Love Bites (Bitten Book 4) (28 page)

As each day passed, it seemed as though the air surrounding the compound grew heavier and more oppressive. Calder and Lachlan noticed it as well. The pack seemed edgier than usual, and several of them weren’t acting like themselves, according to the alpha. Chloe and Calder were instructed to keep a close eye on them during the run.

I watched the sky brighten and change color as I sipped my coffee and tried not to worry about the coming night.

My phone buzzed on the arm of the chair where I’d left it. Frowning, I picked it up and looked at the screen. I didn’t recognize the number, but that didn’t mean anything. We were all using burner phones right now, changing them out every week or so.

Worried that something bad had happened, I answered. “Hello?”

“Ricki, it’s me.”

Shannon sounded tired and stressed.

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Why are you calling so early?”

There was a long pause before she answered. “This is gonna sound crazy, but I just have this feeling that something bad is about to happen and that I needed to warn you.”

I hesitated. “That doesn’t sound crazy, actually.”

“Really?”

I told her everything, starting with Lachlan’s suggestion that the Faction was trying to destroy the MacIntire pack and that he and Calder believed the attack would happen tonight. I poured out my fears and concerns.

When I finished, Shannon was silent. “Look, Ricki, I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told any of the other girls. I get these…..feelings from time to time before bad things happen. It’s like an internal warning system. I’ve never, ever been wrong before. It’s no accident I insisted on meeting you at Conner’s house the day you almost….” she trailed off.

A chill traveled down my spine. Somehow, she knew and I definitely believed her. For the last week, there’d been an element of uncertainty to our plans. Though logic dictated that tonight would be the best time for them to strike, Conner had never been able to turn up any information that supported that.

“Please, please, be careful,” Shannon whispered.

“I will,” I promised. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

I could almost hear her shrug over the phone. “What would I have said, Ricki?
Oh, hey, I’m like Spiderman because I can sense danger
?”

I smiled a little. “Okay, good point.”

“Watch your back tonight,” she murmured.

Something in her voice made me hesitate. “Are you okay, Shannon?”

“Yeah, babe. This whole situation is starting to wear me down, you know?”

“I understand.” I at least had Calder and Chloe to talk to. Shannon was trapped in a safe house with a rotating roster of vampire guards. Though most of them seemed competent, they weren’t big on talking. With no end in sight, I would have been climbing the walls in her place.

“Hey, I’ll be fine. This is just temporary. I’m a big girl and I’ll survive.”

We said our good-byes. I put my phone on the small table to my left and sat back in my chair with a heavy sigh.

“Was that Shannon?”

I jerked and looked over my shoulder at Calder. My mate. His hair was a rumpled golden mess, and his green eyes were still sleepy. He was wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants that hung low on his hips. Despite my anxiety, the desire to jump his bones made itself known.

“Yeah.”

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I stood up and grabbed my things, brushing by him as I entered the house. “Yeah, but—” I wasn’t sure what to say. I put my phone and cup on the counter. “She was calling to warn me,” I finally answered.

Calder’s sleepy demeanor disappeared immediately. “Warn you? About what?”

I hesitated. “Shannon gets these…..feelings when something bad is about to happen. She called to warn me to be careful today, so I think it’s safe to say that Lach’s assumption the Faction has plans for tonight is correct.”

He looked skeptical. “Feelings? Do they come to her in dreams?” he asked sarcastically.

I put my hands on my hips. “Don’t be a jerk about this. She had the same feeling the day we were at Conner’s when I almost died. That’s probably the only thing that saved us.”

His face lost its harshness. “So she’s a sensitive. That explains a lot.”

“What?”

He came forward and put his hands on my shoulders. “Your friend never should have been able to take down that many vampires alone. One, I could believe, but three? No way. I’ve never heard of a human not only surviving a scenario like that much less killing her attackers. If she’s a sensitive, she would be able to anticipate what was about to happen and she would instinctively adjust for it.”

Though I had no idea what a sensitive was, his words only served to reinforce my belief that the five of us were included in the prophecy for a reason. “But it certainly explains a few things,” I stated.

“Explain.”

I moved away from his grasp and carried my mug back to the coffee maker. “Remember how I said it was my fate to be a part of this group, the five of us?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I prepped the Keurig and set it to brew another cup of coffee. “Think about it, Calder. Donna was immune to vampire mind tricks. Ivie can control vampires when she focuses. Kerry is the strongest witch in this part of the world. It makes sense that Shannon would have a talent or a gift.”

I noticed he didn’t have any coffee, so I moved my cup and set the machine up to make another.

“That does make sense,” he agreed. “It also explains several things about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not without your own gifts. Once you accepted the animal side of yourself, Ricki, you grew in strength and skill faster than any wolf I’ve ever seen, naturally born or turned. In another few months, with training, you’ll be stronger than Chloe and possibly even me. I think you’ll be unstoppable,” he answered.

Speechless, I stared at him, some of my doubts about my ability to handle whatever happened tonight dissipated.

Before we could continue our conversation, Calder’s cell phone, which sat on the counter next to mine, rang.

He snatched it up. “Atwood.”

I could hear the muted tones of Lachlan’s voice, but Calder moved away from me into the living room so I didn’t catch his words. Then I heard Calder say, “Okay, give me ten minutes and I’ll be over.”

He came back around the corner. “I have to go. Conner called this morning with some intel on the Faction. Lach wants to meet with me.”

“Okay.”

“I want you over there in a couple of hours to go over the plan with us again,” he stated.

I nodded my agreement.

“I’m gonna go take a shower and get dressed.”

As I listened to him go upstairs, I hoped and prayed that he was right and I was strong enough to do what needed to be done when the time came.

Ricki

T
he day dragged
by, yet sunset came too soon.

I spent the day going over the plan with Calder, Lach, and Chloe. With each passing hour, the tension inside me wound tighter and tighter until I feared I would snap.

One blessing in this situation was that the pups wouldn’t be at the run. Since children couldn’t shift until they hit puberty, there was an impromptu daycare for the younger ones. Thankfully, most of the kids in the compound were pre-adolescent, so they would be kept safe away from the possible fight.

It was decided that rather than stay at the house alone, I would ‘help’ with the daycare. So, after going over the plan for the umpteenth time, Calder walked with me down to the metal building where pack meetings were held.

When everything went down, the plan was to draw the enemy away from the compound. If that didn’t work, the contingency was to get the children to Lachlan’s house. His basement was fortified. It sickened me that the Faction might want to hurt innocent pups, but Chloe reminded me that evil often didn’t take age into consideration. I knew she was right and even though it made my stomach turn, I knew I would do whatever it took to protect them.

As the sun sank and the moon began to rise, Calder walked me to the meeting hall, my hand in his. We didn’t speak much because it seemed most of the pack was walking around the compound and we didn’t want to be overheard.

Surprisingly, everyone who saw us spoke not only to Calder, but to me. A few of the women even smiled warmly at me and asked me over for coffee or tea. I tried to keep my answers polite and relaxed, as well as my returning smile, but it was difficult. Adrenaline rushed through my veins. In a short time, the fight would begin.

Calder led me into the metal building and two women came over immediately. I’d never been introduced to them, but they seemed friendly. One of them was petite and blonde and about my age. The other was my height with red hair and pushing forty.

“Hi, I’m Meredith,” the younger one said, holding out her hand to shake mine. “I saw what happened with Brittany last week and I gotta tell you I almost cheered when you walked past my house afterwards. That she-wolf is a right bitch.”

Taken aback by her blunt words, I shook her hand. “I’m Ricki. It’s nice to meet you.”

The other woman was striking though she wore no visible make-up. She also shook my hand. “I didn’t get to see it, but I
did
cheer when Meredith told me about it. I’m Stella.”

“Hi, Stella. It’s nice to meet you,” I responded.

“Thanks for helping us out tonight,” Meredith said with a smile. “We have about fifteen kids on site and they can be a handful, especially since the older ones try to sneak off and watch the run. With just two of us, things can get a little hairy.”

I grinned. “My pleasure. It’s a little too cold for me anyway.”

Calder greeted both the women and we chatted for a few minutes before he turned to me and kissed my lips lightly. “All right, darlin’, I gotta get out of here. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I reached down and grasped his hand tightly, our bodies hiding the gesture from the other two women. “Okay, hon. I’ll see you later. Love you.” I leaned back and let my eyes express what I had to leave unsaid.
Be careful, stay safe.

He kissed me once more. “Love you too.”

All three of us watched as he sauntered out of the meeting hall and into the night. As soon as the door shut behind him, Meredith and Stella turned to me with huge grins on their faces. Apparently, Chloe hadn’t been exaggerating when she said my altercation with Brittany would go a long way in gaining acceptance. These women didn’t seem to resent me at all.

“So you’re the one who tamed that wild beast? We want details.”

I smiled faintly. If it had been any other night and I’d been able to say for certain they weren’t traitors to the pack, I would have enjoyed their company. As it was, my heart wanted to pound its way out of my chest already and Calder had just walked out the door.

I shrugged. “I fought him as long as I could, but he’s pretty persuasive.”

They giggled but I was saved from further questioning by the door opening. All laughter died as Brittany and her two minions walked in. After a brief hesitation as though she were surprised to see me, she stalked forward, teeth bared in a parody of a smile.

“Hello, Meredith, Stella,” she sneered. Then her eyes flicked to me. “Ricki.” She said my name as though it were synonymous with shit.

I nodded to her. “Brittany.”

Meredith indicated her two friends. “Hi, Cindy. Madison.”

They echoed the greeting, their eyes wide and looking everywhere but at me. When our gazes finally collided, Brittany’s friends actually took a step back. They looked nervous and guilty. That was my first clue that something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t until I looked at Brittany, really looked at her, that it dawned on me. She wasn’t here for me. She was here for the children.

As casually as possible, I excused myself from the group and stepped away, pulling my phone from my pocket. Hands shaking, I texted Calder.

Brittany Hayes here. She’s part of the Faction. Send help.

I heard someone approaching and quickly stuffed the phone in my pocket, hopeful that Calder hadn’t stripped down to shift yet. I heard a thin, distant howl and that hope died. I was on my own. Brittany and her two friends were a definite threat, but I was unsure about Stella and Meredith. I wanted to trust them as did the wolf within me, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take that chance with the lives of the children in this building or my own.

“Everything okay?”

I turned to face Stella. She looked genuinely concerned. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just sending Calder a quick text.”

She smiled dreamily. “I remember those days. Being newly mated is a lot of fun, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yeah. A lot of fun.”

I only hoped I lived long enough to enjoy it.

*     *     *

Calder

There were a
little over a hundred of us on the run tonight. Of course, George Hayes was here. So was Brian, a young wolf I considered a friend, though tonight I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t trust anyone except Lach and Chloe.

After I left Ricki, I met Lachlan in the clearing. Everyone was there, mingling and chatting, still wrapped up in sweaters and jackets. Though shifters ran hotter than humans, the temperatures were hovering near freezing and no one was eager to get naked until they absolutely had to.