Page 24 of Found (Mate Rejected #8)

24

MACK

I t’s a special kind of torture to see my mate and want to run toward her, but instead, spin around and to do something that might kill me.

Because I wasn’t being entirely honest with Aerin.

I walked into the Raleigh farmhouse to save her. That was always my main goal. Secondly, to rescue the kidnapped omegas. I always knew I would get them out some way, somehow.

But there was something else I wanted to do, something that was as important as the rest.

Ensure the Raleighs never hurt any omega the way they hurt Aerin.

And to do that, I can’t go with her.

Not yet.

Head down and with the wind tunneling through my fur, I sprint back toward the farmhouse as the last of the cars parked near the forest peel away.

The universe has been watching over me. That’s what I’d thought when I’d led the omegas—and Lisa—through the forest and away from the farmhouse.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to get fourteen women shivering in nightwear to safety in the middle of the night, but if there was a way, I would find it.

I’d burst out onto the road after growling at them to stay back, in case I was leading them into a trap. My packmates had been there, waiting as if they’d known my plan all along.

In the distance, lights flicker on, and I put on a burst of speed, sensing I have limited time to get into the house, back into my room, and pretend I have no clue what the hell is going on.

That’s if Franklin hasn’t already realized what I’ve done.

There’s no sign anyone has been in my room as I do a quick shift and throw myself back over my balcony railing and inside.

Just mussed sheets from Lisa getting into my bed.

The bed smells like her and I’m not eager to get into it, but if that’s what it’s going to take to fool Franklin, then so be it.

I flick off the light and get back under the sheets, trying to ignore Lisa’s scent as I tell myself I just need to get through tonight and I can go back home to Winter Lake with Aerin.

I listen to five minutes of doors slamming open in the hallway.

What is going on out there?

When my door swings open, letting in a blast of chill air, I sit up, blinking blearily.

“What is it?”

Franklin flicks on the light, briefly blinding me. “You’re needed.”

Of course I am.

The omegas are gone, and he doesn’t know who took them.

I feign ignorance as I get out of bed. Lisa is still wearing my T-shirt and I have no clue what I did with my pants, but I walk over to the dresser like I’ll find my clothes over there. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Yet.” He backs out of the room, holding the door open. “Don’t bother with clothes. We’re all going to shift soon.”

“Why?”

He glances at my bed. “Where’s Lisa?”

“Back in her room, I think.”

He gives me a probing look, like he’s expecting more of a response to him sending a woman to my room.

I meet his gaze steadily. “You said I was needed. Am I needed?”

He blinks and swings around.

He has said nothing about the omegas being missing, so maybe whatever this is, has nothing to do with the omegas, and something else is happening tonight.

I’m halfway down the hallway when I catch a scent that makes me briefly pause.

What is he doing here?

Shaking my head, I continue following Franklin.

Everyone is awake, lingering in the hallway just outside the dining room.

Franklin pushes the dining-room door open, and standing inside, dripping water all over the place is my dad.

He whistles under his breath as he studies the interior of the room.

“Dad? What are you doing here?”

My dad twists around and whistles again. “Have you seen this place? They did a better job of building than I ever could.”

I look from him to Franklin.

Franklin is stoney faced, his expression impossible to read.

“What’s going on here?” I ask.

“We caught him swimming in the lake,” Franklin says tightly.

I guess that explains the water.

“ Swimming ?” I emphasize.

I’m going to assume my dad is here to rescue me. But this is not how I thought a rescue would go.

Franklin nods.

“Dad?” I prompt.

He shrugs. “Wanted to have a swim. Not my fault the pool was closed.”

I shake my head. “Someone get him something to wear. He’s dripping water all over the place.”

Franklin growls. “Who cares about whether he has something to wear? He’s the reason we had to rebuild in the first place. After what he did, he doesn’t deserve to breathe. We need to kill him.”

Silence.

My dad laughs. “Ah, kill me? Is that why you had someone escort me here and you’re standing over there? You want me dead, Franklin? I’m right here. Come on over and do it.”

Franklin doesn’t move.

He’s not stupid. Neither is anyone else because they don’t move either.

My dad, for all his failings, his neglect, his actions which nearly destroyed this entire pack, is dangerous, even when he’s smiling.

He ruled over us all for decades . The reason the Raleighs had the reputation we had was because of him.

There’s no just killing Connall Raleigh. Anyone who thinks it will be easy and straightforward won’t be breathing for long.

“He’s here to cause trouble,” Franklin says, still not moving.

I give my dad a cursory look. “Of course he’s not here to?—”

“Actually, Franklin is right. I am,” Dad interrupts.

I look at him. “What?”

A howl goes up outside. Not just in the distance. This howl comes from close.

My dad grins. “Ah, the others are in place.”

“Distraction,” Franklin breathes, then whirls around shouting. “Everyone outside! We’re under attack.”

He rushes off and I glance at my dad, raising my eyebrow. “You’re not going to stop him?”

He shrugs. “More fun this way.”

As we walk out, I come to a grinding halt when it’s clear we have a problem.

I’m not treating my dad like an enemy because I don’t view him as one. The Raleighs who were lingering in the hallway are in various stages of shifting. The few who have shifted are snarling at me, and at my dad, because it must have become apparent to them whose side I’m on, and it’s not theirs.

“I guess they don’t want me as Alpha anymore. Shift?” I say, not taking my eyes off the five wolves snarling at us.

"Guess not.” Dad rolls his neck. “Don’t feel bad if you can’t keep up, son.”

He shifts in one smooth motion and lunges at the wolves.

“Show off,” I mutter as I reach for my wolf.

By the time I’ve shifted and joined the fight, three wolves are dead and the surviving two sprinting down the hallway.

My dad and I pursue them.

There were wolves howling outside, and I’d like to know exactly who they are.

As we sprint out of an open side door, the howls and sounds of fighting are coming from the front, so I race around the building and come to a grinding halt.

Seeing Aerin in the car before was a shock. A pleasant one. But a shock, nonetheless.

The mass of fighting wolves stuns me.

Who are these shifters?

Is Aerin here with them?

I lift my nose to scent the air. Aerin isn’t here. I relax. And as I do another sweep of the area, I start to pick out familiar wolves.

Bennett. Douglas Boone is there. Ivy, as well.

I don’t know who the rest of the wolves are, but since they’re fighting the Raleighs, I assume my pack must have something to do with this.

When a wolf swipes me, I start paying more attention to me instead of them.

A wolf suddenly lunges at me. I whip out of the way, snarling as the tips of his claws lacerate my shoulder.

Franklin.

His eyes glitter with fury, and it’s easy to imagine why.

He blames me for all this.

As we circle each other, I tune out the rest of the fighting, the snarling, and the distractions.

I just focus on Franklin.

He’s the reason Chris nearly died.

He dragged Aerin all this way, scared her, killed Shane right in front of her and left her terrified she was next.

No one treats my mate like that and lives.

Franklin lunges at me and again. I twist out of the way and I spring at him.

I slam into him, driving him to the ground.

We’re in close quarters. Too close to use my claws. I bite, go for his throat as he tries to evade my killing bite.

We wrestle and I slam into something. A wolf snarls. Fire burns along my back—an attack from behind I didn’t see so couldn’t avoid. I ignore it to focus on Franklin.

When I see an opening, I take it, biting down and holding on, as Franklin makes a last desperate, frantic attempt to break my killing bite.

Two seconds.

Three.

He slows his fighting.

Four.

Five.

He slumps to the ground as blood continues to fill my mouth.

I don’t move.

A familiar growl on my left just behind me breaks my focus.

I release Franklin, get to my feet and wince as I suddenly feel the cuts and wounds that adrenaline made it easy to ignore.

Franklin is dead.

He’s not the only one.

Small pockets of fighting continue, but most wolves are dead or dying. All appear to be Raleighs, but given I don’t know who these newly arrived shifters are, I could be wrong.

With no reason to stay a wolf, I shift and spend the next several minutes looking for my dad to get some much needed answers.

He’s busy dragging wolf bodies into one of the half-finished buildings, and he doesn’t have so much as a scratch on him.

“What are you doing?”

He drops the brown wolf on the ground. “Getting rid of the evidence. What do you think?”

An unfamiliar shifter walks in carrying a wolf, which he also dumps and turns to leave.

“Who are you?” I ask him.

He glances at me. “Darryl. From Ohio.”

I blink at him. “Uh, and the reason you’re here?”

He glares at the dead wolf he just dropped. “Came to get our omega back. And kill the people who took her.”

He walks out and I twist back to my dad to find he’s left.

I discover him outside, gathering more bodies.

“Who are all these people, dad?”

“Who do you think? People who want revenge.”

The packs who had their omegas stolen.

“You convinced them to band together?”

“Not me.” My dad points his chin at Douglas, Aerin’s dad. “He did.”

I spot another unfamiliar shifter with a plastic container of gasoline that you’d use to fill up your tank if you ran out of gas on the side of the road, and I figure out how they intend to deal with all the dead Raleighs.

I don’t know how many are dead, or if any survived, but I can’t imagine many walked away from this.

Long minutes later, I stand beside my dad after we’ve dragged all the wolf bodies inside the half-built buildings.

The farmhouse is empty. I saw a handful of shifters walking out, saying there was no one in there.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to the farmhouse, and I don’t care. I’m ready to find Aerin and just go home.

But like everyone else, I stand on the front lawn and we watch those two half-built buildings stuffed full of dead wolves go up in smoke.

Then I turn to my dad. “Is Aerin here?”

He shakes his head. “Probably busy pacing a hole right through the floor. Come on, let’s get you back to your mate.”

The drive back to the rental takes minutes.

There are more cars parked out front than there are spaces for them, but then again, there were more shifters fighting at the Raleigh property than I’d ever seen, so they must have left most of their vehicles here.

I’m out of the car before my dad has finished parking with only one goal in mind.

Aerin must have the same thought as well, or she scented me before I scented her, because before I reach the door, it swings open and she stands in the doorway and looks at me like she can’t believe it’s really me.

“Mack?” She smiles, looking so beautiful my heart hurts.

I walk toward her, open my arms wide and draw her close, breathing in the scent of her skin. “Ready to go home, love?”