12. Conrad

-Hunting Season—IceNine Kills-

Griffin and Barrett took Ashina with them last night to get dropped off at Agnes’s house so she can sleep over and play with Nina in the morning. Nicolai is supposed to be getting brought here via medical transport sometime this morning. All these thoughts run through my head as I whip up some eggs for breakfast.

“Hey, where’s Grace?” Ethan yawns as he steps into the kitchen.

“She was next to you.” I sit the bowl with the eggs in it back in the fridge and we both concentrate on locating our wayward mate.

Just as Ethan’s phone rings, Grace comes busting through the door. “My baby!” She screams at the top of her lungs as her wolf rips free of her body. Her shift forces Ethan’s shift and his phone hits the counter. They run out the back door and into the woods.

I pick up the phone and it’s Agnes. “Ethan? Ethan come quick.”

“It’s Conrad, Ethan, and Gracie shifted and are on their way. What happened?” Grabbing my keys, I run to my car to follow behind the wolves.

“Sarah, Nicolai’s secretary, stopped by like she always does. Something snapped in her when she saw two pups playing on the floor and she knocked me out. When I woke up, both pups were gone. She stole the babies.” My heart sinks hearing the news. Nic lays in a coma and now this Sarah has unleashed hell on earth.

“You know Grace won’t let her live.”

“I know. All I care about is the babies. Get them back Conrad.”

“We will come to our house. Your son is due to arrive in the next hour.”

“I’m on my way.”

The phone call ends abruptly and before I can call Griffin, he’s calling my cell and Barrett is calling Ethan’s. I let my car answer Griffin’s call so I can concentrate on driving. “What has Grace and Ethan pissed off?” By the tone of his voice, I know he’s fighting the shift.

“Nic’s secretary stole both babies. Grace knew before we got the call and her shift forced Ethan’s and well … Watch for the explosion, you know they are going to go nuclear.” I know I’m closing in on their location. I can feel it. This female isn’t all that bright. She took the babies to the old mill on the edge of the two packs lands.

“Fuck, okay. Retrieve the babies try to contain the explosion. This is more than likely a set up and there’s more than that female there. We’re almost there.” Griff hangs up and all I know is that you never piss off a female with a pup. Especially one that was turned on the brink of death.

Getting closer to the location, I see body parts of other wolves. It looks like Ethan and Grace tore through the scouts. Parking the car, I decide to go on foot, following the trail of blood and destruction in their wake. Looking to my right, I notice Griffin and Barrett closing in, and I raise a finger to my lips and point ahead. The sounds of a massive battle hit us, and Griffin shifts quickly to join the fray.

“What should we do?” Barrett says as we proceed forward.

“Remain human for as long as we can. If we need to, we can call for reinforcements. Ambrose isn’t far from here, and with him being Ashina’s godfather, you know he will be here.” I mention the wayward alpha and make a note that there are gray wolves closing in fast from the east. “Okay, I guess Grace already called for him.” Shrugging my shoulders, we run hearing how much worse it’s getting.

When we catch up, it’s an all out war. Rogues of all shapes and colors are attacking Ethan and now Ambrose’s pack. Ethan has Grace behind him in between some large boulders, and I can only assume the pups are behind Grace. Griffin is fighting alongside of our brother and Ambrose’s pack is killing off the last of the rogues. My wolf rips free and joins my brothers, getting rid of the last of the rogues trying to get to Grace and the pups.

Barrett comes close and scoots in with Grace and the puppies. “The babies are untouched. Everyone is okay.” He yells from behind us. As much as his words are meant to comfort, it’s only making Ethan angrier. He tears off from where he was standing and goes to assist Ambrose in the destruction of what I am calling the death squad.

When either everyone is dead or driven off, Grace shoves her way to the front with the puppies following behind her. Her silver white pelt is almost pure crimson from battle and thankfully I don’t see any damage on her. She shifts and screams her anger into the wind. “That fucking bitch threatened my baby and stole Nic’s daughter.” She yells and points at the decapitated timber wolf that is torn to shreds.

I shift back and walk closer to her, looking over her body for damage. Thankfully, I don’t see any cuts or tears that we need to be concerned about. Barrett comes up alongside Grace and slips his button down on her to help cover her. “She’s dead now. You saved the babies, and they are safe see.” I motion back to the pups tumbling in the leaves.

Grace’s eyes shift to her wolf’s as she stares at the babies for a few moments, then shifts back to blue. “I don’t know if I was more scared for them or angry they were taken. I hate that my anger consumes me. Look at what I did.” She motions to the forest floor littered with body parts and trees sprayed vermillion. There’s even a spruce tree with intestines hanging off it looking like garland like in her book.

“I’m sure you didn’t kill all of them.” I reach out and pull Grace to me and hug her tightly.

“She killed a lot of them. Don’t kid yourself.” Ethan comes walking towards us naked as the day he was born, not caring.

“The babies were in danger.” Grace growls defiantly at Ethan. We stare at her in disbelief that she is actually being aggressive towards him. “Con…” She turns in my arms and grips my jaw, making me look down at her. “Take me home. I need to shower.”

“Anything you desire.” I bend down and kiss her on her forehead, and she melts in my arms. I lead her away and she stops.

“Hold on, I’m forgetting something.” She darts away from me and then returns with a wolfs head in her hand. “I’m going to give Nicolai the bitch’s head.” She waves the head at the others. “See I have a mating present too.” She actually giggles as she makes faces at the decapitated head. If I didn’t know better, I would swear she lost her mind.

“Whatever makes you happy, baby girl.” Griffin smiles as he picks up the pups to follow us back to the car.

“What would make me happy is not being hunted anymore. Not having to worry about some psycho trying to kill me or steal my babies.” There’s a deep distinct growl in her voice as she claims Nic’s daughter as hers. Momma wolf is hoarding pups now. This should get interesting real fast.

“Grace, let’s get you and the babies home and cleaned up and fed.” I wrap an arm around her and gently guide her back to the car. Along the way, she occasionally kicks at a body part in her path and curses under her breath at it. It’s extremely difficult to remain serious when she’s occasionally cursing at the bodies we pass.

“I’ll drive…” Barrett yells as he runs past me to the car. He quickly opens all four doors for us.

“Who do you want to sit on?” I figure I would give her the choice given the pleasant mood she’s in.

“I’ll sit on you with Ethan in the back. I want the babies too.” Grace smiles and starts shoving me in the car.

“What are you doing with your trophy?”

She stares at the head for a few moments, then hands it to Griffin as he now tries to juggle the pups and the head. “Can you put that in the trunk?”

“You were serious about bringing it home?” Both of Griffin’s eyebrows raise.

“Do you have a dick?” She points at it.

“Obviously…” He looks down at himself.

“Then, obviously, I want the head in the trunk.” She turns quickly to look at Ethan and he stops walking. “Was I speaking another language?” Oh boy, are the pregnancy hormones kicking in.

“No Darlin, I’ll put your present in the trunk like you asked then I’ll massage your feet like a good mate.” Ethan makes a show of grabbing the head from Griffin and walking it to the back of the car and putting it in the trunk. “All done love, now let’s get loaded in the car and head home.”

Grace smiles broadly, pleased that Ethan listened and then gives me a gentle push to get me into the car. No sooner am I seated does she climbs onto my lap. Griffin passes in both puppies to her and she nuzzles both. “Shift back little ones. You’re safe now.” A yawn escapes Grace’s lips as she snuggles in against me. Ethan climbs in and takes Grace’s feet and starts massaging her arches.

Both babies shift back and lay down on Grace’s chest and fall asleep almost immediately. Once everyone is in the car, we head home. Barrett calls the house. Agnes answers the phone and tells us that Nicolai has arrived. She tells us he’s been moaning in his sleep and she could see his fur racing along his arms occasionally. He apparently was feeling Grace and her rage through the small tether of a bond that they have.

The drive home was silent because we were all afraid of making a noise and awakening Gracie. Ethan is sitting across from me, still rubbing the arches of Grace’s feet. I glance down at her, watching her sleep so peacefully. “I hate the idea of having to wake her up when we get home. It’s been a rough morning.” I say through the bond to my brothers and Barrett.

“We can try to lift her out without waking her. The babies are my only concern that if one moves, it will wake her.”Griffin mentions as he turns to look over the back of the seat to see how we have ourselves situated.

“It’s not going to work, no matter how we attempt it. She’s hyperaware of the babies and any movement may set her off.”Ethan makes too much sense as he looks over at Grace and the babies.

As if on cue, one baby moves and Grace readjusts and holds the baby tightly. Seeing the way she is reacting to the slight movement, I know now the idea of moving her isn’t happening. The change of the pavement under the tires awakens Grace, and she looks around.

“We’re home?” She cradles the babies to her chest and sighs softly, then yawns.

“Nicolai is here too.” Griffin turns to face her.

“Okay, I need to shower.” Grace turns and looks me in the eye. I know that look. Sweetness wants attention.

Barrett parks the car as close to the front stairs as he can. Without hesitating, he gets out of the car and opens the door to help Grace out. Barrett takes Ashina and hands her off to Griffin and then takes Nina himself. Grace slips out and then reaches out to me and gets me to follow her into the house. We enter the front door and Grace pauses and looks into the guest room. Nicolai is laying there with a sheet pulled up over him resting peacefully. Agnes comes and takes both babies from us and heads to the guest cottage across from our home.

Grace lets go of my hand and starts circling the bed, examining him. Standing at the head of the bed, she runs her fingers through his hair and her eyes blaze to life. “Time to wake up Nic.” She moves quickly to his right side and cups the back of his neck and lifts him off the bed enough that his shoulders leave the mattress. Tilting her head back, she opens her mouth wide, and like in the horror movies I watch her upper and lower canines replace her human teeth. Before any of us can say anything, she strikes and bites Nic’s shoulder. The sound of her canines puncturing his flesh echoes like a knife breaking through thick cardboard.

Grace licks the wounds then looks at me with blood stained lips. The glow in her eyes tells me she’s on the edge of shifting. The look she’s giving me is either she wants to fuck or fight. I’m honestly hoping for the first one. “Shower now.” Her tone is inhuman and pure animal as she licks her lips.

“Darlin, you need to calm down.” Ethan makes the mistake of talking, and Grace shoves him to the wall.

Staring up at him, she smiles, and walks her fingers up his chest. “There are better things you can do with that mouth of yours instead of telling me what to do.” She arches a brow at him and Ethan stands there, stunned at what she said. The new bold Grace is interesting. I’m not sure if I’m more turned on or scared for my life.

“Shower’s started, baby girl.” Griffin yells from down the hallway.

Grace turns and walks out the door, not even looking back to see which of us is following. The answer is all of us except Barrett. He chooses life.