Ch. 361..370

Chapter 361

When Sinclair and I come into the conference room hand-in-hand, the baby wrapped up and held in my other arm, my eyes go wide to see everyone waiting there. I want, immediately, to ask if this is a confrontation again – like the last time, when they all gathered first to decide how to tell me that I have an evil uncle who is trying to steal my kid.

But as Sinclair closes the door behind us, Henry sees the anxiety on my face. “It is just chance, Ella,” Henry tells me evenly, “that you are last here. I promise you that. Blame the baby – you need more time in the mornings than the rest of us.”

I exhale quickly in relief and then mockingly glare down at the baby, earning a few laughs from the assembled company. I smile around at everyone and realize that it looks like the entire team has been assembled. I’m particularly pleased to see that a few of the men I healed yesterday are here. It makes my heart soar to think that they’re well enough to join in, rather than being restricted their beds.

Before I can say anything, though, Sinclair tugs at my hand, leading me around to the empty chair next to Cora who gives me a bright smile and leans over to say good morning to Rafe – before he moves to his own spot at the center of the table, next to his father and his brother.

“Thank you,” Henry says when Sinclair nods to him to let him know that he’s ready. Then, he looks around at our assembled group, who all look to him with curious eyes.

“There have been some developments,” Henry begins, “both internally and externally. To begin, Ella and Cora have found a way to speed the healing of our men who were injured during our first mission.” He nods to us here, and I’m curious about his

language. Henry came to see me work yesterday, and was as impressed as the rest of us. But I note that his language is vague enough now to suggest that the healing is moving faster, but not how.

Obviously some of the men in the room know how I did it – they were there – but it appears as if Henry is keeping the news of my gift as secret as he can, even amongst our own people. I don’t know how I feel about that – but there’s no time to truly consider it as he moves on.

“This is lucky news,” Henry continues, “as it means that we may be able to launch another assault faster than we thought possible, with our men again fully able. And unfortunately, it seems as if this must be necessary.”

I feel the anxiety rise in me at this news and I look sideways at Cora to see that her expression is the same as mine – a little pale, worried. Neither of us want. our mates out there again anytime soon not after we saw that one single priest could do.

I turn my attention back to the men and see Sinclair looking steadily at his father, nodding to him, encouraging him to explain his analysis.

“We have more evidence now than we did before,” Henry continues, “that Xander, brother to the dead king Xavier, is indeed the main force behind the kidnapping attempts on my grandson. This comes especially from our discovery that the doctor whom Ella had been seeing for fertility treatments previous to her switch to Cora’s sperm bank, was, indeed, connected to Xander. Ella’s previous physician is in fact the child of the man who had long served Xander and Xavier’s family as personal physician.”

“Oh,” I can’t help myself from saying, and then I raise my hand to my lips, sorry to have interrupted. But I’m surprised – I mean, I knew that that doctor had pointed me in the wrong direction but to hear that I had an uncle who set it all up…

I shake my head, considering that this betrayal has been in the works for such a long time.

Beside me, my sister reaches out to take my hand, giving me a little squeeze of support. I turn to her and smile a little, grateful for her, before turning to look down at my little baby. I mean, no one wanted

him to be born as much as me, but to think that my uncle had been planning it for so long…

“Yes,” Henry says, watching me from his spot down the table. “I apologize, Ella, if the news comes as a shock. But the connection is too stark for it to be a coincidence. My advice, now that we know and now that we are closer to having a full force of men – is to move as swiftly as we can, while we can still have some advantage in the situation. To the best of our intel, Xander does not yet know that we know he was involved – that he is the “master” to which this priest referred. It would be to our benefit to attack while we still have this advantage.”

Apparently finished, Henry sits back in his seat. Debate breaks out here, but I only turn half an ear to it, spending my time instead staring down at my little boy. I hear Roger ask some important questions like where Xander is now, and how well defended.

Sinclair counters Henry’s plan by suggesting that we may be better of waiting until Xander knows that we know it is him – rattling him, as Xander has never been a notoriously brave character,

especially considering that he’s played all of his cards from the safety of his own home rather than boldly going out to take control of the situation himself.

“So much depends on you, little baby,” I murmur to Rafe as the conversation continues. And I sigh a little anxious sigh as I watch my baby look around the busy room, his eyes – I know – not really understanding anything, but alert and interested anyway. I clench my teeth then, hating it. Hating that this man I’ve never met is putting such pressure on my little child.

Rafe is just a baby – a perfect, innocent little soul. And yet he is already being figured as a figurehead behind which my uncle can hide, as a political pawn that someone else can use to gain power. It horrifies me to consider that Rafe was created as a reaction, in some ways, to my mate’s powerful ascension to the throne: as a way to combine royal blood with powerful blood, to create a ruler to whom no one could reasonably object.

But really, really?

This is my child, created by me, carried by me, loved by me. And it fills me with a very real rage that there are people in this world who view him as a bargaining chip rather than the wonderful, loved miracle he is.

That rage is burning deep within me as I raise my head and realize that the room has gone silent and everyone has turned to me. I don’t have it in me to apologize for not listening, though. Instead, I just look at Sinclair, knowing that he will understand.

“It is your uncle, Ella,” Sinclair says quietly. “Your blood. We will take him out fast tonight, if we can. We think 1 it is best. But we won’t do it without your assent.”

It barely takes a moment – a single blink for me to decide.

“Do it,” I say, my voice cold. “Tear his throat out. But before you do, tell him that I wanted him dead. That I ordered it done. Please.” And then I stand up and look down to Cora. “We have work to do, yes?”

Cora grins at me, proud and a little vicious herself, as she stands up and takes my hand.

I then look towards Sinclair, who gives me a deep nod, agreeing. And then, as one, Cora and I leave the room, heading towards our makeshift little medical suite to continue healing the men, to get them ready for the fight which I know is coming soon.

As the door begins to close behind us, I hear Henry’s words.

“All right. Let’s get started on a plan of attack.”

 

 

Chapter 362

and I work the rest of the morning, me making the big decisions about who needs the most medical care next and taking Rafe from her when she’s working. I watch every time she heals someone, unable to tear my eyes away from it. And while I thought I would be jealous – honestly, my sister is doing better work then I ever have as a doctor – I can only feel thrilled that we have this incredible tool in our hands.

Especially, especially considering that Roger came to tell me a few hours ago that they plan to attack tonight. That he and Sinclair are, again, going to put their lives on the line to stop this horrible man who wants to hurt our family.

Just the bare idea that Ella can help if they come home in pieces….

I close my eyes for a moment – Rafe sleeping in my arms while Ella settles down and starts talking with her next patient – dismissing the thought. Because if I start to think about what could happen tonight…

I’ll never be able to let him go. I feel a warm presence beside me as my eyes are closed and smile a little, because I know immediately who it is. And I’m gratified to find that I was right when I open my eyes and see my beautiful mate standing there next to me, smiling down into my face.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Roger says softly.

“Are you talking to me?” I ask, “or the baby?”

“Well,” Roger says, looking down and pretending to consider little sleeping Rafe, “I mean he’s cute, but I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say gorgeous.

I laugh a little, shaking my head, but Roger just smiles at me again and raises a hand to my cheek. “How are you holding up?”

“Oh it’s all easy for me,” I say, turning towards him with a grin and nodding towards Ella. “She does all the work.”

He laughs a little and we both turn towards her then, watching the miracle get started. “Can you take a break?” he whispers, not wanting to disturb. ” When this one is done?”

“Why?” I whisper back, confused, but not taking my eyes away. “Do you need something?”

“No,” he replies with a little shrug. Just…a lull. I wanted a moment to check in with you before we start getting ready to go.”

My stomach twists a little at his words but I nod, reaching out to take his hand. A break will be good.

When Ella finishes with her current patient we quickly consult about the plan to take a short break to talk to our mates and she agrees eagerly, taking the baby and hurrying out of the room to find Sinclair. Roger takes my hand and we follow after her, heading towards our own shabby little barracks room to take a minute to ourselves.

He doesn’t bother to turn the light on when we enter our room, instead just closing the door and leading me over to the bed. I’m pleased by this – pleased that I want what he wants in this moment, which is just a quiet minute alone with him. Roger lays down first and then I lay my body close next to his, putting my head on his chest and letting my arm trail over his body, holding him close.

“How’s the baby?” I murmur, wanting to know. Roger takes a deep breath and, even though I can’t see him, I know that he’s closing his eyes, concentrating on his bond with the baby and assessing how the little bean is doing.

“Baby’s doing good,” he sighs happily, pulling me close to him. Then, with a little chagrin that makes me laugh, he continues. “I think this baby is going to be a workhorse like you. It’s getting all sorts of messages from you that busy means happy. You’re a bad influence.”

I laugh and this, giving him a little smack on the chest. “What,” I ask, “do you want the baby to be lazy like you?”

“To begin,” he counters, and I can almost feel him shoot me a little glare, “I am not lazy. I merely… prioritize and enjoy my down time. You could benefit from some lazy in your life, Cora.” He begins to run a hand slowly across my shoulders now. “I could make it worth your while,” he murmurs suggestively.

I laugh a little and snuggle closer to him, feeling my spirit renew after even a few quiet moments alone with him. “I think you might be right, Roger,” I start – but my words are cut off when he gasps.

“What?” he asks dramatically, “one of the Reina sisters, admitting that a Sinclair is right?!”

I laugh again and snuggle closer. Don’t tease me,” I murmur, “or I won’t do it again.” He laughs and relents, letting me continue. “But yes,” I sigh. ” I think that I have in my life thrown myself into my work as a way to feel like I was…doing something. Being productive. Being useful. But I think…” I hesitate now, trying to put my thoughts together. “I think this little baby is going to have enough of that as it is,” I sigh.

“What do you mean?” Roger asks worried but interested.

“Well,” I consider. “I mean – Rafe was conceived because a man wanted him to be born – because he has royal blood, and goddess blood, and Sinclair blood. And while our baby was…more spontaneous,” I say, smirking a little at the memory of how our child was conceived, “I can’t help but think, Roger, that…”

“That something was conspiring to get us together,” he sighs, nodding. “That we were kind of forced off the road by an insane storm the day you were ovulating.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, hugging him tighter now, a little afraid. “And…”

“What?” he asks, encouraging.

“Well,” I whisper, “I was thinking about…Ella, today. Watching her access our mother’s gift. And then I was holding Rafe the whole time. And Roger …I think that Xander wanted Rafe to be conceived mostly because of his royal blood – but I think what has been underestimated here is the fact that Rafe is the grandson of a goddess. And our child will be too. What if these children have access to the same kind of gift that Ella has…”

“Do you have the gift?” Roger asks, curious.

“I can wield it,” I point out, “when Ella passes it to me.”

“Why didn’t you guys get two?” he asks. “I don’t know,” I say, frowning. ” Maybe one was enough. Or… maybe because Ella asked for it when we were out in the desert.”

“Do you want it?” he asks, quiet. “If you were to ask your mother for your own gift…would you want that?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper, truly trying to weigh the question. “Because on one hand it would be wonderful to do what Ella does with the gift – to save live likes that? But also…if it means that the baby would inherit such a thing…”

“That kind of pressure,” he murmurs.

“And that kind of target,” I add, shaking my head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know, Roger.”

“Well,” he says quietly, and I can feel him turn towards me, scootching down on the bed so that our faces are close together now. “Why don’t we go to your mom and ask?”

 

Chapter 363

“What?” I ask, laughing a little, thinking that he’s kidding. “What are you talking about?”

“Go see your mom,” Roger continues, giving a little shrug. “Like we did with Ella, in the desert. Honestly, I think it was kind of rude of your mom at that moment to focus all on Ella and pretend that she wasn’t your mom too

“Roger,” I sigh, shaking my head. “You can’t call a goddess rude. We were on a mission and honestly, Ella went there to speak with her mother. I didn’t know – and I wasn’t ready. She’s a goddess you have to assume that she does things on her own time. For her own reasons.”

“I don’t know why you’re being so nice about it,” Roger growls, a little perturbed. “If I were you I’d be mad.”

“Yes, baby,” I murmur, “but you’re always mad.” This earns a little laugh from him, but I continue after a moment. “It’s hard to explain it,” I say quietly. “But when I held the gift – when I gave it to the world… Roger, I felt her love for me then. It was very rich and very real. She doesn’t love Ella more than she loves me. She’s just waiting for me to be ready.”

“Well?” he asks, nudging me with his nose. “Are you ready?”

I laugh a little, again thinking that he’s not serious.

“Really, Cora,” Roger urges, pulling back a little. “I think we should do it. We have all of these questions – about you, about the baby, about her and her plans for you. Why not? When this is all cleaned up when we have a minute to spare, let’s go on a little pilgrimage to one of your mother’s temples, like we did when we went to go find Reina. Let’s go…have a chat.”

I stop laughing when I consider it – consider if I want it.

“Plus,” he adds, tracing a finger over the soft skin between my shoulder and neck. “We can ask what will happen if I give you my mark. Because my damn wolf won’t shut up about it.”

I laugh, pleased. “What does he say?”

“He says, ‘bite her! Now!”” Roger murmurs, frustrated, and I laugh harder now to hear it, considering that it must be difficult having a wolf interrupting your thoughts all the time.

“And he says it at the most frustrating times,” Roger continues. “Like when we’re just having dinner – like I’m going to jump across the table and grab you or something. Or when you’re just walking down the hall and I happen to glance at your ass. Or when you’re asleep –

“When I’m asleep!?” I gasp, laughing. Roger do not bite me in my sleep-

“I won’t,” he growls, shaking his head. “But it’s seriously annoying – he wants you to have it.” And then his voice shifts a little in tone. “I want you to have it, Cora. I want the baby to feel it too.”

“I want it,” I sigh, reaching out to stroke his face. “I do.” And then I nod, decided, as my hand goes to my stomach and I think about the baby and all the things we need to know. “All right,” I whisper. “We’ll do it. When we’re able to get back to a more normal life, when this is all fixed? We’ll go see my mom.”

“Really put the screws to her,” Roger murmurs, and I can feel his smirk. “Ask her what the hell is going on with this mark, and this crazy hybrid baby. And why those priests were following you as well as Ella your whole life.”

“Okay, well, let’s not go that far,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Honestly, Roger only you would have the idea to ‘put the screws’ to a Goddess.”

“Anyone who messes with my mate,” he growls, a little territorial but also a little kidding, “has to go through me.’

“Okay, puppy,” I murmur, patting him on the head and smiling. “Calm down.”

Roger snarls and shakes my hand away. “Call me puppy again,” he warns, shifting his body again so that he looms over me. “And I’ll put the screws to you, little mate.”

“Awwww,” I say, cooing mockingly. ” Lil puppy get mad? Not like his new name?”

Roger growls again, snapping his teeth at me, and then he presses his lips to mine in a fierce kiss, determined to teach me a lesson.

Ella

After Sinclair and I take an hour or two alone with Rafe, we part ways so that he can get himself and his troops ready and I can go back to the medical room to continue healing. I’m on my way there, Rafe’s little carrier in my hands, when I spy Cora in the kitchen making a cup of tea. And suddenly, that’s precisely what I want.

“Hey,” I say, breezing into the room and lifting Rafe’s carrier up onto the counter. “Can you make me a cup as well?”

“Sure, sis,” Cora says, giving me a little smile. And, sensing something, I lean closer to her, sniffing the air around her.

“Ohhhh,” I say, my face breaking into a wide grin. “Someone had a nice afternoon with their mate.”

Cora snaps her head to me, shocked, and then she bursts out laughing before giving me a little push. “Ew, Ella! If you can smell that on me, please do us all the favor of pretending you don’t.”

“Why?” I say, leaning on the counter and rocking Rafe’s carrier a little in an attempt to lull him to sleep – it’s time for him to take a nap, and he’s almost there, I can tell. “I’m glad you and Roger are finding such a good connection. I’m not embarrassed by it.”

“Well,” she sighs, but I can still see a smile on her face, “please remember that your sister is human and not as crass as you wolf folks.”

“You mean more of a prude,” I say, laughing at her but letting it drop. She laughs along with me, shaking her head as she pours boiling water into two mugs. Then she stirs a tea bag into each and turns to me while they steep.

“How are you feeling?” she asks, looking me up and down. “Nervous about tonight?”

“Obviously,” I murmur. And then, my eyes flicking to the side to ensure we’re alone, I take a step closer. “Honestly, Cora, I was thinking about going along

“What?!” she gasps.

“I could do it!” I say, grabbing her hand. “I could just like, sneak into a trunk as they’re pulling away! And you know I would be useful – I could be on hand to heal them as they went! I could save lives – ”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ella,” Cora scoffs, frowning at me and pulling her hand away. “Sinclair would kill you and even if he didn’t, someone else would! You would ruin it, because there’s no way he’d let you stay – he’d make everyone turn around to drive you home!”

“He would not!” I protest. “He wouldn’t give up the element of surprise! He’d be forced to -”

“Really, Ella?” Cora says, leaning against the counter and raising an eyebrow at me. “That’s your plan? To make your mate choose between your safety and having the element of surprise on your enemy?”

I scowl, realizing that she’s right – that all I’d be doing horrible position. putting him in a

Then I sigh, giving up the plan for good. “I just hate feeling helpless,” I say, looking down at the floor and shaking my head. “Especially as we know now that I can be such a big help.”

“I get it, Ellie,” Cora says, taking a step towards me to wrap me in a hug. “I really do. That’s why I wanted to go last time – for the same reasons.”

We both look at each other for a long moment then, and I’m so selfishly pleased, suddenly, that my sister and Roger found each other. Because now we each have someone who truly understands the other.

Because certainly no one else in the world right now knows the pain of sending your mate off on what could realistically be a mission with a death sentence.

But what’s the alternative?

In so many ways, I feel continually backed into a corner by this whole process. Like as every day passes I am being forced closer and closer to having to make a choice between the two people I love most.

Who do you choose to survive? The universe seems to be asking me. Your mate or your child?

 

Chapter 364

Cora and I stand silently in the garage of the bunker, watching our mates pack their cars in preparation for their assault. Rafe is in my arms, fussing unhappily, and Henry has rolled his chair up on Cora’s other side, likewise watching tensely.

“It will be finished tonight,” Henry says, nodding confidently. “I know it. The boys will finish this.”

“I hope you are right, Henry,” I sigh. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep sending him off like this.”

Henry looks up at me, sympathy in his eyes, but I can’t return his gaze – I’m too overwhelmed. Instead, I look down at my little red baby, who is now crying unhappily in my arms.

Minutes – I know we’ve got minutes left until Roger and Sinclair leave. And I can barely take it.

“Come here, mini trouble,” Sinclair murmurs, and I jump a little as I realize that he’s close to me now, reaching out for the baby. I was too lost in my thoughts. I look up at my mate, my eyes filled with tears, and silently hand over the baby in to his waiting arms.

He doesn’t turn his attention to Rafe, though, instead putting out his other arm to wrap around me. I rest my head against his chest, looking away from him. But my eyes just fall on Cora and Roger, saying their own goodbyes next to me, and I can’t take that either.

So I turn my head in the other direction, pressing my eyes shut.

“It will be okay, Ella,” Sinclair whispers to me, the baby going quiet in his arms, as he always does, “I promise you, it will be okay.”

“I know you’ll do everything you can, Dominic,” I whisper. “I trust you – it’s just the rest of the world, and what it has in store, that I can’t trust.”

He nods, understanding, and then presses a kiss to my hair, pulling away too soon.

“No,” I gasp, wrapping my hand around the strap of his bullet-proof vest and keeping him close.

“Ella,” he murmurs, turning my face up to him with a touch of his fingers beneath y chin. And I stare up at him, my my beautiful, tender, ferocious mate. I’m coming back to you. Tonight. And then we’ll have peace.”

“You’d better,” I growl, narrowing my eyes at him. “Or I am going to be very mean to your ghost.”

Sinclair laughs at this, shaking his head and passing the baby back to me. Then he presses a kiss to my mouth, tells me he loves me, and turns towards his car. Cora moves close to me next, slipping her hand around my elbow with a big sigh.

“This is it, Ella,” she says. “The big push. After this, we’ll have peace.”

“I feel like I’ve been hearing that a lot, Cora,” I say as I turn to look at her, my bad spirits getting the best of me for just a moment.

“Well,” she says, her lips twitching a little towards a smile as she holds the hope for both of us. “At some point, it’s got to be right.”

And together, we watch our mates and their team pull out of the garage and drive away. Predictably, things are simultaneously boring and tense once the boys are gone.

“What should we do?” Cora asks as the three of us file into the little kitchen and sink down around the table. The bunker isn’t totally quiet – there’s still a good number of people left here.

Mostly those persons who are still too ill to join the assault team, or those members whose skills lie more in research than in war.

It’s good to have more people around, but still, I know that the three of us feel like we’re the only people in the world right now, so united are we in our misery. Or, well, four people, if we’re including Rafe. But I sigh as I look down at the little baby, who is falling asleep now. “You don’t even know what’s going on, baby,” I murmur, a little jealous.

“I think,” Henry says, dipping a hand into the pocket of his wheelchair and coming out with a deck of cards. “That this is a moment that calls for a distraction.

Cora perks up a little. “Nothing says distraction like a couple hands of high- stakes poker,” she quips. I smile at her, knowing that Cora loves cards. She’s clever and precise enough with them to be a bit of a card sharp. That’s how she kept us supplied with pocket money and candy in the orphanage, after all.

“Yes,” I say, leaning forward a little eagerly. “Now that the boys are gone, let’s gamble away all their money,” I say, perking up myself at the idea.” Show them what they get for going off to war without us.”

“Only fair,” Henry murmurs as he shuffles and we sit, a little smile playing at his lips. “What shall the buy in be, ladies? Half a million? Each of my sons’ first-born child?”

“Why not both?” I ask, grinning.

Two hours later, Henry has put us both to shame and earned not only a million dollars but also apparent ownership of his two grandchildren.

“Here you go,” I sigh, pretending to hand the sleeping baby off to him. ” He’s all yours now.”

Henry laughs and puts up a hand. “I’ll let you maintain ownership for now,” he laughs, pulling the cards towards him to put them neatly back in their box. “I know you’re fond of him, after all. I’ll call for him when I am ready to put him to work.”

“What about this one,” Cora says, looking down at her still-flat tummy. She cocks her head to the side and smirks at Henry. “Should we agree on a lay-away plan for this one as well?”

Henry laughs again and shakes his head, opening his mouth to reply, but suddenly there’s a huge bang from down the hall from the entrance to the bunker.

The three of us go silent, tensely turning towards the door, waiting to see

BOOM.

It comes again, followed by the creaking of metal.

“Shit,” Henry curses – something that makes me turn to him with wide eyes. Never, ever have I heard him utter a curse before.

This, more than the banging, lets me know that something is truly wrong.

Quick as a whip, Henry grabs his phone from its place on the table, glancing at it. “Nothing else from the boys,” he murmurs, slipping the phone into the pocket of his chair and starting to roll towards the door. “Come,” he snaps at us. “Now, Ella, Cora. Come now.”

We both jump to our feet, our hands shaking again as BOOM –

Rafe is still in my arms but some piece of me thinks to grab his carrier as Cora and I follow Henry. As I leave he kitchen I turn towards the bunker entrance towards the huge metal door that seals us in here. And to my horror, I can see it beginning to peel back at the corner. I go pale realizing – Realizing that someone is trying to get in

“Oh my god,” Cora gasps, raising trembling hands to her mouth. “Henry

“COME!” he commands, wheeling fast down the hall against a wave of our own men who all come out of their rooms, heading towards the door.

My sister and I are in action as the hall fills with more noise – more pounding from the door, the shouts of our men – Henry’s own insistent calls to follow him –

We catch up with him as Henry wheels fast into the conference room, and we look around at the worried faces of the few men who are still in here, working on some new plans –

 

Chapter 365

Assault Ella As the startled men hurry out of the conference room, Henry turns to Cora and I, looking at us with a grim expression as we stare at him in terror.

“I have made a grave miscalculation,” he informs us with a steady, regretful nod. “I am sorry, girls – I have failed you – ”

“Wha- what?” I gasp, holding my baby tight. “Henry – what are you talking about?”

“It was a trap,” he says, looking towards the door, where we can still hear the banging – increased in pace now – as well as shouts, the beginning of screams –

“A trap?” Cora asks, turning towards the door herself.

“They knew,” he says, and I’m still staring at Henry as he shakes his head. “They must followed us back here after the sewer and then bided their time, waiting for the bulk of our forces – and our most powerful wolves – to leave before they attacked. Damn it!” he shouts, slamming a frustrated hand against the arm of his chair. “I was a fool, to leave you and the child unguarded!”

“Oh my god,” I whisper, my voice trembling as I try to wrack my brain for something – anything to do next – “Come,” Henry says, pulling himself together and rolling quickly to the corner of the room. There, he points to the edge of the carpet. “Cora,” he orders. “Pull that up.”

Cora does as he says, instantly falling to her knees and digging her hands into the corner of the carpet, getting her fingers beneath and pulling as hard as she can. I can’t help my surprise when I see what is revealed when she pulls enough of it back.

A trap door.

“Open it,” Henry snaps, and Cora does so, lifting the little latch and swinging the door up to reveal a very thin winding staircase that leads down, down, down.

“Go,” Henry orders, not looking to us and nodding towards it.

“Henry,” I protest, shaking my head. ” We can’t leave you.”

Sudden screams start to burst out from the hallway, making me jump. And then my face drops in horror as I hear gunfireas well.

“You will go, Ella,” Henry growls, wrapping his hand around my arm and shoving me towards the passage. “Go down.

Keep going. At the bottom is a tunnel, and at the end of it, a car. God willing it is in good repair. You must run as far and as fast as you can.”

Then he takes his phone out of the pocket of his chair and presses it into my hand. “Tell them what happened as soon as you are out. But don’t tell them where you are until you get to a different phone. Who knows – ”

He sighs, and puts his head in his hands, and I can see his shoulders shaking. “There’s not enough time.”

The noise in the hall grows louder and my breath comes faster as I realize what we have to do.

“All right,” I say, nodding to Cora and then swooping down to kiss Henry on the cheek. “Henry, we love you. We’ll – we’ll come back for you.”

“Don’t,” he says, his eyes only on Rafe now, who squalls unhappily in my arms at all the noise. “Take the baby – take yourselves. Get safe girls. I love you too.”

And then Cora and I are moving, my heart wrenching to leave him – to leave him like this – Cora goes down the twisting stair first and I follow quickly after, reaching out to hand her the phone so that she can light our way and the baby carrier so I can balance Rafe more safely in my arms. After Cora takes

these supplies, I turn my face upwards to say a last word to Henry –But the door snaps shut above me, leaving me in darkness.

“Ella,” Cora cries, “Ella please – come we have to go -”

“I’m coming, Cora,” I say, swallowing my horrible fear and steeling myself for all we have to do next. We have to survive.

We have to get out of here – for the babies to warn our mates –

I open my eyes and look determinedly down at her. “Let’s go.”

Cora nods to me once, and then she starts again down the stairs.

Sinclair “Any word?” Roger asks me as our men begin to unload themselves from the cars. We’ve arrived at our place of entrance,

which I grimace again to see is a sewer.

I’m aware that this is the best way in –that through this public sewer we can begin to access unseen the roads closest to Xavier’s stronghold. But still, if I never

went in another sewer for the rest of my life, that would be fine by me.

“Nothing new,” I say, glancing at my phone, where I’ve been keeping in touch with my father. “Apparently they’re playing poker.”

“Oh,” Roger says, his eyebrows raising in pleasure. “Well, good. Cora will clean up at that.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, tucking my phone away. “I have a feeling that Ella bet the house.”

“Good,” Roger says again, grinning at me. “I always liked your house. Do you think you can be out by the end of the week?”

I don’t say anything, just shooting him a little glare, but I can’t help but smile a little bit. Roger’s certainly in a good mood,

which makes me feel better.

But still I have to admit that there’s… something roiling in my gut. Something tugging at my instincts that just says wrong wrong.

But I push it aside, even though my wolf howls to see me do it. We’re on a mission, after all, and we’re short on time. I’m not going to call this off just because it doesn’t feel perfect.

I look around at the men ranged around me. “Ready?” I ask, and I get a series of nods all around. “Forward, then,” I say,

nodding to them and pointing towards the sewer entrance.

The men go first this time, taking the lead so that Roger and I can bring up the tail. We’ll switch when we get closer to the assault itself, which should bring us, interestingly, right up into Xavier’s property, if not up into his house itself.

It’s good luck that the sewer connects so close there, but my wolf still prowls within me, snarling too good too easy – not right –But I shake my head, watching my men disappear in the tunnel, dismissing my wolf’s nerves. After all, where were these hesitations when we planned the assault? Nothing has changed. We’re pressing forward, and that’s the end of it.

When each of our thirty men has disappeared into the sewer, Roger steps forward to go next. “All right, brother?” he asks,

looking at me before he disappears into the dark. “You’re not quite yourself.”

“I’m fine,” I snap, tucking my phone into the pocket of my pants. “Prepare yourself. We’ve got about forty-five minutes of darkness and radio silence down there,” I inform him, slipping into the sewer after him. “We’re not going to get any cell signal down there.”

“No worries, bro,” Roger says, grinning at me in the darkness as I re- seal the entrance. “I know enough showtunes to whistle along the way. I’ll keep you entertained.”

And then, shaking my head at my brother but grateful to have him by my side, I begin the assault.

 

Chapter 366

We move quickly through the sewers, getting to our launching point in less time than I had estimated it would take. I glance at my phone, not anticipating that we’d have been able to receive any messages from our home base, but disappointed regardless.

As our men range themselves on either side of the exit to the sewer, which will open directly onto Xander’s property,

Roger turns to me.

“Ready for this?” he asks, his face tight.

I simply nod to him, doing my best to ignore my wolf prowling anxiously inside my chest. Then, as one, my brother and I move forward to the front of the line. If there’s any unexpected fire, I want us to take it – not our men.

Our men stand tense behind us in two lines as Roger slowly, silently, pushes open the door. And then, with one final glance at him, I’m through.

I pull myself out of the sewer and find myself in a garden with significant cover, which is good. We sent a drone to scope out the landscape, of course, but we hadn’t quite been able to discern the height of the plants. I crouch down immediately,

looking around for anything suspicious, but am greeted only by silence – just the cool sounds of a large suburban garden at night.

I turn towards the Tudor house to my left – Xander’s home, where he’s been living since his brother left the throne. It looks…almost too innocent, too nice, to be housing such a maniacal man – who plots to get unsuspecting women pregnant and steal their babies. I shake my head, hating him anew, and then I turn back to the sewer to gesture my brother and our men forward.

As they filter out of the sewer behind me, I move forward towards the house.

Our father did good work in the past days – we have plans of the house from the city that were updated only ten years ago when Xander, apparently needing more space for his schemes, added a small extension. Those plans allowed us to identify an entrance to the house’s basement through the garden which serves our needs well.

As I slink towards the house, I’m relieved to see that the entrance is precisely where we thought it would be. Nodding to Roger, asking him to wait, I skirt across a garden path and inspect the double doors that will lead to a set of steep stairs that head down into the basement. My eyes flit over the wooden doors, their rusty hinges and chipped paint. When I turn to the handles, I’m surprised to see that they’re held shut with only a rusty old chain.

Frowning a little, I reach out and take the chain in my hand, giving it a hard, sharp yank. It falls to pieces.

I turn back to my brother, knowing that he’s watching my every move. He frowns at the chain in my hand, and I know that his thoughts are echoing my own. Is this all…

Too easy! My wolf howls, pacing inside of me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth slathered in his stress. Can’t be – too easy no-no- – turn around – try again –

I take a deep breath, shaking my head as I study the door. Honestly, it does feel too easy…

But are we going to turn this down? Walk away from the opportunity to infiltrate this man’s house with a full stock of healthy men just because it’s too easy? Isn’t it also very possible that, after twenty-some years of going unnoticed, that Xander has just begun to think of himself as untouchable and dropped his guard?

I sigh, signaling Roger forward. He’s at my side almost instantly.

“What do you think?” I murmur, looking between him and the doors.

“I’m suspicious,” he says with a sigh, but then he just shakes his head. “But Dominic, I don’t know when we’re going to have a better chance to do this. If we can get inside…shouldn’t we take the chance?”

I nod, agreeing, though my wolf snarls and snaps. I run a mental hand down his ruff, asking him to steady, but he shakes me off. I frown and shake my own head, determined regardless.

“Okay,” I say, yanking one of the doors open and peering down into the basement. “Let’s go.”

Then I haul the other door up and slip down the narrow stone stairs, peering into the darkness with my keen vision and working hard to determine if there is anything waiting for us down here. When I see nothing, I signal Roger forward with me.

We both enter the basement, which is dusty and filled with a bunch of junk, but otherwise largely unremarkable. We sweep the room as quickly as we can, using our hearing and our senses of smell to determine if anything is down here but… “I don’t think anyone’s been down here for months,” Roger murmurs to me when we come back together. “I think…we keep going.”

I nod, agreeing, and signal our men to follow, which they do..

When half are in the room, Roger and I move up the basement steps towards the first floor, listening closely for any noises from the house. But from our position behind the door, we can’t hear anything.

I look down the stairs towards my men. The man in the lead nods to me, letting me know that we’re all in, except for the two who we’ve left guard in the garden. Understanding, I flip on the radio on my shoulder so that we can stay in contact,

knowing that once we go through this final door…

There’s not going to be any need for secrecy. Then, glancing once more at Roger for any reason to stop – he just holds my gaze steadily I press open the door to the main house and slip through.

The house is quiet as if…well, as if it’s the middle of the night, and everyone is upstairs sleeping. Or…I hesitate to think it but the thought pops into my mind…as if nobody’s here at all.

Roger comes to stand next to me, surveying the kitchen for any threats, any reason to hesitate or attack….

But there’s nothing. No one’s here.

Our men start to come up the stairs behind us so Roger and I move through the kitchen towards the living room, looking for the stairway upstairs to the bedroom levels that I know starts there. But as we move – as our men continue to follow with us – I start to hesitate more.

Because because Xander is not an uncareful man. He might be a recluse, and someone attuned to anonymity, but he’s also someone who has contracted with priests of a dark god for decades, who had them following my mate and her sister for their entire lives…

So why doesn’t he have any guards?

Not even one?

My head snaps back towards the kitchen as I hear a door slam. I see one of my soldiers flinch, looking back at the basement door in surprise, his eyes wide.

The door is shut but I can tell, when he looks at me, that he did not shut it. That the door, for all he can tell, shut itself.

My eyes fly back to Roger’s at my side and we both instantly fall into defensive crouches. “Shit,” Roger says, looking all around. “I think -”

But before he can tell me what, light flares through the room. And around us, priests materialize from thin air, their hands glowing with spells, their faces lit with wicked grins.

 

Chapter 367

Cora and I pound down the stairs, gasping for breath by the time we reach the bottom. She starts down the dark hall,

holding Henry’s phone out in front of her, its flashlight blaring through the darkness, but I cry out a little and grab her hand.

She turns to me, frantic, desperate to get away, but I beg her to wait just a moment. “The carrier,” I say, reaching for it, “for the baby.”

Understanding, she hands me Rafe’s carrier and I quickly bend down to strap him into it, wanting to ensure that he’s ready to get in the car as soon as we get there. As I work, Cora glances around the passage.

“A lot of spiderwebs down here,” she murmurs, “I don’t think anyone’s been down here for a long time to do maintenance.

I hope the car…” her words fade out as I stand up straight but I grimace at her, intuiting her thoughts and hoping that she’s wrong.

That when we get to the car, it starts without a hitch. I nod to her that I’m ready and together my sister and I start to hurry down the hall, going as fast as we can without breaking into a run. The tunnel is long – longer than I thought it would be –and I’m starting to panic a little when we finally reach a door. Cora yanks it open.

The door leads to a very, very small space, with only a nondescript blue sedan tucked away in it. Cora dashes to the driver’s seat as I open the back seat to the car, lifting Rafe’s little carrier inside and buckling him in. Rafe is crying a little and I do my best to shush him, to tell him that it’s okay, but I don’t think it helps that my own voice and hands are shaking.

If my baby does intuit my moods, as Sinclair thinks he does, then there’s not a big chance that he’s going to stop crying anytime soon.

As I buckle Rafe in Cora finds the car’s keys tucked into the visor and quickly turns them in the ignition. We both breathe out in relief when the car stars and she flashes a smile over her shoulder at me. I pull myself out of the back seat after Rafe is buckled and close the door behind me. Then, seeing a switch on the wall in front of the car, I quickly move to it and press it once. A mechanism starts to grind somewhere in the room but I don’t bother to look for it, instead pulling the passenger door open and quickly slipping into my seat.

“Ready?” I ask Cora as I buckle my seatbelt.

“I have no idea, Ella,” she murmurs, but she puts the car in drive and, when the wall before us folds upwards enough to reveal a steep driveway, she guns the engine so that we quickly climb the rise and find ourselves, to my surprise, deep in the woods.

When we get on flat ground, Cora pauses, looking around. “Where…” she murmurs, “where the hell is the road…”

“There is none,” I say, glancing back at Rafe. “Just drive Cora – ”

“There are trees everywhere!” she protests, waving a hand at all of them.

“There’s got to be a way through,” I say, shaking my head at her. “He – they wouldn’t have put this car here if there wasn’t a way to escape. Just go!”

Sighing with anxiety and frustration, Cora does as I say, starting to wind the car through the trees. And, to my surprise, I start to see a road. There’s nothing marking it nothing mystical or magical about it but… it’s almost as if someone really did clear a path here so that a car just this size could squeeze through…

“Okay,” Cora says, laughing a little hysterically. “I think I get it now…”

“Look!” I shout, pointing forward to where, after a few minutes of driving, I start to see…asphalt? Something black stretching out before us. “Cora, is that a road?”

“I think so,” she says, hope blooming in her voice. But just as the little road is starting to become clear before us,

something slams into the car, making us scream in shock and surprise as we fishtail sideways and the back corner of the car slams into a tree.

I look around, frantic, and – there – I gasp and go pale when I see, through the back window of the car, a priest in a dark robe standing, glaring at us, with two

men at his side. The priest holds one hand tensed fiercely in a claw at his side, his fingers wreathed in shadow.

Cora looks back as well when she sees the direction of my gaze and she gasps too. “Shit! Ella! Shit!” And then, in complete panic, she slams her foot down on the gas in an attempt to get away.

But the wheels just spin beneath the car, finding no traction. And, as I watch, the two men and the priest start to move forward towards us.

Sinclair “Go!” I scream at my brother as I move forward myself towards the priests, who are already beginning to hurl spells at me,

at Roger, at my men Get out of here!”

Roger just roars and moves forward next to me, advancing on the priests at my side. His answer is a clear and absolute no.

We take on a set of three priests together, transforming into our wolves and working in a pattern of attack and defense drilled into us since we were children – one of us advancing while the other holds the back,

so our enemies who outnumber us – cannot slip by and attack our men. Still, even as we concentrate, even as we take on the brunt of the punishing spells that these priests hurl at us – I can hear my men’s screams behind me. I know that they’re going down.

Roger and I work fast, both desperate to get back to the men, to help them. I take one priest by the throat and end him quickly, his blood dripping from my fangs as I turn to the other two. Their faces are afraid when they see how quickly their comrade goes down, but they are by no means unprepared. One stands behind the other, taking much the position that Roger and I are using, hurling spells at me while his comrade defends.

The spells alternately cut, burn, and freeze my flesh – but in the end, I work too fast for them, rearing up to my full heigh to pound the substantial weight of my body into the first man’s shoulders, knocking him down and trapping the second man beneath him as well.

Roger comes in for the kill then, ending both with a snarl and tear at each of their throats. They leave this world gasping for air, their dying breaths bubbling the blood at the holes in their neck. As one, Roger and I turn back to the men, hurling ourselves back into the fray.

Only two more priests here – our men have taken down one more with their weapons, and with our aid we quickly take down the other two. As I survey the priests dead and dying forms I note, passively, that none of them is the priest we met before. The priest who was, comparatively, much more powerful than these men.

Sudden quiet reigns in the room beyond the shrieks and moans of our injured men as Roger and I transform back into our human bodies, looking all around us for the next threat – But none comes.

Not yet.

“Roger,” I say, reaching for him, grabbing his arm.

“I know,” he says, shaking his head.

We turn to the men to issue the command, to retreat, but Conor is already at the door to the basement – or, at least, the space where it used to be. He looks up at us and shakes his head. “It’s gone, sir,” he says, true fear in his eyes. “The door is just…gone.”

“Fuck,” I curse, running an anxious hand through my hair. “Dominic,” Roger says, making me turn to him. Then he shakes his head at me, slow. “It’s a trap.”

“What?” I say, not understanding.

“They’ve covered the retreat,” he says, gesturing towards the back door. ”

They’ve sent enough men to stop us, but not to kill us,” he shakes his head at me. “It’s a trap, Dominic. They don’t want us

to move forward. They don’t want us to move back.” “They want us to stay here…” I murmur, trying to piece it together. ”

Why…”

But then, my eyes snap to Roger’s just as his move to mine. “The girls,” he says, shaking his head slowly, his voice low,

desperate.

“They’re keeping us here so they can get the girls…”

And then I tilt my head back and roar.

 

Chapter 368

“Ella!” Cora screams as one of the men comes around her side of the car and starts to bash at her window with a crowbar,

the glass cracking and then beginning to fall inside the car. But I have no time to respond I’m already – unbuckling my belt and throwing myself into the back seat towards my child, who screams bloody murder.

My eyes flash to the other side of the car, where another man is approaching, raising his own crowbar to begin bashing the windows. I panic now- we’re trapped, utterly trapped, no way to get out of the car –He starts to smash at the back window, working to get in towards Rafe and I, and I make a snap decision, instantly

transforming into my wolf and, as the crowbar breaks through the window, grabbing it between my teeth and yanking as hard as I can –The man shouts, pulled off balance so that his arm is fully in the back of the car now, and I drop the crowbar – ignoring the ringing in my jaw and teeth- and snap again, higher this time, my teeth sinking into the flesh of his elbow and upper arm.

He screams, trying to yank back, but I sink back into my haunches, snarling, letting him rip his arm to shreds as he tries to pull away from me –He leaves quite a bit of blood behind as he withdraws his hand and arm from the car, dropping the crowbar as he goes –and I transform back into my body, turning towards my screaming son but distracted again as I hear Cora scream I gasp, spinning towards her, and see the man who broke into her window almost fully in the car now – grabbing her a knife in his hands And in horror I watch as he raises that knife high into the air and then sinks it, viciously, into the flesh of her back – and

then wrenches his hand to the side to drag it through her flesh –1000+ instruments & 1st-class education.

But before he can get far I am flying for him, my nails turning to talons at the edge of my fingers that I sink first deep into his arm –As he shrieks and drops his knife, I rip my claws again over his face, his neck, his shoulders – anywhere I can reach Screaming in fear, the man withdraws from the window to the left side of the car and I hurl myself out after him, shifting again into my wolf before leaping for him – savaging him in any way I can –I don’t stop until he stops crying out, stops making noise, and then I turn to see the man with the shredded arm leaning back into the car-reaching for my son and I leap for him next.

His death is quick, his life’s blood running off my chin as I transform back into a woman, as I turn to look for the priest.

I turn to see him standing in front of the car, his dark magic still whirling around his hands and extending outwards towards the car, working to keep us in place.

“If you leave now,” I growl, striding forward towards him, “I will let you live. But you have seconds to decide.”

“Come for me, little girl,” he laughs, beckoning me forward.

And so I do.

With a feral roar, I let my nails again extend into their talons, let my teeth sharpen into fangs, and then leap for him, ready to tear his flesh to shreds –

But before I can reach him, he moves his magic away from the car to wrap around me. I gasp, clawing at my throat as the dark shadows wrap around my neck, my feet kicking wildly as he lifts me into the air. And then, as I watch, he begins to murmur – begins to say some kind of spell –And I feel my fangs shrink back – feel my claws retract back into my hands And then he laughs at me again before lowering me, panting, back to the forest floor.

I stare at him in confusion, in wonder, for a second while he shakes his head at me. “What now, little girl?” he murmurs,

cocking his head at me with a filthy smirk. “What do you have to fight with now that your wolf is gone?”

And I snarl – and try to transform but Nothing happens. I gasp, stumbling backwards a step as I try again But – nothing –And then I’m backing away from him, desperate, knowing that I – I can’t fight him if I don’t have my wolf –And he takes one wicked step towards me when both of us snap our heads to the side at the sound of the car’s tires squealing, the engine revving hard And I gasp as the car slams into the priest, making him bend in half before sending him sailing to the forest floor where he hits his head, hard, against a long grey rock.

“Ella!” Cora gasps from the car and I’m instantly in motion, dashing for her –I haul the driver’s-side door open and am almost sobbing by the time I set my eyes on her – – blood – so much blood and my sister covered in it-“Cora!” I cry, reaching for her – but she’s moving away from me – and as I watch I realize that she’s moving into the passenger seat so that I can get into the driver’s seat so that I can drive.

“Ella,” she moans, looking around frantically, trying to assess the damage.

“Let’s go,” I growl, throwing myself into her abandoned seat, glancing quickly into the back seat at my screaming child,

making sure that he’s still strapped in. Then, as soon as I slam the driver’s door behind me, we move.

I back up the car a few steps, staring at the priest who suddenly comes into view but who is not moving, a wide red puddle starting to form on the rock on which he landed. But then I move my eyes back to the road before us, hitting the gas hard and heading towards it.

We’re out of the forest in the flash, leaving the horrible scene behind. My breath is coming fast, my heart racing, my hands shaking as I try to at once concentrate on the road and assess my sister.

“Cora!” I yell, looking over at her, seeing her eyes closed. “Cora, talk to me!”

“I’m I’m okay,” she murmurs to me, – a heavy moan next on her lips.

“Tell me for real, Cora! Tell me what’s happening! Don’t try to save me from it!”

I press the car harder, flying down the roads at what is probably a reckless speed, praying to the depths of me that we don’t meet any more priests – any more barreirs –Cora’s eyes flash open and I glance at her. “I’m serious, Ella,” she pants, pressing a hand to her back where she’s bleeding. “It was a – a glancing stab. I don’t think he hit anything too important – It would” she gasps when I hit a bump and I grimace when I see the pain flash across her face, see her go white with it.

“Keep going, Cora!” I encourage, my eyes moving fast between her and the road. “Tell me!”

“I’d be in more pain,” she gasps, “if he’d hit a kidney. I think I think it will be okay, Ella – but I have to get to a hospital, now -”

“No we don’t,” I growl, whipping the car to the side and making Cora gasp as we pull to the road’s shoulder.

“Ella, we have to go!” she screams, there could be more of them!”

“No!” I shout, slamming the car into park and then taking panting breaths as I close my eyes. Cora goes quiet as she realizes what I’m doing, but even though I can reach that lavender state – even though I can sense my gift when I reach for it, it…

It slips out of my hands.

“Cora,” I cry in agony, my eyes flying open. “The Priest 1 he did something to me – he bound my wolf, I can’t reach the gift.”

“It’s okay,” she says, leaning forward to grasp my shoulder and gasping with the pain it causes her. I shake my head at my sister, fear and apology all over my face. “Seriously, Ella,” she says, panting a little, “it’s fine. Just – let’s get back on the road, okay? I need medical attention. And if you can’t get it, we have to go somewhere else.”

“Okay,” I say, gritting my teeth, determined. And then I get us back on the road as fast as I can. Soon, the wind whipping through the broken windows begins to howl around us. “Okay, Cora. I’ll get you there. I’ll take you to the hospital as fast as I can.”

“No,” she gasps, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. “Take me to Hank – he will know what to do. We have to go see Hank.”

“Okay,” I say, nodding anxiously. We’ll go to Hank. Right now. He will fix you up.”

I turn towards the road with renewed conviction as my sister gasps beside me, as my baby cries in the back seat. And then, before I lose myself to the road, I reach beneath me to grab Henry’s phone, which must have fallen out of Cora’s pocket.

“Here,” I say as it bounces in her lap, making her open her eyes. “If you can, Cora – text Sinclair. Tell him what happened.”

And as I concentrate on the road, Cora reaches for the phone.

 

Chapter 369

Sinclair “We have to get to them,” Roger snarls, moving towards a window intending to bash it to pieces, I know – but I grab his arm as he goes, pulling him back.

“The priests are not that stupid,

Roger,” I say through clenched teeth. ” If they can make the door disappear, they can make the windows solid – ”

“So what do we do,” Roger growls, frantic, as our remaining healthy men take advantage of the momentary reprieve to attend to the men who are wounded. I glance around, doing a quick survey and finding that about eight of our men are down. I grimace when I realize that two are not moving at all, or making any noise. But I look away from them fast, not needing the distraction.

“We retreat, I say, holding Roger’s eye, “or we move further in. But there’s a reason why they’re not attacking here –they’re letting us stay in relative peace because they want us to stay here. Which means they don’t want us to leave, and they don’t want us to go further.”

“What?” Roger asks, frantic and a little baffled, looking around. “Why don’t they just kill us? Why don’t they just -”

“Because they can’t,” I say, nodding as I figure it out. If they had more priests to send – enough to take us out – they would do it. But the fact that they’re not sending them…

It means that we’ve got enough force on us that they can’t risk it. That we, somehow, outnumber or outmatch them. My wolf bares his fangs within me, eager now, on more secure ground now that we know more about what we’re facing.

“What?” Roger asks, his brows knitting together, still looking frantically for a way to get out, to get to her to his mate “Roger!” I shout, shaking his arm, making him turn to me. “If you think I have any less concern for Ella than you do Cora,

then you need to check yourself,” I hiss, bringing my face close to his so that only he hears me. “But you need to pull it together. You’re not going to help them by acting on impulse, all right? We need a plan.”

Roger glances away again for just a second, his jaw clenched, but then he turns back to me and nods so I release his arm.

“Which way?” I ask, crossing my arms and glancing up towards the staircase and the second level where I suspect more are waiting for us, guarding…. something. Perhaps their Master?

Perhaps…something else? “They want us to stay here, but they can’t hold us forever. So the only question is – do we fight to leave? Or to go further in?”

I see the word “leave” on Roger’s tongue, can see Cora on his mind. And frankly, I’m tempted too. The idea that – well,

that they want us to stay here means that they knew we were coming. And if they knew that we were coming…

It means that they know far more about us than we thought they did. That they know that the girls are alone now. Even Even the location of the bunker. I groan inwardly at the possibility, but I force myself to turn away from it, to focus again on my brother.

Roger, to my surprise, hesitates, glancing up the stairs with me, putting the pieces together. “If they aren’t sending more,”

he murmurs, meeting my eves, “it means we’re close.”

“Push?” I ask, steeling myself for his answer.

Slowly, Roger nods his head. “We push.”

I turn to my men, giving a loud order to assemble where possible. Those who are able again line up before us, two of our healthy men falling back – as is part of their protocol – to continue tending to our wounded. I give brisk orders for the men to press forward no matter what. The men nod, steeled for what’s going to come next.

Then, as one, Roger and I turn towards the stairs, determined to continue the attack.

The problem presents itself immediately as we start to climb, considering that there is a blank wall at the top of the stairs instead of a hallway or a door through which we can pass. When I get to the top, I press a hand against the barrier, which feels as real as any other wall I’ve ever touched.

Roger brings his face close, sniffing it.” It’s off,” he murmurs. “Something… wrong here.”

“Magic,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest and looking it up and down. ” Conjured.”

Roger leans back and thinks for a moment before he speaks again, his voice low and considering. “We know, from our research, that the priest’s power comes from binding their wolves. Which means that… whatever they’ve accessed to create this kind of illusion…we have access to it too, Dominic.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, turning to him, confused.

“I mean,” he says, looking at me askance. “That…I mean, we forget it –or we think that only Cora and Ella have it, but our wolves too are gifts from the goddess. They’re magic, as much as we don’t generally describe them that way. That the priests are able to do this because they’ve denied that gift, darkened it.”

I nod, turning back to the wall, considering it. “So,” I say slowly, “we can conclude that…we have the tools we need to fight this.”

“I think so,” Roger says, turning his head and considering again. And then he reaches out and takes my hand.

“What?” I snap, jerking my hand away from his.

“Don’t be an idiot Dominic,” Roger grumbles, rolling his eyes at me and then grabbing my hand again. “I’m trying to…do something here.”

And then, as I watch, I see Roger begin to….well, meditate. Or, at least that’s the closest thing I can think of to describe it it’s certainly looks like what Ella does when she begins to access her gift. And then as I watch him, I feel a little…tug.

Inside of me, where my wolf lives. And my wolf cocks his head to the side as if he has heard a strange noise. Curious, he moves towards it, and I urge him to go further.

And then, quite suddenly, I…feel Roger’s wolf, there beside mine. And, acting on some impulse, I close my eyes too,

willing myself to calm, to relax. And though I can’t see it – can only feel it – I know that our wolves, together, their magic joined together…they press forward.

And as they do, I raise my hand to touch my fingers against the wall, and I too press.

At first my fingers simply push against the solid wall, but as our wolves move together, the wall beneath my fingers seems to give – not crumble, or bend, as a wall might, but instead to move inward until.

I almost stumble forward, catching myself at the last minute as there’s suddenly nothing beneath my hand. My eyes fall open to see nothing there before us – and I turn my eyes to Roger in shock –But I snap my face back forward when I see the snarl on his lips – as I realize that the priest – the priest –He’s standing right before us, his fists wrapped in flames.

“Clever wolves,” he murmurs, his mouth lifting in a sneer. “Calling my bluff.”

Roger doesn’t bother to reply, instead transforming instantly into his wolf and leaping forward, his fangs ready for blood. I roar and signal my men forward for a charge before we all move directly for the priest who stands alone before us.

 

Chapter 370

I stumble through the doors of the clinic with immense difficulty, Cora leaning heavily and moaning on my one side, Rafe’s

carrier bouncing against my other.

People’s eyes go wide when they see us, but they quickly scatter out of our way to make room, shouting for nurses and

doctors to come and help. I hold my breath, my eyes fastened on the clinic’s familiar front counter as I pray to heaven and

back that Hank is here, that he’s on duty tonight.

I exhale a that huge breath in a sob of relief when I see him come, wide-eyed, around the corner, trying to figure out what

the big fuss is about. Hank gasps when he sees us, dropping his clipboard and dashing into the waiting room to get to our

side.

To my immense relief, Hank recovers quickly from his surprise and is, quite suddenly, the calm and efficient surgeon I’ve

come to know and trust.

“What’s wrong,” he snaps as he gets his shoulder under Cora’s other arm. Where is she hurt?”

“Her lower back,” I say, my words coming slowly as I try to get my frantic mind in order. “She was stabbed – we were

attacked, Hank – I’m so sorry – ”

“Enough,” he says harshly, dismissing my apology with a glare as he helps me basically carry Cora into the back, to where

we can help her. “A stab wound?! Why the fuck didn’t you get her to a hospital, Ella!”

“It’s not bad,” Cora mumbles, and Hank’s head snaps up, as if he didn’t really realize that she’s conscious enough to talk.

“Tell me.” he says, guiding us all into the first room. Then, as Cora talks to him in some kind of medical jargon I don’t

understand, Hank and I help her up onto an examination table where she lays on her belly. Hank hisses when he sees the

amount of blood soaking her shirt and her pants.

I take a step back, holding on to Rafe’s carrier tightly in both of my hands, finally taking a moment to glance down at my

son. He’s fussing unhappily, wanting to be held and comforted, but I’m so, so grateful to see that he’s essentially

unharmed. My whole heart breaks as I watch him cry – but I resist, knowing that – that Hank might need me to help that

Rafe just has to wait –

I turn my eyes back to Cora then, watching as Hank pulls on latex gloves and then begins to peel back her clothing so that

he can see the wound. I see him take a deep breath at first and then slowly breathe it out as he quickly begins to work.

My eyes flick to Cora as nurses come into the room, ready to spring into action. Hank gives them quick demands before

glancing to me.

“She was right,” Hank calmly informs me. “It’s not it’s not fatal, Ella,” he says, turning back to his work. “I mean, it’s critical

– we have to do some work but it’s a relatively shallow stab, and the knife missed her major organs – ”

“Hank,” I say, breathless with worry as I glance between my sister – her eyes closed as she lays on the table, faintly

breathing – and the doctor I know can save her life. The doctor whose heart she broke so little time ago. “Hank,” I

continue, shaking my head, “she’s – she’s pregnant.”

Hank goes perfectly still and pale as he takes in my words, and I can almost see the thoughts passing through his head

Cora, pregnant Roger she left him for she’s human humans can’t get pregnant by a wolf –

His eyes dart back to her as I see him come to the logical conclusion, the same one Cora did –

But I’m at his side at an instant, my hand on his arm. “Hank,” I say again, drawing his attention back to me as I shake my

head, “Roger father.” Roger is the

He frowns at me, confused – “That’s impossible, Ella —“

Slowly I shake my head, willing him to believe me. “We have no explanation,” I say, holding his gaze. “But Roger sensed it

the baby, it’s his blood – ” –

Hank takes another deep breath and roughly scrapes his palm down over his face, putting the thoughts together. Then he

turns away from me, barking something out to the nurses about getting an ultrasound machine in here right away.

He turns back to me. “Do you know how far along she is?” he asks, stern, and I see him tucking his emotions about the

news away, hiding behind his professional identity alone.

“No,” I say, shaking my head, “um, not long? Maybe – maybe a week after her missed period?” I shrug, confused, “I don’t

know?”

He nods, satisfied. “With a wolf pregnancy…” but then he turns to me again, confused, “wait, is it even a wolf pregnancy?”

I just shrug and shake my head – honestly, we don’t know. Hank sighs and stares at her, at my sister who I think maybe

has slipped into a daze as the nurses continue to prep her.

“If it was a wolf pregnancy,” Hank says, folding his arms, “then it would be long enough, now, to detect a heartbeat. But if

the baby is…human? I don’t know, Ella.” Then he turns to me. “Either way,” he says, “the knife wouldn’t have itself harmed

the child. But her blood loss…”

He sighs again, shaking his head. “I’ll do everything I can.”“Thank you,” I breathe, taking one hand from Rafe’s carrier to quickly wrap an arm around Hank’s shoulders, giving him a

little squeeze. Then, knowing Hank’s not a very huggy kind of guy, I step away, moving to a chair against the wall so that

he can get to work.

Hank nods to me, understanding, and then ignores me for a long time. I watch everything as Hank and his nurses work

quickly but methodically to do what they can for Cora. I only take my eyes away to lift poor Rafe out of his carrier, to begin

to feed him a little, hoping that the warmth of me and the comfort of nourishment will calm him down. And, frankly,

because the familiarity of the routine will calm me as well.

When he’s finished, Rafe burps a little and then falls calmly asleep in my arms, which I’m grateful for. Because as much

as I love my baby, I can’t…I can’t truly attend to him with all of the love I want to give while I’m so worried about my sister.

At some point, a very kind nurse comes to me and asks me if I need anything. Remembering Henry’s instructions not to

use his phone to tell the boys where we are – and suddenly very, very struck with worry about Henry, and feeling terribly

guilty that I haven’t remembered him until now – I ask her for a phone – any phone.

Grateful to be able to help, the nurse slips her own phone out of her back pocket and hands it to me. Quickly, I type

Sinclair’s number into the message box and send a quick text.

It’s Ella. Cora’s hurt, but she’ll be okay. Rafe is okay. We’re at the Clinic – I couldn’t help her. They bound my wolf and my

gift when we tried to leave. Hank is working. Come when you can – go to your father first. I have no idea if he is okay.

Love you.

“Thank you,” I say, handing the phone back to the nurse, smiling at her as much as I can. “Do you need me to tell you if

there’s a reply?” she asks, still eager to do something, anything.

“There won’t be,” I murmur, turning my eyes back to my sister. The nurse nods and goes away. She comes back a little

later with some wet wipes and a blanket, and I just blink at the wipes for a second before laughing as I realize –

As I realize that I’m covered in blood. I laugh a little at the absurdity of it before thanking her and taking a moment to wipe

off the blood that I can from my face and arms. Then, I warp the blanket around my baby and myself, settling back in my

chair to wait.

Because that’s all I can do now. Wait. While Hank does what he can to save my sister’s life, as well as her child’s.