Page 77 of Cupcake

Dark clouds moved in.

“The clouds will cover my form as I fly,” Gavin told them while pushing his jeans down. “I’ll let you know what I find.”

“Be careful,” Logan called.

Gavin winked at him before he took off running. Faster and faster until he jumped up into the air.

Thunder rocked the ground as huge black wings burst from Gavin’s back.

He circled over them three times as Bryce squealed in delight.

This had been worth it. Seeing his family celebrate an achievement. Logan knew that he could face his old pride. His family had his back.

“Are you ready for this?” Dean turned Logan toward him.

“I’m ready,” Logan said bravely.

* * * * *

Dean

Logan was gripping his hand so hard that Dean had lost all feeling in his fingers. The boy was scared and trying to hide it. Peering across the baren land in front of him, Dean was not impressed with what he saw.

“This is home,” Logan whispered. “It looks different though. Bad.”

“Magic,” Dean supplied. “Blood magic has killed nearly everything living. I can feel lion shifters in the area, but the water is polluted, the ground dried up and seeds dying, and the ley lines are pulsing in pain. This isn’t good.”

“Where’s the town?” Axel asked.

Logan pointed down the hill. “To the right. The houses are scattered around but all in the same area.”

Dean exchanged a worried glance with the alpha. The alpha would be feeling the same darkness of the area that he did.

Noah grabbed Logan’s other hand.

With the three of them connected, Dean sent his magic out on a seeking mission.

“Gage, you stay close by me,” Lucifer ordered his mate.

“I don’t like it here,” Gage said quietly.

“I'm glad you asked us to come along,” Mal stated. He had Adam situated under his arm.

“It wasn’t like this when I left,” Logan said, confused.

Dean’s magic pulsed with the hurt, regret, and fear his mate was feeling.

“This hill used to be so green,” Logan said. “That tree over there is where I used to nap.”

“We knew the coven was draining the resources of shifter towns.”

“Mine wasn’t this bad,” Gage said.

“You had humans that lived in town,” Dean said. “The coven couldn’t steal from them. This place only had shifters. The coven could drain them dry and leave them much worse off.”

“I need to check on my parents,” Logan said.

“I want to find the pride leader,” Axel told them.

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