Chapter Fifteen

Wolf

We have formulated a plan and the strategy is sound. We'll separate into three teams. One team will hit the club bar, one team will hit Viper's residence, and the third team will hit their compound. Team one and team three are composed of ten men each with eight men on team two. I will be the lead on the team taking their compound. My gut tells me that's where she is.

Fear crawls under my skin and makes my stomach churn. It's a strange feeling and I haven't felt this way since Amber went into labor early. But this is somehow a different type of fear. Fear for her safety. Fear for the unknown. Fear of losing her before I even had her. But the worst part? Fearing that I am going to the wrong place, that I won't find her there.

Getting on my bike, I wait for the rest of the guys. Restlessness fills me and it feels like my skin is too tight. I check my weapons to make sure they are loaded and that I have enough extra clips. Under my black t-shirt, I'm wearing a bulletproof vest—just in case. Along with my two 9mm Berettas, there's also a twelve-gauge shotgun strapped to my back.

As soon as all my guys are together, we start up and head to the Mongrels MC compound. We wind through the hills on the outskirts of town until we are about half a mile away. We stop our bikes off to the side of the road so as not to be seen or heard. Moving through the trees and the underbrush toward their compound, we do our best to go undetected, staying quiet and moving in the shadows.

As we reach their perimeter fence, I realize how dumb these assholes really are. There is one guard sitting next to the gate with an empty bourbon bottle beside him. He's slouched over and loudly snoring. Giving Sparrow the signal, I watch as he approaches the guard from behind and snaps his neck with the flick of his wrist. The gate is quickly pushed open by one of the other guys and then we are approaching across the gravel driveway. There are no CCTV cameras on the outside of the building so there's definitely not anyone in there monitoring us.

The outside of the building is decrepit and there's rubbish lying everywhere. From food cartons to beer bottles, condoms, crack pipes, clothes, baby diapers, and shit I would rather not inspect. The building itself seems to have been a farmhouse a million years ago. The porch stairs look like people have fallen through a couple of times and the railing along the front has been broken. It hangs at a weird angle from the post that it's barely still attached to. The house itself has faded from the original color to a dirty gray, most of the windows are broken, and the screen door is hanging on by a thread.

Skipping the stairs, I pull myself onto the porch where the railing is broken. I lead my team to the door and silently gesture for us to split up. Four guys are to cover the yard with the rest of us splitting up between the front and the back entrances. Giving the other team to the count of ten to get to the back door, I gently and casually open the front door and peer in. Calmly, I move forward into the house.

The carpet beneath my feet is threadbare and there are stains all over the place. The smell that hits the second I enter is enough to keep me from trying not to gag. Looking left, I see a kitchen. Dishes are piled up in the basin and there are cockroaches running everywhere. Molding food sits on the table and upon closer inspection, I see maggots crawling around on a plate.

Exiting the room, I move deeper into the house. I don't look back to see where my men are. They're behind me, I know that as well as I know my own name. I will give my life for any of these men just as any of them would give their life for me.

The further into the house, the harder the music becomes. At the end of the hall, the house opens to a large room I'm assuming was once the dining room and living room but is now a mess. They have ripped out the wall that used to separate the two rooms and use it as a get-together room. There are bottles lying around everywhere, all the furniture is tattered or broken, and there's no one in sight.

As I turn to my left, I freeze. Held down over the top of what appears to have once been is kitchen table is a young woman. She's probably no older than seventeen or eighteen and has a shock of red hair and a shiner the size of an apple. She's buck-naked and even from this distance, I can see the bruises and scars all over her body.

Tears stream down her dirt-stained face as the scrawny, dirty man behind her continues pumping his hips. He's so out of it his head is thrown back and his eyes are closed. She looks me straight in the eyes and a sob racks her body.

"Take it, you whore," the guy behind her slurs and wraps a hand around her throat. Her eyes bug out and I put my finger to my lips, showing her to be quiet. She stares straight at me and I see that she understands the gesture.

"Don't make me hurt you, Kaiya. I don't want to, but I will," the man says again.

The urge to shoot him right between the eyes almost overwhelms me, but that will alert whoever else is in the building that we're here. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mad Dog approach the man holding Kaiya down.

Mad Dog doesn't cower or slink toward the man. He doesn't draw his gun or have any form of weapon in either of his hands. He walks up behind the man, takes him in a headlock, whispers something in the man's ear, and simply snaps his neck. It all happens so fast. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it.

Kaiya slides from the table and crawls underneath it, pulling her knees up to her chest and sobbing quietly. Mad Dog removes his cut and then his shirt. He puts the cut back on and then crawls beneath the table. He holds his hands up, palms out to show he isn't a threat while Kaiya tries to scurry further away from him. He talks to her softly in calming tones to convince her to take the shirt from him and cover herself.

My heart breaks a little at the confusion on her face. Just as she gingerly reaches out to take the shirt from him, a gunshot rips through the house. The scream that follows chills me to the bone and I want to run straight in that direction.

At the sound of it, Kaiya looks over at me.

"He has her in the basement. Middle room. Hurry please, he's going to hurt her bad. Please, please help her." She hiccups through her tears and even though her voice is soft, I hear every word.

"Kaiya, are there any other people in the house?" I look her in the eyes as I ask her the question.

"Only my brother Sam." I must look confused, so she adds, "Viper."

Momentum propels me to the stairs on the far end of the room. I know that Sparrow will follow me as we move down the stairs, but there are also two of my other brothers with us. Quietly, we move down the corridor until we reach the second door of the three. Peering into the room, I get to see the kick that he delivers to Hadley's head before I storm at him.

I don't think, I simply react without thinking of my own safety or that of my men. In the distance, I hear gunfire erupting, but all I can think of is the kick that Viper delivered. Relentlessly and mercilessly, I continue to punch him.

Arms come around my upper body, pinning my arms. I struggle against the hold even though I know it's no use. Beast is one of our newest members and huge. He used to play college football until an injury took him out.

"Boss," he says in my ear.

"We got to go, boss. Other members of this godforsaken club have shown up and shooting has started outside. The girl needs to get to a hospital. Come on, boss."

I shake off his hold—knowing that it's only because he allowed it—and turn to look at him. "Take him with us. I want him put in the shed so that I can sort out this mess."

Beast nods, lifts Viper's prone body, and hefts him over his shoulder. Turning around, I look to where Hadley's lifeless body lay and my blood reaches boiling point. I take a deep breath and struggle to clear the red haze clouding my vision. Sparrow is hunched down, leaning over her and feeling for a pulse. An irrational urge to rip his arm from his body rolls through me. No one should touch her but me. Walking up behind him, I lay my hand on his shoulder, knowing that I'm using too much force.

"Step away, brother, I've got this," I say to him.

He looks up at me and nods before moving away. He tries to school his features but I still see the shock on his face.

"Make the call," I instruct. "Get the van here. Both the girls need to see a doctor and we have a prisoner to transport."

Putting his phone to his ear, he rises. The gunfire outside has stopped and I'm praying everyone is okay. Leaning down, I inspect her. I'm terrified to move her and cause further injuries, but I can't bring a doctor here or call an ambulance. The only solution is to load her in the van.

Turning her slightly to the side, I can feel the blood drain from my face. There's blood, a lot of it, all from the left side of her body. Her entire face is black and blue and her hair is also stained with blood. Her shirt is torn down the front and her breasts are out for the world to see. They too are bruised and if I'm not mistaken, covered in dried cum.

She's pale, and when I feel for a pulse, it's so weak I almost miss it. Standing, I remove my cut to cover her breasts and keep them from the sight of my brothers. I don't need to lose my shit right now because one of them looks at her funny. Lifting her into my arms, I cradle her against my chest. She mewls in pain as she slightly opens the eye that isn't swollen shut and looks up at me. She lifts her hand and touches the side of my face.

"Brandon," she croaks before passing out again.