Chapter 20 Marco
The familiar bittersweet ache of watching his pack find their mates hit hard as Marco sat at his desk, taking in the couples filling the room.
Sassy vampire Vin, who his grumpy head of security, Angelo, had fallen so hard for despite himself.
Cal, who’d healed the broken pieces of Luca’s heart that Marco had never quite managed to touch.
The searing heat burning between Emmy and his biker witch Rocco.
And their newest pairing. The one he’d been rooting for the longest. Their doc had finally seduced his cagey jaguar, and it was everything it had promised to be.
“Forever looks good on you, Doc,” Marco said, eyes trailing down to the telltale bulge in Adri’s pants as he sat on his mate’s lap.
“Alpha,” Rafe said, warning in his tone, and Marco tipped his head in silent apology.
It wasn’t that he would ever try to insert himself into their relationships; it’s just that he could feel some of what they were feeling through the pack bonds he had with each of them.
It was enough to drive his wolf crazy. There was a hole deep inside him that he kept hidden where his own mate had lived—and died—before they could bond.
He would defend these pairs with his dying breath to protect what they had together, and he would crave it to his dying breath just as much.
“Did we learn anything from the other fighters?” Marco asked, turning to Silas, who’d stepped in to support the rescued guys while Adri was distracted with his mating, as he should be.
Adri straightened where he sat, leaning forward with predatory focus and a heavy side of guilt.
“They were held longer than Adri, so they saw more. They reported multiple staging areas in the tunnel system and the scents of way more shifters than we knew about.”
“Are they building a fucking feral army?” Marco growled. Everyone in the room looked horrified at the possibility.
“Some kind of army, anyway. The mayor said something while they were holding me—that we’d either be feral or under their control. I think the chips do more than we’ve seen so far,” Adri said.
“So, the mayor is definitely involved? He’s dropped off our radar.” Marco hadn’t wanted to interrupt their bonding time to question Carter earlier. He’d trusted his newest packmate would’ve alerted them to anything urgent.
“I’ve got Seth keeping an eye out for him,” Emmy chimed in.
Marco’s focus narrowed on his cousin, Alpha instinct sending a chill across his skin. “Who?”
“One of my informants—a vampire.”
Marco trusted his family. Did his best not to micromanage them, but something about the energy coming from his cousin was setting off a silent alarm.
“Tell me,” he ordered.
“How about I show you?” Emmy said with a smirk.
Pushing to his feet, Marco stalked over to his cousin, grabbing his phone from his hand and scrolling through a handful of photos there. Rage filled him as he took them in—the emaciated body, the bruises, the shadow of fear in his eyes. He was too fragile for this world.
“Who the fuck did this to him?” Marco growled, low and dangerous.
“He was turned a few years ago for Kyan’s sex trade. Works for one of the pimps on the west side.”
“Is he even legal? And why hasn’t he healed?”
“He’s twenty-five. They’re keeping him hungry to slow his recovery,” Rafe said. He didn’t bother explaining why they’d do that, but they all knew. There were some sick fucks out there in the city.
Marco swapped his focus to the doc. “Were you there when these were taken? Did you heal him?”
“I couldn’t. They’d kill him if they found out his association with the pack.”
“So, offer him fucking sanctuary, then!”
“We tried, but he wasn’t having it. He doesn’t trust supernaturals. For good reason. I’m sure some of his Johns are shifters, and they probably have no love for vampires. He thinks if he can just survive long enough, he’ll earn a safer place with his own kind,” Emmy said.
“Fuck that. I’m bringing him home,” Marco snapped, striding straight out the door.
Everything else could wait. The tortured pain in those haunting, silver doe eyes could not.
Thanks for reading!