The first few years they moved around, a lot. They didn’t stay in one place for too long because they didn’t know if anyone from the pack was hunting them. After almost a decade of constantly moving, however, they decided they wanted to settle in one place and put down some roots. They’d come to New Orleans a year ago, and within days they knew the area was controlled by a group of leopard shifters. They stayed on the outskirts of the city, only venturing into the city when they had to, which wasn’t often, since they did most of their shopping in nearby Kenner. Luna worked from home; she worked as a graphics design artist and made decent money from it, while Kaige found work at a shop as a mechanic. It paid the bills and that was what mattered.
He’d met Reed, President of The Jackals, a local biker gang, a week after he started working at the shop. Somewhere along the way, he decided he wanted to join the Club, became a Prospect, and got patched in.
Now that was over. Fuck. All because an Alpha wolf had to show up at the bar while Reed dealt with some idiot who tried to stiff him on money owed. What had really puzzled him, however, was the fact that there was a leopard and a bear with him and the other wolf. To say it was an odd group would be putting it lightly.
When the sound of the lock turning reached him, Kaige leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to let the other wolf think he’d been cowed by being locked in the storage room.
“Come out. Unless you’re comfortable in there.”
Kaige snorted and pushed off the wall before he stepped out of the room. “So is this where I get to be interrogated? Let me save you the breath. Name’s Kaige Vidari. Moved to the area about a year ago and joined the Jackals not long after.”
“I’m Declan Monroe. The leopard is Remy Delacroix, one of the Black Water Pard’s lieutenants. The other wolf is Steele Reinhardt and the bear is Holden Montgomery. How is it you managed to stay under the radar for a year?”
Kaige could have been a smart ass but he chose not to. “By not coming into the city much. Most of the shopping is done in Kenner. I need to make a call. There’s someone I need to check on. The Jackals aren’t likely to ignore my betrayal. Reed might not come after me, personally, but he knows there’s another way to get to me.”
“How? Who is it?” Declan nodded when he held up his phone as if asking for permission to use it.
“My sister.” He hit the speed dial for her number and started to worry when she didn’t answer right away. “Luna, I need you to pack a bag and get out of the house. If you see any of the boys coming your way, you get the fuck out of there. Shift if you have to. Got me?”
“Kaige, what’s going on?”
“Just do it, Luna. I’ll text you an address where you can meet me in the city. I’ll explain then. And Luna? Be careful. Please.”
“Okay.” This wasn’t the first time they’d had to pack up and leave with short notice so she didn’t argue with him.
“Give her this address. She’ll be safe here.” Declan rattled the address off for him. “I will warn you now, though. You and your sister can use rooms here until this shit with the MC blows over, but there are always several members of the Pack here, many of whom also work for Ghostpoint Security. If you’re trying to play us, you’ll regret it. Sasha can get your sister hooked up to the internet for work.”
“Thank you.” Kaige rubbed a hand down his face. “We’re not playing you. We’ve been on our own since I was sixteen and Luna was fourteen. We’re all we’ve had for the last decade. My sister, she’s…fragile.”
“What happened to your pack? Or are you only half shifter?”
He noticed the way Declan was watching him and was pretty sure the wolf was judging more than just his words. “No, we’re not half. Our mother died in childbirth and took her third child with her. We would have had another sister if she’d survived. When Luna was fourteen…I caught our father raping her. I’d been out with some buddies but went home early. I can’t honestly tell you what happened when I walked in and saw what he was doing. I went into a blind rage and when it was over, he was dead. We packed bags, grabbed everything of value we could sell, and took off. I found out a little later on that he’d been raping her since she was ten. She healed, to an extent, but it damaged her, too. She tends to shy away from people. She got a degree in graphics design, completely online, and works from home so she doesn’t have to interact with others often.”
“Jesus. I’d have killed him too. The bastard deserved to die,” Steele growled. “I’ve got a younger sister myself. I haven’t seen her in ages but we talk often on the phone. I’d have done the same thing if I’d caught my father, or anyone, forcing themselves on her.”
“What brought da two of you to New Orleans?”
Kaige turned his attention to Remy, who’d asked the question.
“We were in New Mexico, looking at a map while we decided on where to go from the little town we’d stopped in, when Luna told me she was tired of moving all the time. She wanted a place that she could really turn into a home. I told her to pick a town and that was where we would move to and put down roots. She chose New Orleans.”
“That sounds rather…simplistic.” This from Holden. “Why did you allow her to make the decision?”
“I can be happy wherever I am. Luna can’t. I wanted her to be happy if we were going to stop being vagabonds.” He was anxious while they waited for his sister to get there. He knew he wouldn’t relax until she was safe. When his phone went off, half an hour later, with a text, he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Fuck.” He looked at the text and relaxed. “She’s here. Thank God.”
It didn’t take long for Kaige to introduce Luna to the others. Soon after that, she had her laptop connected to the internet at the warehouse so she could work and was settled in one of the rooms on the second level. There were a number of bedrooms for pack members to use whenever they needed one.
“You’ll have to come out to da bayou to meet with my Alpha, but I’ll give you a day or two to get settled in here before dat. Declan, thanks for da help today. I need to be gettin’ out of here. I have a mate to talk to. Da woman saw me wit’ Estelle and got all sorts of wrong ideas in her head.” There was a hint of a growl in Remy’s voice.
“Good luck with that one, Remy. If she’s anything like Lily, you’ve got your hands full.”
Remy chuckled at Declan’s comment. “Don’t I know it. Adieu.” He waved and headed out.
