Chapter 24

Chapter 24
Rika
She tried to pretend like she was asleep when she heard the Alpha and the Beta approaching her door. When they came in, the Beta grabbed her arm, yanking her up. Her eyes snapped open as she started to struggle a little, whimpering.
“P-please, I-I don’t know what you want from me,” she begged, hating the part she had to play. They had worked so hard to break her, and her plan would only work if she made them think that they had succeeded. She was shaken violently.
“We are going to introduce you to somebody today, and if you don’t give us what we want, she will die!”
Rika trembled. “I don’t know what you want,” she whispered.
Havana growled in her head. ‘We know what they want. They want me. They want to use me. We have held back, but we cannot allow this girl to die. Not for us.’
Rika lowered her head to hide that her eyes had turned golden in color with a larger pupil, resembling more of a bird than a human.
“Please, just let me go. I swear, I won’t tell-”
The Beta slapped her. “Shut up!”
Rika fell silent as they dragged her out of the cell to the roof of the building, where three more men held chains that were wrapped around a young woman’s neck. The woman was covered in bruises, and her hair was so tangled that it was matted to her scalp. She had tears coursing down her face. Rika tried to take a step toward her, but was yanked back as the Beta and Alpha laughed at her. She started struggling.
“Just tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you. Just let her go,” Rika begged.
As the Beta snapped his fingers, the girl was forced up on the ledge of the building by two of the men that had been standing behind her. The girl let out a sob as she peered at the ground before looking back at Rika.
“P-please don’t let me die.”
Rika took a deep breath. She hated these assholes for everything they were doing. The girl was clearly terrified and was exactly the type of person that Rika had sworn to protect. This situation might be different from others, but the task was still the same. Protect the innocent. The Beta behind her shook her again before dragging her to the ledge to make her look over it.
“This is what is going to happen. We are going to throw her over the cliff. If you do not shift to save her, she will be dead, and it will be your fault. The first time might not kill her, but every time you fail to save her, we will remove a chain. You have three chances to rescue her before she hits the ground. Let’s begin.”
The girl was shoved over the ledge, screaming as she fell to the ground. Havana perched, ready to shift to save her, but Rika held her back. The Beta growled as the girl was brought back up to the roof, trembling violently with terror in her eyes. Rika watched as the men unraveled one of the chains from around the girl before looking at the Beta beside her, clearly waiting for orders.
“Again,” the Alpha growled.
The girl was thrown over again, falling closer to the ground as she screamed. When she reached the rooftop, her face was frozen in terror. Her eyes had glazed over, and her mouth had blood droplets around it. The men removed the last chain before putting her up on the ledge once more. The girl let out a sob that broke Rika’s heart. Havana pushed forward, making Rika’s skin start to itch in preparation for a shift.
The Alpha barked an order, and the girl was pushed back over. Wings erupted out of the back of Rika’s shoulders as she dove over the edge. Her wings flapped wildly, propelling her toward the ground faster so her now-taloned feet could grasp the girl before her wings moved them upward to avoid crashing into the ground. Immediately after grabbing the girl, Havana changed direction to try to escape the men on the rooftop. Something entered her back, and she started to feel drowsy. She quickly lowered them toward the ground, losing her grip on the girl and her own body a few feet above the ground, sending them both rolling. Havana faded out, forcing Rika to shift back. Rika weakly crawled over to the girl to try to protect her.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them opened up, swallowing them whole, while the sounds of screams came from above them. Havana started to perk back up as the soil heated slightly around her, pulling all of the sedative out of her. When the ground opened back up, two women stood above Rika. One of them tugged Rika up while the other one dropped into the hole to carefully pick up the girl. Rika eyed the woman, cradling the fragile girl in her arms.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Easel, and this is Shadow. What’s your name?” The woman who helped her out of the hole asked.
“I’m Rika, and I’m not sure who she is.”
Shadow laid the girl on the ground before slowly running her hands over her, chanting softly. The girl’s bruises healed, and her hair was untangled. The blood on her skin disappeared, leaving her caramel complexion devoid of any blemishes or dirt. The girl slowly got up, her bottom lip trembling, to throw her arms around Rika.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Rika hugged her back. “You’re okay, honey. What’s your name?”
“Kennedy.”
“Kennedy,” Easel repeated. “Beautiful.”
Kennedy smiled shyly at her. “Thank you.”
Shadow sighed. “Come on. I will take you home to Locust. Your mates are waiting for you.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“To rescue the others.”
Rika narrowed her eyes. “We can drop Kennedy off, but I want to go with you.”
Shadow shook her head. “No. You need to go home. Your-”
Rika jabbed Shadow in the chest. “Listen, bub, I’m going with you. Jay will wait for me. It’s my fucking job to protect people. He knows that. He understands it. He will let me do it!”
Shadow rolled her eyes. “Fine, but don’t expect me to save your life.”
Rika rolled her eyes. “I don’t need you to save me. I can save myself.”
“Whatever.”
Shadow pulled Kennedy into her arms. “Listen to me; there is a woman named Gary there, along with a man named Keith. They are your mates. Ask for them, and I promise you they will keep you safe.”
Kennedy tilted her head back to look up at her. “W-what about you and Easel?”
Shadow glanced at Easel. “What do you mean?”
“I feel safe with you. I want you to stay with me.”
Easel moved Kennedy so that she was caged between their bodies as they rubbed against her. “I swear to you, Kennedy, when our work is done, we will come back to you and we will all be together, but for right now, you need to be with them where it’s safer.”
“Okay,” Kennedy murmured.
Rika grinned. “Little Keithy has mates now? That’s awesome.”
Shadow looked at her curiously. “Wait until you find out who else found their mates.”
“Who?”
“Everybody except Jane, Monica, Zane, and Yola.”
Rika groaned. “Have I really been gone that long?”
“No, but we have discovered that the people who were kidnapped are their mates, so they are in a hurry to find the rest of them. We have four more to find after you and Kennedy. There is one more pack that we already know holds two of them. The other two… we are not sure about.”
“Well, let’s get going, then.” Shadow gripped Kennedy’s face, kissing her softly. “I need you to pass along a message to Keith and Gary. Tell them that Shadow and Easel are okay.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Shadow took a step back before opening a portal. Several startled screams came before Merlot’s voice rang out, ordering everyone back. Easel walked Kennedy toward it before gently pushing her through it.
“Find Keith and Gary,” she called out after her as Shadow closed it, opening another one immediately.
“Let’s go before they trace that last one back here.”
They all rushed through it, and Shadow closed it behind them. Rika looked around, surprised that they were in the middle of the woods and not another pack.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere we can rest. We’re still new to these powers, and we get tired. Was that your first shift?” Shadow asked as she magicked up sleeping bags and a tent.
Rika nodded. “Yes. I refused to shift before because they wanted to use me to hurt people I loved. I wasn’t going to allow that.”
Shadow sat down on the ground, next to where Easel lay. She immediately laid her head on Shadow’s lap, moaning slightly when Shadow began to play with her hair.
“I totally understand that. I wouldn’t allow my powers to hurt my family either. Get some rest, and we will go get the others tomorrow.”
“See you in the morning.”
She turned around to walk a little way into the forest before climbing a tree. Her legs shifted into bird legs with wayward feathers poking out of them, so she could grip the branch in her talons.
‘Get some sleep, Rika. I will watch over us.’
‘I’m glad you finally got to be free,’ Rika whispered.
‘Shhh, new human. Rest now.’
Rika yawned again before letting herself drift off to sleep, dreaming about being back in Jay’s arms.