Thalia climbed out of her car. She was so small and slight beside Miles, but that didn’t press the fire from her eyes. If anything, it was stronger than ever.
“Are you serious?”
“Like I said, I was in no rush. You found yours,” he began, a cocky smile curling his lips, “and now I can find many more.”
“You’re disgusting.” Thalia pushed past Miles and grabbed Rhylan by the arm. She dragged him back toward his Lodge room.
He was struck, unable to figure out what just happened. Miles saluted him before sauntering away.
Rhylan tried to tell her the plan was all laid out. He tried telling her details and about her role in it all, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Or, if she did hear him, she chose to ignore it for now. She shoved open his door and threw him into the room.
Once inside, she let out a shuddering breath. Rhylan prepared for her to crumple after the rejection from her ex-fiancé, when she smiled instead. She pulled in another breath, this time letting it fill her until she seemed to glow.
“Look, I don’t know if you’re right about this whole mate thing,” she began, “but I’m willing to give it a try.”
This time, both Rhylan and the wolf were in agreement. He surged forward and lifted Thalia from the floor. Spinning, they tumbled onto the bed together. His hands searched her skin, trying to quickly commit every inch of it to his memory. She was silken beneath his touch. Laughter bubbled out of her, unleashed and uncontrolled.
He dipped his head, kissing along her collar bone. She tasted of lemon and vanilla. He couldn’t get enough of it. He would never tire of it. He pushed aside her shirt and kissed the space between her breasts.
Thalia made a sound, somewhere between stop and keep going. While he wanted to, while he wanted to delve deep inside her and show her how they were meant to be, he pulled back. There were more important tasks on this day.
He ran his hand over her hair as she searched his eyes. This was the day they would get her brother back. He would gladly walk into the den of death to give her anything she wanted. Eventually, he let his head fall and sighed into her skin. The smell of sweet lemon rose to tickle his nose.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
Her grip on him tightened. “Last night, I was prepared to go in there on my own. This morning, I’m scared.”
She knew firsthand what could happen to them all. It was too easy to hit a creature with a tranquilizer dart, to shove a limp body into a cage twisted with silver wire. One shot and the whole mission was compromised.
Rhylan wanted to promise her that it would be alright. They’d gone over everything that could happen. They knew the numbers, the odds, and everything else. But, there was no way to know for sure how this would end. The best result ended with everyone back at the Lodge, including Javier.
The worst ended with Thalia or someone else in a cage beside Javier. Rhylan knew he wouldn’t allow that. If anyone came for her, he would take her place. She had a family waiting for her. He only had a broken career and his mother. He would ask the spirits to let his mother know he’d done his best.
Thalia’s fingers dug into his skin, like she knew what he was thinking and refused to let him go. Before either of them could say more, there was a pounding knock on the door. They barely had time to roll apart before Jax and Sydney strolled in.
Sydney still had the small smirk on her mouth. Jax pulled her away, claiming her attention with a kiss. When he finished, Sydney’s gaze lingered only on Jax, granting Rhylan and Thalia a short reprieve.
“Get ready. We need to case the place before anyone goes inside.”
A shiver ran through the woman beneath him. Rhylan clutched her close and pulled her upright. She stayed in his lap. Surprised, he studied her face. Had she chosen him as her mate, or was she only more open to the idea?
They would have to talk about it eventually, but not until the rescue mission was over. There was already a nervous energy floating through the room, tickling everyone’s skin and making them itch. If he threw his questions into the mix and stirred the pot, it would only make things worse.
***
Her head spun. Her heart raced.
This was the day.
And it was so much more. In a single moment, Miles had chosen to stand against her father and cancelled the engagement. Seconds later, she’d thrown herself into Rhylan’s arms. He could be right about their bond, but she had no way of knowing. All she knew for certain was that she’d get her brother back.
Thalia did her best to focus on the task at hand. She reminded herself that Javier was the only thing that mattered. Even as her thigh brushed Rhylan’s. Even as his arm slithered across her lower back to pull her closer. She knew she should be focusing on the crudely drawn maps of the farm and the professional mountain maps. The plan Rhylan’s pack detailed would get them in and out without fuss.
She needed to focus.
Yet, her thoughts slipped away every few seconds. The wolf was not helping, feeding her memories of the shower sex from the day before. Thalia’s body still ached with the evidence of it, as if her preternatural healing refused to wipe away their love-making. It was most likely a combination of sleeping in the backseat of her car and the sex, but she was happy to remember the sex with every small movement.
It warmed her. Rhylan’s touch made her feel alive and free. It was unlike the life she’d once thought she would lead. This was not an arrangement to advance someone else. It was not decreed by the voice of another. It was her own choosing.
And, she was pretty happy with this weird Native American doctor and his headstrong wolf.
“Thalia?” Jax waved his dark hand in front of her face. “You need to listen. This will be your part.”
She shook her head, back in the present. Jax huffed with annoyance, but she could see the way he tried to hide the tremble of his hands. Rhylan had said something about Jax, about how he’d lost packmates. Now, Thalia asked his new pack to walk into a deadly situation. He was afraid to lose any of the new family he’d found for the family of someone he barely knew.
Her infatuated thoughts of Rhylan slipped away and guilt turned her against herself. She was asking these shifters to head into a hunters’ den. There was a chance some of them would get caught. Hell, the chance that they made it all out alive and whole was even slimmer. How could she suggest this of them, risking their lives for her brother?
Rhylan tightened his arm around her. She realized they would not have it any other way. They’d worked before to free the shifters in the hunters’ grasp, shifters they knew nothing about. Why wouldn’t they work to save another, even if it was a request?
She let go of the breath caught in her chest and relaxed. Her fears and worries were better saved for later, when she would need every ounce of her instincts and sense of self-preservation.
Once the plan was laid out and everyone knew their part, they shifted. A pack of multicolored wolves ran thought the mountain forest while Nora would later take the roads in her truck. It was strange to see a pack formed entirely of wolves. Thalia had grown in a Pack comprised of whatever shifter happened to live in the area. The animal instincts sometimes clashed, but the wolves worked in unison.
She loved it, the freedom of the run and the closeness of the pack. She wished she could stay in it forever but doubted her father would give up both of his children. He’d already dismissed Javier for leaving. Would he be able to let her go, too?
Thalia had already decided to fall in love and find her own mate. Would it be pushing it too far to leave the Pack, too? She glanced at Rhylan’s wolf. He was a mahogany colored beast with dark gold eyes. Rhylan had a pack of his own. She couldn’t ask him to leave them. Even if they were truly mates.
She didn’t have to think about this until after they got Javi back. Then she could worry about her own life. For now, she would focus on Javi and the other shifters trapped in the hunters’ den.
Chapter Fourteen
Javi’s howls ech
oed through the mountains. It reached as far as it possibly could, calling out to everything in the vicinity to run. He warned animals, shifters, and humans away from the farmhouse, away from the den of hunters.
Thalia’s chest tightened. She glanced to the side, finding Rhylan beside her. His wolf leaned into her, angling himself slightly ahead of her as if he would protect her from anything that came her way. She wanted to tell him she could protect herself, but she remembered what it was like to be powerless. Thalia almost crept behind Rhylan and let him use his body to shield her. She couldn’t’ do that today.
Today, she had to be brave for Javier. He’d saved her from nearly everything horrible in her life. It was her turn to do the same for him.
The plan was to scout the farm while the sun was still high. They would see how many hunters they had inside. From their interaction the other day, Thalia had encountered three men. They were hoping those three would be all they ran into. Nora had defected, planting herself on their side. She would be heading into the house to distract her cousins.
The enchantress, Nora’s mother, would be in court later that night. It was a small window of opportunity. The woman would leave in the evening, Sydney informed them. During that time, the only hunters in the house would be Nora’s cousins. It was still dangerous, considering the tranquilizers and silver cages, but they had to try.
I’m coming for you, Javier.
Rhylan nudged her, a question. Are you ready?
She wasn’t sure she’d ever be prepared to set foot in that place again, but Javi had been in there far longer that she had. If he could survive this, then she could too. She could for him.
Thalia bobbed her wolf head in a nod. Rhylan threw a glance toward Jax and Sydney. They waited in the wings for his signal and as soon as they made eye contact, they took off in the other direction. Jax and Sydney would scout around the house to count the exits and traps.
She and Rhylan would enter the barn full of cages and dying shifters. Thalia had to find Javier so that when they staged the rescue later, they knew which cage to open. She wanted to open them all, but one at a time was their best bet. Any more and they would likely get caught.
Her heart thumped when she started forward. Her body screamed to run in the other direction. All her instincts screamed against what she was doing, but she couldn’t stop now.
Not until this was over.
***
His stomach dropped. Slowly, he crept through the barn, checking cages one by one. So many of the shifters he’d released while rescuing Thalia were back in their cages. So few had actually escaped. He wanted to unleash them all, to teach these hunters a lesson in compassion.
As he stalked forward, eyes open and senses sharpened, he realized why the barn felt so wrong to him. He couldn’t see a spirit anywhere. His sense for the world around him was suddenly blind—no, not blind. There were no spirits inside the barn. Even they stayed away from this den of death. Was it because the enchantress pulled from their souls, too? Or, could they not stand the presence of death constantly standing over the gate?
His ability to communicate with the spirits of the earth would not aid him inside the barn. For a moment, he wanted to ask Jax to trade positions with him. He could not back out of this, though. That would be the actions of a coward, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t been inside the barn before. If they followed the plan everyone would survive. He would make sure of it.
He glanced to Thalia, marching beside him. Her head was high with hope and determination as she scented the air with excitement. She was brash, but she knew the risks and the cost of acting out of order. Yet, if anything went wrong, he knew he would sacrifice himself for her. His life belonged to her. She’d already helped him so much.
He and his wolf were in agreement when it came to her. The closer she came to being his, the more he and his wolf could find a balance. There was a promise of a better life ahead. One where he and Thalia lived in happiness. If anything, all he wanted was her happiness. If that meant dying to save her or her brother, then so be it.
She cast a sidelong glance at him. He bumped his flank against hers, trying to be reassuring, but it felt as though she’d peered inside him and seen the decision he’d just made. Her gaze flicked to the creatures trapped in the other cages. Sorrow tugged at her. If she knew he would gladly take their place if it meant her safety, she would cuss him out. She would fight against it. He thought she might even send him home and attempt to free her brother on her own.
He tried to remind her to follow the plan, but it was difficult when he had no voice. Instead, he simply reminded her that he was there. He would protect her.
Chapter Fifteen
Javi’s voice echoed through her skull. His howls bled into memories of the brother she loved. His smile. His laugh. Hugs and old fights.
He was so close.
Thalia followed the spicy scent in the air, like smoked chilis and tobacco. It was as unmistakable as his howl. Excited, she ran ahead of Rhylan. He let out a small yip, warning her to slow down, but she couldn’t be bothered. She was so close.
Each step brought her past dozens of cages. The presence of silver so close made her skin crawl. It slowed her steps until worry coursed through her system. Inside the cages, creatures crouched or laid down. Many of them seemed to accept their fate in defeat. Others snarled and snapped at her as she passed. There was no light in their eyes.
Their souls were forfeit.
She swallowed and pushed forward. Javier was at the end of the barn, near a small, human sized door. His cage was constructed of thick iron bars and a layer of thick wood. She guessed the wood was supposed to suppress the sound of his incessant howling. It’d done nothing to keep her away from him.
There was a series of sliding locks on the outside of the wooden structure. With human fingers, it would be quick and easy to free him. Her heart leapt with forgotten joy. While she could not help the creatures she’d passed, she could save her brother.
Yet, she glanced over her shoulder. She watched the soulless shifters attack their cages, even as the silver seared through their skin. Would her brother be like that inside his cage? Had they bled him of his soul and left the shell inside the massive cage because they could not put him down?
She couldn’t wait any longer. She couldn’t risk his soul any longer. She yanked her wolf back, starting the change. Human fingers could peel back the sliding locks and her brother would be free. Even if he had no soul, he would not hurt her.
She had to believe it as she risked everything to shift back inside the barn. Rhylan yelped with alarmed surprise. He growled at her, a warning, but she couldn’t be bothered to heed it. She hadn’t come this far, hadn’t lived in squalor to get this close and just leave again.
The sound of footsteps echoed behind them. Thalia froze. Fear overwhelmed her, and her body refused to move. They were behind her. They would grab her again. The cage unfolded around her, making her skin ache with the memory of it.
Rhylan scratched at the ground for her to move, low whimpers escaping him. She watched his gaze flick behind her. The hunters were nearly there. She could hear their voices. She’d only wanted to free Javier. It was all she needed to do. It was the only reason she’d come to Virginia.
But, she looked to Rhylan again and realized fate had given her more than one reason to be where she was. It had given her a mate. Someone willing to do anything for her. She knew this the moment he leapt out. His teeth sank into the scruff of her neck. Her skin undulated with the change, but he was able to lift her from the ground and drag her away from the open path.
Pain flared through her neck. Her body fought to change back into her human form, but his grip held her skin and refused to let it shift back. It hurt unlike anything she’d ever known. Her whole body was caught, rippling back and forth. The power of the change surged through her and rebounded when it could not finish its course.
Thalia wanted to cry. Not because of the pain, but because of her stupidit
y. She should have waited. She should have been smarter. She’d been so impatient and now, everything was over.
The hunters would find them. They would cage both her and Rhylan. She looked up, trying to push an apology into her eyes, but Rhylan wasn’t looking. His attention was elsewhere, waiting for the hunters to come.
Javier’s howls stopped. The silence filled the barn, overwhelming and pressing on her already aching skin. The only sounds were the soft snarls of the lost shifters and the footsteps of the hunters.
They approached Javier’s cage and knocked.
“What the hell is wrong with you, mutt?”
Thalia lay close to the ground, willing her body back into the shape of a wolf. It was a long and arduous process as the seconds seemed to stretch into minutes and the minutes into hours. Eventually, she lay on the dusty floor, panting and hurting, but whole. Rhylan crouched lower, pressing his body into hers. Covering her body with his.
“I wish Cordelia would just use him up or put him down already,” one of the hunters moaned.
Thalia stifled the growl that tore through her. Rhylan placed his body over her muzzle to muffle it, but she shoved him off. No, she wouldn’t let them kill her. Silver cage or not, she would die before she let them kill her brother.
Rhylan saw her determination. His own wavered, but she could see his love for her slowly overwhelm all his good senses. If she wasn’t careful, she would lead him to certain death too. The thought of Rhylan inside one of those cages helped her regain control. She would not sacrifice her mate with her brashness.
Mate.
She guessed he was right, after all. This weird, messed up doctor of a wolf was her mate. He kindled a whirlwind of frustration and love inside her, more than she’d ever felt for anyone. Even her brother. Rhylan was the force that would stand by her for eternity. He was her happiness and her partner against the world.
Her wolf leaned into him. He looked to her, surprised. She bobbed her head and tried to tell him she would get it together. She was dumb and brash, but she would do her best to get them out of there in one piece. Later, they would return to free her brother.
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