Christian
Christian wasn’t sure when he recovered his breath, but it was long after Miranda Quade started speaking to his little sister in a childish voice, assuring her this was really her brother, and placing little cardboard cutout puzzle pieces into a pattern on the wooden table. He couldn’t make his mouth move.
Anger was back building like a prairie thunderstorm, following the shock of those words coming from his sister’s mouth. They didn’t sound faked.
“Grandma,” growled Daniel Quade. “What did you do?”
The old woman just stared, with an intentionally blank stare. “I don’t know what you mean, dear.”
“Molly,” Christian choked out. “Peanut?”
Her eyes didn’t turn to him. Registered nothing. This couldn’t be happening.
“You’d better not swear up a storm in here, Daniel Howard Quade,” Miranda said with a warning under her words.
A movement in the corner caught Christian’s attention, and in his peripheral vision, he saw a shadow. He whirled on it, ready to shift if he had to. But it was just another old woman. She sat in a chair against the wall, her head flopped over.
“Oh, don’t mind her. She’s just resting. Aren’t you, Pamela, dear?” Miranda’s sugar-coated words were shit underneath.
“Who is she?” Christian growled out, finding his chest moving at a rapid pace, but he had to calm his breath down. He didn’t know how much control he would have over this animal, and the frustration was making him feel cornered.
Not good for the animal.
Not good for him, either.
“A witch,” Miranda said, placing a puzzle piece on the table.
Christian swallowed. She looked like a drug-addled old woman.
“Where’s Sela?” Daniel asked, worry in his words.
“She passed out, and I had Cal take her downstairs.” The old Quade wolf clucked her tongue and placed another puzzle piece on the table. “That memory spell is quite a power-drainer.”
“Memory spell?” Daniel’s growl was physical this time and came with a touch of magick power. Christian could feel it thickening the air inside the room. “Outside, now.”
Miranda seemed to think twice about disobeying him after he went Darth Vader in the room.
She stood and walked outside.
Christian made a move for Molly, but when she pulled back, giving him a look of complete disbelief, he backed away.
That look lanced his heart.
She really didn’t know him. He retreated from his sister and followed Daniel.
The young alpha pulled the door closed with a thud. “What the damn hell did you do, woman?”
“What you wouldn’t,” sneered Miranda, coming up to Daniel’s face. “You let them declare the alpha trials. You gave in to them. You’re going to ruin all of Phillip’s work. My work.”
“What the hell is a memory spell?” Christian asked, the anger inside just about to explode. If he wasn’t in the middle of the Quade compound, he would be ripping out throats and tearing down walls.
They had done something to Molly.
“It’s what we do to humans who see wolves shift.” Miranda stepped back with a shrug.
Christian’s breath hitched as her words trailed off. He glanced back at the door. God, what had she done to Molly?
“They do irreversible damage,” she said with a smirk. “Brain damage.”
“It’s usually short-term memory loss,” Daniel said, lacing his hands behind his head. “Shit, grandma. What did you do? She didn’t even recognize him.”
“What’s the spell to reverse it?” Christian asked, moving toward Miranda Quade with his hands splayed open like he would choke her.
Daniel stopped him, pushing him back against the wall with that Darth Vader shit again. Christian struggled, but Daniel was focused.
“Stop it,” said the alpha in a gruff voice. “Hurt her, and I won’t be able to protect your sister. The pack will rip her to shreds in retaliation.”
Miranda Quade held her arms out, daring Christian to come after her. “Go ahead,” she said. “You pick your own destiny, son.”
“What do you mean?” snarled Christian.
“I mean, you have two choices.” She gave him an evil smile that sickened him from the inside out. “You can mate my Alissa, and I’ll heal your sister the only way I can, or…”
“Or what?” Daniel asked, releasing the magick on Christian’s throat.
“Or she stays this way forever and you get your freedom.”
Christian’s stomach sank, and he dropped to his knees. Everything swirled around him like a godforsaken tornado of overwhelm.
“There’s nothing to reverse a memory spell,” Daniel argued, pointing to the door. “You can’t dangle that in front of him and then not fix it.”
“Oh, there’s no spell to reverse it,” she said, wheedling like a sadist with a knife plunged into his gut just at the right angle to watch maximum torture. “But there is a way to heal it. Remember, I said it was brain damage.”
“What?” Christian asked, looking up at the old crone. But she was having far too much fun. He had to look away. Save himself from ripping her throat out.
Had to save Molly.
“If she mates one of our wolves, the mate bond spell will heal her.” Miranda drew the words out, obviously enjoying them, and Christian jumped to his feet.
“She’s fucking fourteen.” He pointed a finger at the old woman’s sweaty face. “Over my damn dead body.”
“I’m afraid it’s the only way, m’boy,” she said with a laugh. “There’s no spell that can reverse this. It’s like when you take out your appendix. You can’t just put it back in. You learn to live without it.”
Christian walked to the door and leaned on it, his breath coming out in long pants. He couldn’t have Molly be like this. He just couldn’t.
Fuck.
He needed Ellie. He needed to kill Miranda Quade.
Maybe not in that order.
Ellie paced the old hotel room, picking up a piece of a wrapper here and a napkin there. She had a nice little pile going on the coffee table.
Her skin crawled with sensations she wasn’t personally experiencing. Christian was being pushed around. She could feel it. She could feel his pounding heart as if it were kicking the inside of her own ribs.
Dodger whined, and Ellie looked down. “Hey, boy.” She sank onto the couch.
The Shepherd hopped up next to her. She wrapped an arm around his neck and leaned her face into his fur, breathing deeply. His familiar scent calmed her. His steady heartbeat gave her something else to focus on. Something besides the half-bond between her and Christian.
A familiar engine roared outside the hotel room door and then cut off. Footsteps followed by a heavy knock trailed shortly after. Dodger’s ears perked forward, but no hackles went up—meaning Dodger knew who was on the other side of the door. Ellie tensed for a second and then rolled her shoulders. It wasn’t her mate, so it had to be her cousin.
“Ellie?” A deep voice boomed from the other side of the door.
She stepped forward and opened the door. Ryan swept through, pulling her into a tight bear hug.
“Don’t you ever do that to us again, Ellie. God, we thought… I can’t even say what we thought.” He kissed the top of her head and finally released her, looking around the hotel room and rolling his neck like he did when right before he got mad.
His eyes were dark.
His shoulders tense.
Yep. His cheek was doing that twitchy thing.
Here it comes.
“He kidnaps you and you sleep with him? What the hell, Ellie?” His voice was dark and angry and full of pain. She knew why he said the words, but they still made her angry and sad and more than a little uncomfortable.
Even Dodger had taken sides, stepping up to stand beside her and pinning back his ears at Ryan. Her giant of a cousin took the smallest of steps backward.
First time for everything.
“Good boy,” Ellie murmured, stroking the shepherd’s head. “Ryan was getting a bit too alphahole for his britches, wasn’t he?” She cooed at the dog and made lovey noises, completely ignoring Ryan.
“Ellie, I’m sorry, it’s just… You don’t know what Kate and I went through with this guy.”
She looked up, narrowed her eyes, and squared her shoulders.
A petite blond woman stood just behind Ryan, watching their interchange silently. Her big blue eyes held worry and sympathy.
Ellie could’ve been upset. Could’ve said something hurtful, but she didn’t. It wasn’t Kate’s fault or Ryan’s fault or Christian’s fault. They were all victims of the Quades.
The blonde woman stepped forward, closed the hotel door behind her, and put a hand on Ryan’s arm. “This is not why we came.”
Ryan’s shoulders dropped an inch, and the tension fell away from his face. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Ellie Culver.” Ellie held out her hand toward the blonde. Toward Ryan’s mate. She was happy for her cousin. He needed someone to soften his edges.
“Kate Quade,” the other woman said, shaking Ellie’s hand. Forest green tattoos circled Kate’s wrists twice. Similar, but different from the ones that ringed her own—the ones she’d gotten from her bond with Donny.
Maybe with Christian she’d get another set. Or maybe hers would change, erasing Donny’s marks altogether. The thought made her sad for just a moment, but even if it meant giving up Donny’s marks, she still would make that choice.
She wanted a life with Christian. A full mate bond and everything that went with it.
She launched into what’d happened since she pulled Christian out of the ditch. Right down to the sex.
Once she finished, he breathed deeply and rubbed his face with his hands. “You’re partially bonded. The physical bond can happen first if you sleep together first. The tattoos and the emotional bond come after the vow is spoken.” Ryan pointed to her wrists. “You won’t lose those. You’ll get new ones somewhere else. There’s no hard and fast rule for it, though.”
Ellie nodded. “Thank you. I wondered about how all of it would work a second time around.”
“He’s not a good guy, Ellie. He had honorable reasons, but—”
She narrowed her eyes at her cousin. “Don’t you dare. After everything I told you? You’re still gonna be like this?”
“He tried to take Kate.”
“Fine. Don’t be friends. I’m sure he won’t care. I’m with him. I’m bonded to him, Ryan. Not you. I’ll be bonded to the Quade alpha once this is finished. Not to you.”
“Fucking, hell. Ellie. Fuck.” He shouted louder each time, like the volume of his voice affected the logistical outcome of the situation. “Fuck.”
It’d just come to her, actually. She’d just realized that being with Christian meant she would belong to a different pack. Unless Christian was willing to move. He would be, of course. The real question was where and if the Quades would let him. The way he and Ryan had started off meant staying in Oklahoma was unlikely. Staying with the Quades after what they did was also not happening. Where would they go? Somewhere? New Orleans? Those were the only other packs she was even vaguely familiar with…
“Ryan.” His mate, Kate, spoke softly her tone almost hypnotic. “Now is not the time. Now is for helping them get his sister back safely.”
“I know,” Ryan growled out and walked to the window. He pushed aside the drapes and stared out into the parking lot. “He’s lucky I’m not going to kill him on sight,” Ryan said with a snort.
She could see exactly why Christian called him Fartnugget. Ryan was being a turd. And even though he was there to help, Ellie could think of some other choice names she wanted to call her cousin, but at the moment, she just wanted to see Christian.
If she concentrated, she could feel him, what his body was doing. He was sitting down somewhere, because she could feel the pressure on his thighs, his back, his butt, like something was bearing his weight.
Kate met Ellie’s gaze. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m trying to figure out what’s happening, but I can’t feel him yet. Just the physical stuff. I wish—”
“It’s good you didn’t finish the bond, Ellie. It would be visible to the Quades.”
Ellie nodded. “We know. We talked about it. But I still feel like it’s missing. Like there’s a hole in my chest that only he can fill, and I haven’t felt that way in so long.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Kate asked, tidying up the room. “Did you eat yet? We have some fruit in the truck.”
“I’m good. Thanks.” Ellie felt Dodger’s furry head come up under her hand and she tousled his scruff. “Where’s Dee?”
“She should be here in a few hours,” Ryan said, squeezing his mate’s hand and pulling her to his side. “She and Will just texted me from Odessa.”
“Who’s Will?”
The look that passed between her cousin and his mate was half tired, half frustrated. They told her the story of Dee falling for a Quade—which, given Kate’s heritage, wasn’t as much of a shock as it would have been twenty-four hours ago—and mating him. Ellie hadn’t been around the pack much lately. She was out of the loop.
Apparently, half of her cousins were mated. Only Jace and Beau left single, and then there would be a full Travis/Trewitt family of new mates.
And all married to Quades. Fate was cruel.
“They picked up a couple of witches in Somewhere, Texas—whose names we aren’t allowed to know,” Ryan said. “They’re private, these women. I’ve never known their real names, either.”
“But we can trust them?”
“Yes,” her cousin assured her. “They’re going to help us.”
Ellie hadn’t met witches before, but she’d heard plenty from Donny. Some were good, some were bad, and she couldn’t afford the time to figure out which one the Somewhere witches were. She’d have to assume good for now.
She could trust Ryan, at least.
A truck door slammed, and Ellie felt Dodger give out a nearly silent whimper. Christian was back. And from the dog’s reaction, he wasn’t alone.