
becoming a barrier between him and the people.

He held up his hand and the noise died.
“Tonight another assault was thrown against our people.” He went on
to tell them what had happened with the explosions and the incident
with Mark. He appreciated the concerned comments regarding the
health of his pups and his mate. Most were in awe over Jasmine’s
abilities, and some wore masks of doubt. No matter, they would all
soon learn his mate was not one to be trifled with.

The burning need for retribution rose from
the masses as a tantalizing fragrance wafting toward him. He
glanced over his shoulder at Merriweather. The man met his gaze
with a defiant stare. Silas exhaled as the realization that his
personal desire to beat the man within an inch of his life was not
going to happen.

“One thing these…our enemies forgot. We are
pack. I am pack.” He slapped his chest. The crowd roared in
approval. “You are pack.” He pointed to the crowd. They screamed in
agreement. “We are pack.” His voice rose as the crowd yelled and
howled.

“Coming after me…meaningless. We are
connected, we are one. We live and fight as one. So here is the
message we send to our enemies, come for one… come for all.”

“Come for one, come for all,” the crowd
chanted repeatedly.

Tyrese looked over his shoulder at Silas
with a grin.

Silas held up his arms, the crowd quieted.
“Alfred Merriweather and his mother Corrina Griggs have been judged
guilty of crimes against our nation. The bombs…that killed so many
of our people…they are the ones who created and placed them in
people, often without the person’s permission. You remember
Detective Jennings...” He pointed to the police station. “They did
that.”

Growls and snapping of teeth filled the air.
Some shifted and moved closer to Merriweather. Silas ignored the
scent of fear wafting from the man. The crimes the man committed
were against the many and Silas wanted to show those who attacked
him that there would be a price paid for their actions.

“Release his bands.” Tyrone and Tyrese
walked to Merriweather, stood him up amongst the jeers and calls
for vengeance. More had shifted and moved closer. The moment
Merriweather was free, he looked at the growing crowd and then
Silas.

“Killing me won’t help. I can help you. I
know how to find them, I can take you to them…I’m telling you, I
can help you win this thing.” The man’s head whipped from Silas to
the crowd who had moved closer.

“No you can’t. They didn’t trust you with
anything of value, by now everything you think you know has been
changed. You couldn’t contact them if your life depended on it.
Lucky for you, it doesn’t. We will find our enemies and eliminate
them just as we will eliminate you.”

Merriweather’s eyes widened and then he
shifted into a hulk-sized creature. His eyes slid to Silas and then
at the pack of wolves closing in on him.

“Kill you.” He pointed at Silas and took off
running.

Silas shifted and led the pack of wolves
after him. Merriweather may have been big, but he was fast. He ran
through the town knocking down everything in his path. Silas and
the wolves jumped over or ran around the obstacles. Merriweather
made it to the edge of the woods. Silas grew tired of the chase,
shifted into his hybrid and jumped. He landed on the man’s back,
the force of the impact sent Merriweather sprawling forward a foot
or so before his face hit the ground. Before Silas could reach his
neck, the man jumped up, shaking off a couple of wolves who had
attacked his arms and legs. Swinging wildly, he missed the wolves
who darted back and forth, in and out. Silas jumped again, this
time his large canines punctured Merriweather’s neck. The man
grabbed Silas and tried to pull him off, but Silas had been leading
pack wars for too long. He ignored the blows to his body and dug in
while the rest of the pack attacked other areas of Merriweather’s
body. Weakening, his opponent fell to his knees, and Silas released
his grip and moved out of the way, silently granting his pack
permission to finish the kill. It didn’t take long for the man to
be ripped to pieces.

Blood glistening on his snout, Silas
released a victory howl. A chorus of howls followed his as his pack
rejoiced in defeating another of their enemies. Afterward, Silas
took off running into the woods beneath the moonlit sky. The pack
followed, and for the first time in months, his wolf led his pack.
A glorious sense of purpose filled him as yips and howls filled the
air. He had allowed his enemy to stop him from being himself.
Harder he ran, muscles stretching as his mate’s words returned to
him. “We have wolves and all that goes with that...” He had missed
the simplicity of her statement, just be who you are. Pack. He
scented prey and headed in that direction. Soon the large buck came
into view. Adrenaline surged through him as the buck raced away.
The chase was on.

Chapter 29

Jasmine watched Silas as he strode into the
room. There was something different about him. She couldn’t quite
put her finger on what it was. He stopped, checked on the four
small cribs, and placed kisses on the cheeks of each child. His
vibrant eyes glowed blue-green when he turned in her direction.