Chapter Seventeen

Cohen watched his mate fly away. His stomach protested, churning with fear. He had to remind himself she was capable of taking care of herself, but the urge to protect her was overwhelming. How did anyone get anything done once the mate bond took effect?

He turned back toward his younger brothers, both mated men. Were their minds on their women? Did they worry about where they were or what kind of trouble they could get into? Did Archer worry about Joanna being an Alpha? Did Gage worry about Kaylee getting into a car accident? The way his mind spun was overwhelming.

“Are you ready?” Archer asked.

“Just a moment,” Cohen said, his feet stuck beneath him. He looked past his brother at the house. It belonged to him now. Later, he would have to talk to his witch about moving in with him. She would be able redecorate it, of course. Maybe they would have a demolition day and destroy all of Sampson’s outdated furniture.

Thinking about Ashe living with him helped him steady his overactive mind. Could he go through with this? The bear said he could. In fact, it was what the bear had been born to do. Having people to protect would calm the beast. It would fill it with a sense of family and safety.

Not once in his life did he think he would find himself here. A week ago, he’d cornered his witch to demand she break his bond to Gage and Kaylee. He’d been ready to run back to solitude, preparing himself for the day someone might have to put him down.

It had been an awful truth, but now that truth slipped away, replaced by a new one. One not so awful, but terrifying all the same. What if he couldn’t do this? What if he screwed up?

“Hey.” Gage slapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder and threw him a sly smirk. “You got this. You can’t fuck up any worse than that time you burnt a package of ramen in the microwave.”

Archer scrunched his nose in disgust. “The house reeked for a month. It’s one thing to have a human nose, but we don’t. That was easily the worst month of my life.”

Their words bolstered him. He nodded and felt their humor sink in and push a smile across his face. The bear rose inside him, proud and excited. His mate had been right. This was what they needed to do.

He turned back toward the house filled with people. They looked at him with expectant eyes. He tried to meet each one in turn, tried to keep up with the bevy of emotions that filled them. Some were hesitant, some were hopeful.

Yet, each time someone approached him to bare their neck, his stomach flipped. At first, he questioned each second, yet as more people stepped up with hopeful smiles on their faces, he steadied. He smiled back at them, trying to appear gentle.

He would not be the cold man his father had been. He would not be the monster he’d feared he would be. The people who knelt and bared themselves before him, binding their pledge, trusted him.

The bear leaned back and roared through him. This was what they’d been born to do. He could feel it as each pledge steadied his rough-hewn soul.

His mind slipped back to his mate, who’d taken the pledge the night before. She hadn’t questioned her decision once and sealed the pledge with a long kiss.

An hour later, he stood before a room, more confident than when he’d entered. A slow smile slipped over his lips. A sense of belonging anchored him. This was how things had been meant to be.

Now, they just had to find their missing brother.

***

No one knew where the eldest Vancourt brother had disappeared to or what he might be doing. No one knew if there were more shifters coming to his aide or if he came to Stonefall alone. Ashe had filled them in on what she’d learned, telling everyone the story of Sampson and her mother, telling them how Killian had lied and how Grover had turned on them. Nancy had spat on the ground when she spoke of Grover. They’d been close, and his betrayal pissed the little cat shifter off.

Ashe released her owl and let it take to the skies. The eldest Vancourt brother’s face was fresh in her mind, her mother’s fading magic apparently not working on her. All her life, she’d hated the woman, but now that she understood what happened, she found a small amount of forgiveness in herself.

Using her owl eyes, she scanned the world below. Trees, some fitted with needles and others budding with new life, passed beneath her, but she saw no sign of the brother or even Killian. It wasn’t likely that they’d packed up and vanished overnight. She’d seen the crazed determination in the brother’s face. He wasn’t about to leave without causing some sort of trouble.

She flew over the now dead bonfire. Embers flickered in the ashes, a charred post now toppled onto the ground. She would not fear the fire. She would not fear this man or his intentions. The mantra repeated through her mind as she surveyed the area around it.

Her magic had been slippery and out of reach when Killian and Grover had grabbed her. She had the power to command their bodies, to make them turn away from her. Theoretically, she was untouchable, yet fear had rendered her useless.

She was anything but. She could be strong. She only had to remember.

Part of her feared she would forget again. That panic would take hold and she would become prey once more. The animal inside of her scoffed. The owl was irritated with her feeble human emotions. It wouldn’t allow her to forget. It would not get trapped again.

There, below, she caught the sparkle of something in the light. It flashed, and she circled back, dropping steadily, to get a closer look. It flashed again as she passed over it. Whatever it was, it was catching the light. She caught a perch in a nearby tree and observed the object.

A small cell phone sat on the ground with a little note stuck to the front of it. Her stomach flipped. She glanced around, wondering if this was a trap. The owl flapped its wings. Magic flowed over them. It tried to tell them they would not get caught again.

Sure, and she told herself she’d never eat cookie dough ice-cream again after drinking too much tequila and bingeing on ice-cream. That hadn’t lasted long.

Still, she hopped a little closer. A few branches later, she could read the note taped to the phone.

I’ll call you,

Logan.

She wanted to sneer. Quickly, she launched herself from the branch and snatched the phone from the ground. Like a blur through the air, she swooped up into the sky before anything could jump out at her. Owls were the ultimate predators of the sky, soundless and sleek. Gripping the phone, she flew back to the Vancourt house.