by Kimber White
I could feel him trying to reach out to me. Words blurred together in my head. He couldn’t make contact. As Rowan’s hair flew behind her, caressing my cheek, I knew the reason why. Just as she’d told me, something about her nature threw out interference. As I fled with her, ready to protect her, I realized she was doing far more to protect me.
She was fast. So fast. I ran at top speed and fell in lockstep behind her.
“Rowan, wait!” It could be a trap. The Pack knew where she lived. She didn’t listen. As we burst through the brush and down the little hill toward the cabin, an echo of Rowan’s terror slammed into my heart.
She slid to her knees. The door to the cabin swung wide open, ripped off its hinges again. Blood splattered across the threshold. My wolf flared hot. Rowan reached out, putting a hand on my shoulder, steadying me.
“Help me. Jagger, you have to help me!”
I threw myself in front of her. Whatever was on the other side of that porch, I didn’t want her to see it. The scent of blood and death sank into my pores. It was going to be bad. Very bad.
Rowan gave out a choked sound as she grabbed my arm and followed. The cabin was wrecked inside. Smashed windows, overturned furniture. Clothes and dishes scattered everywhere. At the center of the chaos, her Aunt Grace sprawled face down in front of the hearth, her yellow shirt torn open at the back from four great, bloody slash marks.
“Grace!” Rowan screamed. She skidded to her knees at Grace’s side.
“Don’t move her,” I said. “Her neck might be broken.” With the loss of blood, I knew that might be the least of her injuries.
“She’s breathing! Jagger, she’s breathing!”
I went to Rowan’s side. She was right. It was faint, but by some miracle, the old woman still had a pulse. She moaned as Rowan lifted her.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you. I’m going to get you help.”
“Mmm. No. Don’t.” Grace’s voice was shattered and hollow. I suspected her windpipe might have been crushed.
Rowan caught my arm in a death grip. Her eyes flashed silver and her lips quivered. “Someone’s still out there. Will you stay with her?”
No sooner had she said it before my own senses tingled. She was right. Growling, I whipped my head around and watched the door. The wind kicked up. Dried leaves blew in.
“Stay here,” I commanded. I didn’t give Rowan the chance to argue. Grace’s pitiful cry rooted her in place. I charged through the door and let my wolf out.
Two wolves came from different directions, their eyes glowing red.
There you are!
Able’s ancient voice speared through me. I detected surprise in it. He hadn’t expected to find me here. Adrenaline raced through me as I turned in circles, expecting him to leap out at any second. But, he’d only sent his two betas. Linked with Rowan, their names slammed into my head. Mannie and Clayton Sampson. Grace’s blood still smeared over Sampson’s snout.
I dropped low as Mannie charged me. Slower and weaker, he was no match for me. I caught him just below the ribs, pulling him to the ground with my teeth. With one swipe, I snapped his neck. I felt Able’s hold loosen just a bit. But, Mannie was just the appetizer. Sampson was on me next.
As I stood over Mannie, Sampson’s claws raked my back. I howled in pain and rounded on him. A flare of alarm hit me from Rowan. She was in my head.
Her presence affected Sampson too. His red eyes dimmed, turning golden as Able’s hold broke. I realized with horror why. He’d turned his attention to the rest of the Pack now that he knew where I was.
Sampson’s wolf pawed the ground and he bared his teeth. Wolf to wolf. Our snouts just inches apart, we squared off. In my mind’s eye, I could see what he’d done to Grace. She’d been defenseless against him. Living this long in these woods, she probably never imagined the wolves would turn on her.
Sampson’s bloodlust poured off of him. He raised a lethal paw and took a swipe. One powerful movement had put Grace on the ground. To me, it was nothing. I dodged to the right and countered, sending Sampson flying against a tree stump. He howled in pain but quickly got to his feet.
Hunt. Kill. Live.
I felt the edges of my vision rim in a red haze. It’s what he wanted. It’s how the Alpha wedged his way in. I closed my eyes and saw his face swimming in front of me.
That’s it. Give in to it. Kill him. Show me your strength.
No.
I lunged at Sampson. He went to his back, paws up and tried to deflect my blow. I was too strong for him. If I’d landed and sunk my fangs into him, he would have died instantly. But, I didn’t. Instead, I shifted in midair and wrapped two hands around his throat.
“You lose, motherfucker,” I hissed into Sampson’s face. But, my words weren’t meant for him. As Sampson’s wolf eyes widened in shock, I grabbed a rock from the ground and bashed him in the head. He yelped then went slack in my grip. Unconscious, his skull likely fractured, but alive.
“Jagger!”
Rowan stood in the doorway. Grace’s blood smeared over her chest, her stomach and down her legs.
I grabbed Clayton Sampson’s limp body and dragged him closer to the house. His head lolled to the side and his tongue hung out between his fangs. “Rowan, we can’t stay. They’re coming. The Alpha knows I’m here. He sent these two here looking for me.”
Rowan stepped back, her mouth dropping open. She shook her head. “I can’t. We can’t. Go where?”
She was in shock. The color drained from her face. She had one partial bloody handprint on her cheek where Grace must have touched her.
My heart raced. No time. There was no damn time. I could feel the Pack moving. Three minutes, maybe five and they’d surround us.
“Rowan,” I said, struggling to keep the panic out of my voice. I put firm hands on her shoulders. “Heartland is over for you. You are not safe here. Grace is hurt. She needs help. We cannot take her to a hospital. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? There is nowhere in this entire town where you’ll be safe. It doesn’t matter that the Pack can’t track you anymore.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t lose her. Jagger...I can’t...I don’t have anybody else.”
My throat felt thick and tight. “You have me. Let me help you.”
I knew she was fast. I knew she was strong. I just hoped she was strong enough. “Can you carry her?” I asked. “Can you carry Grace? We’re going to have to run for miles. Top speed. I can outrun the Pack if I have a head start. I think you can too.”
Her jaw slack, she nodded. The realization of what I was asking made her pulse skyrocket. We weren’t just running. I was asking her to leave everything she’d ever known behind. For good.
She took a hesitant step back. Blinking wildly, she scanned the ransacked room. She started knocking over dishes and displaced cabinets.
“Rowan, we have to go. Now! Leave it all. Get Grace.”
Grace moaned as if to agree with me. Though I didn’t think she was lucid. Rowan stooped down and grabbed a small, black, nylon fanny pack. She unzipped it and looked inside. She held up three vials of the medication I’d seen Grace injecting in her arm. Her hand trembling, she shoved them back in the case and fastened it around her waist. Then, she went to Grace, carefully lifting her. Grace’s head drooped forward. Rowan pulled her to her chest and rose.
She adjusted the old woman’s weight and came to me. “I can run. I can run fast.”
“Good.” I had the urge to pull her to me and kiss the top of her head. Something stopped me. A wall went up. I took a step backward. Grabbing Sampson’s limp body, I threw him over my shoulder like a sack of rocks.
“What are you doing?” Rowan gasped. “If he wakes up, the Pack will be able to follow us.”
“He won’t wake up. Come on!”
As if to put an exclamation point on my fears, a cacophony of howls rose far in the distance. They were coming.
“Rowan,” I said. “You run. As fast as you can. Until you think your legs
are going to give out.”
She squared her shoulders and heaved Grace a little higher in her arms. Her eyes were stone cold fury as she locked her gaze with mine. “My legs won’t give out. Show me the way.”
My blood racing, I gave her a quick nod and we tore back through the woods. My wolf clamored to get out, but I couldn’t hold Sampson if I let it. I looked back only once. Rowan let her beast out. Part wolf, all power, she met my pace stride for stride. I felt the Pack moving, giving chase. In another minute, they’d be at the cabin.
I had one desperate chance. I banked on the hope that Rowan’s shield against them would hold. I took a zig-zag pattern, jumping through the stream several times. It would help mask whatever scent we left behind.
Rowan was a blur of motion beside me. Her silver eyes streaked as she ran on powerful legs. Raw strength. Naked fury. She seemed to sense my movements before I made them. When I course corrected, she never faltered. She leaped over every fallen branch and rough patch of ground. Top speed. Top form. It was as if she were born for this.
Born for this.
My heart ached as hers beat alongside mine. I pushed back thoughts of what that might mean. There was no time for it now. Only one thing mattered. Getting Rowan out. Getting her to safety. What happened after that...I couldn’t let my mind go there.
As we skirted the shores of Lake Barkley, I knew we might make it. The Pull faded. I heard one baleful howl and knew it was Able Valent. It carried rage and madness inside of it. Pangs of doubt clouded my heart.
I had the chance. I could have killed him. Now he would be more cautious. He’d grown complacent in Heartland. No rebel wolf had ever gotten that close to him. He knew we knew where he was now. God. It might have all been for nothing.
“Jagger!” Rowan’s cry snapped me out of my head. “She’s slipping!”
Rowan’s face contorted with grief as she looked at Grace. Grace wasn’t slipping out of her grasp; she was fading.
“Up here!” I yelled. I led Rowan to an empty campsite on the edge of the lake. My heart lurched as we rounded a corner past a row of abandoned cabins.
“It’s still there!” I gasped, nearly losing my footing. I’d hidden the Jeep behind a row of trees.
I motioned to Rowan. She followed, sweat pouring down her back. Grace groaned and I took it as as good a sign as any. We could be in Mammoth Forest within an hour if luck were on my side.
I opened the back hatch and dumped Sampson inside. He was still out. Dried blood caked his nose. I hoped I hadn’t injured him badly enough to render him useless. But, I couldn’t worry too much about that now. I slammed the hatch and opened the back passenger door. I took Grace from Rowan and laid her gently across the back seat.
“Get in,” I said. “It’ll be all right.”
Rowan gave me a hard look. She didn’t even have to say anything. She was right already. That was a promise I might not be able to keep. But, she got in the passenger seat and buried her face in her hands.
I grabbed the key I’d hidden in the wheel well and climbed behind the wheel. The Jeep started on the first try and we sped away from the campsite.
I pushed the Jeep to its limits, driving over a hundred miles an hour on the back roads. There was no way the Pack could track us now. The biggest danger now would come from Pack law enforcement if they started to follow. I could outmaneuver them, but I couldn’t lead them to the caves.
Luck was on our side that night. At least for now. I covered the distance to the caves in less than an hour. Rowan stayed silent beside me as I pulled off the road and hid the Jeep under thick branches. I grabbed Sampson. She carefully lifted Grace.
“Come on,” I said. “We’re home.”
Rowan’s step finally faltered as she locked eyes with me. I brought her to the hidden cave entrance. Liam, Mac, and Gunnar were already there waiting, their eyes flashing a warning as they saw what I carried.
I felt Rowan’s heart trip with doubt. But, she squared her shoulders and followed me underground.
Fifteen
Rowan
I held Jagger’s gaze as he led me down into the caves. My heart tripped, but he reached for me. Not with his hands, but his steadying pulse kept me from panicking. At the same time, I knew it cost him something.
This was his place. With her. I felt Keara’s presence immediately as we walked deeper down the dark passageways. I clung to Grace. She seemed so small and slight in my arms. Her blood covered my arms. Her eyelids fluttered but couldn’t focus.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered for the hundredth time. “These are friends.” Though, I had no real idea if they were.
“Get her to the infirmary!” A short woman with thick, dark hair and keen brown eyes stood in the center of a natural rotunda. She pointed to a passageway behind her. The place was lit with strings of LED lighting all along the floor and over some of the entryways. She came to me, her eyes darting over me then settling on Grace.
“Grace,” I said, past a dry throat. “Her name is Grace. She’s my...she’s family.”
The woman gave me a grim smile. “I’m Molly. And you told her right. You’re among friends now.”
“Are you a doctor?” I asked.
Molly smoothed the hair out of her eyes. She wore thick bangs cut straight across. She was in blue scrubs and black clogs. She was tiny, almost a foot shorter than me, but she had an air of command about her that reminded me of a drill sergeant.
“I’m close enough,” she said. “And we do have a real doctor. She’s in the back. Let’s see what we can do for Grace. I’ll promise we’ll take good care of her.”
“What about him?” A huge shifter loomed at her side. He was nearly as tall as Jagger with ginger-brown hair and blue eyes that flashed instantly gold as he peered closer to Sampson’s wolf. Jagger had dumped him on the ground.
Molly stood with her hands on her hips. “Liam,” she said to the shifter behind her. “I’m going to need your help moving him. Did you break his damn neck, Jagger?”
“I don’t think so,” Jagger said. “Just his skull. He’s alive. He’ll wake up.”
“How are you planning on keeping him from signaling the Pack?” I turned to Jagger.
He shrugged. “Dragonsteel.”
“What the hell is that?”
“Just what it sounds like,” Molly said. She stepped around me and grabbed one of Sampson’s paws. With brute strength that surprised me, she dragged him into the light.
“Steel forged with dragon fire,” Jagger answered. “Shifters can’t get out of ‘em. And they interfere with the Pack’s Pull.”
Liam put a hand on Molly’s back as she examined Sampson. She pried his eyes open and waved a penlight in front of them. The shifter stood tall and straight behind her. I realized who he was to her. They were mated. A flare of heat zinged from my heart straight down.
“Are you sure?” I asked. Two other shifters came to me. One looked just like Liam. They had to be brothers.
“Mac,” Jagger said, clearing his throat. “And that’s Gunnar. This is, uh...this is Rowan.”
“Can we do the pleasantries later? Grace needs help.”
Another woman rushed out of the passageway. She had more shifters with her bearing a stretcher. She barked orders to them and they took Grace from me. Grace rallied enough to reach for my hand, then promptly passed out again.
“Strong,” the woman said. She had jet-black hair with streaks of gray. She wore a white lab coat. “That’s a good sign.” She spoke in clipped English. Her accent was French, if I had to guess.
“Come,” she said to me. “You can tell me what happened. I’ll have Eve and Lena get you something decent to wear and show you where you can clean up.”
“I just...I don’t care about any of that. Just, please help my aunt.”
She held her hand out to me and shook mine with a firm grip. “I’m Dr. Olivet. I will do what I can.”
Things moved quickly after that. Dr. Olivet followed as they carried Grace into an
other chamber. This one was brightly lit with rows of hospital beds and an examination table at the center. They gently placed Grace on top of it. Dr. Olivet went to work, tearing Grace’s clothes from her as she examined her wounds. She barked orders to the shifters beside her.
Grace moaned, then lost consciousness again. “Miss Rowan,” she said. “I’m going to ask you to wait outside. Jagger will show you where. You need to let me do my work. I will come find you when there is something to tell. Let me take care of her.”
I didn’t want to leave. It was as if an invisible magnetic pull kept me rooted to my spot. Grace looked so frail, so broken. She didn’t know these people. If she didn’t...if they couldn’t…
“Rowan,” Jagger said, his voice breaking. “Let Dr. Olivet do her job.”
He put a strong, steadying hand on my arm and gently pulled me away.
Sixteen
Rowan
Somehow, I put one foot in front of the other as Jagger led me back down the corridor and into the main rotunda. They’d taken Sampson away. Molly was gone and my heart sank. I didn’t know her at all, but she seemed friendly. And I felt lost.
Two other women stepped out of the shadows. Each of them stood arm in arm with their shifters. Jagger’s words washed over me. They reached me as if I were underwater. The shifter who looked like Liam was Mac. His wife, Eve stood at his side. The other was Gunnar. He too, had a mate. Her name was Jett. Her hair matched her name, jet-black. She had dark, inquisitive eyes and she came to me.
“Rowan,” she said. “You’re safe here. I know this is probably overwhelming, but…”
I put a hand up. My head swam and my stomach roiled. “Jagger,” I said, then looked to the others. “I’m sorry. It’s just been...I don’t know if…”
My knees buckled. Jagger was there. He swooped me in his arms then laid me down on a rocky ledge. I still had Grace’s pack strapped around my waist. Eve descended on me like an angel. She covered me with a soft pink blanket.