Chapter Eighteen

It was an early afternoon on a humid August day when Austin strode through the door of Pistols and Purses, Savannah’s favorite shop, in downtown Foxhaven.

He’d spent the morning talking to Seers from different packs around the country. He’d found one in Oregon, not too far from where he lived, who would be willing to work with him and train him to harness his power and use it safely, in a way that didn’t make his head explode. He’d have to travel a few hours to get to his pack, and and spend a week at a time there, but it would be worth it. He could use his power to keep his family safe.

So far, he hadn’t tried to summon up any more visions, and he hadn’t been visited by any. He wanted to wait until he knew how to use his gift properly before he ventured into that territory again.

He had a few hours to kill before he and Savannah had their rehearsal dinner at the restaurant that evening. The restaurant had been closed for the day. Grant and his mate would be there in a couple of hours. Cliff couldn’t make it to the rehearsal dinner, but he’d be there at the mating ceremony.

He’d come to this particular shop because he knew they had specially designed handbags that would conceal a pistol. Savannah would love it.

“Oh my God,” a familiar voice growled behind him. “You really are a pussy. You are an actual vagina.”

He turned around to glare at Roy, who was standing there with a smirk on his face. He barely recognized him. Roy had trimmed his hair and beard, and he was wearing clean jeans, new hiking boots, and a red checked button-down shirt. He smelled faintly of cologne. He’d gone from the wild-haired lunatic of the mountains to a clean, well-groomed man who could have stepped out of an advertisement for Outdoor Living Magazine.

“What are you doing here?” Austin demanded.

“I hear they make the best roast beef sandwiches in the Northwest here, at a little restaurant called To Dine For,” Roy said. “Oh, I like that one for you.” He pointed at a pink, frilly little purse that dangled off the arm of a mannequin. “Although it might be a little too butch.”

Austin snorted. “I’m here to buy a present for my mate, ass-face. Where have you been for the last few weeks? Savannah was worried about you.” Then he scowled. “And I wasn’t, by the way.”

Roy smiled, as if Austin’s insult hadn’t bothered him in the least. “Well, I’ve been thinking about courting Miss Laurel, but I wanted to hang out and see if I could act sane for a little while first. Talk to people without killing them. Doesn’t seem to be an issue. Now that I have something I’m actually looking forward to, I’m finding it easier to be reasonably civilized.”

“Laurel might have mentioned you from time to time,” Austin said. Roy’s face lit up. “Mostly complaining about how rude you were.” And Roy’s face fell again. Austin sighed. “But honestly, she wouldn’t have been talking about you that much if she didn’t like you. I would just suggest taking it slow. Show up and apologize again. Just hang around, come back for lunch every day, and she’ll warm up to you after a while.”

Roy nodded thoughtfully. “Take it slow. I can do that,” he said.

A sudden icy sensation washed over Austin, coming from nowhere, and he shuddered.

“Now what? You upset about the idea of me being an in-law?” Roy scoffed. “Believe me, I don’t love the idea either, you little peckerwood.”

“Nah, I don’t know. Just a chill. I get them sometimes. Air conditioning?” He looked around but didn’t see an A.C. unit or a fan.

Roy’s face went from joking to dead serious. “It’s hot as hell in here, dude. My balls are sweating. There’s no chill – it’s your Seer power. Call your mate.”

Once upon a time, Austin would have argued. Not anymore.

He called, his heart starting to hammer in his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief when she answered.

He smiled at the sound of her voice. “Hey, trouble-maker, what are you up to?”

“Oh, you know, just spending time with my adorable bestie Jessamine,” she cooed at him. “Can’t get enough time with my favorite sister. She let me borrow her shirt this morning.”

His smile vanished. His heart sped up in his chest. “I see,” Austin said tightly. “Hey, can you put your mom on the phone?” He started running for the door as he talked, with Roy right on his heels.

“Oh, she’s a little busy at the moment. She can call you back, though.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be there in a couple hours. You give Jessamine all my love, won’t you?”

He hung up before she could answer, dashing across the parking lot. Panic choked him, and his heartbeat thundered in his ears.

Who was threatening her? Algernon? Jason?

He’d kill them.

How fast could he get back to the house?

No, no, no…he couldn’t lose her…

“What is it?” Roy demanded, keeping pace with him. “She sounded fine.”

“Someone’s got a gun to her head. She never talks like that!” Austin barked.

He paused for a second, gulping in breath. “Fire,” he said. “In my visions, I saw Savannah on fire.”

He quickly dialed the town fire department. “There’s a fire at To Dine For, and there’s a man holding people hostage inside. He’ll be armed,” he barked. He hung up before they could question him.

“My motorcycle will be faster!” Roy yelled, pointing at a Harley that was parked next to Austin’s truck.

Roy scrambled on. Austin hopped on the back of the bike, and the two of them raced towards Savannah’s house.

It should have taken them fifteen minutes. They got there in five, screeching around curves, almost wiping out several times. The wail of sirens told Austin that the trucks were on their way, but would they be fast enough? As they got close, they could see black smoke curling up in the sky, terrifying, evil.

Austin was sick with fear and rage. Savannah. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t live without her.

He’d had no right to judge Roy for acting like such a psycho. If he lost his mate, he’d fall into a thousand pieces.

When they pulled in to the parking lot, the fire department truck was already there – and the entire front of the restaurant was in flames.

Austin wanted to just rush in blind, but that might put Savannah at even more risk. Instead he slid off the motorcycle, stood perfectly still, and summoned up more self-control than he’d ever thought possible.

He closed his eyes, shuddering all over with the effort that it took to keep from running straight into the flames. He pictured the inside of the restaurant.

Savannah. Her mother. Niall, Anthony, Jessamine. All knocked unconscious and lying somewhere dark…shelves with jars and boxes…

Jason pacing around inside the kitchen, crazed, waving a gun… Roy falling…

He rushed towards the back of the restaurant. The storage room was back there, and in it was the door that led down to the basement. Roy was right behind him as he ran, breathing down his neck.

“They’re in the basement!” Austin shouted. “Roy, you stay out here! I see Jason shooting you!”

As Austin kicked the back door open, Roy sent a blast of power into the restaurant, which would force anyone in there to change.

That should help Savannah and her family; everyone healed faster in their animal form. If they had been shot with some kind of tranquilizer, they’d flush it out of their systems faster. And it would disable Jason, at least temporarily.

Roy was right behind Austin as he rushed into the storage room. “Roy, stay out!” Austin coughed on the smoke. Roy ignored him, the stubborn bastard.

When they raced in, they were hit by a blast of heat and acrid, choking smoke. Austin’s eyes watered as he quickly scanned the room. Jason, in wolf form, was crouched low on the floor, in front of the door to the basement. His ears were flattened against his head. His eyes were rimmed with red, his black lips lifted to reveal white fangs and dripping saliva.

Austin lunged and snapped. Jason refused to retreat. He had nothing left to lose.

Roy came hurtling past Austin, in wolf form now, and Jason launched himself at Roy, hurling himself through the air.

Austin rushed past them. The two wolves were rolling on the floor, crazed, snapping at each other. Austin didn’t stop; he couldn’t. He had to get to Savannah.

He clawed open the basement door and headed down the stairs.

It was pitch dark in the basement. He saw bodies everywhere, sprawled on the floor. Savannah lay on her back, completely still, and for a moment he thought his heart had actually stopped.

No. He wouldn’t give up.

He gathered Savannah and Jessamine in his arms, and ran awkwardly up the stairs with them, nearly falling backwards a couple of times. He raced out onto the law and dumped them on the grass.

They were breathing.

Savannah was breathing.

He returned for Niall and Anthony, barely able to make it through the thick, choking smoke this time.

He turned back towards the building. The flames from the roof shot thirty feet into the air, and chunks of burning embers sprayed from the roof.

Sucking in a breath of air, he started to rush towards the door – and Roy came staggering out, hair on fire, carrying Laurel in his arms.

He stumbled out of the doorway – and a shot rang out from inside the building. Blood bloomed on his shoulder. Jason must have turned human and in his final moments was still lashing out, determined to cause more death and misery.

Roy dropped Laurel on the ground, turned, and staggered back into a solid wall of smoke. What the hell was he doing? Finally killing himself?

No time to think… Austin ran over and grabbed Laurel, dragging her farther away from the building, to safety.

Everything was a blur. His head was swimming, he could barely stand. Shifters swarmed over Savannah and her family and Anthony, lifting them onto stretchers, moving them away from the structure.

Austin hurried towards the restaurant’s back door, only to be greeted by a blast of flames and a wall of scorching heat.

Gone.

The crazy old wolf was gone.

Roy was dead.

There was no way to get through that wall of fire, no way Roy could be alive behind it.

“Roy!” he shouted, at the top of his lungs. “Roy, answer me!” And he twisted his head, straining his ears, listening, but he heard nothing but the roaring fire.

His shoulders slumped in despair. Chunks of fiery debris rained down on him, and he turned and ran as hard as he could, around the side of the building, heading towards his mate.

An hour later, he, Savannah, Anthony, and her family were sitting there on the curb across the road from the smoking ruin of the restaurant, waiting for the new healer from Grant’s pack to show up. Grant had a new rule for the western region; healers helped every shifter who needed it, no matter what their species, not just fellow wolves.

The air stank of smoke and soggy insulation. Fire trucks were parked in front of the building, sending great jets of water over the smoldering structure. Dozens of people from Foxhaven had come to the scene, and were wandering around in the street, watching the firefighters at work.

Jason had apparently been alone when he’d attacked Savannah’s family. He’d stormed in to the restaurant raving, holding them hostage at first, screaming about Austin’s treachery. Then he’d forced them into the restaurant basement at gunpoint, using his Dominus power to control them, and shot them with tranquilizer darts before setting the building on fire.

Thankfully, Anthony’s little brothers had been playing at a friend’s house when Jason had stormed the building.

Jason was finally dead, his reign of terror over…but at such a high cost.

“I can’t believe Roy’s gone. He was such a great guy,” Savannah said, her voice hoarse.

Austin held her hand tightly, afraid to let go. Afraid that if he didn’t keep a firm grasp on her, she’d vanish. He’d come so close to losing her…it sickened him to think about it.

“Great guy might be pushing it,” Austin croaked. His throat was raw and aching. “Good, though. He was a good man, in the end. Brave. Sacrificed himself.”

“I was almost thinking of dating him, if he’d ever gotten around to asking me,” Laurel said, and then she was racked with a hacking cough. Savannah patted her back gently.

“Really? You? Date someone?” Jessamine wheezed.

Her mother gave her an indignant look. “What? I’m over the hill? Dried up? Past my prime?”

“No, I just thought…you know…you were never going to get over Dad,” Jessamine muttered, looking abashed.

Laurel’s face puckered in sorrow. “I never will get over your father. But I’m still alive,” she said softly. “My heart is still beating. It wouldn’t be the same with anyone else, but it could still be…good. Roy was the first man who made me feel… Well, never mind.”

“He died saving your life,” Savannah said, tears welling in her eyes and running down her soot-stained cheeks. “You know, when he was doing his whole crazy act and threatening us, he never threatened Anthony, because Anthony’s just a kid.” Savannah coughed to clear her throat. “I should have realized then that he was putting on a show for us. It was just because he was so grief-stricken. Any man who loved his mate that much…” Her words ended on a hacking cough.

They fell silent, staring glumly at the smoke as it drifted skywards. The healer wouldn’t be there for another hour at least.

“Hey,” a hoarse voice croaked. They all started, searching frantically to see where the voice had come from. There was a crowd of firefighters standing in the road, taking a breather as a new crew took over to battle the flames.

But it had sounded like…

Roy limped out from behind the group of firefighters. He was as pale as death. Patches of his hair had been burned off. His right shoulder was a bloody mess, and his arms were covered in blisters.

Laurel gave a low cry of relief, and Savannah shouted, “Roy! Damn you! You scared us to death!”

Roy grimaced as he made his way painfully over to them, one limping step at a time, and settled down on the grass with a groan. “Keep going,” he said, his voice raspy. “You were all saying such nice things about me.”

“Well, now we take them all back,” Austin said. “We were only saying that stuff because we thought you were dead. Didn’t mean a word of it. How did you get out of the restaurant? I thought you were wolfburger for sure.”

“I don’t even remember.” Roy stretched his arms out in front of him with a wince of pain. “Woke up on the lawn outside a few minutes ago.”

“What about Jason?” Savannah asked, looking alarmed. “If you got out…”

“That motherfucker’s not going anywhere. He’s still in the storage room. His head is at one end, his body is at the other.” Then he saw Laurel arch an eyebrow. “Really?” he growled. “I don’t get a swear pass for the day?”

“No, but we did start using your swear jar idea,” Laurel said brightly. “Why don’t you shift into wolf form while we wait for the healer? In fact, why don’t we all do that?”

Within a minute, they were all shifted into animal form, curled up on the grass, burned and bloody, patches of fur missing, but alive.

Austin rested his head on Savannah’s flank, breathing in her sweet scent.

And Roy, tentatively, slid his paw across Laurel’s. She let it rest there, and a smile curled her lips.