Chapter Thirty-Two
Lachlan
I groaned when Chloe ripped my shirt open, tiny points of fire prickling along my shoulder and chest. I saw the relief in her eyes when she realized I wasn’t gravely injured.
Then, before I could stop her, she was gone.
“Chloe! Chloe, wait! Fuck, Finn, grab her!” I yelled. “Don’t let her go alone!”
He was too late. She’d climbed out of the same window as the Kirkpatricks and she was gone.
I hauled myself to my feet, Finn appearing beside me.
“I’m sorry, Lachlan,” he apologized. “I couldn’t reach her in time.”
“Goddammit, I hate getting shot,” I gritted out through clenched teeth. “It hurts like fuck.”
Finn studied my injuries for a moment. “You’ve got a bleeder there,” he said finally. His hand moved over my shoulder and I could almost feel the energy focusing on the point where one pellet had entered my body. I grunted as it popped out of the hole. It hit the ground with a ping and rolled away.
Then I felt the heat and clenched my jaw against the pain. A few moments later it subsided. Finn waved his hand over my flesh again and I flinched as the rest of the pellets slid from my skin, the sound of them hitting the ground like rain.
“I can’t heal the rest of your wounds,” Finn stated apologetically. “There are others who need me more and I don’t want to take too much power from Kerry.”
I nodded. “I appreciate it. Tell the others I’m going after Chloe. Calder should be able to track me.”
Finn nodded and I felt his eyes watching me as I launched myself through the window and immediately found Chloe’s trail. I traced her steps through town and paused at the edge of the trees. I sniffed the air, and then crouched in order to get my nose closer to the ground. I smelled a combination of scents. Chloe, Brayden, and Brian.
My mate was out there alone with two armed wolves. I growled low in my throat and followed. The Kirkpatricks had hurt her enough. I wouldn’t allow them to do it again.
I tracked them through the woods, stopping to listen or examine a footprint.
The only warning I got of his presence was the sound of a shotgun ratcheting. I barely had time to ascertain where the sound originated before the first shot went off. I managed to dive behind a tree trunk. I could hear the pellets as they hit the trees and brush around me.
I heard the pump again and lunged behind another tree, this one larger than the last. He shot at me as I moved, but he missed again.
That was two shots. I wondered if he had reloaded after he ran from the police department. Even if he had, it was likely he only had three left. Maybe four if the gun held six shells.
Either way, I didn’t intend to get shot again. Once a decade was enough for me. There was another pump of the shotgun and I could hear him shifting around, trying to find a better position, but he was downwind of me and I couldn’t get a lock on his scent.
Swearing silently, I glanced around the edge of the trunk. Pellets splintered the bark near my shoulder.
“Fuck,” I hissed as pieces of bark and splintered wood rained down on me.
There was another pump, then silence. The nearest tree was nearly ten feet away, and though I had shifter speed, so did Brian Kirkpatrick. Leaves rustled and I could hear him suck in a quick breath. He was moving again.
I needed to distract him, throw him off until he ran out of shells. There was no chance I could work my way to him without getting hit otherwise. The trees were too far apart, letting the sunlight pierce the canopy. I wouldn’t be able to hide my movements. My only choice was to divert his attention and get him to take shots at me until he was out of shells.
“You do realize you’re going to die today, right?” I asked him, keeping my tone conversational. “Even if I don’t kill you, one of the other wolves will.”
“If they can find me before I get to Houston. Not even Sophia MacArthur would trespass on my pack territory.”
I snorted. “Wouldn’t she? You arranged to have her son killed and helped Darrell kidnap Chloe for Brayden. I think she’d rain hellfire down on your pack, consequences from the Tribunal be damned.”
He was silent and I knew he was mulling over my words. He knew they were true. I leapt behind another tree, but no shot followed. He was off balance and this was my chance.
From my new vantage point, I could barely see the side of his face. He was still looking toward the tree where I’d been, unaware that I’d moved. The wind shifted, carrying my scent away from him, and I smiled.
Moving noiselessly through the trees and underbrush, I crept closer.
“I still can’t let you live, Lachlan,” he called. “Otherwise I won’t have any chance of surviving myself.”
I was only a few feet from him now, praying that the wind wouldn’t change again and give away my position. He lifted the shotgun, still aiming toward the tree where I’d been hiding moments ago.
“If you come out now, I’ll make it quick and as painless as possible.”
Before he could react I was on him, my hand coming down on the barrel of the shotgun. The gun went off, but it was too late. I had him in my grasp. Jerking the weapon out of his hand, I hit him with my right fist, using every bit of my strength.
He sprawled on the ground, his eyes glassy and unfocused.
“I can’t promise you the same,” I said. Then I brought the butt of the shotgun down on his temple.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on, noting that Calder had called several times. I tapped the screen, calling his number.
“Where are you?” he demanded.
“In the woods, southwest of town. About a half-mile in.”
“Were those shots you?”
“Yeah. I’ve got Brian here and he’s unconscious. I need one of you to get here quickly. I have to go after Chloe.”
“I’m on my way,” Calder replied. I could hear the sound of his running feet through the phone. “I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
I glanced down at Brian Kirkpatrick. I couldn’t wait. If he woke up and managed to escape before Calder got here, then I would just track him down again. Right now, my priority was Chloe.
“I can’t wait for you. You’ll pick up my trail on Hedgecoxe Drive. Follow it and you’ll find Brian.”
“Lachlan, wait—”
“Chloe’s on her own and going after Brayden, Calder. I will not let my mate die again.”
“Mate?”
I growled. “I don’t have time for this. I’m shutting off my phone.”
Without waiting for a response, I disconnected and turned off my phone. I did take the time to secure Brian’s wrists together behind his back with the twist ties Carter had given me. Then I bent his legs, using several more ties to attach the bands around his ankles to those on his wrists. I didn’t want to waste precious time, but I also wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t be easy for the wolf to sneak up behind me as I tracked Brayden and Chloe.
With that done, I walked back to the place where I’d last scented Chloe.
When I picked it up, I began running. I would not lose another mate. I couldn’t survive it.
Then I heard the sound of another shotgun blast and I ran faster, the taste of uncontrollable fear on my tongue.