Chapter 36 MIDNIGHT EXCHANGE

Chapter 36 MIDNIGHT EXCHANGE
Dalton's POV

I opened Joyce’s room and realised she is gone. 

I ran to the hidden vault. The glass case stood open, and the collar was missing.

"No, no, no."

Victoria appeared behind me. "What happened?"

"Joyce took the collar. She is going to trade it." I turned to look at her. "How long ago did she leave?"

"I do not know. I just got here."

I shifted before she could say anything else. My injured shoulder screamed, but I ignored it. Joyce's scent was fresh on the night air, and I followed it through the trees.

She had a twenty or thirty-minute head start. I pushed harder and felt something tear in my shoulder, but I did not stop.

The old lumber mill sat on the east edge of town. It has been abandoned for fifteen years. A perfect place for an ambush.

I shifted back to human and pulled on the spare clothes I kept tied around my leg. Blood soaked through the bandage on my shoulder.

Joyce's scent led straight to the main building. 

I crept to a broken window and looked in. There were about fifteen Hunters at least. All armed. Joyce stood in the centre with the collar in her hands.

My wolf howled inside me. 

"Where is Elias?" Joyce's voice was bold, but I heard the fear in it.

"Patience." A man stepped from the shadows, and I froze.

Vane was alive. His face was covered in scars from the tunnel collapse. Burns ran down the left side of his neck. But his eyes were still cold. 

"You brought the collar. Good girl." Vane walked closer to Joyce. "Your mate did not come with you?"

"This is between us."

Vane held out his hand. "Give it to me."

"Show me, Elias, first."

Vane snapped his fingers. Two Hunters dragged Elias forward. His face was worse than in the photo.

Joyce took a step toward him. "Let him go."

"Give me the collar."

"At the same time. You get the collar, and I get Elias."

Vane smiled. "You do not trust me?"

"Would you trust you?"

He laughed. "Fine. On three. One."

Joyce held up the collar.

"Two."

Elias lifted his head. His good eye focused on Joyce, and I saw him mouth a warning.

"Three."

Joyce threw the collar. I jumped through the window and caught it mid-air. Gunfire exploded around me.

I hit the ground rolling and came up beside Joyce. "Run!"

She grabbed Elias, and I shifted again. My wolf tore into the nearest Hunter. 

More gunfire. A bullet grazed my back leg, but I kept moving. Joyce was dragging Elias toward the door.

"Stop them!" Vane's voice cut through the chaos.

Four Hunters blocked the exit. I jumped and knocked two down. Joyce kicked the third in the knee, and he went down hard.

The fourth raised his gun. Aimed at Joyce's head.

Victoria crashed through the side wall in wolf form. She took the Hunter down in one move. Taylor and six other pack members poured in behind her.

"Go!" Victoria shifted back long enough to yell. "We have got this!"

I shifted and threw Elias over my good shoulder. Joyce ran beside me. Behind us, the sounds of fighting filled the night.

We made it to the tree line before I heard Vane scream. "You just started a war you cannot win!"

I did not stop running until we reached pack land. My shoulder was bleeding again, and my back leg was numb. 

We got Elias to the pack hospital. The doctor took one look at him and called for more staff. Joyce sat in the waiting room with blood on her hands.

"What were you thinking?" I sat down beside her. "You could have died."

"I was thinking about saving someone instead of letting them die." She would not look at me. "I was thinking about doing the right thing."

"The right thing almost got you killed."

"But it did not. We saved Elias and kept the collar." She finally met my eyes. "We won."

"This is not over. Vane is alive.”

"Good. Let him know." Joyce stood up. "I am not afraid of him."

"You should be."

Victoria and Taylor walked in. "We lost two," Taylor said. "They lost five. The rest ran when Vane called retreat."

"Why did he retreat?" I asked. "He had the numbers."

"I do not know. But he left this." Victoria held up a phone. "It was playing a recording on repeat."

She pressed play. Vane's voice filled the waiting room. "Check your town; every building, store, and home. You have seventy-two hours."

The message repeated. I grabbed the phone. "What does that mean?"

"I think he planted something," Taylor said. 

The doctor came out. "Elias is awake, and he is asking for you."

We went in. Elias' face was red and swollen. 
"I am sorry," he said through split lips. "I tried to warn you."

"Warn us about what?" Joyce sat down beside his bed.

"Vane has a plan. A backup plan." Elias closed his good eye. "He knew you might not trade. So he prepared."

"Prepared how?" I asked.

"He sets explosives throughout Pine Ridge at every major building.”

I counted the seconds between breaths.

"How do we stop it?" Victoria asked.

"You cannot. The bombs are on a timer, and there’s no way to disarm them remotely." Elias looked at me. "There is only one way to stop the detonation."

"Tell me."

"It’s still the former term. Reject her by sunrise on Christmas Eve, and he will deactivate the bombs."