CHAPTER TWENTY
The black wolf bolted through the trees, teeth bared. His pack mates ran alongside him, keeping pace with the cars that raced toward the mountain. His muscles burned. His lungs felt raw. His heart beat too fast. But the wolf did not slow. He pushed on, veins buzzing with adrenaline.
Two humans leaned out of the car windows, guns in hand. The wolves did not retreat. They kept moving, using the trees for cover. Bullets slammed into the ground. Others hit tree trunks; pieces of bark flew. A burning heat grazed the wolf’s shoulder, but he ignored the pain. He had to. Echoes of his mate’s fear and anger sliced at him. He needed to reach her.
More bullets were fired. A yelp came from behind him. It made the wolf’s heart stutter, but he could not pause to help his pack mate. He had to reach those who were unprotected, he had to help his mate.
He put on a burst of speed as the cars reached the mountain. Several wolves rushed out of the parking lot and charged at the first car. They knocked it down, sending it sliding off the path. The other screeched to a halt.
Humans aimed their guns out the windows of both cars, but the pack attacked as a unit. Fast. Cold. Brutal. Without mercy.
With a vicious growl, the black wolf dived at the second car. He sank his teeth into an arm, tasting blood, enjoying the cry of agony. A gun fell at the wolf’s feet, but he kept his grip on the human.
The male punched him, spitting harsh words. Snarling, the wolf bit down harder and yanked. The human slipped out of the car, banging his head on the ground. The wolf wasted no time in tearing out his throat, but he felt no triumph. It was the leader he wanted.
The car rocked as the Alpha dragged another human from it. The white wolf helped her mate slash and maul their prey. His screams split the air, joining the growls, snarls, yelps, shouts, and sounds of bullets firing.
Some bullets hit the ground or the cave wall. Others sank past the fur and flesh of his pack mates. But the wolves did not retreat. They gave no reprieve. Blood, sweat, and rage scented the air, feeding his fury.
The wolf scrabbled to get inside the car to reach the human hiding there, but the male stumbled out the other side and tried to flee. The Beta wolves quickly took him down, slashing his back and pitilessly ripping into his shoulder.
Another human leaned out of the other side and aimed his gun at the Beta pair. Heart beating fast, the black wolf rounded the car and lunged. The human heard his growl and turned. Eyes wide, he fired. A burning heat skimmed his ear, but the wolf bit down on the human’s hand. The male cried out, but he did not drop the gun. He moved it to his other hand and—
The car rocked again, making the human lose his balance and topple out. A she-wolf appeared and slashed their enemy’s throat again and again, until he was choking on his own blood.
A female scream made the black wolf’s head snap up. His mate and another female were falling off a balcony. They shifted midair into ravens and attacked each other. Their wings flapped in a frenzy, and feathers seemed to burst off their bodies.
The wolf watched as they bit and stabbed each other with their beaks. Watched as they repeatedly clashed, raking each other with their talons. He could feel his mate’s pain. Despite it, she did not weaken. Did not ease back. She fought harder. More brutally. More—
The wolf’s breath left his lungs as something hard and hot smashed into his shoulder. Despite the blinding pain, he spun to find his attacker. The human was hanging out of the car roof, gun still pointed at the black wolf. Then he was gone—yanked back inside by a wolf whose jaw was locked around his ankle in a crushing grip.
Taking a moment to look around, the wolf growled. Most of the humans were now dead, but many of his pack were hurt. Some were hobbling. Others were weak from blood loss. One wolf had fallen and was being guarded by pack mates.
A howl split the air. Not one of triumph. Not one of grief. One of frustration. Following the sound, the black wolf ignored the burning pain in his shoulder as he ran to his Alpha male. The wolf paused as he caught another scent. It was a scent he knew, a scent that made him growl with a cold rage. It was the scent of the human who had wounded his mate and tried to snatch the cheetah cub.
With a snarl the wolf changed course, following the scent past the car and over to—
A loud bang was followed by a squawk. The wolf halted and looked up, panting. His heart leaped as the tangled ravens dropped from the sky. He felt his mate’s head slam on something hard not just once but twice; he winced at the echo of her pain.
His leg muscles tightened as the urge to run to his mate took over. He rushed into the woods, skirting trees and kicking up dirt.
Gunfire cracked the air. A force slammed into the wolf’s thigh, making his leg almost crumple beneath him. More gunfire. Pain after pain exploded in his flank. His world tilted, grayed, became diagonal. And as he landed on his wounded shoulder, a crippling agony radiated through him. His vision blurred and faded until it was almost black.
The wolf lay there, sides heaving, breaths bursting in and out of him. Except for the ringing in his ears, everything seemed quiet. Too quiet. He could not seem to move, not even when he heard footsteps rustling in the grass.
“Don’t. Move.”
The voice sounded distorted and far away, but the wolf knew it was the leader, the one they called Ramón. The human that the wolf most wanted to rip apart with claws and teeth.
“Now, which of the pack would you be?”
The wolf did not understand the words, but he snarled. He wanted to rise, to attack. But his leg, shoulder, and flank pulsed with white-hot pain. Warm blood kept pumping out of his wounds, soaking his fur and the ground beneath him.
Another human walked through the trees, holding a limp raven by the talons. It was the same male who had tried to snatch the cub. “You shot it right out of the sky, sir. The little bitch deserved it after what she did to me.”
Ramón smiled at the black wolf. “Is that why you came running this way? You were looking for the raven? How sad that you couldn’t save her.”
The wolf didn’t panic at the sight of the dead raven. He knew his mate was alive. She was in great pain and barely conscious, but alive. The wolf wanted to go to her, to help her, but he could barely move. Fear skittered through him. The wolf had been hurt many times before, but this seemed different. The blood would not stop pumping out of him. He felt wet. Cold. More tired than he had ever been.
“Put down the bird. Let’s get him in the car.”
The wolf snarled, but the humans grabbed his legs. The wolf reared up with a growl, teeth bared, but a crippling pain lanced through him. Everything started to fade. Darken. Then there was nothing.
Something buzzed at Tao, prodding him awake. Not an insect, he thought as he gathered his jumbled thoughts. Not even a sound. But what was it?
It happened again. A spurt of strength buzzed all the way up the mating bond. It was like being given a shot of adrenaline.
Fuck, he was cold. Heavy. Sluggish. Digging deep for energy, he tried to move, and pain rolled over him in waves. Never-ending waves that made his stomach churn and his head spin. He breathed deep, taking in the scents of blood, oil, leather, and . . . Ramón.
Tao forced his eyes open, and there was the bastard—sitting on a bench inside a van, pointing a gun at him. Tao really was damn tired of guns.
The arrogant piece of shit hadn’t even put any restraints on Tao, so sure he was in the position of power. And fuck if Ramón wasn’t in the position of power. Tao had little to no energy in his system and, honestly, he was pretty sure he’d pass out again if he moved.
Only once in his life had he felt this weak—the night he’d almost died.
“You’re awake. Good. I didn’t know your kind could shift while unconscious.”
It happened occasionally.
Ramón smiled. “I must say, you and your pack mates are much more vicious fighters than I gave you all credit for.” There was actually a little respect in those words. “I’m pretty sure me and my driver are the only survivors.” And that didn’t seem to concern him.
Tao’s upper lip curled. “Maybe if you hadn’t come after the others and then hidden in the trees like a couple of pussies, you’d be just as dead as them.”
Ramón’s anger rose up in his scent. “I’ll let that comment slide, since I’m quite sure this has been a trying evening for you.” His brow creased. “It’s been just as trying for me. Things didn’t really go to plan.”
“You mean Taryn didn’t go to the gate, so you couldn’t snatch her and then leave all your friends to keep the rest of us occupied while you drove away with her in the van.”
“Yes, that is what I mean. But I’m an adaptable person. When it became clear I wouldn’t be able to get to your Alpha female, I decided I’d just have to grab another one of you to make her see reason. It was purely by chance that the wolf I managed to catch is you. It’s fitting, really.” He gave Tao a look of reprimand. “You really did let me down, Mr. Lukas. Things didn’t have to be this way.”
A bump in the road jarred the van, and Tao ground his teeth against the pain that jolted him.
“They know I’ve taken you,” Ramón went on. “One wolf saw us leave and tried to give chase. Probably would have caught up to us if their leg hadn’t been lame. I suppose we’re now about to find out just how valuable you are to your pack—or what’s left of it, anyway.” His smile was falsely sympathetic. “Oh, I really am sorry about your pretty raven.”
Tao didn’t correct him. It was better to let the guy think he didn’t need to be on his guard. But he did need to be, because Tao was sensing a lot of things from his mate at that moment—rage, pain, fear, but not panic. Riley knew where he was, he’d bet money on it. “You won’t live through this night.”
Ramón grinned. “Oh, I assure you I will. Sadly, I can’t say the same for you. You’re looking a little worse for wear. Maybe your Alpha will arrive in time to save you. I’m in a good mood, I’ll allow her to heal you before trading places with you.”
“Taryn can’t help your brother. She can’t heal diseases, it’s not—” A bullet sank into Tao’s side. His whole body jerked, and agony rippled through him, snatching the breath from his lungs. The world went dark for a few seconds.
“She can heal my brother and she will. Or both he and you die. That’s the—”
A loud thud shook the van. The tires screeched as the van swerved, jerked, and bounced to a halt—causing Ramón to fall back against the side of the van and grab on to the bench for purchase. The gun clattered to the floor, landing not far from Tao. Adrenaline spiked through him. He lunged for the gun. Missed. Stars burst behind his eyes and his stomach churned, but the adrenaline dimmed the pain. He heard a man scream, wondered if it was the driver.
Ramón dived, reaching out to grab the gun. Tao reared up and slammed his elbow into the bastard’s face, making him stumble back. Ramón’s ass hit the floor of the van with an awkward thump. He kicked at Tao’s face, but Tao seized his ankle and twisted it sharply. Bone snapped and Ramón cried out through his teeth, making Tao’s wolf bare his teeth in a feral grin.
Ramón tried to regain possession of his leg, but Tao kept a tight grip on it. The human pitched forward and made a grab for Tao’s hair, missing by mere inches. Tao bit into his hand, and Ramón snatched it back with a growl of outrage. The smell of the bastard’s blood was almost better than the look of pain on his face.
Cursing, Ramón swerved, kicking out with his good leg. His boot smacked Tao’s head hard.
“Motherfucker,” growled Tao. He tightened his grip on Ramón’s broken ankle until the human screamed. Ramón kicked out with his other leg again, but Tao was ready; he blocked the move with his arm and then slammed his fist into Ramón’s jaw.
The human grunted, snarling. He dove for the gun, knocking Tao on his back as he did so and causing more blinding pain to ripple through Tao. Ramón’s fingers brushed the butt of the gun—
Metal screeched as the doors flew open and light blasted into the van, causing Tao to double-blink. And there was his mate. Naked. A bloody mess. And in an absolute rage.
Ramón turned just as she sprung into the van. He tensed, prepared to launch himself at her, but she moved too fast—crashing into him and sending him sprawling flat on his back.
Seething, Riley wrapped one hand around the human’s throat. She wanted to snap his neck. Instead she held him in place—letting him struggle, letting him try to free himself. She might be female and she might be hurt, but she was still stronger than a human. She let him see that for himself. She could see the moment it sank into this arrogant fucker’s brain that he was being overpowered by a woman.
Ramón reached back, curling his fingers around the butt of his gun. Riley sliced out her talons, letting them dig right through his throat—slashing skin, cutting muscle, and severing arteries. She didn’t look away, watched the life bleed from his eyes. Honestly, she was a little annoyed that it had to end so soon. She’d have enjoyed delivering some additional pain to the asshole.
Satisfied he was dead, Riley wiped her blood-soaked talons on his shirt and sheathed them. She then moved to Tao’s side, breaths sawing in and out of her chest. All the rage and bravado left her in a rush as she took in the bloody sight of him, leaving only soul-deep terror. “Oh God, you’re a mess.”
As Tao stared at his mate’s battered body, he forgot his own pain. “Jesus, baby, so are you.” She was covered in rake marks, bites, and puncture wounds—all were deep and bleeding badly. A clump of blood matted the hair at the side of her head, where he suspected there was a massive wound. What worried him more was the blood pouring out of her ear and nose.
“Tao . . .” Her voice shook. Never—not when her parents died, not when Ethan was shot, not even when Dexter was almost taken—had she felt such an incapacitating fear. It was a living, breathing thing inside her. His face was haggard and pale, his heartbeat was much too damn slow for her liking, and every breath wheezed out of him. There were so many wounds, so much blood, and she had no idea what to do. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Don’t panic on me, okay, I’ll be all right. Fuck, baby, what did she do to you?” He could smell Shirley on her.
“When she was shot, the bitch dug her talons into my wing to drag me to the ground with her. Hit my head on a branch as we were falling.” It had hurt like a motherfucker. Still did.
Tao tried to sit up, and his own pain came flooding back. He clenched his teeth, waiting for his head to stop spinning. It was like there was a burning-hot balloon inside him that kept on inflating. He gripped her hand, as if she could beat back the darkness creeping around his vision.
“Tao, you have to hold on for me.”
Her fear pierced him worse than any pain. “I’m holding on. Don’t you worry about that. I’m not going anywhere.” He refused to acknowledge just how badly he was hurt, or that a numbness was creeping in; he would think of her—just her. She’d lost too many people; he wouldn’t let her lose another, just as he wouldn’t let death take her from him.
“It’s okay,” she said, voice still shaky, lying beside him. “Taryn will come. The others will be here any second now. They’ve been following me.” She’d only dropped out of the sky to grab the dead raccoon from the road and, in a moment of inspiration, thrown it at the van to spook the driver.
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” he asked. Not only was one of them bloodshot, but her pupils were unequally sized.
Riley blinked, looking at him through blurred vision. “Nothing. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
She was. Pain was blasting through her head, as if someone were taking a sledgehammer to it. If she had to guess, she’d say she had a fractured skull. Her stomach was heaving with nausea, her wounds burned like holy hell, and she was starting to feel a little dizzy. But he didn’t need to know any of that.
“Taryn will come.” Riley would just have to keep him alive until she did. Staring into his eyes, Riley pushed energy down the mating bond, strengthening it, strengthening him. Lights flashed behind her eyelids and wooziness racked her brain, but she sent him more. She couldn’t let him die, not if she could help it. He had to live. He was too damn important to her. Hell, he was everything to her.
Energy pulsed down the bond right back to her, sharp as a slap. She scowled. “Take it.”
“No. You’re as weak as I am. You’re trembling.” It was worrying the shit out of Tao.
“I’m fine. Take it.” She forced a strong pulse of energy down the bond—a pulse so strong he’d be too weak to reject it. A wave of nausea hit her hard. She was just so damn dizzy and disoriented . . . which was helped along by her head injury and just how exhausted she was.
He growled. “I don’t want you to die for me.” But that was what would happen. In trying to keep him alive, she was essentially giving her life for his.
“I get it now,” she whispered. “I get why my dad couldn’t hold on when she died. It wasn’t that I wasn’t enough—it wasn’t about me at all. He just couldn’t be without her. He couldn’t. It was really just that simple.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t want to be without you.”
She was breaking his fucking heart here. “You’re wrong about your dad. It wasn’t that simple. Yes, he didn’t want to be without her. He still should have fought. He didn’t, because he was selfish. I’m not him. I’m not leaving. Listen to me. You don’t have to hold me here. I’m holding me here.”
“No, I have to keep you here.”
“And I have to keep you here, so let’s do that.”
With a nod she shoved energy up the bond, sending a brief surge of strength through his system. He sent a spurt of energy to her, giving her body that same boost. They each did it again and again, as if they were breathing for each other. It was working; it was also weakening her fast because the effects of her head injury were hazing her thoughts and leaving her feeling hollowed out. What’s more, her natural urge to sleep while injured was trying to take over.
“Keep fighting.” Tao could sense darkness pulling at her, threatening to take her from him, and it was freaking him the fuck out.
His wolf’s ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps shuffling along the road. The van shook, as if something or someone was bracing their weight against it. Moments later Mathers stumbled into their vision, bloody and scratched to hell.
Riley hissed at the human. “You should be dead.”
He sneered. “So should you.” He lifted his gun, aimed it at them.
For Tao everything went quiet. Slow. Just as it had the last time death came calling for him. He wanted to push Riley out of harm’s way, attack and maul the son of a bitch before shooting him with his own damn gun. But his energy level was simply too low.
“This is for Ramón.” Mathers’s grip tightened on the gun and—
A large gray wolf smashed into Mathers’s side, sending him flying out of their sight. Tao knew that wolf. Dante.
Relief washed through Tao. “Just hold on for me, baby. Taryn’s here.” But it wasn’t Taryn who climbed into the van. It was Ally, the Mercury Pack’s Beta female. She also happened to be a Seer and had the gift of healing.
The brunette paled as her eyes danced from Tao to Riley. “Oh God, shit!”
Riley slurred, “Heal him first.”
“No, heal her first,” Tao ground out.
Riley shook her head. “He’s been shot at least three times and he’s lost a lot of blood; he needs you more.”
“No, heal—” But Ally laid her hands over Tao, ignoring his protests. He felt Ally’s healing energy buzz through him, tried to push it down the mating bond, but it wouldn’t work. The energy wasn’t his to direct; it was Ally’s.
Riley rolled onto her back, releasing a pained hiss. “I’m gonna sleep now.”
He squeezed her hand. “Not yet. I know it’s hard, but you have to stay awake for me.”
“Okay.” But even as Riley said that, she could feel herself beginning to pass out. She felt as if she could just drift away . . . and that scared her. She didn’t want to drift away; she wanted to be with Tao.
“Open your eyes, Riley.”
She forced them open. “Sorry.” It just felt like weights were hanging from her eyelids.
“Ally, go to her! You’ve healed me enough, now help her! Fucking now, Ally!”
Soft hands touched her head, but Riley was too tired to even flinch. A strange energy flowed through her like warm honey. It both soothed and healed, calming her raven. When Ally sat back, Riley slurred, “Thanks. Now I really have to sleep.”
Feeling heavy and uncoordinated, Tao sat upright and gathered her to him. “That’s okay, baby.” He kissed her temple. “You can sleep now.”
“Awesome,” she breathed. Then it all went black.
“I can hear her breathing,” Savannah whispered, standing beside the bed on which Riley was sprawled, hair fanned out all over the pillow.
Crouched beside Savannah and Dexter, Tao nodded. “See, she’s just sleeping.” But he understood why that didn’t chase away their terror. He needed to look into her eyes, hear her voice, to truly believe she was fine. “We can’t wake her, though. She needs the rest. The more sleep she has, the faster she’ll get better.”
Biting her lip, Savannah asked, “Can we come see her when she wakes up?”
“Of course you can. You two will be the first people she wants to see. What she needs most now, though, is for you to take care of each other while she sleeps. Can you do that?” At their nods, he smiled. “Good.” Tao gently touched Dexter’s hair. “How’s your head, little man?”
“Better,” said the toddler, sucking on his thumb.
Tao had expected to be dealing with a traumatized child, given that Shirley had burst into their bedroom and slung him at a fucking wall, but either Dexter was good at blocking out stressful events or he’d simply become extremely resilient after surviving alone on the streets. Then again, all cheetahs were physically and mentally tough like that.
“The bad lady’s gone now,” said Savannah. “Riley made her go away.”
“She did,” Tao confirmed. He looked up as Makenna poked her head through the partially open door.
“There you both are,” she said. “Grace wants to know if you want to bake cookies with Kye and Lilah.”
Both children looked at Riley, loath to leave her. Tao put his hands on their shoulders. “I’ll come for you when she wakes up,” he promised them. “Okay?”
“Okay,” said Savannah. Taking Dexter’s hand, she tugged him toward the door.
As they reluctantly left the room, Makenna walked in and peeked at Riley. “She’s been asleep for quite a while now.”
At least twelve hours, Tao estimated. He’d have panicked, but . . . “It’s a healing sleep.”
Makenna’s brow creased. “A what?”
“When ravens are injured, they go into a deep sleep to help them recover. Max confirmed that she’ll be fine.” The uncles had gotten a scare when she hadn’t called them back last night, so they’d both rushed to Phoenix Pack territory. The first thing they’d done was check on Riley. The second thing they’d done was yell at Tao, blaming him for her injuries. Then they’d apologized profusely for yelling at him and congratulated him on the mating.
“Her wounds have faded,” Makenna noted. “So have yours. That’s good.”
“Yeah, that’s very good.” Ally hadn’t fully healed Riley or Tao, needing to save energy for the rest of the injured, so they had both been left with some superficial cuts and bruises.
“So many were injured, Tao. Almost everyone was at the very least skimmed by a bullet. I honestly thought we were going to lose Trick. Taryn barely managed to heal him in time.”
Tao had already heard the story from Taryn, who was swamped with guilt for being too weak from healing Trick to go to him and Riley. She’d actually been in tears, apologizing for not being able to get to them. It had taken a good half hour to convince her that she had nothing to apologize for and that he wasn’t angry with her. She’d sent Ally to them, which had saved them. “Thank God for Ally.”
“Hell yeah,” agreed Makenna. “She healed me not so long ago. I would have died if it weren’t for her. She’s saved a lot of lives, including Shaya’s.” Makenna hugged herself. “You know something? It didn’t occur to me that Ramón would try to invade our territory. I knew he was a danger, but I truly didn’t credit him with that much power.”
“We think of humans as weaker than us—physically, they are. That means we can sometimes forget that they can be much more dangerous.”
She nodded. “Do you think Ramón expected to get out of that alive?”
“Yes. He was proud and arrogant, and he’d probably thought of himself as not only untouchable but invincible.” It had been his downfall in the end.
“I would have liked to be the one to kill him, so you can tell Riley I’m totally jealous that she was the one who did.”
After Makenna left, Tao slid under the covers and gently tugged Riley into his arms. She didn’t even slightly stir, which would have been worrying if he hadn’t known for sure that it was normal for ravens.
He lay there for what could have been hours, watching her sleep and reassuring himself that she was fine. It was hard, though, because he kept seeing flashes of her in the van, hurt, bleeding, and weak. Kept remembering how often their mating bond had flickered as the darkness pulled at her. As fear clogged his throat, his arms flexed around her. Her eyelids fluttered halfway open, and two pools of violet locked on him.
“Hey, baby.” He kissed her, needing her taste, needed that affirmation that she was well and with him. He rested his forehead on hers. “What a fucking night, huh?”
“You’re okay,” she said, relieved. Then she scowled. “You weren’t supposed to almost die again.”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “I’m too stubborn to die before I’m ready.”
She took stock of herself. No aches or pains, and . . . “You showered me.”
“I showered us both. We were covered in dried blood.”
Her eyes snapped fully open as a memory came to her. “Dexter—”
“He’s fine,” Tao reassured her. “He had a bad wound on his head, but Ally healed him. He’s not traumatized or anything, though I think the whole thing definitely shook up Savannah. She’s good at hiding it, though.”
Her nostrils flared. “I smell them.”
“They were worried about you, so I let them come in to see that you were just sleeping.”
Her mouth curled. “You’re good with them.”
“You’re better.”
Her brow creased. “I smell Max and Ethan too.”
“They panicked when you didn’t call them back last night and they hauled ass here.”
“Shit, I didn’t get the chance to call them.” Everything had happened so fast, Riley remembered. Everything had seemed completely out of control. “How did they take the news about Shirley?”
“Not too well. They’re annoyed with themselves for not figuring out that it was her. Their money was on Cynthia. Am I right in thinking Shirley just wanted to punish you all for failing Wade?”
“There was a lot more to it than that.” Riley told him everything that Shirley had said, and about how unstable she’d seemed. “Wade was the one good thing she had. He was her anchor, I guess.”
Tao curled her hair behind her ear and stroked his fingers down the side of her neck. “That had to have been hard on Wade.”
“A lot of things were hard on Wade.” She frowned. “I’m still a little in shock to hear that my father was her true mate.”
“She could have been wrong, Riley.”
“If nothing else, she truly believed it. And she blamed me for his death. When I put it all together, I think Shirley was driven to do what she did because she was just so angry about so many things. She couldn’t let go of that anger and heal. The wounds just festered and got worse and worse. I don’t think she really cared about anything anymore.”
Tao smoothed his hand soothingly up and down her back. “She’s gone now. She can’t take out that anger on you ever again.” He kissed her again. “My wolf tried to get to you when he saw you drop out of the sky, but Ramón got to him first.” He just had to thank the fucking universe that Ramón’s bullet had hit Shirley, not Riley.
“I know. My raven saw him put you in the van and pretty much squawked in front of Trey’s face to get his attention. He’d shifted back to his human form by then to hold Taryn after she’d healed Trick. Trey ordered a bunch of wolves to follow the van, and Taryn asked Ally to go along with them. Another wolf was already trying to follow—I think it was Dominic—but his leg was hurt.”
“So the wolves followed you.”
“The van was too fast for them to follow, so I stayed high up where the wolves would see me.” And where the driver wouldn’t notice her.
Tao stroked his thumb across her cheekbone. “Thank you for coming for me. But I can’t thank you for almost dying for me. Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I wasn’t trying to die for you—my death would have killed you anyway. I was just trying to keep you alive until someone came.”
“Yes, but you were panicking that you wouldn’t be enough to hold me there, and that was making you reckless.”
Thinking back to last night, she frowned. “I guess I was.”
“You were no more responsible for my life than you were for your father’s. I swear I could kick Sage’s ass for making you think differently.”
“I’ve forgiven him now. Not Sage, my father. I didn’t really understand just how hard it would be to lose a mate. I mean, I knew intellectually that the breaking of the bond would be difficult to survive. But I’d never felt just how strong the bond was, never knew just how it made your mate feel a part of you.” She traced the shell of his ear. “I’d already feel half-dead if I lost you. It would be so easy to just slip away.”
Tao grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “He was still selfish to have wallowed in his own grief and not even tried to fight the urge to slip away.”
“Maybe, but I still forgive him.”
“And you realize now that it was nothing to do with you—it wasn’t that you weren’t enough to hold him here, it was that he chose to slip away.”
“Yes, I realize that now.”
“About fucking time.”
Riley bit her lip. “I’m scared to ask if everyone’s okay . . . which I guess is me sort of asking.”
“A lot of people were hurt, but they’re all alive,” he assured her. “With the exception of Ramón and his minions, obviously.”
“What are we going to do with all the bodies?”
“Ally knows someone who can deal with them.” Her foster brother, Cain, was part of The Movement—a band of shifters who retaliated against the extremists. They were used to getting rid of dead bodies. “They’ll be collecting the bodies of Ramón and his men sometime today. We’ve handed the bodies of Officers Brown and Taylor over to the police, though.”
“Will their deaths bring us trouble?”
“We have security footage to back up our story that they opened fire, unprovoked, and then moved aside to let Ramón’s men pass.”
“Didn’t the police ask for the bodies of Ramón’s men?”
“Sure they did. We told them that we chased the humans from our territory. They don’t believe us, of course—especially since Ramón and his men are nowhere to be found—but they’re also happy to have a drug lord and his minions off the streets. They didn’t seem upset about the deaths of Brown and Taylor either.” Tao guessed they’d known they had moles in the station and might even have suspected that Brown and Taylor were those moles.
“So, basically, the pack never admits to anything.”
“We don’t have to answer to human laws. But the minute we start explaining ourselves and justifying our actions, we’re effectively answering to them. Besides, what we did is really no different than a human shooting an intruder for trespassing.”
“True.” She took a long breath. “I’m glad there’ll be no undeserved repercussions. I’m glad it’s all over.”
“Me too.” He cupped her chin. “I need your mouth again.” The kiss was soft, slow, a lazy exploration. He slid his fingers into her hair, touching where the horrid bump had been the night before. It was gone now—no scab or inflammation, as if the wound had never been there. But it had, he’d nearly lost her, nearly died right along with her. His chest ached at the thought.
Tao rolled her onto her back. “I need to be in you. Then we shower, eat, and see the kids before they turn up again and break down the door to check you’re okay.” At that moment there was a light rap on the door. “Spoke too soon,” he choked out.
Slipping out of the bed, he opened the door to find two little people waiting. Seeing that Riley was awake, they dashed inside and literally leaped onto the bed. Tao smiled, heart squeezing as they hugged the breath out of Riley and peppered her cheeks with kisses. Dexter even gave her a slice of apple that, surprisingly, looked fresh.
Savannah cast Tao a severe frown. “You said you would come for us when she woke up.”
“I was just about to, so I’m not happy that you beat me here. You psychic or something?”
Savannah giggled and then turned to Riley. “Tao says the bad people are gone now.”
“They’re gone,” Riley confirmed.
“I wanted to help when the bad lady came to our room.”
Riley brushed the little girl’s hair away from her face. “You couldn’t have helped, sweetheart. She was much bigger and stronger than you are. But she really is gone now—she’ll never harm you again, I promise.”
Dexter cocked his head, looking at her bare shoulders. “Naked?”
Riley chuckled. “Yes, I am. Do you think you could give me a few minutes to get dressed?”
Savannah sighed. “You have to be fast.” She frowned at Tao. “And no kissing.”
He raised his hand. “Yes, ma’am.” Closing the door after the kids, he smiled at Riley. “We’ll never be bored.”
“Never,” she agreed.