Chapter Twenty-Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
A SOFT CREAK snaps me awake from the light sleep I’d fallen into. My movements are silent as I slip to the bottom of the stairs, keeping my back to the wall as I creep up them. My phone beeps rhythmically in my pocket. An alert from the motion detectors placed at all the entrances and on the driveway.
Silencing the device, I activate the house’s camera system. A van is parked at the edge of the road, blocking our car in. A secondary vehicle pulls in behind them, the lights cut. Two men stand by the van while six more approach the house. I’m slipping into Omen’s room when they cut the power, ending my view of the security feeds.
I already know they are here. That will have to be enough.
Placing my hand over Omen’s mouth, I rouse her from sleep. I lean close enough to whisper against her ear, ignoring the way my alpha recoils. She chokes out my name and I still. The smell of smoke floats through the closed bedroom door.
Did these jackasses really set the fucking house on fire before they got their target out of it?!
“There are eight men outside,” I explain. ”Two by their van and six spread out around the house. They most likely kept one on each exit, with the other four heading inside.”
She nods, clenching her blankets tight. I know this feels unfair, to be endlessly hunted by her anti-designation family, but now isn’t the time for a pity party.
“Their goal is most likely to kill or incapacitate me, then grab you. I’m going to get us out of this house, but you need to do whatever I tell you, Omen. If I say run, you run. If I tell you to leave me behind, you will follow my direction without hesitation. I will use my bark on you if I have to. Nod once if you understand.”
After she agrees, I slip to the door and ease it open a hair. A door at the end of the hall slams open. The small room is an omega suite, which made it the perfect decoy. It’s also booby trapped.
I signal to Omen, who follows me into the hall and down the stairs. Her footsteps are louder than mine, but the sounds of the intruders’ movements and the fire cover the noise. Flames crawl across the dated wallpaper in the kitchen, blocking our ability to use the side window to escape. Movement at the front door confirms we’ll have to go out the back. I slip around the corner, keeping Omen close behind me.
A door opens several feet down from us, blocking our way out. I lunge at the man who steps through, pulling a knife from the holster on my hip. My weight catches him off guard, taking us both to the ground as I slam into his chest. My knife saws through the front of his throat, soaking us both in blood.
Omen yelps and I leap back to my feet, cursing when I see another mercenary holding her by her hair, a knife pressed to her throat. She nods, the movement only a slight shift of her head.
He’s a beta. Fucking amateurs.
“Drop the knife, lock yourself in the laundry room, and you’ll walk out alive.”
He’s lying, but it doesn’t matter. He never should have come in here without an alpha to counter my bark. “Freeze!”
I leap, ripping his arm away and slamming my knife against his skull as soon as Omen dives away. He crumples, but Omen’s shouting shatters my temporary relief. Another of these assholes is dragging her out the back door. She’s disoriented, likely having taken a blow to the face or head to force her compliance. Not good when she barely has the energy to walk around the house, let alone recover from a stunning hit.
The front door opens and I take off after Omen, ignoring the shouts of alarm rising behind us. I tackle the man dragging her, wrapping my arms around Omen to stop her from hitting the concrete patio with the same force. I push her to her feet and clamber after her.
“Run!”