CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Huddled against the tree, Cassidy held Willow tight. She could hear her pack fighting. Could hear wailing and screaming and growls of pain. She wanted to cry, wanted to curl into a ball like Willow, but she wouldn’t. Willow was afraid. Cassidy was older, so she had to protect the little girl. She’d tried to fight off the two large shifters that had taken them, but they were too big and strong.

Cassidy held the shaking pup tighter. She didn’t once look away from the male smiling down at them. It was the kind of smile Marcus wore when there was cake around, but this man wasn’t nice like Marcus. Cassidy knew he wanted her and Willow dead. Knew that was why he’d sent his guards to snatch them.

He had to be the man her pack had talked about when they thought she couldn’t hear them. Hector. The mean one who wanted to take away their home. It made her mad. Cassidy had never been as happy anywhere as she was at Mercury territory. She didn’t want to lose it.

He stepped toward them, and Willow flinched. He raised his hands. “No need to be scared, pups. I don’t want to hurt you.” He crouched down. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

He was lying. Cassidy knew he was.

“Come over here,” he urged, but Cassidy shook her head. He seemed to think that was funny. “Don’t you trust me?”

“No.” She’d meant to shout it, but it came out a whisper.

“Clever girl.”

Willow pushed her face harder into Cassidy’s chest, shaking even worse now. Couldn’t he see that she was just a baby?

“Really, I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, I have something for you. Something nice for you to wear. Come over here and I’ll show you what it is.”

Cassidy shook her head again. She wasn’t going to let him hurt her or W—

He snatched Willow’s hand and dragged her to him, making her scream.

Reaching for the little girl, Cassidy cried out, “No!”

Hector shook Willow hard, making her head snap back, and growled, “Quiet.”

Willow stopped struggling and sobbed, hiccupping. “I want Mommy.”

His face went all soft and he stroked a finger down Willow’s wet cheek. “You do? You want to go back home, little one? I can arrange that. You just have to do something for me first. Just one little thing.”

Coming down hard and fast from her adrenaline rush, Harley ran a shaky hand through her hair as they all moved silently through the trees toward Hector’s territory. She felt cold and feverish. The pain that had earlier been dulled by the adrenaline was now in full force; although many of her injuries were healing fast, they still burned like a motherfucker. Overriding that pain was the all-consuming rage that had come with the discovery that the pups were gone.

Ally glanced over her shoulder, eyeing Harley cautiously. The Seer had tried to heal Harley, just as she and Taryn had healed the rest of the wounded. But each time the Seer neared Harley, her cat pushed to the surface and hissed, warning her away. The cat had gone hysterical when she’d realized the pups were missing, and the only person she’d let close was her mate. Knowing that the little girls had to be terrified wrenched at Harley’s heart; it was no doubt chipping away at Shaya’s.

They had all figured out pretty quickly that the eagles were a distraction. Hector had known the Phoenix wolves would come and that the two packs would eventually overpower the harpies. It was the pups he’d wanted, and they could only assume that Hector had smuggled them onto his territory. As such, both packs were heading there. Harley stayed at the rear of the huge hunting party, deciding her edgy cat would be better off if she weren’t surrounded by people.

Up ahead, Nick was holding his mate to his side. “We’ll find them, Shay, we’ll find them.” Fury coated every word.

“I never thought Hector would go for the pups.” Shaya’s voice was small and weak.

Nick kissed her hair. “Of course you didn’t.”

“I should have,” she said. “Pups are the heart of every pack.”

“He may not intend to hurt the pups,” said Cain. “He could be simply trying to lure you off the territory.”

“The pups are more important to us than any land,” Nick gritted out.

Cain didn’t back down in the face of the Alpha’s anger. “That could be what he’s counting on.”

Even with rage clouding his thoughts, Jesse could concede that Cain was right. But so was Nick; the pups mattered more than their territory, so it made no difference. His eyes jumped to Nick as the Alpha’s cell began to ring. Everyone quickly gathered around Nick as, halting, he pulled out his phone. Pure hatred contorted his expression, so Jesse didn’t have to ask who was calling.

Nick answered, growling, “You motherfucking son of a bitch! Where are they?”

The night was so quiet that it was easy to hear Hector’s response. “Easy, Nick, easy.” There was a lazy amusement in his tone that made Jesse’s wolf bare his teeth. The animal wanted to rip out the bastard’s throat, wanted to watch him bleed and howl in agony.

“Easy?” snarled Nick.

“You’re upset,” said Hector with mock sympathy. “I understand.”

Nick’s hand clenched around his cell so tight it wouldn’t be a surprise if it cracked. “If you hurt them—if you even imagine hurting them—I will fucking destroy you, even if it means coming back from the dead.”

“They’re unhurt,” Hector told him. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a child murderer.” He sounded genuinely offended that Nick would think differently. “Would you like to talk to them?”

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but then they all heard, “Daddy?”

Nick’s eyes squeezed shut and he cleared his throat. “Hey, baby girl.” Shaya put her shaking hand to her mouth.

The pup’s breath hitched. “I wanna go home.”

Eyes snapping open, Nick said, “You will come home, sweetheart.”

There was a shuffling sound, and then a shaky voice. “Nick?”

The Alpha male swallowed hard. “Don’t worry, Cassidy; we’ll come for you, I pr—”

“Coming for them won’t be necessary, Nick,” said Hector. “If you want them back, I’ll take them to you.”

“In exchange for our territory, right?”

A sigh. “I’ve decided your land isn’t worth the bother.”

“Then why? Why do this?”

“Come now, Nick, did you expect me to ignore what you did? Really?”

No . . . they just hadn’t expected this. Jesse held Harley close to him. Angry tremors were running through her and echoing through him.

“If you want the girls . . . look behind you.”

At once, they all twirled. Hector and his guards were walking toward the border with the pups. A wave of ice-cold fear washed over Harley and her mouth fell open. Oh, fuck no. The girls were hand in hand, cheeks wet and pale . . . wearing explosive vests. Her stomach rolled. “Tell me I’m not seeing straight.”

Jesse let loose a string of curses. “He’s gonna die tonight.” Slowly and painfully. Jesse would make sure of it.

“Without a doubt,” added Harley. Her cat lunged for the surface. Wincing, Harley forced her into submission. Now was definitely not the time for rash actions. She looked at Zander. “Please tell me you could defuse those vests.”

Zander gave a sad, slow shake of the head. “I wouldn’t have a clue. The bomb on your car was simple. Those vests . . .”

Nick held out his hand to Shaya, who took it and squeezed his tight. “Try not to give him any emotion to feed off, Shay,” he whispered. “If we look calm, it should help the kids stay calm.”

Shaya stiffly nodded in assent, and then they all stalked through the trees. Finally, Nick and Shaya came to a halt a few feet away from the border, looking deceptively calm. The other wolves gathered behind them, all standing solidly and at the ready.

Willow called out for Shaya and tried to run forward. Hector grabbed the pups by their shoulders, preventing them from stepping over the border.

“It’s okay, angel,” soothed Shaya, trying to keep her voice light. Harley figured it had to be agonizing for her not to charge past them all to reach the girls.

Muscles tight with rage, Nick ground out, “You sick bastard.”

Smiling, Hector shrugged. “After what you did to my homes and possessions, it seemed quite fitting.”

Shaya forced a watery smile for the girls. “Everything will be fine, I promise.” Neither pup seemed to find those words comforting.

“Bombing my homes . . .” Hector wagged his finger. “That wasn’t nice at all, now, was it?”

“You wanted to take our home from us,” said Nick, jaw set. “We took yours from you instead. That sort of thing happens when you fuck with the wrong pack.”

“And look where it got you. Look where it got your pups.”

“They’re in this situation because of you, not us. But your mother did mention that you never accept blame for anything you do. Everything is always someone else’s fault in your world.”

As Hector’s cheeks flushed, Harley whispered to Jesse, “Why is Nick antagonizing him? I’m not sure it’s the best course of action when the bastard has the pups.”

“His fury probably got the better of him for a minute,” replied Jesse.

“My dear mother can be quite chatty,” Hector said to Nick. “Sometimes, I almost miss her. Isn’t that odd?”

Harley inwardly snorted. Who gave a fuck?

Nick must have been just as uninterested, because he demanded, “Give me the girls.”

“I’ll bet it was painful to find that they were gone,” said Hector. “I’d imagine it came as quite a shock too.”

Harley wished he’d shut the fuck up and release the pups. Her churning stomach seemed to be full of knots, butterflies, and acid. Her cat was pacing, claws unsheathed, hissing like crazy.

“I have to admit I was surprised you didn’t race right over here.”

“Give me the girls,” Nick simply repeated.

“But I’m having fun.”

“Because you’re twisted. Not my problem.”

Hector’s eyes went hard. “I suppose it’s a good thing that you’re standing together as a unit to die. If you shift forms and start running now, you’d make it to safety.”

“We don’t run.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“If you detonate those bombs, you’ll kill us all,” Derren pointed out.

“I’ll be far away from here when that happens,” Hector told him. “See, there are three ways to detonate them. One, tamper with the vests. Two, use the triggers, which I can do remotely using this.” He held up his cell phone. “Or three, wait for the timers to run out and do the job for me. In other words, there’s no way at all for you to help the little ones. No way to save yourselves, unless you choose to abandon them.”

Sensing someone behind her, Harley twisted with a snarl, even though she recognized the scent. She and her cat were simply wound too tight.

Cain, looking much calmer than she felt, whispered, “I might be able to defuse the vests.” At her arched brow, he continued, “Let’s just say I’ve built a lot of bombs. I won’t know how complicated these are until I’ve seen them up close. I have no chance of doing that until Hector releases the pups. He doesn’t seem inclined to do that yet. When he does, I won’t have much time to defuse the vests. I need you to do what margays do best, Harley.”

Oh, her cat sure loved that idea.

Jesse went rigid. “Hector has guards.”

“And they’re watching what’s happening on the ground,” said Cain. “They won’t think to look up. It’s doubtful that they’d sense her.”

Jesse gritted his teeth. It was easy for Cain to be so blasé about it because Harley wasn’t his mate; she wasn’t his to protect and care for. It wasn’t Cain who would fall apart without her.

Harley held Jesse’s tortured gaze. “I’m going,” she said firmly but quietly. “Yes, I could be hurt. But if I don’t try to help, we all die anyway.”

“He’s going to drive away any minute now. The moment he’s far enough away not to feel the backlash of the bombs, he’ll press the triggers,” Cain pointed out. “We don’t have time to wait around.”

Harley nodded. “He won’t need to press the triggers; these are time bombs.” She could see the numbers on the little LED screens.

Cain grimaced. “I don’t know if they’re really linked to the explosives or if they’re there to fuck with our heads—I mean, why give us the luxury of knowing how much time we have? In any case, we still have little time.”

Harley squeezed Jesse’s hand. “I can do this.” Since they were at the rear of the large group, Hector wouldn’t hear her shifting—especially while he and Nick were arguing.

“I know you can do it,” Jesse said gruffly, stroking his thumb over her claiming mark. “I just don’t want you to have to.”

She gave him a quick, hard kiss. “Watch my back.”

“Always.” Once she was gone, he’d move to the front of the crowd so he was standing behind Nick and Shaya. Then if something went wrong, he could intervene. As she started to strip, Jesse shot Cain a cold look. “Turn around.”

With a roll of his eyes, the wolf did.

Harley braced herself, knowing the shift was going to hurt like a bitch thanks to all her injuries. “I should have let Ally heal me.”

“Yes, you damn well should have.”

Bones popped and cracked as she shifted; the noises made some glance over their shoulders. Understanding flashed in their eyes, and they quickly faced front.

As the little cat stretched, getting comfortable in her skin, Jesse crouched down and stroked his hand down her back. “Hey, kitty.” He scratched her head. “Be careful.”

With a low purr, the cat rubbed her flank against his leg to leave her scent on her mate. She didn’t like him being around strange wolves—especially the females—but the pups were in danger. She stayed low to the ground as she padded to the nearest tree. Satisfied she hadn’t been seen, she leapt onto the branch above.

Silently the cat crept along the branch as she hunted her prey. He was close but not close enough. She could hear him. See him. Her upper lip curled.

She swung and leapt from one tree to another, moving closer and closer to her prey. So close that she could scent him now—he smelled of decay and corruption.

He said, “You thought I wanted the eagles to take you all out, Nick, didn’t you? No. They were just to keep you busy. I can kill all of you with the single press of a button.”

“That doesn’t make you powerful,” said the Alpha male.

“It does make me someone you should fear.”

“And yet, I don’t.”

Inside the cat, Harley urged the margay to hurry. One more leap had the cat reaching the tree closest to her prey. She slowly and carefully padded along the branch above him. He didn’t sense her. He was focused on the Alpha male, speaking more words she didn’t understand.

“Admit it, Nick. You fear me now that your pups’ lives are in my hands.”

The Alpha male growled. “For the last time, give me the girls.”

“But I’m enjoying the panic and anxiety that’s broadcasted all over your face.”

The cat pounced.

Jesse watched as the margay landed hard on Hector’s shoulders, claws out and tearing through skin and muscle. Hector stumbled with a shocked, pain-filled curse, releasing the pups, who ran to the Alpha pair. He grabbed the little cat with sharp claws and launched her at a tree with such force that something cracked. She slumped to the ground, unmoving. And Jesse . . . a red haze fell over his vision as the rage he’d buried welled up and streamed through every vein.

With a guttural roar, Jesse charged over the border and lunged at Hector. He shifted midair and knocked the male to the ground.

The large gray wolf stood over his enemy, snarling, and tried to rip into his throat. He couldn’t. The half shifter gripped the wolf’s head and held it in place. Furious and caught up in bloodlust, the wolf shook his head to get free. The other male held tight.

Growling, the wolf used his back paws to slice at the male’s stomach. Cloth and skin tore. The scent of blood rose in the air. The wolf growled in satisfaction. But then a polar bear knocked the wolf aside with a roar. At the same time, bones cracked and popped as the other male shifted.

Shaking his head, the gray wolf righted himself and circled the polar bear and the large white wolf. Several others joined the gray wolf, snapping their teeth at the two enemies. Roaring again, the polar bear swiped at them. One wolf hit a tree with a yelp. The others all pounced.

The polar batted and clawed at them while the large white wolf bit and body-slammed them. Some wolves fell. Some clung tight with teeth and claws, ripping into flesh and fur. The fallen wolves rose and lunged again, attacking the two enemies from all sides. Bloodying them. Weakening them. Killing them. Soon, both of them collapsed. More wolves tore into them and—

“Jesse! Jesse!”

The gray wolf growled, again sinking his teeth into the white wolf’s flesh.

“Jesse, he’s practically dead! Go to Harley! Check she’s okay!”

Harley.

The name penetrated his red haze, tickling at the last memory he had of his mate. She’d been hurt. His pack mate was right. He needed to see her. The wolf withdrew, even though he was still shaking with rage.

Panting and bleeding, Jesse stood with a wince. He distantly noted that the second guard was dead, having met the same fate as Hector and the first guard, but Jesse was only interested in Harley.

He did as Zander suggested and hurried to where the little cat lay, surrounded by some of their pack. He shoved his way through the wolves. And froze, heart skipping a beat. He felt the blood leave his face. Her body was twisted at an angle that was far from fucking natural. And she wasn’t moving.

She. Was. Not. Moving.

His stomach heaved and the breath left his lungs. His wolf . . . well, he went apeshit again. And Jesse thought he might just do the same.

“She’s not dead, Jesse,” said Roni. “Don’t fucking lose it on me. She’s in bad shape and she needs to hear your voice right now.”

Swallowing hard, Jesse knelt beside his mate. Her brown eyes looked at him, tired and glassy. He couldn’t speak. Hell, he couldn’t think. Fear was choking him and twisting his insides, ripping into him more painfully than the polar bear’s claws and Hector’s fangs.

Jesse reached out to touch her but then fisted his hand, worried his touch wouldn’t be gentle enough. Her breathing was shallow. Too shallow. Each time she inhaled, something in her chest rattled. He wanted to hold her, but he was scared to move her in case he caused her any more pain than she was already in.

“Jesse, talk to her; keep her here,” said Marcus.

Clearing his dry throat, Jesse forced out his words. “Baby . . . mother of fuck. We need Ally.” He glanced around, frantic, but he couldn’t see her. He noticed Cain trying to carefully remove the explosive vest from a shaking Willow while Shaya tried to keep both little girls calm. Their tears and fear only fueled the fire in Jesse’s gut. Anxious, his wolf paced and snarled and raked his claws. “We need Ally,” he repeated.

“I know,” began Roni, “but she got hurt really bad too and now she’s unconscious again.”

Shit. He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Well, where’s Taryn?”

It was Bracken who responded. “Trying to heal Ally, which is proving difficult because not only is Taryn hurt as well, but she’s healed so many injuries tonight she’s pretty weak. She’s barely conscious herself.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Jesse stroked one of the cat’s soft paws. Her eyes closed. His heart jumped. “Stay with me, Harley,” he said, panicked. “Okay? Stay with me.”

Nothing. If anything, her breathing turned weaker. His gut twisted in terror.

“That’s it, talk to her,” Roni encouraged him.

Jesse swallowed hard. “One of the healers will come, Harley.” His voice came out coarse with emotion. “Any second now, they’ll come.” They had to come. Someone had to do something because he couldn’t fucking lose her. “You just have to hang on for a minute, all right? Just hang on for me.” Fuck, he needed to hear her voice. Needed to look into her eyes. “Shift back, Harley.”

“I don’t think she has the energy, Jesse,” said Roni. “It’s better if she doesn’t waste what energy she has left trying to shift.”

“Feed her your own energy,” said Marcus.

“I can’t,” Jesse rasped, throat constricting. “There’s no bond.” Unless either of the healers came to help, Harley was going to die right there in front of him. He knew it; he could feel her slipping away. Could hear her heart stuttering and her breathing becoming even slower. She was leaving him. Dying. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

Not a damn thing.

“Cain’s struggling with the vests,” said Bracken. “I don’t know if he can really help.”

Which meant they could all be dead in moments anyway. But it was Harley’s life that was important to him. And he was losing her. He’d never felt as utterly powerless as he did in that very moment. Never felt so fucking useless. He was her mate, dammit; he should be able to help her. But he couldn’t.

The metallic taste of fear soured his mouth. The insidious emotion had his own heart racing so badly, he thought the damn organ would explode in his chest. But there was no shock, he thought with a frown. Not even a small element of surprise. An all-consuming, soul-deep agony, yes. A haunting, gut-wrenching fear, yes. But no shock.

A part of him had been expecting this to happen, he then understood. Part of him had been waiting for his mate to be taken from him, just like it had happened once before. And so, he realized bitterly, he’d unconsciously held a small part of himself back from Harley.

God, he was such a fucking idiot. He’d thought he was completely open to her, thought he’d given her all of him. But no, he’d held back this one little piece out of blind terror that he’d have to go through the sheer agony of losing her—an agony he’d felt as a kid and hadn’t ever wanted to experience again. But in protecting himself emotionally, he’d left her physically vulnerable. And now she was dying. Fading away right in front of him.

“Harley, I’m so fucking sorry, baby, I didn’t know I was doing it,” he swore, voice breaking. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.” Her eyes slowly opened but just as quickly closed again. His wolf howled, shaking with rage and pain.

“Didn’t know what?” asked Eli.

Ignoring his pack mate, Jesse stroked her paw again and repeated in a shaky whisper, “I didn’t know.” If he had, she—

White-hot pain blasted in his head, slicing through his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut as his vision grayed and sleep lured him. He fought it, determined to stay with Harley. And then he felt her. Not her body. Not her mind. He felt her pain, her exhaustion, and how hard she was fighting the darkness pulling at her. Before now, he’d sensed her emotions. Now he shared them as they vibrated up and down the bond that seemed to be strengthening with every second. He couldn’t see it, but he felt it—a sort of tug on his consciousness.

Invigorated, heart pounding with a newfound hope, Jesse forced energy down the bond. He had no clue if he was doing it right, but he kept going. His wolf urged him on, too anxious to feel any satisfaction about the bond yet. “Take it, Harley, accept it.” Because she was stubborn enough to fight him out of concern that she’d drain him. And that was exactly what she did. He punched the ground, growling, “Accept it.”

A tiny hand touched his shoulder. “Don’t cry, Jesse. It’ll be okay.”

Jesse looked at Cassidy, becoming aware that his cheeks were wet.

“I just need to touch her,” said Cassidy.

He realized then that she was no longer wearing the vest. He watched as she bent over and laid her small hand on the cat’s flank. An echo of a strange tingling sensation reverberated up the mating bond as the healing energy moved through Harley. He winced as a few things snapped back into place and the cat yelped.

After a minute, Ally crouched behind Cassidy. “You can stop now, sweetie.”

Cassidy’s brow creased. “She’s not fully healed yet.”

“I know, but I’ll do the rest,” Ally assured her. “You need to sleep.”

“No, I—” A yawn cut Cassidy’s protest short. “Okay.” She sighed as Cain lifted her carefully. “I told you you’d take off my jacket,” she said to him sleepily. “In my vision, it looked like a jacket. But it was a vest.”

“That’s okay,” Cain told her. “You just sleep.”

As Ally put a hand on Harley, Jesse felt healing energy hum through her once again. This energy was stronger and worked faster. The moment the Seer moved aside, he scooped up the little cat and held her close, doing his best not to suffocate her. He was still shaking from the bone-deep terror of losing her. He needed to feel her. Smell her. Hear her heartbeat loud and clear.

He buried his face in her soft fur. “Shift for me, baby.” The cat growled low in her throat, and he felt Harley’s amusement. Apparently the margay wanted some attention first. Typical. And a relief, because it meant she was okay. That was all he cared about. He inhaled her again and again, letting it chase away the panic eating at him and his wolf.

Shaya appeared with Nick close behind, who was cuddling a sleeping Willow. “She’s okay?”

“Yes, she is,” said Roni, “thanks to Cassidy and Ally.”

Shaya turned to Cain. “I know I said it a billion times already, but thank you for saving my girls.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

The guy frowned. “You’re crushing Cassidy.”

“Oh.” Shaya stepped back, sniffling. “Sorry.”

As she went to take the little girl, Cain held Cassidy tighter and gruffly said, “I’ve got her.”

Jesse nuzzled the cat’s head. “Shift for me.” The margay growled again, and he smiled.