“Yeah,” Jack said, nodding resignedly. “I did. But I didn’t know we’d run into an old friend.”
“He’s a fucking piece of shit! He stood against you when you took Alpha from your father.”
Jack nodded resignedly. “Yeah, I know. I just always try to give everybody a chance to get right with God before they die, you know? You hear that, Brady? Make your peace with whatever God you believe in. It’s Rance’s turn, now.”
Rance lifted his lip and allowed a snarl to carry up out of his throat.
“Go ahead,” Jack said to Rance.
Rance’s grin turned positively chilling as he turned back to the building and started running toward the door.
Brady slammed the glass door and locked it as his males ran for the back of the store, with him following suit.
Rance lifted one booted foot as he reached the door, shattering it on impact, and did not even break stride as he went through it, roaring as he reached out and grabbed one of the only Lions inside brave enough to try to hold him off.
“I’m going in with him to flush the rest out of the back,” Jack said as he started toward the store.
“I’m holding out here with Tate and Zev in case they come back this direction. Then we’ll join you out back,” Niko said, as roars and gunfire erupted from behind the old store.
Jack started running.
“Remember, don’t shift! They’re only shooting Lions!” Niko shouted.
It didn’t take long, fifteen minutes at best, and Jack and a dozen of his males were standing with Connor and his men, looking at the bodies of seven Lion shifters. Five had been shot, one had been beaten and shot, the last, Brady, had been beaten to death by Rance, who still stalked back and forth several feet away, huffing and snarling, in his human form.
“He alright?” Connor asked doubtfully as he cast a glance toward Rance.
“Yep. It’s just a lot of adrenalin for the human sides of us to dissipate when the aggression of the Lion takes over. And this particular one really pissed him off. He was one of ours under my father’s reign. We let him walk away alive when I killed my father. Rance wanted to kill him then. He’ll be alright, though,” Jack said.
“You killed your father?” Connor asked.
Jack nodded as he looked down at the seven bodies lying in the dark behind the store. “Had to. He was a psychotic motherfucker who enjoyed torturing his own Pride.” Jack looked up at Connor with a friendly smile. “We’re all much happier now.”
Connor nodded slowly. “Okay, then.”
“So, what’s next?” Slade asked, already looking for a real fight he could get his hands dirty in.
“Next we tear up the bullshit agreement between those fuckers and the man this place belonged to and put him back in his store, with the understanding that he doesn’t come back in here for a little while. Give us a chance to clean this town up before he reopens,” Connor said.
“Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s go see if we can find any more fun tonight,” Jack said.
Chapter 2
Two weeks later Connor and Jack’s operation to run the Falwell Pride out of town was coming to an end. Not because they’d given up, but because it was becoming increasingly difficult to find members of the Falwell Pride who wouldn’t simply slink away after giving a less than convincing performance of standing up to them. Most of the town folk who’d lost access to their businesses, had seen those businesses returned to them with the promise of continued support from Connor and his people. But quite a number of them knew that Connor wasn’t alone. When they passed Jack or any of his people on the street, they always smiled and often paid for their lunches, or drinks or whatever it was they were in the process of purchasing despite objections from Jack’s males. They all knew that it wouldn’t be much longer before Jack and his people headed back to wherever they came from and wanted to show their appreciation while they could.
Jack knew it as well, so with that in mind he and his males made a pointed effort to flush out the last of the Falwell Pride that insisted on maintaining a hold on the final remaining business under their control — the single barroom left in the sleepy little town.
Niko, Tate, Slade, Zev and half a dozen more of the Laighin Pride strode up to the front door of the crowded honky tonk, filled with a lot of the young people of the town and the surrounding areas.
“They have no idea of how the world works. They think it fucking owes them; the whole damn generation thinks because they breathe they deserve rewards for it. They don’t give a damn about anything as long as they have somewhere to drink andparty. They’d sell their own souls if that was all they ever had to do,” Zev said. “And the Falwells are playing into it by inviting them right into the middle of exactly what they want to be doing. Falwell is getting support from the younger people by tempting them.”
“It’s like the spider inviting the fly into its home,” Slade said.
“Let’s pay them a visit and see if we can stir up some shit,” Niko said.
“They’re just going to play victim and have the damn kids outraged because we’re being mean to their friends,” Slade said.
“Wonder how they’d feel if we just allowed the bastards to overrun their town and make their families homeless, if they’re even allowed to stay here.”
