Jennifer Ashley - Primal Bonds

The cats turned their gazes from where Fionn had been to where Andrea stood now. They bled from shallow cuts she’d given them, and the one who’d been stuck with the arrow limped. But they weren’t dead, not by a long way. Yellow eyes narrowed; breaths burned hot.

Andrea turned and ran, shedding clothes as she went. As soon as she flowed into her wolf, she whirled around, teeth bared, and attacked the Felines who’d dared hurt her mate.

Sean opened his eyes to a Lupine nose right in his face. “Oh, beautiful,” he croaked. “Dog breath.”

He tried to open his eyes wider but found that he couldn’t see much past the black and wet nose. “Where the hell am I?”

The Lupine growled, and while Sean had lived a long time among Lupines, that didn’t mean he understood every nuance of every sound they made. He raised a hand to his face, noting that no part of him did not hurt. He’d been clawed and shot, beaten, and half electrocuted by his Collar.

He lay in a dry cave, but that didn’t much help him figure out where he was. The hills around Austin were sprinkled with caves, some of which were tourist attractions, some known only to weekend spelunkers. Sean assumed that this cave was in the last category; that is, if he was still anywhere near Austin at all. There were plenty of caves out in the middle of nowhere.

As Sean’s senses returned, so did his intense pain. He closed his eyes, as though that would force it away.

The sword wasn’t here. Its presence was unmistakable, Sean’s link to it formed the day he’d been chosen as Guardian. He hoped to the Goddess that he’d buried it well enough, that he could get his hands on a cell phone so he could call Liam or his father to go find it before anyone else did.

The Lupine was sniffing him again. If he drools on me, I’m killing him.

Sean opened his eyes to see the Lupine shift back to the man Sean had already placed by scent—Wade, Andrea’s pack leader. Sean hoisted himself into a sitting position and then spent a few minutes huddled against a wave of pain. “I feel like shit.”

Wade backed away. “You were pretty far gone. You might want to lie down again.”

Not if you’re going to keep poking your nose in my face. “How did you find me, anyway?”

“I was following Jared. I feared he’d gone to harm Andrea, and that’s against the rules.”

“Bugger the rules. Jared was after me. What happened to him? We were fighting, and he went down.”

“He’s dead. I didn’t have room to bring you both.”

“Dead?” Poor, stupid sod. “So you left him for the humans to find?”

“I told you, I didn’t have room for him. You’re lucky I got you away. Jared was a fool and above himself.”

“Yes, he was a thrice-damned idiot, but he was also under your protection. What are you going to tell his dad, who is a Shiftertown leader?”

Wade shrugged. “That Jared broke the rules and suffered the consequences. Shifter law is Shifter law.”

What a piece of work. Wade was the worst kind of pack leader—enforcing rules to the letter without any thought of mercy.

“I have to go back,” Sean said. He started to push himself to his feet but fell back with a gasp. “Shite.”

“You’re hurt. Rest a while.”

“Did you call for help? Call Liam—why haven’t you already?”

“Your cell phone is broken, I don’t have one, and Glory’s wasn’t on her. I wanted to get you to safety.”

Sean’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah? Why didn’t you take me back to Shiftertown? To my house or even yours?”

Wade avoided his gaze. “There’s fighting there.”

“What kind of fighting? Callum, is it?”

“I think so, yes. They attacked Liam when Liam returned from sequestering his female.”

Sequestering his female. Sean wondered what Kim would think of that phrase.

“Then we should be back there,” Sean said. Again he tried to get his feet under him, and again, his legs refused to obey. “I appreciate your tender loving care, but damn it, we need to help Liam.”

Wade didn’t move. “You’re not going back yet. Wait until it finishes.”

“No matter how it finishes, they’ll need me.”

“No.” Wade’s voice went hard. “Callum’s Felines will win. Accept it, Sean. The Morrisseys’ power in this Shiftertown is over.”

“Oh, you’re sure about that, are you?”

Wade’s voice was flat. “You and your family will lose. Callum will lose too, because he’s an idiot. But the Lupines, we will win.”

Mother Goddess help us all. “Don’t be daft, man. Whichever faction wins will be damn strong, strong enough to take out a bunch of overconfident Lupines.” And Sean would make sure the faction that won was Liam’s.

“No, it won’t. Callum has the advantage, and he’ll kill you all, but he bought his power at too high a price.”

“Price? What the hell are you talking about?”

Wade tried to shut up and look wise, but Sean reached out and easily caught Wade around the throat. Sean squeezed, ignoring the agony in his own arm. “What price?”

Wade gasped for breath, eyes bulging. “Goddess, Sean.”

Sean didn’t relent. “Talk or I snap your neck.”

“Fae,” Wade rasped. “Callum made a bargain with some Fae.”

Sean loosened his hold, but only slightly. “What bargain? Tell me, damn it.”

Wade dragged in air, coughed. “The Fae promised magic to dampen the effect of the Collars while Callum’s Felines fought this battle, to give Callum the advantage. In return, Callum pledged his men to aid the Fae whenever they call.”

Holy crap. “Aid the Fae? What Shifter would make a bargain like that?”

Wade smirked, a neat trick while Sean was holding him by the throat. “My intelligence gathering is better than yours. You and Liam are so arrogant, thinking no one can displace you. Callum went behind your back, hooked up with the Fae, and now the Fae are going to kick your asses.”

Sean released Wade with a jerk of his hand. “I’ll kill him,” he said as he tried to make his legs work again.

“You only have to wait for Callum to pay the price,” Wade said. “The Fae will summon him and his friends to Faerie, and they won’t be able to resist. They’ll be Fae slaves, and then Lupines will rule Shiftertown.”

“With you as its leader? Don’t flatter yourself. Ellison will never follow you, nor will Glory.”

“Won’t they? How do you know? You treat them like shit. You call Ellison your friend, yet you nearly killed him the other night for dancing with Andrea. I was there—I saw. Glory’s in love with your father, but he can barely bring himself to notice her. No I think both Glory and Ellison will be happy to take their vengeance against the Morrisseys.”

Sean didn’t like that Wade might not be far from wrong.

“As for your half-Fae mate,” Wade said. “The Fae can have her after I kill you.”

“Fuck you.” Damn it, if Sean could just make his body obey, he’d break Wade’s neck and run off to find Andrea. His body had other ideas, like collapsing, hurting, dying maybe.

“Sean.” The whisper came out of the darkness, a woman’s whisper. A weak one but not Andrea’s.

“Glory?” Sean turned his head sharply and scanned the depths of the cave. “You’ve got Glory in here?”

“She was wounded by Callum’s humans. One of my trackers found her and brought her here to die in peace.”

“Damn it, why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why? You’re Felines. Glory is a Lupine and of my pack. I do with her what I please.”

Gobshite. “Glory, where are you?”

“Sean,” she whispered again, her voice far too weak. “Don’t listen to this asshole.”