Chapter 47
Chapter
Forty-Seven
ZANDER
“Enough of this,” the dead man in the helicopter snapped, his knife sinking deeper. “The only way the warlock goes free is if you release the chopper.”
A whine tore from the back of my throat. I couldn’t get to the man without risking Reid.
Why wasn’t someone else doing something?
“Nathaniel,” I growled. “Stop holding the helicopter and save him.”
“I can’t risk a spell hitting Reid,” he replied, not taking his eyes from them.
“You have three seconds,” the man announced. “Three—”
He cut off when Reid surged into action, breaking his hold and throwing himself out of the helicopter.
I lunged forward, catching him before he hit the ground. The metallic scent of his blood filled my nostrils and I whined again as I cradled him in my arms and frantically checked him over.
The neckline of his shirt was drenched with blood and he was limp, but the cut didn’t look too deep. Just as well, since warlocks didn’t heal as quickly as shifters.
As it was, the cut might scar.
He clung to me, and buried his face in my chest, wriggling closer like he wanted to bind himself to me and never let go.
I peppered the top of his head with kisses and closed my eyes, breathing him in, trying to draw comfort from his familiar scent and from the warmth of his body despite the fact that I could still smell his blood and fear.
I breathed deeper, relieved when I still detected that hint of honeysuckle beneath the overpowering ozone.
“I knew you’d catch me,” he whispered, the words muffled against my skin. I’d torn my shirt when I shifted earlier, and now it was nothing more than scraps in the dirt. “Part of me thought it was stupid to take a chance like that, but I trusted you to catch me before I hit the ground.”
My heart squeezed. “Always.” I raised my head, growling when I spotted the man pinned to the ground, subdued by Dad and Everett.
I turned to Knox, who was hovering nearby and thrust Reid’s shaking form into his arms. “Take him.”
“What?” he asked, taken aback.
As soon as Reid’s weight had transferred, I lunged at the man who’d hurt my mate. My fangs descended and my claws tore through the ends of my fingers, ready to sink into his soft belly.
“Whoa!” Suddenly, Garrick blocked my path. “You can’t do that.”
“Like hell, I can’t.” I pushed him aside. He might be next in line to become the Clan Alpha, but I was bigger and my claws were just as sharp.
“Zander, stand down.”
I froze, my hand in the air between Everett and me. Growling, I struggled, trying to push forward.
“Stop this,” Dad insisted, injecting even more Alpha authority into his voice.
He was implacable.
With our bond as clan members, and his authority over us all, I was helpless to fight him.
A terrified scream cut through the air.
Reid’s.
Turning away from the man on the ground, I raced back to him, enveloping him in my arms as I looked around for what had scared him so badly.
“Reid! You’ve been much harder to get my hands on than I expected,” Hephaestes, the High Priest of the Havlock Coven, drawled as he removed his hat and strolled toward us.
I stiffened. Oh, shit. In the moment, I hadn’t paused to consider why warlocks might be helping us, but now we had to deal with them when we were worn out from fighting and they were energized and ready to go.
Hephaestes smirked and spun until he faced Dad. “Look, I think we’ve shown that we could just take Reid if we wanted to, but I’d prefer not to make any new enemies. I will, if I have to, but I’ve done your clan a great service today, so perhaps we can come to an arrangement.”
I bared my teeth. “Fuck off.”
“What do you want?” Dad demanded, his arms crossed over his broad chest and his face set in a dangerous scowl. He might be getting older, with more salt than pepper in his hair, but he still cut an imposing figure and I was glad to have him beside me.
High Priest Hephaestes grinned like a man who knew he held a winning hand. “We saved the lives of your clan members tonight. As a sign of your gratitude, we’d like you to return our beloved Reid, who we’ve missed sorely since he left.”
Reid wrapped his arms around my waist so tightly that it was difficult to drag out a full breath. Tremors wracked his petite frame and his tears trickled down my chest and abs.
My bear surfaced, glaring at Hephaestes through my eyes. How dare this man steal my sassy mate’s courage and blunt his usually sharp tongue? How dare he act as if he had a claim to him when all he’d ever done was abuse him?
“We didn’t ask for help,” I rasped out, my voice hardly human. “And we won’t be paying any price, let alone the life of my mate. Besides, you were going to kidnap him. You didn’t do this out of the goodness of your heart.”
The asshole had the audacity to laugh. “As I said before, I don’t sense a bond, and I rarely do anything out of the goodness of my heart. I saw an opportunity to avoid further conflict and took it.”
Reid whimpered and his fingernails pierced the skin of my back. But then something changed. He stilled and began to breathe slowly and rhythmically. I hoped like hell that was an improvement and not a sign he was becoming catatonic.
Hephaestes addressed Dad. “Be reasonable, Alpha Blackwood.”
Dad stared at him for a long moment, his eyes golden and bestial. “You’re right that we owe you a debt for your assistance.”
“But—” I started to protest.
Dad held up his hand. “But my son is also right. We didn’t request your help and while we may be inclined to have goodwill toward you because of it, we’re not in the habit of forcing people to go places they don’t want to. Unless Reid says he wants to go with you, then he’s staying with us.”
Reid peeled himself away from my chest. With a strength that stunned me, he turned to Hephaestes, raised his chin, and glared. “I don’t want to go anywhere with him.”
“Thank you for being clear about your wishes, son.” Dad splayed out his hands. “You heard him.”
Hephaestes sighed and ran his hand through his long, stringy hair. “Very well. If you insist on being difficult, then I’ll give my team the signal to free the gentlemen who look like they want to rip you apart and we’ll take Reid by force. You can’t beat us, Alpha.”
As if he’d given a silent signal, the warlocks who’d been our temporary allies only minutes earlier rounded on us.
Wary, the assembled shifters squared off against them.
I held Reid close with one arm and extended my claws with the other, ready to fight to defend my mate.
The drone of another chopper filled the night and it appeared from the dark behind the other, which had settled on the ground and been turned off by someone—Gods only knew who.
Suddenly, figures in black swarmed the property, spilling in from all sides.
My heart sank. Was this yet more coven reinforcements?
We really did stand no chance of winning.