Chapter 31
Chapter
Thirty-One
I grabbed the railing and landed on my ass as I took a seat, trying to play it off. The backyard whirled like a merry-go-round, and my stomach heaved.
Thankfully, not much was in it.
After returning to Mohan Wilds, those pesky side effects had also slowly returned. I’d had a few dizzy spells, and my appetite had diminished. My hands hadn’t started shaking.
Yet.
What was the deal? I’d felt so much better in Blackwater Falls and Illyria, so I’d thought the withdrawals had run their course.
The back door opened, and my neck tattoo tingled as Fane stepped out, his burning gaze settling on me. A flood of heat penetrated my veins at his mere presence. Now that Kaspin’s spell had been removed and Fane didn’t want to kill me, he couldn’t stop touching me.
The mate bond was finally free to blossom.
His hand reached out and played with my ponytail. “Camus called to invite us to a meeting in an hour.”
Preston appeared and leaned against the railing. “What about me? Why am I never invited? You guys aren’t officially pack members.”
“Ask Uncle Ephraim.” His brows suddenly burrowed as he scrutinized his cousin. “Aren’t you supposed to be going back to school today?”
The oldest Anders kid shrugged. “School doesn’t seem that important right now with everything going on.”
Dylan let out a barking laugh. “Mom will kick your ass if she hears you thinking about dropping out.”
Preston brushed caramel locks out of his face. “I’m not dropping out. The dean is a shifter. She’d probably let me take my classes online so I can stay here for a while.”
Fane shook his head. “If you’re serious about this, talk to your parents first.” He dropped my ponytail and reached for my hand to pull me to my feet. “I made you a sandwich.”
He was always trying to feed me.
“I need a shower.” I nibbled on my bottom lip as he towed me toward the door. “Join me?”
Fane couldn’t hide the lust throbbing off him. “If you eat first.”
“After.” I ran my fingers down his torso, feeling his muscles twitch beneath my touch. “You know how good you are at working up my appetite, Maverick.”
His wolfish grin had my pulse jumping. “I am a little hungry myself, fiera mika.”
As we walked into the meeting room in Camus’s basement and Saint’s eyes met mine, Fane stiffened. A threatening rumble rattled his chest.
Camus arched an eyebrow. “I was under the impression you and Saint could be in the same room without fighting.” He peered at the young alpha. “Was I wrong?”
Fane took a deep breath, inhaling my scent as he did. “We’re fine.” His tight smile barely hid a lingering threat beneath. “Right, Grimstone?”
“Right, Maverick.” Saint returned the chilling smile, pouring another level of tension into the room.
I elbowed Fane. “Play nice.”
“I will play nice.” His gaze lowered to mine, filling me with fire. “But I won’t share my toys.”
Flames lapped at my cheeks, and I choked back the urge to jump him. I really hoped the others didn’t pick up on the surge of lust twisting between us.
“Maybe you two can find a seat instead of making a spectacle out of yourselves.”
All the lust zapped from my body, replaced by hot fury as Marissa sneered from the chair next to Saint, so close she might as well have been in his lap. “Why is she here?”
Camus sighed and sipped his drink before placing it back on the coaster. “Marissa promised to behave.”
“I doubt she understands the meaning of that word.” I didn’t bother speaking quietly or hiding my disdain for Fane’s ex-fated. Everyone knew we hated each other.
Fane ground his teeth to choke back the irritation. “If she’s going to be here, maybe Tate and I should leave.”
“With Tate having these visions and you being her mate, you’re both an integral part of this discussion.” Camus drummed the manilla folder on the table in front of him. “Marissa’s my daughter, and I want her here.”
The spoiled brat flicked her raven locks and finally pried her attention from Saint. “I’m the alpha’s daughter, and my place is right here.”
Fire coursed through my veins, and my fists clenched, wanting to smash her face in. “Say one word to provoke me, and I’ll be over that table faster than you can blink.”
She scoffed. “Are you going to let her talk?—”
“Behave,” Camus growled at his daughter, gold flashing in his irises. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Marissa’s mouth remained shut, but she glowered as Fane and I sat across from her and Saint.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Tate,” Saint said, his tone polite and diplomatic as if we weren’t friends.
Were we?
I couldn’t have it both ways.
Fane gave a sharp nod and reached for my hand under the table. “We’re doing well.”
“How are you?” Why was this so awkward?
“I’m fine.”
Knots fisted in my gut as I studied Saint. Something was off. His cheeks were paler than usual, and dark stubble coated his jaw where he normally would have shaved it off. Shadows turned his silver eyes gunmetal gray.
“Do you want some lemonade?” Fane whispered as Greta carried in a fresh pitcher, smiling in our direction.
Camus’s housekeeper remained wary of Fane, but she’d made an effort ever since I fiercely defended him. Whenever we came over, she always prepared a pitcher of lemonade for us.
“Sure.” I waved at her as she placed the pitcher on the table of refreshments.
As Fane got up and crossed the room, Julia and Beckett walked in, taking their usual seats.
“How’s Hailey?” Torrence asked Julia, tapping his weathered fingers on his glass of tea. “Has she returned to work yet? She’s the only one who makes those damn tonics tolerable.”
Julia chuckled, sweeping her auburn hair behind her shoulder. “Not to worry, Torrence. She’s back in action and has a new batch just for you.”
“That’s good to hear.” If possible, the old man’s grimace deepened. “I still can’t believe The Collective had taken one of our own.”
“Technically two.” Ephraim tilted his head in my direction. “Even though Tate isn’t part of the pack, she’s part of my family.”
I could have melted in my seat. After feeling like an outcast and a freak my whole life, I wasn’t used to being included in anyone’s family.
Torrence grumbled under his breath. “That’s fair. The Collective did take her from our territory.” His stared across the table to Amelia’s vacant seat. “I never thought these bastards would return, not in my lifetime. And to have some of our own people in it.”
Camus palmed the back of his neck. “Even my mate is part of it, and I had no clue.”
I jerked my chin toward Marissa, who was more interested in gazing at Saint than paying attention to the conversation. “How do we know you aren’t your mother’s little spy? Maybe you’re helping The Collective. Are you going to report pertinent information back to Reese?”
Camus was an alpha. Didn’t he consider that?
Marissa gave a bitter laugh. “My mother vanished and left me high and dry.” She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. “She picked her side, and I picked mine.”
Fane returned to his seat with our drinks. “So you wouldn’t drop everything and cast your loyalty with Reese if she contacted you?”
Her shoulders curled in as she absentmindedly picked at a scratch on the table. “Reese made it perfectly clear that I wasn’t a priority. I never have been, and I was an idiot for believing she’d help get my life back together.” Her lips thinned when she finally looked up. “I’d rather turn that bitch in than ever help her.”
Camus rested his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Marissa is loyal to me and not Reese, or I wouldn’t have allowed her here.”
I kept my mouth shut and tapped my fingers against my glass of lemonade. As long as I’d known her, Marissa only looked out for herself no matter the cost to anyone else. Her mate had finally seen that and left her ass. Now she had the crazy idea that she shouldn’t have rejected Fane in the first place.
She shouldn’t have, but her loss was my gain.
He was mine .
She was either flirting with Saint to make me jealous and cause problems between Fane and me, or she was simply trying to bag an alpha.
How would she break her bond with Dorian? Maybe she planned to kill him. Maybe she already did. No one had heard from the disgraced former beta in weeks.
Beckett gave a frustrated sigh. “As entertaining as this conversation is, we have more important information to discuss today. Three more shifter bodies have been found with the same cause of death and dropped at various locations.”
Saint cleared his throat. “And two of my pack members are missing. They’re both bitten shifters.”
Dread tore a hole through my stomach. “Who?”
“Bonnie and Josh.” Saint dragged a hand through his ebony locks. “They were visiting another pack a few days ago and never returned.”
The weight of his guilt and sadness crashed into me, and I wanted to rush across the room and hug him. As alpha, Saint was supposed to protect the pack, and this made him feel like a failure.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, my heart breaking for him. Josh had been the healer taking care of Hailey while we were there. “Is there something we can do?”
“I’ve sent out patrols to search for them, and so have the nearby packs, but we’ve had no luck.” Saint captured his bottom lip between his teeth. “Have you seen Bonnie or Josh in a vision?”
I rubbed my forehead and tried to recall every vision I’d had recently, but I rarely saw faces. “I’m not sure.”
Saint took his phone out and slid it across the table. “Take a look at a few pictures. Maybe it’ll jog your memory.”
Josh’s smiling image popped up on the screen, his arm slung around a girl I hadn’t met. She had dirty-blond curls to her shoulders and vibrant blue eyes, almost as bright as a demon’s.
“Bonnie has a couple of star tattoos on her wrist.” He motioned toward his phone, so I flipped through the photos to find one of her with the ink on display. “And Josh has scars on his abdomen from fighting rogue shifters a long time ago. Three horizontal claw marks.”
My lips pressed together as I studied each image. “I’m sorry, Saint. I don’t think I’ve seen them.” Not yet, anyway.
He nodded and jammed his fingers through his hair. “Maybe The Collective has them. If so, they could still be alive.”
“We can—” A flood of fear suddenly washed over me, and I gripped the edges of the table to keep from falling out of the chair.
“What’s wrong?” Fane’s voice in my head was distant, like I was underwater. “Tate?”
The council room faded, and I floated further from reality as another vision took hold of me…
Black walls erected around me, pressing in on all sides. Pain pulsated across my legs and arms while hot liquid oozed down them.
Blood.
“Please, just let me go.” My voice, much deeper than my own, cracked. “I don’t want to die.”
Cloaked forms moved around the room, their white masks blurring in and out of focus. Sinister laughter slithered from beneath them.
Strange chants filled the air, like a myriad of hushed voices all twisted into an eerie melody. Ominous symbols stained the walls, their paint still wet and glistening.
No. That wasn’t paint.
That was blood.
My blood.
I gagged on the metallic scent. Sweat ran down my temples, and my clothes stuck to me. My pulse thundered as I tried to move, but the restraints around my wrists and ankles binding me to the table only tightened.
“Where is she? What did you do to her?”
She?
A large figure slinked forward, brandishing a bloody knife. “The same thing we’re going to do to you, wolf.” He lifted a metal bowl with archaic symbols carved on the outside. Crimson speckled the edges.
And then he tilted it to reveal the contents.
A scream tore from my mouth as a bloody organ slid around the inside. “What did you do, you sick bastards!”
Sheer panic slammed against me, and I bucked within the restraints like a wild animal. But my wolf was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t reach that part of me. Had these creatures cut it out like they did her heart?
Laughter overtook the chanting, and the looming creatures passed the bowl around.
Was this the Nosterium? Were they performing a ritual?
“You won’t get away with this,” I yelled. “My alpha will find you. All of you!”
The man—or rather, monster—tsked and lifted the knife. “Not before he finds your mutilated body.” He used the knife to rip my t-shirt in half and then yanked the material free, revealing my naked torso. The scars on my abdomen gleamed under the flickering candlelight.
Three horizontal scars… from claw marks.
Josh.
Was Bonnie the she he’d mentioned?
Acid filled my mouth. Mine. Not his.
Was Bonnie’s heart in that bowl?
“You’re going to burn in hell, you sadistic asshole.” I—no, Josh—fought against the binds again, spit and blood flying. “Shifters won’t take this lying down. We’re fighters, and we’ll hunt you down and rip you to pieces!”
The creature, maybe the leader of the Nosterium, dragged the knife down my sternum. “I know exactly how much fight shifters have in them. And I will make sure all the right ones live on while the weak are exterminated.”
Wait… What?
He lifted the dagger and slammed it into my chest.
Searing pain crashed over me, and my hearing muted as if someone had clicked a button on a remote. My vision flashed white, washing out all the horrifying black and red of the room.
“You are a small but necessary piece in this puzzle.” The creature yanked on the blade, slicing through my flesh, muscles, and tissue and scraping it against my ribs. “Your death won’t be in vain, Josh.”
I choked and gurgled, blood coating my tongue and spewing out of my mouth as I tried to talk. “You’ll regret this.”
When his hand lifted to his mask, scarlet smeared the white surface like drops of blood in the snow. And then he pulled the mask off, revealing the face of true evil.
Shockwaves rippled through my body—mine and Josh’s—at the familiar beast staring back.
The cloak drifted open at the top to uncover a gleaming red stone dangling from a gold chain.
“Regret is for the weak. Just like you.” Barric laughed as he dragged the blade through my chest, cutting out my heart.