Of course, they did. I hated that Ada and Honor had grown up being treated as objects. I imagined that couldn’t be emotionally healthy. At least, they wanted to go. Some people caught in abusive cycles were scared to leave what they knew.
She was made to be strong. Aidan ran forward and butted his head against my leg. And it looks like she’s her friend’s strength too. I’m sure they didn’t come out unscathed, but they’ll survive.
I’d make sure they did.
Our group was in sync and moving seamlessly. I could tell that Ada was struggling. She was holding on to her side, but she didn’t let the injury slow her down.
Once we were several miles away from the pack, I breathed a sigh of relief.
But it was way too soon.
“Shit.” Honor stopped in her tracks and looked back. “They know we’re gone.”
Ada huffed, “They’re coming. They’ve picked up our scent.”
“We need to hurry!” Gabby hollered at Remus.
Honor’s dark eyes filled with worry. “Can you go faster?”
“Hell, yeah. As long as we get away from them, I can manage it.” Ada nodded.
“Then we’re going.” Ivory took off after Remus, moving twice as fast.
It wasn’t nearly as fast as we could go, but with Ada and the witches, it was the fastest we could make it.
Remus, Logan, and I need to turn around and meet them head-on. Aidan ran steadily behind me. It’s the only way we can hold them off and you can drive the Suburbans down the mountain. We can meet you at the base so we don’t take the enemy wolves to the bed-and-breakfast. We need to protect the humans staying there.
This was what made Aidan so different from his pack and others. He cared about not only his own kind but the humans too. I want to go with you.
The girls need you. His words were full of conviction. You’re the glue holding all this together. Gabby is here because of you. If you leave or worse, there’s no telling what might happen.
Fine. I didn’t like it, but he was right. We couldn’t take the wolves back to the house. The wolves would harm as many as necessary to get Ada and Honor back. But if anything goes south, you tell me immediately.
I promise. His commitment to the words poured through our bond.
Now, it was time to piss Gabby and Ivory off. “Hey, Aidan wants him and the …” Maybe if I didn’t say their names, it wouldn’t elicit such a strong reaction. “… other two wolves to double back and head them off so we can get to the vehicles and protect the humans.”
“What?” Gabby spun around, and Beth almost ran into her. “Hell, no.”
This was what I’d expected, especially from her. “Look, we all need to stay together, and they’re already in wolf form. Aidan promised to let me know if they need backup. If they do, we’ll hurry back to them right then and there.”
She and Logan must have been mind-linking because she got quiet for a moment before blowing out a breath. “Of course, you’d gang up on me. Fine, but if he gets severely injured, it’s on both of you.” Gabby looked at me and then Logan. “And I won’t be nice.”
She wouldn’t. She’d been ornery ever since the night everything had come out. “I’d expect no less.”
“Remus wants to, so I can’t stand in his way.” Ivory nodded. “Even if I’m not thrilled about it.”
Her relationship with Remus was one of the strongest I’d ever seen. They respected each other and didn’t push each other around. Those were relationship goals I hoped Aidan and I could achieve one day. Granted, we were getting better at it already.
With each of our blessings, the wolves separated from the group and ran back toward the pack.
“We still need to hurry. The longer they have to fight, the bigger the chance that our mates could be injured.” I knew all of them were strong alpha wolves, but that didn’t mean they were indestructible.
That’s all I needed to say to get Ivory rushing forward again.
Our group took off at a good pace once more. We were only about five miles from the bed-and-breakfast.
I hated that Aidan had headed back to confront the wolves. That group appeared particularly vicious and uncaring, so they’d do any type of fighting necessary to win. They’ll probably fight dirty.
There’s no doubt in my mind. Aidan linked back with me immediately. We’re getting close, but don’t worry. The three of us know what we’re doing. Just get down the mountain so we can meet you. He unlinked with me.
I wanted to connect with him again, but if they were fighting, I didn’t want to distract him.
Only thirty minutes passed, but it felt like a lifetime. Soon, we were out of the woods and back to where the concrete sidewalk would take us to the house.
“Hold on a second.” I rushed to the area the guys had changed and grabbed their clothes. I tried not to focus on carrying Remus’s and Logan’s underwear. Aidan’s didn’t bother me, of course.
When I ran from the woods, Beth snapped her fingers and said, “Good call.”
We’d all packed light, so every outfit was precious. We had to slow our pace back up to the house. We couldn’t walk faster than what was normal for a human.
As we walked into the house, a couple was still at the breakfast table, and their eyes immediately went to Ada’s shirt.
“Was she stabbed?” The girl jumped to her feet and stumbled away.
Crap, I hadn’t even considered that.
“What’s going on here?” The owner entered the room, and her eyes almost bugged out of her head when she took Ada in. “What the hell … I thought you all had already left after checking out”
We didn’t have time for this. “We’re leaving here now.”
“Thank God.” She waved us to the door. “You’ve made so many people uncomfortable, and this is the icing on the cake.” She pointed to Ada.
It was nice to know the bitch was more worried about her guests than an injured girl. But this made things easier and faster. “Okay then.”
Our group raced out the front door, and we divided up in the cars. This time, Ivory went with the witches and Beth whereas Ada and Honor joined me.
“This is a sweet ride.” Ada sighed as she settled in. “I’ll try not to get blood on the seats.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just get situated.” I turned the key in the ignition, pulled out from the house, and headed down the mountain.
Emma. Aidan linked with me. We are heading to the east toward the base of the mountain. You need to get there fast. I’m not sure how much longer we can keep the upper hand. They’ve called in backup.
Those words sent terror coursing through my body.
Chapter Twenty
Aidan
Like I figured, the two jackasses were overconfident and came alone. My dad was the same way. They believed they were more powerful and stronger than they were. Growing up, I used to admire that, thinking that because of his confidence, he must have been the most alpha in the United States—possibly the world.
But it wasn’t that. It was because he was a narcissist and didn’t care about anyone, not even his sons. He’d raised us to be the same way—proud when we hurt others. We were his legacy, and the more we acted like him, the stronger and more ruthless he appeared.