~

 

Agatha could feel the strength of the magic that pushed against her shields. She knew that it was just a matter of time before they broke through to her.

Once that happened then Zane would be on his own.

She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that prospect. On the one hand he had been a friend – a saviour to her in many ways, taking her in when she had nowhere to go – and she hated what had happened to him, but his mate had always had a short fuse and Agatha knew that it was only a matter of time before the she-bear had picked a fight with the wrong person.

But the Zane that was out on the mountain hunting the witch’s sister to the point of insanity was not the man that she had known. He’d let the madness of his bear take him – let the loss of his one true mate draw him into the dark side of his personality.

Zane was gone in all but presence only.

He’d never be the man – the alpha – that she had known. The clan had known it – shunning him when he had turned on his own clan.

Turned crazy in his absolute desire for vengeance.

The witch on the mountain hadn’t been the one to take the amulet, to kill the mate – she was an innocent.

Agatha had helped him to track her in the hopes of finding the one who had killed Naima … but what he was doing now – well, that was wrong, and she couldn’t reconcile finding justice for the she-bear with the man’s newfound bloodlust.

Agatha allowed her shields to drop and welcomed the magic that hit her hard. There were four witches … and she could feel the distinct magic from each one of them.

The pain was crippling. It started at the heart of her magic and raced outwards to every inch of her body.

Her legs weakened to the point where they couldn’t hold her up a moment longer and she dropped down to her knees in the dirt…

Her finger curled into the soft soil and her nails raked at it as the witches did their best to disable her…

It’s for the best…

Zane won’t stop until he kills them all…

It’s not Zane anymore…

She saw the boots appear in front of her and knew that she’d reached the end of the road. The end of her life – but in that brief second as she twisted her head on her neck and looked up at the vampire that stood before her – she knew that she’d done the right thing…

The wolf that grunted in anger started towards her out of the foliage on determined paws…

“Well, what do we have here?” Connor bit out…

‘Enough…’ Dexter growled through the link, warning Jacob to call off the witches attack. The woman was down and she didn’t look like much of a threat to them anymore…

Agatha felt the pain being snatched back away from her body – it was slow to leave the nerve endings, but at least the pain had become more bearable…

‘Dexter, Isobel said that the witch dropped her shields and let them in… whatever that means…’

Dexter shook off his wolf and shifted back into his human form.

“Just make it fast…” Agatha bit out, pushing up from the ground onto her knees, determined to die with pride, as she lifted her chin and waited for the vampire to punish her for her part in the hunt…

“Nobody is going to kill you…” Dexter growled; the wolf still clung to his voice.

“We’re … not?” Connor was somewhat relieved at Dexter’s words.

The witch was young. He’d put her at twenty and he didn’t much like the idea of ending the life of someone who hadn’t really lived yet.

Agatha looked from the vampire to the alpha and back again. She didn’t know what kind of a game they were playing, but she wanted no part in it…

“If you’re hoping that Zane will come to rescue me…” She said on a small shake of her head.

Maybe once the alpha bear would have, but not anymore. The man had vengeance wrapped like a cloak around his heart and there was no room for any other emotion inside of him…

“We’re not…” Dexter said.

“We’re not?” Connor repeated and Dexter sighed.

“Do you have to do that?” He growled.

“Do that?”

“Repeat everything that I say like a question,” Dexter growled back.

“A question?” Connor’s eyes lit with mirth, but none of them were in the mood to laugh.

It was just Connor being Connor, even at times when they were facing death the vampire still liked to get his shots in where he could.

“I’m not going to help you,” Agatha said.

She might not have been willing to help Zane any longer, but she wouldn’t lead the man to his death either.

“I know,” Dexter nodded.

“He’s the smart one,” Connor offered down to the witch, and then he held out his hand towards her, palm out for her to take. “A witch should never be on her knees to anyone.”

Agatha wasn’t sure about anything. The vampire had wanted to kill her – she’d seen it in his eyes.

The alpha was a different matter…

She refused the offer of the man’s hand and pushed up to her feet under her own steam.

“Why are we not killing the witch?” Connor tossed back over his shoulder like a not so subtle warning to the woman not to try anything.

“Isobel said that she dropped her shields and let them in – which means that she wants this over with as much as we do.” Dexter growled back.

“For my sins…” Agatha bit out.

She hadn’t enjoyed her part in the hunt and she certainly didn’t relish Zane’s death now, but she knew that he needed to be stopped.

“It’s never a sin to help the innocent,” Connor offered back to her, but the look in her eyes told him that she was already mourning the bear’s loss.

 

~

~

~

 

Jacob’s wolf paced back and forth in front of Dexter’s cabin. He’d allowed his beast to push forward; knowing that as a man he would never be able to take on Zane’s bear and win, but as a wolf he stood a damn good chance at beating him.

His beast was happy to be unleashed to protect their mate once more, but Jacob still needed to rein the wolf in. It was unpredictable, and before he’d met his mate that wild side within him was starting to take over.

He couldn’t let that happen again and he knew it.

He’d left his pack behind him because his wolf had been damn unhappy about the leadership, and it had shown in many ways – especially the dominant, alpha side to his personality.

The wolf might have wanted to be an alpha to their old pack for the stability that it would have given them, but the man had been content not to have had that kind of responsibility of leadership.

He had no problem in fighting anyone to keep his pack safe, but the infighting that existed within his old pack was something that he was more than happy to distance himself from.

He liked Dexter’s pack. There was a strange sense of self within it.

Three alphas in one pack was unthinkable, and no damn infighting … that was almost unheard of. Now there were four, but Dexter didn’t seem bothered by it – he never looked as if he felt challenged by so many dominant wolves, and life on the mountain was easy to live with.

It would have been easier if his wolf would keep his damn fangs to himself … but now that he’d found his mate; he was hoping that would even out his wild side…

“Well, look at you all fur and claws…” Lily’s voice made his beast soft inside, and the wolf turned to take in the sight and scent of their mate…

Her eyes drank him in. He was beautiful.

The beast was large as was befitting the size of the man himself, and his grey coat looked striking with the streak of white fur that ran from the top of his head, all the way down his back, and finished with a large flash at the tip of his tail…

One look in those wolf eyes of his and she was smitten by the beast. Wolf or not, she knew that this side of the man was what made him who he was, what gave him such strength of character.

He was truly mesmerising.

Jacob’s beast took one long step towards her – and then he drew his lips back and snarled like he’d never snarled before…