It brought a smile to Alister’s lips. “Don’t you know?”
The answer confused him for a split second and then the air left his lungs. Was he the prince? Was that what Alister meant? And if so, what did that make Alister? Okay, now he was thinking stupid.
“I need to use the restroom.”
“Of course.”
Thank fuck Alister didn’t make a big deal of carrying him to the bathroom, basically standing over him while he relieved himself and then washed him up. Alister carried him to a chair while he waved a hand about to change the bedding to fresh.
Back on the bed with a blanket tucked around him, Alister sat on the side of the bed watching him.
Jonas felt as weak as a kitten. It took every ounce of his control as an alpha to not give into his rage.
“Why can’t you change me?” he rasped.
“I don’t know what my magic will do to you when you’re already affected by a spell,” Alister admitted, a muscle ticking in the wizard’s jaw.
Jonas gave a small nod. That sort of made sense.
“Hungry?”
“Is that a trick question?” He squinted.
Alister smiled and stood before moving over to the small kitchen area of the cabin.
“Where are we?”
“We are in one of my cabins in Washington state.”
“How’d I get here from the camp site?” He frowned.
“I carried you.”
“What happened to Leopold?”
“He got away.” The pot in Alister’s hand cracked slightly on the stove.
“Was that old blue eyed mage there?”
“Cornelius? No, we believe he’s still back at his fortress.”
“Maybe…” Jonas couldn’t remember anything about the guy. “It’s fuzzy. Who is Cornelius again?”
A line creased Alister’s brow. “Cornelius is working with Leopold to overthrow the wolves.”
“Shit.” He gave a heavy sigh.
“Remember? Cornelius was with Leopold when they very first attacked us and you were captured.”
“I don’t know.” He wanted to rub at his forehead, but his arms felt like lead.
“It’s okay, just relax,” Alister said, stirring something that smelled delicious into the pot. Spices of sage and garlic filled the air and his stomach growled.
“How did you find me?” He gave up trying to remember.
Alister gave him a dark stare and then turned back to the pot. “I have my ways.”
“How?” he asked, confused.
“If you must know, Marcus told us the location to Cornelius’ compound.”
“My pack!” His heart suddenly lurched. He felt all over the place. Where was his pack? “Where are they?”
He gazed hard at Alister, willing the wizard to turn, but the man stayed stubbornly looking at the food. The knuckles of the hand holding the wooden spoon were white.
“Alister? What happened to my pack?” Fear made his voice tremble.
Finally, Alister turned and stared at him with burning green eyes.
“Half of your pack is on their way to Cage and Jace.”
“And the other half?”
Alister
Shit! The mages had done something to Jonas’ memory. And even with his new-found powers, Alister hadn’t been able to remove the spell from Jonas. Not even with the help of Ian before his uncle had left.
“Remember you sent them to meet up with the alpha of the Swiftcrest wolf pack?” he slowly probed.
“You said half of my pack. We’ll need to go back for the others,” Jonas stated, and even though the alpha’s voice was weakened from his injuries, the man’s voice was pure authority. The deep tone sent a shiver down Alister’s spine.
“Yes, we’ll go back for the others,” he said softly, not having the heart to tell Jonas about the deaths. Hopefully, when Pethious removed the spell, Jonas would remember that he already knew.
“I need to shift,” Jonas complained.
Alister smiled slightly at the grumbling tone and dumped a large portion of the spaghetti sauce over cooked noodles in a bowl.
“Right now, what you need to do is eat and regain your strength.” He stared down at the food, knowing the food wouldn’t do a damned bit of good with helping return Jonas to full strength.
The spell was killing him.
“That,” Jonas began, “and I need to shift,” the alpha said, frustration clearly heard in his voice.
“As soon as I get in contact with Pethious, we’ll figure out how to reverse the spell. Then, after that, when the drug wears off, you’ll be good as new.” He swallowed and walked closer. If it all happened in time, which needed to be soon. He was pretty damned sure Jonas had been given way more of the poison than Marcus.
“Can’t you just call Pethious?” Jonas asked, staring at the bowl of steaming hot food on the small lap tray. “It’s the twenty first century after all.”
Alister snorted and moved back to the stove to dish up his own bowl before making his way back to the bed and taking a seat on the side he’d designated as his spot.
“He’s not picking up.”
Here was his chance to tell Jonas about his father, but he kept silent and eventually Jonas lifted his spoon.
The alpha shoveled in several bites, giving sexy little moans he probably didn’t even realize between each one.
“How are you going to get word to him then?” Jonas asked, suddenly looking up, fork suspended.
“By contacting friends,” he replied after swallowing a bite. His father’s last known location should be Cornelius’ fortress, but Alister didn’t even know if Pethious had arrived.
“How soon do you leave?”
“I wanted to wait until you woke up.”
Jonas held his gaze. Awareness sizzled between them and his chest tightened.
He scooped up another bite, but the food tasted like sawdust. The thought of leaving Jonas alone while he sent word for Pethious settled like a rock in his stomach.
“I’m awake now,” Jonas said, bringing him out of his morose thoughts and back to the warm, cozy little cabin.
“Yes,” he murmured. And he hadn’t been sure that Jonas would ever wake up again once Jonas had collapsed in his arms.
Alister would bet money that Leopold had stopped shy of killing Jonas so the alpha could be used for leverage.
“You haven’t asked about Leopold,” he murmured.
“Who?”
Alister’s blood boiled and his face went hot and the metal handle of the fork dug into the palm of his hand. He should have waited and killed as many as he could instead of only taking out the ones left in the immediate vicinity.
“We just talked about him,” he said softly.
“We did?”
“Never mind.” He gave what he hoped was a smile and slowly pushed his bowl away. Just how deep did Jonas’ memory loss go? Did he remember them?
“Got anything strong to drink?” Jonas’ gruffly spoken words brought his gaze back to his bowl and then upward.
“You sure?” he scowled.
Jonas snorted on a laugh. “Do not hold that night in the bar against me.”
“You remember!” His breath left his lungs in a rush.