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 ass**le.”
Sean’s heart pounded as he glared at Wade. “Why didn’t you at least take her to a hospital? What the hell are you thinking?”
“I don’t like humans touching my pack. She’s dying. Let her go.”
Sean snarled. With all his strength, he pushed himself to his feet, noting Wade’s sudden alarmed expression. Satisfying. Sean was half dead, and yet Wade Sawyer was still afraid of him.
Sean stumbled in the direction of Glory’s voice. He found her after a few moments of painful searching, a body stretched out in the dirt, Sean barely able to see her in the darkness.
“Sean,” she whispered in relief.
Sean’s legs folded up, and he fell beside Glory, unable to do anything more than stroke her tangled hair.
Fear tore at him. Sean had to get to Andrea, had to warn her about Callum and his deadly bargain. He had to keep Andrea safe. The mate bond beat at him in panic and rage, and still, Sean couldn’t make his body move.
Andrea knew she fought a losing battle as the three Felines circled her. She’d give the fight all she had, would possibly even wound the Felines along the way, but in the end, she’d lose.
The Felines’ sparking Collars didn’t slow them down at all. How they’d managed that, Andrea had no idea. Her fake Collar had expanded and stretched when she’d shifted, almost like the real thing. Liam had prepared well. But being unhampered by a Collar was no advantage at the moment, because these Felines were busy being happy they got to kill her.
They attacked. Andrea fought—snapping, clawing, feinting, striking. Claws ripped through her skin, teeth tore her fur. The pain made Andrea fight back with savagery she never knew she had, but in the long run, it wouldn’t be enough.
A roar of rage cut through the grove, and the ground shook as though a tank battered its way through the trees. A huge bear barreled through the knots of fighting Felines, scattering them left and right, the ruff on his neck expanding with his anger. He flung a wildcat foolish enough to attack him through the air, rose to his full Kodiak bear height, and roared his power. The air vibrated with fury, and the Felines attacking Andrea fled.
Thank the Goddess he’s on my side.
Andrea ran to Ronan, thinking that she’d give him as many of Sean’s pancakes as he wanted. The nearby Felines hesitated, fear radiating from them, but beneath their fear was hard determination. They wanted to win.
They were smart enough to realize that attacking Ronan directly would be pointless. So the Felines used their cat swiftness to dive at Andrea, forcing Ronan into a defensive position. Of course, Ronan outweighed the three Felines collectively by about fifty pounds, and his razor-claws were at least eight inches long. He lifted one Feline that had closed teeth into Andrea’s fur and threw him aside with ease.