Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 303(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
He scooped her up into his arms and held her tight to his chest, cradled her like a baby.
“Get the pack out of here,” Mark said to Stanley.
“Everybody out,” Stanley barked and his pack shifted, slinking out the doors and windows, disappearing before the police arrived. The South American wolves disappeared as well, and Mark let them go. When it came to managing human law enforcement, wolves preferred to handle things on their own.
Mark and Zolla had already put on clothes. His were torn and tangled around his body from when he shifted with them still on. Zolla handed him a pair of pants and took Ashley from his arms while he yanked them on.
“How did you find this place? I didn’t give you the address.”
“I traced the location on Ashley’s phone,” he said.
He took Ashley back into his arms. “Thank you,” he said, his voice choked.
Mark looked around at the broken windows and bloodstains all over the floor. “This is going to be a hard one to explain.”
Ashley’s body had begun to shake as shock settled in. Her face grew even paler and she appeared to be losing consciousness.
“Ashley!” he cried.
“Listen to me,” Mark said sharply. “Ashley was kidnapped to lure Ben in. He came, but first notified Zolla, who called me. When I arrived, a fight had ensued between the South Americans—some were fighting to help Ben, some against. The windows were broken in the process. I shot Sandoval after he shot Ashley, and the rest of them got away. Got it?”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, his heart pinching as he watched Ashley’s eyelids slide closed again. The police and ambulance pulled up at the same time and he ran outside, carrying Ashley still crushed against his chest.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You never move the victim. Put her down there,” one of the EMTs barked, pointing at the grass.
“No,” he said in a hard voice, walking straight to the back of the ambulance and stepping in to lay her on the gurney. “You need to help her, right now,” he said.
“We’ll take care of her,” one of them assured her.
“Sir, step away from her please,” a cop said, his gun drawn.
Mark appeared at his side, his FBI badge out and on display and took his elbow, leading him away. When Ben shook him off, Mark said in an undertone, “Keep it together, Stone. This is going to be tricky enough as it is.”
The surgeon walked in and gave her a warm smile. “Well, you are one lucky young lady,” he said. “Your initial x-rays showed a severe fracture, but when we went in there to put the bone back together, all I found was hairlines. So you don’t have any plates or metal in you at all. The bullet is out, and you’ll keep this hard cast for six weeks, followed by a soft cast for another four,” he said, rapping his knuckles on the cast on her foot.
“What? No color?” she teased. “I wanted pink.”
He grinned at her. “I could have a layer of pink added just for you.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Thanks.”
“The police want to speak with you, and your sister’s here. There’s also a very anxious man who claims he’s your fiancé,” he said with a wink.
“When can I get out of here?” she asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
“I can sign your release papers now. I think the police will want your statement before you can leave though.”
“May I see Ben first?”
“I don’t see why not,” he said, nodding to the medical technician standing behind him. She nodded and left, returning with Ben.
Ben arrived but stopped just in the doorway, looking unsure. She remembered how things had last ended with them and her hand flew to the wounds on her shoulder, which were almost healed. She had forgiven him, but she wasn’t about to let it pass without making her feelings clear.
She pushed herself to her feet and marched over to him. “Don’t you ever,” she said, slapping his chest, “disappear on me—” she struck his shoulder, “again,” she said, pushing and shoving at his unmoving form. “You don’t get to walk away from me every time things get hard,” she said, thumping his chest again and again.
His hands came around her waist, stilling her hips, stroking her gently. “I won’t. I won’t,” he murmured.
His lack of reaction to her tirade made it seem like he wasn’t taking her seriously, so she drew back her hand and slapped his face, remembering too late the way wolves re-establish dominance.
She received no alpha reaction this time, though. He just gazed down at her with a pained expression.
“Why did you leave me?” she asked, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.
To her shock, she thought she saw his own eyes grow bright before he blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry I hurt you, Ash. I never wanted that.” He shook his head as if disgusted with himself. “I only wanted to protect you, but, as usual, I bungled everything.”