Twisted Time (2 page)

Killian looked at Logan, “We have no problem helping you
. W
e just want to be clear, the Fae need to be able to move freely to and from our Stratum. It is mating season soon and all the unmated males will only have a twenty-four hour window to find their mates, or we have to wait another year.”

It was a fact of their world, they had so little time to find their mates, that when the time came the Fae thought of nothing else. It had led to a lot of turmoil in their Stratum, along with everything else that was going on, they didn’t need this
,
too.

Blake looked confused, “When is the twenty-four hours?”

“Three moons from now. I am interested in your assumption our mates may not be from our Stratum. Possibly we have been missing out also,” the Fae King said.

“Killian, you may stay here or go back, we will accommodate you in any way possible,” Blake said and the Fae King nodded.

Zade shifted in his chair, he was feeling worse and worse as the night wore on. It was a fucking full moon, his cat wanted out, but for some reason he was not able to shift. There was something suffocating him.

He picked up the phone and called Bria, “Ma’am, I am sorry to bother you, but there is something wrong!”

“We are having an incident, please come to my office, I am calling everyone to the hospital wing,” Bria said and Zade took a deep breath, he could make it.

“I am on my way,” Zade said and hung up. He could call his Alpha, but he was not ready to cause concern. He was certain it had to be something he ate, or possibly, maybe a plant he ran through.

Standing
,
his legs felt shaky and he was a little dizzy. His tiger growled inside, he was pissed from being held down. During a full moon, they usually shifted and remained in their animal form if they were unmated.

Making his way to the hallway he opened the door, a bright shining light was coming from down the hallway, it was from where the Faes' rooms were. That must be what Bria was talking about. Weird shit was going on around here.

He leaned against the wall and began to walk toward the light. He had to pass the Faes' suite before he could make it to the stairs. Maybe one of them could help him if they weren’t too busy with the whole light thing. As he reached the doorway he sucked in his breath, the feeling became unbearable as he sank to the floor. Damn it, he should have called his Alpha.

“Killian
,
what is wrong?”

Zade heard a man ask as he felt someone move close to the entryway.

“We have to go, someone has tried to kill Sasha, and she is my mate. I was waiting until the morning to talk to her!”

Zade heard a man yell.

“Sir, we will get the Guards called,” another man said.

Zade felt a presence in the hallway with him. He wanted to lift up his hand and ask for help
,
but he was too weak.

“Sir, there is someone collapsed in the hallway.”

Someone knelt next to him and he felt a hand touch him softly.

“It is my mate. Holy shit, another mate.”

Zade heard the man beside him say and then nothing.

Damn, they had no choice now with the moon not far off them now, and still they were unable to open a portal without endangering the people of this Stratum and theirs. It looked like he was to at least be one of the lucky ones this year.

“We will need to make do, explain to the rest of the men, and hope that some find their mates here. You have seen what the Rebels can do, we can't chance letting them loose on our people, or any of the others. It is decided,” Killian said to his Second, Bortant.

The Fae had been with him since last year. His previous Second had been challenged and killed by the man, even though Killian was not particularly fond of him—until he met his mate, he was stuck with him. Soon though, Killian knew his mate was here, he felt it—he dreamed it. The sister of the
Wizard Stratum
King was his mate, when he touched her—he could feel it.

She denied him, but Killian was willing to play the woman’s game for now, he was ready to win her hand and her heart.

Bortant looked at his King closely, “You know something?”

Killian stood tall and faced down the man he would be replacing before the end of the night. He would be pissed, since he was power hungry, but Killian was following the Fae laws, like he had when the asshole killed his friend and his Guard had held Killian back from taking Bortant's life like he wanted to at the time. The elders had reminded him often enough over the last year, that as soon as he found a mate, the slimy bastard would be gone.

“Get him to the hospital wing, I have to go and help the others. Sasha was the target of this attack, I have to find her.” Killian ordered Bortant.

“Where is my daughter?” Bria called out as she tried to help move the large tiger shifter to the table.

“We are waiting to hear, there is a battle raging in the front hall,” the Warrior said and went to the door and locked it. “I was instructed to lock us down until we are notified.

Zade could hear everything they were saying, just as he had heard the man in the hall call him ‘
mate
.’ As he fought his way back from the darkness, he could feel his hair beginning to grow. His cat knew that Sasha was his mate, and knowing he had two unclaimed mates now, was making his skin crawl.
Damn
,
he could appreciate what Crispin went through before claiming Chase. This
shit
sucked.

No matter how sick he felt though, he would not allow his mate to be out there in danger without him. Bria must have felt his power rising.

“Zade?” Bria warned.

“I need to be out there. I am fine. Open the door before I rip it open,” Zade growled and focused on the Warrior and waited while the man looked around for guidance.

With a loud sigh Bria said, “Open the door.”

The Warrior nodded and opened the door quickly; Zade shifted into his tiger and quickly ran down the hall toward the sounds of fighting.

When he entered the hall, he quickly searched for his mates. His tiger focused on a tall handsome man who was fighting in the corner with another Fae, while Crispin, in his lion form, along with Chase, Blake, and Logan were all spread out fighting Rebels who were throwing spells around the hall. When a piece of the wall he was standing next to exploded, Zade leapt without flinching at the Wizard who threw the spell, ripped out his throat and then moved on.

Where was she? Sasha, his mate, was nowhere to be found. He growled and then made his way to where the man stood, and he knew him.
Well fuck, the Fae King was his mate
,
too
, what the hell was going on here
?
His tiger helped the Fae with the men they were fighting and then Zade shifted,
thank goodness, he had learned to shift with clothes back on a long time ago.

“Where is she?” Zade asked, not bothering to get into a discussion with King Killian. He would know who Zade was asking about.

“I don’t know, I have been a little too busy, we have to find her,” Killian yelled at Blake, who had just finished off the Wizard he was fighting. “Where is Sasha?”

“My father has gone after them. They knocked her out after she put up a fight and took her out the front door. Damn it, they had someone inside helping them. We need to get control,” Blake yelled and went to the next Wizard who entered the hall ready for battle against them.
Where the hell were they coming from?

“We need to find our mate,” Killian said quietly, no one needed to know yet that Sasha was their mate. It would cause even more of an uproar.

“I will find her,” Zade said confidently, pushing his pain to the back of his mind and focusing only on his mate. It seemed to help the constant ache. He looked at Killian, who nodded and said.

“I will follow you then,” Killian said quietly and watched as one of his mates shifted into a glorious tiger.
Damn that was hot
, he thought for a second before the cat bound out the door, Killian on his heels, knowing they had to find their other mate to make sure she was safe.

Zade picked up her scent and ran down the stairs to the front of the house, and then turned to the left, they found her in the gardens being dragged by several Rebels. Ryker and several of the Warlocks were in a battle with some of the Rebels who were trying to cover the man who held their mate.

Sasha’s head flopped around, and Zade knew she was still unconscious, and he smelled blood, his mate’s blood, and that was not acceptable. With a loud roar, Zade jumped over the Rebel line and went toward his mate.

He heard Killian cuss, but Zade could only ignore him for now, he had plenty of men helping him. Sasha was alone, hurt and at the hands of a madman.

The man who held Sasha narrowed his eyes, and then signaled to someone to his right, suddenly a group of men appeared in front of him, ready for battle, Zade’s head twisted to the side, two of the men he recognized as shifters.

What the fuck was this about?
he thought a second before the men shifted into a jaguar, and a large wolf, then attacked. His tiger was huge, and he knew it—being the Second of the
Shifter Stratum
, he had to be. With a burst of power, Zade lunged forward and took on the wolf.

The jaguar, not wanting to be left out, jumped into the fray, and locked his jaw around the back of Zade’s neck, sinking his teeth in deeply.
Shit, that was gonna leave a mark,
he thought as he felt the blood trickle down his neck as he fought the wolf. With a swipe of his paw, he slashed the wolf's hind flank but not deep enough to hurt him.

The wolf turned quickly and grabbed his back leg and held on, they were working together, trying to pull him apart. His tiger felt the anger rush through him and shook his whole body with force. The jaguar tore out a chunk of his neck and the wolf's teeth scrapped down his leg as he was thrown off.

Zade turned quickly and attacked the wolf, who was already wounded, and clamped onto his neck, biting down hard. He heard bones break, and wanted to roar in victory when the wolf yelped loudly. He hung on to its neck, pushed with his front paws, and tore skin and hair from his back.

The jaguar attacked and Zade moved at the right time, making the jaguar hit the wolf in the side with his claws, raking a bloody path. The wolf fell to the side panting while Zade turned his attention to the cat.

When he heard the roar of his Alpha, Zade made a chuffing noise and then roared in response.
Finally
, he thought, knowing that Crispin had been busy. The lion jumped through the air and landed in front of the men who were getting ready to attack Zade, the non-shifters didn’t stand a chance this close to a lion shifter, they could not get enough room to throw a spell or use a sword—Crispin was on them as soon as he landed.

The jaguar looked at him warily, before attacking again,
what the hell had made this cat turn against their King,
it didn’t make sense
, as Zade tore through the cats hold and swiped his paws repeatedly at the jaguar, causing a huge amount of damage. Zade felt bad for a second, he knew this cat's family. His wife was one of the sweetest members of their Stratum. It was a shame, but Zade couldn’t think of that right now, he needed to get to his mate, and protect her.

He watched the man who held Sasha, out of the corner of his eye, move closer to the edge of the garden where there were more men waiting for her to be handed off. Killian saw what was going on and began to fight around the edge, trying to make it to where Sasha was currently being taken.

The tiger snapped at the jaguar, it was a warning—back down or die—but with a desperate look in his eye, the jaguar attacked and Zade killed him with the swipe of his paw, cutting his jugular. The jaguar dropped and Zade moved forward with only one intent—get to his mate.

“Dion, hurry, we are going to miss the chance to get her,” the man yelled and Zade saw the creepy little man who Blake had been fighting.
What did he want with his mate?

“You idiot, you better not have damaged her too much, I told you she needed to be protected. She is going to be my vessel, birthing the next genius generation,” Dion snapped loudly and Zade roared.

What the hell was the crazy asshole talking about? Birthing the next generation? Sasha was not pregnant. He would have scented it. It could only mean one thing, someone wanted to impregnate his mate—that would mean sex with his mate—which would mean he would have to kill someone.
Kill Dion
, he thought and ran for where the men were struggling to take Sasha away from him and Killian.

Dion turned when he heard the roar and frowned, the look turned to horror when he saw the huge tiger running right at him. With a squeak, the chicken-shit turned and ran, calling over his shoulder for his men to move quickly.

Refusing to allow that to happen, Zade ran faster, closing the distance between him and the man struggling with Sasha over his shoulder. Killian broke free of the man he was fighting at the same time.

Zade got to them first, and knocked the man down, making him release Sasha, flipping her and flinging her as he fell. Killian was in the right place and caught her, plucking her from the air, and falling and rolling with their unconscious mate as Zade took care of the man who dared to touch her. Dion was getting away, but neither of them cared right now. Sasha was what was important.

Zade shifted when he finished and ran to where Killian had laid their mate down. She was bleeding from her side and head. Her face bruised as they saw the fight she put up to get away from the Rebels. Someone had stabbed her in the side during the fight.

“We need to get her to the medical wing,” Killian said brusquely. “You too, your back is torn up.”

Zade nodded, pushed himself up, and helped carry their mate back inside. Ryker and the others called out as they walked by, but they didn’t stop until they had her in the medical wing. When they finally laid her on the table, Zade allowed himself to breath, then the pain hit him again, and his last thought was,
FUCKIN' A—NOT AGAIN.