Page 18 of Wanted By the Cartel

Two of the Harvesters went down, but the leader remained standing, protected by some kind of shield. And now I had nothing left.

How did she manage to do that? I had no idea. Was she really that powerful?

"Impressive," she said, genuine admiration in her voice. "But futile. It's not going to stop me."

She raised her hand, a binding spell forming at her fingertips. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. The babies' magic surged in protest, but they were too young, too undeveloped to help.

If this was happening a few months later, it would be different. Right now, I was at her mercy.

This was it. After all these years of running, of hiding, I was going to fail. My children would become experiments, just like the Harvesters had always wanted.

Then the air temperature dropped twenty degrees.

A roar of pure rage shook the entire structure. Zoren. He must have felt my distress through our bond and was going to come to my rescue.

The leader turned, but not fast enough. A massive black wolf crashed through the garage entrance, eyes blazing with alpha power. Behind him, a dozen Nightshade Wolves poured in, but Zoren was already moving. He was the one doing most of the hard work and creating much of the confusion.

He hit the woman with such force that her shield shattered like glass. She tried to speak, probably to cast another spell, but his jaws closed around her throat. The sound that followed would haunt my nightmares. I closed my eyes in that instant.

I collapsed as the suppressant spell broke, gasping for air. Strong arms caught me—Viktor, Zoren's second-in-command.

"Get him out of here," Zoren ordered, shifting back to human form. His voice was deadly calm, which meant he was beyond furious. "Lock down the compound. Find the leak. No one sleeps until we know how they got this close."

"Zoren," I whispered, reaching for him. I needed to feel his fingers against my skin, needed to know this was real.

He was at my side in the same instant, gathering me into his arms. His hands roamed over me, checking for injuries, while his magic enveloped me in protective warmth.

"The babies?" He asked, his voice rough with worry.

"They're okay," I assured him, feeling their magic settling now that the danger had passed. "Just scared. Like their father."

His embrace tightened. "I'm not scared," he growled. "I'm furious. They got too close. My own people—" He cut himself off, body trembling with rage. I could feel it as though it was my own.

"Sir," Viktor interrupted carefully, "we need to move. There could be more."

Zoren nodded. "Take me to Mae. No hospitals, no records. And Viktor?" His voice dropped. "Find who talked. They don't see tomorrow's sunrise."

The drive back was tense. Zoren refused to let go of me, his magic maintaining a constant shield around us both. I could feel his self-recrimination, his fury at the breach in security. He was blaming himself.

"It's not your fault," I tried to tell him.

"I promised to protect you," he said, his voice raw. "I promised nothing would get close to you or our children. I failed."

"You saved us."

"I almost lost you." His hand spread over my stomach, where our children's magic reached for his fingers. "All of you. Never again. Things change after today."

I knew that tone. The cartel was about to become even more restrictive, more protective. Part of me wanted to protest, to maintain some independence, but the memory of those cold grey eyes studying me like a specimen silenced any objections.

Chapter 10

Zoren

Blood still stained my hands as I stood before the assembled leaders of the Nightshade Wolves. I hadn't bothered to clean up after the garage incident—let them see the consequence of failure. Let them understand exactly what was at stake. Otherwise, I would be a failure as a leader.

My top lieutenants filled the war room, thirty of the most dangerous supernatural criminals in the city. Usually, they carried themselves with arrogance. Tonight, they could barely meet my eyes. Good. They needed to be afraid. They needed to be reminded that I required excellence and only it.

"Three hours ago," I said, my voice cutting through the tense silence, "someone betrayed us. Someone in this organization sold information about my mate to our enemies. The Lunar Harvesters nearly took what's mine."

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