Before I go upstairs, I make a quick stop. “Cason, I know this is a lot. You okay?”“Alpha, this ain’t how I thought today would go when I woke up.” His eyes glance at me, but back to Les. “The Luna stopped her sister from rejecting me.”“Yeah, she told us.” I clap him on the shoulder. “If she’s anything like Leticia, she may have never had a mate before. Leticia told Kas she had never even had a boyfriend before Klay. Maybe Les is the same.”“A woman that beautiful?” He looks at her longingly. “There’s no way she’s been alone in her entire life. The Luna asked me to give her a chance. Back at my shop when I couldn’t move. I-I don’t know if she knew I could hear her.”I look back at Les holding Kas. “Do you want to give her a chance?”“I… I don’t want her to feel like I’m holding her back.” He mutters. “Imagine how big her world must be. I’m like a speck of nothing compared to everything she’s experienced, Alpha. I’m just a tattoo artist.”“You’re not just a tattoo artist, Cason. You’
Every rational thought in my brain disconnects from each other and runs in opposite directions before they collide back together, out of order. It feels like a mosh pit reverberating off the sides of my skull. “I don’t like this guy.” Saint bristles. “Who’s his wolf?” “That’s what’s important to you right now?” I huff at him. “Well, he made the door disappear, so it’s not like we can escape.” Saint growls back at me. “We either find out as much as we can about him before you let me kill him, or we just go in blind. Your choice.” I turn my head to see what Saint is talking about. Sure enough, the door is gone. There’s only a smooth white wall behind me. I can still hear the Sentinel speaking to each other in the hallway, but they seem on guard, but not worried. “Who’s your wolf?” I tense my muscles, trying to prepare for anything. “I don’t have a wolf anymore.” He purses his lips and looks around before he raises his arms to the side. “I have this.” “This?” I squint my eyes. “B
“Of course not.” He rolls his eyes and shakes his head at me. “We were in Lechia… uh… Poland, I think it’s called now. We were trying to cut a deal with a powerful dark witch. She double crossed us. I got hit with a nasty spell that made me ill. We were trying to get away, but human hunters were scared of the giant wolves in the woods and mortally wound me. The only way to save my human spirit was to bring me here. Iokaste and I have more control over time in this place than we do on Earth. It gave her more time to heal me, but when I tried to go back to Earth, the old hag’s spell took effect again. It was magic that even Iokaste couldn’t reverse, so she brought me back.” “Mortally wounded, as in the end of your spirit’s journey?” I pay closer attention to his body posture. He seems at peace with the circumstances. “So if you leave, you die?” “Mmm.” He nods quickly. “It solved the problem of needing to have someone here for the Mavri Magea to come and go, but it took a toll on Róki.
Milo’s POV“Now isn’t a good time, Klay.” I pick up the phone not bothering to say hello. “What’s up?”“Beta, sorry to bother you, but Miss Codi just woke up from a nightmare.” Klay says with a strangled voice into the phone. Codi’s shrill scream crying maxes out the speaker on the receiver. My heart breaks into a thousand pieces when I hear her calling for me. “She won’t let me go and keeps crying about a mean lady.”“The mean lady?” I look around at the frozen Sentinel and Cason. I can’t leave. Codi’s bad dream isn’t as much of an emergency as this. “Give me ten minutes. Try giving her a t-shirt from my hamper. Hopefully, there’s enough of my scent to calm her down until I get there.”“See Codi? Daddy will be home as soon as he can.” Klay purrs, trying to soothe her. “We’ll be waiting, sir.”“Go home.” Ghost huffs. “Don’t leave Codi alone.”“She’s not alone, buddy.” I glance at Leticia who’s shuffling her feet on the floor waiting for someone to tell her what to do. “She trusts Klay
“Alright, Reg. Regroup. What do we know?” I open a mindlink while we help get some of the slower elderly pack members into James’s truck so he can take them to the packhouse. “Cason and the Sentinel were frozen, but not time stuck frozen. Lady Camille confirmed it. I heard Aphrodite’s crackle sound when she touched the arrow on Cason, but it went away when she touched Les. The victims unfreeze and are in pain.”“So was Leticia, Kas, and Bronx, even though they weren’t originally frozen. Kas’s ear was bleeding from whatever was causing the pain. That would lead me to believe it has to do with the Menae.” He continues. “Kas saw the blood, and I assume fell into a vision, then disappeared with her sisters, Bronx, and Cason.”“Don’t Menae Leaders and Guardians woke up from a similar nightmare at the same time.” I add after Mister Swanson shakes my hand and thanks me for the help. Reggie and I sit on the edge of the truck bed when we have all the people we can hold.“Except for Dre. He’s n
“Alright, everyone, where do we stan-” As I open the door to the conference room, I get slammed into the wall so hard, the drywall collapses and my head shatters the glass on a picture on the wall. Heavy hands with thick, razor-sharp, curled claws wrap around my throat. Ghost jumps forward and pushes on the man’s broad chest, extending his claws in return.“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?” Klay roars an inch from my face with a guttural growl. I can feel the pulse in my neck. If his claws move at all, he'll nick my carotid artery. “Everyone knows how much you fucking hate her.”"Ghost, don't move or we're dead." I speak as slowly as possible and hold my breath. We are at a complete disadvantage in this scenario. He paces, ready to defend ourselves, but listens to my order.“KLAY!” Reggie jumps up. Three guys from his ops team draw their guns and growling at the attack.“It wasn’t me, Klay. Everyone stand down!” I choke out with my Beta tone. My orders don’t affect Klay the way it does our pack
Bronx’s POV“Come on, Tish. It’s your turn.” I pant while I kneel on the floor and rest my forearms on my knee. I watch blood drip heavily down my body onto the white carpet in deep crimson puddles.My mind is fuzzy, and it’s hard to keep my balance. Saint is fighting the battle against my injuries from the inside. It seems like a losing battle.“Bronx, no.” Leticia kneels in front of me and holds her hands up like she wants to touch me, but she doesn’t know where to put them. “I’m not leaving you or Kas here. Besides, you need time to recover first.”“Come on, Tish, we already agreed. You pulled the memory of the vision from Kas. You need to tell people what you saw.” I groan. “Kas and I can figure another way out once you’re through this portal. Let it close like we talked about earlier. Once it closes, she and I can wait for Saint to heal me.”“He’s right, darling.” I look up and blink blood out of my eyes. Through the pink haze, I see Kas put her hand on Leticia’s shoulder while s
I slide her binder away and set the tray between us. A big part of me wants to pull her on my lap, but the stinging cuts all over my body advise against it. I settle for turning her stool so she’s facing me and pulling it closer. I tear a small piece of the croissant and hold it up to her mouth. She rolls her eyes with a smirk and opens her mouth. “Kas, before you get back to work, I don’t suppose I could convince you to take a nap with me?” I lean my elbow on the table and rest my chin on my palm. “I should really get back to this, Sweetheart.” Kas lays her hand on my knee and pats it gently. “Denied.” Saint hisses with a chuckle. “Okay, well, will you at least put some more of that salve on my back?” I ignore him and raise my eyebrows. “It really feels good, and look at how much it’s helping me heal.” I give Kas my arm so she can examine it. “Okay. I can put some on your back, but then I need to finish working here. Saint needs to pull his weight here, too.” “Called out.” I wh