One Second (Seven Series Book 7) (21 page)

“Lorenzo sure knows how to throw a peace party.”
I extended my hands toward the fire, the wood hissing and crackling with heat.

“You say that, but I’m quite certain one of the teenagers has snuck into our room to use the Jacuzzi,” Ivy replied.

The noise from the party had become too much, so I’d asked Ivy if there was a quiet place I could sit for a while. Now here we were, in Lorenzo’s favorite room with the Native American motif. We had a cozy spot by the fire, William sitting across from me.

Ivy handed William a glass of ginger ale. He crossed his legs and smiled appreciatively while Ivy took a seat in a wooden chair to his left, her cane resting against the wall within reach.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pull you away,” I said. “Normally I love a good party, but the noise is a little overwhelming. You can go back if you want.”

“You’re my dearest friend, and I can think of no better company to be in.” Her eyes drifted down to my small rounded belly. “Five months have gone by so quickly. It won’t be long before the little one is here. How have you been feeling?”

“Better. I could have used Izzy’s Relic, but Edward’s been great through the whole thing. He checks on me frequently and monitors my diet. The herbal shakes he gave me for the first few months didn’t taste very good, but I felt so much better. If anyone in your pack ever needs a Relic, I give him my full recommendation.”

William stretched his legs, then crossed them at the ankle. “And how is Lakota settling in with the Church pack?”

“His parents miss him,” she replied. “But we’ve spoken, and they support his wishes. He is a man now, and a man must begin making choices that define his character. Lakota has been protective of Hope since the beginning. They are almost six years apart, but his parents have always encouraged him to spend as much time bonding with her as possible. Family is important to them, and I’ve been fortunate that such a loving couple raised my son.”

“Has he gone through his first change?” I asked, wondering if he’d reached the age of maturity when his wolf would emerge for the first time.

Ivy played with the loose hairs at the end of her braid. She didn’t have on any makeup, nor did she need it. The firelight played off her warm skin and drew attention to her natural beauty. “He has. Lakota matured early, and perhaps that’s why he’s downstairs with the men instead of upstairs with the children.”

“He’s hardly a child at twenty,” William noted. “Soon he’ll be searching for a pack of his own.”

“That comes with time,” Ivy agreed. “He still needs to live on his own and figure out what kind of man he is before settling with a pack. He’ll be a strong second-in-command, but he has much growing up to do.”

An eruption of laughter sounded from the other room, one laugh cackling high above the rest.

William smirked. “That’s Caleb.”

“Do you miss your old pack?” I asked.

It wasn’t common for a second-in-command to change over to a new pack. They grew very loyal to the alphas they served.

He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, the curls of his brown hair having a soft appearance as if he’d spent time brushing them before the party. “There are times I miss my position. I can always see my old packmates anytime I choose.”

“They look up to you,” Ivy said.

“Indeed.” But the way he said it carried a trace of sadness.

I set my drink on a small wooden table to my left. “We love you, Will. Everyone in the pack looks up to you, even if you’re not the beta. You counsel all the packs in the territory and resolve conflicts, so you’re basically doing the same thing for everyone instead of just one pack. But…”

His eyes flashed up. “But what?”

“Don’t tell Austin I said this. If you ever want to leave the pack, you have my blessing. We’re a family, and we love you, but if you’re not happy, I’d rather see you somewhere else.”

He scratched a spot beneath his eye and looked uncomfortable as he sat up. “I have no desire to go anywhere else.”

“What holds you to our pack if being a beta is what you miss the most? You could easily get that with any new alpha starting a pack. I’ve heard there are some old betas ready to retire, and not all of them like the prospect of hiring the third-in-command. I bet Maizy could run an ad on her website. You’ve got the experience, so why stay if this isn’t what you want?”

William gave a tight-lipped smile and set his drink down. “Say, why don’t I bring you dames a few of those hot dogs I saw out there?” He patted the arms of his chair and then rose to his feet.

Ivy slanted her eyes. “My mate would never serve hot dogs at a peace party.”

But William was already out the door.

Ivy twirled her cane between her fingers, a glint of silver from the wolf’s head catching my eye. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that wolf has a secret.”

“He’s not one to sit around talking about himself. Will’s always been on the reserved side.”

“That’s not the William I remember. He’s changed since joining your pack. He’s different somehow. If he’s dissatisfied with not being Austin’s second-in-command, it makes me curious why he seems more content than he was with us.”

I snorted. “Because Austin lets him sleep in. Reno doesn’t get that luxury.”

We laughed in unison and rose from our chairs.

“I mean to speak to April tonight,” Ivy said. “I hope it won’t make her uncomfortable to talk about her being a Mage. Is she handling it well?”

I shrugged. “Best anyone could hope for. She struggles with being different, but then she was always different from us in some ways.”

“But so alike in others.” She reached for her cane and turned it in her hand. “Have you encountered any rogues? Peace on the verge of war frightens me.  It’s been quiet here since the Council forced them to leave the city.”

“Too quiet,” I agreed. “I haven’t heard about any incidents, but I’ve noticed a few packs getting a little comfortable and not preparing. Austin says we can’t force them.”

She stopped halfway to the door and faced me. “I don’t like the calm one bit. Houston took the same measures as we did, but San Antonio wasn’t able to coordinate that kind of action. They haven’t left, and that concerns me. I don’t know why their leader makes them wait. He risks them losing the spirit of war.”

“Maybe he’s not such a smart guy,” I suggested, lacing my fingers across my stomach.

“Perhaps not all of them traveled down with the first wave. Lorenzo and I have spoken at great length about what possibilities await us. Unfortunately, we won’t find out until it’s too late.”

“I’d like to find out who their leader is and tether him to the back of a speedboat by his ankles. If we capture him, we could stop this whole thing.”

“The wheels are in motion, Lexi. You can’t stop an avalanche.”

“Maybe we should move until this all blows over.”

“Run?” She tapped her cane against the toe of her brown shoe. “When did running away ever bring our kind peace? Running is a show of submission, and I will show no man my back.”

A commotion erupted in the other room. Shouts, commands, and footsteps tromping across the wood floors.

We rushed out the door and into the living room. Everyone was moving about in hurried steps, a fearsome look on the men’s faces. I went to the front window and peered out.

“Oh my God,” I breathed.

Beneath the cold light of the full moon were the shapes and shadows of hundreds of men—stretching far beyond my sight. Despite the number of men at the peace party, we were outnumbered. Lorenzo’s pack poured outside, taking positions to secure the house.

Lorenzo moved toward the front door with a purposeful stride. “Ivy, come with me.”

She fell into step beside him and moved outside with poise.

I suddenly turned, and Austin was right there. “Stay close to me,” he said.

I caught sight of Izzy, her arms encircling the twins. Jericho trotted down the stairs with Melody shadowing him. Lakota led Hope toward the back of the house with the second-in-command joining him. The rest of our pack instinctively huddled together, keeping the children in the middle. Peace party or not, we had several packs from the territory assembled together, and shifting could turn deadly.

A man branched apart from the sea of Shifters, advancing toward Lorenzo and Ivy. He was of average height, and a brown beard covered most of his face. His long hair was loosely pulled back, but a few wild strands had fallen askew. He was mature in appearance and looked in his forties, which meant he was probably a few hundred years old.

Maybe it was the regal manner in which he walked that led me to believe he was their leader.

“Villains always wear black,” I murmured, noticing his dark pants and shirt.

“That so?” Wheeler asked.

I glanced at his black getup, all the way down to his boots. “Yeah. Maybe you should try wearing green to a party for once.”

“It doesn’t go with my eyes,” he quipped.

Austin moved closer to the window and looked over his shoulder. “Reno, how many weapons did you bring?”

“Just the gun. And my mate.”

April had been practicing her Mage skills with Charlie almost every day, and by the courageous look on her face, it was evident she’d mastered them enough to hold her own in a fight.

When Lorenzo returned, everyone stood to attention.

“Alexia, come with me,” he said, gesturing me over with a wave of his hand.

Austin gripped my arm. “She’s not going out there.”

Lorenzo moved close to Austin and lowered his voice. “We don’t have a choice.”

“Then I’m coming with her.”

Lorenzo inclined his head. “That’s up to you, Cole.”

My stomach flip-flopped as we followed behind Lorenzo. I suddenly wished I hadn’t worn such a small shirt, which accentuated the curve of my belly.

Lorenzo’s men parted to let us through. When we spaced apart from the safety of the local packs, I drew closer to Austin. Lorenzo slowed down, and Ivy stepped aside, revealing a stranger who looked oddly familiar.

“Is this her?” he asked Lorenzo.

Austin replied, his teeth clenched. “Who wants to know?”

The man lifted his bearded chin. “Her father.”

For the first time, I saw myself in someone else.
My birth mother had been murdered by her husband, and I’d never been interested in meeting distant cousins who probably didn’t care I existed since I was part of a dark family secret that brought shame to their pack. This man had my brown eyes, my mouth, and even tapped his fingers against the side of his leg. It had always been a habit of mine when I was angry or impatient.

“So you are the child,” he said, appraising me.

“And you’re the sperm donor,” Austin barked out. “Good to meet you. Now what the fuck do you want with my mate?”

“I always knew you’d seek out an alpha,” he said, ignoring Austin. “When your mother found out she was pregnant, she said she wanted nothing more to do with me. The last thing I needed to tether me down was a pregnant bitch, so I never had a problem with her request.” He tilted his head to the side. “You don’t look like her except for the stubborn chin and small frame.”

When his eyes drifted down to my stomach, I curved my arms in front of it protectively.

“I’m not here to fight,” he said, addressing the Packmasters on either side of me. “You are greatly outnumbered, so it would be an unwise decision on your part to make an aggressive move. But war is coming, and I’ve come to claim my daughter.”

“The hell you are,” Austin growled, standing in front of me.

Lorenzo widened his stance. “You have no name, therefore you do not exist in our world. You are a spirit standing before us, one who has nothing but an army of lost souls.”

“You can call me Judas. I dropped my surname years ago since I had no intention of leading a pack. An alpha should aspire to more than just a house full of pups.”

Austin took a step forward. “I’m Austin Cole. Former bounty hunter, Packmaster, and the man who will put you in the ground if you lay one finger on my mate.”

“Fair enough. Since we’re out of earshot, I can tell you that my men don’t know why I’m here. They don’t question my orders. Between us, I detest the idea of my only flesh and blood fighting on the losing side of a Shifter war. I would be very upset to find out her blood had been spilled or she’d been taken in as someone’s bitch—especially in her delicate condition.”

“I’m nobody’s bitch,” I spat out.

He gave a sardonic smile and slanted his gaze my way. “I’m giving you an opportunity to live. I’ll keep you protected.”

But his cold gaze belied his words.

“You’re crazy if you think we’re on the losing side.”

He reached up with his right hand and stroked his thick beard. “We’ve done the head count. There are more of us than there are you. We’re not counting local rogues since they’ll either join us or keep out of our business. It’s
your
land we want, not theirs.”

“There’s a For Sale sign up the road. Why don’t you put in a bid for it like everyone else?”

He shook his head. “You have your mother’s short temper.”

Lorenzo stepped forward and pointed at Judas. “Speak ill of my family again, and we’ll start this war now.”

I stood there, bewildered. Lately I’d been wondering about my father, and now the sheer horror of that truth was sinking in. I was the daughter of a man who wanted to slaughter my family in the name of greed. I’d always imagined him as a drifter who now probably ran a gas station or lived in the Canadian mountains. The shameful truth made me want to run as far as I could from my pack.

I lowered my eyes, unable to hold his gaze. “You can’t be my father.”

“You and I know this to be true,” he said, his voice unwavering. “Come with me if you want your baby to live, or stay here and die in the arms of your mate.” Then he lifted his eyes to Austin. “You should think about this carefully, Packmaster. Put your pride aside, and consider that I’m offering your mate protection. If you care for her, then you’ll see this offer for what it is—a gift.”

“Take one more step, and I’ll break your leg,” Austin began. “I don’t care if you’re the messiah; no one is taking Lexi anywhere. No one can protect her better than I can. Are you stupid enough to believe your men would keep her safe? No man will give up his life for another because he was ordered to. I’ll die for her.”

Judas stepped forward. “Promise?”

“A true Shifter doesn’t turn on his own kind—slaughtering them like cattle so he can have a little land.”

“Why should I give a man my loyalty because he is like me? I have brown hair, so does that mean I should defend all my brunette brethren? You’re a foolish dog if you think your packmates are worth dying for. Blood is thicker than water,” he said obliquely. “How will you feel about your choice when your baby dies in her belly? Do you even know if it’s yours?”

Ivy’s cane made a sharp whistle as she swung it. Inches before it struck Judas in the head, he caught it with his hand and jerked it forward. Lorenzo seized Judas by the wrist, and several men advanced toward our private huddle.

When Austin moved with fire in his eyes, I shouted, “Stop!”

I had to do the right thing—the only thing that would guarantee the safety of my child. This needed to end.

I reached out and lowered Ivy’s cane, coaxing everyone to step back. I met Judas’s eyes and released a heavy breath. “I’ll never go with you. The only man I trust to protect my child is Austin.”

“I have contemplated this for many months, and when word spread about the peace party, I knew it was fate that we finally meet. There are fewer eyes and ears around the city with so many here tonight, and it created the perfect opportunity. This is the only time I’ll make this offer, Talulah.”

“My name’s Alexia, and you’re
not
my father. If you have any delayed guilt, then you’re wasting your time. I’d always hoped you would be someone I could look up to, but I should have known that any man willing to abandon his unborn child—regardless of the circumstances—wasn’t a man I wanted to know.”

“Very well.”

“Why don’t you stop this war, and we’ll work something out?” I asked.

He smiled ruefully. “You can’t stop inevitability. These men thirst for blood, and even if I were to abandon them, they’ll come for you and strip your packs down to nothing. If you flee, we won’t chase you. That’s an option you should all consider in these last hours before war, but I can’t promise rogues in other states won’t be inspired to rise up against the packs.”

“Why should you care what happens to me? All you ever were was a cautionary tale of how not to be a father.”

“The only thing I knew about you was your name and that you existed. It wasn’t until I came here that I ran into a few members from your mother’s old pack, and maybe now I feel the need to protect what’s mine. Like it or not, you’re a part of me.”

“You came all this way to make an offer when you could have just started the war already?”

Judas planted his fists on his hips and took his time scanning the property. “My strategy is none of your business.”

The cacophony of barks, snarls, and yelps broke out from wolves fighting on the side of the house.

“Not everyone has your patience,” Austin bit out. “Stall for as long as you want; we’ll be waiting. Until then, don’t fuck with my pack, and stay away from Lexi. You lost the right to protect her the day you turned your back on a pregnant woman.”

Judas lowered his arms and shifted his stance. “Child, you don’t seem to comprehend what I’m offering you. What’s in the past is done. This is your last opportunity. If you’re a smart wolf, then you’ll consider this with more regard. Give me your fealty, and in return, I’ll give you life. When I walk away, you’ll be treated no differently than anyone else.”

A wolf yelped, and another fight erupted from the back of the house.

“Enough!” Judas bellowed at his men. “Control them.”

Lorenzo snapped his fingers and several of his men ran toward the commotion.

Austin turned. “Get in the house, Lexi. Now.”

My heart raced as I shoved through the crowd with Ivy beside me.

“That wicked devil,” she hissed. “Don’t listen to him. He brought his men here tonight in order to intimidate us.”

Inside, some of the Packmasters were struggling to prevent their men from shifting. We cautiously moved around two wolves, heading toward the back of the house. Ivy branched off, shouting orders at her men.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Reno.

He joined my side. “Half of them are guarding the kids in one of the rooms.”

“And the other half?”

I could barely keep up with him as he hurried through a pristine kitchen toward an open back door.

“The rest were outside when it started. Before word got back to them about what was going down, a few rogues wandered into the crowd. The verbal arguments didn’t last long, and a few shifted.” Reno stopped, his voice grim. “Trevor was one of them.”

“Oh God.”

Everyone knew Trevor loved a fight, but mostly in human form. He wasn’t the strongest wolf in the pack, but he was fearless.

A large group of people were circled around a wolf fight.

“Let’s move out!” a rogue shouted from the edge of the tree line.

Two wolves battled—rising up on their hind legs, the whites of their eyes gleaming, fangs tinted with blood.

A third wolf, multicolored, was lying on his side, unmoving.

My heart stammered in my chest. “That’s Trevor.”

The two wolves moved rapidly in a primal dance—tufts of fur flying and no one attempting to break it up. In fact, most were rooting for one over the other. The rule at peace parties was to let the wolves fight it out until the other submitted. Bystanders knew to keep their distance; one bite, and they could shift, causing allies to turn on one another in the heat of the moment. The fights were never to the death, but these were intruders, and that complicated matters.

Ivy appeared beside me and gripped my arm. “The dark grey one with the black markings—that’s William.”

I knew. She didn’t have to tell me what my packmate looked like. No one could get near Trevor to help because William and the rogue were almost on top of him.

Reno drew his gun and aimed. “Dammit, I can’t get a clear shot!”

William’s wolf locked his jaws around the other animal’s throat and gave it a violent shake. The wolf stilled and fell to the ground—injured but not dead. In a fluid movement, William shifted to human form.

An alpha knelt before Trevor’s injured wolf and lifted his eyelids, coaxing him to shift. I held my breath for what seemed like an eternity, hoping Trevor was still conscious.

Meanwhile, two men grabbed the rogue wolf by the hind legs and dragged him out of sight.

Trevor shifted and rolled over in his own blood. When he struggled to sit up, William gathered him into his arms and stood up. Reno collected their clothes, and I stepped out of the way when William stalked toward the back door with feral eyes.

I gripped Reno’s bicep. “We need to get everyone out.”

Aside from getting my pack to safety, I was worried about my mother. She wasn’t into parties and neither was Maddox, so they’d looked content with spending time alone together. Judas was right—time made people comfortable, and they let their guards down. We had initially assigned two wolves to protect the property, although Ben’s wolf often counted as one of them. But last month, he had stopped coming by. When the Council pushed the Northerners out and there hadn’t been any incidents, we stopped the guard rotation. Managing everyone’s schedule had become a nightmare.