Page 70 of Hunted

That freed up the Outlaw Ridge team to focus on the men pinning Mikey down, while Gunn circled around on their flank and drew their fire. She saw him stagger back as a bullet got him in the shoulder, but he didn’t go down.

The guys in the helicopter were yelling, “Go! Go!” and Mikey ran for the helo, thanking the gods she’d given the little girl to DB. If she’d been hit by a bullet…

She handed up the bundle, and then hands pulled her inside. It was Boomer and the Sanchez cousins, with a wolf she’d never seen before flying the helicopter.

Sanchez was yelling, “Take off! Go!”

“What’s wrong with you?” Mikey shoved him aside and laid down cover fire for Gunn. He scrambled for the helicopter, bullets screaming around them. He got his feet on the landing skid and Mikey grabbed one arm, while he held on to the helicopter with the other.

The rotor revved up and they slewed into the air, leaving the rooftop behind. Michelangela could still see muzzle flashes as the men on the roof fired at them. Gunn grinned up at her, and she returned his grin.

They’d done it.

Another minute and they were beyond the perimeter of the estate, flying over woods and fields. Mikey let out a sigh of relief, and yelled over the noise, “Somebody help me get him inside.”

Sanchez moved to the open doorway and stood over Gunn, looking down at him.

Then he said, “Orders.” He put his boot in the middle of Gunn’s chest and shoved. His hand slid out of Mikey’s grip, and Gunn was falling to the ground below.

Chapter 31

Stunned, Michelangela watched Gunn fall, unable to believe it was really happening. Everyone else was staring at Sanchez, except the platinum-haired pilot, who just kept flying.

Michelangela put her gun to the pilot’s head. “Go back,” she snarled. “Get him!”

Instantly, three other guns were cocked and aimed at her.

Boomer leaned out, scanning the ground below them, but it was too dark to see anything. The pilot continued on course.

Michelangela really wanted to shoot them all, but she couldn’t. Growling, she lowered her gun, and Sanchez took it away from her. He emptied the bullets out of it and tossed it out of the helicopter.

Mikey hoped it wasn’t going to brain somebody below them, but she couldn’t spare much thought for that. She was cold with fear and fury. Her wolf started snarling low in her chest, still wanting to take them all out.

“What the hell did you do that for?” she yelled. “He’s your alpha!”

Boomer was saying something into the headset that she couldn’t hear, but he looked pissed. At least one of them gave a shit about Gunn.

He probably wasn’t dead; they hadn’t been that far off the ground, and she didn’t think even Sanchez had it in him to purposely murder their alpha. But the fall could have broken his neck or his back, if he’d landed wrong. And although he did have shifter healing, broken bones had to be realigned properly to heal right.

There was no guarantee Gunn was okay.

“Sanchez!” she yelled. He just tapped his earpiece in an “I can’t hear you” gesture.

Michelangela growled, grabbed Matéo, and ripped his headset off. Into the microphone she yelled, “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, SANCHEZ?” as loud as she could.

Everyone wearing a headset jumped and clapped their hands to their earpieces, including the pilot. The helicopter slewed sideways.

Sanchez snarled into the mic. “Gunn will fucking be fine. And if he’s not, so what? He was never supposed to be alpha, anyway. One of us will step up.”

But Mikey wasn’t so sure. None of the Sanchez cousins looked good. Their eyes were flashing gold, and she could feel how upset their wolves were.

They might have just fucked themselves and their pack. “I’m surprised you didn’t leave me behind, and not him,” she said.

Sanchez said, “I voted for both of you, but the idea got shot down.”

The pilot said coolly into his headset, “Thanatos wants to talk to you, Ms. Connors. Without Gunn present.”

“Did he actually say to throw him out of the helo? Or was that an improv?”