Alpha Pack 7 - Chase the Darkness (16 page)

The monster was taking him apart. Piece by piece. Making him suffer as Micah had once made him suffer.

Perhaps he deserved this, after all.

As the creature’s claws sank deeper, he thought he heard a familiar noise. Then he turned his head and saw the sweep of headlights coming on fast. Several vehicles.

Nick. The Pack. It had to be, out here in the middle of nowhere, so close to the compound. He could’ve wept, if he’d had the strength.
Hurry
.

The monster, however, wasn’t so pleased. With an angry cry, it launched into the air—without letting go of its prey. Micah’s broken body was lifted into the sky, a piece of meat to be devoured by the one who’d carry out his vengeance.

“Oh, God . . .”

Head dangling, he watched the ground fall away. Saw the vehicles skid to a halt, his brothers pouring from inside. Weapons were drawn, and a series of
pop, pop, pop
’s ensued. The creature dipped, but then continued to rise.

Far below, a man with red hair raised his hands and took aim.
Aric
.

When the column of flame spiraled upward, Micah closed his eyes. He knew the instant the fire hit the creature. It screeched, its talons opening in reflex, ripping from Micah’s body.

And he fell.

Jacee. Please believe in me. Love you.

Wind whipping through his hair, the darkness enveloped him, and he welcomed it.

*   *   *

The scene that greeted Nick and his men was like something out of a horror movie. And not something he’d be able to erase from his brain as long as he lived.

Aric was at the wheel of the lead Escalade, Nick riding shotgun. Everyone was tense, anxious. Then the vehicle rounded the bend, and they spotted the trail of wreckage from the bike. And off to the opposite side, by a stand of trees, a monster of a creature, wings expanded to their full width, its prey pinned underneath enormous talons. The beast was striking Micah again and again, determined to tear him apart.

“Motherfucker!” Aric yelled. He gunned the SUV, and it leapt forward, closing the distance.

The beast was finally alerted to their presence and took to the sky, but it didn’t turn Micah loose. Nick could only watch as the younger man dangled limp in the monster’s grasp, and pray he wasn’t already dead.

Aric brought the Escalade to a stop, and they jumped out, weapons blasting. The bird faltered but didn’t stop, and Aric raised his hands.

“Don’t hit Micah!” Nick shouted.

“I won’t!”

Fire shot from Aric’s hands and whirled into the sky, seeking its target. Higher and higher until the flames blasted the creature, and it let out a terrible shriek—and dropped its prey. Micah fell, tumbling toward the ground at dizzying speed.

“Kalen,” Nick yelled.

But the Sorcerer was already on the job, sending out a spell to stop Micah’s plunge and bring him toward where they were parked. As Micah floated toward him, Nick’s heart sank. The young wolf was a torn, bloodied mess, clothing hanging from his body in ribbons and wide gashes visible in his flesh.

Finally Kalen lowered him gently into their waiting hands, and they eased his battered body into the back of the lead SUV, where someone had already put down the seats and covered them with blankets. Zan waited there to keep him stable during the drive back to the compound.

“Goddammit, look at him,” Aric whispered, his face a mask of rage. “And that fucker got away.”

“We’ll get him.” Nick gripped his shoulder. “In the meantime, we need to get Micah back. Let’s hurry.”

Nick climbed into the back with Zan, and they were on their way. Micah’s eyes were closed, and his breath rattled in his lungs, the sound wet as he struggled. “Hang on, Micah. You’ve been through too much to give up now. You’re a survivor—remember that.”

“I’m not going to let him die,” Zan said, his jaw set determinedly. Placing both hands on his patient’s chest, he began to work.

The blue glow enveloped Zan’s hands and then spread to Micah’s upper extremities. Then on to the rest of his body. The entire ride, Zan never let up, nor did he speak.

As they pulled up to Sanctuary, Nick noted that Micah seemed to be breathing a little easier. The blood flow had slowed as well. The back doors were yanked open, and Zan slumped backward, clearly worn-out. “I did all I can,” he said hoarsely. “He’s a fucking disaster inside. The monster’s talons got some major organs.”

“You did good,” Nick assured him.

Mac nodded as she and Noah prepared to get their patient onto a gurney. “You did, my friend. We’ll take it from here.”

Nick and Aric helped load Micah onto the stretcher; then Mac and Noah took off with their charge. “I’ve never felt so useless.”

From beside Nick, Aric’s voice was quiet. “You did what you could. God, what am I going to say to Rowan?”

Just then, Rowan came jogging around the corner and across the drive toward to where they stood near the emergency entrance. Selene, Zan’s mate, was with her.

“Dad!” Selene called to Nick. “What happened?”

“Micah was attacked,” he said to the women. Their faces reflected their shock and worry. “By that creature who’s after him.”

“Is my brother going to be okay?” Rowan clutched at her mate. “Tell me the truth.”

“He’s in good hands, baby.”

That wasn’t an answer, and they knew it. But it was the best they had. As the women held on to their mates, Nick dug out his cell phone and placed the one call he dreaded the most.

“Hello?” Jacee answered.

*   *   *

Shouted orders reached his ears.

He was flying. No, bumping along, moving fast. Feet running beside him.

Everything hurt. Breathing was agony. Cracking open his eyes, he was nearly blinded by white light and too much movement. But as his vision cleared a bit, he saw walls and doorways rushing past. At his side was someone in nurse’s scrubs with SpongeBob characters all over them.

Noah. “Hey, you’re back. Stay with us, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Micah said. Or thought he did. He turned his head to try to look where they were headed, and that was when he saw her in the hallway. Sitting calmly, oddly enough. “Jacee?”

Reaching out, he tried to take her hand as the gurney rolled past, and her surprise struck him as odd. He couldn’t see well, blood and sweat in his eyes, but . . . it had been her. Right?

No, wait. The face was too young, the hair too light. His mistake.

Then the doctors and nurses were pulling him into an operating room, or at least that was his guess. A mask went over his nose and mouth, and a sting pricked his arm. Things grew fuzzy again, and he began to float away.

“You’re going to be all right,” Noah said, his kind blue eyes gazing down at Micah.

If only he could believe that.

Then he knew nothing more.

*   *   *

Jacee. Please believe in me. I love you.

I do believe in you, and I’m so sorry. I love you, too. Micah?

He didn’t answer, and she paced for a while. Should she go after him? She wouldn’t know where to look, though, besides the Grizzly, and he hadn’t had time to get there yet.

When she saw Nick’s number on the caller ID about a half an hour later, she wasn’t too worried, initially. Micah hadn’t been gone all that long, and she figured the commander was trying to reach his team member for some reason. Micah wouldn’t be able to answer while riding.

“Hello?”

“It’s Nick. I need you to stay calm,” he began.

Immediately, her heart kicked in her chest. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve got Micah over at Sanctuary. He’s been attacked.”

Shoving the phone in her front pocket, Jacee ran, not waiting to hear the rest. In the wake of her panic, exhaustion fled. Her feet flew as she raced down the corridors, finally coming to the connecting passage between the main building and Sanctuary. Quickly, fingers shaking, she punched in the code, hitting the wrong buttons the first time and cursing; then she let herself in and took off again.

Nick was waiting for her at the lobby level, and one glance at the sorrowful expression on his face sent her heart plummeting to her toes. Rushing up to him, she grabbed his shirt—and realized it was covered in drying blood. Shaking her head, refusing to accept what that meant, she met his gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “I didn’t have time to change clothes yet.”

“How is he?”

“They took him into surgery. We don’t know anything yet.”

“You know more than you’re saying.” Of that, Jacee was certain. He couldn’t hide the anxiety brimming in his eyes.

“Not here. There’s a private waiting room upstairs.”

Her mate’s condition was bad, then. Her legs barely supported her as they started off for the elevator, and Nick gently took her arm. When they reached the right floor, she was hardly aware of anything around her because she was concentrating so hard on making sure her bond with her mate was still solid.

What she found was frightening. The thread was wavering, thin and weak. That, more than anything they could say, told her just how terrible the attack had been and that Micah’s life was literally on the line.

The commander led her into the private waiting room, which, as it turned out, wasn’t all that private. Zan and Selene were there, along with Aric and Rowan. The Healer’s shirt was covered in blood as well, and she fought not to be sick.

As soon as Micah’s sister and brother-in-law spotted her, they walked straight over and enveloped her in a group hug, saying nothing for several long moments. When they let her go, Aric took her arm and guided her to a chair, where he made her sit. He took one side of her, Rowan the other. Aric spoke first.

“We’re not gonna lie to you, Jacee. It’s bad.”

She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “I can feel how weak our bond is. Tell me who or what did this.”

“That monster who’s after him waited for his chance and took it.” Aric’s jaw clenched with anger. “It attacked while he was out on his motorcycle, caused him to wreck. He didn’t stand a chance.”

Nick lowered himself into a chair across from them. “I don’t understand why he’d take a risk like that, especially after I warned him about my vision, more than once.”

“Vision? What vision?” Jacee gazed at the commander in dread.

“He never told you?” Nick released a heavy sigh. “I foresaw tonight’s attack, but I didn’t know when it would happen. I’ve warned Micah on more than one occasion to look out for it.”

“And he never told me.” She couldn’t wrap her head around that.

“He was probably trying to protect you,” the commander said gently. “And it wasn’t my place to interfere.”

“This is my fault,” she whispered. “We argued, and I drove him away.”

“No, you absolutely did not. He forgot my warning and went to blow off some steam, that’s all. But he either got my messages or remembered just in time to change the original outcome, because he’s still alive.”

She blinked at Nick. “Y-you mean, he should’ve died?”

He gave a brief nod. “In my vision, he wrecked when the creature attacked and was killed when he hit a tree and broke his neck. Tonight, he managed to avoid the tree.”

“But he could still . . . Have you seen a new outcome?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m afraid not. All we can do is wait.”

As endless minutes dragged by, she hated sitting, not knowing what was going on in surgery. At one point Rowan took her hand and Jacee squeezed it like a lifeline, concentrating on the fragile bond between herself and Micah. Exhaustion and the day took their toll, however, and she wasn’t aware she’d started to doze.

Until the bond began to flicker, like a lightbulb losing power. And finally burning out.

Instantly awake, she bolted upright in her chair. “Micah?”

“What’s wrong?” Rowan asked.

“Our bond,” she gasped, pushing to her feet. Frantic, she clutched her chest, seeking the golden thread. But there was only a gaping void where her mate should have been. “Micah!”

Around Jacee, the others stirred. Nick stood as well, and started toward her. But before anyone could stop her, she was out of the room, searching for her mate. The only one who would ever complete her. She set her coyote’s senses free, seeking him out, ignoring the staff who attempted to stop her from entering a set of double doors marked
RESTRICTED AREA
.

Pushing through them, she followed her mate’s scent to another door halfway down the hall marked
OR-3
and barged inside. The sight of a team of doctors and nurses standing over her beloved mate, administering CPR, made her blood run cold.

“No.” The word emerged as a sob, and her hand went over her mouth. “Micah?”

One of the doctors raised her head and snapped, “Somebody get her out of here.”

She recognized the voice as Melina’s, but had eyes only for the man on the operating table. His face was obscured by the oxygen mask, his eyes closed, dark brown hair like an ink spill on the white of the sheets underneath him.

This couldn’t be possible. Her mate couldn’t be dead.

A howl rose from the depths of her soul, and she shifted.

And cried out her grief to the heavens.

T
he coyote’s howl was distant. But it still reached the quiet room where Nick waited with Micah’s small family. High and mournful, it caused chill bumps to break out on Nick’s arms, and dread to darken his heart.

Rowan’s face was pale as she stood, trembling. “No. Nick. Tell me it’s not true. Not after all he’s been through. Tell me it doesn’t end like this.”

“I wish I could,” he said miserably. “I just don’t know.”

She stared at Nick, then looked at Aric. “I have to go to him.”

Her mate shook his head, his expression sad, but his voice firm. “No, sweetheart. The docs have their hands full right now. They’ll tell us—”

“I want to see my brother! You can’t keep me from him!”

She started for the door, but Aric stopped her, wrapping her in his arms. Struggling, she put up a good fight at first, but soon sagged in his arms and let him hold her. Her shoulders shook with sobs as Aric whispered comforting words they all hoped were true.

Rowan was right, Nick thought. It wasn’t supposed to end like this for Micah. None of this was fair. He tried to summon a vision, but couldn’t force one. They didn’t work that way.

“Hold her,” he said to Aric. “I’m going to see if I can find out what’s going on.”

Aric nodded grimly, and Nick strode out of the room.

*   *   *

“Jacee, we need your help!”

Distantly, she heard someone calling to her, but couldn’t make sense of it through the sadness pouring from her heart and soul. Hands shook her, hard, and she stopped howling, peering with her coyote’s eyes at the intruder on her grief.

“Shift back,” Mac commanded. “Now. If you want to help your mate, shift. Understand?”

Mate. Help him?

That penetrated the fog, and Jacee obeyed, shifting back to human form. She was briefly tangled in her clothing, but the doctor quickly helped her straighten the garments and get to her feet.

“What can I do?” Jacee asked, her voice thick with tears. “He’s gone.”

“We’ve got a machine breathing for him, buying some time. We’re going to give him some of your blood, and we’ve called Calla, Nick’s mate. She’s on her way to donate as well.”

Hope sparked in Jacee’s chest. “Whatever will save him. I’m ready.”

“I can’t promise this will work, but we’re doing our best.”

“I know, but it’s a chance, right?”

“Yes, the best one he has.”

Jacee followed Mac, shaking so violently she thought she might throw up. This couldn’t fail. Could not. If Micah didn’t make it, she’d have no reason to go on. No desire left.

“We’re going to do two transfusions,” Melina said, pulling Jacee to a chair beside Micah. “One from you and one from Calla to give him that rich, healing vampire blood. She’ll be here any second, so let’s start yours. Both will be direct from the source to your mate.”

The faster, the better, as far as Jacee was concerned. Once she was seated, Noah stretched out her arm on a small platform attached to the chair, designed for taking blood. Then he wrapped a stretchy rubber tube around her arm above the elbow and felt for a good vein. When he was satisfied, he wasted no time sliding the needle in and starting the flow into the tubing directly to Micah’s left arm.

“Blood flow from the left arm goes to the heart first,” Mac explained.

Jacee just nodded, anxiously watching her mate. The machine continued to breathe for him, but there was no spark of life. Not yet. Even though there was still a black void where their bond should have been, she reached out through their mental link. If there was any chance, she had to try.

Come on, honey. I know you’re tired and hurt. But you can do this. Don’t leave me here without you. Please.

Melina readied the pads on her mate’s chest and nodded to Noah. A shock jolted Micah’s body, and the line on the heart monitor jumped a couple of times and went flat again.

Another shock. Four blips.

Calla burst into the OR, Nick on her heels. Jacee didn’t know the vampire princess well, but she’d never been so glad to see anyone, ever. If her blood couldn’t save Micah—

“Okay, time to switch,” Noah said briskly. Working fast, he removed the needle and tubing from Jacee, wiped the puncture, and applied a cotton ball and strip of medical tape.

Jacee moved so Calla could take her place in the chair, and Noah repeated the procedure all over again. She was amazed at how speedy he was, hands steady, completely calm, at least on the outside.

When Jacee crept to Micah’s side and took one of his hands, nobody stopped her. His skin was too cool, but not cold. Not yet. Lashes like black lace fanned across his cheeks, and his hair was silky around his face and neck. He could’ve been sleeping—if it weren’t for the bloody, partially healed gashes on his chest and stomach and the multitude of other wounds.

Come back to me, baby. You can do it.

Several blips.

That’s it. Reach out to me, Micah! Can you hear me? Fight for us!

Just then, the bond flared to life, so bright and sudden the brilliance of the reconnection took her breath away. Every eye in the room turned to her, silently questioning.

“I feel our bond,” she gasped. “It’s there!”

And then the heart monitor began a steady beep. This time, it didn’t stop.

There was a collective sigh of relief, and a few murmurs of thanks to whatever gods where listening. Jacee sagged and would’ve hit the floor if it hadn’t been for Nick’s quick reaction.

Melina turned to Jacee, her tone much kinder than before. “We’re going to stabilize him, and we may have to remove his spleen and a kidney if they don’t heal. Nick and Calla will go with you back to the waiting room, and we’ll come talk to you as soon as we can.”

“Thank you.” Jacee’s voice was barely a whisper. “So much.”

As Nick and his mate accompanied Jacee from the room, she glanced back at Micah.
Stay strong. Keep making your way back to me. I’m not going anywhere. I love you.

There was no answer, but she was patient. As long as he was still in the world, she could wait.

The next two hours seemed like forever, but at last the waiting room door opened. Rowan, drained from crying, was asleep on the sofa with her head in Aric’s lap when Mac and Melina came into the room. Aric shook his mate awake, and when she saw the doctors, she bolted upright, rubbing her eyes.

Jacee stood, ready to face whatever they had to say. She knew her mate was alive—the bond was still humming and strengthening every minute.

“Micah’s going to recover,” Melina said, giving them a rare smile. “That man is one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever seen.”

“Thank God,” Rowan said. Aric took her hand. “What about the surgery?”

“We had to take his spleen and appendix. They were too damaged to heal properly, even with the vampire blood. The kidney repaired itself, however, as did the gashes and other cuts, abrasions, and broken bones.”

Jacee sighed with relief. “Is he in a room? Can I stay with him?”

“They’re moving him now. Shouldn’t be too long. Noah will come get you, okay?”

“All right.”

Nick and Calla stayed until Noah showed up and then excused themselves. “Family first,” Nick said, in spite of the others’ protests that they
were
family. “We’ll come tomorrow, after everyone’s rested.”

The blond nurse took Jacee, Rowan, and Aric to Micah’s room. Jacee took a seat on one side of his bed and held his hand. It was warmer, but she’d feel better when he woke up. At least he was breathing on his own now.

“You can’t do this to me anymore,” she ordered him. “My heart can’t take it. This is it—do you understand?”

“I second that, little brother.” Rowan’s expression was as exhausted and relieved as Jacee felt.

They watched him for a while, talking in quiet tones, until finally Aric insisted Rowan go home with him and get some sleep.

“We need to give Jacee some time alone with her mate, too,” he pointed out. That made the other woman relent, and after she gave her brother and then Jacee a kiss on the cheek, they were both gone.

As much as Jacee was coming to love them all, she was glad to finally have some privacy. The horrid hours of grief, believing she’d lost her love, caught up to her, and she wept, burying her face in her hands. She meant what she’d told him—she couldn’t take this again.

How was she going to handle him going on missions and fighting all sorts of monsters? Never knowing if he’d come home alive or in a body bag? But what else was he supposed to do for a living? As far as the world was concerned, Micah Chase, U.S. Navy SEAL, was MIA and presumed dead.

She worried it in her head until she was so tired she couldn’t think anymore. One thing was for sure: she could never ask him to give up his Pack brothers. This place and these people were more than just a job. They were family.

Asking him to leave here would be like ripping off one of his limbs. She couldn’t do it.

After checking on him one more time, she settled herself on the sofa close to his bed. Noah had thoughtfully provided a pillow and a blanket, and she soon dropped headfirst into the sleep of the stone-dead exhausted.

But tired or not, she had the most wonderful dream. . . .

*   *   *

She and Micah were taking a walk through their new home: their dream cabin in the forest not far from the compound, but just far enough for privacy.

Surrounded by trees, situated on the pretty plot of land he’d shown her that day, months ago, it was perfect. With four bedrooms, three baths, a media room, a den, and a pool and hot tub out back, it would be perfect for the two of them and for when friends or family stayed.

And for when they began having kids. Seeing other mated couples at the compound starting their families had her excited about a future she never dreamed possible. Kalen and Mac had their precious son, Kai, and Nick and Calla were expecting. Jax and Kira were trying and hadn’t given up.

Maybe she and Micah would be next?

Hand in hand, they discussed what kind of furniture to get, where to place it, but in truth she couldn’t have cared less as long as she was with him. The man who was the other half of her heart.

“Want to see out back?” he asked, smiling.

“Yes.”

Through the den, they went out the double doors and onto the large cedar deck. On the deck was the hot tub, bubbling away and looking very inviting. A few steps below was the pool, sparkling and blue in the sunlight.

“I’ll bet it looks beautiful at night, too,” Jacee sighed.

“I’m sure it does. Want to see?”

She cocked her head at him. “Sure, but we’ll have to wait for it to get dark.”

Micah grinned. “No, we don’t. This is our dream, so we can make it however we want.”

“Dream?” She looked around in confusion. “How do you know it’s a dream? Being here with you, it feels so real.”

“Maybe it is real. What’s reality, anyway?”

With that, he snapped his fingers, and instantly the scene around them changed. Suddenly the cloak of night had fallen, but the pool area was gorgeous, all lit up with the water a more brilliant blue than before.

“How did you do that?” She glanced around them in awe.

“Dreamwalker, remember?” He winked.

“What?”

“That’s my Psy gift. I’m pretty sure I told you.”

“I—I think you did. But this . . . this is incredible!”

“And real.”

She frowned. “But you said it was a dream.”

“When you’re mate’s a Dreamwalker, it can be both. You’ll see.”

“I think you’re one fry short of a Happy Meal.”

He laughed, the sound deep and rich. “We’ll see about that. Come on.”

“What are we doing?”

“Christening our pool and hot tub properly. What do you think?”

“That sounds like fun!”

Taking her hand, he pulled her along, jogging toward the pool. She shrieked when she realized he intended to yank them both into the water, and she tried to get away. But he was having none of it and jumped, keeping a firm grip, and hauled them both over the edge.

As she plunged in, squealing, she suddenly felt very naked. And as she surfaced, she noted that, indeed, her clothing had vanished. “More liberties of your Dreamwalking skills?”

“Hey, why have it if you can’t take advantage?”

“You look very smug.”

“I’m very horny.”

“And smug.”

“That, too, because I know my mate’s going to put out.”

“Hey! Arrogant much?”

“Confident.”

Micah lunged for Jacee, and she took off through the water with a shriek. She laughed as he gave chase, and she thought in that moment that she’d never been happier. If this was a dream, did they have to wake up?

Eventually, baby. But for now, let’s enjoy this
.

She went with it, letting him catch her. He spun her around, pulling her against his slick body and kissing her until she had no air left in her lungs. His stiff cock rubbed between her thighs, a new experience in the silky coolness of the pool.

They kissed for a while, tongues dueling, tasting. Then he walked her backward to the edge of the pool and lifted her up to sit with her legs spread.

“Mmm. A feast just for me. Lean back, baby.”

She did, bracing her arms behind her. The position was decadent, him still in the water, hair slicked back, with her sitting on the rim of the pool, legs spread. He buried his face in her mound, licked, and sucked, driving her crazy with every pass of his tongue.

“Oh! Oh, God.”

“Like that, sweetheart?” he murmured.

“Yes. Don’t stop.”

He continued as long as she could stand it. Edging her toward oblivion only to bring her back and then do it again.

His voice was a low growl. “Come all over my face. Do it.”

She had no choice. He ate her, laving both her slit and clit, and she bucked, out of control, as her orgasm shattered. Crying out, she gave him what he wanted, creaming all over his tongue, much to his satisfaction. Then he was pulling her into the water again, turning her to face the edge.

“Hang on.”

Grabbing the lip, she floated some as he spread her from behind and slid his cock deep. All the way into her heat. He began to shaft her, deep and hard, and another orgasm began to build even in the wake of the first one.