Wolf's Fall (Alpha Pack #6)(60)

As soon as he ended the call, she stood as well and took his hand. “Who’s hurt, my love? Is it Zander?”

“No, it’s my brother.” His jaw worked as the tortured emotions flooded his face. “Damien’s car was ambushed by more than a dozen hunters and rogue vampires, and three of his men were killed.”

“Is he . . . ?”

“No. But Selene doesn’t know if he’s going to make it.” Suddenly he looked stunned, as though that reality was just sinking in. “I’ve been so f*cking angry, so intent on making him pay again and again for our past. And now I might lose the chance to reconcile with him before I even get my head on straight about him and me.”

“You need to go to him.”

“Yeah.” Looking lost, he ran a hand down his face.

“I’m going with you.”

He didn’t argue with her as they left the dining room in a hurry. Silently, she sent up a prayer to whatever powers were listening for Nick’s brother to survive.

For both of their sakes.

Twelve

Nick was losing his mind.

None of the vampires could teleport him to his brother’s Pack in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, because none had ever been there before. Nick himself was sketchy on the exact roads, since it had been more than twenty years since he’d last set eyes on what was little more than a camp.

So Tarron had his private jet carry him, Calla, and Zander, plus a few Alpha Pack members, as far as Gatlinburg, and had a car waiting to take them the remaining thirty miles to Damien’s clan. With every mile, Nick berated himself for holding on to his anger for so long. Yes, he had reason to be furious with Damien. The man had thrown him out of the clan and taken Nick’s child to raise.

But Damien had been following Pack law to the letter. Their father had raised them to adhere to the strict rules, and everyone knew there was no excuse not to obey them. Nick deserved to pay a steep price for using his gift to the detriment of another, even if his heart had been in the right place.

That didn’t make Damien’s actions hurt any less. Didn’t make the ache in his soul go away. Losing the brother he had idolized. His mate. His daughter.

Even with Calla at his side lending her quiet support, the thoughts chased around and around in his brain. The guilt.

He’d promised he would try to meet Damien halfway, to repair their relationship. So far he’d done nothing to make good on that promise. Dozens of deleted messages weighed like an anvil on his chest.

When the car turned down the road to the clan’s spread, Nick found it hard to breathe. The last time he had been there had ended so horribly, with such finality, he knew he’d never be back. And yet here he was.

His first impression was one of near shock. Instead of the ramshackle sprawl of wooden cabins he’d left behind, a well-ordered village of brick buildings had taken its place. The family homes were small, but they were attractive and well maintained, set back from paved streets and sidewalks. There was even a store or two nestled among them.

Damien had provided well for their clan. Better than Nick could ever have done.

Memories flooded his mind, and along with them a sense of melancholy. Time hadn’t stood still, and when Nick found himself searching for the modest house he’d shared with Jennifer and Selene, he was a little saddened to realize it no longer stood. That caused an ache in his heart he figured might never totally go away.

“Honey? We’re here.”

A gentle touch on his arm brought him from his musings. Calla was looking at him with compassion, and his throat tightened. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can. He wants you here, so focus on that and nothing else, okay?”

Nodding, he took her hand and they got out of the car. After giving her a quick kiss on the lips, he turned at a woman’s voice calling to him. He saw Selene jogging toward them from a two-story building across the street. For a second, he saw her as a smiling little girl with platinum blond hair running toward him with open arms.

The image faded and the girl was grown. But she was no less happy to see him as she threw her arms around him.

“Dad,” she said with a sob, burying her face in his chest.

“Sweet girl. How is your uncle?”

Pulling back, she wiped her face with her hand. “I’m sorry. Actually he’s better. It’s just that when I heard what those bastards had done to him, and then I saw the shape he was in when I got here . . . I kind of lost it.”

“That’s understandable,” he said quietly. “What about Tag? Is he all right?”

Taggart was Selene’s lifelong friend, and a wolf determined to mate with her before she’d met and mated with Zander. Tag hadn’t taken the news well at first, but after leveling a warning at Zan to treat her right, he’d backed off.

“Tag wasn’t in the car, thank God.” She sniffed. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost him.”

“Well, there is me,” Zan said, stepping from behind Nick. Immediately he had his arms full of his mate.

“You know what I meant.” She gripped Zan tight. “Tag is one of my best friends.”

“I’m glad he’s okay, sweetheart. Why don’t we go see Damien?”

Nick led his family inside the building, which turned out to be the clan’s hospital. It was a nice facility, almost as well-appointed as the Pack’s new hospital. He couldn’t help but be even more impressed. It didn’t escape his notice that Damien’s care and attention to his clan’s needs might ultimately save his life.