Page 78 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

Jezebeth wagged a fist in her face, magic sparking off her knuckles. “We need to attack now before he has time to prepare.” The djinn seemed unconcerned when Tan’yi’nug blew steam down on her back.

“No,” their mother said, pushing Jezebeth’s hand away. “We must test his defenses to see if he’s already prepared.”

“I’ll go,” Cadmus said, his voice ringing like a hollow echo.

Damon’s concern for his brother grew. He’d turned into a mechanical thing, his only focus on saving their mate. Damon was worried that focus would cloud his judgment and get him obliterated.

Lucian returned from beyond the dune, whimpering as a wolf before shifting into his demon form. He dragged his hands through his cropped hair, a grim look in his eyes. “I’ll go with you,” he said to Cadmus. They’d once been close cousins, two betas who’d shared the same magic and who had always patrolled the city together. In fact, once upon a time, Cadmus and Lucian had been as close as brothers.

But that was another time in another dimension, back before their cousins had betrayed them. Cadmus glared at his cousin. “You’re on our side now?”

Lucian’s grim expression remained unchanged. “We were always on your side.”

Cadmus snorted at that, turning his back on his cousin.

“My sister was bewitched by the Vindictus,” their mother explained. “They locked me away to protect me from her.”

Her explanation should’ve pacified Cadmus, but it only seemed to enrage him. He spun back around, waving a fist in Lucian’s face. “If you and your backstabbing brothers hadn’t locked her away—”

“The outcome would’ve been the same,” their mother interrupted. “The Vindictus had already disabled me with a sickness spell.”

Damon and Cadmus both gave their mother long, hard looks.

I remember her migraines, he projected to his brother.All she did was sleep or vomit those final days.

Cadmus kicked up sand, growling, never taking his gaze away from Lucian.

“Cousins, I’m sorry.” Lucian placed a hand across his heart, nodding toward Horatiu, who reappeared from beyond the dune. “We’re all sorry.”

Cadmus cursed, and to Damon’s surprise, took Lucian in a fierce hug. “Thank you for helping, cousins.”

Lucian hugged him back. “It’s the least we could do.”

“We have to save her,” Cadmus said on a sob, digging his claws into Lucian’s back.

“We will, we will,” Lucian murmured.

Damon and Horatiu joined the hug. Damon hadn’t realized until that moment how much he’d missed his extended wolf family as the four of them formed a new pack in the heart of the abyss.

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