Page 87 of Pack Baines

I mistake the first shake of her body for the cold burrowing beneath her skin, her trembling body shaking so hard that I hear her teeth rattle. It’s from the bone-jarring shake the second time that Irealize she’s crying, and I bundle her that much closer as I run my hand up and down her back, tucking her so close to my body that I don’t know where she starts and I end. I don’t even care that she’s soaked to the bone, the water seeping through to my clothes. I don’t care that I’m still standing in mud, my face aching something fierce as the adrenaline shifts enough that my pain receptors flare back to life.

All I care about is holding the woman I love in my arms, assuring myself that she’s here, safe and sound, and making sure she knows that I’ll always have her no matter what.

“Come on, Angel. Let’s get you seen by the ambulance and out of those wet clothes,” I command, carrying her from the bank and back toward where the others have pinned both of the thundercunts who took my girl and tried to fucking kill her, to the ground.

Juniper shivers in my arms, and I look at her, only to find her staring at the two guys like she’s seen a ghost. The fear in her eyes bleeds into her expression, and I hold her tighter, pressing a kiss to her temple but careful to avoid the nasty gash that spills blood down her face. “It’s okay, Juno. They won’t hurt you again.”

She nods, wrapping her good arm more snuggly around my shoulders, her hand gripping my neck tight enough that I’d complain if I didn’t want to feel every inch of her. She could strangle me for all I care, so long as she was right here with me.

Just as Evron opens his mouth, likely to ask who the two pieces on the ground are, if his glare in their direction is anything to go by, I hear a stranger shout, “Lowie? Juno?”

We all freeze where we stand, all of us sharing wary glances, before the stranger calls out again, right before a man wearing a police uniform steps into view. Like a dark comedy show, the cop looks us all over, eyes the two men on the ground, and drops his concerned gaze to Juno before they land on me. “Lowie Ledger?”

“Yes, sir,” I answer honestly, never once relaxing my hold on Juno.

“Is that Juniper Baines you’re holding?” he asks, and I nod. He jerks his head in the direction of the guys pinning the dickheads down. “And those?”

“Juniper’s pack, and the guys who tried to kill her,” I answer, steel in my voice and a renewed explosion of anger spreading through my body.

The officer frowns but nods, right before asking, “And they are?”

“My foster brothers,” Juno breathes shakily, body still trembling, eyes still on the two men face down in the mud.

My whole body, however, turns to stone as understanding dawns on me. The two fuckers are the assholes she ran away from all those years ago, the ones that belong to the family that abused her before she got out. These are the sick fucks that kept trying to force her into bonding with them, forming a pack she didn’t want with them.

“I should have killed him,” I seethe out loud, eyeing the bigger of the two with disdain and relishing in the way he winces in pain as Creek twists his arm a little harder, the blood coating his face doing very little to soften the fury I feel towards him, his brother, and his shitty, good-for-nothing parents.

“Alright, folks. Let’s get you out of here and we can work all of this out, okay?” the officer instructs politely but sternly, and my pack simply nods before eyeing Juno. They’re likely feeling the same need to lock her away in her nest and keep her there until the end of fucking time, just like I am.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to that portion of this shitshow until long into the night, after the police have taken all of our statements, arrested Peter and Josh Burton, and they send Juno to the hospital in an ambulance with me still clutching her hand.

By the time we manage to find ourselves in the confines of our home, Juno is dead on her feet, still shivering as though the cold in the water has seeped into her bones, and she looks as ready to drop as the rest of us.

She’s stubborn, though, because just as Leylan and I begin to herd her toward the stairs, intending on taking her to her nest, she pauses and asks, “Did you find out if Pace was okay?”

Creek nods, smiling softly at her, haunted eyes scanning every inch like he’s done all night. “He’s fine, beautiful. Dislocated shoulder, a few scrapes and bruises, but he’s fine. Feels shit about what happened, but we all assured him he wasn’t at fault. Pretty sure he and his pack will be stopping by sometime tomorrow to check on you. And Silver. Took some convincing to get her to stand down and visit tomorrow instead of going to the hospital.”

She sighs and nods. “Okay, sure.”

Pressing a kiss to her head, her hand still linked with mine, I say, “Let’s get you to bed, Angel. We’ll figure out the rest in the morning.”

Squeezing my hand but not attempting to remove it from mine, she nods and allows my brother and me to finally take her to her nest. Since she showered in the hospital and found herself wearing a kind nurse’s spare t-shirt and leggings, we don’t bother fucking around with anything but getting Juniper bundled up in the nest, all of us piling in with her.

Each of us finds a spot close enough to touch her, no one complaining about me hogging her hand as they all settle around Juno. Wild horses couldn’t get me to release her hand right now, the comfort of her touch the only thing keeping me calm enough that I don’t try to do something stupid, like kill her foster brothers for trying to kill her. For Juno, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

It takes very little time before Juno’s soft snores begin, her face nuzzled in my neck, my brother spanning her entire back as he acts like the big spoon to her small. Creek is lying behind me, his arm stretched over my waist so he can tuck his hand beneath Juno’s borrowed shirt at her neck and brush his thumb over their bond mark. Evron is hugging one of her legs, his face pressed against where I know his own mark lies beneath Juno’s leggings, and Geo curlsaround our heads with his hand in Juno’s hair, softly rubbing at the spot where Peter had gripped her earlier.

Together, we lay in silence as we listen to Juno’s breathing, watching her chest rise and fall as she sleeps, thanking every deity in existence that she’s still here with us.

And, while I lie awake long after everyone else has fallen asleep, I renew the vow I made all of those years ago, promising Juno that no one or nothing will ever take her away from us again. Wherever she goes, we go, until we’re nothing but dust.

Chapter 33

Juniper

I wake up overheated but safe, bundled in the arms of the twins as they sleep soundly. Creek, Geo, and Evron are still sleeping, the latter hugging my leg with his cheek pressed against the bond mark on my thigh, while the former cups my neck loosely.

“Go back to sleep,” Leylan whispers in my ear from behind me, nuzzling the back of my neck. “The sun has barely risen and you haven’t had anywhere near enough rest after the hell you’ve been through.”

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