Checkmate Read online

  Checkmate

  Book 3 - The Rabbit River Saga

  By Elyce de Reefe

  Copyright © 2019 by Elyce de Reefe

  First electronic publication: June 2019

  Elyce de Reefe

  www.elycedereefe.com

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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  Chapter 1

  Humans continually surprise me with their innate capabilities to find solutions, and their absolute propensity to cause harm. Although perhaps I’m being unfair. It’s true that the majority of humans do very little harm—at least, individually. But when taken all together and added to the effects of the truly spectacular destroyers, it’s amazing the earth still survives. Still, they did invent Chess.

  — From the Journals of Aster Ardennes

  Aster moved through the darkened medical facility like a ghost, careful not to brush against any of the equipment. The emergency lighting cast an eerie glow about the immaculate workstations but provided more than enough light for her to see clearly. Someone had moved the samples. Not good. She really wanted to get her hands on one of them. If they were what she thought, they were—

  That fool Marten was in way over his head, and he didn’t even know it. If he was truly sharing the kind of information she suspected—with the humans—things were even worse than she’d feared. The files she’d recovered from last night’s raid on Special-T Pharmaceutical’s Albany office were enough to raise the hair on the back of her neck. Not that she was a geneticist or anything, but it looked very much like someone was working on decoding genetic markers. And those genetic markers looked disturbingly similar to those of the People.

  Her mind flashed back to that night, years ago, when she was still a student at Binghamton University. She’d been waiting for Dean to finish up his work in the lab so that they could head over to one of the campus parties. At the time, she’d been more focused on resisting the urge to smooth back that lock of silky chestnut hair that always flopped into his eyes than on what he was saying. As usual, Dean was more interested in what was visible through the lens of his microscope than in her. But Dean was excited, and his excitement was contagious.

  That night, he’d taught her how to distinguish the different strands of DNA. It was even kind of cool. Most humans had at least some pre-human DNA, including Neanderthal, Homo erectus and some others that had yet to be identified. Then Dean showed her a DNA sample of the People. His blood, naturally. There was a lot of pre-human DNA. It was distinctive—and praise the Maiden—still unidentified. Unfortunately, it looked very much like what she’d found in the files from last night’s raid on the corporate office.

  At least, it looked like what she thought she remembered. From what she could tell from the files, they were incorporating this DNA into their infertility studies. Why, she had no idea. It wasn’t like the People were particularly fertile. Well, at least not until very recently.

  She made another circuit around the lab, checking two more fridges for samples. Nothing. That was a setback. She really needed to get this to Dean. She wondered if he had retrieved any from that defunct Italian restaurant before he’d torched the place. That was where most of the research had taken place, according to the files. It was telling that the pharmaceutical company had been using what looked like a shuttered restaurant to house the lab. They seemed to be very keen on not attracting attention. She assumed Dean had at least seen the data. Otherwise, why take such extreme measures?

  It wasn’t like Dean to overreact, and he hadn’t taken a match to any of the other facilities she’d directed him to. For months now she’d been leaving a trail of clues for him and her brothers to check into, and not once had they started a fire. Until the restaurant.

  Aster took a deep breath and took one more careful scan of the lab. Maybe she was overreacting. Unfortunately, she didn’t think so. She could only hope the researchers hadn’t figured out what they were looking at. But humans weren’t complete idiots. They would catch on sooner or later.

  She wished she could call Dean. Talk to him about all this. He would be able to tell her exactly what they were working on and how far they’d gotten. Whether her fears were warranted. Because if they were, the People had a serious problem.

  She rubbed a hand over her mouth and grimaced at the smell of the latex gloves she wore. She should send Dean the files. It was a gamble. Dean was smart. He could easily track her if she wasn’t careful. And she was positive he was working with her brother right now to try to find her.

  She tried not to hold that against him. She’d known it would happen. But she couldn’t let Lucas catch up with her until her quarry was neatly snared in the spider web. She was not losing another member of her family to that monster. Marten had to pay.

  She sighed. Older brothers were notorious for thinking they knew best. It had taken some pretty fast talking to get Lucas safely out of the way so she could set things in motion. She blessed the Maiden every day for clueless brothers. It gave her the time she needed to deal with that bloodthirsty maniac her own way. And then Lucas could step into the vacuum and take over.

  Aster looked around the deserted lab one more time. Maybe she could turn this to her advantage. Someone had to be providing the DNA from the People. If she could prove it was Marten, she had him. Finally. But at this point, that was a secondary concern. As nice as it would be to have something to nail Marten with after all this time, the data itself was just too dangerous. She needed Dean to analyze one of the samples so they would know exactly how bad the damage was. How much the humans had figured out.

  Oh, she’d known it was going to be bad. From the moment she caught wind of Marten’s dealings at that first lab, she’d known. But she’d never expected he’d actually provide DNA. She made her way toward the exit, wondering which location they would have moved the samples to. She’d have to make sure they were confiscated.

  She tapped her fingers against her leg, deep in thought. She had been trying to lure Marten onto her side of the chess board, but after three months of leading his flunkies on a merry chase, that still hadn’t happened. A grim smile spread across her face. Perhaps there was no need to draw Marten away from the safety of the pack to exact her revenge. As Alpha, it was his duty to uphold the Law, and the Law stated only Pack could know of the existence of the People. All she had to do was prove he was providing the DNA.

  There was a harsh penalty for Alphas who failed to uphold the Law. And after what he’d done to her parents, Aster couldn’t wait to see him utterly destroyed. Revenge was coming. It was so sweet she could almost taste it.

  Astor sat on the pre-chosen bench across from the innocuous medical facility housing the small independent lab. She leaned back, letting her scent permeate its surface as if by accident. Yeah, right. She glanced down at the specially made waders that let her move freely without leaving a trail. Similar to what you might see on television as a haz-mat suit, they resembled nothing so much as black Tyvek kinky-boots, covering her to the upper thigh. And creating a scent-proof barrier— so long as she didn’t brush against anything with her upper body.

  She used to wear the whole suit, but that had proved too cumberso
me. And unnecessary. With the boots and a good pair of surgical gloves, she could move through any space and only leave those scent markers she intended to leave. Just enough to guide the right People to the right clues. And after months of practice, she could move in the papery boots almost as silently as she would without.

  After a moment, she got up and headed back across the street, retracing her steps through the back parking lot. She was ninety percent certain she’d end up sending Dean the files, but for the time being, she’d leave her options open. Continue on as she had been. Leaving clues and guiding the search to the right locations. But that might not be enough anymore. If they didn’t turn up here very soon, she’d have to take action.

  It only took her five minutes to reach her car parked three blocks over. She was good at sticking to the shadows, avoiding the bubbles of light created by the widely spaced streetlights. But at this time of night, or early morning actually, there was no one to see her anyway.

  As she got in her car and pulled away from the curb, her mind drifted back to that terrible day last fall when it all began. When Marten had first arrived, and shattered her world forever. It was a day she did her best not to think about— with very little success. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the memories at bay.

  It was a bleak afternoon in early November, the air heavy with the expectation of snow. A ripple of anxiety ran through the crowd that was gathering around the green in the center of their village. There should be safety here in the heart of the Mont-Tremblant territory, but so many strangers—so many unmated males—was unprecedented. Aster stood with the rest, wondering what these outsiders wanted. Her father was always taking in People who’d lost their packs. But she could almost feel this group was nothing but trouble.

  She pushed forward, trying for a better view as they got closer. She’d never seen such a large number approach at once. Her stomach tensed as the premonition intensified. These days, more and more males were being turned out of their packs when they reached maturity. Even if they weren’t causing trouble. With so few females being born to People, too many unmated males could create problems.

  She’d heard that some packs were doing it even earlier, thrusting out their unwanted males when they were still in their teens. It was sad. Everyone knew without a pack, they were vulnerable to the Sickness.

  Not her father though. Gavin Ardennes, Alpha of the Mont-Tremblant Pack didn’t believe in that. He refused to forsake any member of his pack. He was adamant that a good leader should be able to guide their unmated males, harness that restless energy so that it didn’t explode in unproductive ways. And he’d succeeded. The pack ran several profitable construction crews, providing more than enough labor to keep the younglings in line, and more than enough revenue to provide for the pack.

  Her father was smart like that. Yeah, he was a bit old school to Aster’s line of thinking. Everything had to center around the pack—not the individual—but he was no fool. The pack’s reputation, its profitability, and the higher number of females born to it ensured there were always lone wolves turning up looking for sanctuary.

  Aster shifted uneasily, counting. Twenty-three unmated males in their prime. Surely that was more than even her father would consider.

  The group reached the green. A tall man in his thirties seemed to be leading them. He had a head of thick, dark hair and a matching scowl. If not for that, Aster guessed he could be considered handsome. But then most of the People were attractive. He stepped forward and addressed her father, who was waiting patiently in the center of the green.

  “So it’s true. I heard this pack was led by an old man. I can see from here you’re weak. This pack needs someone more capable of the job.”

  A gasp went through the crowd. No one talked to her father like that. Gavin Ardennes was addressed with respect. Always. Something about the stranger’s voice made the hair stand up on the back of Aster’s neck.

  “Step a little closer, son, when you call me weak, and we’ll see just how accurate you are.” There was a murmur of amusement from the gathering. “A young pup like you wouldn’t know this of course, but there’s more to leadership than brute strength.”

  “Yeah, old man, I can see why you would say that. I can see you might even have your People convinced of it. But in these turbulent times, the People need firm leadership. Only packs with the strongest Alphas will survive.”

  Her father scratched his head in mock thought. “I’m not sure what you base that statement on. In troubled times, wise leadership is more important than anything. But I doubt you’ve seen much of that. How old were you when you lost your pack?”

  The man’s scowl deepened. “We’re not here to discuss my past,” he spat out. “We’re here to talk about your future. Concede now, and we’ll let you leave with your family. Otherwise, things won’t go so good for you, old man.”

  He took a step closer, and Aster felt his next words in the pit of her stomach.

  “We’re here to invoke the Challenge. In the ancient way. To the death.”

  Chapter 2

  While the game of chess has known many evolutions since it was first introduced in the 6th Century, Romantic Chess, which was commonly played in Europe between the 15th and 19th Centuries, emphasized quick tactical maneuvers rather than the long-term strategy popular today.

  — From the Journals of Aster Ardennes

  The gasp that shot through the crowd this time was like an electric current. Aster had heard rumors that the Death Challenge was being issued again in Europe, but she hadn’t really believed it. It just wasn’t done. Not since the Middle Ages. They had moved past that kind of thing thousands of years ago. The People weren’t savages.

  But still, with the crazy population explosion of the past few generations, she could see something like that happening in Europe where territory pressures were extreme. But never here in Canada. There were still plenty of wild places across the north for the People to get lost in. Yet this joker had just issued a Challenge.

  Aster felt like she was frozen in place. Like time itself had stopped. Her father stood alone in the center of the green, tall and proud. With a sudden stab of fear, Aster noted that there was more grey than brown in his wavy hair. When had that happened? Yes, her father was still vigorous, but it hit her that he was in his seventies now. And then he spoke, shattering that moment of stillness.

  “This isn’t the Dark Ages, son. The Death Challenge is a thing of the past. You many have left your pack too young to actually witness it, but there’s no way you don’t know the mantle of Alpha is passed down to a worthy successor. A successor who has the confidence and backing of the pack. Someone who agrees to accept the burden. Because make no mistake, it is a burden. One I’ve carried for more years than you’ve been alive.”

  He faced the interloper, his gaze intent. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, coming here like this. You can’t possibly think this show of force will convince me to take in the lot of you.”

  “No one’s asking you for that, old man. I’m taking your pack.”

  Her father looked from him to the men standing in a cluster behind him. “It’s not that I’m unsympathetic to your plight. I know times are tough. But I have the safety of my pack to consider.” He blew out a breath. “Still, I’m willing to let you settle in the surrounding territory so as long as you don’t cause trouble. The proximity should afford some protection from other packs, and from the Sickness. We’re pretty far removed from the humans up here.”

  “I know my rights. We have issued Challenge. By Law, you must accept.”

  “You don’t need to quote the Law to me, young man. I’ve been upholding the Law since before you were weaned. If you wish to issue a challenge, so be it. I accept.” His calm voice echoed with the authority of Alpha. “Come forward. Let’s get this over with.”

  The dark stranger smiled then. It was a cruel smile. A triumphant smile. And then he stepped aside. The crowd behind him parted and a man came forward. Astor’s he
art squeezed. He was huge. Bigger than Aaron— her brother Lucas’s best friend. And he looked to be in his early thirties. The crowd murmured. Aster tried not to hyperventilate.

  Aaron was big. Both he and his brother Boaz were large. Not that they were freaks or anything. Dean had a theory on that. Of course he did. He said that the People didn’t do extremes. They stayed within the normal range of extraordinary. Astor hadn’t been able to prevent an eye roll at that one.

  According to Dean, it was all part of the Moon Maiden’s plan to keep the People from being discovered. As if anyone still believed in her anymore. Except for Dean, and maybe the other Lore Masters. But Dean maintained it was similar to how the People lived longer and aged slower, but not so slowly that it was abnormal. Unusual, but not unheard of.

  Aster sucked in a breath, holding it. What she wouldn’t give for Dean’s clear voice of reason right now, explaining why this really wasn’t as bad as it looked. Because this guy clearly hadn’t gotten the memo. The man was mammoth. He stepped forward, joining her father on the circle of lawn created by the surrounding crowd.

  “I, Harvey Windhaven, formally issue Challenge to Gavin Ardennes, Alpha of the Mont-Tremblant Pack,” he said.

  Her father’s mouth tightened. “So be it.”

  Aster bit her lip, an uncomfortable feeling of dread filling her. She’d never before worried that her father couldn’t handle any situation he found himself in. He didn’t look particularly concerned, but Aster’s stomach was in knots.

  Her father began calmly removing his clothes. There was a rustle through the crowd, and Aster’s mother, Leanne, appeared at the edge of the circle. Aster watched as her mother caught her father’s eye. They shared a silent nod. For a second she hoped her mother would stop this, but she knew that was impossible.