Chapter 7: Rescue

Minutes bled into hours as I sat on the bed, waiting for Nicholas to appear like a knight in shining armor, with the futon and his company. I was lonely, and the animal wanted her mate close. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to see him smile again. I wanted it took.

Five became six, six became seven, and before I knew it, it was midnight. Still, no Nicholas, not even a scent.

A girl had brought up food not long after I'd arrived at the room, a massive tray full of soups and breads and pasta. I'd made up for my skipped meals, eating the food, left with nothing to entertain me. He didn't have a television in his room, something I'd always had growing up. He hadn't any books, any games. I read the back of the movies in his box, then grew bored and tucked them away. I wasn't exactly sure why he had movies in his room but no television.

For a while, I snooped. I sniffed at all of his shirts, eyed up his collection of watches, even tested out his cologne. I was bored, and I didn't want to leave the room, not with the risk of running into Jasmine again. I wasn't sure how to handle her just yet, so I thought it best to avoid her.

I took another shower, changing back into the clothes from dinner. They were a few hours old, and I hadn't anything else to wear, save for Nick's clothes - and even then, they were far too large. While it was cute, the idea of him coming in to see me curled up in one of his button downs, they were too large to be very comfortable. I felt naked, exposed, in something that big.

At some point, I began to doze off on the bed, being lulled into a sleep I so desperately needed after the day I'd had, and then I heard it.

Gunshots. Screaming.

My entire body jumped as the world erupted into chaos. My sensitive ears heard the noise, the screaming, the pain. I wasn't sure I understood what was happening, but I sat up and scrambled for my glasses, pulling them on and glancing around the dimly lit room, the only light coming from the sky outside, the sun just beginning to burn up the sky. My body felt heavy, and it begged me to go back to sleep - but another gunshot sounded, and adrenaline filled me, making my chest tight and my hands began to shake.

More gunshots. Closer.

Nick had enemies. A lot of enemies. From the stories I'd heard, just about everyone wanted him dead. He'd killed this one and that one and some other one - if they were as true as everyone seemed to think they were, I shouldn't be surprised that someone wanted to come in and kill him. Or kill his brand new mate before they could make heirs.

I scrambled to my feet, unable to breathe as another gunshot sounded. Closer. Feet, I heard feet. Shouting that I couldn't distinguish from friend and foe. Screaming.

I looked around for a hiding place, some place that wasn't obvious. The closet, the bathroom, under the bed - all too obvious. I eyed the dresser for a moment before running towards it, laying flat on my back and shimmying beneath it. It was a tight fit, my head forced to the side, not much room for my chest to expand and breathe.

The door slammed open and bodies moved in. The smells were jumbled as I tried to differentiate them. I could recognize a few from the dining hall, very faint, but then, one by one, three began to stick out.

Shit.

"Where the hell is my daughter?" I heard my mother shout, smelling gunpowder in the air just as strongly as her own scent. She had a gun, and she'd pulled the trigger. A lot.

"I don't know!" A girl began to sob, the noise quickly becoming a whimper. I gave a grunt and the room went silent, forcing my head out from under the dresser. Slowly, like a phoenix, I slid my body out, staring at the scene in horror.

My mother stood at the head of the battalion, dressed entirely in black. Bags hung beneath her eyes, her cheeks hollowed. It'd been only a day, and she already looked like hell. She held a girl, maybe sixteen, hand knotted through her hair, the gun pressed against her back. The smell wafted off of her, thick and silvery, and I caught sight of a wound in her shoulder.

Behind her, Candy and Tyler stood. Both looked crazed, wild, and I knew there was more animal present than human. They held guns, they smelled of gun powder - as did the other dozen people behind them, all people I recognized vaguely from our pack as family heads. I doubted these were all of the troops in the house, and more gunshots further away assured me of this.

I felt sick. This wasn't my family; they weren't bloodthirsty maniacs. They'd become this for me. They'd thought I was being beaten and mistreated. While Nick was... complicated, this entire place was, I didn't dislike it. I was adjusting. This, this was my life now. If I wanted Nick, I got the pack, so I decided to try to enjoy both. Perhaps the pack didn't love me, but they would one day, or so I hoped. I'd prove myself to them eventually.

"Darcy?" My mom said, relief flooding her features at the sight of me. "Oh, honey, you're okay - we're here to save you. Come on, while we still have a chance." She encouraged, but I just stood there.

I felt guilty. I hadn't told her to come get me, sure, but she'd done this for me. Gone through all this trouble for me, to rescue me. And I didn't need it. I was here, trying to fall in love while she'd been losing her mind with worry for me. I could only imagine the favors she'd needed to call to get this army here.

"Mom... I can't." I said, brows furrowing, lips turning down in a pout. "Nick isn't as bad as you thought, as everyone thinks. He's nice, we're trying to make this all work. I can't leave, I can't just give up on him."

Maybe it was sugar coating a little. He wasn't exactly nice, but he wasn't not nice. He'd said it himself; he wanted to be prince charming. That had to be worth something. I had to believe he was trying in his own way. He seemed set on the idea that he was this big bad guy, he'd even convinced Natalie, but I wasn't buying it. He had a heart of gold deep down. He had to.

"Darcy, this man kills innocent people," Tyler snapped, taking a step towards me. "You always want to fix people, save them, but you can't fix this guy. He's on the dark side, and you need to... come back to the light. Before it's too late, before his black hole sucks you in."

Candy was the only one who seemed to think about how conflicted I was in this moment. trigger finger dropping to her side, she tucked it into the waist of her pants like some undercover cop and moved towards me, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a suffocating hug. "Darcy, come home with us. Before it's to late, before you can't." She whispered into my ear, and I felt my heart squeeze.

I was conflicted. Terrified. I was afraid everything he'd told me was true, that I'd be stuck with a man I couldn't rescue from the darkness that plagued his heart. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to leave. But what scared me more, was the idea of leaving him. Every instinct I had told me to be angry at them for even suggesting I leave him, suggesting I give up on him. We were made for each other, there was no mistake there. He was made a little rough around the edges, and I was made to soften him up.

More shouting. Gunshots, screams, this time only from the hallway. I felt that electric buzz in my blood that told me who it was, who was coming for me, and the excitement radiated off of me. I held my breath as my little rescue team turned around, guns up, and Nick was lit up like a Christmas tree with red dots, everyone ready to pull the trigger.

He didn't even look at the gun's ready to kill him. He just stared over them at me, and the relief in his face reassured me of my decision. He wasn't heartless, he'd been worried about me.

"Mom, stop." I said quietly, tears filling my eyes and my voice cracking. "Call them off."

"No way in hell."

I began shoving. Every one of them, I shoved aside with all of my force, fighting my way to the front and blocking his body with my own. I knew instincts would have me take a bullet for him, and I wasn't sure I really wanted to prove that extent of my feelings at the moment, but I knew they wouldn't shoot me. I was the entire reason for the rescue party, after all. My mother wouldn't allow it.

"Call them off." I repeated, and I felt Nick's arm snake around my waist. Everywhere his skin touched, even through the clothes, made my skin rise in goosebumps. He tried to shove me to the side, but I held my ground, refusing to move.

More footsteps. More bodies, more faces, appearing at the doorway. Among them, I caught the scent of Dante and Natalie.

And then the real chaos began.

"Oh my god..." Candy whispered, the gun in her hand dropping to the ground with a clatter that made me jump.

Nicks hold on me tightened as he moved to the side, witching with a neutral expression as Dante walked past him, past the army of guns, straight to Candy - smashing his lips against her's in a kiss she reciprocated. In seconds, she was in his arms, long legs wrapped around him, his hand threaded through her hair, and the arousal in the air made my nose scrunch up.

"Mom, call them off." Tyler said, his tone empty, and when I glanced at him, he was moving forward in time to meet Natalie. His own lips met hers, hard and fast, and his hands began to roam her body, her arms wrapped around his neck.

It was silent, tense and confused and bewildered. My hands squeezed Nick's arm, light, unsure of what came next, of what to do.

The next to speak was my mother.

"Shit."