“Freeze!” a deep male voice boomed behind me. Mikey whined, lowering his bottom half, and going fully flat onto the ground.
I spun around to see a tall man in his early thirties leap onto the stage. His hair was chocolate brown, and fell in wild wisps around his face. He was stacked with muscles, like a linebacker, and his eyes were… haunting. They glowed an eerie honey color. He kept his eyes on my brother with each step he took.
This must be Clark.
“That’s my brother,” I told him. “Can you help him?”
He didn’t take his eyes off Mikey. “That’s up to him.”
The alpha moved within a few feet from Mikey and my brother started to growl. Towering over him, Clark crossed his arms, and leaned forward. “Submit,” he growled in a voice that was only half human.
Mikey’s lips peeled back as his growl grew louder and he held the alpha’s gaze.
Oh God. What does this mean?
Clark bent on one knee, shoving his face right in my brother’s, and I stopped breathing.
“You will submit to me, or I cannot help you,” he declared.
Holy Shit. My brother was going to rip his face off, I was sure of it.
A few more seconds into the stare-down and Mikey’s growl turned to a whine, his amber eyes falling to Clark’s shoes. Then my brother lowered his head and rolled onto his back, exposing his belly.
Clark’s meaty hand reached out and grabbed the scruff of my brother’s neck, shaking it. “Good pup. Let’s go,” he barked and stood.
“What? Where are you going?” My voice trembled as Mikey rose to a standing position and stood at Clark’s side.
Clark’s honey-colored eyes flicked to me for the first time, and I felt a physical power wash over me.
“I’m taking him to my land. I’ll teach him to hunt deer and calm his thirst for the kill. When I’m satisfied he won’t hurt a human, I’ll send him to school,” the alpha declared.
Umm, what the hell did he just say?
“Can’t you just force him to change back to human? Then he won’t hurt anyone.” Right? I was kicking myself for not paying much attention, during the week we spoke about Beast Shifters in my fallen history class. I figured everyone was like Luke—shift, kick some demon ass, shift back.
Clark shook his head. “He won’t be able to change back until he’s quenched his thirst for the hunt.”
A strangled gasp reached us, and I turned to see my mother listening in on our conversation.
Oh great.
“Well, can I visit him?” I called out. He was walking away with my brother on his heels.
“Maybe,” he called back.
My eyes flew to Lincoln, who just shrugged.
There were a cluster of men and women waiting by the door for Clark. When he neared, they bowed their heads, and stepped out of the way to let him pass. After he and my brother were out of sight, they pulled in the rear and left behind him. They were like a freaking cult.
‘Or a wolf pack,’ Sera offered.
I didn’t need a dose of her logic right then. My heart was hammering in my chest.
“Well, that wasn’t ideal, but Clark will take good care of him,” Raphael offered.
The archangel was standing now, dagger sheathed, and wings down calmly at his sides.
What a crazy day.
But ‘not ideal’？
My brother was stuck as a monster, and had just gone to live with some dude I’d never heard of for God knew how long.
“Extremely not ideal,” I told him, then went to comfort my mother.
If life would stop shitting on me, that would be great.
Chapter Five
I’d left the Awakening ceremony early to drive my mom back, and assure her that I would take care of Mikey. That this Clark guy was someone we could trust, and everything would be okay. Lincoln told me to let myself into his trailer and wait for him, that he’d wrap up his duties at the ceremony and meet me there.
I let myself in, and after fifteen minutes I was bored off my ass.
‘Let’s snoop,’ Sera offered.
I chuckled. ‘Oh my God, how are you an angel’s blade?’
‘Good question. They probably messed up when they made me. That’s why I got sent to Earth.’
My chest vibrated as I laughed again. ‘Wait, are you saying I’m only worthy of a reject infinity weapon?’
‘Did you just call me a reject?’ she retorted.
A grin lit up my face and momentarily all of my worries washed away.
‘What’s that little poetry book?’ Sera pressed.