Mihai stood outside of Phaeron’s castle, flanked by Sean, Nathalie, Pyt, Mary, and several other Drelos guards, but he still didn't feel safe. But it wasn't his safety that he should be concerned about now.

He needed to be the leader he was meant to be and save his pack.

He reached out and grabbed the handle to the door. I'd better be ready, he thought.

They were immediately attacked by all-too familiar blurs of fur. My own pack has turned against me, Mihai thought sadly. One caught him so hard, he fell backwards and slid along the floor until he hit the wall.

Sean, enraged at the sight of his love being thrown into a wall, immediately drew on his magic. His blood boiled, and his eyes glowed an eerie shade of pale blue.

The wolves leaped toward Sean, who tossed his fireball into them. One wolf caught fire and rolled away, yelping. Another kept moving toward Sean.

Meanwhile, Mihai shifted. Muscle and sinew ripped and contorted as he came into his second transformation. He wasted no time hurling himself, fangs first, into Sean’s attacker, tearing and throwing the wolf off of the omega.

The collision stunned the other wolf as it tumbled and rolled away from Sean. Mihai then bared his teeth as he positioned himself in front of Sean while he recovered. Mihai’s mouth was a warning for everyone to stand down. Blood and saliva dripped from his fangs, making him look even more imposing.

He took a split second to marvel at how easy it was to step back into his rank as an Alpha. Already he seemed bigger, stronger, and more ready to fight.

It's because I have more to lose now, he realized. His heart ached at the thought.

“You leave your pack leader alone!” Sean yelled to everyone.

“What pack leader?” one of their opponents, still in human form, snarled back. “Someone who never runs with the pack? Someone who would rather leave the entire pack vulnerable to attack by choosing to leave us for an omega mate?” He looked at Mihai and tugged at his tags. “Look what happened now. I'd rather run with someone – anyone – who at least cares about us.”

Sean growled at the wolf. “He shouldn't be forced into making such decisions. You should be glad that he wanted to find love. You should be willing to fight against the vampires rather than giving in.”

All the wolves had stopped fighting to listen. Mihai shifted back to his human shape.

“Besides,” Mihai said, a strange calm coming over him, “I am here to fight for you and my mate. I am here to make a stand as your pack leader.”

His eyes turned golden with his lycanthropy, his ease in shifting from one shape to the other showing his power to the other wolves.

A more brazen wolf launched himself at him. Mihai easily sidestepped and grabbed him with both hands and threw him away from him. The wolf hit the wall with such force that he heard the distinctive crunch of bones against brick. That gave him enough time to finish him transformation. He let out a giant roar and Mihai’s wolf form covered his flesh. He fell to all fours, his hands and feet turning into claws. With a howl, his transformation was complete.

He never did enjoy turning into a wolf, especially in front of other people. Pyt, carrying a large sword, stepped in between the lovers and the wolves. He cut an imposing figure in the fight – all of his years as a fighter made the elf lanky, strong, and battle-scarred. He was intimidating, even next to Mihai.

“You’ll have to go through me to get to them. But all they want to do is help you escape the vampires’ control,” he declared.

“Gladly,” one of the wolves cried.

“I stand with Mihai,” another yelled, and they all shifted.

Carnage erupted then, with all of the wolves attacking each other.

“Attack, but don't hurt them!” Sean cried. “These are Mihai’s wolves.”

He couldn’t say it, but gratitude filled Mihai’s soul. Even if they had betrayed him, he was still going to try to save these wolves.

He could only hope.

***

STANDING BEHIND A GROUP of Drelos guards, Sean began weaving his magic, working steadily and trying to ignore the fact that the man he loved was in the midst of a fight.  

He focused on remembering what it felt like to be with Mihai, to love him. It wasn’t a real spell, not exactly. It was his own magic, tied to all the joy of having found his mate. When he had it developed into a visible, tangible substance, a soft shining light that coiled around his hand and arm like a cat, purring with joy, Sean rolled it into a ball and tossed it toward Mihai.

It landed on the alpha’s back, spreading out flat against him. Mihai paused for a split second, a lupine smile spreading across his face as the magic soaked into his body.

Sean imagined it swirling around inside his lover, soaking up all the joy and love that Mihai felt for him.

And then, it came out the other side of Mihai’s body.

It drew up together on Mihai’s chest, in the region of his heart, clinging to him like a glowing pink and blue ball of joy.

The magic shot out of Mihai, slamming into every member of his pack, suffusing them with the same love that Sean felt for Mihai and Mihai felt for his pack.

As one, they all stopped and stood straight, closing their eyes and basking in love for just a moment

And then, the chains that bound them began to fall away — both those holding their tags and those holding their souls.

Sean could see both. In those wolves who were held only by magic, the spiritual chains glowed for an instant, showing as silver wrapping them from head to toe. And then the chains simply fell, crumbling to dust before they hit the ground.

But in that same instant, Sean could see that for many of them, there were other chains that held them. Other ties that bound them to Phaeron. Ties of greed, of lust for power, of misery and anger.

Sean’s spell did not touch those chains.

And so, although the magic binding those wolves to Phaeron crumbled away, their loyalty did not.

The wolves who had been compelled to fight for Phaeron turned on those who fought by choice — and with them, the tide of the battle turned. Sean realized that Phaeron was gone already, having slipped away as Sean’s magic did its work.

And his remaining wolves, perhaps a third of those who had fought with him originally, retreated to join him.

When all of Phaeron’s wolves were gone, Mihai loped over to where Sean stood, exhausted.

Shifting into his human form, Mihai threw his arms around his omega.

“You did it. You are amazing.” He planted a kiss on Sean for everyone to see. And deep inside himself, Sean knew that not even his magic could express the depth of love he felt for his own alpha.