Chapter Seven

Fury rolled over Cohen in waves. The beast had retreated after Ashe’s interference, but there was still a fire burning inside him. The loss of self, between his beast and the witch, sparked a raging fury within. His body had not been his own. It’d been taken from him twice over and bent by the hands of the witch. Her power had been strong and all consuming.

Before he knew it, Gage and Kaylee had come to flank him. They lingered nearby, like therapy dogs. Soon, their presence had helped calm some of the emotions roiling through him. He could think straight again. In a matter of seconds, so much had happened.

He’d nearly murdered Killian just for making a kissy face at Ashe. No, not Cohen. His beast. The switch between the two of them had been instantaneous. Not even Cohen had seen it coming.

With his packmates on either side of him, he wondered what that meant. What was it about the witch that twisted him so? Was it her manipulation? There had to be some kind of spell she’d woven over him. He was an easy target, unsuspecting at best. She could take control of him and use him as a kind of protection against the world.

Yet, the longer he was caught in his own thoughts, the more he realized it was different. Watching her leave had struck him. Part of him was furious at what she’d done, and perhaps a little afraid. Yet, another part of him ached as he watched her leave.

If it wasn’t a spell, then what was it?

He needed to know before he left. He needed to uncover what it was that laid between him and the young witch, because if it was more… Cohen looked to his youngest brother and his mate. They leaned against the nearest wall together, their bodies mimicking one another with their arms crossed over their chests.

The two were an inseparable duo, pitted against the worst odds. He glanced at Archer and Joanna, arguing over wedding details while Archer still served as door guard against Killian. Cohen’s heart thumped inside his chest.

Could it be?

No, he shook his head to dispel the wayward thought. The witch was his ticket out of the bond Gage and Kaylee had forced onto him. He would keep dealing with her and her enchantments as long as he needed to see this ended.

But, what then? The voice crept into his mind, nagging and gnawing. What then? The Vancourt Pack was a mess, in disarray because of his father and Killian. Already, Grover had proved incapable of defeating the jaguar shifter. Would one of his brothers rise to take the challenge? Cohen knew Gage did not want the responsibility that came with it. He didn’t have the kind of power that it took to keep a Pack together.

Archer might do what needed to be done, but that was the kind of person he’d become. He did a task and nothing more. Where would that leave the people of the Vancourt Pack? Cohen knew he had the power. Several times since he’d been home, he’d drawn upon it. The first time, it had taken him by surprise. All he’d wanted was order and the power had slipped out of him and bent the room to his will.

Cohen had the power to command a Pack, but what would happen if he stayed. He sat, his hands on his knees as he regarded the house full of people. The two packs mingled as if they were one, brought together by Archer and Joanna’s mate bond. Cohen scratched at the scruff growing along his chin.

It was a room of casualties, he decided. He couldn’t help but look at them and see their bodies mangled by bear claws, empty eyes staring into the sky. If he stayed, it was only a matter of time before his beast cost him everything. If anything, he’d just proven that. He could not protect the people he loved if he was what threatened them. He couldn’t protect them from himself and that scared him.

He needed to get away.

“You alright, Cohen?” For once, Gage called him by his given name. It was a sign of how concerned he truly was.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be fine.”

He wanted some air, some space to clear his mind, but he didn’t dare leave while Killian was still prowling around the house. Instead, he stood and found Archer. Tapping his brother’s shoulder, he took his place. Cohen’s form nearly filled the doorway, taking up the windows of space Killian had seen through earlier.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as if he didn’t need them to kick his ass and stared down the jaguar shifted. Killian avoided his gaze. It made a smile creep over Cohen’s lips. If he fought Killian, and he ached to do so, he would fight him with no one around. He would smear the earth with this bug of a threat.

“Can’t look me in the eye, kitty cat?” He wished he could think of a better name. Killian and his boys had coined the sobriquet ‘Teddy Bear’ for Archer. If he called Gage over, the youngest Vancourt would have dropped something funny and demeaning in a second. Alone, the best Cohen could think of was Kitty Cat.

“Don’t want to,” Killian said, flopping back into a lawn chair and threading his fingers behind his head.

Silence filled the space between them, eating up the seconds and minutes that passed. It was boring and made Cohen’s mind return to what happened earlier, replaying it over and over until he could barely make sense of what happened.

“What keeps bringing you back?” Cohen blurted out, unable to live with his mind any longer.

Killian didn’t open his eyes. “I pissed off the wrong people, a bear shifter bigger than your dumb ass. Big surprise there. Now, I’m just looking for a Pack to protect me.” Killian’s face bunched, and he cracked open an eye, wary now. “Why did I just tell you that?”

Cohen had an idea, but he wasn’t about to tell Killian. He wondered if he could use the Alpha power in his voice to command the stray cat to leave, too. But, he didn’t want Killian to leave that easily. He wanted to make him pay for his sins before Cohen released him.

Killian threw his feet to the ground. He still cast wary glances in Cohen’s direction, as if just now seeing him for the monster he was. But, just as Cohen caught it, the wariness disappeared. A cocky smile lit up his face as he stood. He yawned and stretched, baring the carved muscles of his stomach.

Cohen didn’t have that kind of toned structure, but he knew he didn’t need it to be stronger. Pure power surrounded Cohen, while Killian was all show. It made Cohen’s spine straighten.

“This has been fun, but I’m going to call it a night,” Killian said without turning to face Cohen. He took a step forward and paused, throwing a daring glance over his shoulder. “We’ll see if you have any fight in you at all tomorrow, Papa Bear.”

He watched Killian disappear the same way he’d come.

Not while the packs watch, not while they were close enough to get hurt. Cohen could call the witch and ask her to be his failsafe. He knew what she was capable of. No, not the witch. Ashe. He needed to start calling her by her name. She’d agreed to help him. Hell, he’d gotten a taste of her. The least he could do was call her by her name.

Ashe, he repeated in his mind.

The word was silk in his mouth. It made him crave the taste of her all over again. She was terrifying and small all at once. And, if she wasn’t careful, the Pack would turn on her. Someone already had, he realized. He looked over his shoulder at the people milling through the house. There was a house full of good people, people with lives and dreams. Among them was a murderer who’d betrayed them all.

The thought made him growl. The bear rose and echoed the sentiment.

While the old man had been knocking on death’s door, Cohen knew he couldn’t let it slide. His eyes bounced from head to head, trying to gauge their motives. Who would want to kill Sampson and blame it on Ashe?

He crept toward the living room and regarded Grover, groaning on the couch. It’d been clear Grover had aspirations much larger than he could bear. Not long after they’d arrived in Stonefall, Archer had caught the man trying to steal upstairs and beat him almost as senseless as Killian had. He had wanted Sampson dead, but he wasn’t smart enough to poison him. Grover was all misplaced bravado and nothing more. .

Nancy sat in a chair a few feet away, her short legs propped on the coffee table. Her gaze was shrewd as she looked around the room. Cohen racked his memory to remember what kind of animal lived inside her. A housecat, he thought. It was the reason she packed guns.

Nancy was smart enough, but did she have the drive to commit such an act? Cohen knew so little about the people who’d once been Pack. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to root out a killer among them. Not quietly at least. He knew, if he wanted to, he could use the power of his voice to make the killer confess. If it came down to that, he would do it.

But, he wanted to give Ashe some privacy for a while. If he started shouting orders at a Pack that was not his own, it would surely blow up in his face.

“Feet off the coffee table,” he snapped at Nancy, arms crossed over his chest.

She tried to meet his eyes, but failed. With a scowl, she threw her feet to the floor.