No, it’s the, “Oh my god, is that a severed head?” screamed by one of the soldiers, and I turn in time to see Leon wind up and send what is, in fact, a severed head into the middle of the group like this is a goddamn bowling alley and those panicked bastards are the pins.
Thank god.
I didn’t want them to come, didn’t want any of my mates putting themselves in danger, but Tatiana wasn’t something I had to factor in before.
I have to keep her safe, I have to protect her, and I can’t do that by myself.
Hell, I can’t dolifeby myself, not now that I have a pack that I would literally kill and die for, not when we have this little girl to protect, and raise, and love. Things changed completely when Tatiana was thrown into the ring, and I’m going to fight tooth and nail to make sure we all come out swinging.
Running as fast as I can with bruised ankles and a four year old in my arms, I search for somewhere to hide her while gunfire rings out into the space behind us.
There.
About twenty feet away is a janitor’s closet, far enough away from the action that she won’t catch a stray bullet, but close enough to be able to grab her if it gets too intense to stay inside.
I yank open the door and carefully place her in the corner, sliding a mop bucket and other odds and ends in front of her before I crouch down to her level.
“I have to go help my pack,” I say as a smile touches my lips. “I have to helpourpack, Tatiana. Your brothers are out there, and they need me.”
Her eyes go wide as she wipes away a few stray tears. “Michi and Neato?”
Oh my god, my fucking heart.“Yes,MichiandNeato.They’re my mates, and we have three more. They’re good men, and they’re going to love you just as much as your brothers do. Just as much… Just as much as I do. But that’s why I have to go help them. They need me so we can all get out of here together, okay?”
“Okay,” she says as I go to stand, but she grabs my hand and keeps me in place. “Tati.” I frown and she giggles a little. “That’s what my brothers call me.Tati. You, too, mkay?”
I smile wide as I nod. “Got it. My name is Liv, but you can call me anything you want.”
“I’ll tink of sumpin.”
Yeah, this kid has already stolen my heart, and she is definitely mine.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.” I get to my feet and crack open the door, peering out into the open space and looking for an immediate threat. “No matter what you hear, do not leave this closet. Don’t open the door, and only answer if it’s me, or one of your brothers. After I walk out, I want you to crouch down and stay as small as you can, and be as quiet as a mouse. Can you do that for me, Tati?”
I turn to face her and she nods.
She is the spitting image of both of my mates.
It’s wild how much she looks like both of them while still looking like her own person. I really hope she turns out to be an omega, I don’t know if I can handle two Dimitris running around. I can barely handle the one, and I’m in love with that fucker.
“Sit tight, stay hidden. I’ll be right back.”
Then I’m slipping out the door and running back to the last place any of us should be.
“That’s Halloween,” Styx yells as he comes into view. “Jason didn’t have a theme song!”
My beta slams a brick into the side of some guy’s head as he runs after Leon, who is swinging a machete like it’s a fucking baseball bat, the alpha singing whatisthe Halloween theme song as the blade gets lodged in the skull of a different soldier.
“But. He. Had,” Leon grunts as he tugs on his weapon and tries to pull it free. “The. Machete!”
I race past the two of them, relieved to see them engaged in their normal banter, and relatively uninjured, considering there are a lot of bullets flying and they just crashed a plane into the side of a building.
My head throbs as I jump over a stack of pallets, my ears ringing as I slide under a shelf then army crawl the best I can toward a discarded combat shotgun, grab the incredibly illegal weapon and check to see if it’s still loaded.
Thank god.
“Kitten, your face.”
I jump as Niko slides next to me, his eyes scanning every bloody bruise. “You scared the hell out of me.”
