16. Cannon

Royce was waitingfor us at the edge of town. His look of anticipation turned sour as we approached. “Seriously? Again with the misery and the sad faces? Didn’t you just complete the bond?”

“Royce—”

“You don’t have to Royce me,” he snapped with frustration. “The whole pack felt it.” Kezia spluttered as she choked on fresh air, which made Royce laugh out loud, easing the tension in his shoulders. “Your privacy is intact, Kezia. We didn’t get any sordid details, but we all felt our alpha get stronger. It was…a good feeling.” He beamed at us both, the smile turning into a scowl as he ran his gaze over me. “For fuck’s sake, don’t tell me you’ve screwed it up already?”

I gaped at him. “Why are you only asking me if I’ve screwed up? Do you remember who I’m mated to?”

“Nuh-uh, I’m innocent!” Kezia protested loudly.

“Really?” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “After what we just did?” I teased her. My laughter at her bright blush was cut short when she punched me in the gut.

“That’s better.” Royce looked at us both with delight. “This is what you present to the pack, not the faces of doom you just met me with.”

Sobering, I met Kezia’s worried frown. “It’s a serious time.”

“I know,” Royce agreed, sobering with me. “But if there’s no moments of joy, what are we fighting for?”

“Bale tried to rape my mate.”

“He tried to kill my mate,” Kezia added angrily, glaring at me for Luna knows what this time. “And my brother.”

Royce let out a long sigh as he rubbed his forehead tiredly. “Right. Moments of happiness can wait. Let’s get to work.”

Kezia and I exchanged a look, and although we both shared the same feeling of urgency, when we met pack members on our way through town, we accepted the well wishes, blessings, and congratulations. We took our time to get to the house, ensuring that the pack saw their alphas.

“I don’t think we fooled anyone,” I muttered to Kezia once I realized there were too many of my pack who weren’t in the least surprised Kezia was who I was mated to.

“Maybe the thing Royce spoke about told them?”

“Both still living in denial?” Royce asked over his shoulder. “Let me be blunt: you’re both shit at being subtle. This pack knew who your mate truly was months ago.”

I caught Kezia’s flushed cheeks, and with a laugh, I pulled her closer to me. Bending, I kissed her openly in the middle of the street. It felt good not to hide the fact who she belonged to anymore.

When I pulled back, we walked hand in hand to my house. In the study, Nikan, Kris and Doc waited for us. Kezia gave her brother a sheepish wave, but his answering eye roll had her grinning, and I loved seeing her look so at ease.

“How do we know she can be trusted?” And just like that, Nikan sucked the atmosphere out of the room.

“She’s my mate.”

“She was your mate the night she left you too.”

“She is my bonded mate.”

Nikan snorted and Kezia stepped in front of me, no doubt thinking I was going to punch him.

“You have every right to be mad at me,” she told Nikan, her voice low but steady. “I shouldn’t have left. But he threatened my brother.” She held Nikan’s angry gaze calmly. “Glare at me all you want, Nikan. I know, if it was Cannon whose life had been threatened, you would have done the same as me.”

“I wouldn’t have.”

Royce’s cough sounded a lot like bullshit, and Nikan spun to him.

“Nikan!” My voice stilled the words of anger on my brother’s tongue. “Mistakes were made. Things we all regret. We need to focus on what’s in front of us. Now we have sight of the bigger picture.” Tucking Kezia under my arm, I looked at all those gathered in my study. The door opened and we all reacted as if we were about to defend ourselves, but the three shifters who came into my study had me momentarily speechless.

Leo led the shaman into the room, and much to my surprise and Kris’s, Cass made up the trio.

“Cass?” Kris was at her side, a worried glance my way letting me know he wasn’t sure what to do next.

“The shaman said we all needed to be here.” Her eyes met Kezia’s, and she looked away quickly, looking up at Kris with wide eyes. “I don’t want to be here.”

Kezia spoke over her brother, and she wasn’t giving a shit whose mate it was. “Tough, Cass. No one wants to be here. Not for this. But you’re an alpha’s mate. Act like it.”

Cass whirled on her best friend, the first fire I had seen in her…ever. “Because you’re so perfect?” Her screech was almost deafening.

“Goddess, Cass, hardly!” Kezia marched forward and jabbed a finger in her friend’s chest. “But this isn’t a chore you can bat your eyelashes at to get out of! This is serious! Your father’s lost his mind!”

“Says you!”

“Says the silver collar around our necks,” Kris reminded her.

Cass’s eyes filled with tears, and with a sob, she burrowed her head into Kris’s chest and wept. Noisily.

It didn’t help that Kezia rolled her eyes or that her brother looked ready to throttle her when he saw her do it. The shamans weary sigh lessened the tension in the room.

“Kezia, why don’t you tell us what happened, and then we can fill you in on what you’ve missed.”

I saw the change in how she held herself. She went from fiery to uncertain in the blink of an eye, and when she looked back at me, I slipped my hand into hers, squeezing slightly to let her know I had her covered.

“I can tell you.” Quickly I relayed Kezia’s ordeal. Cass cried more, but her worry for her brother made her focus, and eventually, her anger at her father dried her tears.

When I was done and my mate was leaning against me, carefully avoiding looking at anyone, the shaman told us what had happened to him. “They took me from my bed. I knew something was coming. There had been signs for days. I’m ashamed to say I was looking outward for a threat. I never thought the threat would come from within so soon. Not yet. They took me by surprise.”

“Moonstar got you out?” Kezia asked as she pressed into me more.

“Yes.” He looked over at Cass. “I’m sorry, Cassandra, but it was too late for your mother.”

Cass collapsed onto the floor, her grief overwhelming her. Kezia stepped away from me when Cass pushed Kris away, and I watched as Kezia crossed the room to console her, lowering herself to the floor. She wrapped her in her arms as Cass wept for her loss.

“Does Landon know?” Cass asked Kezia through her tears. “You were with him, Kez, does he know?” When Kezia shook her head, Cass’s misery turned to anger. “Don’t lie to me. Did he look like he knew?”

Kezia licked her lips, her tell when she was nervous, but once more, she shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think he believes you’re both being held with Kris.”

Kris crouched down beside Cass, murmuring too low for me to hear, and when Cass nodded, he scooped her up and withdrew from the room.

“He is too gentle with her,” I said to no one in particular.

“She just found out her mom is dead,” Kezia said with a sigh, her eyes on the closed door. “She needs some time.”

The shaman sensed my stare. “You are both right. She needs to understand this is not a game, but she should be allowed to grieve.”

“There’s a time and a place for mourning,” Leo mumbled.

“There is,” I agreed. “But, we also need to be more understanding.”

“What’s the plan?” Nikan asked brusquely. “We need to retaliate and we need to do it soon.”

“I’m aware, thanks,” I snapped at my brother, and I saw Kezia’s frown. She said nothing but pressed into me again, her arm slipping around my waist. It was remarkable how much her being beside me soothed me. Before, I would have felt restlessness when she was near, and now I realized it was the pull of the bond needing to be completed that had caused that feeling. Blowing out a breath, I met my brother’s stare. “We’re on edge. We’ve heard a lot tonight that we weren’t expecting. I think it’s best to take a moment to absorb everything we have learned.”

“I don’t need a moment,” Nikan snapped. “I’ve absorbed all I need the weeks you lay dying.”

“Nik—”

“I’m sorry, Nikan.”

I looked down at Kezia in surprise at her apology. “I know it’s me you’re pissed at. I also know Tev would still have made a move against your brother, even if I had been here. Me leaving worked in their favor to allow doubt to be spread between us, but the attack itself, I couldn’t have stopped that. What Moonstar would have done is heal Cannon quicker. That is all. I couldn’t have done that either.”

“You shouldn’t have left.”

“I know.”

Nikan’s glare was focused on the bookshelf, but he glanced at my mate as she stood beside me, her gaze calm and steady. “You trusted none of us,” he added.

“I trust you all,” Kezia said quickly. “I trusted you all to stop me.”

His eyes flicked back to hers in understanding. “Which is why you never told us.”

“He’s my brother.” Kezia shrugged almost apologetically. “Saving him was the only thing I could focus on.”

“And I have already pointed out to my mate,” I cut off Nikan’s next words, “that I saved her brother. We did.”

“Because the semantics are what’s going to win this war,” Kezia drawled, but no one missed that her head dipped or that her smile was forced.

“We both have things to learn,” I reminded her softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Right?”

“Right.” As she tilted her head to look up at me, I leaned in and gently pressed my lips against hers. To my delight, she responded by lifting herself slightly, meeting my kiss with a touch more urgency, deepening the connection between us.

“The Goddess is happy,” the shaman declared. Kezia and I both turned to look at him. “I feel her presence, and she is content that the bond is strong.” The old shifter leaned back in his chair. “But her anger is equally as strong.”

“At us?” Nikan asked, glancing our way.

“At Bale,” I corrected. “He strikes against the packs, against pack law. A pack leader is not an alpha, no matter how downtrodden his pack is.”

“Not all of the pack are guilty,” the shaman reminded us.

“None of them are innocent,” I reminded him. “They are complacent with the way he runs that pack. They have been complicit in the treatment of Kezia for years. None of them can be called innocent.”

“Cannon,” Kezia murmured. “Not everyone is strong like you.”

“You’re too kind, Kezia,” Royce told her. “Your life there was not a happy one, yet you still defend them.”

“I had Cass,” she answered simply. “And Landon.”

“Hmm, tell me how that worked out again, the friend who wishes you to give him an alpha child.”

“You make it seem sordid.”

“Because it is!” Leo and Nikan were both nodding in agreement with me. “If you are only friends, then where does the idea to impregnate you come from?”

“I think he was trying to save me,” she countered. “I don’t think he wants that any more than I did.” She wasn’t looking at me when she spoke, and I think my mate forgot about our bond. I could feel her uncertainty. Kezia had expressed her doubts about Landon, confiding in me that she wasn’t certain she could trust him. However, I also knew now wasn’t the time to press her. We had a pack war on our hands, and that was where our focus needed to be.

“Kezia?” Leo spoke from his position on the couch. “Can you tell me about this compound? How many shifters are there?”

“There were rooms, some with a bathroom, some like mine, where there wasn’t. Cameras all over. In rooms, in the shower block.”

“Shower block?” Royce asked.

“Landon took me there. Another shifter came to…” She swallowed hard. “To watch.”

“Watch you shower?” Nikan asked gruffly.

“Yes.” Rolling her head on her shoulders, Kezia tried to loosen herself up. “Bale said that if I didn’t cooperate, Landon was to give me to the men.” She paused to wet her lips. “I don’t know how many men there are, and when I got free, I…” She looked at me for support, and I sent it through our bond. “I wasn’t myself when I left.”

“I understand.” Leo was frowning as he thought. “How many stalls?”

“What?”

“In the shower block, how many stalls?”

Pushing her hair off her face, Kezia closed her eyes briefly. “There weren’t any. But there were showerheads… Fifteen?” Opening them, she looked at Leo. “Five on three walls, one wall was bare.”

“Bare? Or were there lockers?” he pressed.

“Um…” Again she closed her eyes. “Not lockers, open compartments for…towels?” She looked between Leo and me. “Does that help?”

“Fifteen means his pack is big.” Leo spoke to Kezia, but his attention was on me. “We need to assume fifteen men per shift, eight-hour shifts…”

“Forty-five pack at least,” Royce grumbled in agreement. “Separate from his main pack. Kezia, how many can fight in the pack?”

The doors to the study opened, and Kris came back in. Leo quickly told him his thoughts, and I watched the other alpha pale, his gaze darting to his sister’s frequently.

“The females of the pack do not fight,” he told us all, shame tinging his cheeks. “Kez can, Cass as well, although she is not proficient in it.” Kris rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. “The pack numbers are seventy-three. Forty of those are males, who have been trained by me.”

“Eighty-five fighters.” Royce and I shared a look. “At least,” I added.

“We have those numbers,” Leo reminded me.

“We do, but it’s all our numbers…”

“And we have to assume that Tev has told them everything.”

“Fuck, I knew I would regret letting him live.”

“You should never regret mercy, Alpha,” the shaman corrected me.

“When it hurts my mate, he can,” Kezia bit out. “We can’t leave the pack here vulnerable.” She began to pace, her frown matching her brother’s. “You don’t know their numbers, and you don’t know if where I was held is the only place they have. We know so little, and as Royce said, we need to assume that traitor told them everything about Blackridge Peak.”

“And they have the Pack Council,” Kris added. “Which means Bale has our law in his pocket.”

“So the odds aren’t good,” Royce said with a shrug, a knowing look in his eye. “Right, Alpha?”

“Right.” I grinned at them all. “But when has that stopped us?”