An electric shock whipped through Killer’s body, jerking him awake. He jumped to his feet. The extra weight on his wrists and ankles registered. He didn’t have to look to uncover the reason. He knew. Fighting shackles had been secured to his body.
Tonight, he would fight. His opponent would die.
“Good morning, Killer.”
The taunting rhythm to the male’s voice triggered Killer’s instincts to punish. He hated the way people treated him, as if he were inferior. He stalked forward and locked his deadly glare on the skinny wolf shifter who told Killer days ago it was time for him to die.
Never. He’d never allow them to end his life. The memory he’d recalled sealed his fate. He would survive the night. He had a true mate to punish for betraying him and abandoning him to this hell.
“Where is the ancient?” Killer demanded.
The other male sneered, then pulled out a cell phone. Killer had seen the guards with the devices. They used them to watch porn or play mindless games. The worthless pieces of electronics didn’t interest him.
“Where is the ancient?” Killer repeated.
“I found out what happened to your little sister.” The single shifter hunkered down in front of Killer’s cell. “Don’t you want to see it?”
Killer gripped the bars. All thoughts of the orange-eyed Royal’s promise of freedom and Killer’s revenge against his true mate—gone. “Is she okay?”
“Watch for yourself.”
The poor quality video with no sound showed Gwen striking a match and lighting a candle. A triumphant smile flashed across her face. She moved across a dirty room to a window. A contemplative look passed over her features, followed by fear. Her eyes widened. She blew the flame out, and the video cut.
Jagged white lines and dots danced across the screen’s surface before a grainy black-and-white image showed a terrified Gwen. Her mouth opened. Her body jerked. Something dark spread across the top of her jacket. Blood. His mind supplied the word. It was blood. A lot of blood. She’d been shot.
She fell face-first onto the ground. Her body lay there, crumpled and unmoving.
The single shifter pressed a button on the side of the phone, ending the video.
Killer shook the bars of his cell. Concrete dust rained around him. “She’s alive. Tell me she’s alive!”
“I’m sorry.” The skinny wolf shifter fought a smile. “She didn’t make it.”
“You lie.” Killer spat the words, but he couldn’t tell if this male lied. Rage ruled Killer. His wolves wanted revenge. Nothing else mattered.
“No, I’m telling you the truth. The female you vowed to protect died. You failed her.”
“No!” Killer stretched an arm out, reaching for the phone. There was more to the video. He needed to see it. “You’re lying!”
“If I wanted to lie, I would’ve told you the female survived. The hope of seeing her again would’ve been enough to manipulate you.” The other male grinned. “But I don’t want to control you. I want to help you.”
Killer fisted the bars, wishing it was this male’s skinny neck he squeezed instead. The single shifter wanted to hurt Killer, not help him. Even Killer’s crazed wolves agreed on that. He could smell the depravity on the other male. “Help me how?”
“We have Gwen’s killer.” The skinny male licked his thin lips. “We want you to make an example out of him. Nobody is above the law, Killer. Nobody, not even the eldest of males on our Shifter Council. When they become corrupted…tainted by the sickest of urges, they die. Just like Gwen’s killer will die.”
The single shifter pulled out a small black box from his pocket. He depressed the single red button on it. The shackles encircling Killer’s wrists and ankles tightened, piercing his skin. The familiar icy sensation he’d come to associate with the drugs his handlers used flooded Killer’s body. He swayed, his body and mind numbing.
“And you, Killer, will exact our revenge or die a failure.”
Killer had already failed, though. In more ways than one.
Vlad led Molly to the largest bedroom in their house and opened the door. He motioned to the richly decorated space. “This room was designed specifically for visiting dignitaries. As the leader of the Leon pride, you qualify as our most important guest.”
Molly slipped around his legs and moved to the center of the room. She looked tiny in the massive bedroom, but he wanted her to feel as important as she was to their world.
She glanced over her shoulder. “And I can stay here for as long as I want?”
That was a tricky question. Technically, Lena was her guardian and would be the one to decide where Molly lived. Gwen’s sister wanted Molly happy, though. Lena also hadn’t fought their announcement a few hours ago that Molly would be going home with him and Gwen. “This will always be your room in this house.”
Molly moved through the room. She skimmed her fingers over the bedspread, then the deep-cushioned love seat near the window. “I forgot to tell you something.”
“What’s that?”
“If they’re going to steal your alpha’s spirit, they’ll have a magical globe in the circle to trap it from ascending to the heavens.” Molly pursed her lips. “I don’t know how they’ll tie it to a single shifter baby. The Leon spirit doesn’t remember that part, and I was too little.”
Vlad couldn’t guess either but suspected magic of some sort. There was a coven of human witches who’d been rumored to be working with the scientists and shifters looking for the key to stealing a Royal’s immortality.
“We’ll make sure we smash it.”
Molly nodded, then walked to the window. She pushed aside the curtain and scanned the yard. “When will Lena and Megan get here? I miss them. You said they were going to come.”
“Lena had to pick up Megan. They’ll be over in a few minutes. They’re going to stay here the next couple of nights in case…” He couldn’t say it. Didn’t want to acknowledge there was a chance they might not save Xander.
“In case you die tomorrow with the rest of your pack?”
He loved this little girl as if she were his own daughter, but her candidness always caught him off guard. As a five-year-old, she shouldn’t know the things she did, but her life had never been normal. How could it have been when she’d had the spirit of an ancient Royal pride whispering in her ear since the moment she took her first breath?
Vlad went to her and crouched so they were eye to eye. “In life, there’s always a chance to die, even for immortals like us. All we can do is trust in ourselves and those we love to avoid that fate.”
“I wish I was bigger so I could fight for your alpha too.”
He grinned. “I’m sure you’ll get another chance. An alpha’s life is never easy or without challenges.”
“Then I’m going to need to be extra tough, aren’t I?”
“You already are.” Vlad tucked a lock of her hair behind her ears. “And as long as you have your family and friends behind you like Xander does, you won’t have to fight alone.”
“And you’re my family, right?”
“Absolutely.”
Molly wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. “Thank you.”
Vlad’s phone vibrated against his leg. He yanked it out and glanced at the message from Dante.
We leave for Alaska in an hour.
No other details. Vlad didn’t need them. He knew enough. Dante had found Xander, or at least had discovered a solid lead.
Vlad glanced at Molly. “I need to go. You’re still going to be here in your human form when I return, right?”
“Absolutely.” Molly grinned. “I promised Gwen.”
“Good.” He stood and made his way to the door. Just in time. Molly’s twin, Megan, came barreling down the hallway with Lena trailing behind her. Vlad stepped out of the way before he was run over and hurried to Lena. “We have a lead on Xander. Can you—”
“You don’t have to ask. I’ll be here for Molly no matter what happens.”
He looked over his shoulder to make sure neither little girl was paying attention to them, then lowered his voice. “And Gwen. If we don’t save Xander, she’ll lose me too. We’re not soul-bonded yet.”
Lena’s features tightened. “She’ll want to follow you.”
“Don’t let her.” Vlad grabbed Lena’s arm. “She can still live out her life. Marry someone else or have kids. Be happy. Xander and I will be there to greet her when old age takes her. We’ll love her unconditionally.”
“You know she won’t. That’s not how it works for true mates.”
“Molly needs Gwen. Once Gwen has time to think about it, she’ll realize it too. That’s more important than joining us.”
“Joining you where?” Gwen’s question yanked his gaze to where she stood near the stairs.
Vlad closed the distance between them. He grabbed her hand and urged her to follow him downstairs. “We have a lead on Xander.”
She jerked her hand from his. “And you don’t want me to come along. Is that it? You want me to stay here because it’s safer for me.”
Vlad stared at his mate and debated his answer. After everything they’d been through, she deserved the truth. “If we fail to save Xander, I’m going to die, along with the rest of my pack. I don’t want you to see that.”
Gwen glanced at the stairs. “What if—”
“I don’t doubt Molly’s warning. Remember, until the Leon spirit merged with her completely a few months ago, she had an open communication channel with the spirit. It has lived for thousands of years and experienced more than any of us can imagine.” Vlad stepped in front of Gwen, blocking her view of the stairs. “If we can believe anyone, it’s Molly.”
Gwen fisted his shirt. “You won’t die. Neither will Xander. We’re going to save him.”
“I’m going to save him. You—”
She shoved at his chest, knocking him backward. “I’m coming too. I might not be able to fight, but I’m going to be there. You are not going to shuffle me to the side in some convoluted—”
The front door opened. Dante stood in the opening. He looked from Vlad to Gwen. “You’re going to freeze your ass off in Alaska dressed in that. Layer up. You have three minutes before we have to roll.”
Gwen didn’t wait for Vlad to speak. She ran for the stairs.
Vlad stormed forward as soon as Gwen disappeared upstairs. “Gwen is not going! She’ll get herself killed.”
“Gwen is the only one who can feel Xander’s pain. The closer she is to him, the better chance she has to interpret those triggers.” Dante shut the door at his back. “And we’re going to need the guidance. I have no freaking clue where we’re going or what we’re walking into.”
“I thought you said Alaska.”
“I did. I even have a general idea. Doesn’t mean I know everything, and this is not a situation where we can sit back and evaluate. We’re going to need to act. Fast. We have a seven-hour flight into Anchorage, then we need to drive out to the village where my informant thinks they took Xander. From there, we need to go on foot.” Dante pointedly looked at the clock on the wall. “Full moon is in less than twenty-four hours.”
“We’ll get there in time.” Gwen breathed hard and a flush warmed her cheeks, but determination radiated from her. “And we’ll rescue Xander.”
“Hopefully, Eli too,” Dante added.
“Eli?” Gwen grabbed Dante’s arm and turned him toward her. “I thought his fight got canceled.”
“Reclassified. Ella got the confirmation an hour ago. Eli will be fighting in the ultimate death match—a challenge where he’ll either walk away as an alpha or die a failure.”
“Xander.” Gwen covered her mouth, then quickly dropped her hand. “They’re going to make him fight his own brother.”
Vlad cursed. “And if what you said about Killer is true, he won’t recognize Xander as his sibling.”
“Especially if they mask Xander’s scent.” Dante finished Vlad’s thought.
Gwen breathed hard for a few moments before she rushed to the hall closet and grabbed her coat, a down-filled one she’d picked up on her shopping trip with Dante. “Let’s go. We can discuss possibilities on the plane. We’re only wasting time now.”
Vlad didn’t like the idea of bringing Gwen along, but Dante was right. They couldn’t take chances or hope Vlad’s connection to Xander would be enough. Without hands, Xander would be an easy kill.
The drugs his captors kept pumping into him left Xander in a drowsy haze and unable to call his wolves. He could see the world around him, hear what his captors said, but couldn’t get his body to obey him. His muscles felt leaden. His words came out slurred. Even his teeth ached. And if he didn’t remember to close his mouth, drool dribbled down his chin.
Xander swiped his tongue over his numb lips. Curses whipped through him. Every last handler and guard in this compound would die. At the moment, he wasn’t sure how that was going to happen. Without the strength of his wolves, he was as weak as a babe. He’d find a way. The cowards who’d taken his hands would die for keeping him from his mate, partner, and pack.
A hard whack to the back of his head knocked him forward. He fell, face-first, and smacked into the ground. Dry dirt formed a cloud around his face, and the earthy, rich scent of soil filled his lungs. He blinked hard against the grit burning his eyes while the Ulgran shifter who’d dragged him from the helicopter laughed.
The other shifter’s hysterics at Xander’s expense stirred his rage. An answering spark of fury resonated deep inside him. His wolves. He could feel his wolves. The primitive edge to their anger couldn’t be mistaken.
Xander sucked in a breath, choking on more of the dusty air. He didn’t care. The glimmer of his primal side strengthened him. Whatever drug his captors had given him was losing its effectiveness.
Pressure from the male’s foot on Xander’s back yanked his attention from his wolves. Knowing he’d find the path back to them, he let them slip into the metaphysical field where they lived.
With the drugs in his system, he couldn’t risk missing any vital pieces of information about his environment and what his captors planned for him. The full moon’s peak was less than six hours away. Once it passed, he’d either be dead or on his way back to Gwen and Vlad. There’d be no other chances. He knew it in his soul.
The bear shifter twisted Xander’s hair and jerked his head back. Another shifter male slipped what resembled a dog’s prong collar around Xander’s throat. It wasn’t the same, though. The pressure-sensitive collar being affixed to Xander would sever his head if he shifted. Or pump him full of drugs, as Brock had suggested the shackles on Elias did.
Xander bucked, trying to break the Ulgran shifter’s hold on his hair before the other male tightened the metal collar.
The bear shifter holding him slammed his foot down harder on Xander’s back. “Stay still, alpha. This isn’t a death collar. The prongs will steadily inject you with the drug that’ll keep you subdued until tonight. From what we’ve learned, Royals develop a tolerance to our drugs, and we can’t have you trying to escape. It’ll ruin our plans.”
The other shifter twisted something on the collar, tightening it around Xander’s neck. The sharp points of the prongs broke the surface of his skin, and an icy cold sensation slithered down his spine.
The strength he’d glimpsed, along with the presence of his wolves, faded. Heaviness returned to his limbs. The Ulgran shifter tugged Xander to his feet, but his legs wouldn’t support him. The other male who’d fitted this collar on him wrapped his arms around Xander’s torso and dragged him forward.
His eyesight wavered, turning the world around him into an undulating landscape. The distortion churned Xander’s gut. Bile crept up his throat, choking him. He was going to throw up. Gods, that would amuse the other shifters to no end. Not happening. Xander swallowed the burning liquid and closed his eyes. He would not give his captors the satisfaction.
They paused in their forward trek through the compound where he’d been brought. A harsh creak resounded, reminding Xander of the heavy wooden doors they’d had on their homes in ages past.
The nauseating scent of human sweat, animal dander, and urine permeated the space. Xander pried his heavy eyelids apart. A set of dark stairs loomed in front of him. The shifter carrying him moved down them.
Xander’s feet smacked into each tread. Pain radiated through his legs and up his spine. It added to the nausea in his gut. He pressed his lips tighter together.
The snarls and growls of a beast grew louder the farther into the building they descended. The noise reminded him of a wolf, but the male making the sounds wasn’t in his animal’s form. This was a shifter in his human form. There was only one reason he’d sound as crazed as he did. He was feral.
“We figured you’d want to spend some time with your opponent before the fight tonight.” The Ulgran shifter bent in front of Xander. The scar on the male’s cheek distorted his smile, making him appear as crazed as the feral shifter howling in rage. “You know, so you can reconnect. Talk about old times, maybe your pack mates, or whatever. It has been years since you saw him.”
A noose tightened around his chest. Although there were several males from the Winchester pack who’d gone missing over the years, something about the way the bear shifter looked at him, as if he was anticipating this revelation with a sick glee, warned Xander he wouldn’t like this meeting.
“Ah, you can’t tease him that way. He is an alpha. At least until he loses the challenge tonight. We should show him a little respect,” the male dragging him down the corridor said.
The Ulgran shifter grunted. “He don’t look so tough to me.”
“Wait until we take that collar off and give his body a chance to purge the drugs from his system. Even without his hands, he’ll make Killer fight for the win.”
Killer.
Xander’s blood went cold. They were going to make him fight his brother. To the death.
“Nah, Killer’s been too enraged since we didn’t bring his little female back to him. He’ll rip the Winchester alpha’s head off within the first minute of the challenge.” The Ulgran shifter’s voice held pride as if he personally had a hand in antagonizing Elias’s incensed state.
“Ya wanna bet?” The male carrying Xander laughed. “A hundred bucks the Winchester survives the first five minutes.”
“No way.” The Ulgran bear shifter laughed. “The whole ceremony will be done in five minutes. Both their heads lost, and the wolf spirit entrapped in that ball thing, ready to be shipped across the country.”
No! The denial reverberated in Xander’s head. He forced his muscles to respond. He turned his head and studied the Ulgran shifter. Confidence shone in his eyes. Xander had expected it with the way the cocky male was acting, but the confirmation Xander sought was reflected in his eyes too.
This wasn’t going to be a normal challenge. If it was, Elias would walk away the new keeper of the Winchester pack’s spirit. This would be a death match in the truest sense of the term, not only for Xander and Elias but for the pack. Losing the spirit animal would kill every last member.
“No.” Xander mumbled the word. Neither of the males escorting him into this basement prison responded to the low grumble. Probably a good thing. They didn’t need to know his muscles were tingling with life as his body fought the draining effects of the drug.
“I’m telling you, the Winchester alpha will last. I’ve seen him fight. He’s quick on his feet. He’ll avoid Killer’s blows.” The male carrying Xander let him drop.
Xander’s forehead smacked into the unforgiving concrete floor, radiating more pain down his spine. His wavering vision cleared, giving him an undistorted view of his cell. The eight-by-eight enclosure was empty, but the sight of the redheaded male two cells down stopped Xander’s heart.
Elias stood naked with his hands fisted around the bars of his cell. Blood dripped down his forearms from where his modified claws dug into his own palms. He shook the bars and snarled. Wild, unfocused green eyes scanned the basement before zeroing in on Xander. No sign of recognition showed in his gaze.
“Looks like Killer found his next prey.” The male who’d dropped Xander grabbed the stubs where his hands had once been and dragged him into the cell.
“Yep. I love that hungry look in his eyes too, and once we modify the cocktail of drugs we feed Killer tonight, it’ll be even better.” One of Xander’s captors rolled Xander to his side and stabbed a fat syringe into the vein in his arm. He pulled back on the plunger, filling the thing with blood. He repeated the process five more times, then finally yanked the needle out and patted Xander’s head as if he were a child. “Enjoy your time with Killer, oh mighty alpha. Baldi and I need to walk a circle for you two to fight in.”
“Don’t worry,” Baldi, the scarred bear shifter, mocked. “I’ll show your goddess the utmost respect as I drip your blood on the ground.”
“Yep, me too. I’ll even snarl and growl as I drip Killer’s blood.”
Xander’s blood along with the blood of another member of the pack would be sufficient to cast a circle. The magic of their pack was in Xander’s blood.
Unable to stand, Xander couldn’t stop them.
Both males left, slamming the cell door behind them. Their conversation and laughter faded, leaving Xander with the growling snarls of his baby brother.
Xander held Elias’s enraged gaze and allowed his own fury to seize him. He needed the strength to fuel his anger for tonight. He’d have to last an hour in the circle with Killer, not just five minutes. Waiting out the full moon’s peak was the only way the two of them would live to see tomorrow.