I’m not leaving you, Gabe.
I braced myself. I wouldn’t run, but I wasn’t going to go down easy. I would put up a fight. He may have had the upper hand with weapons, but he was still a forty-nine-year-old man who had plenty of leftover injuries from his time as a hockey player.
I could take him.
I had to.
I pictured him like an opposing player. I chargedforward, trying to catch him off guard. At that exact moment, a loud crash and ear-splitting roar sounded from the opposite end of the clearing, stunning us both. Harrison, in his shock, whipped his head toward the sound, giving me his back for a split second.
Long enough for me to bend down, lift the stone on the ground with both my hands, and bring it down hard on Harrison’s head.
He fell like a rag doll. I dropped the stone, blood drumming loudly between my skull. A were ran down the clearing, looking like a massive shadow. It stopped just feet away from me and reared up on its legs, looking down at me with honey-brown eyes.
It was Raquel. I knew instantly just by looking into her eyes.
She looked down at Harrison and peeled her lips back, showing a set of canines that were as large as the daggers that had fallen out of Harrison’s grip. She reared back, ready to snap him in half. “Wait, wait, he’s still breathing, hold on.”
Raquel moved her face inches away from mine and growled at me. Her breath was hot and smelled like the pizza she’d been eating.
“I don’t want anyone to die tonight.” I lifted a hand and placed it against the side of her head, her fur soft under my palm. “Please.”
She huffed, as if annoyed, and stepped back.
“Okay,” I said, taking off my shirt. “Keep a lookout, then, while I tie him up to a tree, just in case he wakes up before the sun comes up.”
Raquel gave me an agreeable growl and started to prowl the perimeter of the clearing. I took a moment to collect myself, taking in a deep breath and realizing that not onlywas it going to be a long-ass night, but that the morning would bring about a celebration.
I’d done it.
I saved them.
I really do go it.
Chapter Thirty-Two
We’ve Got This
ELI
The chorusof birds chirping was a soundtrack I’d never get tired of. The warm mug of coffee steamed in my hands as I took another sip, my feet posted up on the railing as I looked out over the mountains. The air up here couldn’t be beat, either. Every breath was pure, barely touched by car exhaust and pollution, filtered by the sea of trees that carpeted the land around Gabe’s cabin.
Best of all, it waspeaceful. The perfect place to come and decompress after the shit we’d been through.
A week had passed since the full moon faceoff. I still couldn’t quite believe how it all went down, but fuck, was I grateful that it was over and that everyone was safe. Dylan had been rescued, no one in either pack had died, and Veronica was also found and returned. Everyone walked away from a night that could have gone much, much worse.
Harrison included.
Once the sun came up and the wolfsbane wore off, the two packs realized who the true enemy was. I explained everything that was said to me, and they handled the rest.
Harrison was currently being held bythe Hunter’s Guild for a tribunal for his crimes, while the government agency aware of shifters was helping cover his disappearance with a backstory. I’d learned quite a bit about the Hunter’s Guild in the process—a collection of people who only went after rogue shifters, those threatening to cause harm or reveal their secrets to the public. They were noble and followed a strict code that respected the balance. They weren’t supposed to go after innocent shifters, but Harrison had a bloodlust that couldn’t be satiated. The shifter that killed his daughter had been rogue, but he didn’t want to stop there. He wanted to eradicate as many shifters as he could.
He was devious about it too. Not only was he instigating the war, but we found out he had also tapped our phones, sneaking into the locker room when we were in practice and adding spyware to them.
Well, only to Dylan’s, who didn’t have a password on his phone (of course). That was how he knew where the battle would take place.
It was a deep invasion of privacy and still made my skin crawl thinking about it.
But it was over. We were safe.
