After the Moon Rises (15 page)

Abso-fucking-wonderful. Not only did he have to worry about his mate, his own life, the lives of his new pack and exactly how the fuck he would take out an evil sorcerer, but now he needed to worry that said sorcerer didn’t read his mind while he attempted to kill the crazy bastard.

Where were his mental blocks when he needed them?

It’s just like when you originally learned to block your thoughts. It’s just a different channel. Find the channel and you’ll be fine.

Thanks for the confidence.

Margie patted his arm.
No problem. That’s what mates are for, right?

What other alpha things can I expect?

That’s a topic for a different day. I don’t have enough time now to go through it all. But besides the thoughts, there shouldn’t be anything else that will impede tonight’s fight. Just guard your thoughts. Find that mental barrier and erect it.

Several hours, numb ass cheeks, and a full darkness later, his mental barriers were all in place, built and fortified. His mate sat cross-legged on the pine-needle strewn ground beside him, her enforcers spread out under the pines around the clearing. The gravel drive slithered like a snake into the trees, leading to the main entrance of the dude ranch, presumably where Sid would try to come in. It went against Sid’s motto to sneak in and grab something, especially when said something sat under the trees opposite them. Landa had donned a black cap, which hid her blonde hair. Good thing too, since her hair glowed in the moonlight.

Zane stared at his hand, his human hand, twisting it back and forth through the shadows. Human. On the third day of the moon. For the first time in his life, he controlled the change, it didn’t control him. He wanted to be in human form and surprise, surprise, he was.

“How do your enforcers stay human?”

Margie cocked an eyebrow, turning from where she stared at the lane as if she could summon Sid to their trap. “The alpha can cause a change in any of the pack members. If I want them to change into a wolf, poof, they’re a wolf. If I want them to stay human, yep, they’re human.”

“Doesn’t that drain you?”

“Nope. It’s part of the powers that come with the label. You’ll see.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “Do you think Sid’s going to pass on tonight?”

“I don’t know. I’m surprised he’s waited this long.”

“Well, he hasn’t attacked the ranch house.” She tilted her head to the side. “Nope. Everything’s a little tense, but essentially all right.”

As if their talking about Sid summoned him, the sound of heavy boots crunching on gravel whispered through the trees. By the amount of crunching, Zane guessed at least six enforcers walked behind Sid.

Okay, everyone. Get ready.
Margie stood.

He would not lower himself to beg her to let him meet Sid first. Nope. She made a plan, and as much as he hated to admit it, the plan was a good one. Except for one small thing. He refused to hide in the woods while his female, his mate, marched up to the alpha who held his sister captive.

Not happening. Sid was about to breathe his last for terrorizing Zenia and Zane was more than happy to be the cause of that last inhale.

“Sorry, but I’m coming with you.”

She opened her mouth, as if in protest, and then shrugged. “If you must. But let me do the talking. This is my pack, after all.”

Talking, he could handle. Letting her walk alone into the clearing to meet Sid, not an option. Zane walked a bit in front of Margie, not enough to where he led, but enough to where he could shield her body with his, if need be.

“Zane?” Sid’s voice grated across his nerves, firing off a barely suppressed growl. The sound had no sooner died in his throat when Sid stepped out of the shadows, six enforcers forming a semi-circle around him. Thunder sounded in the distance, its faint rumblings muted by the trees.

“Hey, Sid.”

“I thought you were dead. You’ve ... changed.”

Yeah? Having one’s engine turbocharged with alpha powers will do that to a person. “Have I?”

Sid stared at him until Zane felt his skin crawl. Standing motionless ranked up there as one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

“I’m Margie McLean, pack leader of London, Montana.”

Sid smiled, his incisors gleaming in the moonlight. “I’m Sid and you have someone I want. I demand Landa back. She’s had some rough times and must be kept under close supervision so she doesn’t hurt herself or others.”

“She seems fine to me.”

Zane sensed Margie’s enforcers creeping through the underbrush, surrounding Sid and his men. They were good, real good. Even with his heightened sense of hearing, he couldn’t hear their steps, couldn’t see them either. Sid’s team of enforcers consisted of four males that would give their left nut to watch Sid die and two who were loyal. Not that being loyal scored them any brownie points.

He didn’t take his eyes off Sid.

“She’s not fine, not by a long shot. She’s a good actress, but she needs to be returned to her own people.”

“And you need six enforcers to return her?” Margie’s hands were loose by her sides, but the pose didn’t fool Zane, and he doubted it did Sid either. Tension rippled along her shoulders, pouring down her arms.

“Zane, hold her while I find out where Landa is.” Sid took a step forward while Zane shoved Margie behind him. He heard her growl and didn’t care.

“No. You’re not hurting another female.”

“What? How can you defy me?” Sid touched the torc encircling his neck. His eyes narrowed before popping wide. “How? Never mind. Your sister will pay for your insolent attitude.”

“Like hell she will.”

“Mark, take out Zane while I deal with the bitch.” Sid touched the torc that lay around his neck, the torc that helped him control the actions of his enforcers.

Focus on Sid or focus on Mark? Or on Margie, who had slipped from behind him.
Shit.
Zane’s gaze darted between the three of them, Mark taking the choice away. His best friend, one of the four who hated Sid, strode toward Zane, his steps stilted like a puppet on a string.

Zane, man, you have to take me down.
Lurching like a drunk, Mark took two steps closer.
I can smell you’re free of him. Use those new-fangled alpha powers to take me down before I’m forced to follow through on his kill order. I can only hold him off for a little while.

Okaaaay. Instead of watching over his mate, or killing his former pack leader, he had to deal with the best-friend-under-the-influence-of-magical-torc syndrome. At least there was a cure for that.

Zane took a couple of steps forward, meeting Mark with his arm extended, fingers jabbing into Mark’s throat. Mark gagged and bent over, reflex bringing his hands up to cover his throat.
Sorry, man.
Lacing his fingers together, Zane brought his palms down across the back of Mark’s head, dropping his friend to the ground.

Thanks
hissed through his mind as Mark slipped into unconsciousness.

Where was Margie? Zane started to turn as a bright flash lit up the clearing. He watched as a bolt of energy slammed into Margie, knocking her to the ground.

“NO!” The word roared out of his mouth, slamming through the clearing with the force of a tornado, ripping apart tree limbs in its path. He didn’t think, nothing mattered but that his mate was injured, if not killed, and the one responsible would pay.

Before the echo of the sound stopped, he moved, running through the grass toward Sid who still stood with his hand raised, staring at Margie’s prone body. His head turned at the sound of Zane’s roar, eyes widening as Zane leapt, body changing, thickening until he became wolf mid-flight.

Sid managed to get one arm up before Zane landed on him, teeth shredding into skin, claws puncturing ... dirt? He looked up only to see Sid standing in front of him. What the fuck?

Sid laughed, his head thrown back. “It takes a lot more than that to harm me. The only reason you got your teeth in is you took me by surprise. What the hell happened to your torc?”

Sid held his arm close to his body, darkness staining his shirt and dripping onto the ground to vanish in the shadows. Zane growled.

“Don’t answer me, then. It doesn’t matter. You’re dead and your pretty little sister will pay for it. Think on that in the afterlife.”

Before Zane could move, a flash of light appeared in Sid’s hand, only to be thrown his way. With a crash, it sank into his skin, under his skin, becoming part of him, as it charged through his system, fluttering his heart’s rhythm. Pain exploded through his body, his muscles twitching in agony. He dropped to the ground, blackness beckoning, a comforting warmth, his friend and yet his enemy. The last sound he heard before succumbing to the darkness was all hell breaking loose around him.

Chapter Six

Margie looked at a prone Zane with a mixture of horror and anger, a twitch spasming her jaw. What the hell had Zane been thinking when he attacked Sid? The last few minutes of the good-plan-gone-bad ran through her mind as she remembered her shock at seeing Zane all furry. As she lay on the ground playing her part, being dead, she had heard him roar, the sound exploding through the clearing.

Her narrowed gaze had landed on Zane in wolf form as he jumped Sid. What the hell had he been thinking? He heard the plan, the plan that stated she would pretend to take the energy blast, pretend to be killed. Element of surprise and all. Once Sid thought her down for the count, she could use her own magic to take him out.

Yeah, her pack had been surprised at the “M” word and her use of it. Zane had been angry that she was putting herself in harm’s way, but she hadn’t thought he’d jump Sid. Had he forgotten about the plan?

Clearly.

What about everyone else? Had they forgotten the plan too? A glance around the clearing showed nothing but branches dancing in the wind. At least her enforcers’ memories worked. She didn’t see a one of them, but knew they hid in the shadows of the trees, waiting.

Sticking to the plan, unlike her mate. Five of Sid’s enforcers stood along the inner perimeter of the trees, their gazes darting from where Sid stood, to Zane’s prone form, to the dark shadows of creaking branches, obviously seeking her enforcers. Good luck there, hers were hidden but good. The sixth enforcer lay on the ground not far from her, a casualty of Zane’s fists. One down, five to go.

Provided the plan wasn’t clawed to hell. What had Zane been thinking?

When she had seen a streak of white light explode in her vision and realized it hit Zane, she thought a part of her had died. Just curled right up and expired.

Her jaw hurt from clenching it so hard, the muscle twitching in time to her heartbeat. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed her jaw. As if doing so opened a drain, the anger roiling through her system bled out, leaving behind a cacophony of other emotions. And surprise, surprise, horror won out. Margie’s heart beat double-time, thumping like a drum behind her ribcage. Was he hurt? Was he even alive? She tried to swallow, but it stuck in her dry throat. To hell with the element of surprise, her mate was down and she couldn’t lie around waiting for Sid to turn his back and not notice her.

But if she leapt up and ran to Zane like her legs were twitching to do, she’d put her enforcers and Landa in danger. Or more danger than they were already in. The plan was dashed to hell and back but she could still salvage some of it.

Taking a deep breath, Margie focused on calming herself. The forest sounds faded to background static as she concentrated on breathing, imagining a blank landscape before her eyes. No more clearing, no more mate, just her breath as it went into her lungs and out through her mouth.

In and out. In and out. Her breath expelled from her mouth in a rush, forming a small bubble of fog that hovered in front of her face. Another breath in and out and the fog expanded, circling around Sid’s enforcers, blinding them, but allowing her pack to see clearly. Wasn’t magic grand?

“What the fuck?”

“Where did that come from?”

She smelled their tension, their fear. Sid, who headed to where Landa hid in the shadows, paused, turning to stare at the fog surrounding his enforcers.

Not caring if Sid saw her, Margie rolled to her feet. Staying in a crouched position, she darted to Zane. Yells sounded from the fog, the roars of her enforcers, the whimpers of Sid’s. When she reached Zane, she dropped to her knees, fingers seeking and finding his pulse. Unlike Mike, he didn’t look like a crispy critter left in the sun to bake. If she hadn’t seen him fall, she would have thought him asleep.

His pulse beat slow but strong under her fingers. Thank heaven Landa had removed Zane’s torc, allowing his alpha powers to shine through. When Sid’s blast smacked her down, she’d felt its strength, its power. But even if she hadn’t thrown a shield of magic around herself, she would have survived it. Geared to take down a beta, the energy blast he threw would only knock out an alpha. Why Sid would toss a blast designed for a beta at an alpha, she didn’t know. Hopefully it meant he wasn’t as powerful as he liked to think.

“Zane?” she whispered, her mouth close to his ear. What would she do if Zane didn’t make it? If her guess was wrong? “Zane, wake up!”

Nothing. She tried to swallow. At least he breathed.

A high-pitched scream cut through the night, followed by a deep rumbling bass of thunder. In a blink, Margie tracked the scream, following it until she saw Sid standing at the edge of the trees, one hand clamped around Landa’s arm, dragging her out of a bush.

Another blink and she glanced to the sky. Despite the thunder, no clouds hung directly overhead, allowing stars to flit like diamonds on black velvet. Above the pines, black clouds perched like ebony cotton balls, blending into the dark sky. A third blink and she rolled to her feet, drawing energy into her palms until a ball of shimmering light danced on top of each one.

The SOB managed to knock out her mate, but he sure as hell wasn’t taking off with her newest pack member. That happening was a no-go. Plus, he had some payback coming for taking out Zane. Not bothering with niceties, like,
hey Sid, you slimy bastard, I’m going to take you down
, she took two steps forward and lobbed a ball.