His phone vibrated with an incoming call, and he smirked. Speak of the devil. “Hey, squirrel.”
“Wolf,” came the immediate response with an audible eye roll. “Why are you contacting me?”
“Need to call in a favor.”
“For?”
Lukas hesitated, tapping his thumb against the rim of his cup. “My alpha found a newly Sparked mage. The Order is after him. He’s in desperate need of a magic crash course, and some better wards on our home would be nice.” They only had the basics that would protect against natural disasters.
A long silence followed, which wasn’t surprising. He knew this might blow up in his face. Being a mage, Rían didn’t trust shifters, but even he had to admit a mage would be better off with Lukas and his pack than with the Order.
Rían let out an explosive sigh. “I’ll be there tomorrow. And I’m still going to charge you out the ass if your place is a pain to shield.”
“So glad you’re not dead,” Lukas said dryly.
“Feck off and give me the address.” As soon as Rían had what he needed, he disconnected.
Lukas didn’t take it personally, especially as he hadn’t really expected Rían to call or help in the first place, despite Lukas saving his life a few months ago. He set the phone aside and turned his attention out the large bay windows, sipping his coffee and watching the sky darken before gray crept in. He probably should have beentrying to sleep, but he didn’t feel like dealing with the nightmares. It was easier to inhale caffeine and wait for his body to reach its limit.
He tilted his head as he heard someone upstairs. It was still too early to be Caius, and Quinn was in his lair downstairs. When he glanced over, he saw a sleep-tousled Max. The sharp scent of woodsmoke and citrus was stronger since he’d apparently lost control of his magic yesterday. Lukas was about to offer a greeting when Max spotted him and froze, his eyes widening as fear soured his scent.
Lukas didn’t flinch only because he’d had years to train himself not to flinch from anything. Hard to be a decent sniper if every little thing got a reaction from him. Instead, he looked away from Max, turning his attention back to the window, where the sun was peeking over the horizon. “Good morning.”
Max murmured something that might have been a “Morning,” before inching into the kitchen. With the open floor plan and no walls for him to hide behind, there was nothing to dampen the stench of wariness.
This was one of the reasons he’d been leery of binding a mage. As a shifter, living with someone who feared you was a nightmare. He was lucky enough that most of the men in his squad had no problem with shifters, and the one who did wasn’t part of his team.
He listened to Max making breakfast as he watched the sunlight slink its way across the neighborhood, glistening on the fresh snow. They’d gotten at least a foot overnight. Hopefully the sidewalks were clear enough for a run.
Lukas stilled completely when Max moved towards him, pretending not to notice even though the tang of nerves in his scent made Lukas’ nose burn. He could hear Max’s heart threatening to burst out of his chest.
“C-coffee?”
He tilted his head slowly as he turned his attention to Max and the coffeepot. “Sure,” he said, holding his cup out to let Max refill it. “Thanks.”
Max hurried back to the kitchen like he expected Lukas to pounce and eat his heart out.
When Quinn finally stumbled around downstairs, Lukas breathed a sigh of relief. If anyone could break the tension in a room, it was Quinn.
Sure enough, as soon as the redhead shuffled up the stairs, he moved straight for Max and draped himself against his back. “Bacon?”
Max’s lips twitched, and his scent cleared almost immediately.
Lukas tried not to take it personally, letting the quiet banter in the kitchen go in one ear and out the other as he picked up his phone. He was usually guaranteed a week minimum between missions, but he still marked himself unavailable for the next few days due to pack business, just in case. Considering the size of the house, it would take Rían at least that long to put proper protections in place.
And Lukas doubted anything would stop the Order from trying to get their hands on Max, even with their three bindings on him. It was rare for a mage to Spark past eighteen. Rarer still to have as much literal firepower as Max had shown. Even if he was technically too old to be forced to serve eight years, he was powerful enough the Order wouldn’t want him running around without their leash.
Caius would have to find a dedicated trainer for Max. There was no way he’d learn even a fraction of what he needed in a few days. The problem was, most trainers worked for the Order. Few mages ever escaped their grasp, even after their mandatory eight years.
He texted Rían again, asking if he knew any.
The response was aYeah, mewith a kissy face.
Lukas snorted and balanced his cup on his knee.You still work for Order
Only for another 2 months
He considered that with a soft hum, wondering if Rían would actually manage to finish his service.Not sure we could afford you
