Chapter 23
Gage
Something is … off.
I heard Auryn and the other alphas earlier. Fine. We're a pack, and she has a right to have whatever fun she wants. If that means a group session with Diego and Emmett, that's fine. None of my business, so long as they're treating her right, and I doubt I have to worry about that.
That was hours ago, though, and for the last thirty minutes or so, I've had a sinking feeling in my gut.
My first instinct is to check on Auryn, but I find her with Olly, the two cuddling in her nest. Nothing wrong there.
As I search the compound for signs of Emmett and Diego, my unease grows. They're not in their rooms. Not in the kitchen, or the storeroom, or anywhere else. Both cars are missing, and I howl into the night as I realize where they must have gone.
When I get back inside, Olly and Auryn stand in the hallway waiting for me. From the pained expression on Auryn’s face, I'm not the only person who senses that something is wrong. It kills me to see my omega upset, even more because I can't fix it yet. I can’t make this better until I can get to the Orion house and find out what’s going on with Diego and Em.
They're in trouble. That has to be it. They're in trouble, and I don’t know how to help.
This is the worst feeling for an alpha, especially a pack leader.
“Olly, take care of Auryn,”
I say as I stalk towards the supply closet. I'll need to gather supplies. Bandages. Gear.
Weapons.
“Gage!”
I whirl around, and Olly flinches. He looks back at our girl, then whispers in my ear. “H-how should I take care of her? She knows something isn't right. She woke up crying, and it took all I had to calm her down this much.”
Poor Olly. He's smart, but he doesn’t understand emotional reactions. I'm amazed he got Auryn to stop crying.
“Make her feel safe. That's the most important thing. Make her feel safe, and keep her inside. The compound is pretty well defended, but it’s best not to risk it.”
I pause, realizing that Auryn can probably sense my distress as well. “Distract her.”
“When will you be back?”
That's a good question. When … if … I don’t have an answer for him.
Olly disappears down the hall with Auryn, and I hear him talking to her in a low, even tone. It sounds like he's spouting off medical jargon, so I tune him out to focus on the task at hand.
Once I'm geared up and armed to the teeth, I dart outside and start running towards the Orions’ pack house.
Damn those two for taking both cars. Why did they do that? Now I have to hoof it all the way there.
About three miles into my run, the sound of the Jeep’s engine reaches my ears. I change direction, heading for the road. Drawing a gun, I rush the road and jump in front of the car, which barrels haphazardly from the direction of the Orions. The driver barely manages to avoid hitting me, swerving off the road and coming to a stop just shy of a large oak tree.
Dropping to a crouch, I creep to the driver’s side of the Jeep. I fling the door open, and Diego falls out, groaning as he lands on the ground.
“Diego!”
I holster my weapon and bend to help him up. Together we get him to his feet, though when my hand comes away from his side, it's wet with blood. “What happened?”
He coughs, splattering me with more blood. “They were ready for us. Knew that we'd killed two of their own. Knew we had Auryn.”
A loud groan escapes him as I press a cloth to the wound in his gut, one of dozens all over his body, but this one seems the worst. They beat the shit out of him before they shot him.
“I-I'm sorry, jefe. They got Em. He tried to get me out, but they knew he was there. If he hadn't gotten their attention … He saved me, Gage. Could have come back for you, should have come back for you, but he didn’t.”
“Slow down, bro. Take some deep breaths. We need to get you to the compound. Get you to Olly. He can stitch you up.”
Diego shakes his head. “We have to go back. They've got Em.”
He takes a step, but the blood loss wins out, and if I hadn’t been there to catch him, he would have landed in the dirt again.
“Emmett is tough,”
I say as I lift Diego like a cub and place him in the passenger seat. “He'll be okay until we can fix you up and formulate a plan.”
I buckle him in, cinching the belt tight around his abdomen.
“Fuck, D, that’s a lot of blood loss. What the hell were you guys thinking?”
He grabs my wrist and locks eyes with me. “They hurt her, Gage. We couldn’t risk them getting her again.”
I nod, acknowledging their sacrifice. I understand it, even if I don’t agree with it. They wanted to protect their omega, and they went about it the only way they thought made sense.
Even if it was a damned foolish thing to do.
Once Diego’s secure, I jump into the driver’s seat and peel back onto the road, gunning the engine for all it’s worth. Time is not on Diego’s side right now, nor Em’s, and I’m going to need my right hand man to get Em back. As much as it kills me, I have to triage my alphas and take care of the one I can now, so we can both go rescue the one I can’t yet.
While the Jeep speeds towards the compound, I dial Olly’s number and hope he’s near his phone. He picks up on the first ring, his voice tight with worry.
“Gage? What’s happening?”
“Is Auryn within earshot?”
I need to tell Olly what to prepare, but I don’t want to stress her out by letting her hear that one of her mates has been shot, and the other…
…The other probably isn’t faring any better.
“She’s resting. I made her lie down.”
“Good. Now, listen carefully. You’re gonna need to prep your surgical kit. Sutures, scalpels, forceps, IVs, the works. Blood, if we have any on hand.”
I look at Diego out of the corner of my eye. His pallor seems worse; he’s competing with Olly right now for the palest guy in the pack. “Fuck, use mine if we don’t have any.”
“What happened?”
“No time, Olivander,”
I say, using his full name to get him to focus and pay attention. “Prep for surgery. I’m bringing you a patient.”
“Just one?”
I don’t bother answering that. We’re almost there, and time is of the essence. I arc the Jeep off the road and take it through the brush, bypassing a bit of the journey. The car bounces and jolts, but I figure it’s better to get Diego to Olly while he’s still breathing than to worry about road safety. I put my free hand on his bleeding stomach and press. The cloth I’d used to staunch some of the bleeding is beyond soaked, as are Diego’s clothes. Fuck.
The Jeep crests the top of the hill closest to the compound, and I press the pedal harder. To my dismay, a small, slender form waits for us at the entrance to the garage.
Why the fuck did Olly let her out? She shouldn’t see this!
It’s too late to stop. I speed past Auryn, who stands there in tears as I pull into the garage.
“Gage!”
She rushes the car and yanks open the passenger side door before I have a chance to say anything, before I can stop her. “Diego! Diego? Baby?”
He’s not answering. He’s barely even breathing.
I slam the car into park and cut the engine, jumping out and leaping over the hood to get to Diego’s side. “Auryn, honey, you have to get out of my way. I’ll get him to Olly. He’ll be okay.”
The problem is, I have no idea if I’m lying to her.
To her credit, Auryn gives me room to get Diego out of the Jeep, but she’s right on my heels as I run inside with him, even bursting past me to open doors along the way.
Damn. That girl can run!
She skids to a halt next to one of Olly’s exam tables, and I lay Diego down as carefully as I can. I wipe sweat from my brow and look at Olly, who’s gowned up and masked, scalpel in hand. “No questions until he’s out of danger. I don’t care how fucking curious you are. Just fix him.”
Olly nods and starts working on Diego. I take a seat across from him and grab a tourniquet, prepping my arm for transfusion myself.
I’ve got the needle in and am in the process of hooking up tubing when I hear something I never expected, especially not coming from where it’s coming from.
Purring.
I’m not purring. Olly’s a beta, so he doesn’t really purr. Purring is for soothing omegas, for calming agitated alphas on rare occasions … It’s something that alphas do to keep their pack at ease.
Why, then, is Auryn fucking purring?
She holds Diego’s hand to her chest, her dark eyes transfixed on what Olly’s doing. She watches the whole gruesome procedure without moving, without flinching. The entire time, she purrs and rubs Diego’s hand. I get the feeling if I tried to kick her out, she’d sooner fucking murder me than leave his side.
I shake off the oddity and hand the other end of the tubing to Olly, who hooks it up to Diego’s IV. Auryn casts a quizzical glance at the setup, and as Olly snaps off his gloves after bandaging Diego’s midsection, she speaks for the first time since the procedure started.
“What’s that for?”
I’m exhausted. Scared. But she’s holding her shit together better than expected, so I figure she’s earned some explanation. Who knows? Maybe it will help calm her down a bit.
“He needs blood. He lost too much from the gunshot wound. My blood’s the strongest, so I’m giving him some to replace what he lost.”
“Won’t that weaken you?”
“A bit, but it’s worth it if he recovers.”
Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “If?”
The word is soft, quiet, barely audible, and the terror behind it is not lost on me. I hate that she’s scared, hate that she’s worried, hate that I can’t fix it right now.
“He’ll recover. He has to.”
I force a smile. “He’s got a pretty girl waiting for him to get better.”
Olly clears his throat. “Um, Gage, can I ask questions now?”
Shit. He took my order to heart, all right. “Yes, Olly. Ask away.”
“Where’s Emmett?”
I look at Auryn. “They have him. He risked his life to give Diego a chance to get out, and the Orions took him.”
The tears she was holding back fall free, and she sobs. “They’ll … The things they will do to him … Oh, Gage, we have to get him back. We have to go now, we have to–”
I hold up a hand, stopping her panicked rambling. “Auryn, baby, I understand how you feel, but if they got the jump on Diego and Em, they’ll tear me apart if I go back in alone. I’ll need Diego, probably Olly too, and I’ll need a plan. I can’t just run back there while you two watch over him.”
“You’re missing someone,”
she says, scowling at me through the tears.
I point at myself, then Olly, then Diego. “I’ve got all three of us. Who do you think I’m missing, hm?”
I already know the answer, but she has no idea what she thinks she’s doing.
Auryn squares up her shoulders and looks me dead in the eye.
“There’s no way in hell you’re going back there to get Emmett without me.”