Feathered Touch (Wyrd Bound Book 2) Read online

  Alex shot me a dark look before he said, “I apologise for my pack. You were telling us about the assignment.”

  She carried on, trying not to look at me, “A small group of angels have corrupted the cult. They need to be killed, quickly, cleanly. All of them.”

  I felt my teeth sharpening. I had no care for humans, but angels and I had a long-standing history. “Angels did this? I’ll kill the assholes.”

  Any excuse to kill some angels was good enough for me. That struck me as a particularly good one.

  Ryan said, “I didn’t think angels could be killed.”

  I smirked at him. “It takes some doing, but as I’m sure they’ll tell you, it can be done.”

  The Sisters all glared at me. “Thalia, we have spoken about this.” The spokesperson’s voice was colder than ice.

  I put on my best innocent puppy expression. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Do not harm the angels. Not a single feather.”

  I bared my teeth at them. “You said yourselves that they upset the balance, they have corrupted humans. That sounds like a pretty good excuse to harm them to me.”

  “Enough of your bloodlust. You will not harm them.”

  There was a waver in her voice as she said that. Her eyes flickered. Was that fear? I had never known the Sisters to express fear before, yet it was clearly there at the notion of my harming the angels.

  Nik cleared his throat and said, “What exactly have these humans done? I still don’t see a way that they could have been any bother to anything.”

  The softer-faced Sister gave him a condescending smile. “The angels told them that they could bring out their true selves, their stronger, faster, supernatural selves. They told them they would make them fae, shifters, demons, whatever was hidden within them. They will go through a ritual that will do just that, only as I’m sure you’re aware—you are over 10 after all—that will shatter their mind. It will cause irreparable damage to their energies by tearing them open and trying to rearrange them into something they were never meant to be.”

  The hard-faced Sister on the end, the one who’d had the good sense to remain silent up until then, waved us off and said, “They’ll do as they’re told. We have other business to be dealing with.”

  I bared my teeth at her. Typical, just fuck off when things get interesting. “I’ll make sure to leave you a few angel feathers.”

  The sharp-edged spokesperson went pale but turned on her heel and left without another word. I stretched a little taller, feeling quite satisfied that I got the last word in, and a good reaction to boot. The boys all looked at me.

  Ryan started things. “Are we really going to kill this human cult?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t see why not. That is the assignment, after all.”

  He frowned and chewed on his bottom lip. Nik growled quietly to himself. “But they did nothing wrong.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t always take down serial killers. Perfectly good people get wrapped up in bad shit.”

  Alex’s eyes darkened and he gave me a knowing look before he said, “We don’t question our assignments. We look into the best way to do them.”

  Dan said, “Will we be given some more information to go on, or do they expect us to Google human cults who’ve been corrupted by angels…?”

  I tried not to laugh. It was best not to encourage him.

  Alex sighed. “I’m sure they’ll give us a place and a time, whatever information we need.”

  “But why do we have to kill them?” Nik was not letting it go.

  I looked up into those big brown eyes of his and tried to pull forward as much compassion as I could. “They will be broken. We will be putting them out of their misery. The act of trying to break someone’s energies to ‘bring out’ another side is the same as setting off a grenade in someone’s stomach only to then patch them together with bits of other animals while hoping for the best. They will never be human, or happy, again. At best, they’d live out their lives in a mental institute on many different drugs; at worst, they will keep just enough humanity about them to become killers and cause gods only know how much destruction.”

  Ryan cocked his head. “This isn’t the first time you’ve dealt with this, is it?”

  “Humans like to play with fire,” was all Alex said.

  “Speaking of playing with fire, that’s quite a nice love bite, Thalia…” said Dan, in an almost singsong tone that was baiting me.

  I snarled at Dan, “Never speak to me like that again.”

  He lowered his eyes and hunched his shoulders. I shouldn’t have snapped at him, but the emotion was still too raw.

  “You slept with him?” Alex tried to keep the pain from his voice with a growl. I looked up into his eyes defiantly. I had nothing to be ashamed of.

  “I did.”

  He bared his teeth, but then pursed his lips and composed himself again.

  Ryan said, “You slept with Lee?”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him. “And what is it to you?”

  “You have an alpha. Lee is clearly a rival to your alpha, and thus a rival to your pack. To us.”

  I didn’t know why Nik felt the need to keep pushing the limits that afternoon. I glared at him, meeting his hard gaze with one of my own.

  “I am your alpha. I will do as I damn well please. My choice to sleep with Lee in no way harmed my pack. You do not get to dictate my actions, or question them.”

  “Someone has to, apparently.”

  My claws and teeth shifted, but Alex said quietly, “Thalia. Leave him alone. You’ve done enough damage today.”

  He refused to look at me, as did the boys. I gritted my teeth and headed up to my bedroom. That was not what I needed. I had lost my rock, and then I had the pack turning on me, questioning my decision. How dare they question me in such a way? I expected it from Alex, but from the boys? I growled and paced around the room. I wanted nothing more than to melt into Lee’s arms in that moment. I tore the bedding off my bed. It carried Lee’s scent, and I didn’t want to deal with that mental torture. I swallowed back my tears and forced myself to focus. I had to rebuild my muscles and improve my fighting. I’d allowed myself to become too lax, and if I was taking on angels, I had to be at my best.

  Once the fresh bedding was on the bed, I set about doing some light training routines. I allowed my mind to switch off and my body to move through the rhythms as I thought about more important things, such as what on Earth would have the Sisters scared. I’d killed angels in the past, and they had barely blinked an eye. I had been tasked to kill one of them, in fact. I couldn’t help wondering what made that particular group of angels so special, particularly given they had, or were going to, upset the balance in that way. It must have had something to do with the gods, surely. I shrugged it off. It was doing me no good wandering around in circles. I had to focus on things I could do.

  My body had the wonderful faint ache showing that it had done some work; not enough to cause damage, but enough to make me feel good. I shifted my jaguar tail and curled up in the middle of the bed, driving back the tears at the situation. I had to remain focused. I had angels to take on. I ignored Alex when he came into the room. He hadn’t slept in his bed for a few nights. I’d been too wrapped up in Lee and the comfort he brought to feel much guilt about it. I pretended to be asleep and curled up tightly in my tail so as to avoid that aggressive conversation he no doubt desperately wanted to have.

  Alex had already left the room when I woke up from my nap. A glance out the window told me that the sun was just starting to set. I took the opportunity to do another short run of the training routines before a long hot shower. I hoped that the scalding hot water streaming down my body would wash away the stress, worry, and emotion. Instead, it kept trying to push forward. I found tears running down my cheeks more than once when the images of Lee entered my mind. The raven remained curled up in its nest and the jaguar refused to budge. The wolf merely paced, and so I paced.

&nb
sp; The conversation stopped when I entered the kitchen, all eyes turned to me. I looked around their faces to find them all hardened and cold. Alex refused to acknowledge me at all. I grabbed an apple and went out into the garden. I didn’t have the energy for a confrontation, and I didn’t see what good it would do. They were my pack, but they had made their feelings clear. I didn’t see it as any of their business, but they felt that I had betrayed them. I had to consider if perhaps I had. I pushed it aside. I refused to allow the darker thoughts to consume me. I had to focus. I had to improve my fighting form and prepare to take on the angels. There was nothing else.

  Chapter Ten

  Shouting from the kitchen snapped me out of my quiet conversation with the moon. I ran across the damp grass and burst into the kitchen to find out what was going on. The wolf barged forwards and shifted my ears and teeth. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Lee staring down Alex. Their eyes blazed. Both of them had shifted sharpened teeth. My heart skipped a beat before my eyes went wide. I fought hard to drive back the flood of emotions. A slender arm wrapped around my shoulders. I looked to see Ark next to me.

  “It’s ok, little furball.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder as I watched. I didn’t have the energy to split them up. The fight was equal one on one. I had to stand back and allow things to play out. Lee threw a piece of paper down on the kitchen table without breaking eye contact with Alex.

  His tongue ran over his dark fae sharpened teeth before he sneered and said, “Don’t look at me like that, it’s not my fault that you’re literally made for her and you still can’t get her into bed.”

  My breath stopped in my throat as the pain shot through my chest at his words. How could he speak about me in such a way? Alex swung, aiming to hit Lee in the jaw, but Lee side-stepped too quickly leaving Alex to growl and hit thin air.

  “Never speak about my soulmate in such a manner. You are not welcome near my pack.”

  “You are pathetic! You’re so weak you can’t stand to have her be herself, you lock her in a gilt cage!”

  Alex snarled, “Enough!”

  “It’s not as though she’s hard to get into bed, either. She’s been through half of the supernatural community, and yet you still can’t get so much as a kiss.”

  The jaguar raged in the back of my mind, my claws slid out from the tips of my fingers while my teeth extended. Ark’s arm tightened around my shoulders. I managed to rein the jaguar back in, but the sting remained firmly between my ribs.

  The boys had formed a semi-circle around them, but they backed away a few steps as Alex’s ice-cold energies spiked and flared around him. He shifted his weight as though to try a left hook, but changed at the last second when Lee moved away to kick Lee in the ribs. It descended into chaos from there. Alex was relentless in his attacks. Lee, however, barely touched Alex. He ducked, dodged, and only defended. I wanted to hate him, for his words, for his refusal to fight back properly. He glanced at me as tears streamed down my cheeks. He froze for just a second, long enough for Alex hit him cleanly in the jaw. He stumbled and his eyes flashed deep amber. Something in him snapped, and he attacked Alex with an aggression I hadn’t seen in a very long time. They danced around each other, snapping and snarling, each of them landing hard blows that the other refused to acknowledge.

  Finally, I had had enough. They were both covered in blood and breathing hard, their movements were slowing down, and the boys had paled. I put my shoulders back and allowed the jaguar forward as I strode forwards, stood tall and wrapped my hands around their throats, sinking my claws in deep enough to draw blood. The shock was enough to stun them.

  “Stop. I have had enough. Do not say a fucking word, either of you. You have had your fight. Ark will clean you up, and you will go your separate ways.”

  I released them both, seeing the deep marks on their throat well up with crimson blood that trickled down to mix with the rest of the blood they’d drawn.

  Lee went to touch my arm. “I’m so sorry, Suriel.”

  I bared my teeth at him. “That sounded like words to me.”

  He swallowed and stood tall before looking at Ark. “Thank you, but I require no assistance.”

  With that, he let himself back out into the garden and left. Alex watched his departure. Once he was satisfied that he was gone, he exhaled and slumped down on a seat where Ark set about helping him. I didn’t know what had brought Ark to the house at that time. I had to assume Adam had something to do with it.

  That had to be how he knew, surely? Ark merely gave me that cheeky smile. I shrugged. It was of no matter. What was done was done. The boys began talking amongst themselves. Alex stared into the distance with his teeth gritted while Ark worked. Lee had done very well against him. Alex was covered in blood and bruises. He looked as though he had a few broken ribs, a split lip, and potentially a black eye. I pushed it aside. It was of no matter. The Sisters must have sent Lee. It was exactly their twisted sense of humour. I picked up the paper he had thrown down, now spattered in blood. It had an address, a date, and a short note. The handwriting was an elegant script that made me purse my lips. It was so pretentious, so… them.

  It gave the address of what I had to assume was the cult and the curt words, “Alistair is the leader. He wishes to become a godslayer. He must not under any circumstances fulfill that desire. You will do whatever it takes to kill him.”

  A note sat at the bottom of the crisp white, heavy stock paper. “Thalia, do not touch a single feather on those angels.”

  I smirked to myself before muttering, “Try and stop me.”

  My choker tightened and sent the far-too-familiar electric stings down through my neck and shoulders. It was reminding me more and more of a slave’s collar, another thing to rid myself of.

  Chapter Eleven

  Once Ark had finished tidying Alex up, he gave me a brief hug and practically ran for the door. The tension in the air was almost palpable. I gritted my teeth and shifted my claws in preparation for the big fight that was forming.

  Alex took a deep breath and stood tall before he looked at the boys and said, “Sisters be damned, they can find someone else to do their fucking dirty work. I’m tired of their games.”

  I was slightly taken aback. Alex had always been firmly in favour of being a good little boy and doing as the Sisters demanded without thought or question. Nik smiled and Dan laughed quietly.

  Ryan, however, stepped forwards with a crease in his brow. “But, won’t the humans become dangerous or die horribly if we don’t save them?”

  Alex shrugged and turned to look at me before he growled, “I am done with their games. The humans got themselves into that shit, let them get themselves out of it.”

  “But, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

  Alex rounded on him. “Are you too stupid to see what they did here? Can you not hear them laughing at us?”

  Ryan lowered his eyes before he swallowed and met Alex’s glare. “I’m not stupid, but you’re supposed to be an alpha, yet you’re allowing your emotions to fuck up the lives you’re supposed to protect.”

  Alex took a step towards Ryan. “Do not speak to me like that again.”

  Ryan puffed his chest up and Nik moved to stand next to him. “I’m supposed to respect you as my alpha, but you’re defying the orders of the Sisters, and for what? Because your alpha fucked someone else?”

  Alex openly snarled, his hands clenched into fists as he took another step closer to Ryan. I had to give it to Ryan, his eye contact with Alex didn’t waver, and he didn’t back down.

  “She’s still a person. She is not with you.”

  Alex cut him off as he wrapped his hand around Ryan’s throat and lifted him off the ground. “Do not question me again.”

  I’d had enough. No one harmed my pack. I strode forwards and sank my claws deep into Alex’s neck. “Put him down. Now.”

  Alex’s muscles tightened under my grip, but he did as he was told. He turned to face me, leavin
g us to stand toe to toe.

  “Don’t push me, Thalia. You did this.”

  “I did what? Sleep with the man I love?”

  Alex ground his teeth together as he looked away. Nik couldn’t help himself. “You slept with your alpha’s rival. Lee is someone that harms you, therefore he harms the pack.”

  “Nik, if you ever want to speak again, you’ll stop speaking about things you clearly have no idea about.”

  I didn’t bother to look at him as I snapped at him. My focus was on Alex. Alex waved his hand at the boys, “We are not fulfilling that assignment. We are done with the Sisters’ games. Now leave us.”

  “We are part of your pack. You have no right to shut us out of this discussion.”

  “Dan, I have warned Nik and Ryan, do not begin pushing as well.”

  Alex’s tone was ice cold and his energies were beginning to spike and lash out again. Dan muttered under his breath. Nik wouldn’t let it go though. “No, you don’t get to just wave us off because we had a thought of our own.”

  Alex and I kept our focus on each other, my own energies bubbled up and threatened to erupt much as Alex’s were. Alex held the strong eye contact and dared me to respond to him.

  Nik growled, “Don’t ignore me and brush me aside.”

  I finally broke eye contact with Alex and snarled at Nik, “You are a cub. You do not understand what’s going on here.”

  He took a step closer to us and spat, “And you’re supposed to be alphas, yet here we are.”

  I snarled at him, “I never fucking wanted you in any pack of mine, now get the fuck out of my sight before I rip your balls off.”

  Ryan paled as my energies shot out into the room pushing the temperature up by some ten or more degrees. Nik ground his teeth together, but the boys did go upstairs and leave us in the kitchen to stare each other down.

  “Why did you do it, Thalia?”

  I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Alex.”