mate, assuming he was trying to protect me. ‘Don’t try and pull rank. I’m not staying behind.’
Rage shook his head, ‘I need you to figure out how to destroy that protection spell on my mom,’ he said, referring to the one binding his mother’s life to his uncle’s. ‘No one else here can do that.’
Crappity crap. He was right.
“Fine. But don’t let my dad get hurt.”
He nodded, and leaning in, Rage pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I love you, Nai.”
Then, he turned and ran in the direction of the king.
My fingers went to my lips, and I wondered why he’d randomly said he loved me … like a goodbye in case—
No. I wouldn’t … I couldn’t think like that.
I spun on my heels, searching for my grandfather. How long would it take him to get to the mage lands and back? Would he step through a portal if it opened into that raging inferno?
Whatever, I could figure this out, right?
Operation Save Future Mother-in-Law was in full effect.
“You asshole,” Rage snarled when he got within earshot of his uncle. He stalked forward with hot orange fire magic crackling down his arms. He punctuated his statement with a blast, not at his uncle but rather at the ground in front of him. The earth exploded, pelting the king, Aunt Lilith, and the wolves nearest them with chunks of frozen earth. “You murdered my dad.” Another blast. “And now I’m challenging you for alpha king position.”
Well, I guess that’s out there now…
There was a deep intake of breath—probably from everyone within earshot. Alpha challenges were fights to the death. Always.
Racing in the direction of my father, I ignored the next explosion while scanning the tree line for Rage’s mom. Where was she? Maybe if I could scan her spirit, like Grandpa Geoff had shown me to scan Noble’s, I’d be able to see the spell and therefore know how to remove it. It was a longshot, but if Grandpa didn’t show up with the spellbreaker herb in time, it might be the only shot we had.
“Midnight, attack!” Declan shouted like the coward he was.
Snarls and growls ripped through the air, and I felt the wind shift as the pack moved. Their paws thundered against the ground, the sound becoming a crescendo as they neared. Heat blasted past me, and a heartbeat later, a wolf wailed in pain.
Was that … I glanced toward my father, but it was Justice’s hands covered in flames. Justice had just shot fire into his own pack to protect mine…
“Midnight Pack,” Rage commanded, his voice cutting through the collective rumble. “Stand down.”
Howls and whines followed, and then several very human-sounding voices cried out with alarm.
“Please!” a male begged. “Make it stop.”
Mother Mage.
A battle of wills was a battle for alpha—a battle to the death.
The urge to glance behind danced up my spine, but any delay could spell death for Rage, Elaine, and all of Crescent.
“Attack,” Declan screamed. “Attack!”
The wolves nearest the king turned, some charging to attack Crescent Pack, and others attacking whoever was closest to them, including their own ranks.
What the hell?
‘Come on, Rage,’ I snarled. ‘Kick his ass!’
“Stand down,” Rage bellowed.
The command rolled through the field, plowing into me with such force that I stumbled, falling to my knees.
Whoa.
I didn’t know if Rage was more powerful than Declan or if it was because we shared a close bond, but when Rage tried to compel his pack, it affected me. Something Declan’s magic had never done.
I stood, shaking off Rage’s command, and closed the remaining distance before crashing into my father. “Dad!”
He startled and brought his arms around me. “Nai?”
“Where’s Elaine?” I asked my father, but he was preoccupied with making fireballs and glaring down Declan, who was in a screaming match with Rage.
“Dad.” I grabbed his arm. “Where’s Lona? Maybe Elaine is with her?”
As alpha, he would be able to sense if Lona was in mortal peril.
He shook his head. “They were with Lilith in the lodge, and then our patrols spotted the buses—”
“Do you feel her? Is she alive?”
“Yes,” he said with a curt nod. “…somewhere.”
Somewhere? But where was that?
My gaze bounced from him to Justice, who stood next to my dad, then to Noble, who shot a flurry of magic toward Midnight Pack.
‘No idea,’ Noble said, keeping his attention on the Midnight wolves. ‘It’s not like her to hide.’
Exactly my thought.
‘Honor…’ I looked down at the black wolf by my side. ‘We gotta find your mom.’
‘Hurry, Nai,’ Rage said.
I peered over my shoulder