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He felt Mary’s stillness and the part of him that was fae reached toward her, silently begging her to recant.
She turned to him and caressed his face. Looking up at him, she telepathed, My worries about Harley aren’t important right now. All that matters is that you bond with your pack. Okay?
It wasn’t the response he wanted, but it gave him enough space to shift gears and head with her in Harley’s direction.
Fergus kept his arm around Mary as they drew close to Harley. In a low voice, Fergus asked, “How the hell did Sydon conceal a witch’s spell in his gladiator briefs and who brought it to him?”
“We don’t know yet. I have Ryan and a couple of his men working on it, but the best we can figure is that Sydon had someone on the inside.”
“Which means we have a traitor.”
“It looks that way, but I know all our wolves and not one comes to mind who isn’t loyal to you.”
He felt Mary tremble next to him, but he ignored her reaction. Harley couldn’t be the one. Even his newly forming fae senses told him that Harley was speaking the truth. So, how could Mary be right about him? It didn’t make sense.
Harley continued, “We’re interviewing every wolf who had contact with Sydon since he was locked up last night. I’ll let you know when we find something.”
“Good. Stay on it.”
Harley stared at Fergus for a long moment, then his lips curved.
“What?” Fergus asked.
“You’re back.” Harley nodded several times. “Dammit, you’re back.” He patted Fergus once on the shoulder, then whirled and took off with several of the Gordion security force, levitating to the north entrance.
Fergus glanced around at the remaining guards and those members of his pack who hadn’t left yet. “Thank you, all of you. How about we head back to the compound?”
A cheer went up.
Fergus drew Mary tighter to his side. Let me fly you back, okay?
She smiled, leaned up and kissed him. “Whatever you want.”
~ ~ ~
Mary felt relieved and exhilarated at the same time. Though she was a little overwhelmed that Fergus had come within a leaf’s width of getting struck down again, she reveled in the fact that Sydon was gone and the pack had been legally restored to Fergus.
Being that close to Harley had caused her to stumble mentally, however. The moment she’d seen him, the same terrible sensation returned, that his loyalty was completely divided and had been for a long time. Yet she’d felt no dissimulation in Harley as he’d spoken to Fergus, something she couldn’t explain.
Harley exuded a solid, even unshakeable alignment with Fergus. Yet she knew something was terribly wrong. Was it possible a witch was involved and somehow interfering with the Gordion Pack? It seemed unlikely, since dark witches loathed the wolves of Savage. Their enmity was one of the most intense in Five Bridges. And yet Sydon had employed a dark witch spell which meant there might be a connection.
But she couldn’t have said anything to Fergus about Harley when he was greeting everyone, even when he spoke with Harley. His priority right now was reestablishing himself as alpha to his pack. So, she’d held back and kept her difficult fae reactions to herself. The trembling, however, she’d been unable to help.
She felt Fergus’s focus move outward, and knew he was embracing his pack. His scent bore a layer of tenderness not there before because he’d been severed from the Gordion wolves for the past two nights. But the subtle smell was there, like the wind in the pine trees: Fergus’s alpha wolfness to his pack.
He’d also wanted to fly her to the Gordion Compound, even though she was fully capable now of taking herself into the air. Truth? She wanted to be physically close to him.
Once secured against his side and poised on his bare foot, he took her high above the pine forest, heading east. He still wore the amber cloak wrapped around him, with his arm pinned to her waist.
His voice penetrated her mind. I wouldn’t be here but for you. Thank you, again, Mary. A thousand times. I’m overwhelmed by what you’ve done for me and for my pack.
She leaned her head against his shoulder, her hand pressed to his chest. I wish Sydon was gone for good.
I know. I don’t think any of the alphas will have peace until he’s been run to earth. He’s dangerous. What I don’t know is the price he paid for that dark spell.
I hadn’t thought of that, Mary said. He must have made a promise of some kind because I’ve never seen that level of spell-craft before, at least not in Revel. Have you seen anything like it here in Savage?
No, I haven’t. But I’m aware of the prices paid for spells of that kind. Exorbitant. How could Sydon have afforded it?
