by VA Dold
I know that. I guess I wasn’t prepared for the intensity you’re giving off. Are you sure you’re okay?
I’m fine. He winced at the lie. One never lied to one’s mate. I will be fine when this is over, and you’re safe, he amended. Luperca had thrown one hell of a wrench into his routine. Having a mate to protect while removing the threat of a rogue was putting both him and Fang off their game.
Seth took her hand and gave it a squeeze. He needed to touch her and reassure himself she was safe and would stay that way. As much as it made his teeth itch, he couldn’t hunt Paul on his own. She wouldn’t let him. But he could be her first line of defense.
“Richie, the rogue is somewhere in the forest to our west. Take Sara and work your way around to the far side. About a quarter of a mile from here is a road that borders the reserve. Follow the road until you are directly across from where we are now and then work your way in. Carefully. There has to be some form of shelter hidden from sight. That’s where Paul will be.”
He turned his intense glare on Sara. “If you find something, reach out to me. Do not try to take him down on your own.”
Sara glanced away but nodded.
“Sara,” Seth growled, a warning in his tone. “I mean it.”
“I heard you. Now, let’s do this.” She kissed his cheek and took off around the edge of the trees with Richie hot on her tail.
He didn’t like sending Sara so far from his side. But his experience told him the rogue would be on this side of the forest. The beasts always entered an area closest to the entrance of their lair. He consoled himself with that fact and prayed Paul had done the same. He loathed having her so far from his protection with danger lurking somewhere within the trees. He would have to trust Richie to keep her safe.
I don’t like the way she wouldn’t meet your eye. Fang growled. She’s up to something.
Agreed. Let’s find Paul before she does and gets herself killed.
He entered the forest, moving in silence, every sense on alert. He was a predator, be it on two feet or four.
Not even the slightest movement or sound went unnoticed. A chipmunk scurried on a low branch to his right. The insects droned all around. A bird called from a tree to his left. The rogue’s scent grew stronger. Seth slowed his pace, inching his way through the brush, aware of everything around him both above and below.
Something caught his eye, and he crouched to examine it. He studied the uneven forest floor. Bent and bruised saplings. He brushed away the rotting leaves and debris. Hiding underneath was a footprint.
He stood and continued his search. The footprints became more common, and the stench of rogue filled his nose. He was close. He paused and brought Fang further forward, just short of shifting and let his senses fan outward.
He stayed very still, listening. Waiting for Paul to reveal his hideout. Hunting was a chess game of patience and skill. It was only a matter of time.
His nostrils flared. Sara’s caramel scent floated on the breeze. She was near.
We found it! Sara whispered in his mind. I’m going to check it out.
Sara, No! Stay put. I’ll be right there. Don’t go near it without me. But he knew she wouldn’t listen. Damn her. She was going to confront the rogue before he could get to her.
Richie grabbed her arm, but Sara yanked it away. “You need to wait for Seth,” he hissed into her ear.
“I told him we found something and he’s on his way.” Deep in the stand of trees, they’d come upon a rickety shack. The entire structure couldn’t be more than ten by twenty feet. From the looks of it, a stiff breeze would take it down.
Sara worked her way around the side and saw an opening that no longer had a door. She squinted her eyes, but it was too dark to see anything.
Richie made a strangled sound when she stepped inside.
She stopped a few feet inside the door to allow her eyes to adjust. The hair on the back of her neck itched, and her nose wrinkled at the nasty odor coming from somewhere in the shadows. Paul was close. She was about to be face to face with the rogue in a small dark rickety shack.
A scuffling sound came from the right. Unable to stop herself, she slowly turned.
Why didn’t he attack? He was there, somewhere in the darkness. Close to her. Very close. Too close. She held her breath, listening for more scuffles or breathing. But he didn’t move, and the constant creaking and groaning of the shack drowned out softer sounds.
Why was she so hard headed? If she’d listened to Richie, she wouldn’t be trapped in a shack ready to fall down on top of her with a deadly predator.
Without warning, something heavy slammed into her and knocked her to the floor.
Sara tried to scream, but there was no air left in her lungs. All that came out was a wheeze. Rough hands rolled her to her back. Then he was on her. His feted breath inches from her face.
“I held back…as long…as I could.”
The man on top of her quivered and convulsed. “Paul?”
“You. Should. Have. Run.”
Sara froze. Fear held her immobile. Not only was she captured by the rogue, there was something very wrong with him.
Seth didn’t so much come through the doorway as crash through it. The fragile structure listed a few inches to one side from the rush of wind he’d brought with him.
Old two-by-twelve timbers quivered with their effort to hold up the roof. Autumn leaves and litter swirled in frantic eddies across the floor. His eyes latched onto hers, then jerked to the rogue on top of her.
A second later, Richie skidded to a stop behind Seth.
“Guard Sara,” Seth growled without taking his eyes off the rogue.
The human features of the face only inches from Sara’s began to reshape into a muzzle with very sharp teeth.
A vicious snarl erupted from Seth’s throat as Fang burst into existence.
A shot of adrenaline-laced panic shot through Sara like Secretariat galloping for the finish line. Instinct and her natural born gift enhanced by her shifter magic took over. Every bit of available energy rushed to her. Without thinking she raised her hands and clamped them around the rogue’s muzzle. If she’d had her wits about her, she never would have put her fingers anywhere near a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The instant her skin made contact, her gift released a massive charge of power. The blast lit up the shack like high noon.
The rogue jerked away, howling in pain. The stench of burned hair mixed with eau de rogue filled her nose. Sara swallowed the bile rising in her throat.
Fang lowered his head, aimed low, and used every ounce of strength and speed he possessed. His attack caught the rogue, now in full wolf form, in its ribcage with the force of a freight train.
Paul flew across the shack and crashed into a pile of moldy broken furniture. Paul, coughing and wheezing, flailed to free himself from the debris.
Fang gave the beast no quarter. He spun and locked his jaws around the rogues left ankle, tearing flesh and severing tendons.
Richie grabbed her under the arms and pulled as she scuttled. They didn’t stop until she was against the wall of the dilapidated structure. She shivered and shook with the adrenaline still saturating her system. Sara got shakily to her knees and craned her neck to see around Richie who was crouched in front of her ready to do battle if the rogue came their way.
Paul’s brown wolf got to his feet, favoring the damaged back leg.
Sara gaped as before her eyes the torn tendons and flesh mended themselves.
The brown wolf’s hackles rose, and it growled a challenge, then charged forward. Fang stood his ground. At the last second, he sidestepped. The brown wolf crashed into the wall, its forward momentum too great to stop.
In the blink of an eye, the brown wolf got to its feet and lunged for Fang’s neck a second time.
Fang leapt into the air as the rogue neared, using the beasts back as a springboard to land in front of the doorway, several feet away. He spared a g
lance at her then inched backward.
That was when she realized he was drawing the rogue away from her and into the open where he could more easily battle the beast. Smart man.
The brown wolf stalked after him.
Sara got to her feet and shot past Richie ignoring his angry curses. She skidded to a stop ten yards from where the wolves battled. A second later a hand grabbed her arm.
“Damn it, woman, stay behind me. Are you trying to get me killed?”
She gaped at him. “What?”
“If anything happens to you, my best friend will rip my arms off and feed them to me.”
Fang used his blurring speed, to rush the beast. At the last second, both wolves leapt into the air, claws slashing. They hit the ground together, Seth on his feet and Paul on his back in the middle of a thicket. The impact caused the brown wolf to half shift back. Only the rogue’s now human legs landed outside the tangled mess of thorns and branches.
Seth took human form, pulled one of the blades from his forearms, and slammed the dagger through Paul’s right calf, pinning him to the ground.
Paul’s tortured howl morphed into a scream as his half wolf form gave way to full human.
He grimaced in pain. “I’m so sorry, Sara. I was forced to kill Grant. I tried to stop myself, but the magic was too strong. I…tried…to…”
Paul’s jaw clenched, and his eyes rolled until all that showed was the whites. A heartbeat later, they flashed an eerie red. Spittle dripped from the corner of his mouth as he locked eyes with Seth and ripped the dagger from his leg. He flipped the knife for a better grip then flung it at Seth’s chest.
Seth dodged left. The knife missed his heart but not his lung. The razor-sharp blade sliced through him like a hot knife through butter. He howled and dropped to his knees, helpless, and unable to draw a full breath.
“No!” Sara pushed Richie out of the way and put herself between the rogue and her mate.
Richie rushed to stop her. “Sara, get out of there!”
“Get away from me or get hurt. Take care of Seth. I’ve got this.” She raised her arms and pulled electricity from the power lines a quarter of a mile away. Power rushed to answer her call.
The rogue shifted to wolf again and stalked toward her.
She threw a blast at the rogue, searing the beast’s side. The rogue yelped and retreated. Sara spared a glance at Seth. Richie was on his knees beside him. Seth’s hand was over the wound, and Richie’s hand covered Seth’s.
“You need to heal yourself and fast,” Richie demanded.
A glow emanated from under their hands. Thank God. He would be okay. She eyeballed the rogue again. The beast was circling in a large arc. Sara kept pace with him, keeping her body between the beast and her man.
“My God. Look at her. I’ve never seen eyes glow so brightly. And her hair is sparking.”
She shot a look at Richie who gaped back at her.
The brown wolf inched closed with every pass. Sara raised her arms again. Her body vibrated with the massive amount of power she’d amassed.
“Holy shit! She’s glowing.”
“Shut up, Richie. Let her concentrate.”
Taking a breath, Sara turned her palm up to the sky. Wisps of clouds rushed to gather into thunderheads. The sky darkened, roiling and churning with her anger. Deep within the clouds lightning flashed like a backlight to the boiling tempest. Slowly she exhaled and focused. With patience and sheer will, she corralled the electrical charge together. The energy felt like a living thing. It was eager to lash out. Desperate to be free and find a target. With pinpoint laser accuracy she aimed the bolt and released her hold.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sara shielded her eyes as a blindingly bright bolt of lightning shot from the cloud like a bullet from a gun and struck the brown wolf at the base of his tail.
The wolf screamed, leapt into the air, and toppled onto its side. A cloud of black smoke rose from where the wolf had stood. The smoke and electrical tang dissipated to show a large scorched patch of earth with the downed wolf at its center. The fur on the back half of the beast gone, vaporized. Smoke rose in taunting tendrils of brown from the charred flesh.
“Geezus,” Richie whispered.
“Stop gawking and help me up.”
“Oh, sorry, man.” Richie grabbed Seth’s outstretched hand and pulled him to his feet.
Seth stretched the muscles of his arm and chest. Testing them for any weakness. Then he walked to Sara’s side. He chuckled and gave her a grin. “A bit much, don’t you think?”
She gave him an unrepentant smirk and cocked a brow. “He stabbed you. It pissed me off.”
Seth’s brows rose. “We’ll have to set some ground rules for when we argue.”
Sara grinned. “Just remember that I’m always right and I always get my way and there won’t be a problem.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He pulled his sword from his back and handed it to her. “Avenge your brother.”
She held the sword with both hands. “What do I have to do?”
“Severed the head from the body.”
Sara looked at the sword, and then Paul’s burned wolf form. The air shimmered around the wolf, and it shifted back to human.
Paul moaned and curled into a ball.
Sara looked at Seth and back at Paul again. Her stomach churned at the thought of cutting off someone’s head. Lightning in the heat of the moment she could do. Chopping off the head of a defenseless man, she couldn’t manage. She shook her head and handed it back to Seth. “I can’t do it.”
Paul rolled to his back, his burns already half healed. “Seth,” he croaked weakly.
Seth accepted the sword and walked to the center of the charred ground to stand over Paul.
Paul gazed up at him, sorrow in his eyes. “I don’t have much time before they take over my body again and I have to warn you.”
“Warn me of what?”
“The Benevolent Sovereign did this to me. They killed my mate, and when I tried to join her in death, they forced me to live. They made me the abomination you see before you. I didn’t choose to go rogue. This was forced upon me. They have a coven of powerful black witches who put a curse on me. I was their guinea pig. They wanted to see if it would work and plan to do the same to your father and his son’s. That includes you.”
“Who is this Benevolent Sovereign?”
Paul shook his head. “I don’t know. The voice was disguised and distorted. Whoever it was stayed out of sight. All I know is the enemy is close. I overheard the swampers and regular shifters who helped them do this to me, say the Benevolent Sovereign is in your camp. Stay close to your father and watch you back.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
“It’s the least I could do. If I had the power to control time, I would erase all that I’ve done and follow my mate in death. I don’t blame you for what you have to do. In fact, I welcome it and beg you to release me from this nightmare. Please. I want to join my mate in the next life.”
Seth squatted down and gripped Paul’s forearm in a show of respect from one warrior to another. “As you wish. May Luperca guide your spirit to your awaiting mate.” He released Paul’s arm and stood over him even with Paul’s shoulders. Seth raised the sword over his head and whispered, “Godspeed my friend.” Then he swung the blade down hard and fast.
Seth dropped his head, let out a long, sad breath, and stepped back. There was no honor in the kill. No justice meted out. His heart ached for Paul. Anger wormed its way in, dispelling the sorrow. He would kill the Benevolent Sovereign and rid the Earth of his evil.
He continued to stand there for several long minutes. Finally, he turned. Sara stood a few feet away with her arms wrapped around her middle as if she were holding herself together. Tears tracked down her cheeks, and silent sobs shook her shoulders.
He went to her and pulled her into his arms. Sara pressed her face into his shoulder while tremor
s wracked her body. “I’ve got you, mon amour.”
She sniffled and burrowed even closer.
Seth stroked, long soothing caresses down the back of her head. He felt her body relax against him. After several long minutes, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “Are you all right, my love?”
“I don’t know. I feel…so many conflicting things.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I was wrong…about everything. Grants death wasn’t Paul’s fault at all. He was as much a victim as my brother. All of my anger, hate, and vengeance has been aimed at an innocent man. I feel ashamed, and heartbroken by the loss of both Grant and Paul, and empty. And at the same time, I have a killing rage roiling in my gut to chop the Benevolent Sovereign into tiny pieces.”
“Conflicted, yes. Unusual, no. Everything you’re feeling is normal and to be expected. To be honest, I feel much the same.”
“You do?”
“Yes. And when I find out who this Benevolent Sovereign is, I plan to pay him a visit.”
“You better include me in that plan.”
“I will, mon amour. I promise.”
Richie stepped forward to stand beside them. Concern etched on his face. “Is everything, okay?”
Seth gave his friend a smile. “I think we’re good. Though I still need to check Sara over for injuries.”
“I’m fine.”
Seth cocked a brow at her. “I’m your mate, checking you over comes with the territory.” She huffed in response, but he ran his hands over her anyway. “No blood. Do you have pain anywhere from when he knocked you down in the shack?”
Sara shrugged one shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll find a few bruises, but that’s about all.”
“Good.”
Sara put her hands on Seth’s shoulders and began to run them down his arms. “My turn.” He watched her with a bemused look on his face. She checked his torso and back, then each leg. Satisfied she stood and gave him a nod. “I give you a clean bill of health.”
He chuckled at her serious expression. “Thank you, Doctor Adams.”
