by Morgan Fox
Slowly, Sebastian shook his head clear, hoping the others were not being slaughtered by their bloodthirsty enemy.
As he focused, he heard Reyes and Megan fighting. They were still alive. At the rate the vampires were coming for them, he didn’t know for how long. He and Dominic were useless to them. If he couldn’t free his arm, it wouldn’t heal, and then he’d never be able to help them.
Then, a welcome sight stood at his side.
Ryken.
“Hey, boss, need a hand?” Ryken asked with a smirk, shoving at the truck, moving it just enough to free Sebastian’s arm.
“Thanks,” Sebastian said with a groan. “Now help the others.”
Sebastian could hear the battle raging on around them as he turned toward Dominic. Sebastian tore a piece of his shirt, pulled the glass from Dominic’s face, and pressed the fabric against the wound. Dominic’s eyes fluttered open slowly.
“Am I dead?” he rasped.
“No,” Sebastian told him. “But if I don’t help the others, we might end up that way.” Sebastian took Dominic’s hand and had him hold the makeshift bandage himself.
Then, with the aid of his wolf, he was out the door and joining the fight. His body and mind enraged, he clawed his way through as many bloodsuckers as he could get his hands on. The others did the same. But the battle seemed to end just as quickly as it started. The vampires began retreating. Those that were not incinerated by the sun disappeared into the shadows of the trees.
Breathless and injured, Sebastian and the others wasted little time jumping into Ryken and Luken’s truck. As fast as possible, they made their way back to McCarthy Ranch. As they arrived, Sebastian inhaled a sigh of relief. There was no sign of Lilly or the vampires. Brie was safe.
Exiting the vehicle, Sebastian groaned, holding his arm as it painfully mended. Dominic’s face had also begun healing, and nothing but dried blood remained visible to the naked eye.
A strange restlessness overcame Sebastian. How had Lilly known when he planned to move Tiffany, and how had she known the exact place to strike out against them?
A feeling of dread and certain doom sank into the pit of his stomach. The situation had his gut twisting. He couldn’t shake the mystical sensations that washed over him as Lilly and the vampires attacked them.
Lilly had stood godlike, perched at the top of a tree overlooking the chaos unfolding beneath her. His gut rolled at the memory of her wicked smile and gleaming, white fangs. Her methodical expression burned inside him. Never had Sebastian wanted to destroy his enemy more.
From what Reyes had shared with him about the attack at the clinic, this time was different. The vampires weren’t new. They were well-trained and fought as the lycans did, as a unit, striking against them with a force that had Sebastian questioning his judgment.
Had I made a mistake wanting to move Tiffany?
Now as he glanced over his battered men, he believed he had.
“Sebastian,” Jonah shouted, drawing his attention to the hallway where Jonah was coming from. Jonah’s face was pale and his eyes were wide with fear. “She’s gone!”
Brie?
Sebastian’s throat closed in, his body stiffening. Surely Jonah wasn’t talking about his mate. “Jonah, calm down. What’s happened?” Sebastian grabbed Jonah by the shoulders to steady him or maybe it was to steady himself.
“I’ve looked everywhere. I tried her cell phone, too, but she isn’t answering.”
Sebastian’s calm was fading fast. “Who?”
“Brie!” Jonah swallowed hard. “She left this note.”
Jonah handed the white parchment to Sebastian. As he read it, his chest tightened and his knees felt as if they’d buckle right out from under him. He struggled with all his might to keep it together. He wasn’t succeeding.
Sebastian crinkled the letter and tossed it into the unlit fireplace. He’d burn that son of a bitch when he got the chance. As if his beast agreed, his arms sprung out to his sides, his chin raised toward the ceiling as he roared so hard his throat went raw. His eyes watered, but not from sadness, from betrayal. Brie had left him. Something she said she would never do. Stabbing him in his sleep would’ve been more kind.
His blood boiled as he imagined her fleeing in the night, leaving them because she felt they couldn’t protect her, that she would succeed without them. Then the pain of her betrayal turned to anger. A blinding fury filled him, leaving him mindless with rage. Facing his brother, he sought to unleash every ounce of his anguish on Jonah.
“Why are you so weak?” Sebastian said with a snarl. “Had you been a true McCarthy lycan, Brie never would’ve been able to leave us.” Sebastian’s claws slowly grew. “How did you let this happen?” He narrowed his gaze and rushed toward Jonah, preparing to rip the head from his shoulders. Sebastian’s mind was on fire, burning with a savage hate and more anger than he’d ever experienced before.
Just as he was about to ram his fist down Jonah’s throat, Sebastian was tackled to the ground, landing with a sold thump, colliding into furniture. The heavy weight of Dominic pressed down on him.
“What the hell are you doing, Sebastian?” Dominic snapped, his massive size blanketing over Sebastian’s, pinning him down onto the ground.
“Get off me, Dominic,” Sebastian said. The sound of his voice was unfamiliar even to him. “This doesn’t concern you.” He bucked to free himself. Dominic expected the struggle. He tensed as Dominic slammed his fist into his chest. The throbbing pain brought his attention directly to Dominic.
“It does if you try to kill your own brother for no damn reason. Have you gone mental? What has gotten into you?”
“Brie,” Reyes answered from across the room.
Sebastian glanced his way and saw that Reyes held the piece of paper that sealed his fate. The letter that had him turning into a wild, untamed monster.
“Sebastian, she hasn’t left you,” Reyes said calmly. “She’s simply doing what she feels she must for our pack.”
“Leaving me?” he barked, his words scraping against his throat.
Ryken and Luken looked on in silence, their eyes glued to Sebastian, sympathy coating their expressions. He didn’t want their damn pity.
“No, saving you. She’s following her destiny.” Reyes walked over and tapped Dominic on the shoulder. “Let him up.”
“Are you sure?” Dominic scowled. “His eyes are almost bla—”
“He’ll be fine,” Reyes announced. “He will be our leader and do what is expected of him.” Reyes locked gazes with Sebastian. “Right, my friend?”
Sebastian’s body shook under the strain of Dominic’s, but after a long, cold moment of staring at Jonah, watching the same pain he felt wash over him, Sebastian relaxed. With a heavy sigh, he eased his body and muttered, “Get off me, Dom. I’m fine.” He met Dominic’s unsure gaze. “I promise.” Dominic hesitantly rolled to the side and stood. Then he extended his hand, and Sebastian took it. He sat defeated on the sofa with his face buried in his hands. “I’m at a loss.” Sebastian hadn’t intended to speak those words aloud. He was supposed to have the answers, to be strong.
What sort of alpha can’t keep his mate from betraying him?
Jonah sat beside him and placed his arm over his brother’s shoulders. “Me, too, big brother.”
Megan snatched the letter from Reyes’s grasp and read it. “You guys really need to buck up and look at the brighter side here.”
Sebastian arched a brow and glared at her. How did losing his mate have a bright side? “And what might that be, Megan?”
“She and Tiffany are together for one thing. That should count for something since we surely would’ve lost Tiffany to Lilly after the serious ass kicking we just took. We’re lucky any of us survived.”
Megan was right, and that didn’t really help calm Sebastian in the least. Now he was annoyed that he’d been such a fool. How did he think that he and the others could provide safe transport for Tiffany when they couldn’t even predict Lilly’s mov
ements? Lilly was a mystery, and even though Sebastian had been able to evade her, she was slowly closing in on them.
“So now what?” Jonah asked.
Now Sebastian needed to get his shit together. He needed to be the powerful lycan he was expected to be. As difficult as it would be to suppress the raging emotions soaring through him, he would. As their leader, it was his job and his need. Nothing would stop him from doing what had to be done. His pack depended on him.
Inhaling deeply, Sebastian rose to his feet and brushed a stiff hand through his hair. Turning, he faced the others and said plainly, “We find Brie.”
* * * *
Twenty-four hours had passed since jumping on a plane to Germany. Zane sat on the edge of the bed, staring out of the hotel window. The solar-powered windmills turned in the distance. The German skyline was so different from Texas. The trees, buildings, and vehicles were unlike anything he’d seen back home.
He repositioned himself for a better view. A bridge with massive white support suspension fanned out from overtop the homes that lined the Rhine River. Old Town in Dusseldorf lingered on the far side of the busy river. With his wolf eyes, he could see hundreds of people as they dined and shopped along the river walk, enjoying the beer from the local brewery.
Oblivious and happy.
The sun was about to set, and everyone seemed to be waiting patiently for the start of another night. Everyone but him. After speaking with Brie on the plane, he couldn’t get the jitters in his stomach to settle. She’d turned him inside out with her predictions and plans. He would’ve had a hard time believing what she said had he not been staring directly into her very serious blue eyes.
Sitting alone in his hotel room, Zane’s first thought was to call Sebastian. His alpha should know where his mate had run off to. Surely, he’d want to know where Tiffany had fled to as well. After all, Brie and Tiffany would be a lot safer with the security of the pack around them. If Lilly and the vampires caught wind that Brie and Tiffany were in Europe, he and Ryder would never be able to protect them from capture. Two lycans against an army of vampires was a joke.
Drawing Zane’s attention to the door, Ryder walked into the room with a heavy scowl etched on his face. He didn’t even raise his gaze to make eye contact with Zane. Slamming the door, Ryder began pacing alongside one of the twin beds.
“Can’t you talk some sense into her?” Ryder spat, his body rigid with tension.
Zane’s eyes rounded. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Ryder snapped. “You’re Tiffany’s mate. She’ll do as you say.” He halted his movements and stared at Zane. “Or don’t you have the stones to stand up to her?”
Zane chuckled. “You don’t date much, do you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Zane moved to sit at the table-topped desk. “With an attitude like that, you’re most likely to be the one getting kicked in the stones. Mate or not, women don’t respond well to orders.”
Ryder growled. “This is madness.” He paced the room. “We are in way over our heads. We’re going to get ourselves killed.” He sighed. “I can’t help but want to call Sebastian.”
Zane knew exactly how he felt. “Me, too. I would love to call him and tell him where we are and what’s going on.”
“Then why don’t we?” Ryder questioned with his hands flying out from his sides.
Zane blew out a pent-up breath of air. “Lilly could track the call,” he said plainly.
Ryder asked, “Why couldn’t Brie mask them like she did us?”
Zane shrugged. “I guess it has to do with the amount of magic it would take to get them all here. I imagine it took a lot out of Brie getting the four of us here.”
“Have you noticed how very pregnant Brie is?”
Zane nodded. He hated that Brie had traveled being so far along in her pregnancy. He feared she’d go into labor at any moment. Sebastian would cut Zane’s balls off if anything happened to his child. He wasn’t about to tell Ryder, but that was exactly why he was along for the ride. Brie needed a doctor in case the baby came early and who better than a lycan doctor and mate of the chosen one.
Two birds. One stone.
“And that would be the other reason she can’t bring the others over.” Zane leaned back in his chair. “The additional power Brie would expel to hide them could kill the baby.” Ryder began to speak, but Zane cut him off. “Tiffany could provide power to Brie, but then that would leave Tiffany defenseless.” Zane frowned. “For now, it has to be just us.”
Ryder mumbled under his breath and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. Returning, he asked, “So now what?”
“I guess we grab some dinner in the downstairs restaurant.” Zane rose to his feet.
“What about Tiffany and Brie?”
“They’ll come down when they’ve rested enough. The trip took a lot out of Brie.”
Zane moved to the door, but Ryder didn’t follow. Instead he glanced at the door that joined their rooms together. “I can’t leave without Tiffany.”
In that instant, Zane was overcome by jealousy. “What are you talking about?”
Ryder returned Zane’s challenging stare. “You go down and eat. I’ll wait for the others.”
“The hell you will,” Zane muttered. His entire body was overcome with anger and jealousy as he stepped closer to Ryder. He’d kill the bastard if he even thought of touching his mate.
Zane wouldn’t allow Ryder to have another moment alone with Tiffany, not when he’d busted Ryder kissing her in the garden and then had so easily stolen her away in the night. Sure Zane had caught the flight to Germany, and it had all been part of Brie’s plan, but Ryder remaining near Tiffany was the last thing he wanted.
“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Ryder, but you need to stay away from Tiffany. She’s my mate. Not yours.”
“Even so, I can’t stay away,” Ryder said, his fists clenching at his sides.
What the hell was wrong with him? Did Ryder think he still stood a chance with her? What did Zane have to do to prove he was the only lycan allowed in her bed?
As if of its own accord, Zane’s body pulsed with his beast. He was instinctively changing, going on the defensive. His mind was on fire with the need to protect his mate and battle any male who dared challenge him for her affections.
Right now, that male was Ryder.
“You’d do well to know your place, Ryder,” Zane said with a growl. His claws tore from the nail beds of his fingers, and his teeth grew to sharp points. Never had Zane been so blind with rage and protective impulses.
“Zane, there is something you should know,” Ryder said, eyeing him with a surprised expression. “According to Brie, I’ll never be able to be far from Tiffany.”
The words were all it took to push him over the edge. Zane charged him, slamming into Ryder with the force of a wrecking ball. Within seconds, Zane had Ryder pinned to the ground with a power and speed he’d never experienced before. His lycan was ferocious.
Zane’s mouth was at Ryder’s throat, preparing to tear the flesh from his neck, but Ryder didn’t struggle. “Zane, I’m her guardian,” he rasped.
Zane froze, his wolf retreating into the back of his mind. Slowly he rolled to the side, freeing Ryder. “What did you say?”
Ryder sat up. “Brie told me that I’m Tiffany’s guardian. I still don’t think I understand exactly what that means.”
No wonder Tiffany had been acting so confused around Ryder. She probably didn’t even know what was happening to her.
Zane smiled, a sense of relief flooding his system. He knew of the mythical stories about the fey witches and the chosen one. He never thought about the role of the guardian. It made perfect sense that Ryder was the one chosen to protect her. She was a witch, but if she was Brie’s sister, then she also had lycan DNA surging through her system. His heart raced at the knowledge that Tiffany was part wolf. His little Tiffany was a puzzle he was determined to solve.
; Slapping Ryder on the shoulder, Zane said, “This is great news.”
Ryder arched a brow. “How so?”
“For one, you are a tracker, one of the best from what I’ve been told. Tiffany would need a warrior like you to be her guardian. She’d need someone loyal who could find her whenever she was in need…someone who would chew off his own arm to get to her.”
Ryder narrowed his gaze. “That still doesn’t explain why me, and wouldn’t you make a better guardian?”
Zane shook his head. “I’m no tracker.” He stood and extended his hand to Ryder. “The other part would be the mystical powers I’m not privy to. I can completely understand why you.”
Ryder took Zane’s hand and pulled himself to his feet. “I’m glad you can, but I’m still not exactly thrilled. I hate magic. It’s unpredictable.”
Zane held his concerned gaze. “You’ll get used to it. Protecting Tiffany should be an honor, and you’ll get used to that, too.”
Ryder nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll do it. Technically, I don’t really have a choice. I just didn’t expect something like this to happen to me.”
“I suppose magic is like that. Look at Brie. She’s in up to her eyeballs in magic, and she still doesn’t get it.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes. “How do you know so much?”
Zane didn’t want to tell him that he was a giant nerd and studied his ass off in college because he was too shy to do anything else with his time. He also didn’t want to tell Ryder that he’d been approached by a dark-haired woman when he was thirteen who told him what path he should be walking down. She told him that he needed to study the world of the originals as if his life depended on it. The strange woman seemed to know so much about him, had even encouraged him to be a doctor. The choices in his life had felt mapped out. All he had to do was follow it.
“I’m just smart like that,” he told Ryder, hoping to avoid further questioning. “Let’s go check on the girls. Then we can go grab a bite to eat.”
