Chapter 7

Vinny

I entered the bar and my eyes instantly grazed over the flash of light brown skin of Roman’s lower back as she leant forward on a bar stool. It was like I had no control over the direction of my stare, or the length of time I was staring. The skin was smooth and flawless as it disappeared into the hem of her top and down into her tight as fuck jeans that showed off her glorious ass. Now that she wasn’t hidden under her uniform, I could really appreciate just how mesmerizing her curves were. Even from behind, just for a moment.

When her eyes met mine, the flickering purple broke my trance. My legs which were frozen to the spot, moved me away as if a sudden determination had overridden my body. The ice in my heart solidified as I sat on a leathered booth seat and picked up a menu. I could feel her gaze. It was as if every cell in my body was tuned to her. Even the ones covered in ice. The smell of jasmine was irritating my nose as I tried in vain to keep my breathing shallow.

An icy burn was travelling around my bloodstream, sharp and jagged making Vali itch in irritation. The door opened and I looked up to see two large units coming through the door. Sean’s face broke into a grin as he saw me. I was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug and a rough pat on the back. I turned to my old mentor Ryan and embraced him quickly too. Alright, enough hugging.

“So you’re alive?” Ryan grunted at me.

“It appears so.” Fingers whipped the edges of my hair as I ducked my head out of range. My wolf senses had felt the hand coming milliseconds before and reacted accordingly. I glared at Ryan who pushed me playfully before sitting down in the booth I had selected.

The beers were cold and frothy as we chatted, but I could barely enjoy the taste. Jasmine seemed to be coagulating against the hops and barley, choking me slightly. Vali paced my mind in agitation. I braved a look in her direction and even though her body was taut with tension, her smile was radiant as she chatted with the barmaid, Liv. There was a flash of her white teeth as her husky laughter echoed and vibrated straight into my crotch. I felt myself twitch. Well at least that wasn’t frozen by the ice queen.

“Geeze you are only back in town ten minutes, and you are already looking for some ass!” Sean laughed.

“What?” I snapped my eyes away.

“You are staring at Liv and basically dry humping the table.”

“Doesn’t Liv bat for the other team?” I asked distractedly. Before I left, Liv was in a relationship with a she-wolf.

“She likes to play both sides. And she does play well.” Sean grinned. Ryan just shook his head at the turn of the conversation. I often forgot that he was happily mated with a toddler at home. His irresponsible single days were far behind him, even though that’s basically how he met his mate. “What about this other chick who rescued you like a damsel in distress?”

“Rescued you?” Ryan enquired; his eyebrows high on his forehead. “That sounds like a story.”

“I came off my bike and she happened across me… so I happened across her.” I shrugged nonchalantly as I casually scanned the room. Roman was staring directly at me, all laughter in her face gone, her face stone cold. The purple of her eyes swirling like rapids hitting a rock in a stream. I blinked at her curiously. She turned her attention back to Liv and the cold seeped through me once again. What the fuck is her problem?

I turned back to my companions and took a swig of my beer. “So, tell me about this fucker after Lacey. What do we know?”

“Shh!” Ryan growled looking around. I raised a singular brow at him. “Alpha is trying to keep it quiet.” He finished down the mind-link.

“Why doesn’t he want people to know, surely a pack full of wolves protecting the pack-princess is better?”

“He is very protective of his daughter. He wants to make sure that no one in the pack is helping the rogue,” Sean offered through the connection as he gave the waitress walking past a wink.

“So it is a rogue then?” I asked.

“Intel says that a band of rogues have been sniffing around.” Ryan grunted through the mind-link.

“A band? As in more than one?” I raised my eyebrow again. It was almost unheard of for rogues to band together. Rogues were solitary wolves by nature— usually because they hated the idea of a pack structure and taking orders. Collaborating was rare.

“We are unsure whether it is related. But we are keeping an eye on them,” Ryan said.

“How many?”

“Last count was about thirty.”

“Thirty!” I choked on my beer and Vali raised his hackles. “What the fuck!”

“Tell him the rest,” Sean said closing his eyes in an almost bored fashion. Ryan looked over at him and huffed. Vali mirrored the sentiment.

“One of our scouts has indicated that there is a rumour floating around, that Lacey basically is the next messiah.” This time I spat my beer all over the table. Sean opened an eye and wiped spittle off his arm in disgust.

“Where do people come up with this crap?” Sean grunted out loud.

I looked between them both and then asked through the mind-link, “Why do they think that Lacey is the next messiah?”

“I think you better talk to your sister.”

***

I strolled into the large, cavernous kitchen of the pack house and smiled at the baby toys that cluttered every other surface. I could hear cooing coming from the upper level. It was impolite to head up the stairs to the Alpha-quarters, so I called out, “Clem!”

Within seconds my short-statured, dark-haired sister bounded down the stairs with a baby on her hip. Even juggling a baby, she managed to pull me into a bone-crushing hug.

“About time!” she growled. “Why am I the last person you have come to see? You have seen Ryan, Sean and Dad. But you chose to see me last?”

“Because you my dear sister are a pain in my ass,” I said looking at my niece affectionately. Dark brown hair and large eyes popping adorably from her pudgy face.

“Did you want to hold her?” Ugh. Shit. Um. Before I could deny, my niece was thrust into my arms. I fumbled a little before I managed to get her into what I hoped was a comfortable position and followed Clem towards the kitchen.

“Tell me,” I said as I watched Clem twitter around the kitchen turning on a kettle and pulling out coffee mugs.

“Rogues have been trying to get in every month for almost a year, like clockwork. We assumed they were trying to find a weak entry point.”

“They have been snooping for a year?” I snarled.

“We were handling it. We assumed that they were trying to infiltrate. It didn’t become a concern until a scout came back with some harrowing information— they were after Lacey.” Vali raised his hackles.

“Ryan and Sean mentioned something about her being a messiah?” She nodded curtly as she handed me my cup of coffee. I put Lacey down in fear of burning her and she instantly wiggled away.

“Apparently there is a prophecy that the one true alpha would be born on a solar eclipse.” I raised an

eyebrow at her, then she sighed before reciting it. “Twice born under solar moon light of alpha blood washes and wanes. Twice born under solar moon light mounds and twists in the earth’s grain. Twice born under solar moon light bends nature and spirit at will. Twice born under solar moonlight bounds and ties until all is still.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” I asked as Vali tilted his head in confusion.

“Well if you listen to these crazy rogues, the most powerful alpha in the history of alphas will be born under a solar eclipse. Lacey was born during a solar eclipse.”

“Many wolves must be born under a solar eclipse,” I reasoned diplomatically, my head buzzing with confusion.

“Yes, which is why we were not worried initially. But the threat kept coming. So, Ryan sent out a few scouts to gather more intel. Allegedly it’s the twice born part of the prophecy that has them all agitated.”

“Twice born?”

“I didn’t have a wolf Vinny. My wolf was born under the light of a solar eclipse. My direct descendent was born under the light of a solar eclipse. Twice born. It also doesn’t help that her father is Alpha of one of the biggest packs in Canada and her half-breed mother was also descended from some line of lost alpha lineage.”

“So they put two and two together and got fifty?” I growled.  This was insane!

“You don’t believe in the prophecy then?” She smirked a me.

“That Lacey is the next alpha of alphas? One, wrong gender. And two, I mean has she shown any phenomenal earth moving powers?”

“No, of course not.” Clem chuckled then sobered. “But I guess at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t this prophetic Alpha. The threat thinks she is, and that is all that matters.”