Arynn, the omega, was there along with Bodhi, the beta. I walked up to the beta and, in as few words as possible, told him in a whisper too low for the others to hear. The immediatechange in Bodhi had me stepping back. “You two, over here now.” Bodhi pointed at the McCartneys. The other pack members formed a band around them, making sure the elder couple couldn’t escape. They didn’t need to know why Bodhi was ordering them to him, only that he’d taken the place of Kellen in his absence.
Mr. McCartney was the first to comply, while his wife’s face contorted into one of loathing. “You and your filth use this pack and this club like a whorehouse with a swinging door. Your alpha is a sadist who takes pleasure in hurting the females of the pack, and yet they can’t wait to come crawling back. I would never allow my family to become part of such depravity, and when my nephew and his pack wipe the likes of you from here, I’ll be revered, instead of used as a gatekeeper of a whorehouse,” Mrs. McCartney spat.
The depth of her hate resounded around the space. “The man on the other end said they were five minutes out about a minute ago. We’re sitting ducks down here, not knowing how many he’s bringing, especially not knowing where he’ll come at us. I suggest we go up to the club and change the master lock key code. Kellen can still override it, but I’m assuming they gave their nephew access. If we change it now, it may buy us a few extra minutes.”
Bodhi’s voice came out more like a growl. Arynn nodded before taking off at a jog toward the computer room.
“Since I don’t have the authority to kill you yet, that means you are both coming with us, but I do have the right to do this,” Bodhi said, knocking Mr. McCartney unconscious in one swift move. The look he gave Mrs. McCartney said he’d like to do a lot worse to her.
The older woman’s scent had changed from defiance to fear the moment I had produced her way of contacting the other pack. It increased even more at the hate coming off Bodhi. Istepped up to the older woman. “You’ve betrayed the pack and will be sentenced as such. You know Kellen will not let you go just because you are a woman and an elder. Bodhi is clearly too much of a gentleman to do it, but I don’t share his problem.” With a flash of my fangs, I hauled my arm back and punched the older woman.
“Damn, girl, I knew I loved you.” Bodhi eyed me up and down. “Too bad you’ve gotten mated to another. Now, let’s head up. Time’s a-ticking. Bring the traitors with you and tie them up. Use extreme force.”
“Kellen and the boys are on their way back. Bad news, their time frame is longer than five minutes. They were taken on a wild goose chase, it seems.” Arynn growled. Being the omega meant he could communicate with all the members without disrupting whatever they were doing. His wolf and the male were attuned to their well-being, which had to suck sometimes.
I grabbed his hand. “Is Rowan okay?”
“Oh, your mate is fine. Pissed beyond belief, but fine.”
Dread coiled within me as I pounded up the walkway back to the club. No doubt we’d be facing an army of wolves out for blood, whether we were ready or not. Fear was like a knot in the pit of my stomach. The other wolves took up places in front and behind me, acting as protectors. Bodhi’s face could’ve been carved in stone.
“Don’t even think to move from the spot we put you. If I tell you to stay put, you stay put. If I say jump….” He raised his eyebrow.
“I’ll say, how high?” I answered.
He took a step closer, handsome features darkening as his body towered over me. “No, you will already be jumping. I say this not to be an overbearing ass, but because it could be the difference between life and death. Kellen and Xan haveentrusted me with your life, and now your mate has done the same. I will see to your safety, and you will do as I say.”
I swallowed what I worried was the beginning of a sob. All these wolves would give their lives before they allowed anything to happen to me. “Bodhi, I will hide in a box if it means I am not a distraction. I promise you this, though. I am a fighter. Both Kellen and my brother made sure Syn and I could fight off an amorous wolf.”
Arynn’s voice interrupted us. “The codes are changed.” He looked around the large bar. “Every exit has been blocked, which means they have to come at us from the front. Or we will know when they breach the inner sanctum.”
The tables were bolted down for the occasional—or frequent—brawl. While we waited, the guys gathered the chairs and stacked them against the walls, clearing the space for the upcoming battle. Several men had already shifted, using their heightened senses. I shifted from one foot to the other. Hesitation and concern heightened my worry for our safety. Most of the men who’d been called in were unmated and had vowed to always put pack first. What had happened in the first place that could cause an all-out war?
“Should I shift?” I asked gravely.
Bodhi frowned at me, his need to take action burning through his gaze. “It doesn’t matter what form you take. You will be no match for a dominant wolf, chérie.”
The usual pain knifed through me, but I wouldn’t allow it to defeat my purpose. They had never seen me in action. Syn and I were always treated as cosseted princesses, so his words didn’t surprise me. I lifted my chin. “Tell me what you want me to do, and then you go do your thing. I can and will fight, Bodhi. Surely, they will be beating down the doors any minute.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, a sure sign he didn’t like my words or my actions. “Go behind the bar. If they make it throughthe front line, you get into the safest position you can, and you do your damnedest to stay alive. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” I snapped.
His voice dropped to a low timbre. “I lost my baby sister years ago. I won’t let that happen to Xan’s if I can help it.”
Though my heart ached for his loved one, I wouldn’t stand back and allow the men to die while I hid in fear. His eyes held the misery of years, and I silently vowed to stand my ground.
Thunder rumbled outside, almost drowning out the noise of incoming feet. Flashes of lightning lit up the windows, allowing the shadows of our enemies to be seen for seconds at a time. Everyone inside the club took up position, watching the silent figures slither closer. Not a soul dared breathe.
We had enemies coming at us from two sides. If my nose was correct, over fifteen shifters approached—ten from the front, five in the tunnels. We were outnumbered. I saw what Turo, one of the bartenders, called the equalizer, strapped under the counter. He’d probably want to beat my ass when he learned I used his precious AR-15. What the hell ever that was, but I could give two shits. All I cared about in that moment was that he always kept a full magazine in it, and Turo had said it was thirty percent more accurate than his AK-47.
The weapon's lightness almost made me drop it. I’d been shooting rifles for years and felt secure that my aim was good enough. When the first door collapsed under the barrage of wolves, chaos reigned like the storm outside. Like the hounds of Hell they were, spittle falling from their jaws, they attacked en masse.
I sat with my back to the wall. My one glance around the corner had sent me scuttling back with my borrowed gun in my lap, and I felt like a coward. The growls and battle sounds were getting louder than the booming thunder outside, drowning out the beating of my heart. A crash alerted me to the front doorbreaking down. The scent of moisture, blown in by the wind, combined with the stench of our enemies, overwhelmed my senses. My body jerked with each of my pack members’ howls.
Alerted by murmurs of approaching wolves coming around the bar, I tucked myself into a tight ball, inwardly cursing my cowardice. One hand clasped the gun while I peered out of the small space. Not two feet from me was a mangy wolf that looked diseased. His yellow eyes rotated this way and that before he lifted his lips in a snarl, distracted by the smell of liquor. Behind him, another wolf looking just the same nudged him, swiping at his side with claws not quite as deadly as my own.
The biggest challenge was shooting the gun in a half shift. Eventually, they moved away, returning as if they sensed something was amiss. Taking a deep breath, I made sure the gun was ready to fire. The sound of howls and growls increased. Even through the mayhem, the two wolves now stalking me weren’t deterred from their search. It was as if they’d been given my scent.
