Clover managed to avoid another swing and tried to hit the guy. When her fist came in contact with his jaw, he fumbled back and pain bloomed in her knuckles. She did her best not to think about it as she lifted her foot and aimed for the groin. Her foot connected with his inner thigh, putting them both off balance.
Glass hit the floor somewhere and Clover turned her attention to the kitchen. Patrick had shifted and shook where he stood behind Tara. A sharp burn dragged across her arm and blood dripped down from the cut. She hissed as the ache in her arm grew stronger.
“This one’s human.” The guy chuckled and his attention on her lessened. She took the opening and grabbed the large metal lamp next to the chair. With a downward swing, she smashed the metal into the guy’s face knocking him down. His head slammed into the floor with a loud thud.
“How’s that for a human?” Clover’s foot hit the guy’s gut and he didn’t even move, giving her the impression she knocked him out. Hell yes! I’m not useless! Another guy turned her way while the last male focused on Tara. Blood littered the floor and her joy faded away.
“You took your anti-bite pill, right?” the blonde asked while the brunette attacked Tara.
“Of course. I’m not an idiot,” the guy facing Tara snapped back. A bite in his arm pooled with blood. The blonde strolled Clover’s way wielding two knives.
“The other guy must have taken it easy on you. I won’t.” He smirked while blocking her view of Tara and Patrick.
“Remember your comment when I kick your ass.” Clover tried to play confident when all she wanted to do was take Patrick and run. He tipped his head to the side, his eyes sweeping up and down her body.
“You’re the bitch who stole him from us in the first place.” Without any notice, he flung one of the blades. She lifted her arms to cover her face, the blade sunk into her left forearm, right above her heart. A scream left her lungs before she managed to contain it. A blow hit her gut for the second time and she lost her breath. Another blow hit her face making her head spin. So much pain pulsed through her body.
She couldn’t stay on her feet. She fell to her knees.
Clover tried to block his next punch, he hit her right arm instead of her face. Pain surge through her body as more blood gushed from her arm while the blade still stuck out of her flesh. Before she second-guessed herself, she yanked the knife from her arm. Black dotted her vision. Clover bit down on her lips and shoved it into the guy’s upper thigh, blood sprayed her face. Something sharp dug into her back, but she kept pulling out the blade and plunging it back in as many times as she could till the knife fell from her shaking palm.
He fumbled back and dropped to the ground. Wait, I need to protect Patrick. She tried to pull at the remaining energy she had but it wasn’t enough to stand. She fumbled and hit the blood-coated floor. The rest of her vision faded out as pain consumed her soul.
Chapter Fourteen
Ash
Urgency surged through Ash’s body when he pulled up to Tara’s house. After texting Clover a few times and getting no response, his wolf started running around in a frenzy. He didn’t like her lack of replies and he had a feeling something happened to stop her from texting back.
When his eyes landed on the open door, he jumped out of the truck and bolted inside.
Blood and silver filled his nose.
His wolf lurched forward, ready to fight but Ash kept him in place, he needed to figure out what happened first. One of the hearts beat slower than normal.
Fear raced down his spine as he inched closer to the house. Three males lay on the floor and only one of them still had a heartbeat.
Ash scanned around the room for Clover. Patrick whimpered and when he found the pup, he sunk his teeth into Clover’s arm. A gasp left his mate’s lips and he jumped to her side. She didn’t fucking want this! Why would he bite her? His mind raced with questions as he pulled Patrick into his lap. Blood caked his paws and fur.
“Good job, Patrick,” Tara whispered from the kitchen. Blood rolled into his mate’s hair and his stomach turned to ice. Part of him didn’t want to look down to see just how bad her wounds were.
“You know she didn’t want this,” Ash hissed at Tara. Clover whimpered in pain and his heart tightened. He didn’t know if she would make the transition, but he knew who the blame landed on. Tara.
“I’m sorry,” Clover whispered and grabbed Ash’s hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Ash scanned her bloody body. Two knife wounds in her back and a large hole in her arm with a cut on her shoulder. Too much for a human to survive. When he met her, he’d never guessed she’d be to handle so much but she’d proven her strength. The resolve in his mate sent pride through his soul and made his wolf dance with joy. He focused on her arm, the tissue slowly stitched its self together. Oh, thank you, goddess! “You’re changing, Clover.” He leaned down and kissed her head then pulled Patrick away to give her room to shift.
Black fur sprouted from her caramel skin and her clothes tore away as her bones grew. The tension in his shoulders eased as she transitioned. She rolled from her side to her stomach while her face lengthened and changed. With every beat of her heart, her skin healed then the fur replaced the flesh. The first shift for a new wolf was always the slowest but he thanked the goddess above she wasn’t whimpering in pain. The shift finished and she huffed out a breath of air. Her eyes fluttered open and met his gaze.
Patrick shifted. “She’s pretty.” Patrick stood near Ash’s feet.
“Yes, she’s beautiful.” Ash liked the bashful way she looked down then back up at him.
“Ash, since she survived the change, can you clean out this silver?” Tara’s voice came out just above a whisper. He turned to the she-wolf bleeding on the floor. He hated those fucking silver blades, they left bits of silver behind and only one thing could get it out.
“Do you have peroxide?” Ash stood and Tara gave a quick nod. When Maple had been attacked, they’d learned peroxide worked to get out the silver flakes from flesh. He bolted to the bathroom and grabbed two bottles then returned to Tara. Clover had fumbled over to her. His mate’s nose scrunched up and she took a small step back.
Tara’s body held dozens of silver cuts on her torso, arms, and two on her legs. Her body couldn’t heal with the silver still clinging to her flesh. He grabbed her arm and Clover growled low.
“Honey, he has to clean out the wounds. Don’t worry, I’m not coming on to your mate.” Tara turned and spoke to Clover. She’s a bit protective. He liked the thought as he poured the peroxide on her arms. The bubbles lifted the silver from her flesh and the skin began to mend seconds later.
“Let me do it,” Clover’s voice came out over his shoulder and he turned to find her completely naked. “My wolf is about to tear you a new one if you go any closer to her chest.” She ground her teeth and snatched the bottle from Ash’s hand.
“How are you feeling?” He inched away from her friend to give her room to work. The urge to kiss her rose in his chest but he would have to wait.
“Different.” She poured the liquid on Tara’s shoulder and a hiss left her friend’s lips. “Sorry for snapping at both of you.” She met his gaze and adjusted her hair.
Tara chuckled and grabbed Clover’s hand. “Honey, I understand. It’s a wolf thing and I’m glad you’re my sister in a whole new way.”
“If I wasn’t dying and you did it, I’d be kicking your ass.” Clover dumped more peroxide and Tara winced.
“Well, I didn’t want to watch you die, you bitch,” Tara snapped back in a playful manner. Ash tried to figure out how they could be calling each other such names and still be best friends.
“You’re lucky the bite didn’t kill me, or you’d have the most depressed boy on your hands. Plus, Patrick would be upset.” Clover shook her head then turned her gaze to Ash.
Ash processed her words and Tara started giggling. “Fuck off.” Ash pulled Clover in for a kiss no longer wanting to resist. He took her ba
nter this time only because she almost died but next time he’d be fighting back.
“I wanna go home,” Patrick chimed in as Clover finished cleaning Tara off.
“Home…” Ash turned to the door and thought about the software he had been running. Home base, they have a home base!
“Wouldn’t it be logical they all started in the same place. Somewhere they all start together?” He glanced up at Clover who nodded. “I mean this could be how I track them.” Ash had been trying to track them the wrong way. Instead of following the trail after they attacked, he needed to find their trail before they entered the house. He blinked a few times and tapped his fingers on his legs.
“What’s going on with your mate?” Tara slowly sat up and Clover shrugged.
“I have an idea on how to track the hunters.” Ash smiled. He wanted to run back to his house and start working but he had to wait for Clover and Patrick to get dressed. The thought of a male catching Clover naked sent his wolf into a heated rage.
Clover helped Tara up and they shuffled up the stairs.
“Am I in trouble?” Patrick’s head hung low.
“No. Why would you be in trouble?”
“I changed Clover. Tara told me to do it.” He stared at his hands, blood covered his chubby palms.
Ash picked him up and held him close as he carried him to the bathroom. “You saved Clover and I’m glad you were brave enough to listen to Tara.”
One child was a complete handful, he couldn’t even imagine what a younger pup would be like. He pushed back the shudder threatening to roll down his spine as he cleaned Patrick up. He grabbed the hand towel and cleaned all the blood from his skin.
“You’re joking, right? I can’t be in heat so fast, it would make me almost a week early.” Clover’s question brought him back to reality as she rounded the corner. She had a sweatshirt and stretchy pants hugging her curves.
“I don’t think so. With your new wolf, I caught it quicker. You’ll go into heat soon,” Tara called back through the hallway.
“Well, we already have a pup to take care of. We can wait a few years to have more kids.” Ash reached for a blanket and covered Patrick before walking to the car. He didn’t know what Clover wanted but he couldn’t deal with a baby when the hunters continued taking children.
Chapter Fifteen
Clover
Clover wanted to curse the world for throwing her another fucking curveball. Her wolf shrugged and started pushing images of Ash over her into her thoughts. Listen up, you and I are going to go rounds if you keep this shit up, Clover warned the new personality in her head, which pounded slightly from all the new smells, sounds, and enhanced view of every little thing.
“So, what’s this plan again?” Clover asked when they arrived back at Ash’s place, but he ran down the hallway next to the stairs into his office. Raymand stormed into the house making Clover jump back.
“What happened?” He growled low and sniffed the air.
“I knew it. I’m in trouble,” Patrick whimpered, and Clover picked him up.
“You saved me, Patrick. You’re not in trouble.” Clover kissed the little pup’s head and he relaxed in her arms. The alpha pulsed so much power it made her take a step back.
“He changed you?” He pointed to the pup.
“Some hunters tried to get Patrick, so I kicked some ass.” Clover didn’t meet his gaze, but she would stand her ground a bit. Raymand relaxed his stance and the wolf in her head stopped whimpering.
“Well, welcome to the pack, now where’s Ash?”
“He’s in his office. He said he might’ve found a way to track them down.” Clover pointed to the hall and Raymand stormed down without another word. This time a knock on the door gave Clover a chance to check it first. She didn’t recognize who stood behind the wood.
“Ash? Patrick?” he called out and then scratched his head. “Shit, what’s his mate’s name… Clover!” he yelled the last part. “It’s me, Drake.”
“He’s the second in command,” Patrick whispered in Clover’s ear and she opened the door.
“Sorry for the quick intro but Ash said it’s urgent.” Drake shoved his hands through brown shaggy hair.
“Wait, you’re his brother, right?” Clover caught hints of similarity in their scents and they had the same chocolate brown eyes.
“Yep, and welcome to the family.” He nodded and stepped toward the hall before stopping. “Late as usual. Come on, Zac!” he yelled, and Clover caught the footsteps coming toward the house.
Another guy strolled in, his blue eyes met Clover’s gaze for a moment. A smile lifted his lips as he bounced into the house. His black hair didn’t move an inch as he moved toward Drake.
“This better be good. Rayne’s flipping the fuck out about being alone with Annmarie.” He nodded toward Clover and the two marched down the hallway. She wanted to ask who Rayne was but didn’t have to wait long as another couple sets of footsteps sounded near the door.
With her heightened senses picking up everything it made her a bit nervous with all the new noises.
“Annmarie, come on. Oh good, I’m not the only one. Hi, Maple and Cora,” a voice called out and Patrick opened the door before Clover could stop him.
“Damn it, Patrick. It’s not safe to…” Her words died as she snatched up Patrick and found a woman with sapphire eyes watching her. Hints of power pulsed from her, and her wolf recognized it as similar to the alpha ‘s earlier.
“Oh, I’m so glad he finally found his mate.” The alpha female smiled brightly. “I’m Maple, this is Cora.” She motioned the little girl clinging to her leg.
“Rayne and Annmarie.” The second woman smiled brightly with her pregnant belly poking out of her jacket. Annmarie held similarities in her scent with her mother but Cora didn’t have the same scent as Maple.
“Clover, I want to play outside.” Patrick wiggled in his arms.
“It’s not safe right now.” Clover struggled to keep the fighting boy in her arms.
“Oh, we can all sit out front and let them play. Better in a group, right?” Maple glanced back at Rayne who shrugged.
“This shit needs to freaking end. That’s all I’m saying, and they better have a good plan.” Rayne clicked her tongue and walked onto the grass. Clover slowly set Patrick down and followed the little guy. He pulled on Annmarie’s shirt and they chased each other around while Cora followed suit after a moment. It had been the first time she had seen the little guy playing without fear.
“Ash seems pretty enthusiastic about tracking them down.” Clover didn’t know much about the women, but Tara had spoken of them before. Cora had been the first kid to escape the hunters and they had tried to capture her again. Maybe they will stay away from Patrick since they failed twice.
“So, how do you like being a wolf?” Maple asked making Clover giggle.
“Goodness it’s a lot more input and having the extra personality in my mind is a bit to get used to.” Her wolf grinned and wagged her tail. “In all honesty, I’m glad Patrick listened to Tara.” The whole having someone else in her mind and being able to smell and hear everything baffled the hell out of her.
“I think we all are.” Rayne winked and she glanced down at her belly.
“Are you ready for two little ones in your house?”
“Soon I’ll get to look forward to three.” Rayne rolled her eyes but a smile touched her lips. “I’m a bit nervous, but I know Zac will be helpful. Only took forever to get him used to a child in his house.”
“Patrick totally peed on Ash. I don’t think he’ll be ready for another kid.” Clover bit her lower lip. She did love kids and wanted a house full of little ones with love and affection surrounding every single one.
“Oh, that’s hilarious.” Maple covered her mouth as they all laughed at Ash’s misfortune. “But I think it’s an alpha male mentality, it took some convincing to keep Cora in the house and now this one’s coming our life will be turned upside down again.” Maple shrugged.
“But I’m excited.”
“Well, at least our kids are in the clear, they have only tried twice to get the pups and then given up.” Rayne lifted her gaze and Clover followed it to Annmarie, Cora, and Patrick all playing. She rubbed her swelling belly.
“Let’s just hope they keep to the pattern.” Maple chewed on her lower lip and Clover hoped the same thing.
“Mom, I need some water.” Cora pulled on Maple and they walked into the house leaving Rayne with Clover. She eased onto the grass and tried her best to relax.
“So, do you ever get used to having someone else in your mind?”
“I was born with my wolf so I’ve never really lived a day without my beast. She’s always driving me crazy, one way or another.” Rayne smiled and Clover caught the sound of tires on the street. The scent of grass grew stronger and she wondered how it could be. A van with the letters DD on the side halted in front of the house.
“Did you hear that?” Rayne stiffened and kept talking but Clover didn’t really hear the rest. Clover lurched forward to protect the pups when a hand wrapped around her waist bringing the grass scent with it. The sharp pinch in her neck made her gasp. She caught an underlying scent beneath the grass but didn’t understand it.
“What the fuck?” Rayne dropped to her knees and collapsed on the ground, her eyes fluttered closed seconds later. Clover wobbled on her own legs. Before she thought it through, she grabbed the man’s hand and yanked the needle from her neck. With the added strength she slipped it from his grasp and swiped it across the guy’s throat. Blood seeped down his neck and his eyes glazed over.
She yanked out the needle, part of the liquid still sat inside the tube. Another guy ran toward her and she shoved it into his neck hitting the top of the plunger. He whimpered and fell at Clover’s feet. Dots blurred her vision and she tried to go for the kids but someone else had them. How many are there? She tried to count but her feet trembled.
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