by JoAnna Grace
We’re here. Oh God, Ami. You’re naked! And Tom’s bleeding.
Focus! Ami shouted at him. We’re fine.
Okay, okay. Tyrone is putting me, Vivian, Dad, and Kasey into compass positions. He’s going in to get Tom.
Good. Tell me what’s around me. I can’t move my head.
Five guards at your ten, three more at your six. None are watching your area, all are scanning the trees. One headed to you right now.
Perfect. Get ready.
“Hey, jackass, I’m thirsty,” she called to the guard in front of her. He swaggered over to her and was about to speak.
Ami used her shifter ability to turn her body into energy and free her arms and legs. Amilynn pounced on him, twisting his neck with a sickening crack. His body fell to the ground. She had about ten seconds before another guard saw them. She shifted long enough to use her leopard claws to cut through the duct tape on Tom’s wrists and feet. Then she shifted human, covering her body in warm but flexible clothing.
“Shift, fast. Stay wolf. Ty’s on his way.”
Tyrone said to send him southward. Dad’s waiting, Ezekiel said in her mind. Ami pushed Tom in the right direction and he bolted off.
Screaming and shouting erupted from behind her. Time was up. Pulling the guns off the dead guard, Amilynn sent a spray of bullets towards the guards to her left. She rolled behind a beam when they returned fire. Two more went down, thanks to the cavalry hidden in the shadows. The gunfire drew out more soldiers. Amilynn didn’t hesitate and she rarely missed. She held up two M9s and let loose. Bodies dropped.
She dodged and rolled, trying to stay hidden behind the silo. If she could make it up the conveyor, she could get up high.
A massive cheetah came at her, claws and teeth bared. She shot it right in the temple and it landed at her feet. Damn, cheetah shifters were rare. The thought that she’d killed someone she knew could eat at her later. For now, she had to survive.
Coming in on your right, Vivian yelled in her head.
Ami stepped into their path and shot. Two men down. Twelve shots from each gun, if she calculated correctly. Three left in each. Ami grabbed two more guns from the dead and sprang upwards on the conveyor belt. She ran until she reached the top. It was a perfect platform for her to take out as many as she could. Unloading the last six bullets from the first guns, she took out the guards closest to the trailer where Brian was holed up.
The enemy spotted her position and a jaguar sprang into the air, speeding up the conveyor. Amilynn shot twice, but the bastard kept coming.
“Shit.” Not thinking, Amilynn took a running leap onto the top of the silo. She landed on the sloped roof and slid downwards, falling to the ground. She landed hard on her right leg and her recently wounded right thigh screamed in pain as she rolled on the gravel.
Ami, look out!
The jaguar followed and she looked up in time to see it falling from the silo roof right on top of her. She braced for its impact, but it never came. A black leopard sailed through the air and knocked the jag off course.
Tyrone and the jag fought, claw to claw. He sank his fangs into the jag’s neck and, with a wet crunch, the other cat went limp.
Ami’s leg wouldn’t hold her weight. She’d really done it now. Two tall falls in one night took their toll.
“Amilynn,” boomed the voice she’d been waiting for. Brian stepped out of the trailer using Martin’s bloodied body as a human shield. The rest of the soldiers—what few there were—circled Amilynn and Tyrone.
Ami counted only five. Easy to take out.
“You were always my best student,” Brian said from his spot behind Martin.
Her friend was one step away from death. Martin had been beaten horribly. It only pissed her off more.
“Funny, you were my worst teacher.”
Brian started laughing. “I can’t let you walk away without paying for Myra’s murder.”
From the left came a soldier dragging Tom by his human hair.
I thought Tyrone had him! Ami said to Ezekiel.
It didn’t matter. Brian had him now. He tossed Martin aside like an old rag and held Tom close to his chest. Martin didn’t move and Ami’s heart sank.
“Now I have something real to bargain with,” Brian snickered. He yelled into the darkness, “Come out, Vivian! Come out, come out, wherever you are. I know your new alpha is with you.”
“Right here, asshole.” Vivian stepped into the circle created by the floodlights.
“I want Blackburn. Now, or the boy dies.”
“Sorry, not going to happen,” Amilynn said, lifting her pistol.
“Don’t be foolish. I have six men with guns on you. And you won’t take a shot with the boy here.”
I can’t get a clean shot of Brian, Ami. Neither can Kasey. I don’t know about Dad.
I got this. Ami’s lips curled up into a snarling smile. She called on her leopard and let the cat take over her eyes. The world came into sharp focus. “Want to make that an official bet?”
“I’m willing to gamble the boy’s life. Are you? By the time you shoot, my men will kill you.”
“Never bet against Amilynn,” Tom said with a weak smile on his tear-stained face. His faith in her was all she needed. Ami pulled the trigger and sent a bullet flying at Brian. She and Vivian both ducked out of the way as Brian’s men returned fire. Shots rang out from all directions.
When Amilynn got her bearings, all of Brian’s men were down except one—who was crawling away, dragging a half-blown-off leg.
Brian lay slumped against his trailer with a red bleeding dot between his eyes. Tom cried and crawled away towards Sampson, who hobbled into the light, blood dripping down his temple and one arm limp at his side.
Amilynn limped over to Brian’s body. She lifted the guns once more and turned him into hamburger meat in a shirt, emptying the chambers into his corpse. Then she just stood and stared, unable to move.
It was over. She’d faced the monster under her bed and won. Sure, they had to face Trace next, but this victory sent a message. Six people took out over fifty. Trace better have his troops together if he ever hoped to defeat them.
Ami turned around and watched numbly, and Tyrone’s leopard checked all the bodies for pulses. He snapped the necks of two who were hanging on. Ezekiel ran to her. His mouth moved, but she didn’t understand what he was saying.
It was done. She’d saved Tom. It was done.
Sharp pain nagged at her side. She touched her hip and felt warm, wet liquid. Staring at her blood-soaked hand, she tried to remember when she got shot.
Amilynn collapsed and, once again, her world went dark.
AMILYNN SNUGGLED INTO the body next to her. God, Ezekiel’s arms were akin to heaven. His warmth seeped down to her bones and his spicy scent calmed her leopard better than any drug. If only she didn’t have to deal with the other people in the room. The tart taste of their anger hung in the air. Ezekiel’s voice rumbled beneath her ear.
“ . . . handcuff her to the bed, but apparently, that won’t help.”
A couple people in the room chuckled with him.
“It won’t,” Ami mumbled. Her throat was coated with sandpaper. She blinked her eyes open and met the slate-blue stare of her mate. Her heart did a summersault in her chest. Ezekiel was so handsome, so wonderful. Despite everything they had been through, he still flashed her that special smile reserved only for her. In his eyes, she could see the love and affection. It traveled through their bond into her heart and mind. Her soul was wide open to him now, no barriers, no filters, no secrets. Ezekiel had seen her at her worst and still he bent to kiss her with a passion she’d never expected. He was her miracle, a gift she didn’t deserve. If it took the rest of their lives, Ami would prove her devotion to him, her commitment to their future.
“Tom? Martin?” she asked Sampson.
He sat in a chair next to her bed, looking like hammered horseshit. He had a hard cast on one wrist and Amilynn shuddered to think what kind of damage would cause
a shifter to need a hard cast. He also had a huge knot on the side of his head and a black eye. Sampson looked almost as bad as she felt. “Tom is shaken up. But there’s no physical damage. Martin was in rough shape, but nothing that won’t heal with time.”
Ami breathed easy. To think what could’ve happened to Tom or Martin. It made her bloodthirsty just thinking about it.
Ezekiel tilted up her chin. “No more running?”
Ami touched his shadowed jaw and peace filled her mind. Mate, her leopard purred. “You don’t have to worry. Every time I run, I seem to get injured. It’s not worth it anymore. You’re stuck with me.”
“I want that in writing.” Ezekiel smiled and Ami’s pulse jumped.
“Me too,” said Doc Charles. He stood next to her bed, checking the IV stand.
Ami pushed herself up. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t sucky Santa and his poking presents.” She happily focused on him instead of all the family members waiting to take a chunk out of her hide.
Charles grinned. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the sarcastic escape artist. You really stink at staying healthy, you know that?”
“Just trying to keep you in business, Doc. Didn’t I get shot?” She touched her side. Sure enough, it was tender and covered in bandages. God, yeah, everything hurt.
“You should be in the hospital, but I’d like to spare you the painful escape efforts. You were shot in the side. No major damage, thanks to some of that voodoo that he do.” Charles motioned to the corner of the room where Tyrone held up a wall. “You reinjured your leg muscles. Good job, that’s what you get. But I think you’ll be fine with some rest.”
“Boy, Charles. These home visits are awful nice of you.”
“Don’t thank me. I cussed you the entire time I stitched you up.”
Stitches? She’d slept through stitches? “Wait, you sedated me again, didn’t you?”
“Once bitten, twice shy.” Charles patted his medical bag as he threw the strap over his shoulder.
Amilynn laughed as he left the room. So maybe the doc had grown on her. Who needed to know?
Now she was alone with the adult members of her family. Even Conall had returned from his walkabout. Man, she must be in deep poo if they called him back. Bianca was missing, but no doubt she was with the twins.
Not surprisingly, Kasey was the first person to step up to address Amilynn. “I’m glad you’re awake. Nice job out there.” His compliments would’ve been nice if he weren’t giving her the stink eye. “However, you disobeyed a direct order not to go on a solo mission.”
“Wait.” Amilynn held up her hand. “Technically, I didn’t go on a solo mission. I simply . . . got a head start.”
Vivian slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing and Tyrone chuckled from the corner.
Kasey, on the other hand, took a deep breath, crossed his arms over his chest, and narrowed his eyes at her. There was no laughter on his face.
“Hear me out,” Amilynn asked, half pleading with him. If the alpha wanted, he could truly make her life hell for what she did. “I did leave a note with Ezekiel and I kept in contact. If things had gone down any differently, the outcome might not have been as good and you know it. I needed to go in alone, get inside. I knew you guys would come.”
There were a handful of silent seconds when Ami thought Kasey would launch into her. She prayed he saw her logic, not her defiance. Not even Ezekiel could save her from punishment if Kasey chose to dish it out.
“Only you, Amilynn,” growled an agitated alpha wolf. “Only you could get away with this defiance. But don’t think I’m happy about it.”
Beside her, Ezekiel relaxed his hold on her shoulders. She wasn’t the only one who had been worried.
Kasey spoke to everyone in the room. His voice held the indefinable power that set him apart, that timbre that caused their animals to listen to his commands. “I understand that you guys feel like this is your fight, a feline-only fight. But I want each and every one of you to get this through your stubborn heads. The Nevada Pride isn’t out for you alone. The stakes are higher now. A line has been crossed with the blood of my Pack members. When we attack or when we defend, we do it together. You are mine. You are Pack. Do you understand?”
Vivian took Kasey’s hand, looked her mate in the eyes, and nodded once. Ami saw it happen, the passing of power. Vivian told them all who was in charge without saying a word. And if Vivian could relinquish control to Kasey, then Amilynn would do so as well. Each member of the Pride gave Kasey the same nod of solidarity.
“Now, see, aren’t you glad I gave you the opportunity to have this touching moment of camaraderie?” Amilynn smiled widely at Kasey, who rolled his eyes and dropped his shoulders in exasperation. He headed for the door. “I give up. She’s all yours, Sampson.” Vivian winked at Ami, then followed. Tyrone and Melissa slipped out with nothing more than air kisses and a nod.
Conall gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered, “You were right. Maybe mating isn’t such a bad idea for us.” He had an aroma about him that Amilynn had never scented before.
Ami pulled back and gave him a questioning look. He winked, smiled wide, and left her wondering what the hell happened in those woods.
“I’ll be back.” Ezekiel kissed her and slipped off the bed.
Amilynn was left alone with Sampson. Aw, balls. This could not be good. She readied herself for the ass-chewing of a lifetime. Whatever he had to say, she’d take it. It was well deserved. The longer he sat in silence, the hotter her face grew. Man, he must be pissed.
“So here’s the deal.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Usually, when my kids piss me off and keep secrets and do stupid shit that makes me cuss, I paddle their asses or ground them or find something else suitable as punishment. But I think having your leg nearly clawed off, being shot, being duct-taped naked to a freezing cold metal beam, and facing the demons of your past is worse than any punishment I could concoct.” He took a deep breath. “What you did out there, at that plant, I’ve never seen anything like that. You didn’t miss. Not one shot. I’ve asked everyone; they all said the same thing. When you fired, someone fell. I don’t know how you did it. Tom said you can do a partial shift.” He raised a brow in question and she nodded. “Didn’t know that.”
“Turns out I have to be very angry.”
“Like when someone hurts your brothers?”
Ami’s lips curled back and she hissed, remembering how they’d stuck Tom with the cattle prod. Sampson nodded in agreement.
“You and I need to get some things straight, kiddo.” He leaned over, elbows on his knees, and pegged her with his stare. “You know what I do. You know it’s my job to be the bad guy around here. Except for extreme cases that the alpha alone can handle, I’m the police, prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner. Such is the life of the beta, of you.”
“Me?” Ami blanched. Her? A beta? She’d never thought of herself that way. Then again, she was to Vivian what Sampson was to Kasey. To put a label on it seemed too official.
“You’re working with me now, Ami, to prepare you for when Ezekiel is alpha. To be beta is to live two lives, which you already do. On one hand, beta is the teacher, the commander of the soldiers, a person feared and respected, the voice of reason to your alpha—don’t worry, we’ll work on that.” He winked at her. “But you also have to be . . . Amilynn. Dancer, comedian, free spirit. Just like I have to be Sampson—husband, father, friend. Not everyone can do it, but I think you can. Rumors are already spreading about what you did at the plant. You’ll be a damned legend before long. Use it.”
Beta. Ami considered the position. A sense of rightness, of purpose settled in her chest. She’d always lived a double life, one in the sun, one in the shadows. This is what we were made for, her leopard said, standing tall within. “Deal.”
“Good. One last thing.” Sampson moved over to the bed. The mattress dipped with his weight. “I’m not good at all this touchy-feely stuff an
d we’ve never had that kind of relationship, but you should know . . . I’m proud of you. That was some bad-ass shit.” He looked back at the door. “Don’t tell Bianca I cussed.” They shared a laugh and Ami zipped her lips. “But I still want grandkids. I know you’re both young and neither one of you are ready for that yet, but I want cubs and kittens running around here. My wife and I need someone to spoil.”
Ami’s lip quivered. Damn it, she was going to cry. “Sampson, I’m not—”
“I see you with Nate and Tom, Ami. You would give your life for them. You have more love in your heart than you know and that’s what makes a good mother. Don’t disqualify yourself. Don’t let your past dictate your future.” He reached up and put a hand on her bruised cheek, swiping a tear with his thumb. His deep brown eyes met hers. “I’m proud to have you as a daughter.”
Ami’s tears flowed freely. She rubbed them away with a defiant hand. “I kind of love you a little bit, ya know?”
Sampson smiled and nodded, his eyes misted over. “Love you too, kiddo.” He stood and leaned over to kiss her head. “If anyone asks, you’re crying because I chewed you a new one and I’m, like, super-authority-dad.”
She laughed. “You are super dad.”
“Good girl, sticking to the story. Now, I know two boys that are about to bust down the door.”
Ami cleared her tears as Sampson opened her bedroom door and the Mirrors poked their heads in. She opened her arms and they came. Seeing Tom’s stitched-up lip and bruised-up eyes broke her heart. Ami hugged the boys close and kissed them over and over again.
“I knew you loved us,” Nate joked but without his usual bravado.
“More than anything.”
“Z said you were moving to our den downstairs. Is that true?” Tom asked. “‘Cause I’d kind of like you to be close.”
Amilynn looked at her sexy mate as he walked in the room. “Yes, I suppose I am. My allergies are going to kill me, being surrounded by all you dang wolves.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. Nate and Tom shifted, right there on the bed. Ami got a face full of slobber. Their cold noses and wet tongues made her giggle and complain. “Ew! Gross. Enough with the drool fest.” She hugged the juvenile wolves close to her chest and looked up at her mate.