“Dad, no,” I demanded, trying to twist my hand free of Monroe’s. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Donovan Rivers!” a deep voice carried from outside and we all fell still. “I know you’re in there meeting with your daughter.”
“Mortez,” Dad hissed, turning to me with a shadow cast over his face. “Get out of here. Now.”
“Dad.” I shook my head in desperation, but Monroe’s arms locked around me and he forced me to look at him.
“We need to go, princess,” he growled, fear flitting through his eyes. But I couldn’t leave my dad. He was the only family I had, the man who’d raised me, loved me when my mother refused to. I’d sooner cut off an arm than leave him behind.
“Don’t do anything foolish!” Mortez called and Dad cursed again. Monroe’s muscles flexed as he pulled me closer, the look of a cornered tiger in his eyes.
“How did you find me?!” Dad demanded.
“I’ve been tracking your daughter since the moment you abandoned her at Everlake Preparatory, old man.” Mortez laughed. My heart shuddered with terror at his words. I’d led him right to my dad. The sound of more laughter followed Mortez’s words and my skin prickled. There were a group of them out there, but how many? “It was only a matter of time until you did something idiotic like this.”
My heart thrashed in my chest as I tried to think of a way out of this. But we were caged in like birds. Dad had this place built with a bunker big enough and well-stocked enough to get us through a hundred years of war, but the only way into it was outside. It was no good to us unless we could reach the hatch.
“Dad,” I hissed. “We have to run for it.”
“Go,” he growled. “I’ll keep them busy.”
“You have to get out of here. It’s you they want,” I insisted, my throat tight with fear.
Dad’s eyes darted to me and back to the window. “He’s not gonna leave until everyone in this house is dead, kiddo. I’ll hold them off.”
Dad never sugar coated anything for me. So I knew he was telling the truth and it was a terrifying truth to swallow. But that didn’t mean I was just going to abandon him.
“You come too or I’m not going anywhere,” I growled, planting my feet stubbornly even though Monroe looked half a second away from throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me out of here.
“Get your ass moving, Mr Rivers,” Monroe commanded, grabbing my hand again and tugging me toward the kitchen. “Or I’ll drag both of you out of here.”
“Dr Rivers,” Dad grunted, stalking towards us.
“You’ve got five seconds to come outside and face your fate, Donovan!” Mortez shouted. “You behave and I’ll let your daughter go. I can’t say fairer than that. Five – four-”
“Move,” Dad growled and we ran over to the kitchen, my pulse jack-hammering against my temples.
Gunfire tore through the house and my heart stammered as Monroe shoved me behind the kitchen isle and my dad dropped down beside us with his pistol in his grip. I took several frantic breaths as bullets sped overhead and a jug Jess had hand painted exploded into a thousand unsalvageable pieces.
Three men burst through the back door, kicking the whole thing down and my body launched into survival mode as they descended on us. My heart beat wildly as Dad opened fire and two of them fell back with screams of pain.
I dove at the last guy as he aimed his gun at Dad, not hesitating for even a second as a savage animal reared its head inside me. I knocked him off balance as my fist slammed into his face, his nose crunching sickeningly.
Monroe smacked the gun from his hand as he fired and my ears rang from the violent noise as the bullet went wide. I threw a hard kick into the man’s stomach and he lurched backwards, his back hitting the wall and I was upon him in an instant, throwing furious punches that coated my knuckles in blood. My heart beat like a ferocious creature in my chest that was desperate to get out of its cage.
“Bitch!” he spat and his fist got past my defences, smacking me across the face and sending me stumbling sideways from the force he used.
Monroe yelled like a wild man, grabbed the back of the man’s head and threw him into the kitchen isle. The guy braced himself at the last second, but Monroe fell on him, fisting his hand in his hair and ramming his face down into the counter. Then again. And again until blood spilled and the man collapsed to the floor unmoving.
My breaths came heavily as we shared a look that said we were going to have to fight our way out of here.
There was no chance to run.
The wolves were upon us.
And it was time to face their fury.
We’d parked up on the road beyond the edge of the dirt track and had been making our way silently through the trees, ready to sneak up on Tatum and Monroe as we approached their position on the GPS when the gunfire had started up.
For a moment, we’d all frozen, looking between each other in confusion and alarm but as a second shot was fired and a third, we’d broken into a run without question. Whatever the hell was happening in the trees up ahead, our girl was there, our brother too. And when we’d sworn an oath that bound us all together, we’d meant it. All in, come life or death.
We kept quiet as we ran and the combination of the fight taking place and the element of surprise let us burst from
