Page 38 of The Scent of Seduction

“Hey, Nicky! I need you to come with me now.”

Her smile evaporated as she stared at Jeff standing in the opening to Jaryn’s war room, with a very large gun pointed at her.

Chapter Thirteen

“Jaryn!” Shaun exclaimed as he ran into the room and slid to a stop beside him.

“Hey, Shaun,” Jaryn grimaced. “Can you do me a favor and get whatever is sticking out of my back the fuck out?”

“Where’s Broyles?”

“Gone. Now if you don’t mind?”

Shaun ran his hands down Jaryn’s back. Jaryn felt when his best friend’s hands touched what he assumed was a knife stuck in his back and couldn’t stop the shout from bursting out of his chest.

“Jesus, what kind of goat fuck did you get yourself into this time?”

Jaryn hissed as another bolt of lightning speared through his body. “You know me. I’m always out looking for a good time. You’re going to have to pull it out. I can’t shift with it in.”

“That’s going to hurt.”

Jaryn growled. “No shit, Sherlock. Just… fuck… just get it over with. Something is coating the goddamn thing. I’m on fucking fire, man,” he panted.

Shaun gently wrapped his hand around the hilt of the knife. “On the count of three.”

Jaryn nodded and prepared to shift the moment he removed the knife. The rapid healing he could achieve by shifting was the only way to prevent excess blood loss and stop the poison from advancing through his body.

“One… two…”

Shaun smoothly pulled the knife from Jaryn and he let out a howl that shook the rafters. He ordered his wolf to take over, but nothing happened. He tried again, nothing. Since the time of his first shift, Jaryn could call his wolf whenever he wanted to. He panicked. Where was his wolf? He needed his wolf, now!

“Jaryn?”

He vaguely heard Shaun’s voice in the dark room. Every muscle in his body tensed, and streaks of lava coursed through his system. He closed his eyes and sank deep within himself.

“Help me, please.”

There was no response, and as if someone had ripped part of his soul from his body, Jaryn screamed in anguish. His wolf was gone.

“Alpha!”

Jaryn’s body went lax against the floor. He didn’t even have the energy to lift his head. Whatever concoction Broyles coated the knife with killed Jaryn’s wolf. For as long as he could remember, Jaryn's life revolved around developing skills as shifter and his destiny as an Alpha. As he matured, these qualities molded him into a man and a soldier other depended on. Now, with his wolf gone, he was empty inside, alone.

Something pressed hard on his back and forcibly ripped Jaryn from the litany of self-pity controlling his brain.

“What the fuck is with you, man? Shift, for fuck’s sake!”

“Can’t,” he whispered.

“What the fuck you mean, you can’t? You have to.”

“I… mean… I… can’t!”

Even though the moonlight filtering through the wall of windows was the only source of illumination in the room, Jaryn saw Shaun blanch. His best friend stared at him with a cross between confusion, shock, and pity. The last was the worst. With his wolf gone, not only had Jaryn lost a major part of his identity, but Shaun had lost his Alpha. He’d let his friend and brother in arms down.

“Don’t fucking go there, man. We’ll figure this out. Maybe there’s an answer downstairs in that goddamn horror show of a basement.”

“What are you talking about?”

---