Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(36)

He leapt to his feet and lunged at Lucius just as the shifter was baring  his teeth to sink them into Abby's torso. Jace slammed into him,  crushed his throat with one well-timed bite, hurled him aside, and then  spun around toward Grigori.

"Get Seth," Abby shouted. "He's already shifting! He's going to kill my grandmother!"

Drake regained consciousness and surged to his feet. He lunged at  Grigori, and the alpha wolf spun to meet him. Within a split second, the  two wolves were in full battle, but Drake was bigger, and he was the  best fighter Jace had ever met. You got it?

Got it. Get the kid.

Without hesitation, Jace whirled around and sprinted across the room  toward the boy. The youth's eyes snapped open, filled with fear as the  song jerked him from his sleep and awakened the wolf inside him.

Jace tackled him, pinning him to the couch with his paws, meeting the  boy's frightened gaze. He opened a telepathic bridge with him, pouring  serenity into his mind, just as he'd done with so many young wolves so  many times. Not taking time for words, he filled the boy's mind with  images of wolves and shifters, educating him at lightning speed,  empowering the youth to own his wolf even before the shift.

Abby stopped singing, but the youth was already shifting. His shift was  quick, fueled by the song, but the moment he shifted, Jace gripped the  back of Seth's neck, pinning him to the couch, holding him down as the  wolf tried to take over. He held the young wolf still, keeping him from  attacking Abby's grandmother, while he poured his own power into the boy  to help him control his wolf.

Minutes ticked by, more and more, as Jace patiently held him still,  waiting for the danger to pass. Eventually, finally, Jace felt the  shudder of relief in the young wolf, the moment that the human took  control back.

Jace immediately released him and crouched down, nose to nose with the  youth. The young wolf was pure white with blue eyes, rare indeed. His  eyes were wide as he looked at Jace, but his eyes had human intelligence  and understanding. He licked Jace's muzzle, and Jace growled with  satisfaction, knowing that the first stage had been successfully  handled.

He cuffed the youth lightly, then turned away. Lucius lay on the floor  where Jace had tossed him. Grigori and Drake were gone, but he could  hear the sounds of battle from outside. He swore, racing back across the  room to Abby, shifting as he ran. He caught her in his arms, lifting  her wrists off the hook. She threw her still bound wrists over his neck,  and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "I'm sorry I was  late."

She shook her head. "He didn't do much. He hadn't gotten started." She  pulled back, her eyes glistening. "You made me sing to you."

He grinned. "I realized you're the source of my power, and it's up to me  to control how I react to it." He framed her face with his hands. "I  love you, Abby. That's where my power comes from. Love."

She smiled, beaming at him. "I knew you loved me."

"You were right." He slid his hand through her hair and kissed her, the  first kiss of his life when he wasn't holding back. He poured everything  into the kiss, everything that mattered, everything he was, and it made  the kiss become more than it ever had been. "You're mine now. I'm never  letting you go, sweetheart."

She pulled back, her smile fading. "I'm Seth's guardian. I'm a mom now."

"I'm in." He didn't hesitate. "I love kids."                       
       
           



       

She smiled. "You love to mold young shifters into being good, moral people, you mean."

"That, too." He rested his hands on her hips, basking in the sensation  of her kiss, her commitment, her everything. "I'm yours for as long as  you'll have me, Abby."

"Forever?"

He grinned. "Forever." A loud crash sounded from the hall, and he swore.  "Stay here. I'll be right back." He kissed her again, and then raced  for the door, shifting back to wolf form. He exploded out the door and  followed the sounds of battle down the hall. Drake! I'm on my way.

Drake didn't answer, but Cash appeared in the doorway. "Drake's gone."





Chapter 22





Two days later, Drake was still missing.

Abby perched on the arm of the worn leather couch, her hand on Jace's  shoulder. Jace was beside her, once again revived after Kiernan had  stripped the silver from him. Roarke was in an armchair, heavily  bandaged, his face still pale. His breathing was shallow, rattling in  his chest, and his cheeks were even more sunken than before. He looked  weaker, as if death was tightening its grip on him, despite Kiernan's  healing, but he'd insisted on being part of the discussion.

Cash and his mate, Bryn McKenzie, were sitting on the opposite couch,  and Savannah was pacing restlessly. Nana had taken Seth to Jace's house,  the most secure facility available, while the others had gathered at  Kiernan's new location, another underground bunker he'd clearly already  had in place. Jace's pack had been hunting for Drake, and no one had  found even a trace of him.

Fear was pressing down upon all of them, and they were becoming  increasingly afraid that Grigori had somehow taken him … except that Cash  had seen Grigori and Drake fighting when he'd arrived. But by the time  he'd stopped the truck and raced over to join the fight, Drake was  nowhere in sight, and Grigori was on the run, disappearing into the  shadows of the alleys before Cash could reach him. Cash had returned to  hunt for Drake, but his scent had literally vanished outside the  apartment, the trail ending so suddenly it was as if he'd ceased to  exist.

"We've looked everywhere," Cash said, leaning forward and bracing his  arms on his quads. His fingers were tangled with Bryn's, just as Jace  was doing with Abby. "Drake's gone."

"He can't be gone." Abby focused on Jace tracing circles on the palm of  her hand. "Grigori must have done something. He has lairs everywhere.  It's just a matter of finding him."

Cash stood up. "He's my best friend. I can't sit here and wait. We have to find him."

Jace watched him steadily, his strong frame relaxed, conveying the  message that he had this situation under control. Abby could feel his  tension, however, in the rapid lines he was drawing on her palm. He  presented complete control and confidence, but the deeply emotional and  compassionate man who'd been ready to die to protect others from himself  was beneath the surface, hidden from everyone except her. Jace bled  silently, inside, and never showed it. But she knew, because he'd let  her see it. "Abby has agreed to map out all known locations of Grigori  and his pack," he said, rubbing his knuckles over the back of her hand.  "We'll check them systematically. I've recalled my pack. They'll arrive  tomorrow and we'll divvy up the locations. Abby and I will take some,  Cash and Bryn will take a set, and-"

"I'll take a set." Savannah stopped pacing.

Roarke leveled a hard gaze at her. "You can't go in after him, Savannah-"

"I can." She walked over to her brother. "Lucius kidnapped me, but he's dead. I can handle Grigori."

"Grigori's more dangerous," Jace said quietly. "He's extremely intelligent, connected, and ruthless."

She turned toward Jace. "Which is why I'm going to help. How long do you  think Drake can survive him? We all know what he's like." She looked at  her brother. "Lucius caught me unaware," she said softly. "I didn't  know that kind of world existed, and I wasn't prepared for it. I'm ready  now. I'm not the same innocent he took. That girl doesn't exist  anymore."

Anguish filled Roarke's face. "Damn it, Savannah."

"It's okay, Roarke." She walked over to him and knelt beside him, taking  his hand in hers. "If you hadn't saved me, I'd be dead now. You're  amazing, but now I have to pay that forward and help Drake."

Abby felt her own heart tighten. She knew what Savannah was saying.  She'd also changed forever because of Grigori, seeing things she'd never  be able to strip from her mind, and like Savannah, she couldn't stand  back and let Grigori hurt anyone else, not if she could stop it. "We  don't even know if Grigori has Drake."
                       
       
           



       
"Someone has him," Cash said. "He'd be back with us if he could. If it's  not Grigori, it's someone else. I'd know if he were dead. He's not."

"I agree," Jace said. "I'd know if he were dead. He's alive, but somehow, cut off from us."

"That's why I'm helping," Savannah said. "He built a psychic bridge between us. I might be able to sense him."