Three Mates, One Destiny (11 page)

Savage panic coursed through him, and he pulled at the chains holding him with a strength he didn’t know he had. His arms hurt like a son of a bitch, and still the manacles held. But the wall behind them yielded, and Sebastian found himself falling forward, his wrists still encased in heavy silver, while rock flew all around him.

At the same time, he began to breathe a bit easier. At first, he felt confused, but then a sense of relief filled him. Somehow, Sebastian knew Paulie had narrowly escaped being killed by his attacker.

Still, that didn’t mean they were safe. Whoever engineered this—

because it was clearly a well-crafted plan—could very well attack Paulie again. Not to mention Sebastian himself, his mate, and all the others who’d been in the brigade.

Ignoring the burn of the silver, Sebastian made his way to the cracked wall and stole a look through. He noticed a very distant light, barely there, but casting away some of the acute darkness regardless.

He didn’t have to think too much about it. Putting the force of his fear and desire to be with his loved ones, Sebastian began to work at the wall, struggling to make a hole big enough for him to slip through.

The process sent rumbling noises through the silent blackness, and as much as Sebastian tried to keep the sound as low as possible, it didn’t surprise him when he heard footsteps approach. Sebastian didn’t even try to hide. He’d already figured out he had nowhere to go, and his efforts would just be useless, especially with the heavy
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chains dragging him down. At least this way, he’d find out who’d imprisoned him. He already suspected the identity of his captor. Who else could it be but Joseph? The ferals had never been organized before Joseph showed up, and no one he knew of could have an interest in keeping them prisoner.

The seconds seemed to turn into hours as he waited, but it couldn’t have been long afterward that two silhouettes shrouded the dim light. “Well, well,” a male voice said. “Looks like someone’s awoken in a bad mood.”

Sebastian frowned. He didn’t recognize the voice, but judging by the tone, he’d have guessed this person must be a high-ranking officer in this group. More importantly, his visitors didn’t smell like feral.

They were pure, one hundred percent human. How could this be?

“Even in this gloom, I can see you’re confused.” The man laughed at his own joke. His tone changed as he addressed his companion.

“Bring us some light.”

The second human somehow came up with a huge lantern. A few moments later, pale, yellow light sent eerie rays through the darkness.

Sebastian could at last spot the faces of his jailors.

There was nothing particularly wicked about them. Had Sebastian walked by them on the street, he’d have disregarded them as just average folk. “Come closer,” the first man said. He was a stocky individual dressed in an expensive suit. With his gray hair and fashionable glasses, he looked more like an elderly business man than an evil genius bent on destroying lives and nations.

The second man reminded Sebastian of a fitness program host. He had those perfect good looks and amused demeanor, as if they weren’t in a dank, horrible prison, but on a Hollywood set. Sebastian immediately labeled him as hired muscle.

Sebastian couldn’t see much of them, but at this point he felt more confused than ever. If they’d wanted to kill him, they’d have done so already. In fact, they could get rid of him by abandoning him here.

Even if he did manage to find a way out, he suspected this place was
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underground, and everything would be specifically engineered to keep him from escaping.

For this reason, he complied with the request and took a step forward. “Ah, there’s a good lad,” the old man said. “Now, I’d be much obliged if you’ll be just as obedient and remain in your appointed cell.”

Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh. “You have got to be kidding me. Is this some sort of joke? What in the world do you even want with us?”

The man smiled enigmatically. “You don’t need to know.”

The grating sound of rock moving drew Sebastian’s attention. He glanced behind him and realized a hidden door lay somewhere beyond the rock. Of course, he couldn’t take advantage of this discovery. Guards flooded his little cell.

Weakened by the silver and his efforts to escape the manacles, Sebastian was no match for the overwhelming number. They didn’t even fight fairly. Instead, they shot odd lassoes at him, trapping him in thick nets of silver thread.

Sebastian tried to struggle, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

The guards dragged him off, tied up and helpless, while the two enigmatic men followed. Convinced of their superiority of strength, Sebastian temporarily yielded and waited to see where they’d take him.

They half-dragged, half-carried him up some stairs, until at last Sebastian glimpsed light. His eyes hurt after being so long in the darkness, but he got used to it with a fair amount of ease. At the same time, he sensed Marcus’s presence growing closer. The humans must’ve brought Marcus to wherever they were taking Sebastian.

Finally, raised voices reached his hearing. “You’re mad. I’m not doing it,” a man said. Sebastian recognized him as Andrew Blunt.

“Oh, I think you will,” a woman answered. “After all, you don’t want us to harm your precious mates.”

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Sebastian didn’t know who she was, so he put her in the uncategorized human section, along with the older man.

The guards carrying him at last reached their destination, the area the voices came from. Judging by all the equipment, it seemed to be a lab of sorts. They dumped Sebastian on the floor. In an instant, Sebastian’s eyes fixed on Marcus, similarly bound at the other side of the room. Valerius and Trent were also there, unconscious, but breathing.

Andrew Blunt seemed unharmed and was the only one standing, facing an elderly human woman. “You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled at her.

She arched a brow at him. “Why not? Isn’t it only fair?”

“Besides,” the older man said from behind Sebastian, “didn’t you take someone even more valuable from us?”

It seemed obvious Andrew knew these people. When he looked closer, Sebastian thought he detected something familiar about them, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

The answer came from the next exchange. “Do you think Paula would appreciate this?” Andrew asked. “What do you even expect to gain?”

“Our daughter is dead,” the man replied blandly. “But we still have our nephew. You’re going to give Paulie back, or else.”

Sebastian had the feeling he’d ended up in a movie where he’d missed the first half hour and he was just now beginning to understand. Through some bizarre twist of fate, his jailors were sort of related to him. They must be Paulie’s grandparents, on his mother’s side.

Paulie had told them a bit about his past. His mother died giving him birth, and he’d never gotten along with his grandparents, Judith and Chad. He’d left them behind when Andrew introduced him to the world of the spirit wolves. Apparently, the two somehow found out about it and intended to exact revenge.

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“Paulie is not an object, Chad,” Andrew shot back. “He goes where he wants to, and he stays with me because he so desires.”

Chad’s face twisted in a grimace that belied his harmless appearance. He punched Andrew, and the doctor recoiled at the force of the blow. Instantly, Trent and Valerius awoke. “What the fuck?”

Trent groaned. “Drew?”

“I’m fine,” Drew answered. “Don’t worry about me.”

Valerius’s deep eyes scanned the room, and recognition dawned on his face. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Sebastian would have laughed, since he’d said the exact same thing moments earlier. Still, he couldn’t understand. The Judiciaries took great precautions to ensure the existence of their nation remained a secret. No human would have been able to do such a thing without being aided. There was more here than two insane grandparents wanting their grandson back.

His suspicion proved to be correct. “Now, do what we told you to and take the sample from those two,” the woman said.

She pointed at him and Marcus. So their role here would be that of test subject. Just fucking great. Paulie’s grandparents might not be evil geniuses, but they certainly took on the role of mad scientist.

There wasn’t much they could do about it, not with everyone imprisoned under the silver nettings and weakened by the attack. Not even Andrew—the only one who kept his freedom of movement—

would be able to get away with all the soldiers swamping the lab.

“Leave Marcus alone,” he gritted out. “He’s injured. He can’t help you. Just take it from me.”

Marcus began to protest. “Bastian…”

The woman’s laughter interrupted him. “I think not. We have a different quarrel with you. Intending to corrupt our nephew with your perversion? I don’t think so.”

Well, fuck. Andrew must’ve mentioned Paulie being a mate for Sebastian and Marcus. Apparently, the doctor wasn’t as smart as everyone credited him to be.

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But Andrew looked as surprised and dismayed as Sebastian felt.

Someone else must’ve told the men. One of the guards? He doubted it. No one on the compound knew for a fact the three of them were bonded. The soldiers who guarded the clinic might have figured it out from Sebastian and Marcus’s behavior, but none of them had come on this expedition. Still, what other option could there be?

Shaking himself, Sebastian focused on the matter at hand. So, he wouldn’t manage to convince the humans to back off. It wouldn’t hurt to find out what they wanted to do in the first place.

As if guessing Sebastian’s thoughts, Andrew began to speak once again, this time in a calmer tone, appealing to the rational part in the humans. “That may well be, Judith, but the fact remains your plain is just plain foolhardy. You cannot control a mix between human and spirit wolf DNA. It’s impossible.”

“Don’t you always say nothing is impossible?” Chad answered.

“How many times did you claim that while you struggled to create your famous serum?”

A niggling suspicion irked on Sebastian’s brain. He now doubted the guards told the humans anything. In fact, he suspected something much more sinister was going on. After all, no guard would have made such a comment about Andrew’s habits of conversation.

For this reason, Sebastian wasn’t surprised when he felt another spirit wolf’s presence, something far too familiar for his comfort. He didn’t know why he hadn’t felt it before, perhaps because of his exhaustion and futile anger. He could definitely do so now, and he growled low as he identified it.

Marcus gave him a glum look, and Sebastian knew his mate also made the connection. Sebastian desperately wished for it to be a mistake, but it was too much to ask for. His half brother, Peter, stepped into the room, smiling when his gaze fell on Sebastian’s trapped form.

“Hello there, Sebastian,” he said cheerfully. “Fancy seeing you here.”

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“You bastard,” Sebastian growled. “How can you do this to our family? How can you betray them like this?”

Peter grimaced at him, as if he’d seen something that disgusted him. “Au contraire, brother,” he spat. “You’re the bastard. Literally.

And it’s high time I got rid of you, and your meddling mate.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Sebastian shot back. “You’re not in freaking Scooby Doo. Someone will figure you out, even if you do get rid of us.”

Peter shrugged. “Whatever. Believe what you like if it makes you feel better. It doesn’t matter.” He looked toward Andrew. “Come on, Doctor Blunt. Get a move on. I just might wipe your memory and allow you to live.”

* * * *

Paulie fidgeted, the increasing feeling of discomfort and anger beginning to get to him. The decision had been taken, but by the time they reached Arizona, he was essentially jumping out of his skin.

They were supposed to meet reinforcements coming from the Magistrate’s Den here. Everything seemed one hundred percent organized, but each passing second scraped over Paulie’s brain like nails on a blackboard.

They landed a few miles away from the canyon so as not to alert whoever might be here. Paulie’s heart thundered in fear Ross might have deceived them. Not that they had much choice now. After careful consideration, they’d decided to fly to the Grand Canyon with a slight detour. They’d found the debris of the helicopters sent to investigate, but nothing else, neither bodies nor clues. The attack in itself seemed bogus, which meant there must be a traitor in the ranks of the spirit wolves. He only hoped the compound wouldn’t be raided while they were away. True enough, they’d left a considerable force behind, relying on the people the Magistrate would send, but nothing was certain at this point.

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Night had already fallen when they headed toward Eagle Point, a gorgeous rock formation considered sacred by the some of the natives, where they’d meet up with the other team. At all times, they did their best to remain stealthy. It was very difficult, with the wide open space all around them. Paulie placed his trust in the darkness shrouding them, although he knew spirit wolves could see a great distance away. He prayed to God and to the Spirit Mother his mates revered to protect his loved ones. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost either of them.

In front of him, Ashton seemed as tense as a bowstring, advancing slowly so as not to disturb a single rock. Paulie had some trouble keeping up, but he forced himself to focus and copy Ash’s motions.

Finally, they reached the meeting spot. Paulie breathed a sigh of relief when he realized their reinforcements already waited for them there. The Magistrate himself had come. Did he feel guilty for not seeing this coming? Perhaps. Paulie would never fully understand Wolfram.

“There are no ferals here,” Wolfram said. “We sent scouts ahead.