by Parker Skye
“Alpha, sir, I trust Izzy. I know you don’t know him, but hopefully some day you will get to meet him and you will see that he is an honorable man. He wouldn’t do anything like that,” Ryan said.
“Ryan, how can you be sure about that? You barely know Izzy. How big of a coincidence is it that he just showed up on our trip like that and needed a ride? Don’t be a fool just because you’ve swapped bodily fluids with the guy,” Logan interjected. Ryan could see the anger on his alpha’s face at this revelation. Damn Logan and his big mouth.
“Geez, I would hate to think Izzy is the one responsible for any of this, but you have to admit, it does look suspicious, Ryan. I mean, Ben and I have known Izzy for longer than you and I can’t tell you much about him at all. How do we know he isn’t the one who tipped off the police?” Adam said, twisting his hands together, decidedly unhappy at having called Izzy’s veracity into question.
“Ryan, listen to me,” Alpha Leikos commanded. “This Izzy person is a threat until proven otherwise. He needs to be removed from the picture. Understood?”
“I understand, Alpha, but I can’t do that to Izzy. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I promised him my protection and I won’t back out on that now.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Ryan Fearborn. That was an order from your Alpha,” Alpha Leikos growled out, his blue eyes ice cold in their unnatural glow. Ryan felt the weight of his alpha’s command settle around his neck and he broke eye contact in submission.
“I understand, sir. I’ll take care of it,” Ryan replied dejectedly. His wolf whined in despair at their untenable position.
“I know you will, Ryan. Go get the job done while I talk things over with Ben and Logan. Don’t worry, son. We’ll figure something out,” Alpha Leikos said. Once Ryan turned to walk away, his alpha called out, “You’re a good soldier, Ryan, and I’ve never had a reason to doubt your loyalty before. Don’t make me start now.”
Chapter 22
Izzy
Izzy knew he shouldn’t have eavesdropped on the wolves’ conversation, but he was too keyed up to simply sit and wait like the meek little muggle while the wolves took care of everything. When he heard the alpha’s command he was surprisingly hurt at how easily the wolves would turn their back on him. Obviously he wasn’t as much of a friend to them as he thought. Sulking and angry, he stormed off and grabbed his backpack, shoving his meager belongings inside. He was pulling his boots on again, when Ryan eased back into the room, tension evident in the way he held himself distant.
Izzy met his pained gaze just long enough to see Ryan’s determination to follow his alpha’s orders. He grabbed his bag from the floor and hooked one arm through a strap, shouldering the weight easily.
“Don’t waste your breath, Ryan. I heard your alpha. You can all go fuck yourselves, you know. I’m out of here,” Izzy said, voice trembling but in anger this time, not fear.
“Wait, Izzy, please. You know I don’t want this. But he’s my alpha and I can’t just disobey,” Ryan pleaded, running both hands through his hair, leaving his hands atop his head as if trying to catch his breath at the end of a long sprint.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Ryan. Nice to know how werewolves value friendship. Good thing I learned my lesson now before I got any more attached.”
Logan’s growl echoed through the room. “Ryan, you idiot! You fucking told him about us?!!”
“Oh, blow it out your ass, Logan. I’ve known the entire fucking time, okay? And for the record, I have never done or said anything that would put any of you at risk. I knew it was too good to be true. You guys are the same as humans. It just took me longer to see it,” Izzy said over his shoulder as he pushed through the front door. He slammed the door hard enough to knock down a terrible painting of ducks flying over a lake. The sound of glass shattering only added to the chaos.
Izzy could still hear the wolves’ shouting at one another as he walked further and further down the street, away from the small cottage. He berated himself for his own stupidity, thinking the werewolves could be real friends. He knew better than that and yet he allowed himself to be sucked into their sappy words and seemingly selfless actions. The pain he felt now was his own fault for believing any of it. He twisted the hoop in his lip hard, reminding himself that he deserved everything the world dished out to him. The flash of pain in his lip was nothing compared to the schism that pierced his heart.
Izzy found himself at the edge of the fairy circle without remembering how he came to be there. One second, he was storming down the sidewalk, putting as much distance between himself and the pack of werewolves as possible. The next, he was at the edge of a wood, looking over the magical clearing, wondering where the hell he was.
While he often found himself in new locations at the start of another assignment, once he was tied to a master, there was physically a limit on the distance he could put between them. While he had made a big show of escaping Ryan’s proximity this evening, really he wouldn’t have been able to go much further before the curse reined him in. Izzy looked around in confusion, knowing a power greater than the curse must have pulled him to this locale.
After several moments of watchful waiting, Izzy realized whoever was responsible must want to see him squirm a little longer. Deciding to deny them any such satisfaction, he found a comfortable spot on the edge of the field and lay down, using his bag as a makeshift pillow. He closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep.
He awoke at dawn covered in dew, his skin cold and damp. A fog had rolled into the clearing overnight, adding to the creepiness factor. Izzy couldn’t feel the cold like others of this world, but even he found himself covered in goosebumps. Maybe it was more from the feeling of being watched than the dropping temperature, though. Finally unable to wait any longer, he called out into the clearing, unsure if he wanted someone to answer or not.
“All right. I’m here and I’m waiting. Whoever is pulling my chain, you need to show yourself. I’ve got things to do today,” Izzy said, feigning arrogant confidence.
“Still full of yourself, aren’t you?” a cold feminine voice said from high above. Izzy looked up and around, finding a desperately thin woman, pale as milk, with shimmering silver hair perched on a boulder to his left. Her face was pinched in distaste, or at least Izzy hoped that wasn’t her normal facial expression. It was decidedly unattractive. Her lips were thin and pursed together like she had just sucked on a rotten lemon. She pushed the hair off her face and behind one ear, exposing the pointed tip. Oh, I remember her kind now. She’s a fairy. Well, Izzy thought she was a she. With fae, sometimes it was really hard to tell.
Izzy blinked up at the fae, wondering what fresh hell he had gotten himself into now. Up until that very moment, he had no memory of interacting with the fae before, but hearing her words and seeing her face, brought back flashes of times past when he was more entwined in their realm than he could have ever imagined. Images of a similar creature lying next to him in bed came unbidden. Similar, but not the same.
“What do you want with me?” Izzy finally snapped out. The fae jumped down from her perch effortlessly, even though she was easily three stories off the ground. She landed within an arm's length of him. He wanted to step back and add to the distance between them, but found his legs were frozen. Her mouth opened in an approximation of a smile, he thought, but the intensity in her gaze decried any mirth. The morning light flickered off her fangs and Izzy had to force himself to maintain eye contact.
“Don’t you remember me, Ezhekiel? Or did all that time in the lamp damage your itty bitty little brain?” the fae crooned out, head tilting to the side mockingly. Izzy’s mouth hung slightly open and he dug through his new memories for any recollection of the being standing before him. He came up empty. The fae seemed to be even more irritated at being forgotten.
“This is why I hate your kind so much, Ezhekiel. So limited in your thinking. I see my attempt at teaching you a lesson has failed. Not surprising as you are too stupid even now to see
your mistake.”
“Honestly, My Lady, I have no memory of meeting you before. If I’ve angered you in some way, please take pity on me and tell me how. I would do anything in my power to make it right,” Izzy said, instinctively falling into a speech cadence he hadn’t used since Victorian times.
“Impossible! The damage you have done will never be able to be undone. You are a selfish fool as you always were. I should have ended you then but instead I gave you this second chance, which I can see now was a waste of time and energy,” the fae barked out, continuing to plot a circle around Izzy with her pacing. He was certain no gazelle had felt more stalked by any cheetah.
“Please, My Lady. Forgive me. I’m sure there is something I can do to make amends,” Izzy almost pleaded. He may not remember much about the fae, but he knew instinctively no one wanted a fairy for an enemy.
“No, you foolish child! There will be no amends. No redemption. But soon, I think, your curse will come to an end. I tire of this game. Watching you flit about granting vacuous wishes to insipid beings is boring. I’m ready to move on now. Aren’t you?”
“What do you mean, My Lady?”
“I mean what I say and say what I mean. The end is nigh. The end for you, that is. Does that frighten you little man? Are you scared of what comes next? You should be. Yes, I think after all you’ve done, you should be,” the fae grinned maniacally as she flung out her words like daggers. Izzy felt each jibe widening the divide between himself and his hold on the world.
“Wait, it can’t be over yet. I’m in the middle of an assignment. My master still needs me!” Izzy cried out, fighting to stay conscious. If he faded out, he was certain he would never see the light of day again. Whoever this creature was, they apparently wanted to up the ante on his level of torture. Being cursed to be D’Jinn wasn’t enough for them anymore. Izzy wished he could remember anything more about his past. He was certain if he had some memory about the fae, he could at least understand why she was doing this to him.
Izzy’s plea seemed to bring some level of confusion to the fae as she paused and sat back on her heels watching him like a butterfly pinned to a board. “Why would you be concerned for this master? You’ve never been concerned about any of the others before.”
“Ryan is different, My Lady. I had hoped that we were friends, but now I’m not so sure. But I do know that he needs me. He needs my help, no matter if he still needs my friendship. Please, My Lady, if you would just let me finish this assignment, then I will go with you or wherever you plan to send me next without complaint.”
“Interestinger and interestinger,” the fae commented, tapping one finger on her razor thin lower lip. “Yes, I think you should finish this one, it might be fun to watch. But be quick about it! I haven’t got all of eternity to wait around you know. Well...actually I do, but that’s beside the point. I’m ready to move on, Ezhekiel, and I don’t leave behind loose ends. Understand?”
The color bleached out of Izzy’s cheeks as he took in her meaning. He was nothing more than a loose end to be tied off. “Yes, My Lady, I understand. I’m sure it will all be over soon with Ryan. The curse is forcing the first wish as we speak. Besides, I’m fairly certain he wants to be rid of me so it would be likely he’ll make all three wishes in short order.”
“Perhaps, Ezhekiel. Perhaps. But just in case he is not so moved, I’m giving you three days of human time to get things finished. If he hasn’t made all his wishes by then, too bad. I’m done waiting around. Tick Tock, my little D’Jinn. Tick Tock.”
The fog thickened until Izzy could no longer see his hand in front of his face. When it finally cleared, the fae was gone. In fact, so was the clearing as Izzy found himself back on the street in front of Ben’s house, a cold heavy rain soaking him to the bone. How the hell am I going to get Ryan to make all three wishes in just three days?
Chapter 23
Ryan
One night without Izzy felt like an eternity. Ryan’s wolf prowled on the edges and Ryan found no rest, either in human or wolf form. Finally, realizing there would be no sleep without confirmation of Izzy’s safety; Ryan shifted and snuck out the back, through the embarrassing dog door.
The rest of his pack may be unsure of Izzy’s loyalty, but Ryan was not. He’d never felt more sure of another being in his life and he’d finally accepted what he started suspecting the night of the ‘tongue piercing incident’ as he liked to think of it. Ezhekiel ‘Izzy’ Spector, or whatever his real name was, was Ryan’s sufletul pereche, his soulmate. Just as Ben had found his forever in the most unexpected person, Ryan was certain his match with the D’Jinn was no less sure. Whatever strange forces were causing their kind to find such unusual mates, Ryan didn’t know, but he would forever be grateful for their assistance.
Ryan prowled the neighborhoods surrounding Ben’s home but caught no sign of Izzy past the first block. There was no trail, no lingering scent, nothing. It was like the D’Jinn had just vanished into thin air. Ryan’s wolf kept returning to the place he last sensed his mate, on a bench near a bus stop, about a block from Ben’s home. Unsure where else to look, Ryan lay down next to the bench and waited in wolf form. He hoped he passed enough for a large dog to avoid drawing too much attention. He spent the remainder of the night anxiously waiting. For what, he wasn’t sure, but he knew he couldn’t continue without Izzy in his life.
When dawn broke the horizon, the passing of several cars had him rethinking his furred-out vigil. As much as his wolf resisted returning to Ben’s without his mate, Ryan knew it was too risky to stay out in public much longer. Someone would eventually notice that he wasn’t just another fluffy brown canine. He rose to his feet and turned for Ben’s home, head and tail both hanging down dejectedly. When he nosed his way through the dog door, Logan sat on the dryer obviously waiting for his return.
Ryan refused to rise to the bait and stayed in wolf form. “Ryan, wait. Can we talk about this please?” Logan called out, but Ryan just slipped past. He headed for the living room and jumped onto the small sofa that had served as Izzy’s bed. He shoved his nose into Izzy’s pillow and a deep rumble started in his chest.
He felt his pack mates watching him in concern but refused to shift back to discuss this further. For them, the decision had been made. Pack did not disobey their alpha’s orders. For Ryan, the situation wasn’t so cut and dried. He couldn’t go against his alpha’s wishes, but at the same time, he couldn’t reject his mate. He was at a crossroads and the path forward was uncertain. If he could have found Izzy the night before, he wasn’t sure he would have returned. He had never before even considered going rogue, but if his pack was unable to accept Izzy as his mate, he might have no other choice.
Ryan stayed planted on the sofa in wolf form and refused to budge. Adam brought a steaming mug of coffee his way and tried to tempt Ryan into shifting back. The stony glare Ryan shot his way was answer enough. When Ben tried to approach as well, Ryan bared his teeth and growled. Adam held up one hand, stopping his mate in his tracks.
“I’ll just leave your coffee here on the table in case you change your mind,” Adam said softly, his voice dripping with what Ryan assumed was pity. As he walked past, Adam tried to place a soothing hand on Ryan’s flank. Ryan’s wolf snarled at the unwelcome contact and Adam jerked his hand back defensively.
“Damn it, Ryan! If you bite my mate, I’m going to kick your ass,” Ben growled back, walking even further into the room. “What the hell is wrong with you anyway? So Izzy’s gone. Big deal! He wasn’t pack and he was temporary anyway.”
The hackles on Ryan’s back raised and drool dripped from his bared fangs as he growled back in response. Ben, instinct kicking in to protect his mate, shifted; shredding his favorite red flannel sleep pants. Ryan leapt over the back of the couch and the wolves were instantly at each other’s throats. Adam screamed for them to stop, but they continued to bite and claw ferociously. Blood and spit were flying as the friends tore into each other. Adam climbed onto the bar to try to stay cl
ear and trembled in fear.
“Please, guys, stop! You don’t mean to do this. Please, Ben, stop!” Adam cried out, tears streaming down both cheeks.
His fraught emotions distracted Ben momentarily and Ryan took advantage, biting deep into Ben’s exposed flank. Ben cried out in pain and Logan’s wolf was instantly there to support his brother. Ryan was lost in a berserker rage, but Logan’s wolf was fresh and larger than Ryan. In short order, Logan had Ryan pinned, his jaws clamped around Ryan’s neck, forcing him into submission. Despite his precarious position, Ryan still fought to free himself and continue the battle.
Izzy stumbled into the room, soaked to the bone and shivering. He took in the disaster around him. Ben’s blonde wolf was lying on its side bleeding from a wound on his flank, his head on a crying Adam’s lap. The coffee table lay in pieces and there was broken pottery all over the floor from what had been a pretty decorative bowl on the bar. Logan’s gigantic ebony wolf held Ryan’s smaller brown one pinned by the neck, seconds away from delivering what could be a fatal wound.
“What the fuck is going on in here?!!” Izzy called out, snapping everyone’s focus up to find him hovering in the entryway, shivering and dripping rainwater all over the tile floor. Ryan’s wolf visibly sagged in relief. His shift took Logan by surprise and he almost didn’t release in time to avoid severely injuring Ryan’s more fragile form.
“Izzy, you’re back,” Ryan cried out, running to his mate. His pulled Izzy into a tight embrace and ran his nose up the side of Izzy’s neck breathing in his essence deeply. A satisfied rumble vibrated through his chest. Izzy stood there frozen, both literally and figuratively, as he continued to drip on the floor shivering, arms pinned by his sides.
Realizing the threat was over, Logan and Ben both shifted back into their human forms as well, but continued to stay on the other side of the room, acting as a wall of protection for Adam. Being a turned shifter, he was virtually defenseless in a battle of wolves outside of the full moon.
