Ashlee crossed to a backpack on the ground and handed Summer a long sweatshirt. She smiled and put it on. Truth was, she wasn’t really used to the nakedness that came with the shifts. Especially without Cullen around.
“How did she shift?”
Summer watched as three of the pack members surrounded the wolf version of Faith. Everyone was trying to get her to calm down. She darted from right to left howling. Her ears stood straight back and her head flung from one shoulder to the next as she desperately looked for escape.
“Stop, Faith.” Tristan’s voice held authority. Faith whimpered and fell to the ground in obedience.
Ashlee turned to Summer, her arm around her waist. “I guess the same magic that called you back called Faith’s wolf out. He did order all members of his pack within earshot to stand at attendance to him.”
Summer nodded. “What are the odds?”
“This is nothing about odds, little sister. It’s about fate and magic. Who else would rescue you from Kendrick if not a member of our pack? Even if she didn’t know she was a member?”
Summer nodded. “Stop sounding so wise. You’ve only been at this three years.”
Ashlee laughed out loud and covered her grin with her hand. Tristan shot her a look that even Summer could read. Now was not the time for joviality. Summer agreed. She needed Cullen. But there were a few small things she had to tell Ashlee first.
“Where are your children?”
“Uncle Theo.”
Summer crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s well enough to babysit?”
Ashlee shrugged. “Well is a relative term but Tristan thought it would be good for him to spend a little time outside of his own head for a while. So he ordered him to take care of the children today. He was none too pleased.”
Summer nodded. She didn’t really get what Tristan had done but the man had just called back her wolf and given her back her human shape. She wasn’t going to argue with his decisions, at least for an hour or so.
“Ashlee, I’m sorry. I didn’t get it. I do now.” It was hard for Summer to apologize, had always been, but it needed to be said.
“What are you talking about?” Ashlee shook her head.
Summer sighed. “I wasn’t mated. I didn’t understand. I would do anything to get Cullen back right now. Even drag Dad down to Mexico. Mom was mated. She would have understood it too.”
“Summer, you and I have always been oil and water in some ways. But I love you. You’re my sister. No apologies between us, okay?”
“You came for me in Mexico even after all I said to you?”
Ashlee smiled, it was a sad smile but Summer could see her eyes sparkle. “You came to my ceremony when you didn’t even believe any of this was real. You’re my baby sister. And I couldn’t have kept Tristan from leaving the island, even if I wanted to. His sister-in-law and the pack’s eldest warrior, the man he idolized as a child, both get kidnapped by demons? I thought his head was going to explode.”
Summer watched as the scene in front of her with Faith continued to unfold. “Do you think we could get Tristan to turn her back?”
Ashlee nodded. “What did you have in mind?”
“I had a vision, a dream my first night on the island. In it, I was trying to rescue Cullen, and he wound up dead.”
Ashlee sucked in her breath. “Oh Summer, what are you going to do?”
Summer smiled. “I’m going to thank destiny for the pre-warning and go kick some butt. So I need that wolf over there to tell me how to break in. Think you could get your husband to bring her now?”
Chapter Fourteen
Cullen had long since ceased to listen to Claudius’ endless droning on about power and destiny. He was glad when he’d finally gotten to that place where the other man’s voice had become background noise, and the man had finally fallen silent about half an hour before. The blue liquid continued to pour into his veins but he felt no ill effects from it. His body seemed to be protecting him from whatever it was the liquid was supposed to do. It didn’t surprise him, not really. The longer a wolf-shifter lived, the better and faster they could heal. Claudius wouldn’t know that unless Kendrick had told him. The room they kept him in was windowless so he had no idea as to the time of day.
His arms tingled. Something was about to happen. Every hair on his body stood at attention which meant only one thing: his wolf senses had come on alert. Maybe it was a good idea to check in with his furry side.
Are you okay?
I’m annoyed at being stuck on this table. I want to kill the man with the pig face. But other than that, I am fine.
Claudius’s silence was a nice change. But it still bothered Cullen that he couldn’t identify what was about to happen. He tensed against the restraints. No luck. He was still stuck as ever.
This is a lesson in patience for us.
When had his wolf developed a sense of humor or a moral compass? Cullen groaned slightly.
Kendrick slammed into the room, his eyes red rimmed in anger, his breathing hard. “I don’t like this.” He slammed his fist down on one of the operating tables, knocking it over. “First the girl escapes. Just vanishes into midair. The cameras have no record of her going and now my wolf senses are pounding with anxiety but I can find no trace of anything wrong.”
So Cullen wasn’t the only one. Kendrick had always been strong and powerful. Cullen was somewhat disappointed to see he hadn’t lost his powers.
“Kendrick.” Cullen pulled the man’s attention in his direction. He hadn’t realized his throat was so dry until he heard the croak sound coming from his own voice.
Kendrick sneered. “If you need something, Cullen, you will have to submit to me first.”
Hell, he guessed he wouldn’t be getting any water anytime soon. But that wasn’t why he had bothered with his former Alpha.
“How could you do it? How could you betray Mary Jo like you did?” Truthfully, Kendrick’s betrayal of his mate had always been the part that bothered Cullen the most in the whole disastrous episode.
“I didn’t betray my mate. She disobeyed her Alpha and committed the worst kind of treason. She was killed. But I will follow her someday to the other side.”
Cullen closed his eyes. There had been no substantive answers from Kendrick thirty-three years ago and there were obviously none now. “How can you stand the pain of being away from her?”
It didn’t seem like two hundred fifty years since Kendrick had met Mary Jo. Two and a half centuries. They’d all been so young and the two had seemed so incredibly in love. What had happened? If he ever got out of his situation, Cullen was going to make sure it never happened to his relationship with Summer.
“You’d be surprised what you can endure when you’re the most powerful creature in the world.”
Cullen opened his eyes to stare at Kendrick. He sat across the room, a smug, self-satisfied half-smile formed on his lips. Was he serious?
“Is that what you are? The most powerful creature in the world?” Cullen tried to keep the sneer out of his voice but failed. “Most people don’t even know that we exist, let alone that you exist.”
Kendrick crossed to Cullen. “Not yet. But they will. When my army grows and the breeding program gets under way. Then they will all bow down to me. Humanity will know we are meant to own them.”
Cullen closed his eyes. The man had plans for world domination. Why was he not surprised? When goosebumps appeared on his arms, he opened his eyes wide. Something was about to happen. He just knew it. His ears were ringing and he could feel the sweat starting on the back of his neck. All signs to impending action. Then they’d see if Kendrick Kane was as all-powerful as he thought he was.