Chapter Twenty-Four
Jensen broke every speed limit, hoping no human cop took exception. He didn’t have time to deal with their side of the world when the shifter one was spiraling.
The sun set early and he wished for more daylight. The darkness would be his friend, help him move unseen, but it made him uneasy. His phone hadn’t stopped ringing and he’d answered the moment he realized he needed help.
And help was coming. From the Den and the Cove. Hunter wanted him to wait for them, but Jensen couldn’t. He knew what Nevan was like, he couldn’t let Liam suffer under his hands, not anymore.
It was late evening when he caught the first glimpse of the bridge in the distance. It had been built three decades previously to facilitate a train line connecting two cities. But things had long changed in thirty years, the train redirected, and the bridge was mostly empty of anything except local traffic. And most locals were pack.
Jensen pulled over by the bank of the river, needing to get his bearings before he made his move. He spent a long moment looking for movement on the other side of the bridge. There was a flash of light and he could just make out someone lighting a cigarette. Two someones, guarding the opposite side of the bridge. Were they there permanently or was it just because they were expecting Nevan back?
Jensen went back to his car, knowing he needed to get closer to the bridge, to be ready to block it just before Nevan arrived. As he opened the car door, he heard the sound of an engine and looked up to see a car entering the bridge from his side. Too late.
One of Liam’s glances out the window found something familiar. An old water tower in the distance. That meant they were near the bridge. He needed to get out.
Grabbing his stomach with one arm, he groaned.
“What’s the matter with you?” Nevan asked, sounding bored.
“My stomach hurts. I’m going to be sick.” He groaned again.
“If you throw up in my car, you’re going to be sorry.”
Nothing more was said, the car kept driving. Up ahead, Liam could see the lights of the bridge.
“Please, alpha, I can’t…” He made a retching sound in the back of his throat, yelping when Nevan’s foot kicked him.
“Stop the fucking car,” Nevan growled, his hand fisting Liam’s hair again. The door opened, and Liam was shoved out, landing on his hands and knees, feeling freezing concrete and metal under his hands as the icy cold winter air hit him.
Nevan got out after him as Liam gulped in big breaths, trying to figure out where they were. His heart sank. They were already on the bridge, about halfway across. Even if he ran now, there was nowhere to hide, no trees or bushes to use for cover. Just the straight road leading to either end of the bridge. At a flat out run, they’d catch him before he ever got to the end.
A sharp sound in the air had everyone looking around.
“What the hell is that?” Nevan asked, standing next to Liam.
“A car horn,” one of his men said, pointing down toward the river. Liam looked too, peering between the metal bars of the bridge.
Even at a distance, he knew who it was the second his eyes found them.
“Jensen.”
He only realized he’d spoken out loud when Nevan’s hand grabbed the back of his shirt, hauling him to his feet. There was stunned realization in the alpha’s voice.
“Jensen is your alpha, the one who took you from me? I thought he was long dead. So weak. Ha. Let’s show him who you belong to.”
Nevan pushed him forward against the bridge, the cold metal railing pressing against his stomach.
“Jensen,” he yelled. “This omega is mine. Every hair on his head. Every pup in his belly. It’ll be my table he waits on, my bed he warms. Cross this bridge and I’ll gut you like the prey you are.”
Liam learned two things in that instant. Nevan was scared of Jensen and didn’t want to fight him. And Liam’s love for Jensen was stronger than his fear. He was stronger than the terrified omega that had fled all those months previously. His alpha was close. So close. All Liam had to do, was jump.
Jensen watched as Nevan dragged Liam to the railing, shouting threats. He started running along the bank toward the bridge. Nevan didn’t want a fight but Jensen was going to give him one. He wouldn’t give Liam up. Never.
As he ran, he kept his eyes on them, expecting to see Nevan jump back into his car and drive off, like the coward Jensen knew he was. Jensen wasn’t a kid anymore, wasn’t the boy who’d just lost his father. Odd were, if Nevan was making threats like that, his ability to shift was limited, giving Jensen the upper hand for once in his life.
There was a flash of movement, Liam throwing himself up onto the railing. Jensen slowed and shouted, watching in horror as his omega dropped down, crashing into the freezing water.
No.
It was too cold, the water too deep. Even as a shifter, Liam wouldn’t make it, his body weighed down by the pregnancy. Jensen kicked off his shoes and jacket, wading into the river, the cold taking his breath away. He looked for any movement, any sign that Liam would surface. But there was nothing, the water still.
“Liam!”
The shifters on the bridge were staring down, scouring the water, and shrugging their shoulders. He could hear Nevan snarling at them, telling them to keep looking. Jensen kept moving, swimming forward to where Liam had entered the water, when something broke the surface halfway between him and the spot Liam had gone in. It wasn’t human, that much was clear, a head covered in white fur the only thing visible. The shifters on the bridge hadn’t spotted him, still focused on where Liam had hit the water.
Jensen began to wade toward the animal that was clearly making a beeline for him, struggling through the flowing water. It wasn’t a lion; the form Jensen knew Liam could take. It looked like a bear. A white bear. A polar bear?
When he got close enough, Jensen reached out, helping pull the bear toward the shore. Liam’s scent was all over it, mixed with the unfamiliar scent of bear.
“Almost there, Liam. You’re doing so great,” Jensen encouraged.
He heard shouting. Damn, they’d been spotted. The sound of an engine followed, and he knew they were running out of time. And Liam was running out of energy. He pushed and pulled, helping when Liam got tangled in the reeds by the shore.
And then they were on dry land, the car a fifty feet away.
“Come on, Liam. We have to hurry,” he prompted, hearing the engine of Nevan’s car bearing down on them. Liam was too tired to do more than limp along, Jensen shouting encouragement, but as they reached the car, Nevan and his men reached them. Jensen moved to position himself between Liam and the others, the omega crouching to lie on the ground, panting.
“Jensen, it’s been a long time,” Nevan said, grinning as he climbed from the vehicle.
“Not long enough,” Jensen replied.
“You took something of mine.”
“Wasn’t yours to begin with. And now he’s mine. Or, I should say, I’m his.”
“An omega is the property of their alpha. Liam belongs to me.”
“And you sliced him up badly enough that he almost died. Would have died if it wasn’t for me.”
“Stupid slave ran, didn’t he? We’d have patched him up.” Nevan looked around at his men. “Come on, Jensen. It’s five to one. This isn’t a battle you can win. Just like last time.”
Liam growled softly behind him and Jensen chuckled.
“Five to two, actually. And I’d put money on it that none of your boys can shift. Maybe not even you.”
He made the decision to shift then, forcing the change to take hold in record time, knowing he couldn’t leave Liam unprotected. He could feel the omega behind him, his bear form shivering but on his feet. Neither of them were willing to go down without a fight.
Nevan’s men took a step back toward their car. Nevan didn’t move but he did hesitate, making no move to shift form. Jensen lunged forward, lifted his head, and roared, the sound echoing all around them. Two of Nevan’s men jumped into the car, slamming doors closed. The other two were frozen, seemingly unable to take their eyes from him.
“Boss, I’m not sure this is our fight,” one of them said.
Nevan nodded slowly. “You’re right. Not today. But someday soon, Jensen, we’ll see each other again.”
They got back in their car, reversed, and turned, their lights crossing the bridge a minute later. Jensen didn’t move until they were on the other side, turning back to Liam.
He shifted back to human form, kneeling beside the exhausted bear, who’d sank to lie on the ground again.
“Liam, sweetheart, can you shift back? I won’t be able to get you into the car otherwise.”
His omega made a soft sound of exhaustion as Jensen stroked his soaked and freezing fur. The change seemed to happen slowly, Liam squirming and making pained sounds under his breath. And then bright green eyes were watching him.
“We did it.”
Jensen gathered him into his arms. “We did. That was so brave of you.”
“I knew you’d come and I knew I was strong enough to defy him. I wasn’t before but I’m free now. I can do anything.”
Liam’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed against Jensen.