~

 

The wolf turned in place. There had been no sight and no sound in warning for his beast to what was coming.

That was unthinkable … He was still mulling that fleeting thought over the moment that the bear attacked.

Razor sharp claws ripped into him and he embraced the pain. His wolf didn’t go down without a fight.

The wolf relished every strike that he made against the bear. He could almost image that it was his brother, George, on the end of his claws and fangs, but the blood was all bear…

One crazy shifter bear whose eyes were rimmed with red and was as close to hell as he wanted to get.

He hadn’t finished what he’d gone to the mountain to do.

He hadn’t driven his brother to rogue. Although, he was driving him to distraction with every waking minute on the hunt to find him…

Paul felt the slash of the claws across his beast’s chest and he went down hard.

‘You win … brother…’

He bit the bitter words out into the mental link that he’d once had with his brother. A link that he hadn’t had cause to use for almost a year…

A link that he hadn’t expected to still work.

He would have thought that his brother would have cut off the link at the same time that he had cut him out of his life…

‘Paul…?’

There was a part of him – the part that knew he was dying – that relished the sound of his kin within his mind.

There was the other, larger part that despised his kin and wished that he was lying with his face in the dirt, about to meet the ancestors…

‘Where are you?’ George demanded…

‘Close … not close enough … to kill you.’

‘You’re injured…’

‘Dying. You got you’re … wish…’

‘The bear…?’

‘Bear…’

‘I’ll find you. Send you to the ancestors in the right way…’

‘It’s … more … than I … would have … done … for you… south outcrop…’

George disconnected his link to his brother. He felt a small kick in the pants about leaving him to die alone like that, but his pack needed any information that they could get on the bear…

‘Dexter, the bear is at the south outcrop.’ George informed his alpha.

He pulled himself up from the bed – the muscles in his legs felt stronger, more able to hold his weight now that the vampire’s blood was doing its job…

‘We’re on our way – stay in your cabin…’ Dexter growled back through the pack link.

The alpha didn’t need to know how he knew where the bear was for now, and he certainly didn’t need to an injured wolf out on the hunt. They would have enough to deal with in hunting and killing the bear.

‘My brother is out there dying … or he’s lying and he’s walking you right into a trap.’ George warned.

He still wouldn’t trust his brother as far as he could throw him. He didn’t know if his brother was for real, but he wouldn’t let Dexter and the pack walk into a trap blindly.

‘Got it. Stay put and that is an order…’

 

~

~

~

 

“It’s a distraction…” Connor said.

They’d found George’s brother. The wolf was as close to death as the bear could leave him … but he had left him, and for that fact alone Connor was mistrustful of the situation.

It just didn’t sit right with him…

Connor bit down into his hand and fed the wolf his blood. Rightly or wrongly, he was going to give the wolf a fighting chance.

He didn’t want George thinking back on that moment in the future and regretting that Connor hadn’t saved his brother’s life.

If it turned out to be a damn big mistake then Connor figured that he could deal with that at another time. At least this way he would have the chance to undo his mistake.

“You think?” Dexter had shifted back into his human form and was studying the tracks that the bear hadn’t been able to cover up as they dug so deeply down into the earth…

“I’d bet his life on it…” Connor motioned to the dying wolf.

“Let’s go…” Dexter growled.

The alpha wasn’t big on conversation. A moment later and his wolf had burst free from within him.

“Warn the witches…” Connor called.

He was already in mid run when Connor shot right on by him. He never took that personally anymore, and right then; he was more than grateful for the vampire’s speed … it meant that the man would be back at the cabins protecting his pack a lot faster than the wolves…

 

~

~

~

 

“You feel that?” Vicky sat forward in her chair and eyed Isobel.

The witch placed the glass of red wine that she had been cradling down onto the side table and nodded. It was Chelsea that pushed up to her feet, ready and willing to take on whatever was coming for them.

“There’s no reason for a witch to use a blocking spell unless somethings coming…” Chelsea said. She motioned towards Jacob as the man got to his feet. “Get her in the bathroom…”

“No, wait…” Lily started, but her mate was already reaching for her…

“Wards…” Vicky bit out, directing the others to follow her lead, but it was already too late – just as Dexter was reaching out to Jacob through the link to warn him – so the door was taken off its hinges as the bear crashed into the room…

Tyler’s bear burst from inside of him with a deafening roar, but Chelsea and Vicky had already moved beyond the defence stage.

With their magic already at their fingertips – they turned to offence – blasting the bear and ripping the beast backwards from the floor – it was swept out of the opening that had only moments earlier had a door attached, and out into the night…

 

~

~

~

 

Tyler’s bear tore out of the cabin after the beast. His eyes searched the area as he sniffed the air – his beast grunted at the lack of a scent…

“Where the hell…?” Chelsea bit out as she stalked out into the night after her mate.

Tyler turned his head, momentarily blindsided at having his mate outside and in harm’s way … when he turned back; Connor was standing right in front of him…

His beast growled at the vampire…

“Hey, you snooze, you lose…” Connor offered back. The bear growled harder. “There’s no talking to you when you’re like a bear with a sore head…” he muttered, scoping the area for any sign of the attacker.

“It’s magic…” Chelsea bit out in annoyance. “That damn bear has a witch…”

“And we have a lot more…” Connor offered back. “Get back in there and do what witches do. Find her…”