“Is it Fire Moon?” I asked Cortina as her hackles began to rise. She took careful steps back, ears flat against her skull. Her body sprung tight and ready to fight. We were being pushed back as the five wolves made a semicircle and stalked forward, like they were waiting to strike. They rushed to cut us off from running back to the pack house, but now they were holding back. I could hear the sounds of Alexi and Beau fighting behind us, but Cortina didn’t risk a look back to see how they were faring. She couldn't. One look away could be fatal.“It’s not them,” she snarled. “The scent is off.”“Rogues?”“No,” she said, planting her feet, her claws digging into the dirt. “These are warriors.”The five wolves were strong, and moved like a unit. They were coordinating with the wolves behind, which was evidence to their ability to communicate. Mind linking only came with a pack. Because Alexi and Beau were technically rogues, they couldn’t mind link anyone. Not even each other. There was no
“Chloe! Run back!” Rodger screamed. He was close. Too close for my liking. His magic wasn’t working on the wolf, which he seemed to realize. Why he was still chasing us and putting himself in danger was beyond me. I didn’t want to abandon my mates as they fought, but Rodger would be in danger if I didn’t turn back.“Our mates would want us to go,” Cortina said fiercely, then started to run towards Rodger. “There are others to help too.”She was right. The field was littered with our warriors, all the other invading wolves already close to defeated. Billy and Beta Desmond’s wolves were already heading over from the other side of the chaos to help.Cortina was just a few yards away from Rodger when a sickening crack followed by a howling scream echoed behind us. I felt it. The stabbing pain in my gut that meant one of my mates was horribly hurt. Looking behind us, I saw a tree falling backward, Rome’s dark body crumbled in front of it. The tree was broken with his body being thrown into
Ivar took off into the deep forest. There were trees crackling to the ground, shaking the earth. Fear was taking over me imagining what might be happening to my little mate, but then I saw her. She was floating in the purple mist, her bare body wrapped in the energy like her wolf had been. Her hands were extended in front of her, the cords of purple currents shooting out, aimed at the trees nearest the giant red wolf. He was watching carefully, evading her attacks, trying to find a way in to get close, but not seeing any opening around her power.“Her feet!” Ivar said in a panic.Her feet were turning a sickly white. The purple glow was fading, starting at her toes. I raced towards her, fearing what would happen if that purple glow took the life from her entire body. She sent one more blast of power right above the wolf’s head, and it let out a ferocious snarl before finally retreating back to the highway.“He’s retreating for the vans!” I told the others as I threw the rest of my ene
Boyd POV“Let me out of here!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “HEY! Let me go!”The guard that was standing on the other side of the door with the small barred window turned to look back at me with annoyance, but just went back to ignoring my fit for freedom after that. He never mutters a word, no matter how much a yell.It’s been the same for days. I’ve sat on the hard cold floor of this windowless room, with only a bucket in the corner and two meals of cold soupy mush brought to me twice a day. No one has said a fucking word to me since I woke up like this, and I’m going bat shit crazy.“My friends will come looking for me!” I slammed my fist on the door. “You have no idea who you are fucking with!” I slammed my hands against the flat surface is frustration. The guard didn't even flinch.“There’s no point,” Sirius, my wolf, huffed. “They don’t care.”“Then why did they take us?!”“Maybe they wanted a pet.” He looked around the room with me in distaste. "Not even a dog would b
Mick POV“How much longer is it going to be until she wakes up?” I asked, pacing near the door. Dez said that the invading Alpha had gone away, and Rome was buzzing with the urge to go after him ourselves. Miles and Ivar weren’t much better, but neither of us were leaving the pack until our mate opened her eyes.“She’s fully restored,” Driana said. “Her body is just spent. She will wake up when she is ready.”Driana’s eyes looked cloudy, and she had deep circles under her eyes. Rodger and his other sister didn’t look much better. Rodger went after Chloe, trying to save her from being taken, and the sisters drained their magic by trying to restore our mate. I know they are working their hardest for her sake, but I can’t help but be frustrated. I just want my mate to open her eyes and tell me she’s okay herself.“Is it safe to move her to the pack house now?” Miles asked.Paulina began to smack her lips and click her gums together, waving her hands fervently at her brother and her sist
Boyd POV“This way,” Laura said in a tone that was too upbeat for me to trust. She was holding the arm of her bloody Alpha mate, skipping along like she didn’t have a care in the world. He took long, steady strides, not put off by her attitude or the way she was hanging on his with her jerky movements at all.I was as tense as I could fucking be. My hands were tied in front of me with infused hemp rope, the fibers burning into my skin. Sirius was barely with me, constrained by the wolfsbane. If that wasn’t enough, I have two guards on either side of me and one behind. These three were elite guards. Ones I had trained and worked with long ago. The tension was evident in their faces, and I could feel their concern as they were tying my hands. It made all this feel even more sinister, despite Laura’s upbeat mood.“Oh, Jasper. You’re getting blood on my shirt,” Laura complained, looking down at her loose-fitted backless halter top. She was the one who was clutched onto his bloody arm, bu
Lenny POV“Did she just call him Mr. Smith?” Kai hissed at me.We were both perched in a tree about fifty yards from the run-down pool of the abandoned resort deep in the woods. We were just far enough that our scents wouldn’t be detected, but to be safe, Rodger had us use scent maskers too. Kai was using his powers to amplify the conversation being had by the Alpha we followed all the way here. Neither of us expected him and what was left of his men to drive only forty miles from Setting Sun Pack. We really didn't expect to see the Alpha go in the abandoned resort and come out not even half an hour later with our missing friend.“I heard it too.” Mr. Smith. That woman definitely called the white hat-wearing man Mr. Smith.Kai sank down on the branch, squinting his eyes as he tried to get a better view. “It’s him. It’s really him.”“How do you know?”Kai looked embarrassed, averting his gaze so I couldn’t see his eyes. “Don’t tell Rodger, but I did the last gig Chloe had with Mr. Smi
Miles POV“You’re sure it was him?” Mick asked Lenny.We were all gathered, all the Broom Stixxx men, Rodger and my men as well. Lenny and the fox shifter, Kai, had just gotten back to the pack and had Rodger call this meeting, saying it was urgent.Lenny took his phone from his pocket and started to pass it around the table. When it got to Billy and Darren, Darren’s eyes widened in surprise.“That’s Mr. Smith. That’s that mother fucker for sure.”“Really?” Billy took his time studying the image on the phone. “I thought he would be older.”“Nope, that’s definitely him.” Darren exchanged a look with Kai. “Did he see you?”Kai looked nervously at Rodger, then back at Darren before shaking his head.I leaned forward and snatched the phone from my Gamma’s hand, eager to see what we were up against. Mick leaned over to stare at the phone with me. The picture was a bit blurry from zooming in, but the middle eastern man was identifiable enough among all the others around him. His clothes we