Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (27 page)

I looked around the room and realized there was no reason for Ivie to be at the meeting, other than because she wanted to be. Considering Lex’s….preference for control, I was surprised he allowed it.

“Are you beginning to realize that there’s no use in telling these women what to do?” Conner whispered to me. He was grinning when I glanced over at him.

I realized he was right. Ricki was twenty-eight and she’d been taking care of herself for a long time, even taking care of her mother when she was a teenager. For over a decade, she’d been making her own decisions and living life on her terms.

I stared at her as the realization hit me. By trying to control her, I was insulting my mate. It was easy for me to forget that Ricki hadn’t been born a wolf. She was considered fully grown at eighteen, where a shifter was still considered an adolescent.

Conner’s voice distracted me from my thoughts. “Pick your battles, Calder. She’s a smart, strong woman. She’ll know on her own when she needs to back down.”

I acknowledged his words with a nod and turned my attention to Lach.

“Thanks for meeting me today,” he began. “As you know, the MacIntire pack has had difficulties in the past few weeks. Initially, Calder and I thought it was due to the agreement we drew up with the vampire council and the coven, but now we have our doubts.”

“Why?” Kerry asked.

“Ironically, it had to do with what happened with your coven that made us question what was occurring in our pack. The Faction infiltrated your group, turning your members well in advance before they struck for the first time, right?”

Kerry nodded.

“I’m certain that they are attempting to do the same with us. The attack on the compound a few weeks ago had two goals: the first being to kill Belinda,” he paused and cleared his throat, “and Ricki if possible, the second was to drive a wedge between pack members. Without my mate, I’m weak and unable to fulfill my duties as alpha, which meant Calder had to take over. He’s younger and less experienced and the strike on the compound frightened the weaker pack members. Now they’re blaming our alliance with the Council and the coven for what happened and they want to pull out of the agreement. I think that there are agents of the Faction among my pack now who are encouraging this fear and this school of thought.”

Lex nodded. “If I were planning a coup, weakening the current regime would be my first goal,” he stated. “It’s a logical conclusion.”

“I also think they intend to hit us on the night of our full moon run, which is in a week,” Lach shared. “I called this meeting today to ask for your help. The only members of the pack that I trust are in this room and I don’t want the Faction to know I’m aware that they have their dirty hands in my pack. I want to turn their own plan of attack against them. In order to do that, I’ll need help from all of you and your people.”

Without hesitation, Kerry spoke. “I’m in. I may not be able to fight physically, but I can provide protection, warning, and maybe even some offensive magic.”

Finn placed a hand on her shoulder, not in concern, but support. He didn’t say a single word to stop her.

My eyes moved over to Ricki, who was staring at me with raised brows, as if to say,
See
. I met her gaze and nodded. I understood.

Discussion of our strategy for the night of the full moon began. In order to keep the traitors from discovering the vampires and witches, they would have to stay far enough away that a shifter couldn’t track their scent, but close enough to be of help.

Kerry began muttering something about masking spells and glamours, pulling out a notebook and scribbling as she talked to herself.

Conner, Lex, and Finn discussed which of their men they trusted as well. After the attack on Conner’s home that almost killed Ricki, Finn had gone through his security ranks, interrogating them all thoroughly. As far as I knew, all the Faction’s double agents on his team had been killed the night of Ricki’s turning.

The meeting lasted another hour. Plans were made. Everything hinged on when the Faction struck. Conner implied he might be able to gather more information in the next week, but we couldn’t hang our hopes on it. There just wasn’t enough time. Our one advantage was that Dante, the warlock that had worked with the Faction, was dead. It was doubtful Cornelius had time to find another one to replace him.

Lach, Chloe, and I discussed the situation with Conner, Lex, and Finn while the rest of the ladies talked. I knew the isolation from her friends was bothering Ricki, but she never complained about it. Another sign that Conner was correct, my mate understood what was at stake and she wouldn’t do something stupid.

Ricki proved it further on the ride back to the compound.

“The night of the run…” she trailed off. “I’m going to stay back and help keep the weaker members of the pack safe.” She looked at Chloe in the back seat. “I think you’ll agree I’m not ready.”

I stared at my enforcer in the rearview mirror and she shrugged. “That’s actually your decision, but I think it is better if you stay out of the worst of the fighting.”

Our plan involved more than just defending the pack. We wanted to take down as many members of the Faction as possible. If at all possible, we wanted Cornelius. As Kerry put it, it was time to stop dicking around. Information about the Faction and their members was limited and it seemed like we were always on the defensive.

If the night of the full moon worked out as we wanted, we would have prisoners to interrogate and a weakened enemy.

Ricki faced the front windshield again. “I think I’d be more of a distraction than a help at this point in time.”

I knew she was referring to me and my hands tightened around the steering wheel. The bitch of it was that she was right. Even knowing she would be somewhere safer, I knew I would be worried about her.

Kerry’s house in Farmersville was only thirty minutes from the compound. When we arrived back, Chloe climbed out of the back seat and pointed at Lachlan. “You need to eat.”

He didn’t even bother to argue, just grunted and followed her to his house. Chloe was definitely good for him. She didn’t let him pine or wither if she could help it. Under her constant bullying over the last couple of weeks, he’d gained weight and strength. He was no longer too weak to change form and his face lost a good deal of its skeletal appearance.

There was no way he was fighting fit yet, which concerned me, because he stated his intent to remain in the middle of it all. I wondered if perhaps he was hoping that the final battle would put him out of his misery, then I shoved it to the side. Belinda’s passing might have wounded him deeply, but he wasn’t so selfish that he would risk the lives of his pack mates to join her in death.

Ricki and I walked into the house and I noticed that her shoulders slumped. Pepper bounded down the stairs, her ears perked up and tail standing tall like a black flag. Ricki scooped her up and cuddled her to her chest.

“I guess I should make some dinner,” she murmured. “It is my turn.”

I placed my hands on her shoulders, holding her in place. “Wait.”

She hesitated, her muscles tight beneath my palms. Moving slowly, I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind, pulling her against my body. At the jostling, Pepper yowled and leaped out of Ricki’s hold.

“Thank you,” I told her softly, resting my chin on her shoulder.

“For what?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

“For being a good mate.”

She gave a surprised laugh and turned to face me. “What? I don’t know anything about this werewolf mate stuff,” she insisted. Her hands rested on my biceps, but she wasn’t pushing me away.

I took that as a good sign and continued. “You’re better at it than you think. You know when you shouldn’t back down, but, most importantly, you make decisions based on what’s best for the pack.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what you’re capable of and you refuse to let me hold you back.”

She stared up at me, her eyes confused.

“Why did you insist on coming to the meeting today?” I asked.

“There was more than one reason,” she answered.

“Then tell me all of them.”

Ricki sighed, her eyes lowering to my chest. “Well, first of all, you’re the beta which means you have responsibilities. As your mate, I’m going to have to share them, whether you like it or not. Chloe said as much today after that nastiness with Brittany, but I think I realized it even before then. The pack is going to look at me as either a weakness or an asset. If I stay home and avoid conflict or danger, they’ll have absolutely no respect for me. I’ll be a liability in their eyes.”

She paused and I squeezed her waist. “And what are the other reasons?”

Her hands gripped my arms tighter. “The prophecy. Whether you like it or not, I’m involved in all this, Calder. I deserve to have my thoughts heard and to know what the plans will be. There’s a reason the prophecy is about five, it’s part of my fate and it’s also my responsibility.”

I nodded. That made sense. Trying to keep her out of it would be stupid. She was
supposed
to be there. I’d never thought of it that way before, but what she said was absolutely true.

“Any other reasons?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Yeah, I wanted to see my friends.”

I had to laugh. Her mind amazed me. “Thank you for deciding to stay out of the fight next week,” I said. “You’re right in thinking I would be distracted if you were in the line of fire.”

The smile that had been spreading across her face disappeared and she looked down. “There was more to it than that,” she mumbled. With a sigh, she met my eyes again. “I don’t know if I’m ready to kill another being, Calder. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to. Today, when I was holding Brittany’s throat in my hand, I wanted to because I knew it would be best for the pack, but something held me back and it wasn’t just Chloe’s intervention.”

I nodded. That was something I’d heard before from other turned wolves.

“You don’t think that’s weak?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. To be able to kill without remorse means you’ve lost all your humanity, Ricki. Even I regret having to take a life. I’ll do it when it’s necessary, but being unable to doesn’t mean you’re weak. There are lots of shifters in this very compound who refuse to hunt in human or wolf form.”

Ricki scrunched her nose up and it was adorable. “You hunt in wolf form?” She paused. “Do you, uh, eat in wolf form too?”

When I nodded again she shuddered in my arms. “Oh ick!”

I chuckled. “Well, you may change your mind if you try it.”

She shrugged. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it. I’ll buy my meat at the supermarket, thank you very much.”

I laughed again. “Are we good?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’re good,” she answered.

“Why don’t we make dinner together?” I suggested. “Then I’ll have you for dessert,” I growled as I leaned down to nibble at her neck.

Ricki squealed, jerking in my arms. “Oh my God, where’d you find that line, 1975? she asked, laughing and wriggling in my arms.

I turned her toward the kitchen and smacked her ass sharply. “You like it when I eat your pussy.” Her face turned bright red, just like I knew it would, and I laughed. “So what’s the main course?”

“How about burgers?” she asked.

“Sounds perfect.”

I was determined to enjoy the night with her because, in a few days, we would be preparing for battle. It was a fight that we must win, no matter the cost.

Ricki

T
he week leading
up to the run seemed to fly by. I trained daily with Chloe. Calder and Lachlan often joined us. Shockingly, Lach was stronger than I thought based on the thinness of his frame. He pushed all of us hard and, in return, Chloe pushed him. The intensity she revealed during their sparring sessions was almost frightening.

Meetings became a frequent occurrence, continually plotting and rehashing plans and alternatives until my head was spinning. Calder no longer tried to keep me separate or “protect” me with lies of omission. He made sure I was included or aware of all the decisions being made. Considering the reality of our situation, I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or wishing for my earlier ignorance. He was talking about this as though it would be war and it was scary as hell.

Though we trained and talk strategy all day long, I made sure our evenings together were as normal as possible. It didn’t always happen, but we did eat together every night and, if exhaustion didn’t claim us, we watched TV or had sex. Sometimes both.

The day of the full moon, I woke up earlier than usual, before the sun came up. Calder was sprawled face down on the bed next to me, sleeping hard. He’d been up until God knew when, talking with Chloe and Lach.

I slid out of bed and crept into the bathroom. After I took care of my morning routine, I walked out of the bathroom, back to the bed. Calder hadn’t moved. Deciding to let him sleep, I headed downstairs to make coffee.

After it was ready, I carried my cup and my burner phone onto the back porch and huddled in one of the chairs there. I leaned back, bringing my knees close to my chest and resting my heels on the cushion beneath me. Tonight was the night. I was certain of it.