by SA Welsh
How could he turn on them after that? Kyle’s jaguar enjoyed a fleeting moment of satisfaction as his father shifted quickly and swiped at Rogo. Papa was damn big.
Papa’s betas, Cash and Damian, ran into the room closely followed by other high ranking shifters in the pack. They created a circle around the fighting males, acting as a protective barrier to keep the pack away from them in case someone got hurt.
Rogo swiftly initiated his shift as well and Kyle cursed as the large man morphed into a massive lion with fur as dark as midnight. A few of the injured shifters they’d rescued clambered out of bed and somehow summoned the energy to shift. Kyle thought they’d come to defend Arthwr, but they didn’t.
The smaller ones wriggled through to the front of the crowd and sat at the edge of the circle.
The wolves howled softly and the felines hissed and yowled.
When Damian lashed out at Rogo’s hind quarters one of the hurt shifters spat at the beta as if he were the bad guy in all this. What the hell?
Kyle focused back on the fight as Cash calmed Damian and the fossa shifter. The anger inside him simmered, but the logical part of his brain pointed out something that made him pause. Rogo’s attacks and strikes weren’t landing as hard as he knew the lion could hit. Why wouldn’t Rogo fight to his full ability when the shifter was the one that started the fight?
He noticed the exact moment Arthwr realised this, too. Kyle’s father delivered a powerful, open pawed smack to Rogo’s head and the lion went down. His father used the opening to shift back and stand up, towering over Rogo.
“Why challenge me?”
Rogo rolled to his paws, but made no move to attack again.
If Kyle wasn’t watching closely he’d have missed Rogo darting a look at something behind Arthwr. The black fur receded into smooth dark skin. Since Kyle was mated, the sight of the naked man did nothing for him but he heard the small appreciative gasp from his beta coming from his left.
He looked where Rogo had and couldn’t see anything the lion could be concerned by. But the circle surrounding them was now three or four shifters thick and he couldn’t see all the way to the back from where he was.
“I yield,” Rogo said dropping his head in submission.
Kyle stepped forward and to the side so that he could get the same line of sight as Rogo, but he still couldn’t see anything of consequence.
The injured shifters forced their way through the circle and surrounded Rogo, taking a few clawed swipes from some of the other pack members that had entered the hall to see what the commotion was about.
Things were getting out of control.
Arthwr was a good alpha. Kyle may be bias, but he knew the rest of the pack felt that way, too, especially the ones that had come from packs that didn’t have good alphas.
But that protective instinct was heightening the tension in the room and exciting peoples’ beasts in the wrong way. It would only take a spark to send this into a riot.
One of the hot headed shifters, a jackal, backed into Mam and almost knocked Kane out of her arms. Kyle was at her side in a shot, snarling at the shifter.
Holding Kane in her arms, it appeared Mam was holding the small puma back. Kane was brave for a cub, protective, too. He’d fit in well around here.
The jackal went to snap at him before realising who it was. Being an alpha’s son gave him a respected position in the pack.
Actually being an alpha in his own right, even one not fully matured yet gave him even more. The only person that was more dominant than him was his father now. A few months ago Beta Cash and Beta Damian were more dominant, too, but mating with Jay had forced him to grow up a little more. He still hadn’t come fully into his alpha power yet, but his jaguar had made certain they were able to take care of Jay when it came to other shifters. Kyle’s cat was fixed on becoming a good mate for Jay and to his jaguar that meant being able to beat the bigger, badder shifters.
If it came down to it Kyle was reasonably sure he could beat anyone in this pack and any neighbouring pack in a challenge. All except the alphas of course.
The jackal blanched at his mistake and shrank back with a whimper.
Kyle growled at any other shifters that came too close and Kane copied him, the little feline hissing at them as well. He turned his attention back to his father, waiting to see what would happen next.
Arthwr walked over to Rogo and tapped the shifters neck to acknowledge and accept his submission. “Why did you attack me?”
The pack around them fell silent, wanting to know the answer as well.
Rogo lifted his head but Kyle saw the lion shifter was careful not to move suddenly as he stood. “I was asked to clear a path for one I owe a great deal. He said he could not explain, only that he needed everyone away from the young jaguar’s bed.”
Kyle spun around and his feet were moving before he processed everything Rogo had said.
His heart stopped as he saw a shirtless elderly man bent over his brother, leaning on him. What the fuck? His jaguar bellowed out his fury at being tempted from Nikko’s bedside.
Kyle and his father raced over, Mam and the others right on his heel. As he got closer he scented the stench of witchcraft. No witch was going to dishonour his brother. Kyle couldn’t protect him in life, but he was damned if he was going to fail in protecting Nikko now as well. Nikko would have a pack burial befitting a beloved alpha, he and Papa would see to that.
“Get away from him.”
Straightening to his full height, he didn’t fight the half shift as his hands became feline, great claws extending from his fingertips. The closer he got the more the unnatural, evil smell clouded his senses. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and it felt as if someone had scraped their hand the wrong way up his fur.
Dark magic.
Reaching the bedside a split second before his father, he took the opportunity to rip the man away from Nikko’s body.
Some weird light emanated from the man’s body, but it diminished like someone extinguishing a candle when Kyle took hold of the older man. The man turned in his arms and reached out as if to touch Kyle’s face, but he pulled back before the wrinkled hand made contact.
Strange people touching him set his teeth on edge, it was an alpha thing. Even if it wasn’t, the stench of dark magic clung to the man like a cloak. He showed his teeth in warning at the stranger.
Deep sorrow crashed over him like a wave, but he had no idea where it had come from. All he knew was that his jaguar cowed, his claws retracting and the weight of grief and sadness doubled in his heart.
Shaking his head to clear it, Kyle reminded himself that good people didn’t smell of dark, evil magic. He growled, curling his upper lip. If he was in his other skin right now, his ears would be pinned back to his skull and his tail would be puffed up.
What kind of trick was the old man playing?
Kyle pushed the man away from him, his cat hissing at coming so close to something evil.
All of a sudden the strength seemed to fail the man and he fell. Kyle caught him by reflex but the man was a deadweight and Kyle didn’t want to hurt him. Why, he didn’t know.
They sank to the floor, and Kyle automatically reached for and hauled the magic wielder into his lap. He gazed down at the man, frowning. Why was he familiar?
Just seconds ago he was intent on ripping the intruder limb from limb, but despite all the concrete facts that the man’s scent shouted evil, Kyle didn’t want to believe it. Something just wasn’t right.
Papa crouched at his side, sniffing just above the magic wielder’s head before flinching back with his lips parted, displaying inhumanly sharp teeth. “Dark magic.”
“Yes,” he answered.
His father must have picked up on some of his apprehension and confusion because the alpha jaguar faded and Papa fell into father mode, looking at him in concern. “What’s wrong?”
So many things. But none he could adequately put into words so Kyle shook his head and took another
deep breath, trying to scent beneath the magic. Unfortunately, the bitterness of evil was all he could smell. That and blood. The old man’s chest was covered in it, most of it dried and brown.
“So brave for one so little,” Rogo said, awe clear in his voice as the lion shifter stared at the old man in Kyle’s arms. Rogo must have gotten up and come over whilst Kyle was holding the old magic wielder.
Kyle stared up at Rogo uncomprehendingly. Until a sickening realisation began to stir in his gut.
One I owe a great deal...
Jay. Rogo was talking about Jay.
Kyle swallowed past the bile in his throat and looked at the elderly male lying in his lap. He quickly stuck his nose into the crook of the man’s neck and drew in a deep breath. The stench of something unnatural and evil wasn’t coming from the man. It was something inside and on top of the man, tainting him. Killing him.
With a shaking hand he reached up and tilted the man’s head to the side so that he could see his neck. Even as his eyes focused on the mating bite there, the one his jaguar intimately recognised, he knew what he’d done.
If he looked past the grey sparse hair and wrinkles, the bloody wounds in the man’s chest and thought of how happy and relieved the man had looked moments before Kyle rejected him...he knew that look.
Jay looked at him like that, as if it was an amazing thing each morning when he woke up and saw Kyle beside him. Every morning Kyle saw the same worry behind the smile. Each day he kissed the pink lips that turned up ever so slightly in a smile of wonder when Kyle called him mate.
What had he done? The magnitude of refusing his mate in what could be Jay’s final moments started to sink in.
The hall doors crashed open and his betas, Tryst and Mack, ran in, closely followed by Logan. They were all bloody and looked like they’d been in a war. Kyle couldn’t actually see any injuries or wounds on them, which was weird. If he could’ve mustered up any emotion to care, he’d have asked. But all he had left was shame, anger and pain.
Logan narrowed in on Jay’s unfamiliar body crumpled in Kyle’s arms and cried out in horror. “We’re too late.” The half wolf shifter dropped to his knees, tears rolling down his face.
Tryst and Mack wore similarly broken expressions as they, too, fell to the floor beside Kyle and Jay. “I’m so sorry, Jay,” Tryst cried, holding Jay’s hand as if it was made of delicate spun glass.
“What happened?” Kyle knew his eyes had gone jaguar when his vision sharpened and he could make out the individual hairs on Tryst’s neck rising as the leopard sensed the danger of an angry alpha.
Tryst bared his neck, but met Kyle’s eyes as he spoke. “He wanted to try and save Nikko. Logan’s mother betrayed us and tried to steal Jay’s power. We tried to fight, but it was futile, we were all going to die, Logan almost did. Somehow Jay got us free, but the next thing we knew Jay was gone and the witch looked like an old man instead of a woman.”
Mack took over as Tryst shook his head and scrubbed a tear off his cheek. “Since the witch smelled the same we were certain it was her...until the old man fought us off and saved Logan. It was Jay, not the witch. We were less than useless.”
Logan shuffled forward and the scent of humiliation and betrayal coming off the wolf almost matched the pain Kyle felt himself. “My mother is evil. I knew she didn’t love me, but I never thought...” Logan glanced away before turning back, eyes flat and resigned. “I forfeit my life for allowing Alpha Mate Jay to be harmed so.”
Before Kyle could answer that he didn’t want Logan to die, a choking sound came from the hospital bed beside him.
Everyone froze.
Papa recovered first and moved closer to the bed. “Nikko’s alive.”
“Goddess, he did it,” Tryst whispered, awe shining on his face.
Mam and Kane raced to the bed just as the body in it rose to a sitting position. Nikko was alive. “Oh, my boy. My baby boy.”
She pulled a shocked, scared Nikko into her arms and held on tight as he shot up straight in the bed and looked around the room with wide eyes. Kane climbed onto the bed, still in puma form, rubbing against Nikko like a happy house cat.
Kyle could barely believe what he was witnessing.
Seeing his long lost brother come back to life filled him with happiness, but it soon leaked away as Jay started to shake in his arms. Kyle curled closer around him, trying to give Jay some of his warmth.
Nikko slowly lifted his arms and awkwardly patted Mam on the back. The poor shifter didn’t seem to know how to hug her back, like he’d never been shown the kindness of a comforting embrace.
Wide eyes that were exactly like his own gazed at him over their mother’s shoulder.
The instant recognition in them that was deeper than human comprehension lit in Nikko’s eyes. His brother’s jaguar knew who they were. The jaguar recognised it was amongst kin, pack.
“Hello, brother.” Kyle managed to smile, but he knew it came across strained when Nikko frowned and looked down at Jay. There wasn’t a chance to say anything more as hordes of medical staff flooded the space, checking Nikko’s vitals and exclaiming it was impossible.
“Enough. Leave us.” Papa used his alpha voice and the humans scattered along with most of the pack.
Nikko’s eyes flashed wide again as he looked at Papa. Kyle imagined Nikko hadn’t ever seen anyone as big, or an alpha that strong, if any alpha at all.
“Hello, son. It’s good to finally meet you. The woman crushing you is your mother, Mam or Eleanor if you prefer. I’m Papa or Arthwr. I’m the alpha here, we got you away from the hunters.” Papa spoke softly and slowly, obviously trying not to spook him.
Kyle didn’t miss the way Nikko’s fingers curled into claws at the word hunter, but Mam was there, smoothing over the black hair that was becoming more sleek and healthy as they watched. Nikko’s whole body now appeared healthier, in fact. Nikko’s ribs still stuck out, but gone was the yellowish gaunt look.
Glancing down at Jay, he realised what was happening. With every second that passed, Nikko seemed healthier, while Jay got weaker. The visible correlation almost killed him.
“You’re so amazing, so selfless,” Kyle said brokenly, kissing Jay’s ashen cheek, rocking and trying not to break down.
Jay had saved everyone, but not himself. Jay was special, Kyle knew it down to his bones. His mate was vibrant and braver than anyone he’d ever met.
It was so wrong, seeing Jay old and used up by evil magic.
A sob caught in his throat and his jaguar yowled inside him, desperate to do something, anything. “I’m so sorry, Jay. I don’t know what to do.” His hand hovered over Jay’s wrinkled and bruised face as he tried to find somewhere that wasn’t hurt, not wanting to cause him any more pain.
His jaguar roared inside him. “I’m not giving up, I’ll find a way to help you.” Kyle nuzzled Jay’s head, his heart breaking when he still didn’t feel Jay respond. “I promise.”
“He can’t go out like this. Not now.” Papa gently let go of Nikko’s shoulder where he’d been holding Nikko up under the weight of Mam and crouched next to Kyle, making a purring sound to comfort him.
Mam’s voice shocked them all as she said in a cold tone he’d never heard before. “Oh, we’re not giving up. We’re going to hunt that bitch down and make her reverse whatever she’s done to Jayden.” Mam had pulled back from clutching at Nikko, but still held the shifter’s hand. Nikko looked terrified, but nevertheless shuffled closer to Mam, seeking comfort and protection from her instinctively.
“How?” The hopelessness of the situation weighed him down as he nuzzled Jay’s head, tensing between every slow beat of his mate’s heart in case it would be the last.
Mam looked him dead in the eye and Kyle saw murder there. “There was a reason the witch trials started all those years ago,” she said ominously. Her jaguar was so close to the surface Kyle could see the bloodlust of her animal. “Check him, Logan.”
“Yes, that’s it!” Logan leaped to his fee
t and Kyle ducked in time to avoid being hit in the face as Logan grabbed the vase of flowers off of the table beside the bed. The wolf threw away the flowers and poured the water over Jay’s chest. The water washed away the blood to reveal a cleanly shaped pentagram.
Kyle smacked Logan’s hand away when the wolf tried to touch Jay, but Logan just growled and reached out again, touching the wound and bringing the red fingertips to his mouth. Kyle’s jaguar voiced its growing anger with a dangerous growl that had several shifters who were standing close backing away.
Logan’s eye scrunched closed as the wolf concentrated on something. “Damn it, you’re right, Eleanor. It’s a draining spell just like the witches of Salem used to practice, that’s why he smells like her. She put some of her magic inside him so she could drain his magic and add it to her own. It’s a very old spell. It should have already killed him. There’s something minimising the drain, something very powerful.”
“What does that mean?” Kyle was sick of not understanding what the fuck was going on.
“It means that whatever is slowing down the spell is also keeping him alive until Katrianna’s magic drains him completely. It also means that the witch who cast the spell will be vulnerable until then. If you kill her before the spell kills Jay there is a chance you can save him.” Mam stepped forward, pulling a shell shocked Nikko with her. However, his brother didn’t pull away so there must be some part of the shifter that understood what was going on.
“But even in the witch trials no one was able to kill a witch even half as powerful as my mother,” Logan warned, looking grim.
Chapter Three
Kyle sheathed the last blade in his thigh holster and double checked the rest of his weapons. He was going to take any and every chance he could going up against this witch.
This rig was specially made to be shifter friendly. All Kyle had to do was yank the strong strip of canvas and the weapon harness came free and he could shift without fear of inadvertently stabbing himself with his own weapons.
