Page 193 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

BISHOP

Fear tightened my chest. The thought of seeing Audrey unconscious every day and not being able to talk to her or share my life with her making it hard to breathe. She wouldn’t be dead. But she wouldn’t be alive, either, and I couldn’t live with that.

She was too amazing to lose, sweet and shy and funny, with a heart filled with so much love. She was fierce, too. She didn’t show it often, but she did when it mattered, and Sisters, she’d shown her ferocious warrior spirit when she’d faced Sterling.

That monster had actually been a monster. He’d looked like the horrible god depicted in the statue outside of Tzanagoth’s temple, and she hadn’t flinched or hid or even looked afraid. She’d been a goddess of vengeance and justice, and Sterling had deserved everything that had come to him.

And straight ahead lay her salvation.

I stared at the rip between the realms alongside Cyrus and Knox. Whil had used Cyrus’s incomplete mating bond with Audrey to create the rip, and while it was the only way to get to a fae sorcerer who might be able to help, I feared for my brother.

We had no idea how long it would take us to get to Faerie and find a sorcerer, and he’d been fighting with his attraction to Audrey before he’d permanently bound his soul to hers. Sure, it was supposed to take a while before the urge from the bond to seal it became overwhelming, but given how much I knew he already loved her, I was certain we didn’t have a while.

I chuffed and raised my snout to Knox, who held Audrey, then to Cyrus who stood beside him. Whil had cast the spell, there was no going back, and none of us would go back if we could. All that mattered was saving our mate.

Together we stepped through the rip, careful not to touch the shimmering edges. A shiver rolled through my body, the only indication that we were passing between realms, and then we were in Audrey’s realm.

A warm summer night engulfed us, a cool contrast to the mid-day sun that we’d just left. We stood in a field of low grass and right in the middle of a fight… or rather a massacre.

Four men surrounded a man and a woman with strangely mottled skin. Their clothes were ripped and deep gouges — the kind made from small claws — scored their torsos. They lay limp half on the ground and half in the men’s arms, all of the men pressed close, one with his lips against the woman’s neck in an open-mouthed kiss, another at the man’s throat, and the two others lapping at the gashes across their torsos.

What the fuck?

We hadn’t been able to see them because of the limited view through the rip even though they were only a few feet away, and every instinct I had screamed that we had to get out of here.

One of the men jerked his head and hissed at us, revealing sharp fangs and blood dribbling down his chin.

My pulse lurched. Audrey had said all manner of supernatural beings — supers as she called them — lived in her realm, and now I was standing face to face with a mythological vampire.

One that looked hungry as hell and, if the stories I’d read were correct, was going to be hard to stop. According to the lore, vampires could move faster than a shifter and could heal at a phenomenal rate.

The other vampires looked up and hissed, their eyes black, their expressions hungry and smug.

“Shit,” Knox growled, tensing beside me while a wild rage blasted through our twin bond.

“What do we have here?” a big, bulky vampire asked.

“I think they brought us dessert,” another one hissed. This guy was small for a man, but I didn’t doubt he was any less dangerous.

“I think both of us should pretend we didn’t see anything,” Cyrus snarled, his hands flexing and his claws extending from his fingertips. “You don’t want this to turn into a fight.”

“The puppy thinks he can fight us?” a heavyset vampire laughed and the boringly average looking vampire beside him joined in.

“This puppy knows he can.” Cyrus’s alpha power rolled off of him revealing just how determined he was.

He knew his power wouldn’t affect the vampires, but I doubted he could help himself. Knox was radiating almost as much alpha power as Cyrus, and I could feel mine pouring off me in waves as well.

We’d do anything to protect our mate, and while Cyrus had done a shit job at diffusing the situation, we all knew nothing we said was going to change the vampire’s minds.

They can move fast, I said in Cyrus’s and Knox’s head, the warning only a second before the vampires shot toward us.

Cyrus lunged forward to meet the attack, while Knox jerked out of reach of the heavyset vampire, protecting Audrey with his body and leaving his side open to the vampire’s claws.

I bunched down, ready to leap at the heavyset man as his claws dragged through Knox’s side, but before I could move, Knox shoved Audrey at me. Darkness filled his eyes and feralness radiated through our bond as he shifted into his wolf form. His wolf had taken over and had already figured out I was the weakest link in this fight.

I’d taken a serious swipe from a grimalkin’s claws and had to shift out my injuries, but that had tired me out. I was sure Knox was also tired, but he was a natural born hunter and the feral side of his wolf would keep him going longer than me.

With a huff, I shifted, grabbing Audrey before she fell on the ground. Exhaustion crashed through me, but I forced myself to my feet, determined to put space between me and the fight.

The small vampire rushed toward me, but Cyrus shoved the average looking vampire into the small one making them stumble away from me.

“Get her out of here,” Cyrus barked at me, his power snapping into my soul but not forcing me to obey.

Beside him, Knox bit a chunk out of the heavyset vampire’s leg, making the vampire howl with pain. The guy staggered but righted himself and dove for Knox.

Again, I turned to run, but the large vampire blocked me.

Fucking hell.

He dove at me, his movements so fast I could barely follow them. Somehow, I manage to jerk out of the way, protecting Audrey from his claws.

But I wasn’t fast enough to save myself. Fiery pain sliced through my shoulder and the vampire sneered at me while licking his fingertips.

“You taste good, puppy.” His smile grew smug.

And you taste disgusting, Knox mentally yelled at him, making him turn toward Knox just as Knox leaped at him.

Knox’s wolf, like mine and Cyrus’s, was massive, and he easily tackled the vampire to the ground. With a snarl, he latched his teeth into the vampire’s throat and ripped through his flesh.

One of the other vampires screamed, and I glanced up to see Cyrus tearing his claws through the average looking vampire’s stomach. The man dropped to his knees, clutching at his insides and Cyrus rammed his knee into the guy’s head.

The other two vampires also lay on the ground. The small guy was completely unconscious, his torso shredded by wolf claws, while the heavyset vampire rolled on the ground, moaning, both of his legs gnawed down to the bone and a deep set of claw marks tearing down his side.

Mine, Knox roared as he tipped his head back and howled. Feralness crackled through his alpha power and he stalked toward the heavyset vampire.

“Don’t,” Cyrus commanded, knowing that Knox was going to finish the man off. “We need to get out of here. We can’t get caught with these bodies. We have to find a way to Faerie.”

Knox snapped at him and Cyrus’s power crushed around us.

“Audrey doesn’t need us in prison or spending hours being questioned by the authorities,” Cyrus added.

Fine, Knox growled.

I looked up to see where we could go to clean up and for me to put on clothes, as a monster — no, a man? — swooped down from the sky on wide leathery wings.

He was enormous, broader in the chest and easily a foot taller than Cyrus. He also looked a lot like the statue of Tzanagoth back in Anakar with his wings spread out behind him and thin, tall horns protruding from his forehead.

A red mist swirled around him, setting my nerves on edge, and fury radiated off him in almost palpable waves.

Knox growled, the sound low and dangerous, and Cyrus widened his stance, ready for a fight.

Except I knew there was no way we could win a fight against him. That wasn’t to say I wouldn’t die protecting Audrey, or that my brothers wouldn’t die to get me and Audrey a chance to escape, but the conclusion was inevitable. The man radiated power and danger and confidence.

The heavyset vampire groaned and rolled to his hands and knees as if he were going to stand, but the red mist shot out from the winged man’s hand and twisted around the vampire’s throat.

“If you want to live, stay down,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “I don’t care that the JP are on their way. I will kill you.”

The JP, I mentally said to Cyrus and Knox. Audrey said to find a JP agent.

“So, you four,” the winged man said, his narrow-eyed gaze sliding over our bodies, taking in our ragged state as well, no doubt assessing how dangerous we were.

“Wrong place, wrong time,” I said with a shrug, trying to keep my voice light and praying Cyrus didn’t get all possessive, aggressive wolf on him like he had with the vampires. “We’ll just be on our?—”

A flash of white above and behind the winged man caught my attention and my thoughts stalled.

It was another man, but instead of leathery wings his were softly glowing white feathers and pale light radiated from his eyes.

“An angel,” I gasped.

Holy Sisters! I was about to meet an angel.

The angel landed beside the winged man, his gaze on the man and the woman, his expression grim.

“There has to be a way to stop this, Voth,” the angel said.

“If I kill the city’s new master another idiot will take his place.” The winged man, Voth, shot the angel an exasperated look. “And the JP will arrest me.”

“Not if that idiot walks onto your property,” the angel mumbled under his breath, his words shocking me.

Everything I’d read about angels said they were upholders of law and justice, and this angel was condoning murder.

What else had I read that wasn’t true?

The angel turned his attention to us. “You four should come with me.”

My stomach churned at his words. I gripped Audrey tighter and took a step back, while Cyrus tensed, and Knox growled, his hackles rising.

The angel frowned. “You’re hurt. You need medical attention.”

“We’re fine. We’ve got stuff in our packs.” I jerked my thumb to where we’d dropped our packs during the vampire fight. “We really should be going.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Voth said, his red mist billowing around him. “You’re going to tell me who the fuck you are. That girl is radiating so much evil power I’m sure anyone with a hint of magical sensitivity can feel it from the next state over.”

I didn’t know what all that meant, but without a doubt, it was bad.

You run. I’ll hold him off, Cyrus said.

No, I snapped back. He and Audrey couldn’t afford to get separated.

I’ll hold them, Knox snarled.

But with Knox barely clinging to himself, he wouldn’t stop fighting until Voth killed him.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

The authorities were coming, and if we refused to say something, Voth would tell them we were dangerous. That was what I’d do.

Cyrus opened his mouth to speak but without a doubt that was going to be a disaster so I inched forward.

“It’s a long story,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite my pounding heart.

I had no idea if the man-monster — that looked too much like Tzanagoth — would believe us, but I had a feeling he’d know if we were lying.

Praying that the truth would save us — and save Audrey — I sucked in a steadying breath. “Our mate is possessed by an evil power that’s putting her to sleep. We’ve come from our realm through a rip between realms to this one to find a way into Faerie so we can find a fae sorcerer who can save her.”

Voth shot the angel a strange look. It wasn’t angry, but it wasn’t compassionate understanding, either.

“I’ll call him,” the angel said as he pulled a thin rectangular box from his pocket.

“Priam,” Voth warned before glaring at us. “Fae sorcerers aren’t cheap. Can you pay?”

“We can,” Cyrus replied as the angel, Priam, rolled his eyes and huffed. “We just need to know where to find him.”

“They’re mates and they’ve crossed realms to save her.” Priam touched the surface of the rectangular box and it lit up with a bright light. “I’ll tell Amiah and she’ll make him do it for free.”

“He’s going to be pissed if you keep doing that,” Voth said, but his tone had softened and the red swirling mist thinned.

Cyrus stepped forward, his alpha power still rippling around him, his body still tense. “If you just tell us where he is, we’ll talk to him.”

“You’re not leaving here until I’ve healed you,” Priam said before putting the rectangle to his ear, turning his back on us, and telling someone named Bane to get to the hotel.

“You’re also safest here,” Voth added as red mist burst around him and his wings and horns vanished, leaving just an enormous man in strangely tailored clothes.

“I’m saying fated mates keep showing up on my doorstep and I’ve resigned myself to my role in all this.”

My wolf whined inside me at his tone. Resigned was the right word. We weren’t sure how, but we could tell he wanted more… except I wasn’t sure what that meant.

“Come on,” Priam said, grabbing our packs. “There’s a clinic at the back of the theatre.”

I shot Cyrus a wary glance and he shrugged. It didn’t matter how understanding Voth seemed, it was clear he wasn’t going to let us go. Audrey was too dangerous. Running wasn’t an option. We had no choice but to follow the honest-to-goodness angel.