by Morgan Wylie
With only a slight push, Mather was able to push the door outward and slide it to the side. To his surprise, it led into a tunnel, but it was short, he could smell the fresh night air rushing down to meet them. Freedom was only a few steps away.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Fresh night air kissed their skin, leaving the approval of its caress and goose bumps in its wake. The sliver of a crescent moon shined its limited light in the center of the clearing, blocked only by the few passing clouds.
Ascending slowly one by one, they emerged from the bulkhead.
The building remained invisible to the naked eye, allowing them to see what would otherwise be an empty expanse of land surrounded by trees. Slowly, they crept away from the building, sitting ducks in the clearing.
“Shit, it’s open out here. Senses on high alert,” urged Mather quietly. “Head for those trees over there.” They ducked and crept toward where Mather had indicated they had left the SUVs.
Piercing the silence of the night was the shriek of a bird soaring high above the trees. The bird had been waiting for them to emerge into the field. The cry wasn’t a familiar one, but he could guess who had sent it. Its call was a warning to them all. “Fuck,” Mather uttered. “Ready men,” was all he needed to say for his team to be ready to fight. Unfortunately, the warning hadn’t come soon enough for them to escape.
Out of the line of trees came the Alliance members who had been left behind. At least twenty men, armed with various weapons, descended upon where Mather and team were heading. Team A halted where they stood and closed in, surrounding the females in their group. Taking a collective step back toward the direction they came in, the warning call from the bird sounded through the night once more. Not a moment later, a gunshot rang out followed by a sinister laugh. A thud landed on the ground not far from where they stood. The bird—slain for doing them a service. One of the girls inhaled a cry of shock.
Eli strode out from behind the line of men, cocky in his plan coming to fruition. “Oops, was he one of yours?” Eli sneered as he held his gun, casually flinging it about as one would a hand in animated conversation. Mather’s growl accompanied the large tiger’s, ready to pounce when given the signal.
“You didn’t think we were actually going to let you all leave here alive after you broke into our territory, did you?” Eli spoke calmly, but his tone hid a dangerous evil that he couldn’t wait to release—the darkness of a man brainwashed to the point that all rational thought had been muddled by his own agenda and pursuits.
“Actually, yes,” Mather replied, equally calm and equally prepared to release his inner darkness. Enock moved up to stand on Mather’s other side, leaving Bastion and Jackson covering the backs of the girls.
“That move might be a mistake,” tsked Eli, then indicated for them to look left with his finger. “You’ll notice this is not all I have at my disposal.” Eli smiled sharply, knowing he had already won in sheer numbers.
Beside the team, emerging from the tree line almost perpendicular to the one they faced and closing in, was another line of men all armed awaiting the signal for them to advance.
“So as you can see, I have you quite outnumbered, and even with your special”—he spat the word special like it was diseased—“talents, I believe I have you out-weaponed as well.” Eli’s words were haughty and self-assured. “You might as well surrender and succumb to your deaths easily.”
“Never,” Enock shot out.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Eli responded, taking a few more steps casually forward.
“Did you also hope I would arrive in time with my own backup?” Rylen’s voice carried from the other end of the field where he was surrounded by not only Mather’s Teams B and C, looking a little roughed up and ready for more action from their earlier fight, but also a faction of an additional thirty men and women.
Mather squinted to see more clearly. “Oh, shit.” A confident smile stretched across his face. “He brought in reinforcements from The Web. Those are Black Widow’s people—if you can call them that, they’re more like automatons after she gets done with them.” Mather almost laughed at the prospect of how Rylen finagled that out of the boss lady. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Eli recover from his mouth falling at a slow rate and his round eyes that screaming out oh, fuck. That in and of itself was enough to make Mather smile. Quickly assessing all their options, he watched as Rylen’s line moved up to create an almost triangular effect with Eli’s two lines.
“Well, doesn’t this make our little party complete? It wouldn’t have been the same without you, Rylen,” Eli droned.
Alana’s breath hitched at hearing Rylen’s voice, her head swinging toward his direction as soon as she heard his voice. Mather had to place his hand on her arm to stop her from running to him; she would have gotten herself killed. She had strained against him for only a moment before she placed her hand on her heart, stilled her movements, and nodded to instructions only she could hear—apparently her connection to Rylen was opened to her once more. Mather saw the glistening tears that shone in her eyes; she was preparing to fight for all she was worth to be with the one she loved. Something punched Mather in the gut from the inside. Was it truly that simple? Why did it feel so complicated? Was it worth it all? Swiveling his head only a fraction of a movement, he saw the fiery red-head standing next to Alana, ready to do what was needed to save a friend—one she didn’t even know that well—armed with her tablet, unconcerned with what was happening around her, concocting her own plan, a warrior in her own right. In that strange moment, surrounded by men with guns and swords prepared to take them all out, Mather was hit with the realization that, yes, it was worth it—she was worth it. For the first time, in a long time, he didn’t think about what could go wrong. He didn’t think about before. He didn’t think about betrayal. He simply felt, and it was almost overwhelming to his senses. He wanted it, he wanted her. He understood what his wolf had known all along but he had refused to look at. What happened in the past be damned, he was ready for his future. She was to be his mate if she would have him after the ass he had been. They just had to live through tonight.
He watched Poppy’s eyes dart from her tablet to a place in the clearing, right near where they had come out from the basement, which was now impossible to see, then back to her tablet. A crease marred her frown as she worried her lip between her teeth, working something out. Her head snapped up, eyes seeking his lit by the possibility of an idea. Seeing her eyes widen at the shock of finding his eyes openly watching her, he finally understood how much she had wanted to give him before that he refused. Never again would he refuse her.
“Rylen, I forgot to introduce you to one of the newer members of my team—actually not so new. She’s been with us for quite some time, but has recently come home.” Eli’s voice was raised, his coloring high with the anticipation of his revelation to share. Behind him, swaying her hips and draping her hand along the shoulders of the men she passed, squeezing through their ranks was a tall, leggy blonde with a seductive sneer on her face. She saddled right up next to Eli, too close for him to move comfortably, and rested her breasts against his side as she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders.
“Ah, shit,” Enock muttered.
“I knew we should’ve killed her when we had the chance,” Mather replied, not even under his breath.
“Lacy, it looks like you’ve found right where you belong,” Rylen noted from his side of the field, no apparent surprise registering in his expression if he felt any at all.
“You could still join us, Rylen.” Lacy looked up at Eli’s face, and even though a frown was front and center, he melted under her touch as she stroked the side of his face with her fingers. “We could be a great team, the three of us, Rylen.”
Rylen’s face was a mask of non-emotion until he turned his gaze to Alana. “I know exactly where I belong, but you two be happy for as long as you have tonight.” Rylen began his approach, the line at his back followin
g slowly behind him. He strode, determined, straight for Alana and Mather’s team, unconcerned with the small faction of Eli’s armed goons who had broken off to stop him in his tracks. They were nothing more than a distraction in Rylen’s way. But then he realized how big of a distraction they were as the rest of that line had moved toward Mather’s team without him noticing.
Alana had been watching Rylen so intently, she hadn’t seen the line behind them shift to focus in on where she stood. Several things happened at once: Rylen shouted at her so loudly, both out loud and in her mind, she had to physically hold her against the sudden intrusion; he began to battle his way through the line of men standing between him and his mate; Mather grabbed her and flung her from where she stood to the ground a safe distance away as three men lunged for her with swords drawn; the black tiger and Bastion practically flew through the air past her, throwing themselves into the fight that would have ended her, the tiger tearing at whatever appendage he could grab as he clawed his way through man after man.
Bastion put up his own good fight as a vampire and swordsman, but an unexpected dagger flew out of nowhere and pierced straight through his heart from behind, striking him down. “NO!” cried Alana as she wobbly got off the ground, anger marring her beautiful face now streaked with dirt mixed with tears. Still, the fight ensued. Eli’s line moved slowly forward into the foray, though Eli himself shouted orders from his position in the line, unwilling to get his hands dirty until he absolutely had to. The coward. Masia and Poppy moved close to Alana.
“If we can get back inside the building, we might be able to get out the other side,” Masia suggested, looking frantically around them at all the fighting, whispering no longer necessary. The clang of metal on metal and the whizzing of magic slicing through the air created a cacophony of sounds, spoiling the otherwise quiet night. This was apparently more than she had bargained for when she came to help, yet she didn’t seem too freaked out, all things considering.
“I know how to reveal the building. That would cause a diversion and cover for our guys,” Poppy interjected.
“Good, yes, but we are not running,” Alana stated, her face hardened with anger at what her father had done, not only to her and to his team by leaving them there most likely to die, but also to her new family by using her… his own daughter… as bait. “My father needs to know he can’t use me, and I won’t let him harm my people.” Seeing Bastion die right before her eyes, saving her when he barely knew her, she realized it was more than anyone had ever done for her. For the first time, she had people—family. And, by god, no one was going to take them away from her tonight.
Alana looked from Poppy to Masia with a glint of madness in her eyes. “I’m going to need your magic, whatever you can pour into me before you shut down the wards, Poppy… both of you.” She turned her head to Masia, I see it in your eyes. You have it, you need to find it and release it. Can you do that? Open yourself to the magic?” Alana was strong but also gentle, feeling out the girl as she watched her expression. Right then, Masia’s face told her she would give it her all—all of it for people she didn’t even know but hoped to be a part of. Right then, Alana had her own epiphany about her own magic, and it pissed her off that it took this long and brought her to this point without understanding what Enock and Rylen had been trying to impart to her all along. She didn’t have to find it; she and her magic were one—it was a part of who she had always been. All she had to do was release it.
Hearing the chopper circling above her, Alana looked skyward, not seeing but feeling the vibrations from its location. She broke down and allowed all the pent up anger, frustration, hurt, confusion, all the wasted years she spent cycling through life after life with no understanding of who she was or the curse upon her, all the magic stolen, and all the innocent people hurt… and she slammed it all together with her magic as the glue. Alana began to glow with a shimmer of her magic as it built up within her. It simmered and rolled, coming to a boiling. Her magic percolated within her as the spell she created—made from a collection of different spells she had read in Enock’s ancient tome mixed with her own flavor—flew around her in a fog the blue of her eyes as her whispered chants grew louder and louder, competing with the noises of engagement around her. She was finally doing it, unlocking her magic in this forsaken, avoidable moment. The thought fueled her on, releasing more of her energy until she felt the spell complete.
“Now!” was all she said as Poppy and Masia joined around her and placed their hands on her shoulders pushing their magical energy into Alana. Mazy’s energy wrapped itself around Alana’s as a bright pink cord of color while Poppy’s orange strand entangled it simultaneously. They didn’t have to try too hard, Alana was practically sucking it from them, her spell desperate for more.
Alana could feel her own magic cycle toward Masia then come back through her with twice the magical force. It was an odd layering sensation that she didn’t know was possible. The combining of all three of their magical energies resulted in a bright magenta-purple color. Rylen, I need more energy, Alana sent through her bond. He didn’t even hesitate, sending her a shot of his potent magic, not even sparing a thought if there would be enough for him to finish his fight. The love and trust she felt flood her ignited her spell even more than the anger that triggered it. The power was volatile, trapped in her shell, waiting to be detonated. His added green didn’t mix with theirs but instead entwined with their combined color, adding his strength and protection to her spell. She pushed it all up from the base of her center skyward out her eyes, shooting in a brilliant white light straight into the heart of the helicopter. It exploded, showering the trees with metal debris. She watched as two white parachutes floated off into the distance. Her anger was enough that she could have killed her father and Simmon in that helicopter, but seeing their parachutes offered a sense of relief in her heart. Her shoulders sank, did she fail? Or was it her strength of heart that allowed them to live? Only time would tell if it would come back on her or her family in the future.
The battle stilled as Eli and most from his men ducked at the sounds of the crashing helicopter fragments. Rylen’s men knew how to take advantage of the opportunity, but with the brief pause in the action, Alana looked to Poppy and said, “Go.” Alana then smiled as she breathed, “I’m free,” collapsing to the ground, the fight continuing around her.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Poppy wavered as she started to take off from Alana, torn at her friend down on the ground. A quick decision had her pulling out her tablet as she yelled at her team. “Mat, E… Alana!” She pointed to where Alana lay completely spent on the ground, Masia sitting beside her, trying to cradle her head and shield her from the fight. Enock rushed to Alana and Masia, searching for Rylen. He was making his way to them. They needed to meet in the middle to guard each other’s backs and focus outward on what fight was left.
“Poppy! NO!” Mather shouted, watching his red-head, armed only with her tablet, run through the fighting men, ducking and dancing around them. Her mission was clear as she headed toward the building they had come from. Mather didn’t think, he didn’t even make sure Enock went to Alana—he just trusted he would. His mission was also clear.
He took off running after Poppy, hot on her trail. He caught up to her, gripping her arm and swinging her around into his chest. “Don’t ever leave me again. I’ve been a fool. Poppy, I need you in my life… I want you for always. Can you ever accept the stubborn ass of a wolf I am?” His eyes, hesitant but filled with hope, bored into her green ones, bright with intense emotion.
His confession was the last thing she had expected at that very moment. Poppy’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. She tried again, but again… nothing. She searched his eyes and saw them switching from the green glow of his wolf back to his more human green. Her senses returned to her, and as if they were inside a protected bubble where the raging battle couldn’t hurt them, she asked. “Mather Jefferson, is this you or your wolf talking?”
“Good, because I want all of you: stubborn wolf, man, all of it.” She smiled and gripped his beard, pulling him to her face, kissing him like they didn’t have tomorrow and needed to remember today. Her intensity took him back, but he quickly recovered, kissing her back as forcefully as she had taken his mouth.
“You’re my mate, Poppy. I didn’t see it before, but I wouldn’t let myself see much of anything,” he spoke low and apologetically, his large masculine hands cradling her face as he gazed into those brilliant emeralds of hers. “I was afraid of what you could do to me, that I’d hurt you…”
“Let’s talk about this at home. We have to get through this. I need to disable the wards. Help me. Watch my back while I get this?” Poppy asked, hope shining in her eyes.
“I’ll always have your back.” Mather smiled and turned to let her work, needing to turn, otherwise, he would have run off with her into the forest and mated with her right then if he could.
A loud bang ricocheted into the night air. Up until then, all the fighters had honorably stuck to swords and/or hand/magic/paw combat. Poppy swung her head around to see where it had come from. She peered around Mather and in the distance, saw Eli, his arm extended, holding a gun, directly in her direction. She gasped, looking around. Right then, Mather fell to his knees, clutching his chest, his blood seeping through his fingers. His eyes went wide with shock as he searched her face. “I didn’t…”
“No! No! No! Mather,” Poppy screamed as she pulled him close to her.
“Building…” he rasped out. “Do it.”
“You need help,” she rambled as she stripped off her outside black button-up shirt and pressed it against him to help staunch the bleeding.