Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three

James had just fallen asleep, letting a healthy dose of alcohol help ease him into slumber when other wise he would have been up for hours thinking of her when he felt a shiver of muted fear run through him. He woke up, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the sound of the pack house. It was the same feeling he had when Cassidy had been so upset over getting hosed off that first time and it left a sour taste at the back of his mouth. Rolling over, James grabbed his cell phone and called the security room at the prison to find out if she was upset for any reason. When there was no answer, he reached out on the common pack link he had with the guard that was supposed to be on duty there tonight, but he was met with dark silence. He sat up in his bed when the link to the guard was no longer there and went in on the app that Alaric had installed on his phone to the camera system in the prison. He had refused to use it, he didn't want to see the female that had him and his wolf at war with each other. A war he was losing ground on every day.

“Shit…” he cursed when the camera code he typed in to her room came up and the feed was an open door and a body in a pool of blood on the ground. Alaric, get up. Get to the prison, there is a breech. Men are down. he growled on the link to his Beta, hearing over the pack link as Alaric alerted the warriors of the pack that were not on patrols to get to the prison immediately.

James didn't bother with clothes. He didn't even bother with going through the pack house to get outside. ‘Cassidy is in danger’ his wolf urged in his mind. His men were in danger… At least that was what he wanted to believe. He didn't know the full situation but he could feel the faint tinge of fear still. Going through the doors of his room to the expansive third floor balcony, James didn't think twice as he ran and jumped, clearing the railing to shift into his wolf midair and land with a role to protect his legs from injury. He took off running as panic was quickly spreading through the linked minds of the pack. The wild she-wolf was free and dangerous.

There was a patrol that was the closest to the prison and they were nearly thirty seconds ahead of James in getting to the building and as James was approaching he spotted a blur of white running from the entrance of the prison towards the darkness of the forest beyond. His wolf got excited and James had to fight to keep control. He wasn't going to let her free… especially if she was responsible for the carnage the patrol party was reporting on the inside of the building.

Running at her full speed, James lowered his head and collided with the she-wolf with the weight of his entire body, sending her several feet through the trees. He had knocked the wind right out of her and he walked up to her slowly, silently, standing over top of her while she struggled to get her breath. She was breathing hard, covered in blood from the attacks she put onto the rogues. All James had to go off of was what he knew, every last wolf inside the first floor was dead. He had seen her cell with a man killed and her door wide open and here she was trying to make a run for it covered in blood. She was guilty and he was pissed off.

Cassidy had looked up at the wolf that had knocked her off her feet and seen the green eyes and when her lungs let loose and filled with air they were filled with the alpha’s scent. She looked relieved for a second that it was him and not the rogues she had been fighting in the prison. The relief was short lived when he growled and pulled back his lips in anger with a show of teeth just before he attacked. Cassidy scrambled when the hulk of the male wolf came at her with aggression, catching just the skin and fur of her lower back as she tried to avoid him. The relief she felt turned to fear for a split second when she seen the alpha coming at her and when he actually bit her, her wolf snapped in anger, twisting quickly out of his mouth before more damage was done and jumping away to face him.

Both wolves faced off with each other. Both circling slowly, hackles raised and sizing up each other. Where James was nearly twice her size and heavily muscled, she was by no means small compared to other she wolves. She was slender and sleek which gave her the advantage of agility over the strength her opponent had. Her will, presence and power was equally matched to the alpha of Blackstone, but her need to hurt him was greater. It was against Jame’s wolf to harm Cassidy. His wolf did not believe his mate would have hurt his pack like that… their pack. It was getting the man to believe it that was the hard part.

Cassidy charged first, all the anger that had been building over the days, weeks, months that she had been locked in that room and that cage. Hung up and toyed with like she was some personal pet of his, realizing they were mates and then being rejected… All that rage and anger boiled over and she went for him, just as he went for her at the same time. The two wolves came together in a powerful explosion of snarls and growls, bother sinking their teeth into each other. They did as much damage as possible to each other before breaking apart and then clashing right back together again. Fur flew in the air and blood splattered the ground from both of the alphas. Where James had mostly went for Cassidy’s back, she had gone for the softer spots on him but she was quickly wearing down and the Alpha was not showing mercy or playing with her anymore.

They had broken apart again, both breathing heavy. Jame had a decent and deep gash to his ribs that Cassidy had been attacking over and over again to do more and more damage and she was having difficulty using her right front leg after Jame’s crushing jaws broke a bone. Cassidy was just getting ready to go back in for another round, stubborn pride now fueling her along with the searing rage of a she-wolf that had been rejected when she heard the sound of Jett’s voice and Alaric shouting for James to stop.

“Stop! Dont kill her!” Jett had nearly pleaded as the two beta’s approached.

“Listen to me… She didn't do it James…” Alaric had said, waving his phone as he ran.

It was enough of a distraction for Cassidy that she had stopped at the sound of Jett’s voice and turned her head to him, shocked that he was still alive let alone free and here, running towards her. The distraction was all James needed, his heavy body plowing Cassidy straight into the ground and his jaws wrapping around her neck. He shook her like a rag doll, using all of his strength to overpower the she-wolf as his jaws clamped down.

Cassidy had been so shocked to see Jett, the other wolf had become a second thought to her. When he took her down, there was a startled yelp that was swiftly closed off as the males jaws cut off her airway and shook her like she was nothing. She fought, thrashing and kicking, clawing at his face and neck until the sedate feeling of lack of blood flow took over her body. She heard Jett snarling, trying to come and fight for her but men came and held him back. She seen booted feet running over, ignoring the BlackStone alpha’s snarl to stay back.

“James look… The video recording… She didn't do this. She survived this. You are killing her James. You are killing your mate!” Alaric had shouted, trying not to interfere, trying to not challenge his alpha, and trying to get the fool to see the truth.

Cassidy stopped fighting, happy at least someone seen what happened in that prison. Happy that Jett was still alive for now. The last thought she had before her body went limp in the alpha’s jaws was one of the man who was killing her. ‘James…’ she thought softly, repeating his name for the first time she had heard it just as she succumbed and passed out.