I forced myself to stay glued to the spot.
The smell of her blood was driving my beast crazy. I wanted to allow the shift to take place and rip the bastard apart.
My eyes searched for weak spots. He wore clothes made for protection. Our claws couldn’t pierce through the material. He wore suits that were made by GND to protect themselves whenever they needed to do tests. Everything was destroyed in that fire when the facility was taken down. How had he gotten it? Who was he? Why was he here? How had he gotten onto our territory? I bit back the growl. He might just take it as a threat and kill Val.
It was a man, that I was sure of. I could tell by his height and build.
My mind trailed back to what we found when we returned home. The guards weren’t by the door when we arrived. We found them dead in the closet. Wrin was shot with some kind of dart that knocked him unconscious. By then we knew something had happened to Val. There was no sign of her in the bedroom, and then we were alerted that someone had spotted a black-glad figure moving towards the northern border. If he got across, we’d never be able to find Val again.
“Where are they?” I heard the man mutter.
My eyes narrowed. Who? Who was helping him? I glanced at Devon. Our eyes locked. Relieve filled me when he gave me a small nod. He had a plan. I just hoped his plan didn’t include Val getting hurt in the process.
“What do you want with her?” he questioned him.
The man jerked as if he had forgotten that we were even there. His eyes darted between us and then past us to search the woods. There was no one here but us. The two enforcers that were with us had gone back to get more help. Where were they?
“Nothing,” the man muttered, shifting from foot to foot. “They offered me money to get her. I need the money.”
“We will give you double,” I instantly told him.
For a second my hope rose because he looked tempted to agree, but then he shook his head. Frustration washed through me. We needed to get him to let her go before we could attack. Val needed to be far away from that knife. My eyes trailed over the parts of his body that were visible from behind hers. I couldn’t see any more weapons, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have any. One wrong move and he could slit her throat.
“I-I can’t,” he stuttered. “I take the money and I’d be dead before I could spend a dime.”
“We’ll protect you,” Devon said. “Hand our mate over to us and tell us what you know. We will offer you protection in return. The money will be yours as well.”
His lips opened and closed. My eyes dropped to Val. I took in the blue tint to her lips and her pale skin. The urgency to save her rose a few notches. She was barefoot and dressed in only a shirt. It was below zero degrees. If he didn’t kill her, the cold certainly would. My hands twitched. I calculated the chances of reaching her and snapping his neck before he could kill her.
I snarled. Val’s body jerked in fright. My eyes snapped back up to hers. Her eyelids were getting heavy. She was fading.
“Y-you can do that?” the man asked. “Protect me from them?”
“Yes.” I glanced at Devon. “Payment and protection for the life of our mate, and information on who sent you to collect her.”
He caught his bottom lip with his teeth. Wild eyes darted around the woods. His hold on the knife tightened. Val’s lips parted and a small gasp escaped. I took a step forward but Devon’s hand shot out to grip my arm. I flashed sharp teeth at him but stayed in place. Leaves rustled. Sticks snapped. There was a soft click before everything fell silent. It wasn’t the sound of paws hitting the ground. Devon’s frown deepened.
He tilted his face up slightly and sucked in a deep breath. I did the same. Nothing smelled out of place. There was another soft click. More leaves rustling. My eyes snapped forward when I saw movement from the corner of my eyes. Val jerked her arm forward and slammed it back hard into the man’s ribs.
“No!”
It all happened at once. The man grunted and jerked back from the pain. The knife slid across her skin as she jerked forward and threw her body away from him. A loud bang filled the air at the same time that happened. The man’s body jerked. He stumbled backward a few feet before he hit the ground with a small hole in the middle of his forehead. I ran straight for Val, grabbed her around her waist, and hauled her body up against mine. Then I ran for cover behind a thick tree. I pressed her back against the tree and stepped in front of her. My eyes darted around us to search for any movement.
“C-cold.”
I hesitated and then kicked off one boot. Reaching down, I pulled off my sock. I repeated the process until I held both socks in my hand. Kneeling in front of her, I gripped one ankle and gently raised her leg. Her skin felt like ice cubes. I rubbed her foot to warm it up before slipping the sock and boot on. When I was done, I straightened and tugged my sweater off.
“Hold out your arms, doll.”
A whimper fell from her lips but she slowly obeyed the order. I gently tugged the sweater over her head and down her body. My eyes lingered on her legs. The sweater fell just under her knees. I pulled my shirt off and ripped it to create some kind of protection for her against the cold. I glanced at her neck next. There was blood, but thankfully not a lot, which meant that he hadn’t slid her throat as it looked like. I still needed to cover the wound and get her to the hospital. Where’s the fucking backup?
I was too scared to move from cover encase we were shot at again. A shot to any part of her body could be deadly. Stepping closer, I tugged her body against mine. She shivered and pressed her face against my neck. I carefully leaned over to glance around the tree. Movement from across us caught my attention. I tensed, but my body relaxed when I realized that it was Devon. He had shifted which gave him a better advantage.
“D-Devon,” Val whispered against my skin. “T-They want to k-kill y-you.”
We had a lot of enemies. A lot of other packs wanted to kill us. Was this related to the earlier attacks weeks ago? Why did they take Val? Why not any other member of the pack? Did they know what she meant to us? Was this the work of a nearby pack that wanted to take over leadership?
Or this could be related to the man asking about Val.
Once we get home, we needed to weigh all our options and narrow it down to possible suspects. Not only was Val’s life in danger, but our pack’s too. We needed to eliminate the threat before more people died. A howl suddenly broke the silence. Val’s body jerked against mine. A few seconds later another howl pierced the air. Two more followed. I leaned down and pressed my lips against her ear.
“It’s to let us know that they’re in position. Help has arrived.” I pressed a kiss against her cheek. “I’m going to shift and then I want you to climb onto my back and hold on.”
She shook her head. I pressed my lips against hers to silence her. Val whimpered and reached up to grip my shoulders. Putting her on my back would expose her, but it was the only option I had left. She needed medical care and she needed it fast. I moved back and reached up to unbuckled the belt. Pushing my pants down my legs, I stepped back.
“I need you to put on my pants.”
“Too big.”
“I’ll make them fit.”
It was hard but I managed to use the belt to keep them up so they wouldn’t slip off. I allowed the shift to take over. Pain shot through me when my bones snapped and rearranged themselves to create my new form. I nudge her stomach with my snout before sliding my body along hers. When she didn’t move, I repeated the action. My side pressed against her front. It was a clear sign for her to climb on, but still, she hesitated. I gave her a low warning growl. That got her moving. Val gripped my fur and swung her leg over my back. I wince when she pulled some hairs a little too hard. Lowering my front body, I shook my ass to help her slid onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I winced when the boots dug into my balls.
I turned, sniffed the air, and then took off in the opposite direction from where the enforcers were approaching. Val kept a tight hold on me with her arms and legs as I darted through the trees.
It was when her hold started to loosen that worry hit me. I couldn’t afford to slow down, but I didn’t want her to fall off and get hurt. Relief hit me when I caught sight of light through the trees. We were almost there. Just a few more feet. I was almost out of the tree line when another loud bang echoed around the forest.
Val’s body jerked, and a loud gasp fell from her lips. Her hands tightened and then loosened.
I slowed as I cleared the trees. My eyes instantly fell on Wrin. He moved closer. I nodded to Val and waited for him to carefully remove her from my back. Wrin muttered a curse as he stepped back.
My eyes shot up to his, but he was focused on her and not me. I quickly shifted and turned towards them. Wrin had lowered her to the ground. I growled and stepped forward, ready to rip him apart for placing her on the cold snow, but then I caught sight of the blood on her shoulder. Wrin glanced up at me.
“She was shot. Looks like a clear shot. Through and through.”
“Fuck!” I roared. “Alert the clinic.”
I picked her up and held her tightly against my chest as I ran towards the clinic. My eyes kept darting down to her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing labored. Blood soaked the shirt over her left shoulder. I should’ve stopped the bleeding first. She was going to bleed out. I growled and hurried my pace. Wrin had run ahead of me to alert the doctors.
The clinic doors were already wide opened when I reached them. The moment I entered, a nurse attached herself to my side. She guided me into a room close by and ordered me to lower Val onto the bed. I did as she said and stepped aside as more people rushed into the room. I fought the urge to snap at them for touching her. The shirt was torn down her front. I growled, stepping forward to rip the doctor apart for exposing her, but hands gripped my arms and tugged me out of the room.
I fought until I was slammed against the wall. The air was knocked from my lungs. Wrin pressed his arm across my neck and flashed sharp teeth at me. I growled at him. The urge to fight and show him who was boss made my claws slip out. He pressed his arm tighter against my neck.
“Calm,” he rasped. “I’m not challenging you.”
“Let go.”
“If I let go, you need to remain calm. They can’t treat her if you’re snarling and snapping at them.” He slowly pulled his arm away as he stepped back.
Waiting was killing me.
Wrin had handed me some pants to wear and then took a seat. I paced back and forth in the hall as I waited. Devon stormed into the clinic ten minutes later. Wrin filled him in on what had happened. I flinched when he spun around and slammed his fists into the wall. The plaster fell to the floor when he pulled his fists out of the hole he had created. A nurse rushed forward but a snarl from Devon had him hurrying away.
“There were two shooters.” He turned to me. “I took down one, the other one escaped. Three enforces found two cars parked a few feet from the border. More weapons were found inside.”
“And humans?” I asked softly.
He shook his head. “No sign of them. I have everyone on high alert. The woman, children, and elderly have been escorted to the packhouse.”
I nodded. There was still the danger of more hunters running around the forest. Someone could try to take Val again. I turned when I heard the door creak open. The doctor walked out of the room with a clipboard in his hand. His eyes darted between Devon and me. I couldn’t tell whether he was about to deliver bad news or good.
“How’s Val?” Devon asked.
“She’s in shock, but fine.” He glanced down at the clipboard. “The bullet went through and through. No muscle or nerve damage. The cut on her neck was thankfully minor. The knife just grazed her skin. I’ve ordered to have some more tests done just to be on the safe side. We don’t know if he had injected her with something.”
“We want to see her,” I spoke up.
“Of course. I gave her a mild sedative and something for the pain.”
“What about the cold?” I asked before he could walk away. “The fucker pulled her out of bed.”
“Your mate is tough, Alpha. The Lycan blood inside her is tougher than we thought. I will inform you once I have the test results.”
Devon pushed the door open and entered the room. I followed close behind him. My eyes were instantly drawn to the bed in the middle of the room. They had changed her into a hospital gown before covering her with a thick blanket. I took in the drip and other wires she was attached to. Her eyes fluttered and then slowly opened.
“Hey, baby,” Devon muttered. “How are you feeling?”
Her lips parted but no words escaped. I moved to the other side of the bed and took her hand. She clutched my hand tightly. I stroked her knuckles with my thumb as Devon talked to her. After a few minutes her eyelids began to droop.
“Don’t leave me,” she slurred softly.
“Never,” I whispered.
Her lips pulled up into a small smile. I sighed when her hold on my hand loosened as she fell asleep. It would be a few hours before she woke again. I glanced up at Devon. He was staring down at her. As if sensing my eyes on him, he glanced up at me. My lips parted, but the door opened before I could utter a word.
The doctor hurried into the room. His eyes widened slightly when he saw us standing beside the bed. The color slowly drained from his face. He licked his lips and then cleared his throat.
“A-Alpha,” he stuttered. “I h-have news.”
“Spit it out!” Devon growled.
“She’s pregnant. Your mate is pregnant.”