CHAPTER 2
White specks of dust floated around him, around both sides of him.
Mark Garner looked into his own eyes, the deep amber of his wolf’s stare boring into him.
How was this possible? He’d never heard of a werewolf’s life force separating into its constituent pieces like this without a magical influence.
The large wolf, his wolf, tilted its head to the left, as if beckoning him to follow.
But when he glanced in that direction, all he saw was darkness.
The same brand of darkness the witch possessed.
Every bone in his human body, every instinct he held on to, begged him to stay rooted to the ground. His wolf whined its disapproval and once again used its large head to indicate the darkness.
“Why…” The single word flowed past the psychic barrier connecting him to his animal companion, and the wolf’s whine increased in volume and intensity.
He was unaware he’d closed the distance between them, his need to comfort his wolf too great, until he tried to touch the wolf’s large head.
His hand found nothing, but the animal’s pain tore through his battered body to settle in his heart.
The wolf, like him, was heartbroken, the source of their pain the darkness it tried to warn Mark of.
He tried again to reach for his wolf, and this time, the animal’s form dissipated into the white dust swirling around them. A slight movement in the darkness caught his eye; he blinked, trying to adjust to the near-impossible conditions, and there he stood. Zeke in wolf form.
His wolf was unmistakable, almost as familiar as his own, and a small part of Mark reveled in the safety the grey Alpha once promised.
He gasped and took a step away from that safety when red eyes as familiar as Zeke appeared behind him, the demon’s body cloaked by the darkness threatening to engulf him.
He tried to scream for Caster in his head, but it was as though the connection was broken.
He couldn’t even muster the clear image of his soulmate, as easy as it had been before.
Zeke growled low and menacing, stepping closer to him.
He tried to back away from the threat he was certain of, but his body failed to cooperate.
He was stuck, held captive by the darkness, at the mercy of Zeke’s intentions.
“You are mine. He can’t have you.” The wolf’s low growl matched the cadence of Zeke’s familiar timbre, reaching past his pain to infect his fractured mind.
Mark shook his head and reached for Caster again. Nothing. He closed his eyes. If this were a nightmare, it would go away when he woke.
“You’re not asleep.” Zeke’s voice floated past his confused mind to find his wolf.
Mark sighed as the healing elixir flowed through his mind, the connection to his animal restored and stronger than it had been in a long time.
“He obeys me now.”
Mark refused to open his eyes. Zeke’s Alpha influence reached past the barrier, but when it touched his wolf, the animal part of him resisted, its low growl a warning.
His wolf’s resistance gave him the strength to fight Zeke’s invasion. He took a fortifying breath and reached for his wolf’s strength, bleeding through their shared mind space. The darkness relented, releasing its hold on him, and Mark opened his eyes…
Light broke through, causing a different form of discomfort.
He glanced around the unfamiliar room, searching for the darkness, for a sign of Zeke, breathing a sigh when he found nothing.
The room smelled clean, new, and different.
His heightened senses searched for the one scent he wanted, he needed, but it wasn’t in this room.
There was a hint of it, outside, fleeting and out of reach, but not here.
He pushed up against the headboard, bracing his back against the pillows, still breathing hard from whatever that experience had been.
The door on the left side opened, and he braced himself for a fight, every muscle coiling with violent intent.
Mikey stepped through the open door, and he breathed a sigh, relaxing into the comfortable mattress.
His brother’s gasp filled the room, and the space in his mind, a space until now he hadn’t noticed, was empty. Mark was in Mikey’s embrace before he could form a coherent thought. The safety of his brother’s comforting hold, the relief his body communicated, was welcome, but not what he needed.
Mikey pulled away, putting a pittance of distance between them.
“Oh, Goddess! You’re awake.” His hand moved to Mark’s face, down his shoulders, and along his arms, the touch soft, almost reverent.
“Please don’t scare me like that again.”
He sat back, his tear-laden eyes staring at Mark with a conviction he’d never seen in his little brother. “I have to call Dean.”
He started to get up, but Mark grabbed his arm. “What happened?”
Confusion creased Mikey’s forehead, but he granted Mark’s unspoken request to remain close. “You don’t remember?”
Mark searched his memory and regretted the action when everything flooded back with enough precision to cause a dull headache.
“Oh!” He couldn’t have kept the awe out of the single word if he’d wanted to.
Zeke had returned, not just in that dream world.
He was back, alive and well. That hadn’t been a dream.
But if it was real, that meant… He shook his head, unwilling to consider even the possibility of it.
“Yeah…”
“Where are we?” It was best to focus on smaller problems. “How long was I out?”
“Damien’s house.” Mikey’s frown deepened. “Three days. We were so…”
“Where’s Dean?”
He started to get out of bed, but Mikey pushed him further into it, demonstrating a strength Mark couldn’t counter. “Oh…No. You stay right there until I know you’re OK.” He relented when Mark acquiesced, reaching for his phone. “Dean left yesterday to meet with the council. I’ll call him…”
Mark watched his brother make the call, the conversation floating past his senses, the Prime Alpha promising to be here in an hour or less if he could find a witch to teleport him.
Most of what they talked about after that didn’t register; he was too busy trying to reconnect with his animal, who’d chosen to hide.
This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Three days?
He’d been stuck in that place, in his mind with Zeke, for three days?
“Mark!” Mikey’s shout pulled him away from his attempts to coax his wolf from the recesses of his mind.
He shook his head, still unable to reach the animal.
He was there, but it seemed he was terrified.
Mark’s logical mind understood what his animal self was so afraid of, but how could that even be possible?
Zeke was an Alpha, not the Prime Alpha. He shouldn’t have the ability to control his wolf, right?
“Please don’t shut me out again…” Mikey’s plea was soft, its impact deafening.
“Zeke.” Mark closed his eyes, unwilling to handle the pity his brother couldn’t hide. “He can control me.”
Mikey’s gasp was followed by a stillness with so much impact, the seconds ticking away slower than usual.
He opened his eyes, this time choosing to confide in one of the people who’d love him with no judgment. “I felt his influence when he reappeared. It was so strong. It’s like…” He shook his head, pausing to breathe through the pain threatening to overwhelm him. “…stronger than Dean’s.”
“You have to tell Caster.”
His brother’s response startled him mid-thought. He’d thought of nothing but Caster since he woke up, since Zeke threatened his mind. But where was he?
“I can go get him. He said to… as soon as you woke up.”
Mark shook his head. “No. He wouldn’t understand. Not this. I need Dean first.”
“If Caster brought your wolf back, he might be the only one who can fight Zeke’s influence.” Mikey narrowed his eyes. “You’re afraid you’ll break his heart?”
That, and Mark was unsure how the vampires would handle another Alpha wolf with the same capabilities as the Prime Alpha. If he was right and Zeke had somehow gained the ability to control other wolves, the consequences could be disastrous for all of them. “You can’t tell anyone.”
Mikey’s brow furrowed further. “OK. But I don’t get it. Don’t you trust him?”
Mark held his eyes shut. His love for Caster was indescribable; even Zeke’s reappearance had done nothing to diminish that. But he couldn’t risk the safety of an entire species because he wanted to be with him. This was bigger than the two of them.
He would tell Caster everything, but he needed more information. Where was Edie? Perhaps magic could help him understand where logic had failed.