Alpha's Mate

Chapter 44: Taken

"What the hell?" He coughed, looking up at her.

His eyes widened with recognition and he sat up, pulling her flush against him, "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed," she whispered, as he pulled them to their feet.

The unmistakable sound of a growl sent a chill down her spine and Phoenix's eyes went black as they slowly turned around. A large brown wolf stood before them, teeth bared, globs of saliva leaking between its teeth. Its muzzle was stained with blood, the broken body of a human at its feet.

Phoenix's eyes flashed with a challenge as he snarled back. He was on the wolf in seconds, crunching its neck beneath his arms with ease. The wolf let out a single whine before collapsing on the ground beside the human it'd killed minutes before.

All around them, the snarls of a predator blended with the screams of its prey, blood spraying around them.

Leanna fought to keep the rising panic under control.

"There's too many of them," she could hear the uncertainty in his voice as he pulled her toward the back of the café.

"Wait! My parents, we need to find them," she turned her head, frantically searching until she found her mother who was fighting off a large wolf.

To an outsider, Viv was unassuming with her small stature and frame. But to a wolf, she was lethal. She moved swiftly, snapping the wolf's neck in seconds. She turned slowly, her eyes sweeping over the room until she met Leanna's. Relief flooded the woman's eyes as she rushed over to her daughter, pulling her into her arms.

Leanna let out a breath she'd been holding onto, squeezing her mother tight.

"It's an ambush," Viv spoke, looking from Leanna to Phoenix, who both nodded.

"We suspected. They figured out we were coming. I knew this was a bad idea," he shook his head, frustration and a hint of fear weaving its way through him.

Shame weighed heavy on Leanna's chest as she fought the onslaught of tears. Phoenix had been so adamant that something felt off about coming but she persisted. He wasn't one to deny her so of course he went along with it.

I should've listened. I'm so stupid.

"Your father is outside with two wolves, but they aren't rogues," Viv's voice was distant as she mindlinked her mate.

A moment later she blinked, looking at them, "He got rid of them, but more are coming. They're surrounding the place and they aren't hiding themselves. If we don't go, they'll lock us in."

"I mindlinked Sarah and Mason, they're on the way," Phoenix added.

Viv went to speak but was cut off by a second explosion, the east wall blowing toward them. The impact sent them flying across the room, Leanna's body crashing into a table. Her head landed on the rubble from the previous attack, pain spreading out across her skull like veins.

Her vision wavered, the sounds becoming muted as she struggled to stay conscious. A few times she slipped, darkness encasing her completely before she pulled herself through. She was aware of people around her, but it was slow, like they were moving through syrup.

Phoenix's face came into view, his body wavering, splitting into two. Everything in her body was screaming and she wanted nothing more than to slip away into the comfortable silence.

"Hey, hey, hey, Lena, look at me," his voice, despite the panic, was soothing and it lulled her further into the darkness.

His hands swept the hair from her face, "Baby please, stay with me."