Blood dripped down the vampire’s face. Gray snarled and tried to push him away, unsure if the vampire would attack him now that he had fed. He’d heard stories of their bloodlust and wondered if the mage’s blood would trigger it. He struggled to get to his feet, to get away from the vampire and back to his mate. More arms grabbed him. Liam and Cade held his other side, keeping him back. He howled his frustration and began to shift. His wolf could get away from them, even if he couldn’t as a man.
He felt a push in his mind and shook his head to get rid of it. It came again. Cade’s voice.Alpha, stop. Please. You need to listen.
Listen? He didn’t need to listen. Why didn’t they understand? He needed to get to his mate. Simon needed him.
Gray! Stop! Focus!Liam was screaming at him through their link.
Hands on his face. Cormac. He forced Gray’s head to turn and meet his eyes. “Alpha, you need to get control of yourself. You can’t help Simon with this. But he’ll need you.”
Gray turned back to Simon. He floated in the air, not moving as the blue and green swirls continued to surround him. Gray tried to speak, but he was so far into his shift that he couldn’t.What’s happening?he asked through the link.
“He wants to know what’s going on,” Liam said to Cormac.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Cormac replied. He kept his gaze locked on Gray’s. “I believe that what we’re seeing is Simon’s magic returning to him.”
Gray wanted to ask questions and growled when he couldn’t. He forced his mind to calm and shifted back to human form. The partial change had helped, and he felt stronger, more in control. “Explain.”
“I can’t explain it, really. When Thomas died, magic left him andwent straight to Simon. But look at it. It’s not dark magic. The colors are life and healing.”
Gray looked at his mate, noticed Simon appeared peaceful now. The lights began to fade as they were absorbed into Simon’s body. They all sat quietly as Simon lowered to the ground and let out a long sigh.
Cormac released his hold, and Liam and Cade followed his lead. Gray rushed over to Simon and knelt by his side so he could lift his mate up onto his lap. Simon’s head rolled limply onto Gray’s shoulder, and Gray leaned down to touch their cheeks together. He rubbed his chin over Simon’s face, letting the bristly hair from his beard tickle Simon’s skin.
Simon felt different in his arms. Gray focused and tried to figure out why. After a moment, he realized it was Simon’s scent. He smelled… stronger, somehow.
Cormac knelt on Simon’s other side and placed his hand on Simon’s head. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment before opening them to meet Gray’s concerned glance. “He’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Cormac answered. Cormac lifted one of Simon’s arms and held it out for Gray to see. The wrist was completely healed. Not the slightest mark remained of the deep slice Thomas had given him or the sharp angle that had been his broken arm. In a panic, Gray shifted Simon’s head so he could see his neck. The mating mark was there, very faint, but it remained. Gray let out a sigh of relief and leaned his forehead down to Simon’s.
“Is everyone okay?” Rocky asked from behind him.
Gray checked the others, who were all nodding. He had a minor bellyache where the spell had hit him, but other than that, he felt fine. He lowered Simon to the ground long enough to slip back into his clothes, then gathered Simon close again and climbed to his feet with Simon balanced in his arms. It worried him that Simon hadn’t started coming around yet.
Cormac seemed concerned as well. He touched Simon’s foreheadagain and nodded to Gray. “Let’s get him out of here. I’ll know more once we’re away from all the collected magic in the area.”
Gray carried Simon to the SUV while Liam and Cormac carried Thomas’s body. The evening air cooled the lingering sweat on Gray’s skin, and he wondered if Simon would be cold. They normally kept a blanket in the back of their vehicles in case someone needed something to cover up with after shifting.
He asked Cade to get the blanket as he settled in the backseat with Simon cradled in his arms. Cade climbed in the opposite side and helped Gray cover Simon. Cormac and Liam put Thomas’s body in the very back, and Cormac climbed in beside it. “Rocky, you can take the front,” Gray said.
Rocky looked relieved to not have to sit in the back with the corpse. In fact, Gray had never seen Rocky look so unsettled. He climbed into the passenger seat of the car and leaned his head against the window. If Rocky were a member of the High Moon Pack, he could offer him some support as his alpha. As it was, Rocky had to deal with everything on his own.
Liam drove them back to the compound, and for once, it wasn’t at breakneck speed. Fatigue seemed to hover around them, and their spirits were flagging. Gray adjusted Simon in his arms and leaned down to nuzzle their noses together. His mate’s presence comforted him, even while he worried.
He didn’t know what the future held. What had once been a given was now tossed into the wind. He thought his pack would accept his mate, but he couldn’t be sure. Some of them still had some doubts and hesitations about bringing a mage into the pack. They weren’t strong enough feelings to reject Simon being around, but his new status might cause some issues.
Added to that, Gray didn’t know what the Council would say. As far as he knew, an alpha had never mated a mage before. They had taken the rulebook and thrown it out the window. With a glance over his shoulder at Cormac, Gray considered the triangle of magic Simon had described to him not too long ago. Mind, Body, Soul. All threetypes of magic were represented in the vehicle, on the way to his home.
A month ago, he hadn’t even met anyone from the other two branches. Now his mate was one and was related to the other. It seemed more like a circle to Gray, perhaps one that resembled a noose tightening around his neck.
23
Consciousness returned to Simon in a rush. One moment, peaceful calm surrounded him on all sides, and the next, he startled awake in a panic. It took a minute for him to recognize where he was. Gray’s bedroom. He winced against the brightness of the lights and lifted his hand to shield his eyes as he attempted to focus on Gray’s dresser, to see if Gray had left his sunglasses lying there the day before.
They were where he remembered. Simon slipped them on before sighing in relief. He could hear footsteps on the stairs—and it sounded like whoever was coming weighed about eight hundred pounds. Simon covered his ears now that his eyes were safely behind tinted lenses, wishing he could lower the volume on the world somehow. The bedroom door began to slowly open. Simon braced himself for a herd of elephants or something equally loud.
Garon’s head poked around the corner, and when he saw Simon awake and standing, he squealed and launched himself at Simon. The sound vibrated through his skull like a jackhammer, and Simon dropped to his knees with his hands clutching his head.
