by Lane Whitt
Chapter 26
Remy
I stroke Kitten's hair as she sleeps in my lap. I wonder if she knows she talks in her sleep. I'm fairly certain she has whole conversations with herself each time she closes her eyes. The poor girl looks exhausted. I should tell the men to keep the goodnights short from now on, but I'm not sure if they'll listen. I'm not sure I'll listen. Miss Kitten has made a habit of coming to each of us at night. I've never seen my men rush to bed the way they do now.
"We're going to have to start watching what we feed her, she's had quite an unhealthy diet recently." Tristan says from the passenger side of my SUV. I let Ash drive since Kitten passed out in my arms. I didn't want to let her go just yet.
"I think everything is still just so new to her. Give her more time, and I think she'll stop thinking she needs to eat as much of something she likes as fast as she can." Reed states. I think he's right about that. Her street mentality hasn't gone away just because she gets food regularly now. That will come with time. She was used to eating what she could, when she could. Besides, even I'm not brave enough to take chocolate away from Kitten. I laugh out loud at the thought.
Ash eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. "What are you...?” He trails off and his eyes narrow. "Shit, I think we've got a tail, Rem." He says. What the fuck?
"Make some turns, see if they follow. Reed, get the others on a group call." I hold Kitten a little tighter to me. I don't know if we really are being followed, or Ash just thinks we are. If he's right, I'm sure it's about the girl. No wolf would be stupid enough to attack a pack of changed wolves. Not without an army.
"I got the other cars on speaker Remy." Reed says. I give him a nod of acknowledgement.
"Check in." I order. Five voices fire back at me. Good.
"We need to make some unscheduled turns, get Reed's vehicle behind the tail as soon as possible. Finn, keep your truck one street over at all times. Radio silence until we know for sure. Stay on the line, keep it open."
A few turns and a couple minutes later Ash states. "They've made every turn we have, anyone traveling to a particular place wouldn't have followed us in a circle." I see his knuckles tighten on the wheel. Shit. He was right.
"We need to get her home, but we can't lead them there. Some of us are going to have to fight as the rest get her to safety." I say. Damn it, I won't lose this girl. Not now, not ever.
"Right, Kitten is the priority." Ash adds in. Hell yeah she is.
I quickly go down the list, assessing my men's strengths and weaknesses. Ash and I are our hardest hitters, Tristan can fight with a clear head, where Ash and I tend to fly off the handle. Logan and Jace are our fastest, Jace making the best distraction if we need it, Logan the best shit talker if we need to buy time. Reed has more stamina for longer fights or running. Finn is good at reading opponents, usually knowing what they are going to do next even before they do. We don't really let Kellan fight unless we absolutely have to. His job is to patch us up when the fight is over, he's too valuable.
I need more information before I can decide on a plan. "I need a head count in that vehicle as soon as possible. No doubt they've figured out we know of them already." They must have been following us since the rec center. I knew we shouldn't have had her party there. If anything happens to those kids, Kitten's liable to kill us all.
"I've got four. One driver, one passenger and two in the back." Jace lists off. Okay, four. We can handle four.
"Wolves?" I ask.
"Windows are up, I can't smell them." Logan states. So it's him and Jace in Reed's SUV, the twins in Finn's truck. Alright, let's do this.
"Finn, find a place to pull over and give us your location. Kellan, stay put. You two will be on the team taking Kitten home, we're going to run her to you, be on the lookout and be ready to take off as soon as she's secured. Understood?" I order.
"Yes Sir." They reply in unison.
"I could run her." Tristan suggests. I shake my head at him.
"You're needed here. There's only four of them. I'm sending Ash with Kitten. Logan, change in the car, be ready to jump on anyone that tries to exit that vehicle. Jace, stay behind the wheel, you're in charge of recovery. Everyone make it back to the white SUV in case of trouble, got it?" Seven replies of 'Yes Sir' hit my ears.
I turn and look at Reed. "Anyone goes down, I'm counting on you to get them in that SUV." He nods. Alright, I think all bases have been covered here.
"Stopped at the corner of Amberly Way and Donner Street, three possible routes and an apartment complex if we need to hide." Finn calls out. Good, that's a good place. "Ash, if you stop in the middle of...” He trails off just as the small four door rams into the back of us, jolting us forward.
"GO! Move, move, move!" I call out. This messes up the plan a bit, I didn't want them this close to her.
Another crash and another jolt tells me that Jace has effectively blocked them in. Ash is out of the car instantly, pulling my door open. I shove a very confused and frightened Kitten at him as he reaches for her. She's thrown over his shoulder in a flash and he takes off faster than a big man like him should move.
I hear a howl of pain right before I hear metal crunching. A quick glance shows me that Logan has pounced on the passenger side door, catching the man's arm when he closed it. I sniff the air, wolves alright, born wolves, three here and one managed to follow Ash. Tristan and Reed gets one of them pinned to the ground as I tear the driver's door from its hinges, snatching up the driver and slamming him against the car. Logan, in his wolf form, has the third guy's neck in his mouth, ready for the order to kill. He really should have stayed in the car.
"Why the fuck were you following us?" I growl at the man in my grasp, he's slightly older than me, wearing khakis’ and a polo shirt. Not really stake out gear.
"W-we just....s-smelled the girl. We wanted to see who it was. That's all man! I swear!" He's doing a nice job of shaking and acting all innocent, but I think he's lying.
"T get that one restrained, and come talk to this one." I don't want to use his real name, in case they don't know it yet. Tristan is like a walking, talking lie detector.
"We don't have anything, just knock them out for now, that one just lied his ass off though, I don't even need to see him to know that." I hear a grunt, telling me that either he or Reed did just that.
I roaring growl from Logan, breaks my concentration on the man in front of me, he gets a nice hit in to my jaw before I slam his head down to the ground. He's either knocked out or dead. Either way, I don't give a fuck. The guy Logan had shifts into his wolf and takes off after Ash and Kitten, they should be long gone by now, I hope.
Logan's on the ground, wincing in pain, the motherfucker stabbed him. Reed dutifully picks him up, placing him in the back of the white SUV. "What do we do with them?" Tristan asks me, indicating the two unconscious men on the ground. I take the guy at my feet's pulse. Yup, he's dead.
"We take him with us. Tristan, you ride with me in my car, no point in leaving it if we don't have to. This one is dead, leave him. You're in charge of keeping that motherfucker asleep, check him for weapons." I bark at him.
Jace drives away, taking Logan and Reed with him. I know he'll be okay but I still want him taken to Kellan as soon as possible. He got hurt on my watch and I fucking hate myself right now for it. I'll hate myself over killing that piece of shit later, for now, it's just payback for my family's blood being spilled.
Tristan and I get the other piece of shit loaded into the back of my car, using our belts, he should be secure enough for the moment. As soon as we hop in, I bark at him. "Get them on the phone." I don't care who, just someone. I drive in to the next street over, seeing no cars. Good, they got out of here.
"Ash isn't answering." He says. FUCK. "I'm calling Kellan now." I can barely make out what he's saying as he talks to someone. Ash has been by my side for centuries, we've been through everything together. Two of them went after him and Kitten. We should have been more prepared than this. W
e've been living comfortable for too long. I'm sure other wolves knew where we were, but they either didn't care about us because we have no desire to take over surrounding packs, or they aren't brave or strong enough to take on eight changed wolves. We're stronger than them and older than them. Born wolves age slower than humans but they still age out and die.
"Kellan said that two of the assailants made it to them, but no Ash and no Kitten." Tristan tells me.
"How the hell did that happen? They were right behind them!" Are they still out there? They have to be, they aren't in any of the vehicles. "What did they do with the attackers?"
"Killed them." Tristan says. That's fine with me. We only need the one for questioning anyhow.
"Tell them to head home. Now. Logan will need Kellan's help. We'll get this guy secured, then send out a search team." Two of my family members got left behind. It's unacceptable, but it has to be done. One car holds a prisoner, one an injured man, and the other the doctor. This played out in the worst possible fucking way. Ash and Kitten better be okay, or so help me God I'm bringing down this whole fucking city and setting the sky on fire.
Kitten
My body jerks, bringing me out of my nap. I blink my eyes open and Remy yells 'GO! Move, move, move!' two seconds before he pushes me and arms grip me around the waist. I give out an 'oomph' as I'm slammed over a tall person's shoulder. The air gets knocked out of me and my ribs scream in pain as I'm jostled, the ground in my line of sight a blur as my captor runs. I claw at the person's back until I can finally breathe again. As I take in a much needed lungful of air, I smell charcoal, fire, and....It's Ash. I'd know that scent anywhere.
I stop attacking Ash once I know it's Ash, and push against his back, lifting myself up to relieve the pressure on my ribs. When I do, I see a man jump into the air, changing to a wolf before he hits the ground. It's scary as heck when it's not one of my wolves. "Ash...” I whisper.
"Shh, Kitten. We're gonna have to hide." How in the world are we going to do that? The guy behind us is gaining ground, he's gonna see where we go.
"Shit, hold on Kitten." Ash mutters out.
The air is knocked out of me again as Ash slams me to the ground. He flips me over, covering me in....mud? Once he's sure no part of me is left clean, he presses me into the ground, flat on my tummy. I take it he means for me to stay. When his hand leaves my back, I panic and look up. He left me? Seriously! It's then that I realize I'm in some kind of ditch, laying in a shallow puddle of water.
I hear grunting above me, but I can't see what's happening. I'm on the verge of one of those panic attack things again. My body is shaking, my lungs burn, probably because I've forgotten how to breathe. I try to imagine that I'm doing a yoba session with Reed, but it isn't working, I'm not calming down. I picture Tristan's chocolate eyes and his calming voice, but that only makes my panic intensify. I don't know where Tristan is or if he's okay, I don't know if any of them are okay. Especially Ash. There was someone chasing us, he could have hurt Ash.
I move to get up but Finn's voice in my head stills me. Telling me to think rationally. Ash is strong. Nobody is stronger than Ash, right? He wouldn't have just left me here, there must be some kind of plan. He took the time to cover me in mud, he wouldn't do that if he was just leaving me here, would he? Another voice in my head overtakes Finn's, it's Davis', telling me to 'wait right here' as he scouts an area for possible bad guys. Is that what Ash is doing? I thought Davis told me that when he needed to pee. Is the Davis in my head telling me that Ash took a pee break? I lay my forehead in the mud, firmly believing I've lost my damn mind.
.................
Ash
I put Kitten in the deep, but narrow hole someone had in their yard and covered her with mud. That should hide her scent well enough for now. I hate myself for leaving her, but I had to, I smelled two wolves dead ahead of us that weren't my brothers and one behind us. I couldn't fight and protect her too. The fucker that was behind me was waiting and ready for me when I came out of the ditch. If he was smart he would have taken the time to shift, guess he was a stupid fucker. He got me good with a blade, but I was able to snap his neck easily. Catching him before he alert the others where we were.
I jumped over the ditch, hoping anyone following our scent would continue to follow mine over the ditch now that Kitten's had disappeared. Not the best plan, but it's all I had. I had ran through a few yards, circling back and climbing up on a roof where I can keep watch on Kitten's hole and see any other threats. I hear them, but I can't see them. I hear Logan's howl before I see a wolf below me and another guy running from the side of the house. They meet up and take off together towards where Finn and Kellan are waiting on us. SHIT! I want to go help my brothers but they stand a better chance than Kitten does, I can't leave her alone. There's still two wolves out here that I know of.
I'm about to say fuck it and head back to Kitten when two men come running from the direction the other guy did on the side of the house. They pause and call out for a 'Paul', in a whisper. Stupid fucks. They start talking and I listen in, not daring to breathe.
"This isn't worth it man. The wolves have gone, we can just leave." One of them pleads with the other one.
"No way, they'd find us and kill us if we just ran off. Besides, they promised to turn us, remember that? All we have to do is get the girl." So... someone is changing humans for a price? Fuck, that's not good. What is good though, is that these two are humans, no match for me, and they can't smell me up here either.
"I don't know man, that Daily dude was talking about some pretty weird shit with that girl." The first guy says skeptically.
"Not our problem! Keep looking, that big fucker came through here with her. Shoot HIM and get HER. Not that fucking hard. Go!" I just stop myself from laughing. This guy has no idea what he's talking about, it's hard as hell to get a kill shot at a wolf, we can hear the bullets coming and move out of the way. Looks like this Daily character either doesn't know that or didn't care to mention it to them.
I wait for the other one to run off before I jump from the roof, pouncing on the dumber of the two. I hear sickening crunching noises as I land, telling me that I already killed him. I shift into my wolf. I'm far stealthier in this form. Sniffing the air tells me that the coward found Kitten's hole so I run full speed.
When I get there three seconds later, the prick is sliding down the side, going after my Little One. I can hear her heartbeat, and it's going a mile a minute. She's scared to death. When I look over the side, ready to pounce, I'm shocked as shit by what I see. My little Kitten is on top of the guy, attacking his face with elbows, fists and her nails.
The guy under Kitten, screeches in pain, holding his hand over his eye that's gushing blood, scrambling away from her.
I bark to get her attention and she jumps. When she looks at me, I see the tears streaming down her face. Oh, Kitten. My poor girl. There's no time to dwell on that though. I jump into the hole and take the fuckers neck in teeth, ripping his throat out. After, I take advantage of the fact that my sweet girl has turned away and shift back to human, climbing from the hole and shifting back to wolf. I needed my height to get out.
I bark lowly to get her attention and she jumps, her head snapping to me. Her eyes are frightened at first, but she must realize it's me because she scrambles to climb up the side. She has to grab at my head to pull herself out.
I know we don't have time for it, but I allow her to throw her arms around my neck and sob her little heart out for a while. Eventually though, I pull away from her. We have to get the hell out of here. I bark again and lower myself to the ground next to her, hoping she catches my meaning. My smart girl does and hops on my back, clinging to me tightly as I take off in the direction we came from in the first place.
When we get to where Remington and Reed's SUV's were, they're already gone. I turn around, hoping to catch Finn and Kellan on the street over, but Kitten has other ideas.
...................
Kitten
I get off of Ash, wiping away tears that refuse to stop falling. Stupid things, I have no time for you! Ash barks at me again, startling me. "Stop that!" I yell at him. He growls shortly but I ignore him. I didn't mean to yell but I'm jumpy enough as it is.
I hurry to the crunched up car that was following us. I need information. If there is anything important in here, someone will be back to get it, and soon. I go the door that has been ripped from its hinges and dive inside. There are papers strewn about, but I don't take the time to look at them. I tuck my shirt into my pants and stuff the papers down the front of my shirt hurriedly. I check under the seats, the pull down things at the top of the windshield, the lift up thing between the seats and something Finn calls a 'glove box'. Anything I find goes down my shirt. The back seat looks empty of anything.
I jump back out of the car, looking at Ash, making sure he's still okay. I walk to the back of the car, seeing the storage space lid is already partly open. I lift the lid, checking for anything of value. A pack of bottled water, rope, a shovel, black plastic, a tire. Under the tire is a square package, wrapped in cloth, wrapped in plastic. If they took that much care to protect it, it's valuable. It's too big to fit in my shirt though, I'll have to carry it.