Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lachlan
A cloud of dust obscured Chloe and Brayden from my view. My wolf was howling inside me, fighting to get out. I held onto my control by the thinnest thread. If I shifted, trussed up as I was, my arms and legs would be pulled out of joint.
Instead, I focused on my fingers. If I could keep the change only in my hands, I might be able to shred the ropes enough to break them. Eager to join the fray and kill the male who attacked our she-wolf, the animal inside me cooperated. I’d never attempted a partial shift before. It was dangerous and difficult. Only the oldest, strongest wolves mastered the feat, but right now I was willing to try anything to help the woman I loved.
My fingernails lengthened and sharpened, becoming claws. It hurt like hell. The rest of my body wanted to follow, to shift into wolf form, but I couldn’t allow it.
I twisted my wrist until I managed to scrape at the rope stretched taut between the bars and my arm. I glanced at the other cell. The dust was settling and I could see Chloe’s shadow, still bound to the bars, and two forms battling behind her.
Someone had come to help us. As I cut at the ropes, I sniffed, sneezing when the dust hit my nostrils. I couldn’t smell our rescuer, but I had an idea who it might be. If my guess was correct, he would still be weak.
Finally, the rope snapped and my arm was free. Releasing my other arm and my feet was much quicker. I lunged across the cell. Chloe’s eyes met mine, hard and cold. She nodded to me as I split the ropes on her wrists. Crouching down, I reached through the bars and freed her feet.
Without a word, she whirled and jumped into the battle that raged behind her. The dust had settled enough for me to catch a glimpse of the wolf that had crashed through the ceiling. It was Carter Whelby.
The door that led out of the holding area flew open, crashing against the wall. Three of Darrell’s officers came in, heading toward the cells. Adrenaline cleared the last of the drugs from my system, my vision sharpening and the nausea fading. Leaping to my feet, I charged.
Rather than fight as shifters did, with fangs and fists, the first officer drew his sidearm, pointing it at me with trembling hands. The first shot grazed my shoulder, but I was on top of him before he could squeeze off another. I ripped the gun from his grasp and my hand sliced across his throat. He gaped at me, his hands clutching the torn flesh as he hit the ground.
The other two wolves reached for their weapons as well, their eyes wheeling wildly. I felt a surge of loathing as I lifted the weapon I still clutched and shot them both without hesitation. They were too weak to hold their position with their shifter abilities, so they would die without the respect of a fair fight.
I glanced out the door, found the police station empty, and turned to aid Carter and Chloe in their fight with Brayden. As I faced the group, a body flew at me from the cell, sending us both through the wall. A figure sprinted past us, his clothing torn and bloody.
Chloe ran after him, stopping only when she saw me sprawled beneath Carter. She stared after Brayden for only a moment before coming over and helping me shift Carter to the floor.
He groaned, clutching his ribs as his head lolled. “Did we get him?”
A smile tugged at my lips, but it was grim. “He got away.”
“Fuck,” Carter groaned, rolling onto his side and sitting up. “What about Darrell?”
“Gone,” I answered, standing and helping Carter to his feet.
Chloe moved ahead of us, checking the open room that held the officer’s desks and the reception area. It was empty.
“We need to leave,” she said. “Before they come back.”
Carter coughed. “No. We have to get to the safe. This might be our only chance.”
Though Chloe gave him a measuring look, she didn’t argue. “Where?”
I supported Carter’s weight as he led us to Darrell’s office. He pulled away from me, staggering behind the massive desk in the center of the room. Falling to his knees, he shoved the office chair aside. The floor beneath the desk appeared to be the same tile that appeared in the front part of the building, until he pressed on one of the squares. There was a quiet click and the tile popped up. Moving it aside, he began pulling out stacks of CD’s, flash drives, and printed photographs.
“Take these,” he commanded me.
“Where am I supposed to put them? In my pockets?” Chloe was still naked and all I wore were my jeans. There was no way everything in his hands would fit in my pockets. I was itching to get out of this place. There was no telling how many wolves would come with Darrell when he returned.
Chloe appeared at my side, a plastic shopping bag in her hand. Without a word she took the stack of evidence from Carter and shoved it inside. Tying the handles together, she moved to Carter, helping him to his feet.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” she declared.
“I have a car hidden a few blocks away. Go out the back,” Carter mumbled, leaning heavily on her.
The night was utterly still when we exited the building, the first, faint streaks of dawn appearing in the east. I watched Chloe carefully, looking for any signs that she might still be suffering from the effects of the tranquilizer that Darrell had given us, but she was alert, moving swiftly and silently through the shadows despite her burden.
A few minutes later, we were inside Carter’s car, driving away from town. His voice was thick and pained as he gave me directions. The fact that he’d managed to take on an alpha wolf in his weakened condition said more about his commitment to helping us than any vow he could have made.
We arrived at an old farmhouse a half hour from Prater just as the sun rose over the horizon. Chloe and I helped Carter from the car.
“Are you sure this place is safe?” I asked him.
He stumbled, nearly falling to his knees. “Yes. No one knows about the house. Not even my father.”
Chloe and I exchanged a look over his head. That’s what we’d believed as well. We needed to figure out how Darrell had found us in the first place, but now wasn’t the time.
I leaned down and scooped Carter in my arms. He groaned in pain but didn’t argue as I carried him up the steps to the door.
“Key?” Chloe asked, coming around to open the door.
“My right pocket.”
She gingerly fished it out his pocket and unlocked the knob, pushing the door open for us.
As I entered the house, Carter asked, “You gonna give me a kiss while you carry me across the threshold?”
I heard Chloe chuckle behind me. Considering the ordeal she’d just been through, the fact that he made her laugh meant I owed him a debt I could never repay.
“Where’s your bedroom?” I asked.
“Whoa, now I am not that kind of girl,” he slurred.
“Maybe I should just drop you if you’re feeling well enough to joke,” I muttered.
“Up the stairs, second door on the left,” he replied.
Chloe was still smirking when she followed us into Carter’s bedroom, but the smile faded when she got a clear look at his injuries.
“Get me some towels and hot water,” I commanded, leaning over Carter’s prone body on the bed. “I’m going to get him cleaned up and see what I can do for him.”
“I’ll heal,” he argued weakly. “Just bring me some water and some ibuprofen.”
“Ibuprofen thins the blood, you idiot,” Chloe retorted testily. “Just let us get you sorted out.”
I ripped Carter’s t-shirt down the middle, revealing the cuts and massive purple bruises on his abdomen.
“Okay, I’m really beginning to think you have a thing for me. First you carry me into my bedroom and now you’re tearing my clothes off.”
I prodded the worst of the bruising, making him hiss with pain. “Sure, once you’re healed I’ll take you out for dinner and dancing.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re definitely not my type. Dinner and dancing? When were you born? In the 1940’s?”
“Yeah, 1942.”
He chuckled harshly. “Damn, you look pretty good for an old fucker.”
“How touching,” Chloe said dryly as she re-entered the room. “Should I give you two another moment?”
I glared at her. “Just bring me the stuff.”
She and I worked together, cleaning Carter’s wounds. He tried to refuse when we began licking the worst of the cuts, but we ignored him.
“Shut up,” Chloe demanded. “You saved our asses and we’re going to help you in any way we can.”
He stopped protesting. By the time we were done, his breathing was much easier and the bruising on his abdomen was fading. The internal bleeding had stopped as his body healed itself.
Chloe helped me strip him naked and draped a sheet over him.
As his eyes closed, Carter mumbled, “There’s clothes and stuff in the other bedroom. Take whatever you need.”
We waited until his breathing was deep and even before we left the room.
As I closed the bedroom door behind us, I said, “I need to see to your injuries, Chloe.”
She turned toward me, looking exhausted in the morning light. “They’re probably all healed by now.”
I glanced at the savage bite mark on her neck and she winced, looking away.
“I’ll tend to it,” she stated quietly.
“No, I’ll do it. I’m going to have to help close the bite with saliva,” I insisted.
Her shoulders drooped as she gave me her back and walked into the bathroom. “Just let me take a shower first. I’m covered in blood and dust.” Then she shut the bathroom door in my face.
With a sigh, I found the other bedroom Carter had mentioned and rummaged around until I found a pair of men’s boxers and a t-shirt. It wasn’t ideal, but I thought she might want some clothing between her injured skin and the coarse sheets on the spare bed.
When I entered the bathroom, she was just stepping out of the shower.
“You should get cleaned up too,” she suggested. “So I can see if your cuts need treatment as well.”
I sensed that she wasn’t ready for me to touch the bite wound on her neck yet, so I did as she asked. The water ran black and red as I washed the blood and dirt from my skin as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, I climbed out of the tub and snagged the towel she’d left hanging on the rack for me.
I dried off and slipped on the shorts I’d found for myself. Chloe was no longer in the bathroom, but I found her sitting on the side of the bed in the spare bedroom. Her hair was wrapped in a towel and she was wearing the clothes I laid out for her.
“Thanks for finding these,” she said.
I nodded. “No problem.” She tensed as I moved behind her. Seeing it, I shifted to the side closest to her injured shoulder but still within her sightline. “I need you to take off the shirt so I can see the bite,” I stated, keeping my voice soothing.
Exhaling heavily, she lifted the shirt over her head, taking the towel with it. Gently, I shifted the damp strands of her hair to the side, revealing the ragged edges of Brayden’s handiwork. Though it had been hours since he’d bitten her, the wound still oozed blood and the skin was healing in some places, but unevenly. The scarring would be deep and likely permanent.
Rage filled me at the sight. Not just of another male’s bite on her body, but the pain it symbolized. Her pain. Swallowing a growl, I leaned forward and slid my tongue along the one side of the injury, then the other.
Chloe made a small sound, shifting slightly away from me. I knew that my ministrations hurt, but they were necessary. With my saliva, the scarring wouldn’t be as bad.
I worked as quickly and gently as I possibly could until the bleeding stopped and the marks left by Brayden’s fangs were pink where the skin was healing.
When I lifted my head, she immediately put on the shirt she clutched against her chest.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Clearing her throat, she looked at me. “What about your wounds?”
I looked down at the bullet graze on my arm. It had already closed on its own, a scab forming on my skin. By tomorrow it would be gone. The rest of my lacerations had been superficial.
“I’m good.”
She nodded. “Okay, well, I’m going to try to sleep for a few hours.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She crawled into the far side of the bed, giving me her back. I stared at the curve of her shoulder for a long moment, hating the fact that my fierce she-wolf was so quiet and complacent.
As I stood and walked across the hall to check on Carter, I decided then and there that Brayden Kirkpatrick would die the most painful death I could think of, and I’d had occasion to think of a fair number of ways to kill a wolf slowly.