not just the sex. It's..." She paused. "Nice," she decided.
"Does she know Ashley is with the bears?" Lane asked, proving he could hear her on the other end.
Heather huffed out another laugh. "Yeah, I do. She said her brother's ok with it. That means this isn't going to be a problem, right?"
"I don't see why it would be," I told her. "I know wolves traditionally didn't date other shifters, but we didn't live with them either. I think it's time to do something..." I stopped, my eyes watching the fence on the far side. "The girls are across the pasture."
"I see that," Heather agreed.
Then Lane sat up. "That - "
Gabby and Olivia were still trying to slip through the strands of barbed wire when someone walked away from the fire. The girls had nowhere to go, and no way to explain what they were doing. My heart froze as I waited, but the silhouette just kept moving to the back of the trailer. That was when the bears decided to move into position.
They made no effort to go over, under, or through the fence the way everyone else had. Instead, Vic walked right up to a section and simply pushed it down. The strands of wire gave way. The metal posts were pulled out of alignment, leaning precariously just before the wire snapped, and then the path was clear. Scott and Jax pawed at the strands, scraping them out of the way, and the three bears trundled their way forward.
I had no clue how they'd pull that off on the other side without getting caught. That was too close to the wolves, wasn't it? But it didn't matter because the wolf who'd moved away from the fire was now visible against the narrow side of the mobile home. Clearly, it was a woman, and she was carrying something. Our entire group had paused, but the woman simply headed for the back door and walked in like she belonged there.
That was when Gabby and Olivia hurried forward, keeping to the shadows. I was actually a little impressed with them. The six pack of beer they'd been "sent to deliver" was tucked under Olivia's arm like a football, but I kept wondering if the bottles were clanking or if something else would give them away.
All too soon, the girls reached the back door, and just like the woman before, they walked in as if they belonged there. The big plan was that a pair of cute girls showing up with beer might be enough to distract the men. If they could, they were going to try to get the guys out without hurting anyone. If they couldn't, the plan was to knock the captors unconscious - with a bottle of beer if nothing else.
But nothing. I could hear Heather breathing through my earpiece. Lane's hand hadn't moved from the top of the door to the handle. His entire body was tense and ready to run, and mine wasn't much better. I could almost feel the pistol tucked between my seat and the console, demanding that I grab it and go protect my daughter, and my heart was pounding so hard I could hear the blood rushing through my ears.
And then the back door opened again. First, a guy staggered out. Behind him came a woman. It was too far away for me to be positive, but I was pretty sure that wasn't one of our girls. This one seemed to have something in her arms. Then, just behind her, came another guy. Lane released the door latch but didn't quite push it open, and my mind was screaming to know what was going on.
Then Gabby and Olivia came out carrying another girl between them.
"Shit," Lane breathed, jumping out.
But he didn't shift, and he didn't leave. Instead, he hurried to the back, leaning through the open window to grab Scott's gun. With that in his hand, wearing absolutely nothing, Lane raced for the gap the bears had left in the fence. I just strained my eyes to see a little more, trying desperately to figure out what was going on. Our wolves were moving into place. The tigers had to be up there somewhere. The bears were in place to cover the retreat.
And that was when everything went wrong.
CHAPTER 51
* * *
"Evelyn!" a man yelled from the fire. It sounded like Damon.
Jax reared up to shove his full weight on the fence.
One of the people with Gabby tripped, staggered, and slammed his hand