Chapter 11

Jadrian

“Good morning, Annie, you precious little puppy, what are you doing today?” Jadrian kissed the loveable dog on the side of her face, her snout coming up to let him know she would accept his kiss but he had better give her a good scratching as well. At least she wasn’t teasing him with trails of crackers and little hard plastic pools of water such as the one he had found in his room when he woke up this morning.

Jadrian’s hands clenched around Annie’s ears where he was scratching and she protested with a quiet yelp and a toss of her head. “They put a fucking kiddy pool in my bedroom while I was asleep, Annie! Bastards!”

She gave him a lick and looked at him as if to say, “fuck ‘em, I still love you.”

“I love you too, you sweet little thing. Let’s get some breakfast.” The dog followed him as he clung to the shadows of the hallways, avoiding people and their eyes as he went.

He’d always wanted to be like his brothers but had been afraid of what it might mean. He’d admired their strength, their stamina, the way they could change into anything they wanted—almost. But this wasn’t what he’d had in mind. Since that first humiliating shift he’d not made another attempt, and he’d avoided Allana.

Not because he was angry with her but because of the way she’d been holding him while he was still a duck. He’d been totally emasculated and he knew it. A duck shifter, he scoffed to himself as they finally ended up in the dining hall. Just what he’d always wanted to be!

Jadrian spotted Cade and waved. Filling two plates, one for him and one for Annie, Jadrian made his way to the Alpha.

“How’s it going?” Jadrian asked as he sat at one of the long benches filling the room. The room was a scene from an ancient castle with rough-hewn tables and benches taking the place of elegant dining tables and chairs. This wasn’t meant to be a place of comfort, after all, just feeding.

“Fine, I guess. I haven’t seen the ladies yet. How are you?” Cade looked distracted, Jadrian noted, but filled his mouth with pancakes before answering.

“Still trying to decide what to do with myself. Ducks aren’t intimidating, and definitely aren’t good for much in battle.” He tucked another piece of bacon into his mouth as he finished, handing a piece down to Annie. The dog took it delicately but made it disappear in one bite.

“You’ll have to keep trying, Jadrian. You’re not limited to one animal, you know? You’ll find one you feel most at home in, but you’re not locked into one choice.” Cade sipped at his coffee, his eyes still on the door. “When you find that one animal, your spirit animal, it will live on your body somewhere, as a tattoo. What’s Mary doing here?”

Jadrian looked up to see an almost exact copy of Annie coming into the doorway. Jacqui, Cade’s wife, had wanted a dog just like Annie and, as a witch, had managed to make it happen, to her own surprise. And theirs. None of them had known she was a witch when she’d first come to them, not even Jacqui herself.

Cade gave a short whistle that caught the dog’s attention and she came trotting over to Cade, a whine escaping her as she scuttled near. Jadrian had never seen the dog act so submissive with her bottom low, tail tucked between her legs, and head down as she came to Cade.

“What’s wrong with her?” Jadrian asked and Annie went over to her twin, licking her as both dogs began to whine in unison, their bodies doing an awkward dance of distress.

“Now they’re both at it! Where are the girls at?” Jadrian looked around but didn’t see Damesha or Jacqui anywhere. A tingle of apprehension went down his spine. Something wasn’t right.

Jacob came into the hall, making a beeline for Jadrian and Cade.

“Come with me.” The brother, the one that had lived in the shadows for so long, was now giving commands and walking away with certainty that they’d be followed. Cade and Jadrian went without question.

Jacob was the king of the magicals now, his words were law. Everybody had accepted it. He was the only shifter that had survived being transformed into a vampire as well. He was the king of kings.

Jadrian’s unease didn’t settle down as the dogs followed along, their whines not stopping. He knew that this wasn’t going to be pleasant, whatever it was. Jacob hadn’t summoned them in such a way ever before. He knew it was to do with the women, that was apparent from the dogs. They rarely left their ladies this long, and with the whining, Jadrian knew something bad had happened.

Fear knotted his stomach, fear of what had happened, what was about to happen, but he suppressed it. He was an Alexander after all. They didn’t do fear, ever.

He just wanted this over, he thought, as he glared at his brothers’ backs, feeling a moment of doubt return. What was the good of having a vampire shifter and all of these Alphas floating around if the issue wasn’t handled? Why were they now following Jacob to another chamber, dread making all of their hearts pound as these poor animals cried like this? Too much inactivity was making Jadrian restless and the tenseness of the situation made his attitude even worse.

“Right. Two things.” Jacob turned as he entered the chamber, Jadrian closing the door. “Allana, Damesha, Sabrina and Jacqui are missing.”

Jadrian cringed as he heard Cade roaring beside of him and he turned to his brother to offer a steadying hand. His own stomach dropped out as Jacob said Allana’s name. She was gone too. Who had her and why? That was all he wanted to know as he started thinking up ways to kill whatever prick had taken her.

“We also think Allana took them.” Jacob’s words were spoken quietly and without inflection.

“What?” Jadrian’s dark blond eyebrow raised, disbelief making his face twist. “No, that’s not possible. Why?”

“We have had some intel. Allana is the Mungons’ leader’s daughter.” Jacob’s face remained impassive, no blame or accusations being made.

Jadrian felt the world fall from under his feet. His initial distrust and the sense that she was up to something had been correct then. So she hadn’t actually given a shit about him at all, she’d been using him as a pawn. He wanted to break things, tear walls down with his bare hands, but instead he stared at the floor, taking deep breaths as he wrestled his anger. At least he hadn’t fucked her. He’d avoided her since that near tragedy in the tunnel, and now he was glad he had. He hadn’t seen this coming at all.

“His daughter? How? They don’t breed!” Jadrian had been to all of the meetings about the Mungons and what was happening, he knew the information about the group.

“It seems the psychopath took a bride a couple of centuries ago, they had one daughter. She ran away at eighteen and from what we know, hasn’t been back since. She let it be known she hated her father and this could very well be a ploy of hers, but we don’t know. Are you two ready to go?”

Jadrian didn’t have to be told where they were going or what to expect. If the Mungons had the Alexander women they were going to get them back, come hell or high water. Finally, something to do.

Jadrian’s jaw popped as he ground his back teeth together. The first one he wanted to see was Allana. Not for answers, he knew her reasons now that he knew who her father was. He just wanted to watch her being chained and taken away for her betrayal of him and the magical world.

“Let’s roll.” Cade’s tone was calm, deadly, and cold.

Yeah, Jadrian was pretty certain they were bringing a little death and a whole lot of hell to the Mungons today. He just needed the knots in his stomach to go away.

* * *

Jacob

Jacob’s insides were roiling so much he could barely stand it. The woman he’d come to understand was his soulmate was far away and he was certain that Kane and Cade were feeling even worse. He couldn’t sense Sabrina and wondered how the shifter had lured her away. She wouldn’t have been able to render Sabrina unconscious, she must have lured her somehow.

Jacob didn’t know what Allana had planned, but whatever it was, taking the women wasn’t cool. She would answer every question he had when he found her, one way or another. She would pay.

Kane soon came through the door, his hair twisting in dozens of directions from his fingers combing through it every five seconds. Jacob felt his anger, his fear and frustration. As their king he felt responsible for what was happening and knew he couldn’t fail now, it simply wasn’t an option. The wives of his brothers, and indeed their lives, all depended on getting them back.

Standing together the brothers felt some inner instinct working within them, and they moved closer, their hands coming out to lock together in the middle of the circle they formed. With eyes blazing they all focused on the woman they were tied to and let their instincts guide them. An orange light grew in the room, as though a fire were turning into an inferno around them, and with a flash of light the brothers disappeared.

This was their battle now.