Babies for Nikki (49 page)

Mitchell nodded, smiling. “You’re welcome,” he answered quietly, thanking the Fates for pairing him with such an understanding friend for a triad partner.

“There’s the pharmacy,” Dean said, pointing to the right.

When they pulled up in front of the pharmacy and parked the car, they saw Laurie and Janine waiting just inside the door. Dean and Mitchell got out of the car quickly, shutting the doors behind them and walking to the store entrance with determined strides. Laurie exited the store immediately, rushing to Dean and embracing him.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Dean whispered as he hugged her tightly.

“I’m fine,” Laurie reassured him, reaching out to hug Mitchell to her tightly. “All of you worry too much.”

Dean smiled and looked at Mitchell as he smiled back at him. His triad partner was a wise man. He looked at Janine who stood apart from them and grinned at her.

“What about you, Janey?” he asked, smiling wider at the shocked expression on her face. “Are you okay?”

Janine blushed lightly and nodded. “I’m good,” she answered quietly. She nearly fell to her knees in shock when Dean walked toward her and embraced her quickly.

“I’m glad,” he told her quietly before letting her go and reaching out to take the three bags of purchases from her. “I guess you guys had some serious shopping to do.”

He turned and led the way back to his car, popping the truck and carefully placing the bags inside it before slamming it closed. He held the front passenger door open for his mother while Mitchell opened the rear passenger door for Janey. Once the women were seated, they shut the doors and walked around the front of the car to the driver’s side.

“Janey?” Mitchell questioned him.

“It suits her better than Janine,” Dean explained, tipping his head toward the young woman who sat quietly in the back seat. “Don’t you think?”

Mitchell looked at Janine and saw how she was nervously fiddling with her seatbelt. “I think you’re right,” he said finally. “Janey is a much nicer name for her.”

Dean smiled and rested his hand lightly on his triad partner’s shoulder. “Let’s get them home. Jace and Jackson will be worried until they know Mom and Janey are home safely. Maybe you should have a talk with Jace and tell him and Jackson exactly what you told me before.”

Mitchell swallowed nervously. Even though he was new to the pack, he felt the fairness in his new alpha. But that didn’t make the prospect of giving advice to him any less scary.

* * * *

“Mitchell said there are three cabins that the women could be in,” Jace told the men as they drove toward Randall’s pack land. “There’s an entrance to the area that veers off to the three sections. We’ll split up when we get there.”

“I can’t feel Nikki,” Alex told them. “Can you sense her, Butler?”

Butler shook his head, looking out the side window silently. Turning to face his alpha and beta in the front seat, his eyes were filled with worry.

“Alpha, are you able to feel Laurie if she’s asleep?”

Jace looked at Jackson as he sat silently beside him. He couldn’t lie to his lieutenant. “I can, Butler. I can’t feel her thoughts all the time, but I feel a sense of peace that she is well, even when she’s asleep.”

“Sometimes we can’t sense her, Butler. Laurie has a habit of closing herself off from us so we don’t worry when she’s not feeling well,” Jackson added, his voice strong. He knew both Butler and Alex needed to know all the possibilities. “Knowing our mate, she’s probably taught Nikki how to shield her thoughts so she can protect you from worrying.”

Butler nodded, hoping that what Jackson said was the case with their mate. He looked over at Alex and saw the way his triad partner was fighting his wolf. He was in the same predicament. His own wolf was clawing at his chest to be released.

She’s going to be fine, Alex.

Alex looked at him with anger.
If he’s touched her, I’ll tear him apart.

I’ll help you.

“We’re here.” Jace’s voice was calm, but all of them could feel the determination that their alpha was feeling.

He parked his truck and stepped out of the cab. Carter and Doc pulled in beside him at the entrance and climbed out of Carter’s truck to join them. The six men stood silently as they surveyed the three trails that led away from the main entrance.

“Do any of the paths call to you?” Jace asked Butler and Alex as he stood beside them.

Both men closed their eyes and breathed in deeply. They couldn’t scent Nikki, but something tugged them toward the left path.

“This way,” Alex said, nodding toward the path. He pulled his black T-shirt over his head and threw it into the back of Jace’s truck.

Butler did the same, removing his clothes and throwing them into the bed of Jace’s truck to join Alex’s. Shifting in an instant and bounding up the path, he could feel Alex close behind him. The fear they felt for their mate’s safety spurred them on, their anger fueled by the fact that she was injured, alone, and afraid. The fact that they felt her fear for their cubs as they raced up the path gave them the briefest sense of relief that her presence was finally back in their minds.

When they saw Alex’s truck parked to the side of a small cabin, they halted in the trees beside the overgrown path. They prowled forward, Nikki’s thoughts and feelings washing over them.

He’s threatening our mate and our cubs.
The anger in Alex’s voice was deadly.

Both men couldn’t contain the growls that escaped them. Boyd was going to pay for every moment of terror he had caused Nikki. Shifting to their human forms quickly, they advanced on the cabin. Their only thoughts were of saving their mate.

He’s got silver bullets in his gun!
Nikki’s panicked voice screamed to them through their bond.

The cabin door was pulled open, and Boyd stepped out onto the small porch, a gun leveled in his hand and pointed directly at them.

“I knew you’d end up here sooner or later,” Boyd told them calmly. “Your human probably told you where to go.” He cocked the gun and smiled. “Your bitch broke my arm not so long ago. I’ve been thinking a lot about that day. Finding her alone today was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for an easier way to take her.” He looked at both men calmly, the pistol wavering back and forth between the two of them. “An eye for an eye,” he said finally, more to himself than to them. “Which one to choose?”

Without hesitation, he shot Alex in his left arm, growling with satisfaction as the big man was jerked back and went down to one knee. He turned the gun on Butler before he was able to take a step toward him.

“Your bitch also hit me in the head, so I guess you’re elected to get a bullet in the brain.” His voice was strong and eerily calm.

Butler watched him warily as he bent down to help Alex stand, his anger pushing at him. He was going to enjoy every minute of taking this man down and tearing him apart. All he needed was one moment of distraction and he would take his chance.

Alex swayed slightly within his arms and knew it was not because of the bullet wound, but because of the silver within the bullet. Butler knew he had to get Alex back to Doc so he could remove the bullet, or the silver would seep into his system and slowly kill him. But first he was going to take care of Boyd.

* * * *

Nikki worked furiously to pull at the ropes with her teeth. She was nearly freed when she heard the shot. Terror seized her, and she cried out, her heart breaking at the thought of losing the men she loved more than her own life.

Pulling at the rope frantically, she ignored the pain as her flesh tore, her blood saturating the dirty linens beneath her. She ripped the rope from her wrists, jumping from the bed and rushing toward the open door. She could hear Boyd threatening to shoot one of her men in the head. Without hesitation, she picked up the wrought iron fire poker from the stand of fireplace tools in front of the fireplace and charged through the door.

Raising the heavy poker, she brought it down with all her strength on Boyd’s shoulder. She heard the sickening crunch as Boyd’s shoulder shattered beneath the blow, and couldn’t prevent the scream of panic from escaping her as the gun Boyd was aiming at Butler discharged.

Butler was hit in his left side and went down to his knees. Alex reached for him and struggled to pull him to his feet beside him, holding him around his waist with his injured arm.

Boyd turned around, his eyes flashing in anger and his canines dropping. “You’re a dead woman,” he growled at her.

“Go ahead and try,” Nikki dared him. “I’ve dealt with meaner men than you.
I’m
going to kill
you
for what you’ve done to my mates.”

Boyd lunged for her, murderous intent in his face. He advanced on her quickly, reaching out to grab her, pulling her toward him with a jerk. Nikki struggled briefly, amazed when Boyd’s hands were pulled from her body before he was ripped off the porch and taken to the ground by both Alex and Butler. Nikki was thrown back as Boyd’s body slammed into her before her men pulled him away. She hit the floor of the cabin with a jolt but immediately pushed to her feet, determined to help Alex and Butler overpower Boyd.

She rushed toward the tangle of bodies as the three men fought. Blood covered all three of them, and she was afraid for her men. She knew their injuries were exacerbated by the silver in the bullets Boyd had used. This had to end. She had to get Alex and Butler home so Drew could help them.

She couldn’t prevent the sob that escaped her as she thought about the silver that was poisoning their systems. She knew she didn’t have much time to help them. She picked up the poker that she had dropped when Boyd had grabbed her, and charged Boyd, swinging it with all her might and hitting him across his back as he fought Alex.

Boyd kicked out, catching her in the hip and causing her to fall to the ground once again. She couldn’t prevent the moan of pain from escaping her. Language unbecoming a lady left her lips as she fought to regain her footing. She couldn’t give up.

Nikki!

Alex’s voice screamed in her head. She could sense his terror at the sight of her being hit.

Together, Alex.
Butler’s voice was weak as he spoke through their bond.
We need to end this and take our mate and our cubs home.

As one, the two men surrounded Boyd, their large bodies overpowering him. Nikki watched them, terrified as her men struggled to contain Boyd, who still fought furiously. Alex reached up and grabbed him from behind, just beneath his jaw, locking his arm around his throat as he pushed him against Butler. Butler grabbed for Boyd’s head, twisting it sharply as Alex held him in place. There was the sound of bones snapping. Boyd’s body went limp between them. Releasing their hold on him, both men stepped back, breathing heavily as Boyd fell to the ground, dead.

Nikki held her hip as she walked toward her men. They grabbed her weakly, sandwiching her between them and holding her tightly. She allowed them only a moment to hold her in their shared embrace then pushed at them.

“Get in the truck,” she demanded. “We need to get you home so we can get those bullets out.”

Alex helped Butler into the back seat of the truck, turning to reach for Nikki with the intention of lifting her into the front passenger seat. She shook her head and pushed him into the front seat.

“I’m driving,” she told him. “Don’t you dare argue with me.”

Alex smiled as he sat back in the passenger seat and settled against the door. “I love you, Mate,” he whispered as he closed his eyes.

“I love you, too, sweetness,” Butler told her, his voice weak.

“I love you both,” she told them, turning the keys that were thankfully still in the ignition. Shifting the gear into drive, she gunned the gas and competently and quickly drove away from the cabin.

Fear grabbed her heart, and she had to steel herself to stay strong. She could not fall apart. Her men were counting on her. Instead of losing control and giving in to the fear that filled her, she got angry.

She sped down the rutted path toward the main road, determined to get them home as quickly as she could. She could feel the pain radiating from both men. They were quiet and trying to keep their feelings from her, but she could sense their worry as the poisonous silver coursed through their bodies.

“Can’t you both shift and heal yourselves?” she asked them, trying to stay calm despite the panic that was nearly overwhelming her.

“The silver won’t allow it,” Alex explained with effort. “We have to remove the bullets and clean out the wounds. Doc will know what to do.”

Nikki looked at Alex quickly before returning her focus to the road ahead of her. Chancing a look in the rearview mirror, she saw that Butler had closed his eyes and was leaning back against the seat. Both men were covered in perspiration and decidedly pale.

“If either of you die on me, I will never speak to you again,” she threatened them, relieved when she heard both men chuckle at her words.

Alex’s truck roared up to the main entrance of the private lodge. Nikki screamed for help as she jumped from the truck, running around to the passenger side to pull open the door. Alex stumbled out, grabbing onto the truck door to hold himself up.