Hunters of the Gods_Protecting Their Heir Read online

  She glanced at her son. He was big for his age, five and growing each day. He was smart, too. There definitely was a unique intelligence about him, and about what he would pick up on and focus toward. Speaking with her grandmother, she thought it would be time to move on soon, to a safer location. That’s why Alexandra was meeting them today.

  She couldn’t help but smile for her sister. She was so happy, but also continuously overwhelmed in learning about her abilities. Alyssa had yet to learn anything more about hers or if she even had any. Perhaps her only positive achievement was Brock, and giving birth to the heir of the Keuric family. Apparently there had not been a son born at all. Only females. Once again she wondered why Galvan couldn’t have brought her to his family. Surely she would have been safe there. She didn’t understand that or why he hadn’t bitten her, marked her his mate. Her sister was marked immediately by her men. Hell, Cab saved her life and in doing so bound them for eternity.

  She watched Brock and smiled as he climbed the jungle gym with ease and speed, while his little friends struggled a bit. He was strong, and a few of the local men who coached sports wanted him to join the tiny mites team for football. She refused, believing he was too young and fearing when he may show signs of just how much of a wolf he was, and when he would start to be affected by that.

  He was so smart though and picked up on conversations she had with her grandmother, who had already begun to tell him stories about wolves and wolf pack rules and regulations. Hell, even Alyssa listened. When she heard the stories, something inside of her came alive. An inner emotion or power began to hum, but when she tried to zone in on it, to gain control of it or challenge it, to see what would happen, it disappeared. Like a shield it came up, and her grandmother explained that when the time was right, the truth would be revealed.

  Well, she was tired of waiting. She was long past the scared pregnant college girl with a broken heart, missing her lover. She would never love another man other than him. The tears filled her eyes as she thought of him being dead, yet again, this inner sensation sent a calming vibration through her and she knew he wasn’t dead.

  She heard one of the fathers call to their son and smiled as the boy immediately stopped what he was doing and headed over to the dad. The boy listened attentively, and then she looked at Brock who watched. She had told him that his father was a soldier. That he went on a mission and disappeared. It wasn’t a lie. Galvan said he was a soldier, but of course she thought of the US military, not of gods, goddesses, other realms, shape-shifters, dragons, bears, vampires, and fairies, or rogue shifters and evil powers. That was way too much information to take in.

  “Mommy, Mommy.” She heard Brock call to her as he ran toward her, smiling. The other boys walked toward their parents. He hopped onto the bench next to her, and she rubbed his shaggy brown hair. It was getting long, almost to his shoulders, but he loved it. He thought he looked like a warrior.

  “Tomorrow afternoon, my friends are going to play ball on the field down the path. They invited me to come and play. They said that the coaches look for kids that can play on flag football team. I could do that. I could tackle, too. I’m not a baby, and I won’t get hurt. I’m stronger than all my friends.” He carried on as he pulled a juice box out of the small cooler bag she had brought with them.

  She smiled softly. “I don’t know if I really want you to do that, honey. Besides, I mentioned about us finding a new place to live. A house with our own backyard. Something closer to Aunt Alex.”

  “I don’t want to leave again. I want to stay where my friends are.”

  “I understand that, but I need to do what is best for us, for you.”

  He stared at her and squinted, then gave a soft smile and a nod. “Okay, well, could I at least go tomorrow, so I can show them how good I could be? That way they don’t think I’m too scared to play.” She smiled.

  “Okay, but I don’t want you thinking that you could join a team. It wouldn’t be smart or fair when we have to leave. Someone else could miss their opportunity to play.”

  “Okay, Mom. Can we stay a little longer?”

  “Yes, go on. Aunt Alex will be at the house in a couple of hours, and you’ll need to get washed up before she comes.”

  She watched him run back to his friends, and when she looked at one of the kid’s father, he gave a wave and a smile. She waved back and then sighed. She couldn’t help but to wonder if she would ever see Galvan again, and if Galvan would ever see his son, to hold him, to be his father, or was it too late? Was Galvan dead? Would she be stuck hiding out forever, and what would happen to Brock if these enemies, who wanted him dead, learned that he was alive and well, and the only heir to the Keuric pack? She feared for him constantly. She shivered now just thinking of the potential danger he was in. Her grandmother was right. Sooner than later they would need to explain his bloodline, and the importance of him to remain in hiding, but to train as a warrior like his father was.

  He was just a baby to her, well, from a mother’s perspective. In her heart, in her gut, she knew that wolves matured faster than humans. He would get stronger and stronger each day, would grow in height, in abilities, and in intelligence. He was already so smart, and she was proud of him. Yet again, that feeling of inadequacy hit her core. Could she seriously only have been used to give birth to Brock so that a family of weres could continue to have power? Surely she was meant for more. She was getting emotional, as well as angry. Men flirted with her a lot. So much so that she was good at blowing them off and not being affected. But she had needs, too. She was lonely in bed at night. Lonely even now watching other moms and dads sitting there together watching their kids. It wasn’t right. She didn’t like the looks she got. The sympathy, never mind the stupid conversations she would have with them about how they wanted to set her up with their divorced husbands, or single guys. It aggravated her, and she wasn’t getting any younger.

  Where are you, Galvin? Give me a sign if you’re alive and making your way back to me. Please give me something. I need you.

  * * * *

  “This is a shit show and a half,” Ross said to his cousin Lodge.

  ‘There’s no way they got Toby in there. No fucking way,” Corporal said. The five of them, Lodge, Corporal, Ross, Puello, and Stark, were making their way through the campground and warehouse facility. The outside perimeter was a joke as far as security was. They already took out several men, rendering them unconscious.

  When they heard moans and cries like people were being tortured, Ross felt that instant sick sensation. Over the last several years they took down multiple warehouses and facilities where women and children were being held prisoner and forced to mate with rogue wolves, or Alpha wolves trying to grow their packs in the hope of gaining power. It was sick, and more often than not the forced mating failed. The fact that someone was ordering for children to be taken for their Alpha blood right from their mother’s arms was despicable.

  “What the fuck?” Corporal said, getting a better look into a window by the back of the building.

  “How fucking bad?” Puello asked and rechecked his guns and the silver bullets he had as ammo.

  “Bad. By the gods I’m getting fucking sick and tired of this violence. Let’s kill them fucking all,” he replied.

  “We’ll have to make sure Toby isn’t in there, then torch the fucking place, and torch it good, because the local law enforcement isn’t far from here at all,” Stark said.

  “Okay, sweep the place. This is the best location to start,” Corporal said as more cries and painful roars echoed through the walls of the building to the outside where they were.

  Ross looked at his brothers and his cousin. “Let’s pray Toby is in there.”

  * * * *

  Corporal, his brother, and his cousins moved through the building with ease and skill. One by one they took out anyone in their path and quietly. The darkness of the night was on their side as well as the poor lighting, broken fixtures, and partially dilapidated build
ing structure they were in. In fact, walking through the hallways and then up wobbly staircases, he wondered if they would fall through the steps, or if the staircase would break beneath their feet entirely. It was a hell hole, and the stench of blood, sex, death, mixed in with multiple breeds and scents, was nauseating and burned his nostrils. Wolves were very in tune to their senses, and could smell things from miles away. It was how they knew where to find the place and exactly what was going on inside.

  He was glad he called in for backup, as they came into a large room where guards were all over the place, enforcing punishments, torturing men and women.

  “Take them all out. It’s our only option. Backup is minutes out,” he said to them.

  “With fucking pleasure,” Lodge said, and that was it. They began to fire their weapons, killing the wolves, the abusive guards, and then releasing the prisoners.

  He shot out a lock on one cage with multiple men inside.

  “We’re from the Keuric pack. Looking for our brother.”

  They didn’t respond. They were all so weak and beaten down, then one mumbled something.

  Corporal bent down. “We’re going to get you all out of here and to safety. More soldiers are coming,” he said, and just then they heard more gunfire from outside, then Lodge yelled to him.

  “They’re here. Ross and his brothers are moving upstairs to an additional holding cell,” he said.

  “Up. He’s upstairs,” the one wolf said to them.

  “Let’s go. Help is coming,” Corporal said to the wolves, and they nodded as he headed out of the cage along with Lodge and toward the stairs.

  “Stark, upstairs!” Lodge yelled to the left, but Corporal’s eyes were on the staircase leading up another level. He caught sight of their backup. Men from both the Saint pack and Keuric.

  “Call in for transportation for all these people. The safe house,” he said to them and then hurried up the stairs.

  “Fuck,” Lodge yelled as a bullet hit the wall behind his head, nearly taking out both of them. They ducked, and Lodge fired back.

  “We’re here,” Stark said, and he, Ross, and Puello were right behind him as they made their way closer. Stark jumped and rolled, firing his weapon several times, and then they followed, taking out the men who were guarding the room. The door was wide open, and as they entered, more shots were fired. Then came the deep, wild roar of some sort of beast. It was rogue, definitely, but mutant. Looked like a wolf, a bird, and something else. He wasn’t the only one, and they were forced to shift into their wolf forms to fight their attackers.

  Strike after strike, the beast didn’t falter, and Corporal wondered what the hell it was made of. It took him, Lodge, and Ross to take it down, while Puello and Stark fought off two others. As they killed one, there was another and then another, just coming at them repeatedly. They were getting struck and cut and then shots were being fired, and Corporal didn’t know if they would get killed or not until he turned to look as he kept a claw against the monster’s throat. There in the doorway were the men they just rescued. They shot the silver bullets into the multiple beasts, killing them. Corporal shoved the one thing off of him with help from Lodge.

  “What the fuck?” he said, shifting back to human form.

  They searched through the rooms, and Corporal was growing disappointed that his brother was nowhere to be found, but then he sensed the power of silver, so strong it kept him from the doorway. His brother looked in.

  “There!” Lodge yelled out, and in a cage of silver was Toby. He looked like he was already dead. We’re too late. By the gods, I failed him. I failed my brother.

  * * * *

  Toby could hear the voices. There was yelling about getting close enough and who could go in there. As he blinked his eyes open, he moaned, and with consciousness and awareness came the agonizing pain of silver against his skin. If he moved at all, it would burn him. He felt weak, sickly, and then he saw the man. He sniffed, and knew he was human.

  “Your brothers are here. I can get you out of there. They can’t,” he said to him.

  Toby nodded, and as the man got the cage open and Toby stared at the opening, he knew he would have to squeeze through that silver, be burned by the power of it, but once through there would be freedom.

  He began to move, was almost shocked each time the silver touched his skin. As he got to the opening, he knew it was going to be severe pain.

  “You got this. Come on, Toby, get through and finally be free. Finally we can go home,” Corporal yelled to him. Lodge pushed him to fight some more, and then his cousins were there, too. He mustered what little strength he had left and pushed through the silver. He yelled, growled, and moaned in severe pain, but with the help of the human who pulled on him hard, he fell through and onto the floor. Panting for breath, drooling from his mouth as the aches and pains continued to assault his body in the aftereffects of pain.

  He crawled away from the cage with assistance from the human and then his brothers.

  “Thank the gods that you’re alive,” Corporal said, and he and Lodge lifted their brother up into their arms and hugged him. He instantly began to feel better just getting out of that cage.

  “Let’s get you out of here and back home,” Corporal said.

  “Home?” Toby whispered. His mind going to the pain, the torture he experienced, and all those people who died here.

  “You’ll feel better in no time,” Stark said to him and then hugged him, and Puello and Ross followed. They headed down the stairs. The sight of the massacred bodies, the smells were even worse out here, but he focused on the ones who survived. The ones rescued by his brothers, his cousins, and their soldiers.

  He thought of the ones responsible for this destruction of families and packs. Women and children ripped from their mates then forced to procreate. So many children now orphans, and lost from their packs after being abducted and taken miles and miles away. He turned to look at Stark and grabbed his arm.

  “Your brother? Is Galvin home, alive, and well?” he asked. His cousin’s expressions sobered, and Stark shook his head. “We’ve been searching for years. Every clue, every potential lead turned up nothing.”

  “There was talk of a wolf, an Alpha. I overheard the men, the guards who would torture me, say that he was a higher-up, and important. The others asked why the master hadn’t killed him, and his response was that he wasn’t done with him yet.”

  “That could be anyone. Whoever has been destroying the packs from within, forcing matings, and creating rogues believes that those with Alpha blood can be forced to be their soldiers, their way to expanding an army to fight against the rules of the gods, and warriors,” Puello said to him.

  “Plus these heinous acts are so widespread that there’s no way to pinpoint a leader or leaders in charge. It’s going on even out of the country. Only the gods know if it’s happening in other realms,” Ross said to him.

  “It’s happening all over, but from what I overheard—and sure, it could have been in my mind since they sedated me to stop me from shifting—it was only myself and one other Alpha this group had held prisoner,” he said to them.

  “Well, we can only hope it’s Galvin and that it’s a sign he’s still alive,” Puello stated as they exited the building. Lodge and Corporal were holding on to Toby, basically carrying him out. He was so weak, tired, hungry, and felt close to dying.

  “It has to be him. Don’t stop looking. As soon as I’m healed we’ll go out together and find him. Together,” he said to them, and they were silent as they exited the building to the awaiting SUVs.

  He caught sight of the higher-ups, and warriors, Hunters of the Gods like him and his brothers, and they greeted him with smiles, with cheers and an enthusiasm, closeness, and sensation of family he thought he was never going to experience or feel again. As they got him into the back seat, he closed his eyes and exhaled. This wasn’t over. It wouldn’t end quickly, but he vowed to ensure he spent the rest of his living days trying to end the tor
ture and the pain, and bringing justice to all the packs who were destroyed, or he would die trying.

  Chapter Two

  The moment Alex saw her sister and she saw her, they embraced. The tears flowed, Alex felt something different about Alyssa, and apparently she sensed the changes in Alex. They pulled back and smiled, caressed one another’s platinum-blonde hair, and stared into their blue eyes.

  “So this is what being mated looks and smells like?” Alyssa said, and Alexandra blushed and then looked behind her. “I have four shadows with me constantly, and I like it,” she said, and Alyssa chuckled. Then the men cleared their throats and Alex introduced her mates. Of course Alyssa already knew Cab.

  They greeted her hello and stared at her, squinting.

  “You two are nearly identical, and you aren’t twins?” Heracio asked.

  “No, they aren’t, but they are close, and so very similar in many ways,” Margarete stated, joining the conversation. She was holding Brock’s hand.

  “Aunt Alex!” he exclaimed and came running to her. She lifted him up into the air. Her nostrils inhaled his scent, the smell of wolf, of Alpha, and she squeezed him tight.

  “Wait a second.” Preston raised his voice and sniffed, so did Heracio and Saunder.

  “I know, mates. There is much for us to discuss. Just remember what I have explained. No one can know that Brock exists.”