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BRIE
Brie took Colby’s hand, offering him her silent love and support. She could feel the desolation in his soul. He had thought them safe here. It would seem Strode had won—at least for now. But they were not defeated, and if Strode believed that, it would be his downfall.
She could feel a shimmer in the atmosphere around them. Caye was here, but she wasn’t alone. As the shimmer faded, Brie saw that her second-in-command’s older brother and the supreme alpha of the hellhounds, Hayden, was with her.
Hayden glanced around. “We’re too late. We got here as fast as we could.”
“Not your fault,” said Colby. “Maya, see to the wounded. Damn it. I should have made sure we had a doctor in residence.”
“We have healers I can try and bring out of the Hollow,” offered Hayden.
“No. I appreciate the offer. Before we left Alaska, I called an old friend to ask him a favor. Oliver Halsey of the Hamptons pack has one of the best battlefield and trauma surgeons I’ve ever known. His level of expertise and skill are second to none, and I think we could really use him. Greg Summerlin is his name, and he’s agreed to come. He’s headed our way and should be here before we leave for Lundy Island.”
“Who knows,” said Winter. “He may decide he likes it out here in the wild and woolly wasteland of the Cornish Coast.”
“No offense, but we don’t need a doctor to rescue Adriana,” said Brie. “We have to do something.”
Colby wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. “No, but when we go to take Adriana back—please notice I said ‘when,’ not ‘if,’ we may well need one here at the abbey. Sweetheart, check with Maya to see what the damages were…”
“I’ll check with the men…” started Winter.
“This is my home, and I am his beta,” growled Brie. “You check with Maya. I’ll take Caye, and we’ll check on the damage done.”
She waited for Colby to object, but he was mute.
Winter nodded. “Message received, and my apologies for overstepping.”
Brie smiled. “No apologies needed. I think it would be difficult to not just step in.”
“It is, but I can see Colby has chosen a worthy successor to me,” said Winter.
Hayden shook his head. “This,” he said wagging his finger between the two, “is not good. Not good.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Colby, “given that my sister now stands as beta to her mate at Windsong, and Winter is the beta to her mate at Castle Curaidh, I think you’re seeing the beginning of a trend.”
Brie stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d wanted to do that over the years and never allowed herself to. “Thank you.” She turned to Caye. “Let’s go do some damage assessment.”
Colby nodded. “Get me what information you can find. Take two of the men and make sure the lower levels are secure. We’ll get started putting everything back in order. Two hours from now, I expect us to sit down and come up with at least the start of a plan to get Adriana back.”
“Colby,” said one of the men, “she didn’t even try to fight. She just gave over to him.”
“You must not have seen her face. She was devastated. She was also resigned to what she sees as her fate,” Colby answered.
Winter nodded. “She talked a little about that with me this morning. She was thinking of asking the Shadow Sisters to just find her an isolated spot and leave her there.”
“She thought we’d what? Just stick her on an ice floe?” asked Brie. “What kind of monsters does she think we are?”
“Remember, sweetheart, she was turned without her consent and then abandoned by her coven. Actually, I think she was incredibly brave. She knew we’d fight for her, but my hope is that she understands she’s buying us time and isn’t thinking that we’d let Strode have her.”
“So, we are going to at least try,” said Brie.
“If you have to ask, you haven’t been paying attention to who your mate is,” said Winter. “Colby doesn’t let anyone snatch one of his people nor does he allow anyone to simply attack one of his fortresses.”
“There were those bat mutation thingies,” said Caye.
Winter turned and smiled. “And we leveled the lab that created them. Seriously, there is nothing left but scorched earth.”
“I don’t remember you asking permission or even consulting the Resistance about that op,” said Hayden with a grin.
