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In my peripheral vision, the unfamiliar house fades away, replaced by the dark cave where we were waiting when Sable and Cleo disappeared. Then, with a strange rush, something shatters and power floods the cave. The energy flashes and then peters out, and I realize it’s the connection between Cleo and Sable breaking.
The sensation of Cleo’s warm, bloodied skin between my teeth vanishes, and I hurtle through the dark, cold ether with no control over my limbs. It’s so sudden it knocks the wind out of me, like I’m plummeting off a skyscraper on a collision course for the asphalt, but I can’t even scream.
I slam back into my body and open my eyes to fiery purple twilight and the ongoing sounds of battle from below. I have no idea how long we were gone, and no way to know if time moves the same in the astral realm as it does in the physical realm. As my companions return to their own bodies, I rush forward to look out over the edge of the plateau and take stock of what’s happening in the battle.
I see more witches sprawled lifeless on the ground than I do wolves, but the fight’s still going strong, which means they don’t know about their leader yet. It’s only a matter of time though. Chances are good she has witches guarding her hiding place. At some point, they’ll figure out she’s dead.
And now that she’s no longer a threat… it’s time for us to join the fight.
We’re needed below, I say through mind speak as the others join me on the edge of the overlook.
Trystan huffs in agreement. Sable stays here.
We all look at her, and I know every one of us is stuck on one piece of information—the woman we love is carrying a child. Our child. There’s not a chance in hell we’re letting her go down there to fight.
She frowns at us. “I can help.”
You can stay here, I say firmly.
Her glare hardens. The fact that we can now communicate through the bond when we’re in wolf form and she’s in human form is helpful, but it doesn’t change her stubborn nature.
Archer leans against her side, nuzzling her hand as he says, Use your powers from above and keep us safe.
She sighs. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”
You don’t have to like it. Trystan grins. You just have to let us take care of you sometimes.
My gaze drops to her stomach
, a torrent of emotions lashing through my chest. He’s fucking right about that. I know Sable can handle herself in a fight—she just weakened the leader of a powerful coven, breaking down her defenses until we could go in for the kill. But knowing she’s carrying a baby, the beginning of our little family?
Fuck. I can’t let her risk herself anymore today. I just can’t.
I step toward her and nuzzle her stomach, wanting so much more but knowing there’s no time. She runs her fingers through my fur as she catches my gaze, her blue eyes glittering like stars. Then she nods.
Let’s go, I say to the others, and we leap into action.
We race down the steep slope past the witches’ flat-fronted stronghold. The building is the same color as the mountain’s dirt, which explains why it’s so well camouflaged. The doors are hanging wide open, and if there were witches defending the fortress before, they aren’t there now.
But the battle hasn’t gotten too close to the stronghold. Witches and shifters clash violently in the open clearing, where blood already paints the ground and black smoke hangs like a dense fog over the chaos. Adrenaline pumps through my body at light speed, and I pick up the pace, drawing ahead of the other alphas and baring my teeth.
I barrel into the fray at full speed, my gaze darting around for my first mark. Nearby, two witches stand with their backs to me, flinging magic at a group of shifters who are attempting to dart in and stop them. I shift course and run for them, then leap at the witches’ backs, taking them both down with a well-placed paw between their shoulder blades.
They hit the dirt face first, and then the group of shifters they were attacking turn the tables on them.
For several moments, I ravage my way through the melee, knocking down witches with vicious speed and snuffing out lives with a cold, hard detachment that doesn’t even feel like me. But it’s because I only care about one life, a new life. My mind is on Sable and the baby, and how I’ll protect them both at all costs.
Even if it means annihilating every last member of this coven.
A blast of energy races past my face, so close that I feel the wind of it. I dart away, but the magical assault wasn’t meant for me. I whirl around to see a witch behind me falling to the ground, clutching his chest like a man in the throes of a heart attack, and I glance up at Sable.
She’s a small form on the ridge, watching grimly as black smoke billows from her hands. Protecting us from above, like Archer told her to do.
My beautiful, brave, determined mate.
Turning back to the fight, I launch myself at another witch and fall back into battle with single-minded determination. The tides have turned so that we’re coming out on top, which gives me another burst of energy that spells death for several of the enemy.
I don’t know how long we fight for. It feels like fucking forever, and the sun drops below the horizon as we battle. But then I hear a loud cry go up, echoing from inside the bunker.
