She arched a brow. “Me? I don’t want him, but I am interested in the bounty attached to his safe return.”
“Bounty.” The word slipped from his lips.
“A bounty that just doubled with your arrival. Seems there are some people who will pay good money for the discreet return of their property.”
“Nobody owns us,” he snapped.
“They will once we deliver you both. You might not be worth as much, but since you’re here…” She fired, and instinct made him dive low. The bullet missed him, and before she could fire again, he slammed into her, apologizing mentally to every woman he knew. Didn’t matter she shot at him, his mama taught him to never hit a girl. But what about if that girl held a gun?
His assailant grunted as they hit the ground. He grabbed her wrist and slammed it against the floor, loosening her fingers on the weapon.
There was another shot, and a bullet hit him in the arm. He half turned to see a guy coming from another direction, readying his second shot.
Fuck. He stood and wavered on his feet. Eyes blinking.
Drugged.
No.
Instinct took over, and he ran for the second attacker.
Prey.
He leaped. A snarl emerged from his all too human lips.
The guy yelled as he fired.
Another drugged dart hit even as Stefan twisted. He swiped and missed. The woman who’d recovered didn’t; she hit him in the back. Again and again. The many tranquilizers took him out.
Next time he woke, he was naked in a cell.
18
Where you are, baby?
Nimway arrived too late. Her crew was in time to see the plane take off.
She might have let out a howl that sent every non-predator for miles around running.
The empty runway taunted. The vacant hangar with his scent enraged. The only clues left behind were Stefan’s motorcycle and Tyson’s bike. Where had they been taken? The tiny airport didn’t have a departure board, and they had no idea where to look since the main office was closed.
Not that it mattered. Even once they managed to get through to someone, it became quickly obvious they were either lying or oblivious about what had happened at the small airport. And imagine that, criminals didn’t file a proper flight plan.
Criminals didn’t play by the rules, and she blamed the fucking bleeding hearts constantly giving them free passes. A society soft on crime saw it flourish. The pack understood rules and how necessary it was to uphold their laws. Laws kept them safe.
And see what happened when they got broken? A family of outsiders, who should have never been shown the truth about the pack, had been compromised and had put everyone in jeopardy. All because she’d forgotten the number one rule.
Only trust pack. Too late for regrets now. Nor could she lay all the fault at his feet. Stefan never wanted to be captured. She couldn’t even blame him for coming after his brother without waiting. She’d have done the same. But him being taken along with Tyson was an extinction-level event for the pack. It was only a matter of time before one of the captured Hubbards cracked and said anything to save themselves.
Nimway did not look forward to telling her brother, her alpha, that their cover was about to be busted. The pack, everyone, would have to scatter, going into hiding until they could regroup somewhere safe with new identities. She already had her new name, Amelia Jenkins. Nothing close to Arthurian, yet she didn’t look forward to using it.
When she arrived back at the farm, it was to see more cars parked. Gwayne’s dark-colored Yukon being the most recognizable.
Fuck.
With the phones still down, he must have gotten worried and come looking for her. After all, her last text involved the Hubbard kid.
The moment they parked, Gwayne was there, opening her door, yanking her out, and hugging her. “You’re safe.” His voice was gruff. His worry palpable. She was the only family he had left.
“You know what’s happened?”
“Mostly, but I want to hear your assessment.”
She gave him the bleak, unvarnished truth. “It would seem those who created the Hubbard children have come to retrieve some of them. Tyson and Stefan were abducted.”
She heard a gasp.
“No.” Nanette Hubbard rocked on her heels, looking shocked.
Nimway felt bad, and yet it had to be said. “I’m afraid it’s true, meaning your entire family is in danger.”
“And by that same token, so is the pack,” Gwayne surmised with a sigh. “Fuck.”
“Yup.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“This isn’t good.” He rubbed his face, looking tired and defeated. Another blow to a once-strong man.
“I know.” Even more softly said.
Mrs. Hubbard wheeled around and headed for the stairs where some of the other children crowded. “If our cover is blown, I’d better get moving. It’s been so long since I had a plan. I got complacent.”
“I wish the damned phones were working,” her brother grumbled. “I feel like we’re stumbling around in the dark. We need to get the word out that we might have to disappear and fast. We’ll have to split up and go house to house for the moment. I don’t want to cause a panic, but we need to be ready.”
He kept saying we, and all she could think of was Stefan being subjected to torture. Her mind blinked to those pictures, and she blurted out, “I can’t help.”
Gwayne paused before saying, “What do you mean you can’t help? You’re pack beta.”
“I realize that; however, I need to handle something urgent first.”
It took him only a second. “You want to go after the missing Hubbards.”
“It’s the smartest thing to do. If I can stop them from spilling secrets, then we won’t have to relocate.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“I promised I’d keep him and his family safe.”
He snorted. “Circumstances have changed.”
“More than you know,” she muttered. And then, because she couldn’t keep a secret from her brother, she exclaimed, “He’s my husband.”
He stared at Nimway. “What?”
“Stefan and I got married this morning, and I promised him safety. Him and his family.”
“A day too late.”
She shook her head. “I can’t just walk away. He’s not only pack; he’s my husband.”
“And how will you help him?” Gwayne snapped. “These people obviously are ruthless with the means to take us out.”
“Ruthless people with secrets or they wouldn’t have resorted to such stealthy methods.” If they were afraid to act openly, then it worked in her favor.
“What are you going to do? We don’t even know where that plane was heading.”
“She doesn’t, but I do,” Mrs. Hubbard declared.
19
Mom
The day had come. The one Nana Hubbard had long feared. When they would come for her babies and steal them away.
She’d sworn to her brother to never reveal what she knew, and she’d kept that promise, partially out of respect to his memory, partially out of fear that the truth would come back to bite, but also because she never wanted her children to face the monsters that wanted to hurt them.