Through the Ether (Force of Nature Book 5) - Amber Lynn Natusch Page 0,13
to form a tight circle around me as Mack’s seemingly infinite pack surrounded us.
“I can’t fight them and keep you from his commands,” I said, frustration plain in my voice.
Knox looked back at me, anger furrowing his brow. “There’s only one way to end this,” he said, and I knew then what he planned to do. The thing he’d avoided in all our run-ins with Mack.
Kill him.
“Knox, no—”
“We don’t have a choice,” he argued. “Can you hold the connection long enough if these guys do the fighting?”
“Yes, but—”
“There’s no ‘but’, Piper. It’s our only shot. Now,” he said, forcing a sad smile, “wanna give me a hand?”
I choked back my tears and nodded, then called forth my wind. With a violent gust, it shot him high above the fray to land right in front of Mack. I could barely see past the onslaught of wolves attacking, but I watched through the veil of blood and blows to see Knox squaring off against Mack while I held onto that magical tether like his life depended upon it.
Because it did.
The two of them went at each other like wild animals. Every time I saw blood stain Knox’s shirt, I had to glue my mouth shut. My screams would only distract him, and given how evenly they were matched and how relentlessly the fey king’s power assaulted my hold on Knox, it was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
I could feel my friends waning under the weight of Mack’s wolves, and I wondered if time was running out. But then I saw Mack fly into the back wall and Knox pin him there, his lips at the sketchy alpha’s ear. Mack’s eyes went wide as Knox’s clawed hand plunged deep into his chest and ripped out his heart. It beat once, spurting blood across the room, then stopped.
The second it did, so did the fight.
The pull of Faerie disappeared with a faint scream that I wondered if only I heard. The NYC pack parted as Knox, whose body all but thrummed with newly acquired power, stalked toward us, his eyes fixed on me. Their golden hue warmed the dim light of the room, and the hunger in their depths was undeniable. But there was also an instability, a foreign gleam in them that gave me pause. Grizz, sensing my uncertainty, edged closer to me as the room looked on in silence.
“Piper…” The need in his voice was undeniable, and for a second, I wondered if he planned to fuck me right there in front of everyone, covered in the blood of his fallen foe. Then his eyes closed and he took a deep breath. When they opened, any hint of the wolf shining through was gone. He looked over our crew, making sure those he called his were relatively unscathed. Once satisfied, his gaze swept over the crowd of wolves—wounded, burned, dead, and otherwise. “You know the choice you face, only now, you’ll face it under me, not Mack. Refuse to fight, and it will mean your banishment or death. I’ll be back for your decision. In the meantime, get yourselves healed up and ready for war,” Knox said before heading toward me. He took my hand as he passed, and together, we led our crew to the door. “Because it’s coming.”
Mack’s former pack said nothing; they just watched us walk to the exit unobstructed.
“And be sure to take out the trash,” Kat called back to them.
The five of us walked outside in silence, headed for the pack awaiting us down the street. To say our meeting hadn’t gone according to plan was an understatement and a half. To say I wasn’t scared to death of the consequences would have been an outright lie.
Chapter Five
The ride home was quiet and tense, and I’d never been so happy to escape a car in my life—even more so than the night I’d first met Merc. Knox was lost somewhere in his thoughts as he drove. Kat and Brunton were dutifully ignoring each other on opposite sides of the back seat, using the man-bear as a buffer for their brewing whatever the hell it was. Brunton’s attempt to check on her had been dismissed with a quick “I'm fine,” and they hadn’t spoken since.
And I sat in silence, doing all I could to process the implications of what had just happened.
Knox pulled into the driveway at the mansion and parked. Seconds later, we all jumped out of the SUV and headed for the house, the silence still