30. Kace
30
KACE
Seeing my mate trapped, the Alpha’s meaty fingers wrapped around his throat and the knife poised at his gut? It sickened me and terrified me at the same time, but I didn’t lower my gun. Not even when Rex obviously planned to use Nevin as a meat shield. I kept it trained on the bastard, but my eyes were locked on my Omega. My mind was spinning, my heart racing. I didn’t know what to do.
But Nevin made the decision for me. His blue eyes, brimming with tears, all but begged me to listen to him as he told Rex that he would go with him. “Just please, don’t hurt anyone else. Don’t harm Kace. Please.” His voice petered off into a pleading whisper, but he never looked away from me.
Everything inside of me shriveled up and died, in that moment. I wanted to yell. I wanted to argue with him. This wasn’t fair! Nevin was my mate, he was carrying my child, and he expected me to just step aside and let some asshole mongrel take him back to his own personal hell to keep me and my family safe? No. There had to be another way, there had to be!
Rex’s expression turned smug. He looked right at me and smirked, like he’d just won a dick-measuring contest. I stood my ground, but slowly lowered my weapon as Nevin leaned back into his ex and closed his eyes. I hated the fear on his beautiful face. I hated that he thought he had to do this, to protect me, when he was the one who needed protecting.
Had I failed him again?
Rex relaxed his grip on Nevin, though I didn’t miss the red marks around my Omega’s pale throat from the bastard’s fingers digging in. He pulled the knife away from Nevin’s stomach and my heart skipped a beat, my gaze trained on the both of them, just in case I had one last chance to save him. One last chance… Please. I’ll do anything.
My chest ached. My wold spun. Nevin seemed to admit defeat, lowering his gaze and dropping his chin to his chest, his shoulders slumping forwards. I could only imagine the thoughts and the fears going through his mind right now; they probably mirrored the ones going through my own.
What about our son? Would Rex just keep him and raise him in that awful pack, to be abused the way Nevin was? Would I truly never get to meet the child I’d been so eagerly awaiting to welcome into the world? It hurt. It hurt so damn badly. I wanted to scream.
“I love you, Kace,” Nevin whispered, and the pain in his voice grabbed me by the heartstrings and yanked them loose. Oh, Nev… “I’m sorry.”
Then he threw his head back with a cry, slamming the back of his skull into Rex’s mouth hard enough that I saw blood spray. Rex screamed, his hands flying up to cup his lower face. Nevin lurched forwards, collapsing into the snow at the Alpha’s feet before going still.
Alarm spiked through me. Was he hurt? But my gaze cut back to Rex, who snarled his outrage and spat out blood and teeth. His fist curled around the hunting knife and his golden eyes were wild with fury and I knew I had one chance. One shot. If I failed…
No. I wouldn’t fail. I refused.
Lifting the shotgun, I looked down the barrel and pulled the trigger with no hesitation. BAM! Rex’s whole body jerked as the bullet punched through the center of his chest and out the back. He staggered back a few steps before falling to the ground, gasping for air.
My heart thumping wildly in my throat, threatening to choke me, I crossed the yard so that I was staring down at him. He gaped up at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Shock colored his features, which were quickly paling. “Y-You…” he sputtered. “You…”
“Yeah,” I bit out. “Me.”
Then I aimed the gun at Rex’s head and fired, turning my face away as blood and brain and bone splattered everywhere. Nausea roiled, flooding my mouth with salty saliva, and I started to gag. Breathe. Nevin needs you. Focus on Nevin.
I swallowed a couple of times, forcing my upside-down stomach to behave. I turned around to search for the other wolves Rex had brought along with them.
One of them was dead, soaked in crimson. The other cowered beneath Sevren’s bared fangs. I raised the shotgun and aimed it at the final wolf. Sevren dipped his muzzle and stepped aside, moving to my brother’s aid instead.
“You have one chance,” I told the lone Alpha. “Go back to your pack and never step foot in Greymercy again, or I’ll kill you right now. Your choice. You have till the count of three. One…”
The wolf pinned his ears and whined, then limped off into the woods as quickly as he could manage on three legs. The other was shredded. I watched him go until he was a speck in the distance, then let out a shaken exhale.
Nevin.
I carefully dropped the gun to the ground and rushed to my mate’s side. He was on his side, curled around his stomach in a protective ball. I sank to my knees and reached for him. “Nev? Baby? Are you okay?” I had to force my voice to be strong, because it threatened to crack right down the center.
Nevin whimpered and slowly unfurled from his position. I swallowed. “Are you hurt?” I asked him. He slowly shook his head, then with a broken sob, he launched himself at me. He threw his arms around my neck and wrapped his legs around my waist and clung to me like a little spider monkey, crying openly.
“I-I thought I’d never see you again!”
“Oh, baby,” I crooned, hugging him as fiercely as I dared without harming the baby pinned in his belly between us. I held him close as he cried, his tears soaking my jacket. I rocked us from side to side, with one hand supporting his hips and the other stroking his back. Nevin hiccuped and gasped and sniffed and whimpered.
But he was safe. That was all that mattered.
It wasn’t long before several more pack members came running up, no doubt drawn here by the sound of a fight. My oldest sister was one of them. Tasha shifted back, looking at me with concern in her eyes. “Is everything alright? We heard gunsho—oh, holy shit.”
At that moment, she saw the carnage that was Rex’s corpse. She covered her mouth and backed away, going pale. “I need to call Mom. Shit. Is everyone okay? Xan?” Her voice pitched. “XAN?”
“I’m fine.” He scoffed at her. He was wounded, but otherwise alright, it seemed. “Saved the day.”
I looked at my brother, my chest tightening. He was right. If it hadn’t been for Xan’s scream… Damn it, I never should’ve let Nevin out of my sight. I buried my nose in Nevin’s blond curls and breathed him in, hugging him close.
“I’m so sorry, Nevin,” I murmured. “I should’ve kept you safe.”
“You did,” he breathed out. “Kace, you did. Don’t blame yourself. How were we supposed to know they’d come onto our property to try and grab me. It should’ve been safe.”
“I almost lost you. I was so scared.”
“Me too.”
Tasha walked away, out of earshot, talking on the phone with Mom. A couple of others helped Sevren and Xan get to their feet, and they began the walk back to my cottage. I stood, picking up Nevin in one fell swoop, never letting him leave my arms.
Nevin squeaked. “Kace! I’m fine, I can walk!”
“I don’t care,” I said. “I’m carrying you. Never letting you out of my sight again.”
We went inside. Klei was freaking out over Sevren, who kept assuring his mate that he was fine and that he’d heal. “We’re okay. It’s all over now,” Sevren said, and I felt the knot in my chest loosen a little at his words.
He was right. Rex was dead. It was over. Nevin’s nightmare was over.
I helped Nevin settle in on the couch with a blanket and some cocoa. Xan curled up on the armchair. He looked rough. I was a little worried about him, to be honest. He just kept staring out the window with a despondent look on his bruised face. I tried to talk to him, but he just assured me he was fine, over and over.
But was he?
Later, after Nevin fell asleep with his head in my lap and Mom and the others had cleaned up the mess in the woods, Xan finally spoke to me. He lifted his head, his dark eyes filled with an expression I couldn’t quite place.
“Hey Kace?” His voice was gravelly, roughened no doubt from all the screaming. “I’m sorry. I was reckless. I shouldn’t have taken Nevin out with me to the woods. I shouldn’t have?—”
“No.” I cut him off before he could berate himself further. “You saved his life. You risked everything to save the both of you, and that was very brave, Xan. I owe you so much.”
Xan swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, tears swimming in his eyes as he whispered. “I couldn’t just go quietly. I was scared…”
“I know,” I murmured. “Thank you. I’m beyond proud of you, Xanny.”
He snorted and wrinkled his nose. “Ugh, don’t call me that.”
I smiled. “I love you, Xan.”
“Love you too, bro. Hope life can go back to normal now that that freak is dead. Good riddance.”
“It will,” I said. Of that I was quite certain.
The storm had passed. Only sunshine from here on out.