Page 54 of Tethered Magick

Lorn should be easy enough. She was Jolon’s mate and wanted to be with him. One bite and she’d be mated to the alpha, automatically part of the pack. Each one of us would bite her in turn, claiming her as ours and undoing the damage Mara had caused with that fucking dagger.

My teeth ground together as that name passed through my thoughts again. Anger was a fist in my gut over how deceived we’d been by someone I’d always considered a friend.

I rolled my neck as my hawk’s ear-piercing screech gave me a headache.

Dason’s reentry into the pack wasn’t going to be so easy. If Jolon chose not to step down as alpha, Dason would only have two choices—challenge Jolon for the position and endure a bloody fight until one of them submitted, or yield, bare his neck, and allow Jolon to be the alpha of the pack which, if I knew my alpha, would never happen.

Alpha fights were brutal and intense, and Lorn would never sit back and watch two men she cared about rip into each other. She’d never stand for it.

And that left us back at square fucking one.

My heart was in a vise, squeezing painfully for the pack I’d lost and aching until I saw Lorn again with my own two eyes.

Luckily, I didn’t have more time to dwell on it, because the phone rang. A collective breath exhaled through the room.

Chayton hurried to answer it, throwing it on speaker out of courtesy.

The pack huddled around the small device, Mato and Nahele stepping back to give us our privacy, and Chayton threw up a protective barrier to keep our conversation from reaching any listening ears outside.

“We’re ready,” Dason said in lieu of a greeting.

“Took you fucking long enough,” I griped, but my heart wasn’t behind the irritation I’d implied.

Relief shot through my heart like adrenaline. My wrist was already held aloft, my magick flaring brightly. Controlled despite my duress, I drew the tracking run into the skin of my forearm and watched as it sunk below the surface.

Latching onto the phone connection, I tried once more to track Dason and Lorn. I’d tried this trick at least fifty times this evening, unsuccessful each time, and when it failed again, I saw red.

“I can’t reach you, Dase. Where the fuck are you?” I was losing patience.

“He has a point, where the heck are we?” Hearing Lorn’s small voice in the background made my heart skip a beat. It was all I could do to keep myself from letting a sob of profound relief escape my throat.

“Lorn.” Her name echoed on more than just my lips, each of us needing to hear her voice. Until this moment, I didn’t even know if she was still alive. I trusted Dason, but he wouldn’t have delivered devastating news like that over the phone. Without the connection to my mate, some part of my subconscious had prepared me for the worst, though I hadn’t allowed myself to truly contemplate the potential for that reality. Thank fuck I wouldn’t have to.

Kota’s hand clamped down on my shoulder, his grip tight. Ghostly pale and tense, he stood beside me hanging on every word on the other end of the line.

“Is the house secured?” Dason inquired, and Jolon quickly gave him the affirmative. “I’m going to create a portal, and I want you all to walk through it.”

“Is this safe?” Jolon glanced to Syler and Chayton for council. “Will anyone be able to track us to Lorn?”

We could do a series of portal jumps to throw off anyone able to trace our travel,Sy suggested through the mental connection Jolon effortlessly kept open.

“This location has a powerful ward. That’s why you can’t track us. Once you’re here, we can discuss the game plan for getting Lorn to a safe location.” Dason didn’t wait. A portal began to form above of the phone, and we all stepped back to give him space to work. The swirling gray magick slowly expanded until it was fully formed.

Dason and Lorn were a sight for sore eyes. Lorn’s hair was piled into a messy bun with strands hanging loosely around her beautiful face, which was illuminated by the rising moon. Her blue eyes watered as she stared back at us from the other side of the portal, and I was through it, magick tingling over my body as I moved to reach her.

One minute I was in the cabin, and the next I was in a crumbling wasteland running toward my mate.

Lorn gripped Dason’s forearm tightly, her fingers bleeding to white the closer I got. My run slowed to a jog. She tensed, her entire body rigid. I stopped a few feet away, trying to wrap my head around what was different about her. She’d never been particularly close to Dason, although what they’d been through was enough to bring them closer in a short amount of time, but there was more than the oddity of seeing them so familiar with each other.

My mate appeared to be in physical pain.

“What’s wrong?” That uneasy feeling was back, hounding me relentlessly.

Chayton went to move past me, and Lorn cowered. Worried about her wellbeing, I flung out an arm to stop Chayton, but he was already drawing to a stop, just as confused as I was by her reaction.

Wait, I cautioned through our bond. We exchanged a look while Dase closed the portal, securing our location.

He turned to Lorn and cupped her face gently, while Lorn gripped his wrists and held on tightly. The two of them were definitely more friendly.

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