by M. L. Briers
Mary looked about her to make sure that nobody was around and then she slipped out of the side door. She hadn’t seen Declan since he had left to patrol this morning and she was getting antsy being locked up inside the house.
She knew she shouldn’t go outside, but it was pack land and the wolves were constantly patrolling. She felt it was just the alpha being too protective of his mate that meant they all had to suffer. Besides she didn’t plan on going too far, just a little walk to stretch her legs and then back in time for dinner, where was the harm in that?
Half an hour later, Mary came to the distinct realisation that she was lost. She thought she had followed some kind of path into the woods, but now she was standing in the middle of a snowstorm with the wind whipping up and she could just about make out a tree before she stepped into it. There was no chance of finding the path back.
Mary cursed her own stupidity. She was a city girl and there was always a shop or café to pop into when bad weather hit to sit it out. Here there was nothing. Always someone lurking about to ask directions from if she got lost, she highly doubted that the trees were going to answer her even if she did speak to them, although right now she would give almost anything to hear the sound of a friendly voice.
Hannah was going to tear her a new one, not to mention what Kay and Fiona were going to do to her. The last time she got lost Fiona made her wear a cow bell around the house for a week, she wished she had the damn thing now. But what about Declan? How mad was he going to be with her?
Where was a wolf when you needed one?
“What do you mean missing?”Hannah demanded of Kay when she came back into the kitchen without Mary.
“I’ve looked everywhere, Hannah…”Kay assured her and Hannah balked.
“Well look again.”She snapped back, and Kay turned on her heels and walked straight into Fiona as she tore into the kitchen.
“Find her?”Kay demanded and Fiona slowly shook her head as Hannah ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
“We’ve got an escapee? Don’t fuss, let me talk to the alpha.”The elder held up her index finger and concentrated on the link that existed between her pack.
‘Seth, we have a small problem…’
‘Don’t tell me you can’t handle the sisters, Bertha.’ He chuckled at the thought. Bertha was the eldest of the elders, and the most cantankerous. If anyone was going to occupy Kay and Fiona and give Hannah some space it was her.
‘Seems the littlest Fae has gone walkabout…’
‘Mary’s missing? Since when?’Seth growled out his annoyance. He took in the area around him. The wind was howling and the snow was falling thick and fast, and even in his beasts form he was feeling the winter chill of the icy winds. These woods could turn around any human, it was easy to get lost, but with the snow coming down the way it was, it would be a miracle if she could find her way home.
‘Not sure, last anyone saw her was an hour ago. Your mate’s upset for now, give it a while to sink in and she’s going to be frantic when she realises that little one is going to freeze to death out there.’ Bertha cautioned him. She could see the look in Hannah’s eyes, realisation wouldn’t take long to become fear.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘We’ll start the search now. Tell Hannah that we’ll find her sister.’ Seth wished to hell he could be there to assure his mate, comfort her, sooth her fears, and it caused a dull ache within him. But if he could have chosen anyone else to be there in his place it would have been Bertha, she had been pack mother for decades.
Seth started back towards the house on fast paws. He was using mainly scent to navigate his way through the blizzard, as he growled out his order through the link to his pack.
‘Start the search around the main house and those houses that are closest and work your way out. She couldn’t have gotten far on human feet before the snow started.’
‘We need to find her, Alpha.’ He could hear the fear and worry in Declan’s voice and felt for the young wolf. He wouldn’t want to think of Hannah out here alone. It wasn’t the vampire they needed to worry about so much right now as the damn weather.
‘We’ll find her, Declan.’ It was a promise to the young wolf, he only hoped he could keep his word.
Fiona pulled on her snow boots and shrugged into her jacket. Wrapping her scarf around her neck and zipping the padded material up as far as she could, she reached in her pockets and tugged out her hat and gloves.
“Fiona, what the hell?”Kay demanded as she stalked towards her sister and snatched the hat from her hand.
“I’m not going to sit here and wait, Kay.”Fiona snapped back, snatching the hat and yanking it onto her head, and she thrust her hands into her gloves.
“Fine. I’m coming with you.”Kay snatched up her boots and yanked them on. This might be a bad idea, but Fiona was right, she couldn’t just wait for Mary to turn up.
“What are you doing?”Hannah demanded as she followed the elder out of the kitchen and the older woman shook her head.
“Trust me girls, its coming thick and fast, and you’re both going to end up as lost as Mary.”Bertha offered, but Fiona shook her head.
“Not if we use our powers to find her…”
“And how are you planning to get back?”Hannah demanded, watching Kay shrug into her jacket and zip it up to her neck.
“Maybe we’ll find a friendly wolf or two to guide us…”Kay offered and Hannah threw her hands up.
“Then you’ll be no better off than Mary.”She berated and Fiona shrugged.
“But at least we’ll be with Mary.”
Hannah started for the door herself. They were right, she couldn’t just wait for news, hope the pack located her sister, she needed to be out there helping, and her power to locate her sister was the strongest of the three. If they joined together, they’d find her.
“Jacket!” Kay snapped when Hannah reached for the door and she realised what she was doing.
“Boots would be good too.”Fiona teased to lighten her sister’s mood as Bertha tried to be the voice of reason.
“Now girls listen to me…”She started, but Fiona held up her hand and shook her head.
“Sorry, Bertha. But our sister needs us.”
Bertha could see the only way that she was likely to stop them was to tackle each one to the floor, and while she wasn’t opposed to the idea in principle, and if she thought that it would help she would have, they weren’t going to be kept from seeking their sister, and she doubted even the alpha himself could have stopped the three Fae as they pulled open the door and pushed through the chill wind into the night.
‘Seth, we have a new problem…’
Mary knew she needed to keep moving. She was bone cold and all she wanted to do was sit down, but she knew if she stopped to rest she was unlikely to get up again.
There were some advantages to being a book worm, she told herself as she dragged her feet through the snow that was banking up fast all around her. She knew not to stop for one thing.
The shivers that ran through her on a what she was sure was a constant loop, made her teeth chatter and her brain almost numb, as she tripped over something immovable on the ground and lurched into the hard, unforgiving tree trunk in front of her, and she cursed out against the pain in her shoulder.
Pain’s good, she told herself, pain meant she could still feel, pain meant she was still alive. Keep going. One foot then the other. Don’t stop. A few more steps and you’ll be warm. Just a few more. Keep going. She kept a constant dialogue in her mind, telling herself that the house was just ahead, that if she just took a few more steps, no matter how tired she was, she’d be there, and then all she had to worry about was being berated by her sisters, and possible frost bite…
Not far… too far… can’t feel my fingers… toes cold… so cold… rest…
Mary felt the hit from another unrelenting tree trunk and staggered backwards, but this time she was sure that the tree hugged her back towards it. How could that be
? A hugging tree?
“What the…?” She pushed out through her chattering teeth as the feel of something gripping her upper arms made her head pull up and back, and she blinked against the falling snow in the darkness at the black shadow above her, a moment before her head spun, or the world spun, but the main thing was, she wasn’t walking anymore…
“Where’s Hannah?”Kay shouted over the winds that took her breath away every time she moved her scarf from in front of her mouth.
Fiona turned as best as she could considering she was stuffed inside several layers of clothing and the snow was doing its best to batter her from every angle. Her eyes searched around her as far as the weather would allow and she could see no sign of Hannah anywhere.
“I don’t know…”She shouted, turning back towards Kay and seeing the blackness come to life from the blanket of white around them and reach out towards her sister. “Kay!” She screamed out, but she was already too late. Kay was tossed aside against the nearest tree as the figure loomed towards Fiona and she raised her hands and drew on her magic, but he had her in his grasp.
His fingers dug into her flesh, even through the thickness of the snow jacket, right down to the bone, and she tried to struggle against his hold even as she was yanked up against the hardness of his chest.
His breath felt like a flame against her skin as he took in her scent. The roar that left his lips was akin to a demon’s fury as he scented the vampire on her.
“You mated…”He tightened his grip until she thought her bones would crack under the pressure he was exerting on her, and then she was tossed aside as Kay had been.
Fiona didn’t see it coming. She was travelling too fast and the snow was a blanket over her face, disorientating her, but she felt the impact. The sound of her own bones breaking inside her body was the last thing she heard, screaming pain like nothing she had ever experienced in her lifetime was the last thing she felt, before the blessed darkness claimed her.
Mac threw open the door to the house and saw Bertha come at him. The worry he felt at Mary’s stillness was echoed in the elder woman’s eyes, as he raced Mary over to the couch nearest a roaring fire, and Bertha slapped his hands away.
“I need to undress her. Get me blankets. Lots of blankets.”Bertha was pulling and tugging Mary’s clothes from her body, and Mac had done the rounds of the upstairs bedrooms, yanking everything he could off the beds and was standing back beside Bertha holding his find, as she covered Mary, stripped down to her bare essentials, with a thick woollen throw from the back of the sofa.
“Where are the others?”Mac demanded. He would have expected the sisters to be squabbling and noisily caring for Mary by now. Bertha grabbed one blanket after the other and laid them over Mary’s still body.
“They all left to search for Mary. The pack is looking for them…”Bertha was speaking to his back as he started for the front door again, and before she could finish he was gone.
Seth spotted Hannah on her knees in the snow and his heart lurched with relief. It was short lived. He could scent the human blood in the air. Two different types, but neither was Hannah’s.
The closer to her he got on fast paws, he realised that she was leaning over someone on the ground.
‘Mary?’ Seth growled bringing Declan’s attention towards his alpha as he closed the distance towards his mate. Declan scented the air.
‘That’s not Mary’s blood…’ Declan growled out with relief and Lee growled long and hard as he joined his brothers.
‘Kay’s blood… I scent Kay’s…’
Seth reached his mate first. Nudging her into awareness that he was there.
‘It’s not Kay. It’s Fiona…’ Seth saw the recognition of who he was in his mate’s eyes, as she blinked away the tears. He moved against her to give her his warmth and tossed his head back and howled long and hard. He needed Mac here now, and that was the only way he could think to bring the vampire to him.
“He took Kay, Seth…”Hannah spat out through clenched teeth as she tried to push the cold ache inside her away, it was a coldness that had nothing to do with the icy winds that burned deeply into her very bones.
‘Lee, Declan, track Kay, if she’s bleeding…’ Mac appeared in the clearing just as Lee turned and took off after Kay’s scent, Declan following him.
Mac took in the sight of his mate and dropped to his knees in the snow. His hands reached for her and he gathered her against him. He could hear her heart beating, not as strong as it should be, and he lifted his hand and bit down into his flesh, gouging out the skin and tipping her head back to literally squeeze his blood down her throat.
“Have you seen Mary?”Hannah shouted into the wind as she watched her sister being force fed the blood that would save her life, heal her wounds. She saw Seth shift into his human form beside her.
“I found her and took her home, Bertha’s warming her. She was like a block of ice.”Mac assured her, even though he never took his eyes from his mate.
“I have to go after Lee, Declan and Kay. I can’t let them face the vampire alone. Go back with Mac.”Seth breathed against her ear, and she nodded as he squeezed her gloved hand reassuringly before he started running towards the clearing, shifting in mid air as he took off on fast paws, following the scent his pack left for him.
Mac pulled Fiona into his arms and stood up and Hannah dragged herself from her knees.
“Can you walk?”Mac shouted to her and she nodded. She’d damn well drag her backside the whole way back to Mary. There was nothing she could do for Kay now. She would have to trust that Seth and the others would find her, something that she cursed herself for not letting them do with Mary in the first place.
They should never have been out there. It was madness, and she had let herself become swept up in her sister’s folly. Fiona wouldn’t be injured and Kay wouldn’t have been taken by Dermond, and Mary would have been found by Mac and been safe.
“We need to be fast. I want to track with Seth and find Kay, can you climb onto my back?” Mac shouted down at her, knowing that they were going to slowly, and that by the time they got back and he returned to this spot the scent would have blown away in the winds.
“Just leave me, take Fiona back…”
“Get on my damn back, Hannah. I’m not leaving you.”Mac did a good impression of a Lycan and Hannah snapped to attention. She couldn’t feel her hands very well right now, but as she climbed onto his back she knew he would be going faster that hell, and she needed to hang on for all she was worth.
Seth passed by Declan and caught up to Lee. The woman was slowing the vampire down just enough to give them a fighting chance of reaching him.
‘Why did he take Kay and leave Fiona?’ Lee growled out into the collective link, and Seth had to divert around the damn tree trunk in time not to hit it. He was going too fast and using his senses to navigate, and that wasn’t working out exactly as planned.
‘Maybe he won’t mess with another vampires mate…’
‘I’ll teach the damn bloodsucker what happens when he messes with a Lycan mate…’ Lee’s blood lust was soaring within him. Seth could tell, he could sense it in his Beta, but you didn’t need to be a genius to recognise that his beast would see red at just his mate being attacked, without the fact the damn vampire had carried her away.
‘Act on instinct, not vengeance…’ Seth warned him. He knew what blood lust could do to your mind, the way it distorted rational thought. It was tunnel vision, where your anger consumed you to the point of madness. If Lee went into a fight with a vampire like that it was likely that he wouldn’t survive, and he wouldn’t lose any member of his pack here tonight.
‘I’ll rip the guy limb from damn limb, don’t get in my way.’ Lee growled out. The rage was taking him further into his beast’s most feral side. Some wolves never came back from their blood lust, some died, some became rogue, and both of those outcomes were unacceptable here.
‘Lee, control it or I’ll stand you down.’ Seth put a little
extra alpha dominance behind his words, but he doubted it would make a difference.
Seth didn’t want to waste the time or energy taking his Beta down and forcing him to stand down, making him submit to his will, they needed to get to Kay before the scent was gone.
Kay knew she was being carried the moment the blackness lifted and the pain of her bruises took hold. Something tossed her through the air… someone, she rationalised. Dermond. It was Dermond, she was certain. If she was wrong she feared she would have some apologies to make.
Kay drew on her magic, pushing away the pain within her and concentrating on the light from within. Like a warmth it started to burn within her, growing outwards from her very essence until it filled her whole body with a blessed heat that took away the pain, and she held it too her, allowing it to grow and stretch like a fiery ball of white flame inside her, white hot at its very core.
She knew she should steel herself for whatever would come at her the moment she released her magic, but if she tensed now he might sense it. She had a feeling that this was going to hurt not only him, but her as well.
Kay released the fire within. The powerful jolt that she sent out through her whole body had Dermond roaring in pain at the intensity of her magic. A shock ripped through his body, like he was being flayed by the fires of hell, and for a long moment his grip was like a vice against her legs and ribs. The sound of her bones snapping echoed through her mind at the same time as the pain tore through her, and she screamed in agony.
The next moment she felt his release, but she never felt herself falling. She was already in too much pain and it clouded her mind. She hit hard, her head bounced against the frozen ground, and she saw the face, hard, murderous and as close to deranged as she could ever imagine above her, a moment before she felt his fangs rip into her neck.
