Marked Northern Shifters 1

werewolves.”
“I have contempt for you.”
Gabriel sneered. “You believe all those baby tales Liam told you.”
“Baby tales?”
“About his time with us. The quad.”
“Liam won’t talk about it.” Or at least, not much.
Gabriel regarded Alec for a moment. “Doesn’t matter. The quad is dead. Now Luke is dead.” Gabriel seemed oddly unaffected by the statement. Then again, Gabriel was a sociopath. “There is only me. I can’t make up a quad, can I? Not without some new recruits and you don’t count.”
Alec didn’t know where Gabriel was going with this. In fact, Alec didn’t know much about anything. His head hurt too much and he wished he would pass out.
“How long before Liam gets here, do you think?”
Since Alec didn’t know where they were or how long he’d been unconscious, he really didn’t have a clue. He managed a shrug.
“I’ll have to kill you, you know. Though only after I very slowly and carefully kill Liam. You see, it’s been a long time coming. Liam defied me when he should have obeyed me, too many times.” There was more of this gibberish and all Alec could think was that Liam had to stay away, far away. At least once Alec was dead his head would stop hurting.
Once Gabriel stopped being chatty, he paced back and forth in front of Alec, who got dizzy watching Gabriel in motion. Alec closed his eyes and, without being aware of it, passed out.
    “What do you mean, he got Alec?” Liam felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. “There were three of you here and you couldn’t protect him?”
Veronica laid a hand on his arm.
“ Don’t touch me .”
“Liam,” she warned. “Don’t crap out now.”
But he was trembling with rage. Naked, having just shifted from wolf, and too exhausted to return home to this news.
“Luke’s dead,” she went on, cataloguing strange facts when Liam could only think of Alec being once again held by Gabriel while the rest of his pack was safe. “David shot him. It’s not as if we stood around doing nothing.”
“Why would you open the fucking door?”
“Alec did.”
“You should have stopped him.”
She gestured uselessly. “He recognized a woman on the doorstep. He believed she needed his help.”
“Who?”
“A Sharon. Worked with Alec.”
Fuck. Liam remembered that woman. Had thought there was something odd, but had mostly thought she was too interested in his looks. “Where is she now?”
“Having a breakdown in the den. Seth has been appointed her caretaker because neither David nor I have the patience to deal with one of Gabriel’s groupies. She got Alec fired, you know, on Gabriel’s say-so. Feels very guilty about it while she sobs out her story again and again. Also remembers you from ten years ago.”
Liam didn’t remember her, but then again, he’d tried to steer clear of this subset of Gabriel’s victims, the ones who went after the quad for sex and then could not escape, because he could always find them. Gabriel had proved more than once that he liked the hunt. Was proving it now.
Trey walked in, breathing hard, to say, “Catch me up.”
Veronica did, since Liam could barely think. But when she finished, he turned to Trey. “We have to go after Gabriel.”
Trey nodded. The phone rang.
“It may be Gabriel calling back,” said Veronica quietly. “He left a message. He only wants you to come, Liam.”
“How long has Alec been gone?” demanded Liam.
“Almost two hours.”
Liam grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Where the fuck are you?” Gabriel.
Liam’s breath stuttered out and he couldn’t speak. He hadn’t thought Gabriel would have this effect on him after so many years, even after successfully retrieving Ira from the quad. But once again he was a frightened fourteen-year-old, about to get beaten to a bloody pulp, to within an inch of his life, and left to shift and heal and lick his wounds. “I’m here,” he managed. “Let Alec go and you can take me.”
“Okay.” Gabriel drawled out the word. “That sounds fair, Liam, my wayward pup. I’m in the circle. Meet me there. No one else, mind, or your human is dead. I can promise you that. Oh, and no weapon, or your human is dead.”
Before Liam could respond, Gabriel hung up. Then Trey was in front of him, staring with those godawful blue eyes and Liam could finally admit to himself that the reason he disliked Trey so strongly, despite all that he’d done for Liam and Ira, was because Trey resembled Gabriel too closely for Liam’s