Page 14 of Freed

“Four men inside, all unconscious.”

“Come on, save some for us!” Chase says as we run side by side to the entrance. Finn has quickly become the biggest asset on our makeshift rescue team, and I’m not too bullheaded to admit that I’m happy he’s here. As much as I want to be the guy to kill every man working in this facility, I’ll take Cherry’s safety over that every day.

Cherry.

The pain of the severed mate bond is still there, clawing at my chest from the inside. But at least that shit Philip gave us is making me able to function.

When I first felt it sever, I thought I was literally about to die. And if she permanently dies, I must join her. There is no life without my angel.

I step inside behind Chase, and I see Maddox and Casper already starting to tie up the four unconscious men.

Finn is nowhere in sight, but there is only one hallway. “I’ve got them, you guys go,” Maddox says, tipping his head in the direction of the hall. The rest of us move through the hall and quickly find a doorway that leads to a set of stairs going down.

“She’s gotta be down there,” Gage says as Chase starts to jog down them, not waiting to discuss it. When we get to the bottom, the hall goes in two directions, so we split up. Gage, Philip, and I go left while Chase, Hunter, Casper, and Alaric go right.

We check each door, finding several empty rooms. “We found two guards,” Chase says through the bond. “They are unconscious and tied up now.”

Gage opens the next door, and we find a long hallway filled with cells. He takes a deep breath before stepping into the hall. I look into the first cell, which is empty, but my stomach clenches tightly, imagining Cherry not only in one of those right now but having to live in one for ten years.

I shake out my hands, reminding myself I can’t just murder everyone here on sight. We have a little justice to dish out first. “I can smell her,” Gage says in excitement as he jogs ahead and turns, staring into another vacant cell. “She was in here,” he says angrily. “Recently.”

“She can’t be far,” Philip says, right before the door at the other end of the hall opens. Two guards enter, talking casually until they notice us.

Then, they both pull the guns from their holsters and start shooting as we all dive into the nearby cells for cover.

“Fuck,” Gage growls through the bond. “I’ve been hit.”

“Where the fuck is Finn?” I growl through the pack bond. “Gage has been shot, and we’re pinned down.”

“Alaric says he’s on his way to you now,” Chase replies.

“Hang in there, we’re coming,” Maddox says, sounding worried.

“Gage, how bad is it?” I ask through the bond as I try to peek out of the cell, only to be pushed back by the sound of a gun firing. Fuck.

Gage doesn’t reply instantly, worrying me. Finally, he answers with a haggard, “Bad.”

I hear a door slam then the sound of heavy bodies hitting the ground. “They're unconscious,” Finn calls. I peek out to see both guards lying unconscious as Finn grabs their guns and literally bends them in half. I hate that I had to be rescued by a fox, but beggars can’t be choosers.

I hurry over to Gage and see Philip holding his shirt against a hole in Gage’s chest, right over his heart.

“Fuck,” I curse.

Gage’s worried eyes look up at me as he croaks out, “Find her.” He coughs, blood flying from his mouth as a true sense of worry fills me. Did they use silver bullets? A shot to the heart with one of those is fatal to a wolf. Or any shifter.

“Fucking get here, now!” I bark through the bond.

I kneel down as I ask, “How can I help?”

A door bangs open and footsteps come pounding toward us. I smell my pack and glance up as the twins and Maddox arrive, their eyes widening in worry.

Hunter immediately kneels down at his other side as he looks at Philip. “Do you have something that can help?”

“Umm, yeah, I might. Hold this,” he says as Hunter presses down the shirt on Gage’s wound.

Hunter looks up at me and hisses, “Go! I’ll stay with Gage. You guys can’t help here. Go find her. Go get our girl.”

“I’ll stay too,” Alaric says as he kneels down to help.