Page 16 of Blood Pack Beginning

Cyrus, face rigid with determination, handed back the phone to Sasha, and Amir barked, “Well? What did he say?”

“Nathan confirmed everything and more. It’s bad. While the Lycan Council has always had it out for rogues, the current order is to kill rogues on sight. None are allowed to come anywhere close to the packs. As well, anyone who’s left their pack for any length of time will be quarantined.”

“What? Why?” Diego exclaimed. “We don’t carry disease.”

“Something about possibly carrying a taint.” Cyrus frowned. “It didn’t make much sense to me, but one thing is clear. Bad shit is happening, and it involves vampire and Lycans. Nathanadvised us to return to our pack and to remain there to provide protection.”

“You mean hide?” Amir said the word with a sneer.

“He phrased it as protect, but I don’t know. Seems to me sitting back and waiting for something to happen isn’t the best idea.” Cyrus shook his head.

“Nathan’s experienced more of this conflict than most and has chosen a defensive approach.” Sasha kept her words and tone somewhat respectful, even as she struggled with a supposed Alpha choosing to hide like a coward rather than hunt and fight the threat.

Amir pursed his lips. “Fuck sitting around waiting for something to happen.” He eyed Sasha. “What can we do to help?”

“So glad you asked,” she purred.

CHAPTER FOUR

Despite everything they’d learned,Cyrus still had his doubts as to whether they should be partnering with vampires. Amir appeared all in. Omar reluctantly agreed, but Cyrus doubted he’d be much use. He’d never seen a bigger pussy. Heck, their sister, Lorelei, a dormant, was a shit-ton tougher than their younger brother.

As for Diego, he agreed to help with the hunt for the murderers, but Cyrus had a feeling it was more about impressing Sasha, the woman who’d rebuffed his flirting.

For the moment, Cyrus went along with the tentative truce with their captors. Yes, captors, because that’s what they were. Sure, they could put the Lycan in a pair of nice rooms. Feed them giant juicy rib steaks. Teach them combat. But none of that made him trust Sasha and the others. It didn’t help the only person they really had contact with was Sasha. She’d been put in charge of them and took her role as teacher seriously. They trained every night after dinner. Fisticuffs. Wrestling. Even got lessons in using guns and knives.

While he’d yet to decide if he liked the woman, she certainly knew her shit—and she pushed them hard.

“Hit me,” she’d yell if she felt like they held back.

Cyrus had no problem with it. Amir had come around too, realizing quickly she could handle a punch. But Omar… well, he’d never be a decent fighter; he lacked the instinct. As for Diego, he still wanted into her pants. Probably why he kept letting her flip him to his back. He enjoyed it when she straddled him with a hand to his throat. Cyrus enjoyed it too—to his chagrin—but he didn’t allow it on purpose.

The biggest problem Cyrus had was the sense of secrecy still surrounding them. Yes, Sasha answered any question they asked—though usually sarcastically. However, he couldn’t shake the sense she held back. And he was less than impressed with the fact that they weren’t doing more to warn the packs of the threat to them. It especially baffled because Nathan, leader of the Lycan Council, understood the danger, and yet, when Cyrus spoke to him on the phone, he’d claimed that those who needed to be aware had been informed. Meaning the alphas, and only the alphas, knew of the danger. But what of the rest? Cyrus wanted to warn them all.

“It’s not up to us,” Sasha had stated when Cyrus asked why they weren’t shouting the news of the troubles to all the Lycans, not just their leaders.

“My kind should know they’re in danger,” he’d argued.

“Agreed, but the Lycan Council is the one making the call, and they don’t want to cause panic. Which, as you can imagine, is exactly what would happen if, all of a sudden, the Lycan Packs discovered not only the existence of vampires but the fact there are bad players amongst our kind targeting them.”

To which he’d countered,“Who’s to say these bad vamps you’re after didn’t already get to the Lycan Council? That they’re not already pulling the strings?”

“It’s possible, and it’s something Nathan’s aware of. He claims to be handling it.”

Was he, though? After hearing the full story about how Nathan’s father, Roderick, had been infected—because that was the only word Cyrus had for the fact a Lycan had been turned part vampire—who was to say Nathan hadn’t been affected too? Hell, Cyrus worried about Sasha or her big scary boss doing something to them, making them into hybrid monsters who thought nothing of killing Lycans, despite the fact that she claimed they were immune. For him to believe that, he’d need to trust her, and his trust wasn’t easily earned.

During the day, while the vampires slept, Cyrus often found himself unable to slumber, managing only a few hours before he ended up outside. He often glanced to the closed main gate and the many cars parked near it. How far could he get if he hopped in one and drove off? He could have set off on foot—four furry feet to be exact—and probably lost himself in the wilderness nearby. Yet, he didn’t. Couldn’t.

For one, he wouldn’t leave his friends behind, and secondly, a part of him—a small part—kind of wanted to be a member of the team that saved the Packs. That avenged Moon Dew. He’d never forget seeing his sweet aunt lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Despite being cast out of the pack at eighteen for being dormant, she’d remained in close contact with her brother and nephews.

They’d often visited his aunt, under the guise of work, his trucker father choosing routes that passed close to Moon Dew so they could pop in for some of his aunt’s epic roast beef and her special mashed potatoes finished off with apple pie for dessert.

When his dad passed, Cyrus kept up the tradition, loving how his aunt’s eyes would light up when she opened the door to see him. Hard to believe she was gone because some assholes had ended her life violently. Why kill her when they’d taken others? Why take anyone at all?

The need to understand, and the desire for vengeance, kept Cyrus inside the compound, participating in the training lessons. But at moments like these, when he only had his thoughts for company, he wondered if he was a dumbass for listening to anything that came out of a vampire’s mouth.

At least the vamps didn’t feed on them. Omar had been mightily concerned about that, but they’d yet to notice any holes on their bodies. Then again, given how fast they healed, would they even notice?

All in all, their stay wasn’t unpleasant. Things had almost become a sort of normal. It helped that there were other Lycan around, not only Toni and Marc, who were mated to Sasha’s boss—to Cyrus’ shock and amazement—but also others who’d arrived needing shelter.

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