Christian couldn’t believe how unlucky Scarlett was. He saw his dad as he grinned triumphantly at overhearing Melody’s words. He snapped his fingers and spun on his heels. The wolves beating on Christian’s mother walked away, leaving her a bloody, sobbing mess on the floor. As Christian raced to her side, he was aware of a crackling sound and looked up to see wolves disabling the elevator buttons and ripping out the wall phones. Two wolves walked down the steps slowly, their faces smug, and he knew they’d somehow disabled the doors leading to the other floors. As the last wolf left the building, he saw the front doors being looped with chains.
“Christian?” Scarlett’s voice was fraught with worry.
“I’m sorry, Scar. You have to get out–”
The phone suddenly went dead and he looked up in confusion, his gaze landing on his father as he stood on the other side of the doors. In his hand he held a small black box. His father looked at him with a smirk and gave the device to one of the four males who had stayed behind as the pack left. He watched them leave – their own pack and the visiting alpha’s group – and knew they were going to Ashland.
His brothers gathered around their mom quickly and Bobby, an EMT, barked instructions to his other brothers. Joseph looked down at Christian as he knelt on the floor next to the puddles of blood. “That device cut off our cell service. They’ve trapped us in here. The door to our hallway is disabled, we can’t use the elevators, we can’t even fucking call anyone.”
Christian gritted his teeth, pushing away the wave of guilt over his actions. “What about the back door?”
Manix’s head darted up from where he was speaking in low tones to their mom, and he walked swiftly to the back of the building.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Joseph said.
Christian couldn’t get off the floor. He felt like he’d been glued to the tile with his mother’s tears and blood. “I sure as fuck didn’t do anything right, either.”
Joseph squatted down. Eleven years separated the two of them, but he could see a lifetime of grief in his oldest brother’s eyes just then. “You’re the only one who heard Scarlett when she left. You helped her get away. You were smart – you didn’t know where she was going and had no way to get in touch with her. To be honest, I never thought about Melody. I would have destroyed the cell phone if it had even crossed my mind, and that would have bought some time.”
“How did Dad know that I knew anything at all?”
Joe shrugged his big shoulders and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck if I know, but don’t you dare call him ‘Dad’ anymore, you hear me? He hurt our mother because he wants more territory. I wish I’d stood up to him before. I should have never let him give Scarlett away. She’s our baby sister.”
Joe stood as Manix came into the room shaking his head. “Chained and guarded. There are only eight guards that I can see. We can break the doors and take them.”
Jonathon shook his head as he stared out the bulletproof glass of the large picture windows that graced the front of the lounge area. “More pack members just arrived in the parking lot. More than twelve, for sure. I’m not saying we wouldn’t win, but I’m not leaving Mom vulnerable. I hate to say it, but we’re fucked and so is Scarlett.” Jonathon looked over his shoulder at Christian. “I sure hope her mates can protect her or there are going to be a lot of mountain lions heading to the great beyond when the alphas and their packs get down to Ashland.”
Christian said a silent prayer for his sister and the lions, and took Joe’s offered hand. He joined his brothers as Bobby used materials from his medical bag that Jordan had brought from the storage room. As Bobby set her fingers and gave her something for the pain, Christian bent over and kissed her forehead.
“I’m so sorry, Mom.”
“You did your best, Chris, that’s all that matters. Scarlett will be okay. She
has
to be.”
He sure hoped that was true.
Wes had never seen anyone tremble in fear the way that Scarlett did. They had walked into the boarding house at four a.m. to find Melody, her mates, and half the mountain lions waiting to greet them. A breakfast feast had been prepared and although they were all tired from the long journey, no one wanted to turn down the offer of a hot meal. They hadn’t been home an hour when Melody’s phone rang and Wes could hear Christian’s panicked voice asking for Scarlett. The phone went dead, but not before Christian told Scarlett to get out. She clutched the phone so tightly her knuckles went white as she shrieked Christian’s name long after the line had gone dead.
Ray loosened her grip on the phone so she didn’t break it, and gave it to Melody, who tried to call back every few minutes but never connected to Christian again. Something was blocking the call.
Scarlett sobbed into Ray’s shoulder.
“What the hell was that?” James asked from where he was sitting with his mate, Rue, across the table. “I could hear a woman screaming.”
Scarlett hiccupped, her hands tightening in Ray’s shirt. “My mom. I think someone was hurting her because of me.” She began to cry again in earnest and Ray stood, pushing Scarlett’s chair away and helping her stand.
“Come on, sweetness,” he said, leading her out of the kitchen and into the family room.
Wes stood, his cat yowling to go comfort their mate.
“You know it’s a trap, right? Scarlett’s father wouldn’t give her up easily. You guys helped her leave and now he’s done something awful to her mom because of it,” Melody said, brushing angrily at tears.
“He was going to give her away! What would you have us do?”
Micah slipped his arms around his mate and held her. “She’s not mad at you, Wes, she’s just upset. Scarlett’s mom is like a mom to her.”
Wes scrubbed his hand over his face. “I know, I’m sorry.”
John, who shared Rue with James, said, “There goes your plan to have him come down here for a nice, genial meet and greet. I’d bet money he’s on the way here now, and Christian was trying to tell Scarlett to get out of the house. We have less than three hours to figure out what to do.”
Wes looked at the pride and every member looked ready to go into battle. He was humbled by their show of support, but not surprised. The pride stood together. Scarlett was his and Ray’s mate and that made her a pride member, whether she could shift or not.
John stood, pulling his cell from his pocket. “I’m going to get Eryx and Ethan over here. I’ll have Rhett come get the kids and take them to the farm.”
“She could run,” Melody said.
James shook his head. “She’s pregnant. Running is stressful without adding that into it, and besides, it sounds as if her dad was torturing his mate in order to force Christian to make that call. He’s not going to give up. You’re all safer here.”
“Scarlett is sure that when he finds out she’s pregnant, he’ll give up. What if we go to the edge of town and wait for him?” Wes said.
Aaron, also a police officer and James and John’s brother, said, “It sounds dangerous. What if he attacks her? What if it’s not a deterrent?”
Wes held back a frustrated snarl.
Jericho, a bear shifter, said, “If he knows where Melody is and therefore knows where Scarlett is, then he’ll come here. We could be ready for him. Scarlett could be on the front porch, and the pride could surround her with guards around the perimeter. Add in the cop cars, and maybe even get Lachlyn’s uncle and some of his den down here and we’d have a good show of force. Scarlett can show her marks and reveal her pregnancy. He won’t have any other choice but to deal with it.”
“We could also escort them out of town,” Aaron said.
“It still sounds a little risky, but it’s not a bad plan,” James said.
“We’ll get the kids out of here for safety’s sake and then make sure the house is secure. He won’t get close to her,” Jericho said.
“I’ll call Uncle Don,” Lachlyn said, then stood quickly and left the room with her mates following close behind.
Domino, Rue’s son, said, “Do I have to go with the kids?”
Rue nodded. “You need to keep an eye on them. Don’t forget Callie’s three boys, too. They’ll all need to be watched over. You and Henry can help Rhett.”
“Hey, I don’t need watching over. I’m twelve,” Owen said.
Aaron, his father, ruffled his hair. “It’s for the best, kiddo. You can help Mom, okay?”
“Oh, sure, the human has to go, too,” Sam said, sniffing in mock annoyance. When they were first mated, Sam had nearly been kidnapped by some psychos the mountain lion females had hired.
“We’ve also got the panthers to help,” James reminded everyone. “This is an all-hands-on-deck situation. Scarlett is a pride member and we’re not going to allow her to be taken away from her mates.”
Wes said, “I’ll go talk to Ray and Scarlett.”
“I’m coming, too,” Melody said.
As the pride kicked into gear, Wes was grateful for their support. He found Scarlett pacing while Ray spoke to her in calm tones. Wes stopped her with a hug. She was tense at first, her back ramrod straight, but she relaxed slowly.
“The pride has a plan,” Wes said, and explained to Ray and Scarlett what had been decided.
Scarlett looked up at Wes. “What if he wants to fight? I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. He’s already hurt my mom. I don’t know what he did to my brothers, but there’s no way that they’d willingly let her be hurt. I’m scared for them.”
Melody said, “If your dad is coming here, then your brothers are most likely with your mom, taking care of her now. You need to worry about yourself and your baby. When he hears that you’re preggo with a lion, he’s going to shit a brick and then leave in disgust. I’ll bet he even disowns you on the spot.”
Scarlett gave Melody a wobbly smile. “That would be awesome.”
Wes let Scarlett go to Melody for a hug. The two best friends needed each other right then. Then he turned to Micah and Tristan. “Thanks for standing up with us.”
Tristan shook his head. “We were part of the reason why you never had a chance to see her before. The least we can do is help you keep her safe.”
He and Ray left the girls in the family room and went to find James and John and talk about the boarding house’s security. Scarlett’s dad – whose name she’d told him was Quentin – was most likely racing to Ashland and would arrive in far less than three hours. Wes wanted to be prepared for anything.
* * * * *
Ray forced himself to concentrate on helping the pride secure the boarding house. He wanted to be with Scarlett and never let her out of his sight, but the part of him that was still thinking clearly knew that making her safe was more important. He and John were checking that the windows in the downstairs rooms were all closed and locked. Wolves could be sneaky bastards and Eryx had been emphatic that everything be locked to ensure that no unwanted guests could sneak inside. Dawn was fast approaching, which helped in some ways – there would be no hiding in shadows and catching the pride unaware.
He found Quentin’s audacity ridiculous. He’d hurt Scarlett’s mom, and judging by Scarlett’s worry over her brothers, he’d clearly done something to them as well. He’d only met Christian, but according to Melody, they were all alphas because of the Breeding Queen line from Scarlett’s mother. He wondered about the baby Scarlett was carrying. Lions didn’t have alphas. If the baby was a boy, would he be inclined to find a group to lead because the lions didn’t need an alpha? Since Ray sure as hell knew they wouldn’t be giving away any of their girls to alpha males for any reason, he could only hope that they’d find truemates of their own, the way that Scarlett had.
John drew him back to the present as he clapped his hands together, brushing the dust from the windowsill off his fingers. “That’s the last window on the first floor. Don is bringing bears with him and we’re going to use them for security around the perimeter of the house. If they happen to get through the bears, which is unlikely, they won’t find an easy way into the house.”
Ray asked, “Have you known many wolves?”
John shook his head. “There was a rogue wolf in King by the name of Xavier. He was a doctor, and we considered him a friend of the pride. Then the females used him to try to hurt Callie.”
“How did they do that?” Ray had never heard of that situation, but he did have a vague recollection of the doctor’s name.
“They used some kind of synthetic hormone on Callie to make his wolf think she was an unmated female in heat. It happened at a wedding and a whole lot of humans saw what happened, so he had no choice but to pack up and leave King. Aside from him and Callie, I haven’t known any wolves. Dom and Henry met Scarlett’s family when they went with Melody a few weeks ago. Dom said Scarlett’s dad is very powerful.”
“Powerful but heartless. How could a father just give his daughter away to further his own purposes? I don’t understand him at all.”
“Because you’re honorable. I don’t think her dad has any honor in him at all.”
“Not all alphas are that way, though. Her brothers, especially Christian, care about her.”
“They didn’t care enough to stop things before they went too far,” John pointed out. “If you and Wes had given up, then Scarlett would be mated to a stranger and long gone.”
Ray grunted in agreement. Scarlett might never see her family again after this, but he wasn’t so sure it was a great loss. Everyone who should have protected her in her life had done worse than just fail, they’d actively allowed her to be treated like property. Her life might have been entirely different if someone had just stepped up to the plate and said they wouldn’t allow that to happen. He and Wes had taken her out of danger, but she was most likely losing her family, her brothers were losing their only sister, and her mom her only daughter. It was unfair all around. But he kind of didn’t care about that. He only cared that Scarlett was safe and with him and Wes.
They had a lot of catching up to do, along with preparing for their baby.
Following John out of the room, he found Scarlett with Wes and a handful of pride members in the kitchen. When she saw him, she held out her hand and he let her pull him against her side. She was tucked between him and Wes, trembling and scented with tears.
He stroked her soft hair and massaged her neck lightly. “It’ll be okay, love.”
She shivered but said nothing and he glanced at Wes, who shrugged slightly. The tension in the room suddenly grew stifling. It seemed like no one knew what to say, and he could understand that.
“So I was thinking that if it’s a boy, we should name him Ray. And if it’s a girl, we should name her Ray,” he blurted out.
For a brief moment no one said anything and then Scarlett lifted her head and stared at him in surprise.
“Ray? For a girl?” she asked.
“What? It’s a great name.”
“Unfair, man. What about Wesley? It’s also a great name,” Wes added, winking at Ray in understanding. Scarlett was already relaxing.
“I’ve always liked Hunter,” Hunter said before taking a drink of coffee to hide his smile.
James strode in wearing his uniform. “James is a classic, though. If you have a girl, you could name her Jamie.”
Scarlett laughed. “Stop trying to name our baby!”
“Oh, I know. You can name it a combination of all our names,” Chase said. “Jarayweshunase.”
“Why does James get to go first?” Wes demanded with a grin.
Scarlett slapped his arm. “
That’s
your problem with the name?”
Ray hugged her close, laughing. “What are you thinking about, then, love?”
“You’ll think it’s weird.”
“I swear I would never.”
“Well, I was thinking Briar if it’s a girl, from the fairy tale
Sleeping Beauty
. And if it’s a boy, Max.”
Ray looked down at his mate in shock, but that shock quickly faded. He kissed her gently, stroking his thumb along her cheek. “I love it.”
James’s phone buzzed and he looked at the screen and said, “Don and the bears are pulling into town. Let’s go meet them and get set up. Time is dwindling.”
Scarlett reached for James’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re pride now, Scarlett. We do
anything
for pride.”