Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
G oing from zero sense of smell to having it fully restored in one day was messing with Kade. Everything seemed extra potent—Liam more than anything. The scent of them . He couldn’t get over it. And while that was throwing him off-kilter, it wasn’t the only thing he needed to acclimate to.
Kade was far more accustomed to magic than the average shifter, but three mages in one confined space was a lot, even for him, even with one of them having the best scent to ever walk the planet. His nose itched, and regardless of his other reasons for it, he would have wanted the windows cracked open. Thankfully, despite the chilly morning air whipping into the car, the mages didn’t ask him to roll them up.
Aran and Miles weren’t horrible. They smelled better than he would have expected with them not being pack, but nothing like Liam did. Their scents were too sharp to be truly pleasant.
He was using that train of thought to distract himself, but a lot had happened in the last few hours, and he hadn’t managed to wrap his mind around any of it yet.
When he had a moment to himself, he needed to decide what to do about Liam. About the fact that Liam smelled like they were meant to be together. But they had more pressing issues to deal with first.
It was early morning when he parked just short of Niall’s pack territory. Victor and Elijah weren’t there yet.
Kade got out of his car and walked to the wards, holding up his hand to sense them better, then yanked it back. He hadn’t touched them, but he still felt unclean, like he’d brushed up against a cold, slimy thing.
He forced himself to inhale, and when he did, Liam’s scent stroked over him. The vice-like bands around his chest loosened a fraction, enough to let him breathe.
“There’s something very fucked up happening with these wards,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
The mages approached, only to have the same reaction as he had to the wards. He sensed Liam recoiling in disgust.
“What the hell could do this to wards?” Aran asked.
“I’ve never felt magic this corrupt before.” Mile scraped one palm over the other as if he were brushing off the filth he’d gotten so close to touching.
“The spirit must be in the wards.” Liam squinted at the invisible barrier.
“If it’s in the wards,” Kade said, “it’s probably in Niall, if not the entire pack.”
The wards were strong though. Solid. Wards like these usually weren’t set to prevent people from entering unless they meant to do the pack harm, but Niall’s made him think they were locked down so no one could get in. He didn’t want to test that theory though—that would require touching them, and there was no telling what that would do to him.
Tires crunched over the gravel road behind them as Victor’s SUV pulled up.
Victor, Elijah, Rick, and Will got out and joined them.
“The wards are severely corrupted,” Liam explained.
Elijah raised his hand to the wards and released a small amount of magic into them. The spirals of purple were consumed by a churning blackness that then faded away.
“I called Niall and Grant multiple times,” Victor said. “No answer from either.”
With a grim set to his lips, he brought his hand as close as he could without touching the wards, then pushed a substantial burst of energy into them—a clear message, one alpha to another, letting Niall know he was there and they would be talking.
It wouldn’t take long for Niall to show up.
Kade leaned against his car and took in Victor and Elijah’s state. He snorted.
Elijah had been thoroughly mauled, and Victor, for all the seriousness of the situation, looked pretty damn pleased with himself. He also didn’t seem to be able to stop stealing touches or to let Elijah get more than an arm’s length away.
Kade tried not to envy that. Tried not to think about spending a night lost in Liam.
Rick stood next to Kade and tilted his head toward Victor. “Right?” He mimicked Victor’s gruff tone. “‘Everyone stay in your rooms. No running in the forest.’ Uh-huh. Must have been a real hardship for them.”
“He wouldn’t have made it fifteen minutes on a pack run,” Will added.
Victor shot him a flat look. “What did you last your first full moon bonded? Five?”
Aran’s eyes raked over Elijah. He then gave Victor an approving nod. “Good job, Alpha. I’ve never seen him this well-fucked before.”
Victor’s expression was obnoxiously smug and self-satisfied.
“Don’t encourage him. After last night, I’m going to have come leaking out of my ass for days.” Elijah cringed as he realized what he’d said, then sighed and shrugged.
Kade grinned. It was nice that he was getting used to the lack of secrets in a shifter pack. Either that, or Victor had fucked the filter right out of him.
Victor leaned in and said under his breath, “You can return the favor tonight.”
Elijah looked significantly more mollified.
“Ugh, I didn’t need to know any of that about your sex life,” Liam said with a groan.
Rick chuckled. “At least you can’t smell it. Be glad you don’t have shifter senses.” He winced, glancing over at Kade. “Sorry, man.”
“Oh, I can smell it. My sense of smell is back.”
A bright flare of shock stampeded through the bond, and Liam’s head swiveled toward him, his eyes wide. The surprise dimmed to a dull ache, something raw to it, like betrayal. And fuck, Kade kept messing this up, didn’t he? He should have told Liam after he’d gorged himself on Liam’s scent, not just announced it to everyone like he couldn’t be bothered to tell Liam directly.
“Is it now?” Victor asked. His smirk wasn’t even mildly repentant.
Kade glared at him.
Fuck him. Kade wasn’t the only one messing this up, and they’d be talking about it later.
There was a rustle of leaves, and a lone figure emerged from the forest.
Niall’s second-in-command, Pierce, stopped on the road, not crossing the wards. He glanced toward the pack house, then back at them.
“You shouldn’t be here.” His words were a whisper that Kade had to strain to hear, and his face was pinched and tight. “You should leave before Niall comes.”
“What’s going on?” Victor asked, and Pierce flinched, checking behind him again. Victor lowered his voice. “What’s happening to your pack?”
Pierce’s dark eyes were wild as he tried to take in everything at once. He looked so different from how Kade had always seen him—self-assured and confident, a natural to become alpha when Niall was ready to retire.
“You came to my shop around the beginning of last month. Why?” Elijah prompted.
Pierce shook his head, attempting to clear it. “Something… something’s here . In our territory. It’s been here for months. Growing. Getting stronger. Watching us. It’s affecting Niall. Affecting all of us. And I can’t… I don’t…” He rubbed at his temples, his breathing accelerating.
Miles took a step forward, but Elijah held out a hand. The motion drew Pierce’s attention. His gaze darted around their group, landing on the mages one by one. He zeroed in on Aran, his eyes flicking over the tattoos on his exposed forearms.
“You’re a mage. You’re all mages. He won’t like that. You should get out of here before he arrives. I don’t know what he’ll do if he sees you.” Pierce kept his voice to a harsh, hurried whisper.
“Let us help you,” Elijah said.
“I convinced him to go to you for help, but then you smelled like Victor, and he decided you were in on it. Behind it. He’s so certain Victor wants our land, but I don’t know. Everything’s so confusing. And now you have four mages.”
He jerked upright. His face was wiped free of any emotion, and the twitching nerves melted away.
“They’re here,” he called out, the proclamation answered by the sound of feet and paws on gravel.
A few seconds later, Niall appeared around the bend, almost his whole pack behind him, some in human form, some as wolves.
As they fanned out, Pierce took his position next to Niall, quiet and cowed.
Kade stepped up beside Victor. He’d known this could be bad, but their packs had lived side by side for decades. Seeing Niall’s pack like this had been beyond his imagination. For them to be so militant and ready to fight. Their wolves flashed in their eyes, a feral warning. They stayed on their territory, but Kade got the impression they were merely waiting for the signal from Niall to attack.
“Why were you testing my wards?” Niall snarled at Victor.
“If you’d answered my calls, I wouldn’t have needed to,” Victor countered, his tone cool, but tension radiated from his body.
Niall’s gaze landed on Elijah, then swept over the rest of them. He sneered. “I knew you were working together, but I hadn’t realized you’d taken so many mages, Victor. You’ve been busy, but I’m not letting you take my land too.”
Taken ? That was one fucked up word choice.
“I don’t want your land,” Victor growled. “We’re here to help you.”
Niall scoffed. “You and your little harem of mages are going to help me? Sure.”
That comment caused the mages to bristle, and Kade with them.
“What right do you have to keep four mages?” Niall asked.
“What the fuck ? Excuse you?” The way Aran was holding his hands made Kade think he was preparing to throw something nasty at Niall.
“I am not keeping anyone,” Victor said. “They’re here as guests of my pack; they’re helping us.”
Niall sniffed the air. “You’ve already bonded two of them. Why didn’t you take the other two last night?”
Rage rushed through Kade. The implication made his skin crawl more than the wards had. He’d known Niall his entire life. This was not the man Kade had met on countless occasions. He smelled wrong in a way Kade couldn’t describe, but that had his throat closing up when he tried to think about it. He inhaled carefully, picking out Liam’s scent from those around him.
“Give me one,” Niall said casually, “and I’ll forgive your attempt to intrude on my land.”
Kade was striding forward before he could stop himself, but Victor grabbed his arm.
“They’re people, not things to give.” A warning rumbled in Victor’s tone.
“You don’t need them all. The only reason you could want four mages for yourself is so your pack can take over.”
“I’m not after your territory.” Each word was bitten out.
“Prove it. I’ll take that one.” Niall pointed to Aran, eyeing his tattoos. “He looks powerful.”
Pierce blanched, and Miles gripped Aran’s arm, though it seemed more to hold him back than to keep him safe. A cold fury burned in Aran’s eyes.
If Victor didn’t kill this asshole, Kade would like the honor.
Elijah placed a hand on Victor’s arm. “It’s the spirit talking.”
Victor nodded, the movement tight, before addressing Niall again. “We aren’t here to fight you. I’ll call you tomorrow, and we can discuss this then.”
Kade wanted to punch Niall in the face, but Elijah wasn’t wrong. This was the spirit affecting him. Niall wouldn’t be like this otherwise. Fighting him would do nothing. They needed to take care of the spirit, but that wasn’t happening now.
He caught Pierce’s gaze, hoping to telepathically convey something remotely like contact me .
They’d never been close, but they were the same age and had gone to school together. If Pierce could trust anyone in their pack, Kade hoped it’d be him.
They backed away from the wards and got into their cars, driving down the long, narrow driveway until they reached the main road.
Liam’s phone buzzed, and he answered it, putting it on speaker.
“Well,” Elijah’s voice said cheerfully, “that was supremely fucked up.”
Kade snorted.
“I realize he’s possessed,” Aran said from the back seat, “but man, that fucker seems like he’d make excellent fertilizer.”
A chorus of agreement came from the phone.
Kade’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, and Liam glanced at him. Kade shook his head slightly. He was fine. That comment hadn’t been directed at him, so he wasn’t going to dwell on it. They had more important things to deal with than his issues.
“Okay,” Elijah said. “We’ll have to figure out what to do about him. If we can get onto their land somehow and capture the spirit, it should bring Niall and his pack to their senses. But first, let’s see how Grant’s pack is doing.”
“Maybe they aren’t as affected by the spirits on their land,” Miles said.
Kade would not put money on that.
“Who’s the guy with the arms?” Aran asked.
Liam screwed up his face. “Pretty sure they all had arms, Aran.”
“You know which one I meant. Everyone here knows which one I meant.”
Kade firmly agreed. Pierce’s arms were a work of art. The kind you’d want pinning you to a mattress as he fucked you.
“Pierce,” he explained. “We were the only shifters in our grade.”
“You ever?” A leer colored Aran’s tone.
Liam paged through his book, though he’d already drawn both sigils they needed.
“Nope. He’s tragically straight. White picket fence with two-point-five kids written all over him. But he’s a good guy, even if he’s too good for my personal preferences.”
“The hottest ones always are. But he seemed… not completely insane?”
“He wasn’t acting like himself, but definitely more normal than the rest.”
“Do you still have his number?” Victor asked over the phone.
“Yeah. I’ll send him a message after we check on Grant’s pack. Whether or not he’ll respond is another matter.”
“Might as well give it a try,” Elijah said. “If he convinced Niall to seek help before, maybe he can do it again.”
Kade didn’t have much faith on that front, but he also didn’t have any better ideas to offer.
Elijah continued. “Alright. It’s a twenty-minute drive from here to Grant’s territory. Let’s hope their giant-ass spirit isn’t affecting them in a way that’ll prevent Grant from accepting our assistance.”
They ended the call, and Kade kept driving, following Victor’s SUV and hoping their luck was better with this spirit.
When they arrived at the entrance to the Lucas pack territory, Victor pulled to a stop. Beyond his front bumper were the pack wards. They were invisible, but where they stood was stomach-sinkingly apparent. A hazy wall of fog stretched before them, cutting visibility to nearly nothing. Everything on the other side of that barrier looked surreal.
Liam cursed, and in the back seat, Aran and Miles leaned forward.
Was that the spirit, or just its effects? What could a spirit that size do? What would happen if Kade crossed those wards? Would it be the same as the decay spirit? Would it fill his lungs until he couldn’t breathe?
No. He inhaled Liam’s scent. This was not the decay spirit. He wouldn’t let it control him.
“I hope Elijah brought one hell of a fucking box,” Aran said.
They got out and watched as Elijah examined the wards. He didn’t touch them, but it didn’t matter once he tested them with his magic. Swirls of purple spread out from under his palm, followed by more in a steady flow. Elijah wrenched his hand away, shaking it out.
“ Fuck . It’s so desperate for energy, it’s trying to leech my magic. This is a day or two from collapsing.”
Victor put his own hand against the barrier, ripples of silver flowing into the wards, but he pulled away too. “Grant’s alive, but I’ve never felt wards this weak, so I don’t know how much longer he will be.”
“Will they let us through?” Liam asked.
Elijah studied the wards. “With as depleted as they are, I don’t think they can stop us, and we don’t have any ill intentions. It might not be a pleasant trip through them though.”
“Can we trap it from here?” Miles cocked his head.
“We can try.” Elijah gestured to Rick and Will, who grabbed a chest-sized box out of Victor’s SUV and brought it to where he was standing.
Kade took the opportunity to send Pierce a quick message.
Kade
Hey! It's been forever. We should catch up. Call me when you can.
He hoped it was vague enough that it wouldn’t get Pierce in trouble if Niall saw it, but given the timing and how paranoid Niall was, he doubted it. He wasn’t holding his breath for Pierce to reply.
“So what are we dealing with?” Elijah asked.
“Let’s go with insomnia,” Victor said. “Not sleeping is the only clue we have.”
Liam showed Elijah the sigil he’d sketched, and Elijah knelt beside the box, transferring it inside. Victor stood behind him, cupping the nape of his neck as Elijah activated the seal.
Kade smelled the magic stirring around them—pack magic, soft and familiar, welcome after a decade-long absence.
Wisps of smoky fog lapped over the edge of the barrier like they were considering pooling in the box, though they kept getting pulled back inside the wards.
Elijah narrowed his eyes, then did something that caused the hair on Kade’s arms to stand on end. He sensed Elijah channeling the pack’s energy, and the magic surrounding them spiked, the air heavy with it.
Liam inhaled, surprise sparking through their bond.
More tendrils of fog were tugged closer to the box, but they didn’t flow inside. Elijah dropped his magic and stood, Victor’s hand sliding down to his waist.
Aran whistled softly. “I know I joke about your channels being stretched, Elijah, but fuck me, that was crazy.”
Miles nodded. “I think my ears popped from the pressure change. Did you double your strength? Triple it?”
Elijah looked a little sheepish, a little pleased. His gaze darted to Victor, a soft smile on his face. “I’m not sure yet.” But then he returned his focus to the issue at hand. “Not that it makes a difference. I can’t get a hold of the spirit.”
“So that’s not the spirit itself,” Liam said. “We’re only seeing its effect.”
“Yeah, but there’s more to it than that. The way it isn’t latching on feels different than with the anger spirit.”
“Wrong sigil?” Liam’s brain was churning, attempting to find a solution to the problem they’d been presented with.
Kade could do nothing but watch as the mages sorted it out.
“Maybe. It also feels anchored to the pack, to their territory.”
“Could you sense what it is?” Aran asked.
“I wasn’t getting any emotion from it.” Elijah paused, considering. “Possibly an echo of fear?”
“How is it tied to the pack?” Miles asked.
“From what I experienced with the decay spirit, it was hooked onto the pack and had to be removed from them to trap it properly.”
“So we need the pack alpha, or access to the pack’s energy,” Liam said. “Then you can extract it from their bonds.”
“Which means finding Grant, and there’s only one way to do that.”
They looked into the pack territory, into the thick fog that waited there. It would affect them; it might try to possess them. They’d be defenseless. There’d be no avoiding it.
Kade swallowed, his heart rate kicking up. Liam reached over and wrapped a hand around his wrist, the gesture oddly casual, almost instinctive, like he just knew what to do, what Kade needed to distract himself from the crushing pressure on his lungs.
“Do we drive?” Liam asked.
“That’s probably the best idea,” Elijah said. “The longer you’re affected by these things, the worse their effects on you seem to become. So maybe if we drive, it’ll be better.”
Aran huffed. “Unless the spirit causes road rage and we end up crashing into a tree.”
“We need to risk it.”
“You can’t ward us or something?” Rick asked the question that had been running through Kade’s mind.
“I can’t ward living things. I can put wards around them, not on them. But those wards would be stationary—they wouldn’t move with us. I could try that protection spell again though. It didn’t seem to do much to stop the decay spirit from affecting the pack, but it didn’t hurt.”
“Worth a try,” Victor said.
Elijah’s eyelids slid closed, and magic poured through the pack bonds, sparkling and incandescent. Kade had felt this before. It had done nothing to mitigate the effects of the spirit that had possessed him.
When Elijah opened his eyes, his gaze caught on Aran and Miles, and he winced. “Shit. That spell depends on pack bonds.”
“And we’re not pack,” Aran said wryly. “No worries. We’ll be fine without.”
“Sorry.”
Aran shrugged. “Our fault for not getting kno—”
“Should we test it?” Liam asked, cutting Aran off.
“Should we?” Elijah glanced at Victor.
“I’ll do it,” Kade said.
Everyone whipped their heads toward him, but all he saw was Liam and his concerned expression. Kade met his stare. He needed to do this. He needed to prove these spirits couldn’t control him, that he wasn’t afraid of them.
After a moment, Liam nodded. “I’ll go with you.”
Elijah frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Kade turned to him. “We need to know what effect this spirit will have on us before we all go in there.”
“He’s right,” Victor said to Elijah, though he didn’t sound happy about it. He grimaced as he looked at Kade. “If you feel anything amiss, cross back immediately.”
“Will do.” Kade walked up to the barrier, his heart pounding. Liam came to stand by him, the fog inches in front of them.
God, why had he volunteered to do this? It was the stupidest thing he’d done in his life. He wasn’t certain he was breathing, but then, no one else around him seemed to be either.
Liam’s hand came up to rest on his arm. He was a ball of nerves, but as determined as Kade.
They stepped across the border.
The wards washed over them, stealing his energy, stealing Liam’s magic. He’d never felt a confused ward before, but this one seemed exactly that. It wanted to block them from entering because the pack was too vulnerable to face outsiders, but also wanted to allow them in because they were there to help.
What resulted was a fraction of a second stretched out, like he was being both pushed and pulled, but then they were through.
Kade exhaled a sigh, only for his breath to catch as he was surrounded by thick fog. He inhaled shallowly, expecting to be overcome by that choking, drowning sensation, but he wasn’t.
Liam squeezed his arm, and they stood there, waiting for something, anything—a stray emotion, a sign of illness—but nothing seemed wrong.
“Are you feeling anything?” Elijah asked.
“No, I feel totally normal,” Liam replied.
Kade nodded his agreement. Whatever the spirit was, it wasn’t affecting them like the others had.
“Any clue what it is?” Miles asked.
Liam shook his head. “I’ve got nothing.”
“Come back over,” Elijah said.
“Passing through those wards is unpleasant. Can someone bring Kade’s car across instead?”
“We should go in the same car,” Victor said. “I don’t want us to get separated in whatever that is.”
They piled into his SUV, leaving Kade’s car and the first box behind. They’d brought two, so they had one more shot at this. Then they drove over the border and picked Kade and Liam up. Will and Rick crouched in the back with the box. Kade squished onto the bench seat with Liam, Aran, and Miles. Liam and his scent were pressed against him.
Elijah spun in his seat. “Now that you’re all in here, I should be able to put a ward around the back seats to protect you.”
“What about you?” Liam asked.
“I’ve never warded a car before and have no idea how the electronics will react if I run a ward through them. I’d rather not find out the hard way that brakes can’t function through wards.”
“Just exclude me,” Victor said. “There are no control systems in your seat.”
“No. I’ll ward everyone but us.”
Worry twisted Liam’s face. “If you’re not warded, I don’t want you to ward me either. That’s not right.”
“Not to interrupt this beautiful, sacrificial moment,” Aran said. “But I think it’s too late for that.”
Traces of fog had filled the vehicle.
They eyed each other, but no one was feeling any effects.
As Victor drove, an eerie silence settled over them, everyone’s senses on high alert.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kade saw something running through the foggy forest. He snapped his head over, but nothing was there.
Liam raised an eyebrow at him.
“Did you see that?” Will asked Rick, pointing behind them.
“Are there…” Miles trailed off, frowning out the window.
Something moved outside, but again, when Kade tried to catch a glimpse, it was gone. He stared into the forest, but the trees were flickering, jumping from one spot to another. “Is anyone else seeing the trees move?”
“I don’t think they’re moving,” Elijah said. “I think our perception of reality is shifting around us. Like a dream.”
“Like a fucking nightmare, you mean,” Aran said.
“Could that be it?” Elijah asked Liam.
Liam pulled out his codex, but then froze. Panic clawed at their bond as he began to frantically flip through the pages. “I can’t… Why can’t I read?”
Kade gripped his wrist, his fingers sliding against Liam’s skin. “It’s not real. You can read.”
Liam pressed his eyelids shut, forced out a breath, then opened them. He looked at the book and sighed in relief. “I can read.” He sketched a distorted sigil for nightmares as they neared the pack house.
When it came into view, Kade’s stomach plummeted at the sight that greeted them. He sensed that same emotion roiling through Liam.
The entire Lucas pack of just under twenty members was outside the house. They were waiting for them, like they were ready for a fight. But unlike Niall’s pack, they were gaunt and sallow, their eyes glassy with dark circles smudged beneath, their postures slumped.
“They look like zombies,” Aran said.
Kade had never seen wolf shifters so weak and wretched before, so close to death. Even at his worst, Victor’s father hadn’t been this bad. Grant’s pack was wasting away. Had they slept or eaten in days? In weeks?
Victor put his SUV in park. “Everyone stay inside until I give you the all-clear.”
He slowly got out, and Elijah copied his actions. Victor sent him a look across the front seat, but Elijah answered with a cocked eyebrow that said Victor was losing his mind if he expected Elijah to stay in the vehicle.
Their movements were measured and deliberate, and they left their doors open, like the sound of them shutting might startle the pack into action. They kept their hands in plain sight, though Kade didn’t know how that would make a mage less dangerous.
They approached where Grant was waiting in front of his pack. He was trying to stand steady, trying to protect his pack members, but he swayed on his feet. They were all there, from the oldest to the youngest, including Grant’s ten-year-old son, Remy.
A vision flashed in Kade’s head. Oliver on the night they’d battled the decay spirit, his tiny body heaving as he vomited up something black and foul, something caused by the spirit infecting their pack bonds because of Kade.
Kade ached with the instinct to protect, to fight off whatever this was, to help these weakened shifters, though it was impossible for him. He couldn’t fight this, not on his own.
Victor and Elijah stopped a few feet from the SUV, keeping enough distance between them and Grant that it wasn’t threatening.
“You’re on my territory uninvited,” Grant said, the words slurred to the point Kade barely understood them even with the open doors.
“We want to help you,” Victor said. “What happened to your pack?”
Grant’s gaze sharpened, locking on Victor. “Don’t sleep. They can’t get you if you don’t sleep.”
“So it is nightmares,” Liam said. “They haven’t been sleeping to avoid the nightmares, but I doubt it matters.”
As if proving his point, Aran jerked, inhaling sharply, then cursed. “Nope, nope, I’m fine. Just had that weird-ass feeling like you’re literally falling as you doze off. But I’m good.”
“Hypnic jerk,” Miles replied, but his attention was trained on Grant’s pack.
Victor took a step closer to Grant. “We can help you, but you have to let us.”
Behind Grant, Remy teetered where he stood, his eyes rolling into his head as he collapsed to the ground.
Before anyone could react, Miles was climbing over Aran and throwing open his door.
“ Miles ,” Liam cried, but Miles wasn’t listening. He jumped out, and to Kade’s horror, Liam followed with near shifter-like speed.
Kade threw himself out of the SUV and raced after them, managing to grab Liam before he passed Elijah and Victor. He got an elbow to the sternum for his efforts as Liam struggled to break free from his hold and go after Miles, who rushed past Grant, into the midst of his pack. He fell to his knees next to Remy.
Grant and his pack responded sluggishly, but no pack would stand for an unfamiliar mage racing toward their weakest member. They began to stagger closer to Miles.
“Oh Jesus fucking Christ.” Elijah dropped to his own knees, pressing his hands to the ground. “So glad we all stayed in the SUV.”
A ward sprang up around Miles and Remy, snapping into place a second before Grant reached them. Grant growled, partially shifted, his claws out and scraping against Elijah’s barrier, but it was far too strong for him to do more than scrabble at it.
“Miles,” Elijah yelled, “I know you’re not an idiot, so what the fuck are you doing?”
“He needs help!” Miles rolled Remy onto his back. He pushed up his sleeves and placed his hands against the kid’s neck. Sweeping lines of light blue glittered across Miles’s arms. He mumbled to himself, but then, over Grant’s snarling, he said, “I don’t think he’s slept for weeks, and he hasn’t eaten much either.”
The rest of the pack milled about, distressed, unsure what to do.
Victor grabbed Grant and yanked him back from the barrier, an arm wrapped around him.
“He’s healing him,” Victor said.
Grant thrashed, clawing at Victor.
Victor shook him. “ Look. ” He put his alpha authority and power into that word. “He’s saving your son.”
It took a beat to sink in, but Grant sagged in Victor’s hold. In Kade’s arms, Liam did the same, and Kade reluctantly let him go.
Elijah maintained the ward around Miles until Remy stirred and sat up, confused and drained, but no longer seconds away from death.
When Elijah released the barrier, Victor let go of Grant, who fell beside his son and Miles, then pulled Remy into his arms.
“Can I try to heal you too?” Miles asked, tentatively holding his hands out.
Grant hesitated, but nodded.
The amount of trust that showed floored Kade. Not many alphas would allow an unknown mage to touch them, to heal them. But he supposed after what Miles had done, he might have won Grant’s loyalty for life.
Miles’s hands settled on the sides of Grant’s neck, and Grant stared at him intently, like Miles was an anchor grounding him, his eyes becoming more focused as he breathed deeply.
After a few moments, Miles dropped his hands, shaking them out, his brown irises glowing a vivid blue. Grant’s gaze didn’t leave him, and Miles seemed caught in the scrutiny.
“Sorry. I can’t do more than that. You need sleep and food. That’s not something I can heal.”
But Grant shook his head. “It’s better. Thank you.”
Kade exhaled. Grant still looked haggard, but more like himself.
Grant stood, offering his hand to Miles to help him up. He clutched his son to his side, though Remy was starting to squirm.
“ Dad ,” he hissed, and Grant relaxed his hold, but didn’t let him go.
Grant turned to Victor, exhausted but lucid and in control. “What the hell is going on?”
Victor waved to Aran, Rick, and Will, and they piled out, coming to stand behind him. Grant watched them warily but seemed to recognize they weren’t a threat.
“Evil spirits are attacking our territories,” Victor said. “All of this was caused by them. How long has it been since you’ve slept?”
Grant frowned, his eyes growing distant. “I… I don’t remember.”
“What happens when you sleep?” Liam asked. “Nightmares?”
Grant shuddered and swallowed thickly. “They’re bad. You know you’re dreaming, but you can’t wake up. All your worst nightmares, chasing you down.”
His son shivered and pressed closer to him. Grant’s arm tightened around him.
Kade refused to think about his worst nightmares—they’d been haunting him for over a week.
“We can capture it, but it’s tied to your pack,” Elijah said. “We can’t get rid of it without access to your energy and pack bonds.”
Grant studied him, expression wary, but then he inhaled. “You two are bonded?”
“Yes.” Elijah and Victor said that word as one. It held both pride and happiness.
“I told you to go see him when he first came to town, didn’t I?” Grant’s tired voice was threaded with amusement.
Victor rubbed his neck, looking abashed, and Kade suppressed a grin. Apparently Victor had been the only one who hadn’t realized how obviously meant for each other he and Elijah were.
“I’m glad you figured it out.” Knowing they were bonded seemed to relax Grant further. “Okay. Whatever you need. I want this thing off my territory.”
Victor gestured for Rick and Will to grab the chest, and they got to work.
This time, Kade vowed to himself, he’d be on the right side of the battle they were about to face.