by JoAnna Grace
“How could I say no?” Amilynn smiled down at her adorable wolf. She laughed and hugged him close.
How in the name of all that was holy was she going to face Brian now?
Ezekiel pulled the slightly shredded blanket over their bodies. It didn’t take long for him to drift off to sleep, his body exhausted from their lovemaking, just as she’d planned. What she didn’t plan on was how tired and sore she was too. Ami pretended to sleep and waited until he was deeply under before she lifted her head.
The clock shone eleven thirty. Although she couldn’t afford it, she took her time slipping from the bed, making sure not to wake Ezekiel. She stood beside the bed and looked down at her love. If Brian knew how much she cherished her mate, he’d kill Ezekiel for sure. Brian would torture him for the joy of watching Amilynn suffer.
No doubt he was doing the same to Martin right now.
“I’ll see you again, caveman. Soon.” She left him a note and walked away, leaving her heart with him.
Amilynn mentally armed herself as she snuck out of the house and bolted into the woods. With one last look back, Ami memorized everything about the sanctuary she’d called home for the last few months. It had been the only real home she’d known, a place of peace and laughter, family and love. Now she would do her best to protect it.
Amilynn shifted and ran on four legs through the forest, avoiding the various security detectors she knew about. She ran to the cliff where she’d first spotted Myra tracking Martin. Down below stood eight men carrying weapons.
“Hello, Amilynn. So glad you chose to join us,” said an all-too-familiar voice. She whipped around to find her traitor.
Amilynn shifted back to human, covering herself in warm leathers with her hair in a braid down her back. “Brooks.” This was going to make Kasey one pissed-off motherfucker. But she wasn’t bonded to him, so telepathy wasn’t established. Amilynn reached for Vivian’s mind and implanted the scene in her dreams. When her alpha lady awoke in the morning with Brooks on the brain, Vivian would figure it out.
“You look surprised to see me.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. The bomber-style jacket did nothing for his short stature. Brooks was a man easily overlooked. Dull brown hair and expressionless eyes framed a forgettable face. He wasn’t the type of man you looked at twice, which had apparently worked in his favor.
“I am. And I’m not easily thrown. Good job.”
He smiled, a gap between his front teeth. “It’s nothing personal, Amilynn. I like you. I do. In fact, I was in Kasey’s office the day the Pride came to town, asking permission to stay in our territory. I’m sure you don’t remember. You had your eyes on Martin.” He sneered the name, a trunk of jealousy plopped right on the ground between them.
“Bitter much?”
“It’s always the pretty ones with the big mouths.” Brooks chuckled and causally pulled a pistol from his pocket and pointed it at her head. “Martin knew I was interested. I even came to the club while you were performing. Not that you saw me. You saw Martin. Now you see Ezekiel. I can smell him on you. Brian is going to love that.”
“Where is Martin?”
Brooks’ face twisted just enough that she recognized a weakness. “Martin is the least of your worries. Just do what he says, Ami, and he’ll let the boy go. He promised.”
Ami’s heart was instantly encased in icy terror. She swung around and peered closer at the circle of men below.
Huddled between them was a dark-muzzled juvenile wolf. Two of the men held cattle prods. The young wolf was hunkered down, his ears flat against his head, his teeth bared. But his body shook.
Tom. They must have followed him to his friend’s house. Damn it. This changed everything.
A new level of determined hatred took root in her soul. The blood in her veins sang of murderous rage. Amilynn the assassin took over. She would make them pay for hurting her little brother. They would all die.
“Go,” Brooks said, pushing the gun into her back. Ami hissed at him and took off down the cliff just like she did the day she barreled into Myra. This time, she noticed the sixty-foot drop. Yet she didn’t hesitate. In human form, Amilynn leapt off the cliff and sailed through the air, landing hard on the ground in a crouch, her fists buried into the earth. The men jumped backwards. Some of them gasped.
As Ami stood, she let her cat shine out of her eyes. The leopardess rose to the surface and her fingernails stretched into claws. Her canines elongated in her mouth. Not all shifters had the skills to pull off a partial shift, hovering between human and animal. But Ami could.
Two of the guards tried to hide their fear, but she scented it. She sniffed at the air. Her leopard wanted to taste the adrenaline in their blood.
“Let him go,” she snarled, her voice a mixture of human and feline.
Brian stepped into the opening. “Aw, my pet. You are as radiant as always. Although I am surprised you have the partial shift ability.”
“Be prepared for a lot more surprises, asshole. The boy wasn’t part of the deal. Let him go and I’ll go with you.”
Brian’s brown eyes narrowed. His face, which used to be attractive to her, now resembled a hideous mask of evil. “No. I don’t think I will. I need to have insurance for your cooperation.”
“Not acceptable.”
Brian shrugged, uncaring of her declaration. The two guards closest to her—who she noticed had semiautomatic weapons pointed at her—chuckled. They were far too cocky for her liking. Amilynn dropped to her knees, reached out with both arms, plucking pistols from the soldiers’ thigh holsters, and put twin bullets through their bugged eyes.
The little wolf barked out and one soldier stuck him good with the electric prod.
Amilynn rolled forward and shot him straight through the heart. Another man shot at her and she dropped him just as fast. She ended up with her gun pressed to the temple of the other soldier holding a cattle prod. It would be easy to take them all out. But Brian didn’t come all the way across the country with eight men. There were more and she had to find them.
“No!” Brian held out his hands and the soldiers held their positions.
“Your men are dropping like flies, Brian. I suggest you let the boy go and we walk out of here before the entire Blackburn army descends upon you.” Ami pushed the soldier’s head with her gun. “And if you harm another hair on his body, you die.”
“Let’s calm down,” Brian said, clasping his hands in front of him. “You’ve made your point, Amilynn. Loud and clear. But I can’t very well have the boy alerting the rest of the Pack, now can I?”
“You seem to have Brooks brought to heel. Don’t you think he can babysit one young boy until we’re gone? If Brooks gets caught with the pup, the Pack will kill him. That ties up a loose end for you, doesn’t it?”
Brian chuckled and shook his head. “You were always my best student, Amilynn. Tactical and heartless to the core.” Brian motioned with two fingers for the man to drop the cattle prod. Tom’s wolf scurried over to her and shifted. He wrapped human arms around her waist from behind. Amilynn kept her guns trained on Brian’s men.
“Tom, listen to me. Go with Brooks. Stay with him and you’ll be safe.”
“Ami.” His little voice cracked and it nearly broke her. “You can’t leave me.”
Far off, the sound of a wolf howl filled the air. While Ami reflexively looked in that direction, Brian wrenched Tom away from her and stuck a gun under his chin.
Ami paused. Not Tom!
“Put down the gun or I’ll kill him,” Brian hissed at her.
What choice did she have? She wouldn’t, couldn’t risk Tom’s life. Ami dropped her weapons and her arms.
“Take her. We have to get out of here,” Brian commanded. “The boy is Blackburn’s nephew; he’ll come for him.”
Amilynn’s world went black as pain burst through her temple. The last thing she saw was Brian pulling Tom by his hair into the woods. This wasn’t about her at all. Brian wanted Kasey. He was after the alpha
.
Ezekiel awoke around two that morning to a cold, empty bed. He cursed aloud and threw a pillow when he realized Amilynn had gone. He flipped on his lights and saw her note.
Ezekiel,
I’m meeting Brian. He’s here with an army and I won’t let them hurt you or the boys. I couldn’t live with myself if he did. When the time is right, I’ll contact you. Get Vivian and Tyrone and get ready. Know that the last few days have been the greatest of my life and I will keep these memories close to my heart. I don’t have the words to describe how much I love you. I’d do anything to protect you from my nightmares, but they’re here now.
Wait for me.
Ami
Clothing himself as quickly as possible, Ezekiel ran through the house, alerting everyone in it. When he reached Vivian’s suite, she and Kasey were up and on alert. He handed Vivian the note. “What do I do? She’s gone.”
Vivian read the note and nodded. “She has a plan. We do exactly what she says and we wait for her to contact us.” She tapped her temple.
Tyrone bounded up the stairs with Melissa. “What’s going on?”
“Brian has Amilynn,” Vivian said with certainty. “She walked right into his hands. Stubborn bitch.”
Tyrone growled and read the note Vivian handed him. “Has she contacted you?” he asked Z.
“No. I mean, I don’t think so. I woke up and she was gone.” He pulled at his hair. God, how could he be so stupid to not know she would do this?
Vivian ran to Ami’s room and came back with an envelope. Sampson, Bianca, and Nate joined the group. “I found this yesterday. It’s pictures of all of us. Brian is baiting her.”
Sampson took the cell phone and examined the call log. “This is the same number that called Brooks the other day. I was standing right beside him when the call came in and he ignored it.”
“He’s the traitor,” Vivian said, her eyes narrowing as if she were fishing for a memory. “I dreamed about him talking to Ami in the woods.”
“You weren’t the only one having weird dreams,” Nate said. “I dreamt of Tom being electrocuted or something similar. You don’t think—”
“Tom!” Bianca grabbed her husband’s arm. Sampson was already dialing the phone number of the family Tom was staying with. No answer.
“All right,” Kasey said. “Until we know exactly where Amilynn is, we go find Tom. The moment we have information on Ami, we move. Let’s get armed.”
“I should call in more soldiers, Kasey.”
“No. We don’t know who else was working with Brooks or where he is. We do this alone.”
“Come on,” Tyrone tugged Ezekiel’s arm. The family followed. They went to the gun safe and Tyrone started handing Ezekiel weapons. “She’s going to need all the firepower we have. But I need to be leopard.”
Sampson punched in the code to the safe-room. “Nate, I need you to stay here with your mother and Melissa. Don’t open this door except for one of us. Bianca, call Charles; have him on standby.”
“But, Dad, that’s my twin. I can help.”
Tyrone, of all people, grabbed Nate by the scruff of the neck. “Listen, I get where you’re at. My sister is out there and I’m scared too. But I need someone I trust to stay here with Melissa. Your mom needs you. Any idiot can run off to battle. It takes a real man to stand strong for his home and his females, you feel me?”
Nate swallowed and his head nodded once. Of all the people in the house, Tyrone’s faith in Nate gave the boy the courage he needed.
Bianca, Melissa, and Nate shut themselves in the safe-room after quick goodbyes. Ezekiel knew his mother and brother would be safe there. He turned his attention to his mate and other brother.
Sampson and Tyrone shifted into their animals. The dark-muzzled wolf and the black leopard took off. Vivian and Kasey jumped in the SUV and Ezekiel got on his motorcycle. He could get the sports bike in places the cars couldn’t go. They raced over to where Tom’s friend lived.
The moment Ezekiel got off his bike, he smelled the blood. His father and Tyrone were already in the house, searching. Eddie, one of the Pack’s males, lay dead on the floor with a gunshot to his head. Shit.
There was another dead body next to him. A man Ezekiel didn’t recognize. His chest was clawed wide open. Eddie at least put up a fight.
The sound of a woman’s cries came from upstairs and Sampson guided Eddie’s wife and Tom’s friend down the stairs. He looked up at Ezekiel and shook his head. Tom wasn’t here.
“She says they swept in, took Tom, and left. Eddie took out the one there and she attacked one more. Don’t know where they went,” Sampson said.
“Back here!” Vivian called from deeper in the house.
One of Brian’s soldiers had crawled into the neighbor’s yard and collapsed. Kasey pounced on him, put a knife to his throat, and demanded to know where Tom was. The male laughed and spit in Kasey’s face. Kasey jammed the knife in the man’s shoulder blade. His screams woke up the people next door.
Nina, one of Uncle Kasey’s council members, ran out her back door to find Kasey stabbing the soldier. Her wide eyes went to Vivian. “What’s going on?”
Sampson brought Eddie’s wife and son to Nina’s door. “Take care of them. Eddie was murdered. We’ll send the doctor over to examine them.” Nina nodded and glanced back as Vivian hovered over the soldier.
“You know who I am?”
The soldier smiled again, blood dripping out his mouth.
“Then you know what I’m capable of. I’m going to rip your throat out so that no one will hear you scream. And I’ll bleed you dry until you tell me where Brian is.” She raised her hands, ready to claw this man to shreds.
“Plant,” stuttered the man, his eyes full of fear. “That’s all you’re getting.”
“Fine with me.” Vivian’s hand swung downward and Ezekiel cast his eyes downward. When he looked back, Vivian’s clothes were covered in blood and the soldier’s neck was wide open. He was dead.
Vivian didn’t hesitate. She was on her feet and moving. “Plants. What do you think he meant? Industrial plants?”
Kasey, Sampson, Ezekiel, and Vivian went back to their vehicles. Z racked his brain. What was within range?
Amilynn, answer me, damn it. Where are you? He pushed out the thought so hard it made his head hurt.
He received one word in return. It was enough.
Asphalt.
“AMILYNN. PSST.”
Amilynn heard Tom calling her name and as much as she wanted to come out of the fog, it seemed impossible. Her head was killing her. She reached up to touch it, but couldn’t. Her hands were chained and taped to something hard and cold. Freezing, actually.
A whoosh of frigid air hit her body and startled her into consciousness. She sucked in a deep breath and cringed at the stench of asphalt.
“Ami?” Tom whispered.
She could barely shift her head to the side to see him. Sonofabitch Brian had taped her hair—her bloody hair—to the metal beam she was strapped to. “I’m awake, sweetheart.”
“Shut the fuck up.” A soldier knocked her in the ribs with the stock of his rifle. Ami’s body bucked, but her movement was limited. Her bonds were extensive.
Too bad none of them would work.
She coughed through the pain and took the time to do an assessment of her situation. She was outside, naked as the day she was born. She felt at least two open wounds: one on her head and one on her chest. Maybe a broken rib. Nothing to hinder her from fighting. Thirst clawed at her throat and hunger twisted her stomach into painful knots. That, she could ignore.
The plant had long been closed, but it still reeked of the aggregate it produced. Bins to hold the ingredients, conveyor belts, a tall silo, and lots of miscellaneous components still remained; an industrial skeleton. Noticeably, and thankfully, the heating reactor was not in her line of sight. At least she might not be burned alive. Tall floodlights illuminated the area around where her and Tom were on display. Brian and some of
his men were inside the old plant office. Bastards were probably warm and toasty while poor Tom suffered.
“Are you hurt?” she whispered to Tom when the guard was out of range.
“They busted up my lip. I’m tied to a beam. It’s so cold. I’m freezing.”
She could hear his teeth chattering and it broke her heart. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. Tell me what you see.”
“There’s a small army here. At least fifty. Some are walking around. Some are in a trailer. They all have guns.”
“When I move, you do as I say. Don’t think, just act.”
“Okay.”
Ami reached out with her mind for the string that tied her and Ezekiel together. She yearned for that happy, giddy, safe feeling she got every time he was near. Ezekiel?
Ami? Oh, thank God! Where are you? Are you hurt? Is Tom with you? There was relief in his voice, and fear.
We’re at an abandoned asphalt plant, that’s all I know. Tom is here. He’s okay. They’re after Kasey. You have to make sure he doesn’t come here, Ezekiel. Brian wants the Pack. If he kills Kasey—
He won’t. Don’t you worry about that, pussycat. We are on the way. There’s only one closed plant within a hundred miles.
There’s a small army here, Ezekiel. Be careful.
What’s your plan?
Kill them all. I’ll try to save you a couple.
Don’t do anything foolish, Ami. We’ll be there in ten minutes.
Amilynn mapped out every move she would make. Using the knowledge her grandfather bestowed upon her and her brother, Amilynn could close her eyes and focus her mind on the energy created when she shifted into her leopard. There was a split second, a blink in time, when a shifter was neither human nor animal, but pure energy. It had taken Amilynn two years to find that moment and learn to use it.
