97
KNIGHT
That son of a bitch.
I should have known better. I was glad it came to Nirvana’s senses when I couldn’t. Her mind worked differently than mine, and she could think of checking out the identities of these guys. Or the scenario could have been worse.
“Don’t be reckless. That jackass asked for you, but it didn’t mean you gave him what he wanted,” McKaye said.All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.
“Do you have any idea? Now it’s time to share it with the class, Mac. We just lost Gage. I don’t want to lose any more men today. And your sister is down with the hostages.”
“Alpha, I just saw four guys down the cliff,” Uncle Lennox reported.
“What is it?” Nirvana asked. She must have noticed my reaction.
“Uncle just saw four men down the cliff.”
“Shit.” McKaye didn’t know what to do. He was torn between staying for his sister or going to his father.
“Go to your dad. I’ll take care of the problem in the bunker. I promise I will bring your sister alive.”
Somehow, he lightened up a bit as he looked at us. “Thank you. You both take care. Whatever plan you have, I trust in you.”
I watched him run away at a blinding speed. Once his back was gone, I held Nirvana’s hand. “You can’t go down there.”
“We don’t have a choice. Our people are stuck in there.” I grabbed my phone and texted Dylan. He was still with Zarah. I needed the help we could get.
“You have two minutes left, or I will blow this brunette’s head off,” he said to the walkie, making Nirvana gasp.
“Fuck.” My anger wasn’t much of a help. It should have fueled the rage inside me and turned it into my strength, but right now, all I could think about was the lives of those people down and the life of my mate. I checked the live feeds on my phone. “He has Heartley.”
“You need to trust me that I can do this. I promise I will take care. And the bounty did not say they want me dead. I can escape on the way.”
“No, Nirvana. I can’t risk you, too.” The heat of my anger seared into my skin as I clenched my hand around her little wrist. “You are too important for the plan to work out. I know this is unfair, but think of the bigger picture.”
She wrestled and pulled her wrist free of my grip. “I am thinking of it right now, Knight, but we’re running out of time. I don’t want them to die because of me. I can’t take it. I just can’t. You can’t just protect me. I should protect them, too. I can’t do my job with one hand tied behind my back. You can hate me now, but you should let me go. I love you, Knight, but I’m sorry.”
Fuck!” She was just right in front of me. In a blink, she just jumped. How could I stop her when she was more powerful than me? I linked Luka. “I need you here outside the bunker. Ben and his stooges took Kailin and everyone down hostage.”
“Shit, Alpha. I’ll be there.”
“What happened?” Dylan just ran in my direction. A few moments later, Luka arrived.
“We have a situation here, and your cousin just did the stupidest thing she’d ever done, and I couldn’t stop her.” I’d never felt so weak and useless as I showed them the footage on my phone.
“Do you need any more men?” Luka asked.
“No. He demanded Nirvana down, or he will kill them one by one. He and his assholes friends took Ryden’s guys’ identities. My guess is they forced them to get what they wanted before killing those poor guys.”
“I know that son of a bitch.” Dylan pointed at Ben. “That’s Dave Mull. He’s a notorious drug dealer and a very resourceful man. And if he said he would kill someone, he would do it. Shit.”
I watched Nirvana just walk down to her death trap.
Fuck.
“Don’t provoke him, Nirvana.” I opened the link to her. “He’s a bad guy. Dylan knows him. His name is Dave Mull.”
“Don’t worry about me, baby.” She just blocked me.
“Fuck.” I grunted in displeasure, not knowing what to do anymore. “She just blocked me.”
“I trust her, Alpha. I’m sure she has a plan,” Luka said, “she’s reckless, but we should give her a chance.”
“You’re not helping, Luka.” I fisted my hands when one of Ben’s men, or Dave or whoever the hell he was, started patting Nirvana’s body for weapons or something. “I swear I’m gonna rip their throats if I get a chance.”
“Where’s the dagger?”
“Fuck.” I squeezed my eyes shut as if we might have another problem.
“I don’t know, Dylan. I told her not to tell me.”
“Shit, Nirvana. She didn’t just risk herself, but the entire plan.” He shook his head in disappointment. “I can’t blame her, though. Someone like Dave never joked about threats. I’m sure he planned this meticulously, but Dave doesn’t work with a team.”
Luka and I looked at each other as I tried reaching out to Nirvana. Thankfully, as an alpha, I controlled this pack, and I managed to reach our link. “He’s gonna kill his partners.”
“I have a feeling he will,” her voice just came through my head.
“I will kill him, sweetheart.”
“I know you will.”
“Please, be careful. I will deal with you later.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Stop with mind-linking. He can’t help you now,” Ben mocked Nirvana.
“Alpha, I have good news.” McKaye just reached out.
“The four guys are the real men Ryden sent for help. Dad and I will watch this area. I can send them to you now.”
“No. Keep them with you. We’re handling the situation here. Be careful.” I closed the link.
“They’re coming out,” Luka informed me.
Liam was the first to come out from the bunker, carrying the gas. “Don’t ever think of playing a hero, Alpha. Your human mate will die first if this gas drops to the ground. You don’t wanna be stupid.”
I clenched my jaw harder. I could lose control any moment, but maybe there was a chance- even a minuscule chance I would take it, and I prayed whatever Nirvana was planning would work. That was the only thing I held onto, or I would lose my mind.
“You will pay for this. I will hunt you down myself,” Luka said. He only got a mocking laugh from those assholes, which stirred my wolf.
“You don’t mind if I use your car, do you, Alpha?” Ben smirked at me.
“Knight.” I could feel the fear in her voice as my mate called my name, her eyes pleading. Her smile almost made me fall to my knees. “I wish we had time to watch my favorite movie. You’d love Andy Dufresne.”
“What?” I muttered under my breath. “I will pay you three million. Just let her go. One million in cash and two million in Ethereum. It’s untraceable. Take it, Ben. Don’t be stupid.”
“I have a contract, Blackwell. Sorry, but I have to decline.” The way he smirked, he was confident he would get paid, and I felt the whiplash of my anger sink into my bones.
“Calm down, Alpha. There’s a huge chance Nirvana will get hurt if we try to stop them.”
The other guy, John, pushed Nirvana inside the backseat, making me growl, mostly from my wolf. Then Ben took the driver’s seat while Liam still carried the gas.
“Tell your men to stand down and let us go, or you all will die.” He raised the gas canister, showing us he wasn’t bluffing.”
“Fabian, let Ben and his friends go. Don’t try to stop them. They could hurt Nirvana.”
“Yes, sir.” His voice was hesitant, but I knew he would do his job.
I watched the car pull away from the driveway with my mate in it, and my heart felt like crushing inside my chest.
I’d never felt so helpless as I just let my mate be taken away from me without a fight. I let those men walk into my territory without a bit of a doubt. I failed her again.
“She will make it back,” Zarah said behind me.
“I hope so, Zarah, or I will jump off the cliff and kill myself.”
“Are you doubting her capability?” She held my tensed shoulder so I could face her.
“No. Never.” I looked right into her eyes. “She can be reckless and selfless, but I trust her. Who I don’t trust are those assholes that won’t hurt my mate or if Cyrius is waiting wherever they will take her. I’d never felt so helpless and a disappointment like this, Zarah. Never in my life.”
“You will feel more lost and helpless when Cyrius brings the war into your pack, but you got us. This is not the final battle, so I suggest you pull yourself together and lead these people looking after you.”
“Wait a minute,” I remembered Nirvana mentioned a name. “Andy Dufresne?”
Zarah looked like she didn’t have a clue either.
“Who the fuck is Andy Dufresne?”
“Are you kidding me?” Dylan asked me in disbelief when none of us seemed to know who the fuck was this guy? “That’s the guy from The Shawshank Redemption. I think she just gave us a clue.”
“What’s the clue, Dylan?”
“It’s about overcoming adversity-”
“Just get to the fucking clue, Dylan.”
He just rolled his eyes at me. “We should all focus on our goal. No matter how insurmountable the situation may seem, we always find a way to overcome it.”
I sighed in exasperation.
Zarah shook her head in annoyance. “Meaning, she has an escape plan.”