Chapter 84
Chapter Eighty-Four
~Harlow~
The glass slices my hand, making it difficult to grip and aim where I stab him. I miss his shoulder and embed it a little below his collarbone.
Thane grunts, and my eyes go wide, seeing what I did. I can’t believe I stabbed him. Thane’s grip on me tightens as he looks at the glass protruding from him. I wanted to stab him, but I still can’t believe I actually had the guts to do it. To hurt another person.
The anger I felt instantly dissipates with the horror of what I did. Thane growls furiously, and the entire front of his shirt turns bright red as he yanks the glass out. His face twists in fury and his canines protrude frighteningly fast.
I hear a menacing growl off to the side of me.
Before I can turn to see who made the savage sound, I catch a glimpse of Leon as he blurs past me and tackles Thane to the ground.
Leon punches him, making Thane’s head snap back with the force.
I can tell through the bond that Thane is startled by the sudden attack.
I am startled.
Attacking your Alpha is suicide. I think that the only reason Thane takes such disrespect is because they are mates, with a fully forged bond.
Yet being mates doesn’t stop Leon from raining blow after blow down on Thane.
Raidon and Rhen stand by, shocked by Leon’s actions, before they finally react.
Leon’s fangs protrude from his mouth, and he rips Thane’s head to the side before tearing into his neck.
Thane’s attempts to throw him off grow weaker and weaker until eventually he falls slack.
His command over me drops abruptly, making me wonder if he’s dead or if he’s just weakened enough for his hold to break.
Time seems to stand still. I see Thane’s eyelids flutter with one last feeble attempt to push Leon off.
He lays there limply. Did Leon just kill Thane?
Yet, by the steady beat of his heart, I know he is still alive.
Leon sits back on his heels and wipes his hand across his mouth, smearing blood all over his face.
Seconds later someone grabs my arm, but the feral snarl that leaves Leon’s lips has them jerking away from me.
Glancing over my shoulder, I see it is Rhen.
“Let her go,” Leon said, his voice ice cold, and it chills me to the bone.
“Leon?” Raidon speaks, his voice barely a whisper. “What have you done?” he asks, looking down at Thane.
“I can’t watch him treat her like this anymore,” Leon tells him before reaching into his pocket and fishing out a set of keys.
“Go!” Leon says, tossing them to me. I catch them, staring at his car keys. My heart is beating rapidly in my chest. What am I supposed to do with these?
“I… I can’t drive,” I stutter out. Leon tilts his head to the side to look at me before looking at Rhen and back at me.
“You can’t drive?” Leon asks.
“Well, no shit, she ran a car off the road when she tried to escape last time,” Rhen growls behind me, making me jump away from him.
Raidon looks between us all, but my eyes stay on Thane, who is passed out on the grass, bleeding profusely.
“She can’t be here when he wakes up,” Leon says, looking down at Thane, confirming my earlier thoughts that he will be alright.
The tension and fear are loud and clear through the bond. I can’t decide, however, if they are afraid for themselves or me. We all know there will be hell to pay when Thane wakes up.
Rhen grabs my arm. “We haven’t got much time,” he says, shoving me toward the house.
“Rhen!” Leon snaps at him, rising to his feet. I glance at him and realize he is willing to fight all of his mates for me, if needed. Rhen stops and looks over at him.
“What are you doing?” Leon asks as Raidon moves closer to Rhen, his eyes calculating as he looks Rhen over. I swallow, knowing if they attack each other, I will be caught in the middle. Instinctively, my hands move to protect my belly as I try to step away from them.
“Getting her out of here,” Rhen tells him.
“Wherever you take her, he will find her. He will order you to tell him,” Raidon says.
“Which is why I am dropping her in the city,” Rhen tells him before looking back down at me.
“We can’t come with you, Harlow. We’ve been his mates for too long. Our bond is fully forged, and it will lead him straight to you,” he tells me.
I nod, but that doesn’t stop the sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of being on my own.
“We haven’t got much time,” Raidon says, rushing ahead of us. Rhen leads me toward the garage door, and I see they must have just pulled up as I made my escape. The doors are still open, and Rhen pushes me toward the house. My steps falter, and I come to a stop.
“You can’t leave half-naked and covered in blood.” I shake my head, knowing the prison this place is. “We aren’t Thane,” Rhen whispers behind me, nudging me forward.
Hesitantly, I step inside to find Raidon ripping through the linen closet. Rhen runs up the stairs. Raidon drops a bag on the ground before tossing me some clothes and adding more to the bag. I slip off the ruined clothes I’m wearing.
Leon rushes past me in a blur as I stand in the hallway. He returns moments later with a wet cloth and de-scenter. He scrubs off the blood with the cloth. The de-scenter stings the slowly healing cuts that cover my body.
“Taxi will be here in five minutes,” Rhen says before dropping a heap of cash he retrieved from somewhere in the bag. Raidon nods and zips it up.
“If you run out,” Raidon says, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He pulls a card out and hands it to me, “withdraw what you can and get the hell out of wherever you are. Thane will be watching our cards.”
“I don’t know the Pin,” I tell him.
“It’s your birthday, your real birthday, not the one from your shitty fake ID,” Rhen says behind me. “We all use the same pin,” he says.
“I need someone’s phone,” I tell them, knowing they will have Alpha Jake’s phone number. It is the only place I can think to go, knowing Tal’s or Bree’s will be the first place Thane will look for me.
“Make sure to toss it when you’re done with it,” Rhen growls.
I have a feeling he knows why I want his phone, but he hands it over anyway.
Thane will hesitate before stepping into another Alpha’s territory.
That would cause issues, and there are sanctions in place.
Unless approved by the pack Alpha, it is forbidden.
Thane may be the boss here, but he doesn’t own Clairview City. That is Jake’s territory, and at the moment, the only place I would consider safe, despite my condition. I just hope he is genuine about what he said, because I am not letting him hurt my baby.
“Get rid of the phone, quickly. Take whatever numbers you need and get rid of it,” Rhen tells me.
Hearing the intercom for the front gate, we all look to the door. Leon hits the buzzer to let the taxi in. Raidon grabs my bag and moves toward the front door. My heart beats faster, knowing I’m getting out of here. The thought of being free is just as scary as remaining.
It is incredible how a person has the ability to be comfortable in their misery, and leaving here for the unknown scares me more than Thane. Yet I’m not going to lie down and die or let him rip my daughter from me, so I suck in a breath and move toward the door.
Raidon opens the trunk and tosses the bag in. I move toward the back door, and Leon opens it. The driver, although startled, says nothing when Leon grabs me before I can climb in. His lips crash against mine.
“Take care of our daughter,” he whispers when he pulls back. “When we can, we will come for you. When it’s safe.”
“Find a way to contact us so we know you’re okay,” Raidon tells me.
“But Thane—”
“We will handle Thane. Until then, it isn’t safe for you here,” Rhen tells me. I chew my lip before hopping into the car. Rhen shuts the door, and the driver pulls away.
“Where to, Ma’am?”
“The train station,” I answer him, pulling Rhen’s phone out and unlocking it with my birthdate. I scroll through the contacts, pulling up Alpha Jake’s number. My hands shake as I hit the call button and lift the phone to my ear. The phone rings a few times before finally, he answers.
“Rhen?” Jake asks. It sounds like he is somewhere loud, with lots of noises in the background.
“No, Alpha Jake, it’s Harlow,” I tell him. My heartbeat picks up, and I feel sick to my stomach at what I am about to do.
“Harlow?” he says in a hushed tone.
“I need your help,” I tell him.
“Where are you?” he asks, and I let out a breath.