by Lynn Hagen
“So, can I execute warrants, or do you need a note from my daddies?” Okay, so maybe Colton was a little ticked off that Matt had butted his nose in.
Matt smirked. “You can work, but I’m still going to call Lucian and have a talk with him.”
Colton stopped his middle finger from flipping up.
“And I know you already hinted at who the warrants are for.” Matt folded his arms. “I wondered how long you’d hold out.”
“You knew I’d tell them…or hint at it?”
“It’s your coven,” Matt said. “There’s a part of you that wants revenge for what happened. I don’t blame you. If someone set fire to our home, I’d be tearing this town apart to find the perpetrator.”
Colton ground his teeth. “So why tell me to keep my trap shut when you knew I’d cave? I felt like I was betraying you, damn it.”
Matt narrowed his eyes. “Because I don’t want your coven going off half-cocked. I want these kills to be clean, not a bloody massacre. We’re still recovering from the damage Casey Adams wreaked on this town.”
She had been a black panther who was killing men and leaving their bodies out in the open for anyone to stumble on. She’d had everyone fooled, even Colton. No one had looked at her as the killer until they’d caught her red-handed. They hadn’t even believed the warrant that had been sworn against her, making everyone think the program they used for the warrants was faulty.
That had been a nightmare Colton never wanted to go through again. They’d had to examine every single case since installing the program, and that had taken time. Thank fuck the council hadn’t gotten wind of the news, or the shit would have definitely hit the fan, but on a larger scale.
“I’ll let you and Rio handle the warrants for the demons, but if your mates get involved, I’m pulling you off the case.”
Colton cursed under his breath. “Corbin is already in the car, but he swore he was just along for the ride.”
“And you believe him?” Matt gaped at him.
“He gave me his word,” Colton defended. “He just wants to see what thrills me so much about bounty hunting.”
“Boy.” Matt shook his head. “I never took you as the naïve type. Corbin doesn’t want to go along for the ride. He wants the kill, moron.”
Deep down, Colton had already known that. He’d just been fooling himself into thinking his mate would keep his word, that Corbin was truly interested into what Colton did for a living.
“I’ll keep him leashed,” he said as he headed for the door.
“Let me know how that works out,” Matt said as Colton exited and headed down the hallway.
Colton smiled to himself as he walked out the front door. At least he was back at the agency, doing what he loved to do.
But his smile slipped when he spotted not only Corbin in the backseat but Antonio, too.
Rio glared at Colton from the driver’s side. “Since when did this turn into a fucking party?”
Colton groaned. Clearly leashing his mates wasn’t gonna happen. He hopped into the passenger side, slapping at Antonio’s hand when his mate ran his knuckles over Colton’s cheek. “No fooling around when I’m on the clock.”
“No fooling around in my car, period,” Rio snapped before he pulled away.
* * * *
As much as Matt dreaded making the call, he sat behind his desk and picked up the phone, dialing Lucian’s number. When the vampire answered, Matt said, “I believe Colton when he says you’re fine with him working for me, but I want to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”
He heard an imperceptible growl. “Against my better judgment, yes, I have agreed to his need to hunt. But if anything happens to Colton, I’ll—”
“That’s all I wanted to know.” Matt hung up before Lucian could get his threat out. He sat back and scrubbed a hand over his face. Being alpha wasn’t an easy job, and the decisions he made weren’t always the right ones.
But yes, Matt had sent Colton to the club on purpose, hoping to light a fire under the stubborn bastard’s ass. He’d also forced Colton out of the agency so he’d have to deal with his mates, but it seemed hunting was in Colton’s blood.
Truthfully, Matt was glad to have Colton back. Hopefully the wolf would be out of his funk and he could get his friend back—the one he’d had before Colton’s life turned to hell.
What he’d done had been a gamble, but it had paid off. Matt stood and walked out of his office, a smile on his face. Times were a-changing, but at least Colton was now steered in the right direction.
Now all they had to do was kill all the creatures that had escaped the veil and put Kingsley down once and for all. Then maybe Mercury could get back to normal.
Chapter Nine
Colton wasn’t sure how he’d gotten separated from his mates and Rio. One minute they had been chasing down a few of the escaped creatures, and the next, he found himself in an alley with no way out.
And he wasn’t alone. There were three men with him, and they looked as if they would enjoy tearing him apart.
The guy closest to Colton was tall, wiry, and his black hair was slicked-back like he belonged in a different era. The frightening thing about him was that he kept flicking his tongue out like he was part snake. He also had a jagged scar over his right eye that ran across his nose, distorting it and making him look as though he had two separate noses. The cut ended at his upper lip, which was split in two.
The guy in the middle had appeared normal, until his eyes cast an eerie glow. His muscles were so bulgy there was no way he could wipe his ass on his own. He couldn’t possibly reach it.
But it was the last man, the one closest to the mouth of the alley, that Colton needed to be wary of. His flaming red hair fell in waves down his back, and on top of his head were two protruding horns. His nails were long and black, and his eyes appeared so evil that a chill chased down Colton’s spine.
Colton backed up until he bumped into the dumpster. “Don’t make me go wolf on you guys.”
The demon with the horns snorted like Colton’s threat was a joke. “I eat guys like you for breakfast. You’ll just be hairy when you go down my throat.”
Colton gagged at the perverse image but didn’t say another word. He was outnumbered and outmatched. His wolf would do some serious damage, but these three would take Colton apart if he couldn’t figure a way out of this.
Mr. Snake charged at Colton first, coiling his arms around Colton’s midsection and taking him down to the concrete. Eerie Eyes joined in, slugging Colton anywhere he could land a blow. His fists had to be made of steel because Colton felt his cheekbone crack, as well as a rib or three.
With a deep snarl, he fought the two off before he shifted into his wolf. He snapped and snarled at them, but the two weren’t giving up. All the demon did was stand there with his beefy arms folded over his chest and watch, as if the scuffle was pure entertainment for him.
Colton tried to make a break for the street, but the demon snatched him up by his scruff and threw him back toward the dumpster. “Take your beating like a good little doggy.”
As soon as Colton hit the ground, Mr. Snake shifted. If Colton could gape, he would have. He’d never heard of a snake shifter before, and the son of a bitch was huge! The snake shifter coiled himself around Colton as Colton fought to keep from being squeezed to death. Eerie Eyes cackled as he jumped around, smiling like a complete idiot.
“I knew we’d have fun when we got out, but knocking off the bounty hunters is way too easy,” Eerie Eyes sang with glee. “What was that you said about going wolf on us?”
The demon chuckled.
The snake kept coiling around Colton, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop him. The more he struggled, the tighter the hold became.
Colton did the only thing he could think of. He howled until the restriction cut off his air supply, rendering him mute. All that he could manage were a few whimpers, and even those were a struggle to produce.
He just prayed th
e snake didn’t unhinge his jaw and swallow him whole. Fear and panic raced through him as he stopped struggling and went limp, trying his best to reserve what air he had left in his lungs.
The demon walked over, twirling a knife in his hand. “This is for locking us away in the first place.” He plunged the knife into Colton’s side. “It’s dusted with silver, by the way.”
Red-hot pain sliced through Colton as the demon twisted the knife before pulling it free. He blew a kiss to Colton and then turned on his heel and walked away.
“Let him go,” the demon said over his shoulder. “Let the bastard bleed out. No one can save him now.”
The snake uncoiled, releasing Colton, and slithered away. Colton heard a woman scream as the snake spilled onto the street. Car tires screeched and horns honked until the two disappeared from sight.
Eerie Eyes spit on Colton, kicked him in his ribs, and then hurried away, presumably to join the others.
Colton lay there panting, trying to slow his racing heart. The faster his heart pumped blood, the quicker the silver would enter his system.
Even if his mates found him, it would be too late to save him. Already he felt the silver wreaking havoc with his body. His limbs started to go numb, and he was so nauseous he was surprised he hadn’t thrown up yet.
He’d had one glorious night with his mates, and now he would join the rest of his family. But that was a bounty hunter’s life. All of them had been lucky so far, but one’s luck only went so far when chasing down the most vile and violent preternatural creatures.
Colton’s luck had just run out.
He thought about his mother and father, his brother, his mates, and his pack, but his thoughts went back to his mates as he lay there staring at the street, cars and people passing by, unaware he was dying at the other end of the alley.
As his vision began to fade, Colton saw a shadowy figure coming toward him. Someone called out his name, but it sounded muffled and distorted.
Unable to take the pain any longer or to keep his eyes open, Colton closed them and sank into the darkness.
* * * *
“No!” Lucian found the gaping wound in the thick fur and smelled the dusting of silver. “Colton, stay with me, my love.”
He picked the wolf up and used his inhuman speed to rush to Dr. Whitfield’s office. It was after business hours, but the vet lived above his clinic and would answer the door no matter the time.
He had no idea why Colton had been on his own, but he knew Corbin and Antonio had been with him at some point. And when he got Colton taken care of, he would find out why they’d left their mate alone.
If their answer wasn’t good enough, brothers or not, Lucian would end their lives.
He reached the vet clinic in seconds and pounded on the door. The doctor must’ve been having dinner because he came to the door chewing something. He took one look at Colton and stepped aside. “Follow me.”
Before Lucian could make it to the exam room, Corbin and Antonio were racing through the back door of the clinic, Rio right behind them. Lucian set the wolf on the table and backed away to allow the vet to work a miracle.
Lucian stormed from the room and stopped in the hallway. He didn’t have to tell them to follow him. His brothers joined him. Baring his fangs, he asked, “How the hell did this happen?”
His first instinct had been to forbid Colton from hunting, and Lucian should have listened to his gut. Working at Mercury Rising was far too risky, and because he’d allowed himself to be swayed by Colton, he just might lose his mate.
Lucian wanted to be in the room with their mate, but he also wanted answers.
“We were ambushed,” Corbin said. “At least seven or eight creatures from the veil attacked us in the park. Colton took off after a few of them who ran. We tried to go after him, but every time we took a step in his direction, more creatures showed up.”
It was then that Lucian noticed how damaged his brothers looked. They wouldn’t be able to heal until they fed, and Corbin had cuts and bruises covering his face while Antonio could barely move his right arm and his left eye was bloodshot, as though it had been hit with something hard.
“It was a setup.” Lucian paced the length of the hallway, his hands tucked behind his back. “They purposely separated you from him. But why? Why was he their target? The other wolf was with you.” Lucian looked at the exam room to find Rio with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe. He also looked beat to hell. “Why didn’t you get attacked with silver?”
Rio shrugged. “How the hell should I know?”
Lucian stopped himself from hissing. He didn’t like the narrowed-eyed look Rio gave him. “Or maybe there is a better answer.” He matched Rio’s glare.
With a sigh, Rio said, “Colton might’ve put a few of them away. The veil is where prisoners were sent until it closed and we had to build our own prison in Mercury. My guess is that the guy who attacked him had an axe to grind with him.”
Lucian turned his attention to his brothers. “This is exactly why I was against him going back to work for Matt.”
“Colton was doing this way before you came along,” Rio argued. “He knows how to handle himself. He doesn’t need your permission to do a damn thing.”
“He knows how to handle himself?” Lucian waved toward the exam room. “My mate might not make it, and you’re standing there arguing his capabilities? A knife was shoved into his gut, a knife that was laced with silver. Tell me again how he can handle himself!”
The exam room door slammed closed. Clearly the doctor didn’t appreciate their heated discussion. Lucian’s anger worsened when pack members started to show up at the clinic. He wanted everyone gone instead of staring at him as though he were the enemy and all this was his fault.
Ignoring the growing number of wolves, Lucian stepped into the room and quietly shut the door behind him. “How is he?”
For the first time in nearly two hundred years, Lucian felt hot tears prickling his eyes. The wolf lay so still he appeared dead. He had some kind of tube shoved into his nose and tapped in place, and there was an IV sticking out of his fur.
Lucian moved closer to the table and ran his hand through Colton’s fur, praying to whoever was listening that his mate pull through.
“You got him here fast enough,” Dr. Whitfield said. “That just might have saved his life.”
“So you think his odds are good?” Lucian asked past the hard, burning lump in his throat.
“The medication in the IV is counteracting the silver poisoning. Since you got him here so fast, the amount of silver introduced into his bloodstream was minimal. If he’d gotten here any later, the prognosis wouldn’t have been in his favor.” The doctor patted his arm. “You saved his life.”
No sooner had the doctor finished talking than the wolf began to seize on the table. Lucian stepped back, horrified, as the doctor worked frantically. “I don’t understand,” Dr. Whitfield said. “The medication should’ve worked.”
“He’s dying?” Lucian didn’t need to ask the question. The smell of silver amplified, as if the medication had somehow given the poison strength instead of counteracting it.
When the doctor looked over his shoulder at Lucian, his expression was dismal. “I don’t know what else to do to save him.”
Lucian knew, but saving his mate just might cost him Colton. He rushed to the door and swung it open, calling his brothers into the room. Corbin and Antonio looked horrified as the wolf continued to flail as the seizure continued.
“We either convert Colton or we lose him,” Lucian said. “The medication isn’t working. He’s dying.”
Colton’s pack gathered at the door. Most had somber looks while others gaped, as if in shock at what Colton was going through. It was Matt who stepped into the room. “Convert him and he’ll probably hate you for the rest of his life.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Lucian would rather have Colton hate him than know his wolf would never walk the earth again.
“I’m not arguing against it,” Matt said. “I’m just warning you about the possible outcome.”
“Do it,” Corbin argued.
“There is no other way,” Antonio said. “He can hate us all he wants, but I won’t lose him.”
Lucian bit into his wrist, his brothers following suit. They let their blood drip into his open wound until Colton settled and his body stilled. Dr. Whitfield had moved aside to stand next to Matt as the brothers worked feverishly to save Colton.
When they licked their wrists to seal their wound, the doctor stepped back over to Colton and checked his vitals. But that wasn’t necessary. The pungent odor of silver faded, and Lucian could tell the conversion was underway.
“Did it work?” Matt asked.
The wolf shifted, and Colton’s naked body lay there. Lucian snarled at the gaping wound in his stomach before the doctor grabbed a sheet and covered the lower half of Colton’s body. But the wound was still visible.
“See for yourself,” Lucian said.
The edges of the injury began to stitch back together, repairing what was lost as the hole, inch by slow inch, closed. There wasn’t even a scar left behind. Colton’s stomach was smooth and flawless, his muscled abs in pristine shape.
“You two might want to step out of the room,” Lucian said to Matt and the doctor. “When he wakes, he’ll be hungry, and the act of feeding can become quite intimate.”
Dr. Whitfield wrinkled his nose. “I’m out of here. Just don’t make a mess of this room.”
Matt gave Colton’s sleeping form one last look, regret in his eyes, before he followed the doctor and closed the door behind him.
“He’s going to remove our balls,” Antonio said.
“Or rip our throats out.” Corbin moved to the table and ran his hand over Colton’s chest. “And he was just starting to become happy again.”
Lucian felt the pangs of sorrow in his chest as he stared at Colton. Corbin was right, but it was too late to change their minds. The damage was done, and now Colton would be half-vampire and half-wolf. He would be able to continue eating human food, but he would need blood, and Lucian had a feeling Colton would rather have died than become one of them.