Fate of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle (24 page)

E
rik stood
in the parking lot of the Copper Creek Community Library. There were no cars except his truck and the gray station wagon he assumed must be Bonnie’s. Good. He was hoping to talk to the librarian alone.

Cold air whipped his jacket as he headed to the door. The valley acted like a tunnel. The mountains sheltered the worst of the wind, but when it hit at just the right angle, the valley magnified the force until you felt like you might blow away.

The door opened to reveal the cozy interior of the library, with its polished wooden floors and musty, old book smell. He didn’t see Bonnie but he could hear her humming softly as she puttered around in the stacks.

“Hey, Erik!” she called from behind one of the shelves. Has she heard him, smelled him? How he missed having the heightened senses of a wolf.

“Hi, Bonnie,” he replied.

She emerged from the stacks and smiled at him, her green eyes twinkling. She wore a long brown skirt and a green sweater that clung to her womanly figure and reminded him, as almost everything did, of his Ainsley.

“I found something,” he told her, looking at the books in his hands instead of ogling her curves.

“Oh, wow, you found them.” she said. “Nice work.”

Erik looked around, even though he knew they were alone. The library was silent except for the ticking of the big wall clock.

“I found something else too,” he told her, as he flipped through the pages of
Native American Symbols and Meanings
to find the drawings.

“What did you find?” Bonnie asked.

She moved a little too close to him. She smelled like soap and flowers.

Erik held the book open for her mutely, showing her the strange symbols Jake Miller had scrawled in its margins.

“Wow.” She let out an appreciative whistle. “What do you think that’s about?”

Her voice was pitched higher than usual. He figured she must be shocked at Jake’s behavior.

“I was hoping you might know. Have you ever seen anything like this before?” he asked.

She shrugged and shook her head.

Again, Erik had the feeling she was unnerved. But, why?

She bent her head again to study the symbols and he watched the overhead light reflect in the shining waves of her hair.

After a moment, she seemed to sense that he was studying her and she looked up and barked out a short little laugh.

“I’ll do some research, okay Erik?” she asked him, putting her hand on his upper arm lightly.

“Sure, but I want to hang onto the books a while longer,” he said, suddenly suspicious, though he couldn’t say why.

“No problem,” she answered, removed her hand from his arm to pull a cell phone out of the pocket of her skirt.

While he watched, she took a picture of the open page.

“There! Now I can look it up and you can read the book,” she smiled up at him.

The smile went all the way to her emerald green eyes this time, and he suddenly felt silly for worrying about her.

“Is there anyone in the pack who might know what this means? Anyone Jake might have shared this with?” he asked.

“All the high ranking males were in the mine,” Bonnie said, her smile gone.

“Oh,” Erik said, wishing he were a real psychologist. He couldn’t pull his Dr. Phil stuff on Bonnie.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, grabbing his bicep again.

Erik fought the instinct to flex, as he would have done to delight Ainsley, who loved his muscles.

“What is it?”

“There is someone,” Bonnie said. “Teresa Simkins, she’s the oldest member of the pack. Jake was close with her.”

“That’s great. Where is she?” Erik asked.

“She’s got a place by the river,” Bonnie said. “But, Erik, I have to tell you, she’s not all there anymore. Jake worried about her a lot. He tried to get her to live in town, but she insisted on keeping her place — even though she’s half-blind now. He used to visit her every Sunday, to check on her.”

“Do you think he would have said something to her?” Erik asked doubtfully.

“He might,” Bonnie said, biting her lip. “Teresa is... special. And of course she knows more pack history than anyone. On her good days.”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, I’ll go talk to her then,” Erik said.

He wanted to go
now
. But they were sending a camera down into the mine today. So he needed to be on hand in case anything went wrong.

He wondered what the Federation would expect him to do if the camera showed wolves in the hole instead of men.

B
efore Ainsley could fret
over having let Charley slip away, she felt the tug of her pack, rushing to her aid. Her skin prickled at their widening green rays of submission.

Cressida rounded the hedge and came at Ainsley so fast she nearly crashed into her. Javier was hot on her heels.

“What’s going on?” Cressida hissed. She was already pulling off her hoodie to shift.

“Someone needs to get Volker,” Ainsley said, touching Cressida’s arm to stay her.

Cressida’s attention moved to the porch, where Ophelia stood over Garrett’s prone body.

“I’ll get Volker, my alpha,” Javier said quickly.

Ainsley wasn’t sure if he wanted to impress her or to escape Ophelia.

“Thank you, Javier,” she said.

He started to move, then paused.

“Which one is Volker?” he asked.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Cressida rolled her eyes, then turned to Ainsley. “Are
you
okay?”

Ainsley nodded.

“Come on then, I’ll show you where Volker lives,” Cressida said over her shoulder to Javier.

She had already turned the corner before he caught on and jogged after her.

Ainsley joined Ophelia on the porch to examine Garrett.

He was passed out on the wood floor, his face pale and slack. Ophelia had tied the belt from her leather jacket around his arm in a makeshift tourniquet, but blood was oozing and pulsing from the stump anyway.

“So when were you planning to tell me about this?” Ophelia asked, one eyebrow raised.

The sound of feet pounding down the sidewalk toward the house saved Ainsley from answering. It wasn’t wolves.

“Ainsley!” Grace gasped, rounding the hedge.

Julian was right behind her.

“Charley got away,” Ainsley said grimly.

“The key?” Julian asked.

Ainsley lifted up the lunchbox in reply.

“You found it,” he whispered.

Grace had spotted Garrett and was already hunched over him.

“He’s going to bleed out. Get me a stick,” she said.

“No need,” Julian replied.

He muttered a spell and the wound glowed with a blue flame. The magical fire sizzled and the scent of charred flesh filled the air, but the bleeding stopped.

Garrett moaned softly, but didn’t wake up.

Footsteps announced the arrival of Volker with Cressida and Javier.

“That was fast,” Ainsley said with relief.

“I was already on my way, my alpha,” Volker said in a somewhat offended voice. “You called for me.”

Of course she had. She hadn’t even realized it. She was just so new to this. And that point was being driven home to Ophelia, of course.

“Thank you, Volker,” she said with a chilly smile.

Just because he was right didn’t mean he could speak to her that way. She’d deal with that later.

“He needs to go to a hospital,” Grace said.

Volker had already made his way up the steps and knelt on the front porch, examining the prone warlock.

“He’ll be fine,” he said.

“Really?” Grace asked.

“Well, he won’t play the piano again,” Volker chuckled.

Grace sniffed.

“I can give him something for the pain,” Volker offered.

“No,” Ainsley replied immediately.

Ophelia had been standing in the shadows of the porch watching the scene unfold with pursed lips. But she smiled at Ainsley’s answer and nodded her approval.

Ainsley’s chest filled with a warm glow.

“We need him lucid,” Ainsley explained. “He has some questions to answer.”

She left out the part about wanting to see Garrett suffer after the havoc he had wrought. A tiny voice in her head reminded her that the old Ainsley would have been horrified.

“No, Ainsley, I have to bring him in. I’m sorry, but there’s no way to sweep this under the rug,” Grace said.

“A cell is not going to hold this guy, you’ve seen what he can do,” Ainsley said.

“Ainsley, it would be highly unlikely for this man to work any magic in the condition he’s in,” Julian interjected. “He can’t manage the somatic components.”

Ainsley raised an eyebrow at him. Inwardly she was also ready to strangle him for making her look a fool in front of Ophelia. Bad enough she was a wolf who did magic, now Ophelia would know she didn’t know anything about magic either.

“Sorry, the somatic components are the complex wording and gestures. Not everyone is gifted enough just to think of a magical effect and have it come to be,” Julian explained, giving Grace a significant look.

Grace turned away from him and leaned forward to take Garrett’s pulse. Ainsley could tell by the stiff set of her best friend’s shoulders that she wasn’t pleased.

Interesting. Grace must still be mad at Julian for not telling them the truth about his reason for being in Tarker’s Hollow. Which meant that she cared.

“In any case, if I can have access to the cell for a few minutes, I can put some wards in place to block magic, and also to warn us of any attempt to escape,” Julian finished.

“Fine,” Ainsley nodded.

Grace bent to slip an arm under Garrett’s shoulder. Julian quickly moved to join her.

“Wait,” Ainsley said. “Julian, when I touched the key, I was... inside the creature’s head. There is nothing there but insatiable hunger and incredible power. It’s not like a vampire in the movies. It doesn’t want blood, does it?”

Julian winced and stood.

“No,” Julian replied. “The common myths were most likely based on stories of the moroi and its ilk. But they tend to romanticize it a bit, and get most of the details wrong.”

“But they do feed on us. On our spirit? Our life force?” Ainsley pressed.

Julian nodded slowly.

“And the more passionate and powerful someone is, the more irresistible they are to this thing?” Ainsley asked, glancing at Grace.

Julian nodded again with sad eyes. He knew it too. Ainsley could tell. Grace was in danger.

“The key acting as a conduit wouldn’t be unheard of,” Julian explained. “It is a powerful artifact in its own right. It is used to seal the creature not just physically behind a layer of stone, but also to bind it to a sort of pocket dimension. It cuts off our mundane world from the world that holds the last of the moroi, among other things.”

Ainsley shuddered at the thought of what
other things
this key was keeping at bay.

“It is a realm of powerful magic,” Julian continued. “The sites where the creatures are imprisoned were chosen because they are the places where the barrier between worlds is thinnest, and most easily manipulated. When the gates were sealed, most of the magic left this world. Only a chosen few are still able to draw from that well.”

Julian paused to gaze at Grace once more. She didn’t seem to notice.

“If the seal is broken, the moroi will come through, trailing that ancient magic behind it. And if it escapes Tarker’s Hollow, its first order of business will be to free as many of its brothers as it can,” he finished.

“That would be very bad,” Ainsley said.

“At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, the entire world would be irrevocably changed,” Julian replied.

“I don’t think you’re exaggerating. And I understand now. Why you didn’t tell us sooner. Because nobody is ready for it,” Ainsley said.

Julian nodded again.

“Okay, go ahead, keep me posted,” Ainsley said at last, gesturing them toward the police car.

Grace slipped an arm under Garrett’s shoulder and Julian bent to slip his arm under the other. They carried him down the steps together.

“Volker, is it?” Ophelia asked in a velvety voice.

Thad Volker spun around to Ophelia and nodded, his blue eyes sparkling through his glasses.

“I’m sure you have other business to attend, Volker,” Ophelia said crisply.

He stood in place for an extra second, then seemed to shake himself out of it.

“Yes, thank you Councilman Winter,” he said, and made a quick escape.

“Cressida, Javier,” Ophelia said. “I need a few words with your alpha.”

They scrambled down the porch steps and out into the night.

“Ainsley,” Ophelia called to her once they were alone.

Ainsley could have waited, and forced Ophelia to drag her over with her alpha power. But the idea of it was humiliating. So she went to meet her doom of her own volition.

“Sit,” Ophelia gestured to the wicker sofa.

Ainsley sat, and tried not to wonder what had happened to Garret’s hand after it was ripped off. The smell of his congealing blood on the painted boards of the porch floor made her feel both queasy and invigorated.

Ophelia paced the length of the porch and back once, then turned to Ainsley and leaned back, resting her buttocks against the porch railing.

“Ainsley Connor. You’re a good alpha. As a matter of fact, you have all the makings of a great alpha. You’re strong, you’re fierce,” Ophelia paused until Ainsley met her eyes, then continued.

“
But
you’ve brought trouble to this town from the day you took ownership of the pack. First, you get yourself shot, by a silver bullet, no less. And you manage to drive off a promising young male in the process.”

Ainsley wasn’t sure she would have called Clive Warren promising, per se, more like a psycho fuckwit who wanted to rape and kill her to take over the pack. But he was strong. And who told Ophelia about the silver bullet? Ainsley flushed with embarrassment as Ophelia continued.

“Then there is this business.” She gestured to Ainsley’s mangled front lawn. “There are those on the council that consider your magic a strength, and in time, it might be. But right now your magic seems to have attracted more trouble than it has repelled. And you can barely handle it.”

Ainsley dropped her eyes. So the council had been aware all along. She must have looked like a fool. Ophelia was right, of course, she was only saying what Ainsley had already known.

At least there was a ray of hope. Ophelia would teach her. That’s what she was here for. The thought of having a strong alpha to mentor her comforted Ainsley. As a matter of fact, she felt better than she had in a long time because at last someone was willing to level with her.

“I’m afraid I can’t recommend to the Federation that we allow you to continue as alpha,” Ophelia said in a calm clear voice.

“
What?!”
The words hit Ainsley like a physical blow. She knew she needed to keep her cool, but she wasn’t sure if she could. Her pack, her family, they were her responsibility. She couldn’t abandon them. Ophelia knew that.

“I stand by my assessment that you have all the makings of a great alpha, Ainsley Connor” Ophelia explained. “But you’re not ready. You’ll come with me and serve the Federation for a time. You can learn about your heritage, and you can even study magic if you wish.”

“But the pack—” Ainsley began.

“—will be assigned new leadership by the Federation. Don’t worry, we would never allow an ancient pack like Tarker’s Hollow to go unattended.”

“Erik was right,” Ainsley breathed.

“Erik!” Ophelia barked out a sharp laugh, like ice cubes clinking a glass. “Last time I checked, being a wolf was still a requirement for membership in this pack. A fact that seems to have escaped you, and one more reason I know you need training more than you need power.”

“You
knew
,” Ainsley breathed.

“Of course I knew,” Ophelia replied. “I knew about Erik, about the magic, even about your little trip to get Sadie from the hospital. You didn’t actually think you could keep anything from me, did you?”

Ainsley called on all the hours of meditation she ought to have done, and held it together. The idea of giving up the pack was unthinkable.

“Ainsley,” Ophelia said in a softer voice. “I want you to know that I think the world of you. This will be best for everyone in the long run, you’ll see.”

A sense of warmth blossomed inside Ainsley at the alpha’s kind words. Maybe it was for the best.

“Can we stay long enough to be sure the gateway is fully sealed?” Ainsley heard herself ask in a child’s voice.

“Of course,” Ophelia replied. “We wouldn’t leave without knowing the pack is safe.”

Ainsley nodded, and tried to take some comfort in knowing that whatever they were up against, Ophelia was on their side.