Page 48 of Protectors

“I’ll try,” I whisper, feeling myself lose the fight against the darkness.

“Don’t try, Alana. You’re stubborn as fuck and stronger than this,” Brandon practically yells as his voice breaks just like Kyle’s. This is some sick twist of fate to have my brothers find me in this situation. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea for them to be here right now, but this has to be hard for them. “Ghost and Geek are on their way here. If you’re not talkin’ to us when they show up, they’ll kick our asses. Or are you tryin’ to get your men to beat the hell outta your brothers for payback against all the jokes and pranks we played on you growin’ up?”

Brandon’s words make me laugh as a million images flash through my mind of us growing up together. Jameson, Kyle, and Brandon were always playing pranks on us girls. They’d try to see which one of them could make us scream the loudest on a daily basis. Half the time they managed to convince our dad Joker to join them while Cage would always come to our defense and get them all back for us. I’m not sure how our mom managed to get through the years with all of us. I swear she jumped and screamed more than the rest of us did and the pranks weren’t being pulled on her.

“There’s the start of that beautiful smile you have,” Kyle says as one of my hands is released and I hear whispered words behind me. “How are you feelin’, Alana? Where does it hurt the most?”

“My wrists and stomach. He got a good hit to my stomach before I went off on him. I fought him this time, Kyle. I didn’t freeze and let him beat the hell out of me. Did I do a good job?” I ask him, needing someone to know that I didn’t let Terrence get the better of me this time. That I showed him how strong I am and what my family taught me over the years.

“You did so good, Sis. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you,” Kyle says, wiping a tear from my face gently as my face scrunches up in pain. “I’m sorry, Alana.”

“Tink! Where the fuck is she?” I hear Kaden’s rough voice breaking as my eyes fly open and I groan against the pain filling me.

I try to move my body so I can get up and get to him but Kyle holds me down. My body is so weak I really don’t have the strength to fight against him but the need to get to Kaden and Colton is overwhelming. Just as I go to say something to my brother, a body drops next to me and all I can see is Kaden’s broken face filled with relief and pain. His eyes show me how much me being taken has broken him. After pressing the softest kiss against my lips, he moves back just enough for Colton to lean over me. Colton’s eyes are filled with tears as he doesn’t look anywhere else but in my eyes. Like Kaden, he presses a soft kiss against my lips before they lean back and take in my body from head to toe.

“Fuck, Sweet Angel,” Colton whispers, a lone tear sliding down his face as our eyes meet once again. “Someone get the fuck over here to help us move her.”

“No, Colton,” Playboy says, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder as my man goes to explode on his dad. “We don’t know what injuries she has. I’ve got an ambulance on the way and Vault’s already called your friend on the force to make his way here before anyone else.”

I don’t miss the look that passes between the men at my side and wonder what the fuck is going on. Trying to lift my hand so I can wipe the tear on Colton’s face away, he carefully keeps my arm on the ground next to me as I hear faint sirens in the distance.

“Don’t move, Tink. We don’t want you to get hurt more than you already are,” Kaden says, gently lacing our fingers together as the sirens start to sound closer and make the pounding in my head worse.

“I fought back this time. I didn’t let Terrence beat me,” I tell my men as the blackness starts to pull me under again. “I think I killed him so I’ll be in prison. I don’t regret my decision to stab him in the neck the way I did. He hurt me so much but hurt my family and the two of you so much more. I love you both. Daddy . . .”

“Alana!” Colton and Kaden scream my name as I finally succumb to the black peace I’ve been fighting since I walked away from Terrence in hell.

Images of my parents, brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, and my men fill my mind and play on a loop as I float in nothing. Here I don’t feel any pain and every thought vanishes from my mind. The only thing I feel is the love I have for my family and knowing that I managed to overcome my fears and managed to fight my biggest demon. Terrence didn’t get the better of me this time and if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison, then I’m okay with that. Terrence will never be able to hurt another person because I’ve rid the world of him. That’s the last thought I have as I finally let the peace fill me and my mind go completely blank.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ghost

WATCHING ALANA’S EYESclose and her not responding to anything we yell or do kills me. Something deep in my soul breaks as tears roll down my face as Colton and I try to get her to wake back up until a hand lands on my shoulder and I look up to find my dad behind me. He looks down at Alana as Cage, Joker, and Pops drop down next to Colton and me so they’re close to their girl. They don’t try to wake her up as Pops rests his hand on her chest and I watch as his hand slowly moves up and down letting us know she’s still breathing. Still, I don’t stop the tears from falling down my face as I hold her hand gently while the sirens indicating the ambulance is close fill the silent air around us.

We were sitting in the clubhouse when Vault got the call from Playboy letting us know they found Alana. I jumped out of my seat so fucking fast and raced to the door of the clubhouse with Colton right behind me. We jumped in my truck and took off without hesitation or giving a fuck about anything anyone else had to say. Our only thought was getting to our girl and pulling her into our arms. Of holding her close and making sure she was okay. The only reason I even knew where to go is because King put up the map on one of the TVs and I studied it the entire time we were waiting for the call about whether our girl was there or not. I barely heard Vault and the others putting some kind of plan in place to go in and get her if she was there.

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