Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

T he ground rumbles beneath us.

"We can't let him die."

"What would you have us do, princess?" Bo asks anxiously.

I look at Kirk. "You helped create his prison. You owe him."

"I know." Kneeling, Kirk and Cadoc roll him onto his back.

"We do not have time for this." Bo crosses his arms over his chest.

"I can treat him in the car." Kirk places two fingers on the pulse in his wrist. Frowning, he reaches down, unzips his satchel, and pulls out a brown bottle. Glass shatters in the windows as the explosions begin. Heat rolls out of the broken panes. Flames leap high.

"This is going to be rough. But it's the best chance he has of surviving. I don't know what they fed him, so I can't counter it. But this will help him expel as much as he can."

"Do it."

I hope this was the right call.

"We can set him up in the back, but we have to go," Cadoc insists.

I step back and let the boys lift him up. Holding his legs and upper body, they bring him to the trunk. Moving around the luggage, I climb into the back, holding his head in my lap as I arrange a pile of blankets around us.

"Why the hell do you care?" Bo looks over the back of the seat at me. I feel the jealousy rising through our link.

"He feels important." I shrug.

A half bottle of brown liquid has his stomach bubbling loudly. He coughs and his body shakes.

"Where to?" Cadoc asks, starting up the car.

"A safe place where we can regroup," Bo suggests.

"I know somewhere. But I can only take you there if you vow to keep its existence a secret," Kirk says.

"I need more information before I let any of us commit to that," Bo counters.

"It's a safe place for those who need it."

"Safe from who, Doc?" Fell challenges.

The animosity toward Kirk is growing by the second.

"Everyone who'd judge them for things out of their control," Kirk continues to be evasive.

The man chokes. I turn his head, looking away as he pukes.

"Gross." Bo rolls down his window. The others do the same.

Fell covers his nose with his hand. "Make the vow. None of us want to be stuck in here like this."

"Fine. You have my vow."

The man's face grows paler as the car continues into the night. His pulse is thready, and his skin is clammy.

Papers rustle as Kirk reads the file with the camera light on his phone.

"Hang in there." I think you have a purpose to fulfill. I wipe his sweaty hair away from his wrinkled brow. Running wet wipes over his face between rounds of illness, I marvel at the dark sludge and blood that shouldn't come from a living being.

His arms and legs twitch.

"Now that we aren't fighting for our lives, you have explaining to do, Kirk." Cadoc's stern tone leaves no space for argument.

"I let my guilt make me stupid. I was willing to do anything to make up for losing the Alpha's wife." He looks up from the paperwork. "I threw myself into researching the sickness, tracked down cases, drew blood from the affected families." He rubs his temples. "Each time I got close to an answer, I hit a wall. It becomes an obsession. I looked into other unconventional methods." He exhales. "I sought magic."

"How?" Cadoc says.

"Where?" Bo asks suspiciously.

"I went to the Wyrd sisters." The group of witches who work on contracts have been whispered about. An independent source of powerful magic workers who use their skills to earn a living.

"They're real?" Bo's voice raises an octave.

"I didn't believe in them until I started asking around and received a phone number, and later an address."

"Why tell us all this now?"

"So you'll understand why I had to do what I did. Turn down here. Slow down. The drive is simple to miss."

Cadoc takes a sharp turn, and my stomach drops to my feet. A powerful wave of power rolls over me. I clutch the blanket beneath me.

Energy seeks me out, encircling me, examining. I groan under its intensity. It recedes and I'm able to breathe.

"The hell was that, Doc?" Bo barks.

"Security."

"For what? An army of the dead?" Fell's exasperated tone makes me smile.

We reach a fork in the road; we curve left. A few minutes later, a white farmhouse with forest green shutters comes into view. A cheery red barn sits a few yards away from the main house. Chicken coups and a large garden add to the homesteader vibe.

"Is this a commune?" Fell stuck his head out the window.

"No. Just a place set up to allow the tenants to live off the grid."

Fell looks at me. "How is that not a commune?"

"Who's in there, Kirk?" Bo's voice is full of mistrust.

"The survivors from the labs. Welcome to Sanctuary."

His truth is a revelation.

"They may look different, but they're all good people who deserve your respect. This is the only way most of them can live their life normally."

"What do you want from us?" Bo asks bluntly.

"Give them a chance. Don't make them feel uncomfortable in their own home. The sins lie on my head, not theirs."

He's like a father defending his cubs. It's a welcome change after seeing the devastation he helped cause firsthand. Seeing the lengths he's traveled to right his wrongs softens the blow from his secret life.

"You risked everything to bring them here and establish this place, didn't you?" I whisper.

"It was the least I could do."

We park the car, and the front door opens, flooding the porch with light. A hulking figure exits. Badly burned, his bald head is covered in thick scars. Half of his face looks melted, and his right eye is sealed shut.

He limps down the stairs, eyes flickering red. Kirk exits and the man's lips curve up. They hug and Kirk pats his back. He gives the man, Zeke, a rundown, telling him we have another survivor in the trunk.

Zeke limps toward us. My mates tense. The hatch opens and Zeke studies me. I grip the tattered shirt of the man covered in his own sick. I feel responsible for him.

"What's his name?" Zeke's voice is soft and full of compassion.

"He can't remember." I blink back tears.

"We have to call him something." Zeke smiles. "Maybe you can choose for now."

I peer down at him. "Gray. It's the shade between black and white, so it seems fitting."

"I'll take care of Gray." He lifts the unconscious man and carries him toward the home.

"Come on. We all need to shower, eat, and rest. They'll take care of Gray tonight." Kirk holds out his hand. I take it and he exhales, shoulders relaxing. He helps me out of the trunk. "I'll be checking on him throughout the night."

"Thank you." I squeeze his hand before I release it.

"Do you think he's the reason the sundial took us to the lab?" Bo leans against the car.

"Maybe it's about stripping back our layers and revealing our secrets," Kirk suggests. He wraps the blankets up, pulling them out to clean.

"Hiding important parts of ourselves weakens our bond," Cadoc admits.

"And we're up against enough, aren't we?" Bo pushes off from the car.

"No thinking while we rest." Fell taps my temple.

"I'll try."

"Come and meet my family," Kirk says.

Names swirl together as we meet wolves who can no longer shift, vampires who can shift different parts of themselves, and witches who crave blood. The physical impairments range from missing limbs to deformed faces and animalistic features that could never pass in public.

A mix of introverts and extroverts, they approach us with varying shades of caution and distrust.

"We're going to shower and change. I just wanted everyone to meet my clan." They all watch Kirk with total adoration and gratitude. Here. He's the leader. The man appears to grow taller in their presence.

Who knew the stiff shirt had it in him? Bo winks.

I smile despite myself. Bo Jensen, the asshole, is growing on me.

"She's more than she seems." A petite redhead with milky white eyes speaks for the first time. Gene splicing tapped into her ability to see the future, but it also stole her vision.

"What do you mean, Matilda?" Kirk stops at the threshold of the large dining area.

"Your mate is going to change everything." She smiles. "I can't wait."

I'm not sure if her words are a threat or a compliment.

"We appreciate your enthusiasm." Kirk snickers.

Kirk guides us down the hall to a private suite with a massive bed and attached bathroom.

"Ladies first." Kirk gestures toward the door. "Bathroom is through there. Use whatever you need."

Exhausted, I make my way inside and strip off the soiled clothing. Steam floods the room as I step under the spray, scrubbing with sandalwood soap. I let my brain scroll through all the additional facts I've gathered.

Drying off, I step out and find Bo freshly cleaned, propped up against pillows on the bed.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Using the other bathrooms. We were all eager to rinse off the remnants of the day."

"That's fair." I run my fingers through my curls, scrunching them. "Today was a lot."

Bo throws his head back and releases a full-bodied laugh. "That's putting it mildly."

"You should laugh more often."

"Why?" His dimpled smile and mischievous expression charm me.

"I like it."

"Yeah?" He tilts his head, remaining sincere.

I nod, memorizing the moment to store for later.

"Seems weak."

"It takes strength to survive. Joy makes the challenges of life a little easier to bear." I step forward between his legs.

"That's not what I was taught."

I swallow, deciding to step out on a limb. "We can do things differently." I place my hands on his shoulders. "Our clan is whatever we chose to make it."

"You can't afford to have your head in the clouds.

"If we aren't making changes, what's the point of all this?"

He pulls back. "You honestly think we can change decades of tradition?"

"I'm sure as hell going to try. I have to believe we were chosen for a reason."

He laughs bitterly. I wince. "Yeah, to be pawns in a political game. Per usual."

"They don't get to decide that for us."

"Don't look for a good person buried under my bullshit, princess. I had that part of me beaten away a long time ago."

"No." I climb onto his lap. "I don't accept that. Don't forget as my mate you belong to me, Your Highness." I lick his lips.

He grips my hips tight. "You think you're going to change me?" He scowls.

"No. I'm going to give you the chance to become the man you were always meant to be." I remove my towel and grip his base. Raising on my knees, I line him up to my dripping core and sink down. "Look at how good we fit together." I moan as he fills me, stretching my walls. I flex around him.

"Shit."

"We were brought together for a reason." I rise and lower, slowly, to feel every inch of him.

"Yeah, Alpha's choice." He grits his teeth.

I swivel my hips. He swears.

"No." Digging my nails into his shoulders, I rise and slam down. We all fit despite our differences. There's more at work here than a power-hungry wolf. His eyes roll into the back of his head. "Say it."

He thrusts up and I slam down. Our bodies at war. Clenching his jaw, he pistons inside me. I feel the energy gathering inside me and I send it into him.

"Fuck." His eyes widen.

Tingles travel up my body.

"What are you doing?"

"Claiming you." My voice is guttural. Leaning in, I sink my teeth into his neck and ride him. His head falls back, and he lets me take the lead. Grinding our bodies together, I tighten my walls as I suck his blood into my mouth.

Pulling back, I lick my lips as the spicy liquid slides down my throat. Energy dances from my fingertips and a circuit I didn't realize was open closes. Bo cries out. Pleasure washes over me in unending waves. Filling me with a steady stream of warmth, he buries his face into my neck.

"I want to believe for you." His lips brush against my skin.

"That's enough for now."