by Julia Mills
He gave a half-smile, “But you know that. You were there a few of those times.” Sitting back in his chair and taking a long swallow of coffee, the Alpha nodded, “You’re not gonna let this go this time. I can see it in your eyes, you won’t rest until you hear the whole gory story. So, I’ll tell you, but only if you promise to at least think about having Angus call that hotshot dragon of yours back here.”
Holding up his hand as Star opened her mouth to object, Marrok sighed, “That’s an order, ya’ hear? You know I love my sister and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her, but there is nothing, and I mean nothing, like having the one person in all the world who completes you.” He laid his fist over his heart. “Really completes you on an elemental, soul-deep, inside-out kinda way. Having Scotlyn as my mate, by my side every day, makes even the worst times bearable.” Patting her hand, he added, “The Goddess only sends you what you need when you need it and Star, you need your dragon.”
Ready to get up and leave, tired of hearing all the sappy bullshit about love and mating, the grey she-wolf hadn’t realized she was shaking her head until Marrok sat back and laughed out loud, “Dammit all if you’re not the sassiest little wolf I’ve ever known.” Tapping the table with his fingers, he relented, “Stop giving me the evil eye, I’ll tell you everything I know. Deal?”
“Deal,” she agreed, trying to calm down, knowing full well that her Alpha could read not only her actions but her body language and her thoughts.
“Dad and I were out with Finn and the other Betas on a regular patrol when we saw smoke overhead. Taking off across the swamp we had just…” His words were cut off by the sound of his cell phone ringing in his pocket.
Biting her tongue to keep from screaming as he said, “Excuse me for a sec,” while pulling his phone from his pocket and hitting the speaker button.
“Hey, Sis. What’s up?”
“Ellie and Caleb from the Wolfe Pack are here and they need to talk to us.”
“Did we have a meeting? I swear I checked my calendar and it was all clear from now through the weekend.”
“No, there was nothing scheduled but you’re gonna wanna talk to them, now.”
The stress in Olivia’s voice had both Marrok and Star on their feet as he agreed, “Be right there.”
Upset that their conversation would have to wait but knowing from the sound of Olivia’s voice that the she-wolf really needed her brother, Star flopped back in her chair and sighed just as her best friend added, “And bring Star. This is an all hands on deck situation.”
Chapter Three
“I’m sending Pearce, Noah and Kayne with you,” the Dragon Leader’s stern stare said he wasn’t accepting no for an answer and as he continued Grey understood why. “I just got off the phone with Marrok. Things are worse than I originally thought. Whatever or whoever is threatening the wolves in Florida has been wreaking havoc, leaving a trail of carnage and destruction the likes of which the wolves have never seen all across the States.”
Rian stood, crossed the room and looked out the window as he went on, “It’s not that I don’t think you can handle whatever’s thrown at you, it’s just that I have no clue what I’m sending you into and I’m not willing to needlessly risk anyone’s life.” Turning around, he speared Grey with a look that made the Guardsman stiffen his spine to keep from slumping forward and avoiding eye contact.
“Never let ‘em see you sweat, my boy. Always look them straight in the eye and stand tall.” His father’s words rang in his mind as the Dragon Leader continued, “I know this mission is personal for you,” Rian gave a half-smile. “I’ve been there. As you well know, I’ve broken all the rules and then some in the name of love, but you need to be careful. Whatever is after the wolves, doesn’t want to hurt them…it wants to annihilate them… and anyone who stands with them.”
He stepped forward, the smile fell from his face, and he leveled his gaze. “Don’t be a casualty of war, Grey.”
Several tense moments passed between the two fierce warriors before the younger Guardsman answered, “I understand.”
A single nod was the only recognition he received from the Dragon Leader, “You’ll leave tomorrow right after nightfall. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.”
Leaving Rian’s office, Gray had to continually remind himself that he was under orders not to take to the skies for almost twenty-four hours, that whatever was hunting the wolves hadn’t reached Florida, yet. Dammit all, he needed to talk to Star, needed to hear her voice, needed to have confirmation that she was okay, even if she yelled at him. It didn’t matter, he had to know.
Opening his mind to hers, Grey was just about to speak to his mate when he was unexpectedly surrounded by Pearce, Kayne and Noah. Not only was his friend’s expression dark and the usually smirking demi-god frowning but it was the look of apprehension and rage on the Zen dragon that had Grey asking, “What’s up? I’m kinda busy here.”
“Yeah, I know,” Pearce was quick to answer. “That’s why we’re here. You can’t contact your mate. Not until we’re in the swamp and know what’s going on.”
“What are you talking about?” Grey was immediately enraged. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
Stepping up to him, Kayne growled, “I’m the man who’ll put you on your ass if you don’t listen. That’s who I am.”
“Just try. You think I give a shit that you’re the son of…”
Grabbing him by the arm, Pearce, snarled, “Shut the hell up and listen for once. I swear to the Goddess, you’re just as stubborn as your father was.”
Shocked by the fire dancing in the usually calm and controlled dragon’s eyes but refusing to be ordered around, especially where his mate was concerned, Grey challenged, “I’m listening, but not for long.”
“Not here.” Kayne nodded towards his home, “My house is the closest. Come on.”
Without waiting for an answer, the demi-god and Pearce turned around and stalked away leaving Grey to look at Noah and ask, “What the fuck?” through their unique and private mental link.
“No way. You need to hear this from them.”
“But…”
“But nothing. I’m serious. Now, come on. You really need to hear this.”
Still angry, but now also intrigued, Grey jogged alongside Noah, catching up to the two older Guardsmen just as they disappeared inside Kayne’s home. Closing the door and following Noah into the kitchen, Grey was surprised to see more people than he’d expected.
Feeling ambushed, his fury outweighing whatever questions he had, the gray dragon spread his legs shoulder-width apart and crossed his arms over his chest, a true sign of aggression and while staring at the Kayne challenged, “Having a party?”
“No, asshole, he’s not,” the Guardsman they called the mad dragon, Maddox by birth, growled. “He’s trying to save your ass. So, sit down, shut up and listen.”
“Oh, Maddy,” Calysta, the mad dragon’s mate and the Grand Priestess of all Earthen Witches swatted her mate’s arm before looking to Grey and adding, “What he should have said was that we have some news from Florida that you need to hear.”
“Why isn’t Rian here if it’s so important?”
“Because, it’s not about the mission,” a cherub-faced brunette with lavender eyes and easy smile answered, “It’s about your mate.”
“What about Star?” Grey growled, dropping his arms and taking an aggressive step forward.
Still smiling and obviously unbothered by his anger, size or challenge, the brunette calmly answered, “Have a seat, and we’ll tell you.” She and the red-head sitting to her right exchanged a quick glance and the magic that had immediately filled the room when he stepped forward cooled just a bit.
“Forgive me for not introducing the girls,” Calysta fussed. Pointing at the brunette, she smiled, “This is Annalissa McKennon.” Then winking at the red-head, she added, “And her younger sister, Brenna.” Looking back to Grey, the Priestess went on, “As you know
their sister, Alicia, is Drago MacLendon’s mate and he along with his brother Angus and Olivia are in Florida.”
Grey nodded, still standing beside the table, still pissed and still waiting to hear what was going on with his mate.
“Well, they’ve been in contact with Alicia who believes that whatever is trying to exterminate the wolves has something to do with an enemy you’ve had the misfortune of meeting first hand.” Taking a deep breath and leaning into her mate, some of the color drained from the Priestess’ face as she added, “And their poor little sister, Mara.”
Slamming his hand down on the granite counter to his right, Grey snarled, “Thanatos?” He swiped his hand through his hair. “No fucking way. We just watched him vanish into the depths of Hell hiding inside that little witch.”
The violent, white, hot magic filled the room once again at the mention of Mara McKennon.
“Grey!” The room erupted in a singular roar of his name, as his eyes landed on the two McKennon witches, whose glares threatened to cut both him and his dragon to pieces.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, acknowledging that he’d messed up before trying to gather whatever shred of calm he had left. “I’m a dick. Just ask any of these guys, they’ll tell you.”
The magic again disappeared as fast as it had appeared as the two young witches gave him sad, watery smiles. The tears in their eyes nearly gutted him. They looked too young to be dealing with a sister possessed by the demon known as Death Incarnate on top of the never-ending river of crap that seemed to continually flow their way. Sure, life was tough for the good guys, but damn, couldn’t they get a break every once in a while?
He had no clue how they were keeping it all together. He’d seen Mara with his own eyes. She wasn’t faring well and needed to be saved immediately, if not sooner. Just the thought of her black eyes and the slimy, green snakes slithering all over her skin, coupled with the low eerie voice of that bastard demon coming out of her mouth, made Grey wish he’d been able to save her when he’d had the chance.
Visions of what he, Calysta, Kayne, Maddox and Callum, another of his very close brethren, had just gone through while battling Thanatos to rescue Cal’s mate, Kamdyn, burst through his mind. The demon hiding in the body of the youngest McKennon witch was not only incredibly strong and possessed a menagerie of hell-born beasts, one of which Grey met firsthand, but he was quickly killing an innocent young girl.
“Wait a minute,” he pushed away all thoughts of what the young witch must be going through as he asked, “So, Drago and all the McKennons know we had Mara in our sights and Thanatos took her, again?”
“Yes, but it’s not as bad as you think,” Kayne stepped forward. “Thankfully, Calysta went to talk to Sarah Beth and explain that we’d seen Mara but were unable to get to her in time.” He winked at the Priestess before going on, “And I lasted about ten minutes longer than that before reaching out to Drago and letting him and Alicia know what had happened.”
“And Cal and Kamdyn know all about this?”
“Sure do,” Kayne nodded then with a shit-eating grin nodded, “But, I’m not bothering them with what’s going on now. They’re in full-on honeymoon mode. The lovey-dovey crap was so thick when I talked to Callum I thought I was gonna throw up.”
Before Grey could speak, Brenna answered the question he hadn’t been able to ask, “None of us, Drago included, blames you for not saving Mara.” She smiled brightly. “Thanatos has eluded all of us. He’s very old and very good at evading being returned to Hell without a body.” Her brown eyes showed the depth of her pain, but it was the glimmer of hope as she added that made Grey feel better, “Thank you for finding her and reassuring us that our sister is still alive. For that, we all owe you big time.”
Humbled by the young witch’s gratitude for what he viewed as an abject failure, Grey blew out a long breath and took a seat on the opposite side of Kayne’s large kitchen table. “You’re welcome, but I didn’t do much.” He looked between the two sisters and with as much conviction as he could push into his voice promised, “But if I get another chance, I promise to bring Mara home…one way or another.”
“Thank you,” they answered in unison. “But you have a much bigger problem.”
Opening his mouth to speak, Grey instead found himself dumbstruck by the clap of magic that filled the room at the same time that a huge picture of Alicia appeared, hovering over the table. “Hey, Brenna! Hey, Izzy! I miss you guys so much. How’s mom?”
“She’s the same as she was thirty minutes ago,” Annalissa sighed before pointing at Grey. “You promised to get to the point if we did it this way.”
“Yeah, Al, come on. This whole magical Skype thing takes a lot of power,” Brenna winked, even as Grey saw the signs of stress on her face.
“Oh, sorry. I owe you both big time,” Alicia winked before turning and adding, “Hello, everybody. Good to see you all.” Focusing on Grey, she waved, “Hi Grey. Wish I was calling for a happier reason, but I wanted to do this in person, or at least sort of in person.” She shrugged. “It’s important that you’re prepared for what you’re getting into.”
Dread skittered down his spine and his dragon growled as the strawberry-blonde’s expression turned serious.
“After Calysta talked to mom and Kayne talked to Drago and me, my sisters and I scryed for Mara. Up until now, we hadn’t been able to find her. It was as if she’d just vanished. But this time it was different.” Alicia paused, pushed the hair off her shoulder, a nervous gesture he recognized from when she was younger, and took a deep breath before continuing. “This time, I was able to hear my sister. I actually heard Mara’s voice.” Her expression turned sad. “But before I could respond, Thanatos cut our connection.” Gone was the sadness, quickly replaced with fiery rage. “I heard his maniacal laughter just as my nose filled with the scent of sulfur and brimstone. My mom slammed the link shut and we all threw up our mental blocks to keep the bastard from tracking us.”
Again she stopped, but this time Grey could feel the other shoe about to drop. A single drop of sweat rolled down his back as Alicia looked him right in the eye and said, “There’s no easy way to say this, but in the split second before my mom cut us off I saw inside Thanatos’ mind.”
She hesitated for just a split second and then said the words Grey never expected to hear. “I saw an image of Star and of…” Alicia inhaled, quickly exhaled then blurted out, “And of your brother.”
Chapter Four
“At first, we thought it was a pack of rogues working with a coven of wizards, and it is, at least on the surface, but they’re being controlled by something way more evil and way more powerful. The scent we followed across Arkansas was not wolf or wizard. It was dark, old and nasty,” Ellie Wolfe, daughter of the Pack Alphas of the Wolfe Pack ran her fingers through her short, spiky blond hair.
Star remembered that scent, could never forget it. Cold chills skittered down her spine as her memories from that night thundered through her mind.
“Come on, little Star. Come out and play.”
“I can’t,” she grinned, pushing a rock with the toe of her shoe.
“Awww, really? Not even for a few minutes?” Mac grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
Star knew she shouldn’t go, shouldn’t have even talked to Mac when he’d approached her the day before. The tall, lanky young man with dark eyes and long hair was by all rights a rogue. He hadn’t presented himself to her father, Edward, the Pack Alpha, and requested permission to travel through their lands nor had he asked the Gaelach Lán wolves or the Cattanach Pride lions, Star’s Pack’s neighbors in the swamp. If the sleek black wolf was caught, any or all of those Alphas could have him executed on the spot. But then again, it was the danger that made it so exciting.
She’d never broken a rule in her life. Had always been the good girl, did what she was told to do, said what she was told to say, even dressed as she was told to dress. Raised by her father after the tragic death of her mother when she was four,
the Princess of Mac Tíre Liath had spent nearly her entire life playing the role she’d been born into, but enough was enough. She was going to let her hair down and run wild, for just one night. She deserved it, didn’t she? What could go wrong?
“Okay,” she cautiously agreed, looking up through her lashes at the boy who made her heart race and her body warm. He wasn’t her one true mate, but she wasn’t old enough for any serious commitments and didn’t plan to do anything more than a little harmless flirting. It was the lure of doing something forbidden, something that would make her father sit up and take notice that made Star’s heart beat faster and her palms wet with sweat.
“But for no more than an hour. I have to get back before my father and the others return.”
“You got it. Only an hour,” Mac winked as he jumped up from his perch on a large rock at the edge of the creek. “I promise.”
Shifting to his ebony wolf, the scruffy black wolf yipped and rubbed along Star’s leg, pushing her to transform as well. One last glance over her shoulder at the lights twinkling from the windows of the houses of her Pack and the Princess called forth her beautiful gray wolf, instantly running off through the tall saw-grass, chasing the black wolf and her first taste of freedom.
Hours passed, the moon moved across the sky and Star knew she was going to be in a shitload of trouble, but it didn’t matter. Running the swamps without the watchful eye of her father or one of his many Betas was miraculous. It was as if she could fly without wings. She ran faster, felt freer and was happier than she’d ever been.
Stopping by a huge pond, the two wolves collapsed under the crooked, overhanging limbs of an old cypress tree. Struggling to catch her breath, Star bolted to her feet when the sound of her father’s panicked scream broke through her heavy mental blocks.
“Star! Oh, my Goddess, Star, where are you?”
