Unconditional

One of his brows slid up which meant he knew what she was thinking. She rolled her eyes and turned around, getting to her knees in the circle, her hands hovering just above the earth there.

Akio circled where she knelt, his nose to the ground, and Josh prowled around, never getting too very far from her.

She used a spell Lark had described to her over the phone to try to discern how many different mages had been there. She could pick up two mages, along with Allie, and there was something else.

She paused, brushing her fingertips over a patch of ground, and it was like she’d opened a drawer or pulled the lid off something. The power of it, whatever it was, flooded her, crashing past the shields she’d erected to defend herself.

Dark.

Horrible. So horrible and overflowing with bad things, there was nothing else, only cold and loneliness. It filled her veins with lead even as all she wanted to do was move away as fast as she could.

Her senses all seemed to be jumbled up, fighting against each other as she froze, trying to run but not having the will to do it.

He was fine watching her until she brushed her fingertips over a spot in the dirt and then something wrong spilled through the area. It made him want to slip his skin and snarl. Wanted to run away as fast as he could.

He might have simply done that if it hadn’t been for her. It rolled over her, and their link, which until that moment had been fully open between them, had gone from warm and vibrant to a rush of ice. The fullness of their exchange narrowed, choking, dwindling the amount of sensory exchange to nearly nothing.

Akio growled low, stalking between Josh and where Michelle crouched inside the circle.

He looked back over his shoulder at Josh and then growled louder, leaping at Josh, shoving him back and freeing him from whatever feedback loop he’d been caught in.

“Thanks,” he called as he stepped back to her, grabbing her body below her arms and yanking her free. The energy of his motion knocked them both flying back and onto the dirt with a bone-jarring thud.

She was limp in his arms and he shook her slightly. “What? What? Michelle, speak to me right now.” Fear rushed through his veins. Aside from the pack, nothing and no one had been important to him the way she was. That anything threatened her well-being made him no little unstable.

So pale. Damn it. He took her cheeks in his hands, touched his forehead to hers and rushed through their bond, yanking her back from wherever or whatever had tried to take her from him.

He found it, the golden thread that bound them together, and he yanked it as hard as he could with a mental snarl, pulling her close.

A flush rose to her neck and cheeks as she gasped a deep breath and then gagged violently.

She turned to her side and threw up as she feebly tried to push Josh’s hands away but he had no interest in letting her go. He held her hair from her face and rubbed a hand up and down her back.

Akio had shifted back and pulled on a pair of pants. He knelt next to them, a hand on Josh’s knee as they watched her finally get herself under control.

She shook so hard he stood and picked her up. She didn’t argue at all, which concerned him enough to start heading to the car. Akio followed, pulling a shirt on but foregoing shoes.

He nearly ran to the car, trying not to jostle her too much.

Akio reached around them and opened the door so Josh could put her in the front seat gently.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.” He knew he probably stunk of fear, but he didn’t care. She needed help.

She shook her head and then winced. “No, I’m all right. They can’t help with what’s wrong anyway.”

“Fuck that, Michelle. You’re not in my shoes. We’ll go to Gina’s then. Someone needs to look at you.”

“I understand you’re worried. But no one can help me. I’m all right. Or I will be in a while.”

Akio leaned forward, his hands moved to her shoulders. “What happened, little witch? You gave us a scare. You need to cut us a break.”

She reached up and squeezed his hands while she looked to Josh. She was still pale, and the stench of his fear and that wrong energy hung in the car heavily, rendering his wolf skittish and unsettled.

“There is something…else. Not a mage. Not a turned witch. Something I’ve never felt before. More than that, they took shifters too. They smelled like Pacific wolves,” she mumbled as he pulled away from the curb.

They had a few MIA wolves, but that hadn’t been public knowledge. In fact he’d been inclined to believe the wolves they hadn’t heard from were just temporarily out of pocket. Some traveled for business, some could have been on a vacation.

“I didn’t smell any other wolves there.” Akio spoke quietly as he kept his hands on her shoulders.

She gulped water from the bottle Josh handed her.

“No, not on the ground. In the magic. In…whatever it was I felt. It took power from all sorts of Others. Not just witches. Whatever it is, it’s bad. So so bad.”

Akio made a low, frustrated sound. “We knew they were taking wolves. But this… Listen, we need to go to Boston, Josh. Right now. I need her to talk to Cade about this whole thing. The wolves need to know what is happening.”

The imperative to protect his people drove Josh. Filled his veins until he couldn’t think straight.

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I feel it too. I guess it happened when we joined or whatever. I know you need to talk to Cade. I can call Clan Owen from the airport or whatever.”

“At least let Gina meet us at the airport before we go. You were out! I had to use the link to get you.”

“And you did. I’m here. I’m working on being fine again. Gina’s not a doctor or a nurse. I’m the one who felt it. I’ll describe it to someone at Owen. I promise.”

He frowned.

“I’d kiss you to reassure you, but I have vomit breath. Which is not romantical in the least.”

“I’ll arrange a flight out as soon as possible.” Akio leaned close enough to kiss the top of Michelle’s head. “You scared the hell out of me. Let’s not do that again, all right?”

She saluted him and leaned back into the seat, closing her eyes as he plotted the ways he’d kill whoever had done this to his mate.

Akio spoke low on his phone, making arrangements to get back to Boston. Internally, he was relieved to be taking her there instead of Seattle. Witch politics were outside his scope, but he understood wolf politics and he could protect her better with that knowledge. He knew the witches had their own response to this kidnapping thing, but it involved more than just them. Wolves were being taken now. And he’d do whatever he had to to protect his people.

“I need you to talk to Tracy, Nick and Gabe too.”

She sighed. “I need to brush my teeth. And I need a shower. At your place, not theirs.”

He stifled a smile. If she felt well enough to say that, she was getting better. “All right, I’ll make you a deal.”

“I’m not interested in a deal, Josh. I want to go take a shower and brush my teeth. Where I have my clothes and toothbrush. Then you can haul me to your Alphas and to Boston. But I’m not deal-making for anything else.”

Akio snorted but wisely continued his call.

“All right.” Josh concentrated on driving and keeping the smile off his face. “Mighty wolfish of you.”

She kept her eyes closed. “What is?”

“You want your own territory. It’s where you feel safest.”

“I don’t want to be naked where another female wolf’s magick is. Sue me.”

He grinned. “Beautiful, it makes me hot when you’re like this. It appeals to my wolf.” He took her hand and squeezed it.

She snorted. “Everything appeals to your wolf. He’s pretty easy.”

Akio laughed then. “She’s got your number.”

“Only for you. Fine. I’ll take you home. To our place and you can clean up. I’ll call