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TWENTY-FOUR
MAGNUS
Magnus sat behind his desk, the ever-growing pile of papers never diminishing no matter how many were signed, sealed, and delivered. The words began blurring together as he picked up another document.
Ideally, he’d fly through the pile, signing and dating on each dotted line, but he was no fool. Everything that required a signature needed a thorough read-through first. God only knew what his competitors would slip into the contracts.
However, if he never had to read one more boring document on pharmaceuticals related to quality standards of the intended use of each individual product, it would be too soon. He knew far more about some of these drugs than he cared to.
Drugs, he might add, he and his pride would never need or use. With a sigh, his eyes darted from line to boring line. When he finished the four-page document, which was a condensed version of regulatory statements and guidelines, he was fairly certain his eyes were bleeding.
His phone ringing was a blissful distraction, and he answered it eagerly.
Barrett’s voice on the other end was anything but heartening. “Magnus. We’ve found Carvin, and he’s got Alexis at gunpoint.”
Magnus’s entire body went rigid. All the outrage and hatred he’d been nurturing toward Carvin these past few weeks came to a head, and it came out in a violent frenzy of curses. His chair tipped backward as he rose hastily to his feet.
“Where the fuck is he? Where is he going?”
“Our team is following him,” Barrett said, and Magnus could hear the clicking sound of a turn signal as Barrett made a turn onto some unknown road. “It looks like he’s heading to your house, Alpha. He’s heading to the cottage.”
“He’s … what? Why?”
All the while Magnus and Barrett were talking, Magnus was pulling up Alexis’s location. Sure enough, she was minutes from his house.
The magnitude of the moment crashed into his consciousness, and he saw it for what it was immediately. Carvin wouldn’t face Magnus alone in a fight. He knew he’d never beat the alpha. No mere shifter would.
Alphas were inherently quicker, stronger, and smarter. That’s what made them an alpha. Instead, Carvin had bided his time and assembled a team to fight, not only Magnus but those in his pride who supported him.
Carvin wasn’t looking for a fight. Oh, no. Carvin was looking for a war. Magnus clutched the phone tighter in his hand.
“Barrett, rally the pride. We’re going to war.”
The silence on the other end was deafeningly loud. After a tense moment, Barrett cleared his throat. “I hear you, Magnus. We’ll see you soon.”
With his phone still clutched tightly in his hand, Magnus left his office in a hurry. Phoebe was hot on his trail. She followed him to his car, and he gave her a rushed explanation before driving off.
It took longer than he expected to drive to his house. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it was his worry for Alexis’s well-being that made it seem like hours when, in reality, it barely took the usual twenty minutes.
There was only one reason Carvin would have captured Alexis before making a move like this. He meant to hurt her, especially if he and his group lost. That much was obvious, and Magnus would burn in hell before he let that happen.
The car barely came to a full stop on his property when he leapt out of the vehicle. The first thing he saw was Alexis’s pale, terrified face. Then he saw Carvin’s. His anger flared red-hot at the sneer that met him as he walked toward them. His panther was pacing angrily, ready to fight.
The flat meadow of land in front of his house was battle-ready. Two sets of armies stood across from each other. The only thing stopping them from tearing each other’s throats until now was the fact that Magnus had yet to arrive.
“Let her go, Carvin. She has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with this, Magnus,” Carvin hissed.
Before anything more could be said, Carvin shoved Alexis so hard she went sprawling six feet away, landing hard on all fours.
Magnus roared, and the two panthers shifted. The moment they did, there was a flurry of movement, and the sound of tearing clothes permeated the air as hundreds of shifters morphed into their animals.
Alexis pulled herself to her feet and ran for the house. She stopped once she was safely on the porch, and Magnus felt a glimmer of relief that she was farther away from the battle.
The roars and hisses of the giant cats were deafening.
Magnus reared up on powerful black legs and swiped at Carvin’s chest. Blood dripped down in a steady stream, droplets flying with every move Carvin made. Carvin pounced, but Magnus dropped onto his back and used all four paws to flip Carvin over his body. The smaller panther went sprawling, but he readied himself upright quickly and attacked once again.
