CHAPTER 45
His wolf’s warning howl startled Mark awake, but there was little urgency when he opened his eyes.
The animal in him was often privy to threats he wouldn’t become aware of for quite some time.
That he’d felt safe enough to fall asleep in the midst of the impending danger was a testament to how much security Caster’s presence brought.
He reached for him on the bed only to find empty space where he’d been.
The covers were still warm. Perhaps his absence had necessitated the wolf’s warning.
He closed his eyes and used the combined strength of both sides of him to track Caster’s scent, finding it downstairs.
He pushed off the bed, found his clothes and dressed, impatient to be with Caster.
The sun was high, indicating midday. Good. He hadn’t slept too long. His muscles thanked him for that bit of rest as he followed Cy’s voice to the living room he’d only briefly seen on his last two visits to the cabin.
Caster smiled when he saw him and nodded towards the space next to him on the couch.
“Why is it taking so long?” The impatience in Cy’s tone was understandable, but the plan could not be rushed.
Even in his desire to be rid of this threat and return to the safety Caster’s love promised would not allow him to deviate from the plan.
Their enemy was formidable. They couldn’t forget that if their goal was to survive this.
Cy’s mocking smile made him wince. He’d forgotten to fortify his mind again.
The sigh from Caster catalyzed his desire to pull up the wall with expert precision, ensuring its fortifications were reinforced.
There would be hell to pay after this, and a tiny part of him was looking forward to Caster’s punishment even as he dreaded it.
“They can’t teleport, or Ethel would sense them coming,” Riley said.
“Are we sure Zeke cannot take control of my mind?” Mark glanced at Riley for an answer.
His nod was as emphatic as usual.
“Let’s make sure,” Dean said. “I’ll try to take control of your wolf. If I can’t, he can’t.”
Mark granted his brother’s request and leaned forward with a deep breath. He waited. The gradual opening of his mind, the lowering of the drawbridge into his psyche that always preceded Dean’s influence, did not come.
Dean’s blue eyes narrowed. “Anything?”
He shook his head, but still reached through the connection he shared with his animal self to find his wolf in his corner, unbothered by anything, waiting. “Are you even trying?”
Dean smiled and leaned back into his seat. “Well, that answers that. I thought I’d seen it all.”
Part of him missed his brother’s Alpha influence. They’d interacted in that way for so long, it had come to be a huge part of their lives. But it meant Zeke would never again control him. Now they just needed to make sure he couldn’t control any other wolf.
Are you OK?
Caster was so in tune with his confused feelings, sensing his turmoil even when his mind remained closed. He nodded. I am. I just…
The shrill ring of a cellphone stole the last of his words.
Caster reached for the device as anticipation filled the space.
The voice on the other end of the line was a clear, crisp “all in position” from Marcus.
Even knowing it was coming, having been impatient for the moment’s arrival, his heart skipped a beat.
Caster squeezed his hand and nodded at Riley.
A whispered spell, an injection of a tiny fraction of his overwhelming power into the room, and Pierce appeared to the left, the darkness that had spit him out the last time he’d appeared, now a little subdued, like it had somehow lost its intensity.
Still, his power, not magic, something Mark had never seen before was enough to silence the room, sending a shiver down his spine.
No words were necessary. They’d been over the plan numerous times over the last few hours. Mark gave Caster’s hand one last squeeze and stood. It was time to pretend he needed Zeke. He took a breath and reached for his lifelong companion, surprised but thankful to find his wolf calm.
“Ready?” Riley asked.
“We’re all here,” Cy said, and he nodded his appreciation.
“Remember that I will be with you.” Pierce’s voice had lost its otherworldly quality. His part of the plan had been the most difficult to accept, but he’d been very convincing in his argument that Ethel’s ally would follow her if she accepted Mark’s offer.
Another nod from Riley and a whisper of a chant in Latin was all it took.
Riley’s immense power meant the astral projection was much stronger this time.
The connection Zeke once had to his wolf, the remnants of his energy in his mind, was enough to draw Mark’s form to him.
As he sailed through space and time faster than he had the last time he’d done this, Mark tried to focus on the plan.
This would work. It had to work. It was their only hope.
Confusion flooded his mind as he appeared in what seemed a bedroom, decorated in white and green. Zeke was seated on the bed, his focus on the screen of a cellphone as if he willed it to show him something important. It took a second for Zeke to sense his presence.
He glanced in his direction and jumped, dropping the device. “Mark?”
Mark forced himself to smile, and even in this form, he could feel the tension as he watched the myriad of emotions cross Zeke’s face, chief of them suspicion. He’d expected that.
“What…” Zeke shook his head. “Why are you here?”
“To warn you.”
Zeke frowned, still unwilling to tear his eyes from Mark.
“They’re coming for you. Right now.”
His frown deepened, his vigilance increasing as evidenced by the growing amber overtaking the blue of his eyes. “And you’re telling me, because?” He rubbed at his neck. “You tried to kill me.”
It was time to dig deep, find acting skills convincing enough to keep the plan on track.
“I found out their plan yesterday.” Did his sigh sound dramatic enough?
Too dramatic? “I meant it when I said I didn’t want to kill you.”
He held in the wince that would contort his face, but Zeke’s softening stance gave him courage.
He softened his voice to almost a whisper.
“Please tell me you didn’t want any of this.”
Zeke held his eyes shut, and the hope that perhaps this would work bloomed large.
Mark willed his ethereal form to move closer, his voice dropping lower. “I want to believe that you didn’t want to kill me that night.”
Zeke opened his eyes, the amber of his animal now hidden behind the blue. “I didn’t.” He sighed and sat on the bed, his guard all the way down. “I wanted you to see it my way. I…”
“Tell me.”
Zeke looked at him, and for a second, the old caring version of him was apparent. Memories of their long relationship threatened to derail the plan, but Mark had been prepared for that. The countering memory of the day the witch had taken his wolf and Zeke’s inaction were the inoculation he needed.
Zeke cleared his throat. “They weren’t supposed to attack you. Just take you. But you fought back…”
“Why?”
Zeke frowned.
“Why would you work with her?” The frown deepened, and Mark sensed he was losing him. They needed him distracted, just a little longer, give Pierce time to find what he needed. “I’m just trying to understand.”
That self-assured side of him, the one Mark sought to exploit, appeared, and Mark had to stifle his smile. “I should be Prime Alpha.”
“How do you figure that?” Not that it mattered, but it seemed Pierce needed a few seconds.
“Your grandfather was supposed to be the last. Then it was my father’s turn and mine.” He stood, his anger almost palpable. “Ethel promised my family the Prime. But then she found out about you and everything changed.”
It was Mark’s turn to frown. “What do you mean?”
“She told me you were the key. I needed to convince you to join her side, then she would make me Prime Alpha.” He shrugged. “But your brother and his war derailed that plan.”
“How did she know about me?”
Zeke opened his mouth to answer, but Pierce had chosen his moment.
Yellow smoke gathered at Zeke’s feet, but the realization on his face that this had been a trap came too late.
The smoke that Mark assumed was one of Pierce’s many forms coiled around Zeke, tightening the longer he tried to fight it.
He was powerless in every sense of the word.
His roars turned to whines when the yellow smoke entered his open mouth, stifling all sound in a few seconds.
“Riley, now!” Mark gave the signal and the unsettling sensation of sailing through space and time took over.
In the space of a split second, he was back in his body, grateful to see Caster.
It took a moment more, but Zeke appeared in the room, spit out by the same darkness Pierce seemed to carry everywhere he went.
The look on Zeke’s face was murderous, the promise of vengeance in his wolf’s disapproval, even if its growl was stifled by Pierce’s hold.
But that was the least of his worries. The first part of their plan done, it was time to summon the witch.
Mark only hoped Zeke was as important to her plans as they’d bargained on.