by Jen L. Grey
“Get her to come over here.” Damien glanced around. “If they get to wherever they’re heading, there isn’t a way we can help her.”
He was right. We had to help her and now. I raised my finger, beckoning for her to come to us.
It shocked me when there was no hesitation from her. She glanced at the storefront and opened the car door slowly. She then shut it gently and ran to the car we were in.
Not hesitating, Rage opened the door for her to jump in.
“Hey.” Nate sauntered out from the store just as Angel jumped into the backseat of the car. His eyes widened. “What the hell?”
“Go, Cole. Drive the craziest you can.” Rage slammed the door shut, and Cole reversed, swinging out on the road.
“See, I knew you guys would come around eventually.” Cole grinned as he shifted the car into drive and pressed hard on the accelerator.
“Don’t get too cocky yet.” Damien turned around so he was looking out the back window. “Because there’s Nate now.”
The dark vehicle was gaining on us.
“This isn’t good.” The first thing Nate was going to do was tell the society.
“Why did you come get me?” Angel’s sweet voice shook. “I thought they were your friends.”
“Oh, honey.” I hadn’t even thought about how she would feel. We were just trying to save her from wherever they were taking her. Just because she was a hybrid didn’t mean she should be treated like a criminal. “It’s a long story, but we’re going to do everything we can to protect you.”
“We’re going to have to stop and fight him.” Damien scanned the area. “Otherwise, the society is going to know what we did.”
“So what are we going to do?” Jess giggled. “Offer him a bone and hope he takes it?”
“Why are you laughing?” There wasn’t anything funny about this situation.
“Because when stress overwhelms me, I respond by laughing.” Jess shook her finger at me. “Don’t judge.”
“We all deal with things in our own way, so no judging here.” If that was her coping strategy, so be it.
Angel shifted so she was sitting on the floorboard in front of Jess.
“Well, I’m judging.” Cole glanced in the rearview mirror. “Just to set the record straight.”
“Are you not taking this seriously?” Rage’s forehead creased. “You’re talking shit in a bad situation.”
“You see, that’s the problem with you all.” There was a break in the trees to the left, and Cole took a sharp turn, heading straight for it. “We’re about to deal with the situation, so all is good.”
We all bounced as we hit uneven ground, and the black car followed right behind us.
Once we were hidden from the main road, Cole stopped and pointed to us. “Now it’s showtime.”
One thing was for sure, I hadn’t planned on our night ending like this.
Chapter Twenty
“What do I do?” Angel had started to shake uncontrollably, and she curled into a ball on the floorboard.
I hated that the night had come to this. “Stay here.” I glanced at Jess and smiled. “Do you mind?”
Jess's shoulders sagged as she nodded. “Yeah, I’ll keep her company, but if you need me, yell. Got it?”
“Nothing is going to happen to Raven.” Rage opened the car door and climbed out. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“Then you better stay out of trouble too.” If he thought I’d leave him in a bad situation, he had another think coming. “Or else, we’ll go out together.”
Damien and Cole got out of the car and rushed to the trunk.
“Jess is a good friend of mine.” I wanted to reassure Angel before getting out. “She’ll take care of you, okay?”
“Okay.” Angel nodded and somehow melted further into the floorboard. “I trust you.”
Those simple words hit me hard. I couldn’t mess up. Not able to respond, I nodded my head before climbing out of the car.
“Raven?” Angel called out to me.
Crap, I didn’t have time for this. “Yeah?”
“You’re going to be safe, right?” Her voice shivered, and she wrapped her arms around me.
I didn’t want to lie, but there was no other choice. “Of course.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Nate clambered from the car and stared our group of four down. He focused his attention on me. “I’m not surprised. I told Jordan and the others that it wasn’t wise to bring you in, but for some reason, they were determined to have you.”
“Maybe they needed style for once.” Cole chuckled and leaned back on his feet.
“Shut up, bloodsucker.” Nate clenched his hands and snarled in his direction. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Well, now you are, so problem solved.” Cole was tense, but to someone who didn’t know him, he managed to come off carefree and unaffected. “So why are you complaining?”
“You may even be worse than Jordan,” Nate growled as he took a few steps closer.
“Awe, now you’re complimenting me.” Cole smiled and waved the comment off. “You shouldn't have.”
“How can you stand him?” Nate cringed and wrinkled his nose. “You’re so hot. You have such great potential too. You’re blowing it on these idiots and a supposed true mate that’s weak as fuck.”
“Watch what you say.” Rage’s voice was low and raspy. “I may have to hurt you.”
“Oh, no ...” Nate placed both hands to his cheeks pretending to be scared.
“Are you stalling for others to arrive?” I hoped to God he hadn’t called anyone, but I could play his ego to find out. “I mean, I’d be scared too if I were you.”
“Ha. Are you serious right now?” Nate laughed and took a few more steps toward us. “I don’t need anyone to help with the likes of you. I can take all six of you out with my hands tied behind my back.”
“That’s a pretty lofty goal.” Great, now I was starting to sound like Cole. “I mean, you think you alone can take two wolf shifters, a vampire, and a bear?”
“See, that’s the only way you think you can win.” Nate grinned as he pulled a wolf necklace from his pocket. He placed it around his neck, and his eyes glowed. “I have back up for situations just like this.”
“What the hell?” Damien’s breathing increased. “Is that spelled?”
“Of course it is.” Nate was now only a few feet away from us. “It’s more than I need, especially for you weaklings.”
There was no telling what the necklace allowed him to do. “Where were you taking her?”
“It doesn’t matter. She’s a hybrid and needs to be contained.” Nate’s green eyes stared me down. “You’ve been in the same classes as me.”
I refused to cower. “Okay, but why take her out of New Orleans. I would think somewhere close by where she can get help would be better.”
“See, Jordan kept telling them that you weren’t the right one for this job.” Nate glanced at each one of us and then the car. “Your whole group is a mismatch of races. But she told me that they kept saying you were the one. Something about a dream. I don’t know and frankly don’t care either.”
“You don’t have to do this.” That necklace made him unpredictable, and I’d admit I was scared.
“Oh, Ravey. He’s going to tell you yes he does.” Cole hit Damien’s arm. “Isn’t he?”
“He’s got to prove his dick is bigger than mine.” Rage shrugged and lifted his head. “Unfortunately, he’s already lost that one.”
“Bring it on.” The last word turned into a howl as Nate shifted into his wolf. His body cracked and began changing.
“Stay out of the way.” Rage leaned over and kissed my lips quickly before he allowed the shift to overtake him.
“If you don’t want Rage to get hurt, you need to get out of range now.” Damien grabbed my arm, pulling me back a few steps and out of the way.
“No, I need to fight beside him.” There was no way that I wouldn’t be next to him.
“You’l
l distract him, Raven.” Damien raised his voice, which was something he never did.
It was enough to bring me back into the moment instead of panicking. “You’re right.”
“Stay here.” Damien turned and headed back to the fight.
Both of the guys were now in their wolf form. However, Nate’s dark gray wolf was twice the size of Rage’s pure white one.
Taking full advantage of the situation, Nate struck first. He went straight for Rage’s neck.
Thankfully, Rage lowered himself to the ground, making Nate miss his target.
Nate tumbled over and landed straight on his back. A loud howl filled the air as he scrambled back on his feet. He snarled, showing all of his teeth.
Rage lowered his wolf to the ground, ready to strike. As he charged, he jumped and targeted the gray wolf's neck. However, when he jumped, Nate stood on his back legs, making Rage miss his neck. Nate was able to bite him and throw him, making him hit a tree and slide down apparently unconscious.
“Shit, Rage isn’t used to being smaller. He doesn’t know how to fight.” Damien growled as the shift overtook him as well.
“Stay back, Damien. It’s my turn.” Cole used his vampire speed to smack the wolf’s side as he advanced on Rage. Nate flew across the clearing.
There was no way I could just stand here and watch this. “I’m going in.”
“No, you’re not,” Damien growled as his body began to contort. “Cole and I have this.”
I wanted to scream. I got that I was the least trained out of all of them, but it was like Nate was on steroids times four. I didn’t want them to be distracted by me.
The wolf howled as it got back on its feet and stared down Cole. It pawed at the ground as if daring Cole to attack.
“You’re going to regret that, mutt.” Cole flashed again as he sped toward him, but the wolf lowered itself to the ground and tore into the vampire’s leg.
“Ow.” Cole cried as he tugged on his leg trying to yank it free, but the wolf clung on tight.
A loud grizzly roar echoed in the area. Damien raced toward the wolf as he released Cole’s leg from his mouth.
Cole tried standing but fell to the ground. There was too much damage to his leg.
Within seconds, the wolf tore into the vampire’s neck. Blood was spilling everywhere. Cole tried to beat him off, but his strength began to fade.
As Damien got closer, he stood on his hind legs.
It was strange because I’d never seen a wolf the same height as a bear before.
Not wasting a second, Nate ran toward Damien. The wolf went straight for his neck as well, but Damien was strong enough to swat him down. Nate hit the ground hard.
Damien rushed over to Cole, smelling him. Even in his bear form, concern was evident throughout his body. He hovered over him, protecting him.
My stomach wanted to retch as Cole’s sweet smell grew stronger. The more he bled, the sweeter it became.
Despite the blood, Cole tried to stand. “I’m fine.” His voice was unrecognizable from the wound in this throat.
“No.” Jess cried as she climbed out of the car. “Cole.”
A cheesy wolf grin filled Nate’s face. His eyes were set on my best friend. He was in the middle of the circle where he could easily attack Cole or Jess.
At this point, I didn’t give a damn if the guys got mad at me or not. I began the shift into my wolf. I couldn’t let one of my favorite people die. My clothes tore as fur sprouted, and my bones broke and molded into my animal form.
The bear growled at me, not happy with what I’d done. However, at the moment, we had no other option.
Nate charged for my friend, and I pushed my legs to run as fast as they could. He was fucking unstoppable, because of that necklace. Wait … That was it. We needed to rip his necklace off. As I caught up to him, I could see the silver wolf’s head dangle slightly from his chest.
We were only a few feet away from Jess at the moment. I had to get the necklace and now. I lunged right toward it, but he spun around and knocked me to the ground.
I hit the ground on my left side with a loud thud. Pain throbbed so hard that I had tunnel vision, but I had to push through it. If we wanted to make it out of this alive, I had to stay strong.
The longer I laid on the ground, the harder it would be. I pushed myself back on all fours and turned to face him.
He was watching me.
Of course he was. I met his stare, refusing to back down. I needed him to get arrogant … careless … This was probably one of the worst ideas I’d ever had, but Cole needed help, and Rage was safe for now. At least until Nate finished with all the conscious ones. He was sick and sadistic, so he wanted to enjoy his prey.
Needing him to stay distracted from Jess and Cole, I pretended to limp with my front left paw. The more injured he thought I was, the less guarded he would be.
I needed to try to direct his attack. If he thought my left side hurt, he was going to try to use it to his advantage. I quickened my pace, making it appear that I was running as fast as I could.
His shoulders shook as if he was laughing in this form. He sat as he watched me race toward him.
When I was within striking distance, I jumped toward him as if I was protecting my hurt side.
He twisted around so his teeth sunk into my front left leg.
This time, I didn’t have to pretend, I whimpered as I dropped to the ground. Obviously, my plan hadn’t worked at all.
A loud roar filled the air as Damien left Cole and raced toward us. His eyes were locked on the blood pouring from my leg.
Nate dug in deeper as he kept his focus on Damien. As if he was trying to traumatize me with pain while Damien was watching not one but two of his friends bleed out.
This was my chance. Mustering all of my strength, I lifted my head, pretending to look at Damien. Thankfully, the moon hit the necklace for a quick second. It was only a few inches away since he was latched on to my leg. I jerked forward and caught the necklace between my teeth.
Nate jerked back, inadvertently helping me pull it off his neck, breaking the chain.
Nate tripped and howled as the magic began to leave his body. His wolf began to shrink right before our eyes. The whole time, he thrashed in pain, and sickening sounds of cartilage breaking filled the air.
I stumbled back, not wanting the chance of my injured paw getting hit. Blood was oozing from the bite, and my head began to spin. I needed to change into my human form so I could clean and bandage it.
A large nose nudged me on the side, and Damien’s signature pine and cypress smell filled my nose.
He was checking on me. Even through everything, Damien was worried about us all. I dropped the necklace and licked the side of his face letting him know I was okay.
That’s all he needed before he made his way over to the whimpering wolf. In just that short time span, Nate’s wolf had shrunk to about the same size as Rage’s.
Damien leaned over the wolf and stared him straight in the eyes.
The gray wolf whimpered and whined as if he was crying.
Although that didn’t mean a damn thing. He had injured Rage, almost killed Cole, and enjoyed watching me wither in pain. If that wasn’t a sign of a psychopath, I wasn’t sure what else was.
It was obvious that Damien felt the same because he grabbed the wolf by the neck and cut through his artery.
Blood gushed from Nate’s form as his eyes widened in surprise before slowly shutting.
I had to turn away, not able to watch this. I was still haunted by the time I had to kill Ashley.
When I turned to glance back at Cole, he was standing and leaning on Jess. When I saw the blood trickling down my friend’s neck, I realized what happened. She had given him some of her blood to speed up his healing.
At least that was one less person I had to worry about. I took off toward my mate, who laid unconscious at the bottom of the large tree. Our connection was intact, so he wasn’t dead … yet.
Hopi
ng that our mate bond would help me recover, I laid next to him. My right side touching his.
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there, but footsteps were heading my direction.
“Raven, I brought you some clothes.” Jess appeared next to me and laid a set of clothes for me and another set for Rage beside me. “Why don’t you go get dressed while I see if I can wake Rage up.” She held her hand out toward me. “I’ve got some smelling salts that should do the trick.”
I wanted to argue, but I did need to take care of the bite on my arm. I slowly stood on all fours and grabbed the clothes with my teeth. I limped over to one of the larger trees and hid behind it.
The shift back to human form hurt this time. Usually it didn’t, but when you were injured in one form, shifting into your other form caused pain. I couldn’t hold back my whimpers as I forced the change.
When I was finally back in human form, I put on the huge shirt and rolled up the boxers at least ten times so they wouldn’t fall down. Ugh, I certainly was a sight to behold.
I stepped back into the small clearing and found Rage shaking his head as he stood on all fours.
“Thank God you’re okay.” I hurried over to him and began to wrap my arms around him when my arm began to throb.
His wolf eyes landed straight on my arm, seeing the teeth marks torn into my skin. He whined and then grabbed the clothes running off toward a tree.
“He’s going to be pissed.” Jess arched an eyebrow as she looked over at me. “Just like I am.”
“Yeah, I know.” I couldn’t keep the smile from spreading though. “It was either you or me, and I chose me.”
“You could have died.” Jess threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know how to feel about it. On one hand, I’m glad you did what you did. Otherwise, Cole might not be here, but then I could’ve lost you.” A tear traveled down her cheek, leaving a trail behind. “I don’t know which one would’ve been worse. Yes, I love him, but I love you too.”
To be honest, I had no clue what to say. I figured channeling Cole was the best thing to do in these types of situations. “Are you choosing to hit on me now?”
“Don’t be a smart ass.” However, a grin spread between her cheeks. “I don’t need two Cole’s running around.”
