Holt’s eyes glowed amber with anger.
Gibson paced around the kitchen. “If she goes to jail, you two could die of fucking moon madness,” he said after a long stretch of tense silence. He was working through his own issues, completely different from the human laws that Holt and I worked to uphold.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We considered calling it in but leaving out the attempted murder part, but needed to get to you first.”
Gibson nodded and handed me his phone. “Do it.”
I didn’t know the number for the Cheyenne office. It was in my fucking phone, which Ali had taken. I had to search online and work my way through from the main phone number. It took five minutes, but I gave the information to the on-call agent. Fortunately, I knew the guy, and he would get on it.
When I hung up, all eyes were on me. “Backup is in Cheyenne. They won’t be here before dawn.”
Gibson nodded, then glanced at the clock on his kitchen stove. “You can’t go arresting anyone now. You’re too weak. You need to finish healing, and to rest.” He paused; stroked his beard.
“What are you thinking, Gib?” I asked.
“You need to claim her.” It was Ben who answered, like it was the easiest puzzle to solve. “Before she goes to prison.”
Holt and I stared at him like he was covered in pig shit. “Did you miss the part about her killing us in cold blood?” Holt demanded.
Ben shrugged. “Takes more than a rifle to kill you. And there’s two of you. It’s not our way to claim a female by force, but considering what she did to you, I wouldn’t feel too bad about you doing what you need to do to survive fate’s shitty deal on this one.”
My stomach turned. Even after everything, even knowing it could save my life, I couldn’t imagine ever forcing Ali to do anything she didn’t want to do. Male wolves protected their females. They worked to make them happy.
Ali had intended to kill us. Point blank, and in cold blood. Officers of the law. Even a good defense attorney would know she was going to prison for life, without the concept of conjugal visits.
I looked to Shelby to see what a she-wolf’s take on this was. Her brows were down, and she tapped her lips with her index finger. “Ali knew you two were shifters?” she asked.
“I thought we established that,” I said, at the end of my patience.
Gibson growled at me for being less than polite with his mate, but she laid a hand softly on his bulging biceps, still looking at me. “I just mean, could she have known that you’d survive a gunshot wound?”
“No,” Holt said immediately, shaking his head, then wincing. “We never discussed that.”
We’d barely had time to discuss much of anything. We’d only shown her our wolves once, and while she’d been excited about it, it could have been fake, like everything else.
Except… something shifted inside me. A scrap of hope flickered and caught flame.
“Nash was shot in front of Rachel last year,” Holt said slowly. “I got called to clean up the goddamn mess. She saw it happen, and knows the extent of the injuries a shifter can survive. Is it… is it possible she said something to Ali?”
I eyed him warily. “Doubtful.”
“Let’s find out,” Shelby offered, picking up her phone from the counter. She dialed a number, then put the phone to her ear. “Hey, I’m so sorry to wake you up, but it’s an emergency,” she said in a soft voice, walking away from us. “Can I talk to Rachel? Thanks, Cord.” There was a pause, presumably her waiting for Rachel to take the phone. “Rach, hey, listen, this is a weird question but it’s important. Did you by chance tell Ali that shifters can heal from gunshot wounds?”
Shelby had walked into the living room by now, and even with shifter hearing, I couldn’t catch Rachel’s voice on the other end.
“You did?”
Theo and I both let out our breaths. Our gazes met across the table. What the fuck did all of this mean now?
“That’s all I need to know. No, the guys got shot, but they’ll be fine. We’re just trying to figure out if Ali knew that when she shot them.” She paused. “I know. Yes, Ali shot Holt and Theo. I’ll fill you in more tomorrow. Thanks for the help. Goodnight.”
Holt touched his quickly healing wound. “Do you think…”
I nodded slowly. “Maybe.” I pulled the towel back from my chest and took a good look. “She hit close to the heart on both of us.”
“Close, yes,” he confirmed. “But still a miss.”
Trust me, I’m a very good shot.
“A purposeful miss?” I surged to my feet, then staggered as the room spun. The run all the way to Gibson’s hadn’t helped the healing process, but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t wait to heal and get to our mate and spank the truth out of her. “We need to get to Ali,” I said to Holt.
“Fuck,” he swore. “We’ve only been looking at this one way. That she’s guilty and been playing us. If she’s innocent… oh, fuck. She could be in danger. She shot us! Why else would she do that if she didn’t have a choice?”
“Unless she forgot you could heal,” Gibson said, pointing out the worst case.
“She didn’t forget.” I was suddenly certain. Our mate was smart and tough. If she was in danger, or if she believed we were in danger, she would do something like this. Something so insane and crazy.
“You need to rest and heal before you do anything.”
“Alpha,” I began, but he gave me a look.
“I know you need to protect your mate. I understand that. Do you think I want a human out there knowing about shifters if there’s even a chance she’s actually guilty? I want to ride to the Jenkins ranch myself.”
I knew he was right. He was always right.
“They think you’re dead. Or at least lying out there in the field, dying.” He pointed toward his front door. “I can’t believe I’m fucking saying this, but there’s time.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Holt and I said in unison.
“When your backup arrives, do it right. By the book. Take down Hollaroy and anyone else involved because I want this shit over. Then get the truth out of your mate and claim her. For your sakes. If she’s guilty…” He left that hanging, and looked to Ben. “Claimed or not, I may have to ensure pack law is enforced.”
My wolf wanted to snarl and snap and go after Gibson at those grim words. But deep down, I understood. I couldn’t help the growl that escaped me at the idea of Ben, the pack enforcer, killing a guilty Ali—someone who, even if we claimed her, was a threat to the safety of the pack because even in prison, she could reveal us.
Fuck!
16
ALI
I puked when I got home, and barely slept all night. When I did, I dreamed of dead bodies and blood and Theo and Holt dying while I watched. Pulling the trigger and watching Holt, then Theo, buckle from the bullets that struck them was on a perpetual loop in my brain.
I woke to the crunch of tires over gravel at a time when no cars should be pulling down our drive.
I leaped out of bed and flew to the window, my heart in my throat.