24. Twenty Four

Twenty Four

Griffin

Guilt ate at me. It wasn't fair that Rain couldn't spend more time with his family without being dragged back to Umberwood. I urged him to stay. He flat out refused. Rain said we were now his family, so my problems were his and vice versa.

Sweet of him. Entirely unnecessary. Him coming back with us only put him in danger. He may be a witch, but he didn't know how to fight shifters.

Sunny was of no help. He wanted to fight alongside me, which would mean being away from Rain if we could have convinced him to stay, so there was no chance of him helping me there. Sunny wanted to be with both of us all the time. I think, if possible, he would have split himself in two in order to keep part of himself with each of us. He was weird. This situation was weird.

Heading back wasn't nearly as relaxing as heading to Westhaven, mainly because I was stewing in my guilt for taking Rain away from his family so soon. We'd planned to spend the better part of a week with them. In reality we'd barely spent a day there.

"Will you stop?" Rain fumed. He was cute when he pouted. "We wouldn't have been able to see Dad much because of his change. The quicker he can learn without the cuff, the sooner they can visit."

"You could have still been with your mom and sister," I pointed out for the tenth time. I was keeping count.

"They needed to focus on Dad and they have their own lives. As do I. Have you forgotten I own a shop I literally just opened and abandoned?"

Okay, that was a fair point. It wasn't like Rain was only coming home for me. He did have stuff to do with his shop. His cousin's wife wanted a bunch of stuff shipped to her, and while she was civil to Amara, she preferred to work directly with Rain.

I spent the flight, "brooding sexily," as Sunny put it. My life was dull before he shone light into my life. He and Rainbow. They were the perfect pair to pull me out of the rut I'd fallen into. I thought I was content. I wasn't. Before them I was just existing.

I caught Sunny looking longingly at the airport bathrooms and squeezed his hand. "Next time." His smile lit up the airport.

We landed and made the short journey back to Umberwood, pausing at Rain's shop so we could pick up some supplies. Rain wanted stuff for healing, just in case.

Amara was waiting for us. Honestly, I should have just let her at Ray. She was furious!

"He kicked me out of your house! Didn't let me pack!"

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?"

"His guards are shit, so I broke in last night to get fresh clothes. Even took a nap."

If I could be attracted to women, she would be my type. I sort of loved her, even though she was an ancient vampire. Hundreds of years older than Sunny, apparently. One day I'd get her backstory.

We loaded up on everything we needed. Including things Rain could spark with magic to explode which would obscure the senses, vision mainly. I wanted to have this be a fair fight, but knew there was no way Ray would let it go so easily.

Sunny fussed over Jinx, getting his travel terrarium set up in the shop where he would be safe while we dealt with the pack. We couldn't risk the familiar's safety. It wasn't like Rain would be using enough magic to need his familiar for a boost. This was a shifter fight.

Tor was waiting for me a few streets away from the edge of my territory. "He's got me on a patrol. Doesn't trust me. His lap dog who he had following me is taking a nap under a bush. We don't have a lot of time."

"Where's Nora?" Rain asked.

My best friend's face clouded with anger. "Took her from me. She showed too much loyalty to her mate, so her father," he spat, "decided he wants to break our mating. Can't while she's pregnant though—"

"Nora's pregnant! Congratulations!" Sunny beamed, distracted by the good news.

"Yeah." Tor grinned with pride. "Didn't think it would happen so soon for us, but we started trying on our dates before we mated properly. To hell with tradition."

"Right? I think that's so outdated, keeping pure for marriage. Some people like to try before they buy!"

Tor snorted at Rainbow's joke. Thing was, I think he was being genuine. He didn't judge anyone for what they did, as long as it wasn't hurting anyone. It was part of why he had accepted me so easily.

"So this is a rescue now, too. Nora could be used as a bargaining chip over you, Tor. We need to get her to safety before I confront Ray."

"I can do it," Amara volunteered. "We both know Sunny is great at breaking and entering too, but he might want to be with you if there's a fight."

"There's going to be a fight. A big one. I'd rather have Sunny guarding my back. It's good of you to offer to get Nora."

"Happy to help my new pack. I have to say, the Were shifters have been pretty welcoming after the initial grumbling." She smirked, clearly recalling the first few days she had been in the pack territory.

My lips lifted. An almost smile. "They try." I thought about how this should go. "Amara, when you go in, let us know when you've got Nora and take her from here."

"We'll go to the shop. I can ward it with some of the spells in there."

"There's a couple of witches who've said they want special orders. They left their numbers, call one if you need extra power. I want to protect the shop, but I need to be here for my mates." Rainbow looked up from sorting his potions and met my eyes with a determined gaze.

"Got it," Amara agreed.

Plan in place, the vampire shot off while I called in the rest of my backup.

It only took five minutes for Amara to locate Nora and get her free. They returned with Nora piggybacking on Amara. Sunny took a photo to send to Kayden. Amara was not impressed.

Our vampire was great at lightening the mood as I assembled several Were shifters and Roscoe. Our numbers were smaller than Ray's, yet we had the home advantage, a witch, and a vampire who really wanted some sexy snuggles, as he put it, and a nap.

Together, Amara and Nora got in her car and headed out of the territory to neutral ground. If this went south, I'd do what I could to ensure they got away.

"Let's go." I led my crew into the territory, walking at a steady pace towards my house. Of course he was in my house. It was tainted now by his stench.

Once this was done, I was letting Sunny and Rain re-decorate.

"Ray!" I called as we neared the place. I saw him watching from the window. "Come out!"

He walked to the door at a leisurely pace, a power move if there was one. Trying to be the top dog.

"Pack!" I shouted. "Bear witness to a challenge."

The rest of the pack, those who were too scared to fight, those who couldn't fight, and the ones whose loyalties were unknown slowly joined us out in the street outside my house.

"Thought you ran away because your pack doesn't want you."

I looked Ray clean in his insipid blue eyes. "No. What I do is none of your business. Not anymore. You've broken the truce."

Speaking to my pack, I told them about James, though most knew already, I knew there were those from Ray's pack standing amongst them that didn't know the underhanded tricks their leader had gone to.

"Westhaven has given me a gift. They have tried and tested ways to calm Were shifters on the full moon. A cure for newly turned Weres."

"Impossible!" Ray spat, going red in the face. I wondered vaguely if he really was Nora's father because she looked nothing like him. He was beefy, dark haired, and red. His face was ruddy in a sickly way. Shifters didn't get sick often, but I wondered if he was ill. Not that I really cared, I just would use it to my advantage.

"I don't care what you believe. Westhaven has given this to me for my pack to use."

"You don't have a pack. This is mine now!" Ray shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.

"What's that old saying "say it, don't spray it?" that's it, right?" Sunny muttered, too loudly not to be overheard by the crowd.

There were titters by those who heard him. Then people repeated it to those who didn't. More laughter.

Ray's anger turned up a notch. "Get out of my territory. Better yet, get out of Umberwood. It's mine."

"Not yet, it isn't. Ray, I formally challenge you for the rights to the shifters and allies of Umberwood. Not just my territory before you forced a claim. Yours too. All of it."

"A challenge? That's not a fair fight, boy! I'll put you down where you stand."

"Okay then. Prove to everyone that you aren't afraid to fight me right here."

Gauntlet thrown, there was no way he could save face and back down. He had to fight me.

"Alright. When do you want to do this?"

"Now." I shucked off my jacket and dropped into a fighting stance. "No others in the ring. The pack will form the circle. Until death or surrender."

"Fine."

The pack encircled us, setting the stage. Rain set a ring of powder only he could cross with his magic.

"No one can interfere." Rain looked torn about this. He'd known it was the plan all along, though he didn't have to like it. This was the way shifters settled things.

I was confident in my abilities. For all his words, Ray was older than me, too used to sitting in his office and dictating orders. I preferred to be out there with my people, working alongside them. I took a guard shift. Ray did not. He was weak. He would try to cheat.

"Alright, go, I guess," Rain muttered, edging back against Sunny, who held him close, his face the most serious I'd seen it.

The lack of confidence my mates had was sort of insulting. I'd show them.

Ray made the first move, throwing out a sloppy right hook, which I easily dodged.

I blindsided him by twisting and kicking out, getting him right in his kidneys. He barked out a sound of pain.

"Nice moves!" Sunny called out. I grinned even as I kept my focus on Ray.

From there it was pretty simple to dance out of the way of his increasingly pathetic attacks.

My punches and kicks landed every time, each one harder than the last until I had Ray on his knees.

"He makes it look so easy." Sunny's confidence bolstered Rain.

"I yield," Ray said, beaten and bloody. I'd cut his cheekbone, split his lip, possibly broken a couple of bones. He would hurt for a day then recover. Maybe slightly longer given the beating he'd been given.

There was a jostling in the crowd. Sunny turned to deal with them and Rain was pushed into the circle, breaking the line.

"Hey, get back!" Rain cried, sounding panicked. I tried to reach for Ray who was turning towards my mates, but he slipped through my fingers.

Ray lunged for Rain who automatically smashed a bottle into his face. Didn't even think about it. Damn! That was a great hit! Ray was stunned for a minute, giving Sunny a chance to scoop up our mate.

Seeing their chance, Ray's cronies entered the fray. Two tried to pin me down. It was easy enough to knock them both out. Rookie mistake getting that close. I clunked their heads together, then released them to slump on the ground.

The slimeball that he was, Ray was trying to slink away. I grabbed him by his hair and yelled to the crowd.

"Enough!"

Everyone broke apart.

"I won this fair and square. Anyone from Southridge is banished from this territory. LEAVE!" I roared the last word, making everyone flinch aside from my mates.

"He's hot when he's all bossy."

"Right?" Rain should not encourage Sunny.

Defeated, most of Ray's people left him behind to splutter and rage as I held him in place.

"What are you going to do with him?" Tor asked.

"Up to you, man. He's your father-in-law."

Tor shuddered. "How did someone as perfect as Nora come from him?"

"Want me to end him, Griff?" Roscoe drew close.

"Just get him out of my sight. I don't want to know a thing if the cops come looking."

"Fine by me." Roscoe had a shark-like grin. "Come on, Ray, this is your last chance to just leave."

Defeated, Ray trudged along with Roscoe until he neared Rain. He lunged again for my mate.

Sunny was there. In a blink, he was in front of the shifter. He reached down and just snapped Ray's neck. "Never lay your hands on my mate." I'd never seen him act so like the killer vampire he could be.

"Now, that was hot." I gave Sunny a grin. I spared Ray's body a glance. "Someone dump the trash."

Tomorrow I'd finish the clean up of Southridge and start a new era where Umberwood was united under one pack.

Today, I owed my mates some sexy snuggles. They'd earned it.