~ Chapter 23 ~
Chastity looked around for her children. Heather was running around, chasing Corey and Emily, as Shaney padded around following Ryder’s every move. Clayr seemed to be oblivious as she cleared up, but Chastity’s beast started to whine inside her head, setting alarm bells ringing.
“Stracey.” She turned to her friend as she got up, grabbing Ailis who struggled to get free. “Here, take her and don’t let her go. Please.”
“What’s wrong?” Stracey looked up, taking hold of Ailis who was now complaining loudly.
“I’m not sure. Just keep her with you.” Chastity looked around . . . feeling something off but not knowing what it was as she strode forward trying to catch her other children who were doing a damn good job of ignoring her.
Ryder tilted his head, concentrating, moving toward the trees slowly, his body tight, controlled, muscles rippling beneath his t-shirt as if he were fighting against a transformation.
What the hell? Chastity’s legs moved of their own volition, heading toward him quickly, shouting at the kids to get back to Stracey and hoping they would heed her. She vaguely heard Clayr yelling at them too. Telling them to stop running around and to get back to her, but Chastity was too concerned with what held Ryder’s attention and what could be a possible threat to her kids.
Where’s Gunr? she thought. He and his men were nearby, she was certain of that. They wouldn’t allow the kids to go anywhere without protection so where the heck was he?
Her skin prickled and a moment, a second, a brief shadow or time passed and her world crashed down around her.
Noise. That was the first thing that registered.
Ryder’s body jerking was the next. She saw his left leg buckle beneath him as a cloud of red billowed out around it. He went down, not entirely, his bellow of pain filling her ears as her brain tried to compute what she was seeing.
He half knelt on the ground, Clayr screaming, the kids yelling and crying, as she ran the few feet separating them to see a gaping hole in his thigh . . . he’d been shot. “Ryder! Oh my god!”
“Fuck! It’s silver! They’ve fucking used silver on me.”
Chastity’s head spun around, checking for danger. She saw nobody . . . yet. “Can you stand? Let me help you.”
She reached down, looping an arm under his and started to haul him up . . . and that’s when it happened again. This time the noise was followed by excruciating pain exploding through her own thigh. A scream tore from her throat as she fell, crimson spurting from the wound in her upper leg, but at least it was a through and through. No silver remained inside her . . . unlike Ryder.
“Fucking bastards!” Ryder bellowed, fury flowing from him as he caught her, holding her in his arms. “Chastity, speak to me! Are you okay?”
She couldn’t talk. The pain was overwhelming her senses, her body aflame with agony, and her head swam as she fought to stay conscious. Her one thought was the safety of the children. “The kids, Ryder, we have to save the kids.”
“I know, I fucking know,” he spat out, his jaw clenched tight.
She watched as he reached into the gaping hole in his thigh, fingers digging deep to search for the bullet lodged inside. “I need this out . . . it’s torture.”
Shaney ran forward dropping in front of them, her face white and terrified. “I’ll do it.”
Chastity shook her head, shocked. “No, baby. You go to Clayr.”
“I can do it.” Shaney’s chin jutted out. “I can.”
And without another word the girl’s fingers dug right inside Ryder’s bloody mess of a leg, her face a mask of concentration as Chastity finally answered the screaming inside her head: Cam.
“Chastity! Answer me! Fucking answer me! What’s going on? I can feel you, baby. What’s going on?”
Of course he’d felt her fear, her terror, and he’d have no clue what was going on. “Cam! Help, we need help. We’ve been attacked.”
His response was immediate. “I knew something was wrong! What happened? No, don’t bother . . . that’s a waste of time. Where are you?”
“By the old oak. Cam, Ryder and I have been shot . . . by silver bullets. We’re okay, I think. But we’re in trouble, big trouble, and I’ve no idea where Gunr or his men are.”
“I’m on my way, baby. I’m on my way. Stay alive for me, Chastity, don’t you dare leave me. You hear me? Don’t you dare fucking leave me!”
“Hurry, Cam.” She sobbed as a hand shot out of nowhere, tangling in Shaney’s hair viciously hauling her backward.
Chastity caught a glimpse of something shiny in the child’s fingers as she flew away: the bullet. Shaney had managed to find the bullet in Ryder and free it from his mangled thigh, but now she was in the clutches of a man Chastity had prayed she’d never set eyes on ever again.
His beady eyes glinting down at her as he sneered. “I’ve got you now, bitch. And you’re going to suffer while I make you watch as I take your mongrels from you, one by one. But first I’m going to hand this little bastard back to her loving family. After all, that’s where she belongs. Isn’t that right?”
“No!” Clayr ran toward them, her eyes blazing with fury, her fingers already sprouting claws as she flew at the man holding Shaney by her hair. “Let her go or I’ll claw your throat out.”
With a shake of his head he laughed and a group of men appeared, too many, surrounding them . . . and the children. “Stop right there or all of them will die.”
Clayr’s eyes were feral, her head spinning around, her hair flying wildly as she took in the numbers. Chastity saw the moment realization dawned: too many. There were too many for them to take on. Even if she and Ryder weren’t shot, there were still too many men and one was oozing magic like a dark cloak of power that cloyed in Chastity’s throat. Gagging her, causing her to almost puke with the dark power flowing from him as if he was shrouded in evil and came from Hell itself.
Magic. Dark and powerful. Had they used it on Gunr and his men?
Chastity knew they had only one chance: stall for time. Allow Cam the time he needed to arrive with reinforcements. She knew he’d be calling on every able-bodied Wolf and if they could stay alive long enough . . . her mate would reach them and tear these assholes apart.
She forced herself upright, using Ryder’s body to gain her feet, and using her own Alpha power she stared down the bastard who held onto Shaney. “I never thought I’d see you again. I have to say it’s far too soon and you still look as ugly as ever.”
His reaction was exactly what she wanted. He threw Shaney away. Her body landing on the ground, but she scrambled toward Ryder who snatched her up quickly, pushing her behind him.
“You’re still the stuck-up cunt I remember. Think you’re better than everyone, dontcha? Well you won’t be once I’m done with you Mrs. Cameron Fucking Sinclair.” He stopped, smirking at his men. “We were just gonna kill your kids and you, but now I think we’ll have some fun first. What do you say? I think we should show this bitch some manners.”
“Manners?” Chastity tapped her chin, then made a show of checking her manicured nails. “I have perfect manners. For instance, I don’t hurt children, or take advantage of those weaker than me. Oh wait . . . that’s something you’re familiar with, isn’t it? You do it on a daily basis. Don’t you? Except I’m not one of your beat up and weak women. I’m an Alpha and I refuse to bow to you, or any other man, even when you’ve used a cheap ass shot and hobbled me with a silver bullet. Oh jeez, what would I be able to do without being injured? I guess you were too damn scared to find out huh? Were you afraid I’d show you up in front of your men?”
She watched as his face turned beet red. Anger filling his face, veins popping out on his forehead, and to her, he looked like a bull in a Spanish bullring ready to charge. Good. She wanted him to lose control.
“What? Did I say something that hurt your feelings?” Chastity prodded. “Or is it too close to the truth? Do your men know how weak you really are? That you need him,” she stabbed a finger toward the Witch, “to come here onto our land. You’re not man enough, not Wolf enough, to stand up to anyone here, not even a She-Wolf.”
She heard some mutterings from his men, even some laughter. And that sent him into a furious rage. He stomped off toward the nearest, grabbing his hair and head butting the man, breaking the guy’s nose. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll break the next one’s neck.”
“Oh my, temper temper,” Chastity sneered. “You sound like a petulant child.”
He stormed back, his eyes red, his beast very near the surface as he stopped in front of her, his breath so putrid it almost had her puking on his shoes. “You just don’t know when to shut the fuck up. You’re in for a world of hurt for opening that mouth of yours. In fact, that’s given me a good idea of what to do with it first. Your mouth that is.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Chastity snapped out. “If you put anything near my mouth I promise you I’ll bite it off. You’ll go home,” she lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning forward, “fucking cockless.”
“Grab that little half-breed!” he bellowed. “She’ll be the first to go, and get that little shit away from him and back where she belongs.”
Chastity’s heart thundered in her chest as everything started happening at once. Men moving to grab Shaney as Ryder did his best to fight them off but one held a gun to his head, threatening to shoot if he moved so much as a muscle. And more were closing in on Stracey and the kids while Clayr stood with terror written on her face mixed with flames of fury running through her eyes.
Chastity knew Clayr wanted to fight but wasn’t stupid enough to risk the kids. Chastity turned, looking at Heather who snarled as a man strode toward her. Her brave little Lion standing in front of Stracey who had Corey at her side and Ailis in her arms.
Hell, Chastity was about to combust with panic and unadulterated terror for her children. She was too far away to do anything and knew she couldn’t reach them in time either.
“How long, Cam? How long?” She screamed in her head.
“Nearly there!”
“Hurry! They’re going to kill my babies”
“No!”
Cam’s bellow was full of his own terror but more. So much more. It was full of his power and his pure unadulterated love for her and his children . . . and his hatred for those that would do them harm. One word that held so much emotion and promise. She held to it like a lifeline. Praying he’d get to them before the unthinkable happened.
Her thoughts ran around her head a million miles a minute as she watched the bastard closing in and took a chance. Opening her mouth, she roared. “Heather! Run! Run, baby! Go now!”
Heather’s head spun toward her, shock in her face but one feeling wasn’t showing: fear. Her brave little Lion gave her a nod, turned and grabbed Corey’s hand and sped away toward the stream, their little legs powering beneath them as Stracey stepped forward with Ailis in her arms, barring the way.
Chastity’s heart stopped in her chest as she watched . . . two of her children ran, and her friend stood with the other in her arms protecting their escape. Please, Goddess, please help them!
The Wolf in front of Stracey cursed, striding faster but Heather and Corey sped up, jumping through the shallow water and disappearing into the trees. Chastity’s heart flipped when he lifted a hand to knock Stracey out of the way but her friend was no weakling, and used her magic to easily block the blow that would surely have caused her damage. His face was a picture of indignant surprise when he found himself on his ass, Stracey backing away, cradling Ailis in her arms protectively.
The remaining children were now crowding around her, crying and terrified. The sight clawing at Chastity’s heart, but at least Heather and Corey were safe: for now.
“We’ll find the little bastards.”
Her head was snatched back by the hair, her capturer’s breath on her ear. “My men will find them and it just means I have some time to spend with you while they do.”
His tongue ran along her cheek, her skin crawling where it touched. She didn’t think, only reacted, her hand reaching up and back to tear across his face as hard as she could, leaving long, deep gashes in her wake.
He threw her down, kicking her hard in the stomach, over and over. Each time his foot landed was harder than the last and one thought ran through her: he’s killing our unborn baby.
“Chastity!” Cam screamed in her mind again.
Her mate had heard her as tears finally broke free, falling down her cheeks as the bastard, the evil son-of-a-bitch Alpha, Stu Robertson who they’d had to pay a fortune to for Heather when she was a tiny baby, continued to kick her as she lay curled on the ground.