Page 56 of Her Wolf's Demands

The corner of my lip quirked as I cocked my head to the side. His frown was endearing as his eyes narrowed on me.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt anyone.”

“Except yourself,” he shot back.

Licking my lips, I grew serious as he moved further out of reach, shaking his head and lifting the knife.

“I need a tiny drop of my blood because I share DNA with Drake. I was just going to prick the end of my finger. I’ll heal within minutes.”

Grunting, Malone glanced at Manual before handing back the knife. The tinge of his cheeks was a testament to his ire, and yet, he nodded for me to do the spell. It was sweet that he wanted to protect me at all costs. It sent a warm glow throughout me as I pressed the sharp end of the blade into my fingertip.

Holding my hand over the map, I squeezed my finger to encourage a drop of blood to form.

A surge of panic rose from my feet, almost engulfing me. No, I had to stay focused if I wanted to get to my brother quickly. He only had a couple of hours’ head start, which gave us a good chance of getting to him before he reached Ertha.

The blood dripped onto the map, landing in the centre of Brighton city. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and recited the location spell. Once the words died down, I looked, leaning over the table to get a closer look as the spot of blood moved.

“He’s walking the streets of Brighton. Where’s he going?” Malone tapped the table surface, watching intently.

Tracing my finger just ahead of where the dot moved, I chewed my lip. “My best guess is that he’s heading to the library. He probably thinks Ertha will be at her office in the coven headquarters.”

“Should we go there?” the alpha asked, watching me for a reaction.

“No, we need to stop him before he gets there. Go get dressed, we need to go now.”

The alpha wasted no time leaving us. As soon as he was gone, I turned to Manual. He frowned at me, obviously guessing that there was something I wanted to say without Malone hearing.

“You could’ve dressed him with the snap of your fingers.”

Waving away his correct suspicions, I lowered my voice. “I don’t want Malone to put himself in danger. If you could gather a few of your best wolves and head to the city, I would really appreciate it. I’ll text you an exact address when we find Drake.”

Nodding once, Manual went to turn away.

“Wait,” I called him back. “That wasn’t an order. I meant to ask nicely, you know, not force you to do it.”

It was his turn to dismiss me with a wave and a shake of his shaggy hair. “You didn’t, don’t worry.”

Without another word, he rushed to the door and left. My breath came short as Malone came back wearing ripped light blue jeans and a tight white Tee. He had chosen the wrong colour for bloodshed. Not that I would tell him that, especially as I was hoping that there wouldn’t be any fighting today.

We had to stick to the plan to interrupt the Solstice ritual and help Drake to channel the magic if it somehow went ahead.

The dot of blood was moving down the street near the Pavilion, faster than I would’ve liked. He must have been in a taxi.

“We need to go.”

Malone was beside me in a second, taking my hand when I offered it. His frown was gone as I pictured Drake in my mind and the room around us distorted, changing into a busy Brighton street with cars beeping on our left and the green grounds of the Pavilion on our right.

“Where’s Manual?” Malone asked as I searched the people who wandered up and down the walkway.

My stomach churned as I looked for the light eyes and mousey hair, for the face I had been protecting my whole life. Why would he risk his life? Didn’t he know that I would never cope without him? Life had been bearable with him in my life, but without him… I wouldn’t survive.

“He’s gathering your best wolves for tonight.”

Scowling, Malone took my wrist, pinching slightly. “Good. That bitch is going to get it.”

I licked my lips and lifted my head to sniff the air. There… an extremely faint waft of Calvin Klein mixed with Drake’s smell slipped up my nose.

Using my instincts, I turned towards the seafront and dodged several humans, apologising when I tripped someone up. They shouted at me, swearing when they saw me sniff the air again. No, no, no, I’d lost Drake’s scent.

---