“Find it, or you die. Because you’re no f**kin’ use to me otherwise.” Then his stare cut to Jane.
Jane.
It almost hurt to look at her. Because—I nearly killed her. He hadn’t realized it. Had never suspected that Lorcan had somehow linked their life forces.
If he’d severed Lorcan’s head from his body, Jane would have died, too. In an instant.
When he’d whirled and seen the blood flowing down her neck, horror had filled him. He hadn’t been able to get to her fast enough. Hadn’t been able to heal her soon enough.
He wanted to cross the room and take her into his arms.
But his job was to protect. To protect Jane. To protect the pack. So far, he’d failed at that job.
No longer.
No other wolves would die by Liam’s hand. Liam had been his best friend. His closest confidant for two hundred years. It was only fitting that Alerac be the one to end him.
Fitting? No, maybe just twisted.
But it had to be done.
“Sever the tie between them,” Alerac commanded the witch. He couldn’t even look at Finn’s body then.
He headed back outside, into the too bright sunlight.
“Alerac!”
Jane. She’d rushed toward him so quickly. “Let me come with you.”
There were some battles that he had to fight on his own. “Figure out a way to save your brother. Maybe the cure wasn’t total bull.”
Then he faced the sun. He inhaled the scents. And followed the trail that he knew Liam had deliberately left for him.
***
Jane grabbed the witch and pretty much dragged the woman upstairs. Zoe and Ryan followed her, though Zoe just looked shattered.
I’ve looked that way before.
Jane pushed the witch into the bedroom on the right. “Tell me your name.”
“M-Mina.”
Jane frowned at her, that name was familiar. She’d seen a movie, during her vampire research and—
“At least, that’s what he called me.” Mina’s voice was softer now. “I’ve been with him since I was five. I don’t really know…I don’t remember what I was called before that.”
“Dracula’s freaking bride.” Ryan sounded disgusted. “Guess it makes sense that he’d call you that. Asshole probably thinks that it’s funny.”
Mina’s head whipped up. “I’m not his bride.” Her index finger pointed to Jane. “She’s his bride.”
The hell she was. “You’re a witch,” Jane said. Stating the obvious, right?
But Mina still nodded.
“Tell me about the poison in my brother.”
“I-I didn’t craft that poison.”
“Right, of course you didn’t,” the disgusted snap came from Ryan. Zoe stared at them all, her hands wrapped around her stomach. Ryan continued, “Because you weren’t Lorcan’s flavor of choice back then. That was another witch. He killed her after she locked my sister in her prison with magic and poisoned me.” He braced his legs apart as he stared at Mina. “But every poison has a cure, right?”
A timid nod.
“What cures me?”
Mina’s gaze darted to Zoe.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “What. Cures. Me?”
Mina swiped away a tear that had slid down her cheek. “I read the old book that Shonna left behind.”
Shonna. The name meant nothing to Jane. Big surprise.
“Shonna was his witch back in the day,” Ryan explained. Had he read her mind, used their link to see what she was thinking? Or had he just guessed?
“The book said that the poison could be purged if you took the blood of a caged beast.” Mina spoke quickly. “She said the beast had to be dormant, locked, and your poison would destroy that beast even as you were healed.”
Ryan had turned to stare at Zoe. “Fuck me.”
Jane’s gaze darted between them.
Zoe laughed. “It’s me? You think I’m your cure?” Her eyes were on the floor, not on Ryan. “I’m a curse. Not a cure. Trust me.”
“Don’t worry,” Ryan told her, voice thick. “I’m not about to destroy you.” He turned his glare back on the witch. “Think of another way.”
Jane heard a howl then, seeming to echo off the mountain. She headed toward the window. Stared out. She didn’t see Alerac, but she knew that he was out there. Hunting.
Preparing to kill the closest thing that he had to a brother.
“I shouldn’t have let him go alone.” He’d been so determined. She’d been—
Lost. Desperate. Because she’d wanted to find a way to sever her tie to Lorcan. She still needed to find a way to be free, but…
Another howl sounded. That howl was harder. Wilder.
Not Alerac’s. She knew his cry. Could recognize it on an instinctive level.
“Liam is luring Alerac to him,” Zoe murmured.
Yes, he was.
And she was supposed to wait there? Just wait and see who survived this battle?
No.
She spun back to face the witch. “How did Lorcan convince you to stay with him? To help him for all this time?”
Mina’s lips trembled. “I had no one else. He killed my parents when I was a child. He took my blood, over and over again. He kept me weak. So weak.”
She was weak right then. Too thin. Too frail. Trembling as she stood there.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan said.
The witch blinked.
“But I’m going to need your blood, too.” In an instant, he was at the witch’s side. He’d grabbed her hand and lifted her wrist to his mouth. “I don’t have time to find out if you’re lying or not. I need to know how to live, and I need to know how to keep my sister alive.”
He sank his fangs into her wrist.
***
The wolf stalked carefully over the stream. Jane’s blood had covered the rocks in this stream. She’d been attacked, right here, when she should have been safe on his land.
Rage twisted within Alerac.
Liam’s scent was stronger here, leading him deeper into the woods.
After your attack on Finn, you knew I’d be the one to hunt you.
Liam was sure leaving him a clear path to follow.
Liam had never challenged him for alpha status. He’d always stood at Alerac’s side.
Until now.
Now the challenge was undeniable.
Alerac’s head lowered over the water. He eased away from the stream. Liam’s scent went back to the north. Higher up the mountain.
His head lifted. Alerac looked behind him. He could just see the roof of his home.