Sword of Mercy (5 page)

“
In here.”

Covering his nose with his arm, Silas headed
toward their bedroom and opened the door. Jasmine lie on her back,
staring at the ceiling. Worried the event with the Goddess harmed
her in some way, he hurried to her side and placed his palms on her
cheeks so he could look in her eyes and assess the
damage.

“
Wolfie.” She giggled and ran her
fingernail down his cheek.

Silas frowned. “I thought you met with the
Goddess.” Instead of being half-fried she appeared
drunk.

“
I did. Told you I did. Didn’t see
her though. She didn’t let me talk.” She paused, looking up at him
with a slight frown. “That’s a lot of dids, isn’t it?”

Silas sat back watching her closely. “How do
you feel?”

“Great. Headache’s gone, everything’s better.”
She leaned up on her elbows, the tips of her breast brushed against
his chest. “I’m her emissary, did you know that?”

Surprised, Silas sat back. “No. I didn’t know
that. When did that happen?” He didn’t understand what happened,
but the Goddess’ visit impacted Jasmine a lot differently than him.
The tension eased from his shoulders as he watched his mate pull
her thoughts together.

She repeated her conversation with the
Goddess.

“She told me those same words when I first met
you. I assumed you, the twins and the pups were the change she
meant. Obviously there is more going on. You always said Asia was
special, that the Goddess would use her.”

Jasmine nodded. “After all the poor girl went
through, there had to be a greater plan for her life.”

Silas agreed but wondered at the larger
picture. “Hawke and Asia are important in changing things. Okay.
You’ll talk with her about that, help her understand what needs to
be done. But how does this play into the pups missing? She must’ve
addressed that.” He stood from the bed and looked out the window.
“So far one attempt was made to take a pup. The pieces of the
sucker who tried will never be found. But it was sloppy, more of a
human kidnapping than a pup-snatch in Angus’ reports. Still, the
very idea that someone could take a pup from any den or the
compound doesn’t sit right with me.”

“There’s been no cases stateside,” Jasmine
said, rising from the bed and then falling back onto the
mattress.

“That doesn’t matter. If it happens to one, it
happens to all,” he snapped.

“Check the attitude and the tone at the door.
I didn’t say it was right, I made an observation. Maybe there’s a
reason it’s happening over there. Maybe they did something. Maybe
there’s a curse or a secret stone with powers. We don’t
know.”

He looked over his shoulder at her. “A secret
stone?”

She grinned. “Hey, I watch movies. Things
happen for all kinds of reasons, there could be a kernel of truth
in those old Indiana Jones movies. Don’t knock ’em.”

Silas withheld a sigh and took a seat in front
of the bed. “I’m going to lock down the compound. Keep the kids
inside, no traveling into town or the forest. Not until I’m
satisfied no one can enter my den.”

“Silas.”

“A pup was stolen from inside a den Jasmine.
Another while his father was within a few feet.” Jaw tight he
stood. “I’m shutting this down.”

“Renee is not going to believe
this.”

Silas shrugged. “I know she promised to take
the kids to the circus in town tomorrow. That’s
canceled.”

“How do I explain you canceled something you
approved? What if we take additional security? Each of us will have
a child on our lap. Will that work?”

Silas hated to see the look of disappointment
in her eyes and stood. “If one of our children was taken, what
would you do?”

He watched her straighten and her eyes cloud
over. “I cannot imagine that, Silas. But I would be very
angry.”

“So would I. Jasmine, we cannot afford to get
that
angry. I would rather your sister hate me for all
eternity than the combined destruction we would unleash on the
population searching for one of our pups. The Goddess would not be
pleased and would punish us. Chances are we would not see our pups
again, even after they were returned.”

She glanced at him and rolled off the bed.
“Combined destruction, unleashed… really Silas? Dramatic
much?”

“You mock me, but I remember your actions when
Tyrese was taken and he is a seasoned warrior, capable of taking
care of himself. I would not be much better. Let’s not bring in the
twins or Cameron. Let alone all fifty Alphas.” He rubbed his
forehead just thinking of the fallout. His sons and godson would
wreak havoc on anyone they thought harmed one of the pups. His
children had wormed their way into the hearts of his closest
associates who would leave no stone unturned in their
search.

Jasmine touched his arm and he wrapped his arm
around her waist. For a few moments they remained close, their
links open as they battled their unspoken fears for the safety of
their den and all the pups in the nation. He meant it earlier when
he said if it happened to one, it happened to all.

“I’ll explain it to mom and she can help me
come up with something to tell Renee.” She placed a kiss on his
chest. “We’ll take care of it and find something else in the
compound to do.”

He placed a kiss on her forehead and inhaled.
“Thank you for not fighting me on this. But I’m worried. Something
is wrong and I think it’s closer to home than we think. The Liege
has too many operations on this continent not to be interested in
my pack. We must be prepared.”

“That’s defense, which is good. But who do you
have tracking the bastards down for elimination?”

Silas met her gaze. He hadn’t sent anyone to
track them down and destroy them, but it wasn’t a bad idea. Asia
and Angus were his best trackers, but he needed them to continue
where they were. Leon and Brix had been assigned to watch the pups
but he could reassign Jarcee from the Alpha training team to watch
the pups.

Pleased with his choices, he squeezed Jasmine
around the waist and kissed her long and hard. “The Goddess chose
the best emissary a Patron could have. Thank you, I will send Leon
and his mate Brix to track down the Liege in this country to send a
message they are not welcome on my turf.”

“Will you clear it with the Pentagon? Just in
case there is some backlash?”

Silas thought of his previous dealings with
the Joint Chiefs during his mating ceremony. They betrayed his
trust, and even though the President apologized, Silas was not
ready to deal with them again. “No. I don’t need them.”

Her brow rose.

“Not for this. No one will see Leon or Brix
coming, they both wear Chameleon bracelets. If a Liege Lord is in
the states, these two will find and terminate them.” The more he
thought of it, the more he wondered why he hadn’t done it before.
Was he becoming soft? Three years ago, he would have ordered the
death of a human enemy without having all the facts. Yet, he hadn’t
ordered the demise of these heinous criminals. Ironically, his
human mate suggested the termination.

“Good. I don’t want them anywhere near our
packs,” she said pleasing him more.

Chapter 6

Another urgent summons to meet Alpha Radoff
came right after they started breakfast. Asia and Hawke left
Chacal’s compound in a new black Hummer, courtesy of Alpha Ulric,
and headed west towards the foothills in Romania. She’d used the
chameleon bracelet Angus had given her to change her appearance
into the white male everyone considered Hawke’s mate. The Liege had
an eight million dollar bounty on her head and would love to
recapture her. The bracelet had saved her life on numerous
occasions and helped her free her mate. She would do everything
within her power to keep Angus’ secret and the bracelet
safe.

Radoff had been excited by something he and
his pack uncovered, and for some reason he did not want Angus or
Chacal to know, not yet. Something about muddying the waters. Eager
for new information regarding the missing pups, Asia agreed to hold
the information close for now, but explained she would tell her
Mistress anything she deemed important.

The man agreed and told them to
hurry.

After a few hours they arrived in a small town
that looked as if it were taken from a page of a medieval novel.
Half fallen towers, large blocks of stone littered the ground from
where the walls crumbled over time and an air of abandonment rested
over the large building.

Hawke parked the Hummer out front and they
walked into what must have been the keep at one time. Overgrown
grass, and twisted vines greeted them. Birds took flight and
insects stopped chirping long enough to give them a quick
inspection. Asia placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and kept
her senses open.

The sudden quiet disturbed her. Where was
Radoff?

Hawke stopped and looked around. “
Someone’s
coming
.”

Asia nodded and then relaxed her guard.
“
It’s Radoff
.” They both turned to watch the shorter Alpha
stride across the grounds with a sparkle in his otherwise dull
brown eyes and a spring in his step. The man vibrated with
excitement.

“He’s pleased about something,” Hawke said,
inching closer to Asia.

Rather than respond, her gaze flicked over
Radoff, and noticed in the streaks of dirt on his face, the dust
and cobwebs in his hair and something dark on his hands he tried
wiping off on his pants. She’d guess he’d found an underground lair
or something. Based on what she knew about the man, the idea of him
on his knees crawling below ground seemed unlikely. So, what had he
been doing?

“Alpha Radoff, you wanted to see us?” Asia
asked when he approached.

“Yes… yes. I think I’ve found it.” He stuffed
his hands into his pocket, she suspected to keep from clapping or
waving them about.

Asia’s heart raced. She glanced at the old,
drafty castle and then back at him. “This is where they bring the
pups?” she asked in surprise. The building looked abandoned and
lacked heat to keep the pups warm. None of that mattered, they’d be
moving the pups to a better location anyway.

Radoff frowned. “Pups? No. Why? Did you see
something?” He turned and looked behind him and then faced her
again.

Asia withheld a growl of disappointment. “What
did you find then?”

He met her gaze and the sparkle returned to
his eyes. “This is Lord Konstantin’s castle.” He spoke with an air
of pride and amazement.

Asia had no idea who Konstantin was and
crossed her arms over her chest waiting for an explanation. They
had driven hours to reach this place and she hoped Konstantin knew
something about the missing pups or she’d be pissed at the delay.
Mistress and La Patron were counting on her to shut the Liege
down.

Radoff seemed confused by her lack of
excitement. “Lord Konstantin.” He leaned forward and waited a beat.
“The Lord who started the Roundtable of Lords back in the late
1800’s.” He looked behind him and then at them again. “This place
isn’t in the official records of his land holdings. He had a
special place where he met with the Roundtable and the Fekete
Farkas, or Black wolf clan.”

Asia sensed Hawke’s surprise through their
link. She took another look at the crumbling estate. “Roundtable of
Lords?”

Radoff’s grin widened as he nodded. “That was
the original name of the group, it changed in the 1900’s to Liege
Lords, more modern I suppose.” He shrugged and looked at the
building as if it were an early Christmas present. She prayed there
were answers to their current problem behind those
walls.

“Why is this important?” Hawke asked, gazing
at the building.

Radoff took on the look of a professor intent
on a lecture. She recalled his warning that she slow down and learn
more before rushing ahead and prepared to listen.

“Lord Konstantin was Hungarian and part of the
aristocracy back in the 1800’s. They ruled what we know as Romania
with an iron fist. Didn’t matter that they were the minority, they
kept the majority poor and ignorant. Konstantin shied away from
politics and invested in land. He owned thousands of acres across
this area, Egypt, Moldova and Russia. The man was ahead of his time
when it came to agriculture and making the land
productive.”