Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Corbin
Fuck me. Dragging Karsyn back to the clubhouse has my wolf and me on the outs.
All he wants to do is mark her, keep her, and make her ours.
Fuck that. I’m not about to make this witch my mate.
I don’t give a damn if fate says she’s mine or not.
I refuse, yet a part of me hates the shit she’s been through.
What she told me she endured for five years.
More than that, I hate those last words she said. She was Death’s toy. Whoever the fuck Death is.
Without another word, I keep my hand around her arm, ensuring she can’t vanish once more as we make our way back.
I still can’t believe she could do something like that as it is.
None of us could believe it. Dane and Daniel wanted to go after her, but I ordered them back while I went after her alone.
She is, after all, my mate, even if I don’t want to accept the fact.
The truth is still there. She’s mine whether I like it or not.
That is unless I reject the mating. Or she does.
I’m not about to let her do it, though. It will make me look weak, and I won’t have that.
The clubhouse comes into view, and I notice the way she shivers.
I feel like an ass for making her walk the entire way barefoot.
I saw it earlier in the room as we questioned her.
The way she’s dressed, no shoes, the dress .
. . sheer, barely enough fabric to cover her body.
Hell, even now, against the cold, I can see her hardened nipples pressing against the material.
Gritting my teeth, I stop, twirl her to me, and scoop her in my arms. With her being only a half-shifter, I can only assume she doesn’t have the warm blood flowing through her veins like we do. Normal half-shifters have a wolf still, but she doesn’t, which makes her susceptible to the cold.
Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever met another half-shifter that doesn’t have a wolf. It’s fucking weird.
“What are you doing?” Karsyn gasps, clinging to me.
“Getting us to the clubhouse faster.” I grunt, trying not to let the scent of her get to me.
“I can walk. I walked this far,” she mutters.
“Yeah, but you look like you’re about to freeze to death.”
“Bet you would just love that.” She doesn’t hide the suspicion from her voice, and I don’t give her an answer.
Right now, all I want to do is get her inside, get her to a room, and plant a guard on her.
One that will keep an eye on her for the remainder of the night.
After that, I intend to get the fuck out of here.
I need to run. To relieve the tension building inside me.
I already had my hands full with the shit going on in the club. I didn’t need this on top of that.
At the meeting with Orpheus the other night, he requested we up the number of runs we do for him.
That’s not something I was able to agree to.
He wants his product to double. I’ve got no problem with vamp, but he’s going to have to look elsewhere if he wants to do that.
I don’t have the time to give him. Not when my club’s also running shit for the humans.
Inside the clubhouse, I shove the thoughts away as I take Karsyn to my room. Why did I take her there? I’ve no fucking clue. I just do. Once in the room, I set her on her feet. “Here, you’ll stay in here tonight.”
“This is your room,” she utters.
“Yeah, it is.” I grunt. “Take a shower.” I step over to my dresser and pull out a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeve tee for her.
I know it’ll engulf her, but it’ll do. Turning back to her, I toss them to her.
“Here, you can change into these,” I say as she catches them, and I point to the bathroom.
“The shower’s through there. Feel free to use my soap and shit.
Don’t try to leave the room. I’ll have someone stationed right outside, and they’ll sense if you up and vanish. ”
“Okay.” She nods and draws her bottom lip between her teeth. Eyes meeting mine. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Spinning on my heel, I stalk out of the room quickly, not wanting to be anywhere near her right now.
Being too close to her calls to my wolf, and we don’t need that shit.
Without looking back or stopping to talk to anyone, other than to give Tucker orders to watch over my room, I prowl toward the exit, shift, and take off into the night.
No way am I sticking close to this place. Not with my mate in my room, in my bed.
Running through the night did me good. I ran, hunted, fed, and expended much-needed energy. Once I finished, I went to my house and crashed, only to sleep longer than I meant to.
Now, heading back to the clubhouse with a clear head, I’m ready to deal with business.
And Karsyn.
My wolf growls in my head, more than ready to set eyes on the witch. Figure out what I’m going to do about her.
In the clubhouse, I don’t bother going to my room.
I move straight for the bar where Hips, one of the doxies, is working.
To earn their keep, the bitches who serve as doxies also help around the clubhouse.
Rotating behind the bar, to cooking and cleaning.
It’s part of the deal in order to stay here at the clubhouse.
“Get me a beer,” I order, not even bothering to check the other woman out.
“You got it, Corbin,” Hips all but purrs.
She’s a human but was raised by shifters.
How that happened, I don’t know and don’t give a fuck.
She came to the club after her parents were killed and hasn’t left.
She’s one of the good ones here, she doesn’t try to cause bullshit, but we all know she wants to be an ol’ lady.
Still, that won’t happen unless she’s either a mate or one of my brothers decides to say fuck it and make her so.
Hips turns to the cooler lined up along the back wall, pulls out a cold one, pops the cap, and sets it in front of me.
I barely get a sip when Justice joins me. “What are we going to do about the witch?”
“Haven’t made up my mind yet.” I shrug.
“She’s your mate.” He grunts.
“Yeah, she’s also Dane’s sister.”
The whole thing is complicated.
Justice opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by my daughter.
“Daddy,” Sage screams, coming through the doors. Big Daddy’s right behind her, along with none other than my brother, Cyrus.
“The fuck is going on here,” I demand, coming off the stool and moving toward my crying daughter as she rushes to me.
“Daddy, she’s gone.” My little girl sobs.
“Who’s gone?”
“Corbin,” Cyrus calls, voice thick, features contorted.
“Who the fuck is gone? And what the fuck are you doing here?” I snarl.
“Jazmine. She’s gone. Someone took her, and I need your help getting her back,” Cyrus says, shocking the hell out of me.
“You want my help getting your daughter back?” I grind out.
“Wouldn’t be here otherwise. My daughter means everything to me.” Cyrus growls. “What if it was Sage who was taken?”
“Cyrus, Corbin. Put the rivalry on the back burner. Our focus between both clubs is getting my granddaughter back,” Big Daddy snarls.
“Daddy, please, please help Uncle Cyrus,” Sage pleads.
“Do you have any idea as to who took her?” My gut tightens, and I wrap my arm tighter around my little girl.
“At the school, the stench of those blood witches was everywhere. Outside and inside.”
“Why would the witches be at the school? For that matter, take Jazmine?” I demand.
“I know why.”
At the whisper of those words, I release my daughter, putting her behind me as I spin to face Karsyn. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”
Behind her, I notice both Dane and Daniel. Tucker’s not far from her either.
“What the fuck do you have a witch in your clubhouse for?” Cyrus snarls.
“Quiet,” I command without looking at my brother.
“Daddy,” Sage whimpers, balling her hands into fists and gripping my shirt.
“Why would they take my niece?” I demand, holding Karsyn’s gaze.
“Because they’re pure. Rare. Innocent. They want their blood,” Karsyn says, swallows, and takes a deep breath. As she steps forward and whispers with tears in her eyes, “Death is coming, and with him, blood will spill. Blood will bring wrath. He intends to wage a war. Control those who he can.”
“The hell is this shit? Who is Death?” My brother growls. “Who the fuck is this witch?”
“She’s my mate,” I snarl, not looking away from Karsyn. “Why would he take my niece? There’re other pure-blooded wolves out there.”
“Maybe so, but Redwich means something to Death. He wants from this county. This town. He’s coming for you all. For all of us. But I know his secret. I know how to beat him.”
“And how’s that?” Big Daddy’s deep voice booms.
“By using me. I’m the key to destroying him,” Karsyn says, shocking us all. Holding her hand out in front of me, she silently asks me to take it. I do and go still as she shows me something I never expected. Visions of the past and present. It’s like looking through her eyes.
This woman, she’s not just an earth witch. She’s much more than that. She’s also my mate, and I’m going to keep her.
She’s the key to the answers we need.
“How are you the key?” Cyrus demands harshly.
“I’m more like half the key. The other half of the key is your mate, Harmony,” she utters before her knees give out under her, and she collapses.
I catch her in my arms. Her words fill my head.
There’s more to this than what she said.
I feel it. I saw what she showed me. I know without a doubt it wasn’t a lie.
Karsyn isn’t one to deceive. I don’t think she’d know how.
The woman is pure. Innocence. A complete conflict with all those around her.
It’s why I’ll keep her. Make her mine. Mate with her and not let her go.
With her help, we’ll also find my niece and then go from there to see if my brother and I go back to being rivals or not.