by Jenika Snow
Annabelle shook her head. “You have it all wrong. I am far from strong.”
Emma sat on the other side of Annabelle, and she was the one to shake her head now. “No, you are strong, and you’re part of this family now.” She took Annabelle’s hand in hers, and looked down at the delicate, long fingers. “I wish I was holding it together as well as you are, but right now I feel like my life is unraveling.” Emma saw the way Annabelle glanced at Jason.
“Believe me, I know exactly what that feels like.”
The knock on the front door had Jason standing and moving toward it. For a second neither said anything as they waited to see who had driven all the way up here to see them, but then Kettah, Maverick’s mate, Melissa, Declan’s mate, and the Wylde bear brothers’ mates, Talia, Ary, and Kenzie, all stepped through the archway into the living room. A few of the shifter females held some covered dishes, and the others held a bottle of wine and a six-pack.
“Thought we could all use something to keep our minds off this shit storm,” Kettah said and held up the wine.
“And since I’m not all about the girly shit,” Melissa said and held up the six-pack, “I brought the beer.”
And then all of them tried to steer the conversation away from the men that had gone on a mission that could very well kill them.
Chapter Twelve
Declan had driven the eight hour trek to this rundown shithole of a motel in the middle of nowhere. Roake had been looking at the map off and on the entire trip. He knew from overhearing the guards when he was a captive that they had some territory over the state line, and Roake had a feeling that was where the motherfucker was headed. Roake knew that he didn’t have the resources or manpower to try to takedown an operation like the Purebred Brotherhood, at least not right now in his life. But what he did have control over was ending O, and making sure the male suffered severely. There wasn’t going to be a quick death by a bullet to the head. No, Roake was going to make that motherfucker sing with pain, and it would be the sweetest song he ever heard.
They sat in silence for a few moments, surveying the scene before them. The motel looked like it was on its last leg, but the dark SUV that sat in the parking lot had Roake’s blood pumping fast. Roake didn’t need to have the training like Declan and Maverick had, the lethal and deadly skill to take down a motherfucker before they even knew they were about to die. Roake didn’t need any of that, because he wanted O to know he was coming for him, wanted O to look in his eyes right before Roake took it from him. He could handle himself, shift if need be to get to the bastard, but what he wanted was to kill him as a human, to make it last. Being in his beasts’ form would make the death swift, because his animals would want that revenge. No, Roake would do this with his hands, and feel the blood come from O as he sliced him the fuck up.
Declan sat in the driver’s seat and turned to stare at Roake, who sat in the backseat. “So, I told you they were still here on the way up, but I don’t know how long this is going to last. They could be packing up as we speak, so we need to move fast.”
“The informants said there are four other shifters with Ormond in the room. They can subdue the front desk attendant, and give you the time you need to take down the bastard,” Maverick said without turning around. He kept his focus on the motel.
“Once the guard dogs are gone and I have a shot at O before he tries to escape, I won’t have a problem in taking him down.” Roake cracked his knuckles and felt his familiar need for blood and violence rise. “I’m going to make the motherfucker suffer for what he’s done to all hybrids.”
“Okay, no more bullshitting. Let’s get this going,” Declan said with a growl in his voice.
They all climbed out of the vehicle and moved silently to the back of it. Declan grabbed a thick duffle bag out of the back and set it on the ground. The three of them crouched low, and when Declan unzipped it and showed Roake the weapons, his adrenaline pumped faster inside of him. There were a shit-load of guns, but what Roake reached for was a nine-inch blade, one that would do the job he had in mind.
“Damn, going all savage, huh?” Maverick said in a low, deep voice, and without any emotion.
“All right, now we discussed what the fuck we would be doing once we got here,” Declan said and glanced between the two of them. “Maverick and I will take the back, and come in through the door the informants said is used for staff.” Declan tilted his head toward the side. “They are already stationed in the front behind the main office. There are two humans in the backroom of the office, so it’s easy enough for them to be knocked out for a while. But my guys are only going to keep them down for a minute because they are innocent and they don’t want any permanent damage.”
“I only need a few minutes at O,” Roake said and glanced at the motel. He clenched his hands into tight fists.
“Okay, then let’s get this fucking party going. I have a female to get back to,” Maverick said, and they all made their way silently toward the back of the motel. Once they reached the back of the motel they pressed their bodies to the brick wall. The sound of movement on the other side of the wall could be heard clearly. Roake’s animals were rising to the front, ready to finally end this.
“The four fuckers guarding him are in rotation, with two watching the interior of the room, one on the outside in the hallway, and another guarding the rear door we will be coming in through. Most likely they are not on alert, because they seem unaware that we have been watching them,” Declan whispered, and cocked his gun. He held it up and at the ready. “But stay ready for anything.”
Roake could have shifted, but what fun would that have been?
“You ready, boys?” Maverick asked, and both of them grunted.
“Yeah, this fucking ends now.” Roake moved in front of the door, took a deep breath and looked once more at Declan and Maverick. They moved beside him. This was going to be fast and crazy, so they all had to be ready. He kicked in the door, and instantly the bear shifter on the other side bristled. He was on the verge of shifting, but before the bear could turn a shot was fired. The silencer was in place, but a shifter could hear still that shit. The bear went down, the hole in his head right between his eyes.
“Move now,” Declan said low and with haste.
Roake moved swiftly through the small, moldy, and stale smelling back hallway. There was a panther shifter coming at them, already partially shifted and ready to tear their throats out.
“I fucking got him,” Roake said in a low, deadly voice, and he heard his animals in it. He brought the knife up, and saw in his mind all those times a panther had brought the whip down on his back, beaten him with chains, and kicked him when he was down. It might not have been this particular shifter, but it didn’t matter. They were all the same with their hatred. Roake growled out low and plunged the blade right into the panther’s belly as soon as he tackled Roake to the ground. Hot, putrid blood sprayed on him, and he quickly shoved the now lifeless body off of him. There was no time to revel in killing the asshole.
They knew where O’s room was located, and so it wasn’t a surprise when that door at the end of the hallway opened. Out stepped a panther shifter, his gun raised already. Maverick took out that asshole, another bullet right to the head, and Roake stepped over his lifeless body. He pressed his body to the wall when a bullet tore through the door, and held his gun at eyelevel.
“Come on, Roake, I know you’re in there,” O said in an amused voice. “I can smell your fucking mixed blood even in here.”
Roake gritted his teeth and glanced at Declan and Maverick. There was one more guard in there with O, but Roake didn’t know where the asshole was. Another bullet slammed into the wall opposite them, and that was when Declan and Maverick charged forward, their guns held high, and their animals flashing across their faces. Roake turned and ducked at the same time all three of them went into the room. He heard guns going off, smelled blood and rage in the air, but the world stopped and everything went in slow motion when he saw O
standing off to the side with a sadistic grin on his face.
“You motherfuckers are all going to die, especially you, Tion,” O said and started laughing. He held his own gun up and fired off a shot. Roake was so enraged and focused that he felt the bullet tear into his arm, but kept going and blocked out the pain. The sound of a body hitting the ground and of panther blood being spilled told Roake that the last guard was handled. O fired off again, but the bullet only skimmed along Roake’s cheek. He tackled O to the ground, and the gun fell from the bastard’s hand.
Roake slammed his fist into O’s face, over and over again until the fucker started to shift from his rage. “No, prick, you’re staying in your human form when you die,” Roake ground out and slammed the blade into the side of O. He roared out, his cheetah snapping forward, but his strength diminishing as his blood spilled out. “Not so strong now are you, motherfucker?” Roake said and grinned, but it was not one of amusement. He stabbed O once more, and brought the blade up.
“You mixed blood piece of shit.” Blood spewed out of O’s mouth, but he started chuckling.
Roake moved off of O, and satisfaction filled him when the blood made a pool under the cheetah fuck. “Looks like the only one going to die today is your sick and twisted ass. You hurt a lot of people, hurt innocent shifters because of your own sick and perverse thinking that you have blood that isn’t tainted in some way.”
O started laughing, and more blood spilled from his mouth and covered his chest. O pulled himself along the floor until he could lean against the wall. He was in a sitting position now, blood leaving a trail along the floor, and his strength weakening further. Declan and Maverick stepped up beside Roake.
“You want to finish this with a bullet to the head, or do you have something different planned?” Maverick asked from beside him.
Roake looked at both of the shifters that had dropped what they were doing and left their families behind so that they could help him. They were covered in blood, but of course it wasn’t theirs.
“Go on and do it, Tion. Fucking end it so you can feel like you’re superior to me.” O started chuckling again and shook his head. “Your kind will never be better than us, better than anyone.”
Roake took a step forward and held the knife tighter in his grasp. “I am not going to shoot you, but look into your face as you and your worthless animal die.” He held up the gleaming metal and bared his teeth.
“It felt fucking incredible to take that little hybrid bitch back to my bunker and fuck her,” O said and spit at Roake’s feet. “In fact, I was hoping when we caught you that you would have had a little piece of pussy on the side, maybe even a mate, and then I could have fucked her in front of you.” O grinned, and his bloodstained teeth flashed.
Roake saw red, saw Emma at the hands of this motherfucker, and he snapped. He brought his boot to O’s jaw and sent the man slamming back against the wall. His head cracked against the plaster, and the picture right above him fell to the ground, and glass shattered around them. His animals wanted out, wanted to taste this fucker’s blood, but Roake pushed the lion and tiger back. He stalked forward, felt his nails lengthen into claws, felt his incisors grow and his muscles swell. He bent down and wrapped his hand around O’s throat. Without thinking and just acting, Roake thrust the knife into the cheetah’s abdomen, slowly brought it up, and stared right in the asshole’s black beady eyes.
O snapped and growled, but he was too damn weak to do any damage. The bullet in Roake’s shoulder was nothing compared to what he had been through. He used his forearm to keep O against the wall, twisted the knife right under O’s ribs, and chuckled when a sharp groan left the cheetah. “Not so strong now, are you?”
O’s mouth started moving, but the life in his eyes was already leaving. Without his bodyguards O was nothing but a shifter with a sick idea of what the world should be like. Roake took a step back and stared at O as he slowly slid to the ground. He should have made the dick suffer more, but he had accomplished what he needed to move forward. For a suspended moment there wasn’t any noise, and then Roake turned around and faced Declan and Maverick.
“Damn, man, you are brutal,” Declan said and whistled low when he looked at O.
“You want a job?” Maverick said and grinned. “We could fucking use an enforcer like you.”
“Come, I’ll call the cleaners to take care of this mess,” Declan said but was already reaching for his phone. He turned and started talking into it, and Roake glanced one more time at O. His eyes were still open and staring right at Roake. He turned and faced the fucker, grinned, and gave him the middle finger.
“Have a nice time in hell, motherfucker.”
Maverick clapped him on the back. “Come on, we have to go before shit gets real.”
Roake nodded, and without thinking about the man that had made the last year of his life a living hell, he turned and left the motel, and all of the shitty memories that came with O behind him. Although he knew that might be a little easier said than done.
****
Emma paced the bedroom, unable to sleep despite the sun starting to come up over the mountains. Roake and the other men had left so long ago, and although Declan had called and said they were on their way, and that there had been a minor injury, she was a wreck. That phone call had been hours ago, almost eight to be exact, and she knew they should be here any moment. Kettah and Melissa had stayed the night, and Declan and Maverick were bringing Roake back to the farmhouse. She was glad they had stayed, thankful they all could be together, but she wished she had the other two females’ strength. They seemed so together, so in control despite their clear fear.
Emma heard the sound of gravel on the driveway and raced out of the room. “They’re back.” She breathed out, but everyone had heard her and followed her out the front door and to the dark SUV. Before it even came to a stop Roake was out of the vehicle and striding toward her. He had no shirt on, and a red tainted bandage covered his shoulder. “Oh my God, Roake.” She halted to a stop a few inches from him, and looked at his face and then his shoulder.
“I’m okay, baby. The bullet went right through, and I didn’t even know it at the time.” He wrapped his good arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to kiss her. “You have no idea how fucking good it feels to have you close to me again.” He kissed her over and over again, and she melted into him.
“I was so damn worried,” she said against his mouth.
“I know, but everything is okay now, Emma. Everything is okay.” He pulled back, and she saw him look over her head and nod.
She looked behind her saw Annabelle standing close to Jason, and then the little hybrid started crying in happiness. Jason embraced her and started whispering something in her ear before leading her back inside. Emma looked at Roake again, and saw that he was smiling down at her.
“It is so fucking good to look into your eyes, Emma.” His eyes flashed with his animals coming forward, as if they, too, were telling her they missed having her close. He leaned down and kissed her on the nose. “I killed the bastard that hurt not only me and Annabelle, but probably countless other shifters in the process.”
There was this hardness in his voice, but it was overshadowed by the clear pleasure and satisfaction that he felt. There a happiness all around them, and not just from Declan and Maverick holding and kissing their mates, but from the fact that they were alive, all of them.
“Hey, man, I meant what I said about joining us,” Maverick said and moved over to where they stood. He had an arm around Kettah, and then Declan moved up beside them with Melissa in tow, too.
“Yeah, we could use someone with your skilled brutality,” Declan said in a serious voice. “Give it some thought, and know that what we do is for the greater good.”
Roake reached his hand out, and he shook both Declan’s and Maverick’s hands. “Thank you again for the help. The war with the brotherhood is most definitely not over, but you saved a lot of lives that fucker would have taken.”
> The men grunted in the way they do to acknowledge what the other said, and then Declan and Maverick took their mates and left the property.
Emma lightly touched his shoulder and leaned in to kiss the center of his hard chest. “I am so glad you’re back with me, because I am so ready to start my life with you, Roake.” She looked into his face again. “My hybrid beast.”
He grinned down at her and then led them into the house. “Come lay down with me, because all I want to do right now is hold my mate right now and let her know that she means the world to me.”
And of course she let him lead her inside and to her bedroom, because what female would deny a male that said she meant the world to him?
Chapter Thirteen
One month later
“With the cleanup of the fire from the underground facility finally completed, and officials stating Sweet Water has nothing to worry about concerning future explosions, residents can finally start to relax and get back to living life.”
Roake turned off the television and set the remote on the coffee table. For the last month he had been trying to acclimate to this new life. After taking out O with Declan and Maverick, and healing from the bullet wound, he had been enjoying his time with Emma, and trying to acclimate himself back into society. He may have only been captive for a year, and though for as old as he was that wasn’t that long, twelve months of being tested on, tortured, and starved, meant that his animals had come forth even further. Trying to get his human side to be less dormant for the sake of having a meaningful and less volatile life was easier said than done. But Roake was finding out that Emma helped his beasts immensely. She was there when he thought he’d lose control, there when he needed to be brought back from the brink, and without her he knew that he’d be nothing more than running on animal instinct. She was his mate, and until he found her he hadn’t realized what he had been missing. That gunshot hadn’t been anything compared to the hell he had endured at the hands of O or those purebred motherfuckers, but in the end he was just glad to be alive.
