Keeping Her (8 page)

Chapter
8

“Deliverance
country.  Lovely.”  Ben looked around the graveyard deep in the
Ozarks and felt the cat in him reacting to the unmistakable smell of hillbilly
dog.   “Why do I get the feeling we should have brought more guns.”

“Because
we are currently surrounded by a good fifty shape shifting wolves who would
like to eat us?”

“That
might be it.”

Mac
looked at Demon.  “I can see why you don’t visit.”

Demon
grunted, he had spoken little on the trip over.  There were many things he
would rather be doing, namely Clytie.  Instead, he was here in his own personal
hell.  He didn’t want Clytie anywhere near his old pack, but he didn’t
like her in another state.  She needed to be where he could protect her.

“Relax.” 
Mac kept his eyes on the wolf shifters trying to stare them down from across
the mound of fresh dirt.  Only the Taboo of fighting at a graveside kept
them on their side of the grave.  “Eli and Logan are watching your little
bird.  No one can get to her.  You’d be better off concentrating on
your hick relatives.  They don’t appear happy to see you.”

“On
the other hand,” Ben said, smiling at the angry crowd salivating for blood
across from them.  “They look real happy to see us.”  At his smirk,
several wolves growled and showed an impressive lack of dental work and sharp
teeth.

“Ben.” 
Mac warned in a bored voice aware the wolves across from them heard every
word.  “Don’t tease the animals.”

Before
Ben could respond with something even more inflammatory the crowd of wolf shifters
parted and Demon caught his first sight of the Alpha after fifteen years. 
Gregory Bidel, Alpha of the Bone Crusher Clan.  He felt his hackles rise and
his wolf instinct to fight nearly overwhelmed his control.

“You
have no business here outcast.  You or your pack of degenerates.”

 “Even
Outcasts are welcome at family funerals.  It’s shifter law.”

The
man who he’d once called father took a threatening step forward.  “You
have no family here.”

A
little grayer, the Alpha hadn’t changes in 20 years, except to get harder and
meaner in appearance.  Demon realized he looked down on him now, by about
a foot.  For some reason he had pictured the Alpha a bigger man.  Now
Demon was both taller and broader across the shoulders, though the Alpha was
thicker everywhere else.  Looking from the rage filled grey eyes of the
Alpha to the rest of the pack, about fifty in all with the females hidden
towards the back with the few cubs, he was ambivalent.  Ben was right;
they looked like a pack of illiterate hillbillies.   For years, he
had wondered what it would be like to be this mans natural son, a welcome
member of the pack.  Now he could only be grateful to have escaped such a
life.

“Where’s
Clancy?”  He should have been at his father’s side, but the Alpha stood
alone, his pack keeping a respectful distance.

“That’s
our business and none of yours.”  One of the men closest to the Alpha
spoke up, smirking a challenge across the sacred ground until the Alpha glared
at him for speaking out of turn.  He dropped his head immediately and
bared his neck.

Glancing
around Demon felt his wolfs unease, quite a few faces seemed to be missing,
Clancy not least of all.  He should have been here.  Even if she was
not his biological mother, he was a Beta and an enforcer.  When the Alphas
mate dies, everyone goes to the funeral.  Demon opened that door inside
himself and stretched out with his wolf senses.  No one here was powerful
enough to be any of the upper echelon.  Besides the Alpha, every powerful
wolf of the Bone crusher clan was missing from the funeral.

He
met the old Alphas eyes and every hair on his body stood up in warning. 
Both Ben and Mac on either side of him went to battle ready mode without moving
an inch and his own eyes shifted to wolf gold.

Mac
moved up a step, grabbing every ones attention.  “Shifter law guarantees
safe passage at funerals even for outcasts.  You break that law and you
sign your own death warrant.”

The
Alpha sniffed as if catching something bad on the wind, his eyes insulting and
dismissive.  “Who the hell would care if I took out the trash?  I can’t
even tell what the hell you are.”

“Wolverine.” 
Macs voice held soft menace making many of the wolves shift about.  Even
Alpha wolves knew better than to mess with a wolverine shifter and none but one
here was an Alpha.  The minister who had been standing oh so quiet at the
head of the grave appeared properly horrified.

With
his face twisted in distaste, Gregory spit on the fresh grave.  His eyes
on Demon, he ignored the choking sound coming from the appalled minister. 
“Consorting with a wolverine and an outlaw cat.  I heard about your fucked
up clan of deviants and perverts but I didn’t really believe it.  Even a
bastard like you should have more pride.  Not even a clan-less female will
have you now.”  He laughed a hard edge to it.  “When I think of how
often I had to hear about your fucking pedigree and here you are mixing with
cats and whatever the hell else.  Your grandfathers must be rolling in his
grave.”

“Looking
at what you’ve done to his pack I doubt he’s sparing much thought to who my
friends are.”

“What
the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Please
gentleman!”  The little man finally spoke up.  “This is a funeral and
if no one else is coming I would like to get on with the service.”

The
old Alpha snapped his teeth with a growl but stepped back.  Church
officials were another thing protected by shifter law.   The service
commenced.  Demon locked his jaw and kept his wolf senses open. 
While he listened to the sermon on everlasting life and the will of God, his
eyes wandered over the assembled wolves.  None of them would meet his eyes
until he hit the golden eyes of an old Witch.  Essie had been old when he
was a child, now she seemed withered and dry except for the spark of fire
peaking out of her wolf eyes.  She studied him for a long minute, then
bowed her head enough to show respect.  He couldn’t hide his
surprise.  She had acknowledged him an Alpha.  No one seemed to be
paying attention but such a thing would get her beat or worse if Gregory heard
of it.

He
noticed a small hand clutched in her gnarled clasp.  A small head peaked out from
behind her.  No older than 12 at most and obviously a girl.  She had not
yet grown into her features and her blue eyes were huge in her heart shaped
face.  She reminded him of a baby angel with all that gold skin and
hair.  She turned her head to glance back and he saw the raised scar
across her neck that disappeared into her ratty t-shirt.  She had been
burned at some point in her young life and he had to wonder how far the scars
went.  She stood out from the other mourners in both color and
circumstance.  While every one else had come slicked back and in their
Sunday best, she wore oversized cast offs.  Then the service ended and he had
other things to think about. 

The
Alpha threw them one last warning to get out of town before sunset and stomped
off, followed by his cowed pack.  The old witch gave him a nod before
turning and following the others.

Ben
smirked at the few stragglers who stayed behind to growl at them before heading
off with teeth bared.  The minister followed behind them.  When it
was the three of them Ben let out a breath and pulled out his cell phone.

“So,
trap?”  Mac asked as they turned to walk back to their rental.

“Trap.” 
Demon said coldly.

“Code
Blue.”  Ben said into the phone and hung up when he had
confirmation.  “Still think it’ll be the airport?”  With a press of the keys,
the car beeped and all the doors unlocked.  He pulled open the trunk and
threw his suit coat inside to be followed by two more.  He passed out the
guns, holsters, and extra clips.  They all pulled on the holsters, loaded
their weapons, and clicked the safeties.  Mac took the wheel while Ben
slammed the trunk and climbed into the back seat.

“Probably,
but we have a shadow just in case they try to take the car.”

Demon
didn’t bother to search, knowing he wouldn’t spot anyone watching them. 
Shawn was a hawk shifter.  They wouldn’t notice him unless he wanted them
to.

It
was almost anticlimactic when they arrived at the landing strip without
incident.  They parked the car and Ben checked the phone.  No alerts
had been sent.

“Sniper?” 
Mac asked, seeing the landing strip around the plane remained clear.  Demon
shrugged, it was possible, but not in the Bone Crusher packs usual style. 
When a hawk circled and squawked they got out of the car and headed for the
open hatch of the plane.  A tall teenager waited for them inside. 

At
sixteen, he was already just over six feet and not yet finished growing into
his shoulders.  His sneakers were scuffed, his jeans faded at the knees
and his gun holster strapped over a punisher t-shirt.  Wiry with a lot of
tawny hair he was a smaller version of his father.

“All
clear.”  He said, pushing the mane of hair that always seemed to be flying
everywhere out of his face.

“No
problems.”  Mac said, “Tell Cleo to start the engines, as soon as Shawn’s
in we’ll lock her down.”

“Affirmative.” 
The boy said heading for the cockpit.

“Ian?” 
Mac said halting him.  “As soon as we’re airborne contact the car rental
place and tell them to pick up the car.  I’ll let your father know what’s
going on.”

The
teenager nodded before disappearing into the passageway to the cockpit.  A
hawk flew in as soon as the engine started and disappeared into the back of the
plane.  Ben pulled the hatch closed and secured it.  His head
shaking.

“What
the hell is going on?”

“I
don’t like this.”  Demon said, his jaw clenched tight.  He pulled on
his seat belt nearly ripping it out of the seat in his agitation.  “Where
the fuck is Clancy if he isn’t waiting to ambush us?”

Shawn
came in from the back wearing black jeans and pulling on a black t-shirt. 
At six feet, exactly he had a slim whipcord body and moved with
precision.  His piercing hazel eyes missed nothing.  He had brown
hair that fell to his shoulder and a beak of a nose.  His voice, when he
spoke, had a hard core of steel behind it.  “Why would Lucas send the brat
squad on a mission like this?”

“Cleo
hears you calling them the brat squad and she’ll rip you a new one.”  Mac
said finding his seat and buckling himself in as they waiting for clearance to
leave.  “And I told you, when I asked about the plane Lucas requested we
use Cleo and Ian on the job so they could get some experience in the
field.  Training will only take them so far.”

“I
don’t like it.  Lucas has no business sending children into dangerous
situations”

Ben
snorted.  “Cleo’s 19 and Ian’s 16.  That’s older than either of us
were when we started this business.”  

“That
was different.”  He said sitting down when the plane started to taxi and
buckling in.  “We didn’t have a choice.”

“Lucas
is an outcast who took with him his two purebred lion cubs when he left. 
There isn’t a pride of Lions anywhere on Earth that wouldn’t kill for breeding
stock like that.  The fact he has not only survived but kept his kids says
a lot about the fucking badass that he is.”  Ben said.  “But even he
can’t be with them every second.  They have to be able to protect
themselves.  They don’t have a choice either.”

Shawn
clenched his jaws in obvious disapproval but he kept quiet.  As soon as
they were airborne, they all unhooked their seat belts and Demon pulled out his
cell phone and dialed home.  After a few rings, Eli answered. 

“This
is the new home of the lovely and sexy Clytie Jones and a few others that are
unimportant.  How can I help you?”  Through the phone, Demon heard a laugh
in the background that gave him an immediate hard on.  He clenched his
teeth.

“Eli.” 
Demon growled in warning.  “Don’t get too comfortable with my woman.”

“Perish
the thought.”  He said into the phone and then to Clytie.  “Darlin’
that is one sexy dress.  You are a goddess in red.”

Demon
was surprised he didn’t break teeth clenching his jaw so hard.  Eli
laughed at his warning growl.

“Clytie,
sweets, love of my life, Demon wants to talk to you.”

There
was a small fumble with the phone and then Clyties laugh was right there. 
A little of the tension he’d felt since leaving her side dispersed. 

“Demon?” 
She asked her voice going soft.  “Are you O.K?”

He
opened his mouth but nothing wanted to come out.  God he needed to touch
her.  She sighed out a long breath when he didn’t answer.  “If it was
anything but this show tonight I’d blow it off and we could wallow in each
other all night.”  She continued her voice a little sad.  “If you
don’t feel like coming tonight I understand.  You can wait for me at home.”

“I’ll
be there.”  He said liking the way she said that.  “We’ll go home
together.”  He would have said more but all the shifters on both sides
were listening.  “Just stick close to Eli until we get there...”  His
voice took on an edge.  “But not too close, at least three feet away at
all times.”  She laughed, the sadness left behind as easy as that.