Sensing that her mate was now outside, Shaya would have smiled with relief if she hadn’t also sensed the fear and memories tormenting his wolf. It broke her heart to feel just how deeply the accident so long ago had scarred him. She tried to communicate to him that he didn’t have to put himself through this again, that she didn’t want his scars to deepen, but she didn’t have a freaking clue if it was working.
Caught off guard, Shaya found herself lying on her side as Amber tried to reverse their positions. She could tell that Amber was again attempting to shift, but apparently the drug Merrick had used on her still hadn’t worn off. That or her wolf was just as spooked by the fire as her own was. Both coughing and close to passing out, they still continued wrestling with one another, weakly battling for dominance.
Then she heard the door suddenly burst open, and the scent of her mate entered the hut. Seconds later, strong hands slipped under her armpits and were attempting to lift her, but Amber locked her arms around Shaya’s waist, using all her body weight to keep her in place. Amber clearly had no intention of trying to get out of the hut, fully aware that she was dead if she did anyway. She seemed to prefer to die of smoke inhalation than by being pounced on by a pack of pissed-the-fuck-off wolves. And she wanted Shaya to die with her.
Shaya, however, wasn’t okay with that. She shoved hard at Amber’s head, but the bitch released her claws and dug them into Shaya’s waist to strengthen her hold. Not willing to give up, Shaya dug both of her thumbs into Amber’s eyes, pressing hard. Meanwhile, Nick continued pulling, only slightly hampered by Amber.
“Get off me, you neurotic bitch!” It came out more of an abrasive whisper. With the last bit of energy she had left, Shaya pulled back her fist and crashed it into Amber’s jaw. Her hold on Shaya then loosened, and the rescuing hands scooped Shaya up, breaking Amber’s grip. Keeping her tucked against him, Nick hurried through the doorway. She had expected to have to go through a wall of flames, but the way was now clear, and the fire was quickly subsiding.
Finally outside, she dimly noted that fire extinguishers were blasting the flames—things that were kept inside the caves in case of forest fires. But as he sat her inside the SUV, her concentration was solely on Nick; she ran her gaze over every naked inch of him, searching for any injuries.
“Taryn healed me,” Nick assured her. He blew out a breath, forcing one of the bottles of water Cam had brought into her hands. Shaya practically inhaled it. “Christ, baby, you scared the shit out of me.”
“I didn’t get kidnapped on purpose,” she rasped. His tight hug would have hurt her if she hadn’t needed that contact as much as he did. “How is everybody?” From her position in the vehicle, she could only see Jaime, Dante, Ryan, Cam, and Rhett. Shit, shit, shit.
Feeling the panic zooming through her, he pulled back and cupped her chin. “They’re alive, don’t worry. Unfortunately, they’re not in great shape.” He paused as a cough interrupted him. “But Taryn was in the process of healing them when I left. My guess is she’s probably just half-healed them so she doesn’t exhaust herself. Gabe and Caleb drove one of the SUVs out here and picked them up while Cam and Rhett came out here with the extinguishers and drinks.”
“Speaking of half-healing…Amber didn’t fully heal you, Nick. She purposely didn’t, because she wanted you to keep going back to her. You know what it means, don’t you? It means the only reason you got ill again was because of her. Taryn’s healing should be permanent.”
The betrayal didn’t cut deep, as he’d never felt anything for Amber, but it still wasn’t pleasant to know that someone who had once been a member of his pack could betray him that way. “In that case, I’m glad no one went back in to save her. What she did goes against the principles of every healer.”
Realizing that a few people appeared to be circling something at the side of the hut, she frowned. “What’s going on?”
Nick sighed. “Jesse, Bracken, Zander, and Derren went after Logan and Merrick, and brought them back.” He cupped her face. “I need you to stay here for me.”
Shaya bit her lower lip. “You’re going to kill them, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” He waited for her to yell at him or at least try to talk him out of it, but she instead nodded.
“Make it painful.”
Startled by her words, he almost smiled. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Still vibrating with fury and fear for his mate, Nick strolled over to the group near the hut. They instantly parted, letting him through. He went to stand before Merrick and Logan. Their expressions were blank, but undiluted fear was wafting from both of them, pleasing his enraged wolf. They knew they weren’t getting out of this alive.
Logan’s voice was shaky. “If you kill me, the rest of my—”
Nick held up a hand to silence him. “I’ve heard it all before from your friend Lee-Roy. It never worked for him, and it certainly won’t work for you.” He looked at Merrick. “You’re supposed to be dead.” Under any other circumstances, Nick would have been glad to find out that Merrick was still alive, that he could let go of the guilt he had been carrying for a very long time. But not now; no, the son of a bitch really did deserve to die. “Know what’s ironic? I always felt bad, since I never meant to kill you. But now I’m actually wishing I had.”
Merrick laughed, but it was a nervous sound. “I don’t doubt it.”
“What I can’t understand is how you’re alive.”
A slight shrug. “The day you almost killed me, I made a deal with Logan that if he brought in a healer to fix me up, I’d tell him everything I knew about you and the other prisoners in there—the codes you all used, what positions you’d all given yourselves, what everyone’s weaknesses were. We’re like-minded, he and I.” The wolves all growled, disgusted by him.
Derren came to stand slightly behind Nick, glaring hard at Merrick. “You betrayed your own kind.”
“They’re not my kind. My kind wouldn’t have ostracized me from my own pack.”
“Trey’s pack ostracized him,” said Nick, “but he didn’t decide to make his entire race pay. There are no excuses for the things you’ve done.”
Apparently Merrick didn’t care, because he ignored that. “I should have been Alpha of my pack! And I should have been Alpha in juvie!”