by J. E. Cluney
And I sure as hell hoped that I didn't get my dick cut off in the meantime.
7
Jaye.
I sat in the car with Nathan while Neema sat in the backseat. I glared at the road as the old truck rounded the corners, my inner 'wolf howling inside. These deserters were after Tay, and they intended to kill her. God knows what they wanted to do to her beforehand though.
I growled softly at that thought. I'd kill them before they even got close to her.
I'd never let someone hurt her like Richard had.
I’d make sure of it.
I intended to speak with Lawrence about stepping down from my prized position of beta to be by her side instead. So I could protect her and provide for her.
This thing with Ray was mildly frustrating, as things were working fine before. But he had saved her and taken care of her, which Nathan and Scott made sure to point out.
It still didn't mean I was enthused by his new place with us at Tay's side. I wasn't even sure I fully trusted him, even if he'd taken on Richard for her.
But I was told I had trust issues.
"She'll be fine, she's got the Pack there, she's got Scott," Neema assured us.
I glanced over at Nathan, at the vein jumping in his jaw and at the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
We could only relax once we knew for sure.
Tay was a good fighter, but she couldn't dodge bullets.
We drove in silence for what felt like forever, the only sound was the tires on the asphalt and the truck groaning with each rising crest. Why Chris had such a useless truck was beyond me as it struggled with the slightest of slopes. He could easily upgrade, the Pack funds could afford it and it’d be a hell of a lot better to have.
As we reached the main road into the ranch, Neema's phone sounded off, blaring into the tense silence like an ugly parrot.
"Hey Tay, everything okay?" Neema asked as she sat back in her seat with the phone pressed against her ear.
I glanced back at her, my stomach churning as she scowled, her eyes narrowing as she listened to Tay.
“All right. Just stay calm, we're about ten minutes away,” she said, shooting me a worried look.
Great. Just fucking great. Of course something was wrong.
"What's going on?" I asked instantly, clenching my fists as my mind jumped to the deserters. Were they attacking the lodge?
“Scott? Shit, okay. They’ve got Beth and Mary too,” Neema gritted her teeth as Tay’s muffled voice came through the phone.
"You can't go up there alone. They'll kill you," Neema hissed, cutting Tay off.
"Whatever it is, wait for us!" Nathan called over his shoulder.
“I know you’re worried for them, but that’s what they want. They want to hurt you Tay, make you suffer. If you go up there, I can’t even imagine what they have planned,” Neema’s voice rose as she tried to talk Tay out of doing something stupid.
Nathan shot me a frustrated look. How we both wanted to know what the hell was going on.
I bit my tongue from snapping at Neema to share with us what the hell was happening.
“Tay, please wait, we can figure something out, we need to think about this, how best to approach this so no one gets hurt,” Neema tried to reason.
I could just picture Tay stressing out, freaking over what was the right call. From the sounds of it, the deserters were holding Scott and the women, demanding some kind of trade perhaps.
How’d they even get their hands on Scott?
“Fuck!” Neema growled as she tossed the phone on the seat beside her. “She hung up.”
“What’s going on?!” I demanded answers as Nathan growled softly.
“They’ve got Scott and Ray, along with Beth, Mary, and a couple who owned the cabin they took over. They’ve shot Scott with a silver bullet and are planning to kill Ray. They want her to go alone to meet them. They’ve got guns and lookouts, and they’ve threatened to kill Beth if she doesn’t go alone,” Neema said, exasperated as she ran a hand through her short hair and huffed.
“She better not fucking go, they’ll string her up,” Nathan snarled.
“Scott will suffer from poisoning soon if he doesn’t get help. She’s worried for him and Beth, they’ve threatened to hurt her,” Neema said as Nathan slammed his foot on the accelerator. “Not to mention they’ve stated they want to kill Ray for his treachery.”
I clung to the door as the truck lurched forward, my nails lengthening into claws as panic washed over me momentarily.
Tay could be reckless. And these men had guns. They’d kill her with ease, even if she’d done all that Huntress training.
“Where is she going? We have to stop her, she’ll die if she goes,” I barked, my wolf howling for release. I could feel it churning and flailing inside me, begging to take over, seeping through a little.
Why would Tay do something so stupid?
No, I knew why. Tay would not let others suffer for her. She was no coward, and she wouldn’t let others take the fall for her. She couldn’t just sit by while Scott suffered, and she wouldn’t let anyone suffer the same fate she had. Especially not Beth.
Those bastards. Fuck, I’d kill them once we got there. They’d hurt Bianca, and Mary. And who knows if they’d hurt Beth.
“She said Fiona and David’s place. Apparently it’s up near Firestone Ridge, I should be able to get us there, I studied the map a fair bit, there’s only one cabin up that way,” Neema said as she chewed her lip. “I’m calling Lawrence, he needs to know about this.”
I cursed as Neema snatched up her phone and dialed quickly.
I ignored her conversation with Lawrence, my mind focused on Tay. What was she planning to do? Just march in there alone?
They’d have their way with her first like the sick bastards they were. They’d fuck her and slice her up, taking their sweet time and savoring it, probably making Scott and the women watch.
My stomach dropped as I realized that could be her plan. Distract them while the cavalry arrived.
“Have you got the Pryce Pack number?” I asked as I swiveled in my seat once Neema had ended her conversation with Lawrence. From the barks through the phone, he was mighty pissed.
“Yes, I’ll get them to head up there too. Ask for them to round up any guns they can find. We need to do this right and with no casualties,” Neema said as she punched in another number.
Guns. We needed them. Why ‘wolves still stuck to the old ways was beyond me. We needed to evolve with the times.
“I hope Scott’s okay, and Ray,” Nathan murmured as he focused on the road.
“Well, he was shot,” I said sarcastically, my yellow eyes glinting back at me in the side mirror as I glared out the window.
We’d come to one of the gates, manned by whom I assumed was a Pryce Pack member considering he wore a big leather jacket. Neema had told us about these muscle for hire ‘wolves. Good fighters apparently.
Neema rolled down the window as Nathan slowed enough for her to call out to the man.
He nodded and opened the gate for us, and we floored it through, gravel and dirt flying up behind us.
I bit my lip, my lengthened canines piercing through and drawing blood. Not that I cared right now.
My only concern was Tay.
And tearing those motherfuckers to pieces.
8
My heart shattered when the man who called himself Pearce called through on Ray’s phone.
Scott’s cries had crushed me, and then I heard Beth and Mary.
I couldn’t let them get hurt. Not on my account.
I pursed my lips as tears stung my eyes, and Brian gave me a concerned look, one that turned to fury and uncertainty as he pieced together what was going on.
Pearce had made his demands before hanging up, and I had little choice left.
“Shit, what do we do?” Brian murmured as I dropped my arm to my side, the phone like a frozen brick in my hand.
“I go to them, or they
die,” I murmured, hating the defeat in my voice.
Even if I went up there with the entire Pack behind me, people would die.
They had guns, and not just that, they had silver bullets too.
And Scott would succumb to poisoning soon if left untreated.
“They’ll kill you, and how do you know they’ll even let the others go?” Brian said as he gave me a bewildered look.
“I have to trust they will. I don’t doubt they’ll kill them if I don’t go,” I said. But my voice sounded distant, like I wasn’t even fully there now. I was too worried, scared for the others.
All I was thinking was of how all this started. How Richard had demanded me to be his mate.
Now those I loved had their lives on the line.
“They’ll usurp you and take your title, then this Pack is back to square one,” Brian snarled, disbelieving that I was actually considering this.
“No. My father would not allow it. As the Area Enforcer, he’d make sure things were set right,” I said firmly. My father would avenge me, as well as my boys.
But was I really ready to die?
To trade my life?
Beth’s sweet face, her vibrant laughter as she watched the kids play on the Fundays, it rang through my mind clear as a bell.
I’d not let such a sweet, innocent girl die.
“You shouldn’t go alone. Have backup ready, call them in when it’s clear,” Brian suggested, but I just shook my head.
“They’ll kill them if they sense I’m not alone.”
I raised the phone, dialing my Aunt. If anyone could come to my rescue unseen, it was her. I’d let her know what was going on, and pray she’d make it in time.
I’d fight if I could, but I doubted they’d let their guards down. They’d use my friends and lovers as insurance.
I couldn’t see any other way this could play out.
Neema was not impressed, and grew agitated as I tried to explain to her why I had to go. Time was of the essence, and I was out of it.
I ended up switching the phone off as she was still trying to plead with me to wait.
At least she knew now, and she’d come.
I just hoped that wasn’t a mistake.
“Did you bring your car?” I asked as I turned to Brian. He scowled and glared out into the darkness as he sighed.
“It’s over behind the trees. I still think this is stupid.”
“They’ve got Ray, Fiona, and David. If I do nothing, they all die,” I reminded him.
His shoulders sagged, and he nodded solemnly, understanding my issue.
“I’ll leave you my phone, call the Patrol. John and Quinn deserve to know about their parents. Tell them what’s going on though,” I said as I offered him my phone.
“Okay,” he mumbled as he accepted the phone. “Good luck.”
I nodded, turning back towards the lodge and biting my lip.
Should I tell Regina of the change of plans? Should I tell her about Ray?
No. She was resting with Ruben, and I’d only worry her madly. I would handle this.
“Can I have your keys?”
Brian’s clunky old 4x4 rumbled and sputtered as I climbed the steep slopes to Fiona and David’s cabin. My heart hammered in my chest, and adrenaline coursed through me, making me shift and flex my fingers with pent up energy.
I hoped Ray was okay. They’d threatened to kill him first. Surely they didn’t mean that, he was a bargaining chip after all.
But so were the others.
My heart choked in my throat as the old cruiser struggled with the climb.
Hell, I wasn’t too far off, it’d be faster on foot now.
I pulled off the road and pulled the handbrake on hard, cursing the old hunk of junk as I abandoned it.
Then I was running, pumping my legs as I followed the old worn track, thoughts of Richard atop me and of Scott and Ray covered in blood filling my mind.
I couldn’t lose them.
I wouldn’t.
Beth couldn’t suffer the same way I had.
The pines flew by me, and I was vaguely aware that my newfound power was assisting me in this mad dash. I was sprinting faster than ever before.
But I was more focused on what lay in wait for me.
The cabin came into view as I rounded the next bend, and I stumbled and came to a stop as a shout rose up.
“Hold it right there, bitch!”
I instinctively held my hands up non-threateningly as I searched for the owner of the voice. My keen eyes tracked over the pines and along the porch.
There, in the window, masked by a curtain as the barrel of his rifle sat on the windowsill, pointed at me.
“I came alone,” I called out.
No response greeted me, but I dare not move. I remained frozen in place, taut and on edge as I drew in the cool night air in steadying breaths.
Was Ray okay? What about Scott? Mary, and Beth? Fiona, David?
I wanted to demand answers, but I was in no place for that.
I sensed the presence behind me moments before he stepped into the clearing and called out.
“She’s alone!” was the shout from behind me as the man trudged up, his heavy boots crunching on the rocky drive.
“Richard was planning on sharing you with us, until you fucked that up,” the man spat as he drew up behind me.
I turned my head to draw in his scent, but I was in the dark as to who he was.
Well, there went my belief that Richard wouldn’t have shared his mate. Glad that hadn’t come around.
I quivered as he jammed the barrel of a rifle into my lower back.
“Walk. Try anything and one of us will shoot you,” he growled.
A second man joined him from the shadows of the pines, and he took up a position on the porch as I was marched inside.
The first thing I noticed was the scent of blood and death, and my chest tightened as my stomach flipped.
“Good job, Quentin.”
That voice I recognized, and I scowled as my eyes fell on the man seated at the table. A lanky man with an angular face, he made me think instantly of a putrid ghoul.
My eyes drifted past him to the body on the floor, and a mixture of sorrow and relief washed over me.
It wasn’t one of my boys.
But David was still dead.
Blood seeped from the back of his head, running along the cracks in the wooden floor.
His eyes were wide open, clouded over and unseeing, while his lips had started to turn blue.
And they’d just left him there. Not covered him or anything.
Sadistic bastards.
Another man stood to the side, and the scent of sex surrounded him.
Mary’s scent lingered on him, and I gritted my teeth as I bit my tongue from cursing him. He’d pay for what he’d done to her. They all would.
“You said my life for theirs,” I said as I planted my feet firmly apart, my eyes bouncing off the three men around me. There was one out on the porch too. So where was the fifth?
“I did say that,” Pearce smirked as his dark eyes trailed over me in a way that made my skin seethe.
“But how do I know that if I start letting them go, your men won’t come barging in here and put us down?” Pearce said as he took a swig of beer.
“I told them to stand down,” I growled.
“You came alone, that’s good. But we’ve got plans for you, and once we’ve had some fun, we intend to get out of here alive. So we need insurance for that,” he said as he shrugged.
My body stiffened as the man behind me, Quentin, lowered his gun and moved closer, inhaling my scent as he brushed my fiery red curls away from my neck.
Just as he was doing that, the door to my right swung open, and the fifth man leaned against the doorframe leading into the room.
I relaxed as I spied Beth, Mary, and Fiona, all alive and looking terrified.
But then the man sneered and moved away from the doorway, and I could see Scott chaine
d to the bed head on the left side of the bed.
And he did not look good.
He was struggling to breathe as the veins in his neck darkened and spread while sweat plastered his shirt against him. The poisoning had set in.
“Caleb, why don’t you bring Ray out here?” Pearse suggested as he smirked at me.
The man who had come through the bedroom doorway nodded as he headed back in. He moved to the right side of the bed where I couldn’t see, and I heard chains rattling as he unbound Ray.
Ray groaned as Caleb heaved him to his feet, and ice ran through me as he was thrust through the doorway.
A knife jutted from his shoulder, and the obvious burning flesh made my nose scrunch.
Those animals.
“We were planning to cut his dick off,” Caleb said as he grinned over Ray’s shoulder. “But I wanted to see how he’d react to us having some fun with you.”
I growled softly as Quentin’s hot breath washed over my neck.
Four men were in this room now with Ray and I. And one was on the porch. The only way into the back room was through the kitchen. And only Quentin and the original man from the window had guns. The first man was still keeping a lookout.
Good.
Maybe I could use this.
I didn’t fight it as Quentin shoved me against the table and bent me over it.
“I wanted first go,” Caleb pouted, which resulted in Ray snarling.
This earned him a harsh shove to the floor by Caleb.
I shoot him a look, pleading with him to go along with this. I needed to protect everyone.
Ray just stared at me with pain and frustration as Quentin undid his jeans.
I gritted my teeth as his hands slid around my waist to find the button and zipper on my own jeans.
I turned my head, staring hard at Pearse as he sat just out of reach at the end of the table, smirking and swigging his beer.
He had a handgun laid out before him on the table too, just out of reach as well.
I’d have to time this perfectly if I was to get this right.
I grimaced as Quentin’s hands finally undid my zipper, and he harshly yanked my pants down as he used his other arm to keep me bent over the table.
