Page 86 of Pack Baines

I pay little attention to anything else, my blinding anger focused solely on the man that mutters something in the ear of my woman, right before he dunks her fucking head right into the water again, chuckling as though he’s having the time of his life torturing my omega.

I’m like a bull running after a red flag, my feet charging towards the cunt before I can even comprehend the movement. I don’t focus on the way Juno’s body turns sickeningly limp, how her fingers stop clawing at the hand holding her head under water, or how the sick bastard laughs even harder when bubbles float to the surface where Juno’s head has disappeared beneath the surface. I only focus on getting him away from her. Of getting to my girl before I lose her again, maybe for good this time.

Lowering my body, I dip low before charging the bastard, tackling him with all the force of a fucking elephant. The sound of his pained grunt offers very little satisfaction, even less so when I take him to the ground and he starts laughing again, muttering between wheezes, “Fuck yeah. I was feeling disappointed this wasn’t going to be much of a challenge.”

I’m suckered with a punch the next second, my head snapping to the right before I can think to block the attack. I’m dazed for too long, blinking rapidly, before another fist comes swinging at me, connecting brutally with my jaw. My head jerks in the opposite direction, and I only catch a brief flicker of Geo and Evron charging toward another figure I hadn’t noticed before.

It’s not enough to distract me from another punch, and I only just managed to dodge the next swing, launching my own righthook into the ugly cunt’s face hard enough that blood spurts from his already crooked nose. I follow it with another swing, splitting his lip. I go in for another, cutting his eyebrow. Adrenaline and fear fuels me as I beat my fists over and over into the asshole’s face, the pain muted while I tear into the man who thought he could hurt Juniper.

As soon as he turns limp, his dirt-colored eyes rolling to the back of his head after one particularly brutal punch to the temple, I scramble off the piece of shit and hurry toward the bank where I last saw Juniper.

The space where she’d been mere moments before is empty, the divots where her knees had been buried in the mud void of her presence. I frantically search the water, seeing no sign of my girl anywhere, and my heart starts to drown at the thought that I could have been too late. That she’s been swept away in the water, that I fucked it all up when I tackled the asshole.

“Lowie, watch out!” my brother shouts, just as someone kicks my legs from under me, my landing hard enough that I grunt and groan as a rock breaks my fall.

I peer up from the ground just in time to catch the foot soaring at me, the muddied boot aiming for my fucking face, and I twist the ankle attached to it with enough force that I hear a nasty snap that rings in my ears with an accompanying scream so shrill that I wince.

The body attached to the foot, that of the same bastard I thought I’d knocked out, falls with a wail, and before I can scramble on top of him to beat the piss out of him and make sure he doesn’t wake up ever again, my brother hurries over with Creek right behind him. “We’ve got it. I don’t know where Juno went, though. Find her, Low.”

Nodding rapidly, I scramble back to my feet and hurry to the bank, searching for my girl. I feel like I’m going to suffocate on my agony when I see no sign of her, a blood-boiling rage filling me from my head to my toes, my eyes scanning and scanning while my hands tighten into fists.

I wade into the water, hissing at the cold bite that seeps into my shoes, and shout, “Juno?”

I strain to hear a reply, begging for one, but there’s nothing. So, I try again. “Juniper? Come on, Angel. Where are you?”

Again, I stop and listen, jaw clenched tightly while I try to tune out the rushing of water and the guys restraining the two fucks that tried to take my girl from me. The two fucks that very well might have succeeded in taking her from me.

“Juno?” I try again, heart galloping painfully in my chest, stomach tightening with dread. “Juniper, where—?”

“Lowie?”

My entire body almost turns to fucking liquid when I hear the sweetest rasp I’ll ever hear, my name crawling out as a croak from nearby.

“Juno? Where are you, Angel?” I shout, stepping a little further into the water, eyes flying over every inch of water and land I can see from where I stand.

“Here,” Juno calls, slightly garbled by water, but strong enough that I suss out the direction.

I’m running to the left not a split second later, a flash of grey and purple leading me along the bank as I hurry to Juno. Sure enough, I find her clinging to a thick tree log that hangs over the lake, her teeth chattering and one arm hanging limply while she uses the other to cling to safety.

“Juno, hold on, baby,” I shout, just as I vault over a felled tree and rush toward her, the petrified look on her face fueling my movements like oil to a flame. I waste no time going into the water, trudging in quickly until I’m waist deep while I latch onto a high branch and reach for Juno. Holding my hand out for her, I roughly command, “Grab on, Angel. I’ve got you.”

Terrified, icy-blue eyes fill with both relief and panic, and Juno shakes her head as she fights against the current of the water. Spitting water from her mouth and doing her best to stay above the surface, she cries, “I can’t. My arm is broken. If I let go, I’m gone.”

Gritting my teeth, I push myself further into the water, before I strain to tell her, “You’re going to have to give me your broken arm, Angel. It’ll hurt, but it’s the only way I’m going to get you out safely. Can you do that for me, baby?”

Juno whimpers, and it breaks my heart in two, but she nods firmly as she sends me a pleading look. “Don’t let me go, okay?”

“I won’t ever let you go, Angel. Trust me,” I plead, gritting my teeth against the freezing water as I push my hand out a little further toward her.

It feels like an eternity passes as I wait for Juno to gather the courage to sling her broken arm toward my outstretched hand, those pale-blue eyes holding so much trust and fear that I almost feel my chest caving in before she finally reaches for me.

As soon as her hand is in mine, I latch on tight, pulling her toward me slowly but surely. Juno cries out and curses, likely feeling no short amount of pain, but she grits her teeth and releases the log, putting every ounce of faith in me that I’ll save her.

Holding my breath, I pull her through the water, stepping back further and further until I’m stepping up the bank. My feet slip and slide, but my hold on Juno remains steady as I pull her with me, pulling her out of the worst of the current and onto the bank beside me.

As soon as we’re free of the water, I scoop Juno into my arms and hold her so tight that she grunts and moans in pain. I almost let her go again, guilt gnawing at me for causing her more pain, but then her slender arm bands around my shoulders and she hugs me just as tight, her broken arm hanging limply at her side.

“I’ve got you, Angel. I’ve got you,” I choke out in a near whisper, pressing a kiss to her head and keeping it there while I breathe her in, her sugary scent slightly dampened by water and mud. “You did so good, Juno. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

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