Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
My heart pounded so loudly that my ears rang. I didn’t see an escape. I tore my gaze from the guards and scanned the area for anything that could help me out of this mess. Bart, Julius, and Darrell were so close that I could smell their floral musky scents, but I was on my own.
Every bad situation I’d experienced had been caused by this bitch, and I let the pain and rage build inside me. Normally, I would attempt to calm the beast, but I needed to channel her strength to get myself out of this situation. Even if I had only a nebulous idea of what that solution might look like—at the moment, nothing was coming to me.
Rosemary took to the sky, spinning round and round like a tornado as I glanced frantically from side to side, knowing that the seconds were counting down. If I even wanted a slight chance of coming out of this unscathed, I had to make a move.
A few trees covered me, but the men ran from the boats. I couldn’t turn my back on them or run off because they could stumble upon the silver wolves that would be here at any moment. I needed to buy time. I tried scooting backward, deeper into thicker trees, but a bullet could travel faster than I could move.
Still, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.
I refused to give up. I wouldn’t give Saga that pleasure. It would make her victory that much sweeter, knowing she’d broken me. I’d go down fighting, even if it was futile.
My side twinged with pain, but I’d take it. The sharp throbbing had diminished to an ache, which made it easier to move…for now. Unless I was injured again.
As I leaped for the protection of the tree, I heard the cock of the tranq gun Scarface prepared to fire. A sinister chuckle escaped him. Assholes like him enjoyed being the predator with its rush of power. Unfortunately, my life was in his hands.
“Do not kill her,” Saga commanded, obviously picking up on the guy’s intent. “You have the tranq gun for a reason.”
It would have been nice if she’d said that because she cared, but she didn’t. She wanted me for something worse than death, and I’d do everything I could to escape or die trying. Being her captive wasn’t an option for me.
Dying would be the better alternative.
At least in death, I would find peace. But the thought of leaving Griffin behind gutted me. I had to make it out of this, for him. For us . We deserved to be with each other and make a life together. We couldn’t let them take that away.
I slunk deeper into the green leaves, desperate to hide behind the trunk. Maybe I’d be able to use the tree as cover after all.
The asshole fired, and the crack of the gunshot mocked that thought.
There was no getting out of this alive. The dart would hit my left side just as I reached the tree. I braced for impact, but something black flashed across the sky and sacked me.
Rosemary’s floral scent hit my nose as she wrapped her large wings around me. Then the sound of flapping wings reached us, disorienting me. She must have broken the sound barrier to reach me in time.
The clink of the dart bouncing off her wings amazed me once more. For her feathers to look so soft, they were stronger than anything I’d ever seen.
“Damn it, why do these angels keep getting involved?” Saga growled. “Get your asses out of the boat and kill the angel. Your guns won’t work on her.” She stomped her feet and glowered. “Ugh, this angel has caused enough trouble, especially since she and her parents decided to align with them instead of me.”
Yeah, she was completely irrational. How had she managed to keep up the act for so long? Maybe Dick dying and her being cast out was the final straw.
We ’ re here , Bart said as Rosemary lowered her wings, staring at the nine guards who were now climbing off the boat to get us.
Thank God. We needed more people, but we should be able to get by until the others could reach us. I linked with all three men. There are four of us and eleven of them. Each one of you take three while I go for Luna and Saga. I was being selfish, wanting to handle those two on my own, but they had caused so much suffering. I had the right to want justice.
As if Rosemary were part of the pack link, she turned toward the guards. “I’ll take the big burly one and the other two with guns. You focus on the ones who aren’t armed.”
Aren’t armed was a stretch. The other six had knives, but at least they had to be much closer to us to strike. Follow her lead. When I nodded my head, Rosemary took off flying directly at the others with Julius, Darrell, and Bart racing after her.
I focused on Saga. Luna stayed at the riverbank, avoiding eye contact like she would rather be anywhere but here. Granted, her submissive stance could be an act, so I kept an eye on her anyway.
Shots fired, and I sighed with relief as I watched Rosemary twirl around, fending off the bullets. The guards were desperate to injure her since she was the most durable one there. If they didn’t focus on her, she’d kill them with her strength and wings, so their hands were kind of tied.
Good, let them sweat.
“Just because you have her on your side doesn’t mean you’ll win.” Saga bared her teeth at me, reminding me of a vampire. Usually, wolves did that only in animal form.
She kept talking as if I cared what she said or she could somehow intimidate me. But that wasn’t how this was going to work. Her running her mouth only made me more determined to kill her since she had absolutely no remorse. Instead, she sounded proud, as if I should be in awe of her.
She was the worst kind of coward. She hid behind everyone else to try to get what she wanted. She wasn’t willing to fight her own war, even now. She watched as the guards fought on her behalf, and she tried to psych me out with her words.
I took long steady strides toward her. I wanted her to feel like prey…to feel weak and worthless. Killing her quickly would be too nice. She deserved to suffer for every life that she’d stolen, including Dick’s.
“It’s in your best interest to stop.” She took a step back, revealing some of the nervousness she had attempted to hide. “The more you fight, the harder this will be on your friends and even yourself. If you come willingly, then all the hurt and injury can be spared. We won’t even tranq you.” The rancid stench of her lie almost made me choke. Even outside, it didn’t appear to dissipate, which told me everything.
She wanted to hurt us all. No one was off the table.
Luna whimpered and rubbed a paw against her nose.
For once, I sympathized with her. She couldn’t handle her mother’s stench, either.
I growled and crouched, letting her know that I didn’t believe a damn word that she said. For someone so strategic, she sure hadn’t thought through the whole lie.
“Fine, you caught me.” She lifted her head and smirked. “Every single one of your friends and family will die, including your bastard brother. I thought I killed them all, but I won’t make that mistake again.”
My self-control snapped, and I jumped at the lady, wanting to rip her throat out.
Her eyes widened, and she stumbled back. “Luna, attack now!”
I’d expected her to want someone else to fight her battles for her, so when Luna charged toward me, I fell to the ground and rolled, causing her to miss.
I jumped back up on all fours and snarled. I wanted this all over.
Luna’s eyes deepened to navy as she turned to face me. Her breathing was quick and shallow, revealing the state she was in. She wasn’t thinking clearly.
I took deep breaths, letting the adrenaline flow through my body. Most people thought being upset was the best way to get your body buzzing, but it wasn’t. Adrenaline pumped through you when there was a threat in front of you. You didn’t have to be a hot mess to get it to come, and channeling it appropriately could give you an edge over your opponent. Thankfully, the pain from my injury vanished as the hormone took control.
Luna lowered her head, telegraphing her next move. She wanted to bulldoze me on my injured side. I had to give her props for critical thinking, but she was clearly untrained, always broadcasting her next move. When she charged, I waited a few seconds before moving out of the way.
“Look up, you idiot,” Saga yelled. “She’s moved. You’re going to run past her again.”
If I were in human form, I would’ve retorted for her to come fight me herself if she could do so much better. No wonder Luna was so angry and full of hate—her mother had probably talked to her like that her entire childhood. That kind of emotional abuse could crumble even the strongest person.
A whimper left Luna as she stopped and lifted her head to find me. Her eyes locked on my shoulder, once again informing me of her next move.
There was no way this girl could ever win a fight. Obviously, neither Saga nor Dick had bothered to train their daughter in combat, yet here she was, expected to fight a silver wolf.
She attacked, and I waited until she was right on me to stand on my hind legs. Since I wasn’t there to offset the impact, she propelled past me, and her face rammed into the ground. I jumped on her back, digging my claws into her skin.
However, I couldn’t bring myself to kill her. It didn’t seem right, seeing as Luna had suffered more than I could ever imagine. No wonder she’d been desperate to lock in Griffin with a mother like that constantly whispering in her ear.
Luna whimpered and jerked underneath me, making my claws go deeper. Damn it, she had no clue how to fight me off from this angle, and everything about this just felt wrong.
I took the opportunity to check on my packmates and friend and realized that they all had taken down at least one of their opponents. But every time I thought we were getting the edge, another surprise knocked us back on our asses. I feared that maybe Saga had another trick up her sleeve.
Warm blood trickled under my paws, and I detached myself from Luna and stepped to the side.
“How pathetic!” Saga yelled as her face twisted with disgust. “She doesn’t even want to finish you off, that’s how pathetic you are.”
Luna tried to stand, but she couldn’t. She stayed still, not even bothering to attempt to protect herself any longer.
Pain rocketed through me, and panic clamped my throat as someone from my pack got hurt. At first, I thought it was Griffin, but when I dug deeper, I realized it was Julius.
My brother.
I pivoted in his direction to find him crumpled in a heap with blood pooling underneath him. I couldn’t tell where he was hurt, but the two guards standing over him smiled. The guard with the unibrow held a knife that dripped with blood and cooed, “Hell, yeah. I took down a fucking silver wolf.”
Rosemary, Bart, and Darrell were still engaged in battle, but Bart and Darrell kept throwing glances at my brother. His link was still there, which was the only reason I wasn’t losing my mind.
Focus on your fight , I linked with Bart and Darrell. I could come back to Saga later. She was too scared to do much of anything. I ’ ll take care of them. I jumped, thrusting my legs against the ground, drawing power from the moon. My body buzzed as I snarled and charged the men.
Griffin’s voice popped into my mind. What ’ s wrong? Are you injured?
No. Julius is hurt, and I don ’ t know how bad.
I ’ ll be there soon. Griffin sounded funny for a second. We got some reinforcements, and some are heading your way now. Just please be careful.
I will. It was time to bring this to an end before anyone else got hurt.
Unibrow’s eyes flicked to me before bulging. “Holy shit. Sean, get ready. She’s coming.”
“What?” Sean was smiling as he turned to glance at me, but his mouth dropped in pure terror. “That’s what we get for trusting Luna to handle her.”
Those assholes had expected an untrained wolf to take me down? I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted or not. They were obviously idiots, which spoke volumes more about them than me.
The image of their smiles flicked through my mind, and I leaped at Unibrow. He was the one who’d hurt Julius, so he’d be the one I took care of first.
Unibrow lifted his knife, but his movement was too damn slow. The fact that Julius got hurt by this jackass blew my mind, but the proof was right before my eyes. Bart and I needed to work with him in wolf form.
I sank my teeth into Unibrow’s wrist, causing him to drop the knife. He howled, which only made me chomp harder. I wanted him to feel the pain before I ended it for him.
“Don’t worry, I got you,” Sean cried, informing me that he was making a move. He was almost as bad as Luna.
I released Unibrow and spun just in time to see Sean swing downward. He was aiming for my back, and I moved away, leaving him to catch air. I sprang forward and slashed my teeth through his neck. Blood poured down his chest, and he tried to speak, but he only gargled words formed as he released the knife and clasped both hands around his neck.
“Sean!” Unibrow whispered as he watched his friend, and then his body coiled. He faced me, rage evident on his face.
This was the part I’d come to hate most. The inevitable deaths. But these people would never leave us alone. I prepared myself for the attack, which I welcomed, because I was over this entire thing. A certain cold-hearted bitch deserved some of my attention.
But instead of striking me, he kicked Julius. When he moved to kick him a second time, I swiped at his leg with my claws and lifted upward, causing him to fall on his back. Then I slashed through his neck, not wanting to taste any more blood and needing to end this.
“You stupid bitch! You keep ruining everything.” Saga bent and removed a gun from around her ankle. “I don’t need you.” She stood and aimed at my heart.