I took in everything he said. This was life or death, and I knew I had to listen. “How do you recommend I take him out?”
“His throat.” Odecir was right. It wouldn’t be easy, but that was the quickest way to go.
I looked over to Lyla one last time. She moved a little and opened one eye. I fought my instinct to run to her. I caught Odecir out of the corner of my eye, and his jaw tightened. I trusted him. He’d always have my back. If Charles killed me I knew he’d take care of Lyla for me.
I mouthed, “Stay” to her. She closed her eye again and didn’t move.
The other men formed a circle. Charles stood in the center, waiting on me. Sweat beaded on my forehead. This was really happening. My brother was calm and collected. He smirked at me. The full moon shone through the large windows. My wolf ached to come out, but I pleaded with him to stay. I could do this.
Charles stepped toward me. “I’m going to enjoy ripping you apart, pretty boy. You’ve always been weak and spineless, hiding behind Mum. Well she isn’t here to protect you, Jack.”
My heartbeat sped up. How was I going to fight him? I’d never even been in a real fight in my life, only sparring or rolling with my teammates.
“Don’t let him get in your head and remember what I said,” Odecir said from behind me.
I nodded, but Charles had lived in my head my entire life. Early on, I’d wanted to be like him, then when I knew better, he’d moved to tormenting me. Brothers did that, right? At least that was what I’d told myself. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind.
I slipped my shirt off and tossed it to Odecir. I didn’t want to give him anything to hold on to. Dammit, he could choke me with Odecir’s necklace. I’d have to keep it out of his reach.
Our eyes met as I stepped into the circle. It was him or me. Charles wouldn’t be merciful, so I couldn’t be either. He stepped in and swung at jab at me. I slipped to the other side.
He shot down, grabbing my legs, pushing me to the ground hard. Dammit, I had wanted to be on the ground, but not with him on top. I held my hands up as he pounded away at my face.
“Sweep him!” Odecir screamed from the sideline. I bridged and swept him to the side, gaining me top mount. I shoved my left forearm into his throat to restrict his airway and punched him in the temple with my right fist. My vision blurred.
How could he do this to me? We were family. My fist connected with him over and over again.
A person crashed into me knocking me off Charles. The room erupted as Willis shoved the pendent into my brother’s hand, and he was gone. I scrambled to my feet. Fucker, I knew I couldn’t count on him to fight fair.
Marcus, Henry, and Odecir ran to my side.
“Backs together!” Odecir demanded. He was right. We needed to stick together, but if Charles was going to play dirty, I had to protect Lyla. He’d already tried to use her against me.
I broke from the group and ran straight toward Lyla. My brother appeared in front of Lyla, blocking my way to her. Panicked, I lunged at him, my fist connecting to knock him down. He sprang to a crouched position and stood. I took advantage and jumped on his back, wrapping my forearm about his throat, placing him in a choke. He grabbed at my arms, but I held tighter until he dropped to his knees.
Willis appeared in front of us, holding a long purple stick pointed it at me. I watched his lips move, but I couldn’t hear what was said. Odecir crashed into him, but it was too late. A bolt of magick hit my left arm, knocking me off my brother. The magick quickly spread through my body, burning my insides. I watched as my brother struggled to his feet. Willis stood over me with the wand pointed at my chest.
A wolf bounced on him, knocking him away. The wand shot at the wolf instead of me.
“NO!” I screamed. The wolf crumbled to the ground and shifted back to my cousin.
The burning in my body hit my chest, my lungs tightened, I couldn’t breathe. Everything was happening in slow motion. My brother stood over me, laughing. My eyes went to Odecir, who had Lyla in his arms. Good. The monster who had her earlier lay dead at Odecir’s feet. She was safe. Odecir screamed something to me but I couldn’t hear over the ringing in my ears.
Marcus was in wolf form, his mouth wrapped around Willis’ throat. I hoped he and Odecir would take out Charles, too.
I shut my eyes. It would all be over soon. Death had finally found me.
I heard a ting in my ears and felt a pressure change throughout my entire body. The pain instantly went away. I opened my eyes to see my brother scrambling from Odecir in his jaguar form, Charles’ eyes wide. I stood and ran toward them. Charles’ back was to me, and jumping on him, I wrapped my legs around his knees. We crashed to the ground. I slipped my arm around his neck. It was now or never. I arched my back. He struggled for a moment, but I squeezed as hard as I could, strangling him until he was limp in my clutches.
Odecir stood over me, naked. “You’re good, bro. He’s gone.”
Chapter Eighteen
I pushed Charles’ heavy body off me. My lungs fought to catch a breath, and I was nauseous. Willis lay close, his throat ripped out by Marcus. My uncle lay on the floor sobbing next to Henry, who’d been killed by his childhood friend.
Everything felt surreal. Shifters were running all around the room, and someone shouted my name. I looked up; it was Captain. He was shaking. “I tried to warn you but it was too late.” I nodded and patted his arm and looked around the room.
I scrambled to Odecir, who was holding Lyla. “She’s hurt bad. Her entire body is bruised, and I think she has a broken rib.”
I gently pulled her onto my lap. One of her eyes was swollen shut. “Jack,” she wheezed.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay. We’re going to get you help.” I blinked through my tears. I stroked her hair then kissed her head.
Odecir stood, patting me on the back. “I will call for help.”
The room was now chaos, but I could only focus on Lyla. I closed my eyes and placed my hand on her heart. It still beat strong. She had to be okay.
A hand reached for her. “Delilah, my sweet baby.” I growled. My wolf knew she was mine, no one could have her.
“Jack. Jack, it’s okay. This is Lyla’s father, and these are her brothers.” I looked up from Vonny to see a large man, a wolf. “It’s okay, Jack. Come on, Corbin wants to see you.”
I breathed out. “Lyla, she’s hurt pretty badly.” And it was all my fault.
Her father sat next to me. “Lyla, she’s a tough girl. She’s going to be okay. I’ll take her, Jack,” he said gently.
Her dad reached out for her. I swallowed the lump in my throat. My wolf was behaving; he allowed her brothers to move her to her father.
Vonny reached out her hand to help me up. “An ambulance is on its way.”
I looked down to Lyla. Her dad was stroking her hair. “How in the hell are we going to explain this to the police?”
“No police. Corban already has everything warded off. The hurt will go to a supe-friendly hospital.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “What about Lyla? She is human.”
“He assures me that she’ll be taken care of.” Vonny rubbed my back as we stopped at Corbin. “I’m going to go check on her, though.”
Corbin looked up from his phone. “I’m proud of you, Jack. I knew you had it in you.”
I looked down. My shirt was blood soaked. “At what cost? Lyla is hurt. Henry is dead, and so is Willis and fuck, Charles was an asshole, but he was my fucking brother, and I killed him.” I sat on the stairs and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Did we lose anyone?”
“We.” Corbin sat beside me and smiled. “We, no, we didn’t. Odecir is pretty beat up and so are you, and we did lose your cousin, of course.”
A lump rose in my throat. Marcus must be crushed, hell, we all were. “What about Tallulah? Did you find her? Did Charles hurt her?”
He became more somber. “She’s going to be okay, she’s strong.”
I nodded “She is.”
“Jack, I think you should take your pack. This proves you have what it takes. You have compassion, yet you do what needs to be done. Don’t underestimate yourself, Jack.”
I took a deep breath. “I need to clean up and check on Lyla.”
Chapter Nineteen
“What room is Lyla Johnson in?” I shoved my hands in my pocket. The hospital had a cold sterile feeling, they always made me uncomfortable.
Corbin had made me go back to the compound and clean up. I was covered in blood. Then he’d had me on lockdown until I healed. He’d said Lyla wouldn’t be able to see me yet, anyway.
The nurse behind the counter looked up. “Are you family?”
“Yes, he’s family.” I turned around and saw Lyla’s father standing behind me. “Follow me.”
The nurse said, “Sir, you need to check in.”
I ignored her and followed Mr. Johnson down the hall. He opened the door, sticking his head into the room. “Veronica, will you go to the front and make sure Jack in allowed back here?”
She hopped up. “Of course.” She patted me on the back on the way out.
Mr. Johnson shut the door, standing in front, blocking my way in. “Lyla, she’s awake, but she, uh, she has no idea what took place yesterday. We actually had Veronica wipe out all of last week.”
I took in a deep breath. I was glad she didn’t remember being tortured, but that also meant she didn’t remember our time together, or how I felt about her. She had no idea that I loved her. I blew out. “Why don’t you want her to know that you are wolves?”
Mr. Johnson ran his hand through his hair. “It’s her mom. When we adopted Lyla, we assumed she would join the pack.”
I blinked. “Humans can do that?”
He stuck his hand in his pocket and nodded. “Women can, if they are turned.”
I cringed. I’d heard of that, although we found it to be barbaric. Only about half survived the change. I would never want that for Lyla.
His forehead creased. “But from the beginning Lyla was so damn hardheaded. She wanted to do things her own way, and as you know, that isn’t conducive to our life. We decided to raise her human; that way our new alpha didn’t have a claim on her. He isn’t exactly female friendly. You ready to see her?”
I nodded. The thought of anyone trying to claim her made my wolf growl. Lyla’s dad pushed the door open. “Hey, baby, look who I found. Your friend, Jack.”
Lyla pulled herself into a sitting position. She looked good, really good. Her long blonde hair was down and brushed. You’d never have known yesterday she was black and blue, with her eyes swollen shut, and today she only had a couple of scratches.
She crossed her arms. “Hey! Wow, I haven’t seen you in a while.”
Damn, the last time she remembered seeing me was months ago. I sat on the edge of her bed. “I know, I’m so sorry. I had a family emergency, and I flew in this morning. I went to find you and Veronica, and your father told me you were here.”
She held my gaze for a moment. “Don’t do that again. You can pick up a phone.”
I reached for her hand. “Never again, I promise. So, uh, what happened?”
Her nose wrinkled. “A car hit me when I left work the other night. I don’t remember any of it or the last few days.”
I pulled her hand to my mouth and kissed it. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“We all are.” Lyla’s mom said from the other side of the room. She was a small woman with black and white peppered hair and olive skin–clearly human. “As soon as you’re better, you’re comin’ home.”
Veronica walked in. Lyla looked from her to me and back to her mother.
“Mom, I’m not going anywhere. I could have been hit at home. Besides, I have a job, friends, and a lease on a house. I can’t just leave.”
Vonny sat on the other side of the bed. “She’ll be okay here. Jack and I will look out for her.”
Mrs. Johnson pursed her lips. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said under her breath as she cut her eyes to me. She knew everyone but Lyla heard her.
Lyla crossed her arms. “Seriously, Mama, I’m not moving, and you can’t make me.”
Her father chuckled. “Isn’t that the truth. We just worry about you, baby.”
Chapter Twenty
“You’re late,” Corbin said from behind his desk. The entire room was packed. My uncle sat in the corner; he looked tired and had aged twenty years. It surprised me to see Lyla’s parents there. Tallulah was there as well as several wolves that I didn’t recognize.
I wanted to go to my uncle, but that wasn’t an option right now. I sat in the only empty chair left, directly across from Corbin. “I’ll get a new watch.”
“Your ass needs a cellphone.” Jonathon frowned. “Now that Jack has graced us with his presence, we can get started. We have a few things to get through in today’s meeting. First up, Tallulah Beckett of the Montana pack is requesting entry into our pack.” Jonathon looked up from the paper to Tallulah then to Corbin. “As much as we’d love to have you, I’m not sure your pack is going to release you without a fight.”
Tallulah stood and straightened her dress with her hands. “They have released me. I have a written notice from my father.” She held up the note in her hand, voice shaking. “They are considering me defiled.”
I looked at her, confused. I knew my brother had raped her, but that wasn’t her fault. Then I realized.
“You’re pregnant? How would you know already?” I blurted.
“I am. My father made me see a witch who used a talisman. She confirmed it.” She trembled.
Jonathon cocked his head. “You’re keeping it?”
Tallulah stood taller. “I am.”
I stood and reached out, pulling her into a hug. She’d been through so much and it surprised me she would go through with having the baby. It would be a reminder of what she’d gone through. As much as I wanted to hate my brother, I couldn’t. A part of me still missed who he’d once been, and a very selfish part of me was happy for this extension of my family. “The Northeastern/Canterbury pack can petition for you to join their pack.”
Out of my peripheral, I saw Corbin fold his hands tighter.
She looked down. “I’d much rather be here.”
Corbin leaned back in his chair. “We’re happy to have you, Tallulah. Welcome to the pack.”
Jonathon looked down to his paper and back to me. “Next up is Jack Harrington.”
My uncle stood and walked over beside Corbin. “Jack, it’s time to come home and claim your pack.”
I shifted in my seat. “I’m not going back.” Marcus frowned. How many times had I told them I wasn’t going back? I was done with the pack. I wasn’t going to lead.
Corbin blew out. “I believe you are making a mistake.” The room erupted in loud whispers.
I shook my head. “I’ll give the pack over to my mother, but it will have to be here. I’m not stepping foot on English soil.” The truth was, I didn’t trust her.
Uncle Marcus pinched his nose. “She won’t like this, not one bit.”
Mum never had liked much of what I did, but I had the upper-hand, and I was going to use it. “She’ll come. If she does, then there will be a struggle for power because I’m not going back.”
His lips pressed together. “Fine, she’ll come.”
“Will one week from today work? It will give us time to get ready,” Corbin said.
Uncle Marcus nodded. I was glad to get this out of the way, but not exactly happy to be seeing my mother. She was queen of guilt trips and would punish me for my decision.
Jonathon leaned against the desk. “One final thing on the docket today. The Johnsons are seeking a promise from us as a condition of allowing their daughter Lyla to remain in our territory.”
I turned to look at her parents. Mrs. Johnson’s eyes bore into me while her father gave an apologetic shrug.
Corbin wrinkled his brow. “Okay.”
Odecir laughed from the
corner. “Aren’t we allowing her here? Why must we promise?”
“Shh,” Jonathon snapped. “What would you like from us?”
Mr. Johnson stood. He was large even amongst a room full of shifters. “My daughter wants to stay here. My wife wants her to come home, but I know Lyla would be miserable.”
Mrs. Johnson stood, pursing her lips. “I want to make sure she doesn’t become romantically involved with a wolf, at least not one outside our pack.” She looked directly at me, her nose wrinkled.
Corbin’s eyes cut to me. “I don’t think that will be a problem. I’ll reassign someone else to watch Lyla, and Jack will have no more contact with her.”
Mr. Johnson shifted from side to side. “I actually want Jack to continue to watch Lyla. I know that he’d do anything to protect her.” He gave me a tight smile.
“Really, Jared?” Mrs. Johnson had her hands on her hips, glaring.
He looked down at his wife, then back to Corbin. “But I need a promise that Jack won’t pursue Lyla.”
Everyone had their eyes on me. My chest tightened. I loved her. I’d known from the moment I first saw her that she was special, and my wolf knew she was mine. But even I knew it couldn’t go anywhere. Not if I wanted to remain in this pack.
"I promise.”
Mrs. Johnson tossed her hands. “What about Lyla pursuing him? Have you thought of that? You want to deal with a heartbroken girl?” She crossed her arms.
Jonathon leaned over, whispering in Corbin’s ear. Corbin’s face lit up with a smile, and Jonathon smirked.
“Jack, do you wish to continue to watch Lyla?”
I furrowed my brow, he knew I did. “Yes.”
Corbin leaned back and folded his hands. “We have an idea that will make everyone happy.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“This is fucking ridiculous.” I took a deep breath. I fucking hated Jonathon, but Corbin said this was the only way.
Submission MMA Shifter Urban Fantasy: (The Unleashed Book 1) Page 9
