Disappearance

EVERETT

Martha holds my gaze challengingly, crossing her arms over her chest. “We demand the return of Aurora and her children to her rightful pack. Now.”

Alex steps forward to stand with me, along with Lucius and Ace. “How dare you interrupt the Alpha Circle? You were not invited,” Alex shouts, backed up by shouts from the crowd.

“An Alpha Circle? For whom?” Martha looks from me to Jay, still in my arms. Her eyes widen, arms dropping to her sides. “No. You named the boy your heir? You can’t do that!”

“It’s an old ritual, but a valid one,” I say, lifting my chin. “He is the future Shadow Blood Pack alpha, in the sight of all of our allies and the Moon Goddess.”

Martha’s lip curls and I can smell the anger wafting off her. “You may have stolen one child from me, but I won’t let you take the other. Give her to me, now.” She strides forward, determined.

Aurora shrinks back from Martha’s approach, turning to try and shield Lucy from her. My blood boils. I hand Jay to Ace to keep him away from the Red Mooners as I stalk toward the interlopers.

I put myself between Aurora and Martha, showing her my teeth. “Not one step further,” I say, my voice rumbling deep in my chest.

Chaos is fighting to get out, snarling and snapping inside me. ~She deserves death! Shift, and we can take care of this once and for all~.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Aurora looking up at me, her beautiful green eyes bright with worry. “Don’t let her goad you,” she whispers.

She gives me the strength to keep hold of Chaos. It won’t help if I snap here. It could easily lead to the separation of our family. No temporary satisfaction is worth that.

I look back to Martha and my voice comes out steady. “You promised us six weeks. There are four left. Your assessment of my mate’s health is not enough reason for you to violate that agreement.”

Martha scowls, but she’s smart enough not to try and get past me. “We made that offer in good faith. It’s obvious that you lied about the difficulty of the birth.”

My pack cries out, deeply offended by her accusation. “I am no liar,” I snap over the din. I take a step toward her. “If you insist on trying to take her now, I swear to you, it will be pack war.”

The alphas of my ally packs are all standing now, watching Martha with distaste. Her eyes flick from man to man, counting her opposition. I can hear her heartbeat pick up as she realizes she’s badly outnumbered.

“How dare you threaten me,” she hisses. “You are the one in the wrong here. You would use brute force to ignore the consequences of your actions.”

Aurora speaks up from behind me. “Please, Martha, don’t do this. Don’t take me away from Everett.” I can hear the threat of tears in her voice. Chaos howls, furious.

Martha scoffs, utterly unmoved by Aurora’s plea. “He took you as his mate against pack law. I refuse to allow that to stand.”

“You say you want me back, that I’m family to you. I’m happy here. You should be happy for me. Everett didn’t steal me; he ~saved~ me,” she cries. Her words move me, make me love her more fiercely than ever.

“Hush, girl,” Martha snaps. “You can’t possibly understand how these things work. You are ours, by right. As are your children.”

There’s a naked hunger on her face as she looks at my babies. She doesn’t care for them and doesn’t think of them as her nephew and niece. She just craves their power.

Some of the Red Mooners shift into wolf form, slowly fanning out into a circle. My warriors follow suit—hackles raised, fangs bared, meeting the challenge.

Alex’s pack joins in, as do members of most of our gathered allies. Growls start to break out, the Red Moon wolves testing the boundaries. We’re one wrong step away from this night turning into a bloodbath.

I hold up my hand, signaling for my warriors to hold. I hear Garth and the others following my lead, and our people fall back, though they stay vigilant.

“You have two choices,” I say, letting my voice carry through the square. “Leave, and allow us the rest of the time you promised. Or stay, and we’ll fight this out right now.”

I pray she sees reason. We certainly would win if it came to a battle, but it puts Aurora and the babies at risk. They’ll be targeted for sure, and I can’t be sure I can keep them from being hurt.

Martha hesitates, looking at her wolves, at their eagerness to fight, and I hold my breath. ~Come on, be smart. Back down~.

Slowly, she nods. “Alright. We will honor our agreement. The law is on our side, after all.” The strength of her opposition must have been too much for her, after all.

“Good,” I say, glaring around at her followers. They were regaining their human shape and returning to cluster around their leader. “Now get off of my land.”

“Not so fast,” Martha said, putting on a falsely sweet face. “I want to see my niece first.”

My face is stone. The Goddess herself couldn’t move me. “Absolutely not.”

The sweetness turns immediately to rage. “I have a right to see her! She is family, by adoption, you can’t keep her from me!”

~She doesn’t tell us what to do,~ Chaos growls, and I’m in full agreement. “Watch me,” I say, ready to release him and stop this woman’s smirking for good.

I feel Aurora’s hand on my back again, and it stops me in my tracks. It takes all my strength, but I turn my back on Martha to see what she has to say.

“It’s alright, Everett. She can look, but she can’t hold her. Okay?” Her eyes beg me to agree. My little mate is doing her part to keep the peace. I should follow her example.

I step aside, moving to stand beside my mate. “Alright,” I say through a clenched jaw. “No more than a minute.”

“That’s just fine,” Martha says, smiling smugly. Her eyes are locked on Lucy, held safe in her mother’s arms, and Chaos rages at the desire written all over her face.

I’m not any happier. I can feel Aurora trembling as Martha approaches, and I hate that there’s nothing I can do to ease her fears.

Martha leans forward, and Aurora moves the blanket so that the nasty woman can see Lucy’s face. Lucy blinks at the change, and I see her eyes focus on the face leaning over her.

Lucy’s mouth screws up like she’s going to cry, and then she vanishes right under our noses.

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