Sameen clung to Peter, peering up at Cade with watery, pale brown eyes. “You’re the alpha? Peter’s alpha?”
Shit. How could he have forgotten the woman could barely see? That she’d never met him? Liam had recounted a bit of what she’d been through: kept in chains, blinded, unable to move for months or even years, and he’d just put his hands all over her.
Shame raised a lump in his throat. “Yeah.”
“Don’t mind him, luv,” Farren said, joining Caitlin. “He’s been an arse for three days now. Bein’ away from his mate while she’s carryin’ their pup? He’s got a bloody good reason, but that’s no excuse.”
The rebuke from the female alpha stung, but she wasn’t wrong. When they got Mara back—if they got Mara back—he was going to spend every day for the rest of his life making up for all of his failings. To Mara. To his pack. To Farren.
“Can we...can I sit down?” Sameen asked. “I’m a little dizzy.”
Peter didn’t hesitate to wrap an arm around her waist and lead her into the next room. Farren elbowed Cade in the ribs. “Get on in there with them. And try to be a mite less growly, will ya’? Livie and I are goin’ to bring a mess of food in for everyone.”
“Farren?” Cade didn’t move, his feet seemingly rooted to the spot as he watched the only connection he had to his mate shuffle away in Peter’s embrace. “You understand, don’t you?”
“That I do. But that wee girl has been through some shite. We all have at the hands of those magical bastards, but what happened to her? I know ya’ lost yerself when ya’ were trapped as yer wolf. But ya’ had thirty-some odd years before that to figure out who ya’ were, and a mate who knew exactly how to bring ya’ back. That one? They stripped her of everythin’. Locked her in her own body—awake and aware but unable to move, scream, or even blink her fuckin’ eyes. So before ya’ say a word in there, remember that. None of us will stop until we find Mara and every member of the Thirteen is dead. I give ya’ my word.”
There was so much Cade wanted to say to Farren, but she spun on her heel and strode away, leaving him yearning for his mate and afraid even if he did find her, he’d lose his pack in the process.
* * *
Sameen
Cade, though not as tall or as broad as Liam, had a presence about him Sameen didn’t need perfect vision to see. It was in the man’s energy. His very being.
Peter had almost lost control when Cade had put his hands on her, but he’d backed down at his alpha’s tone. At least in part. Sameen had felt his outrage and his total and complete commitment to protecting her somehow as he’d held her. Like they were already connected.
She knew so little about werewolves. The Thirteen had talked about them from time to time, along with vampires and fae, but she couldn’t remember having any actual contact with them. Not before she was taken.
And now she was apparently part of a family of them. A family gathered in yet another room in this huge house…waiting for her.
The walls were all muted colors and dark wood. A big screen at the other end of the room glowed, but she couldn’t read what was on it from what had to be twenty or thirty feet away. Plush carpet pillowed her feet, and she was grateful she didn’t have to worry about slipping like she had in the hallway.
“Sameen? Over here,” Caitlin called from a grouping of chairs next to a large window.
Outside, darkness held sway, and she stifled a shudder. For the rest of her life, she never wanted to be anywhere dark and cold again. Peter still held her, but Sameen took her own chair, tucking her legs under her and hugging herself tightly. Peter dropped into the seat next to her, and though they weren’t touching any longer, she could still feel him. His possessiveness. His worry. His frustration.
“What just happened out there?” Caitlin asked.
“I don’t know.” Sameen rubbed her side and winced. The brandhurt.“Whenever the Thirteen marked someone with the sigil, I knew. Like we were all linked together, suffering as one. I could never cry for any of them—Celia’s spell prevented it—but in some awful, terrible way, knowing there were others out there in the Thirteen’s control? It made me feel like I wasn’t so very alone.”
Caitlin reached out and squeezed Sameen’s hand. “When I was sixteen, a boy I thought I might have loved bound my air to his earth. His name was Fergus Tharp, and the Thirteen branded him like they branded you. At least half a dozen elementals died when he...forced me to help him take their powers. We failed. Every time.”
The pain in Caitln’s voice made Sameen’s heart hurt, and she gripped the woman’s fingers tightly. “For how long? Was he one of the ones I...could feel?”
“He died a few months ago. If you were their prisoner for twelve years...they branded him before they took you. But...yes. He was one of the ones you could feel.”
Cade cleared his throat. “Are you telling me those fuckers branded Mara?”
Sameen didn’t want to answer him, but something about his presence didn’t give her much choice. “I’m sorry. But yes. When you touched me...”
“I’m going to kill them,” he swore.
“Cade? That was always the plan,” Liam said, clapping a hand on his alpha’s shoulder. “They’ve tried to end every one of us, and anyone who hurts Mara...ya’ know how we all feel about her.”
Caitlin picked up a large book, turning it so Sameen could peer down at the pages. “I don’t know how much of this ya’ can read...?”
“Everything’s blurry.” Sameen held out her hand. As soon as Caitlin gave her the book, its power sent a shudder through her. “I can feel it, though.”
