Chapter 8

Eight

E than let out a roar of rage as Brax somehow managed to throw him off. The brute that held her from behind let out a loud whoop that deafened her right ear. She flinched and angled her body just so to avoid the slimy kiss the bastard wanted to plant on her cheek and who knew where else. He smelled of dirt and at least three days' worth of grime. From the dingy white shirt and the mucked-up jeans, she'd say this one had forgotten the need for soap and a toothbrush.

An abrasive wind laced with the poison from the lake wound through the trees and felt like a thousand fire ants against her skin. And all theirs too. She could tell because the guy with python-like arms around her growled through the pain as he damn near shattered her ribcage in the process until the wind subsided.

Irony at its best.

Tremors rumbled across the ground. Chunks of dirt flew through the air and pelted nearby trees as Ethan and Brax fought. Fierce power drove Ethan's fist into ribs. A few more punches and Brax fell to the ground bloody and gasping for air.

Ethan reared back, wild rage in his eyes. She used the distraction to throw her weight left and lifted her legs to knock the man holding her hostage off balance. Free from him, she ran to Ethan and pulled him off Brax.

"Stop! Ethan. Listen to me."

Chest heaving, he pushed her behind him. "Are you okay?" he asked harshly.

"It's okay. I'm okay."

In unison, they turned back to back as stranger number one and Brax started circling them. She had to admit, Brax could take a beating. While Ethan probably fought all the time, this was only her second real time kicking real ass. The wrestling match she did with her brothers didn't count.

Deep, deeper than she could ever remember digging, she searched for the strength and nerves of steel she would need to face their enemy.

The Brax's slithery friend with the permanent lopsided grin on his face nodded to a man she failed to see until now. Another brother she assumed. Ok. Three against two. Because even hurt Ethan was a man to reckon with. Brax wore the evidence of that truth on his face.

"Okay, Ethan," she uttered over her shoulder, her eyes never leaving the three douches. "We've got 'em right where we want them." She swayed in her sumo pose. Her brothers once underestimated her short stature. Then she proceeded to put one in a chokehold and break the other's arm. They were eighteen at the time while she was a twelve-year-old sister with a point to prove. Like now.

These fools only saw a girl when they looked at her. Weak. Their mistake.

If Ethan could take two more, she could hold off the other one while he caught his breath to finish the job.

Her throat grew dry, but she stood her ground. "You think you're all big and tough, huh?" She bet they did. And they were. Taunting them probably wasn't the best idea.

"You're going to feel how big we are when we take care of your man there." Brax's friend, brother, cousin—who knew—rubbed himself while leering at her. "We're all going to have a go at you and whatever is left over we'll leave for the animals to have."

She narrowed her eyes at the man and behind her, Ethan laughed darkly. A sound that sent the chills of death up her spine.

"You can try." Is all he said and if it made her hair stand on end, she knew it did theirs too.

"Like he said. You already have one brother suffering a few broken bones for laying a hand on me. I'd be careful if I were you and mind what you say. It might mean your death?" She'd rather die alongside Ethan than be touched by these cretins.

Behind her she heard an audible crack when Brax lunged out of the thick fog and nailed Ethan in the jaw, taking them both down to the ground. In the shuffle, she lost sight of the third brother, who tucked back into the fog.

Shit.

The two men rolled on the ground. Bones cracked. Trees shook and for a second it sounded like the whole forest would come down on their heads.

Lopsided-grin dude got the bright idea of reappearing and lunging for her. Fat fingers got a death grip on her upper arms, and she used his chunky weight against him. Using the solid toe of her boot, she hauled back and poured all her might into a front kick that would make any Kung Fu master proud.

Crack.

She cringed and shoved down the churning butterflies gnawing at her insides. "Oh, that hurt even me." For all of three seconds he released his hold. It was all she needed.

Tucking her chest in, she rolled forward, pulled her pistol and aimed.

"Whoa there, girl."

Girl, my ass.

"Where the hell did you get that?" The douche was nervous.

"A man's arrogance is his downfall."

No hesitation. She squeezed back on the trigger, gaze steady.

Crimson blossomed across his shoulder, plastering the cloth of his shirt to his shoulder. A thick trail of blood ran down his arm and dripped into the parched forest floor. He fell forward holding his arm and groaning so loud you'd think she shot him in the gut.

She moved to where she had all three men—Ethan, Brax and the guys she just shot—in her line of sight just as a third man stepped up behind the guy on the ground.

Another brother.

"You can hightail it or get a matching slug. I'm not such a good aim without my glasses. Your brother was lucky. So the next one might end up between your eyes or take off your tiny pecker." She squinted an eye and cocked the hammer.

Both men's lips peeled back with a snarl.

She pushed to her knees, her aim dead center on the idiot that wanted to push her limits.

With a pull on the feather-light trigger, another round fired off close enough to the newcomer's head to make his eyes nearly pop out of his head. "That's right; don't test the crazy-ass lady with the gun."

"I'm going to kill you. You're gonna die, little girl." The man kneeling behind his brother sure was a brave talker.

She tried to look for Ethan and Brax but they'd disappeared into the forest. She heard faint grunts and thuds but that was it.

Shit. Shit Shit.

"Try it and you won't make it two feet before your brain is fertilizing the ground."

She swung around at the sound of a deep, slow voice full of malicious intent that caught her off guard. She tensed and then suddenly every muscle in her body wanted to freaking weep with relief.

To her left where the ground crested over a ridge, three silhouettes weaved through the trees before she could make out solid details. Morning light had yet to touch that end of the woods. But she didn't need night vision to know all hell was about to break loose and the Savages would be the ones dishing the mandatory ass whooping.

There wouldn't be a day in her life she didn't recognize that unique chiseled jaw and golden, piercing eyes of the Savage crew.

Her heart jumped for joy, but she didn't dare let her finger off the trigger. She had four more rounds ready to pop a cap in anyone's ass that came too close.

"Remy, you okay? The tallest of the three called out to her, his head low and his eyes leveled on the intruders.

She nodded, pushing to her feet.

"What are you kneeling for? Were you praying?"

"Maybe." She answered Damon with a shrug, still aimed at the enemy. "Actually, yeah. I was kissing my ass goodbye. But thank God the cavalry showed up." That had Ethan's brothers smiling. If you could call the Savage brothers' single-sided grins a form of smiling. To her and half the town it was more an easy glide that held so much sexiness, it kind of left a woman breathless.

"Yes, ma'am."

One second all three men stood shoulder to shoulder, and in the next, they were by her side taking on what looked like Brax's whole family. There were more hiding out of sight and didn't make themselves known until the Savage boys appeared.

Small miracles. They did happen.

Murder shone in their eyes and she was caught in the middle. Damon moved her behind him. "Find Ethan," he said and then it was all-out war.

She dodged around a tree but the young sapling did nothing to protect her when two-hundred pounds of muscle barreled into her.

How the hell did she end up in this position? Adventure. Right. Now she remembered. Her brothers said it would be fun.

"Oh shit."

Damon took a blow to the face and then two men jumped on him. The former cop now bakery owner didn't let the uneven odds hold him back.

She held her ground, but the closer the fight advanced the more nervous she became. She rounded a tree and narrowly missed a meaty fist angled at her head before a Savage brother could stop the hit.

"Low blow. Low blow, dude," she chastised as she tucked behind yet another tree. They wouldn't stop coming. Splinters broke off and shattered, catching her in the face and chest. Ferocious bellows rocked the forest and her heart hit the ground so many times she didn't think it would ever recover from the beating it took.

Keep it together, chick! Keep. It. Together.

She hit the floor and rolled as Ethan's came out of nowhere and flew over her to land on top of a man gunning for her.

He took him down and they rolled with Ethan coming out on top.

To her left, Brax stumbled out of the tree line and fell forward but didn't make it far. Massive blows to the face had his eyes swollen halfway shut and blood oozed from several gashes. Ethan on the other hand only had a few marks in comparison. She knew the second the adrenaline crash hit he'd feel every inch of his body and the bullet hole in his leg, but right now he was too jacked up to feel a damn thing.

His brothers quickly surrounded them with Ethan coming to stand in front of her, dragging Brax with him by the throat.

She thought living in L.A. was wild.

"Why" Ethan bellowed.

Ethan backhanded Brax when he didn't answer.

"Why, damn you!" He bellowed again. "Answer me!"

Brax struggled to regain his breathing. "Family," he wheezed, his shoulders rising and falling with each hard breath. "It's my only way back in. You of all people should know what that means."

"No. You don't get an easy pass. You're nothing like me. There's not a loyal bone in your treacherous body. We are nothing alike!" Ethan roared, lashing out with a solid punch across the face.

"Just kill me already and get it over with."

"We took you in. Why, Brax? Your lie of loyalty makes no sense."

"I never belonged. My father gave this land to yours in exchange for taking me in."

She looked on in silence as Brax rose to his knees. "I get this land back for my father so he can sell to the new lodge coming in and I'll be accepted back in. Your girl was just a bonus."

Brax sneered my way.

Ethan snarled and lunged forward. "You'll never get her or this land!"

She stepped closer and laid a hand on his shoulder. He jerked his head around, and she could see the murderous rage in his tight expression.

Her gaze followed Ethan as he approached Brax who knelt, blood seeping from wounds on his chest.

"Before you leave my land, tell me if it was worth it. Worth betraying the one family who accepted you into their homes and hearts and never once treated you like the bastard they should have."

"Stupid and weak is all I see when I look at a Savage."

"Father promised a place for me in the family. I only had to do one thing." He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes on her.

She noticed the murderous shift in him a second too late.

"Now that I've failed, I can still have one small victory."

Having the advantage of the higher ground, Brax lunged for her, but Ethan was faster. He caught him around the throat and threw him back to the ground.

"I told you, you'll die before you touch her."

From her left, pristine white hair caught her eye. A man well over six feet and wider than a semi-truck with shoulder-length white hair stood over Brax, gun drawn.

The Savage men didn't seem alarmed so she tried not to let her imagination fly away with what happened now. The fact he wore a badge helped settle her nerves. Still, she gathered the end of her scarf in her hands to keep her hands busy at least.

"Shots fired were reported by rangers," The stranger spoke, taking his cuffs out. For a man of the law he didn't have many questions. "I've been looking for my brothers for a while now. It seems you guys found them for me."

"Someone should put them on a leash," Ethan stated flatly that had the white-haired man grinning.

"Maybe. They can get a little out of hand at times, but that's going to change."

"Grab your baggage," he snapped at his brothers. "You have some explaining to do to your father and the Judge back in Savage Ridge."

The white-haired man who looked to be about Ethan's age turned back and nailed Ethan with a piercing stare. They stood like that for what felt like a solid five minutes before he spoke. "You were kind to someone who never should have darkened your family with his presence. That kind of acceptance won't go unnoticed. You're a good family. If our father was half the man your father is, this sorry lot would have turned out better."

The Savage brothers didn't say anything as they stood around her like a shield.

"You should know this—I do not share the same beliefs as my father. The old man is on the way out and the bad ideas he puts into these boys will come to a stop."

Fog tumbled around their feet and she could tell the effect of what Brax put in the water grated on their senses, if not their skin too.

She rubbed a flat palm along the length of her forehead trying to warn off the headache it was brought on for her.

The white-haired man hauled Brax over his shoulder like he weighed nothing more than a bag of flour and signaled for the rest of his brothers to get a move on.

"Wait. The fireweed. You…you use it to counter the poison," she stuttered, before they could completely step out of sight. "Mix it with some yarrow as a tea."

"Thank you."

"It's Remy."

"Remy," he repeated in a slow drawl.

"Maybe we'll see you around." Why the hell did she keep talking?

He smiled in answer.

Ethan approached her and pulled her in close with a soft kiss. She twined the ends of her scarf and only looked up when he slipped a finger beneath her chin. Slowly he nodded as though silently finding some answer he'd been seeking and turned back to call over his shoulder to give them one last look.

"What's your name?" she called after him.

"Bram, but friends call me Reaper." He'd already started up the path, every muscle in his body contorting with each step.

He didn't look like death, but he sure the hell moved swift, silently and deadly.

Both her and Ethan's brows climbed a little at that.

"Until next time, Reaper," Ethan answered, but he had already crested the ridge and disappeared from sight.