Four Days (Seven Series #4) (25 page)

“How dare you!” Lorenzo raged, pulling the man by his shirt.

Ivy’s wolf flipped onto her feet, hopping until she gained her balance.

Suddenly, something struck Lorenzo on his skull and the sharp pain caused him to fall to his knees. The noise in the room dulled. It felt as if he had earplugs in and he blinked, watching spatters of crimson wet the dark carpet like tiny raindrops. It tickled his forehead and got in his eyes. He flattened his hand on the floor, struggling to hold on to consciousness.

When his hearing returned, a man was speaking in midsentence.

“…nothing but a lowdown, dirty Indian. Ivy’s part, but not full-blooded. Maybe that’s why she’s better for me than her mother. I have claim on her in a way you never will, so remain on your knees like a good dog.”

In a swift movement too fast to track, Lorenzo reached around and yanked Fox so hard by the ankles that he knocked him to the floor. Ivy’s cane rolled out of his hand, Lorenzo’s blood staining the silver grip. He stood up and touched the top of his head, his fingers exploring the wound.

Ivy and a dirty brown wolf were fighting to the death. He was bigger, but she’d locked her jaws on his throat and wasn’t letting go. Wheeler shifted and his wolf jumped in. There was no honor in seeing a male attack a female, and no decent packmate would watch a rogue draw blood from his sister.

“So you think you’re the one who’s gonna tame that wolf.” Fox rose to his feet. He matched Lorenzo’s height with more brawn. Salt-and-pepper hair revealed his age to be well over two hundred. His blue eyes were piercing, filled with nothing but malice.

Loud crashes and shouts exploded around them, but Lorenzo wiped the blood out of his eyes and ignored everything except Fox.

His enemy.

“At last we meet,” Lorenzo said. “The man who would rape a child and hunt her down all these years later to make her his bride.” His fingers splayed as he tried to restrain his wolf.

Fox laughed and it was a boisterous sound. “Child? That woman was no child. Age is nothing but a number when you’ve lived as long as I have. You know nothing about our past. Ivy and I had a good relationship; she’s twisted it all around because of her father and that damn baby. Probably not even mine.”

Lorenzo lifted his chin.

“Yeah, that’s right. You should have seen the way she used to run around the house with all that hair flying behind her before she started braiding it. The way she’d lean over the back of the sofa, riling up some of the men in the pack. The way her dress hitched up her legs when she rode bareback on that horse of hers.”

Lorenzo assailed him with a series of vicious punches to the face. Fox retaliated, striking Lorenzo in the eye.

“You had no right!” Lorenzo saw red, and it wasn’t from the blood in his eyes.

Fox charged at Lorenzo, slamming him against the wall. Up ahead, the front door opened and people were running out. Fox struck Lorenzo in the gut, pinning him with his entire body as he did so.

“I had
every
right. Her mother should have been mine,” Fox babbled. “Should have been mine but he took that away. She made me kill her. Goddammit, I loved that woman and she left me with no choice. Ivan couldn’t know—he couldn’t find out. She chose that bastard!” he said in an unintelligible growl, still pinning Lorenzo to the wall as he continued to pelt him with heavy blows.

And then it became clear that Ivy’s mother hadn’t committed suicide. She’d wanted to come clean with her mate. Fox claimed he loved her, but in the end he decided his position in the pack was more important than the woman he allegedly loved.

Just like Lorenzo’s uncle.

Lorenzo tightened the muscles in his stomach and gripped Fox’s wrist, ceasing the man’s attack. He brushed his lips against Fox’s mangled ear. “There will be no mercy for you.”

A chaotic rhythm of wolves moved around him, as if summoning his own.

Lorenzo kicked off the wall and collapsed on top of Fox, choking him and slamming the back of his skull against the floor. Lorenzo dizzily looked around, the wound on his own head throbbing.

Fox’s eyes bulged, his face turning a sickly shade of purple. He reached out, wrapping his fingers around the handle of a gun lying on his right.

“To the death,” Lorenzo whispered, a promise on his lips.

This wolf did not deserve an honorable death. Now Lorenzo understood his grandmother’s prophecy. In his culture, the sun represented the warm mother who embraced her children, and the moon was the cold mother who punished them. Maybe it was superstition, but it’s why he’d never felt at ease on a full moon. His grandmother saw blood on the moon—a vengeful mother. Lorenzo’s wolf howled and he relinquished all power, leaving Fox at the mercy of his animal as he shifted.

Fox turned the gun toward him and, seconds later, pulled the trigger.

When I shifted back to human form, I turned my eyes away from the wolves who were savagely tearing at each other’s throats.
It took a moment to adjust to being in human form. My bloodstained dress was carelessly spread out on the floor, and my long hair covered my body like a garment.

Wheeler’s wolf sank his teeth into the other wolf’s throat, thrashing his head violently.

Serenity overcame me, as if I were dreamwalking in my memories.

A wolf charged into the kitchen and screams pealed out. He immediately scurried back into the room, toenails scraping the floor in a desperate attempt to flee. Behind him, an impressive wolf that looked more like a Siberian husky stalked out with death in his eyes.

Denver’s
eyes.

Instead of going after the wolf, he backed up. Saliva dripped from his mouth as he continued to threaten everyone with a low and deadly growl before returning to the kitchen.

I gripped a chair and pulled myself up, blood oozing between my toes from the oversaturated carpet. Then I saw it.

A few feet ahead, Lorenzo shifted. His grey wolf stood astride Fox, who lifted a gun from the floor, moving his arm toward Lorenzo’s head. Raw anguish constricted my heart and I knew not which way to turn.

Lorenzo’s wolf latched on to Fox’s arm and he shook his head. The gun went off and tumbled immediately to the floor due to the violent thrashing of the wolf’s head.

I staggered forward, moving around Fox until I reached the gun. I leisurely bent down and lifted the weapon, curling my finger around the trigger. Something took over me… something dark.

A wolf vaulted off the bar and landed on Jericho’s back. April cowered behind the bar, throwing bottles at anyone who got close to her. Fox’s pack had managed to disarm most of us, but I heard another gunshot go off. Some shifted, others remained in human form, but there was chaos all around in this sanguinary battle.

“Get back, Lorenzo,” I said in a low voice.

His wolf tugged at Fox’s arm, ignoring me.

“Thunder Wolf! Let me reclaim my honor.”

Thunder lifted his head and a flicker of understanding sparked in his eyes. He reluctantly stepped back.

“I was still conscious when I shifted, Fox. Long enough to hear your confession. How could you do it? My
mother!
” I screamed, fury erupting from my soul. “The woman who gave life to me.” I lowered the gun from his head to his heart. “You took more than my innocence that day. You took my mother, my son, my father’s love, my horse, and my future. Yet I am still here. I will never gain back what I’ve lost, but the one thing you can never take away is my heart. And it loves, Fox. It loves my family, it loves this proud alpha standing before you, it loves a child I will never hold, and it most certainly will
never
love you.”

Crack.

The gun went off and a pool of blood spread across his chest like a plague. Lorenzo’s wolf took in his scent, checking for signs of life. Without pause, he ran forward and joined Austin’s black wolf. By this time, everyone had shifted.

I knelt down and placed the gun on Fox’s lifeless chest, erasing all hope that someday I might reunite with my grown son. How could a child have love for a woman who took the life of his father?

Yet I held no remorse for what I’d done. Was I the first girl Fox had taken so cruelly? Was I the last? I shuddered to think. Perhaps with this violent end, I saved more lives than I took.

The sounds died down and I collapsed, falling to my knees with my head hung low.

“Ivy…” A pair of hands cradled my head and I looked into Lorenzo’s dark and captivating eyes. “Sweet Ivy. It’s over.” He placed a kiss on my forehead. “My brave warrior.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I took a life.”

“You
saved
a life. Yours. Mine. Your son’s.” He lifted my chin and stroked my cheek with his fingers. “I’ve never known such a fierce heart to be caged inside a woman. Your mother deserved to have her death avenged. Now that her name is cleared, you will never be blackened by Fox’s wickedness and lies.”

Lorenzo rose to his feet and helped me to stand before walking away. When he returned, he washed the blood from my body with a wet towel and then dressed me in his red flannel shirt. After carefully securing each button, he tucked my loose hair behind my ears. “The battle is over. Go look after your pack. Some are injured and need your care.”

He trudged toward Jericho’s injured wolf and knelt down, coaxing him to shift by summoning his alpha voice.

Austin shifted back and called me over to help. He found a rag and wiped the beads of sweat forming on his brow. “Stay with April,” he said, panting and out of breath. The muscles on his torso flexed as he lifted one of the dead bodies and dragged it toward the center of the room.

I moved around the bar, stepping over the pieces of broken glass. April had a cut on her arm, so I found a shirt lying near the bar and wrapped her wound to staunch the bleeding.

“Holy smokes. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” she said, out of breath. “My hands were shaking when I fired the gun. I was so scared I’d hit the wrong person, so I dropped it and ran. Everyone was moving so fast and—”

“It’s fine,” I said, smoothing her blond hair away from her face. “You’re just a human; this isn’t something you expect to see every day. You did good, April. All the bottles you threw covered the floor in broken glass and not only kept you safe, but also the pack. Fox’s men shifted too early and their paws were cut up, so it gave us an advantage. You need to see a healer and get your arm fixed up.”

“Where’s Reno? Is he okay?”

“Right here, princess,” he said, leaning over the bar. “How’s my girl doing?”

I turned back to look up at him. “She needs a Relic.”

He shook his head while looking at the streaks of blood on her arm. “We’re not about to sit around wasting time when the hospital is just up the street.”

“Humans ask lots of questions in the emergency room,” I said. “Be sure to come up with a good lie about how she got the cut or else they’ll think you had something to do with it. You should go with her, but clean up in the bathroom first. Get a change of clothes for April; her jeans are soaked in alcohol.”

“On it,” he said, disappearing.

“Are you cut anywhere else, April? Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I guess I’m just not as badass as you.”

I smiled. “Nobody expects you to be. Reno is all the badass a woman could ask for.”

She laughed and wiped her bloody hand on her jeans. “That’s for sure. He takes good care of me, but sometimes I wish I could be more like you. Maybe he wants a strong woman who can shoot a gun.”

I tightened the shirt on her arm. I admired how devoted April was to her mate. “A woman can be strong in many ways. Sometimes a strong heart is all a good wolf needs, and you are one of the most compassionate souls in our pack. You’ll teach these men good lessons in the years to come, and you’ll be a good example for the children who will grow up in our house.”

“But I’m not their mom. I don’t have any influence.”

I moved a few unbroken bottles out of the way. “You’re not living in the human world anymore. A pack raises a child just as much as the parents do. You’re mortal, and you left the comforts of a safe room in the back of the club to stand by our side. That says everything.”

I gripped the bar to pull myself up and almost lost my balance until she caught me.

“Where’s your cane?” she asked, looking around.

“Hopefully up someone’s backside,” I said with a short laugh.

Reno came around, jingling a set of keys in his hands. Without a word, he lifted April into his arms so she wouldn’t tread over broken glass. He carried her like that all the way to the front door. Then, after watching a few intimate kisses and soft whispers between them, I turned away from the blinding light as they left the building.

Wheeler slid up to the bar and patted his hand on the surface. Like most of the other men, he was shirtless. Probably didn’t have his pants on either, but I couldn’t see over the bar. “Got anything strong back there?”

I turned around and handed him a bottle of whiskey.

“Yeah, that’ll do.”

Jericho sat in the chair next to him and lit up a cigarette from a pack on the bar. It was slightly bent and hanging down. Tendrils of smoke rose from the end and thickened the air with a musty smell.

After a long gulp, Wheeler slid the bottle in front of him. “I see you’re still bringing the badassery, little bro.”

Jericho took a drink and pushed the bottle back toward Wheeler. “Well, when you’ve spent twenty years fighting off groupies, days like these are a walk in the park.”

Wheeler chuckled and took another swig.

I walked around the bar and surveyed the dead Shifters spread about the club. I counted thirteen, which was more than we’d initially thought.

Lexi handed Austin a shirt while he talked on the phone with a local Councilman.

Tables were tipped over, chairs broken, and bloodstains almost hidden by the dark décor. Lexi snorted as she straightened her shirt. “This is going to cost us a fortune. Dammit! Where’s my bra?”

Austin eased up behind her and combed her hair with his fingers. “Ladybug, the last thing you need to worry about right now is your bra.”

She turned around and folded her arms. “I can’t just walk out there wearing a thin T-shirt that’s wet from all the spilled beer.”

“Why not?” he asked, his eyes sexily roaming down her body. “Looks pretty good on you.”

I walked around the bar toward the kitchen. Lynn was sitting at a small metal table with Maizy on her lap, humming a song. Denver, still in wolf form, lifted his nose to pull in my scent.

“I wanted to make sure you two were okay in here,” I said.

“Is it over?” Lynn asked.

“Yes, it’s finally over. I’ll have Austin get Denver to shift. He’s talking to the Council and they’ll probably send cleaners over to take care of the bodies and record their findings. You might have to give a statement. Why don’t you two stay in here for a little while; it’s a mess out there. Maizy, do you want me to bring your blanket and toys? Maybe your mommy will fix you a nice lunch and you can help her.”

She calmed at my suggestion. Sometimes I felt Lynn coddled her too much and maybe that was how humans conditioned their young to feel fear.

“Okay, Miss Ivy. Can I have a coloring book?”

“Sure. You two stay here and I’ll bring everything you need. We’re going home today, Maizy. Maybe if you aren’t tired later, we can take a short walk on the property and collect rocks.”

“Can we do that if it’s okay?” she asked her mom.

Lynn brushed her tangled hair away from her face. “We’ll see how your knee feels, hon. Let’s just wait until we get home.”

I left them alone and went back to our private room, pushing a few chairs out of the way to gather up Maizy’s things.

“What happened in here?” I asked Izzy.

She nibbled on a cookie, and by her calm demeanor, I had a feeling Jericho had popped in before I did to let her know he was okay. “We kept the door locked. It was so quiet that Lynn didn’t think anything was going on. She cracked it open and we heard all the commotion. Before she could close it, one of those Shifters shouldered the door open and knocked her down. Lynn fell backward over one of the chairs.”

I noticed her hands were beginning to shake. “Everything’s fine now,” I said reassuringly. “Maizy’s fine.”

Izzy nodded. “Maizy was within reach and he snatched her and ran out. I slammed the door to keep more from coming in, but Lynn grabbed the shotgun and went after him. Hell’s bells, it
killed
me to sit in here. But I have this baby and I don’t know, I suddenly don’t want to do stupid things that would put him or her in danger,” she said, curving her hand around her stomach. “The only way to protect my baby is to protect myself. Maybe that’s selfish, but it wasn’t about me.”

“You don’t have to explain. I know.”

I limped to the sofa and sat down beside her. “Do you mind taking Maizy her things for me? She’s in the kitchen with Lynn. Tell Austin to make Denver shift back, if he hasn’t already done so. Denver’s wolf isn’t in a good state of mind and I don’t want him accidentally lunging at a Councilman.”

“Super. That’s just what we need, Denver mauling a member of the Council. I’ll be sure to let Austin know. Be right back.”

When she left the room, I could finally breathe. My child was safe.

My eyes were heavy and my body weak. The light by the door flashed, but I didn’t have the strength to get up. It quietly opened and Lorenzo stepped inside.

“It was unlocked,” he said.

I listened to the sound of his feet treading across the carpet, and the soft whisper of his pants as the fabric brushed together.

Lorenzo knelt in front of me. “Are you in any pain?”

“I just need to rest for a while. Did Fox hurt you?”

He placed his hand on my leg. I’d never taken the time to admire what nice hands he had. Graceful fingers that touched me with tenderness but could also inflict pain upon an enemy.

“Your wolf will be at peace now that your tormentor is dead. His dark spirit will haunt you no more. You can throw out your dreamcatcher and sleep soundly tonight.”

“No, my uncle made that for me long ago, before I was born. It’s been blessed, and maybe someday someone else will need it.”

His face softened and he held my hand in his. “Always thinking of others. I wasn’t always this way—the hard man that you see before you. I once wanted the same things as everyone else, but life turned me a different way. My uncle taught me to fear love, and that dark past in my family has shadowed me for years.”

“Maybe it’s time for you to come out of the shadows.”

He lifted his eyes to mine, and Lorenzo seemed different. “Let me take you home.”

Home never sounded sweeter. He helped me up and out of the room.

Before we reached the bar, someone caught my sleeve. I turned to see Atticus brushing at a few spatters of blood on his collar. He hadn’t intervened in the clash between packs because it wasn’t his place to, but he had saved my life.