AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a grunt, I heaved him off to the side. Lyka yelped, scuttling sideways like a young wolf. I looked at him as I got to my feet. As my brother jumped to his own feet, I finally realized howthinhe was. He’d lost a significant amount of muscle, and that made him lookold.I’d known him for centuries, and this was the first time in ages that my brother looked like he was older than me—and not for the better. Whatever was in his mind was clearly affecting his ability to hunt or care for himself.
I scowled, cursing Sabine to myself as I turned to leave, not interested in fighting with Lyka any longer. He’d only end up hurting himself, and I had to protect him any way I could.
As I stared out the jet’s window into the distant ocean below, I couldn’t force the sight of my brother from my head. His gaunt frame, his listless stare…at least when he’d been feral, he’d been robust. Powerful. He was still the man and the wolf I’d grown up with—perhaps even more so, in some ways. But this?
It’s like Sabine removed whatever made Lyka Lyka and left a hollow shell in his wake.If she meant to kill him, she was only one or two steps away from that, I was certain.
I’d arranged for a member of the Order of the Stars located in Australia to place guards around Lyka’s island. I’d hoped to let Lyka stay entirely anonymous, but it was clear now that I couldn’t rely on my brother to hunt for himself. If someone was delivering food to the island so Lyka wouldn’t starve, additional measures would need to be taken to maintain secrecy.
I leaned against the window, trying to remind myself not to grind my teeth, yet every time my thoughts drifted back to Lyka’s gaunt form, it was all I could do to keep my wolf from springing forward. He had a complicated relationship with Lyka—after all, our wolves had once been the best of friends—but if possible, he felt Lyka’s betrayal even deeper than I did. Perhaps it was because there was no loyalty fiercer than a wolf’s, and even now, my wolf was enraged by the idea that someone haddonethis to Lyka, our last remaining packmate. He railed at me, demanding we do something at once to bring the perpetrator to justice.
Truthfully, there was little I would like more. Sabine had attacked our mateandour brother. But if it was easy to track her down, I would’ve done so and strung her up myself. There was also the knowledge that the Solar Sovereign was awake and moving in the shadows, and Istilldidn’t know who they were or where they were. For all the damage Sabine had done, I knew if I let my guard down and allowed an attack on those I cared about, anything the Solar Sovereign did would easily be ten times worse.
I closed my eyes and took a breath.
And I couldn’t protect them before…
Worse than that, I didn’t know how to help Lyka now. I took another breath, aware of the wolf lurking at the edges of my control. I couldn’t lose it now. I licked my lips and racked my brain for any solution, but I’d never seen anything like this. Not in a wolf shifter, and not in one so close to me. I felt isolated. Paralyzed.
You don’t have to do this alone anymore.
Now you have me to help, too.
Celeste’s voice drifted to me, almost ethereal in nature. I inhaled sharply and considered my mate’s talents. She’d not only cast Sabine out of her own mind, but had extricated the witch from Cody and Abigail’s minds as well. Both of them had returned entirely to themselves. Celeste, too, seemed as vibrant as ever, but…
What has Sabine done to Lyka’s mind? What if she laid a trap?
I knew little of psychic magic, but the witch’s ability to jump from Abigail to Celeste was alarming. At least my mate was now aware of such a trick and wouldn’t let it happen again.
Who am I really trying to protect? Celeste, or myself?
Celeste had proven herself to be a strong, capable witch. Not only that, but she was incredibly clever, often seeing the world in ways I’d never considered. If there was any hidden clue or an alternative, it was Celeste who would come up with it.
And she did ask me to stop keeping her in the dark…
If I didn’t share this with her now, I knew she’d resent that I’d gone back on my vow to share things with her. My word, especially with her, was something I meant to uphold.
I opened my eyes and rubbed my face with a groan. As much as I disliked the idea of putting my mate in harm’s way, I saw no alternative to discovering what had happened to my brother.
And she can always say no, I reminded myself. I’d never force Celeste to provide assistance if she couldn’t.And maybe she’ll have a good idea that doesn’t involve her rooting around in his mind at all.Unlikely as that was, it provided little comfort for my wolf.And this can wait until after the eclipse. Then, if Lyka does anything to her in his madness—
I shook my head before my mind conjured up images of what my brother did to his mate. At least Celeste would be tied to my life force by then, so if the worst happened…
My gut churned, and I had to halt that train of thought before my wolf got upset. We’d be landing in Santiago soon, and I intended to check on some of the local shifter packs in Chile before continuing on to Panama and Isla Lobo. It wouldn’t do to show up like a feral beast.
After landing in Santiago, I checked in on the coven of vampires who’d made a home there. There was also a pair of mountain cat shifters and a fae community on the border of Chile and Peru. While traveling north, I checked in on a pack of wolf shifters hidden near La Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca. It was a lot of work for a night and a day, and I was relieved to meet my jet back in Lima.
I would regularly check in with paranormal communities. Though I usually stuck to shifters, I wanted to see what other groups were up to as well. If the Solar Sovereign was moving, they would be trying to gain shifters’ allegiance, but that didn’t make everyone else immune to the Sovereign. After all, Faulkner had clearly been dabbling in something well outside his realm.
As I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, finally tired enough to get a bit of sleep, my phone buzzed. I growled to myself, having half a mind to ignore it entirely. But as I cracked open an eye and saw Gilbert’s name on the screen, I knew I couldn’t.
With a sigh, I hauled myself upright and slid my finger across the screen. “Hello,” I said, pressing the phone to my ear. “What did you find?”
“Well, Romania islovelythis time of year,” Piers crooned into my ear, and it took all of my strength not to hang up on him. “The smell of garlic is rather pervasive, though.”
“We are not having much luck.” Gilbert sighed a moment later, his remorse evident even over the phone.
“Perhaps we should stop chasing ghosts and focus on ouractualenemies,” Piers said, ever dramatic.
