The Love He Squirreled Away (9 page)

The Love He Squirreled Away

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His heart hammering, he headed toward the main doorway where the guards were supposed to be.

At first he didn’t spot anything particularly suspicious, other than the conspicuous absence of the soldiers. He slipped inside, and his eyes fell on two still forms—the bodies of the wolves manning the entrance of the mansion.

Chaos exploded around him, as if his own realization triggered a chain reaction. On the first floor, gun shots sounded, followed by an angry howl. Carlie. Oh, God.

Daniel ran upstairs, his mind focused on only one thing, helping Carlie and the pups. He stopped next to his and Soren’s bedroom and rushed inside. As quickly as he could, he retrieved his gun from the wardrobe and loaded it. Every second that passed seemed to last ages, but if he wanted to have a fighting chance, he needed the weapon.

In his mind, Soren’s voice was screaming,
“No, baby. Go get
help.”
But Daniel instinctively knew he couldn’t do that. All the wolves were too far, and going to get them would take too long. No, he was on his own, at least for now.
“I called Anson,”
Soren said through their bond.
“Please, Dani, just don’t do anything rash.”

Daniel would have loved to obey, but there were more important things than his own safety. Now armed, he left the bedroom and made his way in the direction of the nursery. He was halfway there when the door burst open and the body of a wolf came flying through the wood. Whatever or whoever had pushed Carlie from the room seemed quite powerful as she went straight through the banister, splintering it into a million pieces. It must have hurt like hell, and Daniel swore he saw several pieces of the wooden railing embed in her body. She tried to clutch at the floor with her paws, and Daniel dropped the gun and shot forward to help his friend. He grabbed her legs in an attempt to offer support.

Unfortunately, in her desperate attempt to save herself, wolf-Carlie scratched his chest, her claws embedding themselves in Daniel’s flesh. Daniel gritted his teeth against the pain, clinging to the
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bond with Soren and his mate’s voice that seemed to be chanting his name over and over. He would not let go. He wouldn’t. In normal circumstances, the drop from the first floor wouldn’t kill a werewolf, but she was already very hurt. She wouldn’t survive.

Alas, his resolve proved to be in vain. Behind him, he heard footsteps as several men exited the nursery. For a few moments, they just stood there while Daniel struggled to pull Carlie up to safety.

Carlie met Daniel’s eyes, and in her gaze, Daniel saw the certainty of death and a plea. He could almost hear her speak, pleading with him,

“Take care of them. Take care of my babies.”

One second later, another gunshot sounded. Daniel watched in mute horror as a neat bullet hole appeared between Carlie’s eyes. She went limp, her hold on him loosening. As much as he’d have wanted to hold her up, he couldn’t. She dropped from his hold and fell onto a table on the first level.

Daniel didn’t have to look down to know she was dead. He would allow himself to mourn her later. Now, he needed to focus on the pups. He wouldn’t disappoint their mother. He wouldn’t allow these men to take the pups, too.

He turned and found himself facing a wall of solid muscle and the barrel of a gun. He didn’t wait for the men to shoot him as well. For whatever reason, they hesitated, and he took advantage of the occasion to turn into his squirrel form.

Now tiny, he rushed into the nursery, wildly scanning the room for the pups. Their whines reached his ears—they were huddled together under the bed. Unfortunately, he’d dropped his gun trying to save Carlie, so he’d have to find another way to at least stall until reinforcements arrived.

He turned back into his human shape and grabbed the first object he could use as a weapon. Nurseries weren’t exactly known for holding such items, so he ended up with the leg of a broken chair.

Pathetic. If only he could distract the men enough to get his gun, perhaps he could fight them off then.

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The men entered the nursery once again, and Daniel did his best to hide his fear. “Fuck off. I won’t let you hurt anyone else.”

One of the five men—there were five, Daniel now realized—

chuckled. “And what are you going to do about it?”

He had a slight accent, although Daniel couldn’t place it. Not that it mattered. The men didn’t seem to think much of him. Daniel could work with that.

He sensed Soren’s anxiety course through him, but he ignored it.

Without allowing caution to hold him back, he lunged forward, swinging the leg of the chair around.

Few people knew just how fast squirrels were. It was one of their few advantages when facing a predator. That, and the element of surprise, made him do more damage than even he himself expected.

The man who’d laughed at him went down under the strength of the blow. Unfortunately, he seemed to have quite a thick skull, because Daniel’s impromptu weapon broke in his hand. The other men crowded around him, attempting to catch him. Daniel shifted into his squirrel form and climbed on top of one. He bit onto the man’s ear, his teeth reaching the flesh even through the material of the hoods.

Then, as the guy screamed and reached for him, he turned back into his legged shape. His new, heavier bulk sent them both to the floor.

Over and over, he continued the dance, changing back and forth from one shape to the other, confusing his opponents. Thankfully, the pups quieted down, as if knowing they needed to be as discreet as possible.

However, one of the men remembered their presence and, ignoring Daniel’s resistance, pushed away from the ongoing scuffle and headed toward the bed. Still in squirrel form, Daniel jumped on the man’s head, clawing and biting, doing everything he could think of to stop his enemy from advancing.

This time, however, he lost the battle. The man caught him and threw him against the wall. Daniel hit the brick hard and collapsed on the floor in a small, furry heap. He looked up only to find the huge
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form of his enemy looming over him. At this point, the guy could squash him with no problem.

To Daniel’s surprise, one of the other men came to his rescue.

“Don’t. You know what the boss said. We can’t hurt him.”

The first man growled angrily. “I know. Back off. Let’s take care of the mutts.”

Daniel couldn’t figure out why they wouldn’t hurt him, but he planned to take advantage of the fact. He scurried off away from his enemies and turned into his human form, standing in front of the bed.

“Over my dead body.”

He held his breath as the guys approached. They could have probably removed him anyway, but the sound of approaching footsteps froze them in their tracks. The men looked at each other, gave Daniel one last look, and fled the room. Daniel would have loved to chase after them, to make them pay for what they’d done, but he was exhausted and in pain.

He fell next to the bed and, almost immediately, the pups came out from their hiding spot and rubbed against him, whining softly.

Moments later, Anson burst inside the nursery, followed by a few others. “What happened?” he asked. “Why is Carlie—”

Daniel hugged the pups, feeling raw and disheartened. “Five men.

They attacked the house. There was nothing I could do for her. They wanted to hurt the pups, too.”

Anson knelt next to him. “Where did they go?”

“They ran off when they heard you come up,” Daniel replied.

Too tired for words, he lost track of what Anson was saying and focused on his bond with Soren.
“Shh, baby,”
his mate soothed him.

“I’m coming. I promise you, everything will be all right.”

“Soren… She’s dead. They shot her.”

“I know, Dani.”
Soren’s pain felt as acute as his own.
“We’ll
avenge her.”

A small bite from one of the pups snapped Daniel out of his trance, just in time to overhear a tiny bit of conversation. “We found
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the gun they used to shoot her,” one wolf was saying. “If you can believe it, it was abandoned just outside the room.”

“Excellent,” Anson replied. “Perhaps we can trace the culprits from the prints left behind.”

Before he could fully process what he was about to say, Daniel looked toward the talking wolves. “That gun is mine,” he said with a sigh.

Both men turned toward him and gave him a dumbfounded look.

“Yours?” Anson repeated. “Daniel, do you have any idea what you’re saying?”

Daniel blinked. Sure, he knew bringing a gun with silver bullets in a den of werewolves wasn’t the best thing to do, but he’d made a promise to his friend, and circumstances hadn’t been perfect. Besides, he’d never even gotten to use the damn thing.

“Dani, don’t say anything else,”
Soren ordered in his mind.
“I’ll
be right there, and I’ll explain everything.”

For once, Daniel decided to allow his mate to handle this. The wolves were giving him shocked, ugly looks, and Daniel didn’t like it at all. He liked it even less when a werewolf female entered the room and approached him. “Come along,” she whispered to the pups.

Daniel shot to his feet and glared at her. “Back off. The pups are fine with me.”

“Daniel, I don’t think you’re in any condition to care for them,”

Anson said slowly.

Daniel shielded the pups with his body, preventing any of the gathering wolves to reach them. “Of course I can. I’m their father.”

“Christ,” one of the wolf guards shouted. “This is insane. Why are we allowing him next to the Alpha’s son and not bringing him in as the killer he is?”

Daniel gaped at him. They couldn’t possibly believe he’d killed Carlie. The female werewolf seemed to think the same as the guard, though. “He even has scratch marks on his chest,” she added. “Carlie must have tried to fight him off.”

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Before Daniel could even try to defend himself, Anson’s phone rang. The beta took the call, and Daniel heard Soren shouting angrily at Anson. “What the fuck are you doing accusing my mate? He saved my pups’ lives. Get your ass to do something useful, or I’ll skin you all alive once I get there.”

It was clearly a message for everyone around, and the wolves backed off, allowing Daniel to stay with the pups. Anson exchanged a few more words with Soren, then ended the call. “Come on,” he said.

“Follow me.”

Daniel gave the beta a dubious look, but Soren’s voice reemerged through their connection.
“Go with him, baby. He’ll keep you safe.”

Feeling a bit reassured, Daniel took hold of Jace and Melanie, while Anson helped him with Derek. The beta led him out of the nursery and into a guest bedroom at the other side of the house. “Stay here, Daniel. You and the pups will be safe. We’ll investigate the situation.”

Daniel would have been more inclined to believe that had a med tech not appeared and demanded to take skin and blood samples.

Daniel complied, ignoring the stares he got, as well as the guards posted at the door.

When everyone left the room, he cuddled with the pups in the bed and closed his eyes. He was so tired, so fucking tired. Had he thought his presence here meant a step in the right direction? God, he couldn’t have been more wrong. He’d been wrong, and now, Carlie was dead.

Everyone seemed to be blaming him. What was he going to do?

* * * *

Outside pack lands, five men met up with their leader.

“Well?” the boss asked, arching a brow.

“The bitch is dead, but we didn’t manage to take out the pups. The squirrel got in the way.”

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The leader gritted his teeth in annoyance. If only he hadn’t committed to leaving that little whore alone. He was getting sick of his family’s stupid morals. His kind were not supposed to keep promises.

Ah, well. Next time, his rival wouldn’t get away so easily. He wanted Soren Wade, and he would do anything to get him.

He glowered at his men, wordlessly showing his displeasure. He considered killing one just for sport but decided against it. “All right.

Be ready for another expedition. The squirrel is next.”

His men nodded eagerly, and the leader rubbed his hands together in glee. Oh, yes, he couldn’t wait. He’d make a stew out of the squirrel yet.

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When Soren burst through the doors of his home, everyone turned to look at him. “Anson!” he bellowed. “Come here!”

The beta appeared from the living room, carrying a clipboard and looking very upset. “Hello, Alpha,” he said.

“Anson, what happened here? Why were those men in my house?

How did the fire even start?”

By the time he’d gotten there, the fire on pack lands had been extinguished, with no significant damage done to the community.

Soren hadn’t gotten around to examining the area, but it seemed pretty clear to him that the cause was arson. It must have been a scheme to deliberately draw away the wolf guards from the mansion.

But why? Who would attack Carlie and for what reason?

His beta sighed. “The fire started in the lower section of the forest, next to the old mill. No one saw anything or anyone suspicious, but as you know, not very many frequent that area. Our first investigations detected use of flammable substances. Someone set that fire.”

Soren nodded, unsurprised. “Go on.”

“As for the men, they seemed to have gone in through the back of the property. We found traces of a vehicle stationed there. We are as of yet unsure as to how they entered the house, but they knew what they were doing.”

“Carlie?”

“She received several gunshot wounds—silver. There were several pieces of wood imbedded in her body, possibly from the fall.”

Anson paused. “About that, we found—”