Page 62 of Pack Rage
Then, in the distance, one of the boys cried out. “Bo!” It was Leroy’s young, high voice.
My blood went cold as the witch continued. “But that one might. All the others, all your dirty little rogue friends could die, if you don’t cooperate. Be still, mmm?”
It wasn’t like I had a choice. If it meant protecting those boys, that young pack and Sergeant, I had to let her hold me, even if I could get free.The pack protects, my wolf whispered in my mind.They are pack.
Sergeant hadn’t heard Elina, and when he glanced back, he didn’t act like he could see her either. He pointed to me to go to one side and around. I nodded with my eyes, unable to move my head. His own eyes flared wide for a split second before he turned back and crept into the brush, sword ready. Had he realized something was wrong? I hoped so.
“Good.” Elina’s voice was louder when he finally disappeared. The four shifters leaped down soundlessly from the trees, and I realized she’d used some kind of magic to make them blend into the foliage. The stench of silver and blood was almostoverwhelming as she let whatever magic she’d held over the area drop.
One of them snapped out a question in Russian. Elina answered in the same language, though her words had an odd accent. “Now, little rogue, it’s time for us to go and set a little trap for that dirty Southern whore you’re all obsessed with.”
Flor!I screamed in my mind as loud as I could. I heard my name echoing back, as if it had bounced off four other souls.
But one answered, a tinny, muffled shout.Glen!
And then the world went dark.
Chapter 30
The Council Meeting
FLOR
My blood still hummed with the power Grigor had shared, and my heart with the knowledge that he loved me in his own dark, perfect way, when Brand burst into the cell. “They’re coming to take us above. Flor, you cannot be separated from me, do you understand?”
I knew he wasn’t afraid that he couldn’t overcome any number of shifters; he practically glowed with power right now. His eyes really did shine, lighting up my face as he stared down at me. No, the one he was concerned about was Elina. I glanced down at his arm, where that bitch had tried to leave her mark. There was nothing there now, not even a magical trace, but even the memory of her scratches pissed me off, and made my wolf bristle with rage.
She’s not here,I reminded myself as Margarette and Bradley helped Mama up and out into the hallway. I couldn’t hear anyone but us moving in the corridor, but I could feel the presence of at least a dozen shifters ahead of us, and above.Grigor said he’d felt her, hours away.Unnerved for somereason, I said out loud, “All we have to deal with are regular wolves, right?”
Bradley replied as we walked toward the exit that led up and into the Mansion. “Eastern Enforcers are no such thing. They’ll be armed with silver, all of them. After he locked us away, Aidan bragged about how much silver he’d stockpiled here, weapons from the end of the war and contraband his Enforcers collected.”
“Isn’t that against pack law? To have a shit ton of silver weapons, I mean.”
Bradley sighed. “Yes and no. Council Alphas were the only ones allowed to keep silver on hand, ceremonial blades, mainly. Eastern asked for a dispensation, to keep a small cache of silver weapons, in case the Russians attacked us with their own again. Of course, it was meant to be locked away, not used against allies.”
I managed to keep my mouth shut, though I wanted to cuss about the leaders of the whole damned nation somehow being above the law. I was on Brand and Samuel’s side; this whole “new way” with an elected Council was absolute bullshit. Silver was the one thing the moon had made it clear shifters weren’t to fuck around with.
“Even without silver, these guards would be a threat,” Brand said, though he didn’t sound too worried. Faking it for my benefit, I suspected, since I could feel his concern through our bond. “They’ve been trained to withstand pain, and to follow orders with complete obedience, even if it means their own death.”
I swallowed hard, trying not to think about death right now. I knew how dangerous this night would be. If any one of us died—me or my five mates—we could take the rest with us. We might be stronger for being bonded like we were, but it was also our greatest weakness.
I shook away an odd sense of foreboding and focused on Bradley’s words. “...but Aidan’s careful to follow the law’s letter, if not the spirit. They may truly believe he is in the right. That the rest of us are the ones who subvert the law.”
“Pack law needs a little subverting,” I muttered. “Where’s Finn?”
“He’s still at the other exit,” Brand whispered. “He’ll join us at the last minute.”
I opened my mouth to ask what minute that might be, just as the door at the end of the hallway opened wide, and a shifter came down. “Luke!” I called out, remembering myself when I sensed the others at his back, a group up the stairs and stretching into the hallway beyond. He was acting like he was on their side, so I had to pretend, too. “Why’re you helping these assholes?”
“As opposed to helping the assholes you’ve sided with,mate?” he snarled, playing along.
Right behind him was a shifter I’d never met, a narrow-shouldered, mean-eyed one who stank of silver. The scent was so intense, I almost sneezed, but I didn’t want to close my eyes around these fuckers, not even for a second.
He held a gun in one of his heavily gloved hands, a bunch of thin metal cables in the other, and had a silver knife tucked in an open sheath at his waist. He shoved Luke forward with his other hand. Luke hissed in pain, and I saw why when he reached into his back pocket and pulled out an equally heavy set of gloves before taking the bundle of cables from the guy.
“By the moon, they’re all silver,” Bradley whispered beside me. “There’s so much.”
“Tie them up, Southern.” The asshole tried to shove Luke again, but he moved to one side, ignoring the gun.
