Sword of Mercy (14 page)

Before Hawke or Asia could catch the next
breath, the full-blood took off down the road leaving dust in his
wake.

“Well
,” Asia said a few moments later.
“
Seems like the new Hawke model just made an
appearance.”

“Yeah.”
He looked at her as she helped
Granira stand. “
Did he seem familiar to you
?”

Asia paused and thought of the fleeting
glimpses of the young full blood. “
No, but I didn’t really look
that hard, your brother … well he didn’t handle this well. I hope
he can sit on a bike. We have a ways to go to get to
Chacal’s.”

“Hmm, okay. I suppose we take them
with us. Granira needs to explain what happened to the pups and how
she masks scents so well.”

Asia nodded and strode to the red and black
bike she’d picked out earlier. They rode out a few minutes later,
leaving a blazing fire on the side of the road.

Chapter 14

Hawke, Asia and their two guests rode into
Chacal’s compound and parked. Hawke waited for Chacal to open the
door and ask questions about Granira and Niall or his car. Asia
parked her bike, got off and headed to the door.

“Chacal’s inside, why hasn’t he come to the
door to check out these two?
” Hawke asked as he
dismounted.

“Maybe he trusts us… on some level at
least
.” She opened the door and walked in. Hawke brought up the
rear.

“Where are we?” Niall asked, looking around
the foyer at all the artwork.

“You’ll see,” Hawke said, pushing him
forward.

Granira remained silent and walked steadily
ahead. She stopped, smiled and increased her pace.

“Nira? What are you doing here?” Angus said,
walking into the hall and lifting the older woman off her feet.
“Not that I’m complaining, it’s always good to feel
you.”

“Who is this?” Niall asked, staring at Angus.
“Why are you calling her Nira? That’s not her name.”

“I’m Angus, who are you?” He looked over his
shoulder at Niall without releasing Granira who seemed glued to his
side. The woman looked quite content to remain in Angus’
arms.

“Niall. I… we just rescued Granira from Alpha
Verrick.” He pointed and then his arm dropped while he stared at
the two.

Angus looked at Hawke and then Asia before
walking to a sofa holding Granira’s hand. “This is our host Chacal.
Chacal, this is Niall and Granira, I’m sure I’ve mentioned her over
the years. She’s in the Farkas clan quite a distance from here.”
The comment held a question. Hawke wondered if Angus would be more
specific or would Granira give him an answer.

Chacal nodded and remained quiet.

Angus sat, and pulled her with him. “What
happened? Why were you at Verrick’s? And no tricks, Nira. I can
smell through that dampener you wear and will know if you are
lying.”

“Dampener?
” Hawke took Asia’s hand and
sat across from Angus. Chacal remained quiet and seated in his
usual chair while Niall sat perched on the arm of the sofa near
Granira.

“We knew something was off. She must have
given Niall some as well
because he lied
.”

The older woman wet her lips and met Angus’
gaze. “A lot has happened since you left, Angus. There are so few
strong black wolves left to fight the darkness, we needed you
here.”

“I’m here now, Nira. What’s going
on?”

“Before you left, the Roundtable or Liege
Lords so they call themselves now, were taking pups claiming to
improve the lives of the full-blood.”

“I know,” Angus said, watching the woman
intently.

“Did you know the high council gave them
permission to do that?”

“No.” Angus’ voiced dropped an octave as he
faced her fully. Hawke sensed Chacal became more alert as
well.

She exhaled. “There’s an old agreement that
states the Roundtable will always seek ways to enhance the life of
the wolf. Which grants them rights to pack lands, and
packs.”

“Have you read the agreement?” Hawke asked,
curious of her recollection.

“Yes. A long time ago, we were all in
agreement because of the Hungarian’s constant good deeds to our
people.” Her shoulders slumped and her gaze lowered. “At that time,
food was scarce, we were hunted and lost many of our kind before
Konstantin purchased lands for us and set up safe havens for our
non-shifting brethren. We trusted him and did not think beyond the
century. Our short-sightedness on human behavior set this dark
twist in motion.”

No one spoke as the words settled.

“What exactly are you saying?” Angus asked in
a low growl. “That we, full-bloods, gave the Liege permission to do
what they are doing to our young? That we agreed to the deaths of
thousands of our kin? Or their usage in experimentation?” The heat
of anger from his words brushed against Hawke.

Granira took Angus’ hand. He shook her off.
She sighed and held her head down for a moment before speaking.
“The permission to enter pack lands at will, yes, that was given in
this agreement. When I tried to remind a few of the newer Alphas of
this, they didn’t believe me, called me a witch, rather than try to
understand the history of our pack. None of the Alphas and leaders
who agreed the original agreement are alive. Mistakes were made and
we now suffer because of that.”

“Were they killed?” Asia asked.

“What?” Granira said, frowning.

“Those who agreed to allow this bullshit; did
the Liege kill them over time to keep the rest of the full-bloods
ignorant while they destroyed lives?” Asia asked what Hawke had
been thinking. Neither Radoff nor Ulric had knowledge of any type
agreement in place.

“They… they died. Some were killed in
challenges or in battle, but they are all gone.”

“My mentor, Gunnolf, did he agree with this?”
Asia asked. Hawke rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand to
ease the distress this question caused her.

“Gunnolf? Yes… yes, he was in agreement, but
things were different then. No one saw this gross abuse of power
these men wield now. The millions of dollars Konstantin left were
never to destroy wolf life, but to make things better.”

“Do you have a copy of the contract?” Chacal
asked into the sudden silence.

“Yes, I keep it locked away. Niall also
scanned it for me so that it’s in an electronic place that cannot
be destroyed.” She looked up at the young man and patted his
cheek.

Hawke didn’t understand what was going on with
his litter-mate and the older woman, right now he needed to focus
on the conversation, but he planned to have a long talk with Niall
soon.

“I would like to look at it,” Chacal said,
looking at Niall and then Granira.

She looked at Angus, who nodded and then at
Niall. “Download it for him, please and print Hawke a copy. He
should read it as well.”

Surprised, but pleased Hawke met her gaze and
nodded. “I’d like that, thanks.” She continued staring at
him.

“You are the product of that agreement, it’s
only right you understand what happened and why. Although after
that display on the side of the road today, I’m not as convinced as
I was before that everything the Liege has done is evil. You saved
our lives today. Those altered full-bloods would have killed us in
seconds.” Her gaze flicked to Asia and then back to him. “Both of
you have been altered by the Liege and fight as well as any large
pack.” She looked at Angus for a few seconds. “Do you shift into a
larger hybrid as well?”

“I have another form, yes. Most black wolves
do.”

She shook her head. “No, they don’t. Only a
few the Goddess smiled on. And they came through a specific line.
The Black Alpha’s line. Nikolas was a descendant and I believe your
sire was as well.”

Angus nodded, but didn’t speak.

“Watching Hawke today, I understand why
they’re targeting black pups who are direct descendants. He is
phenomenal and so is his mate. The ones who were not black pups and
were changed by the Liege… they were machines. I looked into the
eyes of those monsters and saw nothing. Blank slates with written
instructions obeyed blindly without thought. Those beasts are no
longer full-bloods, no longer our brethren, and the line crossed by
the Liege.” Her face brightened and she smiled.

Angus frowned.

“They broke the agreement, we can cancel it
and keep them out of our lands.” Her eyes glowed with righteous
fervor.

“They broke the agreement a long time ago,
Nira. What’s new about that?” Angus asked.

“First off you had no idea there was an
agreement. Second, I only knew pups were missing, I never saw what
the Liege did with them until today. They modified them in a way I
never suspected. With Hawke they amped his existing qualities. But
the others, they stripped them of their identity, which, among
other things the Liege is sworn to protect.”

“I wish they hadn’t. If someone had asked I
would never have participated in that hell for thirty plus years.
No one should go through what I went through. No one,” Hawke
spat.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, of course,” Granira
said looking down.

“What did you do with the pups you took?” Asia
asked.

“What?” Granira looked at her.

Asia repeated her question.

“I released them to their parents.”

Angus exhaled and grabbed her arm. “What did
you do with the pups? Tell the truth.”

She snatched her arm from his grasp. “I
released them, sent them on their way.”

Hawke sat back and stared at her. “How old
were the pups?”

“Six and seven with well developed senses.
They told me their father lived nearby and took off.”

“Verrick’s stealing pups?” Hawke asked. He
didn’t see it, but stranger things were happening. Like that
arrogant pup on the road earlier. Hawke hadn’t been able to get the
pup out of his mind.

“I don’t think so. From what I heard he picked
those two up as a peace offering for Lancaster. All the remaining
Alphas are bending over backwards to get into his good graces while
he’s here. So far he’s ignored them all. Some say he blames them
indirectly for the fall of his castle.” She glanced at Hawke and
smiled.

“Which brings me full circle,” Angus said.
“What were you doing in Verrick’s holdings? Don’t bother telling me
that kidnapping stuff either, I know better. Few hunt or fight
better than you. If you were taken it was by your own design. What
are you up too?”

“They’re getting bolder and sloppier. I heard
Verrick had some type serum the Liege used on full-bloods to change
them. I wanted to see it. We’ve got to get in front of them and
stop this or they’ll destroy our future.”

“Did you find the serum?” Angus asked,
watching her closely.

“Yes. It took a bit of doing, but I exchanged
a sample this morning. Niall is the only other person I trusted to
get me out of there. He came once before, but I hadn’t secured the
sample yet, so I sent him away and called for him once I knew I was
close to retrieving it. I saw the pups by accident yesterday and
couldn’t leave them behind.”

“Did Verrick harm them?” Angus
growled.

She patted his arm and rested it there. “No.
They were scared and treated well, but still prisoners.”

“Is that the same serum the Liege used against
Tyrese.” Asia asked Angus.

“Probably.” He turned to Granira. “Let Hawke
take a look at the serum, it’s unstable and does more harm than
good.”

Granira nodded. “I’ll need to dig it out of my
bag and give it to you later.”

Hawke didn’t have anything to test the serum
and wondered why Angus wanted him to look at it. “Sounds
good.”

Angus glanced at him. “
I’m testing her to
make sure she’s honest
.
Chances are she has
it.”

Between Angus, Asia and Hawke’s questions they
got a clearer idea on the state of things. It didn’t look good. Not
as long as the Liege had access.