Free Amber Flame (The Flame Series Book 4) by Caris Roane

were both alphas-in-training who Fergus relied on.
    “You’ve got to get over here. You can stay in my compound as long as you need to and I’ll support your effort to get rid of this interloper. We’ll do whatever it takes. Shit, if Sydon gets the cartels entrenched behind him, we’ll have the devil of a time in the territory. I fear we’ll end up with a war among all fifteen packs.”
    He knew what Warren meant, how a small portion of strife in one part of Savage could build easily into a full-scale nightmare. Mary was right to be concerned about an association with Savage. His land was a perpetual hot, dry wind headed for an already burning forest fire.
    “Warren, listen to me. I’ve got a situation here, and I need you to go with the flow if you can. Mary is coming with me. I don’t know why, but the pack won’t survive without her. It’s just something I’m sensing right now. Can you live with that?”
    Warren said nothing for a long moment, then finally responded. “These are extraordinary times, Fergus. I was with Mary when she brought you back from the dead. And I can feel it, too. There’s something about her that we need here in Savage. As much as either of us can comprehend what’s going on, I get it. You’re both welcome in my compound. Talk to you in a few.”
    Fergus hung up, relieved that Warren understood. He heard the shower running. A moment later, when the water shut off, Mary called out, “I won’t be long.”
    Fergus stood up and put on the leathers and black tank Warren had sent over for him. Socks and the heavy leather boots came next. He and Warren were almost the same size though Warren was taller if only by an inch.
    He added the belt and holster, then checked the Glock Warren had provided. Satisfied, he slid it into the holster.
    Every death of a pack member hit him hard. He conducted funerals as a necessary way to console his pack. But he was furious that Sydon had succeeded in getting so many members of his pack killed within less than twenty-four hours of becoming the Gordion Pack alpha.
    Sydon, however, wouldn’t stay in that position for long, not if Fergus could help it.
    As he thought the situation through, however, he knew he needed to talk to one other person. Sitting down on the side of the bed, he called the head of the Savage Pack Council, Andrew Dean, though he spoke with Dean’s assistant first. The assistant sounded flustered as soon as Fergus mentioned his name.
    He waited, wondering what Dean would make of hearing from a man he thought dead.
    “Is this some kind of joke?” Dean’s brusque voice hit Fergus’s ear. “Because I don’t think it’s funny. Eric Fergus died last night, you sonofabitch.”
    “No, Dean, I didn’t.”
    There was silence, then, “Fergus?”
    “So, you recognize my voice?”
    “Of course I do, but I was told by more than one reliable source that you’d been killed in a dominance battle with Sydon.”
    “You were only half informed. The fae, Mary Somers, found me in the Graveyard not far from Revel Territory and with Warren’s help, she saved my ass.”
    The silence that returned disturbed Fergus more than anything else could have. “Sir?”
    “You know of recent events at your compound?” Dean’s voice was low and distressed.
    “Yes, Warren just told me. But I can get proof in the form of an ultrasound picture that Mary took showing Sydon’s use of an illegal skewer during the dominance challenge. He punctured my heart and that’s how he almost killed me. Dean, I want my pack returned to me. Now. Call the council for an emergency meeting and get this done.”
    Dean let loose with a long string of invectives, ending with, “That fucking bastard. But listen Fergus, you can’t tell anyone about the skewer.”
    Fergus didn’t get it. “Why the hell not? I’ll be able to reverse his takeover.”
    “I’m sorry, but it won’t be that simple. Not anymore.”
    Fergus had expected some resistance, but not a flat refusal.