The Protector's Heart (Wilde Creek Three) (20 page)

As her head spun and her ears rang, she heard
Tanner talking to someone and telling them to back off.
Malachi!
Tanner’s warning to Malachi made her blood turn to
ice. How could he find her if he couldn’t follow her?

Something crunched loudly and a window was
rolled down, letting in a blast of freezing air. She didn’t have to
see it to know that Tanner had destroyed her phone. The SUV stopped
suddenly, and Nila groaned as she rolled toward the back of the
SUV, unable to stop herself. She kicked both legs out, barely
preventing herself from being flattened against the back door.

She thought the back door would open, but
instead someone fisted her hair tightly and began to pull her over
the seat. She screamed in pain as Tanner used her hair to drag her
into the second seat. Tanner hooked an arm under her and jerked her
out of the truck, throwing her to the ground. She rolled with a sob
as her body impacted hard, the jolt making her bones rattle.

Gasping for breath, she heard Jack cry, and
everything inside her froze.

“Get up, bitch,” Damien said. She looked up
and found him standing in the center of the park just outside of
Dorlan, the place where his pack gathered for meetings. Scrambling
to her knees, she struggled with the rope tying her wrists, but it
was tied too tightly. Already her fingers were numb.

With some effort, she managed to get to her
feet. She glanced around, looking for Jack, but didn’t see him.

“Where is my son? I showed up where you asked
me to.”

Damien moved so fast she couldn’t track him.
He was suddenly in her face, gripping her throat and digging his
fingers into her neck. He lifted her off the ground and she kicked
out, never touching him.

“You never could follow directions. I said
you had to come alone. Did you really think I wouldn’t know those
human-loving wolves would come along and try to screw things up?
You’re
mine
, and no one is going to take you from me.”

She opened her mouth, but he tightened his
grip and she wheezed but couldn’t form any words. He lowered her to
the ground and eased his grip, but his hand remained wrapped around
her throat, as if he wasn’t done reminding her that he could kill
her.

He snapped the fingers of his free hand. The
wolves who were standing around watching parted and a young woman
came forward, carrying Jack on her hip. Nila jerked, trying to push
past Damien to get to Jack, and his hand tightened on her throat
again.

“Now, now, bitch, don’t think I’m going to
give you back the kid so quickly. Maura is going to take care of
Jack while you make up for your sins on your knees.”

Jack’s face was wet with tears, and he wasn’t
wearing a coat. She whimpered as Damien increased his hold on her
throat and then he relaxed it again. Her eyes blurred with tears as
she watched Jack reach for her, “Mama,” he pleaded.

Gasping in a breath, she said, “It’s okay,
baby.”

Damien gazed at her with cold eyes. Had he
ever really cared about her? Why had he stayed with her for so long
when all she could see now was his hatred?

“Is it, Nila? Is it really going to be okay?”
he said, a sneer twisting his mouth into something gruesome.

“Please don’t hurt him, Damien. I’ll do
whatever you want,” she said, sniffling and wishing desperately
that she could wipe her eyes. It was so cold that the tears were
freezing on her cheeks.

“You’ll do whatever I want anyway, bitch.
You’re not in control here, I am.” Damien motioned to Maura and she
turned to carry Jack away, when Jack suddenly shouted,
“Carrot!”

Nila gasped in surprise as something furry
flew over her head and knocked Damien down. Hands grasped her
wrists, and she screamed but then she realized she was free.

She turned and found Malachi sheathing a
knife. “Get Jack and get in the SUV. Go straight to Acksel’s
house.”

“Malachi!” She shouted his name as he pushed
her away from Damien, who was struggling with the wolf, obviously
someone from Malachi’s pack.

“Go, Nila. Now!” Malachi turned and kicked
out as a male from Damien’s pack rushed him.

She looked over her shoulder to see Maura
hurrying away with Jack.

“Give me back my son, you bitch!” She
screamed the words, tearing after the woman, determined to get Jack
back.

She closed the distance to Maura and lunged,
grabbing Jack’s outstretched hand and shoving the woman away. Jack
cried out in pain as Maura kept hold of his ankle, trying to pull
him out of Nila’s grip.

Instead of pulling harder and hurting her
son, she let go and kicked out, her foot landing against Maura’s
knee. Maura howled and let go of Jack, and Nila snatched him up
before he hit the ground.

Nila sprinted around the fighting wolves, not
wanting to give Maura a chance to catch up to her. The SUV that
they’d come in was parked with others from Malachi’s pack, and Nila
opened the driver’s door and set a squirming, crying Jack on the
passenger seat and started to climb in.

“Not so fast,” Tanner growled, grabbing her
around the waist and pulling her out of the SUV.

“NO!” She grabbed the console in between the
seats and kicked with all her might. Tanner punched her in the side
and she grunted in pain, but didn’t let go of her grip on the
console.

Jack cried in fear and reached for her.
Tanner grabbed her waist and gave a mighty tug that made her feel
like he was going to pull her in half. One of his hands landed on
top of hers, and claws emerged through his fingertips. He curled
his hand and she knew he was going to shred her skin. If she let
go, then Jack was defenseless.

She jerked her head back and connected with
Tanner’s face, nearly passing out from the pain.

“Ah, bitch,” he snarled and dug his claws
into her hand.

She opened her mouth to scream, but the pain
was so great that nothing came out.

A soft growl sounded so close she thought it
was Tanner shifting into his wolf form, ready to tear her to
pieces, but as she blinked away the fog from nearly braining
herself on Tanner’s hard head, she saw that Jack was the one
growling. He perched on his legs, tiny needle-like claws springing
from his fingers and thick fangs erupting from his gums. He gave a
warning growl and then he sank his fangs into the top of Tanner’s
hand.

Nila heard his bones break and Tanner
screeched in agony. The thick, metallic scent of blood filled the
air. Jack growled and snarled, shaking Tanner’s hand like a dog
shaking a bone. When Tanner lifted off her, she flipped to her
back, bunched her legs up, and kicked hard, sending him flying.

She watched Tanner roll on the ground and
clutch his hand, which seemed to be missing at least one
finger.

Oh man, had Jack eaten his finger?

She’d deal with the ramifications of her son
partially shifting and saving their lives later. Shaking herself
back to reality, she grabbed the door and slammed it shut, turning
the key in the ignition and pressing the door lock. Not that it
would stop anyone from getting into the SUV because they could just
shatter the windows, but at least it would slow them down.

She looked toward the park where she could
hear the fighting still going on. She didn’t want to leave Malachi,
but knew he would be pissed if she waited for him.

Jack crawled into her lap, softly sobbing and
babbling. She put the car in gear and drew him close with one arm,
gripping the steering wheel with her free hand.

“It’s okay now, baby,” she crooned, even
though she wasn’t sure that was true. Whatever happened tonight,
she didn’t think they’d ever be safe, no matter how many security
systems they had.

* * * * *

Malachi watched Nila drive away. He’d been
distracted with Damien, and looked over to see one of Damien’s
friends falling away from the SUV, clutching his bloody hand.

Damien ducked a punch and Malachi threw
another one, which connected with his cheek. Damien spit blood onto
the ground and laughed. “I’ll get her eventually. You can’t watch
her every second.”

Malachi growled and launched himself at the
male, but another male barreled into him and pushed him away. A
fist flew at Malachi and he barely dodged it, shoving the male off
and leaping to his feet in time to see Damien shift into his wolf
form and race out of the park.

“Shit! He’s going after Nila!” he yelled to
Acksel, who was facing off against another wolf.

“Go with Ren, I’ve got this!” Acksel yelled
back.

Malachi and Ren raced to the other SUV, and
they followed the road out of the park.

“Where would she go?” Ren asked.

“I told her to go to Acksel’s.”

Ren nodded. Malachi used the corner of his
shirt to wipe the blood off his face. He was going to be in a hell
of a lot of pain later, but right now all he could think about was
keeping Nila safe.

They sailed down a dark road, and in the
distance he saw the SUV’s taillights. Suddenly, the SUV jerked to
the right and then sharply to the left as the brakes squealed. It
spun around until it was facing them and didn’t move.

Ren stopped the SUV in front of the one Nila
was driving and they both got out. Malachi scented the air and
smelled fresh blood. Ren went around the other side of the vehicle
as Malachi rapped on the driver’s side window.

Nila looked especially pale. Even in the glow
from the dashboard he thought she looked like she was going to pass
out. Jack was in her lap, and he turned his head and met Malachi’s
eyes and smiled.

“Carrot,” he said, the word muffled through
the closed window. Malachi’s eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of
fangs in Jack’s mouth.

What the hell?

“Nila?” Malachi said, but she didn’t move,
her hand gripping the steering wheel and her gaze straight
forward.

“Mal? Come back here for a second,” Ren
called.

Malachi told Jack he’d be right back and
walked around to the back of the truck, stopping in surprise as he
saw the body of a wolf. He recognized the coloring as belonging to
Damien. Ren knelt next to the wolf and looked up at Malachi.

“He’s dead.”

“What the hell happened?”

Ren shrugged. “I’m guessing that he ran out
into the road to try to stop her. Maybe he thought she’d crash
instead of hitting and killing him.”

Malachi looked at the SUV. Did Nila know
she’d killed Damien?

“Damn it,” he spoke softly. He didn’t want
Nila to suffer with the knowledge that she’d killed someone, even
if it was her psycho ex.

Ren stood slowly and said, “Get your mate and
son out of the SUV and take the other one home. I’ll wait for
Acksel here.”

“This is my mess, Ren.”

“It’s pack business. When are you going to
learn that?”

“I’m pretty hardheaded,” Malachi said.

“Yeah, well, I know that, but I still like
your sorry ass.” Ren pulled his phone from his pocket and Malachi
went to the driver’s door. Jack had his face pressed to the glass,
and he squeaked in excitement when Malachi stopped in front of him.
Banging his little palm against the window, he said, “Carrot!”

“Yeah, buddy. Nila. Nila!” He called her name
and jerked on the handle a few times, hoping that Jack had just
suddenly figured out how to unlock the doors.

“Nila!” He shouted her name sternly and she
seemed to react to that, at least a little. He wondered if she was
in shock. “Open the door now, Nila. Jack needs help.”

Her whole body jerked and she blinked several
times, looking around before locking eyes with Malachi. He knew
then that she did know what she’d done. “Don’t break down on me
now, sweetheart,” he said loudly. “Open the door and let me take
you and Jack out of here.”

Her hand moved so slowly he wasn’t sure it
would ever reach the button to unlock the door. The second the door
clicked, Malachi wrenched it open and lifted Jack from her lap. He
clung to Malachi like a monkey, repeating
carrot
and burying
his face in Malachi’s neck. Malachi reached for Nila and helped her
out. She was stiff as a board, but followed him dutifully to the
other SUV. He cursed not thinking of putting in a car seat before
they left, but he’d been so focused on getting Jack back that he
hadn’t gotten the car seat out of his own SUV.

Malachi helped Nila buckle in and put Jack in
her lap, and she held him tightly. Malachi grabbed a jacket from
the backseat and laid it over Jack to warm him up, turning the
heater on high. When he started the engine, Jack laid his cold
little hand on Malachi’s bicep and whispered, “Dada.”

“We’ll be home soon, son,” Malachi said,
glancing at Nila and seeing her eyes fill with tears. “Did you hear
me, sweetheart? Home.”

“I heard you, Mal. We both did.”

* * * * *

Nila wasn’t watching the scenery blur by as
Malachi drove them home; she just looked at Jack. She desperately
wanted to check him over, but the dim lighting from the dashboard
wasn’t enough for her to see anything.

She was trying not to think of what had
happened, how things had gone from bad to worse in a heartbeat.
What would happen to her now that Damien was dead and she was the
one who had killed him? It probably didn’t matter to Isaiah that
Damien had run out of the woods so fast she hadn’t seen him until
he was standing in front of her vehicle. Even though she jerked the
steering wheel, she’d still hit him.

The sickening sound of the body thumping
under the tire. The way the SUV bobbled a bit as she jerked the
wheel the other direction and then spun entirely, until all she
could see was another set of bright headlights heading her way.

“Am I,” her voice caught in her throat and
she coughed to clear it. “Is he going to come after me because
D-Damien’s dead?” She didn’t want to cry. She felt like she’d been
crying for months because of Damien.