by Unknown
Ruby started ordering the pack into formation, breaking into two groups to aggravate and distract the guards and challenge the gates, and grabbed Rafe long enough to point toward the only possible place he might be able to break through. "Give us five minutes. Then go. When you get her, call me. We'll kill the spotlights as soon as we can."
Rafe nodded, then hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Ruby. Make sure she's safe. Swear to me — you'll get her out of here as soon as we get her."
"I promise, brother. Your mate will be safe." Ruby hugged him back, her lips compressed into a thin line as she turned and walked away. She touched Carter's chest briefly, as if to reassure herself that her mate was still within reach, and Rafe met the lion's gaze, unflinching.
Carter took a deep breath and leaned forward to shake his hand. "Good luck, Rafe. The reinforcements are on their way. Just hold on as long as you can."
Rafe nodded and returned his attention to the compound as the guards scurried like ants from a kicked mound. The wolf snarled and the world broke apart, and he dropped to four paws. The air grew crisper, sounds louder, and the ache of missing Meadow strengthened until it nearly knocked him down. Rafe shook it off and trotted to the edge of the trees, searching the compound and the air for any hint of her. He would find her. He would have her back soon. His lip curled until he could taste his vengeance. BadCreek didn't know what they'd done when they stole his mate. He would make them pay in blood.
Chapter 20
I waited until the lights went out in the hall outside to move. I peered through the window and didn't see anyone guarding my door. They must have assumed that the lock was enough, and that I was resigned to being stuck in the crazy ward. I gripped the cane and rested the end of it against the door handle, taking a deep breath as I concentrated all of my energy on getting out. Getting free. Getting back to Rafe.
The cane warmed in my hands and a sharp burning scent made me sneeze, but when I tried the door handle, it opened. I held my breath and peeked into the hall, my heart racing. I suddenly really needed to pee. But there wasn't time. No telling when the next guard would come through, or that bastard West would find me and dose me with something horrible. I clenched my hands around the cane and prayed, begged the universe and Smith and Rafe to help me. I needed to get outside. If I could get outside, I would know where I was and then I'd know how to get back to Rafe. And safety.
My leg dragged as I hobbled down the hall, sticking close to the wall as I tried to figure out how the hell to get out of there. Everything looked the same — gray and white and bland, a bunch of doors in a corridor that connected to another corridor full of doors. Footsteps approached and I froze, clutching the cane and focusing everything on not being seen. Don't see me became a mantra on repeat in my mind. It wasn't exactly how the book described it, but I didn't need finesse. I just needed it to work. And muses could inspire people to look away.
I held my breath as a tall man wearing the dark uniform of a guard strode past at a near-jog, clearly headed somewhere. Against my better judgment, I followed him, using the cane as I hopped to keep up. It hurt. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as my cast stubbed against a doorstop and I almost fell on my face. The guard paused, looking around, and I shrank back, redoubling my efforts to remain unremarkable and invisible. He continued but I turned down a different hall, hobbling along toward what looked like an exit. Finally, I thought I saw the night sky.
I took a deep breath, ready for the cold winter air, and ran into something. Someone. I stared up at Nick, his scar buckling in a frown, and he caught my shoulders. "You're not supposed to be out here."
My mind raced, trying to come up with an excuse, but nothing registered. I could only stare at him. He looked around, down the halls, then took hold of my arm. "Come with me."
"No," I said, though it squeaked out. I couldn't fight him but maybe I could inspire him. "L-let me go. You have to let me go. Show me the way out. Take me to the gate."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "You'll never get past the gate; there are too many people trying to keep you in."
"Help me leave," I whispered, as the world got slow and swirly and the cane warmed in my hands. "Tell me how to get free."
Nick flinched, the muscle in his jaw jumping, and his grip gentled on my arm. He looked around the halls, then tilted his head at another hall. "This way."
I shouldn't have trusted him. I knew I shouldn't have. But the cane gave me enough confidence to follow Nick down the hall and into a small vestibule with an unremarkable door. I held my breath as he held a card up to a silver box next to the door, and the light over it turned green. He opened it and held the door for me. "Go straight. There's a door in the fence. Head south and you'll find the road."
"Th-thank you," I said, and started to move past him.
But Nick caught my arm again and dropped his voice, his gaze intense. "If you get out of here, tell the alphas that they have allies here."
"What?" I stared at him, my heart thudding in my ears. The cold winter air cut through the scrubs I wore and prickled my skin, and I dreaded having to run across the open ground to get the road. "What are you talking about? You should forget you saw me here."
"Right." The scar buckled again in a deeper sneer, and his dark eyes reflected gray for a moment. "I don't know what you are but that voodoo doesn't work on me. That's why West wanted us paired."
Something in the air changed as I stared at him, and red lights in the halls lit up and began swinging around in alert. Nick looked behind me and his expression tightened. "They've discovered you're missing. You'll never make it to the fence now."
"I'm leaving." I gripped the cane and headed for the door, despite the squirm of doubt in my stomach. What if he told the truth? What if he wanted to work against whoever kidnapped me, and Rafe would have a use for him?
"You can't now," Nick said, reaching for me and the door. "You'll never..."
Shouts rose down the hall and he muttered as a siren went off. Outside flooded with lights. Nick tried to pull me back inside. "We can come up with a story and you can escape later —"
I shoved the cane against his chest and said, "No. I'm going back to Rafe," and he crumpled bonelessly to the floor. I stood over him for a split second, debating, then heard the trample of running boots and bolted. Well, hobbled.
I focused on the fence and prayed no one noticed me. I put all my energy into it, until the cane burned against my palm and I stared at the fence until it nearly disappeared from my vision. It was so close. Almost within reach. I could almost touch the door in the first fence when all the light in the world landed on me and everything turned too bright to see. I froze, staring around, and someone yelled. Dogs barked. Panic surged in my chest and I flung the door open, trying to run. Spotted. Damn it. I was almost there. If I could just make it past the fence...
Snarling rose behind me and I cried out, swinging the cane and trying to drag that damned cast. I could see a stand of trees beyond the fence, beckoning. I would be safe there. I could hide there until Rafe found me. I just had to get past that fence. Something cracked through the night, like a gun shot, and I looked around wildly. A guard tower to my right housed a man with a long gun in his hands, and my heart leapt to my throat. They shot at me? I tripped, fell, and my knees slammed into the hard ground and snow. Pain shot all the way through me and I struggled up, using the cane, but something large and hairy bowled into me from the side.
I screamed, more in anger than pain, and lurched to my feet to face down the wolves. They circled, trying to herd me back to the first fence, but the cane kept them at a safe distance. It started to glow as my desperation built, and I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. I was so cold. And scared. I didn't want to go back inside. I didn't want them to tell me Rafe wasn't real. I needed him to be real.
I kept backing up, limping and dragging both my feet against spikes of agony from my heels to my back, and stumbled again. Fell again. Crawled backward and prayed I wouldn't
die in a wolf's jaws. My hands shook but I knew I would fight. I wasn't crazy. I wasn't. And I damn well wouldn't let them tell me that anymore. I knew magic existed. I knew it. The magic cane saved me, helped me, and that was enough. I shoved to my feet and headed for the fence, whacking at least two wolves as I reached it and fumbled at the lock. My back pressed against the fence so I could watch the wolves as I used the cane on the lock, desperate for it to work again, but it didn't warm. The glow softened. The wolves growled and edged closer, heads low and saliva dripping from their teeth. Men in dark uniforms ran towards us, carrying weapons and chains, and my lungs constricted. Freezing air made it difficult to breathe, but not as much as the despair.
I wouldn't go back. I had to fight. I gripped the cane and ignored the shouting from the guard tower, ignored when the floodlights redirected. Ignored snarling from a distance and motion behind me. The door wouldn't open. I was stuck.
I braced to fight off the wolves and told Rafe I loved him. I would reach him eventually. I wouldn't stop fighting. And Smith. I needed Smith as well; he was the only family I had. A fierce wind built up and swirled the snow in great tornados, making it difficult to see, and the noise behind me grew louder. I dared look away from the wolves creeping closer for just a moment and my breath caught.
A strange green glow burned in the field beyond the fence, and shadows raced around it. Small glowing figures detached from the main pillar and scattered, swarming over the compound and the guard towers and the fence, and the lights went out.
The entire field plunged into darkness, except for the glowing man, and my cane. I held it up and swung it against the fence, sending sparks cascading through the night. And far away, I heard Rafe howl my name.
Chapter 21
Rafe charged as soon as he saw the BadCreek wolves circling a small figure in green scrubs. He knew it was Meadow. She carried that damn cane from Smith and struggled to defend herself in the snow while wearing that cast. A pack hunted her down, cornered her at the second fence, and held her off from escaping. She was so close.
He barreled down the hill and across the field, not caring as the guards took pot-shots at him and even winged him. It slowed him down but he only saw Meadow, desperate and afraid. Cornered.
Ruby and the pack, accompanied by an enormous lion, attacked at the main gate as well as the rear, and more gunshots filled the night. Rafe concentrated on getting to the fence, reaching his mate. He grunted as another shot bit into his hip, but he kept running on three legs. Before he reached the fence, static filled the air and something crashed into the ground to his left like a fucking meteor. Green light filled the air and a freezing wind nearly knocked Rafe off his feet. He stumbled to a halt as Smith, towering over seven feet and wearing crazy long robes, raised his arms and shouted something that rolled through the air like thunder.
Small green sparks, little people with wings, broke away from Smith and raced into the compound, past the fences and toward the lights. Rafe hobbled forward, focused on Meadow as her cane glowed to match Smith, and the wolves hesitated. Smith's minions knocked out the lights and everything plunged into darkness. Rafe's wolf howled. More shouts rose, emergency generators kicked in, and yet darkness still reigned. Smith's voice reached him in a thread of sound, like the old man stood at his shoulder, "Get her. Free her. Now."
Rafe ignored the pain. It would heal. He charged the fence, throwing his shoulder against the door until it dented, but it remained locked. One of the glowing minions flitted through the air and dashed through the links until everything melted and the door fell off its hinges. Meadow lurched through, breathless and sweating in desperation, and she nearly fell across Rafe. She sobbed and gripped his fur. "I knew you'd come. I knew you'd find me."
He licked her hand, desperate to comfort her, but he still had the wolves to deal with. He nudged Meadow, tried to shove her behind him so he could face the threat alone, but she remained at his side, holding that cane. It glowed brighter as the wolves snarled and approached, pouring through the open door to surround them as men with guns lined up behind the fence and swatted at the minions who attacked them from above. Rafe blinked away the pain and the blood in his eyes, baring his teeth at the threat as he tried to back up. He just had to hold them off long enough for the lions to arrive. The lions and the bears and his pack, they would all be enough to save Meadow.
One of the BadCreek wolves darted forward, snapping at the air, and aimed at Meadow. Not at him. Rafe's control snapped and he charged. He didn't care whether he could actually fight with three legs and a bullet in his side. He killed the wolf who almost bit Meadow, its neck snapping in his teeth, and threw the carcass aside so he could find the next threat. Yelling rose in the distance and Meadow screamed. The green glow increased and Rafe looked up in time to see the man in the guard tower raise his rifle. A red dot cut through the night and bounced off the snow where Rafe's paws churned it into a mess. The red dot rose, flickered. Hovered on Meadow's chest.
Meadow.
Rafe roared and leapt, knocking her back. Taking her place.
The bullet tore through him in a blaze of agony, ripping through his guts until he felt hollow. Empty.
But Meadow still moved. She fought. She lifted that cane and screamed, her rage a reflection of his. Rafe felt so damn proud of her he almost forgot the strange sensation of blood draining from his body. He staggered to be next to her, wanting to feel her touch, and blinked as his vision swam. The wolf didn't mind. They felt so unbearably cold, but at least Meadow stood firm with her glowing staff.
Rafe's legs gave out and he sank into the snow, but he was content to just watch Meadow. She burned with a bright light, sending static and lightning in to the darkness, and Smith's glow approached in a blaze. Chaos erupted with lions and bears and more wolves swarming around them, jostling him, defending Meadow. He exhaled as Ruby's familiar wolf form raced up and leapt over him, pausing only to nudge him with her nose before going to check on Meadow. His eyes closed. Meadow was safe. Protected. Ruby would get Meadow to safety, just like she's sworn. His mate was safe.
Chapter 22
When Rafe stood beside me, I managed to be brave. I held off the wolves even though my hands shook and my knees knocked together and I lost all feeling in my legs and I still really, really needed to pee. But when the gunshot cracked through the night and Rafe grunted, when he fell... A blaze of panic cut through me and wiped everything away until only rage remained. They hurt him. They tried to kill me and instead maybe killed Rafe. My mate.
The cane turned into fire in my hands and my chest ached. I lifted it and screamed. Swung the cane at those wolves and took vicious pleasure in seeing them leap back, one too slow. It collapsed in the snow. But there were still too many of them, and bullets bit into the snowy muck around my feet. I needed help. I needed someone to help Rafe.
The strange light emanating from the cane billowed up and joined with a roman candle to my left. I knew it was Smith. He looked ten feet tall and freaking terrifying, waving his hands to direct a horde of the scariest things I'd ever seen in my life. They lurched and tumbled through the snow toward the compound, creatures with malformed bodies, extra limbs, covered with hair. Howling and racing forward, seeking blood and vengeance. I had no idea who or what they were, or whether these were the 'friends' Smith frequently referenced, but it didn't matter. They poured through and over the fence, swarming the guard tower, and I could have stood there, mesmerized by the magic sparking around them, as a surge of wild animals surrounded us from behind.
I jumped as another wolf nudged Rafe, then tried to push me back toward the trees, toward an SUV that tore over the fields without regard for the lack of roads. I shook my head, unwilling to release the cane, and bent to check Rafe. There was so much blood. So much blood, and his eyes remained closed even when I touched him. "I can't leave him."
The air crackled next to me and I turned, expecting more bullets or some of those minions, but instead Ruby had transformed back to her human s
elf. Even naked, she didn't seem affected by the snow or cold or danger. Her eyes still glinted gold as she grabbed my arm. "We have to go, Meadow."
"I won't leave him."
"We're taking him," she said, and when I looked back, two naked humans helped lift Rafe's body onto the lion's back until he slumped over Carter's shoulder. The lion raced off and Ruby tried to drag me forward. "We don't have time. Let's go."
I looked over my shoulder at where Smith and his minions still fought, as more wolves and more humans appeared, as more guns discharged into the darkness, and I hesitated. I could still fight. Nick was somewhere in there, and he'd tried to help me. Maybe he needed help, too. "But —"
She growled, a wolf's frustration from a human throat, and gestured. I blinked and looked up as the biggest bear I'd ever seen in my life lumbered over. Ruby said, "She won't go, Kaiser. Get her to the truck," and then dropped back into her wolf form.
A scream caught in my throat as the bear, a dark blonde mix of polar and grizzly, scooped me up with one giant paw and tossed me onto his back. I gripped the thick fur at his shoulders and tried to slide free but then he was running, a long-legged lope that rolled and bounded over the field. I looked back as the eerie green lights brightened and Smith's voice boomed over the entire compound. "Be warned, wolves. Do not trespass where the fae have claimed jurisdiction."
More lights flared up and I forgot to be afraid. Parts of the compound burned. The fence crashed down in pieces. Men and wolves scattered, yelling and howling, and all the lights winked out at once. Even the glow faded, and no matter how hard I searched, I could find no trace of Smith or his people.
The bear lurched to a halt and I tumbled off, landing hard on my side with a grunt. The SUVs waited, engines running and armed men and women forming a protective barrier between us and what remained of BadCreek, and when I looked up, a burly naked man offered me a hand up. The dark beard concealed an almost mournful expression, though his eyes were kind. "Sorry about the rough landing, dear. You should get in the car where it's warm."