by Helen Scott
When a hand landed over my mouth and another clamped around my shoulders, I began to struggle, wanting to scream but not wanting to draw attention.
“Stop that or you’ll tear your rip your stitches out,” Roman’s voice hissed in my ear.
Immediately, I stilled. Knowing it was Roman meant that he was okay and safe, or at least as safe as he could be this close to Jax’s pack lands. I twisted in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, even though it pulled at my wounds and made me wince in pain.
“You’re okay,” I breathed. I released him but couldn’t help running my hands over his body as I felt like I had to physically check for injuries. I wouldn’t put it past Roman to keep something like that to himself, especially with the way he was looking at me in that moment.
It wasn’t quite pity, but it was close. He wasn’t exactly happy that I was there either. I didn’t blame him, I didn’t want to be there, but how could I not be when something had gone so wrong that I felt it through the bond? I knew now, having seen Micah, that it probably wasn’t the first beating they gave him.
“I am, and I’ve been working on a plan to get Micah out, but it’s challenging since I haven’t seen him without guards yet.” Roman’s voice was strained, and I knew this was as distressing for him as it was for me. We both cared about Micah and we wanted our family safe, which now included Blake as well, though at least Jax wasn’t trying to hurt him.
“How did he get caught in the first place?” I asked as Roman squatted down by the tree, tugging on my hand so I joined him. It was an exercise in restraint as my wounds protested. I was just glad I hadn’t taken any injuries to my legs. If I felt this kind of pain everywhere, then I wasn’t sure I would have made it out here.
“We separated to cover more ground while we were looking for Blake, since the property appeared to be rather large and we didn’t want to actually cross the line.” Roman sneered, and I knew he felt the same way about their property marking as I did—grossed out. “Micah found him and texted me to let me know, but before I could get there or the two of us could talk to Blake, other pack members found Micah. I was lucky that I wasn’t as close as I’d tried to be, or we’d both be captured and you’d be stuck without us. I do think Blake saw me in the trees though.”
“What?” I asked, shock rippling through me.
Roman nodded and said, “I saw him look right at me. His eyes went wide, then he quickly looked away. I’d hazard a guess that he knew I was around because he knew Micah wouldn’t come alone, and possibly because of the mate bond, just like I knew you were here because of it as well. I think it’s only because he knew what he was looking for that he saw me, but we’ll need to be careful if we don’t want to tip our cards.”
I hated that they’d gone alone, but I also understood why. My body was, at that very moment, protesting every single movement, every breath. Every beat of my heart was painful, and all I could do was try and breathe through it. None of it mattered though, or at least that was what I was telling myself as I tried to push the pain away. Instead, I chose to focus on how I needed to make sure that we got the rest of our family out of Jax’s clutches. If we didn’t, I knew he’d hurt them and use them to manipulate me, which was the last thing I wanted.
“How would you feel about getting Micah out while I cause a distraction?” Roman asked when I still hadn’t replied to his first comment. It wasn’t that I was ignoring him, I just had too much going on between the pain and trying to figure out how we were going to get Micah out. It felt like my brain was mush in a lot of ways.
I nodded. It was about all I could manage without completely losing my shit.
Micah needed to get out of there as fast as possible, and I’d do whatever it took to make that happen. He was my mate. He was part of my very soul, and now that I had him, I wasn’t going to let him go without a fight. I’d spill blood for him. Gladly.
“Just tell me what I need to do,” I said, my gaze fixing on Micah.
“We’ll get him back, angel, don’t worry. Even if it’s not right now, we’ll never give up on him or Blake.” Roman sounded tired, and I turned to look at him.
“I know we’ve been through a lot recently,” I said, pausing as I cupped his face with my hand. “But we have to keep going. I’m not leaving here without Micah, and preferably with Blake as well, but I’ll make peace with it if we have to leave him behind for now, so long as Jax doesn’t know he’s my mate. I can’t leave Micah behind though. I won’t leave one of my mates to be tortured. If it was you in there and Micah out here, I’d be saying the same thing. I love you, Roman. I always will, just like I’ll always love Micah, but that love means that I won’t stand by and let you get hurt on my account. Not if I can help it.”
He sighed heavily but nodded. “I’ll go and prepare a distraction. If you see Micah left unguarded, then go in and untie him. As soon as he’s free, the two of you need to get out. I can’t rescue both of you, but I can cause a distraction.”
“Understood.”
I turned my head to look at Roman before he went off to find whatever this distraction was. I really did love this man more than I thought I would ever love the person who was my mate, if I ever found one. Now here I was with three. Talk about a curveball.
“I can see the pain written all over your face. If this is too much, just say the word and I’ll figure something else out.” Roman’s quiet voice was like a warm blanket being wrapped around me. I wanted to snuggle down into it with a cup of hot cocoa and forget the rest of the world.
“I’ll be fine. Promise,” I said as I tried to put on a brave face.
“You better be. I need you, angel.”
Before I could reply, Roman leaned forward and gave me the gentlest kiss. His lips barely brushed mine as his fingertips ghosted a touch on my cheek. It was only when I leaned toward him, as much as I could, that he gave me a real kiss. His tongue swept against my lower lip, and when I opened, he bit down on it, nipping at me before sucking it into his mouth for a moment.
When he pulled away, I wanted to chase him but I couldn’t, especially since he pushed to his feet. “When we’re out of here and you’re healed, I’m going to make love to you, and if you’ll allow it, mark you as my mate.”
A shiver ran over my skin. Marking was only done between true mates. If the bond wasn’t there, then the bite would heal and wouldn’t scar. If it was between true mates, then something changed and the bite, though it would heal quickly, would leave a mark, forever branding you as taken.
“I’d like that,” I said, my voice breathier than I’d intended.
Roman grinned, and for a moment, I saw what he must have looked like as a teen or young boy. I desperately wanted to see that expression, that joy on him more often. “I’ll hold you to that,” he said with a wink before he disappeared into the trees.
My heart fluttered at his request and just from how he made me feel in general. It raced when I turned back to Micah though. Blake stood there, a scowl covering his handsome face, but his eyes kept flicking out to the woods. Was he searching for Roman? Or could he sense that I was there as well?
I was so close to getting them both back. I just had to wait a little longer, just until the guards left Micah alone, and then I had to pray that my body had the energy left to break in and get Micah out. I hoped that it wouldn’t give out halfway through. That would be the worst thing that could happen, wouldn’t it?
29
Nina
Roman had barely been gone five minutes when Blake got a message on his phone and said something to Jax. The alpha scowled, looking furious, before striding away from the building. The guards went with him when he barked an order at them. I wished Blake had been able to stay behind, but that would have made this too easy.
As it was, their departure left Micah blissfully alone. I couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious.
The opportunity had presented itself faster than I’d thought it would and it almost seemed too easy, but I couldn
’t pass it up. If the guards came back and the opportunity never came again, then I wasn’t sure what we would do, but I knew I’d be pissed off at myself. I hoped that Roman had enough time to get his distraction in place, because it felt like it was now or never.
I began to move my poor aching body through the remaining trees that had been keeping me hidden and into the garage. The large bay style door was rolled up, like they knew that there was no way Micah could get free by himself, let alone get away with the state he was in.
He wasn’t alone though.
He had me.
And Roman, but at that exact moment, it was just me who was getting him out. When I got to the pee indicated perimeter, I paused for a moment, fear skating down my spine as I tried to shake the feeling that if I crossed this line, I was never going to get back out. Micah needed me though, and that was what propelled me forward.
A shudder ran through me as soon as both feet were on the pack’s land. I hadn’t been there in years, and when I had lived there with my family, it hadn’t been anywhere near this area. It was a new place, a different place, but one I never expected to find myself in.
I ran from the tree line to the side of the building and edged around until I was able to duck through the garage door. The shadow of the building hid me from obvious view most of the way, which was lucky, and once I was inside, I wasn’t as worried about someone spotting me. At that point, I was mostly concerned with being able to get the rope that held Micah’s wrists together undone.
There were a couple metal folding chairs dotted around the room as though stringing someone up in here and beating the shit out of them was a common occurrence. I grabbed the closest one and dragged it over to Micah, the feet grinding against what used to be concrete but now was the gravel of the floor.
The sound made Micah’s good eye crack open, and when he saw me, it went as wide as it could, given the swelling that was covering his face.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Nina?” he demanded in a hissed whisper.
“Getting you out, what does it look like?” I replied with a grin. I had to look away though while I focused on getting my body to cooperate as I climbed up on the chair. The metal felt slippery under my feet, even though I had sneakers on, and I knew I was unstable because of my injuries. I’d felt the same way with my feet flat on the ground, so I wasn’t expecting it to get better once I was up on a chair.
Once I was up though, I was able to get a closer look at the knot and I knew I wouldn’t be able to just untie it, not in my weakened state at least. I eased myself off the chair and began looking for something with a sharp edge, anything that could cut through the rope relatively quickly.
“Nina, you shouldn’t be up and moving around, let alone traipsing through the woods trying to rescue me. I was the idiot that got caught, so I’ll find a way to get myself out. Just get out of here and get to safety.”
“I’m already here, Micah. I’m not just going to walk away. Don’t ask me to.”
“I know you’re in pain. Your wounds were worse than mine, and I felt like I could barely stand for days afterward. Silver poisoning isn’t something to fuck with, much like the Wu-Tang Clan.” He coughed a little, and I knew it was because the stupid man had made himself laugh with his corny joke.
I couldn’t help but smile in response. He was possibly the whitest of white boys talking about Wu-Tang Clan. I shook my head.
“I got you,” he huffed.
“You did, but now you need to shut up and let me concentrate,” I grumbled at him, though there was no real threat behind my words.
“No, you need to get out of here. It’s too risky,” he said, his tone dead serious this time.
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” I said as my eyes landed on a box cutter. It wasn’t going to be fast, or particularly easy, but it’d get the job done.
Blade in hand, I got myself back up on the chair, though my body was protesting ever more. I raised my hands, using one to brace myself and the other to saw through the rope. Bit by bit, the steel cut through the cord, and once it was most of the way there, the gravity of the way they had Micah tied up did the rest of the work, tearing the rope against the chain it was looped through.
As soon as it tore, Micah collapsed onto the floor with a thump. The gravel crunched under his weight, and I knew it couldn’t have been a pleasant fall. I practically fell off the chair trying to get to him, and the only reason I didn’t accidentally cut myself was thanks to the retractable blade on the box cutter.
The two of us were heaps on the floor for a moment before I got myself up and together…well, sort of. I got to my knees at least, which was better than nothing, and helped lift Micah up since he was struggling to get there himself.
“Everything either hurts or is numb,” he groaned.
“I can relate, but we’re not safe yet. We’ve still got to get out.” I struggled to my feet and tried to help Micah to his, though I felt like I was mostly just falling backward and if he let go, then I’d be flat out on my back. Not an ideal position to be in when trying to escape, or to get up from with a stomach that felt like it was on fire.
Finally, we were both upright and somewhat stable. I grabbed Micah’s closest hand and looped his arm behind my head so I could help take some of his weight. Once we were situated, we turned to head out of the garage.
My heart froze in my chest for a second as I saw Jaxon leaning on the edge of the door opening watching us.
“Going somewhere?” he asked completely nonchalantly, as though I wasn’t trying to help his prisoner, my mate, escape. As though I wasn’t there on his land when he’d been searching for me for weeks.
“Yeah, the accommodations here are shit so we’re going elsewhere. You may want to have your concierge brush up on his skills,” I replied, refusing to show him the fear that was making my heart pound in my chest.
“You may as well stay so he can have someone to practice on,” Jax said. He paused for a moment before trying to catch my eye as he continued, “He has a lot to learn, just like you.”
What the fuck did he mean by that?
As though I’d said my thoughts aloud, he said, “I know you want answers, Antonia. If you stay, you’ll get them. I can tell you why you have multiple mates, why I know I’m your true mate, and I know what we can accomplish together. The oracle has told me all about our future together.”
“Oracle?” I asked, playing dumb. The last thing I wanted was to give him any reason to suspect Blake as being one of my mates, at least not until Blake was ready to separate from this pack.
“There’s an old woman who lives in the mountains, she’s an oracle. A real one too. I know since I tested her. She’s how I knew I was meant to become alpha. She’s the reason I knew you were still in the city. Her knowledge of the world and the future is jaw dropping. I can take you to see her…” He dangled the carrot of answers in front of me as though that was all it would take for me to turn on my mates.
My mind raced as I tried to figure out a way to get the answers from him without having to give myself to him. “If this is all set in stone, then you can tell me where the oracle is and she can tell me these things herself, can’t you?” I demanded.
“I could, but where’s the fun in that? I want to be there when she tells you your future,” he said with a charming smile.
This was a different Jax than the one I’d seen in the café. He was cool and collected, charming even, not the brash moody domineering child I’d seen before. Was it because he was on his own territory? Or was it something to do with what this oracle told him? I wasn’t sure, but it made me uneasy.
If this was how he’d acted when we first met, I might not have run so hard or fast from him, and that was a terrifying thought. I could still sense a darkness about him, something waiting in the shadows to come out and wreak havoc on us all, but it wasn’t nearly as pronounced as it had been. Either way, I wasn’t a fan though.
I refused to live in fear.
Not anymore.
Not when I had mates who loved me exactly as I was and didn’t expect anything of me. Roman, Micah, and Blake had never demanded that I birth the next great alphas with them or anything ridiculous like that. In fact, when Roman and I had first mated, we had barely hoped to love each other. Now look at us.
Okay, not right at that moment, since I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. That being said, I was trusting him to provide a distraction, one that would help us get out of our current predicament.
“I might want answers, but I don’t want them badly enough to stay with you,” I said finally. I tried to keep my voice strong, to keep my fear at bay, but it was hard. Harder than I expected.
“You don’t have to stay,” Jax said. “You can go now, but I know you’ll be back. The oracle told me as much.”
I couldn’t understand why he would just let us leave. It wasn’t like him at all, especially to put so much faith in another. He must have seen the surprise on my face because he just smiled, and for a moment, I saw the attractive man that he was, the boy that had been my brother’s best friend. What would Sam think of this whole situation?
Jax stepped to the side and held his hand out, encouraging us to pass and go our separate ways. He couldn’t be serious, could he? I wasn’t sure, but I knew we needed to try. Staying still and staying stuck because of fear were the worst things we could do in a situation like this.
I squeezed the hand of Micah’s that I was holding, trying to signal to him that we were going to make a break for it, if you could call hobbling out of the garage making a break for it. When we made it outside, I didn’t see them at first. My heart had a brief moment where it soared with relief as I thought we were actually going to get out of there.