2. Zach

Isped to the scene of Layla's ambush as I tried not to panic. I knew my girl could take care of herself, but it didn't mean that shit couldn't go sideways. When we got there, our men were still in the middle of a shootout with Anton's men, and Layla's car was nowhere in sight. I positioned my car so we would miss our guys in the crossfire, and we jumped out of the car, taking out the rest of the men, who weren't prepared to be flanked. It was almost too easy.

"Where is she?," I yelled as we ran to our guys.

"She was down there," Gavin replied, pointing down the hill toward the canal.

I ran past him and scrambled down the hill to the busted car. "Layla!" I stuck my head through the open back door to find it empty. "She isn't inside," I said as the others joined me. Drew and Tyler checked on Keith and Ryan, who were regaining consciousness.

"Do you know where she went?" Sean asked them.

They shook their heads.

I started looking in the marsh for any sign of where she had gone. It didn't take me long to find her footprints and the tire tracks that followed them. "They have to have taken her," I announced. "Let's go. Ty, start tracking her."

He pulled his phone out, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"What?" Colton asked.

"She's across town now, according to this," he replied.

"Fuck," I swore as I ran back up the hill.

"Everyone load up," Colton ordered as we sprinted for my car. "Layla has been captured. Call everyone in."

Keith and Ryan followed us and went to jump into one of the SUVs. "Except you two," Drew said. "Go home, watch the house."

"All due respect," Keith replied, "but no, sir, I won't do that. Layla is our responsibility. I'm not dead, so I can still do my job and help get her back."

"We don't have time to argue," Sean said. "Let him come."

"Where am I going, Tyler?" I asked as they jumped in, and I peeled away from the scene with our men following behind. He directed me to where Layla was, but as we made the final turn, my stomach started to knot.

"Stop the car," Tyler ordered. "It says she's right here."

We got out and started to look around. There was no fucking way she was here. It was an abandoned parking lot. My suspicions were confirmed when I heard Tyler curse as he bent down and picked something off the ground. He held up Layla's necklace for us to see.

"She's nowhere near here," he said.

"What now?" I asked as he pocketed the necklace.

Tyler rested his forearms on the roof of my car as he fiddled with her phone. "I can track the path the tracker took. Maybe something will tell us where she was before they ditched the tracker."

We stood around him as the path appeared on the map. "That's the ambush spot," Colton said, pointing. She had traveled further south in the city, and then the path went directly north to this spot in an almost straightway.

"Can you tell how long she spent somewhere?" Sean asked. "Like here?" He pointed to the spot where the direction had changed.

"I can!" Tyler said excitedly. After a few more minutes of him tapping away from the phone, we had our answer. "Three minutes."

"That has to be the place, right?" I asked.

"Or she was in the car all along, and they were trying to throw us off their trail," Drew said quietly.

"No," Colton said. "That's where she is. I can feel it. Let's go."

We piled back into the car, and our convoy took off again. More SUVs joined behind us as our men mobilized and reported for duty. "Colt, tell the others to go ahead to the location. Hold back a few blocks and send a couple in for reconnaissance," I said as I took a sharp turn.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Sean demanded.

"Back to the house," I replied.

"Why the fuck are you doing that?" Sean yelled.

"We're getting Dash and Dire. We don't know what is at that location. It could be a maze of buildings. The wolves will find her faster. Trust me," I replied.

"He's right," Tyler said. "They'll be able to save us time."

Sean huffed in irritation in the backseat. He wasn't happy about delaying our arrival but wouldn't press the issue, considering he's outnumbered. I pulled out my phone and called Joe as I turned onto our street. "Joe, open the gate," I barked, hanging up without waiting for his response. I'd plow the damn thing down if I had to.

The gate was open as I pulled in and came to a screeching halt by the front door. "Everyone out, we're switching cars." I ran inside and whistled for Dash and Dire. They came running down the stairs excitedly and gave chase when I ran into the garage. "C'mon boys, load up. We've gotta go find mama." We loaded into the SUV, and I peeled out of the garage again.

Colton's phone rang, and he spoke quietly before hanging up. "Keith says this is the place. They can see Anton's men milling about, and the pick-up truck the others said chased Layla down. They think they may have pinpointed the building she could be in."

"That's good," Drew replied. "That will save us time." I drove us to where they were keeping Layla and didn't slow down as I passed our men waiting. They'd catch up. As we approached the door, Sean used the main reason I decided on a vehicle switch: the hatch in the roof. He sprayed the door and men guarding it with bullets as we approached, clearing the way for us.

"I'll go with the wolves," I yelled as I sprung from the driver's seat as soon as I slammed it into park. "Make sure we aren't sitting ducks when I return with her." I heard Colton try to stop me, but I ignored him. We each had our strengths. Running into danger to hunt was mine.

"Sit," I ordered the wolves as I knelt before them. "Ok, boys, go find mama. Go get her!" I pulled out my gun and opened the door. They rushed into the building excitedly. I could hear the sound of panicked movement within the building as Anton and his men scrambled to escape. He just better not try to escape with my girl. Dash and Dire sniffed around the hall and started to howl as they wagged their tails harder.

They took off at a sprint down the hall, and I had to rush to keep up. They disappeared around a corner, and I heard someone scream over their snarls. When I rounded the corner, all I found was a mutilated body. The wolves had moved on. I followed the bloody trail of bodies they left when they howled again. Shortly after their howls ended, my heart skipped a beat when I heard Layla howl back. I didn't realize how terrified I was that I wouldn't find her alive until I heard her and knew she was.

"Layla!" I yelled. "Howl for me again, baby!" She did as I asked, and I couldn't help but howl back with the wolves as I sprinted toward the sound.

Dash and Dire stopped at the door and barked. When I opened it, they rushed inside, barking happily at winning the game.

"There's mama's good boys," Layla crooned as I followed them. My heart stuttered when I saw her hanging from a hook. Her lip was bleeding, one eye was bruised and swollen, and she had bruises already spotting her body from being beaten. I'd fucking kill them all. Not today, because today I needed to make sure my queen was safe, but I would kill them all. "I knew you'd come for me," Layla croaked.

"God himself couldn't keep me away from you, baby," I replied as I hurried to her and lifted her off the hook. I sat her on the nearby table and pulled my knife out to cut off her wrist restraints. Layla winced as I massaged her hands gently to help stimulate blood flow. Once I was satisfied she could hold a weapon, I pulled my shirt off and dropped it over her head. "You ready to get out of here?"

Layla nodded, climbed slowly off the table, and limped over to a table with knives to collect her weapons. My little slasher looked ready to handle some business with a blade in one hand and a gun in the other. Spotting a second door at the back of the room, I approached it and cracked it open to see where it led. I could still hear gunfire coming from where I had entered, but it was muted in this direction. "We'll go this way," I told Layla. Dire took the lead while Dash stuck to Layla's side.

I called Colton. "I've got her. We're coming out a back door; I'm not sure where it will spit us out, so make sure the perimeter is secure." As I hung up, I heard Layla groan quietly behind me. Dash whined, and when I turned to check on her, she had her gun hand over her stomach as she grimaced in pain. "You're bleeding!" I said when I noticed the blood trickling down her leg. I hadn't seen any injuries when I got her down and fell to my knees to check again.

"Zach, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here," she said softly.

"Just let me make sure it isn't serious first," I told her as I started to lift the hem of my shirt.

Layla pushed the shirt back down. "It isn't anything you can fix," she replied. I looked up at her questioningly and saw shadows in her eyes. "I think I'm having a miscarriage."

A miscarriage? "You're pregnant?" I whispered.

She shook her head. "I was."

A million thoughts went through my head as time seemed to stand still. Why didn't she tell us? Immediately, I realized that she had just come from the doctor and must have found out about it this morning before being kidnapped. I rested my forehead against her stomach as I processed a mirage of emotions, ending in blinding rage.

I stood. "Take the wolves and get out of here. The guys will be waiting for you on the other end. I'm going hunting," I growled. I'd chop the bastards into bite-sized pieces and bring them home to feed the wolves. Layla grabbed my arm as I took a step back toward the door.

"Zach, no. Let's just get out of here. Please," Layla pleaded. "I want their heads on a platter, too, but that's not the play. I wasn't that far along, and the timing wasn't right. Please, let's just go home."

The truth in her words didn't make it any less painful, but the rawness in her tone broke through my angry haze. I nodded, lifted her into my arms bridal style, and continued to follow Dire down the hall.

"I can walk," she protested.

I met her eyes. "Either I go kill every fucker who had the nerve to touch you, or I carry you out of here."

She didn't argue with me as she laid her head against my shoulder. "Does it make me a bad person if I'm a little relieved?" she asked quietly after a few minutes as I navigated the maze of hallways.

"Not even a little bit, baby. Look where we are right now. What the fuck would we do with a baby?" I replied. We turned a corner, and I saw a door marked exit. I sighed with relief. All I wanted to do was get her home and into bed where she would be safe and could heal. "We'll have other chances," I promised her. I shoved through the door and blinked at the sudden brightness.

"There they are!" Sean yelled. The others swarmed around us, and I felt someone try to take her from my arms.

"I've got her," I growled, refusing to release her. "Call her doctor and have her meet us at the house. Tell her," I paused, hating that I had to say the words and make it real. Hating the bomb, I was about to drop, but knowing there was no way to avoid it. "Tell her she's having a miscarriage."

They stared at us in shock as I moved past them to get in the car. Tyler was the first to react as I heard him call the doctor. I climbed into the backseat, cradling Layla in my lap. Nobody spoke as they loaded the wolves into the back and got in. The drive home was silent and swift. Everyone was lost in their thoughts and feelings about the shocking news. Finding out she had been pregnant was shocking enough, but finding out she lost the baby before we even knew about it was its own ball of emotions. The brief but shattered joy was suffocating.

Layla groaned and curled into a tighter ball on my lap, jolting everyone from their thoughts as everyone except Colton, who was driving, turned to look at her.

"Who was it?" Sean growled from the other side of the seat. "Who beat you?" I looked around Tyler to see that he was barely containing his anger.

"Anton and Tommy," Layla replied. She continued to tell us what had happened while they had her, including the part where Tommy admitted to having her mother killed in the hospital after she was born. Her voice broke when she told us that part, and I held her tighter as if I could single-handedly hold her together. I couldn't believe Tommy had been working against her and Uncle Joe for her entire life, but I took solace in knowing that his death would be slow and painful. I'd make sure of it.

"So, are you going to listen to them and leave?" Sean asked as we got home.

Layla stiffened in my arms. "No. This is where I belong. Anton and Tommy won't take anything else from me, and I won't be run off." she replied firmly.

"Even after what happened?" he argued. "You lost our baby. What else will you have to lose before you see that this isn't worth it?"

"Sean!" Colton barked. "Ease up."

I exited and rounded the SUV. I shook as I silently handed Layla to Colton and met his eyes. He nodded and quickly rushed her inside. When Sean went to follow, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and slammed him into the side of the car. My fist landed against his jaw, making his head snap to the side. Before he could react, I had my knife against his throat.

"If you ever try to blame her or make her feel bad for this ever again, I promise I will fucking kill you, do you understand?" I asked my face in his. Drew and Tyler moved in closer, making sure he understood that I wasn't the only one making this threat.

"If you can't get behind her and support her, you can fucking leave," Drew stated. "I'm not sure what you expected, and maybe since you stopped dealing with mob business years ago, you've forgotten, but this is the fucking life."

"It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better," Tyler warned. "Get your head on straight because right now, you're a fucking liability and a weak link in the chain."

"She was pregnant," Sean choked tears in his eyes.

I sighed as I put my knife away. "I know, bro. I know. But making her feel guilty for something she didn't have control over doesn't change that. It only pushes her away."

"The reality is that we can't bring a baby into this world yet," Drew added.

"We could if we left this world behind us," Sean replied.

"Every time you ask Layla to cut her losses and run, you ask her to be someone she isn't. You should think about that," Tyler advised, "and the message it sends her each time you do."

Satisfied we had gotten our point across, I turned away from him and rushed into the house. As much as I wanted to run upstairs and check on Layla, I made a detour to the kitchen instead to update Cordy.

"I knew you boys would get my girl back," Cordy praised when I entered the kitchen as she put together a tray to bring up to Layla.

She looked up from her work, and my face must have been something else as her eyes widened. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Layla went to the doctor this morning and found out she was pregnant. And then Anton and Tommy kidnapped her, beat her, and now she's losing the baby," I said quietly.

"Oh, my sweet boy," Cordy said as she rushed around the kitchen island and wrapped me in a bear hug. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't realize I needed her comfort until her love surrounded me, and I felt the tears start falling. Part of me felt stupid for mourning something I hadn't known about or had the chance to celebrate. The rest of me felt deeply saddened for the little life I would never get to see bloom. Cordy didn't judge me. She just held me silently as she rubbed my back.

"There you are," Tyler said behind me. "Dr. Bailey just got here."

Cordy released me and pulled Tyler into a hug. "You boys listen to me," she said softly, "When the time is right, you will have another chance, but I'm sorry you're hurting." Patting Tyler on the back, she bustled back behind the island. "You go up and be with Layla while she gets checked out. I'll bring her a nice cup of chamomile tea."

I followed Tyler upstairs, and Dr. Bailey was at Layla's side with a mobile ultrasound machine when we entered the bedroom. Drew and Colt were on either side of her, holding her hands. Sean was standing behind the doctor, watching the machine closely.

"I'm sorry, Layla," Dr. Bailey said, "your suspicions were correct; you've lost the pregnancy."

I leaned against the door. I knew she would say it, but hearing her say it out loud was the final nail in the coffin.

Layla nodded. "Thanks for checking, doc," she replied.

"I brought a Depo shot with me just in case. Do you want it?" Dr. Bailey asked kindly.

"Oh, yes," Layla replied quickly. "I'm not doing this again until we're ready."

"I thought you might feel that way. Now, you'll experience some cramping for the next day or so, as well as bleeding. You weren't that far along, so the process shouldn't last long. I'll come back in a few days and check on you again. Do you want a sedative to help with the pain?"

"Yes," the five of us said in unison.

"No," Layla said at the same time. She glared at us. "Don't start," she warned, "I'm fine. We have work to do."

I pushed off the door and went to kneel at her side. I took her hand from Colt and kissed it. "Baby, please," I pleaded. "Do this for us. I can't stand seeing you in pain, and it will give your body time to heal from your other injuries, too. I wouldn't ask you something like this unless I thought it was important. I'm all for getting to work and kicking ass, but right now, you need to rest and heal."

"We won't do anything without you, Hellcat," Colt promised.

I could tell she was going to fight us on this, and I understood why she wouldn't want to be sedated. I wouldn't either. But the idea of her getting out of this bed and trying to work terrified me on a level I didn't expect. I just wanted her to rest in one place where I could keep an eye on her and make sure she was ok.

Tyler approached her other side and leaned down to whisper in her ear. Her eyes widened at whatever he was saying to her before she smirked and looked at Colton sideways. "Fine," she huffed.

Dr. Bailey gave her both injections, and I played with her fingers as the sedative took hold and dragged her under. "She'll be fine, guys. I didn't feel any broken ribs, and it didn't look like she had any internal bleeding. She'll be sore but will recover and be back to one hundred percent and kicking ass in a week or so. The sedative will have her out of it for a day or so. I'll be back in three days to check on her. You can relax."

"Thanks, Doc," Drew replied. "Is there a specific diet she needs to be on to help with this? Is there anything we can do to help her?"

Dr. Bailey smiled. "Just be here for her. Remind her she's loved. Layla is one tough cookie. Just be her safe space where she doesn't always have to be."

"We will be," Sean replied.

"I brought tea," Cordy announced as she entered the room.

Dr. Bailey turned and gave the woman a big smile. "Cordelia! I hadn't heard you'd come back to the city. Layla is sedated, but if you swap it out for coffee, I'd love to have a cup with you before I leave.

They left the room together, and my eyes shifted from Layla to Tyler. "How did you get her to agree to sedation?"

"I promised her I'd have a shark tank installed in the interrogation room by the time she was up and moving again," Tyler smirked.

"I thought I vetoed that idea when numb nuts here came up with it," Colton replied, shoving me lightly.

"How do you think I convinced her?" Tyler laughed. "I told her that you told Zach no but that if she took the sedative, you wouldn't be able to say no anymore."

"Fucking brat," Colt muttered affectionately as he smoothed the hair off her forehead and kissed it.

"Zach, want to help me?" Tyler asked. I wanted to, but I also hated to leave Layla's side.

"Hey, man," Drew said softly. "You need this. You've never been good at sitting around. She's safe. You saved her. Now go help build her a shark tank. We'll watch over her."

Colton squeezed my shoulder encouragingly. I nodded as I leaned forward to kiss Layla softly before standing and following Tyler out of the room. They were right. I didn't do so well when I had to sit still and wait around. My brain usually falls down some rabbit hole of intrusive thoughts and worry. When Layla was seventeen, she got appendicitis and had to have emergency surgery. By the time Layla was out of surgery, the nursing staff was threatening to sedate me, and Uncle Joe made Drew take me for a walk until I had calmed down. It's why I enjoy working on cars; the more beat up, the better, because there was always something to work on.

I looked at Layla lying peacefully in the bed one more time as I left the room, content that she would be ok. As I closed the door behind me, I pushed my worries aside and focused on the task at hand. We were gonna adopt some sharks!