Chapter Sixteen
John
As soon as we exited the bar, I turned toward Seth and asked, “What is wrong with you?”
He grinned as if he knew what I was asking but, instead, he asked, “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Challenging an alpha dragon. Are you mad?” I said a little quietly so as not to stir any dragons nearby.
I wasn’t sure if they were listening in. I’m sure that they were. We weren’t but a few feet away from the door. Anyone of them could come outside and it could be chaos after that. I didn’t want that to happen. I needed an alliance with this hoard. At least for Vince’s sake.
Seth scoffed and then put his hand out, “Give me the address he gave you, John.”
I suddenly didn’t feel like sharing the information with him. They say dragons could smell intentions from afar. The same could be said about Omegas. I should’ve gone with my instincts not to trust Seth and was an idiot to have him join me instead of Paul. I turned on my heel and headed for my car with Seth following close behind. I glanced down at the napkin, memorizing the address, and pushed the napkin deep into my jeans pocket.
“John, tell me the address,” Seth asked again when I didn’t respond. I could hear the threat underneath his words.
I spun around, stopping him in his tracks, and asked sharply, “What do you want with it?”
“It’s none of your business,” he said arrogantly.
“Except it is. I’m trying to save two women and an unborn pup.”
“And I’m trying to bring Warwick down. Our goals align.”
“What are you going to do with him?” I asked. I could sense he wasn’t being truthful and omitting information. Had he aligned himself with Warwick and needed to warn him? Certainly, Warwick would’ve told Seth where he was. Maybe Seth had a sudden change of plans and wanted to join him. Seth wasn’t getting this address.
Ignoring my question, he huffed, “Give me the address, John.”
“No,” I said sternly, taking a step forward. It was a challenging move that I unknowingly took, but I was going to stand firm on my answer. He was not going to jeopardize this rescue mission. Warwick needed to pay, that was certain, but after talking to the Council last night, they needed me to turn him over for sentencing.
Seth growled at me, splaying his fangs and taking a stance of attack.
I ignored him, hoping he would back down. Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t and my wolf was on edge. “Warwick will be dealt with the proper way. My way, given that I am the alpha,” I lied. “Stand down, Seth.”
“You’re no alpha,” he growled and then charged.
Shit. I growled, my fangs coming out, too, and I braced myself for impact. He easily swept me off my feet. In no time, he was on top of me and was about to slice my neck with his claws when something shoved him away before he could do that. It was another wolf. I wasn’t sure if it was any wolf from the New York pack, but I recognized it somehow. The parking lot wasn’t well lit but all I could see was that it was a big wolf with a dark coat. My eyes glanced down and saw the milky white tips and I shook my head, astonished that he showed.
“Vince?” I muttered.
He shifted back into human form but didn’t let Seth out of his sights. “I could smell you from a hundred miles away, cousin. You still smell like shit,” Vince said and chuckled.
I laughed. “Vince!”
“Who the hell are you?” Seth asked, dusting himself off as he got up. He could barely stand straight. I knew Vince had to have hit him quite hard.
I got to my feet, too, feeling shaky from the adrenalin rush. “Seth, this is the one I was standing in for. This is the real alpha of the pack.”
“I’m guessing this is one of the troublesome wolves,” Vince said. Seth took a step back and rightfully so. Vince was slightly taller than Seth and possibly more muscular. As kids, Vince, Aiden, and I would wrestle around. Vince and Aiden took it easy on me as I was the smallest of the three of us. But, when Vince and Aiden would wrestle, Vince would come out winning a majority of the time.
“I’ll take care of things from here.” Vince gave a smirk that made Seth swallow audibly. “You’re going to go back home.” His voice was so commanding that I almost walked to my car.
For the first time, I noticed that Vince was not alone. We were so preoccupied with Seth that I didn’t see that Vince had a young woman with him. She maintained a good distance from us, and probably for good reasons.
Vince turned his attention to me and saw me staring. He smiled. “Oh that’s my mate,” he said. “Her name is Lissa. She came here in search of her sister. She only recently found out she had a sister. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know a Kara would you?”
My eyes widened. Kara had a sister.
“Uh, yeah. That’s who I was hoping you would help me track.”
Vince cocked his head back, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Hold on, Kara is your mate?” I nodded and Vince let out a soft laugh as he walked over and helped me to my feet. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
I glanced over at Lissa who was staring at me with wide eyes, and I said, “Apparently.”
I couldn’t believe he even said the words ‘my mate’ when he introduced her. I was not only stunned, but happy for them both. It was about time that he finally settled down. Lissa was gorgeous and if I scented her correctly, she was also a dragon. That was even more surprising.
Without another word, Seth left us. Vince walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. “Man, it’s good to see you again, cuz,” he said. He stepped back and said, “Where do we need to start?”
I was glad he was ready to get going. “I have Warwick’s address. I’m not too sure if he’s keeping Kara and Sophia there.”
“It’s a start. Let’s go.”