The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,97

injuries…

“Witch said he knew him and that was how he knew Wendy was in trouble,” Colt said, turning hard eyes on the stranger.

Marcus turned to look just as the witch grabbed the edges of his hood and slowly lowered it, revealing dark brown skin with a curved scar on the left side of the man’s jaw and dark, messy curls. White teeth flashed as the man smiled.

“The barrier is unnecessary. I don’t mean your pack any harm, Alpha Kincaid,” the witch cajoled, not sounding the least bit worried about the number of hostile people glaring at him.

His voice had a distinctive Louisiana accent that Marcus had heard from a few witches before, giving him a clue as to which coven the man came from. If this was the witch who’d spelled Gabriel so he had no scent, it meant he was extremely powerful and adept at blood magic.

Which meant he was probably a La Fleur coven member.

“Since when does the La Fleur coven work with mercenary hunters?” Marcus spat, striding toward Tashmica and Damien but being careful to stay behind them. His fear and anger for Wendy turned to the only outlet available. “Does Beatrice know what you’re doing for him?”

The head of the coven was one powerful witch, but she also followed a strict code of ethics. The coven didn’t take sides, didn’t align with any packs, and was strong enough to stand against the Council if they ever decided they needed to.

Their edict was to protect the human world from the supernatural one.

And they were damn good at it.

The witch’s smile took on a hard edge as he took half a step forward. Marcus scented Damien’s nerves at the movement, but his outward appearance stayed calm, his hands and voice steady as he and Tashmica repeated the spell holding the shield in place over and over again.

“You don’t know anything about my coven, wolf.” His dark eyes narrowed on Marcus, taking in his hair and then running the length of his body. “You Rivera?”

Marcus hid his shock as he felt Rick stalk up next to him, his wolf very clearly just beneath the surface as he flashed his eyes and used his deep alpha voice to question the man. “Why?”

The witch rolled his eyes and reached for something at the small of his back. Marcus and Rick both tensed, prepared to pull their witches back if he produced a weapon, but it was a dirty envelope with writing on the front. The man threw it onto the ground and took a step back, hands back in the air.

“She had that for you. Told me to make sure Marcus Rivera—and only Marcus Rivera—got it.” He hesitated, then sighed and lowered his arms. “Look, she told me to take the letter and to leave her behind. That’s how important it was to her.”

Exchanging a glance with Rick, Marcus still hesitated to step forward even though the envelope had settled on his side of the barrier, not the witch’s. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t believe him as much as he was… scared to read what Mikel had written to him in that letter. What was so important it probably resulted in his death? And that Wendy nearly died to bring him.

Whatever the message was, it was going to be a game changer.

“Easy, hot stuff. Don’t bruise the goods.”

Everyone but Tashmica turned at the voice, watching as Drake marched Gabriel into the clearing, cheeks flushed and scent going crazy. The smirk on Gabriel’s face was even more self-satisfied than normal as he winked at Drake over his shoulder, then shook off his hold on his arm and approached the witch.

“He says he knows you,” Rick said, voice hard, “and that you told him to find Wendy.”

If Marcus hadn’t been watching so closely, he would have missed the slight falter in Gabriel’s stride. Shrugging, he walked right up to the man and embraced him, slapping his back hard enough that dirt floated into the air. He coughed and stepped back, holding the witch by the shoulders and eyeing him carefully.

“You good? If you’d have given me some notice, I could have met you before you crossed the border.” Gabriel sounded almost… concerned?

The witch ducked his head, and Marcus suddenly realized that despite how powerful he was, the man was probably only in his early twenties. “I had to ditch my phone after I found her, just in case.” He flicked his eyes to Marcus and Rick and said, “She made it