by Bianca D’Arc
The eldest male of the bird shifters nodded and followed Ezra and Thea to the door. He and Ezra exchanged a few low words while Thea tried to hide her shock at the state the wolves were in. This was really terrible. It was just like what had happened to the women she’d been held prisoner with in Lake Tahoe. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad.
The bird shifter elder locked the door behind Ezra and Thea, and they headed for their bikes. She knew they had been planning to go to the garage next, and that the local werewolves were probably split between their pool hall and the garage at this time of day. Hopefully, they were all contained and could be hidden from human sight until they were released from the spell, compulsion, or whatever it was.
Ezra was on the phone, and she heard him talking to Ace as they settled on their bikes. She could hear that Ace had sent Jack over to the pool hall as soon as the wolves they worked with had succumbed to the zombie-like state. Jack had secured the pool hall, locking the place up with the wolves inside and putting signs out saying the place would be closed for the rest of the day. King was doing the same for the garage, which was a little trickier, since there were humans coming in for scheduled appointments.
Ace and his brothers would try to handle the humans and pack them off as quickly as possible, but She heard Ezra volunteer them to help. A moment later, the phone call was over, and she and Ezra were heading for the garage as quickly as possible.
They spent the rest of the afternoon running interference. Thea kept the wolves in the back room, coaxing them into seated positions and watching over them as they completely zoned out. Ezra and the other bears did what they could to fill in the gaps and handle as many of the human customers as possible.
Thea also made calls, using the appointment book and doing what she could to lighten the load by rescheduling folks to tomorrow or the next day wherever possible. They weren’t happy about it, but they complied with her requests to change dates and times for the most part. She figured this would all be over by tomorrow, and they’d deal with the fallout, then. For now, the fewer humans coming to the repair shop, the better.
Around closing time, the wolves started to wake up. It was a slow process, and none of them seemed to realize they’d been the next best thing to comatose for the past several hours. They got up, one by one, and headed out of the garage, calling vague goodbyes to their coworkers as if it were a regular day.
The only thing different, as far as Thea could tell, was the glassy look in their eyes and the way they didn’t seem to realize anything was amiss. They were clearly still all under some sort of spell. Thea stood next to Ezra, watching them.
“Shouldn’t we try to stop them?” she asked softly as the first of the wolves got on their bikes and headed down the street at a sensible pace.
“I don’t see how,” Ezra said on a gusty sigh. “But I do think we need to follow where they lead. The moon rises early tonight. We’ll want to be wherever these guys end up in time to try to identify and stop the mage. He’ll have to be nearby, right? In order to benefit the most from the bloodshed?”
“Yeah, he’ll want to be right up close and personal,” Thea confirmed. “Making others suffer is the kind of thing evil folks really get off on.”
“Then, that’s where we need to be.” He didn’t look too happy about it, but she was glad he was including her in his plans. She would’ve been very upset if her new mate didn’t understand that seeing this through was something she had to do for herself, for her mate, for the wolves, and ultimately, for a full recovery from the ordeal she’d been through.
Thea realized the three bear brothers had come up to stand next to them as they spoke. All were watching the departing wolves. By ones and twos, the wolves were heading out.
“We’ll lock up here, and then, we should probably follow before the last one leaves,” King said.
“Definitely,” Ezra replied.
“Any news on the cavalry?” Ace asked quietly.
Ezra frowned. “We can’t count on any backup.”
“Looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way, then,” King said, summing up all their thoughts.
They left soon after, Ezra and Ace coordinating their approach and positioning. Ezra and Thea rode side by side, following the highest-ranking wolf of those who’d been in the garage. The brothers spread out, following other clusters of wolves who all seemed to be heading in the same direction, though they took various routes through town.
When they reached the open road, it was clear they were all going the same way. Thea, Ezra, and the other bears followed along like they were part of the Pack, and nobody even seemed to notice them. When they turned off onto a dirt road, the bears held back a bit, wanting to be among the last to arrive, so they could hide their presence as long as possible since it was likely the mage who was causing all of this was watching every arrival at their chosen killing field.
“If we go in too early,” Ezra had reasoned when they’d been planning this, “the mage could just scatter them all and try again later. We’ll only have one shot at taking the bastard by surprise.”
Thea had agreed, and so had the other bears, even though it was a little riskier this way for the wolves. They might start right in on the battle, and then, it would be harder to stop, but there was no elegant way to do this. Someone was going to get hurt no matter what. Thea just hoped it was the mage and not the shifters.
CHAPTER TEN
Ezra wasn’t thrilled that Thea was in the danger zone, but he knew she needed to be here. He knew she needed this—to face her worst fears—to heal from what had been done to her. He didn’t like it, but he understood the need.
He was so damned proud of how far she’d already come. She was a strong woman in every way. Her bear had bounced back and was mightier than it had been before. His Thea was something else, and he loved everything about her. Including her fierce spirit that refused to be cowed.
They approached the natural depression in the earth where the wolves were gathering cautiously. There was a shallow basin topped by a rocky ridge. A perfect place for a showdown if you wanted it contained and hidden from easy view by stray passing humans.
Ezra stopped his bike on the path that was well-worn by the passage of so many of the wolves and evaluated the situation. Thea stopped next to him, and Ace came up alongside a moment later.
“This looks like the place,” Ezra said, taking a good hard look around.
There was more than one path that led into the crater, and it was clear the White Oaks wolves had come by another route. They were already there and waiting as the local wolf Pack arrived. Bikes had been left scattered all over the higher ground, and the wolves had arrayed themselves around the bowl in the earth—each taking half the roughly circular depression for their side. Like opposing armies waiting for the charge.
“King and Jack are coming in from either side,” Ace reported. “But I have to say, this looks bad. Really bad.”
Ezra nodded, watching everything, trying to figure out where the mage was hiding. Beside him, Thea stiffened, and he went instantly on alert.
“What is it?” he asked her quietly, not wanting to draw attention to them.
“You know that feeling you get when something rubs your fur the wrong way?” She was looking out over the assembled werewolves who all had that glassy, zombified look in their eyes again. “The mage is close.”
“I don’t see the local Alpha yet,” Ace murmured from Ezra’s other side. “Wait, there he is…and oh, shit. Here comes trouble.”
Ezra looked to where Chase Rivers was arriving at the circle from the entrance just off to the left of where Ezra and company watched. And he wasn’t alone. Chase stopped his bike and let a woman off the back. She was smiling, and her eyes definitely weren’t glassy. In fact, she looked downright triumphant.
“It’s her,” Thea whispered at his side. “She’s the mage.”
Well, hell. Ezra hadn’t really expected they’d be fighting a female magic user, but he shouldn’
t have been so surprised. Women could be just as vicious as men when their hearts had turned to evil. He’d seen it before.
“The Alpha’s girlfriend?” Ace asked, incredulous. “I mean, we all thought she was a bitch of the first order, but we didn’t think she was evil,” he went on. “Then again, Jack never liked her, but he couldn’t explain why. Little bro was right to stay away from her the few times she showed her face at the garage since we’ve been here.”
“She came to the garage?” Ezra asked quietly, the pieces beginning to fall into place in his mind.
“Yeah. She went into private meetings with Frank a few times. We all thought it was strange, but we didn’t know what to make of it. Her name is Sarella. At least, that’s what she goes by. I figured it was a stripper name or something.”
“Might be her last name. Mages seem to be known by their family names,” Thea put in quietly. As the woman turned, and Thea got her first good look at Sarella’s face, she gasped and put her hand on Ezra’s forearm. “I’ve seen her before,” she whispered, her face pale. “She came to the basement a couple of times. I think she was learning from Bolivar. He was training her. And sleeping with her. At least for a little while.”
“You okay?” Ezra forgot everything, concentrating on Thea. As he watched, her face regained color, and her shoulders straightened, a firm resolve coming into her eyes as she met his gaze.
“I’m good. This is good. We can stop another one of those evil bastards and prevent this carnage,” she told him, her voice low, but strong. “And I can get a little of my own back. That bitch bled me and laughed.” Thea’s eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on her prey standing some fifty yards distant. “Now, it’s my turn.”
Around them, the werewolves finished assembling and now faced each other like two opposing armies waiting for the signal to charge. The sorceress raised her arms, watching from the rim of the crater, and the zombie stares of the men and women all around changed from quiescent to angry as if someone had flipped a switch.
And, in fact, someone had. That sorceress was orchestrating this like a conductor in front of her orchestra, only they weren’t going to make music. No, this group was going to make war. Bloodshed. Violence and probably death. All to power the woman who held them in thrall.
But not if Ezra could help it.
He wasn’t sure how, exactly, this was going to go down yet, but he knew one thing for certain. He was going to put a stop to it, one way or another.
Thea watched the woman, remembering more and more about their past encounters. Thea had been in bear form each time the other woman had come, if she remembered correctly. Chances were Sarella wouldn’t recognize Thea immediately, which meant she could probably get closer to the sorceress without her noticing.
“I’m going to position myself closer to her,” Thea told Ezra as she got off her bike.
He reached out and put his hand on her forearm, halting her gently. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Thea didn’t really have the words to explain why she knew what she had to do here, she just trusted that Ezra would understand.
He looked into her eyes then nodded at whatever he saw there and let her go. Thea moved off slowly, trying to keep behind the cover of the still-moving latecomers to the party, using the wolves as camouflage as she inched her way closer to Sarella.
She felt more than saw Ezra doing the same.
She was aware of the werewolves growing more restless as their two Alphas made their way down into the center of the natural amphitheater from opposing sides. They were dropping clothing as they went until they faced each other, chests bare, pants the only thing left to let fall when they shifted into their wolf forms for battle.
Not bad-looking males. In fact, if she’d still been single, she might’ve looked a little harder at the muscular men on parade, but her main focus was the sorceress. A protégé of Bolivar’s, this woman was evil through and through. In a way, that made all of this easier for Thea. There was no doubt about the enemy, and if they managed to kill Sarella, so much the better. The world could only be better off without her in it.
Sarella raised her hands again, and based on the scene below, Thea figured this would be the start of the brawl. Thea wouldn’t give her the chance.
“Remember me?” Thea asked, walking boldly forward, until she was only ten feet or so from Sarella.
The sorceress paused, seemingly surprised by Thea’s presence.
“Who are you? Why are you here? This is a private meeting,” Sarella said in a haughty tone that Thea remembered.
“Private battle, you mean,” Thea muttered, just loud enough for the woman to hear. “So, you really don’t remember me?”
“Should I?”
Was Sarella looking down her nose at Thea? No way. She truly was. Thea just shook her head.
“Considering I killed your pal, Bolivar, you probably should,” Thea fibbed a little, wanting to see the other woman’s reaction.
“You—?” Sarella seemed shocked by Thea’s claim. And, yes, it was clear she knew exactly who Bolivar was, so Thea’s memories were confirmed. This was his little bloodthirsty plaything. “Bolivar’s dead?”
“You didn’t know?” Thea hadn’t expected that, but perhaps communications between evil mages wasn’t as good as she’d thought.
Sarella moved fast to shoot a loosely concocted bolt of dull red energy at Thea. Her reflexes only marginally slower than her bear form, Thea ducked, and the mage fire just skimmed over her back, doing no damage. It hadn’t missed her. It had slid away from her—as it would have slid off her fur if she’d been in bear form.
There was a reason only the most powerful mages dared to fuck around with bears. They were more magical than most shifters, and it was much harder to subdue them, both physically and magically. Most spells bounced right off—unless the bear was already weakened, as Thea had been in Bolivar’s basement.
“What are you?” Sarella all but shrieked.
“You really don’t know?” Thea said, standing tall in front of the other woman once more and walking slowly closer, closing the gap between them.
The wolves around started to shift shape, and a few formed a ring of protection around Sarella, at her direction. She was waving her arms around again, causing all sorts of unrest around the circular depression in the earth. Down below, the two Alphas began circling each other, preparing to engage. Along either side, the armies began to prepare, as well, growling low in their throats, clearly agitated beyond all reason. Several shifted into their wolf form, their clothing discarded on the sides of the hill as they kicked their hind legs free of their pants.
Thea didn’t let any of that distract her. She was peripherally aware of the other bears moving deeper into the bowl and Ezra somewhere behind and below her, but she wanted the mage. She wanted to end Sarella and her control over these poor wolves.
Thea might have to hurt a few to get to her goal, but she’d try to be as gentle as possible with the wolves. The mage? Not so much.
Ezra was torn. He wanted to help Thea, but he knew he had to let her stand on her own two—or maybe four—feet. The best way he could help her now, he decided, was to limit the amount of blood shed by the werewolves. The less power they funneled up to that sorceress, the better.
To that end, Ezra jumped into the middle of the circle, putting himself between the two werewolf Alphas, hoping to stop this before it really got a chance to get going. So far, they’d only been posturing. Circling each other, looking for an opening or some kind of weakness to exploit.
They were pretty evenly matched. Both in their prime and well-built for combat. If this had been a friendly contest, it might’ve been interesting to see how it ended, but this wasn’t friendly. This wasn’t even sane. Both were clearly under Sarella’s control and not doing this of their own free will. That made this a disgusting display, worthy only of scorn. But it wasn’t really their fault, Ezra knew. Magic was sometimes very hard to fight.
“Alphas
,” Ezra shouted to be heard above the growling. “This fight isn’t yours. You’re being manipulated by a Venifucus mage.”
While Ezra wasn’t one hundred percent certain of Sarella’s Venifucus ties, it was a pretty good bet that she was in league with that ancient order of evil. Perhaps the word alone would help jog some of these wolves to their senses. He scanned the slope, looking for anyone who might be coming out of the bespelled state and found only one man looking confused.
Praise the Goddess, it was Arch. If he let loose with all his skill and knowledge of combat, Goddess help anyone who got in his way. All wolves were dangerous, but Arch Hanson was in a league of his own. If they could keep him from fighting, they could prevent a lot of damage.
“Sarella has you all under her spell,” Ezra went on, keeping one eye on the combatants he stood between and another on the little drama taking place farther up the hill where Thea was facing off with Sarella. Ezra sent a prayer heavenward that Thea would be all right.
As if Thea had heard, she let out a piercing wolf whistle that made everyone near her cringe back a bit. It was loud and jolting, and it got everyone’s attention.
“Hey, wolves!” Thea shouted to be heard throughout the natural amphitheater. “This bitch Sarella is in league with evil. She hurt me and stole some of my power. I’m here to get it back. Don’t feed her evil by hurting each other for her pleasure. You’re being used!”
Thea staggered as Sarella sent another mage bolt at her back. It didn’t hurt Thea, but it definitely got her attention. Thea turned on Sarella and growled. A bear growl that made it clear she was nothing like these wolves. Ezra felt so proud of her in that moment. Worried for her, too, but so damned proud.
Thea turned back toward Sarella, annoyed by the cheap shot the bitch had taken at her back. It had hurt a bit, but Thea was much stronger now than she’d been the last time they’d met. This time, it would be Sarella who ended up bleeding.
