18. Levi

18

Levi

E ven before he heard Kellan shout his name, Levi knew that she was gone. She had lied to him. Even as she had said those words that he had so desperately wanted to hear, part of him knew she was not telling the truth.

Levi leapt out of bed; he was already halfway to the hallway when Kellan burst through the door.

“She’s gone,” Levi said. “Right?”

Kellan nodded. “Yes. She keyed in her own code. It sent me an alert an instant later. She could have busted the whole thing out with magic, and we’d be down one security system.”

“She would have avoided that at all costs,” Nora said, coming out of the next bedroom. Just like Levi she was fully dressed. All around them shifters were emerging from their rooms; they all were adjusting bags over their shoulders. Fallon was lacing up her boots.

“I wish she could have trusted us,” Levi said.

Nora’s thin arm slipped around his waist. “She trusts us plenty. She doesn’t trust herself. She doesn’t know how.” She looked down. “She was worried. This was her solution.”

“The rational side of me knows that.”

“I know it’s hard. It’s cliche, but my upbringing is always with me. It doesn’t do us any good to pretend it doesn’t matter.” She pulled her arm away and faced him, meeting his eyes. “And remember. These wolves have already used her as a tool. Imagine how that would feel.”

“Pretty fucking bad,” he said.

“So, are you ready to enact Plan, Get her Back ?” Kellan asked. “Just say the word.”

Levi nodded. A few hours earlier, he’d gone to Kellan to ask for help keeping Sofia on the ranch. At the time he’d felt bad for going behind her back to speak to Kellan, but they’d all agreed with him she was a huge flight risk.

He’d been right. But it gave him no pleasure to say so.

Just then Quinn came charging up the stairs. “The wolves are here.”

“Here?” Levi asked.

Quinn nodded. “Yes,” he said with urgency. “ Here . In Cedar Lake. Most of them are in human form right now and they’re vandalizing the playground. They’re ripping the swings off the chains, and they’ve broken the slide off the fort.”

Several gasps sounded in the hallway, but Levi didn’t care about the goddamned playground. He could not focus on the criminal acts of the wolves. At this point, he could only focus on Sofia, and on getting her back.

“That’s the playground where I met my mate.” Kellan’s face clouded over. “We’ll make sure that it’s repaired,” Kellan told the group.

“Yes. As soon as we kick their asses,” Brennan yelled.

“Okay!” Kellan clapped his hands together. “Everyone to the living room,” he yelled.

Everyone rushed down the stairs. For anyone who hadn’t already arrived in the living area, Kellan pressed the button, and an alarm went off in the entire house, and the surrounding land as well.

Because of the threat, no one was sleeping outside, but there were shifters standing guard on the porch. The alarm didn’t sound like a harsh fire alarm. It was an annoying buzz, similar to the kind most people used to wake up in the morning. Once everyone was in the house, they all congregated in the living room, with some spillover into the kitchen. There were no stragglers.

Levi never wanted to take this group for granted. His own clan back in Canada might grudgingly accept his mate if she were not a dragon, but he wasn’t sure if they would go into battle for her. But in this group, no one grumbled, no one complained, no one said, ‘why does she get such special treatment?’ Levi was just amazed at how much solidarity there was in this group, and he was so incredibly proud to be a part of this clan.

Kellan stood on the hearth of the fireplace and gave everyone a quick update about the wolves’ arrival, and about Sofia having fled.

The mood of the room dipped noticeably when Kellan admitted that she’d run away. There were hushed whispers, but no one seemed angry, just worried.

Then Brennan took Kellan’s place and went over the basics of the plan. The previous day, everyone who’d be fighting had been assigned a group—one group would stay and defend the ranch, one group would go after the wolves, and one group would stay with Sofia.

“As we’ve noted, within each group, some of us will stay human, some of us will shift. You’ve already been assigned weapons. These enchanted blades should work on the wolves just as they worked on the demons. This will be a little bit different from the demon mission because we’re not going into a single house. The wolf sighting was on the playground, and that was where a third of us are heading. A third will stay here and defend this property—it is our home base. And the other third will go after Sofia.”

Everyone watched Brennan with a determined look on his or her face.

Liam was staying with a group at the house, Quinn and Brennan were going after Sofia with Levi, and Kellan was going after the wolves at the playground.

As the groups dispersed ready to fulfill their roles, Levi noticed Quinn, Kellan, Brennan, and Liam all moved together. They clasped hands, hugged quickly, and said a few whispered words. Then each of them exchanged a quick, meaningful look, before they pulled away.

Once the four brothers had exchanged their quiet goodbyes, Liam and Brennan’s mates ran over and gave them both a huge hug. Of the four brothers’ mates, they were the only two who weren’t human. Brynne, Liam’s mate, was a dragon shifter, and Fallon, Brennan’s mate, was a Fae. Liam lifted Brynne into his arms and buried his face in her neck, and Brennan grabbed Fallon and kissed her on the mouth.

Levi wanted to thank them again, but he didn’t want to be a distraction, and honestly, he didn’t want to hold up the process. He was itching to get on the road and go after Sofia.

Led by Brennan, the group moved toward the front driveway, half of them still in human form, and half of them already shifted.

“Levi, can you track her? Can you follow her scent?” Brennan asked.

“Yes. It’s very clear, and it will be easy for me to follow it.” He tilted his head. “She hasn’t tried to cover it. Unless she used magic to trick us. Is that possible?” Levi asked.

Nora was circling them, staring at the ground. “No, there’s not a lot of magic here. She didn’t try to trick us.”

“I bet she was trying to draw them away. She would’ve wanted them as far away from Kellan’s house as possible,” Levi said. She had been fixated on not endangering the rest of them. But there was no time to waste. “This way,” he said, pointing west. “The scent is very clear.”

Quinn’s phone buzzed. He kept walking while he checked the message. He exhaled. “One of them has just set fire to the library.”

“Oh God,” Levi said. They were escalating.

“Don’t worry, we will handle it. It’s what we do.” Quinn stopped abruptly, moving in front of Levi, causing him to stop too. He grabbed Levi by the back of the neck and leaned in close, until their foreheads were nearly touching. “Don’t lose hope. We haven’t lost anyone yet.” Quinn looked him right in the eye and shook him a little, digging his fingers in hard enough that it grounded Levi. “Okay?” Quinn asked.

Levi nodded. The coiled knot in his stomach eased just the tiniest bit. Quinn was right. This pack knew what they were doing.

Quinn moved and they started walking again, with Levi leading the way. “They haven’t gone after any people. I think they’re just trying to attract our attention. They may expect us to try and trade Sofia for something we want, or make some kind of deal,” Quinn said.

Levi could not stop the growl that ripped from his chest. “How do people think like that?”

Nora’s quiet voice answered. “That’s the only way my coven thought. They were purely sinister. There was nothing inside them but greed and depravity,” Nora said. “They won’t understand that we’d never make a trade. They’ll think it’s worth a try.”

Levi rubbed his eyes. If Nora had reshaped her life so fully after what she’d been through, then he hoped that Sofia would be able to find that same level of happiness, as well as a measure of peace as well. And if that did not include him as a mate, well, he’d have to deal with it.

That didn’t mean he was going to give up. He would never give up. He was going to do everything in his power to show her that he deserved another chance. This time, he would try and be her friend instead of smothering her with his demands. He’d hauled off half-cocked, assuming immediately that just because they were mates meant she wanted to settle into his life. He could see that now, in a way he could not before; he just hoped it wasn’t too late.

Levi stopped abruptly. His body was aware of the direction change before his brain was. He pointed north. “We have to turn, she went this way, toward the town.” Oh fuck. His chest caved in, and his throat closed, suffocating him. He tried to breathe through it. Having a breakdown wasn’t going to help anyone, least of all Sofia. “She’s on her way into town,” he managed to say. He yanked his gaze over to Nora. “She’s headed toward the wolves.”

“It would appear so,” Nora said.

If Sofia was going to throw herself to the wolves, so to speak, then it was going to be much, much harder to protect her. He took a second to close his eyes and breathe. “Should I be able to feel her?” he asked the group. “Should I know if she’s okay?”

Levi felt nothing. He smelled her scent, and that was it.

They all found a way to avoid eye contact with him.

“Did she acknowledge the bond?” Brennan asked finally. “If she did, then yes, you should be able to feel her.” Brennan winced. “Even if she didn’t, you might feel it. Unless she is deliberately blocking it.”

Nora stopped them all again. “Levi, you being able to track her is great. But we’re close enough to town that I’m going to try a locator spell.”

“Thank you,” he said, awed once again at Nora’s abilities.

The rest of them weren’t going to leave Nora, so they all crowded around her while she sat down gracefully on the damp grass. Her mate stood at her back.

Giving her some space, Levi resumed his conversation with Quinn. “She’s acknowledged it, but she doesn’t want a mate,” he said, referring to Sofia’s rejection. “We argued about it at first, but I accepted her decision.”

“Good,” Quinn said. “For anyone who didn’t grow up like we did, in a stable clan, it’s always a struggle to accept that kind of commitment. It’s possible, but it’s hard. My mate is a human, as you know, but Juliana’s family is beyond dysfunctional. Living here, with me and my brothers and our mates and children was an adjustment for her.”

“I’m sorry that Juliana had such a rough time,” he said. He’d never heard this story before. “But having your mate turn her back on you is a pretty shitty rejection, even though I don’t blame her.”

“I can’t imagine,” Quinn said.

“I’ve accepted that I can’t have my way. I’ve accepted that she had just as much right to dictate the terms of our relationship as I do. I’ve also accepted that there is no guarantee that mates must enter a relationship. But I will still do everything in my power to protect her.” Emotion overcame him and he slung his arm around Quinn, working to collect himself while Quinn patted him on the back.

Nora lifted her head. “The locating spell worked. Sofia is over by the grocery store.”

His emotion evaporated. He was ready to fight.

Niall pulled Nora to her feet. She put her arm on Levi’s shoulder. “She’s got such a big heart. And you are her protector,” she said. “You will find your way to each other.”

“Thank you,” he whispered.

That was one thing he could not turn off; he could not stop protecting her even if she didn’t want his help. He just hoped she’d understand.

Now that he no longer needed to be close to the ground to follow her scent, he ran forward, leaping into his dragon form so that he could fly and get to her faster. He flew low, skimming over the tops of the trees.

The town was far enough away from Dallas that there was no light pollution, and he would be hard to spot.

He flew over the edge of town, scanning every familiar landmark as he pointed his body toward the grocery store. A flash of knowledge surged through his mind, burning bright like the flame on a candle.

Now, he wouldn’t need a locating spell. He could feel her inside his head. He wanted to send her a message and let her know that he was coming, but he was afraid that would only serve to disrupt her. He would not risk it.

He flew harder and faster than he ever had before. He had been involved in the fight on Venenum Island in South America to lift the Vetus Wyvern Curse . That had been his most recent battle. And while he had been concerned for everyone involved, it had not been personal to him, because he had not known them at all.

The first time he went into battle with Kellan’s clan was to protect Roselyn when she had been kidnapped by the demi-God. That had been a little more personal. Not only was she a beloved actress, but Levi had met her mate, and he had seen firsthand her mate’s anguish. It had been difficult to watch him suffer

Mate. Mate. Mate.

His dragon could feel her too.

We’re almost there. There’s the grocery store , Levi said to his dragon

From a distance, he could make out Sofia. She was not in her bear form, but her human form and she was fighting one of the wolves hand-to-hand. She appeared to be holding her own but just as the thought crossed his mind, the wolf delivered a hard blow to the side of her head.

A deep roar rumbled in Levi’s chest, and he wanted to let out a piercing screech. He wanted to breathe fire across the top of the trees, and right over the wolf who touched his mate.

But he would not cause a disruption for her. He intended to swoop down and lift the wolf with his claws. Once he had it in his clutches, he would decide what to do next. Kellan had said to take them to the abandoned warehouse on the other side of town. They’d be using it as a holding cell.

But Levi wasn’t sure what he would do. He’d dedicated his life to helping—animals yes, but it still counted. He busted his ass to make sure every horse, cow, sheep that crossed his path was better off for having met him as a veterinarian. In his early days he’d spent his own money on treatments when a client wanted to give up. He’d put more than one cow in his truck and driven it to his office for treatment that couldn’t be provided on-site at a ranch.

But these wolves would not get that same consideration.

He’d never killed anyone. He’d never tortured anyone either. He had never wanted to. But this could never happen again. His mate could not be their target.

But before Levi could get to Sofia, another wolf snuck up behind her, brandishing a sharp sword.

Levi charged, getting there just in time. He knocked that one out of the way and crushed his windpipe. He would recover, but it would give him a chance for Brennan to grab him and tie him up. Brennan transformed and ran forward, already securing the wolf’s wrists with heavy restraints.

Then he was able to go for the wolf fighting Sofia. She had recovered from the blow to the head and had shoved the wolf, flipping him onto the ground.

He wanted her to have that victory, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Fuck that; the wolf was getting more aggressive. The wolf reached down and was fumbling at his waist—he looked like he was going for a knife.

So, Levi acted. He grabbed the wolf by the back of the neck. He sank his teeth into the wolf’s shoulders, and he flung him backward. The wolf hit the ground with a loud thud.

Already Quinn had transformed and was running to them.

Sofia looked up with him with wide eyes. “Levi!” Before he could change back into a human, she flung her arms around him. At the feel of her tight embrace, his dragon settled immediately.

Mine.

He shifted quickly and pulled on his jeans. “Are you okay?” Levi asked. “I saw him hit the side of your head.”

“I’m fine,” she said. She leaned back and looked up at him, biting her lip. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“We can worry about that later. First, let’s get you out of here.”