Chapter 40
Jackson
Ransom steps close. “I don’t have a mate in this mix, so let me be the one to talk through facts.” He wisely ignores the growls. “They’re not going to kill Kayla, because the vampire’s life is tied to hers. They’re not going to kill the other females either.”
“How do you know?” Liam asks sharply
Ransom keeps his voice low. “Because they would have done it already. They already have the females incapacitated. If the goal was to kill them, they’d be dead.
” Once again, he ignores the sounds of anger.
“If the goal was to kill you guys, the same would have already taken place. What's the point of taking them somewhere else and then killing them.” This time, I add my own growl to the mix. I also have to remind my wolf not to kill him. “They want something from them. So, you let them take your females, give them the antidote,” he speaks over their protests. “And then, rescue them.” He meets my eyes and gives me a guilty look. “I’m not saying this is easy, by any means.”
I look down at Kayla, my whole world. My eyes take in Noah and the other females as well. “How do we know we get them back?”
“We don’t let them take them in the first place,” Max growls, stepping towards me, his eyes alight with his wolf.
Garrett pulls out his phone and then looks at me. “Can you get your pack to make noise, so she can’t hear.”
“Vampires can’t hear that well,” Ransom says in confusion.
“She’s a wolf shifter vampire,” Garrett says, and Ransom’s eyes widen. I guess I’d left that part out when I explained what was going on.
I find Martin and explain what I need them to do. They form a barrier between us and the vamps and start making a ruckus. Meanwhile, Garrett puts his phone on speakerphone. “Hey, Garrett,” a voice comes over the line.
“Bryce,” Garrett growls. “We have a situation on our hands. I need to talk to your mate and Sherese.”
“What’s going on?”
Garrett gets right to it. “Alicia showed up here. They did something to all the humans staying in the hotel. They’re all unconscious, and that includes our mates.
” Garrett’s voice gets deeper and deeper the more he speaks.
“Alicia says she alone has the antidote and that our mates have to go with her, or they will die in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Twenty-three,” Paul says from his spot on the ground where he’s continually monitoring the females.
“And we can’t kill her because she tied her life to Kayla, Jackson’s mate,” Liam adds.
“How’d she do that?” Ava asks, joining the conversation. She sounds out of breath.
When nobody answers, I do. “The shot they gave her; Alicia said it acts the same as siring a vampire. I don’t know if it actually worked because you healed her.”
“But if not,” she says for me.
“It’s not a chance we’re willing to take,” I say firmly.
“Sherese and Hunter are here now too,” Ava says.
I remember meeting them. Sherese used to be a vampire but was healed. “Ava and Sherese, what would they want from our mates?” Garrett asks.
“I don’t know, Garrett,” Ava says. “I mean Kayla and Sage could be used for their healer’s blood and—” she pauses and obviously changes what she was going to say. “But I don’t know why Raechel and Talya and Emma.”
“Sherese?” Garrett growls.
Her voice is heavy. “I don’t know, but they’re always working on something new—a new serum, a new device to try, new ways to get the outcome they want. It could be anything.” Several growls follow her words. “But if they go in there, Hunter and I will go in to get them out.”
“I will too,” Ava says, and a harsh growl sounds through the phone.
“No, you won’t,” Bryce growls at her.
“They’re my friends, Bryce,” she argues with him.
“You’re pregnant. You’re not going to the vampire site.”
My mind races through every possibility, but I keep coming up empty. We can’t kill Alicia, but we also can’t just let whatever they’ve ingested kill them. “What about the hospital?” I ask. I look at Paul. “Could they find what it is fast enough?”
“Maybe.”
But that’s too uncertain of a term. What if they can’t find it in time?
I’m not willing to entrust Kayla’s life to a what if, but I don’t know that I’m willing to entrust her life to the vampires either.
I realize that Bryce is still talking to Garrett, but I tune them out.
I think about how Kayla’s life is tied to Alicia’s, and I turn away from the group and stride over to Alicia.
“Jackson!” Garrett’s voice thunders behind me.
“I’m just talking,” I send back.
Ransom and Lucien are at my sides a moment later. “You know what you’re doing?” Ransom asks in a low voice.
“No, not at all,” is my only reply. I stop several yards from Alicia; I don’t trust myself not to rip her head off if I get too close.
“Did you need something?” she asks sickeningly sweet.
I force my wolf down, but it’s hard. I want so desperately to give him the lead to kill her. “Let’s make a deal.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, you’re more delusional than I thought.”
I keep very still and force a blank expression on my face. “You take Kayla but let the other females stay.”
She huffs out a laugh. “And why would I do that?”
“Because I’ll go with you in their stead.”
She laughs really hard this time, but it quickly changes. “You must think I’m incredibly stupid.” I don’t respond. “I’m not bringing you with us; you’ll just go on a killing spree.”
I’m not naive about what goes on in these vampire sites.
She might not have been at the one where I was kept, but I was held captive there for an extended period of time.
I know what they’re like. “You can use me, use my blood. You can do anything you want to me; you just can’t kill me.
And you will give me the same vampire serum you gave Kayla, so it ties me to you. That way, I can’t kill you.”
“Jackson!” Ransom hisses, but I ignore it.
She stares at me, and I can practically see the wheels turning. “You wanted rogue wolves before. Well, now you have one.”
“Two,” Ransom adds.
“Three,” Lucien says.
“One,” I say in a low growl, ignoring the two idiots on either side of me.
“Deal.” Her eyes dance with delight, and I resist the urge to show any form of relief on my face. “Kayla and the three of you.”
My relief fades. “One; I said one.”
“Sorry, Wolf, they volunteered.” She gives me a cheeky smile, and I have to close my eyes and physically force my wolf down.
“What about the other females?” I ask. “How do they get the antidotes?”
“They still have to come with me.” I growl at her. “I wasn’t lying when I said the antidote is at the vampire compound. But once we get there, I will give them the serum and then drop them off. Only then will I let the wolves know where they can get them.”
“That’s not part of the plan,” I growl at her, stepping forward.
“Take it or leave It." She stares up at me, and I close my eyes a moment. “That’s what I thought. Do we have a deal?”
I’ve never hated someone more than I do in this moment, but I do the only thing I can do in this situation. I take the deal. “Yes.”
She smiles in delight. “Great. Let’s go tell the others.” She starts walking towards the others, and I turn to Lucien and Ransom.
“Don’t start,” Ransom says before I can get a word out “You would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed.”
I shake my head and start towards the wolves. “Jackson,” Lucien says, stopping me. He meets my eyes. “You need to make me pack before we go into that compound.”
I stare at him and swallow hard. Garrett’s words come back to me, and I stop fighting this.
I close my eyes and reach out and feel for his wolf as I let mine come to the surface.
Then I claim his wolf and claim Lucien as pack.
An invisible cord snaps into place, similar to what it did when I did this with Ransom.
I feel him connected to me now. He takes a deep breath, and I watch as what looks like relief comes over him.
“Thank you.” His words are sincere, but I don’t know what to say.
I nod and stride after Alicia, who’s waiting a few feet from us.
“Are you going to tell them the good news, or should I?” she asks.
“What news?” Garrett asks, missing nothing as his dark eyes dart between Alicia and me.
“Wolf Boy Wonder here gave the okay for us to take your mates.” I brace myself as four sets of eyes bore into me, and their growls shake the ground.
I don’t even bother defending myself; they’re not going to listen in the state of rage they’re in.
I get it. “Oh, you are no fun,” Alicia says with a shake of her head.
“This idiot here volunteered to go with,” she says, nodding at me.
Garrett narrows his eyes at me, and I meet his gaze head-on.
“We’ll go with as well,” Liam says.
“You guys must think I’m stupid,” Alicia says, repeating her words from earlier. “These three are coming with. In exchange, I will give your mates the antidote and then drop them off. Once I’ve dropped them off, I will call you and let you know their location.”
There’s a thick silence, and I hope they’ll just accept it.
Kayla is the only one that can go there and be somewhat protected because of her tie to Alicia.
The rest of them need to get the antidote and get out, especially the pregnant ones.
I eye Garrett. “Just do it.” I try to let him know with my gaze alone that I won’t let anything happen to the females.
I will get them out after they get the antidote, even if Alicia doesn’t.
I don’t think about Kayla at all. If I think about her in one of those facilities...
the air around me goes hazy, and I can’t get enough air.
I push those thoughts and images away; I will make sure she’s protected.
I won’t let anything happen to her, and I’ll free her the second she’s got the antidote.
I vow it. Garrett eyes me again, and I know what he’s feeling.
Finally, he nods. “Do it. Get them the antidote and then get them to us.” He steps closer to Alicia. “Just know, if you don’t, I will bring every wolf with me and we will raze the compound to the ground.”
She waves a hand. “You’d have to get in first, but thanks for the threat. Very motivating.” Her words are sarcastic, and I marvel how she’s stayed alive this long. “All right. I’m going to go get the van and prepare for transport.” She starts across the parking lot.
“I won’t make the same mistake Bryce did.”
Alica stops at Garrett’s words and turns back. “What?”
I watch her carefully and notice for the first time, that she’s not completely unaffected. “I won’t make the mistake Bryce did; I will kill you if you double-cross us.”
She narrows her eyes, and for the first time, I get a feel for how dangerous she really is. “Be careful with the threats, Alpha, especially when I hold your mate’s life in my hands.”
I move before the words are out of her mouth. I plant myself in front of him a second later, but he doesn’t move. He just stares her down as she walks away. “If I can get Noah free, will you take him with you?” I ask in a low voice.
It takes him a second to finally look at me and pay attention to what I’m asking, but then he nods.
I breathe a sigh of relief. We'll get through this. One step at a time. “This isn’t a good idea,” Martin says, coming up alongside me.
I don’t argue with him; he’s not wrong. “But I get it.” He steps so that he’s directly in front of me.
“You need to claim everybody as pack.” His eyes carry so much knowing; it’s impossible to ignore.
Martin used to have a pack, a long time ago.
I haven’t heard his whole story; I only know that they mostly got wiped out.
He became a lone wolf after that. “It’s time, Son. ”
I take in the wolves keeping a perimeter around us.
From Elias and Jessie, the youngest, to Martin, the oldest...
each of them has a story, and none of them are easy.
The very real idea of something happening to me inside that facility and not making it back to them makes me feel physically ill.
I won’t leave them without a plan. I turn to Ransom, who’s close.
“If I do this and something happens to me, you’ll take over.
” I don’t give him an option; he’s the best man for the job.
Honestly, he’d make a better alpha than I would.
“I will,” he says, dropping a hand on my shoulder. “Do it.”
I don’t allow myself to second guess, and I do what needs to be done. I claim the rogue wolves as my pack.