Chapter Fifty-Five
Cujo
“What the fuck?” Searing pain ripples down my side. Was I shot?
Reaching for my gun, I crouch low, camouflaging into the brush. Heart hammering, I bite my lip, refusing to let the memories take me.
Sand. Agony. Waking up hanging from a hook.
The flavor of copper floods my mouth as I break through my lip, but it brings me back to the here and now. The forest. My brothers. Far from my past.
Scanning the area, I study the four Black Plagues. Two are dead, and the other two have one foot in the grave. No one’s shooting. So, what the fuck?
Keeping one hand on my weapon, I use the other to feel around my thick tactical gear for the bullet hole or blood.
Nothing. The pain slowly abates, and I gather myself, then head back toward our prisoners.
According to Fen, these pissants make up the single Black Plague chapter in existence.
Just a few idiots who thought that they could take us on.
The burning sensation rises again, making my skin twitch. I do my best to ignore it, but it seizes my mind and refuses to let go. I’ve handled pain before. Pushed through it. Blocked it out. But with this I can’t. It’s different… like it’s coming from inside.
“Not seeing anyone,” Grim reports, comms chirping in my ear. “Are we sure there were supposed to be five?”
We all come together in the clearing, certain there isn’t a Black Plague hiding somewhere. Orthos, eyes trained on the four we have, steps toward them. Using his boot, he turns over the two bodies. “Names on these are Grunt and Gears.”
“The one we shot in the leg says, Mud,” Gy announces, peering at the unconscious man’s cut.
Striding forward, I grab the last one. One of my brilliant brothers gagged him with his own shirt. I yank it out of his mouth. “Eenie, meanie, miny… speak.”
I lift the man from the ground, taking a sniff. Beta. Then read his name. “Taint? Really? Your brothers fucking hated you.” Chuckles ring out around us
“Okay, Taint. Where’s the fifth one?”
He sniffles hard, blood trickling from his nose.
I shake him, trying to rattle out an answer.
“Beatdown’s the one missing. Unless he’s hiding in someone else’s cut.” Cerberus comes up beside me, balling his hands into fists. Our Pres slams one deep into Taint’s gut, and all his breath whooshes out.
“Beatdown ain’t here,” Taint sneers. “Pres is busy… elsewhere.” There’s a malicious gleam in his eye that makes all the hair on my body stand up.
“Where the fuck is he?” I snarl, dropping him to the ground hard enough that there’s an audible pop. Taint shrieks and wails.
The pain along my flank shifts to my back, burning brighter with every passing minute. Sucking in a breath through my teeth, I shift my shoulders trying to shake it off.
Is this what a heart attack feels like?
Gy’s beside me instantly. “What’s happening? You injured?”
“I don’t think anything touched me, but something’s wrong.” Gasping for air, I tear at the Velcro sides of my tactical vest until someone helps me remove it.
My lungs burn. Every breath more difficult than the last.
Gy rips my shirt over my head. “Do you see any blood?” The words barely come out.
“No. Just your stupid fucking tattoos.” Fists clenched, I lunge, ready to punch him for insulting my ink, but a flash of pain nearly brings me to my knees.
Something pulls within me.
The bond.
“It’s Willow. It’s her pain,” I shout loud enough to wake the dead. Everything in my mind goes blank, focusing on the burning radiating through the bond. “Where is Willow?”
Doing the only thing I can, I push my love to her. “We need to go!”
My brothers hesitate, glancing between me and the Black Plagues bodies. We'll be put away for life if the wrong person discovers them. It’s my job to take charge, but in this moment, my omega is my sole focus.
“Where are our bikes?” My mind is a blank of panic and horror. I need my motorcycle, and I need to get out of here fast.
Fortunately, the Hellbent Hounds MC is a brotherhood. When one of us falls apart, the rest are there to pick up the pieces.
Grim steps forward. “Go. We got this. Orthos, Lassie, Whelp, and I will stay here and… eradicate the Plague.”
Cerberus agrees, “Thank you, brother.” Waving his arm, he leads us through the trees, boots crushing leaves as we haul ass toward our rides.
Gy thunders at my heels, running as quickly as he can. We get to our bikes in record time and clamor on.
“Where we headed, boys?” Cerberus guns his engine. Fuck. Where the hell is our omega? When I yank my phone from my pocket, I find the missed messages.
This is all our fault.
“The training center,” Gy beats me to it. “Cujo. Helmet. You good to drive?”
The agony rippling down my spine says no, but there’s nothing I won’t endure to get to my honeybee. “I’m fine.” My jaw locks. I toss my helmet on, throw my leg over my bike and shoot out of the woods with my brothers at my back.
Our engines bark in unison as we ride into town, the flames of hell licking behind.
Crouching low, I push my motorcycle faster and faster, but our bond grows more muted with every passing second. She’s dying.
I channel everything I can down the bond, every ounce of love, every inch of reassurance.
There’s no life for me without Willow.
Not anymore.