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CHANTI CHECKED HER bag once more for all the medicines she’d created for Tania. Then, taking a heavy, deep breath, she walked out of their house and went straight to Marty’s house next door.
As she strolled down the dirt road which was the main street in their little shanty town, she realized how happy she was. It was amazing how quickly she’d adapted to life out here.
She would never have thought she could do without all the conveniences of New Orleans, and maybe long term she would miss it. But for the moment, she was incredibly happy helping people who needed her, and being loved by a man who was perfect for her.
Kody seemed to adore her. And that was an incredible thing. A lot of the men she’d dated in the past had been intimidated by her power, or her abilities. And within the Voodoo religion, she was considered a priestess of sorts, and that came with it an untouchable quality that she had often wished was not there.
Especially during those many, many cold winter nights.
Kody said he loved her and for the first time in her life, she actually believed him when he said it. He admired her ability to heal and help people, and couldn’t get enough of touching her and kissing her.
He was strong and powerful, and yet, didn’t try to dominate or control her. It was a dream come true in many ways.
A deep, guttural moan echoed through the house as she pushed through the door of Marty’s house, and paused.
Tonight would be more important than she was allowing herself to admit. What had her prophecy meant? Who would fall? What was meant to combine and mingle? Whose bloodlines?
Did it mean that the strength of the pack was determined by Tania’s baby? A child whose bloodlines had already mixed those of a Voodoo mother and a wolf shifter father?
She honestly didn’t know, but her mission tonight was to keep Tania alive.
She pulled herself together and moved through the small, neat house and found Tania and Sharon in the bedroom.
Tania was pacing and Sharon sat on the bed, her already prematurely aged face looking ancient with stress.
“How’s everything going, Tania?” Chanti asked, placing her bags down on the dresser.
Tania gave her a look, rolling her eyes while sweat beaded on her forehead. “This is harder than I thought it would be already.”
Chanti smiled as the adrenaline kicked in and everything around her slowed down. She opened her bag and took out a natural pain killer she’d concocted. It would help Tania get through this.
“I’ve made you something to help with the pain. I’ll go mix it with some water and bring it to you.”
“Oh, thank you.” Tania smiled, her face relaxing.
Chanti ducked out of the room and got the potion ready. Sometimes her patients just needed to know that someone was there to help. That they could trust something outside of their own body which was betraying them by giving them a huge amount of pain.
And that was one of her main weapons.
Hope.
It trumped almost everything. Although this root mixture would help the physical pain, as there was a calming agent mixed in, too.
“Here you go.” She handed the glass to Tania, who downed the contents in a few gulps.
She grimaced as she handed the glass back. “That’s terrible.”
Chanti laughed. “Since when is our medicine nice tasting?”
Tania grinned back. “Ah, never.”
She grimaced as another pain hit, holding her breath.
“Just keep breathing, Tania. You’re doing beautifully. You need to envision what’s happening in your body. The cervix is opening up to let your baby out, so each contraction that comes through, visualize the tissues, and relax into it. The herbs will help you.”
Tania nodded and Chanti went to fetch her another glass of water.
Tania was still too pale, her skin damp and cold to the touch.
Despite everything, the werewolves and Kody believed in Fate, but Chanti wasn’t sure Tania was strong enough to get through this.
Only time would tell if she was wrong.
***
KODY WALKED UP TO HIS brother and put a hand on his shoulder. “We need to get the children out of town. Put them in a few cars and drive them to Crangie.”
Crangie was the next town over, about an hour south.
Marty frowned, his lips thinning into compressed lines. “What are you talking about, Kody?”
“Chanti’s had a premonition, and there’s going to be a fight tonight. She thinks the Voodoo community and the witches might be coming for us.”
Marty’s eyes narrowed, cynicism etched into his face. “How would she know this?”
“She’s a Voodoo priestess, Marty. Why wouldn’t she? And don’t give me that look.”
Marty should have been looking worried, not pondering Chanti’s motives in telling them this information.
“Chanti has done nothing but earn our trust,” Kody said. “You owe her, big time. And if she’s right about this, we’ll owe her again.”
He stared hard at his brother. It was difficult not to point out the fact that Marty was the reason they were all in danger. Marty had managed his mate badly, gotten caught, and almost died.
Marty crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw tightening in a stubborn set.
Kody began to feel frustrated. “Oh, come on, it’s one night. If she’s wrong, we bring them back in the morning.”
There were only eleven children under sixteen in the town. It wasn’t too difficult to move them to safety.
Marty sighed, shoulders sagging. “All right. Get one of the Davidson brothers to round them up, and take the minivan.”
“Good. And you need to get the men up and aware. There could be people coming.”
“But... what about Tania? I need to be here for her.”
“Tania needs Chanti, and she has Mom, too. We have a pack to protect, Marty.”
He shouldn’t have to remind his brother of that, but Kody tried not to be too critical of him. He didn’t really understand how his brother was feeling. His mate was in labor, and his son would be here by morning—with or without his mate’s life intact.
“But why would they choose to attack on a night like this?” Marty asked, hesitating at the door. “We are at our most powerful on the full moon.”
Kody hadn’t thought about that. And he didn’t have an answer.
“Marty, we’re wasting time. I couldn’t even begin to understand the workings of those people who tried to kill you and Tania. So, please, just get moving. I’ll meet you at the edge of the forest in half an hour.”
He slapped his brother on the back and went in search of Terry Davidson. He was their teacher and a great guy.
He found Terry at home eating dinner.
“Terry! I need your help.” Terry, who was in his fifties and wouldn’t be much help in a fight, got up from the table and came straight to the door.
“Of course, Kody. What do you need?”
“There’s a fight coming and we need someone to get the kids to safety.”
Terry’s eyes widened, then his jaw set. “I’ll organize the minivan and pick up all the already sleeping children. I have some family in Myrtle, it’s two hours away, but my sister has enough beds and food for all of us. I’ll bring the children back when the coast is clear.”
Which was probably better than trying to find somewhere to sleep in Crangie.
“Thanks, Terry.”
Terry headed off to get the keys and start rounding everyone up.
Kody turned back to the woods, the light of the full moon calling to him. Her power was beautiful, the strength she brought to their pack a magnificent gift.
His skin tingled as his wolf prowled inside him, knowing that soon he would be called to take over Kody’s body. To stretch his legs and enjoy the freedom that came with the one night of the month they had no choice but to surrender to their animals.
Maybe that was why the New Orleans people would come tonight? Maybe they believed the full moon would make them less lucid, and they would go running into the woods, leaving Tania and the other women alone.
Not likely.
It was pretty obvious the New Orleans people didn’t understand how shifting worked, and the fact that they had full control of their wolves.
He could see his brother in the distance, standing by the wood’s edge, a strange red-orange glow framing him.
Oh, fuck.
“Marty! Fire!”
He started running toward his brother.
Marty growled, the shift overcoming him as he bounded toward the edge of their town.
Marty had shifted by the time Kody reached him, the massive black wolf standing guard as the people of New Orleans ran toward them, fiery torches in hand.
Kody threw back his head and howled, calling to the other men in the pack. Marty joined him and Kody felt the pack running up behind them.
Surround the town. Don’t let them near Marty’s home. They want Tania. And Chanti.
He sent out the message via the telepathic connection he had to the dozen or so wolves that had joined them on the hill and they took off in opposite directions.
The men charged, their torches high. A gun shot rang out.
Oh, fuck. They’re shooting to kill. Take them down.
Marty stumbled and Kody ran to his brother.
You okay?
Yeah. Flesh wound. Let’s go.
Kody pushed aside any human feelings he had and ran at the men shooting at them. A bullet zinged past his head. He dove and weaved around the trees, then kept running.
One of the men was up ahead. He had a bald head and dark skin.
Kody jumped and flew through the air. Fire seared his shoulder as another shot filled the air, but he landed on target. Teeth bared, he ripped through the man’s throat. Hot, metallic blood spurted between his lips.
He growled and bit down, the man making a strange gurgling sound before his body went floppy.
Kody dropped the body, again pushing the humanity inside his mind to the background. It was screaming at him for the bloody murder.
He shot at me. Isn’t that self-defense?
Shut up. Focus.
Marty? Where are you? Marty?
When his brother didn’t reply, Kody started running back toward the town. No matter what, the most important thing was to keep their people safe.
A huge black wolf flew through the air, his face covered in red blood. Marty ripped through the hunter he’d been aiming for and the noise began to fade.
Less gun shots, and then even less.
It became almost too quiet. Eerily so.
Marty panted over the man’s dead body. Kody started toward him.
A high-pitched scream filled the air.
A female scream.
Damn. No!
Marty and Kody turned and bolted back to Marty’s house. There were three dead wolves on the way and Kody cringed, tears imminent for his fallen family. But he kept running.
As the house came into view, cold dread iced its way through Kody’s gut. The place was surrounded by strangers.
God. No. What do we do?
Kill them all, Marty replied.
His brother by his side, Kody charged. He ran full tilt at the people in front of his brother’s house.
He had to get to Chanti. His mate was inside and she was probably hurt. Or worse.
The people ahead of him weren’t paying attention to them. They had their heads bowed and their lips were muttering something incoherent. Heat seared his chest like someone had lit it on fire and he stumbled, falling to the ground.
His brother flew off into a nearby home. Kody gasped for air, pain unlike anything he’d ever felt, squeezing at his chest.
He reached forward, dragging himself along the dirt.
What had happened?
Where was everyone?
A big, black man walked up next to him and Kody bared his teeth, growling as menacingly as he could.
The man lifted a large silver dagger. Kody’s heart pounded hard against his ribs.
His human brain screamed at him to move, but he couldn’t even get up. His legs were weighted down and he could barely feel them.
What sorcery was this?
The huge man above him grunted and the knife came down with a flash of light—straight into his heart.
***
CHANTI’S WHOLE BODY seized up with pain and she dropped to her knees on the floor.
Her mind screamed out. But at what? What had happened?
“Chanti. What’s wrong?” Sharon asked as she mopped Tania’s brow with a cool washcloth.
Chanti gasped for air, her whole rib cage feeling as though it was in a vice, being squeezed tighter... and tighter. Something terrible had happened.
“I don’t know... I don’t know...”
Tania grunted and groaned, her panting becoming faster.
Mary, Tania’s mother, along with at least three other members of the sanction, burst into the room, suddenly, crowding her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Chanti panted, trying to deal with the pain coursing through her body, and the fact that the woman they’d been hiding from, had found them.
Mary spun on Chanti. “Help her, or I swear to God I’ll...”
Chanti pushed herself to her feet and glared at the old witch. “Or you’ll what?”
Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was pretty sure she was about to be sick.
Kody had just been hurt, badly. She was almost certain of it.
The rest of the town was dying as they spoke and Tania was minutes away from birthing a child that could kill her. At this rate, he probably would kill her.
There was blood everywhere.
Mary’s gaze swung from Chanti, to the bed where her daughter was writhing and screaming in pain, then back. “Just. Please.”
Part of Chanti wanted to step away from the birthing bed and let Tania’s mother try to fix everything.
But if she left, Chanti was convinced that would mean letting Tania die. And if she knew anything about what would happen tonight, it was that she was meant to be here, in this room, helping to birth one of the next Alphas of this pack.
Chanti narrowed her eyes at Mary. “Get me Marty. And Kody.”
“Who?” Mary asked. “And why?”
“Tania’s mate and mine.” Chanti growled. “I had a vision yesterday and they are involved somehow. The blood lines... I’m not sure. But I need them.”
Mary’s face screwed up into an ugly twist. “I don’t even know what they look like.”
I doubt that very much.
“Take Sharon and go now. We need them.”
Tania let out an unearthly cry and her mother jumped, rushing to her side.
Mary grabbed her daughter’s hand and brought it to her lips. “I’m here now.”
Chanti inhaled sharply, watching the transaction. Despite everything she knew about Mary, and how terrible a person she was, it was obvious the ties to her child ran deep.
Chanti turned to Sharon. “I’m sorry to have to ask you to do this, Sharon, but it’s really important. No matter what, dead or alive, bring them back. Both of them. Take some of the men in case they need to be carried.”
Sharon nodded, her lips turned down and a streak of bright red blood covering her cheek. “All right. Let’s go.”
Sharon walked out of the room, past the Voodoo witches, with her head held high. Mary soon followed her.
“Gah! Help me, please,” Tania screamed, writhing on the bed as her child tried desperately to enter the world.
Chanti turned back to her patient and tried to focus. She could literally feel the adrenaline in her system keeping her standing, her muscles cramping and her heart pounding.
She took a few fortifying breaths. Now that Mary and some of the others had left, she could breathe again. She lifted up Tania’s blood-soaked dress and peered at the entrance to her womb.
“I can see the baby’s head, Tania. You’re going to need to push. Slowly, carefully.”
Or you’ll rip yourself apart.
“I can’t, Chanti. I can’t.” Tania was lying flat on the bed, and her legs were shaking with the strain.
“Come on, sweetheart. You need to sit up, or stand. Can you do that?”
Nothing.
“Tania?”
Nothing.
“Tania!”
Chanti raced around the bed and jumped onto it, pulling Tania up, lifting her limp head. Tania made no effort to move herself.
“Come on, Tania! You’re going to die if you don’t get this baby out. Don’t you understand?”
The door swung open and Sharon walked in, tears streaming down her weathered face.
“I found them.”
Two Voodoo men walked into the room and practically threw Marty’s bloodied human body onto the floor.
“Is he alive?” she asked, her heart breaking for the family before her. Barely begun, and yet all three of them on the verge of death.
Marty coughed and spluttered, rolling from side to side on the floor.
“Marty!” Chanti yelled, desperate now. “You need to get up! Help me with Tania. Please. Sharon. Hurry!”
Sharon sobbed as she bent down and put her arms around Marty. He groaned as he rolled, and fell down again.
“Help him!” Chanti screamed at the other men in the room.
They didn’t move, so instead it was left to Sharon to put her body under her son’s chest and force him up.
He got to his knees, then collapsed across the bed.
Chanti’s heart broke, but there wasn’t time for pity now. “Marty! Get up!”
He lifted his head, his eyes clearing as he focused on the woman in front of him. Horror filled his face. “Tania?”
“Get up here.” Chanti commanded. “Behind her. Wake her up. Make her fight.”
She motioned to Sharon and Marty to come closer, to push Tania up.
“Tania, Tania. Please wake up.” Marty begged as he crawled over the blood-soaked mattress and ran his hand over his mate’s exhausted body. “You need to get the baby out. Please Tania. Don’t give up.”
Chanti gripped the bracelet she’d given to Tania, hoping to call to it, to activate whatever was needed.
Nothing happened.
“You need to do something, Marty. Bite her or something, I don’t know. What do you wolves do?”
She went back to her place between Tania’s thighs, the baby’s head bulging like a purple melon. “Push, Tania, come on. Get your baby out.”
A heavy thump behind her made her freeze, a cold dread climbing up her spine like a ghost’s hand.
She turned very slowly, and before her lay her worst fears: a gray wolf. Her gray wolf. Unmoving. Dead. On the floor.
“Kody.”
She stared at the dark man standing over her mate, a blood-covered small sword in his hand.
Anger swirled inside her like never before, a terrible volcano of hate and blackness consuming her mind.
“No.”
She stepped around her mate and without thought on what she did, or how she did it, she swung both hands out and back together, hitting the man on both sides of his neck.
He sank to his knees. Another Voodoo man that had been standing by the door rushed her.
She whirled and screamed, pushing out her palms and feeling, for the first time, the true extent of her magic.
She wasn’t just a Voodoo practitioner; she was so much more. Maybe she was a witch, maybe something else. But at that moment she could feel the power of her wolf mate, of her ancestors.
Her mate was dead and she had inherited all of his power. And in this moment, she knew they all deserved to die.
She screamed out and flashes of light bolted out of her palms, exploding into the four Voodoo people around her.
They all fell to the floor like their air had been let out.
Dead? Knocked out?
She didn’t care.
She squatted down and put both hands on Kody. She closed her eyes, tears flowing inside her soul. There was no pulse, no rhythmic breath.
Power bubbled inside her, the protection amulet on her neck burning and pulsing.
She took it off and lay it onto Kody’s blood-soaked fur. She searched for the source and pressed her fingers into the large wound in his chest.
She reached over to her bag that lay on the floor near the bed, and pulled out a poultice and a knife.
When had she put that in there?
She looked down at her own forearm and ran the knife over her skin, pressing down hard. The pain didn’t register as her blood ran onto the poultice like she was watching it happen to someone else.
When the poultice was soaked, she pressed it against Kody’s wound, her heart pumping madly in her chest.
“Chanti! Chanti! Help us!”
The screams of Sharon and Marty burst through the cloud of silence enveloping her and she turned back.
This baby needs to come out now.
“Marty.” Chanti said, deadly calm now. “Wake her up. Now.”
Marty, who was sitting on the bed behind his comatose mate, growled, baring his teeth as he sunk them into Tania’s shoulder. She gasped and moaned, pushing up and away from the intense pain.
Her eyelids fluttered and Chanti saw her chance. She reached inside Tania’s body, putting her fingers around the head of the baby.
“Tania. I don’t know what you chose to give you strength, but you need it now. Marty’s here, and your babe is stuck. Please, Tania. Push.”
Tania struggled to sit up further, and Sharon and Marty helped her.
Marty ran his tongue over the bite on Tania’s shoulder, sealing it shut.
That’s pretty amazing.
Tania groaned and grunted, her huge body heaving as she pushed down.
The baby’s head bulged.
“I can see it,” Chanti said. “Keep going, Tania.”
The baby’s head pushed forth, coming into her hands. There was a twist and a scream as Tania worked to get her baby born.
The baby’s shoulders slid forth and then the baby slithered out like a dolphin, wet and covered in blood.
“It’s a boy,” Chanti cried out, holding the infant tight.
He was slippery and purple. Chanti placed him down on the blanket she had prepared, wrapping him up and putting a tie on the cord.
The placenta wriggled out, all red and pulsing. And just as relief surged in Chanti’s heart, the trickling of blood from Tania turned into a gush.
“Tania? Tania! Wake up!” Marty was yelling now, shaking his mate as her eyes rolled back in her head.
“No. No. No.” Chanti chanted, panic making her arms shake.
The baby mewled and cried, wriggling in all of his purple-red glory.
Thank God for that. He’s alive.
She handed the baby to Sharon and pushed her to leave the room. “Go. Quickly.”
Chanti turned back to the bed to see tears streaming down Marty’s face as he held Tania’s lifeless body in his arms.