CHAPTER 6

The Conversation At The Tavern had reached a dull roar over the appearance OF Lelandi’s sister in town when Darien’s cell phone called. He believed Lelandi’s sister was causing trouble when he saw Tom’s cell phone number, which didn’t surprise him. He fervently hoped that she hadn’t gotten away from him. “Tom, yeah? What’s going on right now?

Come on, quickly! Tom’s breathy voice boomed through the phone.

“Tom?” Darien jumped up from his seat. Whereabouts are you? “Rifles fired. The Hastings Bed The phone was dead. “Hastings is on fire!” As Darien and Jake ran for the tavern door, Darien’s heart pounded in his ribs.

Everyone from the tavern must be hot on his heels based on the deafening clamor of boots tromping down the street behind him. Concern for the woman’s and his brother’s safety overcame him as he dashed toward the motel with his muscles taut for conflict.

Although the sinister notion that she might have shot Tom raced through his mind.

He yelled to Jake, “Hastings Bed and Breakfast,” making it clear that it wasn’t Hastings Hardware.

What now, Darien? What the…?

“Firearms were discharged. Heck, I have no idea. Darien was furious with himself for endangering Tom’s life when he ought to have left.

He snatched his cell phone off his belt as it rang. “What the hell, Tom?”

“I’ve been struck,” Whereabouts are you?

“Behind…” Tom stopped talking.

Darien held his breath in anticipation as he and Jake came to a complete halt in the eerie calm. Tom, please! Silence. “Gunman with a gun somewhere close to Hastings. Bring in Doc Oliver. To his soldiers, Darien said, “Tom’s been shot.

Mason, the owner of the bank in Silver Town, with the gray hair and beard, still in his gray suit, yanked out his phone. I did it, boss.

Silver or ordinary bullets? Jacob queried. The phone was dead.

Farther into the woods, more gunshots could be heard. Darien swore and accelerated his pace as he approached Hastings. “Beware, men. Uncertain of the type of ammunition the shooter is using.

He signaled for some to walk around the B&B’s front. Then he turned around, followed by Jake and numerous other people.

“Tom, where the hell are you?” Jacob muttered a question. “Maybe passed out.”

I’ll kill anyone who is the son of—

From behind a dumpster, there were groans. When Darien and Jake ran around the green trash can, rage erupted in his veins.

Tom was lying on his back with his eyes clouded and cradling his injured head. Where has she gone? My skull feels like a—beard. Odin’s

Inform the others Tom has been located! As the soldiers moved nearer, Darien yelled to several of them. Among them

A tissue was offered to him. Darien knelt next to his brother, put his head in his lap, and wrapped the handkerchief around the cut that was bleeding. Whether silver or normal,

Never silver. The bullet is being rejected by my body, yet it aches tremendously. Tom slid his eyes shut. How is Larissa doing?

Two other men rushed up to them in pursuit.

“Dr Oliver is en route.” The phone was stuffed into Mason’s pocket. Both the child and the shooter are missing. He asked, raising a gray brow. “Are you sure they’re not the same thing?”

Darien hoped that wasn’t true and turned to Tom for an explanation.

The thunder of Thor Tom closed his eyes and let his gaze wander. “He also shot Larissa.”

Darien muttered an expletive. Lelandi’s sister’s life was allegedly in danger, and this thought tore at his gut. When he wanted more than anything to handle the situation himself, it took all of his strength to issue the following order. Locate her and apprehend the gunman, please.

Any other choice would imply that he cared more about the safety of the red than he did about his own brother or another pack member, which is not a leadership characteristic. He applied pressure to the wound and hoped Doc Oliver would act quickly because, despite what he tried to convince himself, the woman looked too much like his deceased mate for him to be able to ignore his love for her. She had control over his heart even after his death.

Where the hell is Doc Oliver? He yelled, unable to contain his rage.

Lelandi shivered as three more gunshots echoed through the jungle. Shooter must be aiming towards shadows. She wished.

Living off the strongest. That’s what she was thinking as she lay in the bushes at the base of a spruce tree with her back pressed against a boulder covered in moss. When the pain from the three gunshots in her heart grew worse, her thoughts began to wander. Her back didn’t feel very quick either. She had endured worse. The scars that Hunter had when she was a wolf, the attempted rape, the almost drowning, and now this. Her guardian angel certainly put in extra effort for her.

Although the anguish intensified, the moisture on her skin that was chilled by the cool breeze and the blood that covered her turtleneck made her feel even colder. Something approached her. She inhaled the aromas and listened intently to the sound of its scrambling. When she baked apple pies, made specialty soups and hot, spicy chili, and decorated with pumpkins, squash, and vibrant mums—colors that complemented her flaming red hair and green eyes—it was a cold, crisp autumn with a hint of wetness in the air. Autumn, her favorite season,

Darien had sable hair, dark eyes, and was chilly and brooding. A chilling north wind. Winter.

Her wandering thoughts were brought back to her current situation as the scurrying halted. She caught a whiff of the strange scent as the creature’s little heart and veins beat rapidly. A bunny. She hoped Darien had found his brother and was alleviating his suffering as she had desired someone could do for her as she closed her eyes.

An animal howled. I’m here; are you nearby?

Ural? He would track her down, pursue her, and kill her attacker.

She was unaffected by the gunman’s ordinary ammunition, but she needed to recover before she could move once again. Tom had benefited by her moving the shooter away from him, but she was now too exhausted to walk even a fraction of an inch in the direction of Hastings Bed & Breakfast. And to make matters worse, she was lost.

Around a half mile away, leaves were crunched underfoot by footsteps. Those of the shooter or Darien and his men? Only one set of footfalls, most likely those of the shooter, could she make out.

She choked back another groan as her chest continued to ache like it was on fire. Don’t fall asleep! She would make a terrible ruckus if the shooter discovered her, but if she fell asleep, he could relocate her and murder her. Regular bullets wouldn’t work, but snapping her neck might.

Her thoughts turned to the inn, where she could picture Darien scurrying out with half his followers or more close behind if Tom had been able to make a call for assistance. She berated herself once more for not being more vigilant after discovering the shooter hidden in the Hastings shadows too late.

If the grays learned Tom was hurt, would they waste their time looking for her? They might not, but they would keep searching for the shooter who had shot Tom.

She made an effort to focus on the bullets lodged in her heart. Trying to imagine the marvels her body would perform to remove the foreign objects, halt the bleeding, and close the wounds. It would take some time for her blood to repair because she had lost too much blood and was feeling weak, queasy, and bewildered. She moaned once more.

Closer steps made a pause before moving forward once more. Nobody made any sounds. Who is your enemy?

Between the trembling tree limbs, she peered up. The night sky was pitch-black with a scattering of glittering stars. Starry, brilliant stars… Painful sensations shot through her body, up her arms and legs, down her legs, and back up again, piercing her skull with blinding misery. She clinched her teeth to prevent herself from disappearing as her eyesight began to blur.

Ural was where? She was a royal like him and descended from one of the most pure lines of the first lupus garou. Despite the fact that it was a moonless night, she had the ability to transform into a wolf. Yet in this situation, becoming a wolf wouldn’t help. The shooter, however, wasn’t looking for one. Yes! She might then howl and answer Ural’s cry. Then, he would reach out to her and shield her.

She struggled to unbutton even the first button on her jacket since she lacked the necessary strength. She wasn’t even sure she could shapeshift given how frail she was.

The devil was Ural where? He had the ability to instantly take the shooter’s life. If not safe, then safer. But she also didn’t have faith in Ural’s motivations. He may give her back to the pack if he discovered that she was defenseless and frail. Curse him.

She wincingly closed her eyes in an effort to will the pain away.

Had Lelandi been the shooter’s target because she resembled Larissa? Or did he presume that she was coming to find out who killed Larissa?

Because the leader of the grays had mated with a red, she claimed a gray had slain Larissa. Or, did her vicious pack leader Bruin lie about finding Larissa? Lelandi wasn’t so sure anymore.