by Erin M. Leaf
“A giant load of money, that’s what,” Brian said. “And after what you did to my stuff, I deserve some kind of restitution.”
Avery stared at her ex. “You’re delusional. If you leave now, maybe Fletcher won’t carve you in half. You know he’s on his way.” She flinched when Brian snarled. In her head, her wolf whined, pissed that she wouldn’t let her out. Not yet, she murmured, but she was no longer sure whom she was trying to convince.
“I’m going to get a lot of money to bring you in, girl. They want you now, and they’re willing to pay, God only knows why. They said something about your blood,” Kurt said, smiling with satisfaction. “Brian was just a distraction. While he was fucking up your place, I stole the Boulder Pack’s archives for Gorge Rock Pack, but now they want more. They want you.” He jerked her against him. “I’m going to get everything I want.” He began dragging her towards the door.
Avery resisted, looking towards the counter at Lillian and Bridget, but Paige was yelling, and she couldn’t see Lillian anymore. Growls came from behind the register. No one else can stop this. Fletcher and Mitch aren’t here to save you, she thought, swallowing hard even as her father twisted his grip, almost breaking her arm. You need to do this. She gathered her courage and looked at the man who she’d thought was her father, and didn’t recognize anything familiar in his eyes. Ego and greed ruled him. They reached the outside doors, and she grabbed onto the frame, using it to keep him from pulling her outside.
“You’re not strong enough, girl,” Kurt said, prying her fingers loose with casual brutality. Brian helped him, and she clenched her teeth against the pain when he yanked her fingers back too far.
It’s now or never, Avery thought, willing herself to let go of her fear. You can do this. You have to do this. She snarled and jerked away from them. When her stepfather reached for her again, she curled her fingers into a fist and punched him in the throat. Kurt gurgled, eyes flaring as he staggered and fought for breath. He fell to the floor, face going grey. Before Avery could deal with what she’d just done, Brian growled and shifted in a frightening blur. Avery’s wolf surged up, and she let her beast take over, but she didn’t shift. Instead, strength coursed through her. She grappled with the wolf just as he leapt for her, and she went down with him on top of her. His teeth gnashed inches from her neck, but she pushed him away. “Down!” she snapped, putting all of her power into her voice. Brian flinched, hard, but then he snarled and attacked her again. So much for my Alpha voice power Paige talked about. Avery stood up and grabbed him, and then flung him into the wall. Hard. To her astonishment, he went down and didn’t get up.
Before she could dwell on her newfound strength, the sound of someone crying out near the office caught her attention. She sniffed, and the scent of blood had her wolf almost frantic.
“Oh no!” she rushed over. Lillian was on the floor, unconscious and covered in blood. An old female wolf stalked around a much smaller Paige, who bled from a wound in her arm as she kept pressure on the deep wound at Lillian’s shoulder. “I tried calling Fletcher and Mitch again, but neither of them answered,” she said to Avery, clutching her wounded arm to her chest. “This old bitch surprised me, but then you did that voice thing and she backed off.” She glared up at Bridget, who was still in wolf form.
Bridget growled, obviously just waiting for the best opportunity to attack again. Behind them, Avery heard a snarl, and she knew that Brian had recovered from her throw. I can’t win this as a human. Her eyes met Paige’s.
“If I shift, I won’t be able to keep pressure on this wound, and it’s too deep for me to hand it off to you,” Paige said worriedly. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I do. I’ll handle this,” Avery said as she embraced the beast within her. “Sometimes being civilized isn’t the answer.” She stood up slowly, keeping an eye on both Bridget and her ex. Her wolf howled as she shifted, and then she turned, teeth bared, just as Brian leaped for her.
Chapter Twelve
“Drive faster, Fletcher,” Mitch said, hands gripping the dash. Something bad is happening. His wolf knew it, and he knew Fletcher knew it, too, but he couldn’t keep quiet. “She needs us.” He gritted his teeth to keep from shifting in the front seat, but his fingers sprouted claws and he gouged the hell out of the plastic in front of him.
“You think I don’t know that she needs us? If I go any faster, we’ll crash, and it’ll take even longer to get there,” Fletcher said grimly, but he pressed on the accelerator anyway. Their speed inched up a fraction. “We’re five minutes out. Keep it together, Mitch.”
“Shit. I’m not going to last.” Mitch was already unbuttoning his shirt. “I’m not going in there as a human.” He knew that Fletcher wouldn’t shift unless he had to. Traditionally, the Beta was the beast that enforced the Alpha’s decision, and Mitch was okay with that because it meant he could act. He didn’t have to stand around and think about protecting Avery. He could just go in there and do it. He felt bad for Fletcher. The Alpha shifted only when the shit truly hit the fan, and he knew his best friend wished he had more freedom, but he had to look at bad situations from a different perspective.
“All right.” Fletcher nodded grimly. “I’ll be ready to shift if I have to.”
“I know,” Mitch said, hoping it wouldn’t be necessary. If it was, that meant things had truly screwed the pooch. Fletcher slowed, then swerved into the Sanctuary’s parking lot. He gunned it to the front of the building and then hit the brakes. The SUV slid to a stop on the gravel, and they both leaped out just in time to hear a gunshot.
“Goddammit,” Fletcher said, diving out of the vehicle. He rolled behind the engine block. Mitch followed him to the ground.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked, pushing off his pants. The gravel bit into his bare feet and ass, but he barely noticed. He had to get naked. He could shift while dressed, and tear his clothes apart, but he didn’t want to risk having his jeans caught up on his flanks and slowing him down.
Another shot rang out. “Avery is in there. I can smell her,” Fletcher said through clenched teeth. He rolled out of cover, then ran for the doors.
“Fuck!” Mitch cursed, shifting as he followed his Alpha. Why couldn’t he just wait? was his last coherent thought, and then he was inside the building, snarling and ripping up the floors with his claws. He saw Avery fighting with a young wolf, and he was about to help her when she tore out the beast’s throat.
“Queen,” he thought proudly, running over to touch noses with her. Another gunshot rang out, and he whirled, growling. An old dame wolf stood over Paige and Lillian, blood on her muzzle, and he froze, recognizing his grandmother. Avery nudged him, and he knew she’d be okay, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to face down his own matriarch, but one look at Fletcher told him he was the only one left to do it.
“Mitch. Come here,” his grandmother demanded, but he sniffed, and realized the blood decorating her grizzled fur was Lillian’s. He snarled as his loyalty to his Alpha and Queen warred with his duty to his matriarch. He walked over, fur bristling.
“You did this?” he asked, looking down at Lillian, then at Paige. Avery’s best friend had blood on her arm and hands, and she held pressure on Lillian’s wound, ignoring Bridget. Anger sifted through him. His grandmother dared injure their former Beta’s wife? And Fletcher’s sister?
Bridget lifted her head. “Help me finish.”
“Finish?” He growled, then attacked her. He didn’t want to kill his grandmother, but she couldn’t hurt the former Beta’s wife and Avery’s best friend and not think she wouldn’t pay for it. “You are mad,” he sent, fighting through his beast’s natural inclination to act first and talk later. He swiped at her, raising blood along her muzzle.
Bridget whined, and then abruptly backed down. He pushed her until she bared her stomach and throat to him. “Stay,” he ordered.
Another shot whizzed past him, and he glanced up to find Fletcher confronting Avery’s sire. The man had a g
un, and he waved it around wildly. Avery whined very softly and shook her head, and Mitch understood her pain. She shouldn’t have had to kill her ex. She shouldn’t have a madman for a sire. He stalked forward, needing to be close to her and Fletcher. He’d step between her and a bullet if necessary. “Protect,” he projected to her, sheltering her with his considerable mass.
Avery growled and faced her father. “Evil,” she sent.
Mitch understood. Something, though, nagged at him. He raised his snout and sniffed deeply, and then whined in shock. “Not your sire.”
Avery snarled agreement, and then shifted back into her human body. “My mother never told me he wasn’t my true father,” she whispered, hands going to Mitch’s ruff. She wound her fingers into Mitch’s fur and hung on. He didn’t mind. It was better this way. He could keep her safe if the man did something crazy.
Kurt shouted at Fletcher, and then charged him. Avery cried out and darted forward before Mitch could stop her.
“No!” she yelled.
Fletcher grabbed Kurt’s arm, and another shot hit the ceiling, but then Kurt turned and pointed the gun at Avery. Fletcher froze.
Kurt shrugged him off. “You are coming with me,” he said to Avery.
Mitch’s blood ran cold, and he snarled softly, barely restraining the urge to attack. He wanted to kill the man. He wanted to taste his blood. How dare he threaten his mate? His Queen?
Avery tossed her head. “Not in a million years.” Her silver eyes glittered with defiance.
Kurt bared his teeth. “How dare you.” He squeezed the trigger, and Mitch leaped forward just as Fletcher shifted in a huge, violent rush. Mitch would die before he let anything happen to his Queen, and clearly Fletcher felt the same way. He closed his jaws on Kurt’s thigh, tearing through his femoral artery just as Fletcher ripped out the man’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere. Mitch opened his mouth and stepped back. Kurt’s body dropped to the floor with a thud.
“Done,” he thought as satisfaction bled through him. Fletcher howled, short and final, punctuating Mitch’s sentiment with approval.
Avery sank to her knees. “Oh my God,” she said, hands reaching out, but then she pulled them back in, shaking. A bloody scratch marred the perfect skin of her cheek. The bullet had just missed its mark, but it hadn’t left her unscathed.
Mitch met Fletcher’s gaze. “Queen,” he thought, and both wolves simultaneously shifted back to human. Before he could speak, Avery looked at him, the despair clear in her expression.
“He’s dead,” she said, trembling. She touched a finger to her cheek and grimaced.
“Yes. He’s dead.” Mitch gathered her in his arms. “But you’re okay.”
“He wasn’t my father,” she murmured into his shoulder. “I had no idea.”
Mitch sighed, and handed her to Fletcher. He wanted to make sure his grandmother didn’t try anything. “No, he wasn’t.” He stood up, glancing at the counter. His grandmother sat on the floor in human form, wrapped in an old blanket. “You did this,” he said, glaring at her.
“Avery has no business being mated to you and Fletcher. She’s weak. And she has mixed blood. Kurt knew that,” the old woman said, glaring at him.
“You did this when you pushed Avery’s mother out of the pack. You and your cronies,” Mitch said, sure of it. He didn’t know how he knew, but he saw the knowledge on her face. “If you hadn’t been so judgmental, her mother wouldn’t have had to try and find an acceptable father. She wouldn’t have had to lie about her pregnancy.”
His grandmother looked away. “Times were different back then. A female should never have a pup outside of the pack. Out of wedlock. Avery’s mother dishonored all of us by bearing the offspring of the Gorge Rock Alpha.” She spat derisively. “She tried to claim he was her mate, but we all knew she was lying.” She glared down at Lillian. “And this one sheltered the female brat for years. It isn’t right. Avery isn’t Boulder Pack. I was happy when her mother died.”
Jesus. Avery is the daughter of the Gorge Rock Pack’s dead Alpha? Mitch made a sound in the back of his throat. What a fucking tragedy. He thought of all the misery that had arisen from wolves trying to adopt stupid human rules of behavior. His grandmother disgusted him. “Those attitudes go counter to everything that makes us Pack,” he said, thinking of duty and loyalty and love. “We’re not going to live like that anymore.” He glared at her. “You will be quiet about this, do you understand me? You will keep your antiquated attitudes to yourself.”
His grandmother shrank from him, but Mitch didn’t care.
“Mitch speaks the truth. Nothing like that will happen in Boulder Pack again,” Fletcher said, and Mitch could hear his vow in his voice. He nodded, trusting his Alpha to stay true to his promise.
“I called nine-one-one,” Paige said, interrupting them.
Lillian. He turned to look at her and Paige. Her color was a little better. Thank God for shifter healing. “Good. You did the right thing, Paige.” He walked over and crouched down. His fingers on Lillian’s throat told him her pulse was steady, and she was already healing, thanks to shifter strength. “She’ll make it. She’s strong,” he told Paige. She nodded, but the drying tracks of tears on her face told him how upset she was. “You can ease up on the dressing now. The bleeding’s stopped.” He stood up again, surveying the room. They had a hell of a mess to clean up. We’ll have to go with wild animal attack when we talk to people. There’s too much blood everywhere for it to be anything else. Thank God we have friends in the police force.
“I had no idea about my mother. How could I not know?” Avery repeated.
“You were a child. You believed your mother,” Fletcher said, shaking his head. “We all believed your mother.”
Mitch grabbed some clothes from the gift shop counter and headed over to them. “We need to get dressed.” He glanced at his grandmother. “Can I trust you to go home and stay there?”
She nodded, subdued. “Yes.”
“Then go,” Mitch said, relieved when she slipped out the back door without any further argument.
“My father fooled everybody. Your dad was the Alpha. Why didn’t he say something to me?” Avery sounded angry as she spoke to Fletcher. “Was everything my whole life a lie?”
Mitch’s heart broke at those words. “No, sweetheart. Your mother loved you. She did her best for you in circumstances that must have been very difficult.” He stood over the body of the man Avery had believed was her father and barely resisted the urge to spit on it.
“My father wouldn’t have known you and Kurt weren’t blood related because you weren’t able to shift. Scents don’t work the same way when you’re fully human,” Fletcher said softly. “I doubt he realized the truth, especially since your mother passed away so long ago.”
Avery sighed, then pushed away from him. “Kurt said they wanted my blood. He’s the one who stole the archives. He said Gorge Rock Pack paid them to grab me, and he paid Brian to help him.” She stood up, gloriously nude, and Mitch couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest bit in awe of her, even in the middle of this disaster. She was strong and gorgeous, and she was his mate. He caught Fletcher’s eye and knew his Alpha felt the same way.
“We should get dressed,” he said again, regretfully.
Avery sighed, touching a hand to her face where the bullet had grazed her. The cut had already closed up, and she swiped at the blood, then grimaced. “I know.” She took the clothes he offered and slipped them on. “I don’t know what Gorge Rock thinks they’re going do with me, because I like my blood where it is, thank you very much.” She glanced at Mitch and Fletcher. “And I’m already mated.”
“They can’t do anything,” Fletcher said, yanking on a pair of sweats. “We don’t even know if your father—” He caught himself and shook his head. “If Kurt was telling the truth. For all we know, he went rogue.”
“We’ll ask about the archives,” Mitch said, rubbing his chin. “How they respond will tell us a great deal.”
“I doubt Gorge Rock Pack will want Avery anymore,” Paige said, surprising Mitch. “They have much bigger problems to deal with.”
Mitch turned to her. “How do you know?”
Paige swallowed, then squared her shoulders. “I met two wolves in the forest a few days ago. They’re not from here. The one guy was an Alpha. He told me that his mother used to be married to Gorge Rock Pack’s Alpha, and that she’d run away when he was little.”
“What? Is that why you’ve been acting so strange the past few days?” Avery asked, striding over to her friend. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She looked at Fletcher, then back at Paige. “If not me, why didn’t you tell your brother? This is important information. The Alpha needs to know when strange wolves cross our land.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” Paige said, face crumpling. “I didn’t know how to tell you. You had so much to deal with already, and I didn’t want to worry you with my problems.”
Avery stared at her, then pulled her friend into a hug. “Oh, Paige.”
Paige hugged her, hiding her face in Avery’s hair.
Two wolves in our territory? Mitch frowned. “Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?” he asked Fletcher. “This feels like more than just a couple of wolves traveling from one place to another.”
Fletcher rubbed his chin. Clearly, he understood exactly what Mitch was thinking. “Paige,” he said to his sister. “Talk to me. I need to know when stuff like this happens.”
Paige let Avery go. “I think they’re my mates,” she said shakily.
Oh, wow, Mitch thought. That changes things. He looked at Fletcher, sensing his Alpha’s surprise.
Fletcher’s eyebrows rose. “Both of them?”
His sister gave him a look, and Fletcher inhaled slowly. “Okay, then. Why did they steal the archives?”
“They didn’t steal them. In fact, I don’t even know if they’ve confronted the Gorge Rock Pack yet. They were just passing through when I ran into them,” Paige explained. “They probably don’t even know about our archives.”
