Soul of the Wolves

“The one and only.” Ethan turned back to the young wolf. “Guess I don’t need you anymore.”

The young wolf looked relieved.

“Still, you’re pissing me off. No one shoots at me and my mate and gets away with it.”

“I’m sorry—”

Ethan grabbed the youngling by his neck and threw him against the big pane window. He used such a brute force that the impact was hard enough to shatter the thick glass, sending the young wolf flailing through the air before hitting the ground with a horrible crash. People screamed below and a car’s alarm blared, adding to the cacophony.

Sookie hid her face behind her palms. She was numb. Body counts piled higher. She wasn’t going to add anything more to her criminal offense list. No. It was too much.

“Come on, babe,” said Ethan, clasping a hand on her shoulder. His voice was surprisingly tender. Gone was his coldness, the scary wrath he reserved for his enemies. His eyes were warm. Caring.

This was the man Sookie fell in love with. The man who swore to protect her until the end of time. The other part of her heart. Her mate.

Sookie snatched his hand and held it tight. Her mate wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. He would rescue Jesse and help him back to normal. And everything would be all right.

Ethan steered her out of the CT room and closed the door quietly. The fire alarm had quieted down. A hospital staffer passed by them in the corridor, grumbling on the phone.

“It’s a false alarm. I know, I know. There’s no fucking fire. Get back to work. This shit ain’t funny, if you ask me.”

Somehow, Sookie felt relieve. She could scratch arson from the list.

Ethan tugged her to follow him. They walked unhurried along the maze-like corridors. He pushed a door that led them to the stairs and descended to the basement parking lot.

They exited to the first level of the parking garage. Ethan surveyed the rows of cars and hummed, “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” He picked another older-model sedan and hotwired it. Ethan drove it casually before they had to exit the parking booth. He sped up and hit the gate like it was nothing because they didn’t have the parking ticket. The sedan belonged to a hospital visitor instead of a hospital worker.

By now, Sookie didn’t really care that they h

ad broken so many laws today. Yeah, whatever. We are totally bad ass.

She caught Ethan’s eyes. He winked.

Yeah, totally.

Chapter Seven

Ethan didn’t plan to drive the stolen vehicle all the way to Cain’s secret headquarters. Firstly, the sedan probably had been reported as stolen since they left without paying the parking ticket at the hospital. Secondly, his mate looked unbearably tense riding in a stolen car. She seemed half-expecting a cop car would loom out of nowhere and stop them. Ethan didn’t want her more miserable than she already was. Cute, though. Susan was so bad at being bad. Adorable, even.

So, he set a rendezvous point with Grayson. They met at a strip mall on Ashland Avenue and Greener. His men had just pulled into the parking lot when he arrived.

The switch was brief.

Susan was surprised when they had to switch cars. She seemed relieved. Ethan and she got into a black Land Rover with dark tinted windows. Grayson sat shotgun. Samuel drove. He and Susan relaxed in the back. The rest of his men followed in two Escalades behind.

Cain’s werewolf factory was located an hour-and-a-half drive from where they were. Grayson briefed him immediately.

“You left Lunar Manor just in time, Alpha,” began Grayson. “Cain’s force stormed the manor about five minutes after we’d gone. House McAllister conspired with Cain and attacked our guests. They were after you and your mate, as well, and left when they learned neither of you were there.”

“How many houses conspired with Cain?” asked Ethan.

“Two. McAllister and Kronin. We immediately dealt with them when they tried to exit the perimeter. Mr. Cain promised them the new and improved Alpha Strain. It appeared that Mr. Cain had made a claim he had perfected it.”

“Well, did he?”

“No. It was a false claim. If he had, we all would have already been killed.”

“You have a point. Where is Cain right now? Is he holing up in the factory we’re going to right now?”