Chapter Fourteen

It was quiet, the night motionless. Nothing stirred, surprising for a spring night. Animals should have been frolicking and calling out to their mates. Yet, Ashe stood behind Vancourt house and strained to hear anything.

A cold, creeping feeling ran down her spine. She’d pulled cards earlier, but each card she’d turned had been blank. It’s been a shock through her chest. Each and every card had been faceless, no matter how many she’d overturned. Nothing like that had ever happened before and she wasn’t quite sure how to read it.

Was this the end of the line for her? Or was she supposed to face the next few days with no help?

She ran a hand through her hair. Her world was constantly changing, the arrival of the Vancourt boys some kind of catalyst. There was an equal amount of good and bad. It was only a matter of time before it tipped into the awful. Now that she could no longer gauge the near future, she felt adrift.

“The only sure way to kill a witch is with fire,” a voice muttered.

Ashe spun around on the spot to find two male figures in the shadows. She opened her mouth to scream, but one leapt at her and slapped a hand over her mouth. In the light that filtered through the kitchen window into the back yard, she saw Grover’s scowling face.

Fear washed over her, cold and unstoppable. Her knees turned to liquid beneath her. She was so utterly useless. She cursed herself and fumbled to reach for her power, but fear had rendered it to putty in her hands.

Another figure stepped out of the shadows, the pale light turning Killian’s face garish. He smiled, the shadows over his face exaggerated and cartoonish. Her stomach turned. He’d followed through on his promise. She hadn’t delivered and now her own Pack was turning on her.

She tried to scream, tried to struggle, but more figures appeared. They grabbed her and held onto her flailing limbs. She’d always thought they’d come with pitchforks and torches. Instead, they’d come silent in the night, when she’d thought she was strongest. Shame filtered through her. She couldn’t fight back. No matter how much she tried, her power was intangible. Fear turned into ice in her heart.

This was it. This was the end of the line for her.

***

Cohen was woken by a scream. He shot up, breath coming fast. He patted the bed beside him and found it empty. Cold slammed into him like the crash of a wave, so hard it knocked him back. Where was Ashe?

He threw himself out of bed and flew down the stairs. She was there, she had to be. Instead, he found Gage. His brother was breathing heavy, clutching the doorframe. Cohen knew what was wrong as soon as he saw him.

“They’re here,” he whispered.

Gage’s lips formed a grim line. He searched for words, each moment dragging out scraping along Cohen’s consciousness. A note was clutched in Gage’s hand, crumpled as white knuckles gripped it. Where was Ashe?

“There’s only one man,” Gage said, finally. “Just… one.”

“That doesn’t sound half as bad as I thought. I expected an entire pack of Killian duplicates. Why should we fear one man?”

Gage swallowed, the sound echoing through the silent kitchen. “There’s something… something odd about him. While I was out there, I smelled something familiar. This shifter smells like us.”

Cohen thought back to his conversation with Killian. “He did say it was another bear shifter.”

Gage shook his head. “No, it was more than that. I mean this guy smelled like he could be related to us. I don’t know how, but…” His words trailed off.

Cohen could barely focus. He still scanned the kitchen as if Ashe would materialize from the shadows and reach for him at any moment. He wouldn’t put it past the witch and her amazing powers, but he had a sinking feeling she wasn’t around.

The bear roared inside him, a deafening sound that shook his bones. He needed to find her. They needed to make sure she was safe. There was no future, no life without her. She wouldn’t just up and leave them.

Would she?

His eyes dropped to the paper in Gage’s hand. His brother glanced down at it, too. A long moment passed, time suspended between them. Rage flowed through Cohen. He stomped toward his brother, backing him into the wall as the sensation of cold fire enveloped his body.

Gage looked up at his brother, betrayal and anger clear in his eyes. He slapped the paper against Cohen’s chest, shoving him back.

“That’s from your so-called mate.”

Cohen froze. He glanced down at the note, vision blurring for a moment. The words written before him were clear, even if he didn’t want to see it.

Don’t come looking for me because I’m where I belong now. Killing your father was all too easy and you’re all too boring.

Ashe

His heart sank to the floor. The bear shifter Killian had warned them about had arrived and the woman he’d thought was his mate had disappeared. During the fight with Killian, she’d stood behind him. Cohen hadn’t thought much of it, too wrapped up in the fight at the time, but now his mind wandered.

The bear refused to listen. It growled and thrashed, but Cohen could see the truth. She’d used them. For what, he wasn’t sure. But, he could see the signs of betrayal. He could see that she might not have ever been his in the first place. Ashe had belonged to this other bear.

His hand absently rose to the bite mark on his shoulder. No, absently wasn’t the right word. The bear moved his fingers to rub against the lingering scar. She belonged to them, the bear whispered. She was faithful. She was loyal.

But, Cohen couldn’t listen. He couldn’t even breathe.

“Are you alright,” Gage asked, his anger slipping into concern. As his brother stepped toward him, the bond of Pack settled over Cohen and his bear. It helped him think straight, helped the bear calm down. “Dad warned us about her. We should have seen this coming.”

Cohen snarled, unable to control himself. “Wake up your mate. Both of you need to start making calls.” He bit the words out from between clenched teeth. Anger boiled over him, seething and singeing.

This new bear and the betraying witch would die. No one would come onto his Territory and hurt his people. No one.

No one.