“Alright, well, I’ll get on this right away and hopefully have some answers for you in a few.”
“Thank you for the rush, Gray. There is a life on the line here.”
“I understand.” With that parting statement, Gray hangs up the line and I gather my things and am out the door. Pleading a silent prayer to whoever is out there listening at the moment that Riley will be okay.
I make it home in record time and head upstairs. As the elevator reaches the penthouse floor, I catch what sounds to be a shouting match between a bear and a wolf. Fucking Cree and Enzo. Again. Stepping out, I find all four men standing in my living room. Axel standing in front of Cree, his hand braced on his shoulders in an attempt to hold him back. Wilder in front of Enzo, dodging Enzo’s flying fists with his hands up in a gesture to try and calm him down. All the while, Cree and Enzo are yelling at each other about whose fault it is that Riley is missing.
“Very productive guys,” I remark as I enter the living room. Cree prepares himself to snark back but is cut off by the sound of ringing in my hand. “I’ve heard enough,” I bark at him as I answer the phone.
“Reed here.”
“Reed, it’s Gray. I’ve got information for you. The van you’re looking for is registered to Enterprise, it’s a rental. I contacted Enterprise and the van was rented by a Mr. John Smith and the phone number is a payphone in town. I didn’t realize they still existed. Anyways, I tracked the van to a warehouse on the edge of town. I’ll text you the address.”
“Thanks, man. Can we get eyes on the warehouse through CCTV or security cams?”
“No. However, I was able to get thermal readings on the building from a contact of mine in a local military outfit. It looks like there are seven heat signatures inside. You said there is a life on the line, I am assuming a captive here. One of the heat signatures hasn’t moved since we started monitoring the warehouse, as though it’s bound in place. I’d wager a bet that’s your captive. So what do you think man, want some backup? If there’s an innocent life on the line, you know I’m in.” Gray never was one to turn his back when someone was in trouble, no matter the danger.
“Considering who is at stake here and the number of guys in that warehouse I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Can you meet us down the road from the warehouse in 20?”
“You got it, Reed. We’ll see you there.”
Turning back to face the guys, I start barking orders like back in the old days when I was a commander in the army. “Gray found Riley. So, whatever this is that’s going on, table it. Better yet fucking get over it.” Taking a breath and allowing them time to soak that in before continuing, “Now, I am going to go get our girl back. When we get back here it’s time we came clean about everything.” The guys start to mutter to themselves about how this is a bad idea, and how she’s going to be fucking pissed, but I ignore it all.
“Wilder, reach out to the group and tell them they need to be here. When you come clean, she’s going to be fucking pissed as hell and you’ll need the backup. Make it happen.” Wilder’s eyes widen in understanding. He knows Riley is going to be fucking furious with him.
“Enzo, weapons and a lot of them. Grab a long-range rifle as well.” Enzo turns on his heels and heads for my hidden armory in the hall. I call after him, “Don’t forget the silencers.” He just grunts in return.
“Cree and Axel. She’s going to need your level of support and comfort after this evening. And Axel stock your med kit, I have a gut feeling you’re going to need it.” Turning back to address the group, “I am leaving in five, if you’re not in the truck by then I’m leaving without you.”
Chapter Eight
Wilder
Pulling up beside a black SUV where four big burly men are standing around near the back, my gut starts to turn. A sinking feeling of dread and worry takes up residence. A sense as though something bad is about to happen, something I can’t put my finger on keeps gnawing at the back of my mind. As the truck comes to a stop the guys all climb out, myself last as I try to shake away these feelings.
“We have live thermal eyes on the warehouse. There are four inside and three patrolling the perimeter. Two on the inside have been sticking close to each other. My guess one is your captive and the other is the leader. The only thing that has changed with the captive is their position. It appears they are lying in place, still alive based on the heat signature.” Gray delivers his update with the air of a seasoned soldier.
“Do you have blueprints of the warehouse?” Reed asks, his alpha nature shining through.
“Yes sir.” Gray pulls out a tablet and starts tapping on the screen. Reed leans in and the two of them start to make plans to move in on the warehouse. All the while, that nagging feeling grows stronger.
My pocket begins to vibrate and a freezing dread sensation crawls down my spine. Fuck. Panic sets fire to my nerve endings as I pull out my phone. An unread text notification flashes on my screen. An image.
Opening the message, my wolf bursts forward losing all sense of control. Reed jumps in front of me, lording his alpha power to stop my descent on the warehouse.
“Wild, that is enough. I don’t know what that was but you need to regain control. Now, where is that phone?” He looks down and picks up the phone. You can see the moment the image registers in his mind. His face turns stone-cold, all sense of control is gone, and he’s a raging furious wolf.
“We go. Now,” he growls as he grabs a sniper rifle and begins to move towards the slope.
“What the fuck is going on?” Enzo and Cree ask in unison.
“Reed!” Axel bellows, stopping Reed in his tracks. He walks up to Reed and puts his hand out. “Give me the phone, Reed.” Reed, still fisting the phone, apprehensively hands it to Axel. Axel looks at the screen before his face goes stone with anger and his hold on the phone becomes so tight you can hear the screen cracking.
“If someone doesn’t fucking tell me what the fuck is going on…” Enzo voices, fury coating every word.
“She’s dead,” Axel growls. A sound you rarely hear from our soft medic. “He fucking killed her.” With the last word, Axel shifts into a massive black wolf, easily twice my size and a growl just as loud to match. Yeah, I’d say he’s pissed.
Cree and Enzo both shift, side by side they stand growling and howling their distress. Their front paws digging into the ground beneath them, waiting for the signal to move.
Reed visibly collects himself before he takes charge again. “Everyone get your fucking heads back on straight. Gray said there is still a heat signature. Gray, has anything changed, or are there still seven heat signatures?”
“Affirmative. Seven live hot bodies in there. One of them is lying down, it could be your girl from how they posed her for that photo. If that is her, she is very much still alive,” he confirms.
“Do you hear that? She’s alive. Now we need to be smart about this, or that won’t last long.”
With that, we all breathe a little easier. Gray joins Reed at the front of the group, preparing to lead his men alongside us.
“Gray and his men will take the perimeter while we storm the warehouse. Cree and Axel through the back. Enzo, east window, and Wilder, west window. I will draw their attention and fire to the front. When you hear the first sounds of gunfire, storm it hard and fast. Axel get Riley and get the fuck out. Cree, Enzo, and Wilder watch his back. Everyone understands their instructions?”
Growling our understanding we line up ready to run. Reed heads to the ridge overlooking the warehouse and takes out the three men walking the perimeter. We head down and take up our positions surrounding the building and wait for the sounds of gunfire.
Axel
Standing outside the warehouse, hearing the soft murmurs of voices on the other side of the wall and knowing that Riley is hurt and broken inside, is provoking my wolf to fight me for control. She’s going to be okay. We’ll be going in as soon as Reed gets their attention. Making it safe for us to get to Riley.
> Mate. He growls.
I know. Trust me, I know. We are going to get her back. We need to trust her other mate.
Cree rubs his head along my side. The contact is enough to soothe a fraction of my wolf’s worry and distress. I return the gesture and rub my snout along his. Thanking him with a little lick.
The sound of gunfire rings out around the other side of the building and with that Cree busts through the back door, leaving a bear-sized hole behind. From the blueprints I know it’s 100 meters to the center of the warehouse. Racing to reach the center I expect to find Riley. However, she isn’t what I find. Shifting back, I stand on two legs again. Tentatively, I reach out a hand and touch the top of a box that is oddly shaped like a coffin.
Glancing back at Cree as he stands guard at my back, I take a breath and say a little prayer that I’m wrong. Turning my attention back to the coffin, I slowly begin to open the lid, remembering the sight of her broken and bloody in the photo. I hear a small whimper from inside the box and I snap out of the memory of the photo and into action.
Quickly unlatching the lid, I flip it off and catch a flying object to the eye.
“Fuck, Riley. It’s me. It’s Axel,” I quickly state as I catch a fist coming for me again.
“Axel?” Her voice is harsh and broken. Her eyes black and blue, and swollen shut.
“Yeah baby, it’s me. Cree is right here too.”
“Where’s Alastair? He’s here. Where’d he go?” Her panic is clear and frantic.
“He isn’t what matters right now, baby. The others will deal with him if he’s still here. The guys are in the building and Reed has men guarding the perimeter. Let’s just worry about getting you out of here.”
I swallow my worry as I pick her up out of the box, extracting a cry of pain from her, “Mary, mother of Jesus. Fucking son-of-a-bitch.”
“I am so sorry, Riley. I’ll try to walk softly.”
“It’s … not … your… fault,” she whispers brokenly through gritted teeth. Her face pales from pain under the crusted blood. She rests her head on my shoulder, wiggling toward my neck where she runs her nose along the juncture, taking a shallow painful breath. Her hand lifts slow and shaky to my face, finding my cheek. She takes another shallow breath before whispering, “I wish I could see your face right now. I thought I’d never see any of you again.” The sound of her tearless sobs breaks my heart.
“We’re here baby, I promise. We won’t fucking let you go again.”
I follow Cree to the bear-sized hole in the wall but stop dead in my tracks as the hole is being obstructed by six large wolves. “Fuck, Cree.” Glancing behind me it's clear there is nowhere to go. The others inside the building are now drifting towards the center of the building near the coffin. Wolves flood through the entrances to the building are forcing us to cluster together. Riley whimpers in pain every time she’s shifted in my arms. “I am really sorry I have to keep moving you, Riley. They have us surrounded right now.”
“What?” Her fear and panic are audible in that one word.
“Don’t worry, we won’t let them hurt you.”
At that, a loud cracking above us can be heard, as though someone is trying to break through the ceiling. Suddenly a bright light filtering through the ceiling fills the room. Instinctively, I drop to the floor with Riley still in my arms, covering her with my body. Cree, Wild, Enzo, and Reed create a cocoon around the two of us.
Growls, howls, and painful cries ring out through the room. When silence sets in I look out between the guys to see Gray, with blood dripping from his hands and splattered across his body, standing among the bodies of dead wolves. Fucking wings, spread from his back the span at least four times his height and the guy is at least 6’5”. Though it’s not just the wings that have me mesmerized; he is fucking glowing. A true honest to Gods glow.
His breathing is heavy, his shoulders rising and falling with every breath. Reed, in wolf form, slowly approaches Gray. Reaching his side he slides his head under Gray’s hand, drawing his attention. “I’m okay, Reed,” he states on a heavy exhale.
Gray turns to the rest of us, his wings disappearing, and declares, “ The perimeter is clear. Let’s get the fuck out of this place.”
“I second that motion,” Riley voices with a small painful chuckle from the safety of a four-mate cocoon.
Standing slowly with her in my arms, I smile at her, though she can’t see it and push as much calm as I can into my voice and say, “Let’s go home and get your healing started. We have a lot to talk about when you’re ready.”
Chapter Nine
Riley
The trip home was fucking torture. No, scratch that, I’m fairly sure Alastair’s lesson was less painful than that ride. Every crack in the road felt like racing over speedbumps. Then you add in being able to feel the distress of my mates the whole ride at every whimper or whine I let out. I tried to hold them all in but sometimes it was so excruciating that it became an impossible task. Thank the Gods for Axel’s boost of healing magic, I don’t want to think about how much worse the trip would have been without it.
Making it into the house, Axel wanted to get me into the shower but I begged him for a bath instead. There was no way I would be able to stand and being held up would hurt too much. He agreed as long as I let someone sit behind me to ensure I didn’t fall asleep and drown myself. I was perfectly okay with a little snuggle time with one or more of my guys. After thinking I would never see them again all I wanted right now was to feel each of them since I couldn’t see them. My wolf purred her agreement with that choice. She is still on edge about not being able to bite off Alastair’s nose.
You’ll get your shot at him, don’t you worry.
Sitting on the edge of what feels to be a high pile bed, I wait while Axel prepares the bath. Large hands slide down my arms and lift my hands gently to his muscular bare chest. Leaning into his body he supports my weight and allows me to soak in his energy. I take a deep inhale, drawing in his scent, campfire and honey fill my soul and I know immediately who this is. “Cree,” I smile.
“Fucking hell, Riley. You scared the shit out of me, you know that? I fucking thought you were dead.” That got my attention.
“Why did you think that?” Just as it felt he was about to answer me another set of hands descend on my shoulders causing me to jump and whimper in protest at the movement.
“Easy, Riley. It’s just me, Axel. I’m going to help you get undressed and into the tub. I’ve got it all warmed up with some Epsom salt to help clean and heal the wounds. It may hurt a little at first but that should fade quickly. I’d like to join you so we can get the rapid healing started and get your eyes back.” Cree’s bear growls at that last part. I feel you, big guy, I don’t like not being able to see either.
“Gods, yes. Please. I really want to see you all. You two are in here with me and I can sense the others close by but, where are they?”
“They’re cleaning up and will wait for us in the living room,” Axel replies as he climbs on the bed behind me, and Cree grumbles from in front of me.
“We’re at Reed’s, right?”
“Yeah, little wolf. We’re at Reed’s. We all couldn’t clean up at your place. You know, one bathroom and all,” Cree answers me and I can hear his smile.
“I guess you’re right. And it’s okay, I like being where you all are. Okay, no more talking. Let’s get this started because I fucking hurt and feel like I’m either going to pass out or throw up, maybe both.”
Cree’s panic floods our connection as he voices, “Axel, shit, do something.”
“I’m okay, Cree. I’ll be okay. Promise,” I try to reassure him as much as myself. Axel’s energy instantly begins to flow through my system, my wolf immediately perking up at the feel of him. She twists in his energy, soaking him up.
“Someone’s happy to see me,” Axel states with a chuckle.
My lungs begin to expand more fully and I find I can breathe a little easier. Resting my forehead on
Cree’s chest, I soak in the warmth of his body heat and Axel’s energy. “Gods, that feels good.” Taking another breath, a little deeper this time, I crack a small smile. “Yeah, I’d say she is feeling a bit better with you inside me,” I express lazily.
The warmth filling my body begins to lull me to sleep as my energy quickly fades.
“Little wolf, do you know what you just said?” Cree laughs out, his shaking chest jolting me awake. My eyes open slightly.
“Holy fuck. I can see,” I exclaim and look up into the bright piercing hazel eyes of my bear. “Hi,” I whisper with a smile.
“Little wolf.” His smile is bright and relieved.
“Let’s get her in the bath before the water gets cold. Come on, baby girl, arms in the air.” Axel’s soothing voice caresses over every nerve ending inducing a euphoric and almost spellbinding feeling to rush through my mind and body.
The stiffness in my joints makes lifting my arms less than graceful. Axel’s hands slide from my shoulders to the hem of my shirt, spreading warmth on their descent. “Wait. Cree when this shirt comes off, promise me you won’t growl.” Cree just snorts an agreement. With that, Axel tugs my shirt up and off. I watch Cree’s face as his eyes run over my exposed body. I can see the tension forming under the surface. I place my hand on his cheek bringing his eyes back to mine. “I’m okay, Cree. I promise.”
A growl sounds from the doorway, and all eyes snap in that direction. Wild stands in the doorway, his eyes trained on my back. Looking away from him I snap out, “Cree, get him out of here.” Cree’s brows pinch together in confusion. “Please, Cree.” My heart starts to break the longer he stands in there.
“Riley?” Wild asks, confusion in his voice.
“Cree, please escort our friend out and stand guard outside the door. I will clean Riley up and we will join you in the living room soon,” Axel orders.
Shattered Strength: Shadowcrest Pack Series Book Two Page 7