Shifters Gone Alpha (13 page)

Chapter 3

“Hi baby, where are you going?” Jasmine asked Silas as he left his office. He reached out and pulled her close against him. She smelled like peaches, his new favorite fruit.

“Wherever you want to go,” he whispered, his teeth against her neck as he fisted her long dark hair, holding her beneath his chin.

Her pulse raced.

“Down, Wolfie. The kids are waiting for me to take them outside to the playground. No time to play with you.”  Her words held a breathless quality even as she pushed against his chest.

“You smell like you want to play,” he murmured against her mouth, nibbling on the soft, plump texture. “Admit it, you want to play with me right now.” The sweet perfume of her arousal filled his nostrils, short-circuiting his thoughts. This woman’s innate ability to completely fill his mind always amazed him. Rather than fight or dissect it, he accepted his good fortune with a healthy dose of awe.

Her laughter filled him. “Your children are just as impatient as you. No doubt they are giving their nurses a hard time since I’m running late. But…” She ran her fingernail against his chest. “I’ll tell Adam you’re the reason he’s not running around outside chasing whatever he chases. The girls have decided they can pitch tents as good as any boy and want to prove that. So look into the courtyard later to check them out. They’ve roped mom and Rose into helping them by the way.”

Silas groaned and looked down into her amused brown eyes. “Pitching tents is not the reason Rose isn’t working in the office these days, she’s supposed to be taking it easy so that Tyrone can get his work done instead of following her around.” In her last trimester, Rose looked like the baby would drop any moment, at least that’s what Tyrone claimed.

Jasmine slipped from his arms. He caught her hand before she moved too far. “Tonight?” His brow rose in anticipation.

“Always.” She batted her eyes. “Oh yeah, we’re planning a joint baby shower for mom and Rose after Asia gets back. Before you ask, yes, you and all the significant male others are going to be there. I’ll make sure it’s late, after office hours for you and Jacques.” She brushed a kiss against his cheek.

“A what?” He’d never heard of babies having showers before they were born.

“A shower.” She stared at him and then released a short breath. “A party where we give gifts to the couple for their baby.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just say that? What did you call it?” He looked down at her high, full breasts.

“A baby shower, we shower the newborn-to-be with gifts, and play games. You’ll have a lot of fun, I promise.” Untangling her hand from his, she walked in the opposite direction at a brisk pace.

Silas watched her well rounded butt a few moments longer, recalling last night in vivid detail and adjusted his hardness. His mate knew how to keep him hungry and satisfied. Moving down the hall a bit, he looked into Tyrone and Jacques’ offices. Both men were on the phone and waved at him. Pleased that they were busy carrying out his mandates, he headed to the elevator to go below.

Silas walked into the lab searching for Hawke. Although he could reach him through their link, he enjoyed their face to face conversations. In the past month, he discovered Hawke’s ability to see and connect patterns, create solutions on the fly, and enthusiasm for delving into the unknown. In short, the full-blood was a genius and they were fortunate to have this walking encyclopedia on staff.

“Hawke,” he called when he spotted him towering over a lab assistant in conversation. Silas wasn’t sure of everything the Liege had done to the man, but Hawke stood around six and a half feet, maybe more, with a professional weight lifter’s body.  No one morphed into a larger beast than Hawke, the man exhibited tremendous control over his altered form.

While Silas waited, he looked around noticing small changes Hawke had made after his promotion. Desks and cubicles were rearranged in an odd pattern. The place seemed more settled, functional.

“Sir?” Hawke said standing behind him. That was another thing, for such a large man, Hawke walked soundlessly on the wind.

Silas focused on the purpose of his visit. The Liege. He waved Hawke into the conference room, took a seat and stared into somber brown eyes. “Barticus contacted me this morning.” Hawke’s expression remained the same. Silas knew the information took the man by surprise through a spark in their link.

“He’s on a personal witch-hunt for the Liege, given what you and Asia told me, I don’t blame him.” 

Former Prince Francesco, a Liege member, stole Asia from her mother’s best friend and all but sold her into servitude as some type of vendetta against her parents. Asia’s mother refused to marry the human since she and Barticus were mated. Barticus captured Francesco and kept him locked in a dungeon where he was tortured daily for his role in Asia’s mistreatment. As a father, Silas could imagine the pain and suffering Barticus felt after discovering everything that Asia went through during her life.

Hawke nodded.

“Based on a location Asia gave him when she sifted through Francesco’s memories, he located another Liege Lord in Europe and sent him to his private island dungeon in Greece.”

“Remind him to have the man scanned for internal bombs. I’ve been studying the ones from Corrina Griggs, fascinating stuff that gives new meaning to suicide bombers. Deadly in the wrong hands. This Liege Lord could be a plant, similar to what you’ve experienced here. Those things could be modified for external applications, which make them more dangerous.”

Silas agreed. “Not good, it was bad enough before. I’ll let him know.” He paused. “I asked him to run all information regarding the Liege through me, I don’t want either you or Asia distracted. If I think there is something you should know, I’ll pass it on like now.” He didn’t want Hawke to feel he couldn’t speak to Asia’s father, but the Liege were a threat to his nation and he wanted all information first.

“Makes sense. There’s still a bounty on both our heads, she doesn’t need to focus on them right now. I talked to her earlier. She’s primed and ready to find the rebels. If a bounty hunter decides to take a shot at this point he’ll be in more trouble than it’s worth.”

Silas smiled at the confidence Hawke had in his mate. Pack mentality dictated a group would attempt to bring her down, not a lone wolf. With the bounty at ten million, that would still be a hefty fee for each person.

“The two of you are linked?”

Hawke’s brow rose. “Most definitely. If she hurts her toe, I know about it. Not that I don’t think she can handle an attack on her own, but knowing I can step in to help makes it easier to be separated.”

Silas understood. Although Jasmine could function without him, he could not function without her presence in their link for an extended period of time.

“Which Liege did he catch?” Hawke spoke into the silence.

“Not Roderick or Lancaster, the ones he wanted. Those two must have wings or something, every time he closes in, he misses them by minutes.”

“Boris Lancaster is one slippery bastard. Now that they cannot heal in the same manner as us and are aging, it shouldn’t take long to find them. Perhaps they are in some type of medical facility or something along those lines,” Hawke said.

Silas hadn’t thought of that. “Good idea, I’ll pass it along to Barticus and the team I have searching stateside. I keep forgetting we’re not dealing with the same Liege as before. These men are now human and will die. That affect’s where they can hide. I wonder if they aged all at once, or if the aging process is progressive. How old was Lancaster?” Silas asked.

“Over a hundred, he was an original member of the Liege.”

“That’s right. Wonder how the aging thing worked, any ideas?” He looked at Hawke.

“No. The covenant didn’t mention what happened next, other than all agreements were broken. There is no way to know what ramifications that had on his body without seeing or talking to him. Chances are his age is literally catching up with him and he’s not as mobile as before.”

Silas rubbed his chin in thought. “We need to modify the sketch in case he’s aged and even then, we don’t know how he would look because we don’t know the rate of his aging.”

Hawke nodded. “Perhaps several age progression photos to be familiar with all ranges.”

“Good idea.”

“I’ll have someone start on that right away.” Hawke paused. “Who did Barticus find?”

The question jolted Silas out of his thoughts on the Liege. “This one had hidden like Francesco and if Asia hadn’t screened his memories, chances are we never would have identified him. Hiramano. Does that name ring a bell?” He watched Hawke’s brow rise.

“The chemist? Not the one who won a Nobel prize five years ago for his research on… fluctuating metals, including titanium steel?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Damn it. That son of a bitch. He… I missed the connection. I watched his webinars online, the man was brilliant. He doesn’t feel like the others. But neither did the Prince.” Hawke shook his head and looked across the room.

“Surprised me as well. The news media already picked up he’s missing, it’s making more noise here in the states than Europe, just goes to show how well connected Barticus is.”

Hawke agreed. “In addition to being Alpha over Greece, I suspect he has a large pack in Romania as well. His reach is long, hopefully he will find Lancaster soon. When he does Asia and I plan to return to Greece to spend some time with him in the dungeon every year, like a holiday.”

Silas smiled. “Several of my Alphas are searching for Lancaster and Roderick as well. I placed a five million dollar bounty on each of their heads.”

Hawke whistled. “Five million for a hundred year old man, shouldn’t take long if you’re using human bounty hunters. They’ll drop everything and find his ass, serves him right.”

“Human bounty hunters are looking for him as well. Don’t matter to me who finds the asshole. I just want him and Roderick brought in, preferably alive.”

Hawke snorted. “That’s better than what he’d do for me or Asia or Angus for that matter.”

“Speaking of Angus, he’s concerned about the wrong information being fed to rebel recruits,” Silas said remembering the earlier conversation.

“That means someone with Alpha qualities is involved since full-bloods can smell a lie otherwise.”

Silas nodded, accepting the fact either someone he trained or someone with innate Alpha abilities plotted against him.

“Agreed. That part will be dealt with separately. The Goddess will not allow full-bloods or half-breeds to be punished when they are acting on misinformation, so we need to find a way to correct that and then give them a choice,” Silas said.

Hawke’s eyes lit.

“This is similar to what Tyrone will be doing but he’s more on the processing side after a decision to submit to their Alpha is made.” Silas had been thinking about this since Angus shared the information. Technology could be hacked and with his current legal problems he refused to take a chance on any media or internet broadcast.

“Let me work on it,” Hawke said slowly. “But off the top of my head I’m thinking something on a frequency only we can hear. Even if the humans pick it up, I can scramble it so that each Alpha has their own signal for their territory. The rebels won’t be able to copy or modify it. Lots of variables but something to think about.”

By using their wolves to hear the messages, Silas could state his case in a way no one could duplicate. Genius. “I like that, let me know when you have more specifics.” He paused. “Asia’s okay?” Silas stood.

“Yes, she is. Eager to fix the problem but pacing herself.” Hawke stood.

“Good, she is the best.” He respected Asia’s talent as a hunter and fighter, as well as her loyalty to his mate. No one would have ever suspected the two women could have grown as close as they had. From the very beginning, his mate had been drawn to Asia and fought for her every step of the way.

“Yes, she is,” Hawke said sincerely. “Damian reminds me of that every chance he gets.”

Silas walked to the door thinking about Hawke’s son. For a while he and Angus weren’t sure Damian would be allowed to live at the compound which might have made things awkward for his parents. In the end he proved to be made of the same stuff as his sire and worked with Froggy in the gym.

“Frogs says he’s got Alpha qualities, is he interested in training?”

“I think he wants to work with Asia.”

“KnightForces?” Silas wasn’t surprised. Damian was young and eager to get into the action.

“Yes, Sir.” Hawke smiled. “Talk about hero worship, Damian could listen to her talk all day about past assignments. He thinks she walks on water.”

“She does,” Silas said and left the lab.

When he reached the elevator, Alpha Jayden contacted him. “
Sir, there’s been an explosion near the bank, I lost five pack-mates.
”

Chapter 4

An hour and a half later, Asia, Tyrese, and Danielle landed in Baltimore. Alpha Jayden met their private jet at the airport. Pronounced lines crossed his forehead, his jaw ticked and his normal cheery disposition had taken a hiatus. His driver closed the door once they were seated and they pulled out.

“Bastards,” he spat. “Killed twenty-one people, innocents, humans and duals alike. Son of a bitch didn’t think twice about the fallout.” He looked at Asia and then Tyrese. “What the fuck’s going on? Never seen anything like this before, not from humans or pack.”

Asia didn’t have an answer and respected him too much to spout useless platitudes. Tyrese, and Danielle didn’t respond either.

“We have identified a possible suspect on video from the bank’s street camera, entering the store wearing a long, brown coat.” He shook his head. “An overcoat in eighty degree weather. The explosion happened a few minutes later. It’s on the cam.”

Asia sensed the Alpha’s anger and frustration. His need to talk about what happened served a purpose for both of them as long as he reviewed what happened with the bombing. This was her specialty, she came prepared to hunt. When he didn’t add anything else, she looked at Tyrese.

He shrugged.

She hated not being able to communicate through their links. “Who’s our contact with the human police?”

La Patron insisted each Alpha across the country insured pack members served and excelled in certain aspects of the human community so that in instances like this, he could access information and coordinate investigations with his own people.

“A member of my pack, Police Chief Williams.” There was a ring of pride in the Alpha’s voice. “You’re coming onboard as consultants, you’ll be working with a full-blood and a human detective. That was the best he could do, but you’ll have full access to everything.”

“Great, that helps a lot,” Tyrese said. “How many pack members did you lose?”

“Five.”

“Do you think the attack was targeted for the bank? To draw attention to pack? Any idea of the motive of the attack?” Asia asked eager to gather more information. When La Patron told Tyrese and the other Alphas about the explosion, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure the pack had been targeted. Given the recent problems with the rebels and human law enforcement, he sent them to investigate. With everything her Alpha and Jasmine already faced, she hoped this turned out to be a human problem.

Jayden frowned in concentration. “No. As you’ll see, the store and bank are a distance outside Baltimore in a small bedroom community. There’s not a lot to the place other than homes and grocery stores. The pack members who died had just left the bank. Most pack members shop at pack-owned stores, chances are they just ran in for a few things. ”

“What about rebel activity?” Tyrese asked. “Could this be them?” He looked at Asia and then returned to Jayden.

The Alpha released a long sigh and stretched his legs. “There have been small skirmishes near the border towns. Nothing close to this, nothing that would make me think they are involved.” He shrugged. “But I don’t know, it could be a part of some larger plan to have me looking one way while they come another.” They continued to the guest house to drop Danielle off.

“I agree, this isn’t their normal method of operating. Which makes it worse.” She met Alpha Jayden’s concerned gaze. “There may be a new player involved. One we don’t know anything about.”

“Hell,” Jayden muttered lapsed into silence.

“This is Detective Karney and his partner, Detective Solis,” Police Captain Williams said pointing to the two men. Solis was a red-haired full-blood with dark eyes and fair skin. He caught her gaze and nodded. Karney’s bald head and large build reminded her of Alpha Verrick, who worked for the Liege in the Ukraine, at least he did until she killed him.

“Gentlemen, this is Asia Montgomery and Tyrese Bennett, Special Consultants on this case. They’ve got a special interest on possible suspects, and bring additional information that may prove invaluable to solving not only this case but several others across the country. As I told you earlier in my office, I expect you to fully cooperate with them and respect the lines of confidentiality that must be drawn. When I was told of their assistance, it was made clear there will be some things they cannot share with us.” He looked at Asia. “Share what you can, let’s catch this son of a bitch.”

Asia nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

She looked at the building remains. From her vantage point, the exterior walls remained standing, she couldn’t tell about the roof. The stench of blood, death, mechanical fluids, and food assaulted her nostrils. Red and streaks of white covered the small section of the interior wall that she could see from the street. She muted the noise from the gathering crowd behind the police barricade. There were three full blood police officers patrolling the barricade who had been instructed to listen and filter the conversations of the people for possible suspects.

“How long before we can go inside? I want my photographer to get pictures,” Asia asked.

“Soon I hope,” Detective Solis said. “The fire department will let us know when it’s clear.”

“Okay. Tyrese let Danielle know we’ll send a car for her once we get clearance,” she said.

“Done,” he said looking around the street.

Asia looked at the bank. Leaning in she spoke to the captain. “I would like to see the outside cams from these three buildings.”

The Captain pointed to Solis. “Have the detective take you to each one and set things up. I’ve got to get back to the office for a meeting with the Commissioner.”

“Sounds good, thanks for everything,” Asia said. Tyrese shook his hand. Both of them headed next door to the bank.

“Mommy, look at that, what happened?”

Asia looked across the street on the other side of the police barriers at the human woman and her small daughter. Other’s pressed close to the woman. Asia looked at them briefly, noted a bearded man, a woman in a jogging suit, and two male teens before she zeroed in on the child. Her heart constricted as the mother picked up the little girl and held her close. Asia stopped as a wellspring of longing for her daughter filled her.

“
Asia
?” Hawke said.

“
Nothing, just thinking of Sarita. Strange, this never happened before.”

“You’ve never been a mother before.”

“I’m in the middle of a bomb investigation and missing my pup. That’s not something I expected.”

“Will it interfere with your work?”

“
No
.” She looked in the direction of the crowd, but the woman had left. “If anything I’m more determined to find the bastards to make sure she’s safe.”

“
Then it’s all good. Go back to work, Chief
.”

She smiled at the warmth in their link accompanying his words. The security guard let the four of them in and locked the door behind him.

The bank wasn’t next door to the shopping center, a small vacant building stood between the two which minimized damage.

“Everybody okay, here?” Asia asked when no one said anything. At least nothing she could hear.

“Yes, a little shaken but otherwise okay. Mr. Jayden locked down the bank until tomorrow, we were waiting for the special investigators before leaving,” a blonde full-blood said eying Detective Karney.

“I would like to see the video footage from outside the building.” Asia looked at Karney and Solis. “Would it be possible to review all the street cams on this street?”

Solis glanced at his partner. “Yeah, should be okay. Are you going to interview them?” He glanced at the three employees and security guard.

“Yes, we’ll take care of that and share notes later, after the inspection next door.” She waved toward the blonde, waited for her to pass them and then followed. They entered the room in silence, Asia recognized the equipment, turned and dismissed the woman with a smile and thanks. Even Mistress commented on her improved social skills.

Tyrese walked to the console. Alpha Jayden left the recordings for them in a labeled box. They sat and watched the street.

“There,” Tyrese said pointing at the man with the over-coat.

Asia searched the screen for more suspects. She didn’t believe a man ended his life and the life of so many others, alone. Someone else had to be nearby. “Play it again.”