65. Cole

My wolf roared in my head when we saw the state of Eva. She lay on the filthy floor, curled up in a fetal position, trying to protect her face and ribs from the blows raining down on her. Blood streaked her blond hair, her beautiful face bruised and swollen.

The piece of shit beating up our mate was so busy using his fists that it took a moment for him to realize he had company. The minute he saw us, all color leeched from his face.

Tanner didn't give him an opportunity to speak. He just took him down without a word. His fingernails extended into claws and sank into Brent's fleshy neck, pinning the smaller man to the floor. He wasn't dead yet, but he soon would be.

"Is this Brent?" he asked Eva.

"Yes," she said, before her eyes closed.

"Cole, you and Silas take our mate and get her out of here. I'll clean up the mess in here." He wasn't talking about the bloodstains on the floor.

I picked up Eva as carefully as I could. She whimpered in pain from at least one broken rib. She would heal, but right now, I needed to get her away from this place.

We'd killed all the guards we could find, but Carlos wasn't here, and that meant loose ends. None of the shifter girls were here, either. Rufus had questioned a guard before killing him. He said four girls were at the fight ring and the others moved somewhere else, but he didn't know where.

We hoped one of them was Lily, but my priority was Eva. Rufus and the other alpha could deal with the fight ring.

Silas went first as I carried Eva upstairs. Her eyes stayed shut, so she didn't see the mutilated bodies strewn everywhere. The only reason I knew she was OK was because I could feel the bond tether between us.

Once outside, we moved as quickly as possible to the trees, where an SUV was waiting. From there, Silas drove us to the Lone Pine pack lands so Eva could see a healer.

Eva's eyes flickered open as I laid her on the bed in one of Cilla's guest bedrooms.

"Where am I?" she asked in a raspy voice so faint I could barely hear her, even with my wolf hearing.

"You're safe, sweetheart. We're at the Pack House. Just waiting for the healer to arrive."

She looked around, her eyes flaring with anxiety. "Where's Tanner? And Silas? Are they safe?"

"I'm here, and Tanner's on his way," Silas said as he walked in with a mug. "Here, sugar, have a sip of this. Cilla said it will help soothe your throat." His expression was dark as he stared at Eva's bruises. Our mate was a colorful patchwork of purple and blue, her face swollen, one eye barely open.

If Brent wasn't already dead, I'd make him suffer for the pain he'd put our mate through. Fortunately for him, he was dead. Tanner had called me to let me know they'd crashed the fight night, taken out most of the guys there, and rescued the girls. The only person they hadn't found was Carlos.

Somehow, he'd slipped through the net and was currently in the wind.

Not all the girls were located. A few of them had already been moved on, but Tanner had recovered a load of computer equipment from Carlos's house before he torched it. He was hoping it contained the information we needed to trace the remaining girls.

Rufus had a shifter friend in the FBI, who he'd been working with when the girls first started going missing. He said their resources would make the search easier. Now that we knew about Carlos' connection to this mess, it shouldn't take long to track all the girls down.

Finding Carlos was a priority. He had a lot of connections, even with all his men now dead or in hiding, so it wouldn't be easy, but he'd get what was coming to him. Eventually, the FBI would catch him. And if he showed his face around here, he was a dead man.

Eva took the mug and tried to sit up, but a whimper of pain escaped. She was damned lucky she hadn't ended up with a punctured lung with how that bastard kicked the shit out of her.

"Easy, sweetheart, let me help you." I climbed onto the bed beside her and gently lifted her upper body. She was so light, I needed to feed her up again. Lots of cookies and chocolate-chip pancakes smothered in maple syrup.

She lay back and rested her head on my shoulder while sipping the honey concoction Cilla had made. The sound of trucks pulling up outside, followed by girls' voices, filtered through the window. Before I could say a word, the bedroom door crashed open and a petite teen burst in.

"Oh my god, you look awful!" Lily screeched in horror. "Is that fucker dead? Cos if he isn't, I'm happy to do the honors. Once I can shift anyway."

"He's dead," I confirmed without thinking.

"He is?" Eva gasped. Silas's eyes widened as we both realized we'd not actually told her. Fuck.

"Yes, sugar, he can't hurt you anymore," Silas said, taking her hand in his massive fist and squeezing it tightly.

Tears spilled from her eyes and she bit back a sob. "Thank you." Then she sniffed, wiped her eyes, and looked at Lily.

"Are you OK? And Jessa?"

Lily grinned. "Course we are." Her grin widened. "I took down three guys in the ring before my dad spoiled my fun." From the way she scowled, I guessed she'd been enjoying herself. "I won my bet with Jessa, too. She only knocked out two guys."

"Jesus Christ, Lily! You shouldn't be fighting men at your age!" Silas looked scandalized but Lily just rolled her eyes.

"You sound just like my dad."

"Your dad's fucking right," he grumbled.

"No swearing in front of the teenager," Eva snapped, like she wasn't one too, and I tried not to laugh when Silas pouted.

"Don't you have homework to do?" Silas asked Lily. "After all the school you missed, I bet it's piling up." He was such an asshole.

"Jesus, I was fucking KIDNAPPED! Pretty sure that's the best excuse ever for missing school." She gave him a one-finger salute and turned to Eva, who was fighting a smile at the snarky exchange.

"I'm glad you're OK, Eva. And thank you for sticking up for me. I won't forget it." She cast a sly glance at Silas. "That idiot doesn't deserve you, by the way."

"Why you little—" He tried to lunge for her but one look from Eva stopped him in his tracks.

"Silas! She's a child. Control yourself!" Eva glared at him before her gaze softened when she turned back to Lily. "And I'm glad they got you out of that place. Maybe your dad will let you take up boxing or something?"

Lily snorted. "Yeah right. Dad's going to have me under house arrest for the rest of my life now."

"Good," Silas muttered under his breath.

"I'll get Tanner to talk to him, maybe make him see you need to let loose a little," Eva promised.

"Really? He'll listen to Tanner." Lily's eyes brightened, and she looked thoughtful. "Maybe we can start our own shifter fight club, a legit one. I reckon I could make some serious moolah. All those idiots saw was a kid. It was so much fun beating them up!" She cackled, and I smiled at her enthusiasm.

"It's not a bad idea, you know," I said. Lily rewarded me with a huge smile while Silas scowled again, unimpressed we were all siding against him.

"Maybe give your dad a bit of time to get over you being kidnapped first, yeah," I suggested. Silas nodded in agreement.

"Cole's right. Your dad was in bits, Lily. He needs a moment."

Lily's face dropped, but a determined glint remained in her eye that told me she wasn't letting this idea rest. And to be honest, it was a good one. Plenty of shifters enjoyed fighting, and if we publicized it well, I was sure loads of human guys would sign up to take us on, especially against the females, who, of course, they'd underestimate.

With the right precautions in place, it could be a safe space to let off steam for kids like Lily. And we could also run shifter adult fights, with penalties for shifting before your opponent tapped out.

Cilla stuck her head around the door. "The healer is here. Lily, leave these guys alone. I have food ready for you girls."

"Yay! I'm starving! I could legit eat a cow. I'm so hungry!" She pressed a quick kiss to Eva's bruised cheek and then scampered off, throwing a cheeky wink at Silas on the way out. "Bye, grandpa!"

"Jesus, Lily is why I don't want kids," Silas muttered.

"You don't want kids?" Eva looked crestfallen.

I glared at him and he realized immediately he'd put his foot in it. Apologize!

"No…I mean YES! I want kids! Just not a little brat like Lily."

Eva's relief was palpable.

"Do you want kids?" I asked. She was only 18, so it wasn't a conversation we'd had yet, but it made sense that she would want children. She had so much love to give, I could picture her with a whole brood of babies, all of them beautiful like her.

"Yeah." She smiled softly. "I love kids. I always dreamed of being a teacher. But then dad died and…" Her voice trailed off. She didn't need to say anything else. We all knew what, or rather who, happened next.

"Maybe you still can," I suggested. "Once you feel well enough, you could get your high school certificate, go to college, study, and become a teacher. The pack kids are pretty bad at attending school, so having a teacher around would help them a lot."

"Really?" The way her eyes lit up with excitement made me determined to make it happen. Whatever it took, Eva's dream would come true. The only possible fly in the ointment was Tanner. I wasn't sure he'd be willing to let her out of his sight for the next 100 years.