Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Istand alone in the dark forest, the silence broken only by my breathing.
I peer over my shoulder, my eyes scanning my surroundings as I shiver slightly in the black jeans and angora sweater that Savannah gave me.
Both are designer. It felt wrong to wear such expensive clothes to something like this, especially when I’m likely to get blood on them, but I didn’t just want to look confident; I wanted to feel it.
I couldn’t do that in the oversized sweatpants and T-shirts I’ve been schlepping around in for the last few days.
In the distance, an owl hoots, startling me.
With my burner cell phone in hand, I glance at the brightly lit clock.
09:59.
As I watch, the time changes to 10:00.
The hum of an engine approaches, and I tuck my cell phone into my pocket and straighten, trying to stifle my nerves.
It’s okay. You are not on your own. You’re okay.
Dayne chose this part of his property because it’s close enough to the road for the two men meeting tonight to park. They wouldn’t have needed a map to find the spot because they were the same men who crept onto his property before, and this is where they’d done it.
That night, Vaden had heard or sensed them moving toward us, and his howl had sent them running.
There had been tire tracks from a speeding car, the scent of iron, and footprints in the dirt.
Obviously, I didn’t know about the scent of iron.
It took a wolf’s sharp nose to smell it, and that particular nose had been Vaden’s.
Those men had come with guns, but hadn’t expected or wanted to run up against a wolf. But tonight, there won’t be any wolf howls.
Tonight, this all ends.
On the other side of the treeline, at the edge of Dayne’s property, a dark car slows and stops. The driver cuts the engine, and the slow creak of the doors opening makes my heart race.
Two doors slam, and two tall figures move toward me.
And then they appear.
One man has dark hair and green eyes; the other has shaved hair and small brown eyes. Both are dressed in black, from their coats and T-shirts to their combat trousers and boots.
Rage simmers in my belly, tempering the fear that nearly took over moments before they arrived. For two years, they’ve dogged my steps, chasing me across the country, destroying my things, making me live in fear, trying to kill me.
“I’ve hidden the flash drive nearby,” I say, hating them with every fiber of my being. I let my anger show as I continue, “If you’re thinking about shooting me and taking it from my body, you won’t find it on me or anywhere near me.”
“The sooner you give us what we want, the sooner we leave you breathing,” the dark-haired man says with a tight-lipped smile.
I don’t believe that any more than they do. As soon as they have the flash drive that they believe proves Sean Linklater embezzled from his company, they’ll bury a bullet in my brain and dump my body where someone won’t find me right away.
“Do you have the money?” I ask, not moving. This spot was carefully chosen for me, and if I leave it, I open myself up to more threats.
The man with a shaved head reaches into the front pocket of his coat.
I edge back half a step, knowing what to do if he draws a weapon. My heart races, and I work to slow it. I might look like I’m here alone, but I’m not defenseless.
He flashes me a cold smile as he fishes a cell phone from his pocket. “Once I have the flash drive and confirm it with our boss, the money is yours.”
“That wasn’t what was agreed,” I bite out.
“Well,” he says, still smiling. “The rules have changed.”
My cell phone suddenly vibrates, and I pull it out of my jeans pocket. The two men across from me keep their gaze fixed on me, but neither shows any surprise at the ringing. It’s clear they were expecting this call.
I hit answer, watching them closely out of the corner of my eye as I put the phone on speakerphone.
“Your men didn’t bring me my money,” I say.
Last night, I didn’t give Sean Linklater a chance to speak before hanging up on him.
I told him my demands and refused to answer the phone, even when he called back repeatedly.
Dayne had his pack patrol all the borders the rest of the night, howling periodically when a car parked nearby.
While I spent today preparing for this moment, it seemed Sean was busy making his own plans with his men.
“You’re playing a very dangerous game,” Sean says calmly.
He sounds pleased, as if things are progressing exactly as he expected.
“If you think I won’t go to the Wall Street Journal about—”
“What embezzlement?” Sean interrupts. “Because it sounds an awful lot like all you have are names of people I worked late with one night.”
“I heard you admit you were using a fake client file to steal from the company. You said you took a million that quarter, and an investigation will prove it. You were so sure you’d get away with it, but you won’t.
I heard you. I heard everything,” I say, eyes on the two men watching me as closely as I’m watching them.
“And how well did going to the cops work for you last time?” Sean asks. “No one believed you then, and no one will believe you now. Give my men the flash drive, and maybe you won’t suffer a slow, painful death before they kill you.”
My heart pounds with terror. “No. I’m not giving them anything. You won’t get away with this.”
Sean laughs. “I already have. You’re just one last loose end to tie up. And I don’t think you have any proof at all, Shelby. Kill her.”
The men reach into their coats, and I drop, ending the call.
As I fall to the ground, the man with the shaved head stumbles, as if hit from behind. His mouth opens in a silent scream, and blood flecks his lips. He slowly sinks to his knees and collapses face down.
A menacing snarl turns my blood cold.
The dark-haired man whips around, grabbing for his weapon.
He doesn’t see the wolves attacking from all sides.
But I do.
Once the screaming has stopped, a large brown-red wolf nudges my shoulder.
I pull my hands from my ears after unsuccessfully trying to block out the screams. He licks my cheek, and I smile. “Is that a thank you for not stepping on your tail?”
Vaden backs up, and this shift is so damn fast that I can’t help but notice his face twist in pain as he gets to his feet and I get to mine. He reaches for me.
I slap his hand away. “What was the point of doing that when everything is over?” He reaches for me again, but I back up. “You just hurt yourself for no good re— uh!”
I can barely breathe; he’s holding me that tight.
“Holding my mate after I just put her in front of two men with guns they meant to use on her is worth any pain,” he says, still hugging me. “Stop wiggling, baby.”
There’s fear in his voice. Fear that he nearly lost me, even though we went over the plan multiple times. Even though he was right there, inches away, ready to pull me to safety. Even though eight wolves were waiting, feet away, ready to rip into those two men, Vaden was still afraid.
I hug him back. “I’m okay. Sorry I scared you.”
He squeezes me. “We’re never doing this again.”
I try to avoid looking at the two dead bodies, feet away. “I agree wholeheartedly.”
Dayne, a large, dark-blond wolf, shifts so fast it’s like watching a wolf blur into a human. Vaden told me alphas could shift fast, but that was insane.
“Wow!” I whisper.
Vaden breaks our hug, looks to see what caught my attention, and growls.
“Stop being jealous,” I say before he can growl again. “I love you, but I just saw him shift, and it was so damn fast.”
“Tell me again,” Vaden orders.
“The stop being jealous part?” I tease.
He growls.
“I love you, and I’m okay. No one hurt me because you wouldn’t have let them, and I love you so much I can’t envision a future without you in it. Is that the part you wanted to hear?”
He pulls me into another hug, though it’s not as desperate as the one before. “Yeah. That part.”
Before Vaden can kiss me, Dayne asks Dean, who’s sitting cross-legged on the grass with his laptop open, “Did you get everything you needed?”
Dean gives Dayne a thumbs-up. “Got all that and more. It’s winging its way to reporters now. Sean Linklater is in for a very bad morning tomorrow.”