The door slammed open with a force that rattled the frame, making Ethan look up from his paperwork in alarm. His Delta, Darren, glared at him, fury etched into his chiseled features. "Are you out of your mind, Ethan? Your negligence put my mate in danger!"
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ethan retorted, rising from his chair and meeting Darren's gaze with equal intensity.
"Your Delta! And I'll speak to you like this when my mate's life is on the line!" Darren shot back, anger quivering in his voice. "You failed to provide critical information to Deanna, putting her in unnecessary danger. Now, tell me why vampires were on pack grounds bringing my mate here."
Ethan furrowed his brow, confusion clouding his face. "What are you talking about?"
"Are you serious?" Darren asked incredulously. "Janet is in critical condition in the infirmary; Deanna may be blind in one eye. Lily and Tiffany said that the only reason they survived was because the vampires intervened in time."
"Wait. What are you talking about?" Ethan stammered, his strong façade faltering as worry crept in. He couldn't even remember how he got back to the pack house after his situation with Aimee and Kasia, which left a bad taste in his mouth. Why couldn't he remember?
"Kenneth and the rogues attacked," Darren growled, clenching his fists in frustration. "They were looking for someone, and the vampires intervened. Now we have reports that Hunters may have been in the city as well." As Darren recounted the events, Ethan's heart raced. "Where is Kasia?" Ethan asked urgently, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation. "Kasia was with Lily."
"Why are you asking me? You have a mind link with her. Reach out to her," Darren reminded him, his tone softening slightly but still cautious.
"No, I don't," Ethan confirmed, concern etching itself across his face. This revelation seemed to surprise Darren.
"How is that possible? She marked you," Darren asked.
"Forget about that. Where is Kasia? Why wasn't Kasia with Lily?" Ethan responded.
"Lily said that the only way for them to get back safely was if Kasia went with them," Darren informed him cautiously, watching Ethan's reaction closely.
Ethan's eyes widened, and panic surged through him. He began to trash his office in a fit of rage and fear, sending papers flying and shattering a glass paperweight against the wall. Darren looked on, alarmed, as he hadn't seen Ethan like this in a very long time.
"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Darren shouted over the chaos, attempting to reason with Ethan. "Why are you so upset? The vampires won't do anything to her. They know it would go against the pact we made with them."
"Where is Bryan?" Ethan demanded, ignoring Darren's words. "We need to have a meeting with the Vampire Lord immediately. It goes against the pact for them to take her without my permission. This needs to be addressed right now." Bryan was Ethan's trusted beta, and right now, he needed him by his side.
"Ethan, you're worrying me. You can't mind link with Kasia. Now, you're acting like you can't with Bryan. What is going on with you?" Darren asked, trying to understand Ethan's desperation.
"I've tried, but I get no answer from him," Ethan admitted, frustration clear in his voice. With everything happening, Ethan had not even realized that Bryan had gone missing. With Kasia helping out with pack duties, Ethan had the opportunity to relax, but maybe he was relaxing too much.
Darren's eye colors shifted as he ordered some of the warriors to track down Bryan and bring him to Ethan's office. Darren, growing more concerned by the second, couldn't help but ask, "What is going on with you? This is not like you. What haven't you told me?"
Ethan hesitated before confessing, "I no longer have Kasia's mark because of Aimee. Aimee had fooled him, biting over Kasia's mark and essentially erasing it, placing a claim on Ethan instead."
"How could you allow that to happen?" Darren snarled, his rage returning in full force.
"Dark magic," Ethan replied grimly. Darren frowned, skeptical.
"Not possible. You made all of us get tattoos of a protection symbol," Darren argued. "It is supposed to keep us from being affected by it."
As if on cue, Ethan heard Aimee's sinister chuckle echo through his mind. "Are you sure you still have one?" Aimee asked. Her question prompted Ethan to rip his shirt off and turn his back to Darren.
"It's...it's not there," Darren said flatly.
"What do you mean it is not there?" Ethan exclaimed, and Aimee's laughter filled his mind once again. Ethan walked over to the standing mirror, which was mostly intact from his rampage. He turned around and looked back. To his horror, the tattoo had been clawed through, leaving jagged, ugly, dark marks on his back.
Aimee taunted, "You should've just accepted me; now you're going to suffer. Until you accept me as your mate, misfortune will befall you."
"If anything happens to Kasia because of you, you and your pack will pay the price!" Ethan vowed fiercely.
"You should be more concerned with yourself. You should make up your mind. Time's ticking. TikTok, Tiktok," Aimee laughed, and Ethan put up a mental block to shut out Aimee's presence. Ethan punched the mirror in frustration, shattering the rest of it.
"Aimee did this to me. I am sure she has played a key role in all the foolishness that has been happening recently. Whoever she is working with is a dark magic user. Aimee could have never planned this out on her own," Ethan said, trying to regain his composure. Aimee was conniving, but she wasn't the best strategist and was prone to anger. Speaking with her at that moment felt like talking with a completely different person.
"Well, let's widdle this down. In all the centuries, only the fae, witches, and warlocks were known to use dark magic," Darren mused. "The fae do have a malicious streak. Have you pissed any of them off lately?"
"No. The fae also banned the use of dark magic due to the disaster that happened a few centuries ago," Ethan explained.
"Then, that leaves witches and warlocks. They have a strong kinship with humans," Darren suggested.
"By aligning themselves with the Hunters would put them at odds with us, the Fae, the vampires. I don't believe that the council would be foolish enough to do something like that. It could be one acting on their own," Ethan explained. "Either way, we will need to speak with them as well, but first I need to speak with the Vampire Lord."
But Darren's confusion deepened. "Why are you so concerned about her? You should be more concerned about yourself. What if you are cursed? If you die or if you show any weaknesses, that could damage our standing and embolden any of the races to breach the peace treaty."
"You don't need to tell me that Darren. I know," Ethan growled. He sighed, realizing there was no point in keeping the secret any longer. "Because she's a red Lycan, and she's my mate," he revealed.
Darren's face went blank for a moment, before fury washed over him. He walked over to Ethan and punched him hard in the face, causing him to stagger back.
"Are you an idiot?!" Darren shouted. "How could you not tell me that? Why haven't you claimed her? How could you put our Luna in danger like that? What is wrong with you?!"