He saw the way Lola’s face fell, but in that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to really care. He only had eyes for Charlie and he met her halfway, wrapped both arms around her, and gave her the kiss of a lifetime. When they finally broke apart, Charlie’s face was flushed. Zane grinned. “Hey, love.”
“Oh, go get a room,” Parker barked.
“Gladly.” Zane smirked when his friend pretended to strangle himself, then looked at his mate. “You wanna get out of here? Let Conner handle the cleanup?”
She twined her fingers in his and nodded, her eyes shining with love, with adoration. Something he’d only dreamed of seeing and his heart swelled. Hand in hand, they gave Conner a head’s up, then headed for the trailer. Charlie bumped shoulders with him as they walked.
In only a matter of days, they’d be back in California and, in all reality, he was looking forward to it. He wanted to go home, back to Elysium, back to his house, back to everything he always missed out on while on tour. He loved his band, he loved his guys, and although he always felt at home when he was with them, he missed his family, however dysfunctional they might be.
Zane pulled back, tugging Charlie to his chest. He kissed her once, twice, then a wicked grin slipped across his face. “Race me to the bedroom?” His words were a purr and he could’ve sworn he felt her pulse kick beneath his fingers. She tossed her head back in a laugh, spun, and darted towards the trailer. Zane leapt after her with all the grace of his wolven half, when a crack split the air.
The world seemed to dial back in slow motion. A bullet skimmed past, barely missing Charlie, and embedded itself in the trailer door. Charlie shouted, one hand flying to the gun at her hip, and Zane spun around with a snarl.
Only to come face to face with a gun—and on the other end of that gun, Lola. Her red lips were twisted in a scowl as she pointed the gun first at Zane, then at Charlie. She glanced over her shoulder nervously, obviously expecting company, and it gave Charlie the chance to draw out her own weapon.
The other wolf was faster, fueled by fury, and aimed the barrel at Charlie’s chest. “Drop it.”
“You don’t want to do this.” Charlie’s voice was dead calm. “Put the gun down, Lola.”
“I said, drop it.” When Charlie didn’t, Lola swung around to Zane. Her finger tightened on the trigger and with a pop, a bullet dragged itself through Zane’s upper arm. Blood soaked his shirt with a wave of heat and fiery pain and Charlie let out a soft cry.
“Charlie—” Pain made his vision swim. Horror spread across her face as she reached for him. Zane gritted his teeth and pressed his hand against the wound to staunch the flow of blood. He nodded, his lips pressed together in a tight line. It would heal—if they lived long enough.
Lola shrieked. “Drop it and get in the trailer, both of you!” Zane took a step forward, but the sound of the hammer drawing back stopped him dead. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Now.”
Charlie’s eyes were alight with fear as she laid her gun on the ground in front of her, then kicked it out of reach. She backed towards the trailer, not willing to turn her back on the crazed wolf, and Zane moved to put himself between the danger and Charlie. He handed her the key and she unlocked the door, letting the trio into the empty trailer. Lola shut the door behind them and flipped the dead bolt. It turned over with a fateful sound.
“Lola, let’s talk about this,” Charlie cautioned, raising both hands.
“Shut up, you little whore,” Lola snapped back, waving the pistol in the air as if she had truly gone mad. Charlie stared at her and the other woman tossed her head back in a laugh. “You’re so pathetic, you know that? All these years have gone by and you never gave Zane a second glance. You kept yourself so prim and proper in your stuffy little suits—and all these years, Zane’s always drooled over the one girl he couldn’t have.”
She spun on Zane and he stood tall. “Don’t bother to deny it. Anyone can see that you’re love drunk. What I want to know is
why
? Why her? She’s not even a true fan. The only reason she has that color in her hair is because I called her out on it. I’ve been there for you, Zane. I was always there…but you never saw me. Even when we were together, you never saw me.” Her voice shrilled before lowering into a growl.
His mind spun dizzying circles. “Lola.” He tried to move forward again, but she aimed the gun at his chest, dead center. He froze, his entire body going rigid. He wasn’t stupid. A bullet through the heart would kill anyone, even a werewolf.
“Shut up. I used to idolize you, you know. You had everything I ever wished for: Money, power, one hell of a voice, and brains to boot. You were perfect. Perfect mate material. I could see us together, touring the world side by side. I’d join the band, bring a touch of feminine vocals to High Velocity. Be the real deal. And then once our glory days were over, we could settle down and I would be your queen. I had dreams, plans for us, but you never looked at me long enough to give me a chance. Your eyes were on Charlie-fucking-Banks, one-piece-uniform extraordinaire. What is
sexy
about that?”
She barked out a laugh, turned the gun on Charlie. Dread welled in Zane’s gut, his muscles aching to move, to remove the threat on his mate’s life. But how? Lola strode closer, smiling in a way that was no longer innocent. She touched Charlie’s face with the muzzle of the gun, her eyes gleaming.
“I don’t see the attraction, but it’s obviously there. Zane loves you. The whole damn band loves you. You’re in my spot. The band is mine—Zane is mine. And you’re in the way. I want to mess up your face, see if Zane still loves you if you’re hideous, but it would just be easier to kill you. I hoped you’d explode with the amps that I blew up. Pity.”
“If you kill me, Zane will never love you.”
“I know. But even if I let you live, Zane will never love me.” Lola’s lips twisted, then thinned. She glanced up at Zane, almost longingly. “My dreams might be shattered, but you know, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.” She smiled. “So I’ll kill you both. You first, Charlie, just to see Zane’s perfect little heart crack in two. And then I’ll kiss him goodbye one last time and kill him too.”
“You’re insane…”
“I take that as a compliment, sweetheart. Really I do. Any last words?”
“Wait. I do have something to say,” Charlie said and she flashed a sliver of a smile. Lola faltered, and that one moment of hesitation was all that Charlie needed—she lurched forward, wrapping her arms around the woman’s waist, and tackled her to the ground. Charlie raked her nails across Lola’s face hard enough to leave red streaks and Lola howled.
The gun went off, plaster spraying down from the ceiling, and Charlie rolled away into a crouch. Lola sprang to her feet and Zane lunged, snagging her around the middle, coming down on top of her. She bit him with ever-sharpening teeth as they fought for control, as he tried to aim the gun away from Charlie, away from his face. He sank teeth into her wrist and tasted the bitter copper of her blood in his mouth. She shrieked and dropped the gun. He kicked it away from them and it skittered across the floor.
Good girl,
he thought as Charlie grabbed the gun with one hand and dialed in a number on her cell phone with the other. He just hoped he’d be able to subdue Lola long enough for help to arrive. He struggled to pin her down, trying to get a better grip on the woman fueled by adrenaline and anger. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
“Damn it!” Her elbow broke free and slammed back against his chest, hard. He gasped as the pressure cracked a rib with a burst of black across his vision, and his hold on her loosened. She slipped out of his grip in wolf form. Her claws scrabbled across the linoleum floor, vying for purchase as she lunged at Charlie. Charlie swung the gun, bashing Lola across the muzzle once before the weapon dropped to the ground and it was all Charlie could do to protect her throat and face from frenzied, snapping jaws.
Zane whipped around and willed the change; his wolf was more than happy to oblige, ready to rip a chunk out of Lola’s hide. His fangs buried into her flank, hauling her off of Charlie. Lola spun on him, teeth at the ready, and the trailer was filled with horrible snarls as the two wolves fought a bloody battle.
From the corner of his eye, Zane saw Charlie back herself against the wall, shouting at the cell phone that lay open on the floor several feet away, even though the words were muddied in Zane’s mind. She gripped the gun in both hands. Her eyes were wide, frightened as the battle drew on, and her aim kept wavering, trying to find a clean shot.
Zane could feel the weakness sliding through him, but when he saw the gashes lining both of Charlie’s arms from Lola’s teeth, his vision bled red. He smacked Lola into the ground hard enough that he heard something crack. She squealed, flailed, and ripped into his shoulder, peeling away flesh and muscle. Zane twisted, but not before her jaws could latch onto his throat.
You were supposed to be mine!
Lola’s voice pounded into his skull, anger and loneliness attached to the thoughts he was too weak to shield from.
You were perfect, but now you have to die!
Her jaws tightened and he scrabbled beneath her, already undermined by blood loss. His back legs kicked at her gut, twisting and bucking, trying to remove her as panic clawed its way up his throat.
No! He couldn’t die. This couldn’t be how it ended. If he died, Lola would kill Charlie. He had to protect Charlie. Zane roared, throwing all of his heart into this last valiant struggle. As the air seeped from his lungs, even as he fought to keep his head above the surface, keep his wits about him, the door burst open in a shower of splinters and Charlie screamed.
A gunshot rattled the windows of the little trailer, then Lola’s jaw went slack and the wolf became dead weight. Zane dragged himself from beneath her body, her blood staining his fur, pooling on the hardwood floor. He tried to get to his feet, sucking down air and doing his best to fend off the darkness that edged across his vision. His head swam.
Lola lay crumpled on the floor, human once more. Her chest rose and fell, still alive, even when she’d deserved to die. She really would’ve killed him, killed them both. And for what? Petty jealousy and a mislead heart? Damn…
When he saw Charlie headed towards him with tears streaking her pale face, he no longer had eyes for the ruined woman on the floor. He used the rest of his energy to shift back to human. Pain gripped him and he crumpled to his knees on the ground, but still he struggled towards her. Charlie’s arms encircled him, holding him tightly, and she pressed her face into his shoulder, careful of his many wounds.
“Don’t let go,” she whispered, over and over again. So Zane held her, and held on as if he’d never let go of her again, his face buried in her hair. He just focused on breathing, breathing her in. They were safe now. It would be okay…
“I love you.”
Chapter Nineteen
She was going to kill him.
Charlie stood at the kitchen counter, her eyes pressed shut as she mentally counted to ten. It had been just over a week since Lola’s attack and Zane was driving her crazy. Despite being back at Elysium and surrounded by both pack and family, he was wearing on her last nerve.
But whenever she felt upset, she just made herself remember that day, remember him bleeding even as he crawled towards her. The raw pain in his eyes. The fear. She had run to his side and held him in her arms, rocking him, all the while trying to stay rational when all she wanted to do was scream. When Conner and a couple EMTs had come forward, she had actually snarled at the men, her mind wild as she tried to protect her mate.
Conner’s soothing voice was what slowly broke through the fog of her mind. She’d sagged into him and she could only watch helplessly as an endless sea of people worked fast to stabilize Zane.
Even though they were safe and Lola was locked away, she was still seeing the blood and the carnage in her dreams.
“Charlie.”
The whine in Zane’s voice brought her back to the here and now and she put the finishing touches on a massive turkey sandwich before heading into the bedroom. Her eyes softened and the threatening thoughts melted away like a snow cone on a hot summer day. He was just so damned adorable all laid up in bed and grumbling.
“Yes, your highness?”
“Har har, I’m not amused.”
“Oh honey, I’m shaking.”
“Don’t make me have to teach you who’s alpha in this relationship.”
“I could put you back on that bed with my pinkie.”
“Wanna try it?” The suggestive tone made her laugh and she curled up on the edge of the bed. She placed the plate in his lap and carefully laid her head down on the shoulder that wasn’t bandaged.
“You know, you’ll heal more quickly if you stopped being so fussy about everything.”
“I’m
fine
. I just want to be able to walk farther than the damn bathroom.”
“You’re lucky you’re already able to walk. If we’d waited much longer…” His finger across her lips stopped the words and the worry vying to get out and Charlie gazed up at him, her emotions showing clearly.
“I love you, Alexander, even when you whine like a child.”
“I love it when you talk naughty.”
“You’re losing your mind if you think that
that’s
naughty.”
“I am losing my mind. I want to go for a walk. I want to jam with the guys. I want to go punch Lola in her insane face, but most important of all, I’m dying to make love to my mate.” His eyes were pure, burnished gold.