Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (3 page)

“I really need you to get Liberty,” he
replied. “Now, Winter. It’s urgent.”

“I’m on my way,” Winter snarled,
disconnecting the call. His panther struggled for dominance, but
Winter shoved him back. Now was not the time to go on a hunt to
find the human and kill him. As soon as he knew that Nova was okay,
he would let his panther out to play. It’d been a long time since
Winter had gone on a good hunt.

“She wouldn’t fucking talk,” Perry spat.
He’d tried everything to get the bitch to tell him what he needed
to know, but she wouldn’t give up any information on the pride.
He’d been hard-pressed to keep from killing her when he’d finally
snapped, leaving her body at the back of the bar. He wanted to send
a message, letting the pride know the wolves were coming for
them.

“Did you leave our calling card?” Franklin
snickered, his booted foot resting on an old, rickety coffee table
that had seen better days. He’d recently moved the pack from the
little cabin after the alpha’s bitch had been rescued and his
cousins had been killed by the pride. The small wolf pack had
gathered in their new home east of Memphis, keeping far enough from
the pride so they wouldn’t be found. The old farmhouse was the
perfect hiding spot. Franklin’s plan was to get in, destroy the
pride, and take over their home, but Perry was having doubts they
could actually pull it off. It was how the wolves fought for land,
faking documents when the need arose and making their mark on the
area by multiplying their numbers and building an army.

“She was at the point of death when I left
her.” Perry laughed, rubbing at the scratches on his arm. “She was
a fighter, too. I just wished I’d had a go at her before she passed
out.”

“You may get your chance again,” Franklin
said, then laughed.

A female sauntered through the door, one of
Franklin’s wives. Her name was Sissy and she was strung out from
all of the drugs Franklin kept her supplied with daily. Perry
tossed her a sack of white powder, sending the female back out of
the room. He wasn’t done talking to the alpha.

“When?” he asked, licking his bottom lip.
For a human, Nova was sweet tasting and he sure hoped he’d be able
to have another date with her in the near future.

“Keep your scent covered and go after her
again when she is almost healed,” Franklin ordered, cracking open a
cold beer. “She’s bound to talk when you threaten to hurt her
again. Humans are weak. She’ll cave, I’m sure of it.”

“How long do humans take to heal, anyway?”
Perry asked, running his hand through his dark hair, pushing it
back so he could slap an old baseball cap over his head.

“Fuck if I know,” Franklin shrugged. “Give
it two or three weeks.”

“Perfect,” Perry snickered, accepting a beer
from his alpha. Too bad she was involved with the pride, because he
would’ve loved to have that tiny brunette as his first wife. She
had a fire about her that made him hard just thinking about her
fighting off his advances.

Chapter Two

Winter stood at the nurse’s station, tapping
his foot impatiently. Liberty was encased in her mate’s arms,
getting Nova’s room number and signing paperwork for her sister’s
care. As soon as the number left the nurse’s lips, Winter turned
for the elevator, not caring if his alpha and mate followed him.
His panther was in charge and wouldn’t stop prowling until he found
her.

“Winter, wait,” Talon ordered, causing him
to pause at the entrance of the elevator. “Stand down.”

“Fuck,” he mumbled, running a hand down his
face. “Talon.”

“I know, my friend,” Talon said, pressing
the call button. “I’m not going to stop you from seeing her, but I
am ordering you, as your alpha, to calm yourself. The last thing
she needs is to have you charging in that room like a raging
bull.”

“Do we know what happened?” Winter asked,
nodding his understanding of his alpha’s orders.

“Sheriff Lynch is waiting upstairs,” Liberty
whispered, tucking herself into Talon’s side.

The elevator opened and all three of them
stepped out. Winter turned left, following Liberty and his alpha.
Another nurse’s station met them and beyond that, the sheriff was
standing there, a phone stuck to his ear. As soon as they
approached, he disconnected the call and looked toward Liberty. His
face gave them the answers they were seeking.

It wasn’t good.

“They have a room where we can talk,” he
said, holding his arm out to the side, indicating a room just down
the hall.

Winter took a seat next to the door,
allowing Talon and Liberty to sit against the furthest wall. As
Talon’s second in command, Winter’s job was to protect the alpha
and his mate, but at the moment, he only wanted to go to Nova’s
room to see her.

“Who was Nova with tonight?” the sheriff
asked. Winter’s deadly growl turned all heads in his direction. “Do
you know?”

“She was on a date with some guy named
Perry,” Winter replied, his hands turning to fists as he held on to
the arms of the chair. A loud cracking noise echoed in the room as
the wood under his fingers split. He’d been reduced to taking his
anger out on furniture.

“Do you know his last name?” The sheriff
noted something on his paper and looked up at Winter, waiting for a
reply.

“No,” he answered, seeing an amber haze to
his vision. “Now, tell me what the hell happened!” Winter stood,
his panther pushing forward. He breathed deep, sending his animal
back.

“Your bartender found her when he took the
trash out back,” Sheriff Lynch began. With each word that passed
his lips, Winter’s knees weakened, sending his ass right back into
the chair. “Nova was dumped at the back door of
The Deuce
,
she was unconscious and in very bad shape. Cole called 911, and I
was the first one on the scene.”

“I’ll kill the motherfucker!” Liberty
snarled, jumping to her feet, but immediately swayed. Sheriff Lynch
reached out to catch her, but stopped himself when Talon was there,
pulling her back down into the chair.

“Liberty, you must stay calm,” Talon
whispered. “It’s not good for the cub.”

“Cub?” the sheriff gasped, his eyes
narrowing on Liberty.

“Shit,” Winter barked, rising from the chair
and stepping toward the officer. “This is not to be known.”

“I’m not going to say anything,” he replied,
turning toward the alpha. “I’m on your side. You all know
this.”

“I just found out today,” Liberty said,
wiping a tear from her cheek. “I need to see my sister.”

“I need a description of this guy,” the
sheriff announced, turning toward the group.

“I’ve never seen him.” Liberty sniffled.
“He’s new to town. Nova said that he’d been coming in for the past
few weeks, but it was never while I was on shift.”

“Same,” Winter growled. “I never saw him in
the bar when I was there.”

“What about the other Guardians?” the
sheriff asked.

“I already told her not to date that loser,”
Winter snapped.

“You know him?” Liberty frowned.

“No,” Winter replied. “But he was probably a
loser. You sister could do better.”

Liberty smiled softly and walked around the
other two men, Talon close on her heels.

“By the way, Sheriff,” Winter said as he
walked out of the room. “If the other Guardians had seen this guy,
I would’ve known everything about him.”

Liberty made her way down the hallway,
searching for the room number she’d been given. A nurse looked up
as she exited the room, a soft smile playing on her lips.

“Ms. Raines?” she asked. The nurse was
around his age. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun and her
green eyes were kind. Winter felt a bit of ease around the nurse,
which he thought was odd, until he realized the human woman was
with young, although she wasn’t showing. He didn’t think he’d ever
get used to the feeling of peace when around a pregnant female.

“Yes,” Liberty answered.

“My name is Carol and I will be your
sister’s nurse,” she replied. “Nova is resting comfortably right
now. The doctor will be in first thing in the morning to talk to
you about her care, but I can give you a rundown of her
injuries.”

“Please?” she asked.

“She was beaten and choked.” The nurse
paused, composing herself. “Her left arm is broken and she has road
rash on that same side. Nova has a lot of bruising and cuts all
over her body. The worst part is the fact that she has a very bad
concussion. We are keeping her comfortable right now.”

“Does she know what happened?” Talon asked.
“Has she said anything?”

“No,” Carol replied, shaking her head.
“She’s been sedated since she arrived.”

“I’m going in,” Liberty said, obviously
ready to see her sister.

The moment Liberty entered the room,
Winter’s heart squeezed from the cry of agony that came from the
alpha’s mate. The moment his eyes fell upon Nova, another deadly
snarl of rage left his lips. Liberty moved quickly to the right as
Winter fell to his knees at Nova’s bedside. He didn’t know what
came over him, but he had to be close to her.

Her face was battered, her left eye black
and swollen. Her scent was there, even though it was almost
overpowered by the cleaning chemicals in the hospital. Winter
raised his head, inhaling deep, in hopes that he could get Perry’s
scent off of Nova’s body. He needed it to track the son of a bitch
when the time came to teach this human a lesson. He was
disappointed when he found no other scent.

She had several stitches over her left eye
and at her hairline. Her left arm was bandaged in a thick beige
covering. The tips of her tiny fingers were mangled, her nails
broken and jagged. The white blanket covered her body, hiding any
other injuries from his view. She was already small, but looked
like a child laying in the large hospital bed. Winter’s heart
broke, knowing he could’ve prevented this from happening if he’d
only followed her home so he could’ve met this asshole. He would’ve
sensed this man’s malice toward Nova.

“I want a blood oath,” he choked out,
fighting back tears.

“What?” Liberty asked, looking toward her
mate in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“A blood oath?” Talon asked, his voice deep
and solid. “Are you sure?”

“One of you better answer me,” Liberty
growled. Winter didn’t reply, just turned back toward the bed. His
eyes assessed Nova as Talon explained to his mate the meaning
behind a blood oath.

A blood oath was a singular request made to
the alpha to allow a Guardian deal out justice without the consent
of his leader. In other words, Winter could break away from the
pride to find and kill the man responsible. Being a rogue shifter
was dangerous. Without an alpha, Winter could become weak and
eventually die if he wasn’t brought back into the pride after an
extended period of time.

“No!” Liberty snarled, moving to Winter’s
side. “You will
not
go off on your own to find this
guy.”

Winter cursed, knowing that Liberty’s order
was just as binding as Talon’s. His eyes flickered toward his
alpha. Talon nodded sadly, agreeing with his mate.

“The pride will help you,” Talon stated, his
voice firm. “We do this together.”

“Yes, sir,” Winter said in defeat. He knew
he couldn’t disobey. Even his panther sat back, relaxing when the
alpha gave the order.