Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Ijerked awake. I had a sinking sensation that something wasn’t right, and wished Kellen hadn’t made his office noise-proof.
Blinking sleep from my eyes, I sat the recliner back up.
I’d thought of lying on one of the sofas but chose Kellen’s chair.
With his scent permeating the large leather piece, my wolf had whined as I’d walked past it.
If I were totally honest, the woman in me wanted to roll around in his scent as well.
Now, I wished the man were here so I could be reassured the sinking feeling was nothing but a leftover dread from before.
The bathroom light illuminated only part of the space, but my shifter sight allowed me to see clearly. My enhanced hearing didn’t pick up anything other than my own heartbeat. “Calm down,” I muttered to myself.
Getting to my feet, I tried to take a step, but the concrete floor turned to mud.
The feeling of sinking several inches made me yell out, and I tried to launch myself back into the chair, only to find myself surrounded by woods and trees.
Panic threatened to choke me. Through our mate link, I shouted for Kellen, but the wall I came up against scared me.
I looked around, wondering where I was. The tall trees looked like the ones near my home, but the thick mud didn’t make sense since we hadn’t had any hard rain in a long while.
Even when we did, I couldn’t remember a time when it was ever like a mud pit.
Then I remembered what the Cordells had said and tried to picture myself back inside the club. An unholy laugh had me spinning in a circle. Darkness still surrounded me, but at least I was no longer stuck.
“Ah, you think to get away again, little girl?” A voice with a thick accent came from all around me.
My wolf wanted to come out and run, but in my shifted form, I wasn’t as logical.
I used the logic that Jenna had shown us and tapped into the power that the Fey had shown was inside all shifters.
I’d been a quick study my entire life and hoped this time would be no different.
Closing my eyes, I pictured myself in a room surrounded by my friends and Kellen.
The Iron Wolves club expressly. I did everything Jenna told me to do.
When I heard the cackling voice, I almost gave up and started running, but kept pouring all my resolve into the image, until finally I felt the wind blowing past my face.
Pain seared my arm, but I kept the image firmly in my mind, even when I saw bloodred eyes and the face of the devil staring back at me. “You can’t escape me. I’m too powerful,” he roared.
Again, I kept my focus, and then in a blink, I found myself in the middle of the dance floor of the Iron Wolves, blood dripping down my arm.
“Laikyn, what the fuck is going on?”
“Kellen,” my voice breaking. All my strength gave out on that one word, and then my world began to spin.
“It’s alright. I’ve got you.” Kellen’s scent and arms enclosed me in their familiar warmth. “Where did you come from?” I tried to think past the pain in my arm, but the burning sensation became worse than anything I’d ever experienced.
“My arm…hurts.” My mate looked at the bleeding mess.
“Who did this?” He brought his nose close to the oozing wound. A deep growl rumbled from his chest. “I will kill the bastard.”
“Please, take me to the clinic, and I’ll show you how to help me.” I couldn’t raise my hand even as I tried to caress his cheek.
“Call the Fey woman back,” Kellen ordered. In his usual commanding way, the big bad Alpha wasn’t stopping to realize he could reach out with his mind. I wished I had the strength to try myself, but the amount of energy I’d spent getting away from the vampire was more than I had ever used.
“Call Damien and Lucas. Tell them he’s here. Please,” I begged.
“Xan, call the asshats. Their numbers,” Kellen stopped speaking. I couldn’t see Xan, but through mine and Kellen’s link, I felt the other man reaching out to Kellen. Again, I wished my body weren’t so weak. Never in my entire life had I been so drained.
“Why is this cut draining me so?” I blinked up at Kellen.
We reached the small area set up for injured members.
“I’d say it’s due to you moving from one place to another like you did, the way Jennaveve does.
We are shifters with a touch of Fey, so it’s more taxing on us than them.
Now, let me look at your wound, and order me around, Mon Chaton.
This will be what we call your free pass. ”
I saw the strain around his eyes and wanted to ease it. “I’m going to be fine. Truly.”
After pointing out the different things he needed to clean my wound, Kellen and I sat on the large bed while we waited for Xan to arrive.
I explained how I’d fallen asleep in his office, only to wake in the forest. He cleansed the wound, flinching each time I did, making me aware how much it pained him to see me hurt.
“Close your eyes, baby. Nobody will take you away on my watch.”
My body wouldn’t allow me to, even with Kellen’s large body next to mine. The grating voice and red eyes looming out at me kept my body tense and awake. “I can’t.” I squeezed his hand.
Kellen lay down, pulling me onto his chest. “Open your mind to me. I promise, ain’t nobody or anything gonna mind fuck you again.”
The soothing growl—and yes, I thought all his tones were wonderful, but when he got angry on my behalf, I loved it even more. “I love you.” I yawned. With my mate firmly in my head, his presence soothing the wounds of my mind, I found it easy to let go.
I kept my anger hidden behind a wall of steel, being sure only love poured forth, shielding Laikyn in comfort. Xan’s light steps, along with his mate’s, came to me long before they entered.
“Laikyn is sleeping. Did you get hold of the Cordell brothers?” I asked Xan through our link.
“They will be here shortly. They have a private jet.” Xan’s grunt of disapproval through our link made me smile.
“They’re old as fuck, of course, they have a jet.” I had no hard feelings toward the twins. Well, not much since my mate didn’t want either man.
“You two can quit talking with your inside voices. I’m awake and feel much better.” Laikyn looked up at me.
I kept her from sliding off me with a firm hand on her rounded ass, much to her dismay. “Stay,” I murmured.
“Kellen, you have things to do, and so do I. We can’t just lie around. Besides, I need to pee.”
Xan laughed. “I don’t think you can do that for her, big guy.”
“I’ll carry you.” I sat up with Laikyn in my arms.
She growled. “You will do no such thing.” She pointed to the door not five feet from us. “I’ll be right through there. What do you think could happen? Besides, I’m awake and prepared. I know what happened now. I realize why he was able to get to me. It won’t happen again.”
“Breezy, go with her. And no arguments. I know you women always go to the bathroom together, so it’s no hardship.” I let Laikyn slide down my body, ignoring my hard-on. The damn thing was in a constant state of arousal around my woman.
Xan shrugged. “It’s true. We’ve studied the phenomenon of you females and still don’t understand why you go in groups to the ladies’ room. Now, go on and make it quick. My wolf doesn’t like you out of its sight right now.”
“Aw, you are such a sweet talker. Tell your wolf my wolf says she loves him, too.” Breezy kissed Xan before grabbing Laikyn’s hand.
I shook my head. “Who is the boss of that relationship?” Looking at the two women’s retreating backs, Xan adjusted his own erection.
“Need I say more?”
“Fucking pussy whipped.” I ran my hand over my jaw, feeling the scrape of my beard. “That was some freaky-ass-shit out there earlier. How the hell do we combat what we can’t see?” The worry and fear I’d kept hidden from Laikyn poured out of my mouth.
Xan stared at me, then moved closer. “We do what we’ve always done.
We protect the weaker ones, then we hunt the motherfucker down and kill him.
Not necessarily in that order. Your mate showed great strength and knowledge that we all need by moving through whatever way the Fey do.
We need to tap into that if we are going to defeat him. ”
“It drained her to the point of collapse. The members of our pack who aren’t as strong could die if they used such power.
I won’t lose anyone, no matter what their rank is, until we know more about this new skill set.
Hell, I don’t even know if it’s ours to use.
Laikyn is…special. She’s one of the smartest of our kind.
” I stopped at the chuckle coming from my best friend.
“You are so pussy whipped.” Xan jumped back as I swiped my fist toward him.
Shaking my head, I began to pace. “You tell anybody, and I’ll beat your ass. But you know what I mean. She’s always learned things faster than others. What’s that memory called?” I turned back to face my second, seeing Breezy and Laikyn standing in the doorway.
“Eidetic memory,” Breezy answered.
Laikyn gasped. “How the heck do you know that?”
“Everyone knows. Do you know it’s very rare? I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant until I watched The Big Bang Theory. One of the main characters has the same thing, only you are nothing like him.”
“I love that show. Sheldon is hilarious, but I agree with you. I am nothing like him. Or at least I hope I’m not.” She walked up to me.
I looked down at her, wondering who they were talking about. “You clearly don’t watch much television, do you?” Laikyn snuggled into my arms, making me forget all about television.
“Not really, no. I’ll watch movies, but I don’t have time to watch shows on TV at home unless they’re commercial-free.
When I’m home, I’d rather do something constructive.
Now that I have a mate, I think there are lots of things I’d rather do with my spare time.
” I gripped her ass, letting her feel exactly what I meant.
Breezy coughed. “No PDA. There are people in the room.”