22. Matt

TWENTY-TWO

MATT

"You said they'd be naked." I gripped my head cause it was about to explode.

"Shit, they brought a helicopter." Ranger jerked his head up at the gray sky where a tiny dark blip was getting closer.

How was that possible? Ranger insisted they couldn't get here. Flint agreed. They'd be in wolf form before shifting they said and… and… My brain was fixated on their dicks contracting in the cold weather.

The copter couldn't land in this weather. No way.

It was raining but more of a light drizzle than the torrential downpour of the past couple of days. The area around the cabin was waterlogged, and thick mud had been dredged up by the swollen river, leaving the landscape scarred.

I couldn't make out the driveway under the sludge, shredded bushes, and the remains of uprooted trees. What had been a lawn was marked by deep gouges in the earth, making it appear as though an excavator had clawed it. Or a giant wolf. The storm had left nothing untouched, and what lay outside the cabin was something I'd only seen on news footage.

The flying beast hovered in the air while the wind battered its blades. A part of me hoped it would crash. Fuck, I was wishing death on someone. Even a bad guy like Dane deserved to be in prison and not dead amidst the destruction of the countryside. And maybe the pilot was innocent. I couldn't allow those thoughts to creep into my head.

Ranger told his uncle and dad, along with the three other guys, to protect me in the house while the other men shifted and vanished outside. He placed the laptop on the porch, Ranger and Flint pretending this meeting was about handing over information. I eased a window open, wanting to hear what they said, though with the wind and helicopter blades whirring, I doubt I'd make out anything. Uncle Arnie cautioned me about standing too close, and while I appreciated his concern, I had to know what was happening.

I watched as the helicopter hovered a few yards above the ground and a man tumbled out into the mud. Holding my breath, telling myself he may be injured and unable to move, I waited. But he stood, and even covered in muck, I recognized him. Dane's sneer was more offensive and sinister when the rest of him was coated in gunk.

More men jumped out of the chopper. I couldn't count them. The helicopter dipped and swayed in the wind before taking off. Shit, they had no way of leaving.

Dane tramped over the broken fence, holding onto upright bits of metal as water streamed past him, threatening to knock him off his feet. A man followed his boss, the others fanning out while one grabbed a guy who was crawling through the mud. Maybe he'd broken a leg, but the rest were in one piece. Damn it.

"I want two things," Dane yelled. "First, the files and bank details. I swear if you fuck me over and you've retained a copy, I'll destroy everything you love."

What was the second?

"Once we finish here, I never wish to see your face again. You disgust me, making money by destroying people's lives," Ranger yelled.

My former boss struggled to stand while one bodyguard lost his footing and was swept against what was left of the fence. He howled and clung to a metal footing.

"Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same thing. But you're too much of a pussy."

Ranger ignored Dane's taunts.

When Dane and I had last met, if someone had said shifters were real, I'd have thought they were hallucinating. That day in the car, his gaze had terrified me, but now, I understood some or most of his bravado came from his beast.

Dane grinned, his teeth dazzling against the mud smeared over his face.

"I suspect the rest of your family is nearby." He sniffed the air. "Their scent is everywhere."

"Not surprising, as it is our cabin," Flint yelled.

Ranger didn't move, his back ramrod straight. "But you're not here to discuss my family."

Dane chuckled, though it was more of a gurgle. Ewww. It reminded me of a death rattle. Not that I'd witnessed one, only fake ones performed by actors.

"True, but I'm happy to discuss someone else's family."

Huh? He must be referring to the wider La Luna Noir family.

"Cut the crap, Dane. Let's get this over with. You and the weather are both pissing me off." Ranger's voice was all steel.

Dane gazed around at the destroyed garden, the driveway that resembled a cratered airfield during wartime, and the gates once standing tall, now bowed or washed away.

"Shame. It must have been quite beautiful. Maybe I'll buy it from you."

Ranger snorted and muttered something I didn't catch.

Dane's nostrils flared. "I heard he's your mate."

Gods no. He would understand how much Ranger cared about me.

"And that's why I came with a backup plan."

I tensed, waiting for him to pull out the gun. Despite the drizzle and gaps in the clouds, muddy water was flowing over what was left of the driveway, and Ranger was ankle-deep in sludge.

"We're here to hand over the files and for you to get the fuck out of here."

"You forget, I said I wanted two things."

While I couldn't see the rest of the La Luna shifters, I was sure they were camouflaged in amongst the muck, rubble, and slime.

"I was talking about Matt's family," Dane shouted.

If blood could run cold, mine did. It turned to ice, the slivers slicing my veins, and I froze, unable to move. My family consisted of Josh.

The Obsidian guy who'd been standing over the one who fell, dragged my brother up and flung him against what remained of the metal fence. Josh was wearing PJs, now drowning in mud, with teddy bears stamped on the fabric. I'd given them to him at Christmas. His hair was stuck to his scalp, but it was the anguish etched on his face that struck horror in me.

"Matt!" he sobbed.

This wasn't my existence where a mobster kidnapped my brother who'd never so much as jaywalked. This was Ranger's life. He'd brought Josh into this mess.

"A swap. I give you the brother and you hand over your mate." Dane looked pleased with himself despite being covered in slime. "And if you don't agree, the brother goes bye-bye."

There was the gun, but instead of being pointed at me, Dane was aiming it at Josh. I burst out of the house, and Rudy lunged toward me, tripping me so I fell over the stairs and landed face first in the mud.

"Matt, no!" Ranger grabbed me, but adrenaline fueled my strength and I tore away from him.

"Josh."

"Awww, brotherly love. How sweet." Dane slapped Josh in the head, and he groaned and crumbled, but the guy with him heaved him up. "Now let's swap and we'll be out of your way." He sniggered. "You're a fool, Ranger. I'm getting everything I want, and you'll be left with… nothing except a guy who works at a non-profit."

He laughed, a sound of pure evil.

I'd assumed any guilt I'd feel would be if Ranger's family was hurt or worse. But I'd never considered Dane abducting Josh. I couldn't walk the earth if Dane killed my brother.

Ranger took hold of my arm and said he'd take care of it.

"What would you do if this was one of your family?" I snapped, my tears mingling with the rain. "You'd give your life for them, right?"

"Yes, but you can't do this," he said under his breath. He and his shifters might've had a plan, but I had to save my brother. Me. The one who fucked up. And if it meant sacrificing myself, I'd do it.

"Let me go, Ranger." Saying goodbye to the man who had my heart, who I'd met two days ago, would be an impossible task in any other situation. What were those three questions I'd asked myself? I could live without him but I'd cry every day.

Now I didn't have to cry because this was my destiny, not Ranger. But I'd been lucky enough to experience true happiness. And now I had to man up and show the love for my brother that transcended everything else.

Dane's men shifted, but their boss stayed in human form. There was still no sign of the La Luna Noir shifters. My fear triggered images of Ranger and Dane setting me up. This was what they'd been planning. He wasn't my mate, just a man greedy for money and power.

I wept. That couldn't be. What we had was real, not that it mattered, but if I couldn't save my brother, what was my purpose in this gods-forsaken place?

I headed to Dane, struggling to stay upright. Josh staggered toward me, sobbing, the water swirling around our ankles, the mud sucking at our feet, reminding me of glue, along with the godsawful slurping as though the earth were closing around us.

But so many things happened at once, my brain had difficulty pinpointing them all. Dane almost lost his balance as he aimed the gun at Josh and then at me. The earth had suffered so much damage it collapsed in on itself, creating a swirling mass. Josh fell, the force of the whirlpool dragging him toward it.

"Matt, help me." He floundered, trying to grasp onto something, but the mud slid through his fingers.

I screamed and lunged for his hands as he was pulled closer to the vortex. Other than rushing water, the one sound that pierced my consciousness was Dane's cackling, saying he'd won the lottery.

But a strong pair of hands yanked me and Josh away from the churning water as a wolf lunged at Dane, knocking the gun out of his hands and tossing his body into the air. Was that Flint?

Shots were fired from somewhere. I blinked muddy water out of my eyes as Dane, now part human, part wolf, was suspended mid-air, a primeval screech that had dread coiling in my belly.

More wolf than man, the beast lunged away from the maelstrom, and his paws gripped the edge of the chasm. But his claws raked through the mud, leaving furrowed marks, and he sank lower, the howl making the air shudder as he fell out of sight.

More wolves confronted the Obsidian beasts who were standing mute, staring at where their Alpha had been. The La Luna Noir wolves growled, and I closed my eyes, trying to block out the sounds of teeth slashing through flesh and bone.

"You're safe." Ranger got my brother and me to our feet. Josh didn't appear to have witnessed the wolves' transformation, as he'd been face down in the mud. Not that it mattered. He'd never come near another shifter. I'd make sure of it.

I held my brother close, both of us weeping. "I need to get him away from here," I screeched.

What I didn't say was that I had to get myself out of the mafia world.