Callan and Cassie had died because of her.
His rifle secured on his back, he jumped from the trees soundlessly, ducked and ran. He could hear the screams from inside the house. The Cougar screaming her pride leader’s name. Fuck, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Callan Lyons had thrown himself at Phelps just in time to take a bullet. His own bullet had slammed into Phelps less than a breath later, the bullet tearing through his neck as someone else struck Phelps’s head, taking Cassie Sinclair down as well. Regrettable. Damned f**king regrettable, and he was pissed off over it. But there was no time to stick around and make certain his aim had been true and his own calculations perfect. He had tried to save the girl. A first for him; he had never tried to watch out for casualties before, especially those who deliberately stood in the way.
Cassie Sinclair was better trained than that. She had a f**king suicide wish, and allowing her to follow through on it made him want to shake the shit out of her.
He sprinted across the mansion grounds, a shadow racing around the shadows racing to the house. The Breeds were pouring in from all quarters because their pride leader was down. He could hear the reports on the link he had managed to acquire and disable the tracking receiver on. He had heard the orders for the Breeds to converge on the ballroom.
“Callan’s down,” someone had yelled into the link. “Son of a bitch, the bastard got him. I repeat, our pride leader is down. He’s down.” There was a heavy silence then. “Oh God, we’re losing him…We’re losing him…”
Fuck! This mission hadn’t gone at all as planned.
CHAPTER 25
The sixth-floor ICU and surgery had been cleared ahead of the Sanctuary heli-jets landing on the helipads on the roof of the hospital.
Feline Breed doctor, surgeon and Council-trained scientist Elyiana Morrey was already prepped and waiting with her Wolf Breed counterpart. They had three Breeds arriving. Pride Leader Lyons; an enforcer, Noble Chavin; and the young Wolf-Coyote Breed, Cassandra Sinclair. Wolf Gunnar and his mate were on their way in, as were teams of Wolf Breed Enforcers, several of which had arrived due to proximity to the hospital.
The Breed community was converging en masse, protection and security paramount as the pride leader’s family was flown in. His mate and his son. Possibly the heir to the mighty kingdom his father had built.
Initial reports weren’t good. The chest shot was severe, resulting in massive bleeding. They had already lost him once. The great Callan Lyons could be lost to them all before he ever reached surgery. Waiting with Dr. Morrey were several human surgeons. In a nearby operating room there were three more awaiting Noble, working beneath her assistant. She cast them all a hard glare.
“If we lose Lyons, for any reason, the four of you will die before we leave this operating room.” She nodded to the Breeds that had been forced to scrub up and placed in the room, their rifles held ready.
“Don’t f**k with me, gentlemen. You’re the best the Council had in this area, and killing you will not affect me. Killing your wives and seeing your daughters tortured will be my pleasure. Understand that well.”
And they did. They had created the monster they were facing. These four. Each of them had had a hand in her genetics and in her training. They were the best of the best, and in their eyes she saw their fear and their determination to succeed.
“If Lyons dies, they die. It’s your job to then seek out their families, and on their bodies you will practice every torturous method of pain the Council ever taught you,” she ordered the enforcers. They stared back at the scientists, their gazes flat, hard. All Lion Breeds. All a part of Sanctuary. Their loyalty and their love for their pride leader was absolute.
“The threats aren’t needed, Ely.” Only one had the nerve to speak so comfortably with her. Her smile was hard as she heard the announcement that her pride leader was within seconds of the surgery. “Pray you’re right, Montaya.” She flashed her canines and growled. “Because liking you above the others won’t save you. It won’t save you, your wife or your daughters. Gentlemen, don’t fail.”
The nurse quickly tied off her mask as the surgery doors burst open, Jonas at the head of the gurney, and Ely felt tears flood her throat, felt pain rush through her body as she glimpsed the wound. Dear God. She had given an order to kill so many. The damage was severe, the chances so slim. She turned her eyes to Montaya, and rather than anger or rage at the knowledge of the additional blood that would spill if Callan died, she saw only compassion and determination. She jumped to the gurney as he did, moving quickly, working with him as she had so many times before to save the Breeds that had been brought into the labs. They knew wounds. They knew the Breed physiology. If anyone could save this man, they could.
Seth clasped Dawn to him as they rushed into the waiting room filled with Breed Enforcers, leaders and Callan Lyons’s family.
Merinus sat with her son, David. Even at eleven the child sat straight and tall, his eyes dry, his body perfectly balanced between patience and curiosity about his surroundings. Merinus.
Dawn fought back her sobs as Merinus turned to her, her lips trembling, her eyes welling with tears as she fought to blink them back.
“I’m sorry.” Dawn knelt in front of her. “I’m so sorry.”
The tears were falling from her eyes again.
Dressed in jeans and one of Callan’s T-shirts, the pride leader’s wife looked ravaged. Merinus shook her head as a tear fell. “It’s not your fault, Dawn. He wasn’t going to let Phelps touch you, ever again. That was his decision. Not yours.” Her voice was husky, filled with tears.
“I’m tellin’ you all, Dad’s going to be okay.” David breathed out wearily as though he had repeated this many times. “You’ll see. He’s tough.”
Merinus’s hands shook as she brought them to her mouth and turned away from her child. Unlike David, they knew the extent of Callan’s injuries.
“Merinus.” Wolf Gunnar and his mate, Hope, stepped forward then. “Dawn.” He stared down at her, his savage features and dark eyes filled with compassion. “Our enforcers are in place, both here and at Sanctuary. Everything’s secured until Callan can take the reins once again.”
Merinus nodded, tried to speak and couldn’t.
Callan. She whispered his name. She prayed and fought to curl into herself to bear the pain. How would she live if he was gone? How would she go on and raise their son as he expected her to? How could she bear it if she lost him, and he hadn’t even known of the child she was carrying now?
She touched the tears on Dawn’s face and tried to tighten her lips against her sobs. This sweet child that Callan loved as he loved his own. The one that awoke him with her nightmares and left him helpless with his rage because he couldn’t heal her above all others.
She loved Dawn herself as a sister, a dear, dear friend. But Callan’s love ran deeper. Nearly as deep as a father’s love and just as binding. He couldn’t have borne that bastard laying a single finger on her, for any reason.