Free to Love (The Tribe MC: Chase of Prey Book 3) Read online

  But she had to try.

  She took Sebastian’s silver knife. He resisted, but she pressed a fleeting kiss to his cheek and staggered to her feet. She was beyond tired and all the fighting that she had done had done nothing more than drain her and empower Gregory. It would’ve been laughable if it wasn’t so lethal.

  Gregory circled her. She lashed out with the knife and managed to slice off small section of his ear. Blood, dark burgundy and stinking, came from that incision, but it didn’t slow him down.

  Cara was sure that she was going to die, but she wasn’t sure if she even cared anymore. Sebastian was mortally wounded; if he died, her life would not be worth living anyway.

  Gregory lunged at her, his fangs coming within inches of her face. She managed to twist away just before he sank his teeth into her but he got close enough for her to smell his fetid breath. The odor made her gag, but she took advantage of his proximity, thrusting the knife into his soft belly. Gregory howled with pain and dropped to the earth, shifting back into his human form for a moment.

  He looked up at her, just a young boy with enormous eyes and a shock of hair that needed brushing. Her heart softened and she dropped her guard for a moment — and that was exactly what Gregory had wanted. He rose up again in full Wolf form, his pale flesh covered in matted, stinking fur.

  His claws sliced into her tender skin. Blood poured from her arm and she screamed. Tears of agony exploded from her eyes and she lashed out, kicking and punching wildly as he took her to the ground.

  His heavy body was on top of hers. Cara managed to get an elbow between him and her throat but she wasn’t sure how long that would last. His teeth snapped right in front of her face and above the side of her neck where her jugular vein rested.

  A howl sounded out behind her. Her heart sank. There was another rogue joining the fight. She was afraid she would not live through this, and neither would Sebastian. Tears flowed even faster down her cheeks but they were no longer tears of physical pain — they were tears of emotional agony.

  Gregory was snatched off her body and tossed down the alley of trees. Cara stared up in shock at the enormous golden–brown Wolf who stood above her in a protective stance. His eyes were blue, human and instantly recognizable. It was Sebastian!

  She managed to stand. Sebastian paced in front of her, his hindquarters twitching and his tail moving from side to side, until Gregory returned and faced him, his own growls low and throaty.

  It was Gregory that made the first move, coming in low into the right, then switching at the last moment to attack Sebastian’s left, but a quick slash of Sebastian’s paw sent him reeling up against the side of the house.

  Gregory let out a howl of pain and shape-shifted. He faced his brother and said, “Listen to me, Sebastian, none of this was my fault. They made me this way. I never asked for this. I didn’t ask to be part of the Tribe! I don’t want to be part of them! And I don’t want anything to do with the old Fallen order either! A lot of us don’t want that. We want to be free — we want to be able to run like we once did, to know the taste of human flesh.

  “Give in, brother, you know you want to. All you have to do is take one bite. It’s the most delicious meat you have ever known.”

  Cara felt frozen. Would Gregory be able to convince his older brother to go rogue? And if he did that, would Gregory be willing to share magic with him, blood so that Sebastian could shape-shift?

  Gregory’s tone became wheedling. “She’s just a human, Sebastian. She’s nothing like us. And you don’t have to kill her — you can keep her to bleed over and over if you like. I’m experimenting, or at least, I was. You found one of my experiments in the basement, remember?”

  Sebastian growled even lower this time and the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Cara wanted to reach out and stroke that golden ruff of fur. She wanted to believe that Sebastian loved her, that she mattered more to him than anything else in the world, but what Gregory offered was tempting beyond belief.

  “Why do you think it was so easy for me to turn so many, Sebastian? They were tired of it. They were tired of eating chicken and fish and drinking the pale blood of grass-fed cattle. They wanted the best meat; they wanted human flesh. And they wanted to be able to have the safety of appearing human.

  “Why must we be bound by the Covenant rules set out for us by those already long dead? The Fallen has become weak. We have become lap dogs. Tell me that does not bother you, brother. Tell me that you do not long to feel her throat beneath your teeth. Tell me you don’t want the rush of blood in your mouth, in the back of your throat, warming your belly. Look at me, brother, and say that you don’t want that.”

  Sebastian continued to pace in front of Cara. Gregory was stark naked. His eyes bored into Cara’s eyes as he said, “Our father seduced a Queen and you will have done the same, but our father was too weak to do the right thing and kill her. He was too weak to know that she was holding him captive to her.

  “I did him a favor by killing her. She was a traitor to her own people and eventually she would’ve been a traitor to ours. I caught her trying to leave. She was tired of him, tired of life with the Fallen. She was afraid of me — can you imagine that? She could not leave him when I was young and allow him to give me the attention that I deserved. No, she had to wait until I was grown, knowing that if she left then he would blame me.

  “She intended to tell him that I could shift. It was supposed to be my little secret, but she caught me hunting one night, taking a bite out of a delicious little morsel that she killed out of pity. I had to get rid of her and I would do it again.

  “Now you have to get rid of your Queen, Sebastian. It’s time to pick where your loyalties lie. Either you are Fallen or not. You cannot have both.”

  Cara shouted, “You are both, Gregory! Whether you like it or not you are both!”

  Sebastian leaped.

  He landed on top of Gregory. Black Wolf and golden Wolf rolled across the earth, blood and teeth glinting in the moonlight. Cara knew that she had to do something to help. She had accidentally made Gregory stronger; there had to be a way to make him weaker too.

  Of course! She could draw energy from any living thing — it was part of what being Tribe was all about. She stood up and held her hands out, rooting her feet firmly into the earth. She closed her eyes, lifted her arms high in the air and felt the energy drifting in towards her, slowly at first, then faster and faster. She opened her eyes and brought her hands in front of her until her fingers were pointed directly at Gregory.

  Sebastian was panting. Even in Wolf shape, healing faster than he ever could have in his human form, he was exhausted. Cara was about to even the odds.

  She spoke one word and reached, not just with her fingers, but with her mind. A ripple of power came rippling out of Gregory. That power was black, stinking and corrupt. It danced along the ground, flattening everything in its wake and setting small bushes and grass alight.

  When it hit Cara, she was thrown backwards, her back hitting a tree hard enough that she was almost knocked unconscious. She had no choice but to grapple with the power. She had to find a way to disperse it without taking it in. It was evil, pure and simple.

  Sebastian knew what she had done. He also knew that this was his one opportunity; he had to stop Gregory now. He had to kill his own brother. His muscular Wolf body tensed and he lunged, then leapt, flying through the air. His fangs met Gregory’s fur and dug deep to find the vein where Gregory’s life force hid, then ripped it open.

  Cara was crying. She had sent Gregory’s power into the swamp. Alligators were battling each other, eating their own kind while raptors darted down from the sky to meet suicide even as they fought to take part in the unholy feast.

  From inside the house came victorious cries. The rogues must have been able to feel their leader’s death, because they were turning tail and running. Sebastian dragged his broken and bleeding body over to where Cara sat, her back pressed against a tree. He dropped his muzzle int
o her lap. She took off her silver necklace and put it gently around his neck. Her fingers stroked the bloodstained ruff there and he closed his eyes, wanting only to stay with her for a little while longer. He felt his body transforming back into human shape and the pain became almost unbearable.

  Many of the people who had stayed inside the house were giving chase to the rogues. The policewoman who’d been using the poker was in the front of the human pack. Sebastian looked after them with a bemused expression. “I think Detective Johnson is going to have to make sure that she gets a promotion.”

  “I think I’m going to have to induct her into the ranks of the Hunters,” Detective Johnson said, appearing near them. His dark eyes took in Sebastian’s condition and Cara’s as well. “How bad is it?”

  “I will live. I’m sure you’re not happy to hear that.”

  If Detective Johnson noticed Sebastian’s sarcasm, he didn’t give any indication. “I will never hunt you again,” he replied. “That is, unless you do something that goes beyond the pale. Are we clear?”

  “Everyone has a different definition of what goes beyond the pale.”

  “Yes, that’s probably true,” Johnson sighed. “We should get a tourniquet on that leg.”

  Cara watched as the Hunter knelt down and removed the belt from around his waist, wrapping it tightly around Sebastian’s thigh to stop the bleeding. She knew suddenly what her vision from earlier that night had meant. Her hands tightened as the vision hovered on the edges of her vision, but she forced it back. There would be time for all of that later.

  “I appreciate it,” Sebastian grunted.

  “You saved my life, but don’t think that makes me indebted to you.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of thinking it, Hunter.” Sebastian gritted his teeth as Detective Johnson yanked a little harder than was necessary on the belt.

  Detective Johnson stood and looked towards the house. “I’ve never seen rogues like that before. I’ve never even heard of such a thing. Why were they so strong?”

  “Because they’re rogues who possess magic,” Cara explained. “They found a way to shift even though they eat human flesh.”

  “I see. So it’s not over, is it?”

  Sebastian answered that. “We can’t say for sure. Gregory was their leader, and he’s dead now, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to simply give up and go away. They’ve got nowhere to go now. They can’t call themselves Fallen anymore and none of the Fallen will ever take them in. They can’t live as human because — ”

  “Because it would be hard to blend into a suburban neighborhood if you were eating your neighbors?” Johnson offered.

  Sebastian managed a weak chuckle, “I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

  “Well, I guess you and I might be working together more than we would like.”

  Sebastian met the detective’s eyes squarely. “Members of my family helped to create this mess. I won’t rest until it’s finished.”

  Detective Johnson’s eyes went to Cara. “How about you? Are you one of the Fallen?”

  “Not exactly. But the Tribe and the Fallen are mixing now. We have no choice. You’ve always known that to be an enemy of the Tribe was a terrible thing. To be an enemy of the Tribe and the Fallen when they stand as one is the worst thing that can happen, Detective.”

  “Like I said, I won’t hunt you so long as you don’t go beyond the pale.”

  “You don’t need to worry,” Cara said. “I have no reason to go beyond what you call the pale. I’m on your side, believe it or not. In fact, everyone in that house and out here in these RVs is on your side. We’ve always been on the side of the Hunters. At some point, the Hunters stopped just hunting the rogues and started hunting down the Fallen, even though the Fallen had made a pact not to eat humans. Whatever animosity lies between the Hunters and the Fallen, it is because the Hunters would never leave the Fallen alone.”

  Detective Johnson said, “I see. Well, let’s call a truce, shall we?”

  Sebastian and Cara both held out their hands. Detective Johnson took Cara’s hand in one of his and Sebastian’s in the other; they all shook on it.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Tribe was scattering. The RVs were packed and rolling out of town. That morning, at a hasty makeshift breakfast, the Elders had decided that the best thing to do would be to get the women and younger people out of the city. If there were rogues elsewhere, they had not made themselves known yet, but here in New Orleans there was still a pack of rogues thirsting for Tribe or Fallen blood.

  Nico charged several of his best men, all of them true Tribe, to go along with the caravans. They would need protection as they left not just the city, but the state. Several of the Fallen decided to go along to protect the others as well.

  The news had given them a good idea of what was going on inside their warehouses and safehouses, but they knew that the reporters had been instructed to hold some things back. There was no place that was actually safe.

  Cara had been able to scrounge a pair of jeans that clung a little too tightly, a t-shirt that showed quite plainly she didn’t have a bra yet, and a pair of heavy boots from amongst the people in the caravans. She’d pinned her black hair back carefully, but a few tendrils had broken loose and hung around her face in appealing little curls. Sebastian had also managed to get some clean clothes and his jeans, like Cara’s, were a little too small, his firm butt cheeks lifted and outlined nicely within that casing of tight denim.

  As the last of the RVs rolled out of sight Cara leaned against Sebastian and asked, “What do we do now?”

  “Get on with our lives.” He kissed her firmly. “That’s what we are going to do.”

  CHAPTER 8

  The woods were quiet. The long, leafy limbs of the centuries–old live and water oaks stretched out far, blocking most of the brutal summer sun. Cara lay on a blanket below a tree, staring up through the shifting patterns of shade and sunlight with a thoughtful frown on her face.

  Beside her on the old red blanket lay a book and a set of files. The heat seemed to be climbing with every breath. The humidity pressed down on her, causing sweat to shimmer along her body and pool inside her navel.

  There was a strong kick from inside her belly and she placed her hand on it, stroking the child cocooned in her own flesh. A single tear slid down her face. This was not how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be surrounded by Tribe women chanting and casting spells. Instead, the only singing that was going on was coming from the birds and the occasional babble from the tiny yet busy creek that lay a few feet from where she had spread her blanket.

  Cara would have given anything to have had the circle of Elders surrounding her, waiting to give approval to a child born of the purest Tribe blood. But the blood was no longer pure; it was now mixed with the blood of the Fallen.

  She would never regret that. This was Sebastian’s child that would be coming soon. This would be a child who, like its uncle Gregory, would be of mixed blood, and who might be capable of magic such as they had never seen before.

  Her back cramped again, a vicious and steely spasm that made her roll over onto her side with one hand to her mouth to smother her cries. It took all her willpower to not forcibly bear down as hard as she could. It wasn’t time yet.

  So much had changed since that last battle. The tide of rogues had been slowed. They might never know the true extent of Gregory’s treachery, but they had found out was that the rogues that he had turned through sharing his blood were not able to create more rogues with the same abilities.

  That had been a huge relief. There were not many of them left these days. The few Hunters who had survived that night at the old plantation had vowed to hunt down the rogues across the globe, and to leave the Tribe and the Fallen alone so long as they were not rogues themselves.

  The Tribe and the Fallen had intermingled so much that they had no choice but to treat each other civilly as possible. Not that all of them did — there were still deaths and infi
ghting and there probably always would be. The motorcycle club known as the Fallen and the one that had been known as the Tribe had formally disbanded, but a new one had sprung up from its ashes: Phoenix. It had members of both and they had headed for Las Vegas, looking for money and good times. From what Cara heard, there were plenty of both to be had.

  Another cramp struck her and she clenched her teeth.

  Above her, the branches of the trees rustled, and she did not dare look up. The smell of blood coming from between her legs now was heavy and rich. She could smell copper and iron; she could feel the pain clawing its way through her as her child struggled to make its way out into the world.

  In one corner of her vision, black engineer boots appeared, coming closer to her. When she tilted her head just slightly, she could see the motorcycle parked under the tree.

  Sebastian came closer, his blond hair shining in the afternoon sun. “Are you sure this is how this needs to be done?”

  “You sound afraid.” The words came out in a gasp.

  “That’s because I am afraid. I’m fucking terrified. You should be in the hospital getting drugs pumped into your system. Somebody from your family should be here. I don’t know a damn thing about bringing kids into the world. For all I know I’m going to screw this up and lose you and our child.”

  She laughed at his panic, but it was not really humorous at all. They both knew how high the stakes were. The vision she’d had the night that the Hunters and cops had crashed through the door of the house where they now lived had been strong, so strong that even though Gregory was dead and years had passed between the original rebellion of the rogues and this moment, she still did not trust that her child was out of danger.

  Her hands slid down to her distended belly. Her child. Her lips curved in a smile despite the pain that she was enduring.

  They had chosen to come to this house to live and wait for the baby because they needed privacy. But it wasn’t just the rogues that they feared — it was the child himself.