Chapter 9 #2
“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Those heartless witches had cast them aside and left them without protection.
“And I don’t know how she and Garret got together.
She never talked about him. Couldn’t blame her.
” Garret was a terrible father, so it wouldn’t be too far off if he was an abusive partner.
Unfortunately for the then-minor Eli, his name had been on the birth certificate and so CPS had no choice but to call him first to take custody.
“I’m so sorry,” Olivia said, her voice breaking. Moving closer to him, she crawled onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. He closed his eyes, breathing in her scent as he nuzzled her hair.
Jacob cleared his throat. “We still gotta deal with whoever shot Olivia. Uncle Killian’s gonna lose his shit.”
“I’ll call it in.” Sloane unbuckled her seatbelt.
“I’ll come with—”
“No.” Sloane’s words were as icy was the Arctic wind.
Jacob looked aback. “Baby—”
But she was already scrambling out the SUV. The door slammed shut with such a force that it made the entire vehicle shake.
“Fuck!” Jacob punched the steering wheel and looked heavenwards.
Olivia lifted her head and looked over her shoulder. “You’re a jackass, you know. How could you not trust her?”
Trust, it seemed, was the word of the day.
“I just …” He let out a frustrated sound. “This whole damned thing caught me off guard. I swear to God, Blake—”
“Don’t you blame him,” Olivia warned. “Go and apologize to your mate. Beg her and get down on your knees if you have to.”
Jacob nodded, then got out of the car.
“Should I get down my knees, too?”
Her head snapped back to his direction, her expression unreadable. “Do you want to?”
“I was ready to, the moment I realized what I jerk I was to you.” He reached out to tuck a lock of hair away from her face, but recoiled when he saw the sticky blood on her temple. His heart seized again, at the thought of what could have happened. “You could have died.”
“I can’t die, remember?” As if to prove her point, she brushed the hair away from her forehead to show him her bloodstained, but unmarred skin. “Bullet to the head. That’s a new one I bet. All the other True Mates are gonna be jealous.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Jealous?”
“Uh-huh. Apparently, there’s some kind of contest for the best way to almost die. Goes back to my mom’s generation. She was hit by a car, you know.”
“How could you even think that of me?”
Eli winced as Sloane’s muffled shout somehow penetrated the SUV’s soundproof windows. Outside, the other couple was seemingly locked in a screaming match, with Sloane waving her hands around and Jacob red-faced as he attempted to control his anger.
“I’m sorry you didn’t think I could trust you,” Eli began turning back to Olivia. “But I promised my mother I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“I know that now.” She relaxed against him. “Thank you for helping me, even at the risk of exposing your secret.”
“Of course. I had to. You were in pain.” He would do anything for her, didn’t she know that?
“How much longer do we have to be here, do you think?”
Eli glanced back out the window. The screaming had stopped and now Sloane was sobbing in Jacob’s arms.
“Not much longer, probably.”
She snuggled deeper against him. “We can wait.”
Eli couldn’t agree more. He held her tighter, reveling in the weight and feel of her. Fuck, even if she couldn’t die, seeing her in so much pain had pushed him to the edge. He couldn’t let that happen again. His wolf growled in agreement.
Ten minutes later, the other two climbed back into the SUV. Sloane’s eyes were red-rimmed and Jacob’s hand lingered on her lower back as he helped her before rounding back to the driver’s side. Neither of them said a word about what had transpired outside.
“Okay.” Sloane pulled out her phone. “I’m calling Killian.”
She put it on speaker and Killian picked up on the second ring.
“Sloane? What’s going on?”
“Olivia’s been shot. She’s okay,” Sloane added quickly.
“She’s awake, the baby’s fine. But someone targeted her.
Three rounds. Stomach, chest, and brain.
” A direct hit to the vital organs was one of the few ways to really kill a Lycan quickly before their accelerated healing kicked in.
“If it wasn’t for the True Mate invulnerability … ”
“Where are you now?” Killian’s voice had gone flat.
“On I-95, heading south. We left Boston as soon as it happened.”
“Good. Don’t stop, don’t go back.” There was a muffled sound, then another voice came through. “Hold on. I’m at Fenrir with the Alpha. He wants to talk to you guys.”
“Olivia, it’s Lucas.” Even through the speaker, the authority in his voice was unmistakable. “Did you see who did it?”
“I saw a blur,” Olivia said. “From how fast he moved, he had to have been a Lycan. I didn’t get a scent, though.”
“We don’t know who it was,” Jacob added. “But they knew where to find her. They must have been watching us.”
“This could be connected to Garret’s escape,” Killian said.
“Maybe,” Eli said. “But Garret wouldn’t go after Olivia. He doesn’t know she exists, and he’s got no reason to target her.”
“Then who?” the Alpha asked.
“We don’t know yet.” But his mind was already searching for possible suspects. “I made a lot of enemies in Boston. They might have gotten word that I was back from the dead, not to mention, there are other crews trying to move into Ronan’s territory.”
“The Russians,” Sloane said.
Eli thought for a moment. “Possible, but whoever did this knew what they were doing.” That at least narrowed the list down to Lycans or someone who knew how to kill one.
“Whoever it is, first priority is getting you and Olivia somewhere safe,” Killian said.
“They should go to Uncle Jackson’s ranch,” Jacob suggested. “Shenandoah is far enough from Boston and—”
“No.” Killian cut him off. “If Garret is out there looking for Eli, every location connected to this family is a potential target. I’m not putting Lily and the rest of them at risk.”
Jacob pressed his lips together, but he didn’t argue.
“I may have an idea.” It was the Alpha who spoke this time. “I know where you can hide. Somewhere far away and secluded. The Kentucky clan owns a huge patch of land.”
“Isabelle’s clan,” Jacob said, then explained to Eli and Sloane, “The Alpha’s youngest sister. She’s the Lupa there.”
“I’ll make the arrangements for Eli and Olivia,” the Alpha said. “Killian, send the coordinates to Jacob’s phone.”
“What about us?” Sloane asked.
“I need you and Jacob back in New York,” Killian said. “With Garret on the loose and the Lone Wolf offices compromised, we’re short-handed. And Sloane, you know more about how Garret operates. We need that.”
Sloane’s mouth opened to protest, then closed. She glanced back at Olivia, conflict written across her face.
“We’ll be fine,” Eli said before she could argue. “Go.” Garret wasn’t after them, and he didn’t want them in the crossfire. Plus, they still didn’t know who tried to kill Olivia, but Sloane and Jacob could be targets too. Splitting up made sense because it would make them harder to track.
Jacob’s phone buzzed, then he glanced at the screen. “Kentucky’s about eight hours from here.”
“Then get moving,” the Alpha said. “We’ll be in touch.”
“Livy?” Killian’s voice shifted.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“I’m glad you’re okay, sweetheart.” His voice cracked, just barely, before the line clicked off.
Sloane blew out a long breath. “I don’t wanna split up.”
“Neither do I,” Jacob said. “But Uncle Killian needs us.”
Sloane turned around in her seat to look at Eli. “Jacob has to go back, but I don’t have to follow the Alpha’s or Killian’s orders. I can stay with you guys.”
“No need.” While the offer was clearly genuine, Eli knew Sloane would not want to be apart from Jacob. “We’ll be fine.”
Jacob plugged the coordinates into the GPS and merged back onto the highway. Sloane closed her eyes. Olivia, still tucked against Eli’s side, laced her fingers through his.
“You okay?” she murmured.
“Yeah.”
But something cold had coiled in his gut the moment he heard Kentucky. He told himself it didn’t matter. Kentucky was a big state. Still, his wolf stirred uneasily.
His hand drifted to his jacket pocket, where the remaining vials pressed against his chest. He’d carried them for years as a reminder of what he’d lost. Now they felt like a warning of what was coming.