by V. A. Dold
“Thank you, Isaac. If you ever need my assistance, all you need do is get word to me.” She gave him a regal nod, snapped her fingers and disappeared along with the swampers.
Suddenly, Thomas spun to face the direction of The Backwater, shifted and tore off like a bat out of hell.
*****
Everyone was momentarily stunned. Tim wasn’t supposed to be able to enter the state. Etienne had cursed him so his manly bits and pieces would fall off if he ever tried. How was this possible?
Julia stared at the now empty doorway. This wasn’t a joke and it looked like a fight was headed their way. She leapt the bar and rushed the door; no one was going to threaten a pregnant woman, especially her mother–in–law. Not on her watch.
The slap and clank of mops and brooms hitting the floor echoed around the large, empty, space.
Emma, Rose, Krystal, and El watch Julia clear the door frame ready to do battle, but, instead of a fist hitting flesh, they heard a cry of pain followed by silence.
“Anna! Julia!” Emma cried. This couldn’t be happening. All three women skidded to a halt as they crossed into the fading light of day. Julia lay unconscious at a hideous man’s feet, and Anna whimpered in fear as she was held as a shield in front of him.
“Goddess! Does he have leprosy or something?” Rose whispered to El.
“No,” Emma answered, anger lacing her tone. “Etienne cursed him for abusing Anna, and what you see is the punishment for disobeying his orders. I imagine he is in a world of hurt as his private parts mummify and begin to fall off.”
The women gasped at Emma’s description of his condition. But there was no time to hesitate, Anna was in danger and the stress of the situation could put her into labor.
“Get back!” Tim demanded, and he pressed the gun he held harder into Anna’s temple.
“What is it you want, Mr. James,” Emma asked in a steady voice.
“I have what I want,” he spat as he forced Anna to move closer to the pier.
Suddenly a howl rose deep in the forest, long and mournful and moving toward them. Help was coming, and, from the sound of it, it was coming fast.
“Move it, bitch,” Tim snarled, pushing Anna towards his boat.
He hadn’t gone three steps when a monstrous, slathering wolf crashed from the forest. Growling menacingly, it paced around him as if looking for an opportunity to attack.
Tim was about to be seriously disappointed; there was no way he was moving another step with Thomas’s mother. And the site of Julia lying prone on the ground was the seal on his death warrant. Tim James would not see another day, today he would breathe his last breath on this earth.
This was about to get bloody, and Thomas was going to be the one bringing the pain. There was one small problem; first he needed his mother safe and Tim away from the women. He watched, uncaring as his father reposition the gun and pointed it at him. He didn’t care; he’d take a bullet if it gave the women the chance to get his mother away from his psychotic father.
Anna watched as her son, in wolf form, faced off with his father. She had to do something. She considered the consequences of head–butting Tim with a gun to her head. Would the gun go off, leaving Cade without his mate to follow her into death? She couldn’t have that, nor could she lose the baby she carried, and she certainly wouldn’t lose her son. She looked at Emma and her sisters–in–law, all who stood frozen and snarling, too afraid to move or shift for fear he would shoot her.
Tears of frustration welled in her eyes. She wasn’t one to allow another person to make her this helpless, but she also couldn’t put her baby in jeopardy. The wolf in her wanted to tear the idiot to shreds, regardless of the consequences. But her human side knew that wasn’t an option–it wasn’t worth the risk. No, she would have to watch for an opening before she could make her move.
Before she could formulate a plan, Tim removed the pressure of the gun barrel from her temple and pointed it at Thomas.
“No!” she cried, as a silenced gunshot popped next to her ear. She watched as Thomas staggered, and the sight of blood soaking his shoulder was more than she could take. As if on autopilot, her fury and instincts took over. She slammed her head back into his face. A loud crunch resounded behind her head, telling her she had hit her mark. Tim screamed in pain, releasing her to grasp his bloody, crushed nose with both hands.
Immediately, Emma jumped at the chance to rescue Anna, pulling and her away from Tim and shoving her behind her body. In the same instant, Rose and El grabbed Julia and drug her closer to the bar door and behind them while Krystal snatched the gun from the ground where Tim dropped it.
The sudden pain from the bullet graze on his shoulder triggered Thomas to shift back to human. He ignored the burning ache radiating from the gunshot wound; his mother and Julia were both safely away. Now he could get down to business.
Tim watched with an expression of horror on his face as the rabid wolf became his son. “What the hell are you?”
“Your worst nightmare,” Thomas replied in an ominously quiet tone. “You should’ve stayed in Vegas. Coming here was your first mistake, touching my mate, and my mother was your last.”
Tim’s head snapped to the right as Thomas smashed his fist into his jaw. Using his shifter speed, Thomas grabbed the front of Tim’s shirt and held him upright. He wasn’t done with this asswipe, and there was no way he was letting him go down that easy. Several more punches to the face and countless jabs to his midsection and Tim resembled a hanging beef carcass in a butcher shop. Blood cover both men and the ground around them. Between the sores and boils a la Etienne, a smashed nose compliments of Anna, and Thomas’s beating, his face was ground beef. The only injuries Thomas sustained, however, were bloodied knuckles and the bullet graze to his shoulder.
Thomas was done with this piece of shit. Julia still lay unmoving, and he needed to get to her. Jerking Tim’s unconscious body close, he wrapped his hands around his head and chin ready to snap his neck like a twig.
“Thomas, leave him to me,” Etienne said as he stepped from the forest. While Thomas had been using Tim as a punching bag, the search party had arrived.
Thomas didn’t acknowledge Etienne, so he spoke again. “I will hold him while you take care of your mate. See to her health, he isn’t going anywhere.”
He hesitated for a moment. He really wanted to end this bastard’s existence, but the need to care for Julia was stronger.
“He’s mine; no one else touches him.”
Roughly, he shoved Tim away from him and toward Etienne, and rushed to Julia’s side. He wrapped his arms around her, desperate to hear her breath and her heartbeat. She was alive, but why wouldn’t she open her eyes?
“Julia, baby, talk to me,” the agonized plea tore from his throat as he pulled her into his arms. She was so still–too still.
A pool of blood had formed under her head, and his fingers desperately felt for the wound so he could put pressure on it to stop the bleeding.
FUCK!
There wasn’t just a head wound; she had been shot in the back as well.
He couldn’t breathe, and tears blurred his vision. The only thing that held him together was the sound of her steady heartbeat.
“Mom, Grandma, help me!” he cried as he rocked her prone body.
“Don’t you dare die, Julia. Fight dammit! I need you to come back to me,” he begged as he laid Julia on her stomach to check the severity of the wound.
Thomas carefully searched every inch of his mate, but there was no exit wound to be found. The bullet was still inside Julia. There was no way they could move her by boat to reach an emergency room in her condition. Any medical attention would have to happen right here, right now, in these unsterile conditions.
Isaac put a gentle hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “Son, I know it’s difficult, but you need to let the women take care of her now. Stand up and take a step back. We’ll stay close in case the women need us.”
Reluctantly, Thomas kissed Julia’s cheek
and did as he was told. His wolf fought to stay with its fallen mate, and Thomas’s heart agreed, but in his mind he knew these women were her only hope.
Cade helped Anna kneel while Emma dropped to her knees on the other side of Julia. Quickly, the women assessed the situation.
“We need to get the bullet out first. Ladies, please place your hands on my back and shoulders and imagine energy flowing through you and into me. Some of you men, do the same for Anna,” Emma directed.
In a heartbeat, the yard was a blur of dashing shifters as men and women rushed to lend aid. Closing their eyes, Anna and Emma sent a stream of healing energy through Julia, focusing on forcing the bullet to exit, following the path it had forged.
Thomas thought he was going to lose his mind. The healers were taking too long. In reality, the women had only been working on Julia for a matter of minutes, but to him it was a lifetime. He watched as a heavy stream of blood was pushed from the wound followed by the spent bullet. In relief, he exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. That’s done. Now, get down to healing, dammit!
His mother and grandmother we’re putting everything that they had into healing his mate. Even with the extra energy flowing to them, it didn’t seem to be enough. The bullet was out, the wound closed, and the laceration to her head healed, why wasn’t she waking up?
“What’s wrong?” he asked in a terrified voice. “Fix her, please.”
Pale and swaying with weariness, Emma looked up at her grandson. “We’ve done all we can. She’s lost too much blood. I’m sorry, cher, all we can do is wait and hope to get her to a hospital on time.”
“No!” he wailed, fighting against the hold Isaac had on him.
“No!” he wailed, fighting against the hold Isaac had on him.
No one had noticed Petunia and Tulip wringing their hands in distress. Tulip turned to Petunia with tears streaming down her face. “Bring her, we need her now.”
Petunia vanished with a tiny pop and reappeared moments later with Lilli.
Lilli gasped when she saw Julia pale and almost lifeless lying on the ground. She was a bright, colorful streak through the air as she rushed to Julia’s aid.
“Please. Allow me to help.”
“Can you save her?” Thomas asked, desperate for Lilli to say yes.
“I can. I just need a moment of silence.”
The crowd became deathly still, with only the sound of breathing heard as everyone watched and prayed.
Thomas struggled with his frantic need to hold his mate, fear for her pushing him to his limit. Just when he couldn’t take another second, Julia’s eyes fluttered open, and she drew a deep breath.
Isaac released Thomas and step back allowing him to rush to his mate and assure himself she was, indeed, healed.
Thomas snatched her into his arms. “Thank Goddess. Don’t ever put me through that again! Are you okay, baby, does it hurt anywhere?”
Thomas was holding her so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Struggling, she pushed against his chest so she could draw a breath.
“You’re crushing me, Thomas.”
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry. I thought I’d lost you, I didn’t mean to squeeze so hard.”
Julia blinked at him as confusion set in. “What happened anyway? Anna said Tim was here and disappeared from sight. But that’s the last thing I remember.”
“Yeah. The bastard is over there. He shot you and hit you over the head with something. You almost died. We have my Mom, Grandmother, and Queen Lilli to thank for your life.”
He helped her to her feet and reassured himself that she was in fact healed before he turned toward Etienne and his father.
“Charles, would you please take care of Julia for me for a minute.”
Thomas waited for Charles to step forward and wrap an arm around his daughter before he turned toward Etienne.
Frowning in confusion, she watched as Thomas stalked menacingly up to the bloody man held by the vampire king.
“Bitch was supposed to die!” Tim hissed, bloody bubbles leaking from the corner of his mouth.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I would appreciate it if you held him upright by his arms for me,” Thomas said to Etienne in a calm voice that belied the red haze of fury churning within.
Etienne gave him a single nod. The one thing he couldn’t abide was seeing a woman disrespected or bullied, and if the offender abused the woman physically or emotionally, he died, no questions – no second chances. Tim would die this day, either by Thomas’s hand or his own. Anyone cowardly enough to victimize a weaker individual, especially a woman or child, deserved the most painful death conceivable. And if punishment was delivered by him – all the better. But this was Thomas’s kill, and he would respect that.
Then Thomas looked John directly in the eye and said. “This ends here. You okay with that?”
John nodded, swallowing an obvious lump in his throat. There was no redemption for their father, not after everything he’d done to them, especially to Thomas. He just hated the idea his brother would live with the guilt of their father’s death for the rest of his life. But he also knew Thomas needed to be the one to put him down. He needed the finality and closure that watching someone else executing Tim wouldn’t bring.
Ignoring the crowd around him, Thomas turned his attention back to his father.
“Ready to die, old man?”
Tim made a snide face and laughed. “You’re not going to kill me.”
Without another word, not a blink, not a goodbye, Thomas shifted his right hand to a wolf paw with lethal, sharp claws and slashed Tim. Slicing him from stem to stern. Blood gurgled from his mouth as his organs and intestines bulge through gaping, bloody gashes.
When his father’s chest rose in yet another breath, Thomas pulled his right paw back and sliced across Tim’s jugular. This piece of shit would never come after his family, ever again.
Thomas turned toward Julia; the mixture of relief and concern marring his handsome face stole her breath.
Chapter 17
Two weeks later
Lucas closed and locked the large doors on the back of the moving van. Much of their furniture and household items were being professionally moved, but some things Lucas didn’t trust to the movers, those he wanted to handle himself.
The entire family had gathered to say goodbye to Lucas and Krystal, and now stood around the van and assorted cars caravanning to the new ranch in the hill country of Texas. Well, all except Krystal’s mother, Lucinda, who refused to come. She was dead set against Krystal moving and had tried to force her to stay. In the end, Isaac had stepped in and overruled Lucinda, earning him an enemy in the family. Thankfully, Charles didn’t see things the way his wife did and had joined the group to kiss his baby girl goodbye and wish her well.
One by one, parents and siblings hugged them, acting like they were moving to the other side of the world instead of eight hours away. Finally, Emma stepped forward – she had waited at the back of the crowd until all the farewells had been said.
“Lucas, you’ve always taken care of Krystal like she was your sister. No doubt you’ll watch over her now. I packed you lunch and snacks for the road as well as drinks in the cooler. Please drive safely and call me when you get there.”
“I will, Mama, don’t worry. And I’ll keep Thomas and Julia out of trouble, too,” he indicated the couple behind him with his thumb over his shoulder, and then stage whispered. “You know how trouble tends to find them.”
Thomas chuckled as he whacked Lucas’s Stetson off his head. “I think I’ll be the one keeping you out of trouble with the local ranchers when you break their daughters’ hearts.”
After the attack at The Backwater, Thomas and Julia decided to take a vacation and help Lucas and Krystal move to the ranch and settle into their new home. A little change of scenery would do them both good and give them a chance to enjoy being newly mated without the day–to–day pressures of parents and Thomas’s security responsibilities.
&nbs
p; One by one, the van and cars drove down the long driveway and out of sight. Isaac tightened his arm around Emma as he glanced down and noticed a single tear rolling down her cheek. She always cried when her boys left on an adventure, but she never complained.
“Who’s ready for a barbecue?” He’d figured out a long time ago that if he planned a family gathering the night one of the boys left, Emma recovered from the loss more quickly.
Happy shouts of people prepared for a party echoed around the yard.
“Meet us on the back deck at three p.m. for sweet tea and cocktails,” Isaac shouted. Reaching for Emma, he walked hand and hand with the love of his life back to the house so she could collect herself in private.
*****
Krystal sat the last box of kitchen glassware on the granite countertop and stretched her back. That was the last of the breakables she had moved herself.
Now for food and household supplies; it had been a long drive to the ranch, but groceries weren’t going to buy themselves.
“Julia, are you up to going to the store with me? Mother Hubbard’s cupboards are bare, and I think it may take two carts to stock the kitchen.”
“Sure. I noticed Emma hid steaks and potato salad in the bottom of the cooler for dinner, but I won’t survive without coffee in the morning. Plus, I don’t even want to think about things like using the bathroom and finding there’s no toilet paper.”
“Let’s tell the guys where we’re going and head out before it gets dark. Lucas would never let me hear the end of it if I got lost on these country back roads and he had to call him to come find us.”
“I can hear him now,” Julia said, rolling her eyes.
Lucas and Thomas waved as the women left, then continued unloading the truck. They wanted to come along, but someone needed to stay at the ranch. The movers were scheduled to arrive this afternoon, and they would need instructions on where to place the furniture.
Lucas had lucked out, not only did he manage to find a large, usable cattle ranch for sale, but the existing dude ranch on the next spread was also for sale. So, he bought both and had a website designed. Everyone had been shocked when reservations began to pour in. Now, they only had four short weeks to prepare the main house and guest cabins before people started arriving at the dude ranch. Not to mention hiring cowboys, buying horses, and stocking the ranch with a herd.
