Children of the Moon: Book Four Page 13

  “The alpha is coming?” Leo sounded relieved, “Hope says no one can beat him in a fight. Nate smiled to himself. Seann Donovan’s reputation was legendary and if it made the kid feel better to know he was part of the rescue party, then all the better.

  “Yes, now hang up and tell the others what I just told you. I will be there in twenty minutes or so, Leo.” he hung up and put his foot flat down on the gas pedal, every minute counted at a moment like this.

  His thoughts went back to Bree and he said a silent prayer to the goddess to keep his mate safe from injury or harm. He saw red when he thought of her in the line of fire and knew he couldn’t live without her if anything were to happen to her. If Rob Danvers harmed a hair on her head he would rip his beating heart from his fucking chest and feed it to his friends.

  He guided the truck through the small country roads willing the traffic out of his way and wishing he was driving a sports car and not his truck. It was fast, but not as fast as he needed it to be and when he rounded the corner into the main street of the place he considered his home, he was relieved to see it was pretty quiet and wouldn’t have to explain his erratic driving to the entire town.

  He drove much too fast past the office, the diner and grocery store and headed toward the entrance to the mountain. He knew the others would already be there and he considered stopping the truck and shifting to join them. He would get there a little quicker but they may need the truck for transporting Danvers and his men if they were able to take them alive.

  He saw the truck coming up behind him in his rearview mirror and stepped on the gas a little more, surprised they had caught up to him.

  His shifter sight could pick out India driving and there was another truck behind her too. It looked like everyone was arriving at the same time and his heart was beating loudly in his chest as the farm came into view a few miles in the distance. The others were already there and he didn’t know if he was walking into carnage, but it didn’t matter. Bree was in there somewhere and nothing in the world was going to stop him from going in after her.

  There was no point in trying to sneak in quietly either, they would be last to arrive and another wolf or two in the mix could tip the balance of power in their favor.

  Three other vehicles were behind him now and they sped along the country road in their mini convoy. He braked sharply as they approached and screeched into the farmyard bringing the truck to a stop in front of Seann and Imogen’s soon-to-be, new home. He opened the door and leaped over the fence leading to the orchard and the path to the old barn he could see through the fruit trees.

  He ran as fast as he could toward the voices and heard India and the others on his tail. He burst in through the side door and stopped in his tracks.

  The rest of the pack were there, some in wolf form and some had shifted back again. Cassie and Leo were both unconscious on the floor and there was no sign of Summer, Hope or Rylee anywhere. Bree was holding Cassie’s head on her lap, completely oblivious to the fact that she was still naked.

  “Leo, can you hear me, son.” Nate kneeled beside the kid and tried to wake him but he was dead to the world. Cassie stirred with a groan and Bree helped her sit upright.

  “Can you tell us what happened, Cassie?” Bree said gently.

  “I don’t know, they knew Leo and I were hiding in the loft and one of them ordered us to come down or they would kill Hope. When we hesitated one of them hit Rylee hard across the face, she was bleeding from her nose and mouth and we came downstairs.” Cassie started to cry.

  The tall one told the men they could do what they liked with Hope and Rylee but that Summer wasn’t to be harmed

  Garrett growled and India went to his side to calm him. One of those men was going to pay with his life for hurting his little sister.

  “He hit Leo and knocked him out and then he did the same to me. Before I lost consciousness I heard him say.

  “One down, two to go. We need to get to their compound while they are otherwise engaged.”

  “Did they take the women with them?” Kandis asked her.

  “I don’t know, I guess so.”

  “Do a quick sweep and see if there is any sign of them, if not I guess we can assume he is holding Hope, Rylee and Summer hostage,” Seann said. “I will call Jay at the compound and put them on high alert, we need to get back home as soon as possible.”

  Nate lifted Leo and put him in the back seat of the truck as Cassie got in beside him, still a little woozy from the knock on the head.

  “He will be okay, Cassie. He should wake up soon. Your shifter genes helped you heal a little quicker than Leo, that’s all.” Nate said as Bree climbed in beside him now fully dressed again in jeans and a t-shirt.

  The scouts came back and said there was no sign of either of the women still in the vicinity of the farm and Nate cranked the engine.

  “Let’s get going, I need to find Hope,” Bree said through clenched teeth.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Bree

  With no trace of her sister and the other two women, it was becoming increasingly clear that Danvers had taken them with them. They couldn’t be too far in front of them and the party had split into two for the two-hour drive back to the compound.

  The highway was usually quicker but Liam wanted some of them to go the more direct route and he, Seann and Kandis would shift as soon as they reached the edge of the national forest and take a shortcut back to their home. Garrett, Lukas and Finn were going to try and track the women because Liam said it was doubtful he would bring them into the compound when he came for Imogen and the baby.

  Bree’s phone buzzed and she saw Imogen’s face appear on the screen.

  Shit!

  Nate raised an eyebrow and she shook her head, a pained expression on her face as she debated answering or not.

  She didn’t want to scare her by telling her Danvers was on his way to the compound, but she also had a right to know and she didn’t yet know what Seann had told his mate about the latest developments.

  “Hi, Imogen,” she said, Seann could be pissed at her later. “We are just leaving the farm. Danvers has Hope, Rylee and another woman, we will fill in the details later but we have reason to believe he is on his way to the compound, honey. I don’t want to scare you but I think you should be prepared and get the baby to safety. Seann and some of the others will likely get there first as they are going across country for the last leg of the journey.”

  She closed her eyes as Imogen unleashed her fury and she listened to her get it all off her chest. She was the sweetest person Bree had ever met but she had a temper to rival her read-headed sister, India.

  When she finished the call Nate was watching her, having caught most of what was said on the other end with his enhanced shifter hearing.

  “She is pissed at Seann because he should have been the one to tell her what has happened, but luckily for Seann, she is even more pissed at Danvers and his buddies,” she said.

  “Will she go into hiding?” Nate asked.

  “Not likely, she is as stubborn as my brother is, but she is also more capable than he gives her credit for. Seann underestimates her time after time, that would piss me off too.”

  “Noted.” Nate tried to coax a smile out of her.

  Leo woke and Cassie gave him some water to drink, but he seemed to be okay apart from a doozy of a headache and a dry mouth. Cassie filled him in quickly on what had happened since.

  “Sorry, we weren't able to do anything to stop them,” he said.

  “None of this is your fault, Leo. Danvers is a crazy son of a bitch and he won’t let anyone get in his way of what he wants. If you had put up a fight it could have been much worse for both of you.” Nate reassured him, reminding himself that he was still just a kid.

  “Man, are you doing almost a hundred miles an hour!” Leo said leaning between the seats to get a better look at the speedometer.

  “Yes, so get your seatbelt back on before you get hurt,” Nate said sharpl
y. “The rest of us would survive a wreck at this speed, you probably would not.”

  Leo quickly fastened himself back into his seat and he glanced at his sister whose face had turned a little paler.

  “Shifter’s also have amazing reflexes,” Bree added to reassure him but they stayed silent just watching the countryside fly past them.

  They had some drinks and snacks still left in the bag and Bree passed them out, more to distract than because she was actually hungry. She popped the top on a can of coke and drank it and gave one to Nate. Leo and Cassie were eating chips and she unwrapped a large bar of chocolate and broke off half, passing the rest to Nate.

  She wished she could get the picture of her sister as Danvers’ prisoner out of her head. Hope wasn’t his real target, neither was Rylee but she knew he wasn’t above killing them just for a distraction. A man who would harm a little girl like Everly was capable of absolutely anything.

  The normally pleasant journey felt like it was taking forever, but Bree knew they were making good time and would be at the compound in less than an hour, as long as Nate didn’t get pulled over in the meantime.

  Her phone pinged with a message from Liam and she read it before telling the others.

  “It looks like Danvers and two vehicles are heading toward the compound but another two of their vehicles have pulled off the road and are going in a different direction, probably with Hope and the others. Garrett, India and two of the younger men are following them now while Seann, Liam and Kandis are going to shift and go the rest of the way through the forest. In a few minutes they will be out of touch until they reach home. He wants us to drop Cassie and Leo with Zac and Bethany who will meet us at the gate and go straight up to the Den to be with Imogen and the rest of the pack.”

  Nate nodded and clenched his jaw and Bree knew he wished he was with Seann. She closed her eyes and prayed for her sister and the other women's safety.

  She received another message and her heart lurched as she read it. It was sent out pack wide from Jay, their new chief of police and he had taken the unprecedented step of evacuating the compound of all non-essential personnel. He wanted all of the children and most of the elderly wolves off the compound until they had dealt with Danvers and his minions. It brought home the reality of their situation, Bree had never known there to ever be an evacuation but she understood her uncle’s reasons. Rob Danvers would kill anyone who got in his way.

  She passed on the news to Nate and told Cassie and Leo she would drop them off in town instead where Bethany would now be waiting. Their plans were fluid, changing by the minute.

  “We will drop you off at the coffee shop in the middle of town, you will be perfectly safe there until this is all over. I will message Bethany to meet you there, just sit tight and we will come and get you a little later on. Some of the others from the pack will be there too and in the restaurants and grocery stores, anywhere that’s highly visible, especially for the children.”

  Cassie shivered and Bree felt sorry for these two kids. They had been thrust into a world still very much beyond their comprehension and now all of this drama on top. There would be time for more explanations later, right now they needed to focus on the task at hand.

  Nate forced himself to slow down as they pulled onto the main street of the small town and the first person Bree saw was Kandis’ Mom, Faye Scott. She was sitting outside the bookstore where her daughter had been kidnapped not too long ago and she had a baby in her arms and another in a stroller. Nate pulled over in front of the coffee shop and Bethany was already there to meet them.

  “Bethany, this is Leo and Cassie,” Bree said as the two of them got out of the car.

  “We are gathering all of the children and the older folks and sending them to the library if anyone is wondering where their kids are. We just have to round up a few more and then we will join them.” Bethany said as she ushered the others inside.

  “Faye is at the bookstore with a couple of the kids,” Bree told her and Bethany nodded and waved a quick goodbye.

  “Okay, let's go home and get this bastard Danvers once and for all,” Nate said and Bree clipped on her seatbelt as they sped off out of town and onto the compound.

  No-one was guarding the gate and Bree felt a shiver run down her spine, there was always someone on duty at the gate. They passed no-one as the truck flew toward the Den and Bree wondered if it had been completely deserted.

  They were halfway to the Den when one of the young guards stepped out in front of the truck and Nate had to swerve and stomp on the brakes to avoid hitting him.

  “What the hell, son.”

  “Jay said I had to stop any pack members and have them go the rest of the way on foot. The rest of them are gathered in the woods at the back of the Den, you need to go there, quickly. There are men already inside, but we don’t know where Imogen is.”

  Bree jumped out and she and Nate made their way to the others as quickly and quietly as possible, leaving the kid to move the truck off the road.

  Seann, Liam, Kandis and Jay were there with a dozen younger men and women who were all capable fighters and Bree went to her brother and whispered.

  “Where are Imogen and the baby?”

  “We don’t know, but I don’t sense her in the house. The best I can hope for is that she went into town with the others.” he clenched his teeth and Bree knew he was more concerned than he was showing.

  “What’s the plan?” Nate asked.

  “Garrett's brother, Connor and his men are watching the perimeter in case any of them try to slip away now that we have them here in the compound,” Jay said.

  “There are six people inside the Den, Danvers is one of them and Summer Blackwood is another. Hope and Rylee are both okay and Garrett found the vehicles they were travelling in. He can hear their captor’s conversations, they are holed up in a motel room about forty-five minutes from here, most likely waiting for their boss to return. They are going to be very disappointed. As soon as I know where Imogen and my daughter are, I will give the go-ahead to rescue them and to go in there and take Danvers out.”

  Bree shivered at the expression on her brother's face. Rob Danvers was going to die here tonight and she didn’t feel the least bit sorry. At least not for him, but she did for Liam and for Finn who was waiting to rescue her sister.

  “I want to go inside and see if I can sense Imogen in the house, see if I can figure out where she’s gone,” Bree said and Seann surprised her when he agreed without protest.

  “Okay, Bree, let’s do it your way. I will go in the front door with Liam, Jay and Nate. I want you and Kandis to go in through one of the second-floor windows and snoop around upstairs. We will create enough noise to distract them. The rest of you get ready to come inside if we need you.”

  Bree and Kandis crept round the side of the house and waited patiently as the four men walked around to the front and up onto the porch. Seann pushed the door so hard it rocked on its hinges.

  “Who the fuck gave you the right to enter my home, Danvers?” he roared and Bree took the opportunity to swing up onto the old oak and drop down on the roof. Kandis followed behind but she wasn’t as flexible as Bree despite being the fittest member of the pack and she rolled her eyes as Bree landed like a cat and slipped in through Hope’s bedroom window.

  They went quickly from room to room, but there was no-one there and Kandis clenched her fists in frustration. Bree was sniffing the air around her with a puzzled look on her face.

  “There is no sign that Everly is still here in the house, her scent is fading but I can smell Imogen as strongly as ever.” She started down the staircase, sniffing the air as she went and Kandis followed behind her.

  “Shouldn’t we go back outside and wait.”

  “No, Imogen is down here somewhere, her scent is getting sharper with every step.”

  They came into the living room and Bree stopped short. Seann and the others were standing by the door, afraid to move a muscle. Danvers was standing by
the fireplace and Summer was kneeling at his feet. He had a pistol at her head and an evil grin on his face.

  “You must be Hope’s lovely sister and I don't think I know this beauty,” he bowed slightly to Kandis. “I want the white wolf and her daughter, everyone else is of no consequence to me. Serena here is going to help me, aren't you darling?” Danvers grinned again as he pressed the gun into her temple and Bree knew it was taking everything her brother possessed not to lunge at him and rip his throat out.

  Imogen's scent was so familiar to her or she may have missed it and Bree could have sworn she was standing right next to her. When she met Summer Blackwood's eyes she knew that wasn’t just a lucky guess. Imogen was here and somehow Summer was hiding her in plain sight. Now, she just had to figure out how to use this to their advantage.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Nate

  Nate wasn’t sure what was happening but Bree looked a little too relaxed considering the stalemate situation they were all in. She took a seat in the far corner of the room and he could have sworn he saw her suppress a smile as Seann and Danvers were arguing.

  He watched as she cocked her head to the side and her eyes met his, willing him to go along with her, to trust her.

  He did. He would trust this woman with his life and she clearly knew something he was not yet privy too. Liam moved closer to the fireplace, very slowly so as not to spook him into doing something stupid.

  “I don’t know where Imogen is, Danvers, but even if I did I wouldn’t tell you,” Seann growled but Rob Danvers just grinned.

  “Then I guess we just wait here until she returns, maybe get better acquainted with my long-lost big brother. His gaze swiveled to Liam and the maniacal look in his eyes told Nate how crazy the bastard truly was.

  “Rob, why are you doing this?” Liam took a step closer to his brother.