Return of the Alpha (10 page)

Chapter 12

LOUISE

“Louise! Wake up! Louise!”

The words felt like rocks bouncing around the inside of my head. I tried to shut them out.

“Louise!”

Someone was shaking me. Why wouldn't they leave me alone? I just wanted to sleep.

“Louise!”

I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt as though they were glued shut.

“Louise. Come on!”

When I eventually managed to force open one eye, my vision was still a little blurred, but I could just about make out the shape of someone crouching over me.

“Can you see me? Louise, don't go back to sleep.”

The shaking again—much harder this time.

“Leave me alone.” Had I spoken the words or just thought them?

“That's it. Come on. Can you see me? How do you feel?”

I wiped a hand across my eyes, and blinked until my vision was clear enough to see the man. Did I know him? His face was somehow familiar.

“Thank god.”

His voice was familiar too. “Marlow?”

“Can you sit up?”

“I'll try.”

He took my hand, and pulled me into a sitting position. I had to swallow back the nausea.

“What happened?” My throat was almost too dry to speak. “Where are we?”

Marlow wrapped his arms around me. “I didn't think I'd ever see you again. Are you sure you're all right?”

“My head feels like shit, but otherwise I think so. Can you help me to get up?”

I felt a little unsteady on my feet, so had to lean against the wall. The windowless room, which was not much bigger than a cupboard, was bare. The walls, floor and ceiling were all painted white. I tried the door.

“It's locked,” Marlow said. “I tried to force it, but it's solid,”

“Where are we?”

“In Milton's HQ. They only moved me here a few hours ago. What are you doing back in Maja anyway?”

“I came to find you.”

“Oh god, no.” Marlow looked like I'd just punched him. “Why would you do that?”

“Why do you think? You saved my life, remember? You saved Craven's too.”

“Craven? He's alive? I thought he'd been killed in Lawler.”

“He thought the same about you.”

“How did he know who I was anyway? We never had the chance to talk.”

“He didn't know. Not for many years. Not until we went to see your brother.”

“How is Pirus?”

“He and Jessie are both doing fine. The kids too. They all miss you. Pirus wanted to come with us, but we persuaded him to stay with his family.”

“That's good.
Us
? You said
us
? Is Craven with you?”

“He's in Terroun. He doesn't know I'm here. I was supposed to wait for him.”

“You should have. How did they catch you?”

“That poisonous little bitch Layla knew I was coming. I walked straight into her trap. I'm worried they'll capture Craven too. He's bound to come looking for me.”

“If they do, it'll be game over.”

“What do you mean?”

“The only reason they've kept me alive is because they figured one day you'd come looking for me. I prayed that you wouldn't. Why did you come now? After all of this time?”

“It's a long story. Basically, I lost my memory. For years I didn't remember anything. I didn't even know I was a shifter. It was only when Craven found me that the memories slowly started to return. And only very recently that I remembered you. It was all down to a pie.”

“Pie?”

“Wender berry pie.”

“That make's sense.” Marlow managed a smile.

For the next hour, Marlow brought me up-to-date on events in Maja. Even though he'd been locked away in a prison cell, news had still reached him. Unsurprisingly, there was an ever-growing resentment towards Milton. He was no alpha, and had only hung on to power through his elite guard who intimidated, threatened and often disposed of anyone who dared show any sign of dissent. The alliance between Milton and Lassiter had all but collapsed. There had been numerous skirmishes between shifters and vampires, and it was only a matter of time before all out war was declared. Relationships between humans, shifters and vampires had never been worse.

“It's one helluva mess,” Marlow said. “It won't take much more for the pack to rise up against Milton. His guard have prevailed up until now, but they wouldn't be able to resist a fully fledged revolt. Lassiter's position is just as precarious. Apparently there's much talk in the vampire community that the opposition is gathering strength. That's why you and Craven are so important. While you're still alive you pose the single biggest threat to Milton and Lassiter.”

“Then why didn't Layla kill me when she had the chance? Why bother to bring me here?”

“She must have been under orders from Milton. He knows Craven will come to find you, and when he does, he'll kill the three of us.”

I sat on the floor with by back against the wall; Marlow sat next to me.

“There must be something we can do,” I said.

“The door is solid, and even if we managed to get out, we'd never make it past the guard. The building is crawling with Milton's elite guard.”

“We have to do something. Craven is going to walk straight into a trap.”

Chapter 13

CRAVEN

Time wasn't on his side, but Craven figured the risk was worth it. He sensed this was the end-game, and that there would be no second chances. He considered briefing Hill, but his old friend was too weak.

“Everything is in place,” Grosvenor said. “When do we go?”

“Not yet. There's something I have to do first. Who's head of the vampires in Terroun these days?”

“Vampires?” Grosvenor almost choked on the word. “What do you want with that scum?”

“There isn't time to go into it now. Who is it and where can I find him?”

When Craven had been alpha in Terroun—before his quest to find Louise—relationships between shifters and vampires had been good. That wasn't to say either liked the other. But the alliance had been strong, and a trust had been established. Hill had managed to maintain that relationship during his reign—that couldn't have been easy.

The head vampire in Craven's day had been succeeded by a younger male who's name was Arturo. Grosvenor had been hazy on the details of the succession, but there was some suggestion it might have been the result of a coup.

When Craven insisted on going alone to meet the head vampire, Grosvenor had objected, but had been over-ruled. Craven had mixed feelings about vampires. His base instinct was one of pure hate. On the whole he didn't trust them, and his dealings with Lassiter had only served to confirm his mistrust. Lassiter had lied about the attack on Jesters and about Louise. But then, there was Hesta. He couldn't help but have a grudging admiration for her nerve and tenacity. To have come to him in the first place had shown remarkable courage. More importantly, the information she'd given to him had proved accurate, and had ultimately resulted in his finding Louise.

The huge, windowless office had been fitted out with antique furniture.

“I've heard a lot about you,” Arturo said.

“Sorry?” Craven had been distracted by the wolf's head which was mounted on the wall directly behind the vampire's desk. Although he realised it was a wolf, rather than a shifter-wolf, it still seemed in rather bad taste.

“I've heard a lot about you. The tales of the decades you spent as a lone-wolf are legendary. I hadn't realised that you had retaken leadership of the pack. Did Hill die?”

“He's gravely ill, and has asked me to replace him as alpha.” That much was true at least. Hill had
asked
Craven. “What about you? How are you fitting into your new role?” Craven asked, not because he had any interest, but because he thought it might encourage co-operation.

“There's a lot of work to do.”

“I assume you support the shifter/vampire alliance?”

“But of course.” Arturo smiled. It was an unnerving smile which did nothing to instil confidence in Craven. “Is that why you came here today?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you about the Maja.”

Arturo looked genuinely surprised. “What about them?”

“How well do you know Lassiter?”

The vampire's expression told Craven everything he needed to know, but he allowed him to continue anyway.

“Lassiter is a fool. He has ambitions which stretch beyond Maja.”

“Has he threatened you?” Craven asked.

“No.” Arturo laughed as though the very suggestion was ridiculous. “His ambitions are mere pipe-dreams. He's barely holding on to his own territory. Why are you interested in Lassiter and the Maja?”

Craven told Arturo the reason for his visit, and explained what he needed from the vampire.

Chapter 14

LOUISE

“Sooner or later they'll have to come to the door,” I said. “When they do, we have to be ready for them. It's our only chance.”

“They aren't stupid.” Marlow shook his head. “When they do come, you can bet they'll be armed to the teeth. And even if we did manage to get past them, there'll be a hundred others waiting for us.”

“We have to do something.”

“I know, but we have to bide our time. If they take us outside, we'll have a much better chance of escape.”

“What about Craven?”

“He has no idea where we are, and even if he does find us, it will be one against a hundred, maybe a thousand. He won't stand a chance. We have to hope we can find a way to break out of here before he comes to Maja.”

“It's probably already too late for that.”

A loud sound made us both turn around. Behind us, the wall had begun to slowly rise. Immediately behind it, was another wall of sheet glass. Beyond that was a huge, expensively furnished office. A black leather chair, with its back to us, was only inches from the glass. Neither of us moved; I think we were simply too stunned.

After a few moments, the leather chair swivelled slowly around.

“What a pretty pair you make.” Layla grinned. “Cheers.” She raised the champagne glass and took a sip.

I launched myself at the glass wall—hitting it with every ounce of strength I possessed. It achieved nothing apart from a painful shoulder.

“Try again.” Layla laughed. “Use your head this time.”

I ran my extended claws down the glass to no effect.

“It's no use,” Marlow said.

“Listen to your friend” Layla took another sip of Champagne. “Or is he your mate?”

“It must be toughened glass,” Marlow said. “We've got no chance of breaking it.”

“Why don't you let me out of here, and face me one-on-one?” I screamed.

“Do I look stupid? You may be the stronger wolf, Louise, but I can out-think and outmanoeuvre you any day of the week. Anyway, I wouldn't want you to miss the show.”

I wasn't sure I'd ever hated anyone more than I hated her right at that moment.

“You're probably wondering where your white knight is.” Layla climbed out of the chair, and took two steps forward so her nose was almost touching the glass. “Don't worry. He's on his way. I spoke to him a few minutes ago.”

I was equally close to the glass now. Only its width separated us. I'd have given anything to be able to wrap my hands around her throat. “Craven will kill you.” I spat the words.

“Craven is the one who is going to die. A slow and painful death, I might add. And what's even better is that you'll have a front row seat. He's on his way to this office now to meet with Milton. We have a little surprise planned for him, and you'll get to see it all.”

I glanced at Marlow, and then back at Layla.

“You think you can warn him don't you?” Layla laughed. “That's so funny.” She turned to Marlow. “Explain it to the stupid bitch would you?”

“I've seen this set-up before,” Marlow said. “They can switch the glass to one-way, and cut off the sound. We'll be able to see and hear Craven, but he won't be able to see or hear us.”

“A very good explanation. Thank you Marlow.” Layla finished the last of the Champagne. “So you see, Louise, you will have a grandstand view of your mate's last few moments. But don't worry. We won't rush it. Nice and slowly—that's the way.”

“I'm going to kill you.” I thumped the glass as hard as I could. Layla didn't flinch.

“Oh, and I left the best bit until last,” she sneered. “Take a look above your head.”

Both Marlow and I looked at the ceiling.

“In the two corners opposite. Do you see those small holes? As soon as your mate is dead, that room will fill with gas. And no, it's not laughing gas. I'm told the chemical agent will destroy every one of your internal organs—very slowly. I'll make sure to switch the glass back in time for that. I wouldn't want to miss it.”

With that, she opened a drawer in the desk, and pressed a button. The glass in front of us appeared to become a little darker although I could still see into the office.

“Layla!” I screamed.

“It's no good,” Marlow put a hand on my shoulder. “She can't see or hear you now.”

“There must be some way we can warn Craven when he comes into the office.”

“How? He won't be able to see or hear anything we do.”

I watched Layla walk across the office and out through the door. I'd never felt so helpless in my life.