by Rosko, Mandy
Especially right now.
He hoped she would still think of him like that, even when he had to let her go.
Dennis cleared his throat. “Yes, well, hopefully your brother doesn’t murder me.”
“He won’t. I’ll make sure he won’t.”
Again, that warm feeling in his chest. “You just remember to take care of Derek for me. Make sure he knows not to go back.”
“I will. I promise. I’ll make all of this right.”
It wasn’t for her to make this right. She wasn’t the one who created this mess she was in. Dennis had. The blame for literally all of this could be laid down at his feet.
He wasn’t about to argue the point with her when he had to slow the truck to a stop.
They were fairly close to the last place Laurence had jumped out at them, so he wasn’t altogether shocked to see the giant wolf standing in the middle of the road.
As though it had been waiting for them.
The red eyes on the animal burned brightly in Dennis’ high beams.
He gripped the dented wheel tighter when the animal lowered its head.
Dennis could hear Anna’s heart slamming around beside him. He would keep that heart beating if it was the last thing he did.
“Are we going to run him over?”
“Would you mind if I did?”
Anna swallowed. “I guess we have to.”
That seemed to be as good as she could give. Dennis hated himself for it, but he slammed his foot onto the pedal. The tires screeched as the truck lunged forward.
Laurence did not get out of the way.
He roared at them, his hackles rising, teeth monstrous as he reached for the truck, grabbing it, his arms wrapping neatly around the front while Dennis tried to pancake him.
The truck slowed, the tires screamed, and the smell of burning rubber assaulted Dennis’ nostrils.
“Oh my God, is he actually doing it?”
He was. Dennis grit his teeth. When did Laurence find this kind of strength?
Dennis willed the truck to keep going. Through the haze of tire smoke, he stared into those ruby red eyes, noted how the teeth on Laurence made it look as though he was smiling, and he wanted to kill the man so badly.
He wanted to protect Anna even more.
Taking his foot off the pedal, Dennis put the truck in reverse and floored it again.
This must have taken Laurence by surprise because he yelped, stumbled, and fell onto his face on the road as Dennis backed up.
He stopped, put the truck into drive, and again hit the gas.
The scream of tires was a little more satisfying this time around as he slammed into Laurence, who still managed to catch the truck before they could get much leeway, but it still knocked the wolf creature back several steps before Laurence was able to stop them.
Fuck. It would have been so much better if Dennis had managed to get a good running start.
He put the truck in reverse again, but this time Laurence had a proper grip, and he saw the move coming a mile away, running with the truck and jumping on the hood.
Anna screamed. “Holy shit!”
That was all right. Dennis only needed a few seconds to get to a good speed before he slammed the brakes just as Laurence looked as though he were going to punch through the windshield.
He didn’t see that move coming as he slammed into the windshield, cracking the glass with his skull, and then rolled over the hood of the truck.
It sounded as though he fell into the truck bed when Dennis started driving forward again.
“Do you think you can make it to your brother?”
“What?”
Dennis glanced in the rearview mirror, saw how pissed Laurence looked.
“If I take care of him, can you get to your brother?”
Anna looked back. He expected her to argue and was grateful when she didn’t.
“I can. I’ll send him back for you to help.”
“Make sure Derek gets out of there.”
Laurence’s enormous clawed fist broke through the back window.
Anna screamed, ducking her head. Dennis slammed the brakes and, again, Laurence flew forward. His entire face came through the back window this time, disorienting him.
Dennis immediately unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Get out of the truck, Anna,” he said, doing the same and rushing to the back bed of the truck.
Anna did as she was told, slipping out of the passenger side.
Laurence shook off the glass, finally seeming to notice when his prey turned into a sleek wolf and began making a run for it on the side of the road.
He opened his jaws, snapping them as he yanked his head free from the window. Before he could give chase, Dennis grabbed him by the scruff and threw him out of the back of the truck.
Laurence gracefully rolled to his feet, slamming his front fist down onto the pavement before roaring at Dennis.
Dennis shifted so fast he didn’t bother with getting out of his clothes.
It didn’t matter anyway. They tore neatly for him when his shape became too big to handle the denim, shoes, and shirt.
Laurence growled at him. “You throw your lot in with them? After all this time? All the promises you made for us?”
Dennis growled back. “Yeah, I do.”
Laurence blinked, then he laughed, a low and menacing sound.
“Should’ve known. Thought you might deny it.”
“Shut up and fight me, you weak little bitch.”
That was all it took to take the smile from Laurence’s face before they lunged at each other.
16
Anna pumped her front and hind legs, her tail whipping out behind her. She’d shed her clothes, shifted, and ran. She didn’t bother taking her clothes with her.
She had more clothes back home. She was so close to home. She didn’t want to leave Dennis behind, but now that she was so close, nearly back where it was safe and familiar…
Away from that shifter who wanted to ransom her back to her brother…
Don’t think about it. Keep going. Keep running. Don’t stop. Never stop.
If she didn’t make it back, she couldn’t get help for Dennis. She couldn’t make sure her brother kept his promise for Derek.
There was so much riding on just getting away, and the howls and sounds of fighting took a long time to fade in the background. They were fighting. They were trying to kill each other.
Please, let Dennis win.
She didn’t want to find him, to be with him, just to lose him.
Then, thank God, a familiar smell. A couple of familiar smells. She could make out the smell of her brother. Dane and Jax were there, too. They smelled like home. They smelled like safety.
And she couldn’t wait to get back to them.
Anna barked and howled, even though it took so much precious air from her lungs and slowed her down. She announced to her brother that she was right here. She was coming back. She was ready to see him again!
And it felt like years since she’d been back home. It really did.
Garret! I’m coming!
Anna expected them to be in one of the trucks or SUVs. They weren’t.
Her brother appeared through the darkness, a monster in the night. He looked bigger and taller than even Dennis in that moment, though the eyes on his wolf form softened, his claws and fangs becoming not quite so long when he realized Anna was right there.
Jax was behind him, to his left. He looked mostly like a man, still able to wear his clothes, but the yellow scales on him covered every inch of his skin, his eyes looking incredibly lizard-like.
Dane ran to Garret’s other side. He was the only one of the three in full human shape, but he also wasn’t running.
He was on his motorcycle. She supposed they thought at least one of them needed a set of wheels on the off chance they were needed.
In her wolf shape, Anna didn’t stop running, and like she used to when she was still a pup, she ran into her
brother’s much larger arms, letting him wrap them securely around her, protecting her from all the bad things that were out there. All the terrible things that wanted to eat her alive in the dead of night.
She tried to talk to him, but the only things that came from her throat were wolf whining sounds, which were not the sounds she wanted to make when she wanted to show strength.
“Anna, it’s okay, baby, you’re all right.” Garret pet her fur, melting back into something a little closer to human as he did. “I’m so sorry. I got you now. You’re going to be all right. Everything’s going to be all right.”
The pain in his voice gutted her.
Anna never in her life thought she would hear him sound like that. Her big, strong, and powerful brother sounded a step and a half away from broken.
She didn’t like that sound, and she didn’t want him to have that for her.
Never for her.
Anna managed to calm down, her wolf whining cries turning into something a little closer to relief and happiness. Her tail started to wag, and remembering Dennis existed, forced her throat to work in a human way so she could tell him.
“Dennis is in trouble!”
“What?”
Garret pulled back from her. He looked at her as though not sure of what she’d just said.
The adrenaline got to her. Anna struggled to get back into her human shape, but she managed it, fighting to have proper human vocal cords again instead of something in between wolf and woman.
She grabbed Garret’s shoulder and pointed back the way she came. “Dennis is back there! He’s fighting with Laurence!”
Garret growled, the red in his eyes returning. “I hope they kill each other.”
“No! Garret, you can’t! He saved me!”
“He kidnapped you!”
Dane stepped forward quickly, taking off his jacket. He put it around Anna’s shoulders. It was so big on her that it actually managed to cover her ass and privates.
The sudden warmth wasn’t enough to calm her.
“Garret, please…Jax, Dane, I know you don’t like him, and I don’t blame you guys, but he did save me. He fought off his own pack for me, more than once. He doesn’t want to ransom me off. He was trying to bring me back. You can’t let them fight.”
Garret growled. Dane and Jax looked at each other before turning back to her.
“Maybe we can talk about this a little after getting you home?” Jax suggested. “Dane can give you a lift. Your brother and I will take care of this.”
Which sounded like an awfully nice way for her to just be a good girl and do as the warriors asked her without question.
She didn’t want to do as the warriors asked without question anymore. She wanted to make sure the love of her life wasn’t killed because Jax and her brother took their time debating whether or not they were going to help at all.
Or, worse, if they would send Anna home, wait five minutes, and then follow after her, claiming nothing could be done.
“Garret, Dennis is mine. He’s my mate.”
The red didn’t get brighter in his eyes at those words. It got darker. So dark it looked as though they had turned black.
He said one word, and it was in the meanest voice Anna had ever heard from him. “No.”
Anna nodded, gripping his arms. “Yes. Garret, this is happening.”
“No!” He stood, stepping away from her, looking at her as though he couldn’t believe she’d just said that. As though she’d announced to him she was going to elope with a raccoon.
Anna stood, ignoring the shocked stares Jax and Dane gave to her. She squared her shoulders, looked her brother right in the eyes, and made herself clear. “Yes. We already…we were together already. He’s my mate, Garret, and if you let him die, if you go back on your promise to his son,” she added, reminding herself that Derek was important to Dennis, too, “I will never forgive you.”
Garret was usually strong and stoic. He was old fashioned. He was a little over a hundred years old and came from a time Anna couldn’t fathom.
And he’d still managed to raise Anna so lovingly and well, despite everything he’d been through. Despite the years on his life that had to have tired him out.
Now, to have that strong image of a male in front of her, looking as though she had just ripped his heart out of his chest and was letting him watch its final beats in her bloodied hand…
It wasn’t a good feeling, but she would do it again to save Dennis.
So she softened a little. Only a little. “Please, Garret. I need him.”
Maybe that was the wrong word for her to use in that moment, because Garret growled at her, glaring as he looked back at Dane and Jax.
“Take her home. I’ll see to this myself.”
“What? No, that wasn’t what I asked for. Garret!”
She couldn’t stop him. He avoided her reaching hands as he shifted back into that much larger shape between man and wolf, darting around her and leaping into the darkness, towards the fight where Dennis held off Laurence.
“Don’t kill him!”
Don’t hurt him. Don’t sit back and let Laurence fight with Dennis, waiting until enough blood is shed before you move in to stop it.
There was so much to yell at him that she wanted him to do, but he was done, and there was nothing else for it before Dane put his hand on Anna’s shoulder.
“Let’s go home.”
Anna couldn’t move.
Jax, the dragon she’d once thought she’d loved, came to stand on her other side.
“Miranda and Lois will want to see you. Katie, too. I can take you back if you don’t want to ride with Dane.”
She didn’t like how gentle he was being with her, as though she was a child in need of coaxing.
“I can ride with Dane, but shouldn’t you guys go with him? You’re his back up.”
The roar that soared over their heads from the distance brought Anna’s attention back to the dark road ahead of her. She shivered.
“Garret will be back soon. You shouldn’t worry,” Dane said. “Besides, when he wants to fight, there’s really nothing we can do about it but let him. He needs this.”
“Will he hurt Dennis?”
Both men looked at each other before turning their attention back to her again.
“No.”
She could feel the lie, dirty and dark, sliding all over her skin.
But then Dane began to ease her back to the motorcycle, and she knew they weren’t going to stop until they either got her on it or walked with her back home.
Dane sat down, and Jax helped her sit behind him, though she didn’t need it.
“Anna,” Jax said, sounding reluctant. “Are you sure about Dennis?”
Anna wrapped her arms around Dane, holding on as he started the bike. “I’m sure. Let’s go home, please.”
The last thing she wanted was for the people she’d trusted to start asking her about what happened, whether or not Dennis had encouraged or manipulated this somehow, but she knew those were the questions she was going to have to answer. “Look, I’m fine. I’m not fighting you, and I’m not going to run. Just make sure Garret brings Dennis back in one piece?”
Jax pressed his lips together. He seemed to struggle with the request. Anna was only able to breathe again when he nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
It wasn’t a definitive answer, but she figured it would be the best one she would get.
Dane started riding down the highway. Anna pressed her face into his shoulder, trying not to think of the fight she was leaving behind or why she was doing it.
Anna would make it a little easier for them. She would answer their questions. Maybe if she showed some cooperation, they would realize she was of sound mind and wasn’t making things up when she said Dennis was her mate.
Though she doubted there wouldn’t be a fight about that later on. Even if she didn’t want to have it. There was no way Garret was going to take this with any amount of grace.
&nb
sp; 17
Garret found the two shifters slashing at each other’s throats in the distance. They actually weren’t all that far from where he’d found Anna, and that was the terrifying bit.
Garret stopped to watch the show, but only for a moment. He wanted to relish this a little. He didn’t care if it was petty.
Dennis opened his stupid maw and roared at Laurence when the wolf-man slashed at his eyes. Dennis narrowly missed being blinded, which explained why his hackles raised up just a touch higher than they’d been a minute ago.
Dennis lunged, his teeth chomping down and around the throat of the fool who’d tried to fight him.
Garret hated to admit that it looked as though Dennis was going to come out of this on top.
Barely, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he was going to win this. He would be tired and injured after the fact, but he would still win.
Garret kind of hoped Laurence would kill him. It would certainly save him the trouble of having to do it himself.
An easy out. Dennis would die, and Garret could go home with a clean conscience to his sister.
Who, for some reason, thought this worthless sack of shit was her mate.
No fucking way.
Dennis caught a good grip on Laurence’s throat. His teeth might have even pierced through the protective layer of fur and into the flesh beneath.
Maybe.
Garret would have to watch out for that. Dennis was fighting with more savagery, more intensity than Garret had ever seen.
It was a good thing he was standing back and letting the asshole tire himself out then. Garret wanted to murder him, but if he could do it and get back to Miranda without getting too much blood on him, then all the better.
He watched as Dennis pinned the other shifter, watched as he roared a sound of dominance in Laurence’s face.
Laurence whined, cowering, the fight left his body, and Garret could see it the instant it happened.
He snorted. So not only did Dennis run with traitorous, woman-kidnapping pricks, but his pack was made up of a bunch of weak little bitches on top of it.