Sean awoke with a start to the sound of a wolf howling in the distance. He blinked and looked out the window of his guest room. Why did his heart beat so when he heard wolves?

It wasn’t like hearing wolves howling was an unusual occurrence, especially since he lived in a mansion with three packs of free wolves. He had lived here for three weeks, living among them, feeling as free as ever for the first time in years. The werewolves were kind to him. Martin and Broden, the lords of the castle, were also kind and wanted to make sure that he was happy here. Even the Drelos that came through were happy and free.

Still, a part of him wished that one of the wolves he heard in the distance was one particular double alpha that he kissed...

“Damn,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Not that his days were easy here. It wasn’t like he was on vacation and resting. He was expected to help out around the castle and help it run smoothly. He helped in the kitchens in the morning, and then watched the werewolf pups while the babies’ parents went on runs.

He didn’t mind—keeping busy kept his mind off the world around him.

But it did leave him tired at night.

While Martin had been visiting, he wanted to work with him to hone his powers as an omega warlock. As the only other omega warlock to have escaped Phaeron’s control, he was uniquely suited to train Sean.

“We’re rare,” he’d told Sean. “Rare but powerful. We have to stick together and see how we can change our world.”

Sean agreed, even if working on his dormant powers was hard work. It was like he was constantly trying to scratch an itch in the middle of his back. It was always there, and he could reach if he tried really hard.

But he doubted that a man like himself had the power to change the world. After all, he could barely keep himself from being captured.

Martin had left with his children to go back to his home, which was apparently the castle of the former Lord Cormac. No wonder it had felt lighter and airy as Sean had passed by it—there were happy memories being made there.

The wolf howled again, making him shiver. It was as though he totally believed that this one wolf was Mihai coming to finally stay with him.

“I’m such a fool,” Sean muttered.

A knock on the door drew his attention to the front of the small room. People were so polite here, a stark contrast from his days on the road when it was cutthroat, and anyone could barge in here at any time.

Here, he actually had privacy. And people cared that he had his own space.

“Come in.”

The door opened to reveal Mary, the werewolf that he had met when he first came on to the property. Sean thought she never slept, because she was always running around the castle, making sure that her pack was happy. She was a pack Alpha, and she’d told him once that it was strange for three packs to live together—usually werewolves were more territorial and would rip each other to shreds.

Here, though, they lived in freedom and harmony. Like this was paradise.

After years on the road, Sean had to agree.

“My deltas have scented an intruder,” she said gruffly. “A werewolf who smells...alpha...but is without his pack. At least as far as we can find.”

Sean’s insides twisted. Was it Mihai? Was he finally free and coming for Sean?

“Do you know if he still has dog tags?” he asked quietly, hoping against hope.

Mary shrugged. “We don’t know. We’re going to investigate. I was wondering if you wanted to join along. In case it was your wolf.”

Sean’s heart beat faster, and her lips curved up into a smile. He didn’t care that Mary could hear his pulse getting faster at the possibility of Mihai here. He’d told her and a few others about their interaction and brief kiss.

Not all werewolves with dog tags were bad. Not all werewolves with dog tags had to obey Phaeron’s every order.

Mary had told him that her pack and the two others that were here were lucky. Martin had been able to remove the tags with his magic. It gave Sean hope that he would be able to free his alpha werewolf.

No time like right now to see if he was as powerful as everyone seemed to think he was.

Mary grinned, as if sensing his thoughts. “We’ll see you outside, then.”

Sean pulled on a pair of trousers and a tunic, clamping down on his nerves and hopes. He told himself that chances were slim—there were many, many werewolves in Pristat, especially in the Temavo forest. It was almost guaranteed that this wasn’t Mihai.

“Then again, he said he would join me here,” Sean said out loud as he laced up his boots. He had just been expecting it to be longer, but it had just been barely over a month. Maybe Mihai had been able to leave and come here.

Damn, he was hoping now.

He met Mary and her pack of wolves outside. They’d already shifted, and even though Sean had been living with them for a few weeks now, it was so disconcerting to be around big beasts that could snap him in two if he stepped out of line.

“Are we ready?” he asked, and a big female with green eyes gave him a wolfish nod. He knew that they had to be able to talk to each other in their wolf forms, but he’d yet to figure out how.

Just as well that he was used to being in his own thoughts.

“Let’s go then.”

Mary led the way through the woods in the darkness. Sean was glad that he was in shape, because it was hard work trying to keep up with the wolves running on their four legs, navigating the forest floor at night. He tripped a few times and nearly faceplanted, but managed to keep himself upright.

Let’s test that omega warlock magic, he told himself as he called the power rippling under his skin to his hand. A hint of more magic, and he was holding a flame between his fingers, the soft orange glow illuminating the space around him. He could now see the tree roots on the ground and branches that were in his way.

“Awesome,” Sean said and he picked up speed to keep up.

It seemed like the wolves were happy for the bit of light as well. They kept glancing back at him, with huge, toothy grins.

They were having fun. And if Sean were honest with himself, he was having fun, too. It took his mind off the possibility that this newcomer wolf was Mihai. For right now, he was running with the pack like a werewolf himself.

The fun stopped as soon as they came to a small clearing illuminated by the half moon. At the front of the pack, Mary halted everyone with a low growl that sent shivers down Sean’s spine.

“What?” Sean asked as he pushed his way through the throng of furry bodies up to Mary.

And then he stopped at the wolf growling at them from the other side of the clearing. This wolf was bigger than any of the wolves in Mary’s pack, and spittle dripped from his bared teeth as he padded into full view.

Twin dog tags clinked against each other from his neck. This werewolf was still under Phaeron’s control. Still the enemy.

Still, though, there was something familiar about this wolf, and Mihai felt foolish as he reverently whispered the one name that had been consuming his every thought for the last few weeks.

“Mihai?”

The one word made the wolf snap his head toward Sean. Those eyes—Sean could remember those same exact eyes looking at him in Mihai’s face just before he kissed him. He couldn’t forget the color of those eyes.

It was Mihai. Sean would bet his life on it.

Except, it seemed like he truly was betting his life on it, because the wolf’s sneer turned more feral, more enraged.

Like Sean was prey.

“What’s wrong with you, Mihai?” Sean asked, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “It’s me, Sean. We kissed in that village in the Eastern Hills.”

The only answer was a sinister growl followed by another step.

“He’s under a spell,” Mary told him, having just transformed back into her human form. Sean glanced over at her, but she wasn’t taking her eyes off Mihai. Shifters, he’d realized after living with them, had few qualms about nudity, so she was just standing there stark naked. He would have been embarrassed for her, if it weren’t for the danger at hand. “Even stronger than just the dog tags, he’s under a spell to find something.” She turned to Sean now. “I think he’s looking for you.”

“Why?”

She frowned. “Phaeron’s the only one who could do something like this.”

The very name of the vampire king sent a shudder through Sean. He watched the big, snarling werewolf in front of him, watched as the man he’d been fantasizing about since that chance meeting was beyond his help.

“What can I do?” Sean whispered, meaning it to be a plea to Mihai.

But Mary took it another way. “He won’t stop until he has you,” she said with a frown. “And I won’t risk my wolves to try to subdue him.”

“So...?” Although Sean knew what she meant.

She gave a firm nod. “We’re going to have to put him out of his misery.” She didn’t sound happy about it, but there was a roaring in Sean’s ears now, at the injustice of having seen the man he’d come to—love?—being put down like a rabid animal. Just because he was a slave to the vampire king. Just because he couldn’t help his situation.

Sean refused to allow that to happen.

“I’ll deal with it,” he said stepping forward.

Mary grabbed his arm in warning. “Sean...”

He shrugged her off, having his full attention on Mihai in front of him. There was none of that warmth he had thought would be there. The only recognition was that Mihai had found his target.

Sean refused to believe that this was the end of their story. He called that same magic he used to light his way here. As an omega warlock, surely there was something that could be done for the werewolf he cared so strongly for. Otherwise, what good was it to be a warlock if he couldn’t save him?

“I can save you,” he vowed to Mihai. “I will save you.”

The wolf didn’t seem to understand his words. Instead the snarling only intensified, just before Mihai launched himself into the space between them. In that moment, Sean’s mind was completely clear as he sifted through the magic swirling within him.

He could do this. There was no other option.

First, subdue him. Then, find a way to lift this spell that’s causing him to be wild.

And then, maybe, figure out how to get rid of those damn dog tags to free Mihai forever. Sean had spoken with Mary and the rest of the wolves to learn about how they were freed from their own dog tags, and he learned that they had never been enslaved by Phaeron. They’d spent their time in the southern half of the country, and the original spell Phaeron used to compel the wolves to come to him hadn’t reached them. When the vampire king issued his decree to rule over all werewolves, they remained hidden. Sean wasn’t sure Phaeron knew about them even now.

In other words, there was no known way for werewolves to be freed from the vampire king’s tyranny.

But, perhaps, Sean could figure it out. Especially if Mihai’s life depended on it.

He would find a way.

In the space of a split second just before Mihai’s jaws snapped around his forearm, Sean let out a blast of energy that caught the wolf in the chest. It was a direct hit, knocking the beast out of the air and to the side. A loud whimper escaped the wolf, and Sean’s heart melted as he stepped forward. The smell of singed hair hit him as he knelt next to Mihai.

The wolf’s eyes were closed, his breathing ragged. Sean had knocked him out, sure, but there were other wounds on him. Like he had been running flat out for days, with no care for himself. Dirt and mud matted his fur, and Sean could see his ribs through his skin.

“What happened to you?” he whispered, reaching out to stroke him between the ears.

Mihai didn’t respond. But Mary came up next to him, her face grim. “What will you do now?” she asked. “The tags are still on him.”

Sean knew what to do, without explicitly having done it before. He realized that was a lot of what it was like to be an omega warlock—a lot of intuition and luck. That was all he needed to keep the spell on Mihai under control.

“I’ll watch over him,” he answered as he sat forward, closing his eyes as he called the magic back to him. He was going to mark Mihai as his own with a spell that was stronger than the one that currently bound him to Phaeron.

It was a temporary solution, but it would work for the moment.

He leaned forward and kissed the subdued wolf on the lips. It was strange, kissing a huge beast with deadly, dangerous teeth like that, but he poured his magic into Mihai to overcome the spells.

“Come back to me, Mihai,” he told the alpha.

The magic whispered all along the wolf’s fur before settling into him. The change was slow at first, but it picked up speed as the fur disappeared and Mihai’s limbs repositioned themselves. Sean watched breathlessly as the wolf shifted back into a human form. Dirty, bruised, and cut along so many places, Mihai had obviously been through a lot to make it here.

“The tags are still on him,” Mary said, breaking through his thoughts.

“I’ll figure it out,” he said as he stroked Mihai’s face.

The alpha’s eyes opened then, pained and unfocused. But somehow, they managed to settle on Sean’s face, and he gave a weak smile.

“I found you,” he whispered. Before his entire body went limp and he passed out for good.