Awaken a Wolf (12 page)

“Force the moon to do what?”

Maddie smiled sadly.  “To rise.  But not before the alpha makes you his mate.  If you survive the rising of the full moon, you’ll be given as meat to the pack.”

Fear poured over her.  “They’re going to
eat
me?”

Stella turned tear-filled eyes to Cinder.  “
Meat
means the pack’s plaything.  The alpha will allow his highly ranked males to use you however they please and he’ll watch.  If you resist, you’ll be bound.  Sometimes meat survives, but not long.  The males are rough.”  She rubbed absently at claw marks on her arm.

Maddie shook her head.  “She’s
lygisa
.  They’re very hard to kill.”

Cinder was scared out of her wits, but she didn’t want the females to be hurt for her.  She could still find a way out of the situation.  Her Wiccan powers might be able to help her in some way.  She silently prayed that her rightful powers would be returned to her so she could put the alpha down and destroy the pack before he could harm her or anyone else.

Untying her shoes, she kicked them off and said, “When I get free, I’ll take you with me, I swear.”

“It’s a nice thought,” Delilah said, “but there is no hope here.”

* * * * *

It was the slowest one hundred miles that he’d ever experienced, even though the caravan drove at top speed.  He could think of nothing but getting to Cinder.  He didn’t fully understand what had happened to her, but he couldn’t feel her through their connection as mates, and that terrified him on a cellular level.  Lorene was a calming presence next to him as she sat with her eyes closed and a look of pure concentration on her face.  She would occasionally speak to give him directions, but otherwise, she remained mute.  Her lips moved, and he wondered if she was praying.

Wolves had ancestors they prayed to, along with the gods and goddesses of their kind, but he’d never been the sort of male who did that.  His parents hadn’t been particularly spiritual, but his grandmother had been.  He remembered her praying for the safety of her family when hunting and for peace and prosperity for the pack.  He wished she was still alive so he could ask her to pray for Cinder.

Lorene’s hand touched his arm.  “You’re thinking about someone?”

“My grandma.  She died in a hunting accident when I was a teenager.”

“I’m sorry for you loss, Adam.”

“Were you praying or something?  I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“I was praying for Cinder’s safety.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel, but he forced himself to relax so he didn’t bend and ruin it.  “Why can’t I feel her?  We’re mated.”

“Someone is using dark magic.  I believe that whoever took Cinder knows that she’s
lygisa,
and they also know that you are a fierce alpha who will not rest until you find her.  He probably knows he can’t wait until the real full moon, so he’s using dark magic to force the full moon a day early.”

“Could the witch you bound have done it?”

“She was powerful, but she wasn’t a natural Wiccan.  She had some natural talent within her, so she probably had an ancestor who was Wiccan before turning away from it, but someone gave her power.  To force nature requires a tremendous amount of power, more than any supernatural creature could have on his or her own.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I believe whoever took Cinder has contracted with a demon.”

“How the hell does someone do that and why would they even want to?”

She was silent for a moment and then she said, “Demons can be good or bad.  My granddaughter, Elizabeth, contacted a demon about her future once, and he helped her.  But these events – Cinder’s kidnapping, the forcing of the full moon, and her
lygisa
status – they are all intertwined.  Whoever took Cinder must be working with a demon to have enough power to force the moon, because he would know that once she performs the
lygisa
ceremony, she will lose her connection to you forever.  She would die without the pack, so you couldn’t just slaughter them and take her back.  Once a
lygisa
is bound to her pack, she can never be with another.”

He snarled and pushed back the desire to punch the dashboard.  He’d known it was dangerous for Cinder, but he’d believed her safe in the house.  It hadn’t occurred to him when she said she could feel a wolf in pain that it was anything but her naturally connecting to the pack.  The witch had used Angie to draw Cinder out of the house, and Adam had traipsed along like a jackass.

“Your sister would have been killed if you hadn’t found her.  I know that you’re worried about Cinder and blaming yourself, but I believe that whoever was pulling the evil one’s strings would have gotten to Cinder in another way.”

They passed a weathered sign that read, “Now Entering Swallow Hills,” and his wolf howled at being so close.

The sky suddenly turned dark, as if someone had pulled a curtain over the town and Lorene gasped.  “Hurry, Adam.  Turn left at the next street.  We don’t have much time!”

Chapter 14

The flames of a large bonfire flickered brightly.  Cinder stood between two large males, her wrists chained in front of her.  She was naked, and the scratchy wool cloak did little to hide her body.  Wolves surrounded them in a large circle, leaving the center clear where the fire blazed.  It reminded her of the sacred circle where Adam’s pack would celebrate their full moon ceremonies.

Her eyes stung as she thought about her mate.  She reached out mentally to him, to the place inside her where their connection had been, but found nothing.  Ever since the three females had helped her get ready for this abomination of a ceremony, she hadn’t felt
anything
at all.  Not Adam, her pack, the
lygisa
powers, or even her Wiccan powers that had risen to help her before.  She was completely helpless – a feeling she loathed.

Roscoe stood next to his alpha.  Their eyes were completely black, as were every pack member’s.  She could feel evil crackling in the air.  The alpha was bare from the waist up, wearing only faded jeans and a smirk that made her want to retch.

The alpha raised his hand and everyone quieted.  He began to chant, and the pack dropped to their knees and joined him, their voices blending.  She didn’t recognize the words of the chant or understand their meaning, but the sky darkened and goosebumps rose on her skin as fear raced down her spine.

The flames of the fire crackled and spit as it grew larger, turning from orange and yellow to deep scarlet and black.  A face appeared in the flames, with sunken eyes and big fangs.  She screamed and jerked backward, but the males holding her kept her in place.  The face moved in the flames, its mouth opening wide as if it was speaking, but she couldn’t hear anything but the sound of crackling flames.

“I know you hear me, little
lygisa
,” the creature spoke, his voice hissing in her ear like a snake.

She cringed and shook her head.  “Stop it!”

The visage chuckled darkly, the great fanged maw of its visage opening and closing in the flames.  “Your spirit will be quickly broken by the alpha, and then you’ll do my bidding.”

“I don’t belong to you,” she shouted.

Two young males carrying wooden buckets tipped them and dumped salt from their contents, creating a salt circle.  The line circled the cleared space around the fire.  Roscoe was just outside the line, and the alpha stood just inside it.  As the young males drew close to her, the males who held her shoved her forward.  She stumbled to the ground as the salt circle closed and heat enveloped her.

The circle shimmered and snapped shut as a red haze distorted her view of the pack.  She went to her knees and the alpha, suddenly by her side, fisted her hair and jerked her off balance. She rolled to her stomach, the dirt and stones scraping her already burned hands.

The pack chanted louder, and the demon in the flames grew larger.  Horns appeared on the top of its head, and the black, sunken orbs of its eyes glittered dangerously.

“Take her now.  The time for the moon’s ascent draws near.”

The alpha ripped the cloak from her back and poured oil on her.  She shrieked in surprise and scrambled away, but he grabbed her ankle and jerked her back to him.  She rolled to her back, and he punched her in the mouth.  Her head snapped back and her vision dimmed for a moment.  He jerked her up to her knees by her neck, his mouth taking hers in a brutal kiss.  She realized in that moment what he was trying to do – he was anointing her with the sacred oil of the
lygisa
ceremony and taking her blood.  He lifted from her mouth and licked his lips, stained red with her blood.  His fangs elongated, and he lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit down.

If she drank his blood and he raped her, she’d be his.  Even though the
lygisa
ceremony hadn’t been performed in full yet, she could feel the power slowly seeping into her body.  The demon cackled gleefully as the alpha turned his wrist over and pushed it to her face.  With every ounce of power she could manage, she raised her bare foot and kicked him in the groin, clamping her lips closed tightly so she didn’t ingest any of the blood that spilled freely from his wounded wrist.

He howled as he fell to the ground, clutching his groin.  The demon roared and the fire blazed.  She rolled to her knees and felt her powers slowly returning.

“I am not your pawn, and I will
not
force the full moon tonight,” she yelled, reaching into the earth with her powers.  The ground trembled, and the wolves’ chanting stuttered.  Roscoe called for the alpha and tried to come into the salt circle, but he couldn’t breach the barrier.

As she reached into the ground with her powers, asking the earth to help set her free and stop the evil, she felt Adam and his pack drawing close.

Her mate.  Her pack.

“I will you away from this realm, demon!”  She felt her fangs elongate, and she slashed her wrist, flinging her blood toward the fire.

The droplets sizzled, causing the demon to shriek as his image dimmed for a brief moment.  The demon snarled and the flames grew brighter.  Cinder shielded her eyes and pressed her free hand to the ground.  The earth trembled violently.

Around the salt circle, the pack began to move in fear, pushing away from the circle and into the darkness.  She felt Adam and the pack come, ready to fight.  She felt the presence of pure goodness and power, and she saw Lorene step to the edge of the salt circle and lift her hands.

“I call upon the mirador sentinels of the North, keepers of the powers of our mother, the Earth.  I call upon you this night to grant my prayers.  Hear me!  Banish the demon and set the earth free of this threat.  Hear me!”

Cinder felt the earth tremble even more violently.  A crack appeared in the ground near the bonfire, and the demon hissed like a snake as the flames turned green and blue.  Cinder scrambled for the salt line, breaking it with her hands as she swiped the salt and broke the circle.  Lorene grabbed her and pulled her away as the ground continued to split causing the earth inside the circle to cave in upon itself.  The alpha screamed as he disappeared into the dark hole, with the demon and its flame following.  Thick vines shot up from inside the hole and grabbed members of the alpha’s pack, pulling them into the darkness as they begged for mercy.  She saw Roscoe just a heartbeat before he disappeared into the ground.  The hole suddenly filled in with dirt, and the panicked screams of the pack members were cut off.

Cinder fell to the ground on weak knees, and Adam’s comforting arms surrounded her.  She wrapped her arms around him and cried.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered, holding her tightly.

“Don’t let me go.”

“I won’t, love, I swear on my life.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to think of how close she came to almost losing Adam completely – and possibly her own life.

“Take me home.”

* * * * *

Adam looked around as he held his trembling mate.  The carnage of battle left the woods scenting of blood and death.  His pack had arrived just in time to watch Cinder turn the tables on her captors.  He didn’t know if she would have been successful without Lorene’s help, but Cinder was most definitely powerful. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her sweet scent.  The connection bloomed between them, and he growled in relief.

Looking up, he found Lorene smiling at him.  She held out her sweater, and he took it, covering Cinder’s naked body.  His anger boiled up as he wondered what she’d been through in the hours since she’d been taken, but all he had to do was look around and see that hardly any of the evil pack members were alive.  A handful of females and two older males knelt nearby, with the females crying and the males appearing submissive.

“What did you do?” he asked Lorene as he stood, tucking Cinder close.  Her grip on him was like iron.  He didn’t think she’d let go anytime soon, and that was just fine with him.

Lorene looked over the empty space where a raging bonfire and a pack of wolves had tried to move time forward.  “I called for the earth to protect itself and it answered.”

“They’re dead?”

She nodded.  “The ones left behind had no willing part in the alpha’s plans.  Everyone who disappeared into the earth was culpable.  They were tried and executed by the world they tried to harm.”

“I didn’t know the earth could do that.”

Lorene looked at Cinder in his arms.  “She started it.  I felt her deny the demon and call to the earth to protect itself.  I just added my power to hers.”

Brick walked toward Adam, and Lorene excused herself, walking to the center of the place where the gaping hole had been.  She knelt and pressed her hands to the earth.  He turned his back to give her privacy and looked at his best friend.

Brick asked, “What do you want us to do with those seven?”

“For now, they’ll come home with us.  They weren’t part of what was going on here, or they would have disappeared into the hole.  If they want to stay together, see if you can find people with a few empty rooms in their homes.  I want Cinder to be able to talk to them if she wants to, but I don’t want them in our home.”

“I’ll handle it.”  Brick looked at the ground and then at Adam.  “Is our alpha female okay?”

“For now.  But have Doc Whalen meet us at the house.  Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Adam carried his mate to his SUV and set her on the passenger seat.  He glanced up as he shut the door to see Solan helping Lorene into the back of his SUV.  Climbing behind the wheel, he turned on the engine and reached for Cinder, drawing her close.

She hadn’t said anything after their short conversation.  He didn’t know if she was just exhausted or if she was in shock.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?  Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”

“You said you were going to take me home.”

He smiled and squeezed her shoulder lightly.  “I will, but if you’re hurt, I want you to get help.”

“I don’t need the hospital.”

“Good, but just to be safe, Doc Whalen is going to meet us at the house.”

Cinder nodded.  Then she said, “Adam, I have a confession to make.”

“Oh?”

“I dreamed about that alpha and the pack.”

“When?”

“A few days ago.  It was a nightmare.  I dreamed the alpha raped me and you were there and they killed you.”

“Friday night?”  Previous events were starting to make sense.  “You had a nightmare where I died and you were taken and you went to the Wiccans Saturday morning because you were scared.”

“I’m sorry.  I should have told you.”

“I wish you had come to me, sweetheart, but your
lygisa
power might not have swelled like that if you hadn’t been with the Wiccans.  And it clearly wasn’t a vision because they didn’t get their hands on me.”

“And they didn’t touch me either.  Except they completely freaked me out.  I think that even the guy who shared my DNA would have – I don’t even want to finish that thought.”

She shivered and he kissed the top of her head.  He was thankful that she hadn’t been touched.

“We can put the night behind us.  You’re mine and I’m yours, and no one will take you from me again.”

She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

He couldn’t let another minute pass without telling her one more thing.  “Cinder, when you disappeared on me in the woods, I thought I’d lost you forever.  Our connection was gone, and I couldn’t figure out where you were.  I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

She snuggled closer.

“I kept thinking that I hadn’t told you how I feel, because I wanted to wait until you told me first.  I kept pushing you into things with me, and I didn’t want you to think I was just bulldozing over your feelings or trying to rush things again.”

“Adam?”  Her voice was tinged with amusement.

He glanced down at her before turning his eyes back to the road.  “Yeah, sweetheart?”

“I love you.”

His heart squeezed.  “You do?”

“I knew I did because when that pack took me, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.  Whatever they did to me dampened the
lygisa,
which dampened my wolf.  I felt lost, and I missed you.  I missed our connection.”

“It’s back now,” he said.

“I know.  I think when my Wiccan surfaced to help me, that whatever they did – dark magic I’m certain – it only pushed away the
lygisa
so I couldn’t shift and defend myself or draw on the
lygisa
powers.  I can’t feel my Wiccan anymore, though.  Just the
lygisa
and the wolf.  She missed her mate.”

“I missed you, too, sweetheart.”  He pulled her closer, and her hand grasped the front of his shirt and fisted it tightly.  “I love you, Cinder.”

She rubbed her cheek on his shoulder.  “I know you do, Adam.  I can feel it in my bones.”

She made a soft sound, halfway between a growl and a purr, and he growled lightly in response.