Page 52 of Chosen Destiny

“No, but there are more pressing matters.” Russell swayed on his feet. I feared it was from blood loss. The fact he was here without his pack spoke volumes.

Samuel placed a hand on his back. “Where are your pack members?” he asked, his voice lower than normal.

He feared the answer to that question, the same as I did.

“Five are dead. The rest are hurt but alive,” Russell gritted out. “I need four people to ride with me and get them. They’re hiding in the woods because they couldn’t shift back, and I couldn’t take all five vehicles back here, let alone have a group of wolves running here. They’re moving down the mountain slowly, but the queen could attack.”

Now I was conflicted. The last thing I wanted to do was leave my mate’s side, but Russell and his pack were theonlyreason all of us had gotten out of there alive. If they hadn’t run interference, Kel would’ve killed a few of us, if not all.

I stood, knowing I couldn’t sit here and donothing. “Tell me where they are. I’ll go.”

Jack shook his head. “Fuck that. Your ass isn’t going anywhere.”

“Son!” Carl’s jaw dropped. “She’s the queen.”

“Yeah, which reinforces my point.” Jack strolled over, his bite marks already scabbing over. “The point of what we just went through was to prevent you from handing your ass over to the queen. The last thing we need is for you to go near her again. Then everyone’s help would be fornothing.”

Lucas sighed. “Man—”

Miles cleared his throat and winced. “I’m not one to agree with Jack often, but Callie, he’s right.” He rolled his shoulders. “Everything we did was to protect you and get Bodey back. The three of us are loyal to you. We would never defect to Kel or anyone else. Besides, if you leave Bodey, you’ll be distracted. Jack, Lucas, Samuel, and I can help Russell.”

“Damn straight.” Jack nodded. “That thought would never cross my mind, and even if it did for a fleeting second, I have no doubt Stevie would cut off my nutsack.”

“Man, just say you agree.” Lucas huffed. “But yeah, Callie, you’re stuck with the three of us forever.”

Some of my tension faded, which then made me feel awful. “I trust you three. I’m worried because you’ve been shot.”

“We’re hurting, but we’re fine to do this,” Miles assured me. “We’ll remove the bullets when we get back.” He smiled sadly. “Trust us about this, too.”

Damn him, but he had me. He understood the fated-mate bond since he was the only one who had completed one with Stella. And he was also right. I would be rushing to get back here to Bodey, which could make me reckless. Besides, he’d named the four strongest wolves besides Bodey and me, which would prove to Russell that we were willing to risk those important to our territory for them as well. “If any of you don’t want to go, I can—”

Samuel waved a hand, cutting me off. “We’re all good with going. Right?” He glanced at Lucas.

“Of course.” Lucas huffed. “Anything to keep her safe. I just didn’t want Jack telling her what to do.”

Crossing his arms over his chest and grimacing from pain, Jack arched a brow. “Look, I’d rather piss her off than Stevie. She may seem weak, but man, get her mad and you’ll see another side of her. A sexy-ass one, but scary all the same.”

“Okay, now I wanna see that.” Lucas smirked.

Jack scowled. “She’s my mate.”

“You haven’t sealed the deal, my man.” Lucas smiled so wide his teeth showed.

A threatening growl emanated from Jack just as Russell’s nostrils flared.

Samuel noticed Russell’s expression, and he and Miles moved toward the front door.

I understood they needed to blow off steam, but not with Russell’s people in danger.Bicker on the way there so you can help the people who kept us from dying.

They had enough sense to flinch, and they followed Samuel and Miles. As four of my crew walked past Russell and out the door, Katelin moved to follow, but Russell shook his head.

“You need to stay here.” Russell pressed a hand over his wound, causing a bigger trickle of blood to drip onto the floor.

If his body didn’t start healing soon, he’d bleed out. I wanted to tell him that, but I suspected he was well aware. If I were him, that wouldn’t matter to me, and I’d bet he felt the same way.

Katelin mashed her lips into a line. “Dad, those are my pack members too. I want to help.”

His face softened. “I know, honey. I do. But I need you to help your friends, and that way, I’ll have someone here I can link to if something goes wrong.”

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