Helping Chloe to her feet, Ryker scanned her quickly to assess her physical state. Several claw marks and bruises, but no broken bones. She was shaky and could not stand on her own at first, but that was to be expected. Not only was she scared, but he wondered how long she had been on the floor curled into a ball, trying not to attract any attention.
As he helped her stand, suddenly her eyes widened in fear and she screamed out a warning. Swinging around, Ryker watched in shock as Storm’s eyes widened in stunned surprise and a painful gasp escaped her lips. Slowly, her knees buckled and she slid to the floor, the hilt of a knife protruding from her back. Behind her, Ryker saw a man they had missed. Throwing his head back, the bastard let out a maniacal laugh. “Got your bitch didn’t I,” he bragged loudly. Laughing again, the man reached behind him and pulled a gun out of the back of his pants. “Now it’s your turn.”
Letting out a loud roar, Ryker let his beast free. Shifting quickly into his bear, he was on the man before he could utter a sound, tearing him apart piece by piece. The bastard deserved to die a horrible death after what he did to Storm. Ryker and Storm had been partners for over 30 years. She was tough, sassy, funny and very loyal. She was his best friend. And she was lying on the floor, bleeding out.
Getting a tight grip on his anger, Ryker backed away from what was left of the man who had hurt Storm. Shifting, ignoring his state of undress, Ryker hurried to where she lay on the hard concrete floor. Kneeling beside her, he gently brushed her hair away from her face. Panting softly, Storm whispered, “I fucked up, Ry.” Ryker cursed when he realized he could not pull the knife out. The long blade was embedded into Storm’s back on the same side as her heart. He was not sure how close it was, and he was not willing to take any chances.
“You did just fine, Storm,” Ryker told her gruffly. Glancing up at Chloe he said, “We need to get out of here now. Can you walk?”
“Yes,” Chloe sniffled, barely holding in her own tears. “Yes, I can walk. Let’s go.” Heading for the door on wobbly legs, she stopped and turned to look back at him. “You need clothes.”
Cursing, Ryker realized he could not go running through the streets with his dick hanging out. “Wait,” Chloe said rushing from the room as quickly as she could on her shaky legs. Five minutes later she was back with a black duffle bag in her hands. “None of the men that took me were as big as you, but maybe you can wear something in here,” she said shoving the bag toward him.
Grabbing the bag, Ryker rummaged through it and found a pair of jogging pants and a tee shirt. They were smaller than his normal size, but he didn’t give a shit. All he cared about was getting Storm to a doctor. After quickly dressing, Ryker put on his boots that had somehow made it through his shift, and then knelt back down next to Storm. She was watching him through pain filled tears. “I’m going to have to move you, Storm,” he told her as he slipped his arms under her body. “This is going to hurt like a bitch, but I don’t have a choice.”
Slowly, Ryker lifted Storm in his arms, cradling her to his chest, careful of the knife still sticking out of her back. “I can’t pull the knife out, Storm. I don’t know how near your heart it is. You might bleed out before I can get you to the hospital.”
“Just let me go,” Storm moaned in pain. “Please, Ryker, just let me go.”
“No way in hell.” Ryker growled as he moved swiftly out the door and to the stairs. Waiting for Chloe to push the door open, he demanded, “Push through the fucking pain, Storm. You push through it, you hear me? I refuse to let you go, dammit!”
Storm’s hand curled tightly into his borrowed shirt and she cried out in pain as Ryker took the stairs, two at a time. Once they cleared the front door of the building, Ryker sprinted the six blocks to his truck, Chloe on his heels. Chloe opened the back door of the extended-cab and Ryker gently laid Storm on the seat. “I’m taking you to Josie, Storm. You hold on, you hear me,” he shouted. “You do not leave me.”
Chloe climbed up into the back to sit with Storm, softly stroking her hair and murmuring gentle words of encouragement, while Ryker jumped into the front seat. Reaching under the dash, he grabbed the key where he had hidden it. Starting the truck, he threw it in gear and headed out of the city. Once he made it to the highway, he found his cell phone attached to the top of the visor and punched in Josie’s number. When he heard her voice on the other end of the line, he struggled for control. “I need you, Josie,” he whispered though his pain. “I need you. Storm is hurt. I...I don’t know if she is going to make it. She’s my partner, Josie. My best friend. My family.”
“Talk to me, Ryker,” Josie ordered briskly, “What happened? Where are you?”
Gripping the phone tightly, Ryker told her how the last man caught them off guard and was able to sink a knife deep into Storm’s back near her heart. “I’m on my way. I should be there in twenty minutes,” he said as he saw the sign for Boulder.
“Get Storm here, Ryker. I will get the operating room ready. You get her here, and I will save her,” Josie vowed.
Swallowing hard, Ryker tightened his hold on the steering wheel. He could hear Josie shouting orders to the nurses, but he could not understand what she was saying. “Baby,” he whispered. He needed to hear her voice.
“I’m here,” she said. “But I have to go. I need to get everything ready. I will save her, Ryker,” she promised. “Your job is to get her here; I will take care of the rest.”
After disconnecting the call, Ryker placed a call to Charlene with the Shifter Council. Reporting in, he relayed what happened and that he was on his way to the shifter hospital run by the White River wolves. After confirming that he did have Chloe Samson with him, and quickly explaining why she could not be immediately returned to her family, he finished the call.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Ryker pressed down on the gas pedal. Charlene would order a cleanup crew to dispose of the mess he had left behind. Right now, Ryker’s main concern was Storm.
Ten minutes later, he pulled through the gates of the compound without stopping to check in. When Ryker cleared the doorway of the hospital, Josie was ready for him.
After gently placing Storm down on her stomach on the gurney the nurses had waiting, Ryker knelt down beside her. “You are going to be just fine, Storm,” he promised, looking into her tear filled, silver gaze. “Josie is going to take care of you.”
Closing her eyes, Storm whispered, “I don’t know if she can, Ryker. I think it might be too bad this time.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that,” Josie said as she stepped forward and knelt beside Ryker. Clasping one of Storm’s hands in hers, Josie told her, “I am going to fix this, Storm. I am a doctor. This is what I do. Trust me.”
A tear escaped as Storm whispered, “If Ryker trusts you, I trust you.” Leaning forward, Ryker gently nuzzled Storm’s cheek with his own, giving her the comfort she needed. Allowing her eyes to close, Storm demanded in a low voice, “Take care of Chloe.”
Nodding, Ryker stood up and backed away, watching as the nurses wheeled Storm down to the end of the hall, Josie holding her hand the whole way.
After they entered a door that said ‘Surgery’ above it, Ryker turned his attention to the nervous fox shifter behind him. “Come on,” he said gruffly. “They will be in there awhile. We need to go meet with the Alpha, Chase Montgomery. He needs to know what happened and that you are here.” When Chloe flinched, Ryker promised, “You will be fine. You are on White River land. Chase will protect you while you are here. And until we get to the bottom of who sold you to the wolf pack and why, you are under my protection. No one will harm you.”
As Chloe reluctantly followed Ryker to Chase’s office in another building, Ryker had to make himself focus on the task at hand. He was worried about Storm, but knew Josie would do everything she could to save her.
Reaching the closed door to Chase’s office, Ryker knocked and waited for permission to enter. Hearing Chase’s muffled response to come in, Ryker opened the doo
r and stepped back, allowing Chloe to enter first. Timidly she stepped through the doorway, stopping just over the threshold.
Chase sat behind his large, cherry colored wood desk. He was staring intently at the computer, but shifted his attention to them after a moment.
Standing, Chase came around his desk and raising his eyebrows at Ryker’s attire said, “I have some clothes in the closet in the bathroom that should fit you. Go change. You reek.”
Baring his teeth at the insult, Ryker ignored him. Placing a hand gently on Chloe’s shoulder, Ryker introduced her to Chase. “Chloe is the fox shifter that Storm and I were sent by the council to track down. Supposedly, Chloe’s family is worried about her and wants her back. But according to Chloe, her family is responsible for her being taken in the first place. They paid the pack to kidnap her and take her far away from home.”
Eyes narrowing, Chase growled, “Why would they do that? And then why go to the council to get her back?”
“We never had the chance to discuss why.” Turning to her, Ryker asked, “Do you know why they would want to have you kidnapped, Chloe?”
The fear evident on her face, Chloe whispered, “My step dad, Gentry Samson, is the one that sold me. He has never wanted me around. My mom married him fifteen years ago when I was nine. At first he was wonderful. He wined and dined her, treated me like I was his own daughter. After they got married, things changed. He started beating us daily, keeping food from us so that we stayed weak, and locking us in our home away from others. We were both too scared to try and run. I would have found a way to leave when I turned eighteen, but I couldn’t leave my mom. She would never have survived living there without me, but there was no way Gentry would let her go.”
“Are they fated mates?” Chase asked curiously.
“No,” Chloe told him, shaking her head. “My mom has never met her fated mate. She became pregnant with me when she was 17 by a boy she thought loved her. Once he heard she was pregnant, he ran. We were barely scraping by when she met Gentry. I think that is part of the reason he held so much appeal. At the time, he offered a roof over our heads, food on our plates.”
“Why didn’t you go to your Alpha?” Chase asked. “As your Alpha it is his job to take care of both you and your mother. If your mother and Gentry aren’t fated mates, your Alpha should have stepped in and removed you from that home.”
Chloe looked at her feet for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head, her eyes connecting with Chase’s. “Gentry is the Alpha,” she explained. “We don’t live in a large pack like wolves. There is only Gentry, Mom and I, and two other families. There is no one else to turn to. Gentry is too strong. No one will challenge him. They are too afraid.”
“Where are you from?” Chase questioned.
“Near Alexandria, Minnesota. We live about five miles south of town,” Chloe replied. “There are three houses, all in Gentry’s name. As Alpha, he controls all of the money and assets.”
“I still don’t understand why Gentry would have bothered going to the council to ask them to track you down. It doesn’t make sense. Then he would be caught in his own lie,” Ryker said.
“The pack was supposed to kidnap me, take me a couple of states away, and kill me. That’s why Gentry had you look for me. He thought I was dead. Gentry took out a life insurance policy on both myself and my mother a few years ago. I guess he thought it was time to cash it in.” Her jaw clenched tightly, Chloe said, “I can’t go back. I won’t. But I need to find a way to get my mother out of there. When Gentry finds out I am alive, he might kill her.”
Leaning back against his desk, Chase crossed his arms over his wide chest. Narrowing his eyes he asked, “Do you want to be a part of my pack, Chloe?”
Her eyes widened, “But I’m not a wolf. I’m a fox.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Chase told her gently. “I don’t discriminate in my pack. I will give you a place to live, protection, food, and I will help you find a job. You will have nothing to fear in my pack, Chloe. No one here will hurt you.”
Her eyes alight with hope, Chloe asked, “What about my mother? I can’t leave her there alone.”
“You let me worry about your mother,” Chase said. “I’m your Alpha now. It’s my job to take care of you. That includes helping your mother.”
Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, tears flowing unchecked down her cheeks, Chloe whispered, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Pushing away from his desk, Chase closed the distance between them. Settling a hand gently on her shoulder, he let some of his power flow from himself to her, slowly easing the tension in her body and calming her. “You need to go get some food and rest, Chloe. I have some phone calls to make.”
“I can’t rest right now,” Chloe whispered. “We need to get back to the hospital. We have to check on Storm.”
“Storm? What happened to Storm?” Chase growled.
Ryker filled him in on the situation, starting with the tip that was called in and ending with Storm being taken to surgery. “Tell me you got them all,” Chase demanded.
“Yes,” Ryker nodded, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “They are all dead.”
“Good.” Chase pointed toward his bathroom, “You really need to put on different clothes before you go anywhere.”
With a snarl, Ryker entered the bathroom and quickly changed clothes. When he was finished, he threw the offensive clothes in the trash before heading back to the hospital with Chloe.
*****
Sitting at his desk, Chase contemplated the situation, trying to decide his best course of action. There was no way he was going to allow Chloe to go back to her stepfather. And he needed to get her mother away from Gentry, too. If there was one thing Chase could not stand, it was the abuse of women and children. He would not willingly stand by and allow the abuse to continue.
Taking out his cell phone, Chase found the number he needed. One he had only called a handful of times. Closing his eyes, he raked a hand through his thick, dark black hair. His hand tightened on the arm of his chair when he heard Angel’s voice. “I have a job for you,” he told her.
“What do you need?” she inquired. Chase could hear the faint sound of the television in the background before Angel shut it off. He closed his eyes picturing her in bed resting against the headboard. Silently telling himself to get a grip he began.
“Ryker and Storm were sent to Denver to track down a female fox shifter that was kidnapped. They rescued her tonight, but it would seem the story that was told to the council was a lie. The woman’s stepfather actually sold her to a pack of rogue wolves with the intention of having her taken and killed so he could collect some insurance money. Chloe, the fox, told us her stepfather has been abusing both Chloe and her mother for years. He is not her mother’s fated mate, which means he has no permanent ties to her. I need you to go in and get Chloe’s mother out of there before he kills her. Chloe is now a part of my pack. She is under my protection. Her mother will be too.” Standing up and walking over to the window, Chase peered out into the darkness. “Also, Storm was hurt tonight. She is in the hospital in critical condition. We don’t know if she is going to make it.”
“Shit,” Angel swore. “Text me the details on Chloe and her mother. We will leave right away. Take care of Storm, Chase. I will come to the hospital as soon as I can.”
“Josie has her in surgery right now. I am going over there as soon as I talk to the council.” Lightly resting a hand on the cool glass in front of him, Chase said, “I will pay whatever your normal fee is for an extraction.”
There was complete silence on the other end of the line, then Angel growled, “The hell you will,” before hanging up. Sliding the phone back into his pocket, Chase groaned. Once again he had somehow managed to piss his mate off.
Chapter 8
Josie stripped off her latex gloves throwing them in the trashcan by the door. She was exhausted. The surgery had lasted five hours, and she had almost lost Storm twice. But Josie r
efused to let her go. She had heard the fear and pain in Ryker’s voice earlier and knew Storm was important to him. She was not going to allow her to die. Storm had a long road to recovery ahead of her, but she would make it.
Josie pushed open the door and made her way to the waiting room where she found Ryker and Chloe. Chloe was curled up on a chair in the corner, her long hair covering her face. Dark bruises covered every exposed piece of skin Josie could see. The woman had obviously been to hell and back.
Walking over to where Ryker stood gazing out the window on the far wall, Josie slipped an arm around his waist, leaning into his side. They stood like that for several minutes watching the sunrise.
“She’s going to make it,” Josie told him burrowing closer into his side. “It was touch and go for a while, but she’s a fighter, Ryker. She is going to make it.”
“She wanted to give up,” Ryker whispered in a tormented voice. “She begged me to leave her there to die. She is lonely, Josie. I’m all that she has.”
“We aren’t going to let her give up,” Josie promised. “I will be with her every day, Ryker. Together, we will help her get through this.”
Turning her to face him, Ryker slipped his fingers in her hair and pulled her close for a soft kiss. “Thank you, Josie. Thank you for everything.” Resting his forehead on hers he said, “I have to go meet with the council. They want me to give them a full report. I need to leave now.”
Reaching up, Josie trailed her fingers across his strong jawline. “I understand. I will take care of Storm while you are gone.”
“And Chloe,” Ryker said. “Chloe needs you too, Josie.”
“Chloe?” Josie asked in confusion. “Isn’t she going back to her family?”
“No. She needs to stay here with you, Josie. She needs your help. Her stepfather has abused Chloe and her mother for years. There is no way in hell she is going back there. Chase is working on freeing her mother now. He has offered them both a place in the pack.”
Josie's Miracle (White River Wolves Series, #1) Page 5