Paulo shook his head and darted a glance outside the cell. Motioning for the vampire to hurry, he rushed off in the opposite direction he’d told Regulus to go.
Staring down at the silver manacles around his wrists, Regulus grit his teeth and closed his eyes. The pain pulled a groan from his throat, and the silver links snapped, freeing his arms.
He could feel Paulo’s suffering. Having the man’s blood—almost enough to drain him completely—gave Regulus a window into the human’s soul. He hated himself, hated what he’d become, but most of all, he feared he’d not done enough to protect his son.
If Regulus had any chance of defeating the Thirteen, he’d stay. Fight. Try to save the man who’d saved him. But though vampires were one of the strongest creatures to walk this earth, he was powerless against magic.
There was no more time. He had to run. Now.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Peter growled.
Regulus was across the room before Sameen could blink. “Sharing a memory. That is all.”
“Don’t touch her. No one touches her.” Her werewolf held something in his hands she couldn’t quite make out until he stalked over to her and set a steaming bowl down on the table. “Are you all right?” he asked Sameen, linking their fingers.
“Fine. And you’re not my keeper. Regulus wasn’t hurting me.” She jerked her hands from his and reached for the bowl. Soup. Chicken soup. Oh, God. How long had it been since she’d eaten a hot meal?
After the first spoonful, some of her anger faded. “Thank you for this.”
The vampire cleared his throat. “I must check on the young one. Peter, the life debt I owe you extends to your mate as well. I will not—cannot—harm either of you for as long as I walk this plane.” He streaked halfway across the room, stopped, and turned back to them. “I fear for you, my friend. Your temper has worsened every day I have known you. If you do not learn to control it, you will lose...everything.”
* * *
Peter
After Sameen finished the soup, she curled against him and was asleep in minutes. Regulus’s words played on a loop in Peter’s head. He knew he hadn’t been the easiest person to get along with since the fire in Bellingham. But could anyone blame him? He had a permanent limp, and for fuck’s sake, couldn’t even manage to carry hismateback to the mansion when he’d found her. He’d had to call Liam to do it for him.
A door opened at the other end of the house, and a moment later, Livie strode into the room. She stopped short when she saw him, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the other half of his family.
“She’s gorgeous,” Livie said softly. “And you look like you’re already over the moon for her. What’s her story? Liam said she could help us figure out where they have Mara?”
Peter stared down at his mate and ran his hand over her thick black locks. “She was their prisoner, Livie. For a long time. And I don’t know if she’ll be able to love anyone—trust anyone—after what they did to her.”
“You think it was easy for Caitlin to love again? Or even Cade? When it’s your mate, you find a way. Even if it takes months. Years.” Livie ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her cheek to reveal a web of burn scars that weren’t all that different from Peter’s. They’d both been unable to shift out of their wolf forms after the fire that had allowed Katerina to kidnap Cade and torture him for almost a year. Yet for some reason, Livie wasn’t angry. She didn’t curse her slower, loping gait or the fact that she couldn’t raise her left arm fully. She’d accepted her injuries, her limitations, and never looked back.
Why couldn’t he do the same? Peter pressed a gentle kiss to Sameen’s head. “I’m going to fuck this up.”
“No. You won’t.” Cade stood behind Livie, his eyes haunted, three days of stubble darkening his jaw. “Because when it’s your mate, you find a way.”
The urge to stand, to do something for his alpha, like shove Cade down on the couch and feed him a fucking sandwich reared up inside, but the warm, reassuring weight of his mate in his arms stopped him. “Cade.”
“Can she really help us find Mara?”
“I don’t know.” Peter didn’t understand most of what Caitlin, Eli, and Tierney did with that book. “She has the Thirteen’s mark, and she, Farren, and Liam all felt their marks flare at the same time. Caitlin thinks they’re all connected somehow.”
Cade paled even further and braced his hands against the back of the couch Livie sat on. His fingers dug into the leather hard enough Peter heard wood crack under the strength of his grip. “If they’ve done anything to Mara…anything—”
“They’ll pay.” Peter understood now in a way he never had. How he was willing to die for the woman in his arms, even though he knew nothing about her. Even though he had no idea if she wanted him. If she’d ever want him.
“What’s her name?” Cade was still leaning heavily on the couch, and Livie cast a quick glance back at him, worry tightening her lips.
“Sameen.”
“Bossman? You need to eat something before you fall over.” Livie arched her brows as she turned back to Peter. “And you? When was the last timeyouate anything?”
Shit. He didn’t have any idea. Yesterday?
“Hasanyonehad a proper meal since getting here?” With a huff, Livie popped up and shook her head. “Men. Useless. All of you. If we’re going on the offensive, we’renotdoing it on empty stomachs. Now where’s the kitchen?”
