Jinx’s eyes hardened, once again flashing a dark green before returning to their normal color, and she watched as his hands curled into fists, “She is nothing like the General. Nothing.”
“We will bring her home with us, Jinx,” Angel promised.
“She won’t go,” was all Jinx said before turning away from them. “I need to leave. You have to get Chase out of there tonight, Angel. He is strong, stronger than almost anyone I know, but no one can endure what he is right now for any length. I will do what I can to help.” With those last words, he was gone.
20
“Chase. Chase, you have to wake up.”
Chase groaned, trying to lift his head to look at the female who stood in front of him, but he couldn’t seem to get his body to cooperate. “Amber,” he mumbled her name, through dry, chapped lips.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m going to get you out of here, Chase.”
He tried to pull away from her, shaking his head as best he could. “You have to leave. They will find you.”
“No, we have to leave.”
“You said they are always watching,” he muttered, a sharp pain slicing up through the back of his head.
“Normally, that is true,” she agreed, “but I slipped something into the guard’s drink who is on surveillance duty, so right now he’s sleeping. There are two other guards outside, but I darted them both, so they should be out for a while, too. All of the others are at the main facility.”
Chase felt the chains on his arms begin to loosen, and then suddenly they were gone as they clattered loudly to the floor. He almost followed them down, until Amber slid her arm around his waist and held on tightly, somehow bearing most of his weight.
“Oh, no!” she grunted, her hand tightening on his side, “we need to go now!”
Chase struggled to stay on his feet, concentrating on moving one foot in front of the other. It was a slow process, but they made it out of the cage and across the room to the front door. Amber was panting hard as she opened the door, helping him through it, and letting it slam shut behind them. “They will kill you,” he rasped, worry filling him for the young woman. He had thought she’d left him after her first visit, but she ended up coming back numerous times, talking to him, and even slipping into the cage a couple of times to give him water when no one was around. He’d worried about the cameras then too, but she’d told him she had taken care of it.
“Then I will die knowing I helped save an important man,” she replied, looking around again before motioning to the right. “Let’s go.”
“How the hell did the General father a child like you? So selfless and caring?”
“I think God gave me to him as a joke,” Amber huffed wryly, almost staggering beneath his weight. “I will have to ask him if I ever make it to Heaven someday.”
“You will make it,” Chase promised, breathing harshly as he tried to tune out the violent pain racking his body. “God accepts all angels, as do the spirits.”
Amber stopped, looking up at him with wide eyes. He realized she was letting him catch his breath, when she teased, “You didn’t think I was such an angel when you found out who I was. You called me the devil’s daughter, I believe.”
Chase squinted down at the vision before him through blurry eyes. She was beautiful, seriously an angel, and did not even realize it. “I was wrong, Amber,” he said harshly.
“No, you weren’t,” she whispered, tightening her grip on him as they began to move slowly through the forest of trees surrounding the large building they had just left. “The General is the devil.”
“Yes,” Chase agreed, “but I am starting to second guess whether or not you really are his daughter.”
“Like I could get so lucky,” Amber replied.
“What do we have here?”
Chase froze when he heard Jerome Livingston’s voice. The man had visited him several times, beating him viciously each time. He was a mean mother, and made sure everyone knew it, especially Jinx. For some reason, Jerome seemed to have it out for him. It was as if he were just waiting for Jinx to mess up so that he could turn his fists onto him. Chase always made sure that never happened though. He was careful to keep Jerome’s full attention on him the times Jinx was in the room with them. He didn’t know if Jerome knew that there was a connection between him and Jinx. If he did, then he was pushing to see if Jinx gave a shit. Chase made sure that it looked like he didn’t.
“Did you really think we would let you get away so easily?”
Chase heard Amber’s swift intake of breath as Jerome appeared in front of them, a woman with long black hair and dark brown eyes at his side. “Hello, sister.”
He felt Amber tense, as she replied, “Ebony. I didn’t know you were back.”
“Of course, you didn’t,” Ebony scoffed, “or you never would have done something so stupid.”
Jerome placed a hand in the middle of Ebony’s back, smiling down at her before looking back at them. “Your sister has proven her loyalty to me, Amber. It is obvious where your own lies.”
Amber lifted her chin proudly, “My sister is a fool.”
Jerome laughed, leaning down to place a hard kiss on Ebony’s bright red lips. “Yes, but at least she will live through this night.”
They were going to have to fight their way out of this, but there was no way Chase was going to let Amber die. Not after everything she had done for him. Tightening his arm around her shoulder, he slowly began to gather his power around him, drawing it inside, feeding it and growing it. He was alpha, and had not only his strength, but the strength of his pack bestowed upon him. He would protect what was his, and Amber was his. She was pack, whether she wanted to be or not.
“I leave for a little while, and look what I come back to.” Jinx’s voice rang out through the darkness, and then he was there, standing between Chase and Jerome. “Ebony,” he drawled, “you are looking as conniving and bitchy as ever.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.” Angel’s on her way, Chase. You need to get Amber out of here. Head east as fast as you can, and you will run into them.
I will not leave you here, Chase growled, aware of the power now strumming through his veins. We all go, or no one goes.
That’s not an option, Jinx replied, his gaze never leaving Jerome and Ebony. Amber is our priority. She is innocent in all of this. We must keep her safe.
Chase heard someone coming up on one side of them, and then the other. Soon they were surrounded by the General’s soldiers. I will not leave you.
Chase let his claws lengthen and his fangs drop as he heard, I can take care of myself.
I have no doubt that you can, son, but it is my duty and my right to fight beside you.
Why would it be your right?
As an alpha and a father.
There was silence, and then You aren’t my alpha.
Not yet, but someday, when you are ready to come home, I will be.
“Ebony,” Jerome’s voice cut through their discussion, “would you like the honor of killing your sister, or should I do it?”
21
Angel and her team moved stealthily through the woods toward the location of the warehouse, communicating through ear coms instead of telepathically so that Sable and Charlotte would be able to hear everything. “Keep your guns ready,” she ordered quietly, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
As the words ‘copy that’ echoed throughout the coms, Angel increased her pace, an all-consuming need to get to their destination quickly pushing her hard. Angel, you need to hurry. They caught Amber helping Chase escape, and they are going to kill her.
“No,” Angel whispered, moving at an all-out run now.
“Angel, slow down. What the hell is going on?” Jaxson asked urgently, trying to keep up with her.
“They are going to kill Amber,” she said, forgetting to be quiet in her rush to get to the warehouse. “We have to get there now!”
“Look, I understand yo
ur need to help this girl,” Sapphire broke in, “but we have to be smart about this, Angel. We can’t just go in guns blazing.”
“It is what we do,” Angel growled back, slowing her pace gradually when she realized they were getting closer.
“No,” Sapphire countered. “We do our recon first. We have to be smart about this, Angel. That’s what you have taught me over the past few weeks. Brains over emotions always, or people get killed.”
She was right, and Angel knew it. “Dammit,” Angel muttered, slowing her pace even more. “You’re right, but this is important, Sapphire. I don’t understand it. I don’t know if she belongs to Jinx or what is going on, but she matters to him, and I won’t let him down. My son needs me, and I am going to be there.”
“We will all be there,” Flame cut in. “Let’s do this, but Sapphire is right, let’s do it the right way.”
“Agreed.”
Suddenly Angel felt something she was afraid she would never feel again. “Chase,” she whispered softly. Her mate was near. “We’re close.”
“I see them,” Nico said quietly. “Amber and Chase are next to each other, Jinx is in front of them in some kind of standoff with another man and woman. My guess would be the man is Jerome. The woman is Ebony.”
“Sapphire and Charlotte, take to the trees, tell us what you see.”
It was hell waiting, but finally Angel heard, “There are soldiers all around them. I see a total of ten, but there could be more.”
“I count ten, too,” Sapphire agreed. “Tell us when to start picking them off, Angel.”
Angel crept forward, until she was close enough to hear the conversation, her eyes on Chase. His entire body was covered in dark bruises and dried blood. He’d lost weight, and his cheeks were sunken in. His head was lowered, and he had one arm around Amber’s shoulders, while she seemed to be holding him up with one around his waist. Anger coursed through her as she felt how much he was suffering. I’m here, Chase, she whispered into his mind, praying he would hear her. I’m right here.
Angel? She heard the hesitancy in his voice, as if he were afraid it wasn’t really her.
Yes, it’s me.
They want to kill Amber.
It was just like him to think of everyone else before himself. He was standing on the other end of the gun that was pointed at Amber as well, but his only thought was for the girl. We aren’t going to let that happen.
“You sure you don’t want the honors, Ebony?” Angel watched as the man she presumed was Jerome let go of the dark haired beauty next to him, the same one who had kidnapped her babies and Chase, to move closer to Amber. When Jinx stepped in front of him, the man chuckled. “Do you really think to challenge me, pup? For her?” He motioned to Amber, and Angel saw her flinch, before a mask fell over her face. Interesting.
Jinx stood his ground, his hands out to his sides, a low growl of warning crawling up his throat. “She is not to be harmed.”
Jerome was quiet for a moment before he asked, “So that’s the way it is going to be? You will turn your back on the General? For her?”
“The General isn’t here,” Jinx growled, “and I don’t take orders from you.”
“She is under my protection,” Chase interrupted, drawing Jerome’s attention to him.
“Your protection?” Jerome threw his head back and laughed. “After the sessions we’ve had lately, I doubt you can even move by yourself, let alone protect anyone.”
“You underestimate me,” Chase snarled, and Angel watched as he moved in front of Amber. The power flowing around him was phenomenal, literally off the charts. She had never seen power like it from an alpha before.
“Wait,” Amber said, trying to push her way between Chase and Jerome. Her gaze went to Jinx, and she shook her head, her large eyes full of sadness. “Don’t, please, I’m not worth it.”
Angel saw the indecision warring in her son’s eyes, before he closed the distance between himself and Amber, and gently pushed her behind him. “To me, you are.”
“How fucking pathetic,” Ebony drawled, pulling her gun from her waist. “I have more important things to do today than to sit here and watch my daddy’s favorite assassin drool over my loser of a sister like the dog that he is.” Raising her gun, she looked at Jinx, “You can thank me later.” Angel watched in shock as Ebony pulled the trigger, and a bullet lodged in Jerome’s chest. “Like Jinx, I take orders from the General. Not you.” Then she was gone, as if she’d never been there.
“Now, Sapphire and Charlotte,” Angel ordered, her eyes widening in horror when Jerome managed to raise the gun he held and pointed it at Jinx. She was on her feet and running, knowing there was no way she would make it in time, watching in shock at the scene that was unfolding before her.
There was a loud crack and then another, as the gun was fired twice, a gleam of satisfaction in Jerome’s eyes as the bullets left the chamber. Chase let out a loud roar, leaping in front of Jinx, taking the bullets meant for him. He clasped a hand around the other man’s throat, squeezing tightly. Jerome fought back, but it was useless. Chase raised him off the ground with just one hand by his throat, and the man who had looked too large and mean before was powerless. “No one hurts my family,” Chase snarled, before letting go of Jerome, and quickly ending his life with one swipe of his claws.
“Three down,” Sapphire reported.
“Four here,” Charlotte said.
“What about Ebony?” Angel asked, pulling out her throwing stars and sending them flying at the soldiers closest to her.
“She’s gone, boss.”
Angel didn’t respond as she came to a stop in front of the man she loved, the man she had thought she might never see again. His clear blue eyes met hers as he swayed on his feet, blood pouring from the two wounds in his chest. Wounds he received from protecting her son. He was clothed only in a pair of shredded pants that barely covered him at this point, covered in bruises from head to toe. He was the best thing she had seen in a long time.
“They are all down, boss,” Jaxson said, coming up behind her.
She heard him, but she only had eyes for her mate. “I love you, Chase Montgomery,” she whispered, uncaring who heard.
His eyes widened in surprise, and he reached out to her, “Love you,” he muttered.
She caught him just before he hit the ground, and ended up down there with him. Kissing his forehead, and cheeks, she hollered, “Nico! I need you!”
“Right here, Angel.” Nico was beside them instantly, kneeling and opening a First Aid kit.
“Is he going to be okay?” Amber asked, stepping around Jinx, as he wiped the blood from his sword and returned it to the scabbard at his back.
Angel felt for his pulse, smiling through her tears at the strong beat. “Yes, he’s going to be just fine.”
“Tell him,” Amber paused, “tell him thank you, Angel. I don’t think he understands how much everything he has done means to me.”
“You can tell him yourself,” Angel told her. “You are coming home with us.”
“I can’t,” Amber whispered, moisture gathering in her eyes as she slowly backed away from them. “I wish I could, I really do, but my place is here.”
“Your place is with us, Amber,” Angel corrected her. “With the White River Wolves. We are your family now.”
Amber shook her head, tears now streaming down her face. “I can’t. There are people that depend on me. I’ve made promises. I have to keep them.”
“Let us help you keep them.” Even as the words left her mouth, Angel knew it was a losing battle. Her heart went out to the girl who just wanted to do the right thing.
Jinx knelt next to Angel, his eyes on Chase as he asked, “What about your sister, Amber?”
“Ebony won’t hurt me.” Angel heard the lie in her voice, scented it in the air, and knew Jinx did, too. “You all don’t know what this means to me. I’ve never had anyone truly care about me. But I can’t go with you. People will die if I do, and I just can’t li
ve with that.” Amber turned and walked away without another word.
“We need to get going, Angel. I’ve removed the bullets from Chase, but I would feel better if Doc Josie checked him out.”
“Me, too,” Angel agreed, kissing Chase softly on the lips before rising. “We will need to carry him back to the SUV. We should probably make some kind of stretcher since it is a couple of miles away.”
“I’ve got him,” Jinx said, sliding his arms under Chase’s back and legs and standing.
“Are you finally coming home, Jinx?” Angel asked softly.
Jinx looked in the direction Amber had gone and shook his head, “Not yet.”
Angel nodded. “I understand.”
“No, you don’t. But you will.”
22
Chase groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm as the early morning sunlight streamed in through the curtains. He needed to get his lazy ass out of bed and get into the office, but he was following the doctor’s orders. That, and he was too busy pouting. He’d been home for almost a full week, and had only seen Angel twice since he was released from the hospital by Doc Josie after the second day. Not only that, but everything seemed to be running fine without him, because neither his beta nor his head enforcer had stopped by to fill him in on pack activity.
“Daddy, Daddy!” Faith squealed, rushing into the room and jumping on the bed, followed closely by her sister, who still refused to change out of her wolf form. “We are going to the playground. Do you want to come?”
Just hearing the word Daddy from her lips brought tears to his eyes. Before he could answer, Jade swept into the room and gathered Hope into her arms, slipped her fingers into Faith’s and tugged her toward the door. “Daddy needs his rest, girls. We will see him later tonight.” With a grin and a wink, Jade left, shutting the door behind them. Well shit, now what? Everyone was acting as if he were made of glass. Except Angel. She was back to acting as if he didn’t exist. His dream of hearing her tell him that she loved him must have been that, just a dream.
Angel's Destiny Page 12
