by SJ Himes
*A limo and escort car are coming from the west,* Caius told Burke, the Speaker’s surprise echoing back.
*They will likely be armed. Any confrontation outside will run the risk of drawing the human authorities.*
*Get the shamans out of the line of fire. Let them into the lobby. We’ll trap them inside between us.*
Like herding frantic deer into the rest of the wolf pack, the humans would die. Caius called in the rest of the perimeter team, and split them between his side of the building and the far side. His eyes could pick up the soft pops of gunfire in the sublevel, telling him Kane was still encountering the humans within.
The two approaching cars parked side by side in front of the building, engines ticking. Guards exited the vehicles, human men in dark suits with the soft stink of gunmetal broadcasting to anyone with a nose that they were armed.
It took everything Caius had not to leap out from hiding and eviscerate Simon Remus when the human bastard got out of the limo. He paused, and backed away from the door, another man exiting behind him.
Rage and disbelief battled for supremacy. It took him a moment to regain his equilibrium, but then all he could feel was cold, icy purpose. He reached out to Burke, sensing Kane was still too busy neutralizing threats in the basement to respond.
*Burke,* he said, pausing before continuing. Burke waited, the Speaker’s mind processing everything else happening in the background. *Julian is with Remus.*
*Hostage?* Burke asked, disbelief clouding his mental voice.
Julian tugged on his suit jacket, smoothing down his tie. His red hair appeared black in the night, but the smirk on his face was unchanged and he walked beside Remus without issue. *No. He’s here willingly. I think we have another traitor.*
*I don’t understand,* Burke replied, the Speaker at a loss.
*He’s always been a mad dog—betraying his own kind wouldn’t be out of the realms of the possible,* Caius explained. *Never mind the why of it—alert Kane when you can. Trap remains the same. I’ll take care of Julian.*
Caius carefully sat, and began stripping down. He would confront Julian as a wolf, and tear him and Remus apart.
Shaman’s Wrath
*Julian? The Birch Grove clan leader?* Michael asked, sounding just as shocked as Burke. All four of them backed away, Gabe and Michael going up the stairs to the second floor, Ghost and Burke behind the corner of the lobby that led to a supply closet and a pair of bathrooms.
Ghost wasn’t surprised at all. Julian’s presence was unexpected, but Ghost had faith in his mate, clan mates, and Goddess. Ghost crouched down, behind Burke’s bulky wolf-form, even though Ghost was more likely to be able to stop any bullets shot in their direction.
*Any response from Kane?* Ghost asked, keeping his mental voice small in case Julian could intrude on their conversation. Ghost had no knowledge of Julian’s skills or strength, aside from the fact he had to have enough personal power to become a clan leader. He could feel Kane’s herculean focus on his task in the back on his mind, and didn’t want to risk distracting Kane by trying to speak to him.
*He’s taken out most of the humans, the guards are going down easy. He’s almost done. I’d prefer we wait for him to finish before Remus and Julian got in here but we’re out of time,* Burke said at the same moment Ghost heard the overloud noises of humans walking across the tiled floor in the lobby.
The scent of sweat, humans, and guns swept in ahead of the group surrounding Remus and Julian. It was seconds after they came inside when a low, rumbling growl came from the lobby, and Ghost heard the familiar sound of the Birch Grove clan leader’s voice. “I smell Black Pine bitches. Did you set me up?”
“Wait? What?” Ghost assumed it was Remus, the voice familiar to him. He flashed back to the sanctuary in New Brunswick, an armed human aiming a gun at his head. Ghost bared his teeth in a silent snarl, and he wanted nothing more than to finish what he started all those weeks ago. Remus needed to die.
“Move! We aren’t alone in here!” Julian ordered, and the confused exclamations of the human guards were exactly what they needed.
Snarls and shouts came next, and Burke charged around the corner, Ghost on his heels. Humans raised their weapons at them, but Ghost shouted, hands coming up in a mirror response, a wall of searing heat bursting ahead of him in a wave. Metal grew red-hot, tiles blackened, and clothing smoked. The humans dropped their weapons and scrambled away, coming up short as wolves came in from the front of the building, Caius in his huge wolf-form leading the charge. Burke slammed into two humans, bowling them over, and Ghost jumped. He went high, dissipating the heat wave as he cleared the human guards and landed on Remus.
Snarls, shouts, the hot taste of blood on the air combined into chaos. Ghost rode Remus to the floor, the human screaming beneath him. Ghost landed with his boots on the bigger man’s chest, his clawed hands encircling Remus’ neck. Remus was a big man, easily a third bigger than Ghost, but human strength against wolfkin, there was no match. Ghost snarled as he tightened his fingers, ducking his head as Remus landed blows to his shoulders and skull, trying to knock him off.
A clawed hand latched onto the back of his neck, inch-long claws digging into the sides of his neck. Ghost was yanked backwards, and his hands were pulled from Remus’ neck. He fought, shouting, claws out and fangs dropped. His magic discharged and snapped, sparks flying, landing on the suited arms trying to restrain him. Rough curses came from the wolfkin male that pulled him back and then down, pushing him to the floor.
“Kane’s wild little bitch,” Julian grinned at him, his eyes glowing, red hair a mess, fangs dropping. Ghost slammed his hands, electricity arcing from his fingers, into the sides of Julian’s head, who shouted in pain and anger. Ghost pulled his arms back, building a new charge, determined to get Julian off him.
Julian gripped Ghost’s shoulders, lifting him up, and before Ghost could attack again, Julian slammed him back down, the back of Ghost’s head slapping on the hard tile floor.
His vision blurred, pain lancing down his spine, and Julian did it again, slamming him down too fast for him to stop it, to get free. Everything went dark.
His feet catching on the side of the hallway woke him. Pain radiated out from his right arm, held over him.
He was being dragged, and fast. A clawed hand was around his bicep, his face inches from the rough, wet concrete floor. And Kane was shouting in his head.
*Ghost!*
*My alpha,* he managed to whisper back, blood dripping in his eyes from his hair. He couldn’t move, not yet, his body still limp and his head aching horribly.
*Where are you? Are you hurt? Is he there?* Kane demanded, concern, love, and anger coming across their bond.
*He is here, oh mighty heir of Black Pine,* Julian’s mental voice intruded on their link, and Ghost gasped, the sensation of having a greater alpha bursting into a private mind link painful and disruptive, scattering his thoughts. *I have your wild little bitch. Not much of a shaman, is he? His blood tastes like prey.*
Kane’s presence in the back of his mind was a seething, red and black storm of rage. Ghost moaned, and tried to twist free from Julian’s iron grip on his arm, but his head ached too much, his limbs refusing to cooperate. Julian chuckled, unhinged and carefree. There was malice and something dark, dangerous in the sound, and a pool of icy fear settled in Ghost’s belly.
Julian dropped him. Ghost rolled to his side, face wet from the damp floor, and he blinked. He wasn’t alone.
Simon Remus groaned, eyes fluttering. A bruise was forming along his left cheekbone and down his jaw. Ghost snarled, lips pulling back as his own fangs came out. His whole body hurt, and his thoughts were still muddled, but he was healing fast. Remus was a few feet away from him and Ghost wanted to end it.
“Now you two little bitches wait right here for me,” Julian stood over them, removing his suit jacket and tossing it aside
. “I’m going to tear out Kane’s throat and then force Caius to eat it before I snap his neck. Or maybe I’ll feed Kane bits of Caius before I kill him.”
Ghost tried to get up, but Julian kicked him in the side, a wet snap coming from his ribs. Ghost fell back to the floor, curling into a ball. Julian sneered down at him and then checked on Remus. The human seemed to be struggling with regaining consciousness.
Ghost whined in pain, shivering, and Julian huffed in satisfaction before leaving.
*Kane.*
*Ghost! You’re in pain. Are you okay? What did he do?*
*Knocked me out for a while. I think I have a broken rib. He’s coming for you and Caius.*
Anger was Kane’s response, a deadly wave of it that erupted along the link between them. *I’m with Caius and Burke. Michael and Gabe are upstairs, tending some of our wolves who got shot. Can you sneak away? Is he still there?*
Ghost bit his lip to keep from crying out, and turned his head. He looked past Remus’ limp form and blinked, then again. *Kane. I’m with the missing Ashland wolves.*
Cages were arranged in two rows, and Ghost gingerly moved one of his arms out and beneath him, and lifted himself just far enough to see better. Kane responded almost immediately, his mate’s mind cooler, more focused, the anger controlled. *Is Julian there? Can you free them?*
Ghost opened his mind fully to his mate, letting Kane see through his eyes. A battered and thin wolfkin male in the closest cage was staring back at Ghost with absolute shock, and the man’s resemblance to Gabe was immediate and striking. Ghost sat up more, his mind clearing, the injury on the back of his head healing. Kane took in the odd room through Ghost’s eyes; the shrouded machines near the rear, the cages, and Julian’s absence. *Ghost, we’re coming to you. Stay safe. Some of the guards who came with Remus and Julian are between us and your position. It’s likely you’re on the far side of the sublevel. Protect yourself until we can get there.*
*Remus is unconscious.* Ghost looked back to the human still passed out beside him. Julian must have struck the human too hard, the bruise on his face was now a deep purplish blue. If Remus were awake, Ghost had no trouble with snapping his neck. Remus was a monster. Without conscience or compassion, Remus cared only for profit and himself. And yet Ghost hesitated. The human was literally helpless, injured, unaware of the danger he was in and that his death was imminent.
Ghost relaxed, his fangs pulling back, his claws ceased and his anger left him. Simon Remus’ fate belonged to those he wronged the most, and that was not Ghost.
He could sense Kane as his mate dropped his combat gear and began Changing into his wilder form. *Do what you must to save yourself and the Ashland wolves. If you cannot end him, Caius will do so once we get there.*
Ghost wrapped an arm around his ribs and carefully stood, wavering before he found his balance. *Stop the rest of the humans. Julian is insane and coming for you. I’ll be fine.*
A roar echoed through the sublevel, long and deep. A challenge, full of madness and fury. Ghost got a glimpse of a red and black wolf the size of a brown bear charging at his mate, before Kane dropped the more intimate connection and his focus shifted to fighting with fang and claw. Ghost withdrew, his faith in his mate absolute.
“Youngling?” A thin whisper drew his attention, and Ghost smiled when he met the now lucid gaze of the nearest wolfkin. “You must leave if you can, it’s not safe. Please, go, before you end up in a cage too!”
Ghost slowly stood, breathing deep, and felt his ribs snap back into place. He was healing, and he wasn’t leaving without everyone. He stepped over Remus, the human unresponsive, and went to the closest cage. “I’m not leaving. She wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to get me here and then be happy that I left.”
He knelt, avoiding the silver bars, and examined the lock. It was a simple one, nothing more than an embedded square that needed a key to insert, but the fact the entire structure was covered in silver meant touching it to open it was impossible.
He had never needed to touch a lock to open it.
Ghost stared at the lock, and with a tiny push of mental effort, it snapped open. Ghost lifted a hand, and with his mind, pulled the door open wide. The wolfkin inside the cage began to cry, tears streaking down his dirty, thin face. “Shaman.”
Ghost nodded, and with another mental nudge, the shackles holding the wolfkin fell away. Ghost reached out, and took the prisoner’s hands, and pulled him from the silver cage, gently lowering him to the floor. “Stay right here. Watch for humans or the red-haired wolf, yell if you see anyone coming. I need to free the others.”
“Thank you,” the other wolfkin whispered, gratitude in every deep line of misery carved in his face. “I will.”
Ghost smiled, and moved on to the next cage.
Burke dodged a bullet, the impact in the wall right over his head. He crouched, peeking around the corner, and leapt when he saw the human reloading. He died with a strangled scream, and Burke dropped the body before following Ghost’s scent deeper into the building.
Julian had grabbed Ghost and Remus, and then barreled through his human guards without concern nor care for anyone but himself. The unexpected maneuver had gone unanswered as the humans began firing indiscriminately. Whatever Ghost did to the weapons to make the humans drop them hadn’t extended to the guards in the back, and they were still armed.
Several wolfkin were shot, but the guards were defeated, with a spattering running down the stairs after Julian. Burke thought that was utterly stupid of them, but then fear and desperation made humans do stupid things every day. Michael stayed behind, using his limited healing ability to stop the worst of the injuries, and Gabe’s gift of the Voice was too dangerous to let the young alpha go anywhere without Michael, so he stayed behind as well. Caius and Burke raced ahead, meeting up with Kane in the sublevel, only to have a few remaining guards begin to fire from cover.
Julian’s arrival meant they had to split up, and Burke went to find Ghost. Julian was huge—a black and red monstrosity that fought without forethought or reason, a truly mad animal. Kane and Caius would usually fight in tandem, but the confusing jumbled maze of half-walls and corridors meant the fighting was in close quarters, both Caius and Kane were too big to take Julian on simultaneously. Burke left reluctantly, but knowing Ghost was alone with Remus made up his mind for him.
No one else fired at him, so he ran, nose down, backtracking Julian, the clan leader’s scent overlaid with Ghost’s. He cleared a corner, and he wanted to howl in joy when he found Ghost. Remus was unconscious, he was tempted to end the human, but Ghost and the Ashland wolves needed him more in that moment than Remus needed to die.
The small shaman was freeing the Ashland wolves, all of them weak, malnourished, and suffering from silver poisoning. Ghost was helping a tall wolfkin male from one of the far cages, the man stuck in between human and his wilder form, the silver poisoning destroying his ability to fix himself. Burke paused, and focused, needing hands to help Ghost. He stood, his Change moving swift and sure, adrenaline forcing it along faster than usual.
“Do you need help?” Burke asked, and Ghost smiled at him, his silver eyes full of something Burke was surprised to see might be satisfaction.
“There’s one more cage. I already opened it and took off the shackles. Be careful with the youngling—he’s not what you think he is,” Ghost said, helping the warped wolfkin male to his family, the half-dozen of them huddling together, hugging and crying quietly.
Burke ducked around Ghost and his burden, and saw the remaining captive. He was small and thin, and he was sprawled on his face, halfway out of his cage. He was thin and skin was blue-cast, and he shook with the cold. Burke knelt, and gently turned the youngling over. He stilled for a moment, wondering why he smelled a human, but the small figure in his arms cried softly in pain, and Burke clutched him to his chest. “Shhh, you’ll be alright now. I won�
��t hurt you.”
Burke fell back on his ass when the young man opened his eyes. Crystalline, brilliant, the color of a midsummer sky at noon, his eyes were beautiful, and yet their perfection was nothing compared to the wavering, shy smile that graced the youngling’s mouth. The most beautiful smile Burke had ever seen lifted lush, soft pink lips, and the precious being in his arms spoke softly, as if he were seconds from sleep. “I’m cold,” he whispered, and Burke curled around the younger man, hoping some of his own body heat would help.
He cradled the young man closer, holding him tightly, pressing their naked forms together. Burke never felt the cold, not really, and right now he felt like he was sunning himself on a tropical beach, he was so warm. Everywhere they touched, Burke burned, but it was without pain. The youngling whimpered, and greedily snuggled with him, pressing his cold nose to Burke’s throat, arms wrapping around his neck. Burke hugged him back, and he’d never felt such a desire to never let go again.
“What’s your name, youngling?” Burke whispered, dipping his head, breathing in a lovely, alluring scent. Sweet and clean, despite the grime of captivity and dirty hair.
“Wren Harmon,” the youngling replied, voice still a meager whisper.
“Hello, Wren. My name is Burke,” he said gently in return. The last name was a problem for another time.
He had no idea how, or why, but he was certain. He might have needed Sophia to point out the obvious to him weeks ago regarding Ghost and Kane and their soulbond, but he needed no help now. After weeks of seeing the bond between his best friend and the young shaman, he could recognize one when it smacked him in the face. Or the soul, even.
The youngling in his arms who appeared to be human, bore the last name of a mad scientist, and smelled like heaven on earth, was his soulbonded mate.
Ghost helped the warped alpha to his brothers, the family similarity obvious. He checked, and there were no approaching enemies, but the sounds of a fierce fight echoed through the sublevel. Remus was still unmoving, clearly injured more severely than Ghost had assumed. Humans were fragile.
