Blaze shook his head, “Come on men. Falcon and Dove, you stay here and help gather up the garbage while we go back to the compound. I’m sure Grant and Artemus have arrived there by now.”
“Wait, Grant is alive too?” Dakota gasped.
“Well, some would argue he’s still a stiff but then that’s normal for my brother.” David clasped a hand on Dakota’s shoulder. “I’m sorry we had to die on you guys, but we have a serious leak in our ranks. Grant felt this was the best way to ensure our arrival would be a surprise.”
Dakota just shook his head and changed back into his wolf. He headed back toward the compound, Blaze, and David hot on his heels. He just hoped they would get there in time to help the others.
◆◆◆
Ricky turned as he heard a noise behind him. He watched as the door to the secret passage actually disappeared as if it had never been there. “What the…” he stammered before he heard a growl behind him. Vicky surged past him and attacked the large brown wolf that appeared in the entrance.
She managed to bring the wolf down, but another soon took his place. Ricky felt his arm begin to burn as he rushed to put himself between the strangers, and the rest of the people in the room. What he was going to do, he had no idea, but then he was still figuring out this protector stuff.
“Look out!” The young magi shouted. But before Ricky could react, Vicky flew across the room and hit the wall hard. She fell and remained silent. Sandy moved to stand by his side in his wolf form, his lips curled as he growled at the tall human who entered with two other wolves by his side. The man’s hands were extended as he continued to chant in a strange language.
“He’s one of the magi from my coven!” Sebastian warned as he cowered next to Sheila who still had not transformed into her wolf form. Ricky could feel a strange sensation, like a thousand ants running up and down his body. Without thinking, he extended his arms and held his palms out as if to ward off a blow.
The magi stopped for a moment, a puzzled look on his face. “How is this possible? You should be next to the she-wolf!”
Ricky heard a growl behind him and watched as Sheila in her wolf form, charge forward to fight one of the two wolves. He gasped in horror as his little brother surged forward and began to circle around the other. He had to do something, yet he knew the real threat came from the magi. “What do you want?’ He asked as he continued to push against the magic he felt directed at him.
“Well, when our package wasn’t delivered to us, we decided to come and pick him up. We’ve known about the secret tunnel for months and figured you would flee like cowards. But no matter human, the omega will be coming with me.” Ricky shuddered and took a step back as the magi aimed his hands at him and began to chant once more.
“Stop it!” Sebastian cried. Out of the corner of his eye, Ricky could see him kneeling beside the silent from of Vicky. He watched as the young magi gently rubbed her fur before standing to glare at the other magi in the room.
“And what will you do about it gelding?” The magi said. “I can’t believe they took you in. Do they know you can’t perform any kind of magic of worth?”
Sebastian walked slowly toward the magi, his arms loosely at his sides. Ricky moved to stop the young man but was distracted when the wolf his brother had been circling, leapt toward him. Without thinking, he dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back. He used his legs the way Tank had showed him to kick up and propel the wolf into the wall. As the wolf hit and fell to the ground unconscious, Ricky jumped back up and turned to face the magi once more.
“Sebastian, don’t!” Ricky called out, but the young magi simply continued to calmly walk toward the other man.
“Look, he thinks he grew a set of balls!” The tall man taunted Sebastian, “Maybe when I bring you back to the coven, the head priest will allow me to keep you as my own personal pet.”
Sebastian didn’t respond but instead, placed his hand on the man’s outstretched arms. Ricky watched as he closed his eyes. The tall man gasped and tried to step away from the young magi, but Sebastian continued to tighten his grip. “Let me go, you abomination!”
Ricky could hear the sounds of fighting deeper in the tunnel where Sheila, his brother, and the other wolf had disappeared. He turned as he heard the evil magi begin to scream. The crawling sensation on his skin had stopped. Sebastian moved closer to the fallen magi and placed his hands over the man’s heart. The young magi began to shake.
The evil magi’s eyes rolled back into his head as his whole body began to convulse. A moment later, he was silent as his eyes stared at nothing. Sebastian cried out as if in pain before he fell to his side.
Ricky raced to his side and placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. He was shocked when the young man yelled “NO! Don’t touch me!” before he felt the pain. It was like a bolt of lightning had traveled up his arm. He pulled his arm back and headed into the tunnel to protect his brother.
Chapter 23
Sparky watched in horror as Jason and his sentries encircled them. This was bad, really bad. While he and Jason had practiced together, they had never fought each other. Besides, he could feel his wolf whining and wanting to submit to the new alpha wolf. He heard his mate begin to chant. He glanced sideways and saw Charlie raise his arms to the sky.
A moment later, clouds appeared, and lightning flashed. “Ah, Charlie?” Sparky glanced nervously as a bolt of lightning hit not far from where they were standing. “Remember, we don’t want to kill them.”
Charlie continued to chant as the skies opened and rain began to pour from the skies. The wind increased as a funnel appeared. The mechanic watched in horror as the tornado touched the ground and began to lift everything in its path into the air. Wolves were sucked into the vortex as it moved around the compound; only to be dropped to the hard ground a short time later. Many of them didn’t get back up, and Sparky hoped none of their pack members were seriously hurt.
Sparky looked over and saw Winston pull something from his pocket. He didn’t stop to think as he shifted into his wolf form and ran towards his former master. He heard the sound of the shot just as he clamped down on the magi’s arm. Winston screamed as he fell to the ground.
The magi rolled and got to his knees, his eyes filled with hatred as he began to chant. This time, however, Sparky had had enough. Before the man could finish his spell, Sparky leapt and knocked him onto his back. He looked down at the being that had caused him so much pain and humiliation. He smiled as he saw fear begin to replace the hatred in the man’s eyes.
The mechanic could feel the magi pushing to get into his mind. Yet this time, he felt stronger. He glanced over to see Charlie on his knees, a hand to his shoulder. “Finish him…” the words of his mate floated into his mind. Without hesitation, Sparky grasped the magi’s neck between his powerful jaws and tore his throat out. He stepped back and watched as the life drained from the magi’s eyes.
“Watch out!” Charlie called out in warning. Sparky whirled around and came face to face with Jason’s wolf. The large black wolf growled as he bared his fangs.
Sparky shifted back to his human form and held his hands in front of him, “Whoa there big boy. You don’t want to do this, Jason. I mean, who is going to help you restore that old corvette you picked up at the auction last month?”
Jason advanced a couple of steps before he began to shake his head. Sparky glanced around, and the other wolves from their pack were also looking around as if they had just woken from a bad dream. The mechanic smiled as he realized the mind control Winston had used on his friend and pack mates was beginning to wear off. He glanced back as Jason’s black wolf began to shimmer. A moment later, a naked Jason stood in front of him.
“What the hell?” Jason stuttered, and he rubbed at his temples.
“Glad to see you decided to wake up from Winston’s nightmare,” Sparky said as he clasped a hand onto his alpha’s shoulder. “I know, believe me, it will take you a little bit to get over the effects, but you and the
others will be just fine.” He paused, “Well, not as fine as me, but we can’t all be perfect.”
Before Jason could reply, a loud growl sounded from behind them. A large gray wolf leapt past them and charged at Charlie. Sparky and Jason both started to shift but before they could finish, Charlie staggered to his feet. The gray wolf shifted to reveal a muscular man with graying hair receding from his forehead. But it was the piercing blue eyes filled with madness that caught everyone’s attention.
“Well, if it isn’t my little pet. Have you told everyone here about our special times together?” The deranged wolf grinned, “Alpha Clifton wants me to kill you, and I will but maybe first we can have some fun just for old-time’s sake.”
“Not on your life, Sal” Charlie stood straight, but Sparky could see the slight tremble in his mate. He could feel the self-disgust and fear as well. Without stopping to think about it, Sparky charged at the man. But before he could get to them, Sal jumped toward Charlie and managed to get behind him.
Sal held a knife to Charlie’s throat, “Come any closer wolf, and I’ll kill him.”
“Stay back, I can handle him,” Charlie’s voice sounded in his mind. Sparky stayed back, but he continued to growl. His wolf was not happy with him. All it understood was his mate was in danger, and he had to protect him. Yet he knew that he had to give Charlie a chance to take on the man who apparently, had tortured him.
“Good, now this is how it’s going to go. Charlie and I are going to take a little walk, and as long as no one follows, I’ll release him when I get out of the territory.” Sal began to back up toward the woods while keeping a hold on Charlie.
“You won’t get far,” Jason’s said as he moved to stand beside Sparky. The mechanic could feel a hand on his back, calming him. A clap of thunder caused everyone to look up at the gathering clouds. Lightning lit the skies as the rain once again began to fall.
Through it all Charlie grinned. A bolt of lightning hit a tree directly behind Sal causing him to take a step aside. Sparky watched as his mate dropped to the ground and used his leg to sweep Sal’s legs out from under him. Before Sal could get to his feet, another large funnel touched down and pulled the man into the air. Unfortunately, Charlie was still too close and ended up being pulled into the massive vortex.
“Charlie!” Sparky shouted but was held back by Jason.
“No, you’ll only get sucked in,” Jason shouted over the sound of the storm raging around them. “We need to get inside and regroup.”
Sparky shook his head and would have headed toward the whirling cloud of destruction, but before he could take his first step, the tornado began to move rapidly away from the compound taking everything in its path with it—including his mate.
◆◆◆
Grant saw Sheila and Sandy standing guard next to the motionless body of his mate. Without thinking, he ran forward and gathered Ricky into his arms; relieved that on closer inspection, the man appeared to just be unconscious. He glanced at Sandy and nodded at him to follow as he picked up his mate and took off toward the basement safe room. Artemus followed along with Sheila. As he came to the entrance to the bunker, he stopped and watched as a magi appeared to be doing something to his mother.
Without thinking, he growled low in his throat and advanced toward the young magi. As he approached, he noticed there was another one who smelled of magic lying dead on the floor; while the younger one, now had curled up into a ball. Grant gently placed Ricky on the ground before he moved closer to the threat, only to stop when the young man reached out a hand and whispered, “Stop, please—don’t—don’t, touch me!”
“Alpha Grant, stay where you are!” Artemus shouted as he entered the room. “Don’t go near him, I can feel the magic surrounding him, and it’s strong.”
Sandy burst through the door and went to stand between Grant and the young man. The young wolf shifted. “Alpha Grant, don’t hurt him! He’s a good magi like Artemus and Charlie.”
“What happened?” Artemus asked as he knelt close to the downed magi but didn’t touch him.
“The bad men came in the door and made it go, poof! And then Grandma tried to stop one of the bad wolves, but she couldn’t because the tall magic guy threw her across the room. She hasn’t gotten up yet, do you think she’s okay cause if she’s not, then maybe the doctor can fix her up,” the pup paused for a moment as he looked worriedly at his brother. “I don’t know what happened to my brother, but I don’t think ‘bastion had anything to do with it ‘cause he was so scared before, and he likes grandma ‘cause he said she sang to him so he could sleep. Besides Ricky came into the tunnel and he threw the other wolf around until he stopped moving, then he just fell asleep.”
Grant knelt beside his mate. Ricky was breathing and didn’t appear to have any injuries he could detect. He glanced up at Sandy and smiled, “Don’t worry pup, Artemus will check on your friend, and I’m sure that Doc can fix up grandma and your brother. But I need you to stay in the room here with all of them, while Artemus and I go check outside. Can you do that?”
Sandy nodded as he shifted back to his white wolf form. He put himself between the injured and the door. Grant nodded, “Good boy. Don’t open the door for anyone either. I’ll be back for you when we know it is safe.” The Alpha quickly grabbed the two other unconscious wolves and dragged them from the room before he returned. He glanced up at the monitors and his mouth fell open at the sight before him. “Artemus, I need you to come with me!”
Artemus stood and shook his head, “I don’t believe it.”
“What?” Grant asked as he noticed the young man had started to moan softly.
“Our young friend here is a very rare breed indeed.” Artemus knelt briefly by the other magi and hovered his hands over the deceased man. He nodded and then glanced back at Sebastian. “There have been tales of course, but then I never believed in them really.”
“Look, we can solve Sebastian’s problems later. All I need to know is it safe to leave him here with the others?” Grant ground out as he glanced up at the monitors again and frowned. “Never mind, he will come with us. We need to go now!”
“Why is the big cloud scooping up, Charlie?” Sandy asked in an awed voice. The pup had shifted back to his human form.
Grant glanced at Sandy and Sheila, “Remember, no one comes in here!”
“Yes, Alpha.” Both wolves answered.
A few moments later, Grant, Sebastian, and Artemus emerged from the house to chaos. Most of the wolves around the compound were either unconscious or in the process of looking for shelter. Jason turned, his eyes grew round for a moment before he rushed forward to greet his brother. “You’re alive!”
“What’s going on?” Grant asked briskly.
“Where do you want me to start?” Jason replied. They all glanced over to see one lone wolf chasing after the large tornado that seemed to be circling the compound.
“What in the goddess name is Sparky trying to do?” Grant asked.
“I don’t know how, but Charlie managed to call forth a storm to help us defend the compound. The first tornado scooped up most of the wolves and dropped them immediately before disappearing, but this one seems to be growing!” Jason yelled as the sounds of the storm increased.
“It’s a magical storm,” Artemus yelled as he rushed from the porch. Both men watched as Artemus moved into the center of the compound, his arms raised as he began to chant. Lightening continued to flash in the sky and the rain continued to pound down on all those unlucky enough to be exposed to the storm. After a few moments, Artemus lowered his arms and placed his hands on his knees as he bent over.
Grant moved to help the magi. He placed an arm around him and helped him back to the relative safety of the front porch. He turned to Jason and ordered, “Get everyone who is still out there under cover until we figure this out.”
He then called out to the light brown wolf as he passed within a few feet of the house, “Damn it, Sparky, get your ass over here, right now! That�
��s an order.” He watched as the wolf stopped for a moment, it was clear he was trying to fight against the alpha power Grant exuded, but in the end, Sparky’s wolf had no choice but to obey his Alpha.
There was a brief shimmer before the mechanic appeared before them. His naked body showed multiple scrapes and gouges, but he stood strong as he faced his alpha. “My mate is trapped in that cloud. I have to help him!”
“And we will help him, but just exactly what were you going to do?” Grant crossed his arms across his chest, his eyebrow raised, “Pull out a magic lasso and pull him out?”
“I’m gay, not Wonder Woman,” Sparky replied as he glanced over his shoulder to watch the cloud continue to circle the compound. “He warned me…”
“Warned you about what?” Grant asked as he took a step closer to the house. He’d never seen anything like it before. The funnel cloud seemed to keep circling the compound as if it was stuck on a track and couldn’t get off.
“Charlie can’t control his magic,” Artemus huffed as he gazed up into the sky. “We think it has something to do with his empathic abilities. He’s a strong magi, maybe even stronger than me.”
“Great, so how do we get my mate out of the cloud?” Sparky demanded.
“Maybe I can help?” A soft voice sounded behind them. Grant glanced back and saw Ricky had joined the young magi on the porch and was helping to hold him up. The young man looked like he could hardly stand on his own two feet and yet, there was a strong magical smell to the air surrounding him.
“I thought I told you to stay in the shelter!” Grant growled. While he was glad to see his mate appeared to be unharmed, he didn’t want him anywhere near the battle.
“Oh, put a sock in it, Alpha Grant, I’m not sure how he does it but believe me, Sebastian here may be the answer to us getting Charlie back.” Ricky leaned against the wall with the young magi. It was clear he wasn’t a hundred percent either.
Battle for a Mates Heart Page 22