40. Archer
Archer
T he pack house is so fucked.
The sound of sirens cuts through the eery silence of the night. Took them long enough. The alarm going off should’ve called them right away.
“Do you think we’ve taken care of most of the mercenaries?” Chase asks me, running a hand through his hair.
“I fucking hope so,” I grunt, making my way downstairs.
“There you guys are,” Kane grunts from the kitchen sink as he furiously scrubs at his hands.
“Holy shit man, what happened to you?” Chase asks. “You’re fucking covered in blood.”
“I know,” Kane answers, his voice tight. “I lost my shit. There’re seven dead bodies upstairs in my room that’re going to need to be identified with dental records.”
“Where’s Madden? And Luna?” I ask.
“I covered for Madden so he could get Luna to the garage and out of here,” Kane answers, his jaw clenched tight. “Luna got shot.”
“Holy shit, is she okay?” Chase asks.
“It was a flesh wound. Straight through her arm. But still?—”
“Not your fault, man,” I grunt, sensing that Kane isn’t doing well. He’s still scrubbing at his hands even though they’re the only clean part of his body. “You had seven guys after you both.”
He just grunts in response.
I pull out my phone from my back pocket and dial Madden’s number. It rings, but it goes to voicemail. A twisted feeling of dread sits low in my gut.
“He’s not answering,” I curse.
Chase pulls out his own phone and starts checking the camera feeds. We all watch as Chase’s red sports car peels down the driveway, followed by two blacked out SUVs.
“Fuck,” Chase mutters under his breath. “This was a fucking huge operation. Whoever bought these fuckers had a lot of money to burn.”
My knuckles go white around my phone. “Kane, you deal with the police. Give them a full report. Tell them I left a couple alive in my room for interrogation to try and figure out what the fuck happened. Chase, try and track where Madden and Luna are since they’re in your car.
” I clench my jaw. “I’m going to call my fucking father. ”
There’s no way my father’s announcement of Luna’s placement with our pack isn’t related to this attack. Our reputation is well known.
They used explosives. Explosives in very strategic locations. Which means whoever ordered this is at least familiar with our style of security systems.
Whoever ordered this was a Northsider. A very well-connected, rich Northsider.
My dad picks up on the fourth ring. “What’s going on?” His voice is groggy as if he just woke up.
“The pack house was attacked. By a whole team of mercs. What the fuck did you say in your announcement today?” I growl.
“You’re joking,” My dad says, his tone instantly growing serious .
“Half of the house is crumbling apart because they used explosives.” I scrub a hand down my face, the exhaustion of tonight’s events setting into every bone of my body.
“I think the person who organized this was someone high up. Someone important. There’s no way someone without power and a shit ton of money didn’t organize this. ”
“I’m inclined to agree with you, if they seriously went after you and your pack with explosives and a whole team of paid mercenaries.”
“You mentioned a while back there were higher powers interested in Luna. People who were pushing for her to go through the selection process. Who were they?”
“There were a few members of the council and some of the packs that spent time with her at the ball. It wasn’t just one person.”
“Send me the list, then.”
“I don’t know if that’s appropriate, son.”
“Whoever organized this attacked my home. One of my pack mates and my scent-matched mate are missing. I don’t care about what you think is appropriate.”
“Archer! I need you here,” Chase says, coming over to me, his eyes wide with panic.
“I have to go. If you care about me, if you care about my family, help me. Please dad—” My voice breaks and I shake my head.
“I’ll—I’ll see what I can do. We’ll be in touch. Keep me updated if any new information arises.”
“Yeah.”
I hang up on him, turning to face Chase.
“I tracked the car. It’s—it’s not moving.” He swallows hard.
“Are you both okay?” An officer makes his way towards us. It takes me a second, but I recognize him as the officer who took Luna away from us the first time.
“Officer Stone, is it?”
“Yes,” he nods. “Are you in need of any medical attention?”
“We aren’t. But one of our pack mates and our mate are missing. We have the location of their car, can you take us there? They took out all of our cars.”
He meets my gaze, and he nods quickly. “Shit. Yeah—” He gestures to us to follow him. “Let’s get going.”
“I’m coming with you too,” Kane says, pushing past the police officer talking to him.
“Hey, wait!” The officer calls out.
“You can fucking wait,” Kane grumbles. “There are two people upstairs you can work on arresting. You can interview us later.” He turns to the three of us. “Let’s go.”
Chase and Kane pile into the back of Stone’s blacked out, unmarked SUV, and I seat myself in the passenger’s seat.
“I—I know this isn’t really an appropriate question, but is Luna okay?”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“It’s not 'cause I’m still interested in her, or anything,” he winces. “Fuck, that came out wrong. I know she’s only interested in your pack. She’s just a sweet girl, I’d hate for anything to happen to her.”
“Things aren’t fucking looking good, considering the car isn’t moving,” Chase mutters. “We have no clue whether either of them are still in it or whether they had to go off on foot.”
Stone nods. “Got it.”
“She was also shot,” Kane says, his voice low. “If we do find her, she’ll be in need of medical attention.”
“Holy shit,” Stone sighs. “You guys can’t catch a break, can you?”
None of us bother responding to him.
“Turn right here,” Chase instructs. “They should be to the right.”
It’s easy to spot the car, despite the snow falling from the sky .
“Something hit them,” I grunt, noticing the crushed driver’s side of the red sports car.
“And the passenger’s side door is open,” Kane adds.
The moment when Stone pulls off the side of the road, even before he’s fully stopped, Chase, Kane and I are all throwing ourselves out of the car.
I make my way to the driver’s side and curse.
“Call an ambulance,” I bark to Stone.
Madden is slumped over the steering wheel, blood dripping down from a head wound. I try and open the driver’s side door and curse under my breath. It’s crumpled shut.
“Do we need the fire department too?” Stone calls, noticing the door won’t open.
“Yes.”
This is a shitshow.
“Luna’s gone,” Chase says, his face pale. “And there’re footprints here. Men’s tactical boots.”
“They got her,” Kane whispers. He falls to his knees in the snow, pulling at his hair. “We failed.”
A strangled cry leaves his throat. He’s already lost his shit once tonight. I can’t let it happen again.
“Chase, take care of him,” I order.
I have to keep my shit together. I have an injured pack mate and a missing omega. Now isn’t the time to fucking fall apart, even though I want to be on my knees, screaming out into the universe too.
I reach through the broken driver’s side window and feel for Madden’s pulse.
Part of my chest deflates as I let out a relieved exhale.
“He’s alive. His pulse is steady,” I call out to the others.
“Is there any way we can get him out? Drag him out the passenger’s side?” Chase asks. He’s kneeling in front of Kane, gripping his shoulders tightly.
“If he were you? Maybe. But Madden’s a tank, there’s no way we can get him out, especially since we don’t know if he’s got any internal damage,” I respond.
“I just got off the phone with dispatch,” Stone says, stepping up to me. “Fire and paramedics are en route. The fire department will be able to cut him out for you guys.” He glances at Kane. “They’ll also have help for your pack mate there. Maybe some medication or something.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” He glances at us, as if he doesn’t quite know what to say. I don’t blame him. I don’t know what to say either. “The police department will work with you guys to get her back. I promise.”
We have to get her back. There is no other option for us. She’s ours. Our world. Our future.
We get her back or we fucking die trying.