Exiled 02 - Wolf

by Lynn Hagen

  “I can feel your anger, zaterio. What’s wrong?” Wolf pulled Jaycee closer, tucking him into the side of his body.

  “Everyone is mad at me.”

  “Are you mad at my mate?” Wolf asked the men up front.

  Jaycee gaped at Wolf and then smacked him in the chest. “You weren’t supposed to ask them!”

  “Then how will you know?”

  “No one is mad at you, Jaycee,” Dog replied. “We were worried, but not mad.”

  “It is a lot for a human to take in,” Nazaryth added. “At least my mate already knew about the paranormal world even if he didn’t know about winged beasts. It made it a little easier for him to adjust.”

  Jaycee winced, remembering how he had been placed under Theo’s protection and escaped the guy. Theo was sure to be pissed at him. Everyone else was, even if they said they weren’t. Jaycee could feel the thick tension in the car. Emotions were running high, and Jaycee was pretty sure they were negative and aimed in his direction.

  “Where is Theo, anyway?” Wolf asked.

  Jaycee almost smacked the man again when Nazaryth rolled his eyes. Why wouldn’t his mate shut up or pass out or something?

  “He’s at home.” Nazaryth sent a pointed look in Jaycee’s direction. “Where all mates should be.”

  Now, it was Jaycee’s turn to roll his eyes. “I am not Suzy Homemaker. I have a job, you know. A life.” Not that his job was that fantastic, but it was a job. He didn’t have much money, but at least he wasn’t leeching off of anyone else. There were nights when all he had to eat was macaroni and cheese, but at least he paid for it.

  “Zaterio, you don’t—”

  Jaycee’s eyebrows shot up when Wolf suddenly snapped his mouth closed, pressing his lips together so tightly that they turned white. He leaned toward Wolf, suddenly less worried about his job and more worried that his mate was in pain.

  “Wolf? Are you hurting?”

  “I’m fine, zaterio.”

  He didn’t sound fine. In fact, Wolf sounded downright pissed off, much like the others in the truck were. Jaycee slumped back in his seat, crossed his arms over his chest, and turned to stare out the window. If Wolf wanted to be upset with him for whatever he had supposedly done, then fuck him.

  Jaycee watched as the scenery changed as they drove down the road. Countryside turned into buildings of Brac Village and then faded back into countryside, after a quick stop to let Nazaryth out so he could drive Rico’s car back to Pride Pack Valley. After a while, the fields and farms faded away and thick trees took their place.

  Jaycee had no idea where they were except that they were headed back to the castle thing his mate lived in, and now, he guessed, he lived in, too. He turned to look at Wolf, smiling when he saw Wolf with his head leaning toward the window, soft snores falling from his lips.

  He instead turned his attention to the man in the front of the vehicle. “I assume my place of residence has changed.” Somehow, he didn’t see Wolf agreeing to him staying in his little house with Rico and his other roommate Mike. The winged beast would probably have a coronary.

  “You assumed correctly,” Dog replied.

  “Then do you think we can stop by my place so I can pick a few things up? As nice as it is to wear Wolf’s shirt from time to time, I’d really like to have my own clothes, and my computer.” He really needed his laptop. A good shooting game sounded right up his alley at the moment. He had a lot of pent-up aggression that needed an outlet before he clobbered his mate or one of his mate’s friends.

  “I guess we can do that, but you need to be quick. The faster we get Wolf back to the castle and get him into bed where he can rest, the better.”

  Oh damn. Jaycee hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe we should just head for home. I can get my stuff another day.”

  “Naw, it’s okay, little bro. We can stop long enough for you to grab a bag of clothes.”

  Jaycee still felt bad, but he really wanted some of his own stuff. He had a bag packed in the car that Nazaryth was driving, but there were a few special items he really wanted to pick up, including a pair of fur-lined handcuffs that belonged to Rico. If Wolf gave him any shit about bed rest, Jaycee was going to use them, and not in the fun way, either.

  Chapter Eight

  Dog pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road in front of Jaycee’s house and turned the engine off. He rested his arms on the steering wheel as he took in the area surrounding the building.

  Something was off, but damned if he could figure out what it was. He cautiously cracked the door and then pushed it open. A strong sniff of the night air brought him nothing but the smells that should have been there. Still, he knew something was wrong.

  “Jaycee, stay in the car until I check things out.” His tone brooked no defiance. He would be doing Wolf and Jaycee a huge disservice if he didn’t check things out before allowing Jaycee out of the vehicle. Jaycee may not understand it, but Dog hoped the man listened to him anyway.

  Dog scanned the area as he slowly walked up to the front door. The closer he drew to the house, the stronger the feeling grew that something was wrong. Dog knew he was right when he stepped up to the door and noticed that it was slightly ajar. Humans could be stupid when it came to the real dangers in the world, but they usually tried to keep their doors shut this time of night.

  Dog edged the door open, his claws extending in case he needed to defend himself, or anyone else. As far as he knew, Jaycee’s roommate, Rico, should have been home, but the place was eerily quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Dog stepped into the house and looked around. Again, nothing seemed to be out of place, but he just had this tingling at the base of his skull that told him not all was as it seemed. Something was definitely off.

  Dog started to back out of the house, ready to run back to the vehicle and tell Jaycee that they needed to come back at a later time, preferably with a lot of backup, when he heard a floorboard creak above his head.

  Dog froze except to lift his nose into the air and inhale deeply. He could smell human, and the human was injured. The strong scent of blood permeated the air. Dog prayed that it wasn’t Jaycee’s roommate, Rico. Jaycee would be so upset.

  And Dog hated dealing with upset humans.

  He crept toward the stairs and then flattened himself against the wall. He drew in a deep breath and then peeked around the corner. The stairway seemed empty. Dog carefully made his way up the stairs, stepping on the edges of each step in case the boards creaked. If there was indeed someone upstairs, Dog didn’t want to broadcast his arrival any more than he already had.

  Dog had just reached the top of the stairs when he heard a loud scream from outside. It was Jaycee shouting his name. Without another thought, Dog spun around and raced down the steps as fast as his feet would carry him. He jumped the last few steps and raced for the front door. His heart pounded as different scenes of what he might find played out in his head.

  But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw the moment he stepped through the doorway. Dog wasn’t sure all of his years as a winged beast prepared him for the sight before him.

  Wolf lay unconscious on the ground in the middle of the yard. The vehicle they had been traveling in looked like a boulder had crushed it. The cab was crushed in, the windows shattered. Jaycee stood in front of Wolf, waving a large stick back and forth. And right in front of Jaycee was one of the biggest damn hell hounds Dog had ever seen.

  Dog instantly launched himself at the hell hound, grabbing him around the throat. Razor-sharp claws dug into his arms as the hound fought him. Dog’s powerful momentum carried them past Jaycee and Wolf and right into the side of the vehicle. He shook his head as he lost his grip on the hell hound after crashing into the side of the car. It gave the beast enough time to pull away from him and leap toward Jaycee.

  “Oh hell no!” Dog shouted as he jumped after the vicious hound. He was not going to fail his friend’s zaterio, not after witnessing Jaycee trying to fend off the houn
d with a stick. Jaycee was terrified. Dog could smell his fear in the air. But the man still stood his ground, defending Wolf. Maybe he needed to reevaluate his opinion of the little human.

  And get him a knife.

  Jaycee kept trying to hit the hell hound in the head with the stick in his hand. All he was doing was pissing the damn thing off, even if he was doing a pretty darn good job at smacking the beast.

  “The mark behind his ear,” Dog shouted as he started tearing into the hell hound’s back with his claws. “You have to stab him in the mark behind their ear. It’s the only way to kill him.”

  Jaycee stared for a moment and then started stabbing at the hell hound with his stick. Dog would have laughed if he hadn’t been in a fight for his life. Stabbing the hell hound with a stick was not going to—damn, it worked.

  Dog’s eyebrows shot up as Jaycee’s stick stuck right into the hell hound’s mark and the damn beast dropped to the ground. He stood up slowly and lifted his gaze from the dead hell hound to Wolf’s zaterio. Jaycee wasn’t even paying attention. He had spun around and dropped to his knees, cradling Wolf’s head in his lap.

  “Fuck me running,” he whispered. “He did it.”

  “Did what?”

  Jaycee could hear Nazaryth and Dog talking behind him, but he could have cared less what they were talking about. His entire attention was on the unconscious man on the ground. Wolf was still out cold, only now, he had cuts and bruises on him to match his earlier injuries.

  From the corner of his eye, Jaycee saw Dog go into the house, but he was too busy worrying about Wolf to ask what the man was doing. Seconds later he was back, talking quietly again with Nazaryth.

  Jaycee had never been so scared in his life as he had been when that hell hound attacked them. He had pulled Wolf down further into the seat, hoping that if the hell hound couldn’t get to them before Dog returned, they would be okay.

  That didn’t work so well for him.

  The damn hell hound just began crushing the roof of the car. Jaycee had kicked the door open with his feet and dragged Wolf out. He had found the closest weapon he could get his hands on, a stick, and started waving it back and forth like a sword to keep the hell hound at bay.

  He had been so scared that Dog wouldn’t return in time. But he had. And now the hound was dead. But Wolf still wouldn’t wake up. Jaycee so wanted to go somewhere safe and just hide away until this crazy-ass world he was living in started to make sense again. He was just afraid it was too late for that.

  He was going to be apeshit crazy for the rest of his life.

  “He did what?”

  Nazaryth’s shout reminded Jaycee that he wasn’t alone. There were two men behind him, and they knew more about Wolf than he did. Somehow, that didn’t sit well with Jaycee, especially since he didn’t know how to properly care for his mate in his condition.

  “He won’t wake up,” Jaycee said as he turned to look at the two men, hoping they had an answer. If Wolf never woke up, Jaycee didn’t know what he would do. Being in the winged beasts’ world didn’t seem quite the same without his mate by his side. “Why won’t he wake up?”

  “It’s okay, zaterio,” Dog said softly as he walked forward and squatted down next to Jaycee. He quickly checked Wolf over before smiling at Jaycee, which was kind of creepy considering the man never seemed to smile before now. “He is in a healing sleep. It’s natural for us. He will awaken when his body has healed enough.”

  “But—”

  “Wolf will be fine, Jaycee. I promise. He just needs to rest.”

  Jaycee wasn’t sure Dog could promise him that the sun would come up in the morning because he was no longer sure it would. If it did, it would probably be purple or something.

  “You did good, zaterio.”

  Yep, he was losing his mind.

  “How are Rico and Mike?” Jaycee asked.

  “Mike?”

  Jaycee sighed as he ran his fingers through Wolf’s soft hair. “He’s my other roommate, but he’s never home. He’s a workaholic.”

  “I only found one body, Jaycee.”

  Jaycee’s eyes filled with tears. If Rico were alive, Dog wouldn’t have said the word body. He wiped his tears on his shirt as he stared down at Wolf, nodding his head as more tears slid down his face. Rico may have been floating along in life, but he was a nice guy. He didn’t deserve to die.

  “I have to call his mom,” Jaycee said. “She needs to know.”

  “Okay.”

  Jaycee’s head snapped up. “My backpack should still be in the backyard. Can you get it for me?” He had totally forgotten about the thing. Not only were his keys in the bag, but so were his cell phone and his wallet. Dog jogged to the backyard and then came back with Jaycee’s backpack. The torn strap sent a chill down Jaycee’s spine, reminding him of how all this started. It felt as though that hound had attacked him years ago instead of two days ago.

  “Can we go?” he asked. Jaycee did not want to be around when Rico’s body was brought out. He wouldn’t be able to handle it. He knew he had to call Mike, but he also knew Mike would be at work until later this evening.

  “Sure,” Dog said as he waved another man over. “This is Damek.”

  Jaycee nodded, not feeling friendly in the least. His mate was wounded, his roommate was dead, and his world was on its ear. But he did notice that the man had hair so blond it almost looked white.

  Jaycee scooted back as Dog and Damek picked Wolf up and carried him over to a truck that Damek and the other guy had driven here. They set Wolf down in the bed. Jaycee jogged over to see thick blankets were laid out in the back, ensuring that Wolf would have a comfortable ride. He hopped into the back and settled next to his mate.

  “I’ll get the bag the doctor sent with you,” Nazaryth said as he walked over to the crushed car and reached inside, pulling the small black bag free. He handed it to Jaycee. “Anything else?”

  “Mike needs to be warned.” Jaycee told Nazaryth about his other roommate and where he worked.

  “I’ll make sure he has other living arrangements.”

  “Can you grab my laptop from my room? It’s the one on the left upstairs.”

  “Done,” Nazaryth said and then hit the side of the truck with his hand. Jaycee held on as the truck pulled from the driveway. He stretched out beside Wolf as the truck rocked him slowly back to sleep.

  When Jaycee woke, they were inside the hangar. Dog and Damek pulled Wolf from the truck and carried him inside the castle.

  “I want to talk to you, Jaycee,” Nazaryth said as he walked into the hangar. The guy must have been right behind them. Jaycee looked at the opening to the castle and then back at Nazaryth. He wanted to go with his mate, but the commander had a very serious scowl on his face.

  “I want you to tell me how you got out of this castle,” Nazaryth said as he leaned against a dusty workbench. It looked as if it hadn’t been used in years. Neither did this hangar. There were ten shiny, brand-new motorcycles lining one wall and one Hummer, along with a sports car. Jaycee wanted to drool over the sports car, but didn’t think Nazaryth would allow him.

  “The plant room.”

  “The plant room?”

  “Yeah, the room with all of the—”

  “I know what the plant room is. How did you get out? That entrance is sealed.”

  Jaycee shook his head. “No, it’s not. The big door was right there in front of me. I opened it and walked out,” he said. “But I did close it behind me when I left.”

  Nazaryth cursed up a storm as he opened a panel that had wires sticking out all over the place and punched in some numbers. “I would give you the code, but I don’t want you wandering out anytime soon.”

  When the wall slid back open, Nazaryth pointed toward the entrance. Jaycee rolled his eyes as he walked into the tunnel. He walked up the stairs until he found himself in the living room.

  “Don’t move,” Nazaryth warned. “I’m not sure how that door was visible to you, but it isn’t a good thing.
No one should be able to enter through here.”

  Oh, hell. All Jaycee wanted to do was go see Wolf, but another hell thing might be lurking around. Jaycee was at his wits’ end about those creatures. He wanted to kill them all and be done with them.

  His head snapped to the side when someone he didn’t recognize walked into the living room. Jaycee grabbed the first thing he found and hurled it at the guy. “Get out!” The small figurine smashed against the wall as the man ducked down.

  “That’s Trigg. He lives here.”

  “Oh,” Jaycee said. “Sorry.”

  The man glared at Jaycee as he shook the glass from his shirt. “I didn’t know getting a snack was going to be so damn dangerous or I would have brought my knife with me.”

  Jaycee was trying not to freak out. He really was. But since leaving Brac Village, nothing seemed real. He was surprised he wasn’t ranting and raving like a lunatic by now with all the weird and bizarre things going on around him.

  Things just seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. But oddly enough, the stranger things were getting, the less freaking out he was doing.

  How backwards was that?

  Maybe being mated was having an effect on him. Who knew. In this crazy-ass world, nothing was black-and-white. Illogical was logical and crazy was the norm.

  Killing the hell hound had probably cured him of his sanity and now he was just as loony as the rest of these men.

  “Warn the others, Trigg. The door in the green room was visible to Jaycee,” Nazaryth said.

  Trigg’s lip pulled back into a snarl as he nodded at Nazaryth. “I’ll go tell the others,” he replied as he quickly walked away.

  “I think you need to be introduced to everyone before you shove a stick in them.” Nazaryth smirked at him. “I want you with Theo, and this time, don’t leave.”

  Shit. Jaycee had planned on dodging Theo for the next thirty or so years until the shifter wasn’t mad at him anymore. He hadn’t planned on getting stuck with the guy again.