Clover
Clover inched back, giving Ash room. He grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck and yanked him to his feet. A few straggler hunters still fought but Raymand shifted back to his human body.
“Clover, get the kids and take them home in my truck.” Ash rolled his shoulders like he was having issues. Her wolf gave up control, letting her shift back.
“I need to get these stupid things off everyone. Oh, and shirt.” Clover gritted her teeth together as she pulled apart Patrick’s collar. Ash hit the hunter in the stomach and dropped him to his knees. He yanked off his shirt leaving him in a pair of dark jeans. Heat rolled down her body resting between her tights. Oh goodness, this is so the worst time to be in heat.
“Here.” Ash tossed it at Clover’s legs then he wrenched the fucker off the ground and away from the pups. Raymand cleared most of the distance already and stood a few feet away with Maple at his side. Blood clung to their flesh, but they didn’t seem phased or injured. Clover wondered how they managed to be so okay with their nudity. She grabbed Ash’s top and pulled it on quickly not wanting anyone to see her thighs, hips, and belly roll.
“Look what we have here, Don Douglas.” Raymand clenched his fists together. Clover motioned for the next pup to come closer and she grabbed the collar and pulled it apart. The pups formed a line, all waiting quietly to be freed. Each one burned like crazy but she wouldn’t keep them in the evil contraptions just to save herself some pain. The scent of burning flesh filled her nose but she ignored it. She kept glancing back to see what happened with Don between pups. Once all the collars rested on the floor, she huddled the pups together on her right.
“He’s too stupid to be behind all of this shit.” Maple pitched in and Don spat on the ground.
“I have a fucking debt to pay, thanks to you and your store.” Don squared his shoulders but stayed in Ash’s grip. Part of her wanted to rewind time and kill him before Ash came into the shop.
“My store? These kidnappings happened before I even arrived in town,” Maple said as Patrick wiggled into Clover’s lap. Having him safe helped to calm her raging wolf.
“Yes, but you’re the reason they sucked me into the kidnapping. These hunters threatened to kill me and my wife if I didn’t start supplying them with a place to lay low.” Don rolled his shoulders like he was talking business instead of kidnapping. Three more damn collars to pull off.
“There are children in there.” Ash tightened his grip on the back of his neck making Don wince. Clover glanced around at the pups all huddled together and Patrick never moving from her lap.
“I see it as product movement. The leader, Klaus, wanted a shipment of kids today and I had to deliver.”
“Well, you’ve got me instead,” Ash growled.
The echo of tires squealing caught Clover’s attention and she barely saw a black pickup with a blonde driving from her angle. The driver yanked the wheel and turned the truck around like a professional driver. The guy in the front seat didn’t seem shocked to find a parking lot of naked men and woman standing around. The tires barked against the ground and it zipped away.
“Kirk, follow them. If they start attacking, pull back and call us,” Raymand barked out his orders and one of the younger guys shifted and ran after the truck.
“And there they fucking go.” Don shook his head as best as he could. The last collar snapped open and Clover stood while shaking out her hands. Relief flooded her soul as a small sigh left her lips. She glanced down at the damage from the silver, her wolf already worked on healing it ever so slowly. Her pinky fingers were a hot pink since she didn’t use them much when she had pulled on the silver.
“Are you going to kill him?” Clover asked as the kids slowly followed her, Patrick clung to her side.
“Annmarie.” Zac ran up to her and she flung herself into her dad’s arms.
“Unless he attacks one of us now, we can’t do shit. All the humans over there died in self-defense, but this fucker was caught and isn’t fighting. We’ll have to take him to the fucking cops.” Raymand rolled his shoulders and Ash shoved Don to the ground.
“He should die for what he did.” Ash pointed at the man who put the whole pack through hell. He seemed to be waging a war behind his normally soft eyes. She glanced around at the pups waiting on her.
“Come on, kids. You don’t need to be here anymore.” Clover lifted Patrick into her arms and they headed toward the truck. One struggled to walk and Don snatched the little girl and pressed one of the silver blades against her neck.
“No!” almost everyone yelled in unison. Rage pulsed through her body. Damn him to hell! The urge to end his life burned hotter than coals.
“Oh, I’m getting out of here.” Don stood keeping the pup close and she whimpered, his back was to Clover. Clover set Patrick down and motioned for them to get into the trucks. A little boy grabbed Patrick’s hand and pulled him away from Clover. Don slowly inched back toward Clover and the pups. She tried to think of some way to help put an end to the fucker. Clover really wanted to rip out his heart. Ash followed close but stopped suddenly.
“I want my mommy,” she whimpered. The anger flared through Clover and she inched closer to the bastard.
“You should stay right there,” Don yelled. Without thinking, she pulled at her strength and dug her fingers into his back, ripping out part of his spine from the base of Don’s neck. Blood sprayed over her shirt and legs but she didn’t care.
His body went limp. The blade clattered to the ground and the girl ran right into Ash’s arms. Don’s blood covered Clover’s hand as she clutched the vertebrae. He dropped to his knees then fell to the right.
Clover met his gaze and her other hand shook at her side. Patrick ran up to her.
“He warned you. You shouldn’t mess with our kids.” She threw the bones onto the ground and Ash glanced down to Don’s limp body in disbelief.
“Did you just rip out part of his spine?” Maple asked, her eyes widened. Clover glanced at the alpha then down at the dead body. Shit, I’m going to be in trouble for this crap, but it was completely worth it.
“I wanted his heart, but I didn’t know if I could do it.” Clover’s hands twitched toward her shirt and Patrick grabbed her leg. “Will I be in trouble for this?”
“Fuck no!” Raymand clapped his hands together with a smile. “You just beat me to it.” He kneeled down next to Ash and pushed the pup’s hair away from her face.
“Let’s get the silver out,” he said. Maple zipped to the truck and back with a bag of peroxide bottles. Ash held the girl’s hair back as Maple poured the liquid down her neck. Clover winced and picked up Patrick, he clung to her like dried paint to a board.
“What’s your name?” Ash asked and kept glancing up at Clover. She stayed in the same spot not wanting to move. She struggled to wrap her mind around the fact she killed Don with her own bare hands.
“Emery.” She tried to pull away, but Ash kept her still.
“It’s almost done.” He rubbed her arm with his thumb.
“I wanna go home.”
“You will be coming with us for a few days.” Raymand rubbed his hand on Emery’s arm. Seeing the alpha being sweet was a new experience for Clover.
“All done.” Maple stopped pouring and capped the bottle. “Let’s get going.” Maple snatched up Emery and walked to the truck. Clover turned, all the kids were safe in the pickup.
“All the kids are loaded up. So not enough car seats but it will have to do.” Clover rubbed her hands together. She met Ash’s gaze and heat zipped down her spine. Her body pulsed with need. The alpha started barking out orders on clean up to the others while Zac slipped to the truck and pulled Annmarie into another hug.
“You did a good job, Clover.” Ash pulled her in for a kiss and the need to mate with him right there pulsed through her body. Not yet! She pushed down her beast and leaned back to smile at her mate. She didn’t know if he might agree to have another kid and she worried what would happen. Ahead of them stood three days of hell.