I had to wait hours before managing to sneak into the territory. I guess I had my sister to thank for the added security. I trekked through the forest surrounding the packhouse, careful to move quietly, knowing the patrols would listen for the slightest noise. Yet the further I moved into Ace’s territory, the more my heart raced.
I hated knowing I had left Nathaniel back in the cells; I had no choice. I would have been caught trying to break into the out-building. This was the better option. I just hoped they didn’t kill me before letting me explain. I needed to make things right, needed to fix this and save my mate.
Moving through the trees, the packhouse came into view, and I had a clear shot straight for the house. I could see Tyson’s car and another I hadn’t seen before in the driveway, an Audi.Please be home, Ace. I could be willingly walking into my own death. If Ace wasn’t here, it was a guarantee, though I was nervous. Ace told me if he ever saw me again, he would kill me, but I stood a better chance of finding him than Tyson. Tyson wouldn’t even blink before he killed me, no skin off his nose. He had wanted to do it for years; now, I understand why.
I tried to will my feet to move and step out of the shadows concealing me behind the shed. I had to do this. I had to do this for my mate and everyone else in the cells, for Emily, so she could get her mother back. Josie chose already, she chose wrong, and I was sick of digging her out of trouble. I resigned myself to her fate. I wouldn’t seal my mate’s, too, not when he was willing to forgive me for what I had done. I wouldn’t risk losing him again.
Swallowing down my fear, I made a beeline for the front of the house. I rushed up the stairs before knocking on the door. No one answered, but I could hear movement inside. I knocked again, glancing around, worried about patrols spotting me. When there was no answer, I walked around to Ace’s window. He usually left it unlocked. I reached up, gripping the windowsill and peering in.
I gasped, about to duck down and go to the front door, when I spotted Lucy straddling Ace, my cheeks redden and I was about to step away when I heard a feral snarl. “Fucking Melana.” My head turned back to the window to see Lucy stalking toward me. She didn’t even open it, and I didn’t know what was more shocking, the fact that she dived through the closed window at me or the fact she shifted.
Her body crashed into mine and knocked me to the ground, her wolf tearing into my shoulder, and I was too shocked to react at first. Her teeth sank into my leg, and she viciously shook her head. I tried to push her face away. I knew that Ace and Tyson would kill me if I attacked her back.
Tyson launched out the window, ripping the entire frame out as his wolf barreled out, and Lucy’s wolf grabbed my arm, flinging me across the ground like a rag doll. Gravel tore at my hands as I put them out instinctively. Lucy suddenly shifted back, stalking toward me.
“Wait, I am here to help.”
“I will help you alright, help fucking bury you,” she screamed at me. I looked at Ace, who was just staring at me with a disgusted look on his face when I felt Lucy’s fist connect with my face. Blood sprayed the ground when she was suddenly straddling my waist.
“Fight back, bitch,” she screamed angrily while I tried to block her blows. Her screaming anger was potent, her aura smashing against me, and I knew they had both marked her and could smell them all over her.
“Lucy, stop. Listen, please,” I begged her as she pummeled me, becoming angrier when I didn’t fight back. I felt my ribs break on the left side when her weight was suddenly gone. Her furious scream resonated through the air, and I put my hand up when Tyson stalked toward me.
“Wait, please.”
“Tyson, leave her,” Ace bellowed, and Lucy shrieked louder, shifting in Ace’s grip.
“I am not defending her, Lucy. Stop,” he said, refusing to let her go, even as she shifted and tore into him.
Tyson growled at him and turned toward Ace, who dropped to the ground. I could hear him trying to calm her down, whispering softly to her.
“She knew coming back here would be her death. I know Melana. She wouldn’t risk her hide for anyone unless she is desperate,” Ace said to her, and the wolf’s wild thrashing slowed, her breathing still heavy.
I wiped the blood off my face with the back of my hand, the movement catching her eye, and she lost it again. I felt guilty. I could see how much my sister and I had hurt her. I would probably be the same if our roles were reversed, and Ace not letting her kill me must have been a kick in the gut.
“Lucy, enough,” Ace snapped at her, his aura rushing out, and she quieted. The growl that left Tyson raised goosebumps on my arms as he stalked toward his brother, his fist connecting with Ace’s face, and I saw Atticus come forward for a second.
Tyson reached down as Lucy started shifting back. He grabbed her, walking off toward the front of the house, her body drenched in cuts from the window and my blood. Ace watched them leave before pinning me with his glare. He stood covering himself with his hands, not that I was looking; I had no interest in him.
“I swear if you just ruined things with Lucy for some selfish reason, I will make Ryker look like a pussy with what I will do to you,” he growled. He made no move toward me. Just glared.
“I need help.” Ace scoffed, his canines slipping out and fur growing on his arms.
“Of course you do,” he growled.
“Not for me, for my mate. And Aliza. All of them are trapped in Jamie’s cells.”
“Aliza? She left Jamie, don’t come here and bullshit me,” he said, taking a menacing step forward.
“I’m not, I swear. Please. Aliza, Nathaniel, Taylor, they are down there. Jamie threw me into the cells when I refused to help Josie. I swear, Ace. I would never come back here otherwise,” I told him, begging for him to believe me.
“If you were in the cells, how did you get out?”
“The air ducts. Jamie pushes wolfsbane through the ventilation shaft, and I climbed through. They couldn’t because—”
“Because they aren’t hybrids,” Ace finished for me, and I nodded.
“I swear if you are lying to me, I will skin you alive and tie you to an ants’ nest.” I swallowed, knowing he meant it, and quickly nodded.