Page 22 of In The Shadow of The Wolf

He was so caught up in his anger and self-ridicule that he failed to take notice of a large brown wolf closing in on him from behind. When he did happen to see it, he put on additional speed haphazardly dodging around trees and obstacles. He could see the gas station, and it gave him the incentive to make it the distance. He would not be trapped again, no more lies and exploitation. Lance would not get the reward money he was counting on.

There were plenty of people and activity at the gas station, so his pursuers would not be able to do anything to him there. He prayed that Molly and Henry were already waiting, and they could make a clean getaway before Jordan or Lance could catch up.

“Ronan, stop, please! It’s not what you think, please! I’ve never lied to you. Please let me explain.”

Ronan recognized that voice. It called to him on a physical level. He desperately wanted to turn and run to Lance and ask him to love him and protect him. His rational mind told him to keep running, so he pushed through the need and focused on the gas station just ahead.

Victory immediately morphed into terror as he broke through the tree line and came face to face with Jordan Randall standing outside of his car with his hand on the door handle. Their eyes locked, and Ronan’s panic was recognized and consumed with a satisfying smile.

Before Ronan could comprehend the situation and react, Jordan dove at him, grabbing him by the upper arm and then throwing him against his car. Ronan scrambled to resist and pushed against the door frame, but Jordan was strong and unrelenting.

Jordan laughed and muttered joyously. “Too good to be true.” He leaned in close to Ronan’s ear. “This is absolutely priceless.”

Molly came running towards them with Henry close behind. “Ronan, no, let him go!” She screamed.

From the opposite direction, the brown wolf, which Ronan believed to be Dean, burst from the tree line and was charging at them. Lance was running beside it, boiling with rage.

“Release him; you won’t make it out of the county Randall!” Lance leaped towards them just as Molly and Henry did the same. Unfortunately, Jordan swung Ronan around with an arm around his neck and pressed his back to Jordan’s chest. In his other hand was a gun.

“Back off, or there won’t be anything left for you to rescue.” He pointed the gun at Ronan’s temple as he glared at them.

Lance realized that his bad day had just turned into a complete nightmare. “Don’t hurt him,” Lance stated clearly and put up his hands in a nonthreatening manner. “You don’t want to do this, Randall. Think about your reputation, your career. Let him go, and we can forget this ever happened.” Jordan laughed and pulled Ronan closer to him, causing Ronan to lose his balance and stumble backward.

Jordan held him up by the arm on his neck, cutting off Ronan’s breath until he was able to right himself again. Lance panicked seeing Ronan’s distress and started forward until Jordan waved the gun at him and demanded he back up while threatening them both.

“I don’t get you, people. You call me and report that you have Ronan James in custody, but then you refuse to give him over. What sort of payoff were you hoping for?” The hurt mixed with anger in Ronan’s eyes cut through Lance like an acid burn. Lance kept shaking his head in denial, hoping that Ronan would give him a chance to explain when this was over.

“We had no intention of handing him over; we never did. Our only goal was to get you here so you could be dealt with, and your influence on Ronan and Molly would be over.” Lance noticed Molly moving to the side of Jordan just out of eyeshot as he maintained Jordan’s attention. “You’re never getting out of here. The cops have the road blocked. This isn’t worth your life or your career.” Lance hoped to appeal to the man’s ego.

Molly made a noise which caused Jordan to jerk towards her and take his eyes off of Lance just long enough for Lance to react. He grabbed Jordan’s arm holding the gun and twisted it back over his head. The gun discharged into the air, and everyone froze for a moment.

Lance's body slammed Jordan against the side of the car, effectively loosening his grip on Ronan, who fell to the pavement gasping and choking. “Run!” Lance shouted at him, but Ronan wouldn’t run away and let others get hurt.

“No.” Ronan coughed and tried to get to his feet. Jordan suddenly realized that he was losing the battle with the man who attacked him and freed Ronan. In his hatred and anger over the turn of events, Jordan focuses all of his rage on the ungrateful Ronan lying at his feet. He took the opportunity and struck out at him landing his expensive Italian shoe on the side of Ronan’s head. The strike sends Ronan sprawling backward again onto the hard pavement.

A blood-curdling roar was heard, and in an instant, Lance shifted into a large black wolf and brought Jordan down, landing square on his chest. He sunk his teeth into Jordan’s shoulder, pinning him in place. Ronan was out cold and bleeding, and Jordan was about to meet his maker.

Molly and Henry hurried to Ronan’s side as the cops rushed to assist Lance. Terry was the first on the scene and the first to get to Lance. “Easy now, Alpha, don’t kill him. That would be a bitch to try and cover-up.” Terry waited as Dean, who had now shifted back to his human form, came to stand next to Lance.

“He’s not worth it, Lance. You have a mate to attend to. Let us deal with this garbage.” Dean urged. Jordan lay there dumbstruck and staring, afraid to move as the wolf’s teeth continued to hold him and blood gushed from this wound. It was discovered that an Armani suit was no match for the razor-sharp teeth of an angry wolf.

Slowly Lance released him and backed away. At the same time, Dean and Terry came forward and took hold of Jordan, dragging him unceremoniously to his feet. Lance shifted back in seconds and was instantly reaching for Ronan. Molly was holding his head in her lap and gently cleaning the cut above his eye, which had now stopped bleeding.

Henry backed away to give Lance room and stumbled into Terry, who quickly caught him and righted him back on his feet. Terry did not immediately take his arms from around Henry, looking at him strangely as if shocked by the presence of the man in his arms.

“Sorry.” Henry apologized.

“No, problem.” Terry almost moaned the response.

“Thank you.” He responded, giving the officer a blatant once-over.

Ignoring everything around him, Lance knelt down and picked Ronan up, and cradled him in his arms. “I’m taking him back to the Manor, have the doctor meet us there.” Molly stood and glared at Lance while holding onto Ronan’s arm.

“He isn’t going anywhere with you.” She spat at the Alpha. “You turned us in. You set him up to be taken.” She began pulling at Ronan to try and free him from Lance’s grasp.

“No, Molly, it isn’t what you think; please listen.” Aaron had pulled into the station and was walking up on the group. “What you thought you heard is not what was actually said.”

Molly let go of Ronan and turned to regard Aaron standing behind her with his hand outstretched towards her. “I heard you discussing Jordan with Lance and you said he would be in town before sundown. You said the plan was working. What was I supposed to think?” She took a couple of tentative steps toward Aaron. “You overwhelm me emotionally, and I’m sure Lance has done the same to Ronan, and then you separate us. What was I supposed to think?” She unconsciously took Aaron’s hand, and he pulled her into his arms.

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