Embrace the Passion (The Blood Rose Series) (15 page)

As soon as Lorelei stretched out a hand to the map, which put her too close to the alphas, he growled softly.

The shifters met his gaze first with a challenge in each eye, then with quick deference they backed up almost as one.

Lorelei met Seth’s gaze as she pathed,
Really?

Yet again torn, he wanted to impress her with how she needed to keep away from other men. At the same time, he loved that she’d lightened the mood.

He went with the latter.
I’ll try to control myself.

Good, because I’ve got some serious shit to discuss
. She then spoke aloud and launched into a very visual description of an imminent attack.

He hadn’t seen her like this before, bent over the map sweeping her index finger down several different gorges, none of them far from Big Timber. She talked about two hundred extremely powerful wraith-pairs, in the air and coming for the Shifter Brigade.

“Are any of the Vampire Guard in the air?” Seth felt nerved up now. As battle-worthy as the Shifter Brigade was, they could only make speed as wolves, shift, then engage on the ground in the upright male form. They weren’t nearly as effective as his Vampire Guard against the Invictus, despite their powerful and extremely exact skills with daggers and bows-and-arrows.

She lifted her gaze to his. “Not a one.” She fell silent for a moment. “This will be a blood bath unless we do something.”

The four alphas paced and cursed.

When Seth started to lift a hand to stop them for her sake, she caught his arm and gave a squeeze, her voice suddenly in his head again.
It’s okay. Let them walk it off.

He turned toward her, staring into her eyes. She was such an unusual woman that she didn’t seem to mind four men cursing up a shit-storm. But then she was part shifter.

You always surprise me.

I do?
Her arched brows rose.

He nodded.
Yeah, you do.
He caught the underside of her arm and squeezed gently.

When the alphas had burnt themselves out on their
damn-all-the-elf-lords-to-hell-and-back
, each returned to the map, settling in on the area closest to the Big Timber conference grounds. Of all the species in his realm, the shifter community knew every crevice, gully, and feeder stream of the Shauck Mountains almost as thoroughly as he did.

He scanned the map as well, trying to understand just why Margetta would send a force into such a rocky, gorge riddled terrain. He drew closer to the four-by-six topographical map, spreading his fingers to encompass the four major gorges over which the attack would take place. He frowned then glanced at Lorelei. “And you’re sure you saw the battles here?”

Lorelei nodded. “Yes, absolutely. I’ve been over this terrain myself a number of times, tracking you more than once during the past four weeks, if you’ll remember. All of these gorges are between the Wheeling, Shauck, and Athalia Rivers. I even know their names: Bephotine, Clover, Emberith, and Inwether Gorges. Have I got that right?”

Cohoet leaned in. “Yes, exactly. These are some of the wider gorges in the entire range. They open occasionally into narrow stretches of land that can be farmed, and are maybe half-a-mile in width. We have dozens of hamlets and farms along all these lanes, and at least a thousand realm-folk.”

Valgus added, “A few times, homesteaders have tried to work the more remote regions, but the Invictus have wiped them out, no exceptions. Clover Gorge falls into my territory and I don’t allow homesteaders in the northernmost reaches, not since Mastyr Seth enacted the law.”

Having taken the alphas’ advice over a century ago, Seth had created and subsequently enforced a non-homesteading policy in the Shauck Mountains. The established shifter communities had a dozen safeguards in place, protecting a hundred hamlets that made up the intricate pack networks. Solitary ventures into wilder parts of the mountains had been banned for a long time.

A balancing force of good-natured troll families, who enjoyed mountain life as well as the earthy, volatile nature of the shifter packs, also lived, ranched, farmed and worked in the more habitable valleys and well-populated gorges, especially near the rivers and larger feeder streams.

The four gorge region that Lorelei’s vision encompassed represented at least thirty miles of territory.

“How the hell are we supposed to protect our people against a major Invictus attack?” Valgus’s cheeks turned a ruddy, angry hue as he scowled at Seth. “This is complete bullshit.”

But Ephyx stepped in. “Not bullshit. It’s the ancient fae. Margetta. Which means she’s after something.”

Lorelei straightened her shoulders. “That’s what I believe as well. These are her plans and intentions because for some reason she’s seen the future, that what happens at Big Timber with the Shifter Brigade, matters in a critical way to her war strategy. The sense I have is that if she’s not turned back at the Shauck Mountain Range, she will win her bid for total domination of the Nine Realms in the next few days. The vision also indicated that she’s been planning these recent attacks on each individual realm, beginning with Merhaine a few months ago, for at least the past nine hundred years.”

The men stared at her as though she’d just spoken in a foreign language. Seth watched her look around as she said, “What? Did I say something wrong?”

Alophi leaned forward slightly. “You’ve said what needed to be said, Mistress Lorelei. You’ve put your recent vision into words we get: war, the stakes, the purpose of the enemy, and the need for strategy.”

Seth knew that Lorelei had hit the right button and had ramped up the energy in the room in a positive way. Even he felt it now, the swelling of his battle vibration. “We need to establish our own strategy, right here, right now.” He pivoted slightly toward Lorelei. “And when does this attack take place? Do you know?”

“Tomorrow, at midnight, the first wave arrives.”

He nodded. “Good, that’s good. We have time to prepare.”

Ephyx crossed his arms over his broad, heavily muscled chest. All the shifters were built like they could wrestle bears. “First and foremost, we need to protect the communities.”

Cohoet narrowed his gaze as he scanned the map. “We should each take a gorge.”

Both Alophi and Valgus chimed in. “Agreed.”

Seth knew that this part of the plan was solid because it kept the packs separate, allowing each alpha to direct a completely different part of the defensive action.

Once more, he slid his arm around Lorelei’s waist.
Thank you.

* * * * * * * * *

Lorelei had never had this experience in her life being part of a group with a mission, especially one designed to save hundreds of realm-lives. Even with Quinlan and Batya, she’d been the outsider, the one they’d been working to save.

But here, today, she’d had her first fae vision ever and was making a contribution in a way that helped her feel like she was doing something important. The resulting happiness surprised her, though she was pretty sure it had something to do with the shifter part of her nature, a need to belong to the pack and to find a way to serve the community.

As the shifters started brainstorming how to go about protecting the various gorge populations, she leaned into Seth and pathed,
I’m so grateful for this.

For what, exactly?

I know this is going to sound odd, but for getting to help out.

I think I know what you mean. It’s hard to stand on the sidelines when you want to be doing and contributing.

Painful at times, especially when the source of all the trouble is related to you.

Don’t go there.
But he smiled and squeezed her waist.

I won’t. I don’t intend to, but it will still always be a factor.

Over the next two hours, the alphas discussed a wide variety of tools for bringing down an in-flight enemy, including lures and nets, bows and arrows, and dagger-throwing, all of which most shifters excelled at and which they often used in battle against wraith-pairs.

She made a pot of black coffee. The shifters drank deeply and the energy ramped up another notch. She sipped a cup herself. Seth refused anything, but more than once his gaze fell to her throat and each time her heart started to labor, getting that heavy, blood rose feeling again.

Of course, knowing that Seth would need to feed again soon triggered other sensations. When he looked at her once more, and his nostrils flared, a blush once more crept up her cheeks. She didn’t like having her sexual desires understood so readily, but between her strong shifter DNA and Seth’s overdeveloped vampire abilities to smell blood and other things, she could hardly pretend not to feel what she was feeling.

I’ll need to feed soon.

I know. Cramping?

Not anymore, but what I don’t get is why so soon? I just fed.

Making up for lost time, maybe?
She couldn’t help but smile.

He chuckled and the alphas glanced at him. He shook his head. “Sorry, men. Just having a private conversation with Lorelei.”

Each acknowledged his statement with an almost dismissive grunt, which meant they understood his attentiveness to his woman. They went back to studying the map and conversing with each other. Occasionally, they used their phones to contact their lieutenants and discuss details of their plans.

After another ten minutes, Valgus lifted his head. “We need to start running drills right now and keep them going through the day.”

Ephyx added, “Mastyr Seth, the entire Shifter Brigade has reassembled at Big Timber and we’re ready to go.”

Lorelei was so impressed.

Seth’s phone rang and he stepped away to answer it. He was gone only half-a-minute, but when he returned he looked deeply worried, his brows drawn together tightly.

Lorelei tilted her head, because this didn’t feel the same as his concern about Margetta’s attack.
What is it?

He straightened his shoulders, his gaze sweeping over the alphas. “I have good news, actually. Mastyr Jude will be in Walvashorr within the hour. He’ll meet up with us at Big Timber.”

Lorelei now understood what was bothering him. She was an un-bonded blood rose and another mastyr vampire would soon arrive. She knew how Seth had reacted to Batya before she’d bonded with Quinlan.

Her heart pounded harder, another indication that her own blood rose abilities wouldn’t discriminate right now between the two mastyrs. She would be equally drawn to Jude as she was to Seth, at least in terms of her need to satisfy a mastyr’s chronic blood-starvation.

She hoped like hell that she didn’t run into Jude alone.

* * * * * * * * *

Seth flew Lorelei slowly over Meriwin Stream in Emberith Gorge. The shifters were on the ground, traveling primarily in wolf-form in order to move swiftly from farm to hamlet.

He hadn’t quite realized just how prepared the shifter community was for war, but everywhere snow-oriented camouflage nets went up over houses and barns. Farm animals were herded inside the latter, and families moved to either cavern systems located in the steep, mountainous ridges of each gorge or extensive, manmade tunnels that had been built over the past century just for this purpose.

I’m amazed,
Lorelei pathed.

Her arm around his neck soothed him. He was jumpy as hell, as much from knowing that in less than twenty-four hours his men would be engaged in battle, as from the fact that Jude had arrived and was working with Ephyx and his pack at the far western Bephotine Gorge.

Even Lorelei had made it clear that her body would fail to distinguish between the men and that she knew she’d be in trouble if she got anywhere near Jude.

And he knew damn well what it was like to be drawn instantly to a blood rose. Memories of having attacked Batya gave him the shakes all over again.

So Seth had created distance to ensure that Lorelei and Jude didn’t actually see each other during these exercises.

Dawn would arrive within the next couple of hours at which time he’d take Lorelei back to his home for the day and get as much sleep as he could manage.

Ephyx’s voice begged telepathic admittance.

What is it?

We have a problem at Big Timber, a conflict with Cohoet’s pack and Valgus’s

Is Mastyr Jude still at Bephotine Gorge?

Last I heard, he was.

I’ll head to Big Timber now.

Seth shifted course and flew east toward Big Timber, explaining to Lorelei that Ephyx needed him to resolve a conflict at the conference grounds.

You need to feed, Seth. I can really feel it now. My heart is pounding.

Soon enough. I’ll have to head to shelter in just over an hour as it is.

And you’re sure you can wait?

Yes, absolutely.

He dropped down just in front of the snow-trampled stairs that led into the lodge. “Why don’t you wait inside until I settle this thing.”

“That would be great, unless you think I’m needed here as the prime female.”

He glanced around, but shook his head. “The sense I have is that you would only be needed if all four packs were involved. Would you agree with that?”

“I would, actually.”

“Good. See you in a few.”

“Right.” But she lowered her voice and smiled up at him. “You can kiss me if you want to.”

“That’s the trouble, I want to way too much. Not sure I could let it stop at a kiss, though, which means we’d end up with a huge audience.” He jerked his head in the direction of the central platform and the shifters waiting for him to arbitrate the latest dispute.

That radiant smile of hers broadened. Did she know that she glowed, that some internal light always seemed to be shine out of her, calling to him?

When she entered the lodge and closed the door, he turned around, heading in the direction of about forty shifters. The men faced off, bristling on either side of the nearest communal fire pit.

Valgus and Alophi had already taken up dominant positions in front of their men.

“What’s the nature of the issue?” Seth stood just to the side of both groups and crossed his arms over his chest. The last thing he should be doing right now was settling pack squabbles, especially when the brigade needed to be running drills and securing the safety of all four gorges.