Page 28 of Big Top Bear Raid
“Yeah,” Zion replied.He focused on Wraith.“You good?”
Wraith nodded and offered him a small smile while keeping a hand on Goldsteen’s shoulder.
“He won’t be for long,” Lawrance snarled under his breath.Using Zion’s few seconds of distraction, he twisted in his hold, yanked his arm back out from where it’d still been inside his jacket, and threw something at Wraith.At the same time, Lawrance chanted.
Zion watched in horror as a blade flew directly toward Wraith with unerring accuracy.
“No!”
Zion’s scream turned into a roar as he lost control of his bear.His shift swept through him.Fur sprouted over his body, his arms and legs thickened, and his head reshaped to accommodate his mouthful of sharp, sharp teeth.
Lawrance used those few seconds it took Zion to shift to drop to the ground.The warlock rolled to the left before springing to his feet.Then he sprinted away while casting something or other over his shoulder.
Dirt erupted, billowing from the ground and clouding his vision.
When it cleared, the scent of blood reached Zion’s nose, and he barreled toward Wraith.He saw that his mate had pushed Goldsteen to the ground while he’d evidently jumped in the other direction.Still, with Wraith’s delicious-scented life-fluid perfuming the area, Zion knew it hadn’t been enough.
Crouching over Wraith’s prone form, Zion roared before sweeping his gaze over the others.
Urskin approached him slowly with his hands up in placation.“Let me help him, Zion,” he urged.He glanced toward Wraith, who lay still underneath him before looking Zion in the eyes once more.“That blade has poison on it.I need to remove it.”Then Urskin narrowed his eyes and told him, “And I need you to chase that bastard down.”
When Zion hesitated, Urskin turned and snapped his fingers.The lock on Acadia’s cage fell to the ground.With a wave of Urskin’s hand, the door opened.
“Take Acadia with you...for back-up,” Urskin told Zion.Then the warlock focused on his bespelled cousin and ordered, “Help Zion chase down Lawrance, and assist him in capturing him.”The dark warlock’s eyes narrowed as he added, “Follow no words spoken by any warlock but me, and no order by another.”Then Urskin snapped his fingers, and Acadia started moving.
Before Zion could roar in rage at Urskin’s audacity—how dare he order Acadia about—Urskin refocused on him and stated, “Return Acadia to me so I can reverse that.”
“Go,” Wraith ordered, resting his hand on Zion’s foreleg to get his attention.“Go, and don’t let that asshole get away.”
Zion rumbled as he nuzzled Wraith’s neck.Then he licked his mate, right over their mating mark, before turning and bounding away.
A second later, Acadia fell into step beside him.
Tipping his head up, Zion inhaled and caught Lawrance’s scent.He roared and gave chase, his bear beyond pleased to be tracking their prey...and to have his cousin with him again.
Now I just gotta find the bastard and get back to my mate.
Chapter Eleven
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WRAITH GRITTED HISteeth, fighting against the pain.Peering down at his left arm, he saw the blood seeping through his torn shirt.On instinct, he gripped just below the wound with his right hand, cradling his bicep to his chest.
Who knew a little scratch could hurt so fucking bad?
“Let me see,” Urskin urged, kneeling beside him.He was already pulling a canister from within the folds of his long coat.“I wasn’t lying to your mate, Wraith.”The dark-skinned warlock flicked his gaze over him before unscrewing the tin’s lid.“I could see the faint glow of poison magick on the blade he threw.”Meeting Wraith’s gaze, Urskin explained, “I need to leech it before it can do damage to your muscles.”
Slowly, Wraith released his arm and held it out to Urskin.He grimaced a little when he saw him set down the tin and pull a knife from a sheath at his belt.Still, from his call to Alpha Declan, Wraith did his best to trust that Urskin was an ally.Supposedly, his alpha had gotten this warlock’s information from the Shifter Council.
“Just relax, Wraith,” Urskin murmured soothingly.“You’ll be fine.”
“Shouldn’t you be off chasing Lawrance or Steele?”Wraith asked, needing something to concentrate on as he watched Urskin cut off his sleeve.“And who was the big blond with you?”
“He’s Warsaw.My familiar.Like your mate.”Urskin smiled a little, the corners of his dark eyes crinkling.“He knows how to take care of himself.”After carefully removing Wraith’s shirt sleeve, Urskin added, “And if Lawrance tries to use magick against the bears, it won’t work, so they’ll be fine.”As he focused on Wraith’s wound, pulling a pouch from some hidden inner pocket, he told him, “And as soon as I’m done removing the poison from your wound, I’m going to cast a tracer spell.In the event of Lawrance getting away from Zion and Acadia, and he casts another spell, I’ll know right where he is.”
“Damn,” Wraith muttered.“You can do that?”
Finally, he added a mortar and pestle to the growing group of supplies on the ground.
