Page 113 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
“Where is he?” Will says. “We’ve gotta hustle.”
“He’s…” I pause and shake my head. “I don’t know how we’re gonna get him out of here.”
I step aside and Tilda’s face falls when she sees the hulking wolf in the corner, still gasping for breath. Javi twitches at the sight of her—maybe because she’s someone he doesn’t know, and his wolf is on guard. He has a much stronger reaction when Will steps inside.
Javi gets to his feet, his shoulders hunched, hackles raised. He snarls, a garbled sound that doesn’t quite hit right—probably because his head is still spinning, his eyes rolling in his head as he stumbles.
“This is him?” Tilda whispers.
“They drugged him,” I say. “He’s been like this all day and he needs help.”
Will edges around the room, keeping his eyes on Javi. They’re both big guys, but I think Javi is just a smidge bigger, and I don’t think Will can carry Javi if he passes out again. Javi snaps his jaws at Will, his eyes darting toward me.
I put my hands up.
“Slow down,” I say.
“We have a limited amount of time,” Will warns. “Boyd’s drawing the guards down to the docks, but the second they realize he’s alone, they’ll know something’s up.”
“The others?” I ask, my voice sharp. “Who’s here?”
“Frankie’s keeping watch,” he says. “Reyes and Colt are waiting with the boat around the west side of the Rig—soon as we’re clear, we haul ass.”
My heart pounds. “Then we can get more of the women out,” I say. “There’s still time?—”
“There’s not,” Will says, firm. “We’re lucky we got this far. If you want Javi to survive, we go now.”
Javi staggers and loses his footing, sagging against the wall. I rush toward him and kneel in front of him, taking his head in my hands to look into those familiar green eyes. Even when he’s like this—out of his mind and shifted—I would recognize his eyes anywhere.
“You need to come with me,” I whisper. “If there’s any of you left in there…please, Javi, this is our ticket out of here. We have to go.”
“I can try to carry him, but I can’t guarantee he won’t come at me,” Will says. “He’s giving off all kinds of warning signals to everyone but you.”
“Because he’s my mate,” I say, snapping at my friend more than I planned. “Sorry…I’m…”
“It’s okay to be defensive, but we’ve gotta go,” Tilda says. “I brought a sedative. We could dose him with it and?—”
“We can’t!” I interrupt. “He’s a recovering addict. It could make things worse.”
I smooth my thumbs over Javi’s cheeks and look into his eyes.
“Please,” I say. “Follow me. For me…for our baby.”
I hear Tilda suck in a breath, and Will shifts on his feet. Well, it’ll all be out there soon anyway—and when we’re back in the den, everyone will know.
When we’re back in the den.
“We’re going home,” I say, standing up and running my hand over Javi’s coat.
I take a step backwards and he somehow manages to follow me, padding forward. He casts a wary glance at Will, and another at Tilda…but he follows anyway.
I look at my friends. “Let’s go,” I say.
We move fast, Will scouting ahead while Tilda covers our backs, her gun steady as she watches every shadow. The Citadel twists around us, all rusted metal and creaking boards, and I keep my hand on Javi the whole way, guiding him through the maze. We're almost to the exit when my senses tingle, a scent that makes my hair stand on end.
I turn.
“Two?” I whisper.
