“Thank you.”
Warren ended the call then immediately contacted Fergus and put him on speaker. He let Fergus know what was going on at the club.
“I’ve already got troops headed over there,” Fergus said. “I’ve had several of my wolves in the vicinity keeping tabs on the Strip. As soon as the first shots were fired, I had info.”
“Okay. Good. But Fergus, we’ve got a wizard backing Julio’s play.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding.” He needed to know something else to fully understand the scope of Julio’s attack. “What’s going on at my compound?”
“My spies tell me everything’s quiet. Julio’s men haven’t made a move, though there are at least thirty surrounding Caldion. We’re sure they’re waiting for you to show up. But you don’t need to worry. Alessandro has your compound on full lockdown. Everyone is safe. So, how do you want to run this at the Strip?”
He glanced at Kiara, meeting her gaze. He didn’t even need to pose the question. She simply dipped her chin, a resolute expression in her dark brown eyes. “Kiara and I will be over at Ralph’s in a matter of minutes. We’ll get the wolves out of the safe room using Kiara’s invisibility shield.”
Kiara touched his arm. “Hold on, Fergus. I need to tell Warren something.”
“Go ahead,” Fergus said.
“I’ve got to put a spell together to get the wolves out of the partial-shift. They won’t be able to move until I do. I’ve seen it happen before. It’s agony for the wolves.”
Fergus let loose a string of invective. Warren instinctively held the phone away from them both. He finished with, “Julio’s a bastard.”
Kiara added, “I second that.”
“Do we know which wizard?” Fergus asked.
Warren was aware of several powerful wizards in Elegance Territory.
But which one was dark enough to want to align with a powerful drug dealer?
Kiara shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“We don’t know,” Warren said. “But I hope it isn’t Glissane. We’ll be up shit-creek if it is.”
Rumors about Glissane had abounded over the past several months. He’d entered some kind of super-charged spell-making capability. Warren didn’t always put stock in rumors, but given Julio’s blatant actions, and that a wizard was behind the attack on Ralph’s club, Glissane’s involvement was a real possibility.
“My men and I are in the air now, Warren. See you at the Strip. We’ll head to the alley entrance first and see if we can gain access.”
“Good deal.” He ended the call and put his phone in the pocket of his leathers.
Kiara pulled away from him. “I’ll be in my spellroom.”
Warren watched her head toward the hall on the other side of the living area. He felt the need to get into the air, but he couldn’t do anything until Kiara had her spell configured.
He thanked God for her in this moment, that she had enough power and skill to formulate a counter-spell to help Ralph’s wolves. Because of her ability to reverse the wizard’s spell, she would be at the center of what would happen at Ralph’s club. He couldn’t do this without her.
The trouble was, given his attraction to her, he knew the more they engaged in sharing of abilities and the more they worked in tandem, the more complicated their relationship would become.
He understood what was happening, the powerful pull of his alpha wolf to her alpha-mate capacity. Forces even seemed at work to push them together in increasingly intimate ways.
He grew very still. Every once in a while, he experienced moments of acute awareness and understanding. This was one of those times.
He felt the entire breadth of his life as he considered Kiara. He wasn’t sure of all the circumstances that had led him to her, or why she’d been so committed to her path that she’d built a secret hidden refuge burrow in Savage, but she was here.
He also needed this time with her, even if it was short-lived, or complicated, or forced them together in ways that threatened his peace of mind. He could never take a witch as his pack’s alpha female. Yet he knew something else as well. He couldn’t continue as he’d been before.
Chapter Five