47. Chapter Forty-Seven #2
Pack Hawthorne moves almost too fast to track.
Jax barrels into Mick, and the gun clatters harmlessly to the floor.
Gabriel knocks Kylie flat with one explosive punch that sends her rolling.
Ronan is on the commissioner, a thunderous growl tearing from his throat, eyes black with feral rage.
Ronan seizes the commissioner by the throat, lifting him off the ground.
“You dare harm my omega?” Ronan twists. Bone and sinew snap in his hands and the commissioner’s head lolls. His body crumples, his eyes wide and empty. Ronan lets the large alpha crumple to the floor.
The senator screams. “Guards! Get in here now!”
Another door leading into the room bursts open as hard-faced alphas dressed in police uniforms stream into the room.
Asher plants himself directly in front of me, legs wide, chest heaving, his body a shield. “Stay behind us, Emma!”
An officer barrels toward us, teeth bared, but Asher meets him with a brutal uppercut then turns, grabs the next with both fists, and slams the man’s head into the wall so hard the plaster cracks. His body drops to the floor.
Phoenix ducks a wild punch, twists low, and sweeps the attacker’s legs out from under him in one swift, dirty kick. The alpha hits the floor, and Phoenix drives his elbow down hard onto his throat. The alpha wheezes, clutching his broken windpipe and gasping for breath.
An officer swings a baton at my head, but Phoenix intercepts the strike, taking the blow with his forearm.
A hiss escapes his clenched teeth before he smashes his fist into the alpha’s gut.
He snatches the baton and swings it at his opponent’s temple.
The wet thud echoes off the walls. The alpha spins and goes down hard.
Another cop rushes toward us, arm swinging. Soren snatches the man’s wrist mid-air, twists until there’s the sharp pop of bone dislocating, then shoves the man away. The man cries out, tucking his arm to his chest. Asher rams his elbow into the man’s temple, knocking him out.
Another tries to charge, and Soren drops to one knee, grabbing ankles and yanking the cop flat to the floor. The back of his head clunks with an explosion of blood.
In the next breath, Phoenix has his knee in another’s back, pinning him down before driving his fist into the man’s temple. The alpha goes limp, but Phoenix is up and colliding with the alpha Asher is trying to bring down.
Adrian and Cole advance on the senator’s pack.
Kylie and Sean close ranks around Evelyn.
Kylie moves first, tall and rawboned, swinging a metal baton in a low, wicked arc meant for Cole’s knees.
He avoids the swipe by a fraction, pivoting and grabbing the senator by the arm, only for Sean to slam his fist into Cole’s ribs, knocking the air from his lungs.
Kylie rounds on Adrian, twisting around and swinging high with a roundhouse kick.
Adrian flinches but keeps his arms up, grabbing her leg and backing her into the wall.
Kylie rakes her nails across his cheek, drawing blood, then stomps on his instep.
Adrian jabs his elbow into Kylie's wrist. Her baton drops to the floor.
With her weapon gone, Kylie swings her fist hard, but Adrian ducks under, grabs her wrist, and twists until the crack of bone is unmistakable.
She drops, clutching her arm, and he lands a finishing elbow to her jaw that leaves her dazed on the floor.
Sean pulls a switchblade and swings it at Cole.
“That all you got?” Sean feints left before slashing right.
Cole grabs Sean’s forearm, twists the knife from his grasp, and knees the alpha hard in the groin.
Sean goes down, gasping. Cole follows it up with a brutal punch to the man’s temple, sending him sprawling, then kicks the switchblade away.
Hardwick yanks a gun from Kylie’s holster, grabs Leah by the hair, and hauls the omega up hard against her chest.
“Leah!” I scream. My alphas bring down the last officer and start toward Hardwick .
She presses the barrel against Leah’s head and drags her toward the service door through which the officers arrived. “Stay back! Stay where you are or I’ll blow her brains out! Don’t think for a second I won’t!”
I reach toward Leah, my arms outstretched, fingers clawing at nothing, desperate to close the yawning distance between us.
A brutal cramp coils through my abdomen, wrenching a gasp from my lungs.
My knees buckle and I hit the cold floor hard, my breath gone.
All I see is Leah’s face, her eyes wide, pleading, her lips parted, and then nothing but the dying spark of hope as Hardwick drags her through the door, gun still pressed to her skull.
“ No !” The word tears out of me, raw and useless, lost in the chaos.
Ronan’s roar is so deep and furious that ceiling dust shakes loose.
Gabriel and Jax whirl to the now-empty doorway.
The remaining officers, those not already unconscious or broken, surge at them from all directions.
Ronan plows through, throwing men aside like ragdolls, every motion powered by a terrifying strength.
Gabriel picks up a fallen baton and swings in a clean arc, sweeping legs from under an officer, sending him sprawling.
Jax lifts one by the belt and shoulder, hurling him hard enough that the man cracks the opposite wall and doesn’t rise again, joining the other bodies strewn over the floor.
“Go for her, Ronan. We’ll lock everything down here. Go and get your mate!” Adrian yells, but Pack Hawthorne are already bolting after Leah.
I can only hope they’re fast enough to catch up with Hardwick. If they do, Hardwick won’t stand a chance.
I sob, rage and heartbreak tearing through me as I press my forehead to my knees.
Hardwick has Leah.
I’ve lost her to the jaws of a monster.