by Zelda Knight
I expected to go straight back into the forest we had originally emerged from but instead, I was led to a truck parked at an angle at the back of the inn's parking lot.
The blue paint was hammered with dents and scratches, and I eyed the alpha who jumped into the driver's seat.
Rafe pulled open the back door.
"Get in," he commanded.
In one way, I wanted to follow his orders. After all, my submission was the only reason that they had let Brighton and Caine go, but if I got in that truck, they could take me anywhere. It would all be over.
Right now, my mates were only across this lot. Who knew how much farther Rafe and his men would take me?
Rafe watched me for a minute and then with a twisted grin, exposing blackened teeth, he looked at his wolves.
"Go back to the room. Wait outside the doors and the moment you get the chance, rip those fuckers limb from limb."
"All of them?" one of them asked.
Rafe chuckled.
"Especially the Briar Pack's Alpha. He's a little too demanding for someone with so little to offer." His gaze darted to me. "Let's teach him a lesson."
Shocked, I was frozen still for a moment as the other alphas began to move, heading back toward the room we had been staying in.
Brighton, Caine, and now my father too? Yes, he was the one who put me in this situation, but he was still my father. I didn't want him to get hurt. Until a few days ago, I had only ever thought of him as my hard edged, yet doting, daddy.
Without thinking, I jumped into the back of the truck and swiftly shifted into my human form.
"Okay, you got me. I'm going with you without a fight."
Rafe chuckled at me.
"Whatever suits you, omega. I'm not against a little resistance, either."
His dark gaze traveled over me. I cursed leaving my clothing behind as bile rose in my throat. I yanked the door shut between us, blocking myself at least partially. He clearly couldn't wait to get his hands on me and the thought of it nearly made me sick, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. His men were almost out of sight now, already turning the corner to attack the others.
"I did what you said, call off your men!”
Alpha Rafe blinked at me, seeming perplexed.
“Omega,” he said, leaning close to the open window. “I was going to take you whether you obliged or not.”
His gaze dropped over me again and I sank back in my seat, revulsion filling me from the look in his eyes alone.
“And about your daddy and your little mates,” he went on, “I was going to make them pay whether you obliged or not.”
He smacked the side of the truck, focus turning to the driver.
“Get her away from here.”
Chapter Ten
BRIGHTON
Standing in the meeting room, watching the group of alphas discuss Mina's worth like she wasn't even there... that had been one of my darkest moments. Fear and anxiety had flowed through me. I hadn't told Caine at the time, but I wanted to get her away from there, away from the Cliffmont Pack, even if she wanted nothing to do with me in the end.
Then, finding her again in the forest, mating with her, tasting her healing flesh sooth the wild beast within me... for a full day, I'd lived a dream. Me, Mina and Caine, all holed up together in the hotel, a life ahead of us where we three could be as close as we were with no one to stop us.
Now, fury unlike any I had ever felt, coursed through my veins. I wanted to spit it bitterly from my mouth and could barely contain a single angry comment, despite Caine's warning eyes on me. The words kept coming out, and now that Mina had been inevitably taken from me, it was even harder to stop them.
"You were selfish and greedy," I spat. "You could have kept her safe, instead you threw her to the worst of the wolves."
"Brighton," Caine said, but I went on.
"We can be trusted. We followed your orders for ten years. You should have given her to us from the start."
"You're to be trusted?" Alpha Greer laughed. "You went behind my back and mated my daughter!"
"Only because she was about to be sold off!"
"Respectfully," Caine cut in, "Brighton is right. She ran on her own. We went after her in the morning and found her. She was willing to go out into the wilderness alone to avoid the Cliffmont Pack claiming her. They're dirty players. They smuggle and murder and live in squalor. Everyone knows it. You should have known better than to trust them."
"They probably ran off with Mina already, leaving you high and dry," I added fueled by Caine's support. "Meanwhile we're sitting here on our hands. We were the ones you should have given her to."
"You didn't need my permission, did you?" Greer asked. "You already claimed her. It's lucky that Alpha Rafe is more reasonable than you think, or you would both already be dead."
The last bits of anger that I was trying to contain, boiled over the surface.
“Don’t pretend that the Cliffmont pack is softer than it is! We all know that they kill their omegas after a short, brutal life. You just sent your only daughter to be slaughtered.”
“It’s none of your concern!” Greer spat. “You think she’s yours now? Just because you mated with her? Sorry to disappoint you son, but she’s about to belong to the entire Cliffmont pack.”
“You’re wrong.”
Caine’s deep, measured voice cut through our passionate argument.
“Mina isn’t ours. We belong to her.”
He fixed his calm gaze on Alpha Greer.
“Let us go after her and stop this before it’s too late. We will offer Briar Pack the alliance and support you are seeking, and we’ll keep Mina safe.”
It was extremely unlikely that Alpha Greer would choose us; a two-shifter team, over all of Cliffmont Pack, but when he didn’t immediately argue, hope blossomed in me.
I opened my mouth, ready to dive in with more but there was a commotion from outside.
I could recognize the sounds of a fight, the snarls, snapping teeth, growling.
“They came back for us.”
Caine’s sure voice made Alpha Greer’s face pale.
He rushed to us, shifting into his wolf form, large and imposing and grey, just as he was as a human. Our bindings ripped off easily in his large jaw.
Everything else left unsaid was clear now. If we helped Briar Pack, our alliance was secured. Mina would be ours.
I needed no more bolstering than that.
Without hesitation, I shifted. Caine transformed at my side. Together, we burst through the door, coming upon the exact scene I'd expected. Rafe's wolves nearly overpowered Greer's, but with me and Caine, the odds were better than even, eight of them against six of us. When Alpha Greer himself joined, I was reminded why I'd had such respect for the alpha in the past; he fought alongside his pack.
Without thought, I allowed my wolf to lead me, my nose guiding me from one unfamiliar wolf to the next, biting down with all my might, ripping and tearing through flesh, not stopping long enough to spit fur from my mouth, barely pausing when teeth locked onto me, only biting back and continuing our brawl.
Around us people shouted. Humans. A wolf brawl in the middle of a parking lot would probably be quite a sight. Normally our kind tried to keep a low profile, surely this story would draw every hunter from miles around, but we would deal with that when it came. For now, all that mattered was getting Mina back.
I caught scent of Alpha Rafe as he approached the fight. I leaped toward him, everything else forgotten.
He fell flat on his back, pinned beneath me in human form as I shifted back into mine, holding him down with a knee in the throat.
"Where is she?" I snarled.
He gritted his teeth, not answering so I pressed my full body weight down until his ugly face turned red, his eyes bugging from his head.
"Where is she?" I repeated.
I loosened the pressure just enough for him to choke the answer.
"Blue truck."
I looked up
, wide eyes scanning the parking lot. It was already gone, but they couldn't be far ahead.
I released the Cliffmont Pack leader, pushing to my feet and foolishly allowing my eyes to drift shut as I inhaled, chasing Mina's scent.
There were so many others here that it was muddled, but still, I could pick up the hint of her sweetness.
That was when Alpha Rafe attacked me.
So caught up in the direction of Mina's fading scent, I didn't notice him coming up behind me.
He hit me hard in the scrappy form of his wolf, claws slicing easily through the soft human flesh of my back. I staggered forward, falling to my knees, winded for a moment from the pain, but no other blow came.
When I turned and looked, Alpha Rafe was on his back, blood pooling around him, Caine standing over him.
Caine was bleeding just as thoroughly from his side, but he was standing and Rafe wasn’t. Behind them, the fight had slowed to a stop. Rafe’s wolves that were still standing stood back. When Alpha Greer stepped up to the other pack alpha, Caine removed himself, limping toward me on all fours.
I didn’t care to wait to see what was going to be done with the other pack leader. It wasn’t my problem anymore.
“They took her in a blue truck,” I said. “We don’t have much time.”
I shifted and together we took off, following Mina’s scent to where it ended at the end of the lot. There was only one way to go from there.
We took off down the road. I lead, Caine close behind me, slowed by his wounds but pushing forward. My own wounds throbbed in pain, but it was nothing my quick healing body couldn’t handle. Next to me though, I could hear Caine’s heavy panting and worry streaked through me because there was no time to deal with him. Not when each moment meant Mina was taken further away.
I nearly stopped dead though when I realized what was in front of me.
In the distance, a blue truck was parked at an angle off the side of the road. The back door was wide open.
No one was inside.
Chapter Eleven
MINA
As I looked out the back window, watching the inn fade into the distance, my only option became clear; jump out of the moving truck.
I didn’t even hesitate.
The wind whipping by and the speed as the trees passed were barely things I registered because I didn’t wait long enough to take note of them. I threw myself from the speeding truck.
The landing was even harder than I expected it to be. I hit the ground hard and was sent rolling. Each time my body connected with the rubble, pain shot through me in a dizzying wave until finally, I stopped.
For a moment I laid there, sprawled out on my back, gaze fixed on the sky above. I was momentarily dazed, confused what had happened, or where I was, and then I heard screeching tires and it all came rushing back.
I twisted, pushing to my feet, ignoring the pains shooting through me as I began to run directly into the trees.
I didn’t know where I was going except away from the driver who I knew was sure to follow.
Sure enough, I only made it a few feet before a deep, cold chuckle reached my ears.
I spun around to face him.
There, at the edge of the trees, the other shifter shook his head at me, grinning.
“Didn’t even think to shift, did you?” he asked. “You might have got a little further away on four legs. I mean, I still would have caught you, but you know, you could have pretended you’d get away for a little longer.”
“She doesn’t need to pretend.”
Caine’s familiar voice nearly made me drop to my knees and that was before I even turned and looked at him.
He was standing to the side, leaning against a tree as though he didn’t have a trouble in the world, watching my pursuer with a cold, dark gaze.
Next to him, Brighton crouched in wolf form, fangs bared.
“There’s no need to hold onto the girl anymore. Your master is dead by now.”
The other shifter’s face went pale.
“Don’t play with me,” he spat, but Caine shook his head coolly.
“I would never.”
For the first time, his gaze flitted to mine and I could see that he was telling the truth. Blood rushed in my ears, relief and confusion mingling within me.
“How?”
“Rafe went back on his word. He tried to take you for free and take out your father while he was at it.”
When he spoke to me, there was so much warmth in his voice compared to when he spoke to anyone else. It was a wonder it took me so long to realize how he truly felt for me. When he turned back to the Cliffmont wolf, his tone turned back to ice.
“We were in our rights to dispose of him. The girl remains with us. You should have no reason to fight for her.”
The shifter’s gaze darted from Caine to me. Interest glinting in his eyes.
“An omega for myself would be nice though.”
Brighton’s growl filled the air and the other shifter immediately backed up a step.
“We took out all of your comrades with ease. Care to try us on your own?”
For a moment, the shifter lingered.
It was laughable, did he really think that I would walk away with him? Even if I was on my own, I would fight him off with every last breath.
Finally, seeming to think better of it, he turned, retreating toward the road.
Relief swamped me, I turned to my mates, ready to ambush them but Brighton was already on me, practically body checking me as he engulfed me into a huge hug.
I laughed, tears of relief stinging my eyes.
“You really fought off the Cliffmont pack?” I demanded.
“With your father’s blessing,” Brighton added, kissing me. I was too stunned to do much more than stand there, but a moment later, my shock was absorbed by something else. I drew my hand away from his back where it had landed in slick liquid.
Blood covered my palm.
“Brighton,” I said, slowly. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s not that bad,” he informed me.
“It looks pretty bad from here,” Caine said.
He was still leaning against that tree, watching me with a wry expression. A feeling of dread fell over me as I realized one of his legs was soaked in blood. He looked incredibly pale.
“I’m guessing you’re not just leaning there to look cool?” I asked, hoping I was wrong.
“I should probably get to a hospital,” he agreed.
My short-lived relief was swiftly replaced with worry. I rushed to his side, taking a moment to gently stroke his hair from his face before looking for the wound.
He indicated his side where the flesh had been practically chewed into shreds.
“Shit,” Brighton muttered next to me. “I didn’t realize it was that bad. You’re a tougher shifter than me, running here in that state.”
Together, we helped him toward the road. Seeing the claw marks gashed into Brighton’s back, just made my worry increase tenfold. I didn’t feel so hot myself, covered in bangs and bruises, but I was nowhere near the state that they were in.
When we reached the road, I we stood at the edge for a moment, watching a car pass slowly. The driver watched us with wide eyes. I didn’t blame her. We were nude and covered in blood.
I wasn't sure what our next step was. I didn't really expect anyone to stop for us, yet a moment later, someone did.
A familiar, rusty old black car pulled up in front of us.
My heart squeezed at the sight of my father in the driver's seat.
He looked at me, expression a mix of unreadable emotions.
"Get in," he said.
I swallowed and nodded. Together, the three of us climbed into the back seat. To my surprise, the clothes we'd left heaped in our motel room were thrown over the back as we began to drive.
I gratefully pulled the long shirt over my head. Brighton fought into his own outfit as we began to drive, but Caine moaned in pain when he tried to move, and w
e didn't push him to get dressed.
Instead, I pulled his head onto my shoulder and squeezed his hand.
"Do we have far to go?" I asked.
My dad shook his head.
"The nearest hospital is about fifteen more minutes away."
"You hear that?" I asked, tilting my head toward Caine. "Can you make it?"
He didn't answer.
I squeezed his hand harder. On my other side, Brighton took my other hand.
"Don't worry," he reassured me. "Caine's tougher than any wolf out there. He's been through worse than this."
"Everything is going to be okay," my father added. Despite his added reassurance, I felt the car speeding up.
We'd been through so much together. The past two days alone felt like years. Before the last Wild Night, before the Cliffmont Pack arrived on my door, I'd dreamed of a happy, simple life just like the one I had, but with Caine and Brighton as my mates.
Now we were mated, but everything else had gone so wrong. Would we get our happy ending?
The hospital was cold and invasive. We barely made it in the door when we were rushed by nurses. Caine was taken away in a stretcher, Brighton was taken a minute later.
It was easy to make excuses. An animal attacked us while we were camping. That was what my father told them. No one questioned it.
I was left sitting in the waiting room, anxiously tapping my fingers on the arm of the chair.
My father was still next to me.
“You don’t have to wait with me,” I finally said.
A bitter smile touched his lips.
“Do you know what to say to the doctors or nurses when they ask for your insurance or personal details?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said, honestly.
“It’s my fault,” he said. “I kept you away from everything in the world. I was trying to preserve your worth… I was an idiot.”
I wouldn’t argue that. He’d disappointed me more than I ever could have expected… but it had led to me running away, finding the strength within me to fight for myself… and it had led to Brighton and Caine coming after me. It had led to the happiest few hours I could ever remember having.