Slate's Mistake (15 page)

“Slate is on the phone. He was just telling...” His mother’s
subdued and frightened voice was cut off when he heard flesh hitting flesh and
her pained cry. He heard Elise screaming and yelling and another flesh hitting
flesh sound silencing the screams. This time it was followed by a loud thump, a
scuffle and more shouts followed by crashing and then the line went silent.
Slate looked at the phone. It had lost its connection.

Slate bellowed out a roar that had his mate smothering
her ears with the palms of her hands. His claws extended further, slicing some
of the pads of his hands. He heard the crack of plastic and glass as he lost
control over his strength, crushing the phone in his shifting hands. If he
hadn’t smelt the fear pouring off his mate, he would have shifted and perhaps
gone slightly feral. But the smell of his mate snapped him out enough to pull
in his claws.

Turning to her, he waited until he was back under
control before he took her into his arms.
Afraid of a repeat of when they first met, Slate
tried to reassure her. “Baby-Kate, I would never ever hurt you in either form.
You have nothing to fear from me.” He rubbed her back and tried making his
rough voice smoother to soothe her, but he wasn’t sure how successful he was.
She still smelt anxious.

“I know you won’t.” Her voice was small, but he
focused on it completely. “That first night we met, I only got frightened
because you barged in all of a sudden and I didn’t know who the hell you were.
The instant mate-pull messed up my already overcharged nerves and startled
emotions. I don’t stay frightened for long, and I know you would never hurt
me.”

Her admission pleased him greatly. He never wanted her
afraid of him. She continued, “I’m afraid for your mom and sister. Even
I
heard all that. What are we going to
do to help them?”

For a brief moment Slate was stunned silent with
pride, joy, and hope. His mate didn’t just expect him to help, but planned on
helping, too. He didn’t think it was possible, but he fell in love with her
even more.

“What’s wrong?” Slate hadn’t noticed Kace, Enzo, and
several others were crowding the doorway and hallway. The look on his beta’s
face warned him to not ignore the question. With his mother and sister in
danger this very moment, he wasn’t about to avoid or ignore it. Slate moved off
the bed and closer to his beta. “My mother and sister are being attacked as we
speak. I need to get to them right now.”

“Fuck! Where are they?” Enzo wasn’t the beta just because
he was
besties
with the alpha. He was his own force
to reckon with, and to have him back him up without question meant a lot to Slate.

 
“They’re in
Tyler, Texas. Their pride runs the Tyler state park, and they have some private
property in a forested area adjacent to it.”

“I’ll get Alphy on the line. He’ll need to run the
political side. Get packed.” Enzo turned on his heel and made his way through
the people as they stepped out of his way.

“I’d like to go with you,” said Kace.

Slate considered Kace. “I won’t stop you but get
permission first. Thank you, my friend.”

Behind Kace stood the two newer vampire members,
Peter and Marek.
Marek spoke. “Let me call
Raymond. With as shorthanded as we are here, he may be able to offer help to
accompany you, maybe even use of the coven jet.”

“Your coven has its own jet?” Kace’s surprise was
evident.

“Of course, and with all the flying you guys seem to
be doing, Alphy should think about getting one, too.”

With the final word, the two vampires disappeared
around the corner and down the stairs with Kace following.

Slate turned around to look for his mate. He wondered
why she wasn’t by his side, in his arms. What he saw warmed his chest, and he
had to rub the spot over his heart to ease the happy ache. She had two overnight
bags out, filling them with clothes for both of them.

Without looking up, she gave him an order. “Now get
back in bed until it’s time to leave.” Not wanting to argue, he did as he was told.
Besides, he knew he would need all the strength he could get once he ran across
his father. He had a feeling he would be challenging him.

Chapter Ten

Boy, what a mess the last few
hours were
, Slate thought. He was
aggravated the pride alpha had denied their request to enter their territory.

“Don’t worry, Slate,” Councilmember Tyler Ghost
reassured him. “I can work around that by going with you and considering the
trip ‘official shifter council
business’
. All you need
is a plane since mine is still in British Columbia.”
 

Peter and Marek contacted Raymond, putting him on
speaker phone. Enzo explained to Raymond what was happening.

“I will gladly support you. I will send four coven
members to assist in the rescue. I know your resources have been spread thin.”

“That is very generous of you, thank you.” Enzo addressed
the coven leader.

“By the time you arrive at the strip my plane is
currently at, it will be fueled and ready to go complete with an authorized
flight plan. The men I send will be packed and waiting there for you there.
Good luck to you.”

Katie stayed by his side the whole time. She refused
to stay behind. He had started to argue with her because he did not want her
going into this danger, but she’d cut him off.

“I’m a nurse. If your mother and/or sister are hurt,
and with what I heard over the phone, that is a big possibility, my skills will
be a vital asset. And I’m not letting you, who are still healing, go anywhere
near danger alone. You wouldn’t let me, so you can’t deny me for you. Besides,
I talked to Doctor Rossi, and he’s instructed me on everything I should take.”

Slate heard an amused chuckle coming from the door.
Looking, he spotted Kace in the doorway. “Well then you know she will be well
equipped.”

“Hi, Kace.”
Katie’s voice had a tone that had both men raising their brows, apprehensive to
what she was up to. He watched as she leaned to the side and placed a hand on
her hip. “Glad you approve. Your injuries have been healing well enough to help,
and the others are too busy. I need your help gathering and loading the
supplies because Slate’s not in any condition to help.” Katie held up a hand
and shot Kace a look that silenced his obvious argument. Slate could only wait
until they were just barely down the hall before he leaned back, and held his
stomach as he laughed out loud.

Slate was surprised that the coven’s private jet was
larger than the councilmember’s jet. This one sported a “lucky” thirteen seats.
It was a good thing, too, because it was crowded with nearly a full dozen
people.

Before they boarded, Slate made quick observations of
the four vampires sent by Raymond, as they made introductions. They were all
tall with athletic builds but varied in looks and personalities. The first to
step forward had shoulder length, wavy blond hair, and dark blue eyes. He spoke
with a French accent.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Payton. I am Fabian Roux.
Eetz
a
pleazure
to meet you.”

“Thank you for coming. Please call me Slate.”

After shaking hands, a man with chocolate brown skin,
light brown eyes, and well groomed dreadlocks that flowed back and down to just
past his shoulders introduced himself next.

“I’m Dex Sully.”

“Dex, thank you for coming.”

A man with nearly true black skin stepped forward.
“Vin
Byerly
.”
His head was clean
shaven, but he sported a short, tight well groomed goatee.

Last to be introduced was the roughest looking one of
the bunch. He had hair styled like Alphy’s, only Pierce’s hair was dark maroon
at the base, and shaded lighter the further up it went. It gave it a great
shading effect. He had several tattoos and had studs and gold rings adorning
his nose and eyebrows, and he had several in each ear. He wore a leather
jacket, blue jeans, and black motorcycle boots.

“Hey, man, Pierce Dupery.
Happy to
help.”

“Thank you all for coming.” Slate started to feel weak
from standing, so they all quickly loaded up and taxied onto the runway.

During takeoff, Slate silently observed the two
shifters assigned to Tyler’s guard. They kept quiet and to themselves. Even
though they had been around the territory while Tyler stayed with Betty,
nothing much had been learned about them except their names, Zane and Zander.
Slate didn’t even recognize their species from their scent. If he had to guess,
he would say they were brothers. The curved jawlines on their smooth skinned
faces matched. Their hair was very a deep red, but he could never see their
eyes. Even at night, they were hidden by dark glasses. All Tyler would say was
they had to stay anonymous for now.

Slate wasn’t comfortable enough to completely open up
about something this personal without knowing the others a bit further.
Normally he would have had background checks done on them already, but since
they didn’t have that
resource,
it looked like he
would have to get it the old fashioned way.

“So, guys, what is it you do when you’re not off
saving damsels in distress?”

Fabian went first. He was bold and confident.
“I
teech
French and French history.
Suprizing
,
no?”
Everyone chuckled, putting a calmer feel to the atmosphere.

“Dex, what about you?”

“I’m a certified horticulturist. Mainly landscape and
garden design, construction, and maintenance.”

“Ha. They sent us a flower child,” Kace teased.

“Do not let the
flowerz
fool
you. ‘
e
eez
perhaps the most
deadly of us,” said Fabian.

“Really?
Dex?”

Dex shrugged and looked down at his hands. “I do
mercenary work on occasion.”

“Mercenary?” Katie’s unease was heard in her tone. Dex
looked at her. For a brief moment, Slate swore he saw hurt flash over his face.
But before the blink of an eye, Dex had schooled his features and looked aloof,
shrugging again.

Slate almost laughed at the look on Kace’s face, and
he could clearly hear the unease in his voice as Kace said, “Uh, man, you know
I was just teasing, right?”

“
Don’t worry about it none
.”
Pierce gave Katie a reassuring smile. “Dex is one of the good ones. He wouldn’t
hurt anyone that doesn’t deserve it.” Pierce looked at Kace as he said the last
sentence. Kace’s eyes darted between Pierce and Dex.

Even Zane and Zander joined in as everyone laughed,
loudly, at Kace.

Slate look at the colorful vampire.
“What is it you do, Pierce?”

“I own a bike shop.”

“I love motorcycles,” said Slate. “I hated having to
sell my Harley last year. What kind do you sell? Street, dirt or, cruisers?”
The feel of the wind flowing over his body on a warm day was irresistible to
him.

“Uh, mountains mostly.”

“Mountain?”
Slate gave him a puzzled look, but Kace was the one laughing this time.
“Bicycle shop, Slate.
He sells the peddling kind.”

Slate felt his cheeks warm. Pierce ran a bike shop … as
in bicycles? Yeah, it was stereotyping, but sometimes you just couldn’t help
but be surprised.

“I do sell some dirt bikes and cruisers, but most of
the store is dedicated all kinds of different bicycles and the gear.” Slate
warmed at the excited look on Pierce’s face as he talked a little bit about them.
He clearly had a real passion for bicycles.

Finally, he turned to
Vin
.
Dex may be the deadliest, but
Vin
was the scariest
looking, with his cold reserve and sharp eyes. “
Vin
,
what is it you do?”

“I have my own law office in Toronto.” It was all he
said.

Slate nodded, and when it was clear the vampire wasn’t
going to say anything more, Slate decided to finally tell everyone the whole
story of what happened. He started with revealing his banishment. Alphy was the
only person he had told up until that point. It was difficult to admit, but
these people were offering aid without question, so they deserved to know
everything they could about what they were walking in to.

They touched down around six that evening. Slate
wasn’t sure how long they were staying, but he had the pilot stand by and ready
the plane for an emergency takeoff if need be. Tyler had a limo and two SUVs to
meet them.

Before they got off the plane, Tyler briefed
everyone
of his plans. “I’m going to head to the alpha’s
house and question him on his policies. Hopefully, using the full heat of the
shifter council will make him more compliant.”