Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Corbin
“You smell it?” Dane meets my gaze as I follow the foul scent that burns my nose.
There’s nothing that smells as disgusting as a blood witch. It’s enough to make me want to turn my nose upward and gag.
“Yeah, I smell it. It’s the same scent that was on Sage.” Thinking on it now, the faintest foulness I’m willing to bet someone was trying to hide on her.
“They’re going to pay for taking Jazmine,” Cyrus sneers, fury vibrates off him, so much that I would have thought he would shift, but he holds himself from doing so.
Several of the shifters in his club met us here and have stayed close by, ready to jump in if Cyrus needs them to.
I can see the way my brother is with those who follow him and can respect it.
We might have different ways of handling things, but we’re both Alphas and earn the respect of the shifters who follow us.
We’re also both hotheads when shit pisses us off.
“Cyrus, chill the fuck out before you fuck everything up.” The growl that rumbles through my chest can be heard by all those in the vicinity.
“I don’t need your ass losing your shit right now.
” Turning to Tucker and Dane, I step closer to them.
“The scent seems to be heading toward the south of town.”
“It’s hard to distinguish with all the other blood witch scents. How can you tell for sure?” Tucker mutters, nostrils flaring, his eyes flashing to that of the tiger that resides inside him.
“The one who left the scent on Sage is the one that goes south.” Explaining isn’t something I prefer to do, but Tucker and Dane are two of the best trackers I know of. They need to know which scent to follow, and they’ll be on the trail faster than any other bastard I know.
Nodding, Tucker glances around, looking for witnesses to what he’s about to do.
Redwich might be known for its paranormal side of things, but it also has those who don’t even know we all exist. Because of them, we have to make damn sure to keep them from discovering what we are.
To those, we’re just two MCs that share the town.
“I’ll find the scent better in this form. ”
“I know you will. Now, let’s fuckin’ go,” I command aloud.
Together, we all keep silent, focusing on the foul scent and following it.
It would be easier if I shifted as Tucker has, but I need to keep my brother in check, no matter how much he pisses me off and I want to beat the shit out of him.
Jazmine needs to have her father unharmed and not weakened by anything, including me.
The trail leads us not just south of town but to the wood line at the county’s edge.
It is fitting for it to be here as it’s said to have once been the home of the witches years ago.
Before Big Daddy and his father ran them off, killing those who used blood magic against the shifters.
The two of them, with the shifters behind them, made Redwich a safe haven for all shifters, and I, for one, intend to keep it that way.
“We’re close.” Tucker’s gravelly voice speaks in my mind.
“Jazmine’s scent is getting stronger,” Cyrus grumbles.
Thankfully, he’d stayed silent this far, but I’ve got a feeling that’s about to change. The pit of my stomach burns, and my instincts are telling me something is not quite right here.
The closer we get, the fainter the smell of the blood witches. There’s another scent that takes its place alongside my niece’s, and it resembles that of Karsyn’s, yet it’s slightly different.
“I’m shifting,” I snarl and allow my wolf free. The air around us shifts, and a snarl leaves my snout.
“Don’t scare my daughter, Corbin,” Cyrus warns, still in human form.
“Like I’d scare my niece.” That’s not even possible. Both my daughter and niece know my wolf as much as they know my brother’s. Big Daddy refused to have it any other way.
Moving forward, I silence my steps. I avoid the broken twigs and keep my paws steady on the wet leaves.
Another mile into the woods, we come to the edge of a clearing.
On the other side is where we need to be, but I’ve got a feeling this is where those witches intend to catch us .
. . thinking we’re too stupid and will just rush through the meadow to get to Jazmine.
“What do you want us to do?” Dane says, speaking through the mind link we share.
“It’s a trap,” Tucker remarks.
“Agreed, let’s go around. Cyrus’s men can go one way, we’ll go the other. We split, and they’ll have to divide up if they’re still around.” I highly doubt they are still around, though. Something about all of this feels like a test to me.
I make sure Cyrus agrees with the plan. Once he agrees, my brothers and I start to the left while he and his go to the right.
The very air around us seems to be sucked out of the area, and dread falls on my tongue. Whatever’s about to happen, it’s coming, and there’s no stopping it. A part of me senses it. From the vision Karsyn shared with me, it’s the very feeling she’s lived through for years.
“I want my daddy.” The sound of my niece’s voice as she cries for Cyrus pisses me off.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, he’ll come for you. I promise. Everything will be okay. He wouldn’t give up on you.” The hushed woman’s voice is fragile and shaky.
I don’t know who the woman is and don’t give a damn. All that matters is getting Cyrus’s daughter back.
And finding where the blood witches are hiding. It can’t be as simple as this. It never is.
Closing my eyes, I take in my surroundings, feeling, not just smelling those around me. My brothers. Cyrus and his men coming toward us. The woman and Jazmine. Nothing else in the area. It’s as if the witches themselves have disappeared . . . vanished into thin air.
Shaking my snout, I release a growl of frustration and dig my nails into the dirt beneath them.
I’ll allow my brother to handle the rest from here. To get his little girl. While he does that, I’ll watch his back until we get out of these damn woods. I need to be back at the clubhouse seeing to my mate and own daughter.
Long moments later, Cyrus comes toward me carrying his sobbing daughter in his arms. Behind him is a woman, the one who must have been with Jazmine. She’s a beautiful woman and the way my brother is standing in front of her speaks volumes. I’m willing to bet this is the mate Karsyn mentioned.
“I’m heading to my clubhouse to take care of—”
Cyrus doesn’t get to finish as the wind itself starts to laugh. The laughter is grating on my nerves as a man shielded in black cloth steps from the air itself, just appearing out of nowhere. Never have I seen anything like it in my life.
“I see you found what isn’t for you to take.” That voice . . . I know it. I heard it in Karsyn’s vision. This is the one she called Death.
“And who the fuck are you to say my daughter is yours?” Cyrus snarls, stepping forward.
“It’s written. It’s nature’s law. A prophecy to take place.
” Death waves a hand, and immediately, we’re surrounded by witches.
His gleaming eyes meet mine, though I don’t actually see his.
I can feel them beating into me. “It’s not time yet, but it will be.
The blood moon is rising and power is shifting.
You have what I want, and I will get them all.
Just wait and see. Time ticks and the moon shifts.
I’ll have them all. Wait and see. I’ll have you at my feet when the night comes.
You will have no choice in this. It will happen.
Know this now. The blood moon will change it all. ”
Still laughing, Death disappears once again as if he were never there. The blood witches following behind, all cackling.
“What the fuck just happened?” one of Cyrus’s men demands.
“The fuck if I know.” Cyrus snarls and looks at me. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Death is happening.” The woman behind Cyrus whispers, her voice like a melody. “He wants to destroy you all and plans to do so. But there’s a way to defeat him.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard that already,” Cyrus mutters, glaring. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Snorting, I turn from him and start at a run, ready to get back and find out for myself what exactly is going on. I don’t know this woman and what she said. She’s Cyrus’s problem. I’ve got my own as it is. He can deal with her.
It doesn’t take hardly any time to get back toward the town. The closer I get, I shift along with my brothers, and head for my bike. There’s no way I’m about to leave my bike anywhere but at the clubhouse.
Stepping through the doors, the first thing I see is my daughter resting her weary body against Big Daddy’s side while sitting at a table.
“You find her?” Big Daddy asks, not moving, though I’m confident he wants to.
“Yeah,” I answer and look to the other side of the table for a split second.
A part of me calms at the sight of Karsyn sitting there, a takeout container in front of her, and it looks like she’s barely touched any.
Returning my attention to Big Daddy, I keep talking.
“Cyrus is taking her to his clubhouse and another woman that was found with her.”
“His mate,” Karsyn whispers.
“I don’t know if it was his mate or not, but she went with him after spewing shit like you did about defeating that fucker, Death.” I don’t mean to growl at her, but the whole situation is pissing me off.
“Big Daddy, you go ahead and head over to Cyrus’s. I know you want to,” I tell my dad and reach over, taking my daughter in my arms. “We’re good here for now.”
There’s no way I’m telling him about what the hell that bastard said. Hell, I don’t even understand the mumbo-jumbo bullshit myself. I need to talk to Karsyn and find out what the hell it means and what exactly is coming.
Then I need to do something about this mating thing.
Either finally officially accept it or .
. . no, there’s no other option. I know this, Karsyn is mine.
She’s my mate and I won’t let her go. If things were any other way, I might have at the very least, given her time to get to know me.
But I need to claim her. Let those in our world know who she belongs to. Without it, she’s vulnerable.
It means tonight, she’s not only in my bed but under my body. She’ll take me inside her and know who she belongs beneath. There’s a lot we still have to deal with, but until then, I’m going to take from her and give to her what we both need.
Come tomorrow, I’ll demand the answers to what the fuck is going on around here and what the hell the blood moon has to do with anything.