Redemption: Montana Wolves, Book Three (Montana Wolves series 3) (11 page)

Filled with a grim sense of determination, he yanked on a shirt and gym pants and then stalked down the stairs after her, catching up with her at the front door and scooping her up into a fireman's hold.

"Put me down,” she demanded, her voice breaking as she wriggled and squirmed. “Put me down, god damn it.”

He tried to block out her words and focus only on the job at hand. Getting her somewhere safe until she was calm enough to realize she had to stay.

He was managing okay until her yells turned to sobs.

"I just need some air, damn it. I won’t leave the grounds. P-please, Billy."

His heart gave a squeeze, and he wanted nothing more than to set her onto her feet, pull her into his arms and beg her to forgive him, but he knew she was in no shape to hear him. Until he was sure she was calm and rational enough not to do something foolhardy, he had to assume the worst.

They’d built in the east wing when Sara was pregnant with Ryan to ensure her protection should they come under attack, and he was halfway there when he heard it. The first of the trip wires had been activated sending a low but insistent droning sound through the house. Adrenalin coursed through his body as he bit out a string of curses.

"They're here," Jax's whispered voice called up the stairs from a few yards behind him.

Amber stopped struggling and squeezed his arm.

“Put me down.” She sounded far calmer than she had, and he held his breath as he set her on her feet.

“This is not a drill, Amber,” he said solemnly, fear for her safety making his stomach roil. She swiped at her tear-streaked face and nodded.

“Got it. What do you need me to do?”

His relief was so great, his head spun with it for a second. She was hurt, but she was nobody’s fool. They would deal with the enemy at hand, and work through their issues later.

He took her elbow and led her into the great room where his packmates had all converged with the exception of the two pack elders and the children, who had left town at Liam’s insistence until the fighting had ended.

"Who's at the cameras? Do we know how many?" Billy asked.

"Maggie. She says fifteen,” Liam said.

"Maggie?" Billy turned to pin him with a questioning look.

"Yeah. She came back this morning. She's in."

It was the last piece of the puzzle. He didn't even realize it was missing until it clicked into place with an almost audible snap. It was right now. The way it should be. They were all together now and the feeling filled him with renewed determination.

They would fight their enemies as a family. And they would win. He'd never felt more sure of anything in his life, except his feelings for Amber.

"You guys feeling strong?" Chandra asked, a stoic expression on her face.

"Always,” Jax said. “We're not going to have to tie you up, are we?" He tried to keep his tone light, but there was no question he meant it.

"I would never risk our baby like that. You have my word. Protecting our son is my top priority.” A fierce light filled her eyes as she covered her non-existent belly with both hands. "Now you guys go make sure I don't have to raise him alone, all right? Amber and I can take care of each other."

“If the interior of the house gets breached, you head straight for the panic room, understood?” Jax tugged her into his arms and kissed her firmly on the mouth before letting her go and turned to face the rest of the pack. "Let's get these motherfuckers."

Billy turned to Amber and found her staring up at him. “Please be careful,” she murmured, pressing a hand to his chest and then clutching a handful of his T-shirt. “And promise me you’ll come back. I didn’t even have a chance to yell at you properly yet.”

“I’ll be back before you know it,” he promised. He dropped a kiss to her forehead before Chandra came and led her away, murmuring soft instructions as they made their way toward the table where a host of weapons were laid. Chandra was a deadly weapon as it was, but Amber needed a little help in the event that all their security measures failed. In the past few days, she’d learned to become a proficient shot, and they had enough tranquilizer darts to fell a wooly mammoth.

He dragged his gaze from her and focused on Liam, who was giving direction.

"Billy, you and Amalie take the back of the house, Jax, you come with me to the front. The rest of the pack is going to patrol the surrounding woods.”

He wasn't sure which of the packs would have the balls to attack them on their own grounds, but the second Liam opened the door, the scent was unmistakable.

Kotke.

Which explained why Liam had sent him to the back of the house with Amalie. She'd had her own run in with this pack when she was still human and one of their members, Mikhail, had nearly killed her. No doubt, Liam hoped for a chance at revenge and thought that keeping Amalie in the back of the house with Billy at her side would offer her some measure of protection. Given what his alpha was risking to help Amber, Billy vowed to make certain he didn't let him down.

"Ready?" At their collective affirmatives, Liam whispered, "Go, go, go."

They moved as if they were one, leaping off the porch in tandem. He and Amalie stayed in human form to start, as was the plan. They needed to access the most strategic parts of their minds until the fighting started. Because once it did, their wolves would take over, and it would be pure instinct until the last of the blood was spilt.

The smell grew suddenly thicker, and they both stiffened, on high alert.

His keen eyes picked them out a second later. Two men, walking toward them. He recognized one of them instantly.

Mikhail.

He let out a cold bark of laughter, his Rasputin-like, maniacal eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Perfect. It's about time I got a second chance at you, bitch."

Amalie grinned, and the sight was chilling enough to make the hair on Billy's arms stand up. His alpha had chosen his mate almost as well as Billy had. She was bad ass.

"Been a while since I was the defenseless woman in the woods, Mikhail. You think you can still take me?"

Mikhail's laugh turned to a growl as he shifted in mid-step. He wasted no time, breaking into a loping stride to close the twenty-yard distance between he and Amalie.

Billy didn't have to think about the change. The second he saw his alpha's mate under attack, his wolf burst into being, his muscles lengthening and shifting with a snap.

Before he'd even taken a step toward her, Amalie's mind tapped at his and he opened to her.

He’s mine.

Liam wouldn’t approve, but he understood Amalie’s need to exorcise this particular demon, so he hung back for the time being, ready to step in the second she needed him.

The other man shifted then, turning into a small silver wolf. He was fast, and streaked by so quickly, it was a blur. He was headed straight into the fray, snarling as it descended upon Amalie from behind.

Billy sprang from his spot to land on the smaller wolf, pinning it to the ground and sinking his teeth into the animal’s thick shoulder muscle.

The silver wolf howled in pain, but Billy didn't let go. Not until he heard the crack of bone. The animal whimpered and scrambled to its feet, its speed no less impressive as it ran off into the night.

Billy considered following, but he couldn't leave Amalie here until Mikhail was defeated. In any case, that wolf was incapacitated for the rest of the evening at the very least. One down.

Mikhail and Amalie continued to fight as a giant, tawny wolf came barreling from the woods, lunging toward Billy, all teeth and blood red gums. He might have been a threat, except he was as slow as he was big, and with one slash of teeth to his throat, he was on the ground in a heap.

Mikhail let out a howl that was cut short as Amalie closed her teeth over his jugular. Elation soared through Billy in a rush.

They were winning. So far, none of the wolves had even gotten close to entering the house, and they were dropping like flies.

Amalie sent him a mental warning and he wheeled around just in time to see another rounding the corner.

Even at first glance, this one was pathetic. In fact, aside from Mikhail, none of the wolves were as strong as he’d have expected. Why would the Kotke send these weak-ass, mangy animals to take point on this attack? Surely their alpha would know that any one of the Pray wolves would be able to dispatch this riffraff with little trouble.

He was in the midst of doing just that with his most recent attacker when another came, equally as scrawny. And then it hit him, sending his heart dropping to his stomach like a stone.

This wasn't the attack at all, these poorly trained, subpar wolves coming one at a time. This was the diversion. They'd sent the B team to fight this battle because the A-team was busy trying to win the war.

And the war was Amber.

W
HEN THE GLASS
of the French doors shattered, she barely flinched. Something had told her it would come to this. Instinct, or a premonition of some sort. Whatever it was, she’d known she wouldn’t be just a pawn in this fight.

She would be a soldier.

She leapt up from the chair she’d been sitting in, pistol in hand, right as Chandra reached for her.

“Panic room, now,” Chandra shouted, moss green eyes lit with urgency.

The woman yanked her down the hallway toward the room as the glass continued to shatter in the great room followed by the thump of paws and scrabble of nails on hardwood. By the time they reached the massive steel door, Amber’s heart felt like it was going to explode.

Did the breach mean the rest of the Pray pack had fallen? Dear god, what if Billy was dead? What if he was injured and needed her help?

“Are they okay? Can you hear their thoughts?” she asked, heart in her throat.

“They shut me out the second they left. They didn’t want me to hear something that scared me, knowing I’d come running. Now come on,” Chandra shouted, releasing Amber’s arm to shove the door open.

The decision was made on a dime, but, just like her choice to stay with Billy, she felt the rightness of it all the way down to her bones.

She blocked out the noise behind her and leveled the pistol at Chandra.

“Get in.”

Chandra’s eyes narrowed and she took a step toward her. “What the hell are you doing?” Chandra hissed. “We have no time to—”

“Exactly. So every second you argue with me is another wasted. I need to go. That’s non-negotiable. If you come with me, and something happens to you…” she trailed off, overwhelmed with emotion. “You almost died because of me once. I won’t let that happen again. So my choices are limited. I can shoot you with this tranquilizer gun and shut you in there. Or you can agree to shut yourself in and protect your unborn baby, while I try to help the pack.”

The sounds were growing closer, and Amber said a silent prayer. She didn’t know if she had it in her to shoot Chandra, even if it was for her own good. One last try at convincing her.

“If you make me tranq you, I’m pretty sure Jax will kill me anyway.” She lowered the gun and pleaded with her eyes as well as her words. “Please, Chandra. Let me try to help the pack. I owe you both that much.”

She could almost hear the gears grinding in Chandra’s head when a wolf came skittering around the corner, snarling. This time, she didn’t hesitate. Pulse banging, she turned toward it, leveled the tranquilizer gun and fired.

The animal dropped to the floor with a yelp, twitched once, and went still.

She turned back to face Chandra, who had slipped a protective hand lower to cover her belly. She met Amber’s gaze and nodded slowly.

“Go, then. Find our mates. Help protect the pack. You’re one of us now, Amber, in every way that counts.” Chandra stepped back and yanked the door closed. The locks tumbled and she pressed a hand to the tiny glass window.

Relief coursed through Amber and she sucked in a steadying breath. Chandra was safe. If Amber met her maker tonight, she would go knowing she’d done at least one thing right.

She hefted the gun higher and headed back down the hallway, skirting past the felled wolf as she went. If Billy was alive, he needed her now. And if he wasn’t?

She shoved the thought aside and made her way to the closest exit, a side door that led to the grounds through the garage. The second she stepped outside, she could hear the sounds of fighting. Snarls and yips, howls and growls. They were coming from every direction and she closed her eyes to focus.

Which way should she go?

A protracted yowl sounded in the far side yard and she moved in that direction. It was only when she heard the crunch of leaves behind her about ten yards in that she realized her mistake. There was a wolf behind her.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and the world spun as a dump of adrenaline coursed through her in a rush. Fight? Or flight?

She couldn’t die out here. In the cold. Away from Billy. Now when she didn’t know if he was alive or dead, and she’d never even gotten the chance to tell him how much she loved him.

The crunch of leaves and brush as the animal padded closer seemed to reverberate through the icy night air.

Make a decision
.

If she ran, there was a one hundred percent chance the wolf would catch her. Fight was the least worst option. And if she was going down, she was going down fighting.

She turned to face the massive creature loping toward her. It moved slowly at first, but then more quickly. Amber’s skin broke out in a cold sweat as the animal sped up to a flat-out sprint. She raised the gun and closed one eye. She had six darts in a holster at her side, but only one fit in the chamber at a time. She had to wait until she had the perfect shot, and that meant close.

Its fangs seemed larger than life as it came leaping at her, jaws snapping. She couldn’t wait any longer and squeezed the trigger. The dart went whizzing by the wolf’s head and she screamed as the animal landed on top of her, sending her sprawling back into a pile of branches. A jarring pain shot up her side as the creature’s rank, hot breath washed over her face.