The Link that Binds
Solomon's Pride #2

Excerpt

Jace was so not fond of the colorful waves washing over him as he woke. He even ended up having to roll over to his side as a surge of nausea consumed him. "Oh, that's not good." He muttered as his stomach started cramping, threatening to lose its contents; even his leopard whimpered pathetically at the unappetizing sensation. At least if he did, he didn't exactly have much to expel with the crappy servings the vamps gave him whenever they were feeling generous... which wasn't damn often.

"Here, try drinking this." Casey held the bottle of water up to Jace's mouth.

Taking a sip, he groaned. The liquid swirled in his stomach, but soothed the woozies. Looking around, he noticed somebody seemed to be missing from their humble abode, "Where is mein Fuhrer?" Jace asked, "Off burying a bone in the backyard or something?"

Casey sighed in an irritated manner, "Could you stop? Zane's my mate and I'd appreciate it if you'd knock it off already."

"You sure you wouldn't rather be with a real man, one who doesn't lick his chops every chance he gets?" Jace smirked at the beautiful male in front of him. And Casey sure took to the part of a beauty well, plus that magic vibe of his was simply tantalizing.

"Sorry, Jace, I'm strictly a dog person," Casey snapped.

Jace couldn't blame him. For those who didn't know him, he could come off as a bit tiresome... of course, the ones who did know him also had a tendency to be annoyed with him whenever he was being a, quote, smartass.

"Ouch," Jace smirked, "but hey, if you ever change your mind..." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Then it'll be your bones I'll be burying in the backyard." A growl sounded as two armed guards escorted Zane back into the room, one of them slamming the large wolf to the ground with a hit to the head. Jace didn't think Zane had been hurt by the strike; more like he'd been thrown off balance. Jace could see why the hit didn't affect him much; the guards appeared rather small in comparison to the oversized pup and he would bet big bucks they never would have treated him like they did without those guns of theirs. Puppy would have eaten their sorry asses for brunch.

The werewolf appeared to be sporting quite a few fresh bruises as well and Casey was quick to help him sit down, fussing over his wounds. "What did Mika do to you?" he asked his mate as he started to clean the fast healing wounds, trying to keep them clear of infection... not that shifters in general were prone to any kind of diseases, let alone infections, but it seemed to calm Casey to have a part in handling them.

"It's fine, baby." The wolf wrapped his arms around Casey and pulled him onto his lap, kissing his temple to let him know he was okay.

"Pfft!" Jace snorted. "Dude, you look as bad as I feel! And right now, that's saying something,"

Zane glared at him and barked, "Aren't they trading you off soon?"

"Oh, you know Mika can't make any decisions about such things in his current condition. I've seen him and he's going through some pretty hefty withdrawals." Jace sighed, "I'm guessing his biggest decisions right now involve whether he should wipe his ass or not after taking a dump."

Jace was becoming increasingly irritated with the whole damn situation. His incarceration in the lovely den, as the former asylum was so adorably called, had soon become way too dreary for Jace's liking. And it still really rankled him that he'd gotten himself caught... again.

"He's been throwing off donors too; the last one looked to be pretty badly beaten. Zeke's got him under his protection as he heals, but I doubt the kid will ever be the same. Mika's been tripping something fierce since Leo got away," Zane informed him.

"Yeah, no kidding," Jace agreed. "Surprising really, how soon Leo was able to warm up to Maddox if you think about it." He reflected back to the beaten, bruised little guy that the lion-shifter had brought in off the streets. Having been kidnapped and used as Mika's personal feeding bag, the kid had been more skittish than a newborn kitten... except when it came to Maddox, "So, who's this Zeke guy anyway?" Jace asked.

"My brother," Zane replied as he let his arm caress his mate's side and took in Casey's scent, who was still trying to clean his mate's wounds, trying to help them heal with little sparks of magic.

"He's an Alpha," Casey added when he gave up the healing spell. "Zane used to be his beta before the vampires..." He caught himself and went silent.

"It's okay, baby," Zane told him before directing his attention to Jace. "We were a small, but strong pack who happened to be situated on a piece of land the vampires wanted. Some of our pack-mates were killed, but a lot of them, like Zeke and me, are being kept here as man-power."

"That sucks man, I'm sorry," Jace said, meaning every word of it, pack or pride... it was still family. "If you ever get out of here, I can pretty much guarantee you have the support of our pride. Solomon's pretty noble that way... takes in the little guy." He chuckled; he'd once been one of those little guys.

"Solomon your Alpha then?" Zane asked.

"Yep, 'cept we don't call our leader an Alpha. That's a doggy thing. Solomon is Sorena... roughly translated, means something along the lines of tribal leader," Jace clarified.

The conversation didn't go much longer before a red-eyed Mika burst through the door along with the sleazy Shamus and some other dumbass with a gun. Jace was surprised, though, at the absence of Christa, a high-class psycho that kept bouncing around Mika like a bitch in heat.

"Get up, kitty cat, we're going for a little trip." The lead vampire sneered.

Jace huffed as another wave of nausea hit him when he got up with a little help from Shamus. The sleazy vampire decided to give him a helping hand when he took too long, yanking Jace off the ground and shoving him out the door. Pissed off, Jace hissed at the pathetic vamp, even letting his nails sharpen, but Mika instantly had a gun at his jugular and Jace became more than a little aware of the shakes in the vampire's hand. A tripping vamp definitely did not constitute a reliable vamp, particularly with his finger placed on a goddamned trigger.

"Why don't you try something, kitty? See how far it gets you," Mika threatened, clearly not in the mood for any funny business.

Jace backed off, but glared at Shamus as he was pushed forward through the dark, dank hallways. "Where are we going anyways? You decided to make good on your promise to turn me into a rug?"

"I have a little project going and you're gonna help me." Mika chuckled.

"You gonna try for another trade? Didn't exactly get you anywhere the last time, now did it?" Jace snorted. "Besides, you know Maddox will never let Leo out of his sight again,"

"Not Leo we're after this time," Shamus let out before being smacked over the head by Mika.

"Bite it, Shamus," Mika warned.

"Well, that's interesting," Jace muttered. Seemed his Pride had gotten hold of somebody important... nice. Maybe he wouldn't have to spend his remaining days at leach-a-palooza.

"You won't be reuniting with your friends just yet, doctor," Mika said as he shoved him into his limo. "First, you're going to help me with a little something, whether you agree to it or not."