\[Elise’s POV\]
I rush forward while Rosco’s inaudible yells drift past me. As I move, I can hear a commotion taking place right where I’m heading, and by the time I reach them, I find them—three men working to break the lock of my piece-of-shit father’s cell.
“No, you don’t!” I growl, peeling off my clothes so I can shift.
At my words, two of the men turn and pull knives from their sides while their buddy continues what he is doing.
‘So they’re human.’ Anna huffs in amusement. ‘They should be easy to take care of.’
‘Don’t underestimate the enemy.’ I counter, knowing damn well that even though they could just be humans skilled in sword fighting, they could also possess some other abilities or have some tricks up their sleeves.
Baring my teeth, I let a snarl rip through me before I’m moving forward, testing my theory.
Letting out a yell, the two men move as one, swinging their weapons at me. However, before they can hit me, I leap backwards.
‘So they’re quick.’ I murmur inwardly. ‘Well, I bet I’m quicker.’
Fixing my gaze on the bastard working his hardest to free my father, I move again, timing my attack just right so the two goonies’ weapons clang together while I jump over them.
‘You’re mine!’ I hiss as Anna lets out a howl of excitement. ‘I won’t let you...'
Gasping, I look down to find a needle sticking out of my paw, and when I turn to take in the goons, I find that they’re moving again.
Cursing, I avoid their first attack but struggle to miss the next as my body begins to grow weaker.
‘Shit, that needle was laced.’ I hiss to Anna. ‘I need you to lend me more of your strength.’
‘No problem,’ she responds, sending a surge of new vigor through me.
Taking advantage of it, I move, swiping my claws along one of the goon's sides while the other stabs his weapon into my waist.
‘Fuck!’ I growl, ignoring the pain rushing through me, while I attack again, this time knocking one of the goons to the ground and swiping my claws along his eyes.
As a wail of pain escapes him, I twist around to grab the hilt of the sword that is still planted in me and remove it. Dropping it on the ground, I move, going for the remaining goon.
Once I’ve got him down, I turn just in time to see the final one stepping back while the door to my father’s cell begins to open.
Shit! I needed to stop this, but how?
With no other option, I attack the final man, ripping his throat with one bite, and then wait until he appears. The fucker who haunted my dreams and waking moments with his smug, fucking face. When he sees me, he lets a smile spread across his lips while his eyes lift to the roof above his head, and as I watch on, it explodes and more of the cloaked bastards appear, swarming him and then working to break his chains.
No! I shriek inwardly when the silver bars that remain keep me out and him in. NO! He can’t! But there’s nothing I can do but watch as he is freed.
“You weren’t quick enough.” He laughs, fixing his gaze on mine. “But you did your best.”
As he speaks, he grabs ahold of a rope that is dropped to him, and after giving me one last triumphant sneer, I throw myself against the silver bars. And despite them burning into my flesh, I don’t stop fighting until he is out of sight.
Moving back, I turn and begin to move, understanding that there was nothing else to be done here. Right now, my biggest concern is Serenity and Denali. If our father was taken by these bastards, it was pretty damn clear that he had something to do with all of this, and that left me with a bad feeling.
As I move, I find Rosco and Warren finishing off their opponents, and when they spot me, they move, flanking me.
Together, we move up to the main floor of Emerald Moon’s packhouse and toward Denali’s room while I pray to the goddess that both she and Serenity are alright.
When I reach their room, the overpowering scent of blood attacks my senses.
‘Someone’s hurt!’ Anna gasps as I slam my body into the door, sending it flying forward.
Please don’t let it be the baby. I whisper to the goddess while burst forward and taking in the room around me.
With wide eyes, I stare at the blood that covers every single surface, and when my eyes come to rest on a single figure being cradled in Denali’s arms, I hear a roar of outrage rip through the air from behind me.
I don’t have enough time to get out of the way before I’m being pulled and thrown to the side while Rosco rushes forward, grabbing the woman, who I can only assume is his mother from Denali.
For a moment, I don’t move as I watch the whole scene unfold. However, I soon tear my gaze away and continue to scan the room.
With each passing minute that I don’t see Serenity, my heart begins to kick up speed, and when true fear begins to consume me and I’m ready to jump through the fucking window and chase, the sound of fabric shuffling draws my attention to her crib.
Thank the goddess. I sigh, shifting back into my human form and moving forward until I’m standing right beside the crib and staring at a pile of blankets.
“You’re safe, little one.” I murmur, uncovering her precious face. “I’m sorry I was too late to protect your grandma, but I promise it won’t happen again.”
“What happened to you?” Denali asks, coming up behind me.
“Shouldn’t you be focusing on your injured mother-in-law?” I ask instead.
“Rosco has already taken her to the infirmary. Her injuries aren’t too severe, but she took a serious hit to the head.”
“Mmm. That’s good.”
Turning away from Serenity, I begin to take in my sister to make sure that she doesn’t have any serious injuries, and that’s when I see blood trickle out of the side of her mouth.
“You pushed yourself.” I murmur, wiping it away. “Has your husband noticed yet?”
“Not yet,” she admits, blushing. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell him. It was the only way to keep his mother from being killed.”
“That’s none of my business.” I shrug. “That’s between you and your husband.”
Nodding, Denali takes me in until her eyes come to rest on the wound on my side.
“You’re hurt!” She gasps, ripping off a piece of her shirt and attempting to staunch my bleeding. “Here, let me...”
“I’m fine!” I snap out of habit. “Sorry,” I continue when she gives me a look of hurt. “It’s just…”
“Right, you aren’t used to kindness. What happened before you came here?”
“That bastard father of ours escaped.” I huff, thankful for the distraction from my unease over being rude to someone who was trying to take care of me. “If I had to take a wild guess, he is helping the ones after Serenity. And since he is free, we need to be on full alert until we get rid of him and whoever he is working for."
As the words leave my lips, the world around me sways, and I realize Anna's power, which she gave me, is wearing off.
"But before that," I slur, feeling my legs give out. "Catch me."