A prod embedded in Solan’s shoulder, and pain seared through him.He stumbled, but the male followed, digging the prod deeper into his shoulder and making his muscles lock as pain swamped him.
His blood roared in his ears as he heard the whistle of darts and Theron grunting in pain, but he couldn’t get away from the prod that seemed to be searing him from the inside out.
He dropped to one knee and gasped for air.
And then the ground shook beneath him.
Heat rose from the ground as if it were lit by invisible flames.The air shimmered like hot asphalt on a summer day.
Kaeli.
He could feel her like she was right there beside him, wild and terrified and fucking furious.Her power lashed out, seemingly through him, and a heat wave slammed outward, knocking the nearest attackers off their feet.Cattle prods and knives dropped to the ground.
The male who’d shocked Solan tried to crawl away, but Solan rose to his feet with a roar and grabbed him by the back of the shirt, tossing him toward the vehicles.
The humans raced for their vehicles.The roadway cleared quickly, and only pack members were left behind.
“Shit, Theron’s hit!”Joey shouted.
They found the male passed out, with a dart embedded in his shoulder.
Solan pressed his fingers to his throat and felt his pulse beating steadily.“Let’s get him back to the pack for healing,” he said.
“Half the team goes to the dealership,” Adam ordered.“Get to the bottom of why they were able to get through the security system.The rest of you follow me back to the pack.I want patrols doubled.”
They gathered their passed-out friend and put him in the back of the truck.Solan drove Adam and Theron to the pack territory with several other vehicles following, while the others went to investigate the dealership.
“You know what’s strange?”Adam asked, his voice edged with anger.
“That Kaeli saved me when she wasn’t around?”
“Well, yes.That was fucking cool.But it’s strange that the only darts those males fired were at Theron and me.”
“That is strange,” Solan said.His mind spun.
Tranq darts were new for Foley.But they weren’t new to people who hunted.It was a common weapon for shifter hunters because they could be used from a distance.
“Take you to use as bait?”Solan asked.
“Maybe, or maybe just take me out.But Theron’s a gryphon.What if someone knows there are gryphons in Thorn Hollow?That would mean Foley and Hawthorne are working together again.”
“And Hawthorne brought reinforcements.”
They both went quiet as they thought over the implications.Victor Hawthorne made a living capturing unique shifters to sell on the black market.He’d previously joined forces with Foley when albino wolf Sadie had found her mate in Gavin, one of the tigers.But word had spread that Hawthorne was up in the wilds of Canada and had broken ties with Foley.
“If they’re working together again, it means that no one is safe.Not the gryphons because they’re unique and not the wolves because Foley just wants us all dead,” Solan said.
“Drive faster, man,” Adam said.“I need to see for myself that Cinder is safe.”
Solan nodded and put his foot to the floor, the engine roaring as they hurried toward Thorn Hollow and their precious mates.
ChapterTwelve
Kaeli stood on the porch until she couldn’t hear Solan’s truck as he drove off to work security at the car dealership.She didn’t like him leaving town, but she felt selfish wanting him all to herself.
Clutching the new spellbook Cinder had given her to her chest, she made her way inside the alphas’ house to the kitchen, where the alpha female had set up supplies for some easy spell casting.
“You miss him, huh?”Cinder asked.
