CHAPTER 15
Mark hated Zeke for interfering with the best moment of his life.
Yet, even now with the threat of his new abilities settling between them, his body, his soul, was warm with the effect of that overwhelming pleasure.
He wanted to run back into that feeling, beg Caster to never let him leave, but Dean was right; Caster needed to know everything.
His mind was open. That barrier would never go up again when he was with Caster, but his Dominant showed no indication he’d heard those thoughts. He waited, his patience offering Mark the strength he needed to find the right words.
He found his voice on the second attempt. “His Alpha sought my wolf the day he came back. I thought maybe I couldn’t resist because of the shock, but then I was trapped in the darkness.”
Caster’s eyes widened a fraction, an anger he was doing his best to control evident in his tense muscles. “What darkness?”
“I hadn’t passed out, and I wasn’t asleep. I was in that darkness again, and Zeke was there. My wolf was trapped, and I couldn’t get out.”
Caster closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I am so sorry…”
Mark placed a hand on his cheek. “It is not your fault.”
“I should have come to you.” He opened his eyes, the pain in them tearing at Mark’s fragile heart. “I was weak…”
Mark leaned forward and silenced him with a kiss. You are never weak. We are dealing with something none of us has ever seen.
His ever-present need for Caster called to him, and he pulled away. This was more important. If they couldn’t deal with it, then they couldn’t be together.
Caster nodded. “Start from the beginning. So, the rumored ability is true? A Prime Alpha has control over all wolves?”
“Yes, but not all Prime Alphas can do it. It takes a lot of control and constant practice. Dean says it's hard to control more than one wolf at the same time.”
“But your brother can do it?”
Mark nodded.
“That explains a lot.” Caster narrowed his eyes. “And you’re saying Zeke has somehow gained a similar ability?”
“Edie thinks Ethel enhanced him somehow.”
“Of course she would.” The tension in his muscles returned. “Can you feel him now?”
Mark shook his head too fast. “No. My wolf resisted him.”
“But?”
“He’s going to get better at it, Caster.” He took a breath. “Dean said it takes practice and…”
“You think that’s what Zeke is doing.”
Mark’s breath caught. “I am scared, Caster. My wolf is terrified…”
Caster pulled him even closer, his instinctual response to Mark’s fear so comforting it brought tears to his eyes. “I love you. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“Even if I don’t know how I feel about him being back?” Mark hated himself even for saying it, but it was the truth, and this wouldn’t work without complete honesty.
Caster’s comfort didn’t disappear as he’d feared. “I am not under any illusions, Mark. I know there is a lot to sort through here. I am sure of only two things: that I love you more than I ever thought possible and I would destroy the world to keep you safe.”
Mark’s tears slipped past his tight control, and he burrowed deeper into Caster’s embrace, allowing his pain to leave his body the only way it could.
He recognized some of it as the inevitable crash that came after the impossible height of subspace, but it was also fear, confusion at the moment, and remnants of a pain he’d carried for a decade, pain that decreased the longer he remained in Caster’s protection.
***
Caster’s jaw tightened to the point of pain.
He was losing control of his anger at a moment when comfort was the right response.
But he doubted Mark’s pain would ever make him feel anything but out of control.
He wanted to tear the world apart, his own battle with his emotions growing more pronounced the longer Mark’s pain filled the space.
But he refused to let him go, gripping the live, raw moment with everything in him.
The implication of what Mark had just shared was not lost on him.
An enhanced Alpha with the same abilities as the Prime Alpha was a disaster for both species.
Unless they did something fast, the inevitable momentum of events led to an unavoidable war.
But even the heavy responsibility of stopping it, a responsibility that was his to bear, wouldn’t overcome his need to comfort Mark.
Mark’s warm tears coalesced on his shoulder, his body racked by sobs he seemed unable to control, and Caster held tighter, whispering his intent to keep him safe.
This was the crash after the high, and even having expected it, it still tore at Caster’s breaking heart.
It was indecent of him to think of Mark’s feelings about Zeke, but he couldn’t avoid it.
What if Mark loved Zeke just a bit more than he loved him?
He shook his head at the juvenile thought and resolved to live up to the trust Mark had granted him.
Do you feel your wolf right now?
Mark’s nod was small, but present.
Let him make the pain go away.
Again, as he had earlier, Mark tried to resist, but the animal in him responded to Caster, and Mark’s gasps of pain morphed into sighs.
Caster let his heightened senses take in the cabin and its surroundings, his need for vigilance magnified by the threat the resurrected Alpha posed.
Vincent’s dependable heartbeat reached his senses first, no alarm.
The familiar cadence of Kyle’s heart eased some of his worry.
Still, he reached into Kyle’s mind, needing further reassurance. Any problems?
None, Your Highness. Everything’s quiet.
He breathed a sigh, his hand drifting through Mark’s hair to draw a sigh from him that seemed to travel through both of them.
He kissed Mark’s head, his mind running through all the scenarios their new threat posed.
He’d wanted to stay here for days, giving in to their need for each other, but Zeke’s new ability was not something that could wait.
If they allowed him to gain the experience he sought…
Mark’s body tightened with a tension that signaled danger, a low growl from his wolf filling the space, interrupting Caster’s strategizing.
“What is it?” Caster couldn’t help the uptick in his heartbeat, both fear and a desire to end a threat he hadn’t sensed yet increasing his tension.
Mark’s moan was one of pain. His heart rate increased to impossible proportions, and just as Caster was about to demand a response, his body jerked, the involuntary movement repeating in a rhythm that tore Caster’s breath from his lungs.
Fear like he had never known infected every cell as an invisible force rip through Mark’s body. The jerking movement overtook his entire form, his grip on Caster’s arm loosening, his body losing strength by the second.
Caster reached for his shoulders, his grip too tight, but not enough to overcome the force overtaking Mark’s body. “Mark!”
His voice filled the room, but still Mark remained stuck in whatever was attacking him. Desperate, Caster found his most dominant tone, shaking Mark’s body with enough force to rattle the bed, and still, the jerking movements, the painful moans wouldn’t dissipate.
An invisible force, one he had little hope of resisting, pulled Caster’s body forward, his eyes drifting shut as pitch-black darkness enveloped him.
Caster had never experienced a panic like this before.
He opened his eyes, too aware that he was no longer in the room with Mark, too aware of his fear that he’d lost him when familiar brown eyes met his in the darkness.
The color shifted to amber, the white fur of Mark’s wolf shining through the darkness, and Caster breathed a sigh.
“Mark?”
The wolf stepped forward, and the panic’s grip on his heart eased.
The animal tilted his head to the side, and Caster followed his lead, turning in the direction he indicated.
At first, there was nothing but more darkness, but he gasped when, a second later, red eyes, the same red eyes that had threatened Mark ten years ago, pierced the darkness.
Caster put his body between Mark’s wolf and the new threat, certain in his conviction that he would die before letting the demons anywhere near Mark.
The demon eyes flickered, a low growl filled the space, and a gray wolf stepped out of the darkened Veil. Zeke.
Caster held his ground, and Zeke’s wolf growled.
Mark’s wolf let out a painful whine, but Caster resisted the almost overwhelming urge to comfort him.
He wouldn’t turn to him, not when the threat was right in front of him.
Zeke stepped forward, and Caster’s body tensed, his claws ready to tear the wolf to shreds.
He was aware that he was in Mark’s mind space, but the limitations of his actions here wouldn’t stop him from protecting Mark the only way he knew how. Nothing would.
“Stay away from him.” His voice was a low growl, distorted by his overwhelming need to protect Mark.
“He was mine first. He’s mine.” The voice, Zeke’s voice, seemed to come from the darkness itself.
Caster stepped forward, ready to tear his head off. “Touch him, and there will be nowhere for you to hide.”
Zeke’s wolf stepped back, growling its intent.
The growls intensified, but each one ended on a whine, the longer the standoff persisted. Mark’s wolf had drawn closer to him, its whines of fear dying down to a few sighs.
Zeke’s amber wolf-eyes regained some of the blue of his human self, and he glanced at Mark before returning his attention to Caster.
Caster stepped even closer to the giant Alpha, his claws itching with the need to rip him apart, but the darkness dissolved to reveal the bedroom, Mark’s harsh gasps of breath, the door torn off its hinges, and an angry Kyle scanning the room for nonexistent threats.
Unsure what had just happened, Caster pulled Mark into his arms, needing the comfort he intended to offer, and shook his head at the questions in Kyle’s hardened expression.