Lachlan

I waited in the kitchen for Magnus, but he was taking a while and I was starting to worry. Felix and Everett were here while Jason made a phone call to the Summit. He was pacing outside as he spoke and I knew from the tension that made the tendons and muscles in his neck stand out and from the way he kept trying to run a hand through his hair even though it was in a ponytail that the talk wasn't going well.

"He's not going to be able to get them to move the hearing, is he?" I asked Mel.

Her eyes were fixed on Jason, too, and she slowly shook her head. "No. But he had to try."

I let my head drop forward. We had known this was coming, and it was no surprise that Opal had chosen the moment her challenge would cause Magnus the most stress to issue it. Not only was he worrying about the outcome of the fight and all he stood to lose, but he was worrying about missing his hearing.

Jason hung up his phone and jerked his arm forward like he was going to throw it, but he didn't actually let go. He stood there fuming for a good half-minute before rolling out his shoulders and making his way back into the house. His tension was betrayed now in his eyes and the set of his jaw, but that was it. Impressive.

"The hearing's on for tonight at six," he said. "I need to leave now if I'm going to make my flight."

"What?" I demanded. How could he leave? Magnus was his family now.

Mel tucked herself against Jason's side and he wrapped his arms around her. He was so huge that Mel looked almost child-sized in comparison – something that might have normally made me laugh, but not today. "He has to go, Lachlan," Mel said.

"If I'm not there, the only viewpoint they hear will be Anita's. You know how that would go," Jason said. "Even if Magnus can't be there, I can speak for him. And I can't risk taking a later flight and getting delayed."

He was right, of course. "Go," I said.

Jason nodded gravely and turned to shake Felix and Everett's hands. Mel clung to him every step of the way, and before they both disappeared through the door, Jason looked over his shoulder at me. "Tell him good luck for me," he said.

"I will. And thank you."

Jason nodded and then he and Mel were gone. She would be back, I knew – she was probably just seeing him to his car so they could have a more private goodbye. I turned to Everett and Felix, who were leaning against a counter while they had a conversation in murmurs. With my enhanced hearing, it would be easy to listen in, but they deserved their privacy and there was too much on my mind, anyway.

I focused hard on the bond between myself and Magnus. He... wasn't doing great. He was starting to spiral into panic and his nerves were so shot that my hands started trembling. I needed to find him. Without saying a word, I headed out of the kitchen and started stalking the halls of the pack house. Magnus hadn't gone far, and I followed my nose to where his scent seemed most concentrated until I reached the infirmary.

Magnus was inside, crouched against a wall with his knees up and his head down. His hair was mussed, but his hands were clutching his legs against himself as he shook his head over and over, though I wasn't sure what, exactly, he was saying no to. He didn't even look up as I approached, but when I sat next to him and pulled him against me, he climbed into my lap like a small child and clung to me with his face buried against my neck.

I ran my hands up and down his sides, then combed through the hair I could reach, smoothing it out. All the while, Magnus shook in my arms and I could feel the tears he spilled running down my neck to soak my collar.

"She's not here," Magnus said after several minutes spent like this. "Kayla. We can't have our fight without her and I don't know where she is." His voice was quiet and hoarse, but I had no trouble understanding him.

"We'll find her," I said. I tried pulling Magnus away just a bit so I could see his face, but he only gripped me tighter and clung.

I let Magnus have his cuddles – he needed to calm down, anyway, and I had an idea for finding Kayla that I could put into motion from right here on the floor. I shifted a little so I could pull my phone from my pocket and dialed Glenna's number, pressing a kiss to the top of Magnus' head while it rang.

"Hi, Lachlan!" Glenna greeted brightly. "How are you?"

"Actually, we're in a bit of a bind here. Is there any chance you can find someone for me?" I felt bad skipping the niceties, but Glenna would understand and we were in a hurry.

"Of course!" Glenna said. "Let me grab Safiya, she's better at tracking spells than I am."

There was some shuffling before Safiya said, "Why is it you always go to Glenna first when you need help?"

"Hi, Safiya. Listen, I need to find someone as soon as possible. Is there anything quick you can do? A tracking spell or something?"

There was a long silence and then a deep sigh. "Is it someone I've met?"

"No."

Another pause and another deep sigh. "Do you have anything the person owns that has some kind of special meaning?"

"No."

A longer pause. "Hang on."

This didn't bode well. Magnus' arms had tightened around me more and more each time Safiya asked another question, and while I waited for her to come back on the line – I was definitely muted, since I couldn't hear any sound at all coming from her end – Magnus tucked his face against my neck. He all but burrowed into me.

"Hey, still there?" Safiya asked a couple minutes later.

"Yeah, I'm here. It's bad news, isn't it?" No use beating around the bush – I could hear in Safiya's tone that she hadn't returned to deliver good news.

"Best I can do is a charm that'll work within a day. Could be a few hours if you're lucky, but you have to leave it in the person's space – a bedroom or something – to soak up his or her signature, and that takes time. Then you have to actually follow the dang thing, and it's a lot like a magical game of hot or cold. It'll glow brighter as you get closer."

A few hours wasn't going to cut it. Magnus needed to be on a plane before then if he was going to make it to his hearing. "Can I get back to you in a bit?"

"I'll keep my phone handy."

"Thanks," I said, hanging up. Before Magnus could say anything – and I knew he was about to since he pulled a bit away from me – I scrolled to Luin's contact info and called him.

Luin barely let me finish explaining what I needed before he said, "Can I come to you?"

"Sure," I answered, not having any idea what I was agreeing to. Within seconds, Luin was standing in front of me and Magnus, and Magnus jolted in my arms. His head would have collided with my jaw if I hadn't jerked out of the way in time, and I laughed at how anti-teleportation Magnus always was.

"Sorry, perhaps I should have warned you better," Luin said. The contrition in his tone was genuine, but I caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and couldn't help smiling back even with all the tension and issues we had to surmount.

"Don't worry about it. Does this mean you can help us? We need to track down the doctor who runs this infirmary as quickly as possible," I said, giving him a bit more detail than he had over the phone.

Luin scanned the room and not a minute later, his gaze landed on the closed office door. "Is that her office? And is it shared? There are too many energy signatures in this room. It would help if we could narrow it down."

Magnus stood and pulled me to his feet – another thing to be grateful to Luin for, since Magnus was way too comfortable with me to feel pressured to get up. He was too overwhelmed by the challenge and the hearing to push himself otherwise. "That is her office, yes. And she doesn't share it."

We both watched as Luin walked to the office door. His body was unreal in the way each of his movements flowed seamlessly into the next. Luin raised a hand and held his palm up to the door, just barely not touching the wood. The space between glowed with a soft yellow light for a few seconds before there was a faint click. Luin casually opened the door as though he hadn't just shown what a good burglar he would be – what with his ability to open locks and teleport – and he crossed into the office.

Magnus and I shuffled shamelessly over so we could watch Luin work. He stood in the middle of the office looking totally relaxed, with his arms hanging at his sides and his eyes shut. I thought I saw a faint shimmering around him, and it took a lot of blinking and tilting my head before I realized that I could see a purplish aura glowing around him out the corner of my eye. The color grew in intensity and depth until he was surrounded by a violet glow. The aura shuddered and collapsed in on itself a split second before it shot out from Luin's chest in a bright beam of light that jetted through the air like a meteor.

Magnus gasped, sounding like an awed child, and I clutched at his hand as the light beam shot out the window. Luin disappeared, and I could only imagine he was following it.

"Cool," Magnus whispered, still staring off into the distance. His expression was animated in a way it hadn't been since Opal showed up in Tourmaline as he forgot, just for a minute, about all his troubles. Magnus finally looked at me and said, "Do you think we can talk Luin into doing more magic? I don't even care what he's doing. He could be polishing rocks or drying paint and I would love to watch."

I hooked my arms around Magnus' neck and tugged him down so I could press an affectionate kiss on his cheek. "I'll see what I can do," I promised. Anything to keep him looking so carefree just a little longer.

Only it didn't last.

All too soon, Magnus' expression darkened and he said, "Do you think he'll be back soon?"

Honestly, I had no idea what Luin was capable of. He seemed powerful to me, with the mind control he seemed to enact effortlessly and the other magic I had seen him demonstrate. And he knew the situation – knew that every minute mattered. "Yeah, he'll be back soon. What else should we be doing in the meantime?"

Magnus took my hand and led me to the kitchen, where Felix and Everett were waiting in what looked like a tense silence. On Magnus' entry, Everett darted forward and flung himself against Magnus in a tight hug. "How are you?" he asked, his voice full of what I could only describe as parental concern.

"I'm okay," Magnus said, patting Everett's back. His eyes met Felix's across the room and he added, "I'll be glad when this is all over."

Everett pulled away and examined Magnus closely, pursing his lips as he took in the visible signs of strain. "Just know that Felix and I, we are so proud of you. No matter how all this works out, you're the best brother anyone could ask for and a truly remarkable person."

Magnus flushed and tried to fight back a smile. When it finally broke through, he threw himself against Everett again. "Thanks. I'm so glad my brother found you."

Everett pulled away and cast a fond look at his mate. "Me too."

Felix pulled Everett back by his belt loops and spun him around for a heated kiss. They kept it brief, but there was no mistaking the reluctance when they pulled away from each other.

Another beautiful thing about the mate bond: I hadn't seen a situation yet that a person's mate couldn't soften. Something about the bond, or maybe just about the true compatibility between partners, meant that a person could always help soothe and comfort his or her mate. It was natural, instinctive.

"Wait, where's Mel?" Magnus asked after the couple had pulled apart.

Felix rolled his eyes, but he wore a small smile that softened his scorn. "She got fed up with standing around here waiting and went to the training ring."

"Isn't she just going to stand around there, too?" I pointed out.

Magnus and Felix both laughed. "No way," Magnus said.

Felix nodded in agreement and added, "You can bet Mel's got a lock on Opal. I don't think you've ever seen her truly angry before, but Mel has a glare that can give the strongest warrior chills."

I didn't doubt it, but I was a little concerned at Felix's assertion that I hadn't seen Mel's anger yet. I had seen what I thought was anger on her several times, and it was plenty intimidating already. Directed at anyone but Opal, I might have been worried. Instead, I laughed along with the others.

Luin appeared behind Felix, clutching the arm of a wide-eyed woman. She shrieked and ripped herself away from him, darting behind the counter for shelter before she paused and, chest heaving, took in her surroundings. When her gaze landed on Magnus, she whimpered and ran behind him so that his body blocked her from Luin. "Alpha! This man, he... he..."

Magnus' expression softened and he said, "It's okay, Kayla. That's my friend, Luin. I asked him to find you for me since you weren't answering your phone and I couldn't find you in the pack house."

She frowned and looked back at Luin, eyes full of distrust. "Is someone hurt?" she asked. "Are Sam and Lucy not answering their phones?"

"I've been challenged," Magnus said. "I needed you to perform pre-challenge exams for me and Opal, and it's really important that we take care of this as soon as possible."

Kayla gaped at Magnus, clearly shocked, before her eyes filled with tears. "Alpha!" she gasped.

"It's okay," Magnus assured her. "Could you please just do this for me?"

A quick glance at the oven clock told me it was already 8:10 – we were late meeting Opal at the training grounds. Hopefully she wouldn't go MIA like the doctor had done.

Kayla didn't seem to understand the urgency, or maybe she was still too shocked from Luin bringing her here. Based on her reaction when they arrived, she hadn't been expecting him to take her to the pack house. Had he just snatched her and brought her here without consent? I shook my head. No, Luin was better than that. I was pretty sure he was, anyway. "But Alpha, why would she do this? Opal's still so new here, and she's the one who suggested I get away for the weekend. Surely if she was planning to challenge you, she would have known I had to be here."

I didn't miss the way Felix straightened. His expression hardened into an inscrutable mask – the only thing that could be read in it was displeasure. "Opal had you leave for the weekend? How, exactly?"

"She booked me a spa package. She was supposed to join me this afternoon. She said she wanted to make some friends in the pack," Kayla said. Her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip quivered. "I can't believe she did this."

Magnus watched her in sympathy and I could see both his desperation to get to the training ring and the deep compassion that would never allow him to push someone who was obviously so emotional. Well, he might not be willing to push Kayla, but I was.

I walked over so that I was in front of her and leaned down so our eyes were on-level. After holding her fluttering gaze for a few seconds I said, "Kayla, I know you're upset. I know you feel hurt and confused. I'm hoping you're able to push that off for just a little bit. Magnus really needs you to do these exams as soon as possible. He's got to catch a flight."

Kayla's eyes widened. "His hearing!" she gasped.

I nodded, glad she had made the connection. "Exactly. So please, can you help him?"

Tears finally spilled from her welling eyes, but Kayla narrowed her eyes in determination and nodded once. "Okay. I just have to grab my kit. Where should I meet you?"

"I'll go with you," Everett said gently. "I can help you carry your supplies."

I knew what he was doing and was grateful. The best way to avoid further foul play by Opal would be to not let Kayla out of our sight until she had finished her examinations. Everett nodded grimly to Magnus as he escorted Kayla back to the infirmary.

After they left, silence fell over the room. It was charged, just waiting for someone to make the next move, and my heart raced from the tension.

"We should get going," Felix said.

Magnus nodded, but his feet didn't move. Felix hooked an arm around Magnus' shoulders and started walking him toward the door. "I'll be there in a minute," I called after them. Luin was still here, waiting in the background and watching the drama unfold.

"Thank you," I told him earnestly. "I don't know what we would have done without your help."

Luin's lips twitched, but he didn't quite smile. "You're welcome. I'm always happy to help a friend."

"I hope someday you'll let me help you, too," I said quietly. I wanted to snatch the words back as soon as they were out. I had an idea of how much my friend suffered, and I still didn't understand what made him so deeply unhappy. I truly did help he would open up once we knew each other better, but I didn't want to push him.

Luin didn't look bothered by my forwardness, though. He did smile a little now and he said, "I appreciate that."

I glanced at the clock, though of course the time was irrelevant at this point. Kayla couldn't possibly have done the exams yet, so I knew I wasn't missing any of the fight, but I wanted to be by Magnus' side to support him as much as I could. "I have to get to the training ring," I said bluntly. Luin nodded, but there was something in his eyes that told me not to leave him alone. "Why don't you come with me? I'll explain more about what's going on while we walk."

Luin agreed and we headed out. I felt a little better having Luin there, anyway. Magnus should be safe during the fight, but if anything happened – if Opal tried to really hurt him – surely Luin was best equipped to help him. I just hoped that wouldn't be necessary.