“Come on. She’s not in there.”

We circled around the building to a slew of other houses. Bailey’s scent grew stronger the closer we got to the main house, but so did Kade’s. My wolf bordered along the surface, desperate for blood. The rage inside me only made him hungrier for vengeance. Breathing hard, I closed my eyes and leaned against a tree to calm myself. Nothing was working. Their scents mingling together was enough to drive me in-fucking-sane.

“Just because you smell them together doesn’t mean anything,” Sebastian whispered. The look in his eyes said otherwise.

There were two men guarding the front of the house and two in the rear. “I’ll take the front, you get the back. We’ll meet inside.”

Sebastian nodded and took off around the house. The men at the front didn’t see me coming and before they could call for help, I snapped both of their necks. Judging by the sound coming from the back, Sebastian had done the same.

The door was unlocked and the second I walked inside, Bailey’s scent engulfed me; she was upstairs. Sebastian bolted through the back door and followed me up the stairs. She had to be in the house, but when her scent led me to the back bedroom, I slammed open the door to find nothing but a few drops of her blood on the bed.

Rage overcame my senses. I didn’t want to think of anyone hurting her, especially my brother. She had been in that room, prisoner to my brother’s sick whims. My own fucking brother.

Sebastian pushed me out of the room. “We need to go. She’s not here. Let’s keep looking.” We did a quick search of the rest of the house and it was clear. Once outside, her trail led us in a couple of different directions. We picked one and went with it. I prayed it was the right one.

There was no one out front guarding the door, but there were two inside. We slipped in unnoticed. Sebastian took the first one out, while I did the other, his unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling when I dropped him to the floor.

A voice called out from the other room, sparking my hatred even more. “Roman, what the hell are you doing out there?” It was Rollin. I couldn’t even scent him out because I was so focused on Bailey. His footsteps drew near, but before he could reach the door, I kicked it open. It took him a minute to register who I was. And when he did, his eyes went wide in disbelief.

“Surprised to see me, uncle?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Sebastian pulled a knife and sent it flying. It hit home, in the center of his chest, and he fell backward onto his desk. Before he could call for help, I jammed the knife further into his chest, his face contorting in pain.

“That is for my family, you worthless coward. I’ve waited a long time for this.”

Sebastian circled around him and pulled something out of his pocket. “So have I.” I couldn’t see what he had in his hands, but I could smell it.

My uncle glared at me with disdain. “I didn’t want your mother dead. It was you and your father I wanted gone.”

Grabbing his neck, I slammed him down on the desk. “Why?” I shouted.

“He loved her,” Sebastian answered. “I can see it on his face.”

My uncle snarled. “If it wasn’t for Soren, she’d have been mine. He took her from me!”

“And you took her from me,” I growled. Ripping the knife out of his chest, I lifted it high.

“Stop,” Sebastian commanded.

Heart thumping, I lowered the knife and glared at him. “What are you doing?”

He stood across from me and showed me the vial he had in his hands. “You’re not the only one who’s been out for revenge. This fucker killed my family too. He needs to suffer the same way they did.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You were part of the Northern pack, Darius’ second in command,” my uncle sneered.

Sebastian opened the vial. “Wrong, you worthless son of a bitch. I’m Sebastian Lyall, sworn protector of Bailey Storm, and son of Waylon and Milena Lyall of the Royal pack. Your time is over.” Rollin tried to fight, but I held him down while Sebastian poured the liquid down his throat and covered his mouth. He tried to scream but he couldn’t open his mouth.

“Was that one of the vials Darius had on him?” I asked.

He nodded. “Let’s see how your uncle likes being burned from the inside out. It’s how he killed your father and my parents.” His body began to convulse, blood pouring out of his eyes, ears, and mouth. Pulling his hand away, Sebastian stepped back and we watched my uncle choke on his last breath. “Someone should’ve killed him a long time ago,” Sebastian grumbled.

I looked at my dead uncle one more time before leaving the room. “I agree, but my father loved him. They were brothers.” When we got to the door, I took a deep breath and opened it. “I’m not going to make the same mistake.”

Bailey

When I walked into the temple, there were candles all around with a pool of water in the center. Dressed in a white robe, my mother stood off to the side with a sad smile on her face and a washcloth in her hands. There was an opening in the ceiling allowing the moon to shine through.

“I need you to drop the blanket and get in the water,” Maret commanded, flourishing her hand toward the shimmering pool.

I peered down at the water. “What’s in it?” I could smell various herbs and perfumes wafting off the steam.

Maret put her hands on my shoulders and I jerked away. “It’s all natural ingredients from the earth. It’ll cleanse you before the bonding and prepare your body for mating. It’s also been known to help with bearing a child.”

Scowling, I stepped away from the water. “Why don’t you get in it then? You’re the all-powerful witch . . . you should just mate with Kade. That way, you can have witchy wolf breeds running around.”

She burst out laughing. “It doesn’t work that way, sweetheart. Only wolves can mate with other wolves. Besides, Kade doesn’t exactly do it for me. Now get in the water.”

Standing my ground, I glared at her and refused to move. I knew the pain was about to come before she even opened her mouth. Bursts of light exploded in my mind and I screamed, falling to the ground. It felt like a thousand knives jabbing me all over my body.

“Maret, stop! Please,” Annika begged. After a few more seconds, the pain dispersed and I sucked in a ragged breath. She held me protectively in her arms, shielding me.

Maret pulled her hand back and huffed. “Get her in the pool, Annika. We don’t have much time.”

She lifted me up and walked with me over to the steaming water. “Please, Bailey. Do as she says. I can’t stand seeing you in pain.”

“You should’ve thought about that before you took me from my family.” She flinched and then lowered her gaze to my blanket, gently prying the edges out of my hand. Knowing I had no choice, I gave up and let her unwrap me.

“I’m going to give you some time to gather your thoughts. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Maret announced. Over my shoulder, I watched her disappear out of the temple. Even with her gone, I could feel her magic oozing all around me.

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Maybe I get it from my real parents,” I spat.

Huffing, she finished unwrapping me and threw the blanket on the ground. When she got a good look at my body, her eyes flashed. “What the hell happened?”

I looked down and found a messy bite mark on my breast. “It’s the work of your future son-in-law. You must be so proud to know that each and every night, he’ll be forcing himself on me. He’s already informed me that he likes it when I scream in pain. It should make it fun for me, you know, to be a baby factory for your pack.” Walking past her, I stepped into the warm water and sank down into it. Whatever was in it couldn’t be any worse than what awaited me once Kade was ready.