Chapter 22 #2
Hitting its mark, the threat provokes the wolf beneath Axe’s skin.
The next second, he flings himself over the counter.
The client pulls the trigger as he’s tackled, diverting the bullet straight through the computer on the far end of the counter.
Axe makes quick work of disarming him, landing a nasty punch on the jaw.
He hollers from the impact, giving the Alpha the perfect opportunity to wrap his massive hands around the man’s throat.
As the last gunman scoops his weapon off the ground and raises his arm, my finger finds the trigger.
Pulse throbbing in my ears, I curl it around the lever.
The silver bullet passes straight through the male’s bicep.
Wailing in pain, his gun clatters to the floor.
I put another two bullets through his thigh to pin him down.
Just as Axe is about to crush the man’s trachea, there’s movement from a body across the room. Two bullets remain lodged in his sternum—one in his face even—but he isn’t finished yet. He fires off a shot that nails Axe in the lower neck.
No—
He flops over with a jarring thud.
Solmuk curses under his breath. The Alpha doesn’t move. Just as the recovering guard comes to his knees, my barrel pans over. I execute him with a shot to the forehead, eyes rolling back with a cold slump.
Several feet away, another struggle ensues. Gasping and coughing, the client squirms beneath Axe, the weight of the Alpha anchoring him. Solmuk rushes over and kicks his gun away. With two bullets left in the chamber, I make my approach, holding my pistol steady.
Solmuk reaches into the pocket of the associate whose leg is bleeding profusely and pulls out his wallet. He frowns, tucking it in his pants for safekeeping. “Who the hell are you?”
In the distance, I hear sirens approaching, ringing as loudly as the aftershock of blazing gunfire. My heart sinks at the sight of Axe’s blood pouring out and pooling on the man beneath him. Discarding my gun, I wrap both arms around Axe’s torso, attempting to pull him. But it’s no use.
I snap at Solmuk. “Can I get a little help here?”
The male beneath Axe grins, his clipped Mongassi accent deeply revolting. “You smell like paradise.”
Panting heavily, we roll Axe onto his back to assess his wounds. The distraction allows the client to jolt and yank the back of my neck. Fangs brush against my chin.
Not today, you piece of shit.
Thinking quickly, I slip the silver ring from my finger and jam the metal into his eye.
As soon as he howls in pain, he’s abruptly torn away from me.
Hot liquid spurts onto my face as his neck is violently shredded.
Writhing and gargling on the floor, the client clamps a hand over his throat, stunned as Axe looms over him, growling.
Bloodied claws gouge the male’s eyes, sinking deep into the sockets.
He yanks his thumbs out of his skull. And then, for a final time, Axe collapses.
Throwing off my coat, I scramble to his side, folding up my jacket to make a compression. The wound on his neck has a clean exit. But there’s a silver bullet that’s still wedged deep into his upper shoulder, where it meets his collarbone.
“No one touches you,” he grunts. “No one.”
The blaring of sirens intensifies.
“Help is coming,” I whisper. One of my teardrops leaks onto his cheek.
Solmuk scrambles to his feet and races to the phone on the shattered glass counter. “We should get a hold of the pack healer before the ambulance tries to haul him to the hospital.”
Axe coughs, bringing my hand to his pocket where his cell is stored.
When enforcers finally burst through the side door, I’ve ended the call. The mayor of Tukkon jumps onto the scene, frantically throwing his arms around his nephew. Axe just has to hang on for a few minutes.
His blood—it’s everywhere. I hold my hand steady on his oozing collarbone, pleading with him to fight his fading consciousness. He is paling rapidly. “Let me see those eyes, Axe. Keep those eyes open for me.”
The Alpha blinks. “Vessa . . . Did you know your skin could do that?”
“Do what?”
“Glow,” he coughs.
Panic envelopes me. “Don’t you dare start to talk like that. Listen to my voice. Squeeze my hand.”
Attempting to reach for me, his eyes flutter shut, arms going limp. Ichor seeps between my fingers, but I hold my compression steady, even as his breathing wanes.
“Axe,” I whimper. “Please, hang on. I promise I’ll stay with you. I’m yours. I’m all yours—”
In a matter of seconds, my hands are pried away by a crisis medic.
The woman sternly orders me to stand back.
Her partner pulls me away from the gushing wound and helps me onto my feet before finding his place at her side.
Solmuk and the mayor walk over. The elder takes my hand and offers me a blanket, repeating in a whisper that it’s over now. That I’m safe.
But Axe—
I smother a sob, my blood-slicked hands shaking.
Solmuk stares at the havoc strewn across the floor. By now, the bodies of the fallen have been covered with white sheets. “I should’ve known they were mercenaries.”
The mayor narrows his eyes. “This the first time you’ve killed one of his kind, E’yonno?”
The apprentice peers over at the guard who finally succumbs to the leg wounds I dealt him. “Actually, Vessa should be taking the credit.”
A scrappy young enforcement officer surveys the damage behind the counter. Mayor Henry’s face is cold. Grave.
The enforcer redirects his attention to me. “Ma’am, for the witness report, may I ask how you know the gunsmith?”
I gulp. “I’m his . . . fiancée.”
The officer is taken aback. The mayor tilts his head, raising a brow. “You’re his ma—”
“Uncle,” Solmuk cautions.
After applying a heavy amount of gauze, the crisis medic cuts through Axe’s shirt and vest, slipping the protective armor off. As the second technician approaches with a flimsy stretcher Axe couldn’t possibly even fit on, Cora bursts in at the last possible moment.
“Don’t move him any further!” she calls out. “I’ll handle this.”
The crisis medic regards her as if she has three heads. “Miss, this man needs to come with us so we can prep him for surgery. He’ll bleed out here if we don’t.”
Cora raises her chin in defiance. “I am his personal physician. And as I just stated, I’ll take it from here.”
The mayor’s eyes widen as he waves his hand at the medics, urging them to step aside.
Reluctantly, they do, just in time for Jabir, Qinnu, and Nell to push their way into the room.
Solmuk stands by as Jabir and the Sentinel squat down at Cora’s feet.
The men carefully hoist up their cumbersome Alpha and Cora leads them in the direction of his office.
As I turn to follow, Nell pulls me into her arms.
“Vessa,” she sniffles. “Oh, thank the goddess.”
I wrap my arms around her, taking in the comfort of her embrace. I let myself finally release an aching exhale. “I should be in that room right now.”
She squeezes my hand. “Listen to me. It’s gonna take a lot more than two silver bullets to kill that stubborn asshole. Cora will be distracted if you hover around in there with all this nervous energy.”
My lip starts to quiver again. Truthfully, I haven’t stopped trembling since I fired Axe’s weapon. The realization crystalizes then. Gods. I killed two men. Lycans.
Nell gently presses a hand to my lower back, guiding me away from the gruesome scene. “C’mon, let’s go take care of you.”