Jaxson (River Pack Wolves 1) - New Adult Paranormal Romance (10 page)

“Agreed.” Jace stretched his arms, limbering up. “I still think I can clear the fence, though. Or just take it out.” His brother had enhanced shifter abilities, beyond what most wolves possessed. But shifting for him was… unpredictable. And potentially very dangerous, for everyone—including Jace himself.

“I don’t like that option.” Jaxson peered around the back of the bush, but still no sign of his pack. “Plus I didn’t bring the appropriate supplies for that.”

“Last resort, then,” Jace said, dipping his head.

Jaxson nodded. He would take the chance in using Jace’s abilities if he had to. None of them wanted Cassie trapped inside that building one second longer than necessary.

Jace leaned over to bump Jaxson’s shoulder with his. “So… our new
office assistant
is working out for you, huh?”

“Can we not talk about this right now?” Jaxson growled. He couldn’t believe his willpower had failed him so utterly, so soon. His wolf was howling for her, but that was no excuse. It was the
man
in him who couldn’t resist her curves. Or her bravery. Or her sweet, sweet mouth. He still hadn’t deciphered that electric jolt he got every time he touched her, but after the agony of the date with Morrigan, the breath-of-fresh-air that was Olivia had been way too much temptation for him.

Jace chuckled, low and quiet. “I think we need to talk about the proper use of Riverwise office furniture—“

“Shut up.”

“Hey, I have to work there, too.” Jace’s harassment was clearly just getting started. “But if you’ve got a taste for humans now, I’ve got several who—”

Jaxson whipped his hand to his brother’s throat.
“Shut. It.”

Jace’s eyes were wide with surprise, not fear. “Okay, then,” he said in a strained way around Jaxson’s hold on his throat. Jaxson released him, but Jace’s expression just went straight to
Jaxson has lost his marbles.

“I guess we’ll talk about this later,” Jace said carefully.

“Later.” Jaxson checked his weapon.
Much later.
All of it would eventually come out. Right now, they really
did
need to focus on getting back this kidnaped shifter girl. The whole thing ran icicles through his heart—this was a change in the game, whatever game had been going on before with the shifter disappearances. And he didn’t like it one bit.

Thankfully, an almost-silent scuffle in the dirt behind him signaled the return of his three pack members from surveillance.

“What do you have for me?” Jaxson asked.

Murphy hunched next to him. “Razor-wire all around. Electrification is solid.”

“I’d have to go back for the right equipment to take down the fence,” Taylor added.

“No time for that,” Jaxson said.

There was agreement and frowns all around.

Jaxson sighed. “All right, the guard. Same drill as before. Murphy, we need him conscious.”

“You got it, boss.” He shifted his claws in and out.

Maybe Jaxson would let Murphy take point in tormenting the passcode out of the guard. Jaxson did what he had to, but he took no pleasure from it. And he’d already had his fill for the night.

“Okay, we’ll have to make this fast. Once we take the shack, Taylor works the control system from the inside. Maybe we can get access that way. Murphy, you go to work on the guard. Jace, Rich, and I will get ready for whatever’s going to storm out of the warehouse once we attack. I’m sure they’ve got—”

The crunch of car tires interrupted him. A beam of headlights swept across the shrubbery in front of them. Everyone dropped to a tighter crouch in their hiding spot, while Jaxson peered through the branches, searching for the source. A white van pulled to a stop at the guard shack.

“White van.” Jace’s voice was low and tight. That’s all they had for a description of the vehicle used to snatch Cassie, but it was enough.

“New plan,” Jaxson said to all of them. “Get that goddamned van before it breaches the gate.
Go.”

The five of them sprung from their hiding spot and raced toward the van and the guard who had just stepped out of his shack. Murphy and Rich shifted mid-sprint, using their wolf forms to run faster and get there first. Their black coats and silent paws meant the guard barely had warning before they descended upon him in a flurry of midnight fur and fangs. Jaxson took the driver’s side while Taylor went passenger-side. Jace bee-lined to the back door of the van. The ripping sound of claws going through steel tore through the night just as Jaxson arrived at the driver’s still-open window. One solid fist to the face put the driver down. Taylor had him covered with his gun from the passenger side, but there was no need. Jaxson waved him off. Then he pulled open the door and dragged the driver out into the dirt.

A scream from the guard drew Jaxson’s attention. Murphy had the man’s throat in his jaws, and Rich had clamped down on a leg. The scream must have been from that, but the guard wasn’t struggling. He seemed to realize he wasn’t dead yet, but Murphy could make him that way if he moved. Jaxson pulled his weapon and pointed it at the guard’s head, just in case.

“Jace!” Jaxson called to the back of the van. “What do we have?”

“I’ve got her!” Jace yelled from inside the van. That was followed by a muffled whimper and Jace’s voice dropped to soft and reassuring.

Liquid relief flushed through Jaxson’s body. On the heels of that emotion came the need to shoot the driver lying in the dust as well as the prone guard. But he resisted. Dead bodies with his pack’s DNA all over them? Not worth the sweet taste of revenge.

A klaxon sound roared through the air, and million-watt spotlights sprung to life outside the warehouse. Black shapes spilled from a side door.

Shit.

“Everyone in the van!” Jaxson shouted.

Bullets pinged the ground, and Taylor went down in the dirt on the passenger side.
Goddammit.
Jaxson climbed into the driver’s side and army-crawled across the bench to reach the passenger door. Glass from the windshield shattered as a bullet found a home there. Jaxson flung open the door. Taylor was down but still moving. Jaxson reached down and hauled him up into the cab. A glance up showed the paramilitary guys who had disgorged from the warehouse were held up at the still-closed gate. They couldn’t touch it—one was screaming orders for it to open up while the others sent a spray of bullets thunking into the van. Jaxson felt one clip his arm before he managed to duck back behind the cover of the dash.

“Jace! Are we clear?” Jaxson shouted over the sound of ripping metal and bullet retorts.

“Clear! Clear! Clear!” Jace yelled, which meant Murphy and Rich must have made it into the back of the van.

Jaxson threw the van in reverse and floored it. He was driving blind, but he had to put distance between the van and the gate before the reinforcements managed to get it open. He mapped the terrain from memory, remembering the slight curve in the dirt road just before it reached the warehouse and how it met up with the paved city road. A hard bounce told him he’d reached the pavement, so he cranked the wheel, which brought the lit-up warehouse into view through the side window.

The gate was just starting to spring open.

Jaxson popped upright in the driver’s seat, slammed the brakes, then shoved the van into drive. Another hard turn brought him around facing the right direction to make their escape, peeling rubber but accelerating as fast as the lumbering rental van could manage. It felt like driving through molasses compared to the bullets still biting the ground and pinging the metal of the van, but after ten, long heart-stopping seconds, they reached another turn in the road. He took it as fast as he could without rolling the van.

He knew they were out of line-of-sight when the bullets stopped finding them.

“Fuck,” 
said Taylor, struggling to sit up in the passenger seat.

“You all right?” Jaxson asked. It came out as a gasp—his lungs were struggling for oxygen, just now catching up to the adrenaline pumping through his system with a heart beating twice as fast as normal.

“Yeah.” Taylor sounded disappointed. And his voice held very little strain for as much blood as was running down his front. “This was one of my favorite shirts.”

Jaxson let out a chuckle. “You’re such an ass.”

Taylor looked offended. “It was a present from my mom.”

Jaxson grinned. “Jace?” he called to the back. “What’s our status?”

Silence.

Jaxson’s grin fell off his face. Icy hands clenched his heart. “Jace!”

His brother popped his head through the opening in the glass window between the cab and the back of the van. “Keep your pants on. Everything’s fine.”

Jaxson breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head. “Injuries?”

“Murphy took a bullet. He’s complaining like a baby, but it’s nothing.”

“Could be mortal!” Murphy’s voice echoed through the van. “I might be dying here!”

Jaxson gave his brother a quizzical look.

“He’s playing it up for Cassie,” Jace said with an unimpressed look.

Jaxson rolled his eyes, then asked in a quieter voice, “How is she?”

Jace grinned. “I found her kicking the shit out of her guard when I opened the back.”

Jaxson snorted a laugh that almost choked him. “Well, she
is
a Wilding.”

Jace gave an appreciative look over his shoulder. “They grow ‘em feisty in that pack.” Then he swung his gaze back to Jaxson and smirked. “I’m sure her big sister will be
very
appreciative when we get back.”

Jaxson didn’t answer, just scowled then turned forward to drive the van.

His heart was still racing—the adrenaline mixed with the exhilaration of recovering the girl—but they were far from done with this. Tonight, they’d stopped whoever was hunting shifters from getting
this
little girl, but there was no telling who else was in that damn warehouse. Or what torments they were enduring. And if these bastards were bold enough to grab Cassie off the street, then they had to know the Wildings were shifters. Or at least the branch of the pack with Cassie’s family. Which mean Terra, Trent, and Cassie’s father were in danger, too. Hopefully, they had realized that already and had gone to Riverwise for safe keeping.

“Get on the phone, Jace,” he called back without taking his eyes off the road. “Tell them we’re bringing Cassie back to the office. And
not
to go home.”

“On it.” Jace’s voice muffled when he closed the window to the cab, but Jaxson could still make out the pauses and rhythm of his voice. It was no doubt Olivia on the other end, standing by for news that they’d recovered the girl. When he heard Cassie’s muffled voice come through from the back of the van, Jaxson grinned. Terra must have shown up at the office, just like he expected. Which meant he’d left Olivia there to deal with that hot mess all on her own.

He owed her. Big time.

And he’d deal with the mess when they got back.

Olivia couldn’t believe how relieved she felt when Jaxson walked through the door. Jace came first, along with a mini version of Terra that had to be Cassie. They weren’t four steps inside before Terra swept Cassie into a fierce hug. Olivia hung back by the corner to the rest of the office. Trent stayed back too, waiting for Terra to go first.

“Oh, Cassie, Cassie.” She kept saying the girl’s name over and over while clutching her tighter and tighter. The poor thing probably couldn’t breathe at all, but her smile lit up every face in the room. Which included Jaxson striding in behind Jace and Cassie, followed closely by his other three pack members, Murphy, Rich, and Taylor.

They were all bloody as hell.

Olivia’s mouth dropped open. She had taken the call from Jace, and he had told her they were all right…
but they weren’t.
Jaxson’s shirt was a torn, bloody mess, and Taylor looked like he’d lost more blood than he owned. Yet they were all striding into the room, laughing and grinning, like everything was fine with the world.

“Tell me they’re really okay,” Olivia whispered to Trent. He already knew she was a novice with this shifter stuff.

His brilliant smile for the reunion quirked a little to the side. “They’re shifters, Olivia. They’re fine.” Then he stepped forward to embrace his kid sister because Terra had finally let loose her epic hug.

Olivia searched for Jaxson’s face, just to see for herself he wasn’t as bad off as his shirt portrayed. She found his brilliant blue eyes locked on her from across the room. He beamed a smile for her that made her shoulders relax. Just as he took a step in her direction, Terra popped up between them, cutting off their line of sight. Then she threw her arms around Jaxson, catching him off guard, judging by the startled look on his face.

Olivia’s heart sank… but
of course
Terra would want to thank him personally. A set of smirks flitted around the room. Olivia’s face grew hot, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the pair of them. Jaxson patted Terra’s back and whispered something to her while she clung to him, jabbering away with something meant for only Jaxson to hear.

Then Terra pulled back and
kissed him.

It was no small kiss either—this was a full-body embrace, tongue-to-tongue, Terra’s hands clutching Jaxson’s head and pulling his mouth to hers with what looked like all her shifter strength.