Finding Our Way (Werewolf Wars) (17 page)

If she didn’t do something now, Marcus could die, she realized.

Nora lifted her loaded weapon up and fired a shot, hitting one of the men in the neck. He fell to his knees, and then pitched forward onto the floor. Lark’s gun went off behind Nora as she pulled the trigger again. Nora was preparing to fire again when one of the men grabbed the end of the gun and shoved it into her shoulder. Searing hot pain shot through her collarbone all the way down to her digits. Her finger slipped, causing the weapon to go off. The man’s eyes widened as a tiny spot of red formed on his white shirt. He stumbled and then pitched forward onto her, dragging her to the ground with him.

The air whooshed out of her lungs and she drew in a strangled breath. Nora gasped, trying to get out from under the weight. Panic flooded her as she shoved at the corpse.
I’m stuck!

Someone grabbed her by the hair and tugged. She screamed as strands of copper were plucked from her head. Another hand went under her arm, and she was jerked to her feet as the rifle was kicked away.

“He was my brother you, bitch,” a man snarled into her ear. His hand gripped her roughly, and Nora grunted in pain as stars flashed in her vision.

Focus! Fight!

Nora stomped down on his foot, twisting; she thrust her palm forward into the man’s nose. He cried out as blood spurted from his nostrils. Her eyes flew to Lark who was on the floor. The back of her head was soaked with red and she seemed to be struggling to get to her feet when someone yanked her up. Nora had to do something now before the situation escalated any further.

Her eyes darted around the room, spotting the gun a few feet away. Nora dashed for her rifle, but strong arms wrapped around her middle first and lifted her off the ground. Her legs dangled in the air, and she kicked them, hoping to throw him off balance. She wiggled, frantically trying to break free. The man whose nose she’d bloodied, stalked toward her, grasping her chin with his dirty fingers.

“I’m going to make sure you pay for that,” he hissed, gripping her hair and drawing her closer to him. “And I’m going to enjoy it too.”

Nora shuddered, bucking against her captor trying to get free.

“I think she’s excited for you,” the man holding her declared with a laugh.

Bile rose in her throat and she gagged as angry tears blurred her vision.

“Let’s get them out of here and do what we came here for,” one of the men holding Lark hollered.

Lark’s blue eyes widened as they met Nora’s.

“Get away from my sister,” Sarah screamed, from the staircase. She steadily held the handgun, and had it trained on one of the men holding Lark. “Get out!” she said her voice deathly quiet.

The man laughed and a loud crack echoed through the room. Red sprayed across the living room as the man released Lark and clasped at his throat. Another bang erupted from the gun and the man still holding Lark dropped to the floor. Sarah cocked the gun again, firing at one of the men near Nora.

Nora was thrust to the floor. Her knees jarring against the hard wood as the man who had been holding her raced toward Sarah. The blonde unloaded the pistol into him, but he still staggered toward her. Nora watched in horror as the younger girl squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened. Something flickered in Sarah’s eyes and she thrust herself toward the man, using her momentum to take him to the ground.

“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Sarah shrieked repeatedly as she hit the man with the butt of the weapon. “I hate you.”

“Sarah,” Lark cried, wrapping an arm around her sister as she pulled her off the bloodied, dead man. “Sarah.” She cradled her sister to her chest as Sarah began to sob.

“I hate them. They killed Preston and Rick,” Sarah crumpled into her sister, her body shaking. The gun landed on the floor as Sarah stared down at her bloodied hands.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Lark cooed. “Where’s Adrian?”

“In a bedroom upstairs.”

Lark kissed her sister’s head. “Go get cleaned up and then look after Adrian. Nora and I are going to make sure it’s safe down here.”

Sarah nodded and slowly stood up. Nora pushed to her hands and knees, ignoring the white-hot pain in her shoulder as she crawled over to Marcus first.

His body lay crumpled and bloodied. Cuts covered his face, and blood seeped through his grey tee. Her hand shook as she placed two fingers on his pulse point. A slow, steady thrum met her fingers. Slowly, she slid over to Emily. Long jagged scratches ran from her collarbone to her abdomen. Nora placed her fingers on the woman’s neck. Sighing, she closed her eyes when a slow patter thrummed against her fingers. Nora snatched a blanket from the floor and pressed it to the brunette’s belly.

“Is she okay?” Lark asked, stooping down next to them.

“I think so,” Nora replied.

Nora jumped as a wolf bellowed into the night. As if on cue, more throaty yowls filtered into the open window.

“That means it’s over.” Lark sat down on the floor, running a hand through her red streaked hair.

“Who won?” Nora asked quietly.

Lark paused for a moment before reaching to get one of the rifles. “I don’t know.”

D
aniel ran alongside Devon, Gene, and a few other’s as they chased the remnants of Juarez’s pack from their lands. They reached the fence at the property line and came to a halt. A few of Juarez’s men lay lifelessly on the ground. The fence hummed loudly as the electric current raced through it. Daniel growled motioning his head at the fleeing wolves. They should pursue them—finish them now.

Devon gave a firm shake no as his muzzle curled up in a snarl. Daniel huffed and trotted back into formation. Gene barked, and turned, sprinting in the direction of the ranch. Daniel raced alongside them, eager to get back to Nora. He needed to make sure she was okay.

The trees blew by him in a whirlwind. The wind blew heavily, bringing with it the stench of blood, dirt, and death. How many of his comrades had fallen tonight? 

In the distance, he could see the orange hue of the sun. The bright hue was a stark contrast to the events that had just taken place. They reconvened with the rest of the pack—what was left of it, closer to the ranch. The group took one last look around before returning to their human body.

Gene pulled out a green trashcan and took the lid off. He grabbed a pair of sweats and hopped into them. Everyone quickly followed suit and then stood waiting for orders.

“Good job tonight. Everyone pulled together and we drove the enemy away,” Devon started looking to each man as he talked. “It’s not over yet. We need to cleanup and secure the perimeter. Be careful of the fence. It is still live and judging by the bodies around it, the voltage is deadly. Members of my pack will handle clean up and Gene’s will reestablish the property line. We need to make sure no one is still lurking out there. I want you to secure the house first, and then work your way out. I’m heading back to tend to the wounded. Gene will stay out here and help move the injured and capture any injured Gulf pack members,” Devon explained.

“All right, let’s get to work,” Gene hollered.

***

N
ora stared down at her hands. They were caked with dried blood. Specks of red covered her arms and there were a few droplets on her blue shirt too. She had spent the last few hours tending to the injured. Emily would be fine, thankfully. However, one of the men had died while she’d been trying to staunch his bleeding. His dead, glassy eyes still haunted her. She doubted she would ever forget that look.

Nora turned on the kitchen sink and began to scrub at her hands. She looked up, catching a glimpse of herself in the glass window. Splotches of red were sprinkled across her cheek and forehead. Blood! She averted her gaze and gagged as she saw the red water swirling in the sink. Her breath quickened and nausea rolled in. She shut off the water and sunk down to the cool tile floor.

Her lip quivered as she recalled the events of the night. People had died. She’d killed someone—someone who was going to hurt her. Then there had been the way that Sarah had broken down. The girl had momentarily lost it. What had Sarah been through to snap like that? Nora shuddered at the thought.

The kitchen door creaked open and soft footsteps padded to the sink. Nora knew she should get up but remained motionless.

Natalia rounded the corner and took in her worried state. The she-wolf had changed into pajamas and had hooked a baby monitor to her waistband. She slid down onto the floor next to her.

“Are you all right?” Natalia questioned. “Are you hurt?”

“Physically I’ll be okay,” Nora answered. Save for a few bruises and sore muscles she had faired pretty well. “This is just so crazy. I don’t know how Lark—or anyone can possibly be okay with everything that is going on.”

“You were kind of thrust into our world,” Natalia said.

“Yeah,” Nora sighed, resting her head on the cabinets.

“I grew up away from the pack. My mother was a human. She ran from my father when she learned she was pregnant with me. We lived a happy, human life until a little over a year ago. My father had my mother killed and brought me into the Gulf pack. I was fortunate to end up here. For a while, I used to wish I could go back and be oblivious to everything that was going on. I felt like an outsider—an intruder, or prisoner. I wanted to escape, but then I realized that Gene was in my corner and so was everyone else,” Natalia smiled, licking her lips. “But now, this is home. No matter how crazy things are, or dangerous it may be, I have a family here. These people put their lives—their pack on the line for me. For someone they barely even knew, and that’s not something you see every day.”

Natalia sighed and tapped her fingers on the tile floor. “I guess I am trying to say that you have a home here. You are one of us and we will protect you.”

Nora smiled and looked down at her hands. “Thank you.” A blush crept across her cheeks as she met Natalia’s brown eyes. Calmness floated through her and she let out a long breath. The muscles in her back relaxed and she was able to draw in a deep, steadying breath.

Natalia nodded her head and stood up walking out of the kitchen. Nora sighed and pulled herself up using the marble counter top.

Nora thought about what Natalia had said. She might not know everyone here, but there was something about the way they looked out for each other. It was nice. They were a family and they would do anything to protect each other. That wasn’t something you saw every day.

***

D
aniel stepped out of the bathroom and came face to face with Nora. She flicked off the light of the bathroom she’d stepped out of and gave him a small, tired smile.

Her long hair was still wet from her shower. A tiny rivulet of water dripped off the end and beaded on her bare leg. The long sleeve shirt she wore was loose on her, but the shorts showed off her long creamy legs.

“Hey,” she whispered.

Daniel brought his gaze back up to her. Her bottom lip quivered and tears shone in her eyes. “Hi,” he said quietly.

“You’re okay?” she breathed as if she were shocked to see him.

“Yeah. Are you?” Daniel asked, cupping her face, he gently turned it left to right.

He swallowed his thumb tracing over the light blue bruise starting to form. Anger clouded his vision and a low growl vibrated in his throat.

“It’s not that bad. You should see the guy that did it to me,” Nora smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I hope he’s dead,” Daniel snarled. If not, he would hunt down the wolf and kill him himself.

“He is. A lot of people are,” she murmured.

Daniel ran his hand back into her tangled locks and she rested her face in his palm. He hoped that tonight had not been too much for her.

“How is Emily?” Nora asked before he could say anything.

“She’s still out of it, but Dev thinks she’ll be fine. Marcus will be too. He hasn’t left Em’s side since he came to,” Daniel informed as a rare smile spread across his face as he thought of his sister and her mate. He could only hope one day he would have someone he loved that much and loved him in return.

His heart swelled as he looked at Nora and for a moment, he considered she might be that person. But girls like her didn’t belong with someone like him. Whatever this was, it was probably just a passing fancy. He had saved her and she would get over it eventually.

“Excuse me,” one of the guys said as he came up and walked into the corridor. He walked down the hall and entered one of the bathrooms.

“Do you want to talk in my room?” Nora asked pointing behind her.

“Yeah,” Daniel admitted.

Nora pulled back and turned on her heel, padding across the grey carpet. She opened her bedroom door and motioned him inside. The door clicked shut and Nora went to her bed and sat down patting the place beside her.

“Were you hurt?” Nora questioned her eyes falling to the jagged laceration on his arm.

“It’s not that bad,” he said, staring at the scabbed over mark.

Nora smiled, gingerly touching his arm. “These look old. If I hadn’t seen you a few hours before, I’d think this happened a week ago, not tonight.”

“I wish there was something I could do for you,” he grumbled. He clenched his fists around the comforter. A part of him felt as if he’d failed her.

“Just be here with me,” Nora whispered. “Please.”

She laid back in the bed and Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “You want me to stay?”

“If you want to. Could you just hold me?” Nora’s eyes pleaded with his.

Daniel slowly lay down on the bed unsure what exactly she wanted him to do. Her warm fingers found his hand encircling his. She pulled his arm over her and held him there. Nora sighed and Daniel breathed in her strawberry scent.

He’d never laid like this with a woman before. Any trysts he had were quick and he left almost immediately after. This was different—special.

“I killed a guy today. I shot him in the chest. I’m sure I killed others, but this one he was so close. He fell on top of me and...” Her voice broke and a sobbed escaped.

“It’s okay,” Daniel pulled her closer until her back was pressed against his chest.