Wade claimed he didn’t have a phone, so Sean needed to find out where Wade had stashed whatever vehicle had gotten them out here and go for help. That is, if Sean could get himself up off the floor.
Wade walked toward him but stayed out of reach. “Don’t try it, Sean. Or you’ll watch Glory die.”
Sean hauled himself to his feet and shook out his mane. It hurt to do it, but mane-shaking always looked intimidating. Sure enough, Wade took a step back.
Roaring was out of the question. Sean could barely draw a breath, could barely even see. He settled for a harsh rumble in his throat that seemed more threatening than it was.
“Seriously, Sean.” Wade put his booted foot on Glory’s bare side. “I’ll kill her.”
Glory, with the last of her strength, grabbed Wade’s foot and shoved upward. She was too weak to do much, but Wade lost his balance, and that gave Sean his opening. He sprang.
Gravity worked to Sean’s advantage. He was able to shove Wade to the ground and land on him, using his weight to hold him down. But Sean grew dizzier as Wade struggled, and he knew he’d pass out if he made much more effort. Glory tried to crawl toward the cave mouth, but she’d moved only a foot or so before she collapsed.
Wade started to shift, wolf claws digging into Sean’s side. Wade’s Collar went off, but even with that, Wade was stronger and more rested than Sean. The wolf would kill Sean and Glory both and claim that they’d died of their wounds.
Andrea. Sean’s consciousness started to drift. Love you.
“Sean?”
He heard her voice, the sweetest music. Sean pictured Andrea’s gray eyes that had looked at him so saucily that first night at the bus station, the black ringlets of hair he liked to catch between his lips. He loved every curve of her body, her red lips, her tender and skilled hands that liked to explore him. Sean liked her wolf too, the noble Lupine with Andrea’s cool gaze.
There was no finer woman than Andrea Gray, and she belonged to Sean.
“Sean!”
A white light blinded him. Damn, wasn’t it enough that Wade had them cowed without the man beaming light in his eyes?
A stench went with it, a cross between smoke and mint. Cold wind blasted through the cave, and suddenly it was filled with people. Sean could scent them: the acrid mint odor he’d come to associate with the Fae, the rather ripe smell of a pissed-off bear, the scent of his own father, and the cool honey tones of his mate.
Andrea.
Sean opened his eyes. At the same moment, Dylan reached down and hauled Wade, half shifted, to his feet.
Dylan’s eyes were white-hot with rage. His Collar sparked, but Dylan, the best trained of them all against the Collars, wouldn’t feel it. Behind Dylan, the tall Fae drew a sword.
Wade gibbered in terror. “I was keeping them safe. I was keeping them safe!”
“Lying shithead,” Glory whispered.
Sean let out his breath and turned his head to inhale the goodness of Andrea. She dropped the Sword of the Guardian and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in Sean’s mane.
“I found you,” she sobbed. “Sean, my mate. I found you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Healing Sean was a joy. Andrea felt her magic connecting with the shimmer of Goddess magic inside Sean to soothe his hurts and heal him. He slowly shifted back to human as she worked, the threads of his pain unsnarling and smoothing at her touch.
Andrea knew when Sean felt better, because she felt his gaze fix on her, strong and blue. He snaked a hand around her wrist, fingers hard, and pulled her down to him. Andrea came willingly, sensing their threads twine together, the mate bond tightening.
“Thank the Goddess you’re all right,” she said.
The look in his eyes told her he had more than prayers of thankfulness on his mind. Sean rolled her over into the dirt, and his mouth landed on hers, hungry and desperate, seeking with primal need. His body was hard and heavy on hers, hot through the silk.
Ronan chuckled. “Looks like he’ll be okay.”
“Glory.” Dylan’s moan of anguish made Andrea break the kiss at the same time Sean did.
Dylan had Glory’s head in his lap and was stroking her hair. Sean picked up the sword and moved to them, Andrea right behind him.
Together they healed her. Andrea grasped the blade, letting the edge nick her hand as she had when