Chapter 40: Invasion

Dane POV

Under the heat of the afternoon sun, pain and worry found their way to Dane’s heart, and his pulse raced. Good thing he’d quenched his thirst at the river some time ago. Today or yesterday, he couldn’t remember. Time had blurred.

He focused on the present. Lilia was awake and enraged, and also afraid, but Dane sensed steely determination, defiance, and strength.

“She’s awake and alive,” he sent to his brothers through the family mind-link. “And angry.”

“Good,” Kyon replied.

“That’s our Lilia,” Dirge added.

Jiro loped alongside Kyon, scouting ahead. “They have no idea what they’ve done by kidnapping her, do they?”

Dirge’s teeth gnashed and he panted as he raced forward to join his two older brothers. “We were always going to hit them hard, weren’t we?”

“Yes, pup, but now, we’re not going to show Cyran any mercy,” Kyon answered, with a hard edge.

Jiro’s anger could be felt through the link. “He didn’t show Patch any.”