Eleven #3
I ran over anyone who tried to use their guns, and kept an eye out for any of the Swann pack that seemed to be in danger.
I saw a brief flicker of Reggie fighting Tuss Haviland out of the corner of my eye, saw him get thrown to his back and pinned to the ground, Tuss’s long serrated hunting knife buried deep in his shoulder.
I was about to go to him, but suddenly there were three women there with bats, and Tuss took blows to his head, back, and sides.
It was brutal, and when he jumped up, hurling them all off him, that gave Reggie the moment he needed to yank the blade out of his shoulder and grapple Tuss’s legs out from under him, taking him down and continuing their battle.
Right after noticing Reggie, I felt something course through me, a feeling of dread I couldn’t describe.
My first thought was Cole, and I instantly turned my attention to where he was and saw him viciously attacking Matthias while the older man was desperately dodging, looking for any opportunity to counter him.
Cole was brutal in his attacks, snarling in a rage.
Matthias was going to die, and none of the threats, promises of retribution, or curses he was shrieking at the son of the alpha he murdered were going to save him.
Everyone had heard him confess to the killing, and in that moment, all Cole was, was wrath.
The issue, though, was that as focused as he was on delivering revenge, he didn’t see his own peril.
The enormous man next to Matthias moved with a speed that belied his size and grabbed Cole, wrenching him away from Matthias, holding him as Matthias pulled out a handgun and emptied the magazine in his chest.
Cole’s cry, half for himself, half for the need to avenge his father, was painful to hear.
“Kill him!” Matthias roared the command, and the large man dropped Cole on the ground and bent to drive a knife through his heart.
Impossible to allow anyone to take the mate from me I’d waited through a thousand lifetimes for. I was at Cole’s side in a heartbeat.
The mountain of a man had barely a fraction of a second to see me as his head was torn from his body. The kill so fast he remained standing a moment before his headless corpse collapsed slowly, landing with a thud, pumping blood into the earth.
I quickly flung the shocked Matthias down and then went to Cole, who had shifted back to human form from his injuries and looked weak.
I moved to stand over him as he looked into my eyes and smiled. The bullets were in the dirt beside him, expelled with the shift. I exhaled once, then again, watching the wounds carefully, seeing them heal.
Cole shifted back to his wolf, pressed his muzzle into my fur for a moment, and then turned toward Matthias and attacked him.
He had Matthias down in seconds, his jaws clamping closed around his throat, and the alpha went from thrashing and screaming to dying in a gurgling spasm of blood and gore. It sounded even worse than it looked.
I became a man once more, ran to grab Matthias’s phone, having left mine at home, and called the shelter. Crystal picked up on the fourth ring.
“Coille Women’s Shelter,” she said, her voice shaky.
“Crystal,” I gasped. “Are you––”
“Oh, Mere, you missed all the excitement.”
“Tell me.”
“There were two men out front with assault rifles. Can you imagine?”
Sadly, I could.
“But you know, me and Opal, we—wait, hold on one second.”
Opal was Crystal’s assistant at the shelter. She had been a resident there herself for three months two years ago and had been thrilled when offered the job.
“Sorry ’bout that, but as I was saying, me and Opal got out the guns you bought us that shoot those beanbag rounds, snuck around behind those men and shot ’em in the back.”
I went to my knees in relief.
“And when they fell forward onto the property, well, you know…” she said with a grunt, “they both passed out cold, as drunk men will.”
“We both know they’re not drunk.”
“Yessir, we do, but you like this ruse, and I like keeping your secret, so here we are.”
“You call the police?”
“Of course. And they told me they were on their way out.”
I exhaled sharply.
“It’s all right, honey. You don’t have to come riding to the rescue all the time. We can take care of ourselves as well now and then.”
“I know.” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.
“And I have always wanted to shoot these guns. They are powerful,” she went on excitedly. “Merritt, you should have seen it. They went down like a ton of bricks.”
I smiled on my end, blinking to clear my vision.
“It’s gonna be quite the Thanksgiving here today. And our feast was delivered from The Bower just like every holiday.”
I was glad to hear it.
“Come on by and see me tomorrow, all right?”
“Yes, ma’am, I will,” I promised.
“Happy Thanksgiving, honey,” she murmured and then hung up.
When I turned, Cole was there, human again, taking me into his arms. “Everyone all right at the shelter? I figured that’s who you were calling.”
“Yes, thank the goddess, everyone is fine.”
“I didn’t want you to have to make the choice between me or the––”
“It had to be you, Cole, there was no other decision to be made. But I need to have faith that people can save themselves too. It doesn’t always have to be me. Not everything is just on me.”
“No,” he agreed, lifting my chin, checking my throat, apparently having seen what Justin did to me as well. When he smoothed his hand down over my blood-covered-but-unmarked skin, he sighed deeply. “And I’m here to help you just like you’re here to help me.”
“Yes,” I husked, barely able to speak as he hugged me again, holding me tight.
Slowly, I became aware of the activity around me, easing back from Cole and looking over the scene.
Pack members had grabbed Abel, had done the same to Justin, and now he was on his knees with his son, hands tied behind his back with rope. They were all calling him a murderer, the killer of their beloved alpha, the man who had betrayed the sons of their alpha as well.
Every fleeing man had been caught. I would have tried to run too if I’d seen my alpha die. The giant green wolf had not eased their terror in the least, and now they all stared at Cole and me warily.
They surrendered their weapons, the guns and blades collected immediately by members of the Swann Pack. Working as one, supporting Cole, they marched the intruders back to where Abel was and forced them to their knees in the grass behind him.
I heard Reggie let out a scream of victory, and when I looked around, I saw him, in a beautiful spinning motion worthy of some first-rate CGI, cleave Tuss’s head from his body with a sword.
It was wildly impressive, and when Reggie’s fiancée went flying into his arms, he looked like a Viking on the field of battle.
Narah was unceremoniously shoved to the ground beside her bound husband and son, tears streaming down her face.
When I heard someone call Cole’s name, I turned and saw Evan running and Ondine walking from the cabin Matthias had come from earlier.
Evan didn’t stop, didn’t even slow down, he ran right to his brother and hugged him tight, even though Cole was naked and covered in blood, dirt, and grass.
Ondine moved up beside me, and after a moment, dropped her head onto my shoulder.
“I suspect that was quite the show you put on for the alpha of the Haviland Pack,” I said softly.
“They had guns. When did wolves start carrying guns?”
“I know.”
“They had us in a reinforced concrete basement built under whichever one of the cabins it was. It’s where Abel planned to keep Evan after he gave Cole to Matthias.”
“Did the men who were holding you tell you that?”
She nodded.
I looked over at Evan. “He had to have been terrified.”
“No. He had faith in his brother, and you. It was me he was worried about.”
“Well, they were holding a gun on you.”
“It was mostly just a small space, and you know I hate those.”
“I do,” I said gently, putting my arm around her, tucking her close. “But that’s why I couldn’t detect either one of you, the thick concrete wouldn’t allow that.”
“Yes. And the men, there were three of them,” she explained, “they grabbed us before we even got to see Abel or Narah.”
Which was why I couldn’t sense a lie on either of them, because they hadn’t been. They had never seen Evan.
“There was a lot of blood on your coats.”
“Yes. Once I got my bearings—again, hard to do in a small space—I had the three see one thing, while I had Evan cover his eyes and told him not to be deceived by what he heard. They were convinced they’d gutted me.”
“Did you have Evan keep his eyes shut the whole time?”
“Of course I did. I won’t have any new horrible memories coloring his dreams.”
“That’s a lot of energy you used,” I stated, a bit concerned. “And you can’t get out of spaces you’re locked into.”
“I’m well aware,” she snapped at me.
“So how did you—what is that?”
She was smoothing her hand over a heavy green robe that, somehow, I hadn’t noticed she was carrying before.
“From your elf for your mate.” She eased away from me, only to take my hand and lead me toward Cole.
“You saw Teague?”
“Obviously.” She said it as though I were tedious for asking.
I grinned at her. “How did that go?”
She waved a hand dismissively.
“He went into the concrete vault after you and Evan?”
“He did.”
“Interesting. He doesn’t normally go into small, cramped spaces. He doesn’t like them any more than you do.”
“I’m aware.”
“Why do you think he did that?”
“To deliver the robe.”
I bumped her gently with my shoulder. “Is that what you truly believe?”
“Perhaps he was checking on Evan. He seems fond of your mate’s sibling.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Did he kill the men, or did you?”
“As though I’ve ever needed help killing anything.”
“But?”
She shrugged. “He was upset.”
I grinned at her. “Are you crying?”
“Absolutely not. I have something in my eye.”
I let it drop as we reached Cole.
“Here, Alpha,” she said to Cole, holding the robe up for him.