Trace: Follow His Destiny (23 page)

“I understand. But please promise me that you will be careful. I need my father still,” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

“I promise I will. But I need a promise from you too. When we get in there, you will allow me to do what I know needs to be done. Braden and I must face one another; he was my Beta and betrayed me. For that I need his blood,” Oliver said fiercely.

Jo nodded. “I will be by your side though.”

Oliver pulled his daughter into a hug and sighed deeply. He knew his mate was happy that they had found one another again but she would have stood by his side this time too. It made him think so much of the mate that was taken from him looking at his daughter. How much he had lost because of Braden, because of his own ignorance.

The time for talking and complaining about the past was over. He was going to face his mistakes and honor his position as Alpha of the Old Council. He would make his Pack proud again.

Chapter 16

The time had come, and the planning and talking was over. They were in position around the warehouse and Quin was waiting and watching. The cameras Bama had put out showed that before they arrived three trucks full of wolves had left the premises.

But none of them appeared to be Braden or Roarke. They were still inside with some wolves but they had no idea how many. Quin looked around. They would be the first to enter. And the last to leave. An empty truck sat at the entrance of the street waiting with new clothes and chains for their prisoners. Not that there would be any, as far as he was concerned they should all be killed.

A few of the other members of the Council had convinced him that they needed to take some of the people into custody. They reminded him what Michael’s family said. How he had been coerced. Trace and his mates had urged him to make sure they were not killing innocents.

The rest of the Council had agreed, and Quin had too once he was able to get past his anger at Braden kidnapping his child.

Jaden came to his side and said, “Well?”

“Oh yeah, we are gonna do this. Tell everyone on my count we are going.” Quin said then waited for Jaden to return to his side. He felt Cami step up to his other and then both growled. They had not been able to wander in the warehouse district naked so they were all still fully clothed. All of them wearing cheap sweats that they could rip easily when shifting.

Quin held up his hand and shifted, then howled his war cry and ran for the door. The wooden door was no match for a wolf his size, with the amount of anger that he held in him. He let all of his rage out on breaking down the door and storming in the warehouse. He could see men and women shifting in front of him caught off guard. He took the closest male in front of him and jumped on his back. He growled in warning giving the wolf a chance to submit, but the wolf refused and fought back trying to knock Quin off of his back. If he had been human, the grin on Quin’s face would have been almost gleeful.

Jaden and the rest ran past him, picked a wolf, and fought. Quin dispatched the wolf with a flick of his head and moved on. He caught sight of Cami fighting with a she wolf and growled. Cami bested her right away and he sighed. He knew she could take care of herself, hell he had trained her himself. But seeing her in action was kinda hot. He shook his head, turned, and picked another wolf. The ones that submitted were being herded by a few of the Enforcers to the outside.

Quin lifted his head and frowned. He scented Roarke and turned in a circle looking for the wolf. There he was, at the top of the stairs with Braden and a smaller wolf. Shit, Quin squinted his eyes and growled again. It was Lola. Shit, Cami was going to want a piece of this. This fight he had no problem watching. Cami could take that bitch with her eyes closed.

Quin howled and all of the wolves paused and looked around. Oliver stepped forward and growled at Braden. The other wolf growled back and Braden jumped to the floor from the stairs and landed on the floor in front of them. Cami stopped what she was doing when she saw Lola and howled.

The stupid female jumped and landed in front of Cami. Quin looked back up for Roarke who was no longer there. Damnit, he lost him. The rest of the Pack and the Rogue Pack resumed their fight, but there was not that much resistance.

Quin, Jaden, and the rest of the Council let the Enforcers take over and they circled the two pairs of wolves who were preparing to fight. Quin howled once again, the rest of the New Council followed, letting Oliver and Cami know that they were watching and protecting them. Oliver looked back and shook his head. He did not want anyone to interfere in the fight. Quin nodded and barked to the rest of the New Council getting their agreement.

Oliver turned back and gave no more warning he jumped on Braden and tore into his shoulder before pulling back and circling. It had been a warning and a strong one, surrender or die. Braden shook his head and growled. He would fight.

Oliver crouched low and jumped for him again but Braden moved at the last minute and clawed his side.

Quin turned his head to watch his mate. She was not messing around with Lola at all.

The thin wolf was growling at his mate and Cami lunged, taking the smaller wolf down in a heap of fur. Cami ripped her hind quarter and Lola kicked her trying to get lose.

Cami let the wolf go and then paced around her, waiting for Lola to get up.

When Lola slowly got to her feet, Cami dove back in and knocked her down again. This time biting the shoulder, the dancing back. Cami was going to make this painful for the wolf who tried to kill her. She was going to show no mercy.

Quin looked at Jaden who was grinning in his wolf form. He knew also, what Cami was doing. Cami held out her paw and clawed Lola across the nose. The other wolf howled and Quin waited. Lola should submit. He knew it and the rest of the Council knew it.

Cami stepped back and sat down giving the woman one more chance to back down.

Lola stumbled up and walked to the center of the circle that was around her and Cami; she held her head up and then turned and flicked her tail at Cami.

It was an insult. Cami growled and Lola turned and growled back. She would not back down either. Quin looked at the four wolves in the circle. They would fight to the death.

Oliver was limping after Braden had gotten his front paw. Braden was also hurt, dripping blood from the wounds that Oliver had given him. But Oliver was not done.

He turned and looked at Jo who was sitting there watching him intently and he nodded.

Jo responded by howling to him and Oliver turned and dove at Braden, taking him down to the ground again and this time grasping his throat. Braden kicked but Oliver did not release him. They rolled a little and Braden ended up on top with Oliver hanging on still to his throat.

Cami stalked Lola and then ran out of patience. She jumped on the wolf and grabbed her by the back of the neck and threw her to the ground. It was a vicious beating. She pawed and kicked the other wolf, not seeming to feel that she was getting clawed on her chest also by Lola.

Quin growled when he smelled his mate’s blood and stood up. Jaden did as well and then gave her a moment to end this. Cami raised her head, then stepped on Lola’s chest, and ripped through her throat, ending the other wolf’s live. She sat back and howled her victory. The rest of the Council joined her but now they turned to Oliver.

He was still on the bottom fighting his way out from under Braden. The older wolf still held onto his throat but Quin could see that he was tiring. With a surge of strength he pushed Braden to the side and at the same time ripped the wolf’s coat around his neck.

Braden howled in pain and Oliver jumped to his feet, with his teeth he grabbed the back of Braden’s neck, and shook his head.

Braden’s neck snapped with a loud crack and Oliver threw him to the side. Jo and the rest of the Council howled their approval. But before they were done, Oliver collapsed.

Jo shifted and ran to her father.

“Shift,” she said and Oliver closed his eyes for a minute and then did as she asked.

The older man laid his head on his daughters arm and looked up at her. “He wore the potion. The same one they must have used on Quin,” he gasped out, Jo’s eyes widened in horror, and she turned to call for help.

They were all standing around her looking helpless. Nothing could cure him, they knew it. Jo knew, and most of all Oliver knew it. “Oh my sweet, baby girl. You know that there is nothing to be done. Let’s spend our last moments talking about something happy. I want you to tell your children all about their Alpha grandfather who loved them so much. I want you to tell them the truth though. All of it. They need to know why I did what I did tonight. All the children need to know. I want my death to be a lesson to them. I want them to know that mistakes can be made in their lives but they need to remain strong and fight, together. Trust in each other, like I should have done with the rest of my Council.”

“Yes, daddy,” Jo sobbed and put her hand to his cheek. “I promise.”

“You know when you were born that your mother took one look at you and said you would be a defiant one. She knew you were strong, she knew you would not give up.

And she was right. You are the woman you are today because of the people around you.

I would like to think I had a small hand in it, helping you understand the way of the wolf after we found you. But trust in Cami. She is your sister, she is your Alpha. And Tey, he will always guide you and protect you. I wish I could stay,” Oliver whispered and then fell silent for a moment. Jo could tell the poison was taking over. She felt him slipping away from her.

“Daddy. Tell mom I say I love you and her very much,” Jo whispered.

Oliver opened his eyes and smiled. “That is really all I ever wanted. Know that as I die, your mother will greet me. And we shall watch over you and your children always.” Oliver said and then smiled and drifted away.

Jo sobbed and held her father in her arms rocking back and forth. Cami came forward, knelt beside her friend, and wrapped her arms around them both. Then Tey came, and Quin. Soon the rest of the Council sat on the floor clutching each other and holding on.

They sat like that until the Enforcers cleared their throats and announced that the warehouse was clear.

Chapter 17

The Council returned to the compound in silence. The car carrying Oliver was in the lead as it should be in a position of leadership. Jo and Tey sat huddled in the backseat with Cami while Quin and Jaden sat in the front. They could not process everything that had happened in the last few days. So much emotion and heartache.

When they arrived back to the compound, Quin crawled form the car, went, and stood at the door of the car that held Oliver. All of the men of the Council followed and then all helped carry the Alpha into the medical room and lay him on the table. The women followed silently supporting each other.

They were rung out. Each of them. While they exited the room, Quin and Cami stopped and hugged each of them. Telling them that they would all rest until they woke. No time was set for meeting. But they all knew they would be up in the morning dealing with the aftermath.

EPILOGUE

Lev stopped his car and stepped out onto the street of the small town that had drawn attention to itself in the last few weeks in the police community. They had called for someone to help take over the Police Department here, but their list of qualifications had been strange. He really didn’t think having an open mind really mattered in being a Police Chief. But he had shrugged and applied anyway. There was something about this place that called to him, he was a member of the Milliken Pack, and he knew what had happened over the last few months. Milliken needed a Chief of Police, he hoped that they would allow him to hire a few more people, hell with all of this going on, they would need it.

Lev had been with the State Patrol since he retired from the military a few years ago.

Now he had to have order, the black and white decisions he had to make. There was the law, and breaking the law. In his mind that was it, if you got the whole grey thing going on in there it made a mess. And there was a lot of grey in Milliken, one of his first orders of business, should he get the job, would be to talk to Quin, the Alpha, about what exactly had happened the last few weeks.

He looked around the small town and sighed. It was the perfect place to live; he thought and stared at the store fronts that were popping up. Cami’s Bookstore, Wild Thing’s (what looked like a lingerie store from the window), The Diner, The Medical Clinic, and a few other stores that he could not see further down. He was standing in front of the City Building. He had an appointment soon with the Mayor of Milliken. The position had only been posted for a few weeks. Lev thought it would take a lot longer to get a call from the Mayor to interview.

He stepped forward and looked at the window of the bookstore. There were a lot of women inside putting books away and setting things up. He smiled. Wow, they certainly had some good looking women in this town. Wait, that was Cami, the Alpha female. He rolled his eyes, he had heard about her antics. It would be challenging to try and convince her to stay within his boundaries.

He noticed the sign in the window that said there was some kind of book signing coming to Denver where the other Cami’s Bookstore was. He lifted his eyebrows and wondered why a chain store would come here. But his attention was drawn away from that when he saw the beauty that was being shown as a bestselling paranormal romance writer.

Shea Conner. She was absolutely mesmerizing.

Lev stared at the poster closer to see the date. It was next week. He pulled out his phone and took down the address and times on his little calendar. If he was able to, Lev would be attending a book signing. He just needed to see this woman for himself to see if she was truly this engaging. She had long, red, curly hair and bright, green eyes she hid behind large glasses. He thought she looked like a pixie with her pointed chin and small smile. She sat in a large chair with a book in her hand and he could see that she was very small. The chair seemed to envelope her. Her tiny figure made him feel very protective.