Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
14
Teddy
For an hour after Lana leaves, my bear snarls and bellows, fighting to get out. It’s too late, I tell him. She’s gone.
She left us. And she did it because I’m an ass. The moment I opened my mouth to tell her about the mindwipe, I knew it was wrong, but I told her anyway. I didn’t trust her, even though she made it clear she’d do anything to help us. She was trying to save us, and in return, I cut her out of my life.
Out of my life but never out of my heart. That would be impossible. Not even a pickaxe could cleave her from that organ.
Not that it matters. I hurt her. Terribly. Irreparably. And right now, she’s probably scared and in pain and suffering through her final moments of having me in her life.
Fuck.
She wanted to save our town, but she couldn't save me from myself.
I rub my hands down my face. What the fuck am I'm I doing? How could I have let her go?
An annoying zzzt zzzt zzzt comes from my back pocket. I pull out my phone.
“Fuckin’ finally,” Deke snaps. “I’ve been trying to reach you. We found Bentley.”
“That’s good–”
“No, it's not. He and an entire wet work team are on their way to hunt your girl.”
I’m on my feet in a shot. “Are you shitting me?”
“No. Is she with you?”
“No.” I let her go. I don't say the last part. I can’t stand to say the truth out loud: I had my mate by my side, and I drove her away. “She's off the mountain. We're separated. She’s with Matthias.”
“Get him on the phone, and get Lana to a safe location. I’ll text you Bentley’s last known coordinates. You’ll need backup. We’re coming down.”
I hang up and ring Darius, but the sound of his ringer jangles just outside the door. “What the fuck?”
“Teddy?” Matthias is outside. The ATV rolled up while I was on the phone with Deke. Did he already visit the leech with Lana?
A searing pain lances my heart.
The cabin door bangs open. Hutch, Bern and Canyon appear in a tangle of limbs, fighting to get through the door together.
“I'm going to kill you!” Canyon has his arms outstretched, fingers flexing like they’re around my throat. Hutch and Bern are trying to pull him back.
“Where is she?” Canyon shouts. “Lana! We're going to take you to safety!”
“She’s not here,” Matthias rumbles from behind them.
Axel is beside him, leaning on the ATV, a hand rolled joint in his hand. “Yeah, man. Calm down.”
My growl splits the night, and the Terrible Threes settle. I push past them to snarl at Matthias. “Where is she?”
“Darius wanted to take her,” Matthias shrugs. “She agreed.”
Darius. Fucker.
“We need to get her back.”
“The mindwipe is what she wanted.”
“What?” Canyon sags in his brothers’ arms. “Why?”
“Yeah, why’d she leave?” Hutch pipes up. “We made her a cake.”
Everest has appeared next to the ATV holding a homemade three layer cake. White frosting is sliding off the sides. On top is loopy handwriting that looks like it was written by a drunken toddler. It says, ‘welcome to the family’ with a horrifying brown blob underneath that is supposed to be a bear.
Axel looks from the cake to Everest and back again. “Nailed it.”
“I don't know,” Hutch says. “I think there was too much water in the frosting–”
“Listen up,” I bark. “Lana's in trouble.”
Everyone’s mouth snaps shut.
“The Black Wolf pack is texting me the enemy’s last known location. We need to go.”
“Who?” Canyon shrugs off his brothers. “You're not leaving us behind.”
“No. I need your help. All of your help.” I stare into my assembled brothers’ faces, including the triplets. They look so young, but they’re family, and I need them. “We need to find Lana and intercept Bentley. We're taking the warbirds. All of them.”
My cell starts beeping loudly. So does everyone else's. There’s a moment of confusion, while we pull out our phones and stare at the screens.
“What the–” Canyon says.
“The tracker.” I clutch my phone. “Darius is sending a distress signal.”
“And now we have coordinates,” Matthias says.
“Bad bears activate,” Hutch says. He looks determined, but there’s a questioning lilt to his voice.
“Yes.” I grip his shoulder. “Bad bears activate. Now here’s what we’re going to do.”
Lana
My heartbeat echoes in my chest and reverberates through my limbs, but my breathing has slowed in time to Darius’ countdown.
“One… Two…”
On three, we both throw our car doors open. I scramble into the brush on the side of the road, my boots scrabbling on the rocky soil.
Darius is shouting something, drawing attention to himself. I put my head down and pelt up the side of the hill. The smell of sage rises as I crush the silvery plants underfoot. I dodge and weave, trying to look for a way to hide. A gap in the hill, some sort of crevice. My hand is molded around Darius' cell phone. I could get to high ground and see if that will allow Teddy to track me better.