Chapter Seventeen
Aleksy’s growl resonated through the room. “Where the hell is Lyra? I need to find her. Now.”
“We’ll find her,” Reno vowed.
“You searched the whole bunker?” Aleksy demanded of Nathan.
“She’s not here,” Nathan confirmed.
“I’m going out to find her,” Aleksy declared.
“Not alone,” Tony said. “You’re the strongest shifter I’ve ever met, but even you aren’t invincible. And if those shadows are Blane and his men, what a feather it would be if he took you down.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Aleksy grunted.
“The hell it doesn’t,” Tony raged. “He could kill you, Aleksy!”
“If Lyra is out there…if he gets to her and kills her…I’m dead anyway.”
Zane’s phone rang, the tone exceptionally loud in the silence that filled the room after Aleksy’s statement. He figured every mated shifter in the room understood exactly what he meant, because they would all feel the same in his shoes.
“It’s Murphy. ”
Zane swiped his thumb across his phone then put it on speaker, so the caller spoke to the whole room.
“Murph. You’ve got the room buddy. What’s up?”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” an Irish brogue filled the room. “It’s hunter-palooza out here. This whole area is crawling with them.”
“Fuck!” Aleksy growled. “How close are you?”
“Close enough that I could easily knock on your fucking door,” Murphy snapped. “We’ve got problems here. They have numbers, lots of them, and a lovely, little white tiger they’ve given something to.”
Aleksy lost his mind in that moment. “Is she alive?” The question came out with a roar.
“Yes. For now.”
“Y’all know you’re on private property here?” another voice said, carrying through the phone in a deep, rich tone with a Southern accent.
“Ah, fuck! We need to do something. Soon! He’s going to get us both killed.”
The sound became muffled as if Murphy had tucked the phone in a pocket or something. They heard the crunch of snow underfoot then Murphy spoke again.
“Fucking hell, Daniel. This death wish of yours will get us killed one day.”
“We’re in luck then, Murphy.”
“How’s that?”
“Today is a great day to die.”
Aleksy bolted. He threw open the door, a roar launching from his throat as he ripped his shirt over his head.
Aleksy, I’m here. I’m safe.
Lyra, I’m on my way.
The connection between them locked firmly into place, and he was flooded with her senses. He saw, felt and smelled where she was and knew what was happening. He let loose another roar, a primal call to his mate, and she echoed it, the dulcet sounds of her beast snaking in to wrap around his heart, so that it beat just a little faster.
He was already mid-shift when the woods exploded with gunshots and roars. He didn’t wait for anyone else. He tore through the trees hell bent on getting to his mate. He pushed through the boundary of Tony’s cameras, crossing the road and leaping through the tree line that edged it, landing in utter chaos.
Shifters and hunters fought, the smell of blood ripe in the air. Aleksy had no clue where all the shifters had come from or why. He only hoped he wasn’t forced to put any of them down because they’d chosen the opposite side.
He waded through the melee, heeding the call of his mate, and found her in the thick of battle, blood dripping from her muzzle. She was fierce and sexy and beautiful. And standing over a body.
Blane?
No. This is the one who jumped in front of Blane when I lunged for him.
Who are all these other shifters?
My guess is they’re with the two who stepped out to help me. One of them was shot, multiple times. He fell just inside the trees there.
She swiveled her head around.
The other one took off after Blane. I’m not sure where they went.
Before they said more they were interrupted by the others joining them. The hunters fled. With Blane gone, it didn’t look as if any of them wanted to stay. That or they hadn’t been prepared for the number of shifters who’d joined the fray. Aleksy was still curious about that.
Reno joined them, his white tiger larger than Lyra’s. He bumped Lyra’s shoulder gently with his head, a greeting that wasn’t lost on Aleksy. His mate responded, and he felt the bond forming between the siblings and couldn’t curb the twinge of jealousy that filled him.
Lyra turned her head toward him, butting him with her nose then rubbing the side of her face against him.
Kellan, Reno said, his voice sounding in Aleksy’s head.
He stepped in front of Blane when I went for him, Lyra told them. Who is he?
Kellan is Blane’s right-hand man. He took pleasure in torturing and killing shifters. I was one of the ones he captured. Took me out in a hotel parking lot when I was too damn cocky and stupid. Woke up chained to a wall with Kellan and some others beating the hell out of me. He…hurt my mate. I wish I’d been the one to rip his throat out.
“Reno!” Amia’s voice caught all their attentions and had them moving from Kellan’s fallen form toward her. She was squatted beside the body of another man. He was pale, blood staining him, eyes closed either in slumber or death. “It’s Daniel. He’s hurt, Reno. Badly. We’ve got to get him out of here.”
Reno roared in rage. Aleksy felt it pulsing through the other man. Zane was the first to join them, immediately shifting and assessing Daniel.
“We need to get him back to the bunker. Uncle Orsai can help us stabilize him. Jesus, I’m not sure he’ll make it back to Oklahoma like this.”
“We can’t lose him,” Amia whispered. “If we lose him, we’ll lose her, too.”
“Are you sure we haven’t already lost her?” Zane argued.
“Go,” Aleksy urged. “We’ll take care of things here.”
Zane scooped Daniel into his arms, unconcerned by their nudity or the blood that coated Daniel. Amia walked at his side, hovering and trying to help. A motorbike came barreling toward them, stopping inches from Zane. Vic was astride.
“Jump on, Zane. I’ll get you there. Tony’s headed back to get stuff ready. He said he’s used to taking care of Aleksy, so he has plenty of supplies.”
“Round everyone up,” Zane ordered as he mounted the bike behind Vic, Daniel draped precariously in his arms. “We need to know who all these shifters are, and why they showed up here.”
Aleksy was in the same boat there. He’d already planned on trying to get them all back to the bunker. He had a feeling it might not be him or Reno the others listened to, though. He suspected Lyra might have reached a few more people than they thought when she’d sent out her SOS. Tony had put the idea in his head when he’d said Lyra could project. If Tony was correct, Lyra might have contacted more than Aleksy and Tah when she’d been tortured by Blane and his men. Or maybe, she’d projected earlier than that when an alpha shifter had appeared with a message to come to him.
Lyra, I need you to do something for me.
Anything.
His heart flipped at her easy response. He didn’t deserve her, but he planned to spend the rest of his days proving otherwise.
Call out to the other shifters. Ask them to come to the bunker. Show them where. Tell them you’ll take them to him.
What?
Trust me, love.
She’s the key, Reno whispered, turning his head toward Aleksy.
Key?
Call them, love. We’ll know more once we’ve talked to them.
I’ll head back now, Reno said. I want to check on Daniel and call Tah to let him know what’s going on here. And we need to find Murphy. Soon.
Aleksy looked around. The area was littered with bodies. The dead would need to be gathered and disposed of. He figured he could count on Calloway and Gideon to help with that. Maybe Nathan, as well. The more hands, the quicker they’d get it all taken care of.
Send the message then follow Reno back to the house. You should be there when they begin arriving. I’ll meet you as soon as I get this cleaned up.
She gazed around them then focused on him once more. I’m sorry, Aleksy. For shutting you out.
It’s okay.
No, it’s not. I needed… Hell, I don’t know exactly what I thought I needed. It doesn’t matter now. What matters is I realized what I do need. Who I need.
And who would that be?
You, Aleksy. I was reeling from all the changes and meeting my brother, knowing he wants me to go back with him while that would be the last thing you wanted. It was too much. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Then my tiger decided she was tired of waiting, and everything just…synced within me. I didn’t know Blane was here, and really, it doesn’t matter. I’m not alone anymore. I have a mate now, a…family. I’m not used to checking in with people, and I’m going to screw up. But I don’t mean to. I don’t…want to.
Lyra—
I’m falling in love with you, and it terrifies me.
I’m not going anywhere, and no one will take me from you.
What if I choose to go to Oklahoma? I don’t want to choose between you and my brother because I know I’ll choose you. And I’m afraid that choice will put my brother’s pride in danger.
You don’t have to choose, Lyra. I’m with you. Always. Wherever you go, I go.
Even if it’s Oklahoma?
Even then.
And he meant it.
Do you think Tony will mind going to Oklahoma?
He wanted to laugh at how well she knew him already, yet she didn’t even realize it. She thought she was falling in love with him when she was already head-over-heels. She’d figure it out soon enough, and he could wait. She’d knocked him on his ass from the beginning. He just had to wait for her to realize she was on the ground beside him.