by Jen L. Grey
"But that won't work."
"Oh, I know." A sad smile filled his face. "And I respect it. I know he’s important to you."
Damn right, we're breaking Tripp out tonight no matter what. I had a feeling we were going to see what the rebellion was truly made of.
Chapter Six
We were all hanging out at Sherry and Bree's dorm as we waited for midnight to ascend.
Simon was sitting in the recliner that faced the door as he continually glanced at Sherry, who was sitting on the side of the couch closest to him. Bree sat in the middle as Liam sat on her other side with me in his lap.
"We're going to have to play nice with the rebellion tonight." Evan tapped his foot as if he was anxious. "They don't even know we're showing up."
I wasn't sure what had gotten into him lately. He was normally cool, calm, and collected. Those three words defined him perfectly unless there was an actual visible threat in front of him, and right now, he was acting the opposite.
"I know that," Simon growled.
"I'm not sure you're helping your case." Micah carried a chair from the kitchen table into the room. "You’re already sounding testy."
"Hey..." Simon started, but a loud knock on the door cut him off.
"Are we expecting someone?" Bree leaned forward.
"Uh, no." Sherry tapped her chin. "You guys are the only people I know or care to know."
"I've got it." Evan stood and headed to the door.
When he opened it, someone I hadn't seen in a while was standing there—Kai. His longish blond hair was styled in its usual unkempt way, and his sandy brown eyes met my own. He wore a black shirt and jeans that clung to his body perfectly. He had the playboy look down pat, a look that, at one time, I found alluring. He had tried to date me despite knowing that Liam was my mate, and I wound up hurting him. Fate did everything to not be ignored.
"Hey." He took in a deep breath as his eyes tore from me in Liam's arms to everyone else in the room. "I thought it'd be nice to stop by and check on you all."
"In clothes that aren’t your uniform?" Evan questioned.
"Yeah, I had to run an errand and didn't want to wear academy clothes in the city." Kai glanced at the ground. "May I come in for a while?"
Liam's hands tightened around my waist. "Sure, for a little while."
"Really?" Simon rolled his eyes. "That prick was hitting on your girl."
"I'm very aware of that point," Liam's words were a growl. “But that’s in the past; after all, he helped save her.”
"Look, I'm not trying to cause problems," Kai said. "I wanted to see if you'd heard from Tripp. He hasn't been around in a while, and apparently, he unenrolled in the academy. That's not like him." His eyes weren't the warm color they usually were, and he was avoiding each one of our gazes.
He's hiding something. Liam linked with me.
I had to agree with him. "Well, you know as much as we do." I was curious to see how he would play this. I never knew him to be manipulative, but right now, he was being pretty brazen.
"Tell us the truth. We know you’re lying." Evan was a blunt kind of guy. I should've figured he would call him out.
"What?" His head snapped up, and he scanned the room. "No..."
"You smell rotten. You’re omitting something, which is the same as lying. Did you forget we are all shifters?" Simon pinched the bridge of his nose. "Some people are morons."
The room became silent until Kai responded, "Okay, fine. I know what you’re planning, and I want in."
"How is that possible?" Bree's eyebrows shot upward.
"Are you part of the rebellion?" Evan crossed his arms.
"Yeah, I am. It's not like I can lie." Kai blew out a breath and blinked.
"For how long?" It hurt that he hadn't been willing to tell me about this before.
"A while." He licked his bottom lip and sighed. "Look, they won't tell me where he's at, and I know you guys are helping." He paused as his brows furrowed. "Which, honestly, was something I never thought I'd say about them," Kai said as he pointed at the four heirs.
"Why won't they tell you?" Liam tilted to the side so he could see him clearly.
"Does it matter?" Kai huffed.
"Hell, yeah, it does." Simon shook his head and frowned. "If they don't want you, we don't want you."
"I agree with him." Micah nodded in Simon's direction.
"Now listen here," Kai said.
"No, they're right." Evan opened the door and waved his hand toward the hallway. "If you don't come clean, then we don't know what kind of liability you are on our hands, and it's a risk not worth taking."
"Mia." Kai glanced at me. "Help me, please."
Liam's hands tightened on my waist. Of course, he's begging you.
Stop. The last thing I wanted was for things to explode because of jealousy. "They're right. Come clean or you're not going."
"Bree?" Kai then looked at her.
She lifted both hands in the air. "This isn't up to me."
"Fine." His shoulders slumped, and he pointed at the door. "I'll tell you, so go ahead and shut it. No one needs to overhear this."
"Okay." Evan shut the door and made his way back to his spot on the recliner.
"First off, who's she?" Kai gestured at Sherry.
"Oh, I'm the new student from California." She held her hand out toward Kai. "My name is Sherry."
Kai reached over, and as soon as he touched her hand, Simon growled.
"I'm Kai." His forehead creased as he glanced at Simon. "It's odd for a student to join mid-semester."
"Stop being nosy, and get to the point." Simon's voice was raspy, and his body tense.
"Fine." Kai paced behind where Micah was sitting. "I may have been the one who got Tripp caught."
"What the hell?" Bree leaned forward in her seat like she was going to stand up.
"Give him a second." Sherry reached over and grabbed her arm. "It might sound worse than it really is."
"Either way, he's being held against his will, so it can't be much better." Bree wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Look, I found out about the altar that you all found this past weekend," Kai muttered. "They wanted me to do some investigating of my own, so Sunday night, I waited until close to midnight and snuck out into the woods."
"Let me guess; the idiot followed you." Bree's body sagged as if the fight in her was gone.
"Yes, he did, but I didn't know it." Kai rubbed a hand down his face. "I was too focused on making sure I didn't run into anybody, and honestly, he is kind of stealthy. I had no idea he was around until I heard a scream far away and smelled him on my return trip."
"A scream?" Sherry's brows furrowed.
"Yeah, I think he let himself get caught to save me." Kai frowned. "He's kind of stupid and loyal like that."
That sounded exactly like what might have happened. "So, why didn’t you try to catch up with them?"
" I did." Kai pulled his bottom lip. "But Amber's scent was everywhere with his, and it disappeared like they had gotten into a car. So I need help getting him back. I think he did it for me."
"How does Amber keep getting involved?" The bitch just wouldn't go away.
"She's trying to make a spot for herself somewhere in the elites." Simon darkly chuckled. "She thought I was going to lock it down with her after you dumped her ass."
"I didn't dump her because we were never something to begin with." Liam's chest vibrated from an unheard growl.
"Okay, everyone needs to calm down." I stood and glanced at the clock. "It's time to go anyway."
Liam said, "She's right. Let's move." He stood beside me and took my hand.
Those words seemed to sober everyone up. Thank God.
"Wait, you aren't supposed to go. I just need you to tell me where they're holding him." Kai frowned as he shook his head.
"One wrong move, Kai," Evan squared his shoulders as he got on both feet. "That's all it'll take for me to haul your ass away from there."
"
Fine."
The eight of us used the stairwell, attempting to hide in the shadows. Even though we were all shifters, we were part human and enjoyed taking the elevator.
It only took a minute for us to get to the ground floor, and we snuck out the back door that led to the woods.
Evan took the lead, and soon, we were all sprinting to take cover in the trees. Once we all made it there, Evan held up a finger to his lips to indicate for us to be quiet.
My heart rocked inside my chest as my nerves came to a head. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but tonight, working with the rebellion and saving Tripp was taking its toll. Thankfully, the only sounds we heard came from the eight of us hiding.
"Let's go, but be quiet," Liam whispered as he took my hand and walked farther into the woods.
We were all moving relatively quickly. The moon was full and hanging high in the sky, and the woods were strangely quiet. Not even an owl made any noise. It was as if the animals knew what was about to happen.
As we drew closer, several scents blew in our direction. The rebellion members were already here, and there were at least five of them.
Be careful. Liam tugged my arm, making me slow down. Remember the shit they pulled last night.
I held my hand up, summoning the others to stop.
"So, you all decided to tag along." The girl's voice from the abandoned factory filled the air. "I'm actually surprised." She emerged from among some thick branches, but this time, she wore a ski mask instead of a hoodie.
"It would've been nice if you would've informed us that it was a friend." I got that they didn't trust us, but they should've prepared us for something.
"Look, I didn't know he was your friend too." Her eyes landed on Kai. "Great, someone else who isn't supposed to be here."
"I came to save my friend." Kai bared his teeth at her. "Despite your protests, I need to be a part of the rescue team."
"If you were good at being a spy, we wouldn't be in this mess," she hissed as four large figures appeared and flanked her on both sides. All five of them wore similar ski masks.
The girl snarled. "Now, we have an untrained liability who could identify you as the person who went over the border."
"Willow, I messed up, and I want to make it right. I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't know I was being followed." Kai clenched his hands into fists.
"You do realize you're not helping yourself, right?" It was weird to see him like this. When I had first met him, he seemed to have his act together, but not now.
"See, she even agrees with me, and now you've given them my name. You need to stick with a strategy." She tilted her head in my direction. "They can't know you're involved with us. That's why you need to turn around and go back."
"They aren't going down without a fight." Evan sneered. "So you should take all the help you can get."
"Your scent is going to be left behind." She crossed her arms as she faced off with us.
It was as if the elements were in our favor because a strong breeze began to blow.
"Not with weather like this." Liam pointed to the clouds rolling in. "A storm is coming."
"Fine, it's your ass if you get caught." The girl pointed to the road. "Okay, so we follow that gravel trail?"
"Yeah." Evan nodded, and he took a few steps toward her.
One of the men growled in warning. "Do not get close to her."
Evan stopped, and his mask of indifference slipped back into place. "What's the plan?"
"We should get closer before we make any plans." She took off, keeping to the trees. "Don't get left behind."
The now thirteen of us quietly walked through the woods. When we could make out the building, Willow paused and held up her hand. There were at least ten sentries tonight, all standing outside the small building on guard.
"Great, they must have caught your scent last night," Willow muttered as she turned around.
"If they had, the council would've done something." Bree's voice was only a whisper in the air.
"Not if it was faint and mixed with multiple scents." Willow's gaze landed on me. "I have a feeling Mia here was involved, and her mate wouldn't let her out of his sight." She turned her body so she was facing Evan. "And I bet he was the one who knew the location."
"Impressive, how'd you know?" Liam stepped slightly in front of me like they might be a threat.
"We'd heard of Mr. Rafferty keeping a place out in the woods somewhere near here, but we never were able to locate it... " A grin filled her face, "Until now."
"Well, it looks like it's good we came." Micah glanced back at the small building. "They have twice your numbers."
"We could still kick their asses," one of the huge men said.
"Like hell, you could," Simon growled.
"Now isn't the time to turn on each other." Sherry reached over and smacked Simon on top of the head. "You have got to learn that not everything is about you."
Bree giggled and clamped her hands over her mouth, trying to keep the sound in.
"Oh, dear God." Willow glanced over her shoulder at her men. "They are fucking children."
"Either way, you need us right now." I didn't like being talked down to, but we kind of deserved it at the moment. "So what's the plan?"
Willow's eyes moved back to the building. "We can't let them see any of you, so you'll each need to shift into your wolf and stay in the shadows. It's harder to tell who you are in animal form."
A loud crash of lightning sounded behind us.
"Mia and the other two girls can be the ones to help Tripp out." Willow motioned to Sherry. "I don't know you, so you aren't related to a council member, right?"
"No, I'm new here." Sherry waved her finger around to the heirs and me. "They saved me from an abusive alpha."
"That's another story that didn't make sense to me." Willow met Evan's eyes. "The fact that you all may actually care is surprising."
"Let's do this another time." We needed to get in there and get out fast. The storm would be a good cover and hide our scents.
"Fine, new girl stays in human form since they most likely won't recognize her." Willow took a deep breath. "That way, she can untie him. The four of you will need to run back where we met up earlier and stay hidden until we come back." She indicated Kai, Sherry, Bree, and me.
"What's going to happen if a guard recognizes us after tonight?" Bree popped her knuckles and sighed.
"Honey, those guards were trained to fight to the death." Willow arched an eyebrow. "None of them is going to survive tonight."
Her words made sense, but I hadn't even considered that possibility. Tonight, we weren't just saving a friend; we were declaring war.
Chapter Seven
The breeze picked up even more as we slowly moved but remained hidden in the woods as we got closer to the building. It was as if the elements could sense what was coming... what was starting.
One of the guards moved slightly so Tripp came into view. He was still stuck in that seat but was leaning over to the side. I hoped it was from sleep and not from something else.
Willow and Evan were in the lead with Liam and me following directly after them as the others lagged a little behind. We continued to remain quiet so the guards would stay unaware for as long as possible.
"We're going to move inside when the rain starts, right?" The guards from the corner glanced at the one closest to the woods where we were hiding.
"We need at least a couple to stand guard outside to listen for anything." The man closest to us chuckled. "And it damn sure won't be me."
They were distracted, which was a good thing.
Willow glanced over her shoulder at the group and pointed to the tree line. It was time to fight.
Someone patted Liam’s shoulder, and we both turned to find Micah holding his hand out. He pulled out a necklace that was hidden under his shirt and unclasped it.
Understanding filled Liam's eyes. He wants our dorm key so we don't lose it after we shift.
&nb
sp; That's smart. For whatever reason, I hadn't even considered that we would shift into our wolves. However, it only made sense that we would.
While Liam handed him the key, Willow and the others were already shifting. Hair sprouted all over their skin, and soon their clothes ripped as they went down onto four legs.
Let's go. Liam said as he called his wolf forward.
Within seconds, our group of wolves headed to the tree line.
"Do you hear something?" The guard closest to us glanced at the tree line, and his eyes widened when he obviously caught our scent. "We've got activity," he yelled.
That's what we wanted. We needed them to be drawn away from the building so Sherry, Bree, and I could easily get to Tripp while the others distracted them.
I turned, passing by the others until I reached Bree and Sherry. Bree's wolf was identical to Liam's but smaller. It made me realize that I'd never run with her before.
"Get ready." Sherry's voice was so light that the wind carried it away, but I still heard it.
A gun shot off toward our group as an auburn wolf jumped out and attacked the closest guard.
"What the hell?" One of the other guards ran over to him, and he must have seen the rest of them in the woods. As he stumbled back, a loud howl filled the air.
"We're under attack," one of the guards yelled as he aimed his gun toward Evan.
No. I ran in their direction when Sherry stepped into my path. "We have to get Tripp. Then we can help."
She was right. We needed to focus on saving Tripp first.
The guards ran to the woods as the rest of the wolves attacked. Gunshots sounded as the fighting began.
It was the hardest thing to watch my friends fight while I stood on the sidelines. When each guard was fighting a wolf, Sherry waved us on, and we ran out of the tree line for the building.
No one noticed as we ran past them, and soon we'd reached Tripp. Thankfully, the glass door was left open again.
"Hey," Sherry whispered as we approached him. "We're here to save you."
"Huh?" Tripp’s head bobbed from one side to the other.
"We're here to save you." Sherry touched his shoulder for a second as she tried to get him to wake up.