Three Mates, One Destiny (14 page)

“Then why the attack at the Hart compound?” Wolfram asked.

Peter gave him a blank look. “I’m sorry? What attack?”

He seemed genuinely confused, and Marcus didn’t smell a lie on him. At this point, lying would be useless, since the Magistrate could see into their minds if he so desired.

Wolfram frowned and got up off his throne. He crossed the throne room until he stood in front of Peter. “I will ask you again. What do you know of the attack on the Hart compound?”

With the Magistrate in his personal space, Peter seemed to lose his nerve. “I’m s–sorry,” he stammered. “I don’t know anything about that. Although…”

“Yes?” Wolfram prodded.

Peter gulped, obviously reluctant to speak. Wolfram didn’t give him any choice, his power filling the entire room. “There was a man,”

Peter said at last, “a feral.”

Three Mates, One Destiny

105

A gasp escaped Alice as her son spoke. “A feral,” Wolfram repeated. “Who? How did you meet him?”

“He came to me. He said he would help me with…with what I said before,” Peter replied hesitantly. “I never found out his name, but he reminded me… Well, he reminded me of your mate, My Lord.”

Silence filled the room. So Joseph was behind it all. Wolfram didn’t look surprised. “I see. And you jumped at the chance of revenge without caring about anything else.”

“What else could I do?” He glanced toward the Deacons. “No one would help me, not even them.”

It was Marcus’s turn to be horrified. Surely his parents couldn’t have considered such horrifying thoughts. But Peter had no reason to lie, not when faced with the Magistrate. The blood drained out of Ezekiel and Harriet’s faces. It now seemed obvious they’d come here to cover their own asses, not because of their concern for Marcus.

Marcus felt sick to his stomach. Paulie’s hand gripped Marcus’s palm, and Sebastian’s strong arm steadied him. “It’s all right,”

Sebastian said. “This isn’t anything new.”

Marcus nodded, already feeling a bit better. His parents deserved a punishment as well, but they’d get away with it. They hadn’t actually done anything, so the most they could be accused of was being awful parents and back-stabbing bastards. Wolfram frowned at them. “Had I been notified ahead of time, this whole thing could have been avoided. But I’ll deal with them another time. For the moment, we’re done here.” He ordered the guards to take Peter away.

Once the door closed behind the departing soldiers, Wolfram directed his attention toward the two spirit wolf families. “I need you to go for the moment. Rooms have been prepared for you. Wait there.

You will be summoned again.”

The Deacons and the Morrigans silently obeyed. Marcus half-expected to be told to leave as well, but Wolfram stopped him with a gaze. Once the coast was clear, the Magistrate began to speak. “I trust everyone here implicitly. You’ve all been in one way or another
106

Scarlet Hyacinth

involved in this story. Peter is telling the truth. Joseph is behind this.

I’ve already discussed this with Paul’s grandparents.”

Marcus sensed his mate’s anxiety skyrocket. “And?” Paulie prodded.

Marcus admitted he felt curious as well—although that was lightly putting it. Paulie’s analysis of his grandparents’ DNA puzzled him, and Marcus also wanted to know why they hadn’t been killed. It would have been so easy. The helicopters had been attacked by powerful weaponry, but the hits had been designed to take the aircrafts down and allow the passengers to escape. Of course, Marcus felt thankful for this. Otherwise, he might have died in the crash, and Sebastian as well. But that didn’t make him disregard the details regarding the sinister nature of Judith and Chad’s plan. Joseph’s involvement had come as somewhat of a surprise, although Marcus supposed he should have guessed the feral would be involved in this.

“It would seem,” Wolfram continued, “that somehow, Joseph convinced your grandparents to invest in the creation of a second serum, to stabilize the combination between spirit wolf and human DNA. What they intend is to build an army of ferals, all under Joseph’s control. As far as I can tell, Joseph didn’t have the necessary financial resources, but it wasn’t difficult for him to convince your grandparents, especially once they found out the truth about you.”

“That’s why they needed Doctor Blunt.” Sebastian cursed. “So now what do we do?”

“Joseph has the advantage,” Klaus replied. “He can bring the war to us, so to speak. We have to find him, as soon as possible, but until we do, we need to strengthen the defenses of each and every spirit wolf property.”

“I’m convinced Ross might be able to give us some assistance,”

Wolfram said. “The Spirit Mother always guides our steps to the right people.”

Marcus might have believed that, if the next moment, Wolfram’s cell didn’t ring. Wolfram looked surprised, but took the call. Since at
Three Mates, One Destiny

107

this point Marcus realized Wolfram’s phone rarely rang for good reasons, he was not surprised when the caller, who turned out to be Ash, told Wolfram, “I’m sorry, My Lord, but Ross seems to have escaped, and Clay’s gone with him.”

* * * *

The next day, Wolfram assigned them to go to the Hart compound and look into Ross’s escape. Sebastian’s heart felt heavy in his chest at leaving his family in such an uncertain situation, but The Magistrate promised to keep him posted and let him know of his decision.

Sebastian hoped Wolfram would be lenient. Joseph had clearly taken advantage of Peter’s hatred. Without the feral’s intervention, Peter would have never acted on his own. That didn’t make Peter’s crime any less severe, but Sebastian hoped it would decrease his half brother’s punishment.

By the time they reached the compound, Ash already had the entire area combed and thoroughly searched, with no luck. He met them when they left the helicopter that brought them here. “Welcome home,” he told them. “I wish I could give you better news, but we haven’t found a trace of where they might have gone. Clay knows these forests even better than I do. They’re probably miles away by now.”

Sebastian clapped Ash on the shoulder. “Get some rest. You need it.”

He understood how the other hunter felt. Their situations might be very different, but they were both worried for their brothers.

Ash smiled weakly at him and led them into the house. They met up with Linden and Trent, who greeted them with as much enthusiasm as was possible in such circumstances. The entire house seemed to have been emptied of energy. And when Sebastian at last ran into Grant and Marion Hart, he had a flashback of his own
108

Scarlet Hyacinth

heartbroken parents. Things like this should never happen. Families shouldn’t be torn apart. He understood why Clay acted the way he did. If Clay thought Ross was his mate, he’d do anything to keep the other man safe. Of course, it remained a dilemma whether this was actually true or not. According to what Sebastian had been told, Ross could control the actions of others, but the secret behind this ability had yet to be revealed.

Amy also puzzled him. She didn’t speak much, and satisfied herself with the occasional monosyllabic comment. At the same time, Sebastian couldn’t help but feel she might know something they didn’t. She and Clay had always been very close to each other.

After an exhausting day, filled with questions without an answer, Marcus and Sebastian retreated to their room. To Sebastian’s surprise and excitement, Paulie joined them.

With everything that happened, they still hadn’t managed to claim Paulie. Sebastian’s first instinct urged him to do so as soon as they reached the Magistrate’s Den and could find a safe, secluded spot. But it was hardly appropriate to have sex when Peter faced a serious punishment, so they’d refrained from it.

Now, however, Sebastian couldn’t think of any reason to deny himself, or his mates. As much as he cared about his brother—or perhaps because of it—he needed the contact, the comfort. He plopped on the bed and petted the spot next to him, gesturing for Paulie to come closer. Marcus chuckled lightly as he took off his shirt. “This has promise. Come on, Paulie, go ahead.”

Paulie approached the bed. “I know that I hesitated before,” he whispered as he sat, “but I don’t want to waste a single moment. I don’t want to lose you.”

Sebastian cupped Paulie’s cheek. “You don’t have to do this before you’re ready.”

The young human smiled. “I’d say I was born ready, but that’s not the case.” His expression sobered. “I understand now. I always used to wonder how my dad could accept Trent and Valerius so easily. I
Three Mates, One Destiny

109

guess he knew some things are not meant to be explained, but to be cherished and enjoyed.”

Sebastian couldn’t have said it better himself. The mate bond defied all statements of logic. In life, some things simply were and did not need more overthinking.

Gently, so as not to scare Paulie, Sebastian pressed his mouth to the young human’s. This time, Paulie didn’t tense at all. He parted his lips with sweet surrender, giving Sebastian access. Paulie tasted even better than he remembered, and as their tongues entwined, Sebastian pulled Paulie closer into his lap. The feel of Paulie’s pert ass against him made his cock throb with desperate desire.

The bed shifted with Marcus’s weight as their mate joined them.

Sebastian felt Marcus behind him, and his excitement increased even further. His good intentions went out the window, and he pushed Paulie down on the bed, loving the dazed expression on the human’s face. The motion broke their kiss, but Sebastian quickly fixed the situation. He covered his mate’s body with his larger bulk and crushed their lips together once more. Now, the kiss turned furious, passionate, ravaging, Sebastian greedy for more and unable to get enough.

He knew he should take things slower. This would technically be their first time together, and it needed to be special. Besides, Paulie didn’t have a lot of sexual experience, and he might shy away from them again.

Sebastian knew all this, yes, but he couldn’t stop himself. He just wanted to claim his mate so badly, to cement their bond for all time.

The wolf inside him howled, demanding to be released.

Somehow, Sebastian managed to keep it in check, but never once stopped his assault on Paulie. He tore at the young human’s clothes, getting rid of them in a few brusque motions. Panting, he stopped their kiss, allowing himself a few moments to gaze upon the gorgeous expanse of Paulie’s body.

110

Scarlet Hyacinth

He’d seen Paulie naked before, the one time they’d been together, when he’d given his mate a blow job. That day, Sebastian and Marcus intended to comfort their mate in his moment of need. Anything else would have meant taking advantage of Paulie.

Things were different now. Even if the fear of being separated still lingered, there was more to it than that. Sebastian sensed the genuine passion, decision, and desire coming from both Marcus and Paulie.

His two mates wanted the same thing he did.

Sebastian pulled Paulie up and changed positions on the bed.

Paulie ended up straddling Sebastian, with his back to Marcus, while Sebastian leaned against the head board and faced both his mates.

Marcus grinned at him over Paulie’s shoulder. “Thank you, my dear Sebastian. So generous of you to share.”

From his angle, Sebastian couldn’t see everything his wolf mate did, at least not physically, but it didn’t matter. He saw it in his mind, through Marcus, and felt it through Paulie. Marcus’s hands traveled from Paulie’s shoulders over the young man’s back. Paulie shuddered, his pleasure and excitement reaching Sebastian as well.

Marcus’s clever fingers reached Paulie’s lower regions and caressed the upper edge of the human’s crease. The position didn’t allow for adequate access, so Paulie lowered his body over Sebastian’s. The new situation brought their faces close once more and exposed Paulie’s ass to Marcus’s ministrations.

Sebastian couldn’t stop himself. He pulled Paulie in for another kiss, distantly acknowledging Marcus’s chuckle. “I think I would be jealous if I didn’t have this all to myself.” As he spoke, he caressed Paulie’s ass, and the ghostly feel of skin contact made Sebastian groan into Paulie’s mouth.

Marcus’s skillful touches vanished, but returned moments afterward. A slick finger rubbed against Paulie’s hole. As the digit entered their human mate, Sebastian continued to kiss Paulie, needing more, wanting more. The indirect touch didn’t satisfy him. He hadn’t
Three Mates, One Destiny

111

claimed Paulie, so the sensations and emotions came muted, not as powerful as they could be.

Marcus skillfully prepared Paulie then gripped the human’s hips and lifted him away with no effort at all. Sebastian noted Marcus had at some point removed his clothing and took advantage of the opportunity to strip as well. As he did so, Marcus kissed Paulie, the meeting of mouths slow and gentle, a promise to unleash the genuine passion Marcus hid behind his calm façade.

Paulie’s legs went around Marcus’s waist as they kissed.

Sebastian watched with greedy eyes as his wolf mate’s cock nudged against Paulie’s naked ass.

Marcus broke the kiss and looked over Paulie’s shoulder. As always, they understood each other. Sebastian grinned at his mate.

“Go ahead,” he growled. “Fuck him. You want that, don’t you, gorgeous? You want Marcus to fuck your ass.”

“Yes,” Paulie replied breathlessly, arching his back, a picture of wanton need. “God, yes. Please.”

Marcus positioned Paulie over his cock. “Gently now,” he whispered. “Don’t rush.”

Sebastian crawled at his mates’ sides, knowing the impetuousness of youth might push Paulie into hurting himself. “Lean on me.”

He helped Paulie push down against Marcus’s cock, holding the young human in check when Paulie would have impaled himself in one single motion. “Bastian,” Paulie cried, “please, let me…”

But Sebastian didn’t relent, and neither did Marcus. It took everything inside Sebastian to keep to the threads of his patience. He sensed the tight grip of Paulie’s ass around Marcus’s cock, and he knew he’d have never been able to hold back like his wolf mate did.