“She’s using dark magic. We already knew that,” Damien said. The others seemed too agitated to relax, and Caster could understand their discomfort.
“Yes. But I’ve never known a power that dark.” Riley was notmaking him feel any better.
“But the plan remains the same, right?” Dean asked. “We find her and end this.”
“That thing was strong and fast.” Caster dared a glance at Mark, who met his gaze for a split second, only to look away. “And there may have been more than one.”
Mark turned to him, his eyes wide. He hadn’t thought about why he’d concealed that information at the time, but it was clear now. He’d wanted to protect him, still wanted to protect him, even now.
“I thought there would be.” Riley’s voice drew his attention from Mark and the confused feelings he aroused in him. Riley, who seemed the most tired of them all, sat next to Damien. “I think we should take time to figure this out before we go after her again.”
“No!” The energy and volume in Mark’s denial silenced the whole room.
“What my brother means is, we thought this would take no more than a day.” Dean’s tone was nothing short of an admonishment of his brother’s outburst.
“We thought so too.” Riley sighed, his exasperation somehow intensifying the tired look on his face. “But, you have to understand. I’ve never felt a power like that before. Wherever she’s getting it from, the price she has to pay must be massive. I suspect we’ve only seen the tip of what she’s capable of.”
“Well, you’re inspiring a lot of confidence, brother.” Damien’s attempt to lighten the mood did nothing to dampen Caster’s worry. Perhaps he should let his father handle this afterall.
“So what do we do?” Dean asked.
“Give me time.” Riley pushed off the couch, looking more tired by the minute. “I need to get a clearer sense of her magic and—”
“You’re not going back there, are you?” The strange mix of anger and concern in Ben’s voice told Caster something was going on with Riley that he didn’t seem ready to share with the room. But he couldn’t worry about it right now, not with everything going on. Riley was well capable of taking care of himself. He was the most capable of everyone in this room.
“Only for a second.” Riley’s soft reply did nothing to stop Ben from storming out. He turned to Caster and blew out a breath, nodding toward Ben’s dramatic exit. “I’ll take care of it.” He followed Ben out the door, but stopped at the threshold. “I’ll examine her magic and try to figure out where it’s coming from. I thought maybe it was necromancy, and I can feel that, but there is also so much more.”
“It makes sense to have all the information we can before we go after her.” Caster looked at the Prime Alpha as he said it, pleading with him to understand and stay a while longer.
He looked at Mark, his hunched shoulders and hands balled into fists, indicating he didn’t like the idea. Caster didn’t either. The longer Mark remained in his orbit, the more out of sorts he felt, and he needed every ounce of his focus if he would ensure the witch didn’t kill any more of his kind.
The rays of sunshine hitting his fur were warmer than usual, and he would soon need to find shade. The park’s expanse called to him, but he was already too far from home, and the Prime Alpha wouldn’t like that. Still, the feel of each blade of grass as it made contact with his paws was well worth his brother’s reprimand later.
The smaller creatures around him scurried from his path, and his human self smiled. They were right to fear the predator in him, but he wasn’t here for them. Today, he craved the Alpha who made him tremble with a different kind of thrill. He called his name in his mind, sensing his presence but unable to see the large gray wolf that was Zeke in wolf-form.
A low growl reached his ears from the left, and Mark stumbled. His senses prickled, his human self protected by the psychic barrier, smiling his delight. A menacing hiss joined the growl, and he stopped mid-stride. Fear tore through every cell as his need to protect Zeke urged him into a gallop, his heightened senses zeroing in on a stench that was as familiar as it was foreign.
Grief and fear pushed him harder, his movements a blur, the thrill of the run a distant memory. Still, he couldn’t get close to the gray wolf he needed to protect. He stumbled on the log he’d failed to see, crashing head-first into the grass-covered ground. The momentum of his fall dragged his large form across the ground, cuts and scrapes healing as fast as they appeared.
Red eyes glowed with menace, pointy teeth bared in threat appeared through the haze. Mark braced for the end as the disembodied red eyes lunged at him, the sound of a snarl mixed in with ear-splitting growls reaching past his heightened senses to the human beneath the wolf. He squeezed his eyes shut, his muscles locking, trapping him in place.
His eyes popped open in time to see a blur of gray fur lunge at the darkness. Zeke hit his mark, but long claws obscured by the darkness pierced his neck. Blood gushed from the ghastly wounds as Zeke lost his fur, his human form going slack in the creature’s grip.
Mark screamed his protest, lunging at the creature, his teeth bared and ready…
He startled awake, choking on a roar that followed him from his nightmare. He scanned the unfamiliar room, expecting to see the creature’s sinister blood-red eyes, and sighed his reliefwhen all he saw was the impossible whiteness. It was nothing like his room back home, unfamiliar and distressing. Three days. Three full days he’d spent in this room, unable to get comfortable, unable to reach his wolf.
The last time he’d felt the animal side of him stir enough to experience his power, a similar monster had threatened him. He shivered at the memory of what had brought his wolf closer than he’d been in years. Caster’s fingers on his face, in his hair, the scent wafting from his body, and the heat he longed to snuggle deeper into.
Mark shook his head to deny the truth of his feelings. He was so attracted to the vampire’s dominance there was no masking it. Not from the other part of him, but he’d be damned if he’d ever admit that to anyone. What was it that took the most powerful witch three whole days to decipher? He’d avoided being anywhere close to Caster so far, but how long before he was forced to face him?
Like he’d done the last two days, he dressed and prepared to meet his brother Mikey for breakfast. His younger brother didn’t ask why Mark needed the closeness. Like the rest of his family, Mikey had learned to avoid the topic and instead provided silent support, playing the part of Mark’s emotional crutch with real enthusiasm.
The guilt clawing at his belly eased when Mikey smiled at him. They were more similar in appearance, even if Mikey was much smaller. They shared brown eyes and thick brown hair. Dean’s jet-black hair and dark blue eyes were so different from the rest of the family, most people didn’t believe he was their brother. Their mother said he was the perfect mirror image of their grandfather, the first Prime Alpha who had died long before any of them existed.
Mikey waved at the assortment of food on the table set up near the monster of a mansion’s main garden. “There you are. I thought you’d make me eat all of this alone.”
His brother’s easy acceptance pushed his guilt further back, and he smiled in response even though he didn’t think he could keep anything down. For his brother’s benefit, he selected a few options, loading a plate with scrambled eggs, a few pieces of bacon, and a bagel.