Primal Bonds (37 page)

The question might be academic, however. Sean wasn’t in position to kick anyone’s ass, Lupine or otherwise. His entire body was a mass of pain right now, and strength was a vague memory.

But he had to get them out of here and back to Shiftertown. Glory needed medical attention, and the Goddess only knew what Callum’s Felines were doing to Andrea—not to mention Liam, Dylan, Connor, and Kim. If Callum were daft enough to make a pact with the Fae, Shifters were screwed. The Fae were strong, treacherous, and deadly. They’d happily wipe out or enslave all Shifters and not worry too much about it.

Heartless, cold bastards. And stupid, stupid Callum.

Sean closed his eyes and directed all his remaining energy into shifting to his wildcat.

He spent the next ten minutes gasping in blinding pain. Shifting itself shot agony into his body, coupled with the pain of his wounds and the torture from his Collar.
This is what I get for being compassionate. I should have let Andrea rip out Callum’s heart when she had the chance.

Andrea. Hell. Sean was supposed to be her great protector, and now here he was, weaponless, weak, and in too much pain to get himself free to help her.

Wade claimed he didn’t have a phone, so Sean needed to find out where Wade had stashed whatever vehicle had gotten them out here and go for help. That is, if Sean could get himself up off the floor.

Wade walked toward him but stayed out of reach. “Don’t try it, Sean. Or you’ll watch Glory die.”

Sean hauled himself to his feet and shook out his mane. It hurt to do it, but mane-shaking always looked intimidating. Sure enough, Wade took a step back.

Roaring was out of the question. Sean could barely draw a breath, could barely even see. He settled for a harsh rumble in his throat that seemed more threatening than it was.

“Seriously, Sean.” Wade put his booted foot on Glory’s bare side. “I’ll kill her.”

Glory, with the last of her strength, grabbed Wade’s foot and shoved upward. She was too weak to do much, but Wade lost his balance, and that gave Sean his opening. He sprang.

Gravity worked to Sean’s advantage. He was able to shove Wade to the ground and land on him, using his weight to hold him down. But Sean grew dizzier as Wade struggled, and he knew he’d pass out if he made much more effort. Glory tried to crawl toward the cave mouth, but she’d moved only a foot or so before she collapsed.

Wade started to shift, wolf claws digging into Sean’s side. Wade’s Collar went off, but even with that, Wade was stronger and more rested than Sean. The wolf would kill Sean and Glory both and claim that they’d died of their wounds.

Andrea.
Sean’s consciousness started to drift.
Love you.

“Sean?”

He heard her voice, the sweetest music. Sean pictured Andrea’s gray eyes that had looked at him so saucily that first night at the bus station, the black ringlets of hair he liked to catch between his lips. He loved every curve of her body, her red lips, her tender and skilled hands that liked to explore him. Sean liked her wolf too, the noble Lupine with Andrea’s cool gaze.

There was no finer woman than Andrea Gray, and she belonged to Sean.

“Sean!”

A white light blinded him. Damn, wasn’t it enough that Wade had them cowed without the man beaming light in his eyes?

A stench went with it, a cross between smoke and mint. Cold wind blasted through the cave, and suddenly it was filled with people. Sean could scent them: the acrid mint odor he’d come to associate with the Fae, the rather ripe smell of a pissed-off bear, the scent of his own father, and the cool honey tones of his mate.

Andrea
.

Sean opened his eyes. At the same moment, Dylan reached down and hauled Wade, half shifted, to his feet.

Dylan’s eyes were white-hot with rage. His Collar sparked, but Dylan, the best trained of them all against the Collars, wouldn’t feel it. Behind Dylan, the tall Fae drew a sword.

Wade gibbered in terror. “I was keeping them safe. I was keeping them safe!”

“Lying shithead,” Glory whispered.

Sean let out his breath and turned his head to inhale the goodness of Andrea. She dropped the Sword of the Guardian and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in Sean’s mane.

“I found you,” she sobbed. “Sean, my
mate.
I found you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

H
ealing Sean was a joy. Andrea felt her magic connecting with the shimmer of Goddess magic inside Sean to soothe his hurts and heal him. He slowly shifted back to human as she worked, the threads of his pain unsnarling and smoothing at her touch.

Andrea knew when Sean felt better, because she felt his gaze fix on her, strong and blue. He snaked a hand around her wrist, fingers hard, and pulled her down to him. Andrea came willingly, sensing their threads twine together, the mate bond tightening.

“Thank the Goddess you’re all right,” she said.

The look in his eyes told her he had more than prayers of thankfulness on his mind. Sean rolled her over into the dirt, and his mouth landed on hers, hungry and desperate, seeking with primal need. His body was hard and heavy on hers, hot through the silk.

Ronan chuckled. “Looks like he’ll be okay.”

“Glory.” Dylan’s moan of anguish made Andrea break the kiss at the same time Sean did.

Dylan had Glory’s head in his lap and was stroking her hair. Sean picked up the sword and moved to them, Andrea right behind him.

Together they healed her. Andrea grasped the blade, letting the edge nick her hand as she had when she’d healed Ely. Sean held the sword steady as the magic poured from him, the blade as a conduit. Andrea directed the heady magic into Glory and watched her wounds close, her strength return. Glory had been hurt far worse than Sean, shot and left to bleed out, but Glory’s healing, boosted by the combined strength of the Guardian and the sword, was swift.

Glory at last drew a long breath, smiling up at Dylan with her usual verve. She was a long way from completely well, though. She’d lost a lot of blood, and she’d need a doctor.

Andrea let go of the sword and leaned back against Sean. “You’ll need to get her to an ER,” she said, her body warm and tired. “That’s all I can do.”

Dylan’s eyes were wet when he looked up, Glory still cradled in his lap. “You’ve done enough, child. Thank you.”

“Now, we need to save Liam’s butt,” Ronan said. “Especially if Fae are popping out of nowhere and shooting poisoned arrows.”

“Indeed,” Fionn said. “Leave the Fae to me. My own fighters are standing at the ready, and they’ve not had a good battle in a long time.”

Sean’s scowl was fierce. “Fae are shooting poisoned arrows at Shifters?”

“Yep,” Ronan said. “They got me, but Fionn here has this magic powder ...”

Fionn interrupted. “My warriors know they are to be of assistance to my daughter on her command. They always will be.” Fionn gave Sean a pointed look. “You’d do well to remember that.”

Sean’s brows climbed, and Andrea wanted to laugh. “Hey, I’m a warrior princess, remember?” she said.

Sean growled as he leaned into her. “A warrior princess with lacy underwear.” He pressed a promising kiss to her mouth. “Now, let’s go kick us some Feline ass.”

“Love to,” Andrea said.

Dylan stayed behind with Glory. He told them he’d get her to a hospital, and then he’d deal with Wade. He sent the unconscious Lupine a vicious look that didn’t bode well for him.

“You sure, Dad?” Sean asked. His sword gleamed, his naked body tall and strong, the Guardian ready for battle. “We could use you.”

Dylan shook his head. “This is your fight, Sean. Yours and Liam’s. It’s time for me to focus on different things.”

He was conceding his place to his sons. Firmly and finally. The tender way Dylan looked at Glory and the gentleness of his touch told Andrea what decision he’d reached. Sean squeezed his father’s shoulder, understanding.

“Don’t worry,” Ronan said, his energy restored. “I’ll make sure Liam and Sean win. And then we’ll party.”

“Bears,” Sean said. “Always wanting their honey.”

“And beer. Don’t forget the beer.”

“Are you sure you want to stay with these animals, daughter?” Fionn asked.

Andrea took Sean’s hand. “Very sure.”

She used the sword to open the way. Light flashed, along with the sharp, clean stench of Faerie, and then the four of them were gone.

W
ade remained unmoving on the ground, but he wasn’t dead. Dylan suppressed his instinct to stroll to the man and snap his neck, much as he wanted to.

Glory’s lovely body was covered with dirt and blood, but her skin was warm, her breathing even. “I feel like shit,” she said.

Dylan touched her face. “But you’re alive, love. That’s the important thing.”

“Yeah, you’re right, that’s pretty important.” Glory tried to sit up, and Dylan had to support her against him. “I heard what you said to Sean,” she said, “but they really will need you back there. Callum’s crazy, and if they’ve got Fae on the loose ...”

“I made my decision.” Dylan’s words were sharp, final. “I’m taking care of you, and that’s all.” Dylan pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “For always, Glory.”

Glory’s eyes widened. “That sounds perilously like a commitment.”

“’Tis not a joke. I need you in my life, my girl. It’s empty without you.”

“You’re very flattering. Is that because I was almost dead?”

Dylan ran his hand through her sleek hair. “Knowing you’d gone missing, thinking I might lose you forever ... Everything in my life suddenly lined up, from most important to least. At the top was finding you.”

“Oh, yes?” Glory’s smile was a pale shadow of her usual one, but her eyes glinted. “What was number two?”

“Bringing you back into my life. Permanently.”

“I think I like this priority list.”

“It’s not easy for someone like me to ask for forgiveness, love. Alphas don’t have to talk—we just stare at people until they fill in the words for us.”

Glory’s smile grew stronger. “A good way of putting it. Are you saying you want to move back in with me?”

“I’m saying that—using a word Andrea likes—I’ve been a dickhead. It was easy for me to leave for weeks at a time when I knew you’d be there when I came back. I took that for granted. You were right to kick me out.”

“I know.” Glory touched his cheek. “But I also think I’m right to give you a new key to my house.”

“I still have the old one. I kept it, just in case.”

“What if I’ve changed the locks?”

“You didn’t.”

Glory smiled again. “You’re such a know-it-all, Dylan. What are we going to do about you?”

Dylan leaned to her again, and this time he licked her ear. “I’ll show you when we get home.”

“Mmm, sounds good to me.” She looked across the cave at Wade, still unmoving. “But we’ll have to do something about
him
.”

Dylan followed her glance. “I’m thinking there needs to be a challenge for pack leader. If you want to make it, I’ll back you.”

Now Glory sat up, her delectable naked body brushing his. “A female pack leader? You’re kidding me. How very modern, how cutting edge.”

“I can’t think of a better one than you, love. You’re far stronger than you think you are—than
they
think you are. You’d make a hell of a leader.”

“And if I lose?” she asked. “I admit that if I could fight the challenge using sarcasm, there’d be no contest, but I might have to battle Wade’s nephews tooth and claw.”

“If you lose, then we retreat and lick our wounds, ask Liam for protection. Maybe go to a beach somewhere, lick our wounds there.”

“I like the way you think, furball.”

Dylan cupped her face in his hands. “I like you, Lupine. No, Glory, I love you. You’re crazy and you piss me off, and you make me do insane things, and I love you to pieces. I’d be more than honored to have you as mate.”

Glory’s usual smirk dissolved. “You damned irritating, high-handed, full-of-yourself, shithead alpha male.”

“Does that mean yes?”

Glory’s answering kiss was smoldering. “
Yes
. I love you,” she said between breaths. “Damn it, Dylan, I love you so much.”

She smiled her triumph, but Dylan didn’t mind. As long as this tall, beautiful, sanity-stealing woman was in his life and in his arms, he didn’t mind much of anything at all.

S
hiftertown was in chaos. There was too much fighting, too many Shifters on the ground bleeding, and Sean started growling even as they stepped through from Faerie.

Andrea was right behind him, like a living goddess in that body-hugging silk. He wanted her with a fierceness that threatened to overwhelm him, but first, they had to fix this mess. From the determined look on Andrea’s face, she agreed.

Sean ran toward the Morrissey house, sword in hand, in time to see Connor go down under two Shifters, a Fae pointing an arrow into the mass.

Sean froze, rage and fear pouring through him.
Take care of Con for me,
Kenny had whispered as he’d died.
Promise me, Sean.

That day flashed back to Sean, the feral Felines attacking Sean and Kenny as they tracked them through the brush alongside the river, the snarls in the darkness as the Collarless Shifters turned and fought. Sean weeping after the fight as he covered Kenny’s fallen body with their discarded clothes, then calling first for an ambulance and then his father and Liam. Kenny had died before they could reach him.