White-hot anger surged through Aiden’s system, blocking out the pain receptors that lit his brain. He snarled and lunged at the dog who dared to threaten his Mate. He was going to snap the neck of the asshole that held the knife to his throat, but pain exploded in the back of his head, sending him to the ground. Dazed, he struggled to keep conscious. If he lost it, they were all dead and Brenna… Something pressed down on his throat, restricting his ability to breathe. He struggled to grab on to the object, but his fingers wouldn’t cooperate.
Shouting sounded around him, and as his eyes cleared he looked up and realized that John stood there with his boot on his throat. A large gun was pointed at his head, and Aiden followed the line of fire up his arm. The asshole stood there puffing on his smoke and then pulled it from his lips, flicking it to the ground behind him.
“Now that I’ve got your attention…” Aiden watched as he moved his finger and flicked off the safety. The air was acrid with the scent of smoke. A fire had started.
“I guess I should’ve listened to you. That’s four…no, five.” John turned his attention back to Aiden. “Not that it matters because you’re going to be one of the poor victims caught in it, you and your pathetic Alpha.”
John nodded to the side, and Aiden followed where he pointed. Gordon was fighting four of Anthony’s guys while Anthony, of course, was nowhere to be found. The fire was growing faster, and flames were already travelling up one of the trees. Aiden had a moment of proud amazement at the way Gordon moved. He was a vicious opponent who fought to protect his people. He moved faster than anyone Aiden had ever seen and danced around the other men’s claws. In a series of moves that Aiden couldn’t keep up with, Gordon darted forward and tore out each man’s throat before they ever had a chance to defend themselves.
“Looks like Anthony left you guys to deal on your own.” His vision blurred, the lack of oxygen and blood loss was robbing him of his chances to survive this. He laughed and tasted blood in his mouth. Damn, that wasn’t good at all. His head swam as he tried to move, but the narcotics that they shot him up with were messing with his vision.
He could smell John’s arrogance melting into fear. Aiden watched as John realigned his aim and applied pressure on the trigger. I love you, Brenna.
A shot rang out and John fell back, his boot lifting from Aiden’s throat as the man fell. Aiden tried to roll himself but didn’t have the strength.
“Okay, buddy, I’ve got you.” Craig appeared at his head.
“Go. I’m good.”
“Fuck you, you’re a mess.”
Aiden grabbed onto his friend’s hand. “Craig, get Brenna and then help Gordon. I won’t be any good to you right now. They need your help.” He could see the tortured expression on his friend’s face. Aiden knew he was dying and the drug they gave him was preventing him from shifting.
“I’ve got him, Craig.”
Brenna’s voice sent a sharp stab of pleasure and pain through him. He didn’t want her here, but he also needed to feel her arms around him. “Brenna, are you okay?” Aiden struggled to get to his feet. One of his eyes was almost swollen shut, and he anchored his arm around his ribs. He winced as he moved and waved his arm in aggravation. “Get out of here.”
Craig nodded. “There is a Jet Ski out on the water behind one of the trees. Use that and get out of here.” Grabbing Brenna’s face, he kissed her hard and fast. “Take care of him and I’ll meet up with you at the clinic later.”
“Okay. Go.”
The heat in the air felt like it was burning Aiden’s face, and he coughed. The thin reed of air that managed to make it past his damaged throat was tainted with acrid smoke. The harder he coughed, the more air he needed but couldn’t manage to get into his lungs.
“And you think that you should do all of this on your own? Don’t you think that I should’ve any say in the matter?”
“No because this isn’t about you.”
“It might not be, but it’s about you, and you’re my Mate along with Craig. That makes it our problem. Now stop arguing and get your feet moving.”
“You’re cute when you’re bossy.” He smiled softly at her, wincing as he pressed a finger against the split in his lip. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders and allowed her to support him. She knew he was holding back some of his weight.
“Come on. Lean on me. If we get to the lake we’ll be fine.”
“Why the lake?”
“This is a stealth operation, Mr. O’Reilly. We couldn’t go and wake all these stupid fuckers with the sounds of cars. They aren’t too smart, are they?”
“Some of them are. I know the leader. He’s trying to recruit an army and take over as many towns as he can.”
“Well, he fucked with the wrong town this time.”
Brenna wrapped her arms around him and stood up. If she hadn’t been a shifter, she never would’ve been able to handle his weight. “We’re going to walk straight ahead. The Guardians are fighting over there.”
Aiden managed to lift a hand to her face and place his damaged fingers on her soft cheek. He loved her so much but wasn’t going to burden her with that information now. Even he could grasp the fact this wasn’t the best timing. An explosion sounded close to them and Brenna tripped, sending them both hurdling to the ground. Aiden never felt the impact.
* * * *
A wave of scalding heat singed Brenna’s skin as she scrabbled to her feet. Aiden lay so incredibly still on the ground, panic ripped through her. The fire was a loud roar around her as she struggled to her feet. Scooping Aiden back up over her shoulders, she looked around. There were a few fights still going on, but the fire had managed to surround them, cutting them off from the road. She turned and headed down to the water’s edge.
Brenna walked carefully, avoiding the blazing trees. The heat sucked the oxygen from the area, and she was starting to feel lightheaded from it when they staggered into the lake. She knew Aiden’s injuries were life-threatening and that she had to get him to the clinic. If she could counteract the drug they gave him, he’d shift and heal. What if she was too late again? She couldn’t save Alec when he lay there dying. No, I can do this. Aiden’s large size was easier to manage in the water, so she flipped him on his back and rested him against her body. Cupping her hand under his chin, she started to swim.
She wanted to shift and run, but she suspected Aiden had been injected with the same stuff as Jessica had been months before. He would’ve shifted the moment he was conscious, otherwise. Where were people getting this shit?
A pine tree exploded into flames at the water’s edge and she instinctively threw herself over him, pushing as much of them under the water as she safely could. Brenna didn’t look behind her. Instead she concentrated on getting Aiden to the Jet Ski that she had floating a few feet out in front of her. The water was freezing, and Brenna’s fingers were starting to numb from the cold.
Aiden jerked in her arms, and she looked down at him as he slowly blinked his eyes open. A surge of hope rushed through her chest. “Aiden, I need you to work with me here.”
“Okay. I can’t seem to stay focused.” He blinked, and his head lolled slightly but then snapped back.
Fear gripped Brenna. “Aiden!”
“I’m okay. I’m here.” He nodded and moved his arms as if he were trying to swim.
“Try to get up on this.” Brenna held the back of the Jet Ski as Aiden rolled over and flopped partially on it. She helped to push him up onto it. His movements were clunky and uncoordinated, and he almost sent them both over into the lake at one point. She could hear the faint sound of growls and snarls over the roaring flames. But she didn’t look back. If she saw Craig or her father in danger she wouldn’t be able to leave, and Craig had made her promise to get Aiden out of here.
She pulled herself up behind Aiden and wrapped her arms around him. It would’ve been easier to steer with him behind her, but she didn’t trust that he wouldn’t slip off. Aiden slumped forward slightly, and she grabbed one h
andle and then wrapped her other arm around him.
Leaning forward, she started the engine. It sounded like a roar that echoed over the lake. She held on and took off as fast as she could, racing across the black water. She steered it out of the causeway and out toward the body of the lake. As soon as she cleared the point, she turned the machine toward town. It wasn’t that long of a trip. All the shops were closed and the lights were out, but there were always small lights on down at the rental docks. The dawn was starting to streak the sky above her as she raced forward. Aiden held onto her arm, reassuring her that he was still conscious. They coasted up to the edge of the dock where the Jet Skis were rented during the week to the tourists.
“Are you okay?” she asked him. “We need to get up the ladder, and then I can help you across to the clinic.” Aiden nodded and reached out to grab the ladder’s rung. It was only a few rungs, but Brenna knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
Aiden managed to grab ahold of the edge of one of the ladders and tried to pull himself up. Brenna balanced the Jet Ski and stood up, hoping to sturdy him for the climb. She kept close behind him and kept her arm at the small of his back so he wouldn’t fall backward.
“I’m going to kill them for this.”
Brenna recognized the sound of panic in his tone.
“Aiden, I remember when Jessica was shot up with the same stuff. She was terrified. But it’ll pass through your system as it did hers, and then you’ll be able to shift again. I can give you something to help.”
The shadows shifted against the wall, and Lars emerged from between the buildings. “What are the two of you up to?”
“Thank the gods.” Brenna would’ve happily kissed the big Viking of a man. “Aiden’s been hurt, Lars.”
“I can make it, Bren.”
“Sure you can, my friend.” Lars bent slightly and wrapped Aiden over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry.
“I can walk.” Aiden slurred his words as he grappled to stay awake.
“I’ll keep her safe, Aiden. You’ll be on her table in no time.”
Lars held out his hand and pulled Brenna from the water. She jogged toward the clinic, and Lars kept up behind her. She eyed the big man, wondering how he knew which shoulder to spare when he picked up Aiden.
“Lars, how is it you managed to be here?”
“Gordon asked me to keep an eye on the town tonight. Said there were troublemakers afoot and that he wasn’t certain where they might appear.
“They’re staying in an old rental along the north side of the lake. A fire started as well, but I don’t know how big it is.” She moved ahead and grabbed the door key from the top of the door frame. Holding the door open for Lars to get though, she punched in the code to the alarm. “Can you put him in the first room?”
Brenna was fighting the urge to fly off into a full panic. She had one Mate here badly injured and her other one was in the middle of a fight. Lars placed Aiden gently down on the examination bed.
She grabbed for a syringe and the medication she hoped would counteract what Aiden had been injected with. “You should be able to shift within a minute or two of this taking effect.” She wrapped elastic around his arm and carefully injected it into a vein.
“Lars, can you…” She turned but they were alone in the room.
“He’s a strange guy. I’ve never seen a man that big move so quietly,” Aiden commented.
“I know. Lars has lots of secrets, but he’s the best person to have on your side.” She pulled the needle from his arm and pressed against the injection site with her finger. “How are you feeling?”
She looked up into his face. He looked so tired and stressed-out. His golden eyes were dull and then flashed yellow, and she could almost tell the moment the medication did its job. There was a primal hunger that shifted through his eyes as he looked down at her. “Oh, they’re going to pay for that, Brenna.”
“When does it stop, Aiden?”
“What do you mean?”
“You go after them, they come after you. They threatened this entire town, and you went to slaughter them single-handedly. Someone will follow behind them to take justice for the death. And it all starts again.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. The bruises around his eye were starting to change. “I don’t like seeing you on my table. It hurts me.” And it did. There was a visceral response deep within her seeing him injured like this, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she wouldn’t be able to save him.
“Then you understand why I’ve got to leave.”
“No, I don’t. I think that’s stupid. Running back and forth to see who can beat up the other person more. This is one of the reasons why Ecstasy doesn’t have an obvious Guardian force, because it opens us up to that never-ending circle of destruction.”
“That’s a naïve and narrow-minded way to look at it, Brenna. Grow up. We’re predators, and more times than not our primal side will influence our actions. We live in a violent society. There’s no such thing as the peaceful utopia that your family wants this town to be, free love and all things flowery and light. Your dad might as well grow his hair out and start a marijuana plantation out in one of the fields, because he’s thinking like a hippie.”
Aiden dissolved in a flash of fractured light, shifting into a black wolf. The animal stood up and shook, letting out a snarl and howl. She managed a moment of relief that it worked and she didn’t kill him before Aiden shifted back into human form.
“I’m going back to help them.”
“Did you not listen to a single word I said?” Brenna couldn’t believe that he planned to run back out again.
Aiden pushed himself off the table and stalked toward Brenna. She could sense the wolf in his eyes.
“Don’t try that dominant crap on me, Aiden.” Brenna stepped back and placed the exam table between them. “I’ve no use for this mating shit, so don’t bother coming any closer to me. I refuse to risk my soul helping you just so you can rush out and get hurt again.”
She could hear a faint pop to his jaw as he gritted his teeth together. A low growl rumbled in his chest. Despite her words, she felt her panties get soaked at the noise.
His nose flared, and she knew he picked up the scent.
“Yeah, so what, you can get me wet, Aiden. You’re not the only one.”
She knew the moment the words left her mouth it was a mistake. She pushed him too far. He leapt over the table and wrapped her in his arms. He flung her around and bent her over the exam table and wrapped himself over her back. Her ass pressed against his huge erection, and he ground it against the cleft of her ass. He growled again and bit her at the base of the neck.
Pleasure exploded along her limbs as his sharp teeth ripped an orgasm from her. She arched her back and pressed her boobs out as she cried out his name. It was a fast and furious explosion that left her feeling cold afterward.
“You bastard.”
“That’s right. I am. Remember that.” He pushed off her and walked out of the room.
Brenna lay on the table, tears pricking at her eyes. She wanted to scream at him to never come back to her because she’d never heal him again, but she knew that was a lie before the thought ever finished.
Chapter Thirteen
“Brenna!” Aiden pounded on her door. He cursed himself a thousand times for leaving her the way he had last night. But, he’d been able to leave everyone to fight his battle and risk their lives. When he’d reached the rogue’s cottage he’d found a smoldering building and not a single hint of any bodies. The sun peaked over that tree line, revealing the damage from the night before. There’d been trees scorched and some destroyed from the flames, but the area had been completely silent.
He’d sat in the middle of the scorched dirt for hours and thought about what Brenna had said to him. He’d also thought about his life and what he truly wanted out of it. When John had been about to pull the trigger, Aiden’s last thought would’ve been that he loved Brenna. This wa
s his one true chance at happiness. He had a True Mate handed to him, and he’d taken it for granted.
He could be an asshole, but if it meant losing Brenna, then he’d change.
“Open up! I want to talk to you!” Aiden backed up and peered up at her windows. Did I see a curtain move up there? He didn’t think that Brenna was the type to hide away, and he figured if he pounded at her door long enough it would piss her off and then she’d fly off the handle at him. He’d take it, too. Anything and everything she wanted to yell at him, and then he planned to spank her ass for putting herself in danger and then promise to love her forever.
He had contacted the Guardian Council and told them he was done, retired. He was relocating to Ecstasy Lake for good. He wanted a family and a home, and he wanted to share it all with his best friend.
“Brenna!” He hollered one more time and then decided to see how angry she’d get if he broke in her door.
“Typically, if someone doesn’t answer their door it’s because they aren’t home.”
River leaned against his car. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her legs at the ankles. He remembered what she looked like the other night, and now with her black eyeliner and bright red lips she looked like she was hiding. All her buckles and leather and lace she covered herself in did a great job of distracting attention from herself. It made him wonder what she was hiding from.
“I thought she might be ignoring me.”
River nodded and grinned. “That’s possible, of course, except I know that she left early this morning.”
“Left?” His heart sank. “I’m too late?”
“No, I don’t think so.” River reached in her pocket and pulled out a delicate silver watch on a chain. “There’s a grand-opening party at Big Bear Brewery tonight. She went shopping with her moms, and then she’s going straight over there.”
“Is that where you’re headed?”
“No, I’m going to a concert and then the Adamare show in Toronto. Hellspawn is doing an artistic piercing show tonight.”
Protect and Fur [3xtasy Lake 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 12
