Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jared

When Landon's watch buzzes, I only have one thought:

We've got to get Lily out of here, now.

I gesture back the way we came, but she shakes her head stubbornly and points at the door, mouthing, "He's right there!"

And then the Montrose guards begin their check ins.

"Team one, all clear." The guys guarding Derrek report in a bored tone.

Their radio crackles as more teams start checking in.

"Team two, all clear."

"Team three, all clear."

"Team four, we found the witch sneaking around again. She's wrapped up nice and tight in suite seventeen. Otherwise all clear."

And on it goes. If every team is two people, there are far more guards here than Azalea led us to believe.

Richardson and Levi turn and gesture forcefully for us to go back the way we came.

Lily tries silently arguing, pointing toward the door again, but Richard drags a hand across his throat and starts moving, leaving Lily zero choice but to retreat.

"Team seven and team eleven, check in."

The knowledge that they know something is up gets us moving faster. I push Lily ahead of me and we practically run down the hallway, following Levi with Richardson in the rear. The security guy must have memorized every turn, because he doesn't hesitate as if he's following neon signs to the exit.

We turn another corner and pass the desk, and a surge of relief washes through my chest.

Which is quickly squashed when we pass a hallway with two bulky guards just steps away, spotting us immediately and racing down the hallway. "Red alert red alert, this is team three. We have six intruders heading toward the back door!"

"Keep going!" Richardson shouts, all hope of sneaking out forgotten. We race up the steps, flying through the door only to realize we can't get back through the hedge without Azalea.

"We have to go to the front of the house, it's the only way!" I shout, grabbing Lily's jacket and dragging her with me. We race along the house to the side we entered, speeding down the narrow strip of dirt between the wall and the hedge.

I know what they see when we follow the corner of the hedge: the long, straight path of the driveway, hedges on either side. Nowhere to split off. Our only option is to race straight ahead.

Shouts reach my ears from multiple directions, and the feeling of a wolf pack closing in on all sides tries to choke me with panic. I keep Lily ahead of me, directly behind Levi, and focus on protecting her at all costs. Feet thunder across the wooden deck, telling me more people are pouring out of the house in pursuit of us. I don't know how many it is, but I know we are in serious trouble.

It seems to take a lifetime, but we finally reach the end of the long row of hedges. I spare a glance back and realize we're farther ahead of our pursuers than I thought. When we turn left and start racing down the hill, Richardson shouts, "Split up! Use your GPS markers and stick to your specific path. Follow the plan!"

Lily and I hit the trail and immediately branch right, and she glances at me in shock, breathing too hard to speak. I've still got a grip on her sleeve; she didn't know about the emergency plan.

Thanks to a lifetime of sports conditioning, I'm probably doing better than most. "We had a backup plan to make sure you get out safe," I shout. "This way!"

I pull her down yet another path, racing the way Landon and I came on our visit.

Further into Montrose territory.

It made the most sense; they'd be expecting us to head for the closest path out of Montrose. Milo and Landon would lead pursuers that way, and Richardson and Levi would try to thin out them before heading in a different direction.

We run at top speed all the way to the trailhead and I pull Lily to the side, ducking behind a low stone wall to catch our breath and listen.

There're shouts in the distance, footsteps crashing through dead leaves and the occasional flicker of light between tree trunks, but it's all surprisingly far away.

Lily pants heavily beside me, and her breaths sound almost painful. I'm definitely going to get her on a training program after all this.

After a few minutes our labored breathing evens out, and the sounds of pursuit have grown noticeably more distant.

"I think we're clear," I whisper to her with a small smile, then pull out my radio and click the button once, then twice, then three times, letting Richardson know we made it.

A moment later, two clicks come through, another two, then three.

"Milo and Landon are good," I reassure her, and she's visibly relieved.

The radio comes to life again, three clicks, then two, then one.

"And Richardson and Levi are good. We all made it."

"Not exactly. We're still on Montrose territory."

"It's not a problem. Milo and Landon are going to come pick us up. They should be here in about ten minutes, if google is telling the truth. We just need to hold tight until then."

"Okay," she nods again, appearing more relaxed, but shivers rack her body.

"Come here." I settle back against the stone wall and put my arm around her, pulling her close. "Are you cold?"

"Not really. I'm actually sweaty. I think the adrenaline wore off."

"Yeah, that'll do it," I agree, rubbing my hand up and down her arm. "We'll get home and have a nice hot shower, followed by a decent night's rest. And we're sleeping in tomorrow, I mean it. Your body needs sleep."

"I know, I just… it's hard to relax, knowing what's going on."

"It'll be okay, I promise. We'll figure it out. I-"

Just a deep, snarling growl cuts me off, and I turn toward the sound in horror.

It seems we didn't lose the Montrose Pack, after all.

LILLIANA

The wolf snarling at us isn't the largest I've seen, although it's got a lustrous brown coat. It snaps its jaws and snarls, then starts pacing toward us.

Jared pulls me to my feet, and we back away from the wall and out toward the open area of the parking lot. We scan the surroundings but don't see or hear another wolf. Apparently this one is more clever than the others.

I know what Jared's thinking, and my mind's in the same place: We just have to keep him at bay until the guys arrive.

Talking is worth a shot. "Look, we don't want any trouble, and we didn't come here to start a fight."

The wolf continues growling angrily, lips curled and teeth exposed, tongue lashing. It's taking slow, patient steps forward, and we continue stepping backward in sync.

"We just came to rescue our friend. I know you know what goes on in there. It's sick, wouldn't you agree? What if it was your loved one being tortured, maybe killed, in the hopes they shift?"

No response from the wolf aside from more snarling.

"It doesn't have to be that way. Whoever you are, you're not stuck with this. You'd be welcome at Smoky Falls, or almost any other pack in the country, I'm sure. I know you're compelled to follow Nielsen because he's the alpha, but you always have a choice."

No response at all.

Jared and I glance at each other. Whoever this is, they must be a loyal follower.

I decide to try a fresh track. "We came to rescue Derrek, or I suppose you call him Leaf. He's very important to me. I'm sure you can understand being willing to do anything to save the people you love?"

That was apparently the exact wrong thing to say. The wolf abruptly charges, and Jared pushes me aside as it jumps.

Leaving Jared to take the full force of the attack. He cries out in pain, and before I even know what's happening, my entire body lights up with heat as if I'm a human volcano. It only takes me a second to realize I'm shifting, my wolf clawing her way free in defense of my mate.

When I've finished, I spot the foreign wolf standing on top of Jared, snarling down at his face and forcing him to lie still. My wolf unleashes a series of savage snarls, the alpha tone rumbling in my chest.

Now that I'm in wolf form, I know the other wolf is a female.

And when she turns to me, jumping lightly off Jared's chest to stalk my way, I realize this is what she wanted all along.

Well, if she's after a fight, she's might just get it.

We circle each other, and I slowly make my way toward Jared until I'm between the two of them. A steady stream of snarls flows from both my wolf and hers.

I have no interest in attacking; I don't want this fight.

So if she really wants it, she'll have to attack me first.

"Five minutes, Lily," Jared murmurs behind me.

Okay, I just need to hold her off for another five minutes. We continue circling, but I refuse to let her get closer to Jared than I am at any point.

When she charges the first time, I sidestep the attack deftly, sending her skidding across the dirt surface with her nails. She immediately turns and charges again, and I perform the same maneuver, just clearing her path.

Then she changes tactics, charging toward Jared.

Which leaves me no choice but to jump between them and stop her from hurting him.

I spring forward, my jaws closing on her neck with an angry snarl.

My bite isn't strong enough, and she twists out of my teeth then immediately attack again.

I meet each of her attacks and keep her from seriously hurting me, but only just barely. My alpha command doesn't work on her. Despite my desperate attempts to use it, she's not my pack and I have no power.

And the panic begins to rise.

The only reason I beat Amber was finding my alpha voice and commanding her to stop. It didn't occur to me to continue training to improve my skills as a wolf. Why would I? They already accepted me as alpha. But now I realize how sadly outmatched I am in a fair fight.

And she realizes it, too.

She's faster, smarter, and stronger in every way. It was one thing to fight a male, but clearly their pack is like ours in that the females are the better fighters. They don't realize it, or maybe they don't care, because they insist on keeping males in the positions of power.

A female like this could lead their entire pack if she was just given a chance.

As soon as I thought it, I banished the idea to the back of my brain. If she were alpha, I wouldn't be able to unite the packs. For better or for worse, Pack Montrose's misogyny is actually helping me.

I'm getting tired. My wolf is getting tired. I can feel it in the slower response of my muscles to the onslaught of attacks. But my opponent doesn't seem to slow down, and I'm in actual danger of losing this fight.

Just as I think it, I move a millisecond too slowly and she sinks her teeth into my neck.

It's not a killing bite, and I'm able to slip out of it, but she's drawn blood, and I can tell she's pleased with herself. It encourages her, and she comes at me with renewed ferocity.

"Lily!" Jared shouts, and I duck under the flying wolf and steal a glance toward the road, hoping against hope that my mates have arrived and that's what he wanted me to know.

Sure enough, a pair of headlights comes barreling through the trees, and the black SUV screeches to a stop in the tiny parking area, spraying dust and gravel. I jump aside, toward Jared, and the vehicle stops between me and the other wolf.

Landon throws open his door, shouting, "Get in!" and I leap onto his lap without a second thought. I hop lightly to the passenger seat and stare out the window and the Montrose wolf, who's on her way around the back of the car.

Milo's already leapt out and helped Jared up, and as soon as they pile in the backseat he yells, "Go!"

The SUV tears out of the parking area like a bat out of hell, and we leave the wolf in our dust almost immediately.

It only takes us a handful of minutes to pass through the sleeping town, and at the border I'm forced, painfully, back to human form. Landon stares at me in horror, likely from the sounds I'm making, and Milo passes me his pea coat for cover. I huddle under it in a cold sweat, completely drained.

We hit the freeway and we don't stop until we reach the agreed-upon rally point, a 24-hour truck stop thirty miles down the road.

Jared insists he's okay, that she just knocked the wind out of him and drew a little blood. Richardson checks us all over, agrees that Jared is fine, and offers me a spare uniform he brought for some unknown reason. I pull on the black cargo pants and rough long-sleeved shirt and it's not great, but it's better than nothing.

After that, there's nothing left to do but drive home, disappointed at our spectacular failure.

We didn't rescue Derrek. We were so close, but we took too long and barely made it out alive.

And to top it off, we lost Azalea. However Nielsen punishes her, it's clear she won't be able to help us again.

So we're back to square one.