Chapter 621 Chapter 621
A box truck pulled in and stopped by the front of the building. Before the doors were open, Asher’s cat could smell all the shifters inside, and he wasn’t happy, which told him that many of them were males.
Calum stood in front of Devin with his arms out to the side like he was prepared for a fight. Asher glanced down at Journee. His feet moved before he thought it through and moved in front of her. Clearly, his cat was going to be near the surface during this. He made sure she could see, but he wasn’t taking any chances if this went sideways. For his entire life, rogues were to stay clear of Alliance clans, and now here they were, on the same side of the fence as the rest of them.
Blaise stood near the truck with the leader of the rogues, Cassius, he thought his name was. She had her hand on her gun. He looked behind them at the building. Amari and Tripp were on the roof. Tripp had a rifle in his hand and Amari a handgun.
Noah came out and went over to stand with Griffin. Asher was almost nervous for the rogues. With Griffin, Noah, and Journee here, if any of them had ever worked with Aiden Tomas, they likely weren’t going to survive the first day of their new life.
He was all for more help, especially when it came to guarding areas that housed a lot of shifters. Slowly he looked around again. With those here now, if anything happened, it would cripple the Alliance and their efforts to return every taken shifter to their home.
Raymond nodded, and the back doors opened. He held up his hand to stop anyone from getting out. “You have all agreed to the terms Cassius has explained. You will follow Cassius and his instructions at this time as if your life depended on it.” He paused for a moment. “Because it does.” Motioning to Graham, he backed up so the doors could be opened completely.
The first three out were children. Shaelan moved by Calum, with Christian right at her side. Asher didn’t envy Calum, having to try to watch out for his mate and prince simultaneously. He heard a door close behind him and glanced to see Gage coming out the door, a double-barrel shotgun ready in his hand. His type of protection was the in-your-face kind.
Once Shaelan was assured the children were in decent health, she nodded to Christian, who pulled out some packets from a bag in his hand and gave one to each child. Asher wasn’t sure what was in them but figured it was probably the nicest things these kids had ever had.
A few women climbed down, and his heart beat faster just from seeing their state. Their clothes were threadbare, and their hair was matted. He had to wonder where they’d been holed up for the winter.
“There are showers at the two houses we’re staying in,” Cassius said and stepped forward. “It’s a little cramped right now, but we’re working on some more space.”
“It will be fine if it’s dry and sheltered from the cold.” One of the women said with her head held high. She perused the group standing there and then bowed her head when she reached Devin. Of course, they knew what the prince looked like. Asher glanced at Raymond. The woman had just earned herself some bonus points by doing that.
Two more women with tiny babes got out next. Shaelan was right there, peeking in blankets and talking softly. When she’d looked at both, she turned and looked at the entrance and nodded. Mika and Nichelle came out carrying boxes. Asher could only assume they were filled with items for young babies and new moms. The women looked emotional when they were shown what was inside.
“The Alliance cares for all of theirs,” Raymond said in a serious but quiet voice.
Two of the other women took the boxes for the young moms and nodded their thanks in Devin’s direction.
Asher watched the first male come out of the truck, he was likely around twenty. He expected him to open his mouth and say something stupid, but instead, he nodded to Cassius and then in the prince’s direction and went over to where one of the new moms were standing.
Asher was turning to see if Griffin recognized any of them when something hit him in the side. He turned and caught the crutch that Journee had been using. He jerked his chin around when a screech broke the silence of the moment.
Journee was on a man’s back, holding herself on with one leg wrapped around him, and her very human hand with cat claws was poking into the man’s neck.
“Everyone, stay calm,” Raymond said in a way that got all the others’ attention.
“You left me there to die.” Journee hissed against the man’s ear.
Asher pushed past Calum and walked with cautious steps toward her. If anyone touched a hair on her head, they were going to learn he wasn’t the quiet, agreeable man they thought he was. “Journee…”
Her gaze flicked to him, and his breath got caught in his throat. Her eyes were more cat than they were human. “He left me to die.” She hissed, much like her cat would.
Asher held out his hand and kept moving in her direction, “I get it,” he glanced at the man whose eyes were huge, and Asher was pretty sure he was going to do something that might get him killed. “I do, but,” he motioned back toward Devin, “we need to hear the whole story,” he was only a few feet from her now, “and if you reinjure your leg, that’s it for your cat.” He watched the indecision in her eyes.
When she moved her hand, so her claws weren’t jabbing into the man’s flesh, Asher lurched toward her, peeled her off the man, and turned his back to him in case he had any ideas of retaliation.
“Now,” Raymond said, coming over, “you explain.”
Asher looked over his shoulder to see he was talking to the man. He turned around and set Journee down, making sure to keep his arm around her so she didn’t put too much weight on her leg.
Noah moved through the bodies that had gathered closer, the crutch in his hand. Asher nodded his thanks and took it. With obvious steps, Noah moved to stand beside Asher and not Journee. He wondered briefly if he was afraid but then realized Noah had probably figured out that they were mates.
“I don’t even know her.” The man motioned to Journee.
Journee hissed like a large cat but didn’t move away from Asher’s side. “You left me for dead.” She bumped into his side as she pulled up her sweatshirt to show a long scar down her side. It was pink, and he knew it wasn’t a very old one.
Cassius moved over to stand beside Raymond, “did you attack someone when they were in two-leg form.”
“No.” The man’s voice was hoarse with emotion. “Never.”
“I wasn’t in two-leg form,” Journee admitted.
The man looked at her from head to toe, and Asher’s cat moved through him. “What clan are you.”
“Cheetah,” Asher answered before Journee could.
His mouth dropped open, “that was you?” He held his hands up. “I thought you were a wild one.” He looked at Cassius, then Raymond. “I swear, that area had a lot of them.” He glanced at one of the rogue men he’d come with, who nodded. “We didn’t even know that specie was in that area.”
Movement had Asher tense, He looked over to see Devin giving Calum and then Gage a hard look as he came over. “We need to know the area.” He motioned to Raymond, “It could help us find the island.” Raymond nodded. Devin came over and stopped in front of Journee. He glanced at Asher for a second and then put his hands on his hips. “We need this man, Journee, to find your path back to the island.”
Journee looked at him for a moment and then over at the man. She inhaled slowly and then nodded. “There were a lot of different wild cats in the area.”
Asher’s cat was losing his mind. His mate had been injured, and far too many males were too close to her. He wanted to pick her up and carry her away from all of this. He cleared his throat, “we good for now?”
She looked up at him, and it felt like someone punched him in the gut. Her eyes were back to normal but were filled with memories of pain. Sucking in a breath, she nodded.
“Let’s get you inside so they can check that you didn’t mess up your leg.”
She nodded, giving Devin a quick glance.
“Yeah, go get it checked out.” He stepped aside.
“Journee,” Amari called down, “you and me, girl, you have to show me that move.” She laughed, “And the claws, I need to know how to do that.”
Tripp shook his head and said something to her.
Amari rolled her eyes, “later.”
Journee looked up at Asher, nodded once, and then navigated through the bodies to go back inside.