Gifted with Hydrangea (12 page)

Backing up,
Rudo
spotted the
first man who was shot scooting away in a horizontal position, trying to back
away. He saw him start to reach for his gun, so
Rudo
expertly flung his horn out and knocked the gun from
the man’s hands. The gun glittered on the ground, and slid a little further
down the hall.

The vampire who’d shot the man appeared around the
corner. He pulled out zip-ties and bound the guard’s hands behind his back. The
injured man shouted in pain as his captor was merciless regarding his injury.
Rudo
couldn’t find it in him to feel any sympathy.

Rudo
didn’t like the antsy
feeling he had. He needed to find his mate to keep him safe. Returning to the
others back down the hall, he saw the last cell being opened. All-in-all, aside
from him and Gavin, there were three wolves, a tiger, a lion, and two
lionesses. The tiger and lion were too weak and injured to walk out on their
own, so one wolf and the two lionesses offered to stay with them until the
emergency medical crews were able to make their way in to help. One of the
vampires also chose to stay. That left two of the vampires, two wolves, him,
and Gavin in his badger form, to head out and join the battle that they heard
continue to rage throughout the building.

Rudo
trotted beside the lead
vampire. Blood dripped down his horn and over his snout. He heard Gavin’s small
growl mix with the louder growls of the wolves as they trotted not far behind
him. The sound of gunfire was nonstop as the group made their way through the
halls.

The team ran into other security guards, as well as
men and women in white, or blue lab coats, and smocks. The ones in lab coats
and smocks didn’t fight them so much, and were easily tied up, but many of the
security personnel died fighting.
Rudo
impaled them,
and the two wolves would tear their throats out, but Gavin was the one he
thought fought the most viciously. He was fearless, relentless, and inflicted a
lot of damage before he’d bite into an artery and slash it open for the victim
to bleed out.

Rudo
suddenly felt his mate’s
pain, right before he caught up to him. Ryker’s group was in a loud and bloody
battle, and his mate had taken a hit by a bullet in the side.
Rudo
arrived just in time to see his mate fall to his
knees. Ryker was holding his side as he continued his declin
e
, down on his heels, and fell against the side of a
desk.

Rudo
bellowed his rage so loud,
the battle momentarily stopped as they all turned to look at him.
Rudo’s
hooves shook the ground as he stampeded across the
space. He bellowed again and dipped his head, and swung it up, skewering a man
and launching him high into the air. The man’s body slammed into the ceiling,
but before he even starting making his way down,
Rudo
was launching another man in the same fashion. He rammed his head against
another man and whipped his massive bulk around to stomp on him, causing his
bod
y
to hit two other men, and launching them halfway
across the room. Bones crushed under his feet as he stomped and kicked the
fallen man beneath him. When he was done, he looked around for more to kill,
but he saw the guards who were left were putting their hands up, surrendering
to the other vamps and shifters. He snorted and quickly trotted over to his
mate, who was still lying against the desk.

Rudo
could only stand
helplessly over his mate as Rye’s brother attended to him. He didn’t know what
to say through their link, so he just sent all of his love through instead.
That seemed to help, as he saw Ryker begin to relax, and a sigh escaped past
his lips. He heard a small growl and looked down. Gavin stood next to him in
silent support. There wasn’t one part of him not covered in blood. It was so
thick, you couldn’t tell the white from the black of his coat underneath.

A warm hand rested on his shoulder, and
Rudo
turned to see
Neto
in SWAT
gear, standing next to him.

“
He’s going to be all right,
Rudo
,
now that he’s got you back. As much as I am glad to see you both are all right,
I personally don’t want to ever see our little red suffer through
you
getting abducted again.”

Rudo
grunted his agreement.

Chapter Ten

Everyone had been worried when they heard about
Rudo’s
and Gavin’s abductions. Now, standing around Enzo,
over the speakerphone were all of the ranked who were left at home, their
mates, and the mates of those who had left with
Alphy
.
Enzo rubbed his forehead as he listened to
Alphy
reporting over the speakerphone.

“
From what we’ve discovered so far, one of the Philly
vamps was killed during the raid. We have several wounded, including Ryker, but
we believe everyone injured will recover. We are more concerned now for the
survivors. There weren’t as many as the last time, but most of them are in
serious condition. One of them is a falcon that went missing from the local
falcon cast, and we found a missing hawk from the local hawk cast, as well as
another hawk, but we have yet to discover where she is from. They are all
staying here in Philly with the two casts.

“
There are only eight others, and all of them are
coming home with us. Is
Maysa
there?”

“
I’m here.”
Maysa’s
voice
wasn’t strong, but it didn’t waver either.

“
We found your sister. She’s in pretty poor health, but
Sea’s hopeful she’ll recover.”

Enzo saw
Maysa’s
face
slightly crumple in teary relief.

“
When is everyone heading back?” Enzo asked.

“
I’m going to send Nix’s crew back, and Slate, along
with Seamus and the survivors, in Tyler’s jet, but I’m going to stay here for
another day or two, with Gale, Ryker and his team, and Matteo. We have a big
mess to clean up here. I agreed to read-in the local coven and both casts on
everything we know. We have a bunch of prisoners to question, and a couple hard
drives we were able to save before the techs had a chance
to purge them during the raid. Topping all of that off
is
Rudo’s
situation. His house and shop were robbed
and burned. The local sheriff is human, but Ryker says he knows about shifters,
and has been trying to help
Rudo
. He’s discovered
some things that I want to check out.”

“
All right,
Alphy
, we’ll make
sure to take care of the survivors when they arrive,” Enzo told him. Enzo hung
up with
Alphy
after receiving a few more orders. Then
he started organizing everyone. It had been a long night, and it was going to
be a long day. Enzo rubbed his temples as a headache started to form.

****

Heath sat in the corner and watched everyone work
together to prepare for the arrival of the survivors. Watching his mate take
charge was sexy hot, but he was still freaking out a little on the inside.
After their talk in the shop, Enzo had walked him around the property and
opened up everything. He talked about his family turning their backs on him
when he came out, and how Nix had stayed by his side. He’d told him about when
he met
Alphy
, and certain events during his time in
the military. Then he’d told him about
Alphy
making
the pack and everything that had happened since then. Heath found it hard to
believe that much drama had happened within a month and a half. They had been
interrupted when
Alphy
had called Enzo about the two
pack-members being abducted.

I have to admit, even
though it all freaks me out, Enzo didn’t hold any information back. In spite of
probably knowing it would likely upset or unsettle m
e
, he lays it all out there,
and doesn’t sugarcoat it.

“
Heath?” Enzo motioned for him to follow him.

Heath followed Enzo back into his office. Enzo placed
some papers on his desk and turned around, wrapping his arms around him. Heath
hummed as he instantly relaxed.
No matter
how freaked out I am, I always feel safe in his arms.

“
How
ya
doin
’?”
Enzo asked him, and planted a kiss on his temple.

“
I’m fine when I’m wrapped in your arms.”

“
I was thinking. You seem to know what flowers mean.
And even if nobody else does, it still evokes that kind of emotion, a
subliminal message, if you will. Why don’t you go pick, or buy, flowers for
around the house and office? It will be a good thing to greet those survivors.”

“
Okay, I can do that.” Heath’s mind already started
flitting through his memories, to which flowers he wanted.

Enzo’s eyes dropped down to his mouth. Heath backed
up, knowing Enzo wanted a kiss, but Heath didn’t want to further complicate his
already confusing and out of control emotions.

Enzo looked hurt when he pulled away. Heath
almost stepped forward again, but someone knocked on
the open door.

Enzo growled. “Give me a second.”

Heath heard the footsteps retreat, and Enzo looked
back down at him, giving a disappointed sigh. “Find Havana. She might want to
help you with the flowers.”

Enzo walked around him and out of the office door.
Heath felt guilty for backing away, and he felt his heart hurt as he watched
Enzo distance himself.

Damn it. I’ve
gotta
get my head out of my ass. Maybe Havana can help me
find a way to make it up to him, because as much as I am freaked about the
paranormal thing, I don’t think I could survive living without him. That means
I need to find a way to get over it.

Havana was in the main office, standing next to her
large mate. After screwing up his courage, Heath approached her.

“
Uh, Havana, can I get your help with a couple things?”

Havana smiled at him. “Sure.” She turned and planted a
kiss on
Dultyn’s
lips, then followed Heath down the
stairs, out of the office.

“
So what’d
ya
need my help
with?” she asked cheerfully.

“
I need help with two things. The first one is
kinda
simple. Enzo thinks it would be a good idea to get a
bunch of flowers placed all around the house and office to greet the survivors.
He thinks it will impress a kind of message upon them.”

“
Hey, that sounds fun, and I think he’s right. I was
here when they brought back the survivors from the first raid. I can assure you
that every little thing makes a big difference.” The two climbed the stairs to
the front door and stopped in front it. “And scent is especially a big deal for
shifters. It can have a calming effect, just as comfort foods do. So, what’s
the other thing you need help with?”

Heath looked slightly around before looking back at
her. “I want to be with Enzo, but I keep finding myself shying away, and it’s
hurting him. I need to find a way to get over my fears, and I need help doing
that.”

Heath held his breath waiting for Havana’s response.
It was a blow to his pride to have to ask for help, especially on such a
personal matter, but after everything he had learned about Enzo, and watching
how he worked with the others in the pack, as well as his patience with him, he
knew Enzo was more than worth the price. In fact, he couldn’t think of much
that he wouldn’t do for him, which was an entirely different kind of scary.

Havana’s eyes knitted slightly together, and her lips
pressed together in a straight line. “Hmm, I don’t know, but I do know who
would.” Her face lit up. “Aunt Betty and Connie. They should both be in the
kitchen, so let’s go ask them.”

Before Heath could protest, Havana hooked her hand
around his forearm and began dragging him through the house and into the kitchen.
She sat him down at one of the stools at the breakfast bar. Heath looked around
at the other people in the room. He felt mortified that this was suddenly a
public case. He kept reminding himself over and over in his head,
he’s worth it. Enzo is worth it.

Havana pointed to one of the women. “I don’t know who
Enzo has introduced you to yet, but that’s Aunt Betty. Her mate is Councilman
Tyler Ghost. She’s also our alpha’s aunt, and mine. Next to her is Connie.
She’s human, and is mated to an elk shifter. Her daughter is
Alphy’s
mate.” Havana directed her next statement towards
them. “Heath here needs advice. He wants to be with Enzo, but after the
horrible way he was introduced to us, he needs advice how to get over his fears
and hang-ups.”

Underneath his embarrassment, Heath actually
appreciated the understanding that she had for him. He had been rather brutally
introduced to paranormals, which fed into a good deal of his fear.

Connie approached him with a sympathetic look on her
face. “I remember when my mate, Tom, revealed his world to me. I have to say,
my kids handled it far better than I did. My advice is to take a giant blind
leap, like move in with him, or something. It may sound scary, or terrifying
even, but it helps you acclimate much faster than walking into it slowly. I
promise you, your mate will always catch you. That’s one of the benefits of
being the mate to a paranormal.”

Katie, whom Heath had learned was not only mated to
the enforcer, but was also the pack nurse, walked in and sat down just as Betty
approached him.

Betty leaned against the other side of the island. “I
agree with Connie. Has Enzo shown you his wolf yet?”

Heath silently shook his head.

“
You should ask him to shift for you. He could never
hurt you, in either form, so acquaint yourself with his wolf. It will help
conquer your fear of that side of him.”

Katie interrupted. “You trying to find a way to get
over your fear of shifters?”

Heath slightly shrugged and looked down at his
fingers. “Yeah. Part of me feels like he’s the one, and I love how I feel when
I’m in his arms, but I’m weirded out, really afraid, and confused about what he
is, and I keep shying away.” He looked up at her and couldn’t hide the sorrow
on his face. “It’s hurting him. It’s killing me that I’m the one who’s causing
it.”

Katie sat and listened until he was done. “I know
something you can do that will help, but it’s a big something. Do you believe
Enzo is worth it?”

Heath felt anger burn in his gut. “Of course!” He gave
her an angry look. “I wouldn’t be baring my soul, begging for help, if he
wasn’t.”

“
Good,” Katie said, “because you’re going to need that
kind of determination if you want do this, and get over your fear. Stay here.
I’ll be right back.”

Heath watched Katie hop off of her stool and disappear
around a corner. He gave Havana a worried look, but all she did was give him a
shrug. A minute later, Katie returned, leading the twin girls who had cornered
him that first day. Heath nearly launched off the stool to get away from them,
but Havana seemed to have sensed his terror, and placed a hand on his shoulder,
effectively holding him in place.

“
You were never properly introduced. These are Lira and
Lita
. Lira was the one you saw shift, and
Lita
is the one you almost puked on.”

Both girls gave him an apologetic smile and a shy
wave. Katie continued. “They are both survivors from the first rescue. I’ve
been working with them in overcoming their fears. As you can imagine, they have
quite a few of them.”

Heath began to feel guilty. He hadn’t thought about it
before, but now their underweight appearance made sense. And he wasn’t an
expert on animals, but he had an uncle who acted out aggressively when he would
get scared. It was his mechanism in dealing with the fear.

“
Guess you got really afraid when you saw a stranger,”
he said to them.

The one named Lira nodded, and answered. “
And
you saw me shift. My sister and I
are really sorry for scaring you so much. We didn’t know you were given
permission to be there, and we didn’t know you were the beta’s mate.”

Heath thought, as he observed their body language,
that they looked like they thought they were going to be whipped or something.

“
It’s okay, I didn’t know I was the beta’s mate,
myself,” he said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

The girls smiled, and some of the others in the room
snickered along with them.

“
So,” Katie interrupted in a kindly voice, “I propose
that you go back out to where you three met, and re-enact the scene, only
control the outcome. When you see the girls in their wolf form, and respond to
you in a friendly manner, the first event shouldn’t have the hold over you that
it does now.”

Havana perked up. “Hey, and I can go with you. I can
be a support for you, and we can all pick some of the flowers to put around the
house to greet the survivors. I’m assuming they mean something good, if you
were going to pick them for Enzo.”

“
Yes, the hydrangeas you have are beautiful. I hope you
don’t kill them when you fix up your home.”