Redemption: Montana Wolves, Book Three (Montana Wolves series 3) (12 page)

All she could think in that moment was that Billy was willing to fight for her. Hell, maybe even die for her and she’d spent the last few minutes they’d ever have alone together being angry at him.

I’m so sorry.

Instinctively, she covered her face, waiting for the tear of teeth, but it never came. A second later, the weight of the creature was gone and it lay by her side, bloodied and still.

What the hell had happened?

"Run back toward the house,” a low, male voice called from what seemed like overhead. “There are two there waiting, but there are four more coming down the pathway behind you. I will stall them if I can.”

She looked around wildly, trying to discern where the voice was coming from in the inky darkness of the thick tree line, but came up empty. Was that the best course of action, or just a trap?

“Run,” he urged in a low, gritty voice.

She stood, still frozen with indecision as another wolf came trotting toward her. She was scrambling for a sharp branch when it shifted right before her eyes.

Maggie.

"You humans are so fucking stupid sometimes," she growled. "You heard the man. Run, god damn it!" A naked Maggie shot a glance over her shoulder and then took Amber by the arm, half-dragging her down the path, back toward the house.

She could see the house, lights glowing in the distance, only twenty or thirty yards away now, just through the next row of trees. If they could get there, maybe they’d be all right.

And just maybe she'd have a chance to tell Billy how much she loved him.

By the time they got back to the front entrance of the compound, her lungs burned and there was a searing pain in her side. She winced, and pressed a tentative hand to it.

"Were you bit?" Maggie demanded, slowing her stride for the first time to glare down at her.

"I don't think so, no. The branches cut me."

Her savior blew out a long sigh. "Thank god for small favors. Come on then, we're almost there. Once we're inside, stay the fuck put," she grumbled.

Amber had to resist the urge to hug the woman. Because whatever she had to say about it now, the fact remained, when push had come to shove, she had treated Amber like one of theirs. Whether that was for her sake or Billy's, she couldn't say, but whatever the reason, it gave her hope. Hope that, if they all got through this alive tonight, and she was allowed to stay, maybe they could be friends.

“Have you had any contact with the rest of the pack?”

Maggie shook her head. “I’ve reached out and gotten bits and pieces, but in a fight, it’s chaos. Better to let them focus on what they’re doing than distract them.”

Amber shoved back her disappointment and resisted the urge to press. Maggie knew better and she wasn’t about to make herself an even bigger burden.

They'd made it down the winding pathway and were heading to the porch when Maggie stopped dead in her tracks. She lowered Amber slowly to the ground. "Get behind me," she whispered.

The words had barely registered when she heard it. Movement behind the shrubs in front of the house. Two wolves, one brown, one white, converged on the porch. Both had their gazes locked on Maggie, and the fur on the ruffs of their necks stood up.

Amber swallowed hard, willing herself not to throw up. This looked bad. Two, large, male wolves against one smaller wolf and a wounded, pathetic bag of meat and bones that half their kind considered part of the food chain.

Still, Maggie had proven time and time again tonight, that she was a real, bad ass bitch. Surely that meant they had a chance.

"If I get them both occupied, do not waste a second. You run. Get around to the side of the house, and into the panic room." The wolves were moving toward them now, in slow, deliberate steps, their bared teeth and trembling lips like something out of a nightmare. "Do not stop for any reason," her words were clipped and coming faster, the urgency more and more apparent. “And whatever you do, don't look back."

Amber nodded, but inside, she was screaming. There was no way in hell she was leaving Billy's packmate and friend at the mercy of two murderous wolves. Not even if it meant that she would die right along with her. She couldn’t live with that.

"Got it." She lied without remorse, already searching the ground for some sort of makeshift weapon.

Luckily, Maggie had turned her attention to their attackers. She laid a hand on one hip, seemingly unconcerned about her nakedness… almost flaunting it, even. "I sure hope you assholes have a couple friends hiding in those azaleas, because if not, this is going to be a real snooze-fest," Maggie drawled. Gone was urgency in her voice. It was replaced by sheer confidence. Balls-out bravado, and, for a second, Amber forgot her fear under the sheer weight of her awe for the woman’s inner fortitude. Whatever faults she had, she was a warrior and damn if Amber didn’t want to be her when she grew up.

The two approaching wolves exchanged glances, and for a second, it seemed like they were confused, but it was fleeting. Almost as if by tacit agreement, the moved faster, loping toward Maggie and gaining speed with each step.

The animals’ incandescent eyes glittered in the light of the moon and Amber shivered with fear and revulsion. They wanted to kill her and Maggie both. To rip them apart like they were rag dolls. She'd never felt like prey before today and she found herself wishing she could turn like Maggie, if only so she never had to experience the sensation again.

Maggie was apparently not a fan either, because she was done playing the victim. Rather than letting them come to her, she began to run toward them, her pearly white skin gleaming in the moonlight, long, lean legs eating up the distance before, an instant later, she shifted into wolf form.

The fight was fast and furious and, by the light of the moon, it was hard to see who was winning. At one point, it seemed as if Maggie might do it. She had one wolf by the haunch while the other lay at her side, bloodied and still. Right when Amber’s hopes were highest, the motionless wolf let out a snarl and leapt up, lunging for Maggie’s shoulder. She released the haunch of the larger wolf to focus on this latest attack, and then it was done.

The wolves worked as a team until she was well and truly pinned to the ground, blood running heavily from a wound on her hip.

She was out of time and out of options. Praying for strength, Amber made a dive for a rock she'd spotted on the ground a few yards away. She ran forward, and Maggie met her gaze. She could almost hear the woman’s voice in her head, demanding she go. But she blocked it out and focused all her energy on staying silent as she moved toward the thrall.

She raised her arms high, and swung with all her might, smashing the rock into the skull of the smaller of the two wolves. It yelped and instantly released the hold it had on Maggie’s leg, and she shot to her feet, back in the game one on one. Amber eyed her quickly recovering target and swung again, grimacing as the rock hit its mark again, this time right over the animal's eye.

It rolled to its side, and rapidly began to change. Dark fur became tanned skin and a second later, a man lay at her feet, bleeding and swearing profusely as he pressed a hand to his bloodied eye. Before she could get off another shot, he rolled onto his feet and took a menacing step toward her.

"You stupid cu-"

It happened so fast, it was a blur. One second he was standing. The next, he was flying through the air, as a huge, tawny wolf—
her
wolf—mauled at him.

Billy had come to save her. And right on time, too, she realized as her vision blurred. Her muscles shook with fatigue and shock, and even if she had managed to hit her target one more time, she wasn't sure she could stay upright beyond that.

A soft chuffing sound caught her attention and she turned to see Maggie’s wolf struggling to all fours before falling back to the ground in a heap on top of her felled opponent.

"Don't get up," Amber called, squeezing her eyes closed to stave off the dizziness. She needed to be strong now. Strong the way Maggie had been. "I'll help you." She stepped closer, yanking off her sweatshirt as she went. When she reached the sable wolf's side, she scanned her for injuries. The one on her hip seemed to be the worst of it, and she leaned in to examine it.

The jagged laceration was deep enough that she could see bone, and she winced. "I'm going to apply pressure to stem the bleeding all right?"

Maggie growled low in her throat, but she didn't pull away. A moment later, Billy’s wolf was there, sniffing at his fallen comrade before stepping back and shifting to human form.

“Are you okay, Mags?”

She inclined her square, sable head and he patted her gently.

“Good.”

A long, wavering howl sounded, and Billy turned to lock eyes with Amber.

“Jesus, thank god,” Billy muttered, bending to carefully scoop his injured comrade up in his arms. “That’s the Kotke’s surrender. They’re calling back what’s left of their pack and admitting defeat. We need to get inside and hope that they are the only ones who suffered losses.”

They crossed the yard together and headed into the house, tension still high. As relieved as she was that Billy was okay, she knew the condition was fleeting if something had happened to one of the pack. They stepped through the door to find Chandra standing there wrapped in Jax’s arms, sobbing.

Amber’s heart stuttered as she took in the scene. “Is everything okay? Is the baby…”

“The baby is fine,” Jax said with a nod. “Thank you for what you did, Amber. It means everything to me.”

Her cheeks warmed and she shrugged. “I didn’t really do anything.”

“You did.” Chandra turned her red face toward Amber, her moss green eyes filled with gratitude. “And thank you for it. I’m so glad you’re all right.” She turned to Billy who set Maggie on the couch. “How is Maggie?”

“A bone. It hurts right now but she’ll be fine,” he replied.

“Glad to hear it,” Chandra said, the rest of the tension seeming to leave her in a rush. “That’s everyone. Amalie, Liam and the rest are in the kitchen. Everyone is accounted for and okay.” She paused and called his name softly. “And Billy?”

He turned and met her gaze.

“Your woman has already proven her worth.”

Relief and joy filled Amber’s heart and she swallowed the lump in her throat. They thought she was worthy.

Worthy of them.

Worthy of Billy.

Worthy of all their sacrifices.

If they thought that, just maybe it was true.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

O 
nce they cleaned up and dressed, they all met back in the great room. They drank coffee and brandy, and shared war stories while the uninjured members of the pack swept up glass and boarded the windows. It had been a harrowing night, and the Pray pack was shaken but intact.

And his mate was all right. It was the best of days.

"The man by the path, he told us to run. I think he even stalled the rest of the wolves...who was that?" Amber asked softly, tugging the blanket more tightly around her shoulders. "I need to thank him."

Maggie frowned, now back in human form, her hip already on the mend. She ran a hand through her dark hair before shooting a glance at Liam. "She said there was a man, but he’d shifted by the time I got there. On the overlook. He told us how many wolves would be waiting by the house and ran interference for the ones coming behind us.” She shook her head slowly, clearly baffled. “The weird part is, he smelled like he was Big Sky Canyon."

Liam's golden eyes flashed and his expression went thoughtful. “Impossible. They hate us as much as the Kotke. Why help the enemy? What color was he?"

"Black. Big. I'd say he was your size, Liam."

Billy cocked his head as he listened to Maggie talk. When she finished giving a more detailed description, he shook his head slowly. It didn’t make any sense, but there was only one wolf he could think of who matched that description in the area. "I could be wrong. Hell, maybe they added a new rogue to the pack over there, but I gotta tell you, it sounds an awful lot like Greyson West." He shrugged. "Doesn't make any sense, but there it is."

The room went eerily quiet until Amber finally broke the silence. "Who's Greyson West?"

Chandra’s face went a little pale and she snuggled closer to Jax. “Before I came to Pray, I was part of the Big Sky Canyon pack. I left because their alpha is more like a dictator and he thinks much like the Kotke do. Grey is his son, and next in line for the job.”

“Exactly,” Liam said, his black brows furrowed in a thunderous frown. “So why the hell would he be doing anything to help us right now? They hate us. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Grey wasn’t like his father when I knew him. He’d been a voice of reason in the past, but then he left for a year or so to work on setting up some businesses internationally. Things got really bad when he was gone. I didn’t realize he was back,” Chandra said. “Who knows? Maybe he really was trying to help.”

“Or maybe he’s fallen into line with his father’s way of thinking and there is a bigger plot at play here,” Maggie added from her spot on the couch.

Billy stretched his torso as another broken rib shifted beneath his skin, knitting itself slowly and painfully back together. No question that their healing power was a gift, but sometimes it hurt like a motherfucker.

"A definite mystery,” he agreed, pushing himself heavily to his feet. “But one for another day. For right now, I'm going to thank him tonight in my prayers, lay with Amber, and marvel that she's still alive for me to hold."

He reached a hand out for Amber's, and she laced her fingers with his. He lifted his gaze to meet that of his alpha and dipped his head low.

"I will forever be in your debt, Liam. All of you," he added, scanning the room to make eye contact with each of his packmates. Only Maggie turned her head, but it didn't faze him. She would come around. She might not realize it, but she already had. She saved Amber's life. They had rallied around him and his human and protected them both.

That was the meaning of family.

"I know I don't need to say it, but if ever any of you need anything. Anything. Come to me. You have my undying and everlasting loyalty."