He tried to move towar
Awarm chuckle drowned out the noise in the bar, and Mark’s heart threatened to burst through his chest. He was so beautiful when he was not being all domineering.
Mark watched Zeke’s blond hair sway with the movement as he bent to readjust his position and take the shot.
The pool game had gone on far longer than Mark wanted it to, but he’d forgive the others if it let him catch Zeke’s unguarded moments.
Goddess, he loved him. Loved every aspect of him.
But this, this he adored. The controlling dominant was gone, hidden behind the joy he shared with their friends.
Still, he craved those moments when the mask would be gone, and Zeke would be his true self again. The true self he shared only with Mark.
A rumble reached his ears, and Mark turned toward the unusual sound.
The other four wolves didn’t seem to hear it, carrying on with their boisterous conversation like nothing had happened.
He glanced at Zeke, who caught his eye and smiled.
His senses prickled, and worry seeped through his skin to settle in his belly.
The rumbling growl grew louder, and Mark sought Zeke’s comforting eyes, his reassuring smile.
Zeke’s eyes lost their familiar light blue haze, acquiring the amber that signaled his transformation into wolf-form. But he remained human, staring Mark down with an unmistakable challenge.
“Zeke?” Another deeper growl drowned out Mark’s voice. The pool table, the bar, their friends all faded into the silence that followed.
Red eyes appeared over Zeke’s shoulder, a clawed paw reaching out of nothingness to caress his exposed neck. Mark’s warning scream clogged his throat as the creature broadcast its intent, its claws digging into Zeke’s neck.
Blood, more blood than one body could hold, poured from the wound as did the howl of Mark’s wolf filling the space in his brain. The wolf’s claws tore at his sensitive nail beds and then retreated. The fangs he longed to use to defend the love of his life failed to come through his human canines.
He tried to move towards a bleeding Zeke, unsure why he wouldn’t fight back, but something kept him glued to his barstool.
He cried out in frustration, fighting with everything in him to transform, move, anything.
Whatever force kept him in his seat released him as the monster’s claws tore through Zeke’s neck, tearing his head clean off…
Mark’s eyes popped open, the sound of his overexerted heart pounded away in his skull, drowning out the tortured sound of his howling wolf. He was the only one who could hear it, but the other wolves in the house could sense his distress.
The pain of his loss was reinforced every night. If the witch had intended to cause him everlasting suffering, she had won.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and, to torture himself a little, reached for the barrier keeping his wolf away from him. There was nothing there, but he lingered, seeking a whisper of a connection he knew was gone.
His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten last night.
After news of the witch, Mark spent all night fantasizing about all the ways he would end her life.
It didn’t matter that he couldn’t transform.
Mark didn’t need his more powerful wolf-form to drain the life out of the woman who’d cost him everything.
He didn’t relish the prospect of working with the vampires to find her, not when they had given her the opportunity to cause him more pain than he thought he could handle, but he didn’t have a choice.
He pushed the covers off and sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands.
Mark hated mornings. His dreams, as horrible as they were, brought his wolf closer to him.
Morning pushed his wolf too far back in the recesses of his mind, so all he felt was weak, and weakness was intolerable in wolf society.
Time to take a breath and repeat his daily reminder that he still had a role. He was the Prime Alpha’s brother, the Head of Security for the Werewolf Council. Anyone who had a problem with that could go fuck themselves.
He dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and went looking for Dean. If they were going to capture the witch this time, they needed a plan.
Mark’s stomach clawed at him as he approached the dining room. The Prime Alpha, his assistant Thomas, and Samuel, the Council’s Head of Populations, sat around the table. Mark had expected the full twelve-member council, but it must be taking the others a while to get here.
Thomas and Samuel left as he sat with his cup of coffee in his hands. Ava approached the table with a plateful of eggs and bacon for him. He accepted the plate with thanks, all the while doing his best to avoid his brother’s stare.
He took a sip of his coffee and placed the mug on the table with more force than was necessary. “If you are getting ready to ask me if I’m OK, prepare yourself to get punched in the face.”
The sudden burst of laughter from his older brother was familiar but not the reaction he’d expected.
He shoveled his food into his mouth, his impatience to hear his brother’s plan making it difficult for him to enjoy his meal. “I’m not joking.”
Dean raised his hands in mock surrender. “Fine. I won’t ask.” He chuckled. “But I’d like to see you try.”
None of this was funny. “You know I can.”
“Hey.” Dean pointed at his plate. “Do you wanna slow down there? Food’s not going anywhere.”
Anger at the situation they found themselves in burst forth, and he slammed his fist on the plate, breaking it in half. The smell of blood was the first indication he’d hurt himself. He ignored the stinging pain.
Except for a raised eyebrow, his brother remained unfazed, his voice calm and even. “You done?”
The last thing he wanted to do was anger the Prime Alpha. As much as he hated the idea of working with vampires, he needed this particular hunt for his peace of mind. He nodded before Dean could repeat his question, deferring to his more dominant brother.
Dean rose from the chair. “Take a moment to gather your thoughts and then come into the conference room.”
He started to stand, but Dean shook his head.
“I know this is hard, but I need you. I need you thinking straight.” He placed a hand on Mark’s shoulder.
“This anger that you can’t seem to control will come in handy when we find that witch.
You gotta learn how to aim it.” He squeezed Mark’s shoulder once and turned towards the conference room.
Mark pushed the remnants of his meal to the side, no longer hungry.
He’d acted like an idiot again, and his brother, in his infinite patience, had handled it.
This was another thing the witch and vampires had torn from him.
Without him, whose name he couldn’t even think of without breaking into a million pieces, he was unsure of his true North.
He was no longer grounded, unable to find even the tiniest modicum of control.
He took a deep breath. It was just another day he had to endure, and he’d do his best. He was so close now to the end.
His only purpose was to kill the witch. After that, he was unsure he could keep going.
Not like this. Not if his wolf was out of reach.
Not if the only person who understood him was no longer here.
In the more than ten years he’d longed for vengeance, he’d never been this close.
All he had to do was endure a few more days.
§
Twenty minutes was all he needed to get himself back in some control before he was ready to face the Council and his brother. In this room, Dean was not his older brother; he was the Prime Alpha, and that had to be respected.
“The Vampire Crown Prince says they are working on multiple ways to locate the witch, but they’re not having much luck.” Dean acknowledged his presence with a small nod as he addressed the Council. “They need us to go to them. He thinks our combined efforts might do the trick.”
“Do we all have to go? There is still a lot to do here,” Anton, the Council’s Head of Health Services, asked.
Mark nodded. They couldn’t just drop everything and go to Europe.
“No. You’ll stay. Only Mark and I will go for now. Mikey is already there. If we need more of you guys, we’ll let you know,” Dean said.
“Mikey’s already there?” Mark was not sure he liked the idea of their baby brother in the company of vampires on his own.
“He left last night. You know he and Caster’s brother are friends. He’s fine.”
Mark wished he could be as cavalier as his brother.
He never understood the friendship between Dean and the Vampire Crown Prince.
He hadn’t met the vampire royal family after the war, as their father had insisted on his staying away from the war and its aftermath.
His desire to get to know them diminished even further after everything that had happened, but both Mikey and Dean maintained relationships with the vampire royal family.
To Mark, any connection to them betrayed the memory of the best person he’d ever known. He couldn’t do it.
“So what is the plan?” he asked, drawing his attention from his constant pain to focus on his task at hand, finding and ending the witch.
Dean shrugged. “You and I will travel to Caster’s. Hear him out. He’s requested that we work together with his Council to locate the witch.”
Mark couldn’t hide his contempt if he’d tried. “You think they want to work with us?”
Silence engulfed the room. Everyone was aware of the error he’d made, questioning the Prime Alpha. He dared to glance at his brother to find a thunderous expression on his face.
“Everyone out!” Dean’s voice was so quiet, it was almost a whisper, but the others scrambled to obey the command it concealed. When he started to rise, Dean pointed at him. “Not you.”
He should apologize, but his brother’s Alpha dominance pinned him to his seat, held his voice in a steel trap. The Prime Alpha was in control, and Mark was sure Dean was done dancing around the main issue.
“Listen.” Dean’s voice was low, but the intent of his words was not lost on Mark.
“I understand your pain. I don’t feel it as you do; no one ever will, but you’re my brother, and it kills me.
What happened to you tears me to shreds every day.
” He sighed. “I wish I knew what to do to make it better, but I don’t. ”
Mark looked at his clasped hands, the intensity of his brother’s honest words too much to bear.
“Look at me!”
Mark couldn’t disobey him if he wanted to.
“I can only give you vengeance.” He leaned back in his seat, the anger in his blue gaze dissipating into concern.
“That’s the only reason I jumped at the chance when Caster called.
It is the only reason I’m taking you with me.
” He pushed a large hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “Jesus Mark, I need you to be OK.”
Mark nodded. “I will be.”
Dean stared at him for an eternal moment before accepting his acquiescence with a curt nod.
“I know you hate talking about this. This is the last time we’ll do it.
But I need you to know you have my support the whole way.
The vampires think we’re there to help them find and capture the witch, but I’m only there for you.
This has eaten at you for too long, and I need my brother back. ”
If Mark had any tears left to shed, they would have come pouring out of him now. Still, he sniffed back the overwhelming emotion threatening to undo the duct tape holding his heart together.
“You OK?”
Unintended laughter broke free from the mess of emotions, and he looked up to find a smile on his brother’s face. “I really will punch you in the face.”
Dean’s smile grew. “Yeah.” He stood. “Now, go get ready. We leave in two hours. God knows it takes you at least three to pack.”
He stayed in his seat, unsure his legs could take his weight. “Dean?”
His brother stopped mid-stride but didn’t turn around to face him. “Yeah…”
“I’m going to be.”
“Good.”