Echoes of Fire (The Mercury Pack #4)(96)

As the truth hit him, Bracken cursed viciously, and anger rushed through his body. Shaw was no more than a distraction. A distraction that had served to not only separate the strongest of the pack from the others but also to separate Bracken from Madisyn. And now he had to wonder if Ally had foreseen this and then pressed the panic button.

Muscles quivering with the urge to move, his inner wolf growled at Bracken, wanting him to go find Madisyn. That same urge rode Bracken. The only thing keeping him from rushing to her in a blind panic was that Archer couldn’t be too close, or they would have received phone alerts that the security sensors had been tripped. That meant that Madisyn knew there was a threat, and she had time to seek a safe place to lay low.

Nick spoke, “We’ve got this, Brack. You go to your . . .” He trailed off as several other wolves prowled out of the trees.

Shaw chuckled. “I forgot to introduce my other enforcers and their mates.”

Son of a fucking bitch. As that familiar ice-cold rage trickled through his veins and settled over him, Bracken drew in a breath through his nose. He wanted to get to his mate, but he couldn’t leave yet. Not when it was now twelve against five. If he didn’t help hold off the bastards, they’d kill his pack mates and get to Madisyn anyway.

Like him, Nick, Derren, and Zander would also be worried for their mates, just as Eli would be worried for his mother and sister—they were all in the same boat. Sort of. It wasn’t their mate who was the fucking target, it was Bracken’s.

“You motherfucking prick,” Nick snapped at the Tundra Alpha.

“Madisyn will be okay, Brack,” Derren said in a voice too low to carry to the Tundra wolves. “She has Jesse, Marcus, and the girls.”

Yes, she did. And if the Olympus Pride was with Archer, she’d have the pallas cats too once the pride switched to her side. Bracken wasn’t sure how big the pride was, but he did know that just one pallas cat was hell to take on.

He drew in another deep breath, reminding himself that the Phoenix Pack would also have received the alarm, and they would soon arrive to provide backup. Once they did, Bracken would go to Madisyn. But if he felt any pain or fear pulse down their mating bond in the meantime, he was going after her no matter the fuck what.

“You made a mistake coming here, Brookson,” said Nick as they all began to shed their clothes. “And now you’ll pay for it.” Almost as one, they all shifted into their animal forms.

Bracken’s wolf peeled back his lips, baring his teeth. The Tundra Alpha didn’t lunge. He howled, calling to his wolves. They all charged.

Cell phone in hand, Madisyn dashed down the stairs, heart pounding in her chest, anxiety clawing at her insides. She skidded to a halt in the kitchen, where she found everyone gathered around the island. No, they were gathered around Ally, who was propped on a stool, her eyes completely white. The shocking sight made Madisyn do a double take.

“She’s having a vision,” Harley told Madisyn. “She’ll be fine in a—”

The Seer’s eyes cleared, and dread quickly filled them. She jumped to her feet, breaths coming short and fast.

“Ally, what’s wrong?” demanded Shaya, grabbing her arm.

Ally’s gaze sought out Madisyn. “They’re coming.”

Madisyn swallowed. “I know.” She held up her cell, and the words poured out of her in a rush. “Vinnie Devereaux tried calling me, but I was so busy, I didn’t hear the phone ringing. He left me a voice mail to tell me that Archer and a shitload of his allies are planning to creep up on the southern border of our territory. They’re probably here by now.” And her cat was going apeshit, hissing and spitting. “Apparently, Archer also has some kind of distraction organized.”

“Claudia’s father,” muttered Roni. “Fuck, we should have seen it.”

That was Madisyn’s guess, which was why she’d ignored her first instinct to call Bracken. She didn’t want to divert his attention while he was dealing with a dangerous situation of his own.

Pacing, Shaya spoke into her phone. “Kent, get the pups down to the panic room now. Is Caleb still at the motel? Call him. Tell him to stay right there.”

“I pressed the panic button,” said Marcus. “Everyone will get the alert, so the guys will realize something’s wrong. The Phoenix Pack will receive it too. They’ll come.”

Jesse stood in front of Ally, all business. “How many does Archer have with him?”

“I don’t know exactly how many, but there were a lot,” replied Ally, rubbing her neck. “I saw at least forty people creeping through the woods toward the southern border, but there could be more.” She asked Madisyn, “Did Vinnie Devereaux tell you how many are coming?”

“No.” Madisyn’s grip on her phone tightened as she felt pulses of ice-cold rage shoot down the mating bond. Shit. “He mustn’t have known, or he would have said.”

“We have two choices,” said Shaya, still pacing. “Retreat, which would bring the bears deeper into our territory—and near the pups, which I’m not up for—or we take the fight to them, near the border.”

Jesse didn’t hesitate. “I say we keep it near the border.”

Marcus gave a curt nod, face harder than she’d ever seen it. “We know this land. They don’t. And backup will come soon. We just have to keep them busy until then.”