Three Mates, One Destiny (13 page)

Just as Trent discarded his chains, Ash burst into the room, followed by the other half of their squad. Faced with a renewed threat, the humans stopped fighting and yielded the battle. And not a moment too soon because at this point, Paulie felt exhausted, physically and emotionally. He just wanted to go home and fall asleep in his mates’

arms. Better yet, he wanted to be claimed by them, so no one would ever be able to separate them again. If he’d learned anything out of this fiasco, it must’ve been that, indeed, people didn’t know what they had until they lost it.

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However, even after the battle ended, there was still a lot to be done. Wolfram gathered all the formerly imprisoned spirit wolves in a circle, Drew and the treasonous bastard included. Paulie watched in silence as white light began to glow from Wolfram and into the injured soldiers. Power sizzled through the air, surrounding them with hot energy. Paulie was hypnotized by the sight and stared at it until his eyes hurt from the brightness. He looked away, gazing around him through his eyelids. For a few seconds, the world seemed to turn into something better, less glum. Paulie’s spirits lifted, and his fatigue drained out of him.

When he cracked his eyes open, he noticed in shock the injuries had disappeared off all the soldiers. Even Drew looked better, although he still seemed a bit weak. Wolfram, however, didn’t fare so well. The Magistrate tried to put on a brave front, but Paulie could see his utter exhaustion. No wonder Wolfram hadn’t used his power in battle. He meant to do so for healing his people.

Still, Paulie didn’t mention it, nor did he offer his help. The brunet from before appeared at Wolfram’s side, flanking the Magistrate, shielding him from prying eyes. Paulie surmised he must be Wolfram’s spirit wolf mate, Dietrich. Perhaps Paulie would now get to know the man, and their other mate, Fritz. His dad had refused to take him to the mating ceremony, claiming it would be too strenuous and stressful for him. Paulie understood the motivation behind it—

humans were still quite poorly seen in spirit wolf society. At the same time, though, Paulie had decided to take charge of his life. He would no longer allow his dad’s concern to rule him, no matter how justified it might be.

Sebastian and Marcus made their way to Paulie once again.

“We’re arranging for a transport for you, your dad, and the other doctors,” Marcus said. “You should go back and wait for us at the compound.”

Paulie shook his head. “Wait? But why?”

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“There’s still a lot to do,” Sebastian replied. “The prisoners have to be taken in for questioning. It won’t be…pleasant.”

Marcus sighed. “Remember the man…wolf who jumped your dad?” Paulie nodded. How could he forget? “That’s Peter, Bastian’s half brother.”

Shock coursed through Paulie. He now understood what Wolfram’s mate meant about different enemies joining forces. He recalled Sebastian telling him about his family, how his mother had died upon giving him birth and he’d been raised by his dad, with a kind step-mother and a younger step-brother. It reminded Paulie a lot of his own experience and made him empathize with Sebastian.

However, Paulie never had a brother, and perhaps he should be happy for it. This Peter brought a whole new meaning to the idea of sibling rivalry.

“I’ll have to go talk to my parents,” Sebastian said. “I can’t even imagine how they’ll take this.” He stole a look toward the now-healed Peter. The man lay tied up in the same silver nets previously used on Sebastian and Marcus, glaring at them. “He survived today, yes, but he’ll receive a severe punishment for this transgression.”

Paulie struggled to offer his mate a smile. “If it helps, I’ll be by your side when you tell them.”

Sebastian gave him an unreadable look and hugged him. “It does help,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

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A few hours later, the transport carrying the first batch of prisoners landed at the Magistrate’s Den. Andrew, Trent, and Valerius chose to go to the Hart compound instead, intending to retrieve Ross.

Sebastian had been shocked to find out the young human they’d brought in caused such mayhem at the clinic. He’d seen the sorrow in Paulie’s eyes as he recounted the tale. Ross had destroyed the entire research database at the compound, and broken Clay’s heart in the process. According to Andrew, a large portion of the files were backed up at the Den, and the rest of it could be recovered with some work. Even so, the damage had been quite severe, and more so taking into account the attack on the field doctor squad. Sebastian didn’t know what would happen to Ross and Peter now. Their fates were in the Magistrate’s hands.

At the same time, Andrew’s departure left Paulie in charge of the unpleasant task of handling the check-up on the prisoners. Everyone had noticed something peculiar about Paulie’s grandparents, well, beyond the homicidal mania even. They seemed far too strong for humans well in their eighties. While Wolfram had dealt with them easily enough, it didn’t make the issue any less important.

Wolfram himself led Sebastian to the cells of the Magistrate’s Den. Clean and comfortable, the imprisonment facilities were at the same time escape-proof. The only way to break free would be ending one’s life, and neither of the prisoners they would see today held the courage and despair necessary for that sort of thing.

Still, Paulie shuddered, and Sebastian wished they could have done things differently. But his mate deserved to know what would
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happen to his grandparents. No matter what, they were related by blood, and blood bonds didn’t disappear just like that. Sebastian understood Paulie perfectly. After all, his own brother waited in one of these cells.

As it turned out, Wolfram forwent seeing Peter. “We will talk to him once your parents arrive,” he explained.

Sebastian grimaced. As was necessary, he’d contacted his family.

The conversation went as well as could be imagined in the circumstances. Roland and Alice didn’t blame Sebastian for anything.

They were due to arrive any moment now.

At last, they reached the section of the prisons holding Judith and Chad captive. They were well guarded, but other than that, quite comfortable. Wolfram allowed them neighboring cells, but his mercy didn’t go beyond that. After all, the two humans did try to separate mates and kill a good number of spirit wolves.

Sebastian and his companions did nothing to disguise their approach, and Chad heard them coming. The human abandoned the crossword puzzle he’d been focusing on and rushed to the bars.

“Finally! I thought you’d forgotten us here.”

Judith did the same as her husband and zeroed in straight on Paulie. “Paulie! Tell them to let us go. This is a mistake. We didn’t mean any harm.”

Sebastian almost snorted, but refrained from doing so. Paulie might not be very close to his grandparents, but this situation hurt him nonetheless.

Paulie sighed, and Sebastian wrapped an arm around his mate, offering silent comfort. “It’s not a mistake,” Paulie said. “Dad almost died because of you.”

Judith rolled her eyes. “Your father, right. Why do you value him so much? I’ll never understand.”

“So what if we roughed him up a little?” Chad added. “There’s no harm in that.”

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Paulie took a deep breath then offered his grandparents a fake smile. “Right.”

He took a few steps forward and stood right in front of Judith and Chad’s cells. Quickly, he snatched a bit of hair from each of his grandparents.

“Hey!” Chad protested. “What are you doing, young man?”

“Research,” Paulie replied. He backed away from the cells. “For the record, if you’d actually cared about me as a kid, we’d have never left you behind.”

Something changed in Judith’s eyes. “You were the only thing we had left of our daughter, and you chose her killer over us. How did you think that would make us feel?”

Andrew Blunt was hardly a killer. Paula Turner had died while giving birth to her son, something Sebastian learned from Paulie himself. No one could be blamed for such a thing, especially not the best friend who’d just wanted to fulfill Paula’s desire to have a child.

“There was never any choice involved,” Paulie replied. “I love Dad. I could’ve given you the same love, if you’d just wanted it.”

Thankfully, the Magistrate intervened before things could get even more awkward. “Paulie, if you’d let me, I need to ask your grandparents a few questions. Go ahead and finish what you have to do. A guard will see you out.”

Paulie offered Wolfram a grateful look. “Certainly, My Lord.” He then turned toward Sebastian and Marcus. “Come on. Let’s go.”

One of the spirit wolf soldiers led them to the clinic of the Magistrate’s Den. There were some raised eyebrows when Paulie asked for private time in a lab, but the staff knew about the Blunts and had seen Paulie with the Magistrate. They gave Paulie everything he needed without too much fuss.

Sebastian pecked his mate on the cheek. “We’ll wait outside, okay? Wouldn’t want to interrupt your research.”

“No, stay,” Paulie replied. “I don’t mind.”

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So, Sebastian and Marcus stayed. They kept quiet as they watched their mate work. Sebastian found himself hypnotized simply by Paulie’s efficient, knowledgeable motions. He focused on keeping his arousal in check so as not to disturb Paulie, and he must have succeeded. Paulie managed to finish his analysis with no incident.

“Well, I have to say I am extremely puzzled. The feral virus seems to be present in their bloodstream, but it’s being activated bit by bit. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Back at the Grand Canyon, they were talking about a mix between the two DNAs, some sort of plan,” Marcus answered.

“It must have something to do with that. I guess the Magistrate will get to the bottom of things.”

Indeed, just instants later, Sebastian felt his leader approach.

Wolfram knocked at the door, and Paulie bid him to enter. “What did you find?” Wolfram asked in place of a greeting.

“They’re infected, but it’s a very strange strain. It seems to take control over the body gradually.”

Wolfram looked glum. “This confirms it then. Nicely done, Doctor Blunt. Come. We still have a lot to do.”

* * * *

Marcus, Sebastian, Paulie, and Wolfram met up in the throne room with Dietrich, Fritz, and Wolfram’s second in command, Klaus.

“It seems word of the attack is getting out,” Dietrich said. “We can expect more and more people to flood the Den by tomorrow.”

Wolfram seemed thoughtful. “We can’t reveal the extent of it just yet. It will only cause panic.”

Marcus completely agreed with Wolfram, but he didn’t know how Wolfram would manage to keep Peter’s punishment under wraps. For there would be a punishment, no doubt about it.

He didn’t get the chance to muse over it for much longer. A spirit wolf guard knocked, and, at the Magistrate’s urging, entered the
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throne room. “My Lord,” he said, “the Morrigans and the Deacons are here.”

Wolfram sat on his throne and nodded. “Let them in.”

The moment Marcus saw them enter the throne room together, he groaned. This didn’t bode well. Bringing the two families together was something out of a Shakespearian play. The Deacons looked down upon Sebastian because of his human blood, and by extension, rejected the family who loved him. Naturally, the Morrigans didn’t have a positive reaction to this.

Still, Marcus made no comment. He needed to wait and see what the Magistrate would say. But he found comfort in the presence of his two mates. Having both Sebastian and Paulie there made all the difference in the world.

When the doors opened, Wolfram gestured for the new arrivals to approach. “Welcome, my friends,” he said. “I do wish your visit could have been in better circumstances.”

Both families bowed in front of The Magistrate, greeting him as custom required. With the formalities out of the way, Alice Morrigan stepped forward. “My Lord, is it true? Did my son really…?”

Her voice broke, and Marcus wanted to shoot Peter all over again for causing his parents this pain. “I’m afraid so,” Wolfram replied.

“But there must be some mistake,” Alice protested. “My son would not betray our people.”

Wolfram offered her a sad smile. “I assure you the matter is being looked into with utmost care. For the moment, we are bringing someone else in, but until then, we will be ask Peter and those present here a few questions.” He looked toward Roland. “This might take a while. Perhaps Mrs. Morrigan would like to go lie down?”

Marcus knew the reply before she even said it. “No, My Lord,”

she replied. “Let me stay. It’s the only way I can wrap my head around it.”

“Very well,” Wolfram answered. He turned to Marcus’s parents.

“I assume Mr. and Mrs. Deacon wish to stay as well.”

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Ezekiel nodded. “This concerns our son. We cannot ever think of leaving.”

Wolfram didn’t answer. He just directed a guard to bring Peter in.

A few instants later, Sebastian’s half brother entered the room, flanked by a significant number of guards. He winced when he saw his parents standing there, but didn’t speak.

“Peter Morrigan,” Wolfram began. “I assume you know why you’ve been brought here. You’ve been accused of treason. Your forces attacked and crashed five helicopters bearing spirit wolves yesterday. You yourself attempted to kill Andrew Blunt and plotted to do the same with Sebastian Morrigan and Marcus Deacon. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Alice had gone very pale. Apparently, Sebastian had not told his parents everything.

Peter stood up straight, facing his ruler with fearlessness. “I merely wanted Sebastian and that mate of his out of the way. The human got into the cross-fire. I didn’t intend to hurt anyone else.”