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  “You remember Reuben?” she asked wryly.

  He nodded hello.

  “I know about the kidnapping.” Caia turned to the pack. “I know about everything.”

  8

  Alpha

  As Magnus excused himself, Caia’s eyes followed his tall figure as it lurched out of the kitchen and onto the porch, disappearing into the yard and then the woods. Ella and the pack stared after him solemnly while Caia fought the Marion-shaped lump of grief at the back of her throat. At the sound of Magnus’s harsh howl in the distance, she stumbled back from the gathering and hurried upstairs, into the room she shared with Lucien.

  Spotting Lucien’s shirt strewn across the sofa in the corner, Caia rushed for it, pressing the fabric to her face so his scent flooded her nostrils. She promptly burst into harrowing sobs and collapsed on the sofa. As she struggled to breathe through the burning agony, she wished more than anything Lucien were here, to help her through this. There had always been the chance that once her war with Marita had begun, Caia would have lost Marion anyway. But at least she would’ve been alive and thriving, helping to keep the coven tempered with her goodness. Now, to exist in a world where there was no Marion was to exist in a world without light. And more than ever, Caia needed that light.

  A cool hand clasped her shoulder, eliciting a sharp thump from her heart. She looked up to see Reuben staring down at her kindly. There wasn’t even enough time to be surprised by the concern in his eyes before she was pulled out of her seat and enfolded in his arms. Shocked at his display of sympathy, of solicitude, she tensed against him. He tightened his hold and pressed her head against his chest, soothing her with quiet words.

  “You’re allowed to cry, Caia. She meant a great deal to you, to everyone. In this war you will see a lot of death, and feel much grief, but you have to let yourself feel it. If you stop allowing yourself to, you will stop caring about why you are fighting in the first place.” He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “I know I seem ruthless … and I can be sometimes … but I still care. I need to.”

  Tears rolled quietly down her cheeks as he spoke, and as his voice faded to silence, she could no longer stop, burrowing her head deeper into his chest and soaking his shirt with her salty, uncontrolled sorrow. When at last she had quieted and stopped shuddering with the force of her emotions, reality intruded and Caia pulled back from him, instantly uncomfortable with her outburst. And as her gaze locked onto his dark, unfathomable eyes, wariness sprang between them. Caia was frightened by her need to trust him, and he seemed unnerved by the idea that he might just trust her.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized shakily.

  Reuben sighed, and she felt him brush her hair back from her face. “It’s fine. You needed to do that to get on with the rest of today.”

  She nodded, her eyes glued to the floor. “We should go to Alfred Doukas’s home.” She referred to the Council member she was acquainted with. “Enlist his family and get them to organize the others.”

  “Vil can take you to them. I think we should hurry this along.”

  She looked up at him now, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I’m going to call on Vanne. He and I are going to the MacLachlans while you deal with the Council. With Vanne’s help, I’ll be able to convince Alistair MacLachlan and his daughter to join us. We should arrange a time for us all to meet at the portal.”

  Caia frowned. “Can Vanne get away from Marita without raising suspicion?”

  The vampyre chuckled. “Of course. When I whistle, he comes running. End of story.”

  She guffawed. “You really are sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve had over two thousand years to perfect arrogance and acquire a solid arsenal of diverse weaponry to support that arrogance.”

  Before she could mock his cockiness, the door to the room blasted open and Jaeden strode in, now in human form and fully clothed. She curled her lip at Reuben and turned her attention and respect to Caia.

  “Saffron’s arrived with the children. Two of them are Joaquin and Seana. Cera and the Treys are in hysterics.” She paused so they could hear the commotion rumbling up through the floors from the kitchen. “The other three kids aren’t ours.” Her lip trembled. “Jaela and the others must still be at the Center. Anyway, Vil’s going to take the kids home one by one.”

  Caia glanced at Reuben who was frowning. He seemed ready to dispute that decision when Caia subtly shook her head at him. She looked to Jae who seemed to be watching them both with narrowed eyes, a quizzical furrow between her eyebrows.

  “That’s fine. But tell him to hand the children over and leave. We don’t have time for explanations, and I need Vil to take me to Alfred Doukas.”

  “OK.” Jae grimaced. “But isn’t that a little mean? These people deserve to know what happened to their kids.”

  Reuben rolled his eyes. “Then pin a note on them.”

  Caia winced at his insensitivity and the volcanic look on Jaeden’s face. Before Jae could erupt, Caia stepped in between them. “Ignoring his charming delivery, Reuben has a point.” She sighed wearily. “I don’t like it very much, but maybe we could return them with a note explaining everything, for now.”

  She wasn’t sure Jae was going to respond. And then she snorted in disgust. “Don’t spend too much time with him, Cy. You’re starting to think like him. And remember, if he can mesmerize me with his voodoo crap, who’s to say he won’t do it to you?” With that, she spun on her heel and left the room.

  Hmm … she hadn’t thought about that. Was that what Reuben was doing? Wafting his powers over her so she felt like she could trust him? She slanted her gaze at him and noticed with some annoyance he was smirking, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “I haven’t manipulated you. I swear.”

  “And I’m supposed to take your word on that?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care one way or the other.”

  As he walked away in Jaeden’s wake, Caia squeezed her eyes shut. She needed Lucien back. Everything would be okay once she had Lucien back.

  “It’s a good thing you called me out of there when you did,” Vanne stated in a deeply chilling tone, his powerful energy crackling and sparking in the air around the house. The pack was scattered in different rooms, but the Elders were in the living room watching a distraught Vanne pace in front of the main window. Alexa stood next to a grief-stricken Magnus pretending to give comfort, when in fact it was clear she was fascinated with not only Reuben but the Head of the Daylight Coven’s husband.

  “I nearly killed her,” Vanne choked, coming to a stop to stare numbly at the floorboards. “When she told me about Marion …” He shuddered, shaking his head. Intimidating though Vanne may be, Caia couldn’t help but reach out to him in comfort. She squeezed his shoulder lightly, and he glanced down at her, his eyes terrifying and glassy with unshed tears. “I’ve always loved her best, you know,” he whispered. “I courted her first before …”

  “Before I asked him to join me and break it off with Marion. To win Marita over instead so we could spy on her,” Reuben answered for him, his voice dead. Caia glanced sharply at him, marveling at the hint of guilt and regret she saw in his eyes.

  An ache spread in her chest for Vanne. For him to have loved Marion while he slept with her sister? To be so close to the day when he would no longer have to pretend … and now the one person he wanted to share that day with was gone. Tears splashed over her lids and she sighed in frustration, turning her back to the room and swiping at them angrily. She couldn’t act like a silly little girl. She had to be strong for them all.

  She sucked in a deep breath and turned to face them. “Can you do what we asked? Can you go with Reuben to the MacLachlans?”

  Vanne nodded. “I’m friends with Alistair. However … it may take longer than just a few minutes to convince them. Phoebe is well educated on magik. She’ll suspect I’m another magik using glamour to look like me. Su
ch an incident happened at the Center only a few weeks ago,” he reminded them, throwing Caia a look that managed to be sardonic despite his pain-filled eyes. He was referring to when Caia had glamoured Vil to look like Vanne to rescue Laila from the containment center. “Glamour lasts roughly thirty minutes. Phoebe knows that. So we’re going to have to sit that time out until they’re convinced I am who I say I am.”

  “That’s fine. I imagine it will take longer to gather the family members of the Council who are willing to fight,” Caia said.

  “That reminds me—” Vanne tugged at something in the back pocket of his suit trousers. A white paper appeared in his hand and he gave it to Reuben. “A list of the family members who tried to get in and were fought off by our guards.” He sneered. “Marita told them not to use deadly force … the idiots bought it, that holier-than-thou crap.” His tone vibrated through her like an apprehensive shiver.

  Knowing what she now knew didn’t stop Caia from being disturbed by this version of Vanne. He was a mighty good actor. Every time she’d met with him and Marita inside the Center, she could’ve sworn he was a loyal husband and devout Daylight. Ignoring the impulse to gape at him as if he were nuts, Caia held out her hand to Reuben. “I’ll take that.”

  He chuckled and threw her a flirtatious look, nibbling on his lip piercing. He took a moment before he handed over the paper. “Getting awfully bossy, aren’t we?”

  Ignoring him and the numerous frowns thrown his way by the Elders and a disgruntled Alexa—who had so far been trying to catch his attention (even imminent war couldn’t stop her natural predilection for hooking up with the newest, hottest being around)—Caia quickly scanned the list. There were quite a number of names here.

  “This should do, actually,” she murmured, knowing everyone could hear her anyway. She looked up as Jaeden entered the room with Vil and Laila. “Vil, we should go. Vanne’s provided us with a list of names to give to Alfred Doukas’s wife. She should be able to gather them to us pretty quickly.”

  Vil nodded but she noticed his hand tightening in Laila’s. Before she could reassure them, Alexa stepped forward, a little pout she’d perfected years before playing on her luscious mouth. “I wanna help.”

  Caia, as well as everyone else, stared at her, dumbstruck.

  “You … want to help?” Ella queried, quietly disbelieving.

  Alexa narrowed her eyes. “What, like I’m useless? I can fight, you know … I have a sharper set of claws than any of the bitches in the pack.”

  Well, that I believe. An offer of help, however unexpected, wasn’t something Caia was about to turn down. “OK. If you’re sure … Alexa, you can come with us to the portal. You can help us fight at the Center.”

  A shadow cast across the room as Alexa grinned excitedly at the thought. Standing in the doorway was Morgan with Malek, Morgan’s dark eyes burning into Caia.

  “If Alexa is going, I’m going,” Malek puffed, crossing his arms over his large chest defiantly, smirking at his older sister.

  Morgan whipped on him with a fierce growl. “You’re not going anywhere.” His next lip-curling comment was directed at Caia. “And neither is my daughter. You are not Alpha here, and you do not get to decide whether my underage children hit a battle zone for you!”

  After years of perfecting a blank expression, Caia managed not to flinch under his outrage, but inside she felt dumb and guilty. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Before Alexa could mount what was clearly an oncoming—and loud—protest, Reuben slid forward to face Morgan. Standing a few inches taller, and just as broad, the vampyre made his displeasure known in every nuance of his body language. “You don’t speak to her with anything but respect, do you hear me?”

  The older lykan was not intimidated one bit.

  “Guys …” Caia tried to intervene, glancing helplessly to Magnus and the Elders who watched in fascination. Fricking lykans! They just loved the show of dominance crap.

  Morgan sneered, his eyes wandering over the vampyre in disgust. “And who the fuck are you to tell me how to talk to her?”

  Ella gasped at the profanity and made to stand up, but Dimitri held her back. Caia glared at him but he shrugged as if to say, “Sorry, but I wanna see what happens.”

  Reuben took another step closer and Malek glanced nervously between his father and the outsider, wondering if he should step out of the way.

  “I’m just a being that could tear you a new one in two seconds flat. But I can see I would actually have to do that to earn any respect from you. So why don’t I remind you that Caia is your Alpha’s mate and should be afforded the respect you’re refusing me.”

  At that, Morgan lowered his eyes, and Caia knew Reuben had gotten to him. “You’re right.” He looked up and gave her a slight nod, his eyes dimmed but not defeated. “I’m sorry. But I can’t have my children in this war, Caia.”

  “I understand,” she replied softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you about it first.”

  “Uh, hello!” Alexa called, taking a step closer to Reuben with a flirtatious shake of her hips. “I think, Daddy, you’re forgetting one thing.”

  Morgan raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

  “I’m an adult. I don’t need your permission.” She smiled up at Reuben. “I’m still in.”

  “You still live under my roof, so you will do as I say.”

  “No—”

  Sensing a huge disagreement brewing, Caia stepped forward. “Alexa, your father is right. I don’t think you’ve thought this through. You will be fighting to the death—and fighting magiks. The closest you’ve gotten to fighting is tussling with the pack.”

  She whirled on Caia so fast she almost gave Reuben whiplash with her long, thick hair. “I can’t believe you of all people are trying to stop me.”

  Jaeden growled. “And what does that mean?”

  “Can’t she talk for herself?” Alexa cried, gesturing toward Caia. “Jeez, you’ve got so many champions, it’s a wonder you need to fight at all. Speaking of which … you had no fighting experience when you went in after Ethan. And you let Jae take those guards on outside.”

  “Jaeden hunted with me for months before that and has become a proficient fighter,” Reuben reminded them quietly. Jaeden began to smile at him in thanks and then seemed to remember at the last minute that she hated him.

  “Arggh!” Alexa spun and glowered at her father. “Daddy, let me do this! I am fed up with being a useless pretty ornament … uh, one, by the way, who didn’t even land the pack Alpha or Rogue Hunter!”

  Wow, you had to admire her honesty. She didn’t give a rat’s ass who knew how shallow and ambitious she was.

  “Oh dear goddess,” a soft female voice entered from the hallway—Alexa’s mother, Natalia. Alexa was the spitting image of her mother, and they could easily pass for sisters. The only difference being that Natalia wore her thick, dark hair cut short, and whereas Alexa’s eyes were constantly spitting fire, there was a gentleness to Natalia’s. At the moment, that gentleness was replaced with weary indignation. “Please don’t tell me you want to go off on this suicide mission because you think it’s the way to gain a mate?”

  Malek snorted but Alexa shrugged, apparently not embarrassed that this conversation was occurring in front of not only the Elders but Reuben and Vanne. “It’s not just that! Okay, maybe I thought about it … Caia and Jae have done pretty well for themselves, and they’re not as pretty as me so I have to conclude that it’s their willingness to fight—”

  “An admirable quality but one that I don’t want my daughter to share.” Morgan sighed.

  “But I do,” Alexa whined. “Daddy, I feel useless and stupid. But Caia is giving us a chance to do something amazing … something important! This is bigger than finding a mate. This will, like, totally change everything.”

  They were all stunned by her sincerity. And as Caia watched Alexa plead with her father, she decided right there and then to start acting like a leader. This was a decision sh
e was taking away from him. Alexa wanted to do this. She deserved the chance to show them all what she could do.

  “Then you’re in,” Caia said quietly, and all eyes turned to her.

  Alexa’s were bright and for the first time, she threw Caia a genuine smile. “You really mean it?”

  “I really mean it.”

  “No!” Morgan yelled. “I swear to you, Caia—”

  Before Reuben could make that next unmistakable move toward him, Caia was across the room with a speed that surprised her as much as it did them. She stood in front of Reuben facing Morgan down, as much as she could at her diminutive height.

  Caia scowled at him and used a little of her magik to force him back from her. She could tell by the widening of his eyes that he felt it. “Alexa wants to fight. She’s a grown-up and it is her decision, not yours. And Reuben’s right … when Lucien and Ryder are absent, then the Elders and I are in charge. Last time I checked, you weren’t either. The Elders have raised no concerns over Alexa’s involvement so that leads me to believe they think she should be allowed to make up her own mind.”

  A rumble of grunts from the Elders confirmed that.

  “I suggest you swallow that decision gracefully—”

  Malek stepped forward, interrupting, “I wan—”

  He snarled as Caia pushed him back but she was unimpressed. “Don’t interrupt. Your father said no. You’re still underage, Mal.”

  Morgan looked as if he wanted to strangle someone. “You’ll understand when you have your own children, Caia.”

  She sighed, trying desperately to hold on to the hard-ass act. “Morgan, if I don’t get enough people to help me fight Marita … we won’t have a future, let alone the possibility of little Caias and Luciens running around underfoot.”

  He gazed at her in strained silence and then nodded curtly before leaving the room with his arm around his wife. Malek followed in their wake, disgruntled mumblings trailing him.

  Caia turned to face the room. “I feel like I’ve been run over.”