5. Bain
Bain
My fists clench tighter as I stare through the edge of the tree line at the facility. A small, one-story cement building sits in the middle of the field, surrounded by a chain-link fence. There are no guards in sight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching.
I wanted to charge in there and find her, but the others convinced me that we would have a better chance of getting Cherry back safely if we coordinated our efforts.
So now I’m stuck waiting for Philip and Gage as they create some sort of device meant to take out all electronics in the area, which hopefully includes any security cameras and electronic door locks.
Once that was done, we would move in. Finn demanded to take the lead, telling us his vampiric speed would let him move ahead quickly, making sure the coast was clear and helping us find her faster.
Of course, we had to leave our cell phones back in the car so they didn’t get destroyed by the device, so apart from pack bonds, we wouldn’t be able to communicate in there.
So Alaric is partnering up with Hunter, so we can communicate between our two packs, and Gage and Philip will be partnered, so Gage can relay anything to Philip.
Maddox and Casper are partnering up, and Chase and I will be together, separating as necessary if we find different hallways to search.
“It’s done,” Gage suddenly says, making me turn to him in question.
“What?” Chase asks, seemingly as confused as me.
“We set off the electromagnetic pulse. Their systems should be down now.” I expected to hear a bang or sparks to fall from the cameras or something. I didn’t realize it’d be so silent.
“Let’s go,” Finn says, then he’s gone, suddenly reappearing at the chain-link fence as he literally grabs it and rips it apart, making an entryway through.
Goddess, that guy is strong.
And fast.
We all take off after him, but he’s a blur of motion, suddenly appearing at the building’s entrance.
He yanks the door open then disappears inside just as I’m crouching through the tear in the fence. Gunshots ring out as Alaric relays to us what’s going on.
“Four men inside, all unconscious.”
“Come on, save some for us!” Chase says as we run side by side to the entrance.
Finn has quickly become the biggest asset on our makeshift rescue team, and I’m not too bullheaded to admit that I’m happy he’s here.
As much as I want to be the guy to kill every man working in this facility, I’ll take Cherry’s safety over that every day.
Cherry.
The pain of the severed mate bond is still there, clawing at my chest from the inside. But at least that shit Philip gave us is making me able to function.
When I first felt it sever, I thought I was literally about to die. And if she permanently dies, I must join her. There is no life without my angel.
I step inside behind Chase, and I see Maddox and Casper already starting to tie up the four unconscious men.
Finn is nowhere in sight, but there is only one hallway. “I’ve got them, you guys go,” Maddox says, tipping his head in the direction of the hall. The rest of us move through the hall and quickly find a doorway that leads to a set of stairs going down.
“She’s gotta be down there,” Gage says as Chase starts to jog down them, not waiting to discuss it. When we get to the bottom, the hall goes in two directions, so we split up. Gage, Philip, and I go left while Chase, Hunter, Casper, and Alaric go right.
We check each door, finding several empty rooms. “We found two guards,” Chase says through the bond. “They are unconscious and tied up now.”
Gage opens the next door, and we find a long hallway filled with cells. He takes a deep breath before stepping into the hall. I look into the first cell, which is empty, but my stomach clenches tightly, imagining Cherry not only in one of those right now but having to live in one for ten years.
I shake out my hands, reminding myself I can’t just murder everyone here on sight. We have a little justice to dish out first. “I can smell her,” Gage says in excitement as he jogs ahead and turns, staring into another vacant cell. “She was in here,” he says angrily. “Recently.”
“She can’t be far,” Philip says, right before the door at the other end of the hall opens. Two guards enter, talking casually until they notice us.
Then, they both pull the guns from their holsters and start shooting as we all dive into the nearby cells for cover.
“Fuck,” Gage growls through the bond. “I’ve been hit.”
“Where the fuck is Finn?” I growl through the pack bond. “Gage has been shot, and we’re pinned down.”
“Alaric says he’s on his way to you now,” Chase replies.
“Hang in there, we’re coming,” Maddox says, sounding worried.
“Gage, how bad is it?” I ask through the bond as I try to peek out of the cell, only to be pushed back by the sound of a gun firing. Fuck.
Gage doesn’t reply instantly, worrying me. Finally, he answers with a haggard, “Bad.”
I hear a door slam then the sound of heavy bodies hitting the ground. “They're unconscious,” Finn calls. I peek out to see both guards lying unconscious as Finn grabs their guns and literally bends them in half. I hate that I had to be rescued by a fox, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I hurry over to Gage and see Philip holding his shirt against a hole in Gage’s chest, right over his heart.
“Fuck,” I curse.
Gage’s worried eyes look up at me as he croaks out, “Find her.” He coughs, blood flying from his mouth as a true sense of worry fills me. Did they use silver bullets? A shot to the heart with one of those is fatal to a wolf. Or any shifter.
“Fucking get here, now!” I bark through the bond.
I kneel down as I ask, “How can I help?”
A door bangs open and footsteps come pounding toward us. I smell my pack and glance up as the twins and Maddox arrive, their eyes widening in worry.
Hunter immediately kneels down at his other side as he looks at Philip. “Do you have something that can help?”
“Umm, yeah, I might. Hold this,” he says as Hunter presses down the shirt on Gage’s wound.
Hunter looks up at me and hisses, “Go! I’ll stay with Gage. You guys can’t help here. Go find her. Go get our girl.”
“I’ll stay too,” Alaric says as he kneels down to help.
“Me too,” Casper says, looking more serious than I’ve seen him so far. “I’ll stand guard.”
Panic clenches my heart as I push to my feet, storming through the cell and toward the door the guards came through. Finn, Maddox, and Chase follow me closely. I don’t bother to open the door normally. Giving my rage an outlet, I kick the door open and charge through.
On the other side, the hallway goes left and right.
Before I can choose a direction, a door opens to our left, and in a blur of movement, Finn is there with a swift punch to the throat, dropping the guard that just stepped out.
Chase runs over and starts tying up the guard’s wrists and ankles as Maddox steps up beside me and lifts his nose.
Turning to the right, he says, “This way.”
I follow him, sniffing the air and getting a faint trace of my mate’s dark cherry and vanilla scent.
Please let her be here. Alive.
We follow the scent down the hall while Finn and Chase check the doors we pass, taking out any guards they find. But I have a one-track mind right now, and that’s leading me to the end of the hall where her scent grows stronger.
My entire body tenses as I reach out and grab the door handle, somehow knowing that what’s on the other side isn’t going to be good. Even so, I’m not prepared for what I see when I yank the door open.
A man in a lab coat, whom I imagine must be Dr. J, has Cherry backed against a wall, a knife at her throat, and his other hand… is down the front of her boxers.
Two sets of eyes turn to us in surprise. One set is cold, angry, and attached to a man who’s about to die. The other is a beautiful pair of blue eyes that I see every time I close mine.
“Bain!” Cherry cries out when she sees me.
“You’re dead,” I growl as I charge forward before he can react. I grab his wrist with the knife and snap it, making him drop the knife and cry out in pain. Then I wrench his other hand out of her pants and lift it to my nose, giving it a sniff.
My fangs extend as I growl. I’m ready to end him right now, but I know that a quick death will not be enough for him.
Instead, I open my mouth and bite his fingers off, chewing them for a moment before spitting them out, making sure they’ll never be able to be reattached. Not that he’ll even have the chance.
He screams, pulling both hands against his chest but is unable to do anything with a broken wrist and missing fingers.
“What do you want me to do with him?” Finn asks casually as he steps up beside me.
“Don’t let him bleed out. We aren’t done with him,” I say and he nods, stepping toward the panicking doctor as I turn to find my mate.
Maddox is holding her against his chest, her arms and legs wrapped around him as she sobs into his neck.
My heart cracks, seeing her so upset, knowing I wasn’t here to stop it all from happening.
I take a step toward them, but Chase’s words stop me short. “Oh my Goddess, I’m gonna be sick.” Then I hear him start to hurl.
I spin, trying to figure out what’s happening, and that’s when I see it. In the middle of the room, beside Chase, is a table with a red pelt lying across it.
“Is that—” My wide, horrified eyes turn to Cherry then to the doctor as I try to figure out exactly what happened here.
“He skinned her!” Chase cries through the bond as he tries to stand upright. “He fucking skinned her!”
My claws lengthen, and I have to open my fists, or risk being impaled, as I turn to look at the doctor. Finn has found a pair of cuffs to slap on his wrists and has wrapped his fingers, stopping him from bleeding out. Good. I need him alive for the vengeance I plan to enact.
“I’m getting her out of this room,” Maddox says through the bond as he moves toward the door.
“Don’t let him out of your sight,” I tell Finn, pointing at the doctor before quickly following Maddox. I won’t let him wander out here alone with her.
When the door slams behind us, Maddox turns to me and asks, “Can you hold her? There’s something I need to do.”
I nod, quickly reaching out to pull her against me. She comes quickly as Maddox goes back into the room and Chase steps out into the hall with us.
She sniffles into my neck, her sobs dying down as she clings to me tightly. “I’m so so sorry, angel. We never should have left you.”
She pulls back to look me in the eyes; hers are red and puffy, and the sight of her pain hits me right in the gut. Her little hand comes up to my face, and I press my cheek firmly into her touch as she whispers, “I missed you so much.”
Then she tilts her head up and kisses me. I squeeze her tightly, relishing the moment before she pulls away and tucks her head back against me.
“I’ve got you now,” I whisper, rubbing her back.
“Pretty girl?” Chase says gently as he places a hand on her back and tries to get a look at her face. She lifts her head to look at him as he whispers, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him from taking you.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” she whispers, reaching out to grasp his neck, pulling him in for a quick kiss. “I was so scared he hurt you and Hunter.”
Then she turns to me, her eyes widening a little. “And you, you survived the severing of the bond?”
I grimace as I explain, “Barely. Philip brought over a potion for us. None of us could even stand, we were so distraught.”
“I knew you’d find me,” she whispers before wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me. She pulls back again as she asks, “Did you get him? Blaze?”
“Not yet.”
“What about the others? Where’s Hunter and Gage?”
Chase’s worried eyes turn to me as I hold her tighter.
“We have Cherry, she’s alive and conscious,” I say through the bond. “How’s Gage?”
There’s a pause before Hunter finally replies. “It’s not good. You guys better get here, fast.”
“What’s going on?” Cherry asks worriedly when we don’t answer her.
Maddox steps out of the room, blood dripping from one of his hands as he uses the other to shove a notebook under his shirt and under the waistband of his pants, as he tells her, “It’s Gage. He’s been hurt.”