Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 178(@200wpm)___ 143(@250wpm)___ 119(@300wpm)
“He fell for one of the prisoners and none of them are here, are they?”
“Interrogate the one you captured.”
Rocko had already handed the prisoner to another man to chain up. He needed to take care of the fallen and help the doctor. “I’m not taking any chances that little shit is running off with his woman or whoever the fuck it is. Do as I say.”
“Have you checked your house?” Lucas asked.
Rocko paused. “What?”
“They took all the humans. What if they went for Winter?” he asked. “She could have been playing you.”
He sliced his hand down. “I’ve gone through this before. It’s not fucking happening.”
“The men are going to want to know if you trust her truly. You have her in your home with easy access to communicating outside.”
“There is no communication outside. She has access to a single television, that’s it. There’s nothing else for her to do.” He knew his argument was pointless.
“Rocko?”
He heard Winter’s voice and the sound of screams. Tensing up, ready to fight, he looked toward his home and saw her holding the baby.
“Rocko! Lucas! Anyone!” Her voice sounded afraid as it quivered. “Is everyone okay?”
His pack stopped. The entire town froze as they looked toward her. The fog had cleared and he looked toward her.
She stopped and he looked at her.
“I heard the explosion and the windows exploded. Daphne’s okay.”
The closer she got, he saw the cuts on her body.
He didn’t think, only reacted. Going to her, he tried to take Daphne from her. “I need to have her.”
“She’s fine.”
“But you’re not and you’ve got glass in your body.”
“We need another doctor,” Lucas said.
“I don’t know what happened.”
Neither did he, but he was going to find out. He went to cup her cheek but stopped himself. She was bleeding and there appeared to be a piece of glass in her cheek. It wasn’t deep.
The explosion would have caused a ricochet. He hadn’t thought to go and check on Winter and Daphne, believing they were safe. He’d fucked up.
“I’m fine,” Winter said. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He looked beyond her shoulder and found nothing there. Releasing a curse, he gritted his teeth and then grabbed her arm, taking her to the secure building where he had all the feeds from the cameras set up. Daphne wriggled in her arms and he was tempted to take her, but he held himself back, not wanting to cause a scene.
His pack was already vying for blood.
“What happened, Rocko?”
“I’ll tell you later. For now, stay here. Don’t let anyone in.” He pointed at the locks, not that it would actually protect her from any of his pack trying to get in to hurt her.
“I’m scared,” she said.
“I know. I’ve got to deal with it.” He wanted to kiss her but again, because of her wounds, he forced himself to stay in check. “I’ve got to go.” He didn’t look back as he left the building. The doctor attended to the wounds while he helped Lucas and his men move the bodies of the fallen.
“This shouldn’t have fucking happened,” Lucas said.
“I know.”
“You’re going to have to move her out of town. Her and the kid,” he said.
“Not going to happen.”
“Some of us died tonight. I know you don’t want to admit it or even have to live with the consequences. She’s human. One of them. So is the kid. If you don’t, the pack may not follow your orders when you give it.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve seen the way she is. I know she doesn’t deserve this, but you’ve got to protect her for that very reason.” Lucas rubbed the back of his neck. “You know I’m right.”
Brian returned to help them.
He knew Lucas was right. This attack was on their land, in their town, and it had killed some of them.
“How is Amber?” Rocko asked.
“Devastated. The doctor said … even a transition wouldn’t grow her leg back.”
Their wolves were amazing but not miracle workers.
“Tell me we’re going to make them pay?” Brian asked, spitting out each word. “I want to watch each and every one of them bleed.”
“We will.”
“I revoke my invite to your woman and kid,” Brian said. “It will be too much for Amber to see them.”
“Your wedding is still taking place?”
“Nothing on this earth is going to stop me from loving my woman. I love her more than anything and I’m going to protect her with my life. She doesn’t think I’m going to want her but I’ll prove differently to her.”
As the alpha, he could deny Brian’s request, but he wasn’t going to. Brian was clearly hurting and he wasn’t going to do anything to add to that. So, rather than continue to put his pack through any kind of pain, he made a decision about Daphne and Winter.
****
“I’ll be back each night to check on you,” Rocko said.