How many times in the last couple of weeks had we needed to sit around the council table and discuss the next problem that we were facing? It seemed that around every corner we were dealing with a new threat or problem to the pack. And to think I could have still been in bed with Violet sleeping in and maybe cooking breakfast with her.
Who would have thought that domesticity would sound so good? Don't get me wrong I wasn't going soft, I liked the outlaw life but settling down with Violet touched something deep within my soul. Not that I would mention any of this to her until things were resolved with Decker, I didn't want to freak her out with moving too quickly but god it felt good to be with her.
Dan was going on about retaliation after the attack and tracking down Andre. The clubhouse had held up better than I thought after walking out of here last night. The majority of the windows would need to be replaced at the front after being shot out and we would need new doors not to mention patching all of the bullet holes in the walls but the interior of the club house wasn't that bad. Replace some bar stools and the shelves behind the bar and it would be looking as good as new.
The council room hadn't even been touched by last night's violence. My mind wasn't on task today. Violet had taken a bullet for me last night without a thought of her own well- being and safety. She had come out shooting like a real outlaw the image of her looking so determined ran my mind down another memory from last night and I shook my head trying to clear it; I needed to get back on track and focus on the conversations around me before any of the guys noticed that I wasn't paying attention.
"We must have taken out a good portion of the Coyote's otherwise they would have doubled back with larger numbers and attacked again last night." Tanner groused out. He was pissed because his Kutte now had a bullet hole through it and he was going to have to stitch it. Violet would probably end up stitching it back together for him.
"Andre's currently in the wind either way. None of our contacts have been able to track him down and he hasn't shown back up at his place so we might have to spread the new wider until we can get a line on him-." Dan was interrupted by Freddy barging into council putting a stop to whatever he was going to finish with.
"Sorry fella's but you have to hear this." Freddy dropped the old battered police scanner we normally kept under the bar onto the table.
The radio wasn't the best but the dispatchers voice could be heard over all the crackling static. "Reports of shots fired." My hackles rose, all of the pack was currently accounted for. A sheriff's deputy responded pretty quickly. "Address of shots fired?"
There a sinking feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach when you have been waiting for the other shoe to drop and it finally does. My stomach clenched, I never should have gotten out of bed this morning. My wolf scratched, clawed and gnashed his teeth inside my head.
There was a moments pause as the dispatcher must have double checked in between the static. "Twenty- six Crescent Crest."
I didn't hear the response from the deputy my body was already moving before my mind had caught up with it, leaping from my chair with such force that it threw it into the wall.
"Violet." I breathed and charged out of the council doors, Tanner and the others close on my heels.
I was frantic as I jumped onto my bike roaring to life underneath me and taring out of the lot faster than was safe but all that I could see was Violet lying bleeding on the floor in her house. I should have been with her today not dealing with this bullshit. I didn't realise that Dan and the others had followed me out of the lot until Dan caught up riding beside me. The pack blew through a red light but we were lucky enough not to be wiped out by an oncoming car.
Rounding the corner, I could make out the flashing blue and red lights of police cruisers blocking off the street on either side of Violet house. An ambulance sat in her driveway the back doors thrown open but no one was inside. I mounted the curb but left the engine running as I leapt from it and dodged the officer who tried to keep me back.
"Violet!" I yelled.
The officer grabbed my shoulder yanking me back from the door but I shrugged his hand off turning and snarling when he tried to grab me again. Dan saved me from being pepper sprayed as he took the officer off to one side. From the corner of my eye I saw McCormick pull up in his truck dressed in civilian clothes. My focus switched back to the house and before I stepped across the threshold I could smell the blood; it was all over the place, the copper smell thick in the air even without my enhanced senses.
"Violet?!" I pleaded mentally praying to whoever was out there that she was going to walk out of her room any second now in one piece. But as I took in the crime scene that was now Violet's house I knew on an instinctual level that Violet wasn't here. The floor was a mess of small pieces of dry wall, broken glass and steaks of blood.
I couldn't move, couldn't take another step into the lounge but just stared at the blood taking a deep lungful of the scent into me and my heart rate slowed a little when I couldn't find Violet's scent in any of the blood. The strangest thing was I did recognise two different scents mixed together on the floor. Wade and Caddin. I knew Wade had been with Violet this morning but why was Caddin here?
Voices started to filter back through to me as the cloud lifted from my mind, whatever happened here Violet hadn't left bleeding. A male paramedic got up from a crouched position near the couch, dragging my eyes away from the blood on the floor. I finally noticed Caddin sitting on the floor, his back hunched against the couch and his left leg stretched out in front of him his knee blown all to hell by the mix of torn denim and blood across his leg.
I took a step towards him rounding the couch but stopping when my eyes landed on the cool silver hand cuffs circling his wrists. The cuffs clicked everything into place causing a red wave of rage to wash over me. "What did you do?!" I bellowed launching myself in Caddin's direction but coming up short when Tanner and Freddy grabbed me by the arms and hauled me back.
McCormick came in with Dan close behind him. I snarled and fought the arms holding me back to no avail. "Seth?" Summer poked her head out from the bathroom.
The door was littered with bullet holes, the door jamb splintered from being forced open and there was a trail of blood from the carpet in the lounge rom onto the tiles inside of the bathroom. Summer's face was ashen and pinched in worry but it was enough for the red haze clouding my mind to recede. My body relaxed from its coiled position and Tanner and Freddy released me but neither man looked in much better control that I was. Trying to avoid dragging my feet through the blood I joined Summer in the bathroom.
The scene in the bathroom was no better than the one in the lounge room and a quick scan of the small bathroom killed any lingering hope that I had that maybe I couldn't smell Violet over all of the blood and she was in here; but there was only Wade and Summer. As well as the mess of the door the towel rail had been ripped from the wall and was tossed to the other side of the room. The cabinet under the sink was missing a chunk of its baseboard and there were streaks of blood across the white tiles.
Wade was collapsed on the floor his back leaning against the tub with some bloody towels spread out around him. Summer still pressed a towel against his stomach her other hand clasped around Wade's wrist checking his pulse. Wade looked pained, washed out and sickly and I knew that if he hadn't been a werewolf he would have been dead long before help had gotten here.
Summer removed the towel and prodded at the bullet wound in his stomach. "It's closing but he's lost a lot of blood. I've got no idea how we are going to explain this to the cops or the hospital." She fretted.
I knelt down next to them and pulled the towel back to get a better look. "The bullet still in there?"
Summer's hand disappeared into her pocket coming back up with two slugs rolling around on her palm. That was one less thing that we needed to worry about. Violet would kick my ass if Wade died in her house. "Don't worry about it, McCormick and Dan will come to an agreement on what happened here." I paused thinking about the situation for a moment before turning to Summer. "Your buddy out there, can we rely on him to keep his mouth shut?"
Her hands moved over the towel at Wade's stomach checking once more before letting it fall to the floor. With a slight shake in her hands she placed one against Wade's sweaty face scratching at the stubble there. I felt a little awkward watching the moment pass between the two; a pang for Violet so sharp it took the breath right out of my lungs. I needed to keep it together for Violet's sake.
Summer turned her gaze back to me. "Give me a little bit of time and I can alter his memory just to be safe. He'll think that we came out to a call which turned out to be a fake."
"Seth I'm sorry." Wade croaked out weakly. "I tried to get Violet to go out the window and run but she just wouldn't leave me behind. Decker and Andre took her." He tried to push himself up from the floor but Summer shoved him back down by the shoulder with a grunt.
"You might be a wolf and heal from being shot but you have still lost a lot of blood. You need a little bit longer before you can get up from that floor." Summer sternly muttered but Wade was smart enough or too weak to do nothing but obey her.
I felt for the guy. You could tell by the damage in the house that Wade had fought back the best that he could but he was only one guy and I had no doubt in my mind that if Violet thought going with Decker and Andre would save Wade's life she would do it without a second thought. I placed a hand on Wade's shoulder and squeezed. "You took a couple of bullets for her man, I couldn't ask any more of you. Violet would never sacrifice anyone for herself so don't beat yourself up over it."
The bigger question was how had Decker joined forces with Andre? I felt Dan, Tanner, Freddy and McCormick crowding the doorway to the bathroom. At least Wade would only have to recap what happened once and why Caddin was here in handcuffs with his knee blown out. "Tell us what happened." I instructed.