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Brady leaped in the direction only to stall just before the darkness as he turned to look back at me.
He was fighting with himself. I could see it in his eyes even as he closed off the bond between us. His duty to his family, coven, and pack drove him to go after the threat that the vampire and that dark magic posed, but as he looked back at me, I knew that the bond pulled him away from that duty.
He turned his head once more towards the forest where the vampire had disappeared, the scent of the dark magic now trickling away to nothing as the scent of the forest returned.
“Go,” I urged him. “Don’t let them get away.”
His eyes narrowed at my unmoving form, his body now following in the direction of his head, and he approached me slowly.
“What are you doing? Brady, I’m fine. Go. You have to go after them.”
The fur along his body began to recede, his face changing from animal to man as his eyes inspected me closely.
“Can you move?” he asked me.
I considered lying, the words already on the tip of my tongue.
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Madilyn.” His eyes narrowed once more, and the use of my full name startled me enough for my mouth to snapped shut.
I stared at him for a moment in shock before finally shaking my head. “No, I can’t.”
He let out a growl, his hands immediately searching over me. He poked my leg with a stick, the sting of the sharp stick sending a hiss of breath from between my teeth.
“You felt that?” he asked.
I nodded then, relieved to have feeling still. He moved to my next leg and repeated the action with the same result as the first.
Relief flooded through both of us as my leg twitched and my fingers opened and closed at my command.
“You must have just been in shock,” Brady breathed. “Come on, let’s get you to the house.”
He lifted me with ease in his arms. Feeling his touch amidst the cold air made me realize that my body’s reaction was mutual to his.
“Wait, what about the vampire and the witch?” I asked, though I could no longer smell the magic or the scent of decay.
“They’re gone,” he sighed, not bothering to look back into the forest. “She’s covered her magic and his scent. There’s no point in going after them now.”
I held onto his neck as he carried me back to the packhouse. Shame filled me for having been caught off guard as I was. Shame for holding Brady back when he had had the chance to go after the dark witch and vampire.
If it hadn’t been for me, he might have been able to catch up with them both. Maybe even eliminate the threat they posed to the pack. But instead, he stayed behind to care for me.
We came upon a group of wolves as we came closer to the packhouse, Edwardo shifting back to his human form as we drew closer.
“What happened?” he asked, his gaze moving worriedly between Brady and me.
“A vampire got the drop on her, and Minerva made an appearance,” Brady answered, his steps never pausing as he spoke.
Edwardo moved to keep up with us. His eyes widened more as he looked back at me.
“Where did the vampire go?”
“Not sure. Minerva called for him, though. He answered to the name Thorne.”
Roberto leaped forward at the name, his eyes widened in disbelief. “John Thorne?”
This time Brady paused, turning with me still in his arms to look at the beta’s brother. “I only heard her call him Thorne. Do you know who he is?”
Roberto nodded solemnly. “Before Headmaster Rome took over the Pacific Academy, there was a vampire as headmaster. A close friend to Rome, he had saved his life before and the only reason Rome went to the school to teach in the first place was because of Headmaster Thorne. However, Thorne turned on him. He was supposed to be taken to the council to be dealt with, but he never made it to them.”
