19. Deacon
Chapter nineteen
Deacon
I wake again a few hours later, Vasile’s cheek smushed against my chest. He’s deeply asleep now, likely the first time he’s slept so well in a while, and my wolf preens at the idea that we might have helped our mate.
My mate.
I stare at him for a moment or two, thinking through everything we said to each other the night before. My heart hurts with all Vasile went through. I don’t believe he feels nothing at all. Not from the way he spoke about it.
But I can understand wanting to keep his distance. Isn’t that what I’ve been doing all this time?
I run my fingers over his forehead before I carefully climb out of bed and pad into the bathroom. I take my time getting ready, aware that I need to check in with Chaya and go to Kieran’s to make sure Quinn is recovering, but not in a rush to attend to either.
Chaya is fine. I would know if she were not. Same goes for Kieran. He might have a tendency to want to resolve problems alone, but I have no doubt the rest of his pack is prepared to rein him in.
I dress and drop a kiss to Vasile’s forehead before I step out into the living room. Chaya answers immediately, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find she’s been waiting for my call.
“How is everything?” she asks.
“Fine.” I have no doubt Orion will have told her the condition he found us in. I have no doubt she knows why I did not return to the pack house last night. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know—”
“I figured you’d stay to look after the pup,” Chaya interrupts, and I fancy I can hear her smirk. “Will he be coming to our pack house?”
“I’ll find out. Probably not. Drew seems… protective of him.”
Chaya hums thoughtfully. We both already know that means Quinn will be staying here. I’d worry for a wolf being so indulged if Drew weren’t clearly both so sweet and so in need of it.
Besides, Quinn needs to heal. If that means staying here, I’ll make it happen.
“Are you coming back today?”
“Yes. I’ll see what I can find out from Quinn. We might finally be able to go on the offensive.”
“Well, I guess that all kept them busy last night. No wolves or vampires were killed.”
“Hunters?”
“I don’t know.” Chaya sighs. “Hunter Helene is not being forthcoming.”
“Right.” I’ll deal with that too. “I’ll let you know when I’m leaving.”
“Let me know when you want to leave, and I’ll send a car. Alpha.” She tacks on my title meaningfully, and I huff a breath.
“Fine. See you later.”
I make myself leave the flat before I can climb back into bed with Vasile, making the short trip down the hall to Kieran’s place. From the smell of it, most of them are still in there, though I can only hear one person moving around.
Kieran opens the door and blinks up at me, giving me a quick once-over before he steps aside to let me in. “Did you sleep well?”
I open my mouth to answer, then see the smirk he’s not even trying to hide. Little shit. “Fine,” I bite out.
He chuckles but doesn’t ask any more, just waits as I kick off my shoes and pad across to the chairs. I frown when I realise no one else is in the living room with us, and when I turn to Kieran, he shrugs.
“Quinn’s showering.”
“He woke up?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how much Drew slept last night, but he went to work this morning anyway. Lucien and Adam are asleep. Ophelia, too. She’s in Sam and Adam’s room.”
“The others?”
“Sam went with Dante to pick up some stuff from Pris,” Kieran says, and I scent his underlying concern. “I think she’s coming back, too. We’ve got to work out how to fit everyone in here, but I don’t want them far.”
I can’t imagine what he’s going through, what with all that’s happened over the past few months. I move closer and clap a hand on his shoulder, then move it to the back of his neck.
“You’re doing fine,” I say. “Far better than could be expected, considering everything.”
Kieran tenses at first when I touch him, then relaxes in my hold. His eyes flick briefly to his bedroom door, and I wonder if his surprise has disturbed Lucien but find I don’t much care. Kieran needs this, too.
“Yeah, all right,” he says. There’s movement in the bathroom and I let go when he steps away, moving back into the kitchen. “Just a warning,” he says, voice low. “Quinn’s not doing great. He trusts Drew, and he’s willing to trust me, but he’s not comfortable with the others and with the vampires not at all.”
“Me?”
“I’m not sure,” Kieran replies. “You’re a wolf, so that’ll work in your favour, I think. But you’re also powerful and unknown.”
“Right.”
I lower myself into one of the armchairs as Kieran makes tea, careful to keep my posture loose and non-threatening. My wolf huffs in the back of my head. There’s nothing non-threatening about me, not to a wolf who’s been traumatised by his own pack.
The door to the bathroom opens just as Kieran’s passing me my cup of tea. Quinn steps out, eyes wide as he takes me in, and I smell his fear even as I see his pulse race at the base of his throat.
“It’s okay,” Kieran says, putting himself between me and Quinn. “Deacon stayed down the hall last night. He helped bring you back.”
“D-Deacon? Alpha Deacon?”
Quinn’s pale to begin with, but his face loses any semblance of colour as he realises who I am. He sways on the spot, and Kieran takes his arm gently and leads him over to the other armchair.
“It’ll be okay,” he murmurs, grip firm but not tight. “Drew said so, didn’t he?”
Quinn swallows hard but nods. He won’t even look at me now, so I take a moment just to take him in. He’s lanky in a way he shouldn’t be, not for his age, the hollows of his cheeks too gaunt. His dark eyes are haunted, even as he fixes them firmly on the floor, and a faint tremor runs through his body when Kieran lets him go.
“Yeah, he did.”
He trusts Drew. But Drew—
“Drew’s at work?” I keep my voice low, but Quinn jumps all the same, and when Kieran reaches for him automatically, I know there’s not a chance he’s going back to our pack house. I wouldn’t take him even if Kieran asked. He’s overwhelmed here, and there are only three of us in the room.
“Yeah,” Kieran says. He pulls his phone out of his pocket just enough to check the time. “Should be back soon.”
I frown. How long is soon? I don’t want Quinn to have to deal with my presence any more than he has to, but I have to ask him what happened.
“Ten minutes or so,” Kieran says, reading my expression. “He should be on the way home.”
Quinn relaxes a little at that, and Kieran perches on the arm of the chair, moving the hand on his arm to the back of his neck. Quinn tenses for a moment, breath catching in his lungs, but he squeezes his eyes shut and lets it out slowly, trying to centre himself.
“I’ll wait.” I look at Quinn. “I want to ask you about what happened, but I’ll wait until Drew gets here, okay?”
Quinn doesn’t look up at me. “You have to?”
I try to keep my voice soft. “Yes. We need to know what we’re up against.”
He nods, expression twisted with misery, and Kieran curls towards him, tightening his grip. He looks at me, though, lips twitching.
“I take it you got to the bottom of some other things last night?”
I bite back a growl, though my heart isn’t really in it. My wolf certainly is not. He’s more than happy with the fact that someone knows about the claim I’m ready to make.
“That’s none of your business.”
Quinn jerks back despite my soft tone, and Kieran huffs a laugh, leaning into him again.
“Don’t worry about him,” he murmurs. “His bark is worse than his bite.”
I raise an eyebrow, but I can’t argue the truth of it. Quinn’s still really a pup, and a clearly traumatised one at that. I’d never hurt him.
“We… discussed some things,” I hedge eventually. “I think we’re close to being on the same page again.”
Kieran’s eyebrows fly up, surprise painting his features and flooding his scent. “And that’s good, right?”
“Of course.” I huff, and Kieran grins, letting out a little laugh.
Quinn looks up at him, furrowing his brow. “I—What?”
“Top secret,” Kieran says conspiratorially, and now that he has Quinn’s attention, he takes his hand from the back of his neck and puts his arm over his shoulders. “But the alpha and the crai kind of have a… thing .”
“A thing?” Quinn flushes, gaze darting to me and then away again.
“A long time ago,” Kieran says. His eyes flash with amusement, and I let him carry on because, if nothing else, Quinn looks less terrified with each word that falls from his mouth. “A wolf and a vampire met and fell in love… and then broke up, but now they’re getting back together.”
Quinn risks a look at me. He swallows twice before he says, “You are?”
“I think so.”
“With a… a vampire?” His voice cracks on the first word, but he keeps his eyes up. So brave.
“Yes, with a vampire.” My vampire.
Quinn nods, and I hear the door to the building open and close. Drew’s scent creeps under the door as his steps near, and only when he opens it and comes inside does Quinn truly relax, letting out a shaky breath.
“Everything okay?” Drew asks. He eyes me distrustfully, and my wolf huffs, but I let it go.
“All good. Just gossiping,” Kieran replies. His gaze darts to me, then away, and Drew’s expression shifts to something amused. He kicks his shoes off and takes a seat on the sofa.
“Yeah? You’ll have to catch me up.”
He’s much more relaxed than he was even a week ago, and I wonder if Quinn has something to do with it. It’s amazing what a person can do when they have to step up for someone else.
Kieran nudges Quinn, who immediately moves to sit next to Drew on the sofa. Drew eyes Sam’s bedroom door but doesn’t go to check on Adam, instead relaxing into the cushions and drawing Quinn back with him.
“Can you tell us what happened, Quinn?”
He still flinches when I speak, but his voice is soft when he asks, “What? When you found me?”
“Before that. Anything you can tell me about the vampire. About how all this started.”
Quinn lets out a heavy sigh. “Things changed after you left,” he says, glancing at Drew, and when Drew’s shoulders stiffen, Quinn tips his head to the side, leaning against him. “Alpha Darren and Hale were furious. Hale more so, I think. They asked me if I knew, and Hale didn’t believe me when I said I didn’t, even though he could tell , but our alpha did.”
Kieran’s muscles tighten with every mention of his father, but he somehow keeps his expression—and his scent—even. Drew shakes, just a little.
“It was okay for a bit. Hale left, and he said he’d come back with you, but I think most people knew that wasn’t true. We all knew who you’d gone to.” He eyes Kieran briefly. “When Hale came back, he was worse. Angry. One of the betas heard about the challenge and told the rest of us. I wish I could’ve seen it.”
Kieran huffs a laugh. “Wasn’t that impressive.”
“No, I mean it,” Quinn says, the words escaping him in a rush before he shrinks back again. “Just about anyone in the pack would’ve bet on you over him.”
Kieran blinks, surprised, and I turn my attention back to Quinn again.
“What happened after Hale returned?”
“He moved into the alpha house with his betas, which was good because he was out of mine. A couple of nights later, I woke up—I’m not sure why—and when I looked out, I saw three people come into the village. Two vampires and a mage.”
“You’re certain?”
Quinn darts a look at Drew. “We all know how to sniff out a vampire. I can’t sense magic, but I saw the mage do some.”
“What then?”
“They went into the alpha house. Hale let them in. I heard someone shout—I’m sure I did—and then I felt something down our pack bonds. Someone else became our alpha, and they weren’t a wolf.”
“Fuck,” Kieran mutters. “That shouldn’t be—”
“Shouldn’t be possible, no,” I reply.
“It woke the whole pack up,” Quinn says. “We all knew we had to gather before the alpha house, so we did, and Hale and Alpha Darren introduced us to the vampire.” He swallows hard before he says, “Tamesis.”
I close my eyes briefly. Not a chance in hell, of course, that it wasn’t Tamesis there taking over a wolf’s bonds, but I don’t like the confirmation of it. Even if it might be worse to have two vampires running around causing trouble, Tamesis brings his own problems.
“What did they do?” Drew asks, a shake in his voice. He had already split from the pack by then, which explains why Tamesis never affected his bond.
“He just… took over,” Quinn says with a shrug. His eyes are haunted again, vision fixed on the middle distance. “Anyone who fought the changes in their bond, he killed. He only had to kill a few of us. It was clear we couldn’t beat him, and after the first few, we—”
He cuts himself off as a choked sob escapes. Drew wraps an arm around him and Quinn burrows into his side, clinging to Drew’s shirt.
“Your parents?” Drew murmurs, sadness clinging to each word.
Quinn nods. He squeezes his eyes shut, tears falling freely. Drew holds him, pressing his face into Quinn’s hair, and when I look over, Kieran’s digging his fingers into the arms of his chair so tightly his knuckles have gone white.
“Hale asked him to do it,” Quinn says, hiccupping a little. “My dad didn’t resist the bond at all. He told us to wait. But Hale… Tamesis killed them and H-Hale said that’s what I got for hiding his mate.”
He doesn’t look at Drew as he says it and never lets go of him, but Drew’s devastation floods the room. I hear movement in Sam’s bedroom and Adam is at the door even as Kieran gets to his feet.
“Little wolf?” Adam asks. He eyes Quinn warily, refusing to come any further into the room.
“It’s okay,” Drew says. “I’m okay.”
Adam doesn’t believe him. Quinn sobs again, the sound broken, and Kieran reaches Drew first, gripping the back of his neck hard. “You had to leave,” he says.
“You did,” Quinn agrees. “It’s not—I accepted the bond after that. I waited. It was… fine, most of the time. Tamesis is obsessed with his mages. But then he said we needed to come to London.” He looks at Kieran. “I figured you were down here, so I thought I might get free. But Tamesis started controlling us more. He made us fight each other. Made us kill vampires from different clans.”
“I hate to ask,” I say, “but did you…?”
Quinn does pull away from Drew this time, shoulders curving in as he clasps his hands in his lap. Adam takes a few quiet steps forward, getting close enough to run his fingers down Drew’s bicep.
“I killed one,” Quinn says. “Near Wolverhampton. I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to die, either!”
“It’s okay. It’s okay, we can deal with that.”
Quinn sniffs, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “We came to London after that. I looked for a way out—I knew I could escape here, but I didn’t know how to find anyone. Alpha Darren came to me. He told me if I renounced the pack, the bond would snap. Tamesis was stretching himself too far and couldn’t hold on to all of us. He told me to find the two of you.” He looks between Drew and Kieran. Drew nods, lips trembling, and Kieran sighs heavily, drawing Quinn’s attention to him. “He said you were an alpha. That you’d keep me safe.”
“I will, Quinn.” Kieran doesn’t hesitate to reassure him.
“Why did you call last night?” I ask.
“The mages took our phones, but I stole mine back a few days ago. Tamesis was on one last night, spiralling about the—about the crai again. So I ran, and I pulled the pack bond apart. I thought I was safe when I felt it snap; that’s why I called. But then I realised some of the wolves were after me.”
“It was a trap?” Kieran asks.
“I don’t know. From your dad?”
“Yes.”
Quinn shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Not exactly. I think he thought I’d get away, but Tamesis has more control over him and Hale than anyone else because they’re the biggest threats to him.”
Drew frowns, looking at Quinn again. “He’s controlling Hale?”
“Not the same way he’s controlling your dad. Hale wants to help him. He wants what Tamesis has promised him.”
“What has Tamesis promised him?”
Quinn swallows. “You.”
Adam bristles immediately, but Drew soothes him with a gentle touch. “What do you mean?”
“If Tamesis gets everything he wants—if he destroys the crai—then he’ll spare you and give you to Hale. You’ll be his mate.”
Adam’s growl echoes around the room, but for once, Quinn doesn’t flinch. Maybe his wolf recognises the sound the same way mine does. Pure fury, a complete willingness to fight for what’s his.
“We need to know where they’re hiding,” I say, and Quinn looks at Drew, then Kieran before he nods at me.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll tell you whatever I can. I think they’ll have all moved on now, though.”
Oh, of that I have no doubt. Still, Quinn’s our best bet of finding Tamesis before he can do any more damage to this city and the people who live in it.
“We need to know who’s with him, too. All of them. As many as you can remember.”
“O-okay.”
He sinks back into the sofa, and despite the fact I’m certain he slept through the night, exhaustion weighs heavily in his expression. Grief, too. I can’t blame him for either feeling.
“We can make a list later today,” Kieran says decisively. “Quinn needs more rest, and you need to get back to your pack, I imagine?”
Oh, he’s far better at this than he gives himself credit for. Than I gave him credit for when I first spoke to Chaya and Orion about giving him space for a pack at all. All that firm hostility hides the truth of it: he’s a born alpha, through and through.
And he’ll have Quinn in his pack by the time this is all done.
“I do,” I say. “I need to speak with Moreau and probably Helene. We know no vampires or wolves were killed last night, but we’ve heard nothing from the hunters.”
“I can let Vasile know about everything when he’s up,” Kieran says.
I could do it. I could head back into that little flat and—
I nod, shooting him a tight, grateful smile. I know where that would lead.
“Thanks. I really should be heading back. If there’s even the slightest chance we can find where Tamesis is hiding, everyone needs to be ready for him.”