Opening the Cage Read online

  Opening the Cage

  A Shifting Elements Book

  By BA Tortuga

  Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

  Resplendence Publishing, LLC

  2665 N Atlantic Avenue, #349

  Daytona Beach, FL 32118

  Opening the Cage

  Copyright © 2012 BA Tortuga

  Edited by Darlena Cunha and Liza Green

  Cover art by Les Byerley, www.les3photo8.com

  Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-486-4

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Electronic Release: March 2012

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  To my editor, Darlena. You rock, lady.

  Prologue

  “Riana? Riana, honey? I…You need to wake up.”

  Riana started awake from her nest on the bed, blinking at her dark-eyed sister. She wondered what had April so scared, so worried, when she’d been so happy earlier, dressing for her date, messing with her hair, putting on her lipstick.

  Riana barked, tail thumping in welcome, even though she wasn't sure what was going on.

  “I think I messed up, sister. I’m afraid messed up so bad.” Her sister sat on the bed, fingers twisted together. “You know that Russet asked me to marry him, right?”

  Riana wagged. Yes. April was stupid for Russet, silly for the big male. Riana had peeked at him a few times, when he was there, visiting April. She supposed he was pretty enough. He looked at her sister like she was the sun. Riana liked that a lot.

  “Well, if we get married, he’ll find out about you, you know? And no one here knows, so I told him.”

  She tilted her head. Told someone about her? No one knew her. She’d stayed here, just as her mother had asked, her entire life. Mother said it wasn’t safe for white wolves in the Pack. The other wolves would hurt her; the other predators would hunt her.

  Mother had said her sister would protect her.

  “He’ll be my mate one day, Riana. At least I hope he will. We haven’t formed the bond yet, but this should help, huh? Me being honest about you…”

  Riana rubbed her muzzle against April’s wrist. April was the oldest sister. April was her protector. April wouldn’t hurt her.

  April would never hurt her.

  A knock came to the door, past her room, in the main house, and April jumped, then frowned. “Stay here, honey, okay? Quiet as a mouse.”

  She panted, wagged. Quiet as a mouse.

  Riana curled around the threadbare stuffed bunny that she’d had since the beginning of time, since before she’d lost her milk teeth.

  “Russet? Did you forget something?”

  Riana could smell April’s worry.

  “Honey, you have to know that I didn’t mean to…”

  “Where is she?” That was a voice she didn’t know, low and furious. “Where have you been hiding her?”

  “Hiding who? Russet? What are you doing?”

  Riana frowned, that was fury, not fear, in her sister’s voice.

  “This isn’t about you, honey. This is about Pack. He’s my Alpha. I had to tell him that you had the other one of the Pair. I’m so fucking sorry.”

  “Russet…” April’s voice was full of tears.

  “I know. Where is she?”

  “Running. I sent her away.”

  Riana’s head went up. Away? April was going to send her away? Where? This was her room, her place, her home. Where would she go?

  She stood, shivering, ears laid back.

  “Bullshit. Tell me, girl. Now!”

  “Markus, easy. April, no one wants to hurt her. He just wants to meet her. Ilia’s son is like her—white and wolfen. They could be mates.” Russet was crooning, obviously trying to make April listen to him and not be mad at him. She’d heard men talk like that on soap operas.

  “She’s gone. I sent her away. I don’t have room for her now.” Now that was a lie. April was telling her something.

  Riana went to the window, nosed it, trying to get outside, trying to understand the warning that April was giving her. The lock wasn’t latched, and she pawed it open.

  “Do it this way,” April had said. “If there’s a fire, you open it and you run fast.”

  She slipped out, yelping in pure surprise as strong arms caught her, wrapped around her and held fast. Riana struggled, yelping in pure fury. No! No! April!

  “I have her, Markus.”

  No! April! She growled and bit, fighting to get free. Help me!

  The arms tightened around her and the low growl frightened her. “She’s freaking out, man! Where’s the sedative?”

  “You assholes! Leave her alone! Riana!” April’s scream rang out, muffled by low words, rumbles. “Russet, —you—No! Riana!”

  It was April’s fear that gave her strength, and Riana tensed, head twisting, and bit hard. The arms dropped her and she zoomed toward April, toward safety and love and home.

  “No, Riana, run!”

  The prick of something sharp hit her flank, the sting startling her, and she almost immediately began to slow, her legs so heavy.

  She saw April tear away from Russet, come to her, “Oh, Ri. Oh, goddess. What have I done?”

  April. April, please…

  A face appeared over April’s shoulder, a woman with eyes like flame. “Finally. I knew she was here. I knew the moon did not lie! The pair will be ours, Alpha!”

  April.

  Tears fell on her face. “Ri. I love you. I’m so sorry.”

  It was the last thing she heard for a long time.

  Chapter One

  Five Years Later

  “Get up, bitch!” The kick to her ribs left Riana whimpering. She scrabbled to her paws, haunches slamming against the bars of her cage. So tired. So tired. She smelled death everywhere. Everywhere.

  April’s blood was still fresh on her fur. Sweet lady. Sweet girl. She keened softly for her sister, the one constant in her life. Riana had hoped, for all this time, that April and Russet would make things right again, could take them all home again.

  The second kick sent her flying. “I said get up. We’re moving. Now. Fucking cunt. You and that worthless cur—this is all your fault!”

  So kill us. Riana couldn’t help the thought. Please, just kill us both.

  She heard Wend’s howl, the sound devastated, calling to her. She’d not been allowed to see him for so long; this would be the second snow that the Alpha had separated their crates. They’d never run together, but she’d spent the last five years trapped next to him, cage to cage, and when they let him free, he would preen for her. Riana missed him.

  He howled again, the sound long, full of pain and grief. Maybe he thought she was dead. Maybe that would be better for him. When the hard hand of her Alpha tangled in her fur and yanked her out of her familiar space, she yelped, paws scratching on the ground, claws snagging on the dirt. No! No!

  She was hauled up a set of stairs, the unfamiliar light hurting her eyes as the Alpha dragged her, fingers tearing into her pelt. She screamed out her fear as she slammed into a small kennel, and she crouched back into the farthest corner, making herself tiny. Poor April. Sweet sister. That was all she could smell, April’s death. That and the crazy bastard.

  Others—and there weren’t many left now—crowded around her, faces gaunt and scared. There was
just one older mated pair, the shaman who bit and howled, and the new one. The mean one. Everyone else had run. Everyone but her and Wend in their cages.

  Her cage was loaded into the back of a truck, Wend’s too. She could see his eyes through the tiny holes. He saw her, and his happy bark almost broke her heart.

  She whined softly, cowering when Alpha kicked the crate. “Shut up. Get them into the truck.”

  Beryl, the old witch, came to the crate, gnarled fingers at the bars, rotten teeth bared. “The gods will punish you.”

  She hoped if they did, they didn't waste time hurting her and put her out of her misery. Soon. Somehow that didn’t seem likely, but she could hope.

  “Good.” The Alpha’s snarl rang out. “She deserves it. Worthless bitch.”

  Riana rested her muzzle on her paws, curling into herself. The gods had already punished her.

  * * * *

  Canyon felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck long before the electronic alarm went off. His fellow Guardian, Granite, had called him, warned him that something was up with the North Peak Clan, with Markus, the Alpha there. He should have gone to help again, damn it, but with all the shit with Alicia attacking their new Alpha female before she'd even taken her place in the Pack, he couldn’t. Mesa needed him. Then, when life chilled out a little, Granite had stopped answering his phone, and Canyon didn’t feel comfortable leaving his Pack without its guardian. Something felt wrong.

  He padded into the main room of his cabin where the brain center was set up. He was the only one of them who embraced technology, which he guessed was good for the Clan. After all, someone had to keep up with current events.

  There. On the monitor that hooked into the northernmost camera, there was a small pod of people and wolves. Maybe a dozen. They were dragging a travois between two of the bigger men, which he would never have been able to name but for those Zane Gray books he’d read as a kid.

  What the hell?

  His phone rang not a second later. His sister, Junie, on the other end. “Brother, someone’s coming.”

  “Yeah. I can see on the vid. It’s a good-sized group. They look ragged.” Junie always knew, even without the cameras and bells and whistles. Shaman girl.

  “Do you want me to go?”

  Mesa pushed into Canyon’s house, his twin brother blocking the sun with his big body. “If that’s Juniper, tell her no. Let’s go, brother.”

  “Good guess. We got this, honey. Just keep your ears open.” He nodded to Mesa; he had to admit the man ran the Clan pretty damned well these days.

  Mesa gave him a half grin, then they headed out, Don and Jesse right behind. They were on alert after that bitch, Alicia, had tried to kill Mesa’s female, not to mention their baby sister and the Clan shaman.

  They headed north, leaving the clan compound and going up into the woods. The advancing group didn’t look dangerous, but it was best to intercept them before they got to camp.

  The dozen was waiting for them, standing in a small group by the perimeter. Jesus, they looked rough, torn up enough to make them all vocalize, make Mesa growl softly. “Where’s your vehicle?”

  “Gone. Disabled. Granite tried.” An older male moved aside so they could see the travois. Fuck. That was one torn-up Granite. Claw marks scored the broad face, there were bandages covering chest and belly. One arm was swollen, septic.

  “Shit.” He’d known Granite for twenty years—he’d never seen the man gray, not even at the end of their Guardian trials. “Granite?” He needed to know the man was still with them, mentally if not physically.

  One dark eye cracked open. “He killed her.”

  “Killed who?”

  “My Jewel.”

  Shit, he knew that Granite and Jewel hadn't formed the mating bond, but the man had loved her, had been engaged to her. The bond would have come. “Fuck. Markus?”

  “Yes. He’s lost it. He and that little bitch Alicia he got from you; they’re trying to breed. They wanted Jewel to be their third.”

  “Your girl?”

  Granite whined softly. “My girl.”

  But life didn’t work that way.

  “I’m sorry.” He was, but he was also grateful that Granite was with them, alive if not well.

  “They have the Pair. We tried to get to them, but…”

  Canyon heard Mesa’s deep, rumbling growl. Every wolf knew about the story of the Pair—two white wolves, sired by different fathers but born at the same time from different mothers. They were the sign of unrest, war, then a generation of peace. They were supposed to change the ground they stood upon. No one had seen a Pair that had survived in generations, at least not that he'd heard. Hell, Canyon figured most Clans would separate any white puppies, keep the chaos from their group.

  “Where?” If Granite couldn’t go after them, it would fall to Canyon.

  “No one knows. Markus took them. The female was April’s kin, the male Beryl found. They…they made Markus insane. A monster. Someone has to kill them before they let him kill us all.” An incredibly pregnant woman with tear-streaked cheeks stared Mesa down. “Please. Let us in. Give us sanctuary. We have children.”

  “Of course we will. Boys, get your asses out of the way.” Samantha, Mesa’s mate, and quite possibly the toughest broad Canyon’d ever met, shouldered her way through, handing over four thermoses before scooping up two of the smaller pups. “Let’s go, folks. There’s food, help, warm fires.” She winked at one of the women. “Baths.”

  Mesa growled again, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t look happy. He backed off, though, and Canyon fought the urge to smile.

  Samantha rumbled softly at Mesa, then nuzzled one of the pups. “Let’s go, beauties.”

  He looked at Mesa. “Wow.”

  “Fuck off.” Mesa stomped off after Sammy, leaving him and the boys to clear their back trail, making sure their scent covered anything else.

  Jesse’s soft chuff made him grin. “She’s something else.”

  “She’s a rampaging bitch. I’ll miss her.”

  Don looked over. “You’re going after them? That Alicia bitch, she’s crazy, man.”

  “I don’t have a choice.” He didn’t. Granite was down, and this kind of trouble could shine a pretty bright spotlight on the Clans, which no one wanted at any time.

  “They’re all here, though. Just a couple of them left.”

  “I have to make sure.” Not to mention the fact that Granite had mentioned the Pair. If there was even a chance that they were real, he had to get them. A crazy monster with the Pair could be the death of all of them.

  Don sighed, all of them trudging down toward the houses. “The Pair isn’t real, Canyon. No way.”

  “Maybe not. But if Markus thinks he has a Pair, that means there are two weres up there in trouble, Donnie.” He set his jaw, daring Don to argue anymore.

  The other male nodded, sighed. “I know.”

  And Canyon could hear the unspoken, “But we need you here.”

  He hated it, but Granite would recover. He’d lost his intended, but she hadn’t been his mate. If she had been, the man would be comatose. He’d recover fast enough to take Canyon’s place for the time being.

  The entire village was in a tizzy when they got in, everyone out and helping, Granny and Junie around Granite, one of Granny’s potions already in hand. He left the man in her capable paws and went to stand next to Mesa.

  “When do you want me to go?”

  “I don’t want you to go at all.” Mesa growled, and socked him in the arm. “But the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll come home.”

  “I’ll wait until nightfall. I can travel faster on all fours.” He might get Granite to say a few more words by then, too.

  “You’ll need to find out what you’re walking into. They’re killing each other. It’s fucking insane.” Mesa rumbled. “Did you see these people?”

  Beaten and bitten and starving.

  “I can see them now, butthead.” Canyon rolled his ey
es. “I can’t just leave it alone, though. Not if there are any left alive and unwilling.”

  “I know. Go sooner than nightfall. Take a vehicle that you can supply. I don’t want you stranded.”

  Mesa’s Beta, sweet Kody, walked by with a pair of young ones. “Sammy said we’re taking the younger families, Mesa, in the big house until we build permanent homes.”

  “Okay, babe.” Mesa gave Kody a smile, but Canyon could see the strain. If it would make the man feel better, he’d take a vehicle instead of going solo with no baggage.

  Kody nodded, whistling for more of the pups. The man had blossomed, looking so healthy and happy.

  That was why Canyon had to go. If he could save anyone else from losing everything, like Kody had thought he had back when…

  “Canyon.” He heard Granite’s growl, the sound almost a howl.

  “I’ll be back,” he told Mesa, heading over to see what his friend needed. His torn-up, beat-to-hell friend.

  “They killed her.” Granite’s eyes were wild, frantic. “My girl.”

  “I know, man. I know. I’m so sorry.” What the hell else could he say? He gripped Granite’s shoulder hard.

  “He has them. I saw them in cages. Pure white. Feral. When April told Jewel about the female, I thought she was just trying to protect a wounded animal. Markus was so reasonable; he said that April was crazed because she was the female's sister, but April convinced Jewel to help her set them free. He tore them apart before I could get to them.”

  Canyon raised a brow. “The Two? Are you sure?”

  Granite’s mouth set in a hard line. “I saw them. The she-wolf was trying to save her sister. He's got them in a pit. Both of them, caged. I—it’s my fault. All this time and I never knew. No wonder they needed me to be their new Guardian. The other one, Russet, he must have found out; they killed him, too. This whole thing, and the stray bitch, Alicia, she’s gunning for your Clan, friend. They’re coming to kill the Alpha female. They tore my Jewel in two.” Granite began to shake, voice torn and raw.