Punt: A British Bad Boy Football Romance (38 page)

“Oh,” Maddie said. “Of course. I promise to take care of her, Kellan.”

“My thanks. We’re going to stay down here and try to find the survivors,” the Shifter said, looking away. The gruffness of his voice, the way he scowled… it was apparent that Kellan didn’t want to be parted from Sadie, even for such a short time.

“We’ll have backup here in an hour or so. Plenty of vehicles, and probably some medical staff too,” Maddie said, touching the male’s arm. Kellan nodded, moving off toward the Bunker once more.

“Let’s go,” Rhett said, pulling Maddie toward the ladder. She went up first, assisted by Rhett as needed. Already her hand was healing, although it still couldn’t support a great deal of weight. They made it topside intact, both squinting into the darkness.

There were two males posted up top, guarding several unconscious bodies. Sadie sat to the side, hugging herself and shivering in her thin sleeping gown. Maddie approached her, speaking in a soft tone so as not to startle her.

“Sadie,” she said. The young woman looked up at her, her wide brown eyes fearful. “It’s okay. Kellan asked me to look after you. Will you come with me?”

“Where’s Kellan?” the girl whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.

“He’s in the tunnel, rescuing some of the others like he did you,” Maddie said, making a guess.

“He’s okay?” Sadie asked, shivers wracking her small frame.

“Yes, but he needs to know that you’re safe with me,” Maddie said, offering the girl a hand. She heard someone mounting the metal ladder, and turned to find Declan crawling out of the tunnel.

“We have to go now,” she said, pulling Sadie to her feet.

Rhett handed Gwen over to Declan and picked up Jasper, barely bothering to explain as he led the way back to the helicopter. Declan, the blessed man, didn’t ask any questions, even when he eyed Sadie. After they loaded two more injured into the chopper, Rhett hopped out and headed back while Declan started the engine.

Maddie opened the paltry first aid kit, asking Sadie to look over the other two wounded males. In the meantime she tried to stabilize Jasper and Gwen, stopping the bleeding as much as she could and getting them covered up with a blanket.

Years of her life ticked by as the scenery whirred past. Maddie could do nothing but stare at Jasper and his Beta. She leaned her head back on the seat, keeping one hand on her mate’s face as if somehow that would make everything okay. The world was spinning, and here Maddie was clinging to the touch of his skin like he was the last good thing left in the world. And for her, he was. She finally understood what her brother must feel for Tessa; if she had to save one person, and only one, she would pick Jasper.

In that moment, Maddie realized that she’d been very stupid. Jasper was her mate, her everything. She’d wasted so much of their lives, wasted all this time with him, never realizing that what she needed was right in front of her. Never realized that she had surpassed the growing-pains childhood feelings she had for Jasper, that she had begun to love him for himself.

Now his life force was trickling out of his body, no longer forceful enough to gush. Maddie closed her eyes and prayed, waiting for the chopper to drop somewhere, anywhere that would save her mate.

M
achines beeped and whirred
, comforting Maddie as she lay curled up beside Jasper in his hospital bed. Declan had touched them down in some ramshackle little town, refusing to explain except to say that he had “friends” here. When Maddie saw the little hospital complete with a surgery suite, she’d broken down into uncontrollable sobs.

Once Jasper and Gwen had been put on gurneys and wheeled away, the only time she stopped crying was when she gave blood, and only because the nurses insisted that she needed to be calm and still for the needle stick. Declan donated too, noting that human blood wouldn’t help much in this case. Jas and Gwen needed Shifter blood to help speed the recovery process.

The hospital staff weren’t Shifters, but they weren’t human either. They looked human, but smelled absolutely wrong; Maddie guessed that they were Fey. They were nice enough, getting Maddie a bed and some blankets. She’d lain awake for hours waiting for Jasper to get out of surgery, shivering and sniffling and miserable with fear.

When he’d emerged from the procedure, the doctor said he was stable but critical. He also mentioned that they were having trouble keeping his temperature up, something Jasper needed to heal and fight infection.

Maddie had asked for a spare set of scrubs to be brought, and then got into the hospital’s only shower. She’d scrubbed from head to toe in the hottest water she could stand, disinfecting herself. Then she put on the fresh scrubs and climbed into bed with her mate, careful not to touch any of his wounds.

A nurse came in and piled blankets on top of them, and updated Maddie on Gwen’s well-being. Apparently the Beta was doing much better than the Alpha, giving Maddie one less thing to worry about. Declan had long since disappeared, making several runs to pick up injured Shifters and take medical supplies to the Bunker.

Jasper’s skin was like ice when Maddie first touched him, but he quickly heated in the cocoon-nest, pressed up against her body. Maddie soaked in his presence, his scent. She must have drifted off at some point, her shock giving way to exhaustion.

“Miss? Miss, you have to wake up,” came a voice, and a hand shook Maddie’s shoulder gently. Her eyes snapped open and she rolled to look at the nurse.

“The doctor says he’s too warm now. You’ll have to get up, and I’m afraid there aren’t any more empty beds,” the older woman said quietly, her tone apologetic.

“No? I mean… of course, yes,” Maddie said, her brain muddled. Every muscle in her body protested when she sat up, pushing the covers off her body. She slipped from the bed, checking on Jasper to find that he was still unconscious, or at least deeply asleep.

Maddie spotted her discarded clothing and began to rifle through it, looking for her phone. She took a handgun out of her jeans and set it on the end table next to the bed, moving it out of the way. The nurse gave her a wary look, excusing herself at the sight of the weapon. Maddie couldn’t care less what the woman thought about her, as long as she cared for Jasper properly. In Maddie’s mind, the gun only ensured that he’d be taken care of in her absence.

Pulling out her cell phone next, Maddie turned it on and dialed her brother.

“Maddie, thank the gods!” Tessa said, picking up Jace’s line.

“Is Jace okay?” Maddie asked.

“Yes, of course. Hold on.” There was some muffled speech, then Jace came on the line.

“Where the hell are you?” Jace demanded, sounding furious. “I’ve been looking everywhere, thinking you were dead!”

“I’m at a hospital in Georgia, and I’m fine. My phone is dying, though,” Maddie said, sighing. “Haven’t you talked to Declan?”

“Not really. He’s ferrying Shifters all over the Southeast, trying to find hospitals that can accommodate us,” Jace said. “Why are you in Georgia?”

“I flew here with Jasper and his Beta and a couple of others. He’s not— he’s not awake yet,” Maddie said, willing herself to stay calm.

Jace cursed, and turned to relay the information to Tessa. When the other female mirrored his curse, it brought a weak smile to Maddie’s lips.

“Is there anything we can do? Do you want us to come to you?” Jace asked, sounding worried.

“No, don’t come here. But there is something you can do for me,” Maddie said, her voice growing hard.

“Name it,” Jace promised.

“I need you to track down a male from the Alabama pack. First name Donovan, don’t know the last name but I’m sure someone there knows. I need him detained,” Maddie reeled off her requests.

“Why? What am I going to be dealing with?” Jace asked.

“The Legion knew too much. They knew just where to hit us, and how. They knew enough to strike while Jasper was gone. That’s a lot of knowledge, and I’m thinking they got it from that son of a bitch.”

Jace was silent for a long moment, probably trying to decide if he ought to just kill the male himself. Jace loathed traitors, especially those that helped the Legion destroy packs and families.

“I want him left for me, Jay,” Maddie said, her tone brooking no argument.

“All right,” Jace agreed after another long beat. “I’ll let you know when I find him. When are you returning to Louisiana?”

“As soon as Jasper and Gwen are stable enough to be transported, I’ll be heading that way. I know somebody in Atlanta who has a private plane, and I’m hoping that he’ll let me transport them in it to make things easier. If not, I’ll drive them back,” Maddie said.

“Alright. Get a phone charger asap, okay?” Jace said. “I need to be able to contact you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Maddie said, “Talk to you later.”

Ending the call, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She had bigger concerns right now. Like holding her breath, waiting for Jasper to wake up.

T
hree days went by
, the time passing as steadily and slowly as the drip drip drip of the IV still attached to Jasper’s arm. Maddie was pretty sure she was going over the deep end of some irreversible mental cliff, and to be honest she wasn’t sure she cared all that much. Jasper hadn’t so much as twitched in the last few days, although the doctor had said he was healing just fine.

Maddie had asked why he hadn’t woken up yet, and the doctor hadn’t been able to answer her with any certainty.

In the meantime, Maddie had spent every waking second either willing Jasper to wake up or giving herself a severe mental lashing over her behavior prior to the attack. She had been selfish, giving Jasper scraps when he’d deserved every bit of her attention. She’d been scared of committing to him, when in truth Jasper had never been the problem. Maddie was the biggest issue, and she always had been. Everything Gwen had said was completely right, she realized.

She’d been a spoiled brat, and Jasper deserved so much better. Maddie was going to be better, she had decided. Smarter, more fierce, more loyal. And way less flighty. Who the hell cared about going to New Zealand when her mate was here?

By the fourth day, Maddie had slowly built up a burning flame of ire inside herself, ready to do battle if it would just make Jasper wake up. She was sitting next to his bed, watching his slow but steady breathing when her phone rang, scaring the bejeezus out of her.

“Hello?” she answered, not recognizing the number.

“Madeline, it’s Ted,” came the rough male voice she’d been waiting to hear.

“Ted, thanks for getting back to me,” Maddie said, grateful beyond words.

“No problem. I’m going to have my pilot touch down about ten miles from where you’re at. Are your friends ready to travel?” he asked.

“The doctor cleared them, as long as they go straight to another medical facility. We have one at my De— er, campus,” Maddie said, correcting her slip-up.

“Well, Jonas will be waiting for you on the landing strip. I’ll text you his location,” Ted offered.

“You’re the best,” Maddie said.

“It’s not a problem. Consider us even,” Ted said. He hung up before Maddie could reply. Still, it was a small victory in an otherwise advance-less day. She’d called in a big favor to make this happen, and she was ready to get the show on the road.

J
asper came back
to himself in a slow stretch of moments, drifting upward to the surface of consciousness. He heard sounds first, a mix of the strange and familiar. One in particular pulled at him, made him want… something. He wasn’t sure.

He concentrated, trying to open his eyes to see the source of that sound— a voice. Before he could succeed, he was distracted by an onslaught of physical sensations. Feeling came back to his body everywhere at once; he was hot, so hot, and he couldn’t move his legs. His head throbbed, his mouth was dry as sand, and he could feel the cold touch of plastic at his wrists. Was he being restrained?

Jasper began to struggle, fighting against the restraints trapping his arms and legs.

“Be still!” came a voice. Jasper frowned. It wasn’t the voice he needed to hear, though. It was a touch too deep, he decided.

“Jasper? Are you awake?” came the voice again. A cool hand touched his shoulder, shaking him. He shivered, pulling back from that icy grasp.

His eyes snapped open, taking a long second to focus on the figure seated in front of him. Stunning dark hair, lovely hazel eyes.

“Gwen,” he ground out, identifying her after a few hazy seconds. She was sitting in a wheelchair next to his… hospital bed? What he’d thought were restraints were actually heavy layers of blankets on his legs and a sprawling network of IVs hooked up to his arms and hands.

What the hell had happened? It must have been bad if his already-preternatural healing abilities had needed this kind of bolster from human medicine.

“Hey,” Gwen said, giving him a concerned look.

“Where’s Maddie? Is she safe?” he blurted, confused. A flit of dark emotion passed over Gwen’s face, but she just patted his arm.

“She’s fine, just tired. She went to lie down in the next room after I swore up and down that I would watch after you while she was sleeping,” Gwen said, her expression amused. “We’re in the Infirmary at the Louisiana Den, if you were wondering.”

“Yeah, okay… Why are we here, though?”

“What do you last remember?” Gwen asked, fidgeting with the blanket covering her lap. Gwen didn’t fidget. Shit, this was going from bad to worse.

“I remember the mating ceremony,” he replied, thinking.

“And then I called you. Do you remember that?” she asked.

Something clicked into place, and Jasper’s breath caught in his chest.

“How many?” he choked out, devastated. “How many dead?”

“Only one of ours,” Gwen said. “One of the human bartenders was shot point-blank when he tried to deny the Legion entrance to the club.”

“How the hell did this happen?”

“We’re certain that the Legion had inside information. Donovan’s gone missing, so we assume he was involved.”

“Gods. What was he thinking, bringing them down on his own kind?”

“We’re not sure, but there are a lot of people looking for him right now. It won’t be long before he screws up and we haul his ass back here for interrogation,” Gwen said.

“And the pack? Where is everyone?”

“They’re all here, or on their way at least. I have some more bad news about that.”

“Lay it all out,” Jasper said.

“The Bunker was more fragile than even we realized. Whatever Ennis did to it… it just couldn’t hold up to whatever magic the Legion inflicted on it. We evacuated after the fight, but when we went back…” she said, waving a hand.

“You couldn’t get back in?” he asked, puzzled.

“There wasn’t anything to go into. The whole thing just vanished.” Gwen shook her head, her expression pained. “I’m sorry Jasper. The Bunker is gone.”

Jasper sucked in a deep breath. He was surprised, of course. But the loss of the Bunker just didn’t hurt as much as it probably should. If his pack had survived, and his mate was safe, he considered that a win.

“Don’t apologize to me, Gwen. This whole thing is my fault. If I’d been a better Alpha, if I’d stamped out this rebellion earlier…” he said, anger forming a hot fist in his stomach.

“You did what you thought was right, Jasper. You didn’t want to rule by tyranny, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Gwen said with a frown.

“Obviously that’s not true,” Jasper said.

“Well, you’re not the only one to blame. I haven’t exactly been beneficial as a Beta recently. We’ve been too busy at each others’ throats to actually run the damned pack. Your mate made that quite clear,” Gwen said.

Jasper was silent for a long beat, searching for the right words.

“Gwen, I want to apologize—” he started, uncertain how to explain his obsession with Maddie. Gwen raised a hand to stop him, shaking her head.

“No. Let’s just… let’s just move on. We both spent two years trying to make ourselves something we weren’t. I say that’s enough punishment for anyone.”

Jasper was quiet, thinking. Finally he nodded.

“Okay,” he agreed. “I’d shake on it, but…”

He nodded to indicate all the tubes and wires stuck to his arms, and shrugged.

“Let me go get the doctor and see if we can’t get some of that removed,” Gwen said, uncrossing her legs and rolling herself backward in her wheelchair.

She was as good as her word, and less than ten minutes later he was a free man. Throwing back the blankets, he slid off the bed and tested his weight on his legs. He was more sore than anything, and the flimsy hospital gown felt ridiculous. The damned thing wasn’t meant for someone of his stature, ending about three inches below some things he’d rather not show the entire world.

“I know you’re about to get back in that bed,” came a singsong voice from the doorway. He looked up to find Maddie standing there, hands on her hips. She was giving him a damnably dirty look, and Jasper had the distinct impression that his mate was trying not to scream at him.

“Just making sure everything still works,” he said, trying to make a joke.

“Get back in the damned bed, Jasper. You almost died in my arms a few days ago, so it would be a shame if I had to kill you now,” she said.

Hands raised, Jasper stepped back and sat down on the bed. Her glare only intensified until he sighed and swung his legs back onto the bed, getting under the covers. Only then did she enter the room, strolling toward the bed. Jasper wasn’t fooled for a second, though.

“I know you’re mad, but—” he started.

“No. Mad is not the right word for this. Not pissed, not teed off, not irritated. I’m fucking murderous right now, do you understand me?” she asked, narrowing those violet eyes at him like laser beams.

Jasper frowned, trying to stop the inevitable lecture.

“Listen, Madd. I’m sorry we had to leave you at the chopper. It was for your own good,” he said, wincing at his wording the second it was out of his mouth.

“For my own good? Oh, well that makes me feel better,” she said, dropping into a chair by the window so that she could stare him down.

“I thought you would be safer,” he said, feeling defensive.

“I broke my own hand just to get out those cuffs, Jasper.”

His blood heated at her words, anger blooming beneath the surface.

“Why in the hell would you do that?” he said, his brows snapping together. The whole point had been to keep her from pain, not for her to go around breaking her own bones like a psycho.

“Because I knew that somewhere down there in the Bunker you were doing some stupid heroic shit that was going to get you killed. And I also knew that with everything going on, you wouldn’t have anyone watching your back.”

“And you knew this how?”

“Because, Jasper, that’s what you do. You don’t weigh the risks, at least not to yourself. You find the most dangerous thing to do and you do it. You lay yourself out on the altar like a damned sacrifice, trying to make up for things that weren’t even your fault.” Maddie pointed an accusing finger at him. “Don’t deny it, either. That’s who you are.”

“You’re the one who broke your own hand so that you could run into a gun fight!” Jasper said, his voice rising with tension.

“To save you! To be with you! Because I knew that you wouldn’t think twice about laying that grand speech at my feet at the mating ceremony, and then running off and getting yourself killed! Admit it, that never even crossed your mind!”

Jasper fell silent, taken aback.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to man the hell up and say it. I love you, and if you died, it would kill me. How’s that?” Maddie said, crossing her arms and sitting back.

Jasper was left slack-jawed and staring, completely stunned. This was not the outcome he’d foreseen for this particular conversation. His heart rate picked up, and he felt himself flush. She loved him?

“I, uh… thank you?” he said, his thoughts scattered.

Maddie put her hands on her hips, leveling him with a nasty scowl.

“You are lucky you are in the hospital right now, I swear to the gods. You have two seconds to tell me you love me too, or I’m going finish the job the Legion started,” she threatened, standing as if to make good on it.

“I— love you?” he said, that dry-mouth suddenly returning again. At her growl of displeasure, he held up his hands to stall her. “I mean it! Of course I love you, Madd. I always have.”

“And now I want you to promise me, swear to me, that you’ll never do anything that stupid again. And you’d better not even think about leaving me behind if you do,” she said, her voice wavering a little bit. Jasper could see the tension in her body, in her expression. She really had thought he was going to die, he realized. She’d been forced to sit by his bed and face the fact that he was going to leave her behind again, this time for good.

“I promise,” he said, reaching out and pulling her close. She sank down next to him on the bed, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

“You swear?” she asked, her voice gone soft. She tucked her head against his neck, hiding her face. He could feel her hot tears wetting his collarbone.

Brushing back the gossamer wave of mahogany hair that spilled over them both, Jasper breathed in her delicate scent. Sweet, light, beautiful. And oh so Maddie, he thought. His heart thumped, filled with pride and gratitude for his fierce yet tender-hearted mate.

“I swear,” he said, tipping her face up with a finger.

“You can’t leave me,” she said, brushing away her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. “I won’t have it.”

“I would never,” he soothed, dropping a kiss to her forehead. Her purple eyes seared into him, burning him from the inside out. He couldn’t help the stir of desire he felt in that moment, seeing this sweet side of his mate as he pressed close to her soft curves.

He felt her draw a deep breath, his arousal triggering hers like setting a match to paper. He dropped his gaze down to her mouth, desperate for a taste of what was his. Only his, he thought, his possessive instincts flaring.

Before he could even move, Maddie arched up and brushed her lips against his. That tiny bit of contact burned him alive, and he pressed his mouth to hers for another taste.

She curled her fist in his hospital gown as they kissed, pulling herself closer and giving a soft little sigh that opened her lips for his exploration. Jasper deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding in and out of her mouth in artful thrusts.

He was so enthralled by her warmth that he didn’t even notice when someone else entered the room. Several someones, actually.

“Well, I’d say he’s feeling better,” came a male’s voice, causing Maddie to practically jump out of the bed, wiping at her lips.

Jace stood with him arms crossed, looking less than pleased at having caught his kid sister necking with her mate. Shaw and Connall stood behind him, trying very hard not to laugh.

“He is feeling much better,” Jasper confirmed, crossing his arms right back. “Aren’t I, Madd?”

Maddie had the grace to blush and look down at her shoes, not missing his innuendo in the least.

“You’ll be fine,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Good,” Shaw spoke up, stepping forward. “We have a lot of things to discuss, like what to do with your pack.”

“Is anyone causing trouble?” Jasper asked, raising a brow.

“Not yet, but there are rumblings. If one of your males does something foolish, I can’t protect him from my pack. This is their home,” Shaw said, looking stern.

“Actually, I had an idea about that,” Maddie said, surprising the men.

“Do tell,” Jace said, giving her a suspicious look.

“Well, look at what we have. On one hand, we have the Alabama pack. A bunch of military men with no home, their Alpha and Beta in the hospital, and one female to twenty five males. On the other hand, we have the Louisiana pack. Half females, with few potential mated pairs. Jace is always bitching that the pack isn’t well protected enough. And we have a perfectly functional Den. Why not share?”

The males all started shouting at Maddie at once, and she winced. She’d known they wouldn’t like the sound of it at first, but it really did have merit. She just had to get them to agree to think about it.

“—would screw up the whole pack structure—”

“—fiscal nightmare, not to mention—”

“—absolutely no way. We don’t even know—”

Maddie put her first two fingers in her mouth and blew hard, producing a piercing whistle that cut through all the noise.

“Stop talking,” she commanded. To Jasper’s surprise, they all obeyed.

“Okay. I know that there are a lot of reasons that this might not work. But there are a lot of good reasons that it would, too. We don’t have to decide everything right now. Besides, that’s only one part of the problem, and thus only one part of my plan.”

“Gods, she’s bossy,” Connall said, frowning.

“Believe me, I know,” Jasper said, arching a brow.

“My Emma’s no better, truth be told,” Connall replied, looking amused.

“Can we get on with it?” Shaw asked, annoyed. The two mated men shared a sympathetic look, which only made Shaw scowl harder.

“The other half of the problem is the Legion. We can all agree on that, right?” Maddie asked, garnering nods from all four men.

“We need to find out how widespread the problem has become. If the Legion is dogging us, they’re probably targeting other packs, or at least planning to. We need Shaw to get on the phone and start calling Alphas, and we need those Alphas to call other Alphas, and so on.”