“Come on, buddy, I want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what happened.” Garrett spoke low and softly to Damon as he stroked his thumb across Damon’s hand.
“They found out I came here.” Damon’s words were jittery, but Lachlan could understand him. “My mother took my hair and skin as punishment.” Damon started to shake again, and Lachlan placed a hand on Damon’s thin, boney shoulder. “She said next time she’d take my head.”
“That’s harsh,” Aaron said as he placed another towel over Damon’s head.
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“She thought I was too weak to fade out, but I did. I left, and she doesn’t even know it.” Damon tried to laugh but it was a failed attempt. “Showed her.”
“Damon, why did you come here?” Lachlan asked.
“To warn you.” Damon grabbed Lachlan’s hand. “They’re going to sacrifice two of your wolves tonight. They want to lure you out.”
The last part Damon spoke to Garrett. “Your devotion to your pack will force you to hunt down their murderers, and Lachlan would go with you. He’d follow you into hell, and my mother knows this. They want to kill him in front of you to make you suffer.” Damon started to weep. “Then they’ll kill you and drink your blood.”
“Oh my god,” was all Lachlan could say.
“Who did they take, Damon?” Garrett kept his calm and asked the most important question. “Who are they going to sacrifice?”
“Two men. I’m not sure of their names, but they’re young. Too young to die.”
The front door banged open, and Ben stomped into the living room with Miles and Quinn on his heels. Behind them followed Trevor, Abner, Klaus, and Carter.
Klaus and Carter were both witches. Garrett was relieved to see them. If anyone could help with a witch problem it was another witch.
Abner followed behind Carter. He was a bear shifter and also Carter’s mate. The last he heard the two were still on the outs but Garrett was grateful for the large man’s assistance.
“Do you know where they’re keeping the men?” Garrett asked.
“In the woods about two hundred yards from where the girl was found. They know you hunt there and will find the bodies easily.”
Damon’s eyelids started to droop.
“Damon.” Lachlan shook his shoulder. “Damon.” Another shake.
“Easy there, Lachlan,” Ben said as he came up behind Lachlan.
“He’s passed out, and by the looks of him, that’s a good thing. The pain must be unbearable.”
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“I’m going,” Garrett announced. He released Damon’s hand and stood up.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Lachlan stood toe to toe with his mate.
“That’s exactly what they want. They want you and me to go out there so they can kill us.” Lachlan waved his hands in the air. “Is that what you want?”
“Damon said that their plan is to get to us after they kill their captives, not before. I say we ambush them.” Garrett softened his tone and rested his hand on the back of Lachlan’s neck. “I can’t leave my pack members out there to die like that. I just can’t, and I think deep down neither can you.”
Lachlan took a deep breath and tried to swallow around the lump lodged in his windpipe. He rested his forehead against Garrett’s as the worst-case scenario played through his mind. Losing Garrett wasn’t an option he was willing to gamble on.
“I have faith in you. Now I need you to have faith in me, Lachlan.
I need you by my side when we take down these bastards.”
Lachlan pulled back to look into Garrett’s eyes. “You want me to come with you?” That possibility never entered his mind that Garrett would want him there. Garrett had always tried to make Lachlan stay far away from danger, and Lachlan despised that. But now his mate stood before him asking for his help. Lachlan thought hell must have frozen over for such a request to pass his mate’s lips.
“Of course. We’re a team, and we’re better together than apart.”
Garrett pulled Lachlan into a kiss, and the passion sparked to life. Soft swipes of tongue and gentle nibbles of teeth fueled Lachlan’s need to stay by his mate’s side and protect the only man he’d ever love.
The sharp sounds of clapping had them jerking apart. Lachlan and Garrett turned in the direction the noise had come from. Trevor stood there grinning like a devil.
“It’s about fucking time you two got those ginormous heads out of your tight asses. Thank you, Jesus.” Trevor raised his hands heavenward as if giving thanks to God himself.
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“Trevor, you’re such an ass.” Miles pushed his hand against Trevor’s head. “Sorry, you guys. The filter from his brain to his mouth has never worked. I think my aunt dropped him on his head as an infant.”
“Oh please!” Trevor exclaimed. “I just vocalized what we were all thinking.” Trevor pointed his hand to the men standing around the room.
“It’s okay, Miles,” Lachlan said. “The little loudmouth has a point.”
“Hey,” Trevor said with a pout, and Lachlan couldn’t help but grin.
“Now that we have all that settled. Let’s come up with a plan to go and collect your pack members.” Ben fell right into command mode, and Lachlan followed his lead.
Lachlan knew the importance of getting into the woods and fast.
Damon had passed out before he said when exactly this sacrifice would be taking place. They had the location, and that was better than nothing. Lachlan just prayed they made it in time.
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Less than an hour later, dressed all in black, Lachlan and the others moved silently through the woods. The sun had set completely, and full-on night gave them cover as they moved through the woods.
Lachlan stayed close to Garrett’s side as they trudged forward.
Ben had come up with the plan to surround the dark warriors from all sides. He thought having the element of surprise on their side was their best commodity at the moment. Ben paired off Lachlan and Garrett to attack from the front, Carter and Abner from the back, Trevor and Quinn from the west side, and Ben, Miles, and Klaus coming at the dark warriors from the east. Some of the Carrington Pack members were being led by Wes and Aaron and held back about hundred yards, ready to attack on Ben’s command if the dark warrior’s numbers outweighed their own. All their bases were covered.
“How come whenever trouble has to go down, it’s in the fucking woods?” Trevor asked. “I mean it’s so cliché. It’s like in a horror movie. It’s all been played out before.” Lachlan rolled his eyes, and wasn’t the only one, as Trevor carried on.
“So, Trevor,” Miles interrupted his cousin. “Would you rather the crazy, scary assholes use methods that aren’t as predictable? So that maybe they take us by surprise and kill us all.”
“Oh dear god in heaven knock it off,” Quinn whispered. “You two fight like a couple of five-year-olds.”
Lachlan bit back a giggle. In the face of danger the sparring cousins always found a way to take the edge off the impending doom of the situation. He didn’t think Trevor or Miles knew they were
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doing it, but it seemed to help relieve some tension from the fight ahead.
“Okay, we separate from here.” Ben motioned everyone close.
“Make sure your earpieces are on and only speak when absolutely necessary.”
“He’s talking to you, bitch.” Miles thumped Trevor on the forehead.
“I’ll show you bitch.” Trevor moved to smack Miles in the head, but Quinn snatched him around the waist and set him on the other side away from his cousin.
“Remember these are dark warriors and they fight dirty. Be ready for anything. We all saw what they did to Damon, and he’s one of their own.” Ben looked from man to man then checked his headset to make sure he could connect with Wes and Aaron from where they were out in the distance. Satisfied, Ben motioned for everyone to take their positions.
Garrett grabbed Lachlan’s arm as he started to head forward. He raised an eyebrow at his mate. “You okay, Garrett?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you no matter what happens here tonight, I love you and if it comes down to it, save yourself. Run if you have to and if it means leaving me, then do it.”
“Shut up, Garrett.” Lachlan placed a hard kiss on his mate’s lips silencing any arguments. “If you go down, then I’m going down with you. I’d never leave you when you need me the most. We’re mates, that’s what we do,” Lachlan said with a small smile.
“I figured you’d say that.” Garrett kissed him one more time then started to walk off. “You’re such a stubborn hard-ass. I think I might need to spank that out of you.”
“Promises, promises.” Lachlan pinched Garrett on the butt as he caught up to him. Lachlan never had any doubt before going into a battle, but he also never had so much on the line to lose before either.
Giving Garrett a tight smile, he fanned out a little and kept pace with
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Garrett as they got closer to the location Damon had said they’d find the dark warriors.
Fifteen minutes had passed and still nothing. They were close to where Damon had said they would be, but Lachlan didn’t see anything. Then a crack wrenched through the eerily quiet night.
Garrett and Lachlan glanced at each other then turned to hustle up the small hill. They stopped and looked across a small clearing but didn’t see anything.
“Ben, did you guys hear that?” Lachlan asked into his radio.
“Yeah, but I’m not seeing anything. What? Hang on a sec, Lachlan.” Ben paused then came back across the earpiece. “Klaus said he can feel energy in the air. Some sort of magic is all around us.
Klaus said to be cautious.”
“Copy that.” Lachlan looked at Garrett and nudged his chin toward the dark space of woods in front of them.
They slowly stepped forward, looking for any signs of dark warriors. Ben said Klaus felt magical energy all around them but Lachlan couldn’t see or scent a single soul in the area except for his mate and fellow warriors. He felt like a sitting duck as he walked along in the darkened night. Every shadow cast to the ground had his heart skipping a beat. Danger was in the air, and Lachlan couldn’t pinpoint what direction it came from.
Lachlan was about to radio Ben when something weird happened.
What appeared to be a flash shined in front of his eyes. It happened so quickly at first Lachlan thought he must have been seeing things.
Then it flashed again, and he saw two men strung up between two trees. They were beaten and bloodied.
The scene before him kept flashing in and out. Lachlan zoned in on an all too familiar face.
Josh!
Without thinking Lachlan took off running. He could hear Garrett behind him shouting for him to stop, but he couldn’t. Didn’t Garrett see that it was Josh? They had to save him.
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Lachlan continued running toward Josh. A hazy fog engulfed him.
Lachlan’s legs were pumping hard with his excursion, but he didn’t feel like he was going anywhere. It was like trying to run through water. His body felt heavy and dragging. The force of the pressure weighed powerfully down on his body as he kept running, but his attempts were sluggish.
Then as soon as the feeling started, it stopped. He stood in front of a blazing fire. Lachlan looked around him and didn’t see the person holding his pack members hostage, but he did get a good view of who was being held with Josh. Victor. He should have known. The two men were inseparable.
“Garrett, let’s get them down.” Lachlan turned to look at his mate but didn’t see Garrett anywhere. He walked back the way he came but ran into an invisible wall. He bounced back as he tried to go through it. Lachlan pounded his fist on clear barrier and shouted Garrett’s name.
Lachlan tried to call Ben from his earpiece but was met with the same eerie silence. He couldn’t reach his mate or the warriors.
Lachlan looked back over his shoulder. He was alone.
He took a cautious step forward, constantly looking around him for the persons responsible for this as he neared the young wolves.
“Josh. Victor,” Lachlan whispered.
Josh’s head rose slightly, and he tried to pull against his bindings, but it was no use. Lachlan looked over to Victor but the young man didn’t move. His youthful face was puffy and almost on the verge of unrecognizable. Dark-purple marks streaked across his tanned skin.
Both eyes were swollen shut, and blood dripped from gashes on his chest.
Looking back to Josh, he didn’t appear to be much better, but he was awake. Lachlan thought it a miracle Josh had stayed conscious, but then again it would have been better if Josh had fallen into that blissfulness that came with sleep instead of witnessing the man he loved being beaten while he watched, helpless to do anything about it.
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“I’m going to get you out of this,” Lachlan said to Josh.
Lachlan moved quickly, reaching for the knot holding one of his hands when he saw Josh jerk. The young man’s eyes went wide, and he looked down at Lachlan.
“Josh, it’s okay.” Lachlan tried to calm him down. “I’m here, and nothing will happen to you now. Promise.”
Josh continued to struggle. The man was on the verge of panic.
Lachlan fumbled with the knot, but it was tight. He went to reach for his knife when a hand landed on his shoulder, and Lachlan froze in place.
“Now why would you make a promise you can’t possibly keep, Lachlan?”
Clara?
Lachlan slowly turned around and was met with the realization that his ears weren’t deceiving him. The magnitude of the situation topped with the knowledge that the once-innocent face of a woman he thought he knew had in fact been nothing but a stranger.
Clara’s wavy, brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.
Her heart-shaped face looked gnarled and haggard from evil and unfamiliar to Lachlan now. The eyes that once drew him in reflected nothing but hate. Lachlan couldn’t grasp that this was his sweet, kindhearted Clara. The young woman he would have done anything for.