Cade (34 page)

Stephen growled, a sound that was neither
tiger
nor man, but somewhere between. Grabbing his adversary on either side of his throat, he picked the
wolf
up and launched him up and towards the trees. He went sailing into the air, a blur of black fur. He hit the trunk with a sickening thud, and Cade raced to him, teeth bared—but the black
wolf
didn’t move. For a minute, Cade thought that he might be dead, but then his eyes opened and he looked right at Cade. Stephen came to crouch beside him as the black
wolf
tried to get up, but his leg was broken, and he let out a yelp as he tried to stand. Blood ran down Stephen’s arm and head but he didn’t seem to notice as he bent down and placed his hand just on top of the
wolf’s
head. He closed his eyes, nostrils flaring, and inhaled deeply. When he opened his eyes again, they were set with hatred as he looked down at him.

“I see you. I see the filth inside you. I see what you have done.” The black
wolf’s
top lip curled as he snarled. “This is just a boy,” Stephen said. “Your son was just a boy, too. I see what you did to him.” Stephen leaned closer. “Shift back,” he demanded. He pressed his hand down hard on his head. “Shift back now.” The
wolf
squirmed as if he was fighting it.

Cade watched his friend, could feel the power emanating from him. He was controlling the
wolf
, making him shift. This wasn’t right, but he couldn’t deny what he was seeing.
Tiger
should not be able to control
wolf
, and yet Cade looked on as the black
wolf
howled and began to buck as his shift took hold of his body, leaving him with no choice.

The man lay screaming and naked on the ground as if he hadn't yet realised that he was a man again. After he had stopped, panting, he threw Cade a hateful glance before turning to Stephen. “What are you?” he whispered, and Stephen grinned down at him. “What the fuck are you?” He glanced around at all of them, searching their faces desperately as he tried to push himself up. He laid his right arm in his lap, the paw that had been broken. “This is wrong,” he said to Cade. “Don’t you realise? That boy is wanted for murder.”

“We know what he is wanted for,” Stephen growled down at him. “We know what it is that you did to him, too. We know what you did to your son.”

“That is none of your business.”

“You gave him to the
Humans
. You sold him.”

“He was defective,” the man spat.

“He was your child. You gave him to them. You sold him to them, cast him out like a fucking stray.” Stephen turned to Phoenix. “You have to finish this. It has to be you. This is the time.”

Phoenix took a tentative step forward, but Cade stepped protectively in front of him. He was not going to give this memory to the young boy. He was not going to have him living with the knowledge that he had killed a man and feeling his life ebb away. Cade had done things that were needed, things to protect the pack, but it didn’t mean that he slept well at night. He wasn’t giving this to the boy. Cade growled, letting Stephen know in no uncertain terms that Phoenix would not be killing anyone. The man launched himself at Stephen the moment that he had his head turned. Stephen ducked, then caught him and pinned him to the ground with one hand as the other slammed a fist down into the man’s throat. In one fell swoop, he dug his fingers into the flesh and pulled. The man’s eyes went wide as he saw his own throat in Stephen’s grip. He gurgled, raising hands to his throat, and then he fell forward into the dirt.

Stephen stared at the lifeless corpse in front of him, breathing hard. “It’s over,” he said coldly. “I’ll call my dad. He can verify the kill and report it to the
Humans
. Case closed.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The elephant in the room. That was the phrase, wasn’t it? A big, fat fucking elephant that they both knew was there and neither mentioned. Instead, they had both danced around it, avoiding the topic altogether. His face was so god damn contorted with fury that Cade almost felt sorry for him—almost.

Cade stood with his arms firmly crossed over his chest as he regarded his father. He hid his guilt well. He had set Phoenix up, used the father of his maker to get rid of him, and it had backfired. Fucking idiot, that’s what he was. Cade’s hands throbbed still and he wasn’t quite healed, but he was more himself now. He stood side by side with Phoenix, no longer hiding, no longer afraid. Trevor and Malcolm had set down the rules, and they had been met. Phoenix had his place in the
wolf
pack and there wasn’t a damn thing Trevor could do about it.

Days later, as they stood opposite Patterson, the look of Trevor’s face was nothing less than disgust as he scowled at Cade. It was the day of the meeting, the deadline the
Humans
had given for the Society to give answers. Oh, and they had got answers all right. The look on Patterson’s face was almost as priceless as the look on Trevor’s face. Stephen had taken the man’s body, and what was left of his throat, and delivered it to Patterson personally. The
Human
had backed away in disgust and told him to keep it.

Stephen stood facing the
Humans
now with his father. Patterson seemed more disappointed than anything else, but that was because their kill had got away. “The tracer was a match,” he said to Malcolm.

Malcolm stood with his usual stoic pose, giving nothing away. “The matter is now closed.”

Patterson nodded and his eyes flicked to Stephen. “We have been more than compensated.”

“And what of our compensation?” Malcolm asked, raising his brow.

Patterson frowned.

“You burnt our lands, destroyed places where we run and feed. You have taken things from us. You acted first, asked questions later. We delivered what you asked of us. Now I ask …”

“You delivered a body with his throat gouged out,” Patterson said. “That was not what we asked.”

“You did not specify the quality of the product,” Stephen remarked.

“You dumped it at my door.”

“I didn’t have any other address.”

“My daughters were there … they could have seen,” he said furiously.

“Did they see?” Malcolm inquired.

“No,” Patterson bit out. “They did not.”

“Then there was no damage done. You, on the other hand, destroyed our land. Great damage was done to our race.”

Patterson shrugged. “That isn’t my concern. What is my concern is that monster beside you.”

“He has done nothing wrong.”

“No,” Patterson agreed. “He hasn’t. But he should watch his back. I see the way he stares at my daughter.”

“Are you threatening my son?”

He sneered, but said nothing more. Cade hadn't dealt with Patterson before, but Malcolm had assured him that as part of the DSA, he would need to. He had also warned him that he’d be dealing with an asshole, and watching him now, Cade knew that Stephen’s father was right. But he was looking forward to that day. Things were changing, Cade could feel it in the air—it was thick with promise. It seemed that maybe war would be coming after all.

Back at Cade’s house, Gemma sat waiting for him outside on the porch with Phoenix. They were reading together, and she was teaching him something about the laws of physics. They didn’t spot Cade at first, so he took the moment just to watch them. That was his world right there–his life. Yet he knew the fight was far from over. He had won this battle—won for Phoenix. But he had more to fight.

Gemma and Phoenix both turned in unison as if they suddenly both sensed him standing there. He smiled at them both and Gemma’s own grin grew wide.

“He can stay? It’s finished?”

He nodded. “He can stay.”

Gemma threw her arms around Phoenix with a squeal, knocking the poor boy off balance. For a moment, there was pure happiness there, and it filled him up inside.

“I think you all need to get me dinner,” Stephen drawled, walking to stand beside Cade. “And none of that freezer shit.”

Gemma turned and Cade could see her apprehension at her brother’s presence. But he didn’t shout, didn’t yell. Instead, he walked over to his sister, wrapped his big arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back with a big grin on her face. When he eventually let her go, she raced to Cade and jumped into his arms, latching on around his neck as he caught her and lifted her up to swirl her around once. She laughed—a happy, delighted laugh—and hugged him tighter.

He looked over at Stephen as he held her, met his friend’s gaze. Stephen’s expression was sombre, unsmiling as he stared at them, but now there was acceptance in his eyes. “Whatever happens, we’re going to fight it together.”

Cade smiled and nodded at him. They would always fight together—each would give their life for the other. And Stephen almost had the other night. Cade would never forget what his friend had done for him. He would never forget what he had seen him do that night, either, but he would hold his secret forever. Not just that one, but the other one, too. The one he didn’t want to talk about just yet. The one Cade would wait for until Stephen was ready—if he ever was.

But the rest? It was that simple. Together they could do anything. They had proved that. But Cade had the feeling that just maybe the next fight was the biggest yet—bigger than them all. Maybe the next fight they wouldn’t survive. But Stephen was right about one thing ...

Whatever happened, they would fight together.

The End

Thank you so much for reading. Please feel free to drop me an email or visit me on Facebook.

Mason

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