Jack was right behind him.
The gate was locked from the outside. Grant and Jack gripped the chain-link gate and pulled. Grant watched Roxie dodge her brother’s snapping fangs, but he could see she was hurt bad. If they didn’t get to her soon, Crawl might finish her.
Jack and Grant pulled harder on the gate. With their combined efforts, they ripped the doors off its hinges.
The crowd seemed to like the addition of two new fighters, and they screamed wildly as Earth alphas approached the large, blond wolf.
The wolf swung around, snarling and growling. He stayed between them and Roxie. Roxie was swaying, badly wounded and blood leaking from her side.
Fury welled up in Grant. “Jack, get our girl.”
He punched Crawl in the head and heard a satisfying crunch of bone. The wolf was slammed sideways and Grant stalked toward the beast with every intention of killing it.
A voice crackled in his ear. Shit. He’d forgotten about the earpieces the Pearsons had given them. “Grant. Jack. We have Lara. Out in five unless you want a front row seat for the fireworks.”
Grant settled for a swift, hard kick into Crawl’s thick, stupid head. The wolf yelped and lay still. Unconscious, but still breathing. But not for long.
Grant took the lead once again. Jack had their mate, still in wolf form, clutched in his arms. Grant cleared a path easily; rage making his punches extremely effective. Without the direction of their alpha, the drunken mob had no idea what to do. They scattered, and the Earth Pack alphas hurried out of the bunker.
Gabe and Mike tossed the still unconscious guards into the bunker and slammed the metal door shut. Then they wired the door.
“You’re going to blow it up?” asked the tiny blonde girl—Lara, no doubt.
“It’ll give the Blood Pack a fighting chance,” said Grant. “Without Crawl and his cronies, the Bloods might be able to rebuild a pack worth saving.”
“We’re gonna bury them, sweetheart,” said Mike. “You got a problem with that?”
Lara shook her head. “Every one of those bastards can burn.”
Grant escorted Lara to the SUV and helped her inside. He slipped into the back seat and took the weakened wolf. Jack joined him, and Roxie lay across their laps, panting shallowly and whining.
“It’s okay, babe,” soothed Grant. “You’re safe. Crawl’s gone. He’ll never hurt you again.”
* * *
WHEN THE SOUL once known as Crawl left his mortal form, his rage tethered him to the earthly plane. He wanted to kill Roxie, to hear her scream and beg for her life, to cause her exquisite, endless pain.
He found her easily enough.
She’d gone to Oregon. To the Earth Pack. Her happiness infuriated him. In no time at all, he became a shadow in her mind, stalking her in dreams. His torment spread into her reality, sucking away her energy. He stole her solace, weakened her heart, and shattered her will.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
12
“NO!” ROXIE STRUGGLED out of the covers and landed feet first on the floor, her heart pounding erratically. Sweat dripped down her neck and her body felt cold and clammy. She shoved herself into the robe at the end of the bed.
The shadow in her terror-filled dream seemed to bleed into her waking world, too. There were days she didn’t know if she was awake or asleep.
She shivered. She’d mistakenly thought she could conquer the brutal nightmares. Tears fell, but she was tired of crying. Roxie scrubbed the wetness off her face. Why? Why did she feel this way?
It had been three months since Jack and Grant had brought her to Earth Pack farm. The pack members accepted her instantly. She’d been welcomed with open arms, kindness, and affection. After she’d healed from the injuries sustained by Crawl, she’d embraced her role within the pack. Yet, as days passed, the contentment she’d owned since coming to the farm slipped away like sand clutched too tightly in a fist. The creeping depression suffocated her—a dark poison piercing her happiness like a scorpion sting.
Feeling tired and weepy, she took a long, hot shower. She decided against make-up, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and dressed in knee-length dress the color of tangerines. She wandered aimlessly around the room, debating the merit of taking a walk. She didn’t want to stay in the room, but she didn’t want to leave it, either. Her husbands had gone out to visit Elsa. She knew they were worried about her. Doctors and herbalists had been unable to help, so now they were seeking advice from the pack psychic.
Exhaustion claimed her. She dragged her sorry self to the bed, snuggled under the top comforter. She missed her mates, but the bed smelled like them, and so she felt safe and warm in the cocoon of covers.
* * *
JACK AND GRANT sat at Elsa’s kitchen table. The older woman, who’d been the pack psychic for as long as they could remember, poured them herbal tea then joined them.