Sword of Mercy (3 page)

“Or they’ve ramped up their time-table,”
Chacal said in an ominous tone.

No one spoke for a few moments and then Angus
threw the glass in his hand across the room into the fireplace. It
shattered on impact and fell into the flames. “Damn-it, we’ve got
to shut this down. Where are they taking the pups? Even when they
disappear they have to hide them somewhere.” Angus stood and paced
in jerky movements.

“You’ve been eating the root I gave you?”
Hawke said watching Angus.

“Yeah, nasty shit.”

Hawke nodded. “Yes, but once it is in your
system your tolerance for the drugs in the tranquilizer will
increase and it will not have the same impact as it once had.”
Neutralizing the drug that incapacitated Angus during their
conflict against the bluebirds and Liege had risen to the top of
Hawke’s to-do list after the castle fell. They couldn’t afford to
fall to the side in the middle of a battle. After studying the
components in the drug, he realized a root that grew in the wild
would solve their problems. He and Asia ate a healthy dose daily
and had spread the word to the local packs. Irritability and jerky
movements were initial side effects that went away after a short
period.

“Good to know I’m not eating this shit for
nothing,” Angus muttered.

Asia smiled and winked at Hawke. “If you run
into a bluebird again, you’ll be happy you ate that
shit.”

Angus looked over his shoulder at her and
growled. “True, but I have a sword with those bastard’s name on
it.” He tapped the sharp blade sheathed and worn on his side. “In
the chest below where a human heart would be, right?” He looked at
Hawke who nodded.

“Yes, that’s their soft spot. Hit them there
and they drop like a fly, or cut off their heads. Both will kill
them dead.” He met the Angus’ gaze and then glanced at Chacal who
sat listening without offering anything to the
conversation.

“Glad you finally had access to your files,
it’s been a lot of help.” Angus nodded and turned away. “Ulric is
here and wants to meet with us, Chacal.”

The other man nodded, but didn’t
move.

Angus looked at Asia and then Hawke. “After we
meet with him we are heading to the next place on the list you gave
us. How’s your search coming with Alpha Radoff?”

“Slow. The people he’s introduced us to were
hesitant to share information. Later today, he’s taking us to an
area northwest of here on the corner of pack lands. He says he’s
come across some new information. Sounded excited about it last
night.” In fact excited was not the right word, levitating with joy
and doing flips had been more accurate. Despite his insistence they
come to the address he gave them, the Alpha refused to discuss
anything over the phone. He and Asia had spent some time guessing
what had the man floating with joy before they fell asleep last
night.

“Let’s hope it pushes us one step closer to
solving this mystery. I hate not having anything to report to Silas
and Jasmine,” Angus said meeting Asia’s gaze. “They are really
concerned.”

She nodded and after a moment stood.
“Ready?”

Hawke glanced out the window, streaks from the
rising sun peaked across the sky. He stood, and slapped his palms
against his pant leg. “Can I have breakfast first?”

Asia looked past him to the brightening sky
and then met his gaze. “Make it fast.”

Chapter 3

Angus and Chacal left the house and walked
toward the forest to meet Ulric, Alpha of the Black Wolf Clan.
Ulric shifted from a large black wolf into his human form which
wasn’t much different in Angus’ opinion. A few black wolves stood
near the tree line while Ulric walked forward to meet
them.

All three of them, Angus, Chacal and Ulric,
were similar in height and size, although Chacal was the smallest.
Angus and Ulric’s black hair, green eyes and deep tans were
signature traits of the Black clan. Chacal’s blackish-brown hair
and gold eyes identified him as a hybrid of wolf and
jackal.

“I hope there is a good reason you called for
this meeting,” Angus said instead of a customary greeting. He
delayed his report to Silas just in case he learned something
worthwhile from Ulric, but he needed to rectify that within an hour
or Silas would contact him. Lately, his litter-mate had become more
concerned over the threat the Liege presented to the wolf nation
and seemed to be willing to take the fight wherever it took them,
pack protocol be damned.

“Another pup was taken earlier today,” Ulric
said through clenched teeth.

“I am aware of that. From your beta’s den I
understand,” Angus said with sympathy. A wolf’s den was sacred; no
one should’ve been able to penetrate his safeguards.

Ulric slapped his ball fist into his palm and
walked back and forth a few times. “How can I lead if I cannot
protect them? I flounder like a pup seeking a teat. Those bastards
are winning. How? How are they doing it? They appear and disappear
like ghosts. How’s that possible?”

Angus’ heart clenched at the despair in the
man’s voice, but he had no idea how to explain what happened.
Baffled, he met Ulric’s gaze and remained silent.

“What… what would your Alpha do?” With a look
of defeat he stared at Angus.

The idea of anyone breaking into Silas’
compound and surviving long enough to get to the nursery, was
daunting. But if they made it that far, and neutralized the
security detail that remained on duty twenty-four hours, that
person would deal with either Jasmine, Victoria, Rose or one of the
nurses who were trained security bitches as well. A battle of epic
proportions would break out, and that’s before Silas arrived.
Jasmine would be a force to reckon with if anyone came near her
babies.

Rather than explain the bloodbath that would
follow such an attempt, he cleared his throat and kept his face
neutral. “I cannot imagine what he would not do if one of his pups
were taken. I can only say life as we know it would change in a
nanosecond.”

“Would he hunt down the Liege? Destroy them in
their beds? Start a war with the humans? How far? How far would he
go to find his pups? To protect his den?”

Angus swallowed and blinked back the image of
an out of control Silas. “There is nothing he would not do. The
Liege would pray for death by the time his mate found them and she
would. La Patron and his mate would not rest until they found their
pups.”

“And the parties responsible for taking their
pups?” Ulric pressed. “What happens to them?”

Angus released a breath. “They’d die.” He
didn’t bother to add, they’d die horribly without mercy. Ulric
understood.

Ulric nodded and stepped back. “Lancaster
arrived near Bucharest four days past. He stayed in the hotel at
first, but has moved. I will find and kill him. Perhaps we
should’ve killed them from the beginning before they made monsters
of our young.”

Angus stilled. Thinking of Tyrese and Hawke he
frowned at the comment. “Monsters? What are you talking about?”
Both young wolves had no control over what happened to them and
were valued assets to the wolf nation.

Ulric looked around before clearing his
throat. “Those two men, Hawke and the other, his mate I suppose.
They aren’t normal, they’ve been altered by the Liege. Their minds
and their bodies are twisted. I don’t want my pups turned into a
machine, with metal legs and arms,” he spat as if he smelled
something distasteful. “They’ve put computer chips in their minds
and cameras in their heads.” He tapped his forehead and then shook
it. “We cannot allow that to happen to our pups, not if we plan to
survive.”

Anger raced through Angus at the biased
slight. “The Liege has been stealing pups for decades. Now that
your pups are in danger of being changed, you stand here and
criticize those who were victims while you did nothing to save
them?”

“That is not what I meant –”

“Then what else could you mean? Hawke was
taken, probably given away by his own pack to the Liege and he had
no fucking choice. Have you seen his body? It’s a roadmap of cuts
and scars from all the surgeries he underwent while you and your
pack remained safe on the continent. He’s a fucking black wolf and
no one, not you or his pack rescued him. He was with Lancaster for
over thirty damn years and you…. You stand here and criticize him
for surviving?”

“I meant they will destroy all of us!” Ulric
yelled and then wiped his face with the back of his hand. “None of
my wolves can defeat Hawke or the other who walks with him. They
change into these, these huge beasts and our hybrids cannot win
against them. What if he changes loyalty? What happens
then?”

“The Liege has hybrids that shift to the same
sizes. Hybrid full-bloods they control one hundred percent. How
would you defeat them?” Angus crossed his arms over his chest and
stared into the widening eyes of his friend.

“What?” Ulric looked gut punched.

Angus chuckled and shook his head at the man’s
audacity. This limited foresight had been one of the main reasons
he hadn’t been able to remain in the pack with this Alpha. “You’re
going after Lancaster and don’t know anything about his army of
hybrids? That’s why Hawke and other wolves can shift to larger
sizes, the Liege experimented on full bloods. So far, only the
black wolf can maintain his humanity and handle the extras, like
steel limbs, and electronics. The others become machine-like or
die.”

“He travels with one other,” Ulric murmured,
and then met Angus’ gaze. “Lancaster does not travel with an army,
but with one.”

“Then believe me that one is capable of doing
what an army can do. He will morph to large sizes and fight to the
death to complete his mission. If that is to destroy you, the Alpha
of the Black Clan, he will never stop until you are dead.” Angus
reiterated the threat of the hybrid in case Ulric retreated behind
his veil of invincibility.

“Do you know how to destroy it?” Ulric watched
him closely.

Angus shrugged. “If it were a hybrid, I’d say
hit it in the left eye and pull out the computer chip that makes it
run. Or if it were a bluebird, take a sharp object and pierce it
here.” He pointed to the spot on his chest. “But this may be
something new, so I cannot say.”

Ulric frowned. “Bluebird? Hybrid?”

“Yeah. They are wolves who’ve been changed by
the Liege. Bluebirds are hyper-fast, but you’ll hear them coming.
Make sure you eat a lot of that root I told you about because the
tips of their talons are poison and will knock you out if you
don’t.” He ignored the look of horrified distaste on Ulric’s face.
They were in a war and attempting to change the tides of the battle
and didn’t have time to deal with anyone’s sensibilities. Losing
was not an option.

Ulric nodded. “We are including it into our
daily diet.” He paused. “And the hybrid?”

Pleased with Ulric’s level of concern, Angus
tempered his tone. “You won’t hear them coming. Just be ready to
fight for your life, they cannot stop until their mission is
completed.”

“A severed head stops them both,” Chacal said
in a dry tone standing with his hands behind his back while staring
over Ulric’s head.

Grinning, Angus patted his sword. “Yeah,
that’s right.”

Ulric’s gaze followed his hand movements.
“Have you talked to your Alpha? Will he send more assistance to
defeat this threat?”

“He is aware of what is going on.” Angus
couldn’t share Silas’ plans with Ulric even though they were both
Alphas, they did not operate the same. Plus Silas was the Goddess’
emissary with abilities no other Alpha shared.

“Is he coming to defeat the Liege? He is in
danger just as we are,” Ulric said, sounding desperate.

“He is not the Goddess, Ulric. He cannot fix
your problems. The bulk of the takings has occurred on pack lands
here or in Egypt. The question is why? There are packs all over the
world, but the Liege’s success is limited to these areas. Find the
answer to that question and follow the trail.”

Ulric jerked back at Angus’ remark. “I’m aware
no pups have been taken from your Alpha’s lands. That does not mean
they will not make an attempt,” Ulric said watching
Angus.