~ Chapter 24 ~
Cam flew through the forest, bellowing orders through the Pack link as soon as he’d known Chastity was in danger. His beast was out for blood, out for death and destruction in the worst possible way.
Mac slid out from trees on his right, joining him and a band of almost thirty Wolves. His Beta snarling before speaking to him through their link, his worry clear in every damn syllable. “Do you know if Emily is okay?”
“I think she’s all right, Mac. But I know Chastity isn’t. She’s in trouble and Ryder’s been shot.”
“I’ll fucking rip ‘em apart.” Mac growled coldly.
Cam didn’t bother responding. It was obvious how he felt. His emotion was flowing from him in waves and every member of the Pack could feel it. Each one was answering his call but most were too far away to help immediately. The ones with him were the Wolves who could get to him the fastest and he was grateful to see Mason and some of his men amongst them.
With Clayr being with Chastity he knew Mason would be angry as hell but it was nowhere near what was coursing through Cam’s system: cold hard fury.
Other members of the Pack were converging on the area but Cam was planning on reaching her first. He had to, it was his soul-mate . . . and his children. His heart felt as if it were being torn from his chest. The pain was like nothing he’d encountered before: intense, all-encompassing, and almost crippling with the agony searing through his very soul.
His paws soared over the forest floor with such velocity they barely touched the ground before leaving again to race him toward his mate and children. The one saving grace in this catastrophe was that two of his children were at this moment being sped away to safety by a group of guards and other Wolves who’d rushed to help.
They’d soon be in his helicopter and away from the camp altogether: secure and unharmed.
That gave him a tiny slither of relief, but not nearly enough. Not when he knew Chastity was injured, in danger, as was the remainder of his children together with other members of his Pack.
A roar rumbled up his chest, breaking free unbidden when he felt his mate’s fear rise through their link. He could feel every sensation, her utter horror and dread as she was being hurt in some way. His rage grew to epic proportions as he felt her panic, she was calling to him, screaming at him in terror. His blood ran cold, her words echoing in his brain: he’s killing our baby!
He bellowed back through their link, desperation and sorrow filling his entire being. “Chastity!”
They were near, so near, but he could feel her fading. Opening the link to the Wolves with him he barely managed to speak. “She’s being hurt. She’s pregnant! We have to save her . . . now!”
The Pack answered his plea with howls resounding all around, not just from the Wolves running beside him but from the entire forest. And it wasn’t just his Pack, no, it was his cousin Fergie’s Pack too. They’d heard the call for help and Wolves from their Pack were stampeding through the forest to their aid.
Cam’s next step was finding out what they were running into. “Ryder! Report!”
The Panther responded immediately with succinct and to the point information. “Chastity is down. Heather and Corey have run into the forest across the stream with men on their tails. The rest of the kids are with Clayr and Stracey huddled near the oak tree, guarded by a dozen or so men. Stracey has Ailis. There are more guarding Chastity and me. Total of around twenty I can see, but more in the forest that I can’t see but I can sense them. We’re farther away and some have guns with silver bullets. There’s also a Witch here, it’s dark magic of some kind. I can’t shift, Cam. He’s threatened the kids if I do.”
“We’ll be there soon. We’ll fan out and come in on all sides, taking out the bastards in the forest first. Hang on Ryder, just hang on. There’s two fucking Packs heading your way.”
“Cam, you need to hurry, Chastity . . . she’s hurt bad. I’m not sure what’s happened but, shit, she’s bleeding from, I don’t want to sound indelicate but she’s bleeding from between her legs. There’s a lot of blood, Alpha, a whole fucking lot.”
Cam’s heart almost tore apart, Chastity’s words haunting him. “She was pregnant.”
He’d used past tense. Fuck! She’d known. His beautiful soul-mate had known . . . the bastard had killed their baby.
Ryder swore, anger coursing through their link. “Fucking bastard! I’ll rip his heart out!”
“No, Ryder, you won’t . . . that’s going to be my pleasure.” Cam told him coldly before alerting Feera, their Healer. “Feera, Chastity is hurt, badly, she’s going to need you.”
“I’m already on my way, Alpha, can you give me any information?”
Cam’s heart ached as he raced onward, desperation and wrath fighting inside him, but he knew the Healer had to know. “She and Ryder were both shot, but Chastity was pregnant and she was beaten and she’s now unconscious. Ryder reports there’s blood, a lot of blood flowing from her . . . her last thoughts were that they’d killed the baby.”
“Okay, Alpha, I’ll help her as soon as I get there.” Feera answered immediately.
You better, Cam thought to himself as they neared the place where he was going to wreak devastation and pain . . . so much pain.
He fed out his orders, Wolves replying rapidly as he slowed his pace, dropping down to sneak along the ground with grace silently. So near he could scent his mate’s blood hanging in the air, taste it on his tongue, bringing him to a frenzy of hatred.
His muzzle broke through the bushes hiding the clearing from his view and what he saw tore the breath from his lungs. The man standing with his arms crossed, his booted toe nudging Chastity’s prone body as he sneered down at her was one he’d never forget but also one he’d never thought to see again. One that sickened him. One that was nothing short of cowardly. A bully. A fucking bastard that he was going to rip to shreds: Stu Robertson.
The damn Alpha they’d had to buy Heather from. The one who’d threatened to drown their precious daughter, calling her a fucking half-breed.
Cam’s heart thundered wildly in his chest, careening out of control with revulsion and loathing. Seeing the bastard so close to his mate causing him to see red, literally. His eyes zeroing in on him and nothing else.
Forcing himself to take a steadying breath and look around, he checked the area. Ryder’s face white with pain as he tried to take Chastity’s body into his arms and was rewarded with a kick to his injured thigh. It didn’t look like the only one either. The Panther’s face was black and blue, covered in blood and one eye was completely closed, his nose swollen and bloodied.
Clayr was in the process of holding onto Shaney as a man fought to pull her away . . . Pervis! Shit. This just got worse and worse. Pervis snatched Shaney’s hair, tugging brutally and backhanding Clayr to send her sprawling so he could finally gain his prize: Shaney.
Fuck no. No more.
Cam gave the order. “We’re going in. Be careful of the guns. They have silver bullets so take anyone with guns out first. The Alpha at Ryder and Chastity is mine. There’s a Witch nearby. I can’t see him but if anyone can find him I want him taken down fast. Attack him en-masse. Fast and hard with as many as you can. Don’t hesitate. Rip him apart as quickly as possible or he’ll take you down. I want Heather and Corey found, now! Those of you in the forest, get your asses in gear and find my bairns! Now, let’s get those fucking assholes and take them out.”
He didn’t waste time waiting on any replies. His Wolves would follow him into Hell.
Launching himself from his place nestled in the forest he raced forward, the distance between him and his love seemingly endless as he ran. Stu’s head snapping up, surprise covering his face first as Cam’s Wolves broke free on all sides. Pandemonium broke out, roars from them, curses from Stu’s men, blood, gore, children’s screams filling the air but all Cam saw was Stu’s face as he careened toward him.
Ryder looked around, his face looking at Stu and Cam, and Cam knew the Panther was trying to decide what to do. Should he shift and join the fight, or not? But Stu made the decision for him, training a gun on Chastity.
“Don’t think about it.” Stu shook his head. “One shot is all it’ll take.”
Ryder’s jaw clenched, eyes full of fire and revulsion as Cam slid to a halt, whining as his muzzle nudged Chastity before snarling savagely up at the Alpha who’d caused her so much devastation.
“Nice to see you again, Mr. High-and-Mighty.” Stu shook the gun around. “How does it feel to have her lying there like that? And what about that little half-breed? She’s lying gutted in the forest somewhere, together with that son of yours.”
His head reared back, a roar tearing free at Stu’s words. No! Surely not!
“Oh, you didn’t know? Yeah, my men caught those little cunts! They’re dead.”
Ryder shook his head vehemently, Stu cold-cocking him violently and knocking him to the ground but not before he got a message to Cam through their link. “Not true! At least I don’t think so, Alpha! The men he sent to look for them haven’t returned.”
Cam thanked the Goddess for that piece of information, turning his snarl back to Stu who had the gun trained back on Chastity. He had to get that damn gun away from him, or at least away from being on Chastity. He couldn’t risk attacking whilst he had her in his sights. She was in a bad way as it was. One more shot could . . . well, he wasn’t going to think of that. But he couldn’t risk her taking another bullet.
He’d shut out the battles going on around him, he couldn’t think about that. He trusted his Wolves to take care of the others, including Ailis and to find Heather and Corey. He’d sent men to do those tasks, he knew they’d carry them out, or die trying.
He had to. Right now, he had to try and deal with Stu and save Chastity. He just had to figure out how. He had to think, had to focus.
He stomped to the side, hoping Stu would train the gun on him. No such luck.
The fucker merely shook his head. “Do you think I’m stupid? The minute I take this off her I’m dead. And that’s not happening. Not here, not now. Not when I’ve gone to all this trouble to get you here to witness this.”
Stu’s face was a mask of insanity. Cam realized it when he glared up into the man’s eyes. He was batshit crazy. He knew he wasn’t getting out of this alive. Oh fuck.
Ryder sat up, looking at Stu then at him. “Alpha, he’s nuts. He’s going to kill her. No matter what, he’s going to kill her.”
“I fucking know that!” Cam snapped back as realization slammed into his chest, stealing his breath, his heart, his soul.
This wasn’t about anything other than Stu Robertson seeing Cam brought to his knees by taking what he knew would break him completely, and destroying what he held dearest: his family.