Wayne blew out a breath of frustration. “Why did I have to walk away from my life? I could be helpful right now instead of some helpless idiot,” Wayne growled. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Well we need to go, like now.”
“We want to help.” Josephine stepped forward.
“Josephine…” Wayne tried to smile. “It’s good that you wish to help but—”
“We can control ourselves enough not to hurt the good ones,” Samantha spoke up.
Wayne looked at Jagger with a raised brow. “Well?”
“Can’t hurt,” Jagger said. “I hope.” Wayne regarded the enclosure full of females. “All right, but you take your orders from me. My mate is in trouble and he is the most important thing right now.”
“You have our word, we will follow you.” Josephine looked at the other females. “Swear it.”
There was a collective mumble and the females lowered themselves on their knees in front of Wayne.
“Get up, I’m no king,” Wayne smiled. “Come on, we have work to do. Meath is almost four hours from here; we need to take the jets.”
“On it, I’ll call the pilots,” Jagger said, trotting off.
“We leave now,” Wayne said. He heard sounds of an approaching vehicle and looked at all the women. “Get inside and get ready.” The car pulled up in front of the main house and a man with black hair emerged. Wayne knew it was Paul Greystone.
“Mr. Greystone?”
Paul turned in the direction of the voice. “Yes?”
“It’s good to meet you; I’m Wayne Maccon, Conner’s…” Wayne tilted his head, “boyfriend.”
“Yeah? If you’re his man, why did this happen to him? It would seem to me you’d be doing everything in your power to make sure nothing ever happens to Conner.”
Wayne was shocked to say the least and the anger flared in him immediately. “I’d give my life for Conner’s safety.”
“As you should, he deserves that kind of love. So explain to me how this happened to him. Seems maybe you’re not so worthy of Conner’s affections.”
“I think you better watch your mouth, Mr. Greystone. I’ve allowed you to be a part of this because you care for Conner, but I will not take attitude from you. I’m worried enough as it is.”
Paul leaned in and stuck his face in Wayne’s. “I’ll do whatever the fuck I please when it comes to Conner, I owe him.”
“Ah, shit.” Vince slipped in between Paul and Wayne. “Paul chill, you don’t want to see Wayne angry.”
“Does he turn green?” Paul snarled. “I don’t give a shit. Conner means everything.”
“He’s mine, Mr. Greystone,” Wayne growled.
“Yeah? Well, when we get him back I’m going to make sure he finds the right guy.”
Wayne’s composure slipped and he shifted, lunging at Paul.
Jagger jumped in between them in his wolf form. “Wayne, stop.”
Paul blinked in surprise. “Well, that’s new.”
“Um...yeah…” Vince scrambled for words. “Wayne’s kinda—”
“A werewolf?” Paul looked up at Vince. “Is Conner one, too?”
“Yes, he is,” Xander helped Paul to his feet. “Most of us are.”
“Rion Wayne Maccon!”
Wayne turned to find Josephine staring him down.
“Back off and get dressed! We don’t have time for your silliness,” Josephine snarled.
Taylor shivered. “Wayne man, just do what she says, she’s like, freaky scary.”
Paul ran a hand through his hair. “So…”
“Yeah,” Vince tried to smile. “Guess I have to fill you in.”
“Ya think?” Paul scoffed. “Jesus, that’s the biggest fucking wolf I’ve ever seen.”
“Wayne’s kind of a special breed,” Grayson grinned.
“I’m getting that,” Paul said.
“Come on guys, we need to pile in and head the fuck out,” Taylor said.
Vince whistled loudly. “Let’s go!”
Wayne shifted and walked over to Riley and Mark. “I need you two to stay here. I know—”
Riley cut in. “Yes, we’d love to help rescue Conner, but we aren’t trained like Mateo and Josh and we’re mere humans. We understand Wayne. Mark and I will hang out with the remaining females.”
Wayne looked over his shoulder at the females staying behind. “Fiona?”
“Yes, Wayne.”
“I expect you to make sure these men are not harmed in my absence.”
“Define…harmed.” Fiona’s eyes roamed over Mark and Riley.
“Fiona…” Wayne growled.
“Oh, all right,” Fiona scowled.
“Well, this should be fun,” Mark grumbled.
“Come on,” Wayne said, walking over to the van. “We have some business to attend to.” ~~
Conner watched the sun going down. Mitch was still out for the time being and he hadn’t seen Aidan for a few hours. The hard brick floor was biting through his pants and he shivered. Mitch moaned in his lap and opened his eyes.
“Hey, how do you feel?” Conner smoothed the hair from Mitch’s brow.
“Like some bitch slapped me with a board.” Mitch tried to sit up and winced at the pain in his ribs.
“I’m sorry about your side and face.” Conner handed Mitch a cool cloth.
“Not your fault.” Mitch ran the cloth across his face. “What the hell is going on, Conner?”
Conner sighed loudly. “Sloan is a witch.”
Mitch snorted, and then laughed.
“And I’m a werewolf,” Conner added.
“What’s next? Are the vampires joining us?” Mitch asked with a laugh.
Conner tilted his head to the side in thought. “I have no idea if they actually exist.”
“You can’t be serious,” Mitch arched a brow. “Werewolves do? I’m not that drugged up.”
Conner allowed his teeth to drop. “We do.”
Mitch scrambled away from Conner to the other side of the room. “Holy shit!”
“Please don’t be scared, Mitch. I’d never hurt you.”
Conner heard the lock on the door and retreated to the other side of the room with Mitch. Sloan came in and locked the door behind her. She eyed Mitch and smiled.
“You haven’t gotten busy yet?”
“Just leave Conner alone, Sloan,” Mitch said.
Conner sniffed the air. “You have werewolves with you.”
Sloan smiled. “Oh yes, the bad kind.”
“Have you even warned them what they are facing?” Conner asked.
Sloan shrugged her shoulders. “Not my problem, they’ll keep your friends busy.” Sloan grabbed Mitch by his bicep, pulling him up to her face. “Now, you need to get busy Mitch. You want Conner, don’t you?”
Mitch tried to no avail to get free. “I won’t do it.”
“Yes you will.” Sloan locked eyes with Mitch. “You want him, badly. Take him Mitch, make him yours.”
“Don’t do this Sloan.” Conner backed into the corner.
“Take him, Mitch,” Sloan repeated. Mitch’s pupils went wide and Sloan smiled. “There ya go.”
“No…” Mitch backed away.
“Yes, now fucking do it!” Sloan snarled.
Mitch pressed his palms to his forehead. “No!”
“Fine,” Sloan sighed.
Conner jerked in surprise at the sound of a gun going off. Mitch crumpled to his knees, eyes wide, looking at Sloan.
“Mitch!” Conner scrambled across the floor to Mitch. “Why?!” Conner growled at Sloan.
“He’s no use to me anymore.” Sloan smiled demonically. “Who knew he’d be so strong-willed?”
“Why not just come at me? Why hurt Mitch?” Conner snarled.
“As much as I’d love to hurt you Conner, I can’t. See, being as you aren’t ‘normal’ you’re protected from bad things like me. It’s not like I didn’t try, a little shove here, a little spell there, none of it worked.”
“What?”
“You’re immune, Conner, to bad magic and God knows what else.”
The sound of gun shots going off breached the castle walls. Sloan turned towards the door. “We have company,” Sloan’s nose twitched. “One of them is a witch.”
“Someone you know?” Conner asked.
“No, this is Glen the good witch.”
“Huh?” Conner furrowed his brows.
“Did you not see ‘The Wizard of Oz’? Glenda the Good Witch?”
“You said ‘Glen’,” Conner pointed out.
“Because it’s a man, dumbass,” Sloan narrowed her eyes at Conner.
“If he’s Glen, that makes you that greenfaced bitch and we both know what happened to her,” Conner spat.
Sloan smiled wide. “I’m stronger, and I can make their rescue much, much harder. Let the games begin.”
~~ Chance raced toward the castle, Logan and Locke flanking him. The full moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the surrounding area in an eerie glow. A sliver of smoke popped up in his path and Chance stopped. Pierce stood in the smoke, smiling at him.
“Pierce?” Chance moved forward. Pierce’s face changed to one of pain and Chance recoiled at the sight of Pierce’s body being torn apart by rogue wolves.
“Pierce!” Chance ran forward trying to stop the wolves. A flash of pain hit behind his eyes and he hit the ground hard, a jolt of sharp pain hit his spine. He blinked to see Nikolai standing over him. “What the fuck?” Chance growled.
“You were hallucinating,” Nikolai put his hand out.
“Fuck, she put a spell on the castle.” Chance took Nikolai’s offered hand and whistled loudly, motioning the group to him. “She’s put a fear spell on the castle, whatever your worst fear is, you’ll see it. You need to push through it.”
“Well, I’m safe then,” Nikolai grinned. “Nothing scares me.”
“I hope you’re right.” Chance felt his eye. “You hit me?”
Nikolai shrugged. “Kinda had to.”
“Clear your minds.” Wayne looked at them. “We go in pairs, no one goes in alone.” Wayne looked at Chance. “Can you combat it?”
“Not in time,” Chance shook his head.
“Move out.” Wayne motioned to the men.
“I actually get to storm a castle,” Vince grinned.
Lorenzo rolled his eyes.
Jacob and Seth did a quick perimeter check and then made their way back to the group that was going in by way of the castle walls. The castle was massive - three stories, boasting twenty towers in cruciform shape and protected by a moat and dirt ditch. Jacob shook his hands out, claws protruded from the tips of his fingers.
“Okay, we hit it from all angles. I’ll need someone with me,” Jacob said.
Vince looked up at the towering walls. “I’ll go.”
“No offense,” Jacob looked Vince up and down. “But you’re not really equipped to scale a wall without a rope.”
Vince grinned, shuffling his boots to one side. Long, razor sharp knives slid out of the front of his steel toed boots.
“Yeah? How ‘bout now?”
Jacob grinned.
“Okay, so we got you two on the north side,” Noah looked up at the castle walls. “I want two by two on every damn corner. The rest of you take the front and back.”
“The main gate will be easy to breach,” Paul said.
“Oh really?” Vince eyed Paul.
Paul shrugged. “Just trust me on this.”
Ross looked at his watch. “Uh - let’s move with a purpose.”
A muffled shot breached the night air and Mateo smiled at the whistled sound of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” Josh and Sam had taken point on one of the corners with their sniper rifles. A second later, a man fell in front of them, one shot to the forehead. Sam came running around the corner holding his rifle.
“Three down.” Sam looked at the man on the ground. “Four.”
“Let’s go,” Wayne said.
~~ Paul had been right; the main castle gate had been easy to break into. Locke ran down the hallway in wolf form with Logan right on his heels. He hadn’t run into his fears yet, which was good. Not that he had that many, he hadn’t found his mate yet and really his only fear was not being able to save someone in a fire. They ran down the long hall and Locke picked up the unmistakable smell of blood, along with another scent that set the fur on his haunches rising.
He growled, signaling to Logan that they were going to be facing trouble ahead. Two large wolves blocked their way. Both were black with yellow eyes; they snarled, dropping large drops of spittle on the floor. Locke reared back and howled, signaling to Logan to attack. One of them ran down the hall and turned into a room. Locke followed and came to a sliding stop in the doorway.
A man sat on the floor, a golden halo of light surrounding him and he was cradling another man in his arms. The rogue wolf snarled and advanced on the two men. Locke ran forward, sinking his teeth into the wolf’s hind quarters and bit down. There was a loud yelp and Locke shook his head, throwing the wolf into the wall. He sprang on top of it and bit down on the vulnerable neck area. Once satisfied the rogue was incapacitated, Locke turned his attention back to the two men on the floor.
Then a scent so wonderful it was almost sinful knocked him on his ass. Locke shook his head clear and padded over to the man sitting on the floor.
“I have to give him my blood or he’s going to die,” Conner said through tears.
Locke tilted his head and whined. “He’s your mate?” Conner smiled when the wolf sniffed Mitch. “I won’t hurt him, but he needs my blood - unless you want him changed?”
Locke huffed and shook his head no.
“Then let me help him, okay?” Conner smiled as the wolf sat down and whined softly.
Conner let his canines drop and bit his hand. Dropping his blood into Mitch’s open chest wound, he waited for the lifesaving blood to take effect. “Keep your eye on the hallway, please,” he instructed Locke.
Locke whined and yipped over his shoulder. Logan trotted into the room and sat down in front of the door.
“I take it all of you came?” Conner asked.
Locke nodded his head.
“Then Sloan’s fucked.”
~~ Sam leaned against one of the castle walls with Troy at his side. They’d run into resistance within minutes of entering the castle. Now, they both stood back while Dakota and Sawyer went to work on two rogues. Sam was impressed. It wasn’t like Dakota was weak, not at all. As the beta of the Queets pack, Dakota was one hell of a powerful wolf -and the rogues were getting that message. Sam just wasn’t used to seeing his usually gentle husband in mortal combat.
Sam smelled another werewolf, one of their own and looked over his shoulder. Locke Renfro was gaping at the scene in front of him. “Um, should we…?”
“Help?” Troy laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think they need it.”
Dakota bit down on the rogue’s neck and a loud yelp echoed through the castle. Sawyer’s rogue was trying to run away, to no avail. Sawyer delivered the final blow, killing the rogue in seconds. Sawyer shook his blood soaked fur, splattering the wall as he did so. Loud howls echoed down the hallway and then all hell broke loose.
Dakota and Sawyer sat transfixed, watching their husbands and friends. Vince Markov was plowing through rogues without breaking a sweat. Heads were flying and the cries of wounded rogues filled the castle. Vince and his son had come from the opposite direction, swords ready. Vince’s famous eight inch hunting knife was making quick work of the remaining rogues.
Dakota shifted after the last rogue’s head rolled across the floor.
“So,” Dakota cleared his throat. “Do you need us to hang out?”
Nikolai tilted his head. “Dude, nice package.”
Sam shifted and growled. “Do you mind? That’s my husband.”
Nikolai whistled softly. “Damn, no wonder you two are married.”
Vince sighed in frustratio
n. “Nik, can you help Lorenzo?” Vince motioned down the hall.
“I’m just sayin’ if they are going to shift into humans, they should cover their… parts.”
Sawyer chuckled softly as Nikolai ran down the hall towards Lorenzo swinging his sword. “He’s a handful, huh?”
Vince covered his eyes. “He’s right, though. Could you guys, like, put some clothes on? I’m married and I love my husband, so I would love it if you guys would just get the hell dressed.”
Troy laughed. “Maybe you should get naked, Vince. Then you won’t feel so left out?”
“Yeah, no.” Vince wiped his knife off on his pant leg.
“Dammit,” Sawyer sighed.
Troy raised a brow. “Really? I’m standing right here.”
“Pfft. Hell, babe, you know you’re it for me.”
“As much fun as this is?” Dakota cocked his head to the side, listening to growls coming from somewhere in the castle. “It’s far from over.”
~~ Wayne ran with Jagger at his side. They came to a fork in the hall and Wayne looked down both hallways; growls came from the hall to the left. Wayne motioned to Jagger and they took the left hallway. Halfway down the hall, Wayne saw them.
Rogues.
There were four of them getting ready to do battle. Wayne let out a growl that shook the hallways, knocking paintings off walls. The rogues whined, running in the opposite direction.
Jagger chuckled as they kept running after the rogues that were now in full retreat from a growling and snarling Wayne. Wayne’s much larger frame and longer legs caught up quickly with the straggling rogues in the back. With a loud snarl that knocked mortar loose from the walls, Wayne bit down on the haunches of one of them. A terrified yelp left the rogue’s throat as Wayne bit it in half, shaking the wolf from his jaws and sending the separate parts flying in opposite directions.
Jagger had attacked the other one and was delivering the final death blow to the rogue’s neck. The other two, realizing what Wayne was, made a hasty retreat. Jagger moved quickly with Wayne to finish them off as well. They’d taken out two more rogue wolves and were now racing along the longest hallway in history. It was ridiculous. No wonder he never took a tour of this damn castle.
Wayne slid to a stop as Conner appeared before him, bleeding. Wayne shifted and walked forward. “Conner?”
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