Chapter 300

Archer’s first punch is quickly followed by many, many more, delivered from both sides. The guards outnumber the brothers five to one, but each brother, even Steven, fights with a determined ferocity I haven’t even seen before.

Anyone that so much as comes close to the opening where Isaac and I are standing meets a dire end.

Archer has been growing steadily more wolfish. His hands have begun curling like claws. His eyes are flashing dangerously.

As he’s tearing through three other guards, one slips past him, heading toward Isaac and me. I shove Isaac behind me and, with no hesitation, kick the imposing guard straight in the crotch. He crumples up at once.

In the next instant Archer stands behind him. With a roar, he grabs the guard by the back of the shirt and throws him over his shoulder. The guy flies out into the parking lot, where he smashes into the concrete.

While Archer’s throwing the guy, someone sucker-punches him in the lower back, where his kidneys are. I growl as I push forward, ready to reap some face-punching justice, but Isaac grabs me by the arm and holds me back.

I give him an accusatory look. We should be helping!

But Isaac has a warning glance for me in reply. “Stay out of their way.”

In the next instant, Archer shifts into his large wolf form. His teeth and claws are formable. He quickly finds his own justice.

Behind us, Beau has also shifted. Steven’s close.

Only Neil seems to have slightly more composure. Although when someone sneaks past him to jump on top of the car to get close to Isaac and me, then, Neil loses it. He growls as he grabs the guy by the ankles and yanks backwards. The guy falls, smashing nose-first onto the roof of the car.

Neil pulls the guy off the car and then tosses him toward a few other guards.

The elevator dings. More of the Alpha King’s goons flood out of the elevator.

The brothers are too busy fighting. They don’t seem to notice the more official-looking goon in the officer’s jacket bringing up the rear of his guard. This guard is holding a handgun.

Guns are useless in fights with werewolves. At best, they can only slow a werewolf down.

The guard would know that. For him to bring a gun to this fight meant that it had to be filled with silver bullets, the only thing that would harm a werewolf.

Neil is closest to the elevator. He’d be the first target.

Fear and rage wage war inside of me. Neil suffered the longest, the most, with that silver embedded inside of him. He’s only just gotten rid of it. And now some asshole wants to put it back?

I won’t allow it.

I won’t let them hurt Neil.

Neil is fighting the guards. He spots the officer with a gun, but he has his hands too full to do anything about it. The others are too busy to help him.

I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines.

I start forward. Isaac grabs my arm, but I shake him off. Neil needs me. I’ve patiently waited long enough to get involved.

I jump onto the roof of the car. Then, in a flash, I barrel forward. The officer only has enough time to turn his head before I leap off the car and crash into him.

We both drop to the ground. He takes the brunt of the fall. The air is harshly pushed from his lungs.

He loses the grip on the gun. It goes spinning toward the elevator.

“Nanny!” Beau calls.

I jump to my feet in time to narrowly miss a punch headed by direction by a different guard.

I put my training to use. Dodging, weaving, and landing punches where I can.

Adrenaline floods through me. I’m doing it. I’m fighting. I’m holding my own.

Let them see! Let them all see!

In the fight, I lose track of the gun. One minute it’s on the ground by the elevator. The next it’s gone.

I start to call out for Neil again. I turn toward him. Then I stop dead.

There’s a gun pointed right at my face. And standing behind it, his finger on the trigger, is the Alpha King himself.

“That’s quite enough of this, don’t you agree?” the Alpha King says. He has a wicked grin on his face, while his eyes hold nothing but deep hatred. Hate that strong, I feel slice straight down inside of me. I half expect him to pull the trigger right now, just to watch me squirm on the floor.

The brothers immediately recognize my situation. I can’t look to be sure, but it seems the fighting has stopped. The sounds of it have dimmed. I hear the low growl of a wolf, I’m sure it’s Archer.

“If you pull that trigger,” Neil says, suddenly at my side, “you will not leave here alive, father.”

The Alpha King’s smile widened. “Why don’t we talk, sons? And Isaac, I see you there.” His eyes refocused on me. “Chloe.”

He grabs me by the arm and yanks me closer to him. He turns me so that I can see out, with my back pressed to his front. He brings the gun to my forehead, pressing the hard barrel against my temple.

From this position, I can see the brothers as they step forward, away from the groaning guards in varying states of pain. The brothers themselves seem unharmed, even as they all shift back into human form. The only oddity I notice is that Steven is missing his glasses.

Steven and Beau seem a touch worried, looking at me. Frankly I’m worried too. One wrong move and, even with my healing factor, I’m going to die.

Isaac seems frightened. I can’t blame him either. He’s a politician. A high-ranking member of the community. Until this week, he fully believed in the Alpha King as a good person. Now he gets to watch that same man hold on a gun on his step-daughter.

Neil’s face is careful schooled. He’s not outwardly showing any emotion, but I know him well enough now to know that blank expression means there is a fire burning underneath. Neil will make heads roll before this is done. I just hope mine makes it through okay.

Archer, meanwhile, is openly hostile, snarling low and dangerously. He’s in human form again, but his fingers are curled like claws. He seems as if he could shift again at any moment.

“Let’s move this conversation somewhere more civilized. Like my office,” the Alpha King says. “Shall we?”

He doesn’t wait for a response before he starts dragging me back toward the elevators. When we reach it, he wedges himself into the corner by the buttons. He presses the button for the top floor, then grips me around the throat.

The brothers pile into the elevator, all facing their father and me. Some of the more sturdy goons come in beside them.

The elevator doors slide closed and the elevator starts to lift.

“How nice of you all to come by and visit your father,” the Alpha King says. He tightens his grip on my throat a bit, forcing me to stretch out my neck. He tilts his face into me and sniffs the space behind my ear. “Always nice to see you, Chloe.”

I want to cringe out of my skin. Instead, I stand very still and pray for the elevator to move faster.