Dante arched his brows. “The bunker can’t be big enough for all the residents.”
“It isn’t, which is why women and children are the priority. Others might have escaped through the emergency exit. A lot of people will have stayed with Dawn to protect her.”
Jaime worried her bottom lip. “Is there any way Remy could find the bunker?”
“The only way inside is through a hidden door in the basement. Given how well it’s concealed, I’ll be amazed if he finds it. He won’t be able to sniff out the people hiding because the basement smells of enough bleach to throw off the strongest nose.”
Ryan remembered the smell and knew she was right.
The Beta female exhaled a relieved breath. “So the children should all be safe.”
“I hope so.”
Ryan cast a quick look at his mate. She was pale, her lips were pinched, her body was subtly tremoring, and the wild glint in her eyes was feverish. But, since her emotions were echoing inside him, he didn’t need to read her body language to know she was an emotional mess. His wolf wanted to nuzzle her. Ryan put a hand on her thigh. “Kenna, you need to stay calm for me.”
“I’m calm.”
He grunted. She was far from it. Her system was restless with anger, anxiety, desperation, and dread. He was just as fucking infuriated, but he knew better than to let emotion get in the way. His mate wasn’t so good at that. Being one to overthink things, she was most likely imagining all kinds of awful scenarios and driving herself insane with them. “We won’t let anything happen to Dawn and Madisyn, I swear that to you.”
It was difficult to swallow, and the movement pained the back of her throat. “You heard what Ally said. Remy blames Dawn for everything. He’s not rational right now.”
“She also said we had to proceed carefully. If he hears us, if he knows we’ve come for him, he’ll hurt as many people as he can.”
Makenna blew out a long breath, knowing he was right. “Calm. I’ll be calm. But Madisyn won’t.” And that was what worried her most of all. “She doesn’t think; she reacts.”
“She won’t endanger Dawn.”
“No, but she might try to kill Remy if he or one of his wolves harm her.”
Unable to deny that, Ryan said nothing. He didn’t know Madisyn well. He wasn’t sure anyone other than Dawn and Makenna could claim to know her well. But he did sense that she was extremely close to those two females, that they were anchors for her. He also sensed that Dawn and Madisyn were equally important to Makenna. If anything happened to either of them, there was no saying what she’d do. That meant he’d have to keep a close watch on his mate. He couldn’t afford for her to lose her shit and get herself killed.
Minutes later, Ryan turned down a dirt path and parked close to the shelter’s perimeter fence. Switching off the engine, he said, “Remember, Kenna—”
“Be calm, I got it.”
But she wasn’t anything even close to calm. So he cupped her nape and kissed her. “You can feel how calm I am, right?”
She could. He was admirably cool and collected, his mind clear and objective. “Yes.”
“Use it. Let it flow through you.” If they could feed from each other’s arousal, they could do this too.
“I don’t know how.”
“It’s already inside you. All you have to do is cling to it. Okay?”
Nodding, she reached for that calm and held tight to it.
When some of the wildness retreated from her eyes, Ryan nodded in approval. “Let’s go. Stay close.” They easily scaled the fence, not making a sound. He was about to head through the trees when he heard slight rustling behind him. It was Makenna, reaching beneath a bush. “What are you doing?”
“You want to go in through the emergency exit, right?” There was a slight grating sound, and she smiled as she flipped back the bush, revealing a downward tunnel.
Jaime’s brows flew up. “That’s seriously smart.”
“About nine years ago, a badger shifter stayed here who’d once served in the army. He was pretty paranoid. Dawn had to keep confiscating his smoke grenades—we didn’t even know where he was getting them from. Anyway, he built tunnels beneath the shelter and the forest, preferred living in his animal form.”
“So there’s a tunnel system under here?” asked Dante.
Makenna nodded. “He also insisted on building this escape route for when ‘they’ finally came for him because he ‘knew too much.’ We never did work out who or what he was talking about.” She swiftly descended the ladder and then shuffled aside to make the room for the others.
Bending to fit into the tunnel, Ryan patted her ass. “Lead the way.” As they advanced through the tunnels, he noticed the little red symbols on the wall that marked the way to the shelter. Makenna didn’t once glance at them; she seemed to know exactly where she was going.
“Almost there.” Rounding a corner, she stopped dead, causing the others to bump into her.
“Makenna!” A teenage girl grinned at the group of people with her. “See, I told you Madisyn would get word to her.”
Moving toward them, Makenna said, “I thought at least some of you would have left.”
A dark woman shrugged one shoulder. “My man’s still up there. I won’t leave without him. Besides, we figured you’d need some help when you got here.”
“Help?” asked Dante.
“You want to know how many people are here and what they want, don’t you? Remy brought about twenty to twenty-five wolves with him. He announced that he’s the Alpha now and that this is his territory. Then he started shouting names, saying they belonged to him and he wanted them back. We have no idea who he means.”
Makenna’s chest clenched. “Dawn and Madisyn?”
“They were alive when we climbed down here. But I don’t trust Remy not to hurt them.”
An elderly male tapped his temple. “He’s not right in the head.” He peeked around Makenna. “You didn’t bring many people with you.”
“Others will come soon. Did all the kids make it to the bunker?”
The dark female nodded. “We all got moving when we heard the alarm. Everyone else huddled in the cafeteria to make it look like they were the only people there.”
The teenager bit her lip. “He won’t hurt Dawn, will he?”
“No, he won’t,” stated Makenna. Her wolf growled, backing her up. The animal wasn’t interested in being calm or thinking clearly. She wanted to rip out the throats of all the bastards who’d invaded the shelter and endangered everyone in it. She kept pushing to surface, wanting to take control so she could hunt them down. Taking a deep breath, Makenna again reached for the calm echoing through her, thanks to Ryan.
“You all wait here,” she told the residents before gesturing for Ryan, Jaime, and Dante to follow her past the group. That was when they came to another ladder. “Okay, this leads to a trapdoor in one of the family rooms. Don’t be alarmed when you get to the top and realize you’re in a closet.”
Dante frowned. “The trapdoor’s at the bottom of a closet?”
“Another of the badger’s ideas. And a good one.”
“How close is this room to the cafeteria?”
“Close enough that we have to be quiet.” If they found them, they would also find the trapdoor and the people hiding below.
“I’ll go up first.” Reaching the top of the ladder, Dante pushed open the trapdoor and then, without making a sound, slowly swung open the closet door. She was guessing the room was empty, because he stepped out of the closet. Jaime went next, quickly followed by Makenna and Ryan.
Dante quietly spoke. “Whatever you see in the cafeteria, remember that killing Remy is the priority. We do that, we knock the others off balance.”
“Remy’s mine,” rumbled Ryan.
“Then we’ll attack anyone who tries to help him, because I really don’t think these shifters have the kind of honor that would make them stand back while two wolves duel.”
Makenna agreed with D
ante. “How long do you think it will be before backup arrives?”
“No idea,” replied the Beta male. “The battle will have already started by now. We can’t be sure how long it will be before Trey can afford to spare people.”
Jaime winced. “Four against twenty-five isn’t great odds.”
No, it wasn’t. “Madisyn and Colton are good fighters. Dawn’s damn vicious and capable of holding her own. Most of the residents have received combat training from Colton—lone shifters have to know how to protect themselves. If nothing else, they’ll keep most of Remy’s wolves occupied.”
Looking into his mate’s eyes, Ryan knew she wasn’t quite as confident about their safety as she sounded. She had to know there was a huge difference in knowing defensive maneuvers and being trained enforcers. There were certain to be casualties.
“It might be best if we don’t shift,” added Makenna. “The residents won’t be able to tell us apart from Remy’s wolves if we’re in our other form. They know our scents, but they’ll be too hyped up to really take note of them.”
“She has a point,” said Jaime, rolling back her shoulders. “I have some experience at fighting wolves while in my human form.”
Dante looked at Ryan. “Don’t worry if you have to shift to fight Remy. We’ll be guarding you anyway.”
Makenna went to speak, but then everybody froze at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. Shit. The footsteps stopped a short distance away from the room.
“Did you find them?” The voice was male and unfamiliar.
“No,” said a masculine voice that Makenna also didn’t recognize. She arched a questioning brow at Ryan, Dante, and Jaime. They all shook their heads.
A heavy sigh. “I don’t think the boys are here.”
“They could be hiding.”
“I haven’t picked up their scents anywhere. You?”
“No, but Remy believes—”
“Remy’s fucking lost it, and we both know it.”
A derisive snort. “You think a guy who likes little boys has ever been sane?” That received a chuckle. A chuckle? Makenna barely held back a growl. How could anybody find such a concept amusing? These people knew their Alpha was twisted and they didn’t care. They weren’t just without honor; they were without morals.
Ryan held a finger to his mouth, opened the door a little . . . and fucking disappeared out of the room like smoke. Dante must have sensed Makenna’s automatic instinct to follow, because he raised a hand and shook his head. She was about to tell him to fuck off, but then he mouthed, “Listen.”
So she listened . . . and realized nobody was talking anymore. Ryan poked his head into the room and signaled for them to exit with a jerk of his chin. Her brows shot up as she spotted two males on the floor, their heads tilted at an unnatural angle. He and Dante dragged them into the room and quietly shut the door.
Well, that was two less immoral fuckers in the world.
Dante took the lead as they kept close to the wall, using the shadows as cover. She guessed he was following the voices they could hear—unfortunately, they weren’t yet clear enough for anyone to understand the words.
Approaching a T-junction, Dante raised a hand and briefly glanced around the corner. He then raised his thumb and led them around it. Still sticking close to the wall, they silently hurried down the hall. That was when the voices started to become clear.
“Don’t make me ask you again, Dawn,” growled Remy.
“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.” Dawn sounded cool and collected, but Makenna knew the feline would be nervous as hell.
“I know they’re here, so lying to me is pointless,” he spat.
“You can’t truly believe that the council left them here, in such an obvious place,” scoffed Dawn.
Reaching the cafeteria, Makenna found the door ajar. Staying within the shadows, the Beta pair moved to the opposite side of the doorframe while she and Ryan peeked through the gap near the hinges of the door. Madisyn and Colton were flanking Dawn while the residents and other staff members were grouped behind them; some looked nervous, others looked ready to kill.
Over twenty of Remy’s wolves were present, including Selene. They had kicked aside most of the tables and were circling Dawn and the others. It was a relief to see that Madisyn hadn’t gotten herself killed. But going by the way she was eying Remy with lethal precision, she sure was thinking about pouncing on him any moment now.
Pacing, Remy sniggered. “The council left them here because it’s an obvious place, thinking I wouldn’t suspect it.” His every movement was jerky and awkward, like a junkie needing a fix. His recently deceased pack mate was right: he’d lost it.
“You had your wolves search the entire building, and they didn’t find them,” Dawn pointed out. “The second search doesn’t seem to have yielded anything either. What does that tell you?”
“That you’re hiding them with the others.” Remy went nose to nose with her. “You think I haven’t noticed that there are no children among this crowd? You think I wouldn’t find that a little fucking suspicious? You’ve hid them somewhere, and you’ve hid mine with them. Tell me where!” Remy slanted a glance at Selene. With a wicked grin, the female sliced out her claws and pointed them at Colton’s throat. “Tell me, or he dies.”
To his credit, Colton didn’t move a single muscle. He showed no fear at all. Dawn, on the other hand, hitched a breath as her eyes rounded.
Remy snickered, smug at her slight sign of weakness. “I think we understand each other now, don’t we?”
Makenna shot a “We need to do something” look at Ryan. He then exchanged a look and some kind of weird hand signal with Dante and Jaime. They both nodded.
“Colton has nothing to do with this, Remy,” said Dawn. “Leave him out of it.”
“You’ve taken something important from me. I think it’s only fair that I take something important from you. Of course, you can save him if you just give me what I want. So I’ll ask you one more time. Where. Are. They?”
“I’ve told you, they’re not here, and I don’t know where the council took them.”
“I warned you.”
Selene sliced open Colton’s throat. Everyone froze, breaths catching. Unable to process what was happening, Makenna watched as, eyes wide with horror and pain, her friend gurgled and dropped to his knees. Then he slumped to the ground. Time seemed to slow as ice-cold fury slammed into her core and settled heavy in her stomach while heat rushed to her head. Everything inside her screamed and bled, inflating like a balloon that was destined to burst. And that calm she’d clung to . . . it went.
Sensing the storm of emotion in his mate, Ryan made a grab for her. It was too late. She charged into the room just as Madisyn launched herself at Selene. Several things then happened at once.
A hand fisted in Madisyn’s hair from behind, wrenching her away from Selene.
The residents roared and lunged at Remy’s wolves, shifting into their animal forms.
Makenna jumped on Selene’s back when the Head Enforcer tried to stab Madisyn, making Selene hit the ground hard.
Ryan, Dante, and Jaime raced into the room and joined the fight.
Remy made a dive for Dawn, but Ryan swiped his back, raking his claws over the bastard’s skin.
Then everything and everyone pretty much went crazy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Somewhere in the back of Makenna’s mind, she knew she was half feral. Knew she was back in that state where mercy had no place. A state that seemed to intensify every emotion—the raw anger, the terrible grief, the heart-stabbing pain, and the desperate need for vengeance . . . all of that curdled inside her and fuelled her every move.
Straddling Selene, she dragged her claws down the Head Enforcer’s back. Makenna smiled at the sound of cloth tearing, skin splitting open, and the bitch’s howl of pain. The smell of Selene’s blood made Makenna’s wolf bare her teeth in wicked satisfaction.
Yeah, she was half feral all right. But fo
r now, Makenna didn’t have the emotional capacity to care.
As she raised her hand to stab the bitch beneath her, someone grabbed Makenna’s wrist and yanked her away. Pain rippled through Makenna’s shoulder as the move almost wrenched her damn arm from the socket. Then the interfering fucker at her back disappeared with a howl of agony.
Makenna didn’t check to see whom her savior was. She only had eyes for Selene, who had jumped to her feet. Selene, who had killed Colton and tried to stab Madisyn. She needed to die. And it needed to hurt.
Makenna snatched a chair and swung it at Selene. The bitch caught it by one leg. No matter. Makenna snapped off one of the other chair legs and, once Selene had slung the chair aside, whacked the leg across her face. It hit Selene’s cheekbone with a satisfying crack.
Selene stared at her, wide-eyed in pure disbelief. “You hit me with a chair.” Pure disbelief.
Yeah, yeah, shifters fought with teeth and claws. Well, Makenna fought with whatever she fucking found. She was a scrapper, not a trained enforcer. And right then, she had no care for what was fair.
“Aw, was Colton a dear friend?” taunted Selene. She kicked Makenna hard in the stomach.
The impact took Makenna’s breath away and made her stumble. The backs of her thighs banged into a table and, shit, that hurt. Shelving the pain, Makenna went at her with an arsenal of teeth, claws, limbs, and a chair leg. All the while, shifters howled and roared and hissed around them. The scents of blood, sweat, and anger rose in the air, inciting her wolf.
Selene ducked and dodged. Punched and kicked. Bit and clawed. It hurt, it stung, and Makenna motherfucking bled. But she was beyond caring about the pain. Beyond caring that Selene was strong and well trained. Beyond caring that her own blood was flowing. Beyond caring about anything other than ending this bitch.
The female went to skirt around Makenna, no doubt to reach Remy and help him fight off Ryan. Oh the fuck no. Makenna blocked her path.
“You can’t win this,” Selene hissed. “I’m a Head Enforcer.”