Chapter 25

ANNA

~“Anna, I’m almost there,”~ Zach’s voice sent a wave of relief through her, but the feeling was short-lived.

~“We’re being blocked by fire. Dominic is creating a path for us; we just need a couple of minutes.”~

She didn’t respond, knowing that a couple of minutes would be too late. Anna took a cautious step back, watching the immortal warily.

He was fast. She hadn’t even heard him move before he dropped down in front of her, appearing as if from nowhere.

Dominic had touched on some of the immortal abilities, but Anna was acutely aware at that moment that she was ignorant of everything they could do.

He no longer carried a charming smile or attempted to hide his fury; instead, he glared at Anna murderously.

It was almost as if flames were in his pupils, flickering angrily, hungry to watch him spill blood.

The immortal had underestimated Anna and assumed that she was weak and not a threat. It was something Anna had believed herself.

He had called her a half-breed, something far beneath him, but now, she had injured him, drawn blood, and Anna could imagine it wasn’t something that his ego would let lie.

Anna turned her head, her eyes desperately searching through the trees, trying to map out an escape route. There was no way she could get away without him catching them; she just wasn’t fast enough.

Jamie’s only hope of survival was if she distracted the immortal long enough for Jamie to get away or for help to come.

“You and that pup, you’re both going to die here.” He spat the words out, his voice rough with malice.

“And then, every other ~mutt~ in this pack will follow you. Don’t fear, though; I’ll make certain their deaths are slow and painful.”

He started moving toward them, and Jamie let out a weak whimper. Whether it was for his own life or for that of his parents, his pack, Anna wasn’t sure.

She had no idea how much the pup understood, but his body was vibrating with fear.

Anna knew that no matter what happened there, she couldn’t let Jamie die.

She bent low to lay him on the ground. Then, she nudged his side, trying to get him to stand, even as she knew that his leg must be causing him terrible pain.

The pup refused to stand, his head held tight against Anna’s foreleg, but before she could try pushing him again, a loud ~whoosh~ filled the air.

Anna’s head shot up, searching for the sound, and found that somebody was standing in front of the immortal, blocking her and Jamie from sight.

She could only see their back, but it was clearly a male and not someone she recognized.

The breeze blew his scent to her and only added more confusion because, all at once, it was both familiar and unfamiliar.

“You! You should be dead.” The immortal spat the words out furiously, clearly not welcoming the newcomer. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

The newcomer’s posture was relaxed, his hands in the front pockets of his pants as if he were having a casual conversation with someone on the street.

Anna wanted to warn him of what the other was capable of, but it sounded like they knew each other.

She refocused her attention on Jamie and picked him up again, intent on escaping as soon as the immortal was completely distracted.

“No, I’m very much alive, although I am paler than I’d like,” the newcomer said, amused. “A downside of a few decades in hiding, I guess, Castor.”

“The elders ordered your execution. I saw the order, the seal on it. I was there!” Frustration filled the immortal’s, Castor’s, voice as he took a step backward.

His confidence seemed to be waning slightly now that the playing field was more evenly matched.

“I’m sure you were; so you are also aware that not every elder is a part of the Circle. Information I was also privy to, so I knew exactly who to go to with my tale. They saw the benefit in my survival, especially since I might one day be able to wreak havoc on the Circle.”

“I will correct that grave error!” Castor snarled, crouching and ready to spring. The other immortal chuckled as if he had never heard anything so ridiculous.

Castor’s fury only increased at the sound, but he paused, his eyes darting behind the male’s body, locking on Anna with gleeful malice.

“I know just how to bring you down.”

The newcomer slid his hands out of his pockets, his posture straightening. Anna couldn’t see his expression, but she imagined that all signs of humor had disappeared.

“You can try, but you will fail.” The words were a grim promise. Anna’s focus was wholly on the immortal as his hands clenched into fists. The ground began to tremble beneath their feet.

Anna braced herself, believing it to be an earthquake before she saw craters forming underneath Castor’s feet, trapping him.

The immortal used Castor’s momentary shock and immobility to begin pummeling him with big boulders of rock and dirt, firing them at him like cannons.

Anna watched in shock, seeing only his arms moving but not touching anything. The boulders were flying through the air as if on their own.

Throwing his arms up to shield himself, Castor burst free from the rock prison around his feet. He immediately ran toward the other immortal, flames sprouting from his hands and covering his forearms.

Castor brandished them like weapons, swinging them high to try and catch the other immortal in the head, but he jumped backward, dodging out of the way of the flames.

Castor prepared to launch another assault, but a noise drew his attention. Everyone froze as Zach burst through the trees in his wolf form.

Dominic followed, strolling casually as if on an afternoon walk.

At the sight of the two immortals, Zach paused, his eyes assessing the situation before landing on Anna and Jamie.

Dominic had frozen next to Zach, his own gaze locked on the unknown immortal, his expression shocked.

“…Caius?”

“Brother!” The immortal called in a cheerful voice, grinning across at Dominic. “About time you showed up. Your skills must be lacking if a wee fire stalled you for so long.”

Dominic eyed Castor warily, the male still covered in flames and wearing an angry snarl. He stepped toward the two males so that now both he and Caius stood in Castor’s way.

“If you were alive, Caius, where the hell have you been?” Dominic growled, keeping his eyes on Castor.

Castor’s eyes were flicking between the two immortals, looking slightly crazed at how the situation had escalated so quickly.

Caius turned slightly to glance at Anna over his shoulder.

“I believed it was time to meet my daughter.”

Anna shook her head, taking a step away from the group though Jamie whined at her movement. Her confusion was strong; she was unable to understand what was happening.

Too much had happened too quickly. Blake, Dominic, immortals, Castor, and now…her father?

Blake and Dominic both had said that Caius had been responsible for her mother’s ultimate death, but Castor had acted as if Caius had loved Katherine and had tried to run away with her.

It was all too much.

Zach moved over to Anna and Jamie, standing so that his big body was between her and the three immortals.

He didn’t try to speak with her, as if instinctively knowing that at that moment, she wasn’t capable of discussing anything.

“Caius and Dominic,” Castor scoffed, “finally reunited and aligning with the wolves.” His face was twisted with hatred, seeming wholly inhuman and something much more animalistic.

While he was distracted, Zach started moving backward, forcing Anna to step back slowly toward the tree line.

Just before they made it into the shadows, there was a loud shout, and a fireball burst out of Castor’s palm, directed at Dominic.

Before it could hit him, Dominic flicked his wrist, forcing the flames right back toward Castor.

Caius raised his fingers, and as Anna watched, the earth started moving again under Castor’s feet, throwing him to the ground before vines stretched out of the ground, twisting over Castor’s body and trapping his arms closed.

Castor thrashed his body, trying to break free, the whites of his eyes showing as he began to realize that his life was very much at risk.

He finally tore himself out of the vines’ hold and set them alight before throwing himself at Caius and surrounding them both with fire.

Dominic shouted from outside the circle, trying to slow the flames down, but his wind only seemed to feed them.

As suddenly as it started, everything stopped. The flames died away, and Castor stood in a circle of blackened ground, but he was alone.

Looking victorious, he opened his mouth to gloat just as a hand punched into the back of his chest, right through to the other side.

Caius materialized behind him, his clothes completely blackened and falling off his body but his skin seemingly unharmed.

He removed his bloody fist from Castor’s chest, thrust a hand into the stunned immortal’s hair, and gripped his neck with the other hand, tearing Castor’s head from his body.

He threw the head several meters away, kicking the body away from him before glancing first at Dominic and then behind him at the two wolves.

“We’ll need to burn his body to ensure he stays dead.”

***

Leaving the immortals to deal with Castor’s remains, Anna and Zach started the walk back toward the den as wolves.

Jamie was still safely grasped in Anna’s mouth, his small body bouncing slightly with each step. Anna worried he had gone into shock because he was utterly silent.

There was no conversation between her and Zach, the link between them tense and fraught with heightened emotion.

Anna was becoming used to the psychic link, now always aware of the connection between them, but right now, she was unable to tell whose emotions belonged to whom.

The walk back to the den seemed to take a lot longer than when Anna had first gone out looking for Jamie. Her body, even though she was a wolf, seemed heavy and her footsteps were slow.

Anna guessed that, unused to such an outflow of power and energy, her body was now drained to the point of burnout.

Just as she started to struggle, Zach’s big head nudged her hind leg, giving her a gentle push forward.

He was there with her. Anna had never been so grateful for anything in her life, and she pushed those feelings down the link, turning to watch as his gaze turned to her.

He only inclined his head once, acknowledging her, before giving her another push forward.

When they finally made it to the clearing at the den entrance, they were met with a crowd of people.

Anna recognized most of them as soldiers from their black uniforms, but right at the front of the crowd was Natalie.

Next to her, their bodies vibrating with impatience, were Eloise and Denton, Jamie’s parents.

Eloise let out a hoarse cry as she caught sight of them, immediately jumping into motion and running forward to meet them, Denton hot on her heels.

As soon as she was within reach, Eloise gently reached out and took Jamie from Anna’s grasp, cuddling his furry body against her chest.

Denton wrapped his arms around the two, his expression strained with relief and his eyes looking suspiciously wet.

After a long moment, Denton looked down at Anna, meeting her eyes.

“Zach told me some of what happened. He told me that you’re the reason Jamie is alive.”

Letting go of his family, he bent down in front of Anna and ran a hand over her head, smoothing down the black fur. “We’ll never be able to repay that, Anna. Thank you.”

Anna dipped her head, feeling overwhelmed at the love pouring out of Denton.

She glanced up at Eloise and saw the same expression; even as she mouthed, “Thank you,” her lips were quivering with emotion.

Zach moved next to Anna, standing so close to her that almost every part of her body on that side was touching his. She leaned against his bigger body, supporting herself on him.

Denton smiled briefly before standing and moving back to his family just as Natalie approached them. The healer stroked a hand over the pup’s small head.

“Hello, my boy. I know that you’ve had a tough day, but I need you to shift for me, okay? Mum doesn’t have to put you down, but I need to see your human legs to help you. Can you do that for me?”

Natalie’s voice was soft, and her fingers never stopped gently stroking his head. Jamie looked from her to his mother, hesitating. Eloise smiled tearfully, leaning down to touch her nose to his.

“Go on, Jamie. You’re safe now. Let’s get you fixed up, hmm?”

With a heavy, resigned sigh, Jamie wriggled in Eloise’s arms, the shift taking longer than it normally would have because of the pain he must have been in.

After a moment, loud cracking sounds came from his body as it morphed back into its smaller human form. There sat a small boy blinking blearily at them, his eyes red.

“Oh, baby…” Eloise pulled him closer, burying her head into his messy brown hair as tears began escaping her eyes. Jamie flinched as his leg was jiggled, pushing one hand against Eloise’s chest.

“Muuuuum!” he whined, but in the next moment, he looped his arms around her neck, clinging tightly.

Anna guessed it would be a fair while before Eloise let Jamie out of her sight but didn’t think Jamie would mind. He would need a lot of loving to come back from the terror he had experienced today.

“Well done, Jamie,” Natalie praised, moving her hand down so she could gently smooth it over his injured leg. He gave a small whimper at her ministrations but held still until she was finished.

“It feels like a clean break, but before I try to heal it, I’d like to get some scans done just to make sure.” Natalie looked at Eloise and Denton and gave a reassuring smile.

“We’ll give him something for the pain too, but I expect a full recovery with just a little ice cream.”

Jamie’s head jerked up, fixing his gaze on Natalie. “Ice cream?”

The three adults chuckled before Natalie turned toward the wolves, looking down sternly at Anna.

“I want you to come and see me after you’ve rested.” She turned to look at Zach, who inclined his head as he communicated without words.

“Good. I’ll see you both later,” Natalie finally said.

They all turned toward the den. Eloise’s soft murmuring to Jamie reached Anna’s ears as they began to walk away.

Anna felt an ache in her heart, knowing that she would never know a mother’s touch like that. Would Katherine have been a loving mother, or would she have been like her sister?

Zach nuzzled the side of her face softly, drawing her attention to him.

~“Let’s go.”~ His voice was soft in her mind and hearing it filled Anna with warmth. She may not have had a typical family, but she did have a family now, and it was centered around this male.

As they started walking, following the family into the den, Anna watched as the soldiers dispersed, guessing that Zach was giving them instructions to go out to the battlefield and aid the immortals.

She followed Zach down into the tunnels, growing wearier with every step.

Logically, she knew it was because the adrenaline was wearing off since she was out of danger and Jamie was safe, but it left her feeling oddly empty as well.

If someone asked her to use those wind powers right then, she wouldn’t have a clue how or even know if she could. It was as if the power had emerged to save her, and now, it had gone back into hiding.

Zach paused in front of her and Anna looked around, not recognizing this part of the den but knowing they were nowhere near her quarters.

Alex stood in front of them at a door, and after giving Anna a small smile—the most expression she had ever seen on his face—he opened the door, holding it open for them to enter.

Zach entered first with Anna close behind. She turned, expecting Alex to come in too, but saw the door softly shut behind her, leaving her and Zach alone.

She looked around the room and saw that they were in a masculine bedroom sparsely furnished in dark tones, mahoganies and blacks, with a large bed taking up the most space.

Anna sniffed delicately, confirming that they were definitely in Zach’s private quarters. She met his gaze as he turned to watch her, his eyes glinting in amusement.

He disappeared through an open door and came back carrying a black terry cloth robe. He placed it on the ground in front of Anna before disappearing back into what must have been his bathroom.

Anna’s heart swelled at his thoughtfulness, knowing he must have realized she wouldn’t have been comfortable shifting and being completely naked in front of him.

Anna closed her eyes, willing herself to change back to her human form, and was exhilarated as the feeling of shifting came over her. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed it, pain and all.

When all the fur was gone and she was looking decidedly human, she picked up the robe and quickly slipped it on, belting it around her waist.

It was ginormous, almost reaching the floor and constantly slipping down her arms. She clutched the lapels at her chest, holding it closed. The scent was decidedly Zach’s, but it was faint.

“That’s because it was a gift.” His voice was amused as he strolled back into the room, clad only in sweatpants sitting low on his hips, leaving his chest bare.

As Anna stared at him, chewing her lip nervously, he shrugged, smiling, “It’s nice, but I prefer no clothes when I’m alone.”

Anna ducked her head as her cheeks started burning, her mind filled with vivid images of Zach.

Zach and not much else.

He moved toward her with that soft smile on his face, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her into his chest.

Anna buried her face against his warm skin, feeling like she had just come home. All the tension leeched out of her body as she leaned against him and raised her arms to wrap them around his waist. Zach leaned down, nuzzling her hair.

“Your wolf is beautiful, Anna,” he murmured. “Ignoring every other thing today, I’m so glad I got to see that.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever get it back.” Though her voice was muffled against his chest, the emotion in it was clear. “Something else happened out there, Zach. It was more than just my wolf—”

“I know,” he cut in, smoothing a hand over her head. “There’s lots of time to get into the details. Right now, you need to rest. And I need to hold you to reassure myself that you’re okay.”

Anna tilted her head up and gave a wobbly smile, feeling the reassurance and affection he was pouring into their bond.

“That sounds kind of perfect.”