Page 51 of Pack to the Wall

Bronn laughed. “It seems our alpha can be a naughty little vixen, even if only in her dreams.”

Oh yeah, I could! I was one hot mama and I wasn’t afraid to show it… or was I?

Things got confusing again after that. Dreams of food and sex and hunting and running and bad bikers and good bikers all mixed together. I lost myself once more.

Yet, deep in the back of my mind some part of me knew what I’d done to Tyson, and I wasn’t sorry for it in the least.

COLT

The afternoon drew on.Jane grew more and more feverish and lethargic. I had a few chances to check in on her, but mostly my job was to patrol and keep the house safe.

All too soon, the sun set, and I felt the pull of the moon about to rise. It was nearly time.

I did a final check on Jane. She shifted and moaned in bed, asleep, but clearly uncomfortable. Tyson stayed with her, he’d help her through the shift, when it came. Bronn leaned on the wall outside her room in case he was needed. I nodded to them both, then left for another patrol.

I slipped out the back door in time to hear the rev of engines. Brick gave me the finger as he revved Harley’s old Road King. Ginny was wrapped around him and giving me a sour look as well. Brick let the bike loose and it dug a half-foot-deep hole in the lawn of the back yard before disappearing around the side of the house.

I followed them, just in case they were planning something, but the bike quickly left the cul-de-sac, heading out onto the main road and away. I didn’t trust those two, this night of all nights. Them leaving was just a little too convenient, but perhaps I should just accept this bit of luck and take the win.

I did another tour around the house and, on my second pass through the back yard, I heard something that sounded like crying.

It was soft, but my ears were keen and I focused for a moment to pin-point it. It sounded like it was coming from the line of bikes covered by heavy tarps. We didn’t have fancy bike covers, only camping tarps, which we used to keep the elements off our prized machines. The four bikes in the yard were set up in pairs and I zeroed in on one of the pairs. I lifted the tarp, pulling up the piton which had been sunk into the ground at one corner.

And there, wedged between the two bikes — Tank’s and Brick’s — was Petra. She was naked and sitting with her knees pulled up in front of her. Her one wrist was hand-cuffed to Tank’s bike.

I swallowed the bile that rose in the back of my throat. My father was an animal. Completely inhuman. How could he leave a pregnant woman out here, naked and cold?

I ground my teeth so hard I couldn’t speak. I went to her and grabbed the handcuffs, prying the metal links apart until they snapped, freeing her from the bike.

“I’ve got you now,” I whispered. “I’ll make surehenever gets his hands on you ever again.” I picked her up and didn’t bother covering the bikes when I left.

I looked around as I crossed the back yard, my mind edgy. Where was my father? Tank didn’t usually let Petra get too far from him. I sniffed the air. His scent was all over the back yard, hard to pin down. Mostly his scent covered Petra and I had trouble tracing it anywhere else.

I’d find him later. Right now, I needed to get Petra to safety before he returned from wherever he’d gone. It couldn’t have been far… his bike was still here. Maybe he’d gone for a wander in the forest?

I brought Petra around to the side door, not the back. I easily cradled her in one arm while I opened the door, then hurried her downstairs into the basement.

“Kira!” I hissed as I reached the rec room. “Keep Petra safe!” I put the shaken woman down on the long couch in the rec room. Kira instantly covered her with a blanket.

“Think you can stop Tank if he comes for her?” I asked.

“If she can’t, I will,” Dana Juarez said, her tone icy.

“We all will,” Cassie said, voice trembling even as she showed a surprising spirit and strength with her words. “He’s not getting his hands on her again!”

I almost wanted Tank to come for Petra. I was curious what these three she-wolves could do to him, even though it wouldn’t be a pretty fight.

In truth, I was hoping I got my hands on him first. It was time he learned what it felt like to be beaten into submission. I wouldn’t kill him, even if that’s what he deserved, but breaking a few bones didn’t seem out of the question.

I heard another bike rumble to life in the distance.

All of us in the rec room tilted our heads, listening. With exceptional hearing and years around all of these bikes, we could usually identify each bike by its sound. This was Sonny’s Fat Boy. I relaxed a little. Not my father. Though, perhaps Sonny knew where I could find him.

Sonny was the quiet one of Harley’s old betas, the youngest and lowest in rank. He hadn’t been causing a lot of trouble for Jane, and I was starting to hope that maybe he was a decent guy. He’d done his fair share of nasty things with the gang, but perhaps that was just to prove he was as tough as the others.

I started up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The sound of Sonny’s bike got closer. He was leaving, coming from the back, around the side of the house, to the driveway.

I reached the side door and opened it just as Sonny stopped where the driveway ended toward the back of the house.

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