by Sky Winters
Josh looked over Cassie with frantic eyes, making sure she was unharmed. Thankfully, she appeared to be unhurt.
“Let her go now,” said Josh. “If anything happens other than her leaving safe with the three of us, you’ll be in for a world of shit.”
“So demanding,” said Elijah, shaking his head. “Maybe I’ll let you leave, maybe I won’t. But either way, you’re not going to get anywhere being bossy like that.”
Cassie screamed against her gag, her words totally muffled. Seeing her tied up in such a way was more than Josh could stand. He wanted to rip the Redfangs apart limb-from-limb.
In time, he told himself. Just wait for the sign.
“You know what?” asked Elijah. “I was going to drag this out for a little while, to make you three squirm, maybe let you believe you had a chance to get out of here alive.”
Josh tensed up. He’d known Elijah was letting him walk into a trap, one with no chance of the three of them getting out alive.
That’s why he’d made sure the odds were in his favor before he arrived.
“But now,” continued Elijah. “I’m thinking I ought to just end all this now. After all, we’ve got a lot of babies to make with this sweet little thing of yours. Well, ours now.”
He placed his hand on Cassie’s cheek, a muffled scream shoot from her mouth as she did.
Before anything else could happen, however, the sound of several engines revving cut through the air. Josh smirked, knowing two dozen bears were now outside and waiting to fight.
“What the hell?” asked Elijah, looking around at his crew.
“You know that sign I was telling you guys about?” asked Josh. “That was it.”
CHAPTER 26
CASSIE
Cassie watched in shock as a dozen men burst into the warehouse. They poured in from each entrance, surrounding the Redfang clan.
“What the fuck is going on?” asked Elijah, his expression wild.
Josh stepped forward, calm and in control as ever.
“Not a smart move to try something like this with a pack like ours that’s allied with every other shifter in the region, Elijah. There might be only three of us, but there’s plenty of them.”
“Damnit!” shouted Elijah.
“So, here’s your chance,” said Josh. “Give it up now and let her go, or we end you and your pack right here, right now.”
“Not a fucking chance I’m surrendering to you, prick,” said Elijah.
He glanced around at his pack, who all wore expressions of worry on their faces.
“What the hell are you waiting for?” shouted Elijah. “Kill them!”
The Redfang clan shifted, and moments later had all changed into their bear forms.
“Guess we’re doing this the hard way,” said Nick, stepping forward and preparing to shift.
“Or the fun way,” said Caleb.
“Just make sure Cassie’s safe,” said Josh. “And let’s end this fast.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Nick.
Josh and the rest shifted, followed by the rest of the bear allies. As soon as all gathered were in their bear forms, the fight broke out.
The allies went for the Redfangs, roaring and leaping toward them, their claws cutting through the air. Josh held back, his eyes on Elijah. He knew that if Elijah was stupid or crazy enough to fight when he was so clearly outmatched that he was desperate.
And Josh knew what desperate animals were capable of.
One of the Redfangs leapt toward Josh, its massive, brown body flying through the air with surprising speed. Josh turned just in time to watch the bear grow larger and larger, saliva dripping from its mouth and animal rage painted on its face.
Josh tensed his body for the impact, but it never arrived. Instead, Nick leapt toward the pouncing bear, catching him mid-leap and taking him to the ground in a hard tumble.
Josh let out a sigh of relief as Nick took the bear down. His first instinct was to help, but he quickly remembered that Nick was more than capable of handling his own. With a few quick strikes of his paws, Nick took out the Redfang bear before turning his head and looking for his next fight.
Caleb, on the other hand, was in a more desperate situation. Two of the Redfangs had him cornered, isolating him from the rest of the allies as they prepared to bring him down two-on-one.
Josh turned away from Elijah, who was still near Cassie. He knew that as much as he needed to kill Elijah, Caleb needed his help.
Josh turned on his paws and barreled toward the bears closing in on Caleb, slamming into one with all of his weight and knocking the bear against the wall. The other Redfang turned to see what had happened, and Caleb was quick to take advantage. He swiped his claw through the air, cutting deep into the fur and flesh of the bear.
The bear howled, raising his paw to his face. Caleb didn’t give him any time to recover. He moved in, raising up on his hind legs and dropping down onto the Redfang, jamming his claws into his flesh like knives.
As Caleb finished off the first bear, Josh went for the second. He opened his mouth wide, sinking his teeth into the bear’s neck and, with a quick twist, snapped his neck. The threat eliminated, Caleb nodded at Josh, both of their attentions now focused on Elijah.
Elijah, still positioned closely to Cassie, seemed to realize he was done. The Redfangs were dropping by the second, and it was only a matter of time before he joined them.
He shifted back to his him form, his face twisted with rage.
“If I can’t have her, neither can you, assholes!”
He lifted Cassie up from the chair, threw her over his shoulder, and rushed through the melee out the back door of the warehouse.
Josh shifted back.
“Fuck!” he shouted.
Then a thought occurred to him.
“Caleb – you go right. Nick – take the left. Meet out back!”
The two bears nodded before shifting back to their human forms and rushing toward the exits.
Josh took off into run, weaving through the bear allies still in the process of crushing the last of the Redfangs. He soon arrived at the back door that Elijah had left through and pushed it open.
He stepped out onto the back lot of the area, silence replacing the roar of bears. Dead ahead was Elijah, Cassie held in front of him and a gun pressed to her face. Seeing Cassie in danger like this was enough to make Josh want to lose his cool, but he knew that keeping a calm head was the only way to keep Cassie safe.
“Elijah,” said Josh, raising his hands in front of him as he stepped carefully. “Let her go. There’s no reason anyone else has to die today.”
“You’re wrong about that,” said Elijah. “You’ve just wiped out my entire fucking clan. I’m as good as dead.”
“You let her go and I’ll let you walk. You might be the last of your clan, but that doesn’t mean you can’t rebuild. Go somewhere far from here and start again.”
“Fuck you,” said Elijah, pressing the gun to Cassie’s face even harder. “I’d rather die knowing I killed your mate and the babies inside of her.”
Elijah was distracted. So distracted, in fact, that he didn’t see Caleb and Nick approaching him from his flanks.
“How about you just die instead,” said Josh.
Then he signaled to Caleb and Nick to move in.
“Huh?” said Elijah, turning his head to his right then left.
It was the last word he’d speak. Caleb and Nick moved in, and Cassie took advantage of the confusion to drive her elbow into Elijah’s gut, knocking the wind out of him and freeing herself of his grasp. She ran over to Josh, who pulled her close and pressed her head into his chest to spare her the sight of what Nick and Caleb were doing to Elijah.
It wasn’t pretty.
Back in the warehouse, Josh and the rest saw that they’d won. The Redfangs were defeated, and Cassie was safe.
They could finally move on.
EPILOGUE
CASSIE
Months later…
> Cassie awoke to the sun streaming in through the bedroom windows of the Burlington estate. Her eyes closed, she stretched out her slim arms, a big smile spreading across her face as she realized how well-rested she was from her long sleep.
She placed her hands on both sides of her and was surprised to find the bed was empty, the sheets cool.
She was alone.
Cassie had been so used to sleeping in bed with either Josh or Caleb or Nick over these last few months, and she realized this was the first morning she’d woken up alone.
Then the last traces of her sleepiness vanished, and she realized why this was.
Today was the anniversary of the beginning of her relationship with her men. She was thrilled – Cassie had been looking forward to the day for weeks, and as much as she was curious to see what the boys had planned, more than that she simply wanted to spend time with them. They’d been so busy with the girls and the triplets that they hadn’t had much time to just be together.
A rap on the bedroom door startled Cassie, causing her to spin around on her heels.
“Hey!” called out the familiar voice of her Aunt Bess. “You still asleep in there?”
“Nope!” responded Cassie as she threw on some clothes and hurried over to the door.
She pulled the door open to reveal Bess. And in addition, the smell of delicious cooking food wafted into the bedroom.
“Morning!” said Bess. “I was starting to worry you were going to sleep away your anniversary!”
“Morning, Bess,” said Cassie, some sleepiness still in her voice. “Where is everyone?”
“Well,” said Bess. “I’m here with the girls and the triplets. Nick’s in the kitchen making breakfast, and Josh and Caleb are out picking up all the clothes for tonight.”
“Clothes, huh?” asked Cassie, feeling a thrill off excitement at the idea. “Does that mean we’re going to be dressing up?”
“Sounds like a safe bet to me,” said Bess as the two of them started down the hallway. “I swear, you and three other men. You know, at first it sounded like the craziest idea I’d ever heard, but now that I’ve gotten a chance to see you all together, I’m actually starting to be a little jealous!”
“We make it work,” said Cassie with a smile.
“I’ll say you do,” said Bess. “And with five kids, you’re lucky to have three men to help out.”
Cassie beamed, knowing that “lucky” was the exact right word she’d use.
“Morning!” called out Nick from behind the stove, the sounds of sizzling food in the air.
“Morning!” said Amy and Sam, both of them at the kitchen table and at work on their projects.
“Morning, all,” said Cassie.
And at the kitchen bar, all seated in their high chairs, were the triplets. Cassie made her way over to the babies, all of them adorable and cooing at the sight of their mother.
Mother.
The word was still odd to Cassie. The pregnancy had been so quick –only a few months- that she was still coming to terms with the fact she was not only the mother of one child, but of three. There were two boys, Alexander and William, and one girl, Caitlyn. Each of them precious and gorgeous, the sight of them never failing to make Cassie feel as though her heart was overflowing with love.
She scooped up Caitlyn from her crib and held her close, the adorable little girl reaching her tiny hands out toward Cassie as she carried her.
“What we got going on over here?” asked Cassie, approaching the twins at the table.
“I’m fixing the pictures we took on our nature hike yesterday,” said Sam, a computer open in front of her and a photo editing program open.
“And I’m doing some drawing stuff,” said Amy, her pencil working quickly as she finished up her newest dress design.
Cassie filled with pride. Over the time she’d known the twins the three of them had grown closer than she’d ever thought possible. Cassie was beyond pleased to have brought out the artistic side in each of the girls, encouraging and guiding them.
“Okay,” said Nick. “Time to eat!”
The five of them sat down at the kitchen bar as Caleb served up a big breakfast.
“Eat up,” said Nick, handing Cassie a plate of eggs and hash browns. “You’ve got big day today, little lady.”
He leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips, a warm feeling of love spreading through Cassie.
“A big day, huh?” she asked. “What’s on the agenda?”
“I don’t want to give too much away,” said Nick. “But we’ve got a full day planned. First, I was thinking that you and I could take a nice, relaxing run through the park.”
“That sounds lovely,” said Cassie.
Cassie had never thought she’d be an exercise fan, but Nick had shown her just how satisfying it could be. Their weekly workout sessions had quickly become something she looked forward to.
“Then after that,” said Nick. “I know Caleb’s got a lunch planned for you downtown, maybe a museum trip. Josh is going to do something to spoil you, I’m sure, and then we’ve all got dinner together downtown.”
“Wow,” said Cassie. “Sounds like a full day ahead.”
“And I’ve got the kids,” said Bess. “So don’t you worry about that.”
“Thanks, Bess,” said Cassie, holding Caitlyn with one arm and giving Bess a hug with the other.
After breakfast, the day began. Nick and Cassie left the girls with Bess and headed down to Burlington for their run. The day was sunny, and the weather was perfect, the oranges and reds of the leaves announcing the beginning to fall. Together, Cassie and Nick took a long jog through the park, the fresh air making Cassie feel like a new woman.
Once they were done, the pair headed back to the house to shower and get ready. Caleb and Josh had returned by that point, their bags full of clothes for the evening ahead.
“You ready?” asked Caleb, holding a camera in each hand.
“Without a doubt,” said Cassie.
The two of them spent the next few hours together in the woods, the nature around them gorgeous to behold. They took picture after picture, both of their surroundings and each other, stopping every now and then to kiss under the shade of the heavy-leafed trees.
Josh awaited Cassie at the house, dressed in one of his usual stunning suits.
“Okay,” he said with a smile. “It’s my turn.”
“And what do I have to wear?” asked Cassie.
Amy was there to field this question. She rushed over to one of the bags and pulled out a lovely, dark red dress, holding it up for Cassie and everyone else to see.
“It’s something I made,” she said, beaming with pride. “Well, okay, I didn’t make it. But I made it up myself.”
Cassie held the dress up in front of her, taking in how beautiful it was.
“Amy, I’m so proud of you,” she said. “It’s so wonderful.”
Amy beamed with pride, Sam throwing her arms around her sister and squeezing her tight.
Josh and Cassie headed out soon after she changed, back to downtown Burlington to have a few cocktails at one of the area’s hot new bars.
“This has been a hell of a year,” said Josh, the two of them seated at the bar, drinks in front of them. “But I’ve got some bad news.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow.
“Bad news?”
“Things are going to get complicated for us,” he said. “After finishing up the expansion of Hart Holdings and becoming the dominant clan in the area, it turns out there’s more work to do.”
“That mean I won’t be seeing much of you?” she asked, a trace of disappointment in her voice.
“On the contrary, actually,” said Josh. “It means that we’re going to be doing plenty of travelling. First to Boston to finish the expansion there, and if that all goes according to plan, we’ll be looking to expand into New York. And if New York is a success, then who knows? Maybe Paris, London.”
Cassie smiled.
“As
long as we’re together, I’ll go anywhere.”
“Just the answer I was hoping to hear.”
The two of them finished their drinks, then it was time to meet the guys at a nearby restaurant for dinner. Caleb and Nick were waiting for the pair out front, both dressed in sharp suits. Once Josh and Cassie arrived, the four of them headed into the restaurant.
As they made their way to their table, Cassie noticed the usual eyes on her. A young woman with three gorgeous men always seemed to be a sight that people couldn’t help but stare at. And Cassie knew she’d be lying if she said she didn’t like the attention.
The four of them took their seats, the waiter quickly bringing over a bottle of champagne. Once the drinks were poured, the three men shared a look among one another.
“Wait,” said Cassie. “I know those looks – those are plotting looks.”
“Should we do it now?” asked Caleb.
“I think so,” said Nick. “No time like the present.”
“Then let me take the lead,” said Josh.
He cleared his throat and began.
“Cassie, the time we’ve spent together has been…like nothing else. You’ve brought something wonderful into all of our lives, and already I can’t imagine life without you.”
“We thought we’d never move on after Rosemary passed,” said Nick. “And sometimes we wondered if the twins would be the last of our clan. But when you arrived, it gave us hope that we’d thought we lost.”
“And we know she’d want us to move on,” said Caleb. “To be with a wonderful woman who cares about the girls, who makes our lives complete.”
Cassie felt overwhelmed by the emotions running through her. All she could do was fight back the tears of joy.
“That’s why we think it’s time to make this official,” said Josh, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, black box.
He took a deep breath and spoke.
“Cassie, will you marry us?”
He opened the box, revealing a stunning ring, three small diamonds along the band.
“I love you,” said Josh.
