"Put me down, Kane. I can walk."
"Well, at least you didn't call me Dr. Wolfen." He sighed, pulled her around the corner of the building, and moved her to face him. "Look at me, Faith, because I'm only going to say this once. You are mine, my mate, my wife, never will you be single again. Wolves mate for life, and you're it for me. I have a ring for you at home, will you please wear it? The next time someone asks you if you're single, you will answer appropriately. Do I make myself clear, because wolves are a jealous, possessive lot with their mates." He cupped her face and kissed her gently. "I love you. I always have and always will. I can't live without you anymore."
Faith closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his. "I hate you right now. But you know what shits me off the most is no matter what I did or how hard I tried..." She looked up into his eyes. "I never stopped loving you."
She placed her mouth on his and started to kiss him, gently and shy at first, but then she traced his lips with the tip of her tongue and the kiss heated up. She nipped his bottom lip, and he growled and took over.
Faith pulled away at the clearing of throats. "So, there is one brother missing. Is Arden hiding somewhere?"
Kane chuckled. "I'm sure he would have been here too, but someone has to work. Although I'm betting he and the rest of them are close by." He frowned. "Faith, what the hell were you thinking? You know demons focus on the paranormal."
* * * *
Faith groaned and tried not to get angry. Especially after the vision she had today, she knew that he was just protecting her. She took a deep, calming breath and started to answer him when another vision came at her.
Two young girls in scraggly, ripped clothing. One was about four or five, the other seven or eight. They sat hiding, covering each other's mouths, tears streaming down their dirty faces. They looked to be in some abandoned warehouse. Faith felt it wasn't far from where she and her werewolves were. She tried to look around for anything that could give away where they were. The place was filled with boxes, crates, and equipment that Faith didn't recognize. Then she saw a storage container with Black's Boating written on the side. Faith felt a direction of where they were toward the wharf.
The younger of the two started whimpering. Faith got a strong whiff of sulphur smoke as two demons and some minions came in.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are. We won't hurt you. Your daddy was a bad boy hiding you two from us because you're special."
Faith snapped out of the vision with a feeling of urgency. She was in Kane's arms, and Rane, Griffen, Devlin, and Jamie surrounded them.
She pushed against Kane's chest. "We need to go now." Kane let her go, instantly alert, scanning the area, but as soon as he let her go she started running in the direction she had a feeling the children were. "We need to get there now. Hurry."
The five werewolves followed. Kane picked her up and ran to where she pointed as he could run faster thanks to being a werewolf.
"I saw a storage container that said Black's Boating, but they're too far from the water to be safe." She couldn't stop shaking. She was terrified for the little girls, tears streaming down her face.
"Princess, you have to tell us what you saw."
"Two demons, minions, up ahead. Quick, we have to save the little girls," she called out.
Kane stopped and put her down, his face grim. "Are you sure it was two demons together? Demons always work alone."
She nodded. "No mistaking. You need to hurry."
"Point us in the direction. You go with Jamie."
"No, no, I can't. Two little girls need me, I must go. They're special, like me, and you need Jamie, there're two demons."
Kane seemed to silently debate for a second. "You can be two warehouses away, but you will stay back and with Jamie, only come over when he gives the all clear." He turned to Jamie. "Keep her away from the action, no matter what she says or does. I mean it, Jamie. Now that we're this close, I really don't have a good feeling, so stick to her like glue."
Jamie nodded. They continued on until they reached a section of run-down warehouses. Faith closed her eyes and pointed. All the werewolves took a deep breath.
"Fuck, I think she's right about there being two demons."
They ran in the direction she had pointed. Kane stopped and turned back, looking her straight in the eyes. "I mean it, Faith, no rushing in to save the day. Wait 'til Jamie gives the okay."
She nodded and tucked her arms around herself.
Kane was just out of sight when Jamie said, "You know you don't have to be with him, Faith."
She raised her eyebrow at Jamie.
"Just because you're his true mate doesn't mean you have to be with him. You're human."
Faith winced. She hated it when they said human like it was a dirty word.
"Don't do that, you know I didn't mean it that way."
She looked up into his bright green eyes. "This really isn't the time to discuss this, but for what it's worth, Jamie … " She looked up to see about fifteen minions coming toward them. "Fuck. Minions."
* * * *
Kane and his brothers ran in the direction of the sulphur smoke smell. He tried his best to keep his thoughts off Faith. He knew she was safe with Jamie, he was one of their best fighters, even at his young age. Not only that, she had trained with them since she was six through to her teen years. He had taught her some moves himself, and she even had specially made knives with iced tips. It also helped, he told himself, that he didn't smell sulphur smoke in her direction.
As they got closer, the brothers spread out to all sides of the building. Kane found the ball lighting rip that was a portal to the demon realm. It looked no bigger than a grapefruit, but Kane knew better as most demons were about ten to sixteen feet with massive muscles. He chanted the closing spell, and Rane came up beside him and put his blade through it to make sure they got all of it.
"My bad feeling is getting worse," Kane said. "It's too quiet, and where are the minions?"
Just as he said that, six minions flew from the roof to attack them. The gray pig-like creatures with sharp claws and even sharper teeth, which they used to eat flesh, were only about four and a half feet tall. They were easy to dispose of by ripping or cutting their wings off, chopping their heads off, then pulling out their hearts.
Kane and Rane disposed of the minions easily, too easily, without even half-changing, something didn't feel right. They rushed inside to see a huge fifteen foot demon and a smaller one, about eleven feet tall. They both had gigantic black horns and huge thorns sticking out of their solid muscle with big, black eyes and bright red skin. The smaller demon had Griffen with both hands while Devlin dealt with his thick, long tail with the arrow-pointed end.
Rane and Kane half-changed which made them grow an extra three feet and bulk up. They became covered in protective fur over their extra-large human bodies.
The larger demon laughed as Rane and Kane showed up, the sound like nails scratching a chalkboard.
"Look who's come to join us, the great and powerful alpha here to save the day. I have to say I'm surprised you left your pretty little mate unprotected. Ah, Lucifer will be so happy. He has wanted to get his hands on one of the most powerful soothsayers in this century."
Kane tried not to react or show his surprise at the demon knowing so much, but he must have failed because the demon laughed again and then kicked Griffen out of the other demon's hands. Griffen flew across the room and hit the wall.
"We have our own soothsayer. She's not even a tenth of what your little mate is, but it doesn't matter, after tonight we will have her."
The demons attacked. As Griffen came up beside Rane, the demons used their horns to ram into them. Kane dodged but still got one in the shoulder. He used his extended claws to rip out the horn and grabbed his knife. It was a lot smaller than what he usually used, but in his rush to find Faith he only had the knife that he'd strapped in his boot. No werewolf went anywhere without an ice knife.
All four werewolves circled the demons. They needed to cut the tail first, as it did the most damage with its easy movement. They attacked together, Devlin and Griffen attacking the tails while Rane climbed on the big one's back. Kane distracted the demons from the front, focusing on the biggest one so Rane could get the head off. Griffen chopped the tail off and came to help Kane as he was caught in the demon's muscular, thorn-covered arms. Kane yelled to Griffen to help Devlin, who was struggling by himself with the smaller demon. His howl of pain as the demon cracked all his ribs was cut off as Rane chopped one of the demon's arms off. Kane fell to the floor. He got up, wincing, going straight for the heart of the demon who was bucking, trying to get Rane off, his remaining hand clawing at him.