Hot Blooded (Jessica McClain)

chapter 2

“Devon,” my father ordered. “Leave us now.”

Devon jumped out of his seat, grabbing his computer and knocking over an empty coffee cup in his haste. The clatter mimicked how my brain felt inside. My wolf gave a low growl. I know. This is a lot and we need to get moving. She yipped her agreement.

When the door shut behind him I let out the long sigh I’d been holding where I stood. “When did you suspect I was different?” I asked my father quietly. “Once I changed, you had to have had some idea I was not like the others.”

My father turned and walked around the table to a bank of high windows that ran across the conference room wall. He raked one of his hands through his dark hair, his arm flexing tightly, straining his blue work shirt taut, staring straight ahead. “I didn’t know for sure until the night you fought the rogue. Before then I only suspected.”

I dropped my tired body into a chair. My mind felt like a crowded elevator, unable to squeeze in one more piece of information. The weight of Rourke’s absence pushed down on me, crushing something vital inside. I craved him in a way I couldn’t adequately express. In a way that tested the boundaries of attachment. I had enough to worry about. There was no extra space for fantastical stories about my true freakish identity.

But instead of a tirade, I said nothing and waited for my father to continue. I needed to hear his side.

“When the Cain Myth was first delivered to the Compound, there was an uprising,” he began. “You have to understand the safety concerns, Jessica, if nothing else. You were only an infant. I quelled it quickly and with extreme force. I made a vow to protect you. I vowed it to myself and to your mother, rest her soul.” My mother had died in childbirth. Delivering one wolf was tricky, but twins was impossible. I’d been told it’d been amazing she’d been able to carry my brother and me to term. Annie McClain had been a fighter until the end. “To be clear, I never believed for a single second the Cain Myth to be true. You were my daughter, my own flesh and blood. But convincing the wolves had been much harder than I’d ever expected. Fear overwhelmed any rational explanations when it came to you. As you grew up, you were a constant reminder to them that something was wrong.” He turned to me. “I desperately wanted you to stay human. I knew if you ever shifted in to a wolf, it would be something that would turn the supernatural community inside out. You’re my daughter and all I’ve ever wanted was to protect you.”

I lifted my head and stared at my father. Our irises each glowed a matching violet, bonding us like nothing else in this world could. This was the parent who had raised me, who’d given me unconditional love. I couldn’t argue with that. “I understand what you’re saying,” I said slowly, feeling more resolved. “I know all the decisions you made were made out of love and all of those events have led us here. But if you believe the Prophecy to be true, it has to be founded in something concrete. I need to understand as much as I can before I leave and I only have a little time left.” I refrained from looking at my nonexistent watch for a second time.

He exhaled and stared at the ground for a moment. When he lifted his head I caught a glimpse of his true age. It lingered in the creases of his tired eyes, but it was gone in the next blink. “When you shifted the first time, I knew something was different. When your wolf signaled your change, alerting us with her beacon, it was a call made by your wolf to aid you. That has never happened in over five centuries of my rule. A normal wolf alert is primal and wild. Yours was not. It carried intelligence. In our oldest writings they talk of our Lycan ancestors being able to cohabitate with their wolves peacefully, that each side cooperated with the other to become one perfect supernatural—strong, powerful, and unparalleled. Then you blocked me repeatedly and could hold your suspended form, something no other wolf can do. It became very clear you were something else. After reading the lines of the Prophecy and remembering the hearth tales about the Y Gwir Lycae I’d heard as a lad, I realized it fit. You’re more than just one of our ancestors, Jessica. I can feel it in my bones and see it with my own eyes. There’s a reason a female was born to us. Fate does not get such things wrong.”

Emotion rushed to the surface.

The rawness of it was new. The texture of it tugged against my skin, making me feel itchy. My wolf started to pace in my mind. This was the most honest exchange I’d ever shared with my father. For the first time, we were engaged in a conversation as two adults. He wasn’t trying to protect me. It was just the two of us here in this room, almost as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

My father was so sure of what he was saying. His certainty poured through our connection, but it was a lot to wrap my brain around. “The Prophecy still doesn’t make any sense to me,” I finally said, “because I still feel like… me. I don’t feel overly powerful or qualified to dole out justice to anyone, much less to the supernatural race. I feel like myself, only now with a cranky wolf in my head.” To accent my point, my wolf snapped her jaws. I know I’m physically different, but I still feel normal. I haven’t suddenly forgotten who I am or where I came from. It doesn’t work that way.

“Jessica, I know this is a shock. It’s shocking to me, and I’m an Alpha werewolf. Who and what you are is unprecedented. But before we decide how to move forward, we need to gather more information, as I’ve said before. In light of this discovery, I’m elated you’re leaving town. That’s exactly where I want you—out of sight with adequate protection.”

My mind shot to Rourke. “That’s good, because I’m ready to go. When I get back, we’ll have a chance to regroup and figure out what all this stuff means.”

“I don’t want to scare you.” His voice held a raw note that rang through the air. It held dread and anger. “But you have no idea what the impact of this news will have on the supernatural community. Each Sect is more wary and powerful than the next. There will be massive reactive fear in every race. This is not something we will be able to quell or explain away. This is something we have to fight. Fight until they fear our power, and when they stop fearing us, we fight again to prove we are the strongest. It’s the only way they will back down. The only way to lessen the attacks that will come your way.”

I knew he was right; it was just hard to hear it. I’d spent my entire life hoping and praying the wolves would never go to war because of me, that I wouldn’t be the catalyst to end our race like the Cain Myth stated. It seemed now there would be fighting, but the irony was that the wolves wouldn’t be fighting against me; they were going to be fighting to protect me. That is, if they chose to believe the Prophecy over the Myth, which wasn’t a for sure by any means. “I’m willing to do whatever’s necessary,” I said with resignation. “I have no other choice. I can’t go into hiding and I can’t become something else.” Though that sounded awfully good at the moment. “If we have to fight, I will follow your lead.”

My father nodded his head decisively, weariness lining his features. Finding out your daughter was about to become the most wanted female in existence was not on any father’s to-do list. But bemoaning things had never been my style. Nor was arguing a moot point. There was no other way out of this but to keep moving forward.

“Once you return,” he said, “we’ll formulate a plan and take our advantages wherever we can. When we’re more educated about this Prophecy, we can determine your strengths and figure out a solid defense.”

“I’m assuming you’ve come up with a short-term plan in the meantime?” I asked. My father would not have come into this meeting cold when he had information his daughter might be the Y Gwir Lycae.

“Yes.” My father strode from the windows to the table and sat. Even though his stress showed, he didn’t look a day over thirty-five. He was handsome, with a full head of jet-black hair. He leaned over and gave me a small smile. “James and I worked out some of the logistics last night. The very beginnings of a plan to ensure we have a fighting chance once this news spreads. Defeating the threats against you will take every wolf we have. As much as the other Sects will present a problem to us in the future—and the stakes will be high—they are not my first priority. The wolves who recently broke apart from both U.S. Packs have tossed us all into chaos. We don’t stand a chance of defending you from any attack until we can pull ourselves together and unite once again. Infighting will thin us out, make us weak.” He paused, looking down at his hands for a moment. He glanced back up at me. “The short-term plan involves me doing something unprecedented.”

I stared at him, assessing. Being head of Pack wasn’t easy, but I knew whatever he had in mind would be a calculated move in the right direction. “I’m sure whatever it is, it’s the right step.”

“After we finish with this meeting,” he said, “I’m heading down into the Southern Territories to meet with Redman.”

“In person?” I asked, somewhat surprised. Visiting an Alpha you were feuding with was not the norm by any means. From all the stories I’d heard in my lifetime about Red Martin, Alpha of the U.S. Southern Territories, he was a brutal sonofabitch who ruled his wolves with an iron fist. “How big is his Pack these days?”

“He leads fifty-nine wolves,” my father said, contempt lacing his voice. “Thirty-seven wolves thinner than it was twenty years ago. I don’t know where they’ve gone, since only a few have come to my Pack. They aren’t listed as rogue either. I’m assuming they have assimilated into new Packs around the world—either that, or they are the wolves who began the fracture and Red has kept it quiet on purpose. Whatever the reason, I’m about to find out.”

Two hundred years ago, Redman Martin was responsible for the breakup of the U.S. Pack, becoming Alpha of the Southern Territories. As ruling Alpha, my father could’ve easily ended his life. Instead he chose to let Red form a new Pack, because restless wolves were a hindrance to everyone. Red’s nasty influence had already rent a hole in the existing Pack, so there had been no other choice. The wolves who left to run under Red’s directive were of a particular flavor.

My father had not been sorry to see them go.

“Do you think Redman could be behind the whole fracture?” I said. “It’s something he’d be capable of doing, from what I’ve heard about him over the years.”

“I can’t rule that out, but the only reason he’s agreed to let me come down is to prove to me he’s not behind any of this,” my father answered. “He knows he has a war on his hands and once we start fighting, the north would wipe them out. His Pack has dwindled to almost nothing. He’s eager to prove he’s not harboring the traitors. But they have to be somewhere, and he has to answer for his missing wolves. The fracture group has to have a home base in the U.S. and it has to be close enough for them to act when they need to.”

“They can’t possibly be stationed in the north,” I said.

“Damn right, they’re not in the north. They wouldn’t dare settle in my territory. If there’s a brain cell between any of them, which is doubtful, they would be in the farthest reaches of the Southern Territories’ borders. My best guess would be somewhere in the swamplands of Florida or the high mountains of Mexico. If they attack, they’ll attack the south first, and try to amass wolves and move forward from there. They will need more than their ragtag group to go up against my wolves and they know it. Redman either sides with us, or he sides with them. He’s selfish to the core, but I’m guessing he will take the easy way out. Fighting me will be a fatal decision on his part.”

“He’s had a taste of power for too long,” I agreed. “He won’t fight you and risk his status and power. If Redman is not responsible for the fracture in the Packs, who is?” I’d been running it over in my mind since I’d left New Orleans and nothing made much sense. “Stuart Lauder acted like he was in charge that night in the clearing, but there was no way he could be behind the entire operation. He couldn’t have amassed such a large following on his own. He wasn’t smart enough.” My irises sparked remembering the fight. “But his father was.” Hank Lauder, one of my biggest opponents growing up, was still at large. I’d killed his only son and he would be after me to exact his retribution; it was just a matter of time.

“I have two of my best trackers on Hank. He’s still somewhere in the Ozarks, likely holed up mourning his loss. They haven’t found him yet, but he will answer for his son’s misdeeds; make no mistake. When they bring him in we will find out everything he knew, but I doubt it was much. Hank was loud and ornery, but he was loyal to this Pack. His biggest mistake was overindulgence. He gave that boy everything he ever asked for.” And it had made him nasty as hell. “Wolves get restless, which I understand,” my father continued, shaking his head, “but the fracture feels too organized. My guess is it’s coming from the outside.”

“Another Sect?”

“Yes.”

I bit my lip. It was highly unusual for any supernatural to pair with another. Each Sect was untrusting of the other, bordering on pathological mistrust. “From what the Vamp Queen indicated, the fracture wolves had already struck a deal with the vampires.” There was no way to know how binding it had been. Eudoxia, the powerful Vampire Queen—and current bane of my existence—certainly had something up her sleeve. Had she been orchestrating some kind of coup since my birth? It was a possibility. “If Eudoxia had prior knowledge of the Prophecy, she could’ve sown doubt over time, made the younger wolves wary with a few carefully placed spies. She said the wolves were willing and eager to swear fealty to her.”

“Wolves don’t swear oaths to vamps,” my father growled as he arched his eyebrow at me to punctuate the statement. “Before you, it’s never been done.”

I had indeed broken the golden rule about swearing oaths to vampires, but I’d done it to save my mate. And I’d do it again. But that little tidbit didn’t need to be announced out loud. “So where does all of this leave us?”

My father leaned forward. “I really don’t know, Jessica. I’m not going to pretend to know.”

Thinking about all the various implications of the Prophecy made my head spin. “I don’t feel Alpha inclined,” I said honestly. “I realize I’m strong, but my wolf has made it clear it’s not our job to run Pack. I have to believe that won’t change.”

“I don’t feel a threat from you. If anything, it’s the opposite, which is a blessed relief.”

My wolf yipped at me. We needed to get moving. I slid my chair back to stand. “Are you heading south now?”

“Yes, I’m leaving shortly and I’m taking a dozen wolves with me. We’ll be gone as long as it takes.” He placed both hands on the table in front of him. “Jessica, I want you to know if you encounter a severe emergency while you’re gone, I will find you.” I had no doubt he would. “I will also be in touch with you as often as I can.”

There was one more loose end I had to deal with before I left town.

It came in the form of one very angry police detective.

“What are we going to do about Ray?” I asked as I stood. Raymond Hart had unwittingly uncovered our secret and now presented a threat to our race. He’d been brought over from the Safe House early this morning so I could have a chat with him—meaning kill him if I had to—and was currently being held under guard down the hall.

My father gave me a hard look.

I didn’t want to kill him. “You know, there are other ways we can deal with this,” I said. “Exterminating every human being who finds out about us doesn’t have to be our normal moving forward. Plus, killing him after he’s been so intent on me, has my break-in case open on his desk, and was last seen at my apartment building—his car is still parked there—and with Jeff Arnold, my building super, dead and all the recent calls about noise and various disturbances, it will be easy for them to piece together the coincidences. If they haven’t already. I will be their prime suspect.”

“I cannot, in good conscience, leave a threat to our existence in the form of a police detective running around after what he’s seen. I know our ways are not easy for you, Jessica, but someone like Raymond Hart poses a serious problem. He is not someone who would assimilate as an Essential into our Pack, which is the only option left to him other than death.”

He was right. Ray would never assimilate willingly. But I still didn’t want to kill him. If I killed Ray, which would be relatively easy because he’d been a constant headache of mine for years, each human after him would be less of an issue.

I didn’t want killing to ever be easy.

If I didn’t try to change Ray’s mind, no other headstrong human would ever have a chance of escaping this fate. So why not start with Ray? “What if I can get him to assimilate? You have to admit he would be a great asset to Pack. He’s been a police detective for almost twenty years. We’d have someone on the inside, and as a bonus, he could make all the issues of my case vanish in one day.”

My father arched a critical eye at me. “He doesn’t leave this building unless I’m satisfied.”

Short of a lobotomy, there was no way I could change Ray’s mind that fast. “How about if…” I hemmed. “If I can’t get him to swear in the next half hour”—What in the hell was I going to do with him if he didn’t swear? He was so not going to swear—“I take him… with me?” Not a good plan, Jessica. My wolf growled and snapped her muzzle, telling me exactly what she thought of my ingenious idea.

“With you?” my father echoed.

Ray had a death sentence if I left him behind. “Yep. I’ll take the a*shole with me if I have to.”