Burning Ice: 6 (Werewolf Sentinels) by Marisa Chenery

With a loud growl, he jumped at Tanner, going for his throat once more. This time Tanner caught Capac by his neck and held on. The dark wolf leader murmured some words Capac didn’t understand. He whimpered as a sharp pain tore through his head. After a few seconds, he was tossed away. Tanner followed through with a sharp kick to Capac’s ribs, which knocked the breath out of him.
    As Capac fought to drag air into his lungs, Tanner said, “Thanks for all that info. Tell Edensaw congrats on his baby. I now see you have a new shaman. He’s the one who caused Andre so much trouble. I’ll have to do something about that. And do you want me to tell your Riya you said hello when I pay her a little visit? I’ll have to remember her address.”
    Capac rose to his paws with a snarl. Tanner swung out with his foot, catching Capac on the side of his head. He fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before his world went black was Tanner’s foot rushing toward him once again.
    * * * * *
     
    “Capac, wake up.”
    The sound of his alpha’s voice brought Capac to sudden wakefulness. He blinked open his eyes to find himself surrounded by his wolf brothers. He shifted to his human form.
    He sat up and looked around. “Tanner? Where did he go?”
    “He managed to escape, taking Tad and Lora with him. He used some kind of spell that made him and his pack seem to disappear into the darkness.”
    Capac stood. “How long was I out?”
    “Only for a few seconds. Brice and his pack members have gone to see if they can pick up Tanner’s trail.”
    “We have to go to the cars and check on Ryder and the girls. Tanner used another spell on me, one where he basically pulled whatever information he wanted right out of my head. He knows about Ryder now and the new baby. He also has Riya’s address. I have to go to her.”
    Edensaw spun on his heel and took off at a run toward where they’d left the cars. Capac and the others followed behind him. Much to Capac’s relief they found no dark wolves trying to get at the mates and their shaman.
    Once Edensaw had Cassidy out of the car and in his arms, he explained to the others what Capac had told him. He then looked at Capac. “Go to your mate. You’ll have to bring her back to our place for her protection.”
    “She has a roommate. What about her?”
    “You’ll have to bring her along as well. We can’t leave an innocent alone for Tanner to find.”
    “Hopefully neither one of them will be difficult about it. I know Riya was supposed to go to work in a few hours.”
    “Just bring them home and we’ll help explain everything to them.”
    Capac nodded. “All right. I’m going to need a ride there.”
    “I’ll drive you,” Ryder said. “Without Tad, everyone will fit in the other vehicles.”
    “Go,” Edensaw said. “We’ll stick around to help Brice try to pick up Tanner’s trail, though I doubt we’ll find one.”
    He nodded at his alpha, then got into Ryder’s black four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle. He gave the shaman the address to their destination. The sense of urgency he felt to get to Riya increased once they drove away. Capac had no idea what he was going to say to convince his mate and her roommate to leave their apartment in the early hours of the morning with not much of an explanation.
    “It’ll be okay,” Ryder said. “I don’t think you have to worry about Tanner going to Riya’s apartment before we get there. Now that he knows about me, he’s going to try to undo the protection spells I put up to keep the dark wolves from finding out information about the sentinels. I’m a bigger threat at the moment.”
    “Then until you come into your full powers we’ll have to keep you under watch.”
    “That will only be for a short time.”
    Once they reached the apartment building, Capac looked at Ryder. “Will you come up with me? I might need help with the roommate.”
    “Sure, why not? It will get us home faster. I’m about done in.”
    Capac got