Bound to Their Faete

by Elena Kincaid

  “Most of it isn’t my blood, and only one of Nyx’s buddies tried anything before they got the cuffs on me,” Kat added, “but I made sure to make an example of him. Just an FYI, shifters can’t re-grow limbs once they’ve been ripped off. Not all of the men with Zayden and Nyx are bad. I think they just don’t see that they have another option, but once the cuffs were put on, a few of the rogues made sure to take turns guarding me, keeping some of their more unsavory members at bay.”

  “That’s a relief. Sweet Goddess, Kat, you’re covered in blood,” Erica said, still looking concerned. “Do you need us to heal anything before we get back to the group?”

  “I think I’ll be fine now.” The cuts were already beginning to form scabs since she’d been released from the strange handcuffs.

  Corrine was impressed by her mate’s second. Katrina was quite a force to be reckoned with. Though she looked like hell, her face swollen and bruised, covered in the blood of her enemies, the fire in her eyes revealed that she was eager as ever to join in the battle and protect her Alpha.

  “Will there be more rogues coming back?” April asked as they tied up the unconscious guard and placed him in the back of the vehicle where Kat had been.

  “No, that arrogant fuck, Zayden, wanted them all to go with him to the meet, no doubt thinking it would make him look more impressive than he actually is.” Kat opened the passenger side front door and seemed to be looking for something in the glove box, cursing when she came up empty. “Un-fucking-believable little rat.”

  “What?” Corrine was concerned at the look of worry that was now all over Katrina’s face.

  “That sociopath Nyx took his toy with him,” she muttered. “He’s got some sick fascination with cutting people. I’d hoped he left it behind to fight with some honor like a real shifter would, but I guess I should have known better.”

  Her words sank in, and suddenly Corrine felt like a huge claw was tightening around her heart. Something was about to go wrong—it was a feeling this time, not a vision. She needed to get to her mates.

  “We need to go, now!” She turned and started running towards the clearing, desperate panic welling in every cell in her body. Her instincts kept screaming at her.

  When they broke from the cover of the forest, they arrived smack dab in the middle of a full-on battle. Half of the field was full of fighting shifters, while the others fought in human form or frightening half-shifted ones. Braxas was easy to spot since it was tough to miss two giant cat men trading blows—one a mass of golden fur, and the other head to toe in the black and orange tiger stripes, and both were also covered in a liberal amount of blood.

  Luckily Braxas seemed to have the upper hand. He’d just knocked Zayden on his ass, going in for the kill, when Corrine’s eyes finally found her other mate. Gabe was fighting with a wiry, crazed looking Nyx. Gabe had just delivered two long swipes with his claws across his opponent’s chest, causing the other man to yelp and drop his arms to protect his wounds. As her mate wrapped his hand around the other man’s neck and lifted him off the ground, she noticed something in Nyx’s hand glint in the fading afternoon sun. She’d never seen shifters use weapons when they fought each other for any kind of pack dominance issues. It was an unspoken rule, but one most of them took very seriously. If a shifter couldn’t defeat his rival with claws and teeth alone, then they didn’t deserve the position they were fighting for. Corrine saw Nyx’s arm jerk forward twice. The look of shock crossed her mate’s face right before she screamed out and ran towards him.

  “Gabe!”

  Her vision narrowed until the only thing she could see was him. She was vaguely aware of the women around her fighting to clear a path for her, and she heard Braxas yell out for Gabe as well. He was closer than she was, and she couldn’t have loved him more than when he left Zayden lying on the ground to rush to Gabe’s side. Before Nyx’s arm could swing back for another blow with the knife, Braxas was there. A loud crack of bone rang out as he grabbed the hyena’s wrist and snapped it straight up before throwing him back to land a few feet away.

  Goddess, there is so much blood. She dropped down beside her two men. Braxas had his hands covering the wounds, but the blood was freely flowing all around his fingers.

  “Corrine, are you all right?” Gabe’s voice was strained as he appeared to be searching her for any damage.

  “Me? Sweet Goddess, Gabe, what did he do to you?” she cried. Erica and April pushed their way in to sit beside Gabe, moving everyone’s hands away so they could begin healing him.

  “That fucking rat-bastard stabbed me!” he yelled in disbelief. “I can’t believe it.”

  The scene had gathered quite a crowd. It seemed as though many of the rogues stopped fighting when they realized what one of their leaders had done.

  “They ran,” Donovan shouted as he and Jason rushed over to them, covered in their own battle wounds. “We can’t find Nyx or Zayden anywhere. They fled and left the rest of their men behind.”

  “Damn it, stop moving, Gabe,” Erica cursed when he tried to sit up.

  “Donovan, you take Ben and Leo and do a sweep of the woods to see if they’re still out there,” Braxas said in full command mode. He pushed Gabe back down and held him still. “Jason, maybe Alak and Aeron can help you get the rest of these rogues loaded up and taken back to the house so we can figure out what to do with them.

  “I can search for Zayden,” Katrina said. She seemed impatient and even more agitated than she had been when they’d rescued her. She kept stealing glances towards Aeron and Alak, perhaps trying to figure out who or what they were, Corrine thought.

  “No, Kat, you’re coming back with us.” Braxas cut her off just when it seemed she was about to argue with him. “I need to take care of my mates, and I need you to have my back.”

  “Will he be all right?” Corrine asked. She was so thankful that Erica and April were here to heal Gabe’s wounds.

  “He should be, but he’s lost a lot of blood.” The serious look in Erica’s eyes as she answered Corrine said volumes. If fate hadn’t brought all of them together the way it had in the last few months, Gabe would have been a casualty of this battle, just the way Corrine had witnessed in her original vision.

  ****

  Corrine watched Gabe carefully as they all made their way back to the trucks to go home. He said he was all patched up, but he was still moving rather slowly. This moment seemed almost anti-climactic—her vision of Gabe’s death had haunted her daily for years—but she wasn’t about to complain. She felt like the weight of a freight train had been lifted from her heart since the day she began waiting for the fates to take him away from her.

  Aeron and Alak had made their job of transporting the captured rogues ridiculously easy, opening a portal straight back to their property, taking them all in two trips. But they’d returned for some reason, leaving Jason in charge back at the house.

  “Kat, you drive my truck,” Braxas directed as he and Corrine helped Gabe into the back seat of the other truck. “The twins can come with us.”

  “I don’t even know these two,” Katrina argued, gesturing at the Dark Fae, who were staring back at her rather intently. “I don’t like them having access to you while you’re distracted, Braxas. I should go with you instead.”

  “Do you think we would harm them?” Alak asked her, his eyes narrowing. “We are here to assist your people. You dare question our honor?”

  Everyone just watched as Katrina took a step closer to him. It was like watching in slow motion an accident about to happen, but not being able to stop it, the tension between them palpable.

  “Look, Gray and Grayer,” she spat out, “I don’t know you from a hole in the wall and it’s my job to protect my Alpha. Plus, you’ve been staring at me since the battle ended, and I—don’t—like—it.” Katrina used her finger to poke out the last four words on Alak’s chest and Aeron finally stepped up to intervene just as his brother was taking a deep breath to no doubt, issue a rebuttal.


  “Forgive us, Lady Katrina.” Aeron gently took her hand and held it, which seemed to stupefy Kat. She just looked at their joined hands like she didn’t know what was happening. “We are simply overwhelmed by your golden beauty.”

  Corrine had to give Braxas an elbow in the ribs when his loud snort was heard by everyone. Fucking men—didn’t they ever have a clue?

  “We are overwhelmed by something, to be sure, but I’m not convinced she isn’t using some kind of dark magic to ensnare us,” Alak said.

  Corrine rolled her eyes as Alak just couldn’t keep his mouth shut while his brother tried to smooth things over with the temperamental shifter female.

  “Why, you … arrogant son of a bitch! Like I would ever need a fucking magic spell to turn your head!” Kat roared out and turned to storm back to the other truck, leaving Aeron’s mouth hanging open in shock before he turned on his brother and punched him right in the face.

  “Oh, my.” Corrine didn’t quite know what to say when Alak just shrugged and came back over to them, his pissed off twin trailing in his wake. “Umm, everyone back to the house I guess?”

  “Yes, love,” Gabe said sounding exhausted. He settled himself in the back seat, Aeron getting in on one side and Corrine beside him on the other.

  Alak sat up front on the passenger’s side. He placed his hand on the window, a small glow emitting from his palms. Seconds later, the window lowered just as Braxas started up the car. When they began to move, Alak stuck his head out of the window, making Corrine shake her head and chuckle. He reminded her of a golden retriever just then. All that was missing was him letting his tongue hang out.

  They were only about twenty minutes into their drive when Gabe suddenly let loose a string of profanities. Startled, she turned to look at him. He was holding his stomach with a look of pure shock on his face. Then she noticed the bloom of bright red blood on the white t-shirt he’d put on after Erica had healed him—there was so much blood!

  “Gabe, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” Corrine cried out, causing Braxas to hit the brakes and pull over.

  Aeron leaned in closer to Gabe, hovering his hand over the wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding. His eyes met hers, and the concern she saw in them scared the hell out of her.

  “There is dark magic in his wounds,” Aeron explained. “These were made with no ordinary blade.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Gabe ignored the shouting around him and concentrated on his breathing, willing his body to accept the pain in his stomach. Someone had opened the door beside him, and he gratefully turned his face into the fresh air. He could hear his mate calling his name, but he needed to focus on trying to block out some of the pain. He took a couple of deep breaths, waiting until the urge to pass out abated slightly.

  “It’s all right, baby,” Gabe murmured. “I’m still here.”

  “You’re here, but you’re bleeding badly,” Corrine said, and there was no mistaking the quiver of fear in her tone. He would have done anything to try to assuage her anxiety, but truth be told, he could feel his own blood flowing freely over his hands still pressed to the wound. The amount was horrifying as was the cold that was beginning to overtake him.

  “Fix this,” he heard Braxas growl. “You two are both some kind of uber-talented fucking Fae. You need to fix this.”

  Gabe looked up at Aeron and Alak in time to see them share a wary look. “You can’t?” Gabe asked quietly as both men turned to look at him. “Can you?”

  Aeron winced and shook his head. “We do not think that this is for us to heal. If we were to try, we might end up killing you. The only thing that would work in our favor, would be if there were a bond between us. Without one, there is no connection to the light for us to follow. You will continue to fall into darkness, and you would take us with you.”

  Alak stepped forward. “There is only one who can save you, Gabe Erikkson, and that is your mate.”

  Gabe heard Corrine gasp, and he turned to look at her and had to fight the wave of nausea that washed over him at the move. His mate looked at him then back at the Dark Fae, her beautiful face a sea of fear and confusion.

  “How can I do that?” Corrine whispered. “My powers are not to heal. Should we call for Erica or April?”

  But Alak was already shaking his head. “Not you, Lady Corrine.” And when he turned to his left to look right at Braxas, the look on the cougar’s face mirrored the shock that filled Gabe.

  “What?” Braxas gestured between himself and Gabe, looking confused. “Gabe and I share Corrine, not each other.”

  Braxas was firm in his response, but there was also a note of regret that he would be unable to save Gabe. Gabe would have seconded what Braxas had said and also would have tried to ease his guilt had he not been slammed with a jolt of pain. He groaned as a fresh wave of blood flowed over his fingers.

  “Gabe!” Corrine cried out, and somehow he ended up in her arms, lying back on the seat with his legs out the door and his head in her lap.

  “Shh, baby,” he whispered. He had never felt so weak. “Listen to me. You are the best damn thing that has ever happened in my life. If I’m to die today, I—”

  “No,” Corrine sobbed, and Gabe could feel the heat of her tears against her skin as she leaned low to press her face against his. “I can’t lose you, my love, not now, not after everything we have been through. This was not supposed to happen. Everything I did was to avoid this.”

  Gabe wanted to reach his hand up to cup her face and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he simply lacked the strength. He remained still, looking up at his mate. If he were about to leave this life, then the last thing he wanted to see before he closed his eyes for the last time was Corrine’s beautiful face.

  ****

  “Fuck!” Braxas roared as he watched the poignant scene unfold before him. He could feel Corrine’s devastation down their bond, and he didn’t need to be completely connected to the wolf to know how he felt about it. The loss on his face was palpable.

  He turned to Alak who stood beside him, grabbed him by his shirt, and slammed him against the car. With a low growl, he held him there with his arm across Alak's chest. “You have five seconds to explain. What the fuck do I have to do to save him?”

  Braxas could see that Alak did not like being held like that, and something moved in the Dark Fae’s eyes that he figured meant Alak was pissed, but Braxas didn’t give a fuck. He held the man’s gaze and waited, counting to three in his head. He got to the count of four when Alak spoke.

  “You must claim the Alpha as you have claimed your woman.”

  Braxas jerked back. Did he really mean he had to take Gabe, as in a sexual way then bite him? Because he wasn’t so sure he could do that. He had already developed a strong bond and love for Gabe, but it just wasn’t sexual. It wasn’t in his nature to be sexual with another man even though he found all forms of love beautiful. He knew the same to be true of Gabe.

  “No,” Alak continued with an exasperated tone in his voice, “I do not mean whilst in the sexual act of claiming. You are cementing the bond between two Alphas and their chosen mate, not claiming him as your own.”

  Aeron stepped closer. “There is a belief among our people that when two men of equal strength, take and claim a woman that connects them as nothing else could, then the bond of three may occur. Think of it like this. You have a bond with your mate, one that is connected by the fates and through her blood. The fates have deemed you and Gabe as worthy of the woman destined to be yours. To complete the circle, you need to connect through blood as well. Once it is completed, then the strength of that bond will lead to a rise in the physical enhancements that come with being an Alpha shifter.”

  “So I just have to bite him?”

  Aeron nodded. “Yes, you must take of his blood, and he will need to take of yours. Then the circle will be complete. The poison from that blade wound will not take hold within you as long as that circle is completed.”

  “You h
ave felt a growing emotional connection to the wolf, yes?” Alak asked.

  Braxas nodded, looking at Gabe’s limp body. He had even admitted as much to his pard and Gabe’s pack. They were connected through the bond they both shared with Corrine, but it was more than that. They were brothers in every way now except for blood.

  He stepped closer to Gabe, and Corrine’s head snapped up with a fierce look on her face. Her expression told Braxas she would guard her mate viciously. His love for her swelled.

  “It’s okay, mate,” Braxas said gently. “I understand now, and there is a way for me to help Gabe.” Hope filled Corrine’s expression.

  Braxas took Gabe’s arm in his and slid the blood-soaked sleeve of his shirt out of his way. With no hesitation, he bent and bit deep into Gabe’s wrist. He caught the bitter tang of the poison that was affecting his friend so badly but didn’t stop until he felt a connection snap into place within himself. When he pulled back, he half shifted his left hand, and drew four deep scratches across Gabe’s forearm just above the bite make he’d just made.

  “Help him to sit up, love,” Braxas told Corrine and smiled when she hurried to comply. When he was sitting up, Braxas held his own wrist in front of Gabe, but frowned when he realized Gabe was practically unconscious. “How the hell am I going to get him to bite me back?”

  No sooner had he asked that when an arm swung past him and his jaw dropped with shock as a fist punched Gabe in the face, not overly hard, but enough to have the wolf coming awake with a feral growl, and attacking Braxas’s wrist. Hard. The bond within him flared with strength as the circle formed, and he could see the wound on Gabe’s stomach healing before his eyes. His connection to Gabe solidified, as did the mating bond that tied him so completely to Corrine, and he heard her gasp as she no doubt felt the same effects before he slumped in relief.

  Gabe would live.

  Braxas turned to see Alak grinning at him after Gabe withdrew his teeth and slumped against Corrine. “Smug bastard.” He couldn’t help but feel grateful for the assist, however, although he was very much going to enjoy seeing Gabe’s wrath at being sucker-punched in the face once he recovered.