Growl

by Elaine Pierson

  “Cole has her in an abandoned building about fifteen miles on the other side of town” Kyle said. “He has about ten pack members living with him and he has guards posted outside. A guy named Zack helped me escape.”

  Jesse sank to his knees by the couch. “How is she? Is she alright?” he asked in barely more than a whisper. He couldn’t even bring himself to say her name anymore because it hurt too much.

  Everyone in the room passed worried looks to one another in anticipation of the answer. Kyle looked at Jesse sympathetically. “I honestly don’t know how she’s doing. All Zack told me was that Cole is going to kill her because she can’t use her powers to help him.”

  Jesse slowly stood up. “Thank you Kyle, for your help.” He looked at his friends. “Will you go with me and help bring Lacey home.”

  Tonya immediately went to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Of course we will. She belongs here with us.”

  Scotty headed for the door behind the kitchen where Steven was still locked up. A few minutes later, he came out with Kindal and Steven at his side.

  Trevor shot him a warning look and Scotty shrugged. “We need everyone that we can get and he’s been doing much better since Kindal has been spending time with him.”

  Kindal smiled and put her hand in Steven’s. “He wants to help and I think we should let him. He’s a member of our pack now.”

  Steven squeezed her hand and smiled.

  “Alright, I want everyone ready to go in five minutes” Jesse said and headed upstairs to get ready for the fight of his life.

  Chapter Seventeen

  After a quick chat with Zack about his involvement in Kyle’s escape, Cole dismissed him to stand guard outside the door once more. He didn’t know if Zack was telling the truth or not but at the moment he didn’t want to be bothered with him. He had other things on his mind.

  Cole was in the process of undressing again when the door suddenly swung open and Zack rushed inside again. “Boss, we have a problem. Your brother and his pack are here. They’re fighting with the guards outside and trying to find a way in.”

  “Damn it” Cole growled and stormed from the room. He stopped just outside the bedroom door and glanced at Lacey. She was starting to move on the bed. The drug was wearing off. He growled in frustration and grabbed Zack by the collar. “Don’t let anyone near her. No one! Do you understand?”

  Zack nodded. “Yes sir boss, she’s safe with me.”

  Cole ran down the hall to join in the fight.

  Minutes later, Lacey slowly sat up in bed and held her hand to her head. She felt dizzy as she looked around the room for Cole. She was relieved when she didn’t see him. She crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom to splash water on her face. She silently prayed that she would get her full strength back soon so that she could put a good beating on Cole for drugging her again.

  Zack looked down the hall to Sasha’s room and whistled. She came out and smiled at him. He held her gaze for a minute then walked away from the door, giving Sasha complete access to Lacey. He had his own battle to deal with.

  *****

  Once outside, Cole found Jesse and his pack in their wolf forms fighting with the few men that he had who hadn’t went to search for Kyle. And from his perspective, Jesse’s pack had the upper hand. Cole cussed to himself and wished that he hadn’t sent his entire pack out looking for the escaped newbie. He dropped to the ground and quickly changed into his wolf form before running into the middle of the fight.

  After easily taking down one of Jesse’s wolves, he focused his attention on his brother. He snuck up behind Jesse and jumped on his back and bit down on his neck.

  Jesse bucked and tried to get Cole off of him but he wouldn’t let go. Jesse dropped to the ground and rolled over onto his back, hoping that his weight on Cole’s chest would make him loosen his grip. Kindal saw what was happening and bit down on Cole’s back leg. He let go of Jesse and yelped, giving Jesse the chance to get away. But he didn’t get far before Cole was on him again.

  Cole leapt through the air and knocked Jesse to the ground again. He quickly got back to his feet and faced his brother. They circled each other, growling and snarling, each looking for an opportunity to attack.

  Regret over not keeping himself in better shape for when he found Lacey, came to Jesse’s mind. He had lived the last couple of weeks barely surviving and now that he had finally found her, he might not be strong enough to save her.

  *****

  Lacey stepped from the bathroom to find Sasha leaning against her closed bedroom door. She stopped short as she struggled to catch her breath. She felt like someone had knocked the air out of her. The last time she saw Sasha, she had tried to kill her.

  “How did you get in here?” Lacey asked with a shaky voice.

  Sasha smiled and stalked toward her. “I have my ways. We have some unfinished business to take care of” she said and tossed something to Lacey.

  She looked down at her feet to see a key chain with two keys on it. She bent down and picked them up and looked at Sasha. “What are these for?” she asked.

  “Unlock the chain around your ankle. I take pride in defeating my enemies and I don’t want it said that I killed a woman who was chained and unable to fight back” Sasha spat.

  Lacey glanced at the door as her whole body began to tremble. She yelled for Cole or Zack to come in and help her, but no one came. She looked at Sasha who was pacing the room in front of her, ready to attack. The hatred on her face was unmistakable. She wanted her dead.

  “Hurry up! I don’t have all day” Sasha snarled.

  Lacey knelt down and unlocked the chain from around her ankle and tossed it into the corner. Her gaze roamed around the room trying to find a way to escape but there wasn’t one. Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to fight Sasha. And considering that she was still weak from the drugs, she didn’t know if she was going to be able to use her powers or not.

  Sasha pulled a knife from her back pocket and twirled it in her hand. “I’m going to enjoy killing you much more than I enjoyed killing Cole’s other whores” she said and advanced toward Lacey with death in her eyes.

  Lacey backed up against the wall. She didn’t have anywhere else to go. Just as Sasha swung her hand out with the knife in it, Lacey dodged around her and jumped on the bed. She fell off the other side and grabbed the chair. She shook it as hard as she could to try and break it free from the floor but it wouldn’t budge.

  Sasha jumped over the bed and landed in front of Lacey. Before she could move again, Sasha stabbed her with the knife. Lacey let out a blood curdling scream. And all at once, Sasha flew backwards and hit the wall by the bathroom, the wooden bedroom door shattered and the chair pulled from the floor and impaled itself into the wall, knocking a huge hole in it.

  As heat spread from her stomach throughout her entire body, Lacey no longer felt weak or dizzy from the sedative. She didn’t feel fear or panic. In fact she didn’t feel anything at all. She was on such an adrenaline rush that she didn’t even feel the pain in her stomach from her stab wound. A buzz of electricity more powerful than she’d ever felt before surged through her, making her hair stand on ends. Her eyes landed on Sasha sprawled out on the floor across the room. Her vision blurred red with hatred as she stared at her.

  Everything that had happened to her since she came to Carol Springs quickly flashed in her mind. Cindy’s dead body being rolled past her, her fight with Sasha behind the café, the night Cole had taken her away from Jesse. It was all too much.

  Her eyes narrowed into slits as she focused all of her power into her next attack. She lifted Sasha in the air and threw her across the room again and again, slamming her into the walls with all the force she had. After several minutes, Lacey knew that Sasha was no longer a threat to her but she couldn’t stop herself. She was so angry because of everything that had happened it was like she wasn’t herself anymore. Her powers had taken over her body and all she could think or feel was that
she wanted revenge. When she finally stopped her assault, Sasha’s limp body fell to the floor like a ragdoll, all bloody and broken.

  Lacey turned her attention to the hallway. She could barely see through the anger induced haze that clouded her vision. She stormed through the building and didn’t see anyone until she got outside. There, she saw what looked like a wolf war. She didn’t know what was going on or who was fighting but she had a feeling that Jesse was there. The little bit of rationality that she still had left told her that she needed to find him.

  She searched through the fighting wolves, trying to find Jesse. But she couldn’t tell which one was him. There were several big black wolves and after only seeing him in his wolf form once, she wasn’t sure which one was Jesse. The taste of blood was thick in her mouth as it poured from her nose and the headache that hit her was so intense that it felt like her brain was throbbing in her skull. But she ignored it and focused her attention on the large group of wolves.

  “Stop!” Lacey yelled to get their attention but none of them paid her any attention. Refusing to be ignored, she sent out a massive amount of energy toward them. All of the wolves were lifted into the air then dropped violently back to the ground. They all looked at her for a minute then started to fight again.

  Angry that they wouldn’t stop, Lacey started throwing each of the wolves one at a time into the air. After four or five wolves got tossed into the woods, they all stopped fighting and looked at her again. She screamed Jesse’s name and one of the black wolves raised his head in the air. Their eyes met and she knew instantly that it was him.

  He started toward her but Cole jumped in front of him and growled, baring his sharp teeth. They circled each other, preparing to fight. But Lacey wouldn’t let them. She’d had enough. She threw them both against the side of the building and stood in front of them, shaking. Blood covered her mouth and neck. She was getting weaker by the second. “I won’t let you two fight over me” she said as she looked at them and tried to figure out which one was Jesse and which one was Cole. They were identical in their wolf forms just as they were in their human forms.

  Out of nowhere, Zack grabbed her from behind. The second that he touched her, he was thrown backwards. She turned around with the intent of killing him but when she tried to hurl him through the air again, her headache intensified to the point that she lost all of her vision. The pain felt as if someone was stabbing her in the head. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. All of a sudden, she fell to the ground and started convulsing. Blood poured from her nose and ears.

  Jesse jumped up and ran over to her, changing into his human form before he reached her. Seconds later, he was joined by Cole. Jesse knelt down beside Lacey and frantically tried to stop her bleeding. Cole lifted her shirt and saw the stab wound to her stomach. His eyes met Jesse’s and they both knew what was happening to her. She was dying.

  “We have to get her to the hospital!” Jesse yelled and tried to pick her up only to realize that he was too weak to hold her. His shoulder was dislocated and he had a major gash in his leg that was losing a lot of blood, preventing him from standing with her weight. He sank back to the ground with a defeated look on his face. Then he did the only thing he could do, he turned to his brother and asked for help.

  “Please, help her.”

  Cole spared him a quick glance then scooped Lacey into his arms and ran to his Tahoe. Trevor helped Jesse get in the front seat while Cole put Lacey in the back. She was still convulsing and unresponsive to them.

  The rest of Jesse’s pack jumped into the jeep and followed them to the hospital.

  Ten minutes later, Cole pulled up in front of the emergency room. He jumped out and gently pulled Lacey from the back seat and carried her in his arms like a child. He looked down at her and a fear like none he had ever experienced seized him and his heart nearly stopped beating. She felt so cold in his arms. He was losing her and he knew it. He burst through the hospital doors. “I need some help here!” he yelled.

  Within seconds, someone was in front of him with a gurney. Cole gently laid Lacey down and watched as the nurses rolled her away. He was so lost in thought as he stared at the door she went through that he didn’t realize he was surrounded by his enemies until someone touched his shoulder.

  He turned around to find Jesse and all of his pack staring angrily at him. Unaffected by their stares, he turned his back to them and sat down in a chair in the corner of the waiting room. Jesse followed him. “I want you to leave. You have no right to be here. Lacey is fighting for her life because of you.”

  Cole narrowed his eyes at his brother. “I don’t give a damn what you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Jesse growled deep in his throat. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re pack isn’t here to back you up this time and I’m seconds away from ripping your head from your shoulders.”

  Cole stood up and faced him. Both of their bodies tensed, ready for a fight. Trevor and Scotty quickly took up positions at Jesse’s sides. Cole snarled at them then focused his attention on his brother. “Anytime you want to fight, just say the word, but I would suggest that you wait until you are at full strength. There is no fun in killing a weak, injured man.”

  Unable to hold himself back any longer, Jesse swung at Cole and punched him in the face. “I’m going to kill you for the hell you put her through” he yelled as he tried to land another blow to Cole’s jaw.

  Cole caught his fist the second time and pushed him backwards, into Trevor. He rubbed his jaw and chuckled. “You can try but I should warn you that I plan on killing you first and taking Lacey as my mate. So, that being said, may the best wolf win...oh, and you should also know that Lacey never once fought me when I kissed her. In fact, she enjoyed it so much that she returned my kiss with a passion fiercer than any I’ve ever experienced. I think she liked kissing a real man.”

  Jesse let out a growl and lunged for Cole’s throat. Trevor grabbed him from behind and held him back. “I hate you, you bastard!” Jesse yelled as he struggled to break free of Trevor’s hold. Scotty had to help hold him back.

  “Get the hell out of here, Cole!” Trevor growled as he put everything he had into holding Jesse back from attacking him in public.

  Cole laughed and walked towards the exit. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Tell Lacey that I’ll see her soon” he said before walking out and around to the other side of the hospital to the main entrance.

  Jesse stared after him, his chest heaved with every labored breath that he took. He had never hated his brother as much as he did at that moment.

  “Jesse, you need to calm down” Tonya said and pushed him toward a chair. “You don’t want Lacey to see you like this, do you?”

  Jesse looked at her then at Trevor. “Lacey was with him for two weeks. Do you think what Cole said is true? Do you think that she connected with him?”

  “Come on Jesse, you know what kind of sick bastard your brother is. He’s just trying to mess with your head. Don’t listen to him” Scotty said.

  Trevor nodded in agreement. “He’s right, Jesse. You can’t believe anything Cole says.”

  Jesse sat down in a chair with Cole’s words echoing in his mind. He couldn’t help but worry that he might have been too late after all.

  *****

  Lacey could hear someone moving around near her. She slowly opened her eyes, surprised by how much it hurt to do so. When the light touched her eyes, she squeezed them shut again as a pain shot through her head. She moaned and someone touched her arm.

  “The light” she whispered, “turn it off, it hurts my eyes.”

  “Of course, Miss Hannigan” A soft feminine voice said from beside her. “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

  Lacey opened her eyes again and looked around the darkened room. She was in a hospital room and she wasn’t alone. A grey-haired nurse stood on one side of the bed and a tall thin doctor stood on the other, looking down at her.

  “My name is
Dr. Loken. How do you feel, Miss Hannigan?”

  “How do you know my last name?” Lacey asked weakly.

  Dr. Loken looked at the nurse before answering. “Your picture has been on the television for several weeks now. We know that you’re a runaway. The police have notified your parents and they are on their way here now.”

  Lacey shook her head. “No, I won’t go with them. I have to get out of here” she said and tried to sit up. But the pain in her stomach and the dizziness in her head stopped her. She fell back to the pillow.

  “Don’t try to move, Miss Hannigan. You need to rest” the nurse said in a motherly voice.

  “No!” Lacey yelled and covered her face with her hands. “I don’t want to be here and you can’t make me stay. Yesterday was my birthday, I’m eighteen. I’m an adult and my parents have no control over me anymore.”

  Dr. Loken gave the nurse a slow nod and she left the room. He sat down in the chair by the bed and gave Lacey a sad look. “Miss Hannigan.”

  “Stop with the Miss Hannigan crap. My name is Lacey.”

  “Okay Lacey, I don’t want you to stay here because of your parents. You need to stay because you’re not well. You are very sick.”

  The seriousness of the doctors voice caught her attention. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes. She had known for a while that something was wrong with her but she had been too afraid to find out what. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked.

  Dr. Loken was quiet for a second. “When you were brought into the E.R., you were unconscious. After we stitched up your stab wound, we did a CT scan of your brain to check for concussions.” He paused and squeezed her hand. “We found a rather large tumor on your brain.”

  Lacey stared wide-eyed at him as she tried to catch her breath. She felt like her heart had dropped to her feet and the whole world stopped moving. It took her a minute before she was able to speak. “Can you remove it? Do I need to have surgery?”

  Dr. Loken frowned and shook his head. “I’m very sorry Lacey, but it’s too late. The tumor has spread to cover over half of your brain. It’s inoperable. I spoke with some of your friends earlier and they told me about your headaches and nosebleeds. Both of those were signs of too much pressure on your brain. As the tumor grew, the pressure increased, causing the nosebleeds.”