“He’s mine, Gage. I feel it in every fiber of my being.”
“You’re still bound together. It’s magnifying your feelings. Orion and I talked it over. The best thing would be to keep the two of you apart for a while. The intensity will die down, the attachment will fade, and Declan can try again. I won’t have my wolves tearing each other apart over a mage.”
Lorcan’s hand came up, clinging tightly to the back of Knox’s shirt.
“No. I don’t want Declan. I don’t want another wolf. I’m Knox’s or I’m no one’s.”
Knox felt his heart thump hard in his chest at Lorcan’s words. Gage’s attention swung to Lorcan, his expression softening.
“I know it feels like that right now, because of the bond…”
“I had an alpha’s bite for weeks in Maken Pack, and it never felt like this. If I can’t be Knox’s mage, then let me go. Let me leave.”
Gage sighed, remorse written all over his face. “I can’t do that. I wish I could, but we need you too badly. In time…”
“No,” Lorcan said. “You think you know stubborn? You haven’t seen anything yet. You’ll never get an ounce of magic out of me if you try to force me into another wolf’s bed. I don’t care how many scars you carve into my back.”
Gage’s eyes flicked to Knox and back to Lorcan. He stepped around Knox, pushing him out of the way so he could look Lorcan up and down. Knox held himself in check, even though all he wanted was to take Lorcan and run.
Gage spoke, his voice even but tinged with regret.
“I’ve never believed pain to be a good motivator. A deterrent, maybe, but not much use for getting someone to do what you need them to do.”
He tipped Lorcan’s chin up, holding his gaze for a long moment before glancing over at Knox.
“You have until the next full moon. Make the magic work by then, or I will separate the two of you. And don’t even think about trying to bond behind my back, Knox. A mage is worth more to this pack than an alpha right now. Go on, get out of here.”
Knox didn’t wait to be told twice. He grabbed Lorcan and took off, back toward the woods. There was so much energy running through him, his emotions seesawing, that he came to a halt just inside the tree line.
“Knox?” Lorcan panted, glancing back at the lake as if he expected to see someone chasing them.
“I… I’m sorry, Lorcan. I can’t.”
His control was at a breaking point. He had just enough time to shove off his jeans before the change crashed over him, sending him sprawling onto the forest floor.
“Uh, Knox?”
He picked himself up off the ground, shaking off the effects of the sudden change, and tried to look like he hadn’t just completely lost control. His ears perked up as he looked over at Lorcan who was frowning in consternation. The mage sighed and picked up Knox’s jeans. He tucked them over his arm and started walking.
“I’m sorry, that was stupid.”
Knox wasn’t sure which part of that disaster Lorcan was referring to, but he also felt that he wasn’t owed an apology.
“If I’d just kept my cool, you’d have handled it. I didn’t mean to react like that. It’s just… Ronan felt like nothing, the same as Colt, but Declan… he felt wrong. Not the push and pull of you and me, but—well, like he said. Predator and prey. I don’t think I want that. I’m not strong enough for that. I want to be… wanted, not stalked. Does that make sense, or am I babbling? I’m babbling, aren’t I?”
Knox pushed his nose into Lorcan’s hand, and the mage yelped in surprise. He focused, really focused, narrowing his attention to one single word. It wasn’t easy, the bond a thin, fraying thread between them, but he managed.
Brave.
Lorcan stumbled to a stop and crouched, staring at him. “I just heard your voice in my head, as clear as day. How?” The mage shook his head at his own question. “You… you think I’m brave?”
Knox did. He hadn’t seen too many people stand up to Gage like that. He nudged Lorcan’s hand again. He wished he had the power to convey more than just the most basic of messages. But if they could do what Gage demanded, if they could somehow make the magic work between them, all that would change. The only problem was, he didn’t have the first idea how to do that. Lorcan’s magic was incompatible with the boundary, and Knox… well, he was the boundary, the living, breathing border of the pack. Their magics were like oil and water, but their attraction was like someone had thrown a spark into the mix. They had to make this work, whatever it took.
15
Lorcan’s adrenaline was running sky-high after the encounter with Declan and subsequent confrontation with Gage. He and Knox had earned themselves a reprieve, but if they couldn’t fix the incompatibility between them, they’d be back in the same position in a few weeks’ time.
By the time they arrived back at the hut, his energy was flagging. He sank to the ground outside, content to just sit against the wall of the hut and soak up the sun. Knox flopped onto the ground next to him, stretching out, his tail brushing against Lorcan’s leg. He hadn’t spoken into Lorcan’s mind again, which was both disappointing and a relief. Lorcan wasn’t sure he could deal with too many more surprises that day.
He ran his fingers through the wolf’s fur. “What are we going to do, Knox? I could toil away at that boundary for months—hell, years—and I might never seal that breach.”
Knox shuffled around and settled his chin on Lorcan’s knee, closing his eyes.
“I guess a nap isn’t the worst idea.”
Lorcan let his eyes fall shut. When he opened them again, Knox was human, his head pillowed on Lorcan’s thighs, his eyes on the sky above. He looked far away. Lorcan curled his fingers through the alpha’s hair.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
“Sometimes I wish we could hide the pack away and never be seen again.”
They were idle words, but they sparked an idea in Lorcan’s head. He sat up straighter, letting that spark work its way through his mind, its flame growing brighter.
“I can’t fix the hole in your boundary,” he blurted out.
“Evidently,” Knox drawled, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand as he peered up at Lorcan.
“No, you don’t understand. I can’t fix it. But I can hide it.”
Knox canted his head to the side, regarding him with dark eyes. “Hide what?”
“The broken section of the boundary. I can make it so no one outside can find it, accidentally or otherwise. If they can’t find it, they can’t cross it. Your pack would be safe.”
Knox sat up, eying Lorcan skeptically.
“But the weakness is there, plain as day. Anyone following along the boundary wall would stumble across it easily. I don’t see how you could stop them from finding it.”
Frustration got the better of Lorcan. He was tired of these wolves demanding things he couldn’t give but refusing to accept what he did have to offer. Talk about ungrateful. Not to mention arrogant.
“Yeah, well, you don’t know the first thing about druid magic. You don’t know what I can do. I think it’s time you gave me a chance to show you.”
That certainly got Knox’s attention. Or at least, it got his back up.
“You told me druid magic was incompatible with the boundary magic.”
“I’m not talking about the magic of the boundary. I’m talking about using druid magic to hide the damn hole. Are we giving this a try, or not?”
Knox sprang to his feet, lifting Lorcan up after him. “Less tell, more show.”
Lorcan let the wolf hustle him toward the gap in the boundary. Along the way, two of Knox’s betas materialized from the trees to walk with them. It occurred to Lorcan that they were essentially trapped as wolves. He hadn’t paid much attention to them before, but now he gave them a closer look. If they couldn’t change back to human form, then Lorcan needed to start getting to know them as wolves.
“What are their names?”
Knox didn’t blink at the
question. “Heath is the tawny guy. Athena is the redhead.”
Lorcan tried to commit the names and fur colors to memory. It would take more effort than learning human faces, but it seemed only fair.
“How do they always know where we’re going?”
Two betas shadowed them every time he and Knox approached the boundary.
Knox laughed, and Lorcan glanced at him in confusion. “What’s funny? What did I say?”
“I call them.”
“Uh… no, you don’t. I’d have heard that.”
“Not all wolf communication is vocal. We can talk on a level that’s not perceivable by most non-wolves.”
“Like how you called me brave earlier?” It had been odd, hearing Knox’s voice in his head.
“Yeah, like that, though it’s less words and more… impressions—need, place, a sense of urgency. It’s short-range, doesn’t work more than a few miles outside of the pack boundaries. The bond between alpha and mage is stronger. If we bond fully, it should stretch for miles, even when we’re far from the pack.”
Lorcan mused on that. “Is it only ever one-way?”
Knox faltered. “Uh, I’m not sure about that. Orion might know.”
“I’ll add it to my list of questions.”
“You’re keeping a list?”
“It’s as long as my arm. My family didn’t buy into the whole mage thing. Anything I learned was mostly them trying to warn me about the dangers.”
A dark look crossed Knox’s face. “They told you it was slavery.”
“More or less. I mean, my experience so far hasn’t exactly contradicted what they told me.”
“You’re not a slave.”
“I’m not free to leave,” Lorcan pointed out. “You’re extorting magic out of me. It’s pretty much textbook indentured servitude.”
“That’s the wrong way to look at it.”
“You would say that. Besides, what does it matter? Here I am, freely offering up my magic for your amusement. And hopefully, your benefit.”
“You’re right that I know next to nothing about druid magic. But if you think we see you as a slave, you don’t truly know what you are.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s a guide to being a mage. Or if there is, no one ever got me a copy.”
A smile replaced the glower on Knox’s face. “There’s more to being a mage than your mark. There’s a whole history behind how mages came to be. A lot of it’s been lost over time, but I can tell you what the pack lore says. Fill in a few of those gaps.”
Lorcan had always been curious about his mage nature, but there had never been any answers to be had, except his family’s warnings and worries.
“I’d like that. Knowledge is power, I guess. And I like power.”
They reached the break in the boundary, two other betas already standing guard.
“Stay here.” Knox stepped through the gap, following by Athena, and the two searched the area. The alpha disappeared from sight a few times, returning a while later.
“Do your thing.”
Lorcan stepped out and glanced around.
“You realize I can’t just wave my hands and say ‘hocus pocus,’ right? This will take some time.”
“Take all the time you need.” Knox folded his arms and leaned against the trunk of a tree, the picture of casual.
The area around the boundary was alive with plant life. Lorcan kicked off his shoes and walked barefoot, feeling the earth beneath his feet, the energy of the growing vegetation—a hum of life, vibrating at its own frequency. It took time for his magic to sync with it, but the two slowly entwined until he could barely tell where he started and the plants ended. The afternoon sun beat down upon him, and he let it energize him. He closed his eyes, held his hands out in supplication, and called to the forest, pushing energy and life into it.
“Lorcan?”
Even at a distance, he could hear the alarm in the alpha’s voice. He let it wash over him, not dropping his concentration. The breach in the boundary was like a wound, a dead space, and he filled it with life. When he finally opened his eyes, the last of the magic fading from his fingertips, the forest had gone silent around him. He felt tired but satisfied, like he’d had a really good workout.
“Lorcan?”
Knox’s voice was closer this time, quiet and awed. He glanced over his shoulder at the wolf, and then back at his creation. What had been sparse vegetation only minutes before was now a coarse thicket stretching from the forest floor to far above their heads.
“What do you think?”
“You’re not half-bad at gardening.” The offhand comment drew his eyes back to the wolf.
“But?”
“It’s just plants. Anyone could make their way through it.”
“Try,” Lorcan challenged.
Knox snorted and threw up his hands, and then charged straight at it, cursing and grumbling as the thickets bit at him. Slowly, he disappeared from view as he pushed his way through, only to reappear seconds later. He glanced left and right. “How…?”
“Try again.”
Shaking his head, Knox stripped, shifted, and then dove right back into the undergrowth. He emerged quicker this time, his ears flattened, his fur standing on end.
When he shifted back, there was no trace of skepticism on his face.
“Explain.”
“Green thumbs,” Lorcan said lightly.
Knox stalked toward him, crowding him against the trunk of a tree. “The truth.”
“Druids can affect the fabric of reality. Slightly. I spelled the plants to make them conscious, on a basic level. They won’t let anyone through. When you try, they turn you around and send you back out the way you came. You don’t even realize it’s happening—it just seems like the thicket is impassable.
Knox pressed closer, his body warm where they touched. Lorcan was painfully aware of Knox’s nakedness, and the fact that the alpha was obviously impressed in more ways than one about his little show of magic.
“The moment I set eyes on you, I knew that you were more. So much more.”
His lips captured Lorcan’s, stealing his breath away in a kiss. Lorcan lost himself in the embrace, lightheaded from the magic rush and aroused as hell from the press of Knox’s body to his. Knox ground against him, and Lorcan groaned.
“I haven’t shown you the best part,” he gasped.
Knox pulled away, his intense gaze trained on Lorcan.
“Then show me.”
Lorcan pushed Knox bodily back a step and took him by the hand. The wolf looked torn between arousal and amusement, reluctant to let him go. Lorcan kissed him again, and then led him toward the spelled brambles. Knox grabbed his jeans along the way but didn’t bother getting dressed. The vines and branches shifted as they approached, making a path for them. He kept a tight hold on Knox, and they walked right through, the path closing behind them. When they came out the other side, they were through the breach in the boundary and back within the safety of the pack.
Knox spun around to watch the gap seal again. He let go of Lorcan’s hand and tried to step through. When that didn’t work, he turned back to Lorcan. “Who can pass through? Just you? All druids?”
“Right now, just me. But I can change that.”
He moved to stand side by side with Knox, pointing to the brambles. “I need your blood. Just a little bit. May I?”
Knox looked bemused but did as he asked and placed his hand in Lorcan’s. Lorcan snagged a wickedly sharp piece of bramble and used it to cut a shallow line across Knox’s palm. The wolf didn’t even blink as the blood welled up.
Lorcan scrunched his face up in concentration.
“I’ve never done this for a non-druid before. I think it’ll work.”
“What will work?”
“Letting the magic know you’re friendly. It’s like a trade. Offering your blood, your life force, in exchange for safe passage.”
He used the blood to draw a rune across Knox’s palm, and then
pressed it against the wall of magic. The power welled up, a bright spark of light, then fizzled out.
“There. That should do it. See if you can walk through.”
He stepped back and watched while Knox stepped cautiously toward the undergrowth. The path opened to swallow him up and then closed behind him. A minute passed, and then another, but Knox didn’t return. Maybe something had gone wrong?
Worried, he followed, feeling the magic flow across his skin as the brambles surrounded him. Something brushed against him, arms encircled his waist, and he gasped in surprise as Knox’s voice murmured in his ear.
“It feels alive in here. Everything is brighter. I can almost hear the plants growing, feel their power underneath it all.”
“That’s what druid magic is—magic drawn from nature. It’s a symbiosis. We give and we take.”
“I thought druid magic was… wishy-washy. Not real power. This… this is power.”
“You’re impressed?”
“You can say that again.”
Lorcan’s knees went weak, but Knox’s strong arms held him up. “I’ve got you.”
The wolf picked him up, tossing Lorcan over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.
“Knox! Put me down.”
The alpha ignored him, stalking back into the pack. Knox’s steps grew more labored until he came to a standstill, looking down at himself and laughing. Lorcan didn’t have to look, knowing what he’d see—vines wrapped around Knox’s legs, holding him in place.
“You’re tired,” the wolf chided. “Let me carry you home.”
“I can walk.”
“You don’t have to. Please.”
It was the please that got to Lorcan. He let go of his hold on the magic, the vines falling away.
Knox would take care of him.
16
Knox carried Lorcan back to the hut, and the mage crashed out on the bed, asleep within seconds. Knox sat on the edge and watched him sleep. What Lorcan had done to hide the gap in the boundary was impressive. Probably not enough to satisfy Gage, but a good start to showing how Lorcan could be useful as a pack mage. As his mage.
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