Grayson ran through the woods around the castle in his shifted form with Adam and Russell flanking him on either side. As unhappy as he was about Ethan being left without one of them, they had been stuck inside the castle for two weeks without shifting and their wolves had had enough. Ethan had promised to remain in their lounge room with the books that he’d managed to collect from the library.
Stopping at a river to get a drink, Grayson was just getting ready to turn back to the castle when he froze. Looking around, he tried to pinpoint what had caused his wolf to react that way.
“I still don’t see why we have to try to sneak into the castle,” a male voice mumbled through the trees to Grayson’s right.
Quickly glancing at his betas, he noticed they were alert and ready. Focusing on the direction the voice had come from, Grayson slowly made his way closer, crawling under the bushes when he got near enough. Adam and Russell did the same thing a few feet from him, spreading themselves out. It would give the three of them different angles and they could notice different items of information, plus if one was found out, the other two could attack from different spots and hopefully surprise their prey.
“Because we have to try to kill the wizard Ethan. Ravyn wants him dead, and what Ravyn wants, Ravyn gets,” another male voice replied.
It took everything within Grayson to stop his wolf from growling and attacking. They needed more information before the two men seated on a log in front of him were no longer useful.
“Yeah, but I still don’t get why. Think about it, Alex. Ravyn has been harping on about how powerful she is since she arrived at the coven’s headquarters. She’s even got some members convinced that she would be a better coven leader. What is it about this guy that warrants sneak attacks to kill him when that’s not her usual style?” the first guy grumbled.
“Who knows with her, Stefan. I think it has something to do with the prophecy. Ravyn has been hassling the seer about it, and whatever the seer told her has Ravyn wanting to storm the Fae lands and kill this Ethan person. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d be recognized, it’d be her here instead of us.”
“What does the prophecy say?” Stefan asked.
There was a pause as Grayson waited for Alex to respond to the question.
“You don’t want to know, trust me. All I know is that we’re here to kill Ethan and burn the library down.”
“See, I still don’t get why we have to burn the library down. If this Ethan is already dead, then what does it matter if we burn it down?” Stefan sounded like he was pouting. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was talking about killing his mate, Grayson would have snorted. Instead, he kept silent, not wanting to give his position away.
“Look, I’m not being paid to know. I was paid to go and burn the library and kill Ethan. Anything more or less, I’m not interested in. Now come on, let’s go and get this done. I want to go home. Ravyn interrupted me just as I was about to get laid. If the woman hasn’t left town from fear of Ravyn, I might be able to convince her to come back to my bed, especially if Ravyn is happy with me. Although knowing my luck at the moment, she packed her things and left town right after she ran out of the room.”
The two men stood, and Grayson released his hold on his wolf. Rushing out of the underbrush, he attacked the man closest to him. He didn’t know which man was which since they’d been talking with their backs to him, but it didn’t matter. These men were there to try to kill his mate, and he wasn’t going to let that happen. As he ripped out the throat of one, he could hear the growls of his betas taking on the other. Soon it was just the three of them, with the two Midnight Coven members dead on the ground.
Releasing a victorious howl, his betas joined in, and then the three of them were racing back to the castle. Grayson needed to return to his mate as fast as possible. He had to see for himself that his mate was safe and unharmed.
As they ran through the castle, the Fae stopped and stared at them. Belatedly Grayson guessed that they were probably covered in blood from the men they’d killed, but that wasn’t enough to make him slow down. He hurried down the halls with Fae jumping out of his way. When he finally saw the door to their room, he realized there was a tiny problem. In his shifted form, he couldn’t open the door. He’d barely stopped when the door swung open and Ethan was looking down at him.
“What happened?” Ethan yelled out, rushing from the room and dropping to his knees in front of Grayson.
I’m fine, mate. Let’s get inside. The blood isn’t mine, but I need to make sure Adam and Russell aren’t hurt. Grayson was guilty that he hadn’t thought to check his betas for damage until then.
“Of course,” Ethan said, leaping to his feet and ushering them inside.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Ethan started mumbling. Grayson noticed a blue glow surrounding Adam and Russell. A glance down at his paws revealed that he was also glowing. When the brilliance disappeared, Adam and Russell’s coats were completely clean of blood.
“There, you’re clean. Now shift already so I can make sure that you’re all okay,” Ethan ordered, planting his hands on his hips.
Grayson would have been amused if his arousal hadn’t skyrocketed at the command. Ethan would make a fine alpha mate. With that thought in mind, Grayson allowed himself to shift.
****
Ethan stood and waited for Grayson to finish shifting before he leapt into his arms. Then he quickly moved back and started checking Grayson over to ensure that he had no scratches or marks. Once he was satisfied that his mate was okay, he turned to examine the other two. Seeing a scratch on one of Adam’s pecs, he moved closer and raised his hand. Before he made contact, Adam had stepped back.
“Uh, what are you doing?” Adam squeaked out.
“Hush, I’m just going to check the cut,” Ethan replied as he took a step closer, his eyes never leaving the cut.
“Uh, you don’t need to do that. I’m fine, and it’ll heal in no time. I’m a shifter, after all. Plus I’d rather have the one small cut than have my alpha rip my arms off and beat me with them,” Adam said, going so far as to back away until he was practically hiding behind Russell.
It was only then that Ethan registered the menacing growl coming from behind him. Turning, his gaze locked with Grayson’s, and he saw the wolf peering out.
“Stop that,” he ordered.
The wolf only growled louder.
Planting his hands back on his hips, he turned to fully face his mate. “Do you think that I’m not capable of being the alpha mate, wolf?”
Instantly the growling stopped, but the eyes remained amber.
“An alpha mate is supposed to be able to support the alpha, which means helping out when possible. Currently, it is possible for me to heal the alpha’s betas from a fight that had the three of you racing here covered in blood. So tell me, wolf, is it that you don’t think I’m capable of doing my duty as alpha mate, or that you think I won’t be able to stop myself from jumping Adam just because I can see his naked chest?”
Almost instantly, the amber eyes changed to Grayson’s beautiful gray, but Ethan was still pissed off at the wolf. Raising a brow at his mate, he waited to see what he would say.
He watched as Grayson rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think my wolf thought either of those things, Ethan, he was just feeling protective.”
“Not good enough. Either your wolf trusts me or he doesn’t.” Crossing his arms over his chest, Ethan waited for the response.
“To be fair, Ethan, the men we killed were coming to kill you. Grayson’s wolf is probably feeling territorial. I think if it knew of a safe place, he’d probably try to drag you there,” Adam added.
Ethan was still feeling annoyed, although he could understand why the wolf would want to keep him safe. At the same time, he couldn’t allow Grayson’s betas to be hurt. Not only were they friends, as betas, they were also there to help his mate.
Spinning around, Ethan marched over to Adam and Russell, and before either of them could do anything, he placed a palm on each of their pecs, just above their hearts. Summoning a small thread of his magic, he used it to mark the men, giving them a magical layer of protection. When he lifted his hand, each man had a blue paw print on their chest. The marks were slightly smaller than Ethan’s palm.
“There. Now you’ll have the added protection of magic so you shouldn’t be able to get too hurt. It won’t stop you from losing a limb, but wounds either won’t happen or they’ll heal instantly.”