Chapter 7

Dominic

Gasping for air, I clawed the damp grass under my fingers until I could catch my breath and look around to see where I ended up. There was a black hole in my memory from the moment I talked to Rowen at the pond to shifting in the park across, and luckily for me, an abandoned street. All I could recall was the pain ripping through my body and forcing my animal to take over my human form.

After that the bastard blocked me.

Glaring at the night, I hope he knows how mad I was. My beast was acting as if Brooklyn was his mate and not mine. She was the most important person in my life, too. If she was in danger, I needed my brain to function so I could get her out of it instead of acting on animal instinct and getting both of us killed.

The disapproval of my beast was evident in the pressure at the back of my head. He wanted to trade forms and wasn't shy about it. The fact it took me forever to push him out of the way so I could see where he was taking me, made sure I stayed alert and ready to fight the shift if it started again.

"Was there a particular reason you brought us here?" hearing Samir speak from a couple of feet behind me almost made me jump out of my skin.

"You could die sneaking up on me like that." Whirling around I scowled in his direction. "Why are you here? You're supposed to protect and take care of Alice."

"Rowen was beside himself thinking you are about to divorce half of Chicago from their lives. I had to rush in case I had to do damage control." After staring daggers at me for the longest time to relay his message of annoyance, the ancient Atua rolled his gaze over the sparse trees and patches of almost dried out grass around us with disgust. "We are too close to reaching our goal and destroying the Syndicate for you to mess it up now. So, I shall ask again. Was there a particular reason you brought us here?"

"Brooklyn is in danger."

"I do not see Brooklyn here." Speaking slowly, he studied me like you would someone who is not of sound reasoning. "Let me ask again. Where is Brooklyn?" He glowered at me down his nose. "We are all adults, and we need to know when to run around like insolent children and when to stop and think about the consequences. I thought we all agreed we have a common goal. Maybe I should rethink my involvement and find other ways to deal with the Council. All these complications are making us chase our tails instead of making a solid plan. This nonsense needs to stop."

"You should go and protect the human, Samir." Pushing the words through clenched teeth, I yanked down my T-shirt where it crawled up my torso. "I doubt that Brooklyn will do something reckless, but it"s stronger than me. I need to make sure that she's well. My animal is restless, warning me that she"s in danger, but I doubt that after everything she has gone on her own to hunt anyone from the Syndicate."

Rubbing a fist over my chest, I tried to dispel the uneasy feeling that was wrapping around my insides, making it difficult to breathe regardless that I tried to sound confident and calm for Samir's sake. I was well aware that my animal would not be doing this if Brooklyn was not in danger.

My mate needed me, and I needed to be there for her.

Just as Samir opened his mouth to say something, and I was gearing up to reply in not so many nice words, a squealing sound of tires over concrete reached our ears. We both turned to see the vehicle sharply take the corner, and instead of continuing down the street, it headed right in our direction. Lights blinded me, so I had to throw my arm in front of my face out of instinct. A second later, Samir slammed his body into me, and tackled me to the ground hard enough that we cracked the nearest tree when it stopped our rolling.

The vehicle crashed through the poor excuse of a fence and plowed through trees and shrubbery alike until the person driving it yanked on the steering wheel hoping to point it at us again. The car rose on two wheels, teetering precariously for a long moment before dropping on all four tires and pitching forward right at the small fountain I hadn't noticed until that moment, sitting unassuming a few yards away. Marble cracked a second before a loud hiss came from the hood of the car as it scrunched up on impact and a large cloud of smoke puffed up above it.

Samir and I stared at it stunned, still sprawled in the dirt and dead leaves until the doors on both sides opened and four Guardians spilled out of it, swords already drawn out and ready to slice into us.

Pushing the ancient Atua off of me and rolling up on my feet, I barely had time to duck before the first male was on me, his longsword singing through the air a quarter on an inch above my head. A cold wave washed over me, numbing my arms and weakening my knees. Was this the reason my animal was mindless with fear for our mate? Did they capture Brooklyn first and now they are attacking us.

I didn't attempt to stand up and face the male, staying hunched over I took a deep breath and tackled him. Not expecting a wrestling match from a shifter, my action took him by surprise. All the air came out of him in a loud whoosh, and he cried out when his back hit the ground with my full weight on top of him.

In the background, I could hear the grunts and snarls from Samir fighting his own two opponents accompanied by the breaking of trees and chunks of dirt and soil flying through the air. I wanted to check on him and make sure there are not more than two Guardians he had to deal with but a sharp pain in my arm got my undivided attention. A sword was embedded in my bicep, the hilt firmly clutched in the beefy fingers of the Guardian glaring down at me.

"You need to die." He snarled and yanked the blade through my flesh slow enough to bring dancing stars in front of my eyes.

"Sorry to disappoint." Grunting the words from the pain which was making me nauseous, I rolled away before he could stab at me again. "I have a few more things to get done before I meet my maker."

"Stop playing around and kill him," the second Guardian spat as he was finally able to get some air into his lungs. "Kill the scum."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Samir's foot connected to the side of the Guardian's head and the crunch of a neck breaking echoed and bounced off the remaining trees around us. "If you are done messing around…" the ancient Atua raised a haughty eyebrow at me, looking like the stick up his ass never moved even in a dirty fight in the middle of a dog park by the looks and smell of it.

"I'm trying not to shift." Pissed at myself for showing vulnerability, I shoved off the dirt and stood up.

"Shifting would be a good thing in a situation like this." Side-eyeing me, Samir twisted and turned to avoid the Guardian's sword and fists. "I do not have time for this."

"I didn't ask for your assistance, Samir." Anger pushed away any hesitation I had in releasing control of my temper. "Need I remind you that you are here uninvited?"

"And you are welcome for the assistance I offered, although you were too dimwitted to ask." It was beyond me how he managed the elaborate arm roll in his bow at the same time he slammed a fist into the only remaining Guardian in the park. "While the adults deal with the vermin, do tie something around that well of Muscat pouring out of your arm, would you? It smells vintage, and after fighting all of the Guardians on my own I'm getting famished." Twisting his head to face me he grinned wide enough to expose both of his sharp fangs at me.

Even knowing that he is on our side, I was still more wary of Samir than anything else that could come and try kill me in this park. With a cocked eyebrow, I glanced down at my bleeding bicep, the blood painting my skin all the way down to my fingertips. Without a word, I tugged the t-shirt over my head and started ripping into it to get a long enough piece and tie it above the injury to cut off the circulation. Arguing with the Atua won't lead me to anything good.

With a few more grunts and huffs, the last Guardian hit the ground unmoving. Samir smoothed a hand over his button-down shirt to erase the invisible wrinkles while I tightened the knot on the ripped fabric with my teeth half paying attention to what I was doing, half watching the Atua in case he needed assistance. Those damn blades the Syndicate started using healed too slow even for a shifter. It'll be a day before the wound fully closed and that would be a problem if the Syndicate had my mate.

How do you investigate anything when they can smell you bleeding from miles away?

"Did you break a claw, Shifter?' Samir smirked down at me, and I glowered back.

"We should check if they have Brooklyn in the vehicle." Without waiting for his reply, I strode toward the still smoking car that was half wrapped around the fountain.

She wasn't there. Or anywhere near this damn place. I knew it, yet I forced myself to check in hopes I'd keep my sanity. Why did my beast lead me here where no sign of her could be found?

Behind me Samir was dragging bodies, rearranging them around the park to make it look like they had been fighting each other and ended up all dead. Unlike me. I stared unseeing at the open doors of the car, the interior clean and still smelling of new leather.

"Anything?" Samir called out from a few yards away.

Shaking my head since I knew he could see me, I was just turning around to join him when a strong gust of wind blasted from the empty street through the park, slamming me with the scent of my mate; it is like being hit with a hammer. It brought her smell from across the street not the park. It was all my animal needed to shove me out of the way and take over.

I shifted with a shout of outrage and heard Samir laugh.

Asshole.