A LOUD BANG wakes me, and Brad jumps from the bed to look out of the window.
‘Fuck!’ he shouts. ‘Maiya, get some clothes on quickly.’
I leap up and pull my clothes on, almost falling over trying to get my jeans pulled up. The way he said it, and the way he’s acting, makes me think something is seriously wrong.
‘What is it?’
‘Sweetheart, listen to me. Something bad is going down, and I need you to stay here and hide—’
‘Brad,’ Jared shouts from the hall. He goes running out of the door, looking back. ‘Maiya, go to Zoe and Devon. Stay together.’ As he says that Zoe comes hurtling up the stairs and grabs my hand. Brad and Jared disappear down the stairs, and I’m in complete shock. Zoe tugs on my arm. ‘Maiya, move. We need to move now.’ I come to my senses and follow her lead. We enter another room and find Devon peering out of the window. I rush to it and see the whole pack descending on another group in the middle of the courtyard. A huge truck stuck in the wall is belching out flames and at the centre of the oncoming gang is a woman. The one from my nightmares.
‘Oh, my God,’ Devon whispers. ‘She’s alive.’ With that, she bolts from the window to the door, yanking on the knob. But it won’t open. We’re locked in.
‘Zoe, let me out. Give me the key!’ Devon demands. Zoe looks upset.
‘I don’t have it,’ she murmurs, shaking her head. Devon screams in frustration and kicks the door. ‘Devon, Jared doesn’t want you out there. That’s obviously why he’s locked us in. We need to stay here so he knows you’re safe. He can’t deal with this if he knows you’re out there. He’ll be out of his mind and could get hurt. You don’t want that, right?’ Devon blows out a frustrated breath and takes a seat back up at the window.
‘Fuck, Zoe. There are too many of them. Where is the American pack? Jesus Christ, Zoe, they’re going to get killed.’ With that, she pulls the window open and starts looking for a way down. I look across the compound, and all I can see is men, wolves, and huge foxes fighting. It’s like something from a movie. Then I see Brad and my stomach twists. I watch as he takes on two men as big as he is. I don’t want to look. I want to throw up, but I can’t take my eyes away from him. The first man goes down with a fist to his jaw. The second attacks and Brad is exchanging blow after blow with him. Brad is bleeding and looks like he’s badly injured, but he never stops. He grabs the guy and pulls him into a headlock, and in a second, it’s over. The guy is on the floor, blank eyes staring up. Dead.
Relief floods me, but no sooner do I feel it, it’s gone because there are so many, too many. Devon is still trying to climb from the window. It’s a second-floor window, so it’s not going to be easy. But she’s determined to go.
‘Devon, stop. You need to stay,’ I tell her.
‘Fuck this. I’m not going to stand by while Jared goes to war with my mother. I need to end this.’
‘What can you do?’ Zoe asks, exasperated.
‘I’m going to the lock up and getting the guns. I’ll put a fucking bullet in her head.’
Zoe, although telling her to stay put, looks resigned to the fact she isn’t going to win this one.
‘Okay, but you come up the stairs and let us out first, okay? We can get the guns out to our guys together.’
Devon nods and then jumps. I scream out and think I’m going to find her in a heap at the bottom when I lean over, but I don’t, she’s up and running to the front of the house. I scan the area again, trying to locate Brad, but I can’t see him amid all the chaos.
The door flies open, and both Zoe and I turn, to find Devon holding what looks like the biggest gun I’ve ever seen. Handing it to Zoe, she tells her to cover as much ground with it as she can, without hitting our boys. Then she grabs me by the hand, and we take off running. I’m not sure where we’re going, but I don’t question her. I just follow. We go through a door in the kitchen, which I’d not paid attention to before. It’s a larder: long, thin, and cold. Wooden boxes line the shelves on the walls, and Devon is prying the lids off and taking as many guns as she can carry. So I do the same, following suit. The guys had been taken by surprise and hadn’t had the time to get weapons. If Devon is going out there, then so am I. I gather as many as I can and copy what Devon is doing, filling them with bullets and stuffing them in the waistband of her jeans. I can hear all the noise outside—to say I’m scared shitless is an understatement, but I will not sit back while Brad is in danger. When we have full waistbands, we fill more and carry as many as we can out to the front of the house. Devon hasn’t said a word, but she doesn’t need to. I know what she is doing, and I’m going right along with her.
‘Stay low but get as many to the guys as possible,’ she tells me before she runs head on towards the fighting. The first guy I come across is Brody. I give him a gun. He’s a mess, but he’s still fighting. I come across a girl brandishing a knife, but she seems to be protecting him, so I move along, dodging the fights and trying like hell not to be seen. It doesn’t last long though, and I’m grabbed by the back of my top and pulled up into the air. The next thing I know I’m sailing backwards, my head spinning and then just black...