Evie's POV

Her head lolled back and her eyes almost shut before Aunt Renee hit a particularly nasty speed bump with Charlie's police cruiser. Evie let out a startled moan of sound as car sickness pervaded her already prominent migraine. Fuck soul magic. Sure, it gave them a head-start to Medora's den, but it literally rendered her next to useless as a result.

Renee was speaking at a rapid fire pace into a cell phone, gathering her forces for a surprise attack on Medora's headquarters.

Evie drew out a breath and accidentally slipped out of her body. Fuck!

She was now furry and fluffy and running. Her tongue was out of her mouth and flapping. She could catch glimpses of the police cruiser through multiple trees, where a curly blonde head could be seen pressed onto the back seat window. Evie realized that it was her own hair. A cacophony of voices, overwhelmingly male in nature, surrounded her. They all mostly reflected her sentiment of surprise.

Please don't tell me we have a new wolf now. Jared groaned. His words were echoey, like Evie were on the phone with him and the reception was fuzzy. Leah's lupine nature seemed to snarl at Evie's decisively female presence.

Evie? Seth's mental voice came much closer to her. Everything clicked together and she calmed and allowed the imprint to wash over her. Energy surged through her mind and the small cracks formed from the soul magic suddenly sealed together.

She had healed from magical exhaustion at an unnatural rate, and now she could see the instinctive magic that tethered the wolves and their imprints together. It was beautiful and in that instant Evie knew it was her job to protect those bonds from other castors' invasive eyes and magic.

No need for alarm, guys. Just visiting. She projected her thoughts loudly before discretely slipping out of Seth's body and back into her own. Drool was dripping off of her chin and she wiped it absentmindedly with the back of her hand.

Nate was grinning in amusement at her. "Enjoy your trip?"

"Yeah, sure. It felt more like an acid trip than anything."

Aunt Renee shushed them before delving into strategy talks with her second in command Darryl. A gutsy choice had been made in that Darryl would stay with half of the Allied Fae forces at the compound. If Renee were to fall, the others would be given a chance to salvage the fae back into order. It was an unfortunate disadvantage, but one that neither Renee or Nate could dispute against. Two lives, even lives with the political significance of Bella and Drayers', could not justify the dismantlement of the entire continent. A power vacuum was a serious risk.

"Have you been practicing shielding?" The General asked the one mage in the car.

She nodded while her fingers sparked in anticipation. Ever since the horrific attack that had taken her brother Jack's life, she had been practicing as much as Jennifer, her instructor, had allowed. It was the one reason Renee had allowed Evie on the rescue mission.

A good battle mage had impenetrable shields around herself first and foremost while she lends support to troops. Evie, even at sixteen years old, was more than adept at it. Prodigal even. But they were against Medora, and fear tingled down her spine at the thought of being around such power.

Evie would be the lead mage in making sure that this attack kept its element of surprise.

They were thirty miles away when she began chanting incantations.

••••••••••••••••

Jack's POV

"Fucking guard duty. I hate that old bag." Jack sighed as he plopped onto a moss ridden log in the forest. It didn't seem to matter what side he was on, it was the same old job. His old scar tingled and he couldn't help remembering when he had awoken in this hell hole.

He gasped into consciousness on a marble floor, his entire torso aflame. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt on his life, almost as though the sword that had slashed him had been tainted-

"With vampire venom." An icy female voice interrupted his thoughts.

Jack cleared his head. A mage could read thoughts if given enough organic material. Or if a fae was close to death.

"You will follow my orders, Jackson."

Rebellion scorched through his veins. "Kill me." He wanted to leave this Earth as Ben had. With honor.

"Get him here and keep his eyes open." A cold, cold hand yanked Jack by his hair until he was suspended on his knees. Another held his left eyelid open.

The movement drew a high pitched scream from his throat, the vampire venom seeping from the edges of his wounds.

Emerald eyes met his and a soft smile graced the face of the woman he knew to be his grandmother. "I have a gift for you, grandson." She snapped her fingers and a vamp appeared at her side. Carrying the most beautifulf fae Jack had ever seen in his life.

She was small and delicate. With bruises all over her neck from vamp bites and nightmares glazing over in her brown eyes. She couldn't even see him past them.

Suddenly the pain didn't seem so bad. "No." He whispered helplessly. Anything but this. His soulmate looked like a helpless toy in the arms of a vamp whom he suddenly hated more than anything in this universe.

"You will serve me and nothing will ever happen to this trinket I found. Something told me to not kill her while I slaughtered her entire clan. The sacred blood ties still speak to me."

The cold hands released Jack and he collapsed again. Despair entered every crevice of his body. Like a spell had been cast over his body.

A fae had little choice with his mate on the line. But something told him that he'd be little more than a dog in this new life. With no hope or love. Just invisible strings controlling his every moment of life.

He prayed Drayer sent out a rescue mission, but then a long, horrible four years had already passed. And by then, Jack was broken.

Jack heard something but didn't bother to move from his seat on the log. Growls filled around him while he tilted his head up towards the sky. Perfect. Dogs to kill.

Rage that never left his body nearly brimmed over. A broad sword, much like the half-breed brat's, was suddenly in his hand. He lazily stood up.

"You'll never win. Submit to her and maybe you won't lose anything else." It was a lie but fuck them. Life was pain and then you die. But then again it was the pipe dream of feeling his mate in his arms one day that had stopped him from ending it all.

"You're alive?" A familiar voice overcame him through the noises of the wolf pack. Fucking great. His brother-in-law.

Giant wolves sprang in all directions, and Jack pondered his electronic communications device on his hip. One press and reinforcements would be here. And so on.

He dodged the first brush of razor-sharp canines and sliced off an ear. He then swung around and kicked a brown wolf in its side. Right when he was punching the biggest motherfucking werewolf, a streak of silver fur flew past his peripherals.

"What the hell?" Pain engulfed his ass.

The distraction was all that was needed until he was pinned by several wolf jaws. They began to pull his limbs in all directions, which was pretty fucked up in Jack's opinion. He gritted his teeth with determination not to scream.

"Stop!" A girly, teenage voice rang out. The pulling ceased.

Jack craned his neck to tell the interloper to not interfere when he lost all words. Purple eyes, so similar to his own, froze him in place.

She's so much taller now.

That was the only thought that could make it through his brain while he watched his baby sister run to him. She was crying. But Jack couldn't find the words to tell her to stop.

She pushed the wolves away with a whispered spell when she fell into his arms. It was only then he could say the only thing that made sense to. "I love you. I'm so sorry. It's okay." He spoke quickly and desperately. Evie shook with emotion and he held on tighter.

Nate emerged from the trees with quick steps. The wolves still growled and a gray wolf, not the one who bit his ass but lost an ear, whimpered.

Evie suddenly laughed through her tears on his chest. "Stop being a baby, Seth. It'll grow back in no time." The words came out muffled.

"Tell us what you know and why I shouldn't kill you." Nate demanded.

And with his sister in his arms and many angry wolves glaring at him, Jack began to speak.

•••••••••••••••••••••

Paul's POV

Bella woke with a groan while I mustered the strength to turn my body towards her. My ribs were very visible, but my side had healed fully. Without the light, the time of day was impossible to tell. There was no telling how long we had been here.

"Hey, honey." It was so good to see her awake.

My stomach growled awkwardly between us. Not so sexy.

Bella gave a small laugh, but her eyes were cautious and worried. "Sorry for cutting you."

I smoothed her hair back with my thumb and kissed her. Our bodies pressed against one another and my arms went around her waist. And I suddenly didn't care that we were imprisoned, I was starving, or that my girl stabbed me.

I am such an idiot.

Maniacal, sleazy laughter drifted down our cell. My spine tightened just as Bella's did. "Why is your old man so annoying and evil?" She muttered, her nose wrinkling in irritation.

Those words startled the ingrained fear out of me. I blinked before a smile split my face in half. "My mom would've loved you, rabbit."

Bella's smile dimmed. "You really think so?"

"I know so." Time had run out while we spoke. John Lahote was now practically pressed against the bars. His bright red eyes were mere slits as he stared at Bella in my arms.

"The others are gone..." he muttered to himself, "I bet they won't even notice if she's gone." I swear we could see venom seeping down his chin.

Bella snorted while I began to shake in anger at the thought of him near her. "Relax, sweetie wolf, a newborn bloodsucker who can't control himself is hardly a match for me. Open that cell door and try it, bastard."

Before I could open my mouth and question my imprint's priorities, my father's head hit the floor while his body remained standing. Not an ounce of blood sprayed and it made the scene all that much more unnatural.

The evil bastard had traded that in for his so-called immortality.

As I looked at the still standing corpse, I tried to find some kind of emotion. Anything instead of the terrible numbness that was spreading throughout my body.

Bella automatically threw her body over my own. I still couldn't really move and I vaguely recalled that I was three-quarters starved. Boots, really dirty ones, interfered with my view of my dad. I half-heartedly tipped my head and tried to get a better view.

Bella's voice pulled me out of this odd phase a moment later. "You?!"

"Yes, me. Now be quiet while I get you out of here. We're on a schedule." Jack dragged an impatient hand over his scarred face. The ground suddenly shook. Jack quickly unlocked the door. He muttered something under his breath and suddenly blue flames with no smoke engulfed the vamp body.

"What was that?"

"Our distraction while I rescue you sad lot." Violet eyes went over my prone body. "Will you be able to move?"

I didn't even have to think about that one. "No. Not unless you have a lot of food."

A blonde eyebrow rose. "I have one stick of beef jerky."

"That's still a no." I was getting light-headed just from this conversation.

"What if I have two sticks of-"

"I'll carry him." Bella interrupted impatiently. "Drayer is over there."

Jack zapped with supernatural speed while Bella picked me up. My stomach rumbled again.

He returned with a hardly recognizable Drayer over his shoulder and a painfully thin, petite woman on the other. His grim face left no room for questions and the two cousins turned wordlessly towards the dungeon stairs.

Another rumble rattled us in ominous warning.