Page 38 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

Lucian’s snarl filled the mental pathway as the wolf-shifter fought Dracula’s compulsion.I am not your wolf.

Is that so?Dracula asked, his voice hard.Since when?

The two men began to argue back and forth in Old Hungarian before switching to German. Jonathan wasn’t fluent in either but knew enough fragmented sentences to get the gist. They were having a power struggle, and for some ungodly reason, the two young women from Detroit just so happened to be caught in the middle of it.

Jonathan didn’t have time to figure out the hows or whys of it all. He knew he was close to losing control of himself to his wolf and that the women were in grave danger. They needed assistance, not dick-measuring contests.

Help them,repeated Jonathan, his desperate plea blasting through the chaos on the shared mental pathway.Please.

They are to be sacrificed for the greater good,said Lucian, lacking remorse.It must be.

No!shouted Jonathan and Dracula, their fear and their voices becoming one.

Events are already set in motion,said Lucian.I am a man who serves two masters.

It was then that Jonathan realized Lucian was the danger that was stalking the women. And if Jonathan was right, Lucian was leading them straight to Dragos’s cave.

Straight to the master vampire he’d once served.

Straight to their deaths.

Don’t! Please,begged Jonathan.He’ll slaughter them.

That is the plan,said Lucian, his accent thickening, something Jonathan had noticed happened to the man when his emotions ran high.

Dracula spat something else in Hungarian at the man.

Jonathan was fairly sure Dracula had just called Lucian a betrayer.

He is your master as well, stated Lucian, some of the fight leaking out of his voice.

He is my maker,corrected Dracula.He was never my master.

Does the lie you tell yourself help?questioned Lucian.

Jonathan growled, digging his claws into the palm of his hands more, hoping to hold off the pending shift.Enough! They need help.

What interest do you have in them?questioned Lucian, genuine curiosity replacing some of the coldness in the man’s voice.

Dracula rattled off something in German that sounded threatening.

Lucian snarled in return.

Jonathan’s body began to contort, and he slammed his hands onto the floor of the conference room.She’s mine! One of the women is my mate!

The declaration left every man on the mental pathway stunned and silent—including Jonathan.

“No,” he managed from between clenched teeth, unable to believe his proclamation.

He had to be wrong. The young woman from the airport couldn’t possibly be his mate. She was far too young for him, and she wasn’t a supernatural. He’d have smelled it on her had she been. His wires were clearly crossed. Even so, he and his wolf wanted her and her sister safe.

Jonathan expected push-back from Lucian. For the bastard to double down on whatever nefarious plot he had going. What he got instead was silence.

Vlad!Jonathan shouted down the pathway, desperate for any assistance he could get.

I am summoning others to help, said Dracula, something off in his voice.

Others?Jonathan asked before realizing whom Dracula intended to send to aid the young women.

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