Chapter 16 #2
He crouched beside her, unable to stay distant while she suffered.
His hand found her shoulder, thumb seeking the mark he'd left earlier, not the claiming bite that would seal their bond, but close.
A red mark in the shape of his mouth where he'd sucked too hard while lost in the taste of her.
She leaned into the touch just enough to let him know she felt him there, but her focus never wavered.
"Boss," Shaw's voice was tight with urgency. "Boats are close. We have less than ten minutes."
The engines were louder now, cutting through the night with mechanical efficiency. Spotlights swept the shore, searching for the best landing spot. The boats moved in tight formation, professional hunters with kills under their belts. Other wolves. Ash.
Lily's magic erupted.
Power burst from her, out of control and wild, everything she had left poured out in one massive surge.
The barrier rose from the water like heat shimmer on steroids, invisible unless you knew to look but there, solid as stone to anything that tried to pass through.
It stretched across the entire inlet, a wall of pure will between Devils Point and the approaching boats.
Fuck. He’d known she was powerful. He hadn’t known she was this.
The air groaned with the weight of it, and Gray tasted metal on his tongue from magic so strong it was bleeding into the physical world.
Her skin had gone pale as moonlight, almost translucent, and their bond told him she was coming apart at the seams.
Gray's chest rumbled with the need to protect, to stop this, to carry her somewhere safe where she could never hurt herself trying to save others.
But he had no idea what effect stopping her now would have and he couldn’t risk hurting her. The magic was already flowing and committed. He feared interrupting it would only make it worse.
The lead boat hit the ward.
The engine died, not sputtering or slowing but complete mechanical failure. Cursing carried across the water, confused shouts as twenty hunters found themselves unable to reach the island. The other boats tried to adjust course, but one by one they hit the invisible barrier and failed.
"What the fuck?"
"Engines are completely dead!"
"It's like we hit something—"
"Get them started! NOW!"
But the current was already pulling them back, the tide that should have helped them land now working against them. Without power, they were expensive driftwood.
Lily collapsed.
He caught her before she hit the rocks, gathering her against his chest with frantic gentleness.
Her eyes stayed open but unfocused, staring at something beyond him.
That sharp intelligence that always challenged him, that wit that made him want to strangle and kiss her in equal measure, dimmed to almost nothing.
"Did it work?" She forced the words out, each one a monumental effort. Empty but needing to know she'd succeeded.
"Yeah, baby. Perfect." He pressed his forehead to hers, breathing her in, exhaustion and blood and that sweet spot behind her ear that always made her sigh when he kissed it. She felt like dying fire in their bond, present but fading, embers where there should be flames.
Her fingers clutched at his shirt, still trying to reach him.
"The pack... are they safe?"
"Yes. Because of you." His voice cracked on the last word. "Stay with me, Lily. Stay here. Don't you dare leave me now."
She managed a ghost of a smile, just the tiniest quirk of her lips that made his chest cave in. Her head fell against his shoulder, untethered but present.
“I’m definitely still here,” she whispered.
Radio chatter exploded with victory and confusion.
"They're turning back! All boats retreating!"
"What happened to their engines?"
"Who cares? It worked!"
But Gray heard none of it. His world had narrowed to the woman in his arms, her too-shallow breathing, how her body felt lighter somehow, like she'd burned away part of herself to build that ward.
"Now, sisters."
The almost otherworldly voice came from the forest edge, calm and certain as death. "She's given us the perfect opportunity."
Iris emerged from the trees like something out of a nightmare, twelve others behind her in dark robes that seemed to swallow light. They moved with synchronized purpose, witches who'd performed this ritual before, who believed in their cause with the terrifying certainty of zealots.
Gray stood, lifting Lily with him. She made a soft sound of protest, fighting to help when she could scarcely keep her eyes open. Her body molded against his, soft and pliant and trusting him to keep her safe when she couldn't do it herself.
"Over my dead body," he snapped, teeth flashing.
"If necessary." Iris's smile was gentle, motherly, which made it obscene.
Like she was sorry for what she had to do.
Like killing them both was just an unfortunate necessity.
"Her power will survive, regardless of whether she doesn't. That's all that matters to us.
The bloodline, the magic, it's bigger than one witch's desires. "
Four wolves against thirteen witches. Gray's radio crackled with frantic voices.
"We need backup at the bridge—"
"Can't leave the evacuation—"
"Something is very wrong—"
The pack was too far away, still managing the chaos. If they abandoned their posts now, humans would be in danger. No backup was coming.
Shaw, Calix, and Fen formed a defensive line, but Gray smelled their uncertainty. Not cowardice, his wolves didn't cower from danger, but the practical understanding that four wolves couldn't win against thirteen trained and powerful witches. Not without casualties.
But Lily's lips moved against his throat, breathing his name like a prayer or a goodbye, and his wolf made the only choice that mattered. Maybe not the smartest or most strategic decision, but she was everything.
If they wanted his mate, they'd have to go through him. And he'd make sure they choked on every piece they took.
"The ritual doesn't require her cooperation," Iris said conversationally, like they were discussing brewing techniques instead of murder. "Just her presence. Conscious or not, willing or not, the magic will flow where we direct it."
"Try it," Gray snarled, his bones cracking and reshaping. It wasn’t a full shift but his wolf had pushed through. "See what happens when you come for what's mine."
Iris began to chant, and the other twelve joined their voices to hers. Nothing like Lily's earth magic. No, this was twisted, with thirteen voices becoming one voice that made his teeth ache and his wolf howl in rage.
The circle tightened like a noose, witches spreading out to surround them completely. No escape routes. No backup. Just him and his dying mate, and he'd kill as many as he could before they took her.
Lily's fingers found his shoulder, weak but purposeful, right over the mark she'd left when she'd bitten him. The teeth marks that claimed him as surely as he'd wanted to claim her.
Together, that touch said. Whatever comes, we face it together.
The circle closed, and Gray prepared to die defending the woman who saved his pack. She'd given everything she had to protect his pack and trusted him enough to stay when every instinct had told her to run.
The binding ritual had begun.