Roxanne Desired

  “Ahem.” Collin cleared his throat. “If I can get my cousin to shove a sock in it, we can discuss some important matters. Is that okay with you, Bozo?”

  “By all means cousin, please proceed. I am all ears.” Nathan’s voice caught on a final chuckle.

  Collin frowned. “We have received some very disturbing news from several pack leaders over the last few days. It seems our buddy Tyson has been up to his old tricks again. This time he’s being a little more discreet with his underhanded dealings.”

  Ember slid off the desk and stood next to Collin. She set a hand on his shoulder and nodded at us before saying, “There have been at least fifty abductions. That’s not even counting all the unreported cases.”

  She stopped talking for a second, taking a slow breath. “It seems Tyson has a new partner helping him acquire all his new wolves. That partner is none other than the wretched bitch herself…Sylvia.”

  This was horrible news. Sylvia was the Prime pack’s old alpha mate. Sylvia had made it her life’s mission to harass and torment Ember for years. Thankfully, Ember was able to banish the evil woman for her and her mate, Tommy, and their horrific crimes against the pack. It seemed that she was back in action and ready to cause more trouble. I could only imagine how my sire felt about this new partnership between her most deadly adversaries.

  “Holy shit, that’s not good,” Nathan whispered under his breath.

  “That’s putting it lightly.” Collin agreed. “Throw this new development into the mix with the fact that we still need to get our packs ready for the Darkin invasion, and it would seem that we, my friends, are dealing with one hell of a shit storm.”

  Ember squeezed Collin’s tensed shoulders. There was a lot of evil mayhem brewing in our world at the moment and Collin and Ember had the misfortune of being the responsible party that had to rifle through it all. They were our leaders, and as such, everyone looked to them for guidance and protection. Yeah, I didn’t envy the power couple at all. I would, however, help both of them in any way possible.

  “In regards to the Darkin,” Ember began, “We have been non-stop training our soldiers in preparation for the possibility of a porthole breach. If these monsters are able to get past not only me and Collin but the nymphs as well, we are going to need a steel clad back-up plan.”

  “Tyson’s main objective is to make that nightmarish scenario a reality. We cannot let that happen. The Prime and Adelphi wolves are the world’s first and last defense against these original vampires; their only real chance of survival if the worst case happens,” Collin explained.

  Ember walked around the desk. She reached over a tall stack of papers and picked up the phone. As she dialed she said, “We will keep training for the possible fallout with the Darkin, but for now we have to deal with the problems at Haven, and also find that heifer bitch, Sylvia.”

  I clamped my lips together, resisting the urge to voice my opinion about the current plan Collin and Ember had just put together. There had been no answer at Haven when Ember called, so they decided that Collin would take Nathan with him to the club to speak with the wolves that were flooding the place in droves. There was another reason why they wanted Nathan to accompany his cousin to Haven; so he could find out what Paige wanted to talk with only him about. I was trying to keep calm about the whole situation. Nathan made it pretty clear that he was only interested in Paige as a friend. But friend or whatever her title, all I wanted to do was rip her damn throat out. That surprised me, my overwhelming feelings of possessiveness towards Nathan. It seemed as though my feelings had been amplified by a hundred in comparison to a human’s emotions. This was just one in a million other things that I had to adjust to. I was getting better at it every day and was confident that I could acclimate to my wolf and vampire nature. However, dealing with these feelings wasn’t easy. It down right sucked, to be honest.

  “The sun will be down soon so we better get going before the vamps can roam freely. There’s no need to take any chances of being ambushed by Tyson,” Collin suggested.

  “I don’t know,” Nathan said. “I wouldn’t mind running into a few of them right now. With a stake.”

  “And that’s exactly why your cousin’s in charge and you are not. You haven’t the patience for it.” Ember stated as we walked out into the hallway, leaving the office.

  To my surprise, Nathan just nodded and followed us all out. He seemed to be used to Ember’s off-hand remarks, not to mention she was also his Alpha. It warmed my heart to know that he could accept a woman as his superior. It showed a lot about his personality; just thinking about his enlightened way of thinking started to warm up other things on my body as well.

  “Well let’s get going then, shall we?” I suggested.

  Before I made it two steps down the hall, I was stopped in my tracks by a three foot, dark haired cyclone. The natural disaster came barreling around the corner right in my path. There was an orange and white striped fur ball on the back of the wolf cub, digging its claws into the thick fur of its neck. The poor thing was trying to hold on for dear life. I tried to jump out of the cub’s way, but his shoulder clipped my hip, sending me flying into the wall. I bounced once and slid to the floor. So much for my superior and extraordinary hybrid reflexes I supposedly gained from my conversion. I was toast if all it took was a boisterous cub to drop me like a sack of flour.

  “Dane, you change back this instant! What has your father and I told you about shifting in the house?” Ember admonished.

  She stood over me, her hand gripped to the side of her hip. Her left boot slammed hard to the ground once, the blow echoing off the hardwood floor. The sound instantly grabbed her son’s attention.

  White light cascaded over the dark, reddish brown werewolf. It completely absorbed his beast-like features and left a red faced boy in its place. Dane stared down at the floor bashfully and then glanced my way. His little mouth curved down into a frown as he held his small hand out to me. Was he about to help me up? Usually a nine year old boy would run and hide behind his parents, or burst out in tears at the reprimand of an elder. However, this child acted contrary to that. He took a couple steps closer to me and leaned down, his hand still in front of him so that we were at eye level with each other.

  “I’m very sorry I knocked you down, Miss. May I give you a lift up?” His chestnut eyes were filled with warmth and sincerity as he asked in a tone almost grown-up like, just softer. I had never instantly trusted anyone before in my life, except for Nathan, the way I somehow did this child in this moment. I could tell right away that he didn’t have an ounce of malice in him. He was something or someone very special. I grabbed the lad’s hand and let him help me to my feet.

  “There you are,” Ember’s second in command huffed, rounding the corner out of breath.

  Sadie was wearing casual attire, a pair of black shorts and a light blue tank top. The revealing shirt showed off her impressive midriff. It was obvious that she spent countless hours in the gym. Sadie wore her pitch black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. The simple hairdo accentuated the she-wolf’s overly large brown eyes. My insecurities would usually flare up around a woman with such a petite and perfect body, but for some reason she had never incited any of my deep rooted feelings of inferiority. It was quite the opposite actually. She was beautiful and acted like she wasn’t even aware of it. She wasn’t the type of woman who liked to cat around all the men, or make mean girl eyes at the other she-wolves in the pack. Sadie was honest, down to earth, and someone I was very proud to call my friend. She was also my superior, my pack’s Beta. It also didn’t hurt that my main squeeze barely took a second look at her.

  “He just knocked Roxy on her ass. It’s probably time for him to have a little ‘Dane’ time…alone, in his own room.” Collin said, gesturing at Nathan to follow him as he began to walk off.

  Nathan followed, but not before he leaned in to give my lips a proper goodbye.

  “I will make sure of it, Sadie mumbled to Collin. She bent
over and picked up the orange kitten. The animal stretched and twisted in her arms, trying to escape.

  “I’m sorry for running over your friend and for shifting in the house, mom. It’s just that Tiger wanted to play cowboys and Indians.” Dane’s whole demeanor changed as he explained away his antics.

  He seemed excited to be telling his tale. He reached over and rescued Tiger from Sadie’s arms. She relinquished the squirming cat without complaint.

  “We almost got away from the Comanche, too!” He blustered out while pointing at Sadie.

  Sadie’s usual stoic expression lightened and she scooped up Dane’s hand in hers. The cat squirmed up his shoulder and made itself comfortable in the crook of the boy’s neck.

  “Come now, Wyatt Earp. Let’s get you back to the pokey.” She said, leading him down the hall.

  “Don’t forget to brush your teeth, partner,” Ember said with a southern drawl. She reached over and ruffled her son’s hair as he passed by.

  “Now you and I have some work to do. “ Ember announced to me. “While the boys deal with the Haven situation, we have our own problems to deal with.

  “The Darkin.” I said with a frown. “How long do we have until the porthole opens up between our worlds?”

  “Not long at all; a little over a month. Until then, it’s up to us to get everyone ready.”

  “Exactly how are we going to prepare for this? I have no clue how to kill an original vampire.” I explained.

  Ember gave me one of her devious smiles. “Fortunately for us, I know someone who is knowledgeable on this particular subject, someone who is also willing to help train our wolves for battle.”

  “Do you believe we even stand a chance against these Immortals?” I asked straight up.

  “Yeah,” Ember said smoothly. “I believe we do.”

  That was good enough for me. “So what’s our next step?”

  Ember spun around, heading in the direction of the stairs. “We train, of course.”

  Oh of course, I thought. This should be a piece of cake.

  ***

  We were walking down a long hallway, our footfalls echoing off freshly polished hardwood floors. The compound’s training facility was located behind the main house in a building that looked exactly like a mini version of the main house. It was spacious with more than enough room to accommodate one of the larger commercial fitness centers. The building was sectioned off into four different areas. There was a space for combat training, weight lifting, swimming, and a firing range. We had just passed the basketball courts and were heading toward the very back section of the building. As we rounded a corner, I almost ran into a couple of werewolves that seemed to be in a rush. They were frazzled, their attention definitely not on where they were going. . Ember reached over and yanked me out of the way just in time before I ran head long into them.

  “First thing we need to work on is your horrible reflexes,” She said, opening the door. “That would have been twice you ended up flat on your ass today.”

  At first, I almost took offense by the comment, but she was right. I had been rather klutzy today. “Please teach me your Jedi ways, oh Wise One.” I chuckled.

  “Fuck. Do you smell that?” Ember said, stopping just short of entering the gym.

  I felt a rush of fear and panic coming from inside the room. I recognized the scent immediately. It was blood.

  “Be ready for anything,” Ember growled low. Her eyes shone red and sharp claws detracted from her fingertips. She grabbed a three way radio from her belt and spoke into it. “Amos, do you copy? We have a Code Red.” Her voice was different because of her partial shift. It came out as a low rumble.

  Static fuzz echoed back momentarily, but then the pack’s head security officer answered. “Copy that Alpha, awaiting your instruction.”

  “Two adult male Caucasian wolves, dressed in blue workout gear, are about to leave the training facility. They are in one hell of a hurry. Both of them are clean shaven. The taller one has dark, long hair, just passed his shoulders. The other has a military fade. They both smell heavily of blood. Surround the back of the compound. No one comes in or out until we apprehend these men. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal.” Amos replied.

  Ember went to put the radio away, but before she did she pushed the side button one more time. Her face went from confident warrior to one of fragile worry and despair. The contrast of red glowing eyes against the softened features of a woman’s face was heart wrenching, not to mention a bit spooky.

  “Send one of your best men to the main house to guard Dane. I would prefer you go yourself if at all possible. Make sure your man knows it’s his ass if anything happens to my son.”

  “I will look after Dane myself.” Amos replied.

  “Thank you.” Ember whispered into the radio.

  She slid the radio into its holder and nodded at me. I focused on the smell of blood and fear that kept wafting from the gym. One image started to shimmer into a white and red outline in my mind. I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated on it.

  “One of our wolves is in there.” I announced.

  “How in the hell do you know that?” She asked, inching her way over the threshold.

  I fell in behind her, watching our backs and trying to focus on entering the room cautiously. “I can see him in my head. “

  She looked back at me. “You’re going to have to explain that little trick to me later.”

  I just nodded in response. I tapped Ember on the shoulder and pointed to the left where I knew one of our pack mates was and she began to lead us in that direction. The red outline hovering over my vision hadn’t moved since I zeroed in on it, which meant the wolf that it belonged to was either keeping very still or he was injured. Judging from the way everything seemed to be playing out; chances were that the Prime wolf was in serious trouble. A shocked gasp escaped me when I scanned the area that was set up for hand to hand combat training. At first, all I had noticed were the practice mats and grappling dummies strewed about. Yet, it was the disturbing image just beyond that of a lightly toned man with long, golden hair, with his arms yanked up and tied to a heavy bag, that jolted me. Blood streamed from several deeply inflicted wounds on his swollen face. His pale chest was barely rising and his long, lean body lay limp against a heavy bag; his knees dragged on the floor. The battered and bruised wolf’s eyes were clenched shut. I couldn’t tell if he was conscious or not, but even if it was slight, the rise and fall of his chest reassured me that he was at least still alive. I took a side glance at Ember. Her eyes were red rimmed and welling up with unspent tears. I didn’t know who the injured wolf, strung up to the punching bag half dead was, but apparently she did.

  I looked to my right; standing in the middle of an octagon fighting cage was Tegan, Collin’s niece. She looked a lot like her uncle, same shape eyes and nose. What stood out the most about her, though, was her short black hair that she had streaked with electric blue highlights. There was another major difference between them as well. Tegan wasn’t just a werewolf. She also happened to be half water witch. A witch who was holding two fully shifted wolves high in the air, keeping their bodies in stasis with some kind of binding spell. Beads of sweat pearled at her hairline and she had her arms flung out in front of her, trying desperately to keep the tentative hold she had on her captives.

  “Declan!” Ember shouted as she sprung in his direction, landing at his side before I could blink.

  I didn’t know in which direction to go. Should I follow Ember and try to help her with our wounded? Or should I jump into the ring with Tegan? Immediate danger prompted me to make a decision and I moved to my right. There was nothing I could do for the injured wolf but I could help fight the enemy when Tegan eventually lost her control over them. From the looks of her fatigued face and trembling hands, that was going to happen much sooner than later. I could hear Ember radio backup as I jumped into the sparring ring.

  A slow grin lifted Tegan’s lips when s
he saw that I had joined her. With a wink, she threw her arms to the side making both wolves slam into the steel cage. The bars buckled against the force.

  “You might want to shift,” she said before following her own advice.

  I didn’t hesitate. When I was on all fours I was surprised to see that Tegan was also a white wolf, just like me. She had been pacing back and forth in front of me, guarding me until I finished my transformation.

  One by one, the mutts toppled to the red mat. In my wolf form, my animal instincts overrode my human ones and all I could think about was killing the enemy, the bloodier their death the better. Kill. Drink. Blood…those words played in an instigative loop in my mind. I had to push back the homicidal rage that was riding me so I could take advantage of the use of my human faculties and fight with a clear head. The brown wolves snarled, saliva dripped and frothed out of their mouths. They both looked mad. Not in an angry sort of way, but in the Mad Hatter sense of the word. I felt dangerous and wild like a hunter. That was probably why I moved first, not waiting for my prey to get the jump on me. I rammed my head into one of the wolf’s sides, knocking his body back to the mat before he had a chance to regain his footing from the first fall. I could see Tegan playing with her opponent. She nipped at his throat several times while jumping out of the way of his sharp, wildly flying teeth. She was just testing the wolf, waiting for the opportunity to sink her fangs deep into his jugular. I, on the other hand, was busy trying to dodge the slashing claws of my own adversary.

  “Get the fuck away from them!” I heard someone screech from a short distance away.

  It could have been Ember yelling; it was definitely a woman’s frantic voice that boomed at us.

  “Those wolves are contagious!” The same voice screamed again.

  At first, the direness of my current situation and the frantic warning that rang in my ears, failed to fully sink in. The wolf in front of me was still frothing wildly at the mouth, the bubbly liquid dripping in long runny rivulets to the mat. His eyes were pinned on me with a murderous intent. After I took a really good look, I saw that, at the same time, those same eyes appeared vacant and somewhat soulless. I hadn’t noticed the state of the two wolves before. Their skin hung a bit loose from their bodies, drooping as if they were in the process of slowly melting. Small gaping wounds soiled their fur as small gobs of blood and yellowish goo seeped from them. I gagged from the heavy smell of decay. My own fear overshadowed my fury, and also went a long way to abate my blood lust as I finally realized exactly what the voice was trying to tell me. If these creatures were sick and possibly contagious, I had to get my ass away from them immediately. The disease, or whatever it was that was ravaging their bodies, wasn’t something I wanted to catch anytime soon. More like never wanted to catch. Ever.