Page 86 of Chased

And still that entitled jackass didn’t give in. He looked around, nose in the air, and then said, “I don’t know what you all think you’re doing, but this is a private affair. I’ve come for my mate, and under the laws of the Renards, she belongs to me.”

His answer was the sound of dozens of guns cocking, all at the same time.

The men with him began to look uneasy.

Henri said, “You’re bluffing. You can’t shoot me and get away with it. I’m a prominent businessman, and I’m within my rights—”

Sanchez growled, “I’d suggest you shut up about now. You’re in our territory, and some of these guys are easily annoyed. One of them is bound to shoot you any second now. They might even enjoy it.”

“I would,” Madison said. Her gun was still trained on Henri.

“I dunno, babe,” Sanchez said to her. “You might feel bad afterwards.”

Madison said, “But would I really? Because as long as he’s out there, he might try something like this again.”

Jaeda was looking down the barrel of her own rifle at Henri. She said, “Oh, I don’t think he will.”

“You don’t know him like I do.”

She said, “I know guys like him. They hide behind lawyers and money. That’s why I called in the big guns.”

At that moment, Madison heard the sound of helicopter blades thudding in the distance. Henri raised his head. “What’s that?”

Jaeda bared her teeth in a truly terrifying smile. “That’s them.”

Henri started yelling again about his rights, but luckily the sound of the approaching helicopters drowned him out. There were two: A large transport, piloted by Rex, and a smaller one, piloted by Switch.

Both helicopters touched down on a flat area not far from the cave, the wind from their rotors sending grit and debris into the air. They powered down, and then the door to the troop transport opened and Gunn got out, followed by a tall, dark-haired, tattooed man about Madison’s father’s age.

They strode across the dry fall grass, taking in the scene in front of them. Gunn stopped in front of Henri and said, “I’m Gunn Jorgenson, and this is my representative from the Wolf Council. As alpha of the Outlaw Ridge wolf pack, I’m taking you and your men into custody. Now.”

The mercenary surrendered immediately. Henri yelled some more, but no one paid any attention to him. As the Outlaw Ridge soldiers moved in to cuff them all, Jaeda lowered her rifle and smiled at the Wolf Council representative. “Hey, Dad,” she called. “Nice entrance.”

Henri and his whole evil entourage—still protesting—were herded into the troop transport, along with Gunn, Mikey, Jaeda, Jaeda’s dad, Cisco, Matéo and Boomer.

Sanchez and Madison went in Switch’s helicopter, and the rest of the soldiers headed back to the Ridge on foot. Breanna was inside the helo with Switch, and she instantly started fussing over Madison. “Are you all right? Have some hot coffee. I put lots of sugar in it. I can’t believe what that guy tried to do to you! Why didn’t you shoot him? Somebody should have shot him. Do you need clothes? I brought some in case you didn’t have any. Did you have to run barefoot? How are your feet? Are they cut?”

“I’m fine,” she said. She was. All her cuts and scrapes and bruises had healed like magic, when Sanchez had done what he’d done.

Bonded them. She was still buzzing with the afterglow; nothing hurt, and nothing could truly upset her, especially now that Henri was in handcuffs. She and Sanchez were together.

When she dumped the vest and shirt from the cave and put on the ones Breanna had brought, she saw Breanna take in the already-healed scar on her shoulder. Her eyes got big and round, and her mouth made a big “O” before she broke into a pleased squeal and hugged Madison.

It only took a few minutes to get back to the Ridge. From there they packed into a Jeep and headed down the mountain—except not to the compound. They turned off about halfway down, and pulled up to what Madison knew had to be the Big House.

She barely had time to take it in; Sugar had the door open for them before they were even out of the truck. Sanchez had literally not let go of Madison since Henri was arrested—even when she was getting dressed in the helo, he’d managed to be always touching some part of her.

It made her feel treasured and protected and cared for.

Now he said to Sugar, “The guys all want to be here for this, and most of them are on foot, so it’s gonna take them half an hour or so. And Madison needs a minute. You must have a room somewhere in this mausoleum where she can clean up. And get her some fucking food.”

Sugar stared at Sanchez with his empty eyes, but then said, “Thanatos already gave orders for that.” As if to point out he wouldn’t do it just because Sanchez asked.

So all four of them were shown to a kind of cloakroom, with an empty coat rack and some couches and chairs, and a half bath where Madison could clean up a little and brush her hair, and try to feel normal. But she felt better than normal. She felt invincible.

There were plates of sandwiches on a side table, and drinks. Madison was starving, and Breanna and Switch ate, but Sanchez didn’t eat anything. He just sat there with his arm around her, stroking her hair occasionally, and growling now and then in his throat.

“It’s okay,” she said to him. “Everything’s okay now.”