by Mina Carter
Chapter Eight
There was a barn at the location Kelli had given her, and three trucks were parked by the main road. She recognized the tall figure of the pack alpha, Max, but turned onto a side road before she reached them. Smartphones were awesome. She’d been able to pull up a map of the local area, isolating a dirt track that would take her around to the back of the barn. She needed to be in there before the countdown ended.
She checked the cell. Twenty minutes. She had plenty of time. Rattling the truck along the dirt track, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. A ritual of sorts, one she was more than familiar with. In her line of work putting herself in danger was an almost daily occurrence. Her nerves were not for herself, but for the poor kids who might get caught in the crossfire, and for their mother, who had been hospitalized trying to protect them. All because some asshole had an issue with her.
There was a copse to the side of the road, perfect for hiding the truck. She couldn’t take it any farther, not without those inside seeing it. The track had been hidden behind a slight rise so far, and she didn’t want to lose the element of surprise.
Killing the engine, she slid out of the truck. After a moment’s deliberation, she turned and left the cell on the driver’s seat. The last thing she needed was the damn thing going off just when she was trying to sneak up on three werewolf bikers. That would so not go down well.
On silent feet, she crept toward the barn. It was a ramshackle affair, one well past its prime. Some of the boards were broken, others patched, and the paint cracked and peeled in places to reveal sun-bleached wood. Thick banks of weeds surrounded it, like the ranks of an army, and the only tire tracks she could see in the dust belonged to motorcycles. No heavy farm machinery had been here recently.
The dirt was hard baked under her feet. Thankfully. Nothing to slip on, and no leaves or twigs to accidentally step on and give those inside a warning of her approach. She reached the back wall and flattened against it, back against the wood. Freezing, she opened all her senses to try and catch something from inside the structure.
There. Voices. The low rumble of men’s tones reached her ears. Okay, from the sound of it they were at the front, perhaps looking out for the pack to approach and exchange her for the children. Good. They obviously weren’t expecting an attack from the rear.
Attack? Okay, now she was into fantasyland. There would be no attack. Her best plan of action would be to sneak in the back, rescue the children, and hightail it out of Dodge before the locals realized she was there. That was the plan anyway. But it always paid to have a backup.
Hers was the Glock she’d recovered from Riley’s glove compartment, stuffed in the back of the waistband. What a werewolf needed with such a powerful handgun, she had no idea, but she was betting it was loaded for wolf. She hoped it was loaded for wolf. Along with it, she’d recovered a handful of zip ties. Quite what he did with those, she wasn’t sure and really didn’t want to think about, but she’d shoved a couple in her pocket just in case. You never knew when they might come in handy.
Carefully she inched along the wall. There was a small door in one corner, the weeds in front of it telling her it hadn’t been opened for months, perhaps years. It didn’t look nailed shut, or to have been painted over, though, so perhaps she could gain access that way. Otherwise… She looked up…She’d be going through the window in the eaves.
The voices grew louder when she reached the door, courtesy of a cracked window. Hunkering down, she tried to listen. The sound of children crying softly tugged at her heartstrings. Crap, she had to get to them.
She tried the door handle. It didn’t budge. “Fuck!” she hissed, twisting it again. No luck. Not even when she put her foot on the wall beside it and yanked hard. Stuck tighter than a camel’s ass in a sandstorm. Growling softly under her breath, she looked up again. That window looked farther away than earlier.
With a sigh, she put her foot on the trellis that extended up the wall. It didn’t look safe, but she’d climbed more unstable fire escapes back home, usually while being shot at, so this should be a walk in the park.
Within a minute, she heaved herself over the window sill into the hayloft. Male voices filtered up to her.
“I can’t see her, can you?”
“I bet they got her in one of the trucks. Bring her out of the last minute. Bitch. Can’t wait to get my hands on her.”
“Kev should’ve have let you have her. She killed one of ours, your bro. Pack law… She should die.”
Her eyes widened, as realization hit her. The wolf from the pack house, the brother of the one she’d killed who had tried to get in at her. That’s why she’d been exchanged in the first place, to get her away from him. That worked about as well as a chocolate fireguard. They’d found her anyway. And put two kids in danger to boot, as well as Kelli, who could have been shot.
She crawled forward, trying to be as quiet as possible, and peered through the slats to see what was going on below. The three bikers were gathered around the door at the front of the barn. The two kids were directly below her. She shifted, then winced as hay dropped through the gaps in the boards. It fell on the kids below, and both looked up.
Their eyes widened as they saw her in the loft above. Silently, she put her finger to lips to warn them to keep quiet. They nodded, the movement almost imperceptible, and huddled together again. She smiled despite the situation. Clever kids.
“Look, one of them is coming this way.”
She reached the edge of the loft and looked down. There was a ladder on one side. It looked as old and ill-kempt as the barn itself. But the kids were lighter than her, and if it got them out of harm’s way…
“Which one is it?”
“Dunno. The big one. Reckon he’s the pack alpha.”
Yeah, Ce thought to herself. And the mate of the woman you shot at yesterday. There was no way she’d want to be them if Max got in this barn. Dropping behind the cover of three big ass hay bales, she wondered how the floor even held them.
“Looks like it. He’s stopped. Dan, go out and see what he wants.”
“Fuck that!” the newly named Dan snarled. “What do I want to be out there with a fucking alpha for? You got the problem. Not me.”
Snarls erupted from the front of the barn, then there was a yelp. A hot, metallic smell blossomed on the air. Ce frowned, sniffing gently. What the hell was that? She peeked out from behind the bale. The smallest of the bikers held a bloodied hand to his cheek. Blood. That’s what the smell was. Fucking hell, she’d never smelt it like that before.
“Get. Your motherfucking ass. Out there,” the bigger of the other two bikers ordered, shoving the injured man towards the door.
Dan, apparently deciding that further argument would be unhealthy, scrambled to open the door and practically fell out. Okay, one down, two to go. Standing, Ce reached for the pitchfork leaning against the side of the hay bales.
The floorboards creaked underfoot and she froze.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, these old barns? Make noises all the time.”
Carry on thinking that, darling. Her fingers closed around the handle of the pitchfork and she lifted it. Listening to the voice inside, she hefted it and whistled to get the attention of the men below.
They spun around, looking up and matching looks of surprise crossed their faces. She didn’t hesitate, and hurled the pitchfork with all her might. It flew straight and true, to embed itself in the chest of the smaller of the two wolves left. He cried out as the impact drove him backward to topple over the parked bikes. They went down, falling on him with a horrendous clatter.
Instinct drove her. Within a heartbeat, she leaped over the small barrier at the edge of the loft and dropped to the floor below. The fact she could never have done that jump without breaking her legs before didn’t register. Instead, she focused on getting herself between the kids and the single remaining wolf.
Straightening from her crouch, she cast a glance over
her shoulder at the two cowering children. “Up!” she yelled, and they needed no further encouragement, both scrambling for the ladder at the side of the barn.
“You!” The word was growled, a snarl at the end. Ce turned to face the last biker.
He was tall, with shoulders wider than a semi. Hell, the size of him, he’d probably eaten a couple of semis. Seriously? Wolves came that big… or was there some kind of werewolf steroid shit that nobody had told her about?
“Me.” As a reply it was short and succinct but didn’t really add to the conversation much. Not that she thought her partner would be a brilliant conversationalist. “You wanted me. Now you got me. Your precious brother, by the way, had busted up a restaurant and attacked first. If you want to kill me for doing my job, then bring it on, asshole.”
Sudden nerves assailed her. What the fuck was she doing? She was armed, but facing off with the biggest damn werewolf she’d ever seen. She’d seen first-hand how fast the things were.
Keeping her gaze on his, she didn’t let her fear show. With any dog, that was the worst thing you could do.
“Yeah… Now you’re gonna pay, bitch.” Without warning, he leaped, arms outstretched. She watched his talons punch through the ends of his fingers, slicing the skin as it changed to fur and screamed—This time it was her for sure since Tom wasn’t around—and reached for her gun. As soon as the familiar grip fit into her palm, calmness flowed over her. Seconds later, the weapon was in front of her and she had the wolf in her line of sight. Reflex and years of experience took over, her hands squeezing the trigger. Two… Three shots rang out. The wolf jerked but kept coming. Sunlight broke through a gap in the roof, a beam of gold that picked up his fur and gave him a blazing halo.
Shit. Swearing under her breath she backed up, still firing. She had no idea how many were in the clip… Or if they were silver or not. Silver bullets were supposed to kill wolves, weren’t they? But she’d scored three solid hits, and still he kept coming, fully shifted to his wolf now.
The door behind him burst open, figures exploding through the gap who she didn’t have time to identify. He was almost on her, the angle of her arm changing as she followed his progress, the Glock spitting bullets. He leaped. His paws slammed into her shoulders and knocked her to the ground.
Sharp teeth snapped inches from her face, droplets of drool splattering her neck. She was dead. Her life didn’t flash before her eyes so much as one, clear thought filled her mind. She hadn’t told Riley she loved him. Hell, she hadn’t realized herself until now, looking death in the fanged face. Now she’d never get to tell him, and that was a regret that would haunt her for the rest of her life. All the remaining seconds of it.
She drove the gun up under the creature’s jaw, snapping it shut with a clack. Uppercut with a gun. At the same moment, his claws pierced the sides of her ribcage, sliding deep within. Agony and fire filled her veins, but she fought it.
“Say hi to your brother for me,” she snarled and pulled the trigger.
***
She’d knocked him out. Actually clean knocked him out. It had taken Riley only a few minutes to come round, but already that had been too late. With his truck gone he was forced to four paws and furry and even his top speed couldn’t match that of the sports vehicle. He arrived at the barn to find Max framed in the doorway, Ce’s bloodied and unconscious form in his arms.
His human form burst from his lupine one and he moaned, “No, oh God, no.”
Max’s face was one of sadness, haggard lines etched into the skin. “She went in the back. We didn’t even know she was here.”
“Ce…” Unable to help himself, Riley reached for her. Max didn’t argue, simply yielded his precious charge.
She was so light, and small. Riley sank to the ground, his throat tight, tears burning the back of his eyes. Somehow, she’d always seemed bigger. Perhaps that was the force of her personality, and the fact she was always arguing with him. Now she seemed empty, devoid of everything. Laughter, snark… Life.
Bending his head, he let the tears fall as he held her body close and rocked. Comfort he hadn’t been able to give before but now desperately wanted to.
“Why didn’t you wait? We’d have sorted this…” And they would. She shouldn’t have put herself in danger. Not his Ce… Not his love.
The tears flowed faster as he accepted the emotions roaring through him. From the first moment she’d run from him, he’d known she was the one. Oh, he’d ignored it. After Jenna, he been convinced he’d never mate again. He hadn’t even dated, just gone out of town to pick up a woman for the night when he needed. Never a wolf. Never a woman who might tempt him to mate again. Then Ce barrelled into his life, taking no prisoners and absolutely determined she wasn’t lycan.
“Darlin’, don’t leave me,” he begged, not caring the wolves around him heard. They shuffled their feet, moving away. “I just found you… You can’t be going already. Not when I… Love you. I love you, Clara. Don’t go.”
His wolf, going crazy, suddenly froze within. Aware. Alert. Hopeful. Riley lifted his head, frowning. What the hell? There was no way any wolf could recover from the depths of grief so quickly.
Then Ce’s eyelashes fluttered on her cheek.
“Shit… She’s alive!” Suddenly wolves were all around, crowding in as she slowly opened her eyes. They were bright, pure amber.
“Her wolf… It must have saved her. How could she be that far along?” Max muttered in shock but Riley just smiled. He should’ve known she wouldn’t let a little thing like her own death stop her. Now Max’s comment about her being an alpha made sense to him. He could smell it, that thread of power that ran through her scent. Once recognized he knew he’d never forget it.
“Hey, darlin’.” He reached out to stroke a finger down her cheek. “Gave me quite a scare there.”
Her lips curved into a weak smile. “Well, since you asked so nicely, it didn’t seem polite to leave.”
He managed a small chuckle, careful not to jostle her as he leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead. “Glad you’re back.”
She fixed her gaze on him with effort. Her eyes were filled with pain, lines bracketing her mouth. “Did you mean it?”
Any other time, he’d have teased her and pretended not to know what she meant, but not now. Never again. Not over something so important.
“That I love you? I do. Didn’t see it at first… Didn’t want to. But I do.”
She sighed, and happiness replaced the pain in her expression. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that, Captain?”
He brushed at his cheeks with the back of his hand and laughed. “I’m never gonna get away from that, am I?”
Lifting a hand with effort, she touched his cheek. “Not a chance. And for the record, think I kind of love you too. Although, if you’ve got some painkillers, I’ll love you even more.”
Riley’s heart swelled, threatening to burst out of his chest with emotion. That she loved him too, after he’d been an asshole, was more than he could’ve hoped for. Even if she didn’t love him, the fact she had survived would have sustained him. Just knowing she was in the world somewhere would have been enough. He would have made it enough.
But… He didn’t need to. She loved him.
And he was the most blessed wolf on earth.
“Painkillers it is.” Bracing her carefully, he rose to his feet with her in his arms. Max brought his truck to the front of the barn and he strode towards it. “Just kind of?”
“Yeah… Kind of.” She smiled, lifting her arms weakly to wrap around his neck. “I might be persuaded by… Oh, I don’t know, your hot body and breakfast in bed. When I don’t feel so shitty, of course.”
“Darlin’, whatever your wish, will be my command.” He stopped by the door, unable to resist the temptation to steal a kiss. It was the softest, sweetest kiss he’d ever had. A promise and a prayer of thanks rolled into one. “You already got the first part of your wish, anyway.”
She blinke
d, focused on his shoulders. “You’re naked aren’t you?”
“As the day I was born, darlin’.” He grinned and winked at her. Already her color was returning, but that didn’t mean he was going to do anything other than wrap her in cotton wool for the foreseeable future. “Gotta be ready for anything and everything…”
“You’re a pervert, but you’re my pervert.”
He placed her gently in the passenger seat, and pressed another kiss to her lips.
“I am. Yours. For eternity.”
With a sigh of relief, Riley closed the door and strode around to the other side of the truck. He might have been butt-naked, but he didn’t care.
His mate was alive, and despite all the odds, he was taking her home.
He couldn’t ask for more.
Epilogue
She should be dead. Like six feet under, in a box in the ground, dead. Ce rolled onto her back and stretched in contentment. Her wounds were all but healed, barely two days after the incident in the barn. She ran her hand down one side of her ribs, feeling for the puckered skin. Puncture marks, from where Ethan’s claws slid through her skin.
Rosemary, the nurse who acted as the pack’s medic, said she was lucky to be alive. Such damage in a new wolf was usually fatal. Wolf. Just the word, when said in relation to her, made her pause and reach the new presence tucked within her. She’d felt the moment she died. The moment Ethan’s claw punctured her heart, her human heart. It had stilled and fallen silent. But the wildness within wouldn’t let it end like that.
Her wolf roared to life, pouring power through her veins even as Ethan fell, killed by her silver bullet through his brain. Apparently, that was the only way to kill a wolf with a bullet, even a silver one. Something she’d have to pass on to the department.
Her wolf saved her, closing her wounds. Clever critter. It had known she needed not to bleed out, and fixed some of the damage before restarting her heart. She’d heard everything Riley said. His plea to not leave him. His admission that he loved her.
He loved her, and she loved him.