Chapter Thirty
Lachlan
Finn’s eyes met mine over Chloe’s head and I mouthed, “Thank you.”
He nodded, just a subtle tilt of his head.
I’d felt the way Chloe tensed when my lips touched the wound this morning while we were in bed. If the scar remained, every time she looked in the mirror, she would be reminded of that night.
I owed the vampire something I could never repay because he’d not only healed the wound, he’d saved Chloe from more pain.
While I held her in the early morning hours, I’d realized why I’d been so desperate to stop what was happening in that cell. I knew she would fight until Brayden killed her before she would submit to a forced mating.
And I could no longer imagine a life without Chloe in it.
At the realization, something stirred within me. An instinct I never thought I would feel again. The urge to mate. To mark her as mine.
As I watched Chloe release Finn, I knew that discussion would have to wait. We had wolves to track and a pack to save.
But when it was all over, we would talk. I only hoped she would listen.
Carter appeared in the front door, still pale and a little stooped, but he looked much better.
“We need to talk,” he stated, his eyes taking in the wolves on his porch, pausing on the single vampire in the group. He took Finn’s presence in stride without a word, gesturing for us to follow him.
We filed inside and trailed behind Carter into the living room. In one corner a bank of monitors and speakers was set up, showing different camera feeds of Prater.
“Darrell’s gone off the deep end,” Carter stated grimly, gesturing to the screens. He turned up the speakers and voices began to filter into the room.
I watched in horror as Darrell and two of his deputies dragged a family from their home, mates and their two female pups. One deputy had a tight grip on the little ones’ hair, lifting them onto their toes as they walked. Darrell had secured the parents’ hands behind their backs but I could see the fear and rage on their faces as they stumbled behind.
Carter pointed to another screen, which showed the ruined cell room in the police department. Two more families waited inside, mates and children. One of the she-wolves was hunched over, but when she straightened I realized with horror that she was pregnant.
“What the fuck is this?” Calder asked, his voice furious and rough.
“He sent me a text message,” Carter replied, lifting his phone. “He’s taking families that helped me. All this time, he’s known and he’s just been watching and waiting for me to make a move so he had a legitimate reason to kill us all.”
“We have to help them,” Chloe said, her eyes intense. Frighteningly so.
My eyes were caught by another camera feed, this one in Darrell’s office at the police department.
I pointed to the screen. “What are they saying? Do you have sound for that room?”
Carter nodded, fiddling with the computer he had set up on the table next to the monitors.
Suddenly Brayden’s voice filled the room.
“Where is she?” he snarled. “She’s my mate and I want her here!”
Brian sat behind Darrell’s desk, looking completely at ease. “We’ll find her, son. Just be patient a bit longer. With what Darrell is doing, I doubt it will be long before she comes to us.”
“She should have been mine already,” Brayden growled, shoving his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth in the office. “If you’d let me take her when I wanted to, none of this would have happened.”
“People would have talked if she mated right after her parents died, Brayden. They would have suspected that you forced her and we would’ve ended up in front of the Tribunal answering uncomfortable questions about forced mating.”
“Then why in the fuck did we hire Darrell to kill them? Huh?” Brayden stopped pacing, some of the madness leaving his face. “This had nothing to do with what I wanted,” he stated with sudden clarity. “It was you. You wanted the pack. You knew you couldn’t take it from Matthew MacArthur, so you had Darrell kill him. Now you’re letting someone else do your dirty work again, hoping Carter and Lachlan will kill Darrell for you.”
The older wolf smiled. “Finally, you’re beginning to think the way an alpha should.”
My fists clenched and I glanced at Chloe. Her face was pale and her eyes burned with fury. Sophia MacArthur was much better at hiding her rage, but I could smell it as it swelled. Her face gave nothing away, but there was no way she could hide the scent.
“We need to get into town right now,” Carter insisted. “I know my father. He’s going to start killing wolves until I show up.” His eyes were haunted as he looked at me. “He’ll start with the weakest.”
The pups, I realized with horror.
“We can’t just go in there with guns blazing,” Sophia argued. “We need a plan.”
Carter’s eyes fired. “Oh, I have a plan. I’m going to kill the motherfucker like I should have years ago.”
“She’s right,” Chloe stated. “We need a plan.” When Carter looked as though he were about to argue, she lifted a hand. “But we’ll decide quickly. We have the advantage of strength and numbers. Darrell and his deputies aren’t as strong as any of us. Brian Kirkpatrick is just as likely to stand back and watch Darrell die as he is to fight.” Her jaw hardened. “And Brayden is mine.”
Something like admiration crossed Carter’s face.
Chloe glanced down at her body. “I need clothes,” she stated. “Something more substantial than boxers and a t-shirt.”
“I took care of that,” Sophia replied. “Your bags are in the car.”
“I’ll get them,” Nicholas stated, moving silently out of the room.
“Now, how are we going to do this?” Calder asked Carter. “You know the best ways into town, correct?”
“So does Chloe,” Carter answered, looking to her.
“Then let’s figure out how we’re going to get in there without detection and take care of the fuckers,” Calder said.
I watched as Finn stepped forward. “I think I can help you with that.”
“How?” I asked.
A sly smile crossed his face as he answered, “With magic of course.”
Five minutes later, we were crowded around the map of the town that Carter had pinned to the wall.
We agreed to split into three groups. Chloe, Finn, and I would be together. Sophia, Carter, Shane, and Nicholas would enter the town from the opposite side. Calder, Mason, and the two wolves that Sophia brought, Paul and Greg, would make up the final group.
Surprisingly, there was very little arguing over strategy, especially when Finn detailed how he intended to help us.
“I can mask your scent with a spell,” he explained. “And another that will make you difficult to see. It’s not invisibility exactly and it only works when you aren’t moving quickly, but it should be enough to get us into town undetected.”
I was beginning to see the variety of advantages that came with having a vampire warlock as a friend.
Chloe and I dressed quickly once the general plan was in place. I shot a look at Carter, concerned about his pale appearance. I worried he wouldn’t have the strength to continue.
Finn must have shared my thoughts because he approached the wolf cautiously. “You’re too weak to fight in your current state.” When Carter bristled, he lifted a hand. “I’m offering to help you. I can heal most of your injuries if you’ll allow me.”
“Will that affect your ability to cast the spell to hide us?” Carter asked, obviously surprising Finn with his knowledge.
“Normally, yes, but Kerry is sharing her power with me. I will have plenty left if I heal you.”
Carter eyed him for a prolonged moment before nodding. “I would appreciate your help then.”
“I’ll need you to stand completely still for me until I’m done,” Finn directed. “And the deeper the injury, the more this will…sting.”
“Great,” Carter exhaled. I knew that many of his internal injuries were already better, but they weren’t fully healed.
“Maybe he should sit down,” I suggested to Finn.
Carter didn’t even argue. He moved to the couch and lowered himself onto it, leaning back against the cushions. I moved to stand behind him in case he tried to move or stop Finn when the pain intensified. Finn nodded in approval of my position and knelt in front of Carter. Using both hands and starting at Carter’s ankles, Finn seemed to stroke the air around the wolf.
A pale glow spilled from Finn’s palms and echoing light appeared on different areas of Carter’s body. Finn’s eyebrows lifted as he took in the size and number of pulsing lights. I realized I was looking at Carter’s wounds, both internal and external, and I couldn’t believe the wolf was still standing, much less preparing to go into battle.
As Finn moved his palms to cover two areas, he closed his eyes. Carter sucked in a deep breath, his hands fisting at his sides, but he didn’t move. He didn’t even make a sound.
Until Finn reached the largest area on his abdomen. It was the place where I’d seen the deep bruising and known Carter had internal bleeding. When the light brightened, I squinted.
Carter grunted, his shoulders jerking, but the rest of his body remained completely still. I could hear his teeth grinding together as he endured the pain, but he never moved again.
When it was finally over, Carter relaxed against the back of the couch, breathing hard.
“I don’t know if you’re a fool or the most valiant wolf I’ve ever met,” Finn muttered, staring at Carter with glowing purple eyes.
“I’d go with the first one,” Carter panted, squeezing his eyes shut as the residual pain wracked his body. However, his color was much better, his cheeks no longer white and the fine lines around his eyes vanishing.
“Me too,” I agreed.
One of his eyes popped open. “Oh, hey there. You gonna kiss my booboos better?”
“He’s definitely healed if he’s hitting on me,” I stated, rolling my eyes. “Be careful, Carter, or I’ll ask Sophia to do it.”
His eyes shot to the she-wolf, who bared her teeth. “Uh, I appreciate that, but I’m feeling much better now.”
Chloe came forward with a bottle of water. “Drink this. We need to get on the road.”
Carter’s eyes moved to Finn. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“You’re welcome.”
Carter drained the water bottle and got to his feet, rolling his shoulders and straightening his spine as if to test his muscles.
Then he smiled, but it was thin and vicious.
“Let’s go.”