She swung around wildly. Wolves were attacking Rhona and Boone. Boone had struggled free and was lashing out with wild, haymaker punches. With a shout of fear and anger, he pushed Rhona to the ground between the wolves and himself. He turned and broke into a shambling run, but the wolves fell on him too, and he went down under the weight of their bodies.
Moments later, the wolves shifted into human form. Mandy, Grant and Austin ran over to her.
“You found me,” she sobbed, falling into Grant’s arms. “Oh, God. I thought I was going to die out here. How did you find me?”
“It was Austin,” Grant said, hugging her and stroking her hair. “He slipped a tracking device into your pocket this morning. I didn’t even know until you went missing. Then he told me.”
Austin walked up to her, covered with gore. “I track for a living,” he said. “I knew you and Jeffrey would be targets, so I put trackers on both of you.”
Celeste stiffened and looked at Grant. “Talbot,” she said. “Rhona said that Talbot was behind all of this. They want Jeffrey for something, and Boone – that’s the guy who was chasing me – he said something about how they could use me to breed. I don’t know what it all means, but…”
She started crying, hard, and found she couldn’t stop.
Chapter Eighteen
They got back to the house an hour later. Grant had already called Cliff and told him what had happened. Jeffrey was safely back at the house; Pete and the other werewolves had hustled him home as soon as they’d been notified that Celeste was missing. Jeffrey had never been told that Celeste was in danger, however; they’d hoped to get her back before they had to tell him, and they’d succeeded.
As they walked in to the foyer, Reynaldo came to greet them, his expression tense. “Cliff’s not going to die,” he said.
“That’s not exactly reassuring. What happened to him?”
“Talbot apparently found out that he’d been identified, and he was already fleeing the lodge with his men when Cliff and the others went after him. There was a fight. There were serious injuries. Cliff was badly hurt, but there’s a healer with him, and he’ll recover.” Reynaldo rattled off the news quickly. “Six of Talbot’s men were killed. His Beta and Omega survived, and now they’ve turned on him. They admitted that they’ve known he was up to some shady dealings and they were plotting to challenge him. They’ve been taken into custody and we’re interrogating them to find out what we can.”
“What about his pack?”
“His pack has been notified.” Reynaldo’s tone was grim. “If he tries to go back there, they’ll do their best to arrest him, and if not they’ll kill him. As far as we can tell, most of them had no idea what he was up to. His loyal supporters went to the lodge meeting with him, and died. His pack has agreed to let a Truth-Maker visit and speak to any pack members, including the elders, and they’re going to give full access to Talbot’s property, his office, his files, anything that might be useful. But it’s going to take time.”
“Do we have any idea why Talbot was so obsessed with getting his hands on Jeffrey? Or why he’d talk about…breedingCeleste?” Grant was fighting for self-control, but that last part came out on a growl and fur covered his entire body. The thought of anyone else taking his son – of anyone being with Celeste – made him homicidal. He shook himself, hard, and struggled to force his beast back down. It hurt; his skin burned and his bones throbbed with agony. His beast wanted out. His beast wanted to hunt and kill.
Celeste reached out and lightly stroked his arm, lending him her strength. “I’m still here,” she murmured to him. After everything she’d been through, after the beating she’d taken, she was thinking of him, not herself.
I love you. I will never let you go.
“Not yet,” Reynaldo said, shaking his head regretfully.
“Call Taylor,” Celeste urged him. He pulled out his phone and dialed.
She answered on the first ring. “Grant. Everyone okay?” He could hear the strain in her voice.
“Fine. How is he?” he asked.
“He’ll be okay. Rusty got hurt too. We’re lucky there were healers here. They’ll be all right within a couple of days. Talbot got away, though.”
“We’ll get him,” Grant vowed. “Do we have any clue yet what’s behind all this?”
“No, this is all just unfolding now. I can’t believe it. He seemed totally normal to me. Honestly, I thought Cliff was exaggerating when he said that Talbot was known as a bully and a hothead, because he was always really chill here. He didn’t get involved in a single physical fight. Oh, here’s something weird, by the way. When everyone went after him – he still didn’t shift. He used a gun with silver bullets, then ran to his helicopter and took off. Left his men behind to be killed.”
“That’s strange. I’ve seen him shift before at the slightest provocation,” Grant mused. “So I know he can. I don’t know what his game is, but we’ll find out. I just hope nobody kills him before I get to have a little chat with him.”
Celeste headed off to their room to take a shower and some painkillers, while Grant went to tell Jeffrey that she had a headache and needed a little alone-time. Fortunately, Mandy and Truman were there, and the house was crawling with werewolf security. He’d have plenty of entertainment, and these days Jeffrey no longer feared abandonment every time Celeste left the room.
After her shower, Celeste lay down on their bed with an ice pack pressed to her head where Boone had hit her.
Grant came and sat down on the bed next to her. “Are you feeling okay? Next month, we’re going to start prepping you to turn. If that’s what you want,” he added.
“Yes. I’d be stronger,” she said. “I’d be able to defend Jeffrey if anyone came after him.”
What an amazing mother she is, he thought,and she doesn’t even realize it. She’d make a perfect werewolf. She was fierce, and strong, and loyal to her mate and her cub.
