28. Dominic

28

DOMINIC

Ronyn didn’t hesitate to launch into what I knew was swirling around inside of his head the entire meeting. After all, Ronyn never could keep his own thoughts quiet when addressing anyone from his troops.

His mind was much too loud for that.

“We need to play defense,” Ronyn said as the three of us stood around in the darkened sniper’s nest.

I slipped my hand into the air. “I’ve got an idea.”

Voss rolled his eyes. “This isn’t kindergarten. Spit it out.”

I grinned as I folded my arms over my chest. “Such a control freak. Anyway, I think that—while you did a great job of reinforcing this place, Ronyn—that we need more than protection here. I think we need to start laying traps.”

Ronyn grinned. “Go on.”

I shrugged. “Those vampires have attacked us multiple times on this same turf, and while I agreed with Voss when he said that we needed to stay put because they’d expect us to move, I don’t think that’s our wisest choice any longer.”

“You think we should scout for a new place?” Voss asked.

Ronyn studied my face. “No, I think he’s saying we need to be prepared either way.”

I shook my head, though. Even I felt the deviousness of my smirk as my plan came together. “Nope, I’m not saying either of those things. What I’m saying is that, since we’ve been attacked more than once here, we’ve set precedence that we’re staying. And that can work to our advantage.”

Voss blinked. “Like… a trap?”

I pointed at him. “Bingo. Exactly like a trap. I mean, Ronyn fortified this place very well. It’s automatically going to draw in any of Delilah’s vampires that like a challenge. So, let’s use that to our advantage. Let’s scout out and find another place where we can slowly move our stuff and use this compound as a trap for when we are attacked again. Because you know they’re coming back.”

“He’s right,” Ronyn said, looking over at Voss, “those vampires most likely expect us to stay here out of sheer stubbornness at this point. We could use this home to bait them while creating another home to retreat to.”

I nodded. “Especially with the pups that haven’t reached their shifterhood yet. I took a headcount while helping everyone get the kiddos tucked in. We’ve got fifteen of them in the group.”

“Fucking hell,” Ronyn grumbled.

Voss clicked his tongue. “How does any of this get Bexley back, though?”

His question brought the entire conversation to a grinding halt. My heart leapt into my throat. My poor little one. God only knew what the hell she was enduring under the fangs of Delilah. If I believed in any sort of higher power, I’d pray up a fucking storm.

But it was Ronyn who broke the tense silence. “Right now, I’m working under the assumption that Bexley has her end under control.”

Voss’s face set itself in stone. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

I sighed heavily. “I have to admit, it’s not the best plan in the world when it comes to her.”

Ronyn simply tilted his head. “Look, that woman has survived more than any human we’ve ever known or come across. If there’s anyone who knows how to keep herself alive and useful in a situation like this, it’s her.”

Voss growled beneath his breath. “I still don’t like it.”

Ronyn snickered. “Doesn’t matter if you don’t like it, we can’t concern ourselves with it right now. We have to trust that she’s got her end of the deal on lockdown. So, as much as this sucks, we can’t worry about her right now.”

Voss turned and got into Ronyn’s face, his fists balled up at his sides. “You may not give a flying shit about her, but that doesn’t mean Dom and I don’t.”

Ronyn snarled. “Get in my face and say that again.”

“Voss, don’t,” I warned.

Voss closed the distance between the two of them and stared the man down. “It’s not my fault you haven’t told her how you feel yet. It’s not my fault that you keep holding yourself back from her. It’s not my fault you’re a jealous fucking wolf that?—”

“That’s it,” Ronyn growled.

The second Ronyn shoved Voss, I stepped out of the way. My eyebrows rose as I slid my hands into my pockets, watching the brawl unravel. Voss landed a punch that made Ronyn groan. I grinned as I perched against the windowsill, watching the two of them tussle. Ronyn slammed Voss into a wall, holding that man up by his fucking neck. But Voss was quick. He swiped his leg against Ronyn’s and took that behemoth man to the ground with a shake. They tumbled around on the floor like schoolboys fighting over a crush on the school bus, and I stood back and watched the show.

They needed to get it out of their system anyway.

“Enough!” Merida exclaimed as the door to the sniper’s nest slammed open.

Voss and Ronyn immediately jumped to their feet. Voss raked his hands through his hair. Ronyn tucked his shirt back into his pants. I swear, Merida was more like the mama of the pack than anything else. I’d never seen two more powerful men straighten their asses up in all my life. You know, except when Bexley was here barking orders.

Dear God, we needed to bring that woman home.

“I’ve had it with the three of you chasing your tails,” Merida hissed as she slammed the door closed behind her. “I’ve had it up to here,” she said as she motioned with her hand against her forehead, “with the arguing, the fighting, and the side-stepping. I get it, you’re worried about Bexley. So am I. But fighting and beating one another to high hell isn’t going to get her home sooner, nor is it going to keep us safe.”

“She’s right,” I said.

That tugged Ronyn and Voss’s stares toward me, but I simply shrugged. Merida was right. We did too much infighting and not enough outward fighting. We didn’t stand a chance in hell of getting our mate back if we didn’t pull it together.

Merida pinned Voss with a look. “Ronyn’s right, by the way. As much as we all hate the fact that Bexley’s not here with us, we have to assume that she’s fine. That woman’s endured more than her fair share of heartache and sorrow while on the job. This won’t be any different.”

“How do you even know she’s alive?” Voss asked.

Ronyn growled. “Say that shit one more time.”

“Or what?” Voss spat.

“Silence!” Merida shrieked.

Her voice echoed around the sniper’s nest, and it caused me to jam my finger into my ear and wiggle it around.

“Jesus,” I said breathlessly.

Merida’s cold, hard stare volleyed between the two of us. “That woman has been beaten while on the job, raped just for fun, tortured for information, and that’s just the beginning stages of it. Her survival skills don’t just keep her alive in the forest, they keep her alive everywhere she goes. That woman pushes through pains you wouldn’t even believe. Chronic pains that I’ve helped her treat while she’s here just so she can rest a bit easier.”

That gave me pause. “Wait, what kind of chronic pain?”

“She’s been raped?” Voss snarled.

Ronyn’s face was stunned as Merida continued speaking. “She’s capable of more than the three of you will ever be, combined. So how about instead of fighting and ripping one another apart from the inside out like that vampire bitch wants, we band together and trust our instincts. Yeah? The three of you think you can give that a fucking shot?”

“Trust our instincts…” Ronyn muttered softly.

Merida scoffed. “Yeah, even the instincts you hate.”

Silence fell around us for the longest time. Even though I knew it would get me chastised, I couldn’t help but say the words rattling around in my brain.

“Did she tell you who raped her?” I asked.

“Names,” Voss simply demanded.

Merida rolled her eyes. “I swear to?—”

Ronyn cleared his throat. “I can help with the efforts to find a secondary place to call home. I’ll notify the troops patrolling the woods to keep an eye out for anything flat and suitable.”

Voss drew in a deep, sobering breath as the anger finally cleared from his face. “Ronyn, I’m going to put a specific tracking team together to go after Bexley. Think you can help me piece together a team?”

Ronyn nodded. “Already got a few names in mind that could help you out. Lieutenant Rhonda, for starters.”

I licked my lips before I spoke. “How’s the potion creation coming along, Merida?”

She rolled her shoulders back and sighed. “Haven’t been hunched over my desk like this in a while, but we’re making good progress.”

Voss’s voice was gruff. “Think you can find someone to whip up some of that healing salve so we can keep it in our pockets?”

Merida wiggled her eyebrows. “Like that wasn’t the first thing we did.”

I watched her jam her hands into the pockets of her robe before she pulled things out. She passed out three circular tins to us before she pulled small vials out from various other pockets. I watched her dip her hands into her robe before she pulled out three more vials. She wrapped her hands around her back, digging through something behind her before she pulled out yet another three vials. Every time she stuck her hand into her massive robe somewhere, she removed more vials. More tins. More colorful fluids that sparkled with energy.

She was like Mary Poppins’ endless bag, and the more she pulled out, the more impressed I became.

“Well,” I said as Merida finished placing all of the vials and tins on the circular table we all stood around, “I officially think my pants don’t have enough pockets.”

Voss barked with laughter as Ronyn chuckled. Merida passed out the vials.

“This is only to get you guys started, but don’t be afraid to jostle these vials around. They look like glass, but they’re tempered. It’ll take a lot of force to smash these things.”

Ronyn laced his pockets with his vials and tins. “So, these aren’t for the vampires.”

Merida shook her head. “No, these are for you guys. The tins are varying degrees of topical pain salves. You can tell how strong it is by sniffing it. The stronger the pain medication, the stronger the juniper scent.”

Voss grinned. “Juniper. Smart.”

Merida shrugged. “Well, I can’t do most other flavorings and scents because it’ll draw them in. So, most of these potions will either smell or taste like either juniper or garlic.”

“Perfect,” I said, stuffing my own pockets.

Merida picked up a small vial with green liquid in it. “You’ve got your stereotypical vials that I always give out. You know, the red ones that are meant for faster healing and the blue ones for any sort of basic poisoning or whatever. But, these green ones? They’re new.”

“What do they do?” Voss asked as he spun a vial filled with green liquid around in his hand.

Merida smiled proudly. “They mask your shifting scent.”

“What?” the three of us asked in unison.

Merida giggled. “I finally figured it out. Took me damn near all year, but I found a potion we can use to temporarily mask the scent we give out when we shift.”

Ronyn’s brow furrowed tightly. “How much more do you have of this?”

Merida wiggled her eyebrows playfully. “I’ve got my healers working on a third batch as we speak. I want to try and load down everyone’s houses with it, so they can grab it as necessary.”

Voss nodded. “You stay on that. And get us as much of that as you can.”

I interjected. “But don’t pass over anyone to get it to us.”

“Yeah, don’t do that,” Ronyn said with a shake of his head.

Merida snickered. “Trust me, I know how you guys’ roll. I’ll make sure the pack is taken care of.”

“Is there anything you need that my men can keep an eye out for?” Ronyn asked. “Ingredients? Tree barks? Saps?”

Merida shook her head. “Not that I can think of. But, if there’s something that comes up, I’ll be sure to reach out.”

“Don’t hesitate,” Voss said.

“I won’t, Alpha,” she said.

There was a beat of silence as all of us continued to stuff our pockets and crevices with everything that Merida brought us. I swear, she kept this fucking show on the road sometimes, especially in times of trouble.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” she said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

Ronyn and Voss stayed silent as Merida drew in a deep breath. “Where the hell did all that fire come from?”

I looked over at Voss and watched him chew on his lower lip.

“Seriously,” Merida said with a shrug, “now that things have settled down a bit for now, have we even considered where the hell Delilah and those vampires got all of that fire to use? Because it wasn’t one of my healers.”

Ronyn shook his head. “It wasn’t one of my troops, either.”

I shook my head as well. “I’m not sure of anyone in the pack that can throw fire like that. Does Bexley have anyone in her pack that can do that?”

Voss chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Not that I can recall, though I haven’t asked.”

“We should,” Merida said, “because whoever that was? They could be useful.”

A thought occurred to me. “Unless…”

All three sets of eyes slowly panned toward me, but it was Voss who spoke first. “Unless what, Dom?”

Ronyn nodded. “Yeah, spit it out.”

I drew in a deep breath and sighed. “When I was in the woods with Delilah? You know, trapped in that ring of fire? There was a moment that happened that…”

All three of them locked their stares with me, waiting for my next set of words.

“Dominic,” Voss said curtly.

I cleared my throat and shook the memories from the front of my mind. “Sorry. Uh, anyway. When Delilah finally walked out of the fire toward me after getting me attached to that tree, she showed off this… this ring she’s got on her hand.”

“A ring?” Merida asked.

“A ring,” Voss said.

“That’s it?” Ronyn asked.

I rolled my eyes. “No, that’s not it, jagoff. What I mean is, she had this ring on her finger that matched her dress. You know, red and all that? And the stone in the middle was massive. Even with as much pain as I was in, I plainly saw this sort of… energy… swirling around in it. And as I studied her ring, guess what she did?”

“Oh, boy,” Voss muttered.

“What?” Merida and Ronyn asked together.

I swallowed thickly. “She held out her palm while I studied that ring and a fireball appeared in her hand.”

All of their faces fell as I drew in a slow, steady breath.

“The fire… was Delilah. And for whatever the reason, my gut told me that the ring I saw on her hand had something to do with it.”

Voss pinned me with a look. “Did she say anything about it? Did she tell you anything about it?”

Ronyn and Merida waited on bated breath as I shrugged. “The only thing she asked me was whether or not I liked it, and that it was a gift from a very dear person in her life.”

“Enchantment,” Merida whispered.

“What?” I asked.

Merida licked her lips. “You said the middle of the stone seemed to be swirling. Or alive. Right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, something like that. Though, I was pretty disoriented, so?—”

She shook her head quickly. “If Delilah’s got an enchanted ring, that means she’s got more than just vampires on her side.”

That brought silence back down onto all three of us before Voss spoke in that commanding voice of his.

“For now, all we can do is protect what is ours while we search for Bexley. We all have our roles, so let’s get to it. And Merida?”

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Keep at it with those potions and salves. I want every house on this compound stocked as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Alpha,” she said before she bowed her head and quickly exited the snipers’ nest.

Voss’s gaze volleyed between me and Ronyn as his voice lowered. “Enchantment only means one thing.”

“Witch,” Ronyn growled.

I shrugged. “Or warlock.”

Voss nodded. “But either way, it’s not good. If that ring allows her to wield fire, then as far as I’m concerned, she’s capable of anything we’re capable of. Treat that with the respect and diligence it requires.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Ronyn and I said in unison.

“Anything else?” Voss asked as he looked over at me.

I shook my head along with Ronyn.

Nodding his head, Voss dismissed us.

We wasted no time getting out of that nest and back to our packs so that we could execute phase two of our plan.

Even if we were flying by the seat of our fucking pants in the process.