by Becca Van
When she tried to move, it was difficult since her arms, legs, her whole body felt as if it weighed as much as a ton of lead, but she needed to know where she was. After rolling to her stomach, she pushed up to her hands and knees. Just as she was stable enough to lift her head to gaze about, the truck hit a deep rut and she toppled over, rolling toward the other side of the tray tub. Pain exploded in her shoulder as it hit the side so hard she saw stars. It hurt so much she couldn’t even cry out. Tears burned her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away as she tried to breathe through the agony.
When she was able to move again, she pressed her hand onto the metal floor and sat up, her back against the side of the tub, and she glanced about. Whoever was driving had taken the vehicle off road and was going way too fast for the conditions. Tami peered through the back window into the cab and gasped when she saw the back of the man’s head.
She had no idea who he was, but there was no way she couldn’t identify him, since she’d just cut his hair.
Frissons of fear skated up her spine causing goose bumps to race over her skin. Perspiration formed on her flesh beneath her pits, between her breasts, and on her brow.
Tami realized that she was in deep, deep trouble.
She turned her gaze away from the bastard who’d drugged her and tried to figure out where she was, but nothing was familiar, and since she didn’t know any of the area surrounding Ambrose, she had no clue which direction they were heading.
Tami envisaged Zayn’s, Karter’s and Jace’s handsome faces as she wondered if they even knew she was missing. The tears she’d been trying to keep at bay pooled in her eyes before rolling down her face.
She prayed for the first time in a long, long time that her mates would find her, and she would get out of this alive.
When she realized she could be seen if the guy driving looked in his rearview mirror, Tami ducked down until she was lying on her belly. Using her arms and legs, she tried to pull herself toward the tailgate of the truck. She ended up biting her lip so hard she drew blood when agony seared into her shoulder, up into her neck, and down her arm. Tears blurred her vision, and her stomach lurched as bile burned her throat.
After a few seconds, she gasped and rolled onto her good side and stared at her shoulder. From the angle of the bone, she’d either broken it or dislocated her shoulder. After feeling such agony, she wasn’t about to put pressure on that side again.
Tami very carefully tucked her arm against her chest, ignoring the tears trickling down her cheeks as excruciating pain pierced into her shoulder and arm. When she had her breath back, she used both of her feet and her right arm to propel her to the rear of the vehicle. She was hoping she could escape from the truck if she could get it open. She didn’t care if she caused more damage to her injury or her some other part of her body when she jumped out of the back of the truck. All that mattered was escaping the son of a bitch.
* * * *
Zayn almost stumbled when agony ripped into his left shoulder and leg, but he was able to keep his paws under him. He glanced down, but he didn’t see anything to cause or warrant so much pain.
And then he felt her determination and fear through their mating bond. When he heard Karter snarl and Jace growl, he guessed his brothers had felt the connection with their mate, too.
He picked up the pace, pushing himself and his wolf harder and faster than ever before. He’d lost the scent of the truck a few miles back, and while he had no clue as to why he knew he was heading in the right direction, he did. Pure animalistic instinct was driving him on.
If he hadn’t been looking about as he ran, he might have missed the tire tracks heading off road leading into the sparse scrub dotting the landscape.
“He’s left the road,” Zayn yelled through the communal link as he changed direction, nearly cutting his brothers off since they were so close behind him.
“We’re right behind you,” Rex King, Tatum’s brother and a lion shifter, said.
“Preston Louis and his brothers are coming in their truck,” Shaffer King, Tatum’s other brother, said.
“They’re bringing weapons,” Rex stated. “They picked up Broden after Jett grabbed his medical bag from the clinic.”
Zayn was glad that the town doctor would be on hand in case Tami needed medical attention. The thought of her being hurt sent another spurt of adrenaline coursing through his blood, and he ran faster still.
His wolf cocked his head when his ears picked up the low rumble of a vehicle, and he slowed his pace to a trot even while his urges were telling him to get to Tami fast. He needed to know what they were dealing with before going in and fighting. The last thing he wanted to do was put his mate’s life in even more danger.
* * * *
Tami had made it to the back of the truck and was just reaching for the handle to the tailgate when the vehicle came to an abrupt halt. She was sent flying toward the cab, and even though she tried to stop her momentum, she couldn’t.
The side of her head slammed into the back of the tray, and she saw stars. While it was tempting to give into the darkness trying to invade, she fought it back and won.
When she felt something warm and sticky on her face, she realized her head had been cut but resisted the urge to touch it. She wasn’t about to add to the pain she was already feeling.
The truck door slamming was loud in the quiet, and even though she was tempted to glare at the bastard who’d abducted her, she kept her eyes closed. Maybe she’d prolong her life if he thought she was unconscious.
Cool air breezed over her body when the tailgate was lowered, and the vehicle dipped slightly. She opened her eyes to mere narrow slits, squinting at the man as he got into the back of the vehicle and crawled toward her.
Tami tried to keep from tensing as she prepared to fight for her life.
The closer he came, the faster her heart raced.
This was it.
She just hoped she came out of this confrontation still breathing.
* * * *
Jace howled when he felt something slam into his head. He knew right away that it wasn’t his pain he was feeling. He wanted to yell at Zayn to run faster when he slowed but quickly changed his mind when he heard the cut of an engine not too far ahead. The stench of burned diesel assaulted his olfactory senses as it wafted on the cooling late afternoon breeze, and he slowed even more.
Luckily for him and his brothers, there were a few bushes screening their approach as the got closer and closer to the truck.
Jace glanced at Rex and Shaffer when the large lions came up on either side of him. He nodded his thanks, and they nodded back as they peeled away and moved toward the east and west of where the truck had parked.
“Karter, Jace, go around the asshole and come in from the north,” Zayn commanded.
“You can’t go in by yourself, Zayn. What if the fucker has a gun to her head?” Karter asked.
“Then you and two of the King brothers can take him out. I’m the distraction,” Zayn explained.
Jace wanted to argue but knew it would be futile when he saw the determined resolve in his brother’s wolf’s eyes. Zayn was willing to take a bullet to keep Tami safe, just as he and Karter were.
He just hoped that none of them ended up getting killed.
* * * *
As soon as he was close enough, Tami exploded into action. Curling her fingers, she used her nails as claws, raking them over the fucker’s face. She gagged when one of her nails sank into his eye, and he shouted with pain. When he drew away and lifted a fist into the air, she kicked out with all of her strength, her foot planting into his solar plexus. As he bent over to hold his chest, she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it into his nose.
Bone and cartilage crunched just before blood spurted from his nostrils. She kicked out again with both feet but missed when he rolled to the side. Tami bent her knees, preparing to kick him again, but she was too slow. He must have had a knife hidden on his person somewhere because she caught
the glint of light on the blade just before he stabbed her in the thigh.
She screamed as white-hot burning pain shot into her leg, her whole body shaking and writhing in an effort to get away from so much agony. When he removed the blade from her flesh, all she could do was moan and gasp as her stomach heaved.
She turned her head to the side and vomited. Tears streamed down her face with grief. She wasn’t going to get out of this alive after all.
* * * *
Karter bounded toward the truck when Tami screamed. He didn’t give a shit that he was breaking rank to get to his mate. Jace raced after him.
The sound of her tortured scream still echoed in his mind, and he knew he’d never forget it.
Just as he reached the front of the truck, a large black wolf leaped up into the back with a snarl. Two lions roared with fury as they raced toward the vehicle from either side.
Karter was about to jump into the back of the truck, too, but there wasn’t enough room. Zayn was biting, clawing, and growling all at the same time. The guy was yelling each time his brother’s claws tore through his flesh. He almost didn’t see the glint of steel as the fucker raised a knife, intent on stabbing his brother.
He howled a warning to Zayn, but thankfully, he must have seen the knife, too. Zayn bit down on the man’s wrist, biting through flesh and bone until the blade dropped from the bastard’s hand with a clatter. His brother’s wolf growled low in his throat, the fur on the back of his neck and along his spine standing on end as he moved to stand over the now cowering asshole.
When Zayn bared his teeth and began to lower his head toward the fucker’s throat, he realized what his brother was about to do.
“Zayn, you can’t kill him. We need this bastard to clear Tami’s name. Our mate’s hurt. She needs us. Zayn, help Tami!”
Karter sighed with relief when Zayn’s wolf backed down. He whined and then turned toward Tami, who was curled up along the far wall of the truck bed. He couldn’t see her, but he could smell her blood and fear. If they hadn’t needed the fucker who’d kidnapped and hurt the woman he loved more than his own life, he would have jumped up into the back and ripped his throat out himself.
Karter howled when a truck pulled up a few yards away, grateful to see Broden and the Louis brothers exiting the vehicle.
Preston Louis got there first, and after quickly taking in the situation at a glance, he reached in, grasped the fucker’s ankle, and yanked him out of the back of the truck. The guy groaned with pain as he hit the dirt, and when Preston cuffed the bastard, heedless of his torn flesh and broken bones, Karter mentally cheered.
As soon as Preston dragged the asshole away, Karter pushed his wolf back and embraced his human form. Jace, who’d been on the other side of the tailgate the whole time, transformed, too.
“Zayn, you need to let us get Tami out so Broden can tend to her wounds.”
Zayn rumbled out a growl and bared his teeth at him. Karter ignored the aggression as he climbed into the back of the truck. “She’s bleeding, Zayn. We don’t want her dying from blood loss. Let me get her out so Broden can help her.”
Zayn whined as he sat down on his haunches and stared at Tami.
Karter sighed with relief when his brother stood and leapt toward the ground.
“Fuck!” Jace snapped when he saw Tami.
Tears stung Karter’s eyes when he saw the blood coating their mate. He very carefully lifted her into his arms and knee-walked toward the tailgate. Jace took her from him so he didn’t jostle her when he stepped off the truck before racing her toward Broden.
The Kodiak shifter already had a blanket on the ground, and as soon as Jace lowered her onto it, he started cutting her clothes off searching for her injuries.
There was so much blood.
Too much.
Karter prayed that the shifter DNA he and his brothers had shared with his mate was enough to keep her breathing.
* * * *
Zayn dropped to his belly on the ground off to the side of the blanket as he watched Broden assess Tami’s injuries. He wanted to change back into his human form, but he was too scared to move. Tami’s heartbeat was slow and sluggish, and he wasn’t sure she was going to make it. His wolf was whining, and the man inside the beast was crying.
He’d been too late.
If he’d just pushed himself harder. If he hadn’t slowed to assess the situation. If he’d listened to his instincts, none of this may have happened.
She was fighting for her life because of him.
Broden inserted a cannula in the back of her hand and attached it to a drip. Zayn didn’t know if pumping fluid into her body was going to work. What she needed was blood.
That thought was enough for his wolf to step back, and he took immediate advantage, bringing his human side to the front, and he shifted.
“She needs blood,” Zayn said as he clasped Tami’s cool hand in his.
“I don’t know what it’ll do to her to give her your blood,” Broden said.
“She’ll die if you don’t. Her heart’s already laboring.” Zayn didn’t need to be told that the fucker had stabbed through an artery.
Broden nodded and rummaged in his bag. “Karter, Jace, prepare to give blood.”
Zayn tore open an alcohol wipe with his teeth before thoroughly cleaning the crook of his elbow. Karter and Jace did the same. Broden jabbed catheters into their skin, removed the saline from Tami’s drip, and then plugged Zayn’s line into hers. He stared at her face as his blood flowed into her body.
As soon as he’d given enough, Broden repeated the process with both his brothers until Tami’s heartbeat sped up and beat regularly.
His mate was no longer on the brink of death. He just hoped there weren’t any adverse effects to her after they’d given her their blood. None of them knew what to expect since no shifter had ever shared blood with a human.
Until now.
Epilogue
Tami yawned as she woke, stretching out the kinks in her relaxed muscles. She frowned as she opened her eyes and tried to work out why she felt so different.
She was full of energy, ready to go running. However, that was strange because she’d never been a runner, or a fan of exercise for that matter.
She opened her eyes, blinking the sleep haze from her vision, and smiled when she saw all three of her men were in bed with her and they were all staring at her. “Hi.”
“Hi, baby. How are you feeling?” Zayn asked.
“I feel…amazing.”
“You do?” Karter frowned.
“Yeah. I feel like I could run a marathon and still have energy to spare.” The smile on her face changed to a frown when none of her guys commented. She met Jace’s gaze, but he glanced away from her. The same thing happened when she looked into first Karter’s and then Zayn’s eyes. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you remember what happened, darlin’?” Jace asked as he sat up from his reclining position along the end of the bed and grasped her ankle under the covers
Tami thought back and gasped when images flashed across her mind. “Oh shit! Where is he? What happened?”
“You nearly died, honey,” Karter said in a hoarse voice before he continued to explain what had happened.
“So the Louis brothers arrested him?” she asked.
“Yes, Tami. That bastard was hired by Jeremy Browning to get you to sign over the account he’d set up in yours and your mother’s maiden name. Once he had control, the merc was supposed to kill you,” Jace said.
“He almost succeeded,” Tami said as she recalled being stabbed in the leg. She shoved the covers down, careless of her nakedness, and stared at her leg. There wasn’t a mark to be found. Her skin was smooth and a healthy white-pink color.
“Apparently, the merc, Chad Stone, decided he was going to dupe Browning. He’d kept records of all their phone conversations and other information he had in a draft email he was intending to send to the police. Jeremy Browning murdered your fat
her, baby.” Zayn wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
“I knew my dad didn’t take his own life or steal any of the money.”
“You were right all along, honey.” Karter laced his fingers with hers, lifted her hand to his mouth, and kissed the back of it. “You can rest easy, Tami. Browning was arrested two days ago. He and Stone are going to be spending the rest of their lives behind bars.”
“They got what they deserved,” she said. “I hope they rot in hell.”
“What are you going to do about your father’s company, baby?” Zayn asked.
She shrugged. She wasn’t sure whether to sell what was left of it and give the money to charity or hire someone to take over running it. If she did that later, she would have to go to Vegas since she was now the sole owner. Decision made, she decided to contact an agent as soon as the law had finished wrapping up the case.
Tami jolted when she felt something inside of her lurch forward and froze. She lifted her gaze to Karter’s, her mouth opening and closing with shock.
“There’s something we need to tell you, baby.” Zayn nudged her chin up until he was gazing into her eyes.
Tami turned her gaze inward and gasped when she saw the small brown wolf sitting on its haunches, its tail wagging back and forth, its tongue hanging out of her mouth as she panted. She blinked in shock as she stared at Zayn. “You changed me into a werewolf.”
“We didn’t know what would happen, darlin’,” Jace said. “That bastard severed an artery, and the shifter genes we shared with you weren’t strong or fast enough to repair the damage. You were bleeding out. You were on the brink of death, mate.”
“How did you…I didn’t think…” Tami closed her mouth when nothing coherent came out.
“The only way we could save you, honey, was to give you our blood. Broden set up an IV. We each gave you a pint of our blood. Even the doc didn’t know what the effects were going to be, but we couldn’t let you die. Will you please forgive us, mate?” Karter asked.