Amethyst Flame (The Flame Series Book 2) by Caris Roane Page A

around, most having been bulldozed and the ground left to grow desert weeds.
    Adrenaline pumped through Vaughn’s system and his fangs thrummed in his mouth as he headed for Fergus and his men. Descending gradually, he slowed to land a few feet from Fergus. The powerful shifter wore his thick, black hair like a mane past his shoulders and braided on one side.
    Fergus lifted his own AR-15 in greeting. Two more shifters flanked him, each rough-looking. All three belonged to the Savage Border Patrol, but faced the same issues that his own force endured. Like the other territories, at least half the Savage ranks were corrupt, just like Crescent and Elegance.
    Fergus greeted Vaughn and inclined his head to Emma. Vaughn eased Emma off his foot then introduced her.
    For a moment, Fergus’s jaw worked as he stared at Emma. Vaughn bristled. He didn’t know what the hell Fergus was thinking, but he looked angry. In response, Vaughn took Emma’s hand.
    He was about to step in front of Emma to protect her, when Fergus inclined his head toward her and held it as if bowing to her. He stayed in this position for at least ten seconds. “You are welcome in my forest, Emma Delacey. Max was one of my best friends. I’m alpha to the Gordion Pack.” He gestured with a wave of his arm to the forest line. “This is our domain.”
    Vaughn glanced in the direction of the pines and to his astonishment watched at least two dozen shifters emerge from places of camouflage. They also bowed to Emma.
    She lifted her chin and nodded, then spoke in a clear voice. “I wish I’d had the chance to know those Max valued and loved.”
    Fergus scowled, grinding his jaw again. “His death was tragic, another wrong I’d like to right. You have but to ask anything of me, Emma, and I’m yours to command.”
    Vaughn knew he gripped Emma’s hand harder than he should, but Fergus had a lot of presence and was unmated. Emma had already fallen in love with a shifter once before. The thought she could fall for this one, raised his hackles.
    Fergus turned his attention back to Vaughn. “Where do you want us?”
    Vaughn drew a deep breath and switched gears. “Did you see the truck arrive?”
    “We did, and I can hear it right now.” Fergus gestured with a toss of his hand toward the distant block wall topped with barbed wire. “It’s heading down the alley just as you said it would. So, how do you want to do this?”
    “I’ll let Emma tell you what she saw.”
    Emma kept her voice low as she talked about the number of girls in the truck, six in all, the warlocks in charge, the fat shifter in the office, as well as the two guards in the facility. “But the images scrambled at that point, which means I can’t be sure how many we’ll be facing. There could be more guards in the facility or some in the strip-center building. We won’t really know til we get in there.”
    “Doesn’t matter.” Fergus’s lips turned down. “We’ll deal with whatever we find.” He gestured to the ground at his feet.
    Vaughn saw that he’d drawn a rough map.
    “The complex has an exit here.” He tapped his foot on the western edge. “And one that leads at the back onto the southernmost street. The alley is right there, fifty yards away. It ends at the desert. Do you see it?”
    Vaughn nodded. “Yes.”
    “My men will come in from the western exit, in wolf form initially. You come in from the front and we’ll see what happens.” Vaughn didn’t know a whole lot about the shifter experience except that battle and transforming into wolves went hand-in-hand, a necessity of their alter condition.
    Vaughn nodded. Emma met his gaze and dipped her chin once. Brannick did the same.
    The teams split up. Vaughn watched as each of the shifters, with barely a thought, moved fluidly into their wolf form then loped across the open land to the west of the storage facility. He wasn’t sure where their weapons went, but apparently part of the shifter ability was transforming