by Kim Fox
“That’s my wand,” she hissed as she glared at him.
General Hunt looked confused. “I don’t understand…” He flicked his wrist toward her, but the magic energy passed harmlessly over her like water flowing around a rock.
“You think my mom would have given me that wand without making me immune to the magic first? If not, I would have killed myself a long time ago.”
General Hunt tried again, but it was as useless as the first time.
Tempest pulled back the golden ax as she narrowed her eyes on his wrist. With a grunt, she threw it hard. It cartwheeled through the air and sliced through his wrist, cutting the General’s hand clean off.
“Arrghh!” he screamed as he stumbled backward, staring at the bloody stump that used to be his hand. He tripped and fell back, landing on his ass as the magical hold released and everyone fell to their feet, free.
Tempest rushed over to grab her wand from the severed hand.
“Ew…” she said with a disgusted face as she pried open the stiff fingers to pull out the wand. “So gross!”
She stomped on the attachment, breaking it off, and then took a breath of relief as she pointed it at the cowering General.
“Any more tricks up your sleeve?” she asked as the large group of pissed off shifters joined her.
Kara heard the rip of a shifter phasing, but couldn’t see who it was.
The crowd parted and a black panther stepped out, snarling as she faced Hunt.
The General’s eyes widened in panic. His face was pale and he was clutching his bloody stump to his chest.
“I did all of this for the greater good!” he shouted with a hint of panic in his voice. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice the pawns for the checkmate. It’s part of the game!”
“Well,” Grant said in a low voice. “We’re flipping the board.”
He nodded to his mate Amélie and the panther crouched forward.
“Stop!” Hunt screamed. “I’ll let your families go if you—”
The panther lunged on him and Kara turned away as screams and growls filled the room. Strong comforting arms wrapped around her and she breathed in Mack’s scent as he held her tightly.
He whispered sweet words into her ear until the struggling stopped and General Hunt was dead.
“Did you mean what you said before?” she asked him. “About loving me?”
He kissed her softly on the lips and held her close. “I did and I do. I love you and I’ll never stop.”
She smiled up at him as Hardy and her father came rushing over.
Mack respectfully took a few steps back as Kara’s father and her brother knelt down to check on her, but Kara grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Stay,” she said to him. “You’re part of the family now too.”
Mack and Hardy looked at each other and Kara could feel the thick tension in the air.
She held her breath as Mack reached out and offered his hand.
Hardy looked down at it and then pulled him in for a hug.
Tears filled Kara’s eyes as she watched her mate and her brother making up. It was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay.
She looked at her father and smiled. He had a black eye, but he’d be okay too.
He was already smiling as he helped her up to her feet. “Let’s go free your mother and your sisters.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kara
People were fleeing everywhere as Kara watched DeMarcus hugging his boy Tristan. Tears were streaming down the polar bear shifter’s face as he was finally reunited with his little cub.
Emotions were running high all around her as Hardy was finally reunited with their mother and two sisters, Henley and Bethany, and she couldn’t help but get caught up in it all. She felt a lump in her throat when her big brother picked up their mother in a hug and spun her around.
The two crews had run through the two compounds, taking out the guards and destroying all of the locked doors. Bryce led the way, making short work of anyone who opposed them.
Most of the guards either joined in to help them free the prisoners or they fled off into the forests. The ones who did stay to fight didn’t last long.
Mack told her that when they arrived in the lab to free the enhanced shifters, one of them broke the window and they all leapt out and fled into the forests. Grant ordered everyone to let them go.
Ryder and Tempest were with one of the freed prisoners who was a licensed pilot. They were loading the civilians into General Hunt’s private jet and were about to take off and head to the mainland of the United States.
Kara wished that they could all go with them, but there just wasn’t enough room. They’d be making the long drive back all together and letting the families get out of here as fast as they could.
The remaining prisoners were loaded up into stolen pickup trucks and Humvees they had found around the facility and were going to drive back to wherever they had come from.
“Any sign of her?” Caelum asked in a panic as he looked around.
He still hadn’t found his girlfriend, Holly. Not everybody was here. There were dozens of compounds like this around the country and she could be in any one of them.
Irish couldn’t find his cousin Shannon either. All of the cells had been opened and searched and she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“They’re not here,” Irish said, dropping his shoulders in defeat.
Caelum bit his lip as he looked around with watery eyes. “It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair.”
Just then, Grant and Bryce walked into the hallway. Grant was holding a laptop under his arm.
“Bryce hacked into the mainframe computer and got the locations of all the other compounds,” he said.
“Is Holly in there?” Caelum asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. “Holly Bell?”
“I don’t know,” Grant answered. “But we’ll find her.”
Hardy and DeMarcus gathered around Irish and Caelum, offering them support as they realized the truth: the search for their loved ones wasn’t over yet.
“Where are you guys headed to now?” Grant asked when they were all outside.
Hardy and his friends all looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. Kara didn’t know them too well, but she saw how tight they were and had a feeling they wouldn’t want to split up.
“You can come to Redemption Creek, Montana,” the alpha offered. “Old man Capone croaked in his sleep a few weeks ago. His kids are trying to sell his land, The Capone Ranch.”
Hardy raised an eyebrow as he looked at his crew. “The Capone Ranch, huh? It’s got a nice ring to it.”
“The Capone Crew,” Irish said with a grin. “I like it.”
They all nodded as they thought about it.
Kara was standing beside Mack and Logan and could overhear them whispering.
“The dragons won’t like that,” Logan muttered.
Mack shook his big head. “Nope.”
Kara wanted to ask them what they were talking about—dragons?—but General Hunt’s plane suddenly took off nearby and everyone looked up into the sky as the majority of the civilians were finally free.
“That’s all of them,” Ryder announced when he and Tempest returned. “The place is empty.”
“Good,” Bryce said with a hard voice as he walked over to it. Logan had collected some barrels of gasoline and piled it near the door. Bryce grabbed them and tossed them in through a window. Once they were all leaking inside and spreading through the hallways, Bryce lit a match and tossed it inside.
The building caught fast and they all had to back up as the flames spread and soared up floor by floor. Kara watched Bryce as he walked back over. He seemed to be back to normal, but when she went over to talk to him, something strange happened.
“Are you okay?” she asked in a soft voice.
He nodded as he turned to her, but for a split second his eyes flashed back to that sinister green. As quickly as it came, it was gone, and Bryce was looking do
wn at her with kind golden eyes.
He seemed normal, but those green eyes had given her cold chills.
She watched him as he walked away, wondering about him.
“That’s a huge fire!” Tristan said as he stared up at the burning building.
“It’s not big enough,” DeMarcus said as he watched it burn.
He was holding his seven-year-old son in his big arms, looking like he was never going to put him down. That didn’t seem to bother Tristan in the least. He kept looking over at his father in awe.
Kara was watching the kid when his brow furrowed. “Where were you all this time, Dad?” Tristan asked.
DeMarcus’s shoulders quivered as he held his son tightly. “I know it’s hard to understand, but I was trying to keep you safe.”
Tristan looked at him with a big smile on his face. “You did a good job.”
A tremendous weight looked like it was lifted off of DeMarcus’s huge shoulders as he looked at his son. “Really?”
Tristan nodded and then hugged his father, wrapping his scrawny arms around his thick neck. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, son,” DeMarcus said as he hugged him back. “And I won’t ever leave you again. I promise.”
Mack stepped closer to Kara as they watched the building burn. “You okay?” she asked.
He looked down at her and smiled. “I am now.”
Kara brought him to meet her mother and two sisters. Hardy wasn’t leaving their side.
“You and Hardy are friends?” her mother asked Mack.
“Yeah,” Mack said with a proud nod of his head. “Good friends.”
Hardy smiled back and shot Kara a wink.
They watched as the building burned, but when large pieces began crumbling down, Kara’s father got a little nervous. “Should we leave?”
Mack nodded. “Let’s go. I owe the Capone Crew a drink.”
Kara laughed as she watched Mack approaching with the beers. He was holding over a dozen large mugs and looking like he should be working at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Hardy and his friends, Kara’s family, and the Bounty Hunter crew were all back at the bar in the bowling alley, having a much-needed drink.
Mack slid her the first beer, then the second to his alpha. Bryce got the third beer and then everyone helped themselves to the rest.
“Wait!” Logan said, staring at Bryce with narrowed eyes. “Do you have ID? You’re not twenty-one!”
“He looks like it now,” Ryder said with a laugh.
He definitely looked over twenty-one. Bryce was tall with thick strong muscles and was pretty damn hot.
“I think he deserves a beer,” Mack said, slapping Bryce’s shoulder.
Grant nodded with a smile on his face. “Me too.”
They all raised their mugs and clinked them together as the sound of bowling balls slamming into pins clacked in the background.
“Hey, Mack,” Bryce said with a grin as he flexed his big bicep. “Wanna arm-wrestle?”
Logan and Ryder laughed.
“You’re going to lose now, big man,” Amélie said as she leaned forward in excitement.
“Actually,” Mack said as he leaned back in the booth. “I was just about to announce my retirement as the undefeated arm-wrestling champion of Clayton Rock Ranch.”
Bryce grinned as he shook his head. “Timing is convenient.”
Mack chuckled as he took a sip of beer. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
Chapter Eighteen
Mack
The Clayton Rock Ranch was covered in snow when they finally returned home. It was a beautiful snowy December day and the ranch looked like the inside of a snow globe with the light dusting of snowflakes on the tree branches and the fat flakes slowly drifting down from the sky.
Mack could have kissed Elodie and her mother Louise when he saw them waiting with a welcome tray full of Baileys coffees and freshly baked muffins. They handed them out to everyone after the initial kisses and hugs.
“That’s Bryce?” Mack heard Elodie whispering to Logan. “I thought you said he was a kid.”
“Long story,” Logan answered before landing another fat wet kiss on her lips.
Mack smiled as he turned to his sweet girl who was looking around the ranch in wonder. She looked more beautiful than ever with the fat snowflakes in her golden brown hair. “This is your home?” She looked up at the tall mountains surrounding the property with a look of awe.
Mack could feel his stomach fluttering as he studied her face. He wanted her to like it so badly.
“Wait until you see it in the summer,” he said with his voice racing. “There’s a big in-ground pool over there with a nice bar. Logan wanted to sell the pool, but I told him that it was a stupid idea. That’s my cabin and we’re about a twenty-minute drive into town.”
His heart was beating so hard when he turned back to her. “So?” He gulped. “Do you like it?”
Mack was trying to read her still face as she looked around. Finally, her amber eyes settled on him. “I love it,” she said, sounding breathless. “It’s perfect.”
Mack felt so light and giddy that he was worried he might float away at any second. “Really?”
His sweet girl stepped on her toes and kissed his lips. “Really. And I love you.”
Mack still couldn’t believe that this sweet angel was his mate. Maybe he wasn’t so bad of a guy after all…
Tempest came out of the new recording studio holding Sloth in her arms. The fat orange cat didn’t look happy to see anyone. He looked annoyed and pissed off to have been woken up, to be outside, to be alive.
“Sloth!” Amélie squealed before she ran over and started petting him. Mack wasn’t sure if cats could roll their eyes, but it seemed like Sloth could.
Bryce was beside one of the trucks, pulling some of the bags out. “I’ll be right back,” Mack whispered to Kara when he spotted him.
He walked over and put a hand on the boy’s round shoulder. Mack noticed that his muscles felt incredibly hard like a thick tight rope. “Welcome home, twerp.”
Bryce turned and smiled at him, but his eyes looked strained and there was a tightness in his jaw. Mack had thought that the boy would be happy to be home, but Bryce looked a little bit off—like everything had changed for him.
“Are you okay?”
Bryce nodded with a tight smile.
A brand new sports car raced onto the ranch and they both turned to watch it as it swerved to a stop in the snow. Bryce’s sister Abigail jumped out and looked around with a frantic look on her face. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open when she spotted her brother who looked radically different.
“Bryce?” she whispered as she stood behind her open car door like it was a shield. “Is that really you?”
He smiled at her. “Hi, Abigail.”
“Your voice is so deep.” She looked like she was afraid to go to him so he went to her.
“I’ve changed a little, but it’s still me.”
Abigail stared into his eyes for a long moment as he walked forward. She suddenly closed the door and ran up to meet him. There were tears in her eyes as she jumped into his arms.
Mack felt a lump in his throat as he watched.
“This place is full of love,” Kara said as she stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She let out a sexy little moan as her hands slid to a stop on his abs. Mack slid his hands over hers, holding them in place.
“Please stay,” he whispered to her. Her parents and sisters had returned to their home in Maine, but her brother Hardy was staying in Redemption Creek. His crew was planning on taking over The Capone Ranch. Mack desperately wanted her to stay too. “I know it doesn’t have much, but please stay.”
Kara stepped around him and reached up to touch his face. She stroked his jaw as she gazed up into his worried eyes. “It has everything. It has you.”
The worries seemed to drift away as he looked down at her. He kissed her long and deeply, wanting nothi
ng more the entire time than to throw her over his shoulder and carry her to his cabin to put a baby in her.
“So, you’ll stay?” he asked when they finally pulled away.
Kara was looking dizzy and lightheaded after that kiss. She put a hand on his chest to steady herself. “Yeah,” she said with a giggle. “I’ll stay.”
Mack pointed to his cabin in the distance. “That one is mine. I’ll get the bags out of the truck and while I do, I want you to go into my bedroom, take off all of your clothes, get under the sheets, and wait for me.”
Her white cheeks turned pink as she licked her lips. She grinned as she leaned in close to his ear. “Don’t take too long,” she whispered.
Mack watched her as she skipped to the cabin and wondered how he had gotten so lucky.
He was getting the bags out of the truck when Grant came over to see him.
“It feels good to be home,” Grant said.
Mack nodded. “I’m just happy I have an understanding alpha who’s letting me come back.”
Grant smiled at him. “This will always be your home, Mack. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He took a breath of relief as he looked at his alpha. “Thanks, Grant.”
Grant had a grin on his face as he raised an eyebrow. “I’m just upset that I didn’t get to kick your ass.”
Mack jerked his head back in surprise.
“I always wondered how I’d fair in a fight against the great Mack and his wild cat.”
“I would have gone easy on you,” Mack answered with a laugh.
Grant joined in the laughter as he slapped Mack’s back. “Good. I was worried I would have been embarrassed in front of my mate.”
They hugged it out and let it slide. The incident just became another part of The Clayton Rock Bounty Hunters’ long history and wasn’t something to dwell on. It was all blue skies up ahead.
Mack smiled until he saw Bryce talking to Abigail.
Their bodies were tight and she looked concerned as she listened.
