A high-pitched tone fills my head as my wide eyes stare in horror at the boy sitting in front of me with blood gushing down his face. His head bobs up and down with the motion of the vehicle as his eyes stare blankly ahead at the arguing men in the front seats. Their lips are flying over gritted teeth and clenched jaws, but their words are lost in the deafening tone.

Between stifled screams, Eyrica is crying and clawing at her brother with her fingers, trying to pull him closer to her, but he's bound to his seat by the belt.

Emily is paralyzed, unable to move, say anything, or even breathe.

As the tone subsides, the pulsing of my heartbeat thunders in my head as Burk's voice drifts though, as if he's far away.

"I had to, man! He was losing control! I couldn't compromise the mission!"

"Do you have any fucking idea how much those kids mean to Kairo? He's gonna go batshit fucking crazy! You just fucked everything!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" Burk shouts back.

Looking back at me, Burk's face grimaces in disgust, remorse, and fear.

I look away quickly, squeezing Emily's hand in mine. That seems to jolt her awake, and she buries her face into my shoulder. My arm slips around her as her body begins to shake.

Holding her is all I can do to keep myself from shaking as well. My gaze falls to my lap, with Emily's hand clutched tightly in my other hand.

With each passing moment, the reality starts to sink in and the shock slips away.

Eyrica gives up trying to reach Ben, and pulls her legs up to her chest.

Swallowing, I look up at Burk's stark white face as he continues to point the gun at us. I catch his eyes for a second, but he quickly looks away.

Coward.

"Eyrica," I say softly, but loud enough that the men in the front can hear. "Come here."

Her head raises, and she glances at me in fear before looking back at Burk.

Burk looks at me before he inclines his head slightly.

She unbuckles her belt and climbs back with me and Emily. Quickly, I wrap my other arm around her small body as she dips her head against my shoulder.

I brush my fingers gently through her small afro as she whimpers.

Looking up through my lashes, I send him a visual message with my eyes.

You won't get away with this.

He looks away and shifts in his seat, turning his attention forward, away from us.

Away from the guilt staring back at him with cold, lifeless eyes.

***

We pull up to the White Peak's former pack house in the outskirts of the Villages of Mount Hood about fifteen minutes later.

There are two guards standing on the front porch with the door between them.

As soon as our driver parks the van, Burk makes a run for it.

"Hey!" Shouting, our driver jumps out of the van and tries to get the guards' attentions. He points at Burk as he dashes to the forest, shifting into his wolf without bothering to take his clothes off. "Catch him! Don't let him get away!"

The pair jump off the porch and transform instantaneously before racing to catch up with Burk.

The driver brushes his hands through his hair, cursing under his breath, and mumbling something about Ryan and Kairo before he glances back at us through the front windshield. His hand rakes down his face as he curses once more.

"Come on, get out of there," he barks as he snatches the gun that clunked to the ground and resumes pointing it at us—me specifically.

I want to chase after that coward and take his ass down myself, but clearly if I make any sudden movements, I'll get a bullet in me one way or another. It won't be to kill me because they want me alive, but that doesn't mean he can't shoot me in the arm or foot, or some other less lethal body part.

Not to mention that Emily and Eyrica need me. I have to protect them from these crazies until I can figure out how to get us all out of here.

"Stay close to me," I tell them as we climb out of the van.

"No sudden movements now," our kidnapper says as a series of snarls rip through the forest.

Sounds like the guards caught Burk and he's putting up a bit of a fight, not that I can see what's going on in the trees, even if I did look. Instead, I keep my gaze locked on our kidnapper's dark brown eyes.

"We'll do whatever you want, but my brother comes with me," I say.

I'm not leaving him for them to hide his body or do God knows what with it. He's staying with me, and I'll be damned if I let them get their grimy paws on him. Kairo will come for us, I'm sure, and he'll want Ben's body. I know, I would.

They better catch Burk and bring him back. He has to own up to his mistakes and pay the price for killing an innocent child.

He nods. "I'll send for someone to get him."

"No," I say. "I'll carry him."

"Fine," he grunts. "Be quick."

A howl of pain cuts through the snarls in the distance, sending shivers up my spine, as I move to the other side of the van to open the door and pull out Ben.

Clenching my jaw, I ignore the blood, unfasten his seatbelt, and pull him out. His lanky body reminds me of my own at his age making me suck in a breath as the reality hits me again.

He was just a kid...

Blinking back tears, I remind myself that I have to be strong. I have to be, for Emily and Eyrica's sake.

He's a lot heavier than I anticipated, but I pull him out and lift him into my arms, against my chest. His body is already stiffening from the lack of blood flow and my knees buckle under the heavy reality.

When I turn away from the van, I see the front door of the house whip open and Ryan fly out like a bat out of hell.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he shouts.

His eyes whirl around the property, taking in Emily and Eyrica huddled together in front of the van and me coming around with Ben in my arms.

He runs his hand through his hair and swears.

Damn straight.

My jaw tightens even more at his reaction in addition to my struggle to carry my baby brother.

I never even got the chance to know him...

He curses loudly at our kidnapper. "What the fuck happened? I wanted Zara, not the youngest of Kairo's kids!"

"The newbie fucked up."

Ryan gnashes his teeth together. "This is why you get a man to do a man's job. Fucking amateur. Where's the fucking retard?"

As I return to Emily and Eyrica's sides, a loud groan of pain erupts as Burk emerges from the treeline. Dragged by the two guards, both large guys of equal size, both of Burk's legs are bent in unnatural directions with blood gushing down his face from a smashed nose. Both his eyes are turning purple and there are deep gashes in his biceps, shoulders, and thighs.

He grunts in pain with each step the guards make until they throw him to the earth at Ryan's feet. Gasping for air, it's as if he can't get enough into his lungs. Maybe he has a few broken ribs in there too, but it's hard to tell. He doesn't even struggle to get up from the ground.

Ryan's eyes are burning with fury.

"You fucked up the mission," Ryan says, his voice dark and heavy.

Shit, this ain't good.

Ryan grabs Burk's hair and pulls his head up so that he can glare into Burk's eyes. "Do you know what happens to fuck-ups?"

I got a bad feeling about this.

I just want to get Eyrica and Emily away from this. I'm certain Ryan's going to put a bullet through Burk's head, and I don't want them to have to witness that again.

As if sensing my need to protect them, our kidnapper clears his throat to get Ryan's attention. "Alpha? What about the hostages?"

Ryan doesn't even blink or tear his eyes away from Burk's. "Get 'em inside. I'll deal with them later."

A sigh of relief escapes my lips and I nearly lose my grip on Ben. Shifting his weight, I secure my hold on him before I turn and head to the house with Emily and Eyrica following closely next to me.

I feel our kidnapper's eyes on my back, knowing that he's merely steps behind us.

I just have to get the girls inside...

Ryan starts yelling and cussing at Burk some more and I pick up my pace.

Faster. Faster.

We climb up the stairs and we're nearly inside the front door when two shots are fired.