Gray approached, his weapon primed and ready. “Don’t move,” he said, his gun leveled at the man’s head.
“Seven thousand, three hundred sixty-eight.”
That’s fucking annoying, Liam grumbled.
Gray agreed.Take him down.
The other two pack members attacked, one wolf hitting the human in the chest, the other using his body to swipe the man’s legs out from under him. Within seconds, he was pinned with a wolf muzzle around his neck and another ready to strike his abdomen.
“Seven thousand, three hundred sixty-nine.”
“Shut him the hell up.”
“Gladly.”
A pack member still in human form pulled a roll of duct tape from his bag and ripped off a strip. He covered the human’s mouth with it and pressed down harder than he needed to, but it did muffle his voice. Another wide strip of tape secured the human to the tree.
“The mage said two humans and a demon. Be on your guard.” Gray started forward again. The wolves preceded him, and all their senses were on high alert. They surrounded the house and circled around until they met up again at the back.
Another human in the kitchen,Cade said. Any sign of the demon?
A round of negative answers came through the link. Gray’s shoulders tensed in aggravation as he sent the word out to the team.No one saw the demon.
Move in?Liam asked.
Gray nodded. He stayed back with Liam and Cade while two of their pack members kicked open the door. Three wolves rushed into the kitchen and tackled the human standing at the stove. He tried to crawl away, but their combined weight on top of him kept him from getting very far.
“No, no, no!” he screamed. “I cooked for you so you don’t have to eat me!”
Food covered the counters, and each burner on the stove held a pot with something bubbling away inside it.
Jeff sniffed at one of the pots on the stove, wrinkled his nose, and took a step back. “The mage must have done it,” he said. “I heard they could do parlor tricks like this.”
“Focus,” Gray commanded. “Forget the fucking food and secure him. Find the demon.”
The human continued to beg as they taped him up until his mouth was finally covered. They began searching the house, and Gray’s frustration grew as each room turned up empty. It took precious time, but they secured the house before they went down to where the cubs and Simon said they’d left the demon.
As soon as they opened the basement door, Gray began to lose control, his wolf demanding to be set free.
The room reeked of the cubs’ fear. He wanted vengeance. His wolf wanted to rip something to shreds. He stormed back up the stairs and grabbed the human in the kitchen by the throat.
Gray slammed him against the wall. His fangs extended, and his voice dropped to a low, deep growl. “The Other, the one from the basement. Where is it?” The human tried to answer through the tape. Gray ripped it off with one vicious pull. “Answer me.”
“He left. He didn’t want to eat. I don’t know where. But you can have it. It’s all for you. I’m almost done now. Almost done! Please!”
Gray tossed him aside and his body landed against the cabinets with a thud. “This is pointless. What the fuck is wrong with them?”
The pack members had all gathered in the kitchen. One of them spoke up. “It was the mage. He did it, I bet. Some creepy shit if you ask me.”
Several of them nodded their agreement. “Do you think he could do this to us? Control us like this?”
Gray didn’t know, which angered him further.
“Why didn’t he just kill them?”
“I don’t know,” Gray growled. “We need to focus on finding the demon. Back outside, everyone, and stick together. It can’t have gotten far. We’ll worry about the mage and his magic later.”
The demon, however, was nowhere to be found. They searched the house and the surrounding area but found nothing except its lingering scent. They recognized the smell as one they’d picked up after the kidnapping but couldn’t follow it for long. It grew fainter before simply vanishing.
