Power Unleashed (13 page)

moved away from the window as Paz rushed into his room. She jerked to a halt just

inside the doorway.

“What’s going on?” Her eyes were wide. Not with fear exactly, but she looked

panicked.

“It looks like someone threw Molotov cocktails on our back porch.”

“
Morales,
” she growled.

In that moment he was proud of her anger. He wanted a mate who wasn’t afraid to

take care of herself. He nodded and pursed his lips together. Adam had spent hours

reviewing those security tapes and he had a fairly decent idea which area of the city

Morales was staying in. He’d managed to track him to the warehouse district. Which

made sense. If he wanted to avoid the police and everyone else, he’d just hole up in an

abandoned warehouse or dilapidated home.

“Will you call Thomas and spread the word what happened here?” he asked.

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“Uh, sure.” Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

It was obvious she wondered why he wasn’t making the calls, so he answered her

unspoken question. “I need to check outside and make a couple calls myself.”

She hovered by the door for a moment before darting from the room. When she did,

he couldn’t help but watch the way her ass swayed. His cock stirred as he watched her

and he wondered if the burning need inside him would ever subside. Scrubbing a hand

over his face, he sighed. It was time to get down to work.

After checking outside and dousing the rest of the smoldering embers, he scouted

the beach in both directions. It was easy to ascertain which way Morales had left. There

were faint traces of his scent, but he was definitely gone.

Tonight he’d made his first mistake. He was getting desperate. Showing up and

revealing himself in this way meant he was coming unhinged. The rogue werewolf

wasn’t thinking clearly. Once he was sure Morales was truly gone, he hurried back

inside.

Upstairs in his room, he found Paz sitting on the edge of his bed. “Everyone is

accounted for.”

“What about your sister?”

Her cheeks flushed pink. “What do you mean?”

“I know she wouldn’t have left without giving you a way to contact her.”

Her cheeks darkened even more, but she nodded. “I called. She and Stephan are

both fine.”

“Good.” He pulled a small, prepacked bag from underneath his bed and hoisted it

over his shoulder. If he could help it, this was going to end tonight.

She stood and placed her hands on her hips. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going after Morales.”

“By yourself?” Despite their earlier fight, there was concern in her voice.

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His throat tightened. That had to mean something. “I’ve been doing this a long

time, Paz. There’s no guarantee I catch him tonight, but I can’t pass up this opportunity

to track him.”

“Call Thomas, or take me with you.”

He snorted. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she was capable, but he didn’t know what

tricks Morales would have up his sleeve and Adam could never knowingly put his

mate in danger. Morales had poisoned and killed packs all over the country and Adam

would never underestimate an opponent like that. “I’ll be back soon. Keep your phone

on.”

She muttered something inaudible as he strode from the room. Once he took care of

this problem, he was going to figure out a way to get back into Paz’s good graces. Then

he was going to bond with her. His body and mind demanded it.

Whatever differences they had could be worked out. He was certain of it.

* * * * *

Paz shifted from foot to foot as she waited for Thomas to pick her up. When she

spotted the high beams of his SUV, she raced across the driveway before he’d made it

halfway up the drive.

After he stopped, he leaned over and opened the door before she could. With

nerves racing like wild horses, she jumped in. “Go!”

He hit the gas and the vehicle jerked to life once again. “How are you certain where

he’s gone?”

“I looked over some of his notes and…I can feel him.”

Thomas spared her a glance. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I just can. Maybe it’s because he’s put himself in a dangerous

situation, but I know where he’s going.”

“You two haven’t bonded, though,” Thomas said.

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Thomas and every other wolf within a hundred-mile radius would have been able

to scent that they were officially mated. “I know that. It doesn’t seem to matter. For

whatever reason, Mother Nature has a screwed-up sense of humor and I can sense him

as sure as I can see you right now.”

For the next fifteen minutes Thomas followed her directives without saying much.

Neither of them felt the need to fill the silence and for that she was grateful. No matter

what had passed between them earlier, Adam was her mate and something deep inside

her called to her to save him. Biology or whatever it was burned a hole in her gut at the

thought that he might be in harm’s way.

“Stop here,” she ordered as they passed an abandoned building on the outskirts of

the warehouse district.

Thomas pulled up to the curb and parked. As they stepped out of the vehicle she

noticed a group of three young men loitering near a flickering streetlight. She could

sense an aura of danger around them, but they wouldn’t be able to harm her. Without

bothering to tell Thomas what she intended, she strode toward them.

The dark-haired one with two gold chains and a few gold teeth straightened when

he saw her. She rolled her eyes when he grabbed his crotch and made an obscene

gesture. “Hey, mama, watcha doing in this part of town?”

“My friend and I are here to take care of some business. You
want
to watch our

vehicle and make sure nothing happens to it, don’t you?” She lowered her voice and

used a small reserve of her power as she projected her influence over them.

Mutely they all nodded.

“Thank you. We will back soon and pay you for your time.” She hated exerting her

influence over humans, but she felt it was necessary. It wasn’t as if she were harming

them. And the subtle command she’d used wouldn’t last forever. In about an hour it

would wear off and if she and Thomas weren’t back, they’d likely strip the vehicle and

sell the parts. Or they’d just steal it.

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“I forgot you could do that,” Thomas murmured as they headed down the nearly

deserted sidewalk.

Trash littered the street and there were a few homeless people loitering down some

of the darkened alleys they passed, but the area was otherwise empty. She and Thomas

were in no real danger. Not yet anyway. She wasn’t sure how powerful Morales was.

Even though she’d tested her powers, she wasn’t at full capacity yet.

As they came to the end of the block, she grabbed Thomas’ arm and tugged him

against the wall. Peering around the corner, she pointed toward an oversized

warehouse right on the bay. “They’re in there.”

“You’re sure?”

She nodded. Her mate was definitely inside that building.

“Let’s go then.” He stepped in front of her and led the way.

As they crossed the street, she inhaled something sickly and sweet. Blood. Her

mate’s blood. Instinct kicked in. Without thinking, she raced across the street then the

abandoned parking lot. Behind her she could hear Thomas shift, but she stayed in her

human form. Her feet pounded against the pavement and she cursed when Thomas’

dark form flew past her. He was a big wolf and incredibly fast. A few moments later she

joined him by the wall of the metal building.

She crouched down and pointed at the broken window. He couldn’t respond but

she knew he understood what she meant. Standing, she peered through the opening. In

the middle of the abandoned warehouse, two wolves circled one another.

Adam’s beautiful white coat had a streak of red smeared against his side, yet the

black and brown wolf in front of him was unscathed. Before she could stop herself, she

grabbed the edge of the window. Jagged glass shards that still stuck into the pane of the

window dug into her palms, but the pain barely fazed her. She hoisted herself up and

over.

When her boots hit the concrete floor, both wolves turned. Adam reared back and

Morales took the opportunity to strike.

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He went for her mate’s neck and a flash of rage lapped through her like a wildfire.

Not caring about the consequences, she drew on the life force of everything in a half-

mile radius. All the energy would be replenished and she wasn’t hurting anyone.

Her palms tingled and burned as energy formed there. She pulled her arm back and

threw a ball of crackling blue fire toward Morales. When she grazed his back, he yelped

and rolled to the floor but just as quickly jumped to all fours. She cursed herself. A year

ago she wouldn’t have missed.

Adam still stood near him. Too close for her comfort. “Back away, Adam!”

He didn’t listen. He bared his teeth at Morales and growled.

The black and brown wolf snapped his teeth when she took another step closer. She

was powerful, but in her human and still-weakened form, if he got close enough, he

could hurt her. It was unlikely he’d kill her, but she didn’t relish getting mauled.

Unfortunately she was out of practice with her aim and she desperately needed to make

this shot count.

She narrowed her gaze on Morales and forced herself to block out her mate’s

existence. She needed to taunt Morales, needed to make him lunge at her. If he bared

his underside, she could strike him hard and fast in the heart and this would finally be

over. If she blew a hole through his chest, it would destroy his heart and that’s what she

needed to kill him. “My sister is with her mate right now. Can you guess what they’re

doing?”

Morales growled again. The deep and eerie sound bounced off the metal walls.

“You’re the last thing on her mind you piece of shit. Why she ever talked to you in

the first place, I’ll never know. You’re nothing but a pathetic mongrel. She’s probably

fucking her mate right now.”

That’s all it took. He threw all caution and common sense to the wind as he

launched himself at her. But she was ready.

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Hauling back her arm, she started to unleash another blast of energy when a white

blur of fur hurled through the air. With a giant, angry snap, Adam ripped Morales’

head from his body.

The sound of flesh tearing and a surprised yelp tore through the air. She managed

to stop herself from blasting Adam and sent her aim wild toward the roof. Metal ripped

apart and a chunk of the ceiling collapsed a few yards away.

Unable to speak, she stared at the gory scene before her. She couldn’t believe how

quickly Adam had taken him down. Morales’ head lay in a pool of blood a few feet

from his lifeless body.

And Adam stared at her with blood dripping from his mouth.

Fear spiked through her. She took a few steps back when reality set in. He knew

what she was. And he hated her kind. Turning away from him, she brushed past

Thomas. She did the only thing she knew to keep herself safe.

She ran.

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Adam tossed his phone onto his bed when what he really wanted to do was throw

it against the wall and watch it smash into a tiny thousand bits. But if he did that, he

might miss a call from Paz.

Not that she was eager to contact him. That much was clear. For the past two days

he’d been going crazy trying to hunt her down, but she’d covered her trail. Occasionally

he thought he scented her along the beach but knew his mind was playing tricks on

him. She was long gone. And now he’d likely have to scour the country trying to find

her. When he’d realized what she was, her earlier anger at him had made sense.

And he wanted to kick his own ass for not seeing that sooner. The faeries he’d dealt

with in the past were evil, but she sure as hell wasn’t. She was one of the bravest she-

wolves he’d ever met and he couldn’t believe she was his mate. When she’d shown up

at that warehouse, he felt as if he’d lost a hundred years of his life. He’d been baiting

Morales, making him think he could win before he killed him.

Then she’d shown up. He had no doubt she could have killed Morales, but Adam

hadn’t wanted her to deliver the killing blow. She’d been through hell over the past

year and he knew the burden it sometimes cost to take another life. Not that he was

sorry the crazy wolf was dead. He simply didn’t want Paz to carry that burden.

When the doorbell rang, he nearly jumped out of his skin. The sexy vixen had him

all sorts of twisted up and if he didn’t find her soon, someone was going to pay.

Disappointment coursed through him before he swung the door open because he knew

who would be on the other side.

“Have you found Paz?” he growled at Thomas. The other wolf had been avoiding

his questions the past two days.

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Ignoring him, Thomas brushed past him. “My father just got a call from The

Council. Seems that everything here is settled, but they want to call an emergency