Chapter 59: Last Chance

Special Agent Lana Black’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House Pool Area

I was running on caffeine as the night dragged on. Alpha Rori had warned us that Deputy Mark’s fevers would get worse overnight and into the morning. We didn’t want to miss anything, so Allison had me sleep until two, then I took over for her. It was now four-thirty in the morning, and I was typing my report out as I drank from a large coffee at one of the snack bar tables.

The party had moved on out of respect for the man fighting for his life, but the pool area was still full of people. As Doc Olson warned us the previous night, Mark’s fever got worse and worse as the night progressed. When the pool was no longer keeping it down, they had a fiberglass tub brought in that they filled with cold water and ice. When I arrived back at the pool in the middle of the night, Mark was in and out of consciousness as the fevers would spike and recede. I felt horrible for him, but I could see they were doing all they could. “Is there anyone else coming who might be his mate,” I asked as Rori sat with me to take a break.

“We have fourteen women arriving from Russia in an hour, and that will be all of them,” she said. I could see how upset she was at his attack and her inability to save him. “If it isn’t one of them, I hope he goes quickly.”

“How bad does it get?”

“It would be a mercy to shoot him.”

A few other women sat with us, all high-ranking members of other Packs. “Hello, I’m Luna Kathryn from the Denali Pack in Alaska,” a beautiful woman said as she sat down on the other side of me. Like the others, she was nude, and by now, I barely noticed all the exposed flesh in the room. I hadn’t joined in myself, but I did drop down to shorts and an FBI T-shirt, leaving my badge and gun in the bag I’d brought my laptop in. It was too warm and humid in here for slacks.

“That young girl, she was sniffing your clothes,” I said as I recalled the name.

“She’s going to be my daughter-in-law,” Kathryn said with a big smile. “My son is seventeen, and the new Alpha of our Pack. Shelly picked up the scent of her mate on my clothing. I brought all the other males from my Pack to see her, and it’s my boy.”

“You don’t look old enough to have a seventeen-year-old son,” I said. She was beautiful, her body put supermodels to shame, and there was not an ounce of fat on her.

“That’s nice of you to say. I’m eighty-seven.”

My eyes bugged out. They’d told me how werewolves aged differently than humans, but I had more wrinkles on my face than she did. “Shelly is only fifteen? And she escaped a bad situation?”

“She is, and she did,” Rori said. “There is a lot to deal with before those two get to mate. We need to emancipate her from her mother, help her adjust to life as a wolf, and get her through school. We don’t allow matings before age eighteen.”

“Is she going to Alaska?”

“Not right away,” Kathryn said. “As a minor, we can’t transport her across state lines without parental permission. Rori and I have a lot of things to work out, but it’s all good. My son is a good young man, and she is a strong girl.”

“Are you mated, Kathryn?”

I could see her pain flash on her face for a moment. “Widowed,” she said. “Recently.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be. My mate was abusive to his family and his Pack, and we are all better off without him.”

I was confused; all the mated couples I had met here were deeply in love. Chase was so in love he made Hallmark movies look tame. He had arrived at the table, picking up Rori and holding her on his lap as he sat down. “If a mate is so important to your wolves, how can the relationship be abusive?”

“It’s not common, but it can happen,” Chase said. “You recall our talk about our dual nature? The human side is the same as yours, and it’s strong enough to push back the wolf part that wants to protect its mate. If your human is an abusive ass, his behavior affects the bond. It’s even worse for werewolves because no matter how bad he is, the wolf part of us still wants to be with him.”

“I was a choice mate, forced on my husband for an alliance, and he never forgave me for what his father made him do,” Kathryn said. “I tried to make the best of it, and our wolves were always great together. As the abuse continued, my wolf grew weaker and weaker. When the abuse moved to my son, she made one last stand before withdrawing completely. I haven’t shifted in three years, and I don’t hear from her anymore. I’m a werewolf in name only,” she said as a tear ran down her face.

I leaned over and pulled her onto my shoulder, letting her cling to me as the repressed pain and hurt burst out. I let her go as the crying continued. As Kathryn stood, other women surrounded her. I saw the love and acceptance of the Pack that Rori had described as they hugged and comforted her.

“She will get better, those five are members of her Pack,” Rori said as the group moved away from us.

Chase was smiling as he watched. “This was good for her, and I never knew until recently just how screwed up her Pack was. We aren’t perfect, far from it. Our Packs were insular, with too much power in the hands of men who weren’t worthy of it. We’ve had to deal with slavery, abuse, violence, and war in the past few years. Our Werewolf Council didn’t just allow the abuse; they enabled and profited from it. We’re reforming things now, but I’ve spent a long time counseling women in my Pack who have gone through far worse.”

“I’ve talked to them, they all love it here,” I said. “Even the visitors think your Pack is wonderful.”

“We aren’t like most Alphas,” Rori said. “And we built this Pack from nothing after my parents and Pack got killed as they tried to get me.” She told me the story of the previous Arrowhead Pack and her own life. I was shocked at what she had gone through as a teenager, and I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn’t even twenty yet.

There was a commotion as a group of females arrived and walked over to the tub to see if he was their mate. Mark was unconscious as the Russian women scented him. My hopes crashed as they walked away. “That’s it?”

Rori nodded, unable to speak. Doc Olson came over, grim-faced. “He’s starting partial shifts, and fur is starting to grow. Mark only has a few hours left until his heart gives out. I’m sorry.”

“Are you bringing his mother,” I asked.

“We cannot. Mark will keep trying to shift, unable to make the transition until it finally kills him,” Chase said. “We won’t let him die alone,” he said as he helped Rori stand.

“He will die as a member of our Pack,” Rori agreed. The senior leaders visiting joined the many members of the Arrowhead Pack in a sad vigil, waiting for the inevitable.

And then there was a howl.

I looked over to where the noise came from, and my jaw dropped. A grey wolf ran from the group of Denali Pack members, heading right for us. The people surrounding the ice tub parted, letting the female wolf approach. She buried her head into Mark’s neck, then opened her jaws and bit down. Mark woke and screamed as her teeth tore at the junction of his neck and shoulder.

“STOP HER,” I said in horror, reaching for my gun.

“Kathryn,” Rori said with a smile. “Her wolf came out and claimed him.”

I calmed quickly as the others clapped and hugged, and the wolf released her bite and started licking at the bloody wound. “Wait, he’s all right?”

“He will be, he’s going to be a mated wolf. I can’t believe it,” Chase said before he kissed his mate.

“Everyone back,” Doc Olson said. “Bring out the pad.” Doc had Mark removed from the tub and laid on the foam mat by the pool. He organized for some of the Omegas to rotate out ice-water towels as Kathryn shifted and laid down with him.

The shift took another hour, and it looked and sounded painful. When it was over, a handsome all-black wolf lay panting on the mat next to his grey mate. “That’s it,” I asked when Chase sat down.

“He’s one of us now,” Chase said. “He needs to eat lots of raw meat then sleep for most of the day, and he’ll shift back later. I’ll meet you out front,” he said.

“Why?”

“You need to talk to your supervisor, and I need to go get his mother.” My eyes got wide. “She’s his family, and I won’t make him hide from his family. Besides,” he said with a grin, “She has a daughter-in-law now who is four-plus decades older than she is.”

“I have to change first, and wake up Special Agent Cook so we can report to him together,” I replied. “Thank you, Alphas. For everything.”

Jack Coffey’s POV

Near Ridgeview Country Club, Hermantown

I finished my breakfast: six eggs, a box of sausages, and toast. I left the plates at the table, as no one was going to do dishes anymore. Dressing in jeans and a flannel shirt I found in the closet, I tightened the leather belt around my narrow waist and grabbed the cash and car keys off the dresser.

I walked through the house, ignoring the bodies on the floor. The woman had foolishly opened her back door, and I’d ripped her throat out before she could say a word. Her husband died just as quickly as he walked into the kitchen yesterday morning. I’d spent the day watching the news, waiting for the video to cause a panic that would set the humans against the Arrowhead Pack.

And it still hadn’t happened.

I opened the garage door and climbed into their Suburu, starting it up and backing out.

It was time to light the fire that would burn Rori and her friends to the ground.