Page 31

QUINN SLIPPED through the garage without encountering anyone. He didn’t know much about Caius’ old pack or their new alpha, but kidnapping a member of another pack was the kind of shit that made humans call them wild animals. Worse, he smelled more than one mage and Savino’s people.

The door leading in next to the kitchen was unlocked, so he let himself inside. He caught the scents of a dozen shifters and Max, but no one was in the kitchen. He didn’t see a single soul until he ran into one coming out of the bathroom.

“Jesus fuck,” he hissed, pulling his arm up short of stabbing the kid in the neck. “How old are you?”

The kid threw his arms up, his eyes wide enough Quinn was sure he would have pissed himself if he hadn’t already emptied his bladder. “S-sixteen.”

“Great. Who the fuck brings kids to an abduction?” he muttered. He shoved his dagger into its sheath. “Sorry, but I’m going to choke you out now. You’ll wake up in a few minutes, promise.” The whimper nearly killed him, but he didn’t have time to spare to soothe feelings.

He grabbed the kid before he could try to run, spun him, and put him into a choke hold.

“Stay hidden until someone comes looking for you,” he said before squeezing.

He counted to twenty before letting go and carefully dragging the limp body into the bedroom across the hall.

Once the kid was on the bed, he pulled the door shut and went back to the bathroom.

He ignored the mold or mildew on the walls as he dug through the cabinets and under the cracked sink until he found a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a bottle of nail polish remover. That would do for a distraction.

Back in the kitchen, he grabbed a bowl, set it in the microwave, and filled it almost completely with hydrogen peroxide before adding a generous amount of acetone.

Then he struggled to close the broken door, set the timer for five minutes on the highest setting, and ducked into the garage as it started counting down .

He crouched on the other side of an old, battered Volkswagen and couldn’t help but wonder whose house this was since he was about to destroy their kitchen.

As planned, the microwave blew up with a resounding bang. He couldn’t stop the grin and wished he could have watched it, but there were more important things to focus on. Like finding Max.

He slipped back inside.

Two more kids were arguing near the kitchen over who blew up the microwave, and he left them to it, moving deeper into the house and following his nose down a long hallway. He didn’t get far before Aradia narrowly avoided flying into his face, and then Max crashed into his chest.

“Fuck,” he breathed, pulling Max closer with a rush of relief. Then he pushed him back to look him over. “You’re okay? Are you hurt?”

Max fisted Quinn’s shirt with both hands. “I’m fine. Where’s Caius?” He didn’t smell fine, but he wasn’t bleeding out.

“Starting fights, most likely,” Quinn said, glancing past Max to make sure there were no threats before focusing on Aradia. “Why do you smell like Lukas?”

She chirped and Max startled, spinning to look behind him before staring at Quinn with a look and scent of shock. “I think he was the one who killed Maurice.”

“Okay.” He wasn’t one to check a miracle pup for fleas, so he urged Max away from the room with the apparent dead guy. “Let’s go find the Cap.”

“Colonel,” Max murmured.

“Yeah, yeah. Stay behind me,” he said, reaching the end of the hall and putting himself in front of Max. There was still arguing from the kitchen, so he followed the sound of wolves fighting from the den.

A mage was sprawled near the entrance, a knife protruding from her chest. Max’s scent was on her, and he bit back a growl, nudging Max to his other side to keep her out of Max’s line of sight.

He needn’t have worried. As soon as the den came into view, so did the source of the growls and snarls and crunching of furniture.

Three more kids were pressed against the back wall, but he dismissed them as a non-threat for the moment.

Two large white wolves circled the room like sharks.

Blood oozed from dozens of wounds, splattered across carpet and walls alike.

The wolves looked nearly identical, except for the scars visible on the left shoulder and foreleg of one.

Which made the older one with gray around his muzzle Kostas.

They were both limping, their fur matted with blood.

Caius had a nasty gash on his face that was bleeding into his eye.

“No,” Max hissed, rushing forward, but Quinn managed to catch him and drag him back before he got himself killed.

Both wolves paused when they noticed their new audience.

Kostas snarled before tipping his head back with a short howl. A call to attack.

Quinn drew his dagger and checked the hall before focusing on the kids, but they showed no sign of responding. He wasn’t sure where the new threat was until Max grunted and hunched forward, flames licking the air around him. His magic smelled bitter beneath the usual smoky warmth of his fire.

“Fucking hell.” He shoved the dagger back into its sheath. “Max, stop,” he hissed, but Max showed no sign of hearing him.

The flames grew brighter and hotter until Quinn finally realized what smelled wrong about him. Kostas had bound Max.

He didn’t have long to fix this. Already the flames were coalescing around Max’s hand into a deadly fireball. When Max lifted his hand and aimed at Caius, Quinn did the only thing he thought might work.

“Cap! Arty!” he yelled. He didn’t have time to make sure Caius understood. He grabbed Max from behind with one arm and clamped his other hand on the wrist with the fireball.

“Don’t fight me,” he snarled, pushing his will into the bond despite how much he hated to.

Max sagged against him and Quinn took full advantage, steadying Max’s palm. Caius was crouched as he faced off against Kostas, and Quinn desperately hoped this would work. He covered Max’s eyes with one hand, gave a quick pull with the other, and yelled, “Fire!”

He squinted against the heat and light as the fireball erupted from Max’s hand.

The whoosh of the tiny inferno drowned out everything but a pained howl.

The fire swirled around the wolf, filling nearly the entire room with flames and smoke.

The fire alarm went off, but the flames eating their way across the ceiling and into the hall killed it, the beeps dying out in a pitiful screech.

“Max! Get rid of the fire before we all die!”

Max jerked against him and crashed to his knees. He threw an arm towards the large bay window and the flames howled, shattering the glass as they spiraled through the window and out of the house .

Silence fell in their wake.

Quinn coughed, grimacing at the smell of burning fur and flesh. When he cracked his eyes open, he saw a charred and crispy wolf writhing on the floor. Caius stood nearby, his head low and his sides heaving.

“Caius,” Max keened.

“He’s okay.” Quinn dropped his hands to Max’s shoulders and pressed his face into Max’s hair. “Good job.” When Caius let out a low growl, he lifted his head in time to see Caius rip Kostas’ throat out.

Max shuddered against him, and Quinn breathed a sigh of relief as the stench of Kostas’ bond vanished. Max pulled away and stumbled to Caius before dropping to his knees beside him. “Caius,” he whispered, lifting his hands to Caius’ bloody muzzle.

Caius leaned into the touch for a moment before shifting. His human flesh was as bloodied as his fur, but the worst of the injuries seemed to be healing.

Quinn turned away as something slammed into the front door, drawing both his daggers as the wood splintered.

The door flew open, and Lukas stalked inside.

Quinn didn’t hesitate before launching himself at Lukas, hooking both arms around his neck and pulling him down for a desperate kiss. “Fucker,” he growled between kisses. “What the hell happened?”

“Long story,” Lukas muttered, burying both hands in Quinn’s hair and holding him close.

He could definitely get used to that. He wanted nothing more than to drag Lukas into the nearest unoccupied bedroom, but the clatter of metal hitting the floor behind them reminded him there was a clusterfuck to clean up before anyone was getting any.

He reluctantly pulled away and turned to see the mage sitting up, a hand pressed to her ribs. “Impressive,” he said. “That would have killed most mages.”

“I’m not most mages,” she replied with a bland look. “And I have no agenda against any of you. This was one of my last missions for the Order before I get my freedom.”

“Your mission was to abduct Max?”

“Not exactly.” She pushed herself up further before slumping against the wall. “Savino hired the Order to help get his son back and suggested it would be easier if your pack was dealt with at the same time. They contacted Kostas, who was eager to help. ”

“Of course he was,” Caius growled, still kneeling on the floor with Max.

The three kids at the back of the room were still standing there as if afraid to breathe. They reeked of fear and relief, which was curious and reassuring.

“There’s at least half a dozen kids here,” Quinn said quietly. “What’s the plan?”

Caius turned towards the kids with a deep sigh. “Where’s Leon?” he asked as he stood. He picked up his clothes, which looked mostly intact, aside from some charred spots and a rip in the shirt.

The kids shared looks before one of them was nudged forward as their leader. “Leon was exiled with the other traitors,” he said.

“Can you contact him?”

They all shared looks again before shaking their heads, but a girl poked her head out of the kitchen. “I can,” she offered.

Quinn nodded at her. “Do it,” he said, holding out a hand to stop her before she reached the entrance. She didn’t look any older than the others, and no kid needed to see their alpha dead on the floor. Even if he was a bastard who deserved it.

She pulled her phone out and put it on speaker. When Leon answered, he sounded frantic.

“What happened?”

Before she could answer, Caius approached and tugged the phone free. “Leon.”

“Caius?”

“Kostas is dead. How fast can you be in Denver? ”

“Dead…. What?”

“Leon,” Caius said firmly, using his no-nonsense colonel voice.

“We’re in Denver,” Leon replied faintly.

“Quinn is going to give you an address,” he said before handing the phone over.

THE NEXT half hour was spent rounding up the kids and corralling them in the dining room. The one he’d choked out was apparently Kostas’ son, which was a surprise to Caius, who hadn’t known he had any cousins. It was apparently as surprising as learning the girl, Eva, was Leon’s daughter.

Quinn tried to ignore the itch of unease between his shoulders as Caius took command of the kids as if he were their alpha.

He didn’t mind growing their pack, he’d love to have a decent-sized pack again, but if Caius took his old pack over, that would mean moving to Wyoming.

Which he didn’t really mind, but he preferred the big city.

And taking over a pack full of traumatized teens seemed like the absolute worst idea.

He expected the cops to show up in force, but when he peeked outside, the rest of the neighborhood looked as dilapidated as the house they were in. A cop car finally pulled up with a detached officer who took a statement from Quinn and Lukas, called it in as pack business, and left them to it.

When Leon finally arrived, it was with two dozen other men and women who’d been exiled as traitors. From the sound of it, after Kostas took over, the pack fractured until he’d kicked out over half of the adults. Obviously, he kept the kids to brainwash and mold into his own perfect little cult.

Once Leon learned what Kostas was planning, he gathered the others and followed Kostas and the kids to Denver.

Quinn left Caius and the others to discuss next moves and sank onto the only slightly broken and charred couch in the den. Someone had gotten rid of Kostas’ body at some point, but his stench and the splatters of blood remained.

He zoned out as he stared at a large red stain, fighting the post-battle crash. He closed his eyes for a moment and found himself slumped against Lukas when he opened them again. With a soft groan, he wiggled closer and pressed his nose into Lukas’ neck, breathing in his warm, rain-soaked scent.

Before he could wake enough to demand Lukas tell him where he’d disappeared to, a car revved as it raced down the street. There was a crunch of metal and wood as it drove into the mailbox and into the front yard.

Quinn and Lukas were both on their feet before a car door slammed shut, standing side by side in front of the broken front door.

A young woman with blood-matted blue hair and a shattered arm stalked towards them.

“Fuck,” Lukas hissed. “How did you find me?”

“Tracker.” The woman sneered and shoved past them, stepping into the house.

“You didn’t kill him. Both my dolls died because of your incompetence,” she spat, standing in the hall and dripping blood like a Carrie reject.

“Now the bitch has disappeared, likely to her lover, and you’re going to help me find her. ”

“Why the hell would we do that?” Quinn asked, stepping between her and Lukas.

She gave a good impression of a wolf baring its teeth as she leaned into his personal space. “Because her lover is your little mage’s father, and I have it on good authority that he wants you all dead. So help me, or I’ll take him your heads and see if that’s payment enough for what I want.”

Fuck.

Quinn shared a quick look with Lukas before yelling into the house. “Cap, you better come out here.”