Her scent reached them both at the same time. Logan smirked as Tim whirled around to face her.
She shot him twice in the chest.
Alerted by the noise, everyone looked Max’s way.
“Shit,” she hissed, tossing the gun to the side. “No more fucking bullets.”
Zac backed away from his fight, looking from the black wolf to Max and back again.
Logan already suspected that the black wolf was Max’s husband, but that confirmed it. Their senses were enhanced in wolf form, and something in the air telegraphed the black wolf and Max were together.
Snarls erupted inside the cavern as Max’s husband attacked, teeth sinking into the other wolf’s back leg.
“Finish him off,” Logan hissed, nodding at Tim. “Then get the key for these cuffs. Front pocket of his jeans.”
Max rushed over, pulled out a knife from somewhere, and slit Tim’s throat without a second thought.
“Hurry, get the key,” Logan urged as the fighting got closer and closer to them. Adrenaline surged through him chasing off the fatigue of his half-shift.
She lifted the key from Tim’s pocket and rushed round to unlock Logan’s cuffs.
Free from the iron-silver’s hold, he sprang up from the chair with a roar, just as Lewis ran towards them focused totally on Max. She snarled, ready for his attack, but Logan stepped in front of her, meeting Lewis head-on.
Still stuck in his half-shift but not needing to focus to maintain it, Logan had the advantage with claws and fangs, but Lewis was solid muscle. Sinking his claws in as deep as he could before Lewis threw him off, Logan tore into his chest and belly. Lewis howled in agony, lashing out and catching Logan on his temple, knocking him sideways. He crashed into the chair, sending it flying, and took a second too long to orient himself. Lewis was on him fast, fist driving into his cheekbone, and a sickening crack sounded as bones broke.
Bastard.
Struggling through the pain in his face, Logan fought to reach any part of Lewis he could, raking his claws into his flesh, but Lewis was bigger, stronger, and Logan was weak from his torture. Lewis pinned Logan’s arms with his knees.
With his hands wrapped around Logan’s throat, Lewis looked down at him in disgust. “I don’t care if Paul wanted you alive, I’m gonna rip your fucking throat out, you traitorous bastard.” Growling in pain as he let his fangs slide out, Lewis yanked Logan’s head to one side, exposing his neck. He opened his mouth wide, snarling, and Logan watched, eyes wide as Max—forgotten by the others—deftly stepped up behind him and snapped his neck. She slit his throat for good measure, and Logan scooted away from the growing blood pool.
The shock on Lewis’s face would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Logan took no joy in watching members of his pack die because of him. Tim’s words had been true before: they were just doing their job, doing as their alpha ordered. But Logan was doing what he thought was right, what he believed in, and with such opposing views, there were always going to be casualties.
“You okay?” Max asked, bending down to inspect his injuries. “Apart from your broken face, obviously.”
He tried to smile, immediately regretting it. His body was trying to heal him, but with whatever Tim had injected into him still active, it was having a hard time maintaining his claws and fangs and trying to mend his bones. His jaw was all wrong: not human, not wolf, and it felt like his body didn’t know how to heal it.
It fucking hurt.
Logan closed his eyes, willing himself to not pass out.
He noticed the room had gone quiet and looked over to see the black wolf had shifted back into human form and was checking on Aaron, who lay unnaturally still where Lewis had left him. Zac’s wolf was a bloodied mess over by the steps.
Dead, from what Logan could make out.
Thankfully Cole had stayed in the crates, safe from all this chaos.
Max’s careful fingers inspected his teeth and fingers. “I don’t want to wait for this shit he gave you to wear off. You need to start healing, and we all need to get out of here. Stay still and try not to move. I’m going to search for the antidote.” She slowly pushed herself to her feet, but Logan reached for her ankle before she could walk away.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome.” She grinned down at him. “Told you I could hold my own.” Her smile vanished just as quickly, and she sighed. “I’m going to find something to fix what Tim did; then we need to get Aaron and Cole to a doctor.”
Logan was happy to hear Aaron was still alive, barely by the looks of it though, but then his mind caught up to what she’d said. “Cole? He’s worse?” It hurt to talk this much, but he had to know.
“He’s been shot.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
