“You’re going to have to give me some time, but I’ll give you what I can. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“Why do you care?”
Fane’s concern flowed through the pack bond. “I care because you are the Great Luna’s child, and she has put you under my care. I’ve claimed all Canis lupus as my own. And I don’t leave my pack hanging out to dry. I will do what I can to help you and your mate.”
A massive flood of power filled Finn’s body. This time, when he rammed his shoulder into the door, he heard the bolts creak. He looked and saw that they’d begun to bend. A few more hits like that and they would snap like cheap plastic.
“Do you have a plan of any kind?”
“Nope,” Finn admitted. He ran at the door again.
Fane sighed. “Apparently, you’re just like the rest of my pack. Excellent.”
Finn’s lips turned up in a feral grin. “You know that bonded males aren’t exactly rational when it comes to their females.”
Fane chuckled. “I understand that more than you know. Can you still feel…” He paused, and Finn felt the alpha searching for his mate’s name.
“Lizzy,” Finn supplied. “Her name is Lizzy Fairchild, soon to be St. James.”
“Can you still feel Lizzy through your bond?”
Finn paused and reached out. He could see the cord that connected them, still bright and strong. “Yes, but she’s unconscious and in a lot of pain.”
“I know you want to get out. I understand. But what happens if you get free? It’s you against hundreds of vampires. Have you completed the Blood Rites?”
Finn wanted to growl, but he bit it back. “No.”
“If they kill you, then you will leave your mate to live a half-life—a life without the other half of her soul. Don’t do that to her.”
He knew the alpha was right, but it went against everything inside of him to just sit there while his female suffered. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.” A sudden flood of images filled Finn’s mind. There was a redheaded female in the hands of a male that was obviously not Fane, and she was being tortured. The turmoil that came with the images almost brought Finn to his knees. “Stop, please.” He breathed out.
“I know exactly what I’m asking of you, Finn St. James.” Fane snarled. “My own mate has been tortured, hurt far more than anyone should have to suffer. I know exactly what it is to feel helpless while she endures horrific things. But you will do her no good dead. Wait for us. We will figure this out. I give you my word.”
Finn’s wolf wanted to argue. He wanted to tell the alpha to go jump off a bridge, but the man knew Fane was right. If Finn got free, he wouldn’t make it ten feet before he was subdued again. If not by sheer strength of the numbers of vampires, then by the guns of the humans. He could heal fast, but not from dozens and dozens of bullet wounds. That would kill even a werewolf. “Fine.” He forced his feet to stand still. He glared at the door as if the inanimate object was his enemy. In a sense, it was. That door was the first thing keeping him from Lizzy. “I’ll wait. But please”—his voice broke, even in his mind—“hurry.”
“We will,” Fane promised, his voice full of urgency. “Trust us, Finn. We may not know each other, but I care more than you understand, and I will show you that. I will prove that I am not your enemy.”
“I want to believe that. I won’t lie and pretend that it’s going to be easy to trust you. But I don’t have a choice at this point.”
“Sometimes that’s the best place to be—forced to rely on others so that you can realize you’re not alone. We’ve got you, Finn. You’re a part of my pack, as is your mate, and we will do everything we can to help you.”
“We?” He moved away from the door until his back was against a wall. He slid down until he sat on the floor, his body humming with pent-up energy but exhausted at the same time.
“Me, my mate, and my closest trusted pack members. They have stood with me against impossible odds. They have faced loss and continued to fight the good fight. We don’t walk away simply because things are scary, hard, or seem insurmountable. We run into danger, not from it. We fight for those who can’t fight for themselves or find themselves in impossible situations. That’s what pack does, Finn. And you are pack.”
Finn clenched his jaw when emotions welled up inside of him. “Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”
Chapter
Two
“You would think that once you’ve dealt with one vampire, then you’ve dealt with all vampires. But no. That’s not the case. Like humans, vampires have varying degrees of suckiness, pun intended. The ones with extra suckage need extra ass kicking.” ~ Myanin
“So, what are we going to do with him now?” Myanin tossed one of her daggers up and then caught it unerringly by the handle. Over and over, she did this while she walked in a slow circle around the vampire sitting in the chair in the center of the room. Thanks to Tenia’s magic, he was immobilized and had stopped trying to get away, not that he would have made it very far. They were deep within the dungeons of the warlock mountain. And regardless of how ancient and powerful the vampire was, he wouldn’t have been able to fight his way past so many warlocks… assuming he could even make it past Myanin.
“Should she be allowed to have daggers?” Lilly asked as she stood with her arm folded across her chest, the other arm resting on it and her chin propped on her fist.
Tenia shrugged. “It’s more dangerous to try and take them away.”
