Christmas Three (3 page)

A howl from outside broke through the darkness, interrupting their tranquility. The sound sent a shiver of disgust and fear down Tempest’s spine. She didn’t have to have wolf instinct to know it was Vernon goading her men and letting them know he was still there. Alex stiffened beneath her and moved her to the bed before sitting up. She looked down to see Dominic lying flat on the floor and a low snarl came from the back of his throat. In the blink of an eye he shifted to his wolf and moved towards the door. Alex leapt from the bed and took on the golden brown form of his wolf. Fear clutched at her throat as her wolves headed towards the door. She propelled into action and grabbed her robe off the door and followed them down the stairs.

“Please don’t go out there. Don’t fight him now!” Tempest called out.

“What’s going on? Are they back?” Vanity came from the back room and followed them into the kitchen.

They got there just in time to see Dominic use his body to force the back door open. Tempest didn’t even answer Vanity. Instead, she rushed out the back door, following her wolves into the chilly night. Dominic and Alex were on the move. The moon silhouetted them against the dark night and she could see them chasing Vernon and his wolves off. They stopped at the top of the hill and howled at the retreating forms of their foe. When she saw them coming back, she stepped inside and stood back so they could enter and both walked past without even stopping. She could feel their rage as clearly as if they were in human form.

“Secure the door, Vanity, and head to bed. I’ll take care of them,” Tempest ordered.

Vanity bowed. “Yes, my Beta.”

“No, don’t do that, don’t bow and stuff to me,” Tempest said.

“You’ll be the mate of our new leader and the Beta to heal the wounds of our pack. The respect you will be given will be tantamount to that of the Alpha.” Vanity bowed again. “I would proudly serve as your right hand if you will allow me.”

She was definitely making Tempest uncomfortable. “Um, how about we discuss this another time? Just make sure the door is locked, okay?”

“Yes, Mistress,” Vanity said.

“Don’t...  Oh, never mind,” Tempest said.

She turned and pulled her robe a bit tighter around her naked body and ran up the stairs. Her men were on the bed still in wolf form and she crawled up between them. They rested their heads on her lap and she stroked their fur. Feeling the tension in their muscled bodies told her they had wanted to chase Vernon down and rip him apart. But they would have to wait until the day after Christmas for the pleasure of snapping his neck. Tempest didn’t know if she would feel remorse in the least at Vernon being gone. The Acadia pack would be better off with Dominic and Alex leading them. Even though that is not what they wanted, she knew they would make amazing leaders. She wished her second sight would show her something so she could see what was coming. The unknown and the darkness her mind insisted on showing her scared her most of all.

3

Chapter Three

Two mornings later, the weather had gotten much colder in
Cormina
, signaling that Christmas was closer. Tempest tried to keep her mood light and the holiday cheer going but the looming fight between her men and Vernon made that difficult. They still hadn’t told her who was actually going to challenge him. She had heard some of what Vernon had said but was not able to catch which of her men would fight. Was Alex going to fight? Did Dominic want to be leader? She knew they weren’t telling her because they were trying to protect her, but what they didn’t understand was that not knowing was making it worse, because in the end someone was going to be hurt.

As Christmas neared, she tried to push for a vision, tried to
will
herself
to have one and only succeeded in giving herself a migraine. It made her angry. The one time she desperately needed it, her gift failed her.

Even though Vanity was not exactly a welcome guest, she was a help in the kitchen, making cookies with Tempest and doing the baking for the holidays. After the initial bumps they had, she found the young woman rather charming and intelligent. It was her persistence on calling her “mistress” or “my Beta” that made Tempest uncomfortable. But it was through Vanity that she was learning more about pack life and the changes that would be coming when Alex or Dominic took over as pack leader. It wasn’t a matter of if but when it happened. She saw them as leaders the first time she met them and went with them to Acadia. That initial look into their future was several months ago, but while her visions tended to be spotty, they were never wrong. She looked over to where Vanity sat sprinkling brightly colored sugar crystals on a tray of cookies fresh out of the oven. She was rubbing her belly with her free hand.

“Are you okay?” Tempest asked. “I want you to go to the doctor in town as soon as I can get you an appointment.”

“Yes,
Mis
…” Tempest gave her a look and she stopped her words. “Thank you, Tempest.”

“You’re welcome. I think after this is all over, if I have to be the Beta for the pack, I want everyone in the pack to have regular doctor appointments, especially the women and children,” Tempest said.

“Jack paid for our appointments and made sure the children had their shots,” Vanity murmured. “But when Vernon took over, whatever money we had in the bank, he used up, he and the three with him,” Vanity explained.

“Who are they?” Tempest asked curiously.

“Joe, Martin and Griffin.”
Vanity’s voice held disgust. “They fell in line with Vernon quickly after Jack’s death. It was hard for all of us to have to submit to Vernon, but even harder to submit to those three as well. But Jack’s daughters, his poor daughters were made to submit as well.”

“That’s horrible!” Tempest said. She knew the bond of being mated, but the fact that they were using it only for their own gratification angered her. “This will all stop, Vanity. Don’t worry, we are going to stop it and take the pack back to the way it was when Jack ruled.”

Vanity winced. “I hope so, the fighting has become worse and is widespread among the pack and it is even affecting the young. See, even now this little one is kicking up a storm.”

“Isn’t that just him being a healthy little boy?” Tempest asked with a smile. She picked up the oven mitts and pulled another tray out of the oven.

“Boy?” Vanity said. “You know this for certain?”

“Yes, I do,” Tempest said. “I’ve always been good at telling the sex of babies. I think maybe that’s why Vernon makes the women terminate. He knows that one day someone, most likely his own son, will stand up to him. He fears having an Alpha being born.”

“He is no wolf, no true one anyway. If Jack had not been so brutally and unfairly overthrown by Vernon and his three minions, he’d have kicked Vernon out of the pack or would have had him killed. Even though Vernon was the second in command, Jack was coming to realize what a bad call he had made putting him in that position. I think Vernon knew Jack’s plan to get rid of him, so Vernon beat him to it,” Vanity said angrily. “Our children make our pack strong; they give us a bond and he’s taken that from so many of us.” Vanity hesitated. “You could help my unborn as the Beta.”

“How so?”
Tempest asked.

“You are more powerful than you realize. Your gift has left you open to being a part of the pack even though you’re human,” Vanity explained. “Why do you think Vernon wants you so much? He can sense the power in you and wants to use it for his own control. Place your hand on my belly and connect with my son. Ask him to quiet and rest easy.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t mess around with the baby,” Tempest said hesitantly. “I don’t want to go practicing something on him and next thing you know he shifts in your belly or something.”

Vanity laughed. “No wolf child can do that until he or she goes through puberty. The earliest I’ve seen it happen is ten years old. I’m only asking you to try, please.”

“Okay, um...” She wiped her hands down the front of her jeans as she walked to where Vanity sat at the table.
Lord, please don’t let me do anything to hurt this baby,
she thought, afraid.

“It won’t work if our Beta does not believe in herself,” Vanity said gently. “You felt the power before, the urge to help me and heal me. When I tried to put a claim on one of your mates, it was there too. Embrace that power again.”

Tempest gave a short nod and sighed. She took a few calming breaths before she knelt beside Vanity’s chair and placed her hand on her belly. The baby kicked and Tempest smiled. One day she hoped to be on the receiving end of those very kicks. She wanted children with Dominic and Alex.

She centered her thoughts, focusing on the baby, picturing how it may look nestled warmly in its mother’s womb. She gasped when she felt herself connect to the baby. She then tapped into the pack bond that linked Vanity to the rest of the pack and to her child, the bond that made her fiercely protect her baby by hiding her pregnancy and then running for help. Through the connection, Tempest felt the discord that was running through the entire pack. In her mind it was like a cancer eating away at the bond they all shared.

Tempest focused again on Vanity’s baby and in her mind she pictured herself talking to the baby in a bassinet.
Be still, sweet pea.
Shh
, we’re here to keep you safe
. She thought of a lullaby and hummed it in her mind. She didn’t know how it happened, but she felt it within herself as the baby seemed to settle at her words. She had heard and read about children hearing the voice of their parents or music in the womb and responding but this was on a whole new level. In fact, because of the connection she felt to the pack at that moment, in her mind’s eye she could see the black decay of Vernon and his cohorts being pushed back. Not enough to make much of a difference, yet it was there.

Vanity gasped and smiled as Tempest got to her feet. “You did it! You see, you are our Beta, our healer! The bond is not as corrupted as it once was. I can feel a lighter sense among us!”

Before Tempest could answer, Alex and Dominic came rushing inside.

“What have you done?” Alex demanded.

“You felt it too?” Vanity asked.

“Of course we did. We are connected to her. Anything she does, whether she is in danger or not, we always know,” Dominic snarled. “What I want to know is why you’re making it more tempting for Vernon to come take her?”

Vanity shrunk back with fear evident in her eyes. Tempest knew for almost a year that this pack was being treated wrong and that these people were being abused by a cruel leader. There was no way she would allow such an atmosphere in her home. She’d dealt with evil and cruelty all her life, to have it happen to another person in her house, under her, was unacceptable.

She glared at Dominic. “You rein it in right now, Dominic Cross. She didn’t make me do anything. This is what I wanted to do. I chose to do this. If you feel what I felt, then you know what they are going through. So don’t you dare scare her in my
home.
Is that understood?”

Her voice rose on the last few words and Dominic’s eyes widened in surprise. The room crackled with energy, so much so that the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

“You can’t go around doing this. Each time you do something like this, Vernon can sense you too,” Alex said. “We have to deal with—”

“No, you can’t hide this from me,” Tempest yelled. She had been named after the raging storm that wailed outside at her birth. But as the years went by she came to find that while she was usually mild tempered, when she got really angry people better step back from her personal hurricane. “I’m supposed to be your mate, right? And when you fight and take over the pack, it seems I will be their Beta. Then why the hell do you think you can hide stuff from me? I deserve to know who is going to fight. Hell, if I’m not going to be given any choice in the matter and am expected to go along with all your decisions and have no say, I might as well head my happy ass back to my little cottage and wait for Vernon to come and get me.”

“Tempest…” Dominic said.

She cut him off with the swipe of her hand.
“Hell no.
You don’t speak until I’m finished. If I can help the Acadia pack I’m going to do so. If I’m your mate and the Beta then respect me as such. I know now that I can help these people heal, so make your choice real quick. I’m in or I’m out.”

“We’re sorry,” both men said in unison.

Vanity burst out laughing. “You are truly a fine Beta to bring the Alphas down to size.”

“I’ll be fighting Vernon,” Alex said quietly. “Dominic will be dealing with the other three so the fight is fair.”

“I plan to take them out before the actual fight and then it will be Vernon and Alex in the center of the camp,” Dominic added. “We decided that when Alex wins, he will be the brains of the leadership. He thinks before he acts while I tend to run on adrenaline and anger. I’ll be doing the training and basically enforcing rules and laws and such. No decision will be made without the other.”

Alex stepped closer and rubbed her shoulders. “You will be the healer, and this pack will need a lot of healing, especially the women. You’re going to have to try to dull what Vernon has put them through, the loss of children and the poison of what he’s done to
mated
couples. Honey, we are not happy about this. Doing this kind of thing will exhaust you both mentally and physically and you’re going to sleep for hours and then you’ll have to do it all over again the next day. It scares us thinking of what you’ll see and feel trying to help them all.”

“And you’ll both be there to guide and comfort me. You’re my mates; we’ll help each other through this,” she said softly and held one hand out to Dominic and the other to Alex. With both of her men in her arms, her anger fizzled. “The three of us are bonded. Nothing will break us, nothing.”

“Then no more yelling at us,” Alex said.

“I can’t guarantee that because sometimes you need it,” she grumbled. “I’m going to ask one thing. When this is over, we move the Acadia pack here and they become the
Cormina
pack. We have more than enough land for them to build homes and I’d like Vanity to take my cottage as hers.”

“No, Mistress, I can’t do that!” Vanity gasped.

“If you’re going to help me, you’ll need some place where you can be comfortable,” Tempest said. “It sits empty most of the time and it has a lovely second bedroom that can be set up for the baby. If you think you’ll be lonely someone can live there with you.”

Tears fell on Vanity’s cheek. “I really didn’t want your man when I said I was unmated. I’ve been alone for so long at the mercy of Vernon, I miss being held, cared for and bonded. I love someone from the pack. His name is Heath, but I doubt he’ll want me now with Vernon’s child in my belly and all that has happened. They beat him something bad because they knew he wanted me. He’ll hate me for sure.”

“I don’t think so,” Tempest said firmly. “We’ll let everything play out and see where it goes, but for now let’s just
say
the cottage is yours.”

“
Cormina
pack.
That has a nice ring to it. It will be good to leave the past and start new. The children can start schooling again and we can be strong with two leaders,” Vanity said. “I can almost taste Vernon’s blood. His time is ending and he knows it.”

Dominic nodded. “You two stay close to home and
be
very, very careful. I have no doubt he’ll try something before then.”

Tempest knew Dominic was right. Vernon would try something. She didn’t need a vision to know that his type could never play fair. But he wouldn’t succeed because she and her men wouldn’t let him.

Later that night, after the kitchen was cleaned up and the dishes put away, she came upstairs and saw her men stripping out of their clothes.

“Wasn’t dinner delicious?” Tempest asked. “Vanity can cook really well. I’m sure Heath will be a lucky man if he has enough sense to see past Vernon’s idiocy. She’s watching TV in the guest room.”

“Uh-huh,” Alex said and stripped his jeans off. “Why are you still dressed?”

“Because I just came into the room,” Tempest said.