by Marcy Jacks
Maddox shook his head, crushing that hope.
“No. Stay here and don’t even think about leaving.”
Chapter Twelve
Uh…stay here?
Gus watched as his mate walked out the spine stiff and fingers clenched into huge fists.
Like he was getting ready to go to war.
And Gus got really fucking angry.
No damned way was he letting this happen.
Damn, Gus had to get his clothes together, again. What the hell was it with hunters and bad guys in general who were constantly interrupting his time with his new mate?
At least they hadn't cockblocked him. Then he might have been really pissed.
Gus just went to the door.
Maddox told him to stay here, but he didn't say anything about moving around the house or staying on the deck itself.
But Gus couldn't see anything from his position. He could hear the fighting and roaring. He could hear men shouting at each other.
Gus shivered when one particular roaring sounded a little too bear-like.
God, that was scary as all hell.
Well, so long as he stayed within two feet of the house, that counted as staying put, right?
So Gus made his way around the home itself. He stayed close to the walls, keeping to the rule he'd made up for himself.
As the noises came closer, Gus found himself shivering, kind of wanting to get back into the house.
But he wanted to see. He needed to make sure Maddox was safe throughout all of this.
There was a rose bush in the back. Gus ducked in next to it, hoping no one happened to see him as he watched the shifters circling around another group of people.
Why the hell did alphas have to be so tall, anyway?
Maddox sounded pissed, and Gus could barely see him from his spot in the middle of the circle.
“Don't even think about it! Maxwell! You're not doing it!”
What were they talking about?
“I never said what I was going to do yet, relax.”
“I want to hear it from you right now that you're not going to do it.”
“I'm not doing it, all right? I just wanted to see if he was open to negotiating, you stupid asshole.”
So both Maddox and Maxwell were pissed off with each other. Why? What were the shifters asking for?
The cluster of people moved around, each person shoving to get to the front to see what was going on, and with the movement, Gus was able to see Maxwell, Collin, and Maddox in the middle of the circle.
With them were the wolf and bear shifters who had been chasing Maddox and Gus through the woods.
They looked pretty pissed off.
“This wolf isn't even part of your pack. You have nothing to lose by handing him over.”
Gus could hear Maddox's low growl.
“I'd have no problem with kicking your ass if you really want me to, dickhead, but you're not taking my mate with you either.”
“Why the hell shouldn't we take a pound of flesh? You killed two of our friends!”
“Technically, they killed themselves by jumping in front of those trucks the way they did.”
Both men snapped their teeth and revealed their claws, but through the many bodies, Gus didn't think they’d start fighting. It was a warning, but still.
Gus really couldn't tell which one was the bear and which was the wolf from where he stood, but both sounded as if they were furious.
Had they just waltzed onto the territory and thought Maxwell would let them take him?
He hated to think of how humans and omegas were treated in their own pack if they wanted to drag Gus away to get revenge on him for something bad they were doing.
A creaking noise behind him suddenly caught Gus’ attention. He blinked, looking behind himself and around the corner of the house.
No one there.
Which meant the sound came from inside the house.
What the hell?
He moved to the window, pushing himself up and grabbing onto the ledge.
Gus peaked inside the room then dropped back down to the ground when he saw two very big shadows walking around in there.
As though they were looking for someone.
Were they looking for him? Did they smell him in the house and didn't realize he'd walked out yet?
Shit. Gus ran to the crowd. He needed to get to Maddox right now. He needed to tell him before anything else happened.
“Maddox! There's people in the house! Maddox!”
Gus wasn't sure what he expected to happen, but seeing the two men in the circle attack Maddox, Collin, and Maxwell while their attention was averted was probably something he should have seen coming, all things considered.
The bear and wolf shifter moved in on Maddox.
Maddox may have been blindsided, but he recovered quickly, and they were still surrounded by their own pack mates.
All of whom rushed into the circle to help, event the omegas.
Maybe it was their larger numbers that brought about that sort of courage. Gus lifted a brow at the whole thing, standing back along with the other humans and omegas who had small children to take care of.
“Wow.”
Noah was there, so was Sam. They looked at him, and before Gus could head over to where they stood, their expressions changed to horror as they reached out to him.
“Gus!”
Gus didn't get the chance to turn around before something solid, and very big, grabbed him around the middle, and then he was being pulled away from the fighting at a speed that terrified and amazed him.
He didn't know up if his shouts for help reached Maddox above the screaming and fighting.
* * * *
Maddox let the wolf free. There were only specific times when he purposely did that after the events in his pack.
One of them was to hunt the hunters. This was it. Since they were here and thought it would be a good idea to pick a fight with him, why not give them what they wanted?
So he raged. He didn't just bring out the claws and teeth, those were easy.
No. This time he brought out the whole nine yards. Maddox transformed so fast his clothes didn't have the chance to shift with him, and he burst through them, shredding them as he went for the bear shifter first.
Because his inner wolf liked the challenge.
The bear tried to swat at him, but Maddox was fast, and the stupid shifter moved in such a way that Maddox could predict what the animal was going to do from a mile away.
It allowed him to duck and weave, to get into the flow of things, and to make his attack.
He didn't go for the throat at first. That was what the stupid bear would be expecting.
No. He went for the feet.
People shouted his name, cheering him on while Collin jumped onto the back of the bear. Maxwell faced off with the other wolf, one on one.
Maddox wanted this bear all to himself. He wanted to take it down with no help from anyone else, but he got the feeling he wasn't going to get the chance to do that.
As much as his wolf growled about that, wanting to go after Collin as much as it wanted to take down the bear, Maddox was able to pull back enough that he sucked it back and accepted it.
The sooner he taught these idiots a lesson, the better.
The safer it would be for Gus.
Collin went for the throat. Even with the protective layering of fur there, it was too powerful an instinct to ignore. The bear swiped at the wolf, trying to grab him before he went into a frenzied spin, desperate to throw the wolf from his shoulders.
Collin held on well. Maddox had to give that to him as he continued to attack the feet and ankles of the beast.
His wolf took great pleasure in tasting the blood from the bear’s feet, and when the bear roared and went down, Collin was finally forced to jump from its back.
Maddox and Collin eyed each other before they slowly approached the bear, teeth exposed, ready to take him down permanently if needed.
Permanently would be preferable.
But then, suddenly, the shouts of his name sounded less like a cheering and more like a desperate cry for attention.
Maddox growled, turning toward the two humans who ran into the circle, through the betas and even other omegas who quickly took Maddox's place as Collin continued to give the bear the thrashing it deserved.
Angry over losing his place to the horde of angry shifters, Maddox turned his attention to the humans, growling at them, his hackles coming to a stand.
They stopped short, suddenly not too keen on getting near.
“They took your mate. They took him.”
Maddox's eyes flew wide.
What? What the hell did they just say? He looked back at the bear, who was being pinned down by a number of different shifters, as was the wolf, whom Maxwell had taken care of with a few other shifters in his pack.
“Not them! There were others! They grabbed your mate and ran that way! You have to stop them!”
It could be a trap, and Maddox didn't know these two, but they had been in Maxwell's home. They smelled as though they lived here.
Maxwell ran in the direction he was pointed toward. He caught Gus’ scent and locked onto it.
The humans were right. Gus’ smell went this way. Those bastards had snuck in and taken his mate in the confusion.
Had there been more of them and he hadn't noticed while fleeing with Gus? Or were these reinforcements?
He didn't know, and he didn't care. Maddox pumped his arms and legs hard, but he could still feel himself becoming sluggish as his tail whipped out behind him. He felt the strength sapped from him.
He'd given so much to Gus to help his healing when they'd made love last, and then he'd fought a fucking bear shifter.
No. He couldn't let this drain him. Maddox thought of Gus, if his face, of the moles on the back of his neck and how he wished to see them again. He used that as his carrot, pushing himself harder, faster, desperate to get to his mate before he was taken away forever.
Before Gus was killed or raped because those idiots thought Gus’ spicy and sweet scent would allow them to gain a power and strength the likes of which they did not deserve.
Closer. He was getting closer. Maddox perked his ears through the charge and heard the sound of his mate struggling, yelling, hurling abuse at his captors.
“Let me go, you motherfuckers! You cunt bastards! Put me down!”
I'm coming, baby. Hold on.
The fact that, even in the distance, Maddox could hear his mate meant he was getting closer.
The others were still running with Gus, but his struggles did seem to slow them down. Maybe they also thought they were getting far enough away that they didn't have to worry about being caught in the first place.
Stupid idea on their parts. Maddox couldn't wait to make them regret this.
All right, you stupid wolf, listen up. You can do whatever the hell you want to those bastards. You understand me? Make them pay for what they're trying to do to Gus. Make them regret ever agreeing to come to this territory. Do you understand?
The wolf did understand, and its lust for blood rose to heights Maddox didn't even know were possible before.
Good. He had no interest in mercy for those who would do his mate harm, and when he started to catch up to them, when he started to see them through the trees in the dying light of the day, that blood lust became so much more.
“Put me down!” Gus punched the face of the wolf again and again, grabbing at its ears.
It was somewhere between man and wolf, running on hind legs while its tail whipped out behind it, face and body covered in fur.
Gus didn't seem to notice or care that the wolf snapped its teeth at him whenever he struck the beast in the face.
At least he wasn't being hurt.
For now.
If those teeth sank into Gus’ flesh, then Maddox would make a point to kill the man slowly.
He smelled his mate, the spicy sweet scent becoming strong the closer he came, and time slowed.
Maddox felt his strength and energy being renewed just from that alone, and he ran faster and harder than he'd ever done in his entire life.
And he slammed into the creature holding his mate.
Gus shouted as he went flying. He landed in a bush somewhere, but he would live. It was the wolf who had grabbed Gus that Maddox was more concerned with.
No, not just him. Another appeared, charging at Maddox with an enraged war cry.
He braced himself to take on both shifters.
They slashed at his face. The wolf with the opposable thumbs tried to grab onto Maddox's legs.
Maddox opened his mouth wide and hit down hard on the muzzle of the wolf instead.
The creature seemed to pause, and then the pain kicked in. It pulled back, trying to shake Maddox free as it cried out, but Maddox held on tightly, the wolf loving the taste of flesh in its mouth too much to want to stop.
And the more it fought, the more skin was scraped into Maddox's mouth.
Until the other wolf bit down on Maddox's tail.
Even with all the desire for blood and vengeance rushing through him, that pain was too much.
He opened his mouth and howled from the pain of it, but the wolf bit down harder until something snapped and Maddox was free.
No. The wolf hadn’t let him go. It had bit his tail off.
The larger of the two backed away, rubbing at his face and eyes while the other approached, spitting out Maddox's tail.
Maddox’s limbs suddenly trembled. He'd used most of his strength just to get here, but at least now Gus would be safe. He'd run for it, so he had to be safe.
The wolf came close, its face twisting into some grotesque shape between man and wolf, and the sound that came from his mouth was like a maniacal laughter as he leaned in with open jaws…
The sudden and very pointed end of a stick being jammed into its eye made the wolf creature pull back, a horrible sound that even made Maddox's inner wolf cringe as it thrashed and flailed, pawing the stick out of its eye. Gus backed off, but he had another heavy branch in his hand, ready to fight, to defend.
Really? His mate had done that?
With one wolf nursing a wounded face and the other bleeding from its eye, they looked at Gus and Maddox, as though weighing their options.
Maddox stood. He was tired. He had almost no energy left to stand, but they didn't need to know that as he presented himself as a proper warrior.
Tall, chest out, teeth exposed and ready to battle as much as needed to defend what was rightfully his.
The wolves growled, but they backed away, both fleeing into the woods, fast and agile. Maddox kept his ears pointed, listening closely to make sure they were really gone before he collapsed.
“Maddox!
Gus was there with him, kneeling down, his hands in Maddox's fur.
He looked to be crying.
Oh no. Maddox never wanted his mate to cry. He supposed it would have happened one way or the other while being with him, but still. He wished he didn't have to see tears in the eyes of his mate so soon.
“Oh my God, look what they did to your tail!”
Maddox smiled. He let himself change back into a man, only to remember he didn't have his clothes anymore, but Gus didn't seem to care as he quickly turned Maddox over to look at his ass.
“I'm not complaining, but if you wanted to do anything, you might want to wait until we're back with the others.” Maddox winced when he felt Gus touch a very sensitive, very pained spot.
“How does it look?”
Gus swallowed. “Not as bad now that you're a man. But there's a gash by your tailbone.”
“Is that all? It will heal.”
“Will your tail grow back?”
Gus’ voice broke, so Maddox was sorry to disappoint him. “No.”
His mate began to cry.
Maddox reached for him. He only realized his claws were still exposed when he touched G
us’ face.
Gus didn't seem to care. He put his hands over the top of Maddox's, holding him close, kissing his palm.
“Thank you for coming for me.”
Maddox couldn't believe it. “Of course I came for you. I'm sorry I left you exposed.”
“They came into the cabin.”
“I know.”
Gus hesitated. “But I wasn't in the cabin. I avoided them for a bit because I didn't listen to you.”
Maddox smiled again, still tired and aching, but happier than he'd ever been in a long time.
“I know that, too.” Gus’ eyes widened, but then he smiled, as though he should have seen that coming.
He should have.
“I adore you,” Maddox said, stroking away a tear with his thumb. “Don't cry for me. I'll be all right.”
“But you're hurt.”
“I'll live, and hopefully Maxwell won't kick me out of the pack tonight after I brought that to his door.”
“I have a good mind to do just that.”
Maddox groaned, letting his head conk onto a rock on the ground as Maxwell appeared, Flynn and Collin at his side.
Gus rushed to his feet.
“You can't kick him out now! He's injured! He needs to recover!”
“Relax.” Maxwell waved away the concerns of Gus as though they were nothing. “I won't. I might even be able to buy you a couple of days.”
“Won't that make you look weak to your pack?” Maddox barely kept the sneer out of his voice.
Maxwell shrugged. “Yeah, probably. But I either look weak to some or I look like a heartless asshole to others. Since I can't win in this situation, I might as well pick the one that lets me sleep better at night.”
Flynn looked to Gus. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” Gus barely looked at him. He had eyes only for Maddox. “Maddox came for me.”
Flynn winced. Maddox felt a petty sense of glee over that.
That was right. It was Maddox who had been there this time around. Not Flynn.
Flynn could get fucked.
Maxwell eyed the both of them. “Gus, you're always welcome here, but you know that. Your mate will still need the vote, and after this little attack, I imagine there will be a lot more people who won't want your mate around if there are other shifters after him, especially if they're working with hunters.”
