2

My body was being jostled, and each jerk felt as if I were burned alive. The movement stopped, and I looked up to see Zeke’s tortured eyes staring into mine. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he shook his head and glanced back at the house.

I managed to turn my head enough to see flames shooting from the study’s window. Zeke hurried to a car parked at the edge of our property and slid me into the back.

“Fuck,” he growled. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“Samuel,” I croaked. He’d been downstairs.

“Michael’s here.” Zeke ran his hands through his hair, his expression strained. “I can’t get him, so we’ll do the next best thing. You’re coming with me.” He closed my door and went to the driver’s seat.

The car moved, and my chest constricted. “My brother.” Even the little girl version of me knew it was pointless to ask about Mommy and Daddy. My current heartbreak blended with hers, and the tears in our eyes and the pain of our loss hurt worse than her burned skin.

Zeke slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “Shut up!” His breaths came out in whooshes. “Let me think. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to lose her.” His voice broke on that last word.

Even as his words rang in my little-girl ears, my surroundings faded again.

I tried to force my eyes open. Maybe I’d regret it later if this was the way to get all my memories back, but now I knew Zeke was to blame. He’d been behind everything.

“Callie,” Samuel’s grown-up voice sounded far away, but something inside me stirred.

Whatever I’d done was working. I just had to keep it up.

A hand gently slapped my cheek, barely making it sting. I wanted to smile, knowing Samuel was probably cringing from such a minor thing.

“Everyone, help search for Bodey,” Samuel commanded out loud, not having the luxury of being able to link with everyone like Bodey and I could since being marked as king and queen.

My eyes popped open, and the afternoon light startled me. “Bodey,” I whimpered, sitting up. I needed to find him. Through our fated-mate bond, I had the best chance of tracking him down.

But as I tried to stand, my head pounded, and I nearly fell over.

Lucas’s strong hand gripped my arm and held me upright. My head throbbed as if a hammer had beaten my brain into a bloody pulp. It felt the same as when Sybil had tried to free my memories.

Sybil.

I turned and saw her dead body a mere ten feet away from me. Blood oozed from her ripped-out neck, and her bronze skin was pasty. Zeke stood by her, staring at me warily.

“Don’t move too fast,” Lucas said as he moved, blocking my view of the dead witch. He squatted, his dark hair messy from the fight and his dark-brown eyes filled with concern. Blood trickled from the scratches down his arm.

Guys, he’s gone, Jack linked, and we all felt his trepidation. There’s no sign of him, not even his scent. They must have had a witch here.

My mate was gone. He’d been taken from me. And this man not even fifteen feet away was the cause. Maybe not directly, but he’d killed my parents and set all of this into motion.

All the wolves have retreated, Miles replied.

Anger boiled within me, and I stood up straight, my mind clear and begging for Zeke’s blood. “You,” I snarled and lunged at him.

   

Zeke stumbled back a few steps, but I countered each move, my wolf surging forward, wanting blood as desperately as I did.

His eyes widened as I barreled into his chest, both hands punching his ribs.

“Get off me!” he spat, but I heard the fear behind his voice.

Good. I wanted him to feel what my mother had felt before the explosion. I wanted him to die the same way—terrified.

I punched him in the face as my arms tingled from my wolf surging forward. He fell backward and landed on his butt, me half on top of him.

A hmph escaped him as the impact jarred us. Hoping he was distracted, I snaked my left hand around his waist, trying to pry the knife he had to defend against Kel’s wolves away from him as my wolf pushed forward. She wanted to taste his blood as much as my human side wanted to make him bleed. In animal form, I could make both of those things happen.

The sound was damn near intoxicating. I wanted to watch as his blood pooled under him from my teeth in his neck. I wanted to see him slowly bleed out as the life drained from him.

Who knew I’d ever be like this? But after everything this bastard had done, my humanity faltered.

“Callie!” Samuel shouted, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me back.

Oh, fuck no. This bastard was the reason my parents were dead, why I’d lost so much time with my brother, and why his pack had abused me for most of my life. I also suspected he’d been involved in this latest attack, which had resulted in my mate’s disappearance. Death was the punishment he deserved.

I elbowed Samuel in the face and clawed Zeke’s cheek. My nails dug into his skin, scraping his cheek raw, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to hurt him more.

Pain flashed through my connection with Samuel, but hot rage blinded me. All I could see was Zeke’s face and the hell he’d put everyone through.

Another pair of arms snaked around my waist just as Zeke loosened his hold on the knife, and I swiped it from him.