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MARLOWE

With our plan in place, we trudged through the fae forest, making our way towards the shifter haven.

The pack had all transformed into their wolves, and while I desperately wanted to join them, I figured it would be better to keep my human consciousness intact so I could continue going over the plan in my head. They’d managed to remove the silver cuff, thankfully, so I could still shift in an emergency, at least.

My wolf sighed in relief as we regained our connection, and I gave her a few reassuring pats in my mind.

Wasabi offered to let me ride her, and then Kian bounced between the ground and tree tops, keeping an eye out for any scouts or other secret forces that might be lurking in the shadows.

Every time I saw him, I had to do a double-take—his coloring and build were so similar to Mike’s. It made my heart jump whenever a flash of dark hair and pale skin entered my periphery, and I knew he had noticed and was trying to stay out of sight.

Poor guy. If my pack, my “we’ve-hated-vamps-since-the-day-we-were-born”

pack, could get over their prejudices and become friends with Kian, I really should be giving him a chance, too.

The next time I felt his presence behind me, I spoke up. “So, tell me a little about yourself.”

“Me?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Well, I wasn’t talking to Wasabi.”

He stepped up closer, still keeping a respectful distance. I could tell my scent was affecting him, and wished I could really rein that in. But it also made me appreciate the effort he was giving.

“Well, I’m from New Orleans originally, but I moved to Austin when I graduated high school. I’m really into music, and after college I found my dream job working as a sound engineer for a local recording studio. I’ve been there ever since.”

“Oh, that’s really cool!”

“Yeah, Austin’s amazing. When this is all over, you and the guys should visit sometime. I know all the best breweries and barbecue places.

Even though I’d been with Mike for years, and had argued with Ezra over the banality of typical vampyr existence on Earth, for some reason I still had this image of them being dark and mysterious.

Not drinking IPAs and eating brisket.

“I’ve always wanted to go. Do you, um… have a…”

“Servaglio?”

he said sheepishly.

“Yeah.”

“I do. But I didn’t trick them or anything. I heard how your ex handled his, and if it makes you feel any better, most of the vampyrs I associate with would never force a woman, or omega, into a servaglio. Some of us are assholes—my dad being a prime example—but the rest of us are just normal guys. Aisha, my Lunessa, was the one who wanted me to add another and Jasmin knew about her from the get-go. I love them so much. It’s been really hard being away from them for so long.”

The way his voice softened as he told me about his servaglio, how they’d met, what they liked to do together… it reminded me of how I spoke about my pack. I could really feel the affection and care he had towards them, and thankfully it sounded like they were on board with the vampyr lifestyle.

And really, with five alphas, who was I to judge?

A wave of growls rippled through the pack, their hackles raised. Kian positioned himself in front of me, staring at something I had yet to see.

Then the soft scent of cherry and almond wafted through the air, and my heart raced.

Ezra.

It was hard to communicate through the bond with my pack when they were in wolf form and I wasn’t, but I slid off Wasabi’s back carefully and spoke to them out-loud. “Stand down, I don’t want him to use his bark on you guys. Kian, can you withstand alpha commands?”

“Definitely.”

“Good. Stay behind me, though. Ezra doesn’t like vampyrs, and the last time he fought against them, he burned them from the inside out.”

“Fully prepared to hide in your shadow, thank you.”

I made my way towards the scent, my eyes darting towards every darkened movement as I searched for his jet-black fur.

When the scent got stronger, I paused, holding my hand up and feeling Kian stop behind me.

There was no sound aside from the wind rustling through the trees, and my heartbeat echoing in my ears. Even the birds and insects had stopped making any sort of noise.

The crystallized Aetherium hung heavy on my neck, and a drop of sweat beaded from my temple down my cheek.

A twig snapped in front of us, and Ezra’s wolf stepped into view. His lips curled as he snarled, snapping towards Kian behind me.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Ezra,”

I said, keeping my arms out to shield him. “This guy has been helping me, which is more than I can say for you.”

His wolf snapped at the air again, bluff charging and driving me a step back.

“Shift back so we can talk.”

He shook his head, and bluff charged again.

“Shift!”

I demanded.

The wolf chuffed and then Ezra appeared before me in a flash, clutching his head, agony eclipsing his face. “Marlowe… please… I can’t think like this. The king… he did something to my mind…”

He fell to the ground on his knees, his pained bellows echoing through the trees.

“Ezra!”

I cried. I ran up to him, crouching down to look at him better. “What did he do to you? What’s wrong?”

Damnit, why couldn’t I stay mad at him? I should have been rejoicing, laughing about him finally facing some consequences for his decision to ally himself with that son of a bitch king. But watching him struggle and writhe in pain was too much.

“Kian,”

I said, getting up to take off my dress. “I’m going to shift, can you turn away?”

He held up his hands in the universal sign of “I mean no harm,”

and took a few tentative steps towards us. “Ezra, my name is Kian. I might be able to help…”

Ezra looked up, his pupils dilated and growling viciously. “Stay away, bloodsucker!”

I smacked him across the head. “Knock it off, asshole! Just let him try.”

He winced as what look like another wave of pain washed over him, and nodded quickly. “Fine, but if you bite me…”

Kian gagged, and I chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation. “Yeah, no worries about that. Here, I’m just going to put my hand right here on your temple.”

He bent over, gently placing his palm along the side of Ezra’s head. His skin glowed with a warm, violet light that slowly seeped into Ezra’s skin, radiating outwards before being absorbed.

Ezra’s eyelids fluttered, and he released a shuddering breath. “How…”

“I took a look at some shielding magic recently, it seemed like something I could replicate and adjust.”

My eyes widened and I turned to look at my new vampyr friend. “Well, damn, aren’t you full of surprises?”

Ezra blinked a few times, his pupils readjusting as he slowly moved back to his feet.

“This is just temporary,”

Kian warned, taking a cautionary step back. “I don’t know how long it will hold, but at least for now you should find some relief from whatever was attacking you internally.”

My brother nodded, closing his eyes. “Yeah, I can still feel it there, but this is good enough for now.”

He turned back towards me, his expression falling. “Marlowe… I’m so sorry.”

“You are?”

I asked. The tone of his voice, his posture—although I still kept my eyes up because I would never get used to him just swinging dong all day—it all seemed like “normal”

Ezra. But it could easily be a trap. Maybe he’d decided luring me away from my pack was better than an all-out fight. “What for? And why? And where’s Canna?”

The mention of his omega made him flinch, and his hands balled into fists at his sides. “Alaroth is holding her hostage until I bring you back…”

I growled, and Kian grabbed my arm to pull me behind him. “We’re not letting you take her back to him. Are you insane?”

he hissed. Wispy black shadows surrounded his hands and forearms, and he took a widened stance in preparation for an attack.

Aw, I was liking this vampyr more and more by the second. I could see now how he’d won over my pack. “Thanks, Kian, but I’ve got this.”

I stepped back around, letting some of my own magic come forth, playing with bright concentrations of energy in my hands like I was merely juggling a few balls. “So, you’re going to exchange me for Canna, is that it?”

Ezra shook his head, his eyes widening. “No, I would never…”

“Oh, but you’ve handed me over to that maniac for far less, haven’t you? Excuse me for questioning your intentions,”

I snapped.

Did it really take having his own omega for him to finally realize what he’d done to me? What he’d done to our parents?

Or did it have something to do with the magic that had been attacking his mind?

I took a deep breath, cracking my neck and rolling my shoulders to release the tension building in my muscles. “Look, I’m going to let you speak, uninterrupted, for three minutes. If you haven’t convinced me by the end of your time that you aren’t trying to haul me back to be tortured and assaulted, I’m going to sic Kian and Wasabi on you. You may be alpha of alphas, but not of vampyrs and vryscrals, got it?”

Wasabi growled her agreement from where she lay in wait, her green scales keeping her camouflaged in the leafy undergrowth. A pixie flitted by, dousing Ezra with a heavy dose of dust before zipping back off.

He closed his eyes, sneezed, and let loose a resigned sigh. “Got it.”

The pack must have shifted from where they were waiting, because the feelings and emotions being sent through the bond were much more articulate than they had been when they were in their wolf form.

Just say the word, Julian growled.

I gave his shoulder a mental squeeze, then crossed my arms and presented Ezra an expectant look.

“I know I’ve fucked up, Mar,”

he started, his eyes cast down. “Beyond what’s repairable. It’s not a defense of my actions, but last night, I finally figured something out. The king’s done something to my brain. I can’t even think about disobeying him or plotting against him without it feeling like he’s stabbing me through the skull. I’m remembering now how it was when I first got here, how he molded me slowly, making it so the path to following him was the one of least mental resistance.

“My memories have been altered in a way that, looking back on it, it seemed like he was just mentoring me. But now I can clearly see the manipulations. The days of torture he’s tried to erase. How he took hold of small feelings, then shaped them into actions and orders that I wouldn’t question. Mom… Dad… I resented the hell out of them, and he used that resentment and purposefully made it fester until I was gladly carrying out his command to end them. With you…”

He paused, turning his head as his eyes began to glisten with unshed tears, and I blinked away mine as my own heart began to break.

“I’m so sorry,”

he said, his voice cracking. “I missed you, I wanted you here with me. And Alaroth used that to convince me to bring you over. Erasing all the pain he had put me through, so I would think he would be nice to you, so I would think he was a good person who wanted good things for both of our worlds. So that when he… he… took you, I wouldn’t think twice about it. That I would thank him for allowing you to stay with me. And it’s so, so fucked up. I fucked up. And I know I can’t ask for your forgiveness. I just want you to understand why.”

My lips began to tremble with the sobs building in my chest.

This was my brother. This was the male I knew, sensitive and confused and longing to belong. A true alpha—someone who didn’t shy from emotions other than anger. Someone who admitted when he was wrong.

I ran towards him, full force into his broad chest, and he wrapped his arms around me tightly. We cried together, lamenting the loss of our parents, the loss of years we could have spent together, the loss of my brother’s free will and his own mind.

Alaroth had taken so much from us, and we had to make him pay.

“What do we do now?”

I finally whimpered, not wanting to let go.

“I don’t know how I can fight him,”

he whispered back. “The shield the vamp put in place is holding for now, but if Alaroth discovers it, he could destroy it and make me his puppet again. I can’t fight against you, I’d rather die…”

“No!”

I yelled, taking a step back and wiping my cheeks with the palms of my hands. I pointed my finger at him and shook. “You do not get to make yourself a martyr for this.”

“I don’t intend to, even though I probably deserve it,”

he replied, running his hand down his face. “I can’t protect you, and I can’t protect Canna. Not as I am. I need to become… less.”

“Less?” I asked.

He nodded. “Your pack leader—I need him to beat me in a fight. I need him to usurp my role as alpha of alphas.”

“Gladly.”

Cam came stepping into our little clearing, cracking his knuckles. “I know you’re my omega’s brother, but I can’t say I haven’t been fantasizing about punching your face in ever since you showed up.”

I turned around and blocked Ezra, baring my teeth at Cam. “No one is getting their faces punched in right now…”

The rest of the pack fanned out behind Cam, the same look of determination across all their expressions.

“Marlowe,”

Archer started. “If your brother is bested by Camden, he’ll defer to his dominance on instinct. It would free him from the king’s influence.”

“I’m not arguing with the logic of it,”

I snapped. “Just asking we tone down the rhetoric, hm?”

Cam chuckled, his tongue running along the edge of his teeth. “No can do, babe. Your brother has fucked around for long enough, and it’s finally time for him to find out.”

Ezra burst out laughing behind me, and I growled at my pack mate. “Oh my god, are you twelve? This is ridiculous. I get you have to fight, but can we please be mature about it?”

“Nope.”

He looked at Elias who nodded, rushing and twirling me out of the way, just in time for Cam to shift into his wolf and lunge towards Ezra.