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  "Ash has just informed me that we've got an unusually large group of cars heading this way. It is likely nothing to be seriously worried about, but given some recent developments, there is the chance that things could get unpleasant. I leave it up to you whether or not you stay or go, but know that if you stay Adri's mother may be exposed to things that you'd rather not have her see."

  "What kinds of things?"

  "Adri tells me that you're a veteran of the conflicts in the Middle East. The cars on their way here may be planning on bringing that kind of violence here to my home. If you choose to stay I will do everything in my power to protect you both, but there is a very real possibility that I won't be able to keep you completely safe."

  Chapter 2

  Alec Graves

  Graves Estate

  Sanctuary, Utah

  Russ' eyes had gotten bigger and his heart rate had sped up slightly when I'd told him there was a possibility that he, Adri, and Nicole were all in danger if they remained here, but it was the closest thing to a nonresponse that I'd seen out of a human in a long time.

  "Okay, I'll do what I can to get Nicole out of here, but I think that Adri should leave with us. She can come back once the danger has passed."

  Adri interrupted before I could get a response out. "I'm not going anywhere. I really do know what I'm getting into, Russ. I'd appreciate it if you could get my mom out of here, she doesn't need to see any of this, but I'll be fine here."

  Russ gave Adri a long look, but in the end he nodded and then turned back to me. "Can we take your jet back or do I need to make other arrangements?"

  Right to the point. I liked that. "Ash already has one of the planes prepping for takeoff and a helicopter on the way here to take you back to the airport."

  "What are the odds that we'll get ambushed at the airport?"

  "I think that they'll leave you alone. They won't want to cause big problems out where there are a lot of witnesses. I'll send Dom, Jessica, and Jasmin with you, but I'll need to keep the boys here in case the helicopter doesn't make it back before our visitors arrive."

  I could tell that he didn't like that, but it was more than I should have been offering him. My power seemed to be working just fine now, but if, for some reason, it went dormant again then we were going to need every warm body we had to try and stand off any kind of decent-sized attack.

  "Okay. Do you have a weapon I can borrow? Presumably you can keep the local authorities from coming down too hard on me, so I'd rather not go unarmed if things are as bad as you're indicating."

  I shot Ash an inquiring look and he nodded and pulled a pistol still in a pocket holster out of his pants. Russ accepted the pistol with a low whistle. "A Kimber .45. You don't skimp on your weapons."

  Russ ejected the magazine, checked that it was loaded, and then slammed it back home and racked the slide. A second later the weapon vanished into Russ' right front pocket as he heard Nicole approaching. Russ turned towards her and met her with a frown.

  "I'm sorry, Nicole. I just got a call from Patrick. It sounds like there is a situation developing with the property purchase we've spent the last six months working on. I hate to tear you away from Adri so soon, but I'm afraid things aren't going to be pretty if I'm not back in New York within the next few hours."

  Adri's mother's disappointment was obvious, but there was a hint of something that felt like relief mixed with a little bit of guilt. I spared a moment to wonder whether or not to tell Adri just how ill-equipped her mom felt when it came to dealing with her teenage daughter, and then Nicole and Adri were making their tearful goodbyes.

  Ash had already left, presumably to round up the girls so that Russ and Nicole had their escort. Less than ten minutes after Ash had delivered news of the inbound vehicles, Adri and I were watching her mom and Russ take off.

  Half an hour later, Jasmin, Dominic and Jess all made it back just as the first of the loose caravan of cars pulled up. There were six in total and Ash had already informed me that they were spread out nearly half an hour apart between the first and the last. It was an unlikely configuration for an attack force, but nobody had called ahead to tell us that they were sending a delegation, so we had to play it safe.

  Nobody really knew just how much control Puppeteer could exercise over a werewolf, but if he could stuff those cars even half-full of werewolves then we'd all be dead within minutes of their arrival.

  The pack had all gathered out in front of the house. Even most of the non-combatants were there with us. James and Isaac stood slightly behind and to either side of me with Dominic and Jessica at their respective flanks. Jasmin paced back and forth on Dominic's side of the arc while Ash and Kristin anchored the other side of the group.

  Rachel, Adri, Donovan, and Andrew all stood on the front step, near enough they could hear what was being said, but far enough away that they were less likely to get pulled into the fringes of the fight if our visitors were hostile. Addison was with my mother, which put her safely out of the way. She'd still do her best to make life difficult for me by putting a bug in James' ear but at least this way she couldn't stir the pot directly.

  The first person to step out of a vehicle was a blond guy who was nearly as tall as Isaac and who was actually a couple of inches wider through the shoulders. He looked like he was in his early forties, which probably put him nearly into his third century given how much slower we aged than humans. The blond guy waited just long enough for two women to get out of the SUV and then all three of them walked towards us.

  The girls were physically alike enough to each other that I was pretty sure they were sisters. Both were blonde with the kind of stocky frame you'd expect on female boxers. They didn't have any excess fat anywhere on their bodies, but it was obvious that they weren't the kind of girls to take a back seat to a bunch of boys when it came to any kind of physical endeavor.

  One of the girls looked like she was about Rachel's age and the other looked like she was in her early twenties. It was almost unheard of for shape shifters to have children that close together. Something about our physiology gave us lower birthrates than humans. It wasn't uncommon for siblings to be a decade apart, more even for weaker shape shifters.

  If both of these girls were our new arrival's daughters, then he was making a statement about his probable level of power simply by bringing them here. As the trio made their way over to us, the second vehicle, a black Mercedes, pulled up.

  A pair of brunette women got out of the Mercedes. The older one looked like she was getting into her third century, but she was still a powerful figure. The presence of a single, jagged scar across her left cheek told me that she'd had a run-in with Agony at some point. Her companion looked like she was in her late twenties or early thirties, and the two were related unless I was very mistaken.

  The big blond guy was nearly to us, so I turned my attention back to him as he stopped in front of me and nodded. "My name is Raynor. I come from the Durango Colorado pack to request guest right from you, Alec Graves."

  "You're bold to have come here without calling ahead to ask permission to pay us a visit."

  Raynor's smile was challenging. "The rumors of your fight with Agony have already shot across the land like wildfire. They are as varied as they are incredible, but there are two things that they agree on. You killed Agony in a display of power that makes you the equal of almost any of the Coun'hij, and you declared war on the governing body over every wolf in North America. One could say that you're setting yourself up as our new king, Alec. If that's true then you'll remember that the kings of centuries past always allowed their subjects to come and go as they pleased."

  "Are you here to swear allegiance to me, Raynor?"

  The smile was back. I was very much getting the feeling that Raynor wouldn't ever make a very restful ally. "I think it's too soon for us to talk of such things. Let's say that I've come to explore the possibilities of an alliance. In the meantime, surely someone as powerful as you are doesn't have anything to
fear from someone like me."

  Fat chance of that. My intel on most of the other packs was still substandard, but Ash and Donovan were working hard to correct that situation. Raynor was an alpha cast from the same mold as Ulrich Bishop. He'd never manifested a power, but he had a larger than average pack which he controlled with a completeness that was nothing less than amazing.

  Raynor was tough enough that he could take down most of the rest of his dominants. The few who were tougher than him were controlled via his vast financial resources. If Raynor decided to actively work against me he was capable of causing me no end of headaches.

  "Very well, I offer you guest right here in Sanctuary. As long as you aren't working against my interests I'll see to it that you're taken care of and protected to the best of my ability."

  I got another nod from Raynor and then he motioned his companions forward. "These are my daughters, Nadine and Bridget. I hope that the three of you will have a chance to get acquainted while we are here."

  I should have seen it coming, especially after the situation with Tasha, but he caught me off guard enough that my pulse flickered. The last thing I wanted at this point was a political marriage, but now wasn't the time to tell him that I'd have his alliance without marrying one of his daughters or I wouldn't have his alliance at all.

  "I'm sure they are both lovely individuals."

  Raynor opened his mouth, probably to press for a firmer commitment out of me, but I turned to the two who'd arrived just after him, preempting whatever he'd been about to say. The older of the two stepped forward and gave me a nod.

  "I am Rebekka Jansen from the Tonopah pack. My daughter Vivian and I likewise have come to ask for guest right."

  Interesting. Not that the Tonopah Nevada pack had also sent a representative. They were in even worse shape than Jaclyn and Tasha's pack so it actually made a lot of sense for them to play for an alliance with us. No, the interesting thing was that Rebekka didn't want to be offering her daughter up to me as a prospective wife. There was something there I could work with. If I could get past her distrust then there was a chance that I could bind the Tonopah pack very closely to me indeed.

  "I welcome you to Sanctuary, Rebekka, Vivian. I extend the same promise to you that I just extended to Raynor. As long as the two of you behave as guests then you'll have the protection of my house to the full extent that I'm able to offer it."

  "Thank you, Alec. Will you need help with those other cars?"

  I looked up at the road as the third and fourth vehicles came into sight and then shrugged. "None of our visitors today bothered announcing themselves beforehand. I expect that none of them will be a threat, but I would welcome your help until such a time as we've confirmed that none of the other four vehicles are planning on attacking."

  Rebekka nodded and then motioned for her daughter to take a place next to Jasmin. Raynor couldn't let her upstage him so he took up a position on the other end of our arc, next to Ash and Kristin.

  The next set of arrivals was a quartet of guys who made my beast try to force a transformation. The leader was as big as Brandon had been and he moved like Abaddon. Physical size in human form didn't always correlate to size as a hybrid, but it usually did and something told me that this guy was extremely dangerous.

  The four of them shook out into a loose diamond formation and then approached me. The leader was scanning through the group that stood next to me as he walked forward. He started with Rebekka and Jasmin and was nearly to the other end before he missed a step.

  For a split second I thought that it had been Raynor's presence that had unnerved him, but I was wrong.

  "I came here to discuss an alliance with you, Graves, but I see that it's fortunate that I came for more reasons than just that. You have made a mistake in accepting that man into your pack."

  He was pointing at Ash, who looked like he was a heartbeat away from drawing a weapon and trying to gun down our new arrivals.

  "You haven't yet introduced yourself to me. You can either do so and ask for permission to be here, or you can leave. I'm not interested in hearing allegations from people who have no regard for tradition."

  The flare of power that came off of the leader of the other group was impressive, so much so that some of those around me took a step backwards. An answering surge of energy flashed out from my beast and it was all that I could do to stop a transformation from ripping through me.

  "You would be wise to show some respect, Graves. I represent Onyx from the Louisiana pack. If you know what's good for you, you'll hand Hunt over now and avoid the beating you've got coming to you for sheltering him."

  I cocked my head at him. Only a complete fool would threaten me like that—a complete fool, or someone who was absolutely confident that he had a bigger stick than I did. I made a note to pump Ash for more information about the New Orleans pack and then I held a hand up and pointed at the nameless leader.

  "Leave my territory now and don't return or I'll kill you on sight. Nobody threatens me or my pack with impunity."

  "I'll leave, but I'm taking Hunt with me."

  He said it as he took a step towards Ash, but I wasn't about to let him take anyone. My beast was in full agreement. On a primal, instinctive level Ash was ours, but more importantly, I wasn't about to let anyone else come in and bleed us the way that Agony had.

  I reached for my power. For a split second nothing happened and then it answered in a spectacular manner. All four of the new arrivals dropped bonelessly to the ground between one instant and the next.

  I nearly gasped at the sheer amount of power I was pulling from the four of them, but the tiny singularity in my stomach greedily sucked it down and reached for more. I kept my mental fist clenched tight enough to avoid pulling power from anyone else, but it was a battle, much more so than I remembered it being in Chicago.

  I absently noticed that this time I could almost feel where the power was being sent after it reached me, but I kept most of my attention on the four crumpled forms on the ground in front of me.

  "I warned you. Twice. Neither you, nor anyone else gets to dictate those kinds of terms to me."

  I debated between two courses of action for an instant and then turned back to Donovan.

  "Donovan, can you please oversee the task of bringing four cages up here? James, Dom and Jess will help you."

  I watched as Donovan and the others disappeared into the house and then turned back to the four wolves from Ash's old pack. The leader's gaze was full of hate and I momentarily felt the power coming from him increase as he tried to force himself up onto his feet.

  "You won't get away with this. It's only a matter of time until you lose control of your ability and then I'll kill you."

  The words were labored but still understandable. It was probably an attempt to get under my skin enough to make me lose my concentration, but if so he failed. I gave him a cold smile as I walked closer to him.

  "If you're right then you'd better hope that Donovan returns quickly. If I started to lose control of my power then I'd be forced to just kill you right away."

  That shut him up until the first cage arrived. He was the most dangerous so I picked him up and dragged him over to the cage. A second later he was inside and the cage was locked. These cages had been designed with our kind's superior strength in mind, so even the strongest hybrid wouldn't be able to break free once they were locked inside.

  James, towering over the rest of us in his hybrid form, dropped the second cage off and then headed back for another one. The two guys we'd caged up started running their mouths as soon as I refocused my ability to exclude them, so I simply dropped them again and ordered Ash to go grab tranquilizers.

  I was still amazed at the amount of energy that I was siphoning away from them. It was nearly as much as the entire group of Coun'hij bruisers that I'd incapacitated in Chicago. A few seconds before Jess and Dominic returned with the third cage I felt my absorption field start to wobble.

  It had happened
before in Chicago, but this time I got a sense that it was wobbling because wherever the power was being sent had started to fill up. I narrowed the focus back down to just the two shape shifters who hadn't been caged and then breathed a sigh of relief when Ash showed back up with a full tranq kit.

  "Shut those two idiots up and then inject the two on the ground."

  I didn't get to see Ash smile very often, but there was a casual enjoyment to the way that he put darts into all four of the Louisiana wolves. The amount of power coming off of the two who hadn't been caged yet dropped within seconds of their being drugged, but the wobble was back already.

  I wanted to just turn off my ability, but instead I played it safe and kept it going until the last of our unwelcome visitors was safely locked up. As I turned back towards the rest of the pack Adri started to collapse. Rachel got an arm around her and lowered her to the ground about the same time that I arrived.

  "Are you okay, Adri?"

  She looked up at me and nodded. "Yes, sorry. I...I'm feeling a little flushed. I wouldn't have thought that it was enough hotter here to cause me problems."

  Rachel was fanning Adri as Donovan came out of the house and headed our way. "I think it's just heat stroke, Alec. If Donovan and I can get her back inside and get some fluids in her she'll be okay."

  Adri tried to wave them away. "Alec isn't getting out of dinner with me that easily."

  I fought down a smile as I shook my head at her. I'd promised her dinner with just the two of us once everything was settled with her mom. I hadn't expected her mom and Russ to leave so quickly, but she was right, I owed her dinner.

  "We can do dinner tomorrow night once you're feeling better, Adri."