Werewolf Dreams (21 page)

Kurt nodded his head firmly and then glanced over his shoulder at Yvonne’s fiancé, Big Red.
Red immediately stood up and went to join his future father in law.

Kurt looked back at Cyrus.
“I agree Cyrus. I was there. Trent and I saw everything. We saw what those men did to Grayson. They’re the ones who set up Zoe to grab Ava. And now she’s going to die, while they sit in my bar? No. I’ve had enough of this.” He said and walked over to the back booth. The crowd parted like water for them as Cyrus, Red and Kurt bore down on the group glaring at everyone. Ava stayed back and felt Yvonne pat her on the shoulder as they watched the tableau unfold side by side.

Cyrus and Red stood on either side of Kurt as he stood in front of Ben, looking down at him as if her were worthless.

“You’re banished from my pub, you three,” he said pointing to Ben, Jake and Tom. And then he looked at all of the other people crowding around them. “And any of the rest of you who think being a big shot means acting like a brainless idiot can leave too. You’re kind isn’t wanted here,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ben stood up slowly and stepped toward Kurt, forcing him to move back.
“I’m in charge now that Titus is away. You don’t get to banish me and my friends from here or anywhere Kurt. As a matter of fact, if you want to keep this crappy pub, you’ll apologize to me and my friends right now, right here in front of everybody, or you’re going to be very sorry. I’ll make sure of it,” he said and then looked pointedly at Yvonne.

Yvonne gasped and froze.
Ava frowned and put her arm around her cousin. Big Red followed Ben’s gaze and his eyes turned such a cold green, Ava shivered. Red turned back and looked at Ben and reached out with a flick of his hand and slapped him across the face with a loud crack. It was a hundred times more disrespectful than a punch would have been.

“You threaten Yvonne you’re dead.
You threaten Kurt, you’re dead. I don’t care if Titus put you in charge while he’s off playing in the forest,” he said with a sneer, getting nose to nose with Ben. He had a good three inches on Ben and Ben had to look up. “Titus is out anyways. We’re going to have a new leader as soon as Titus gets home and faces the truth. And it won’t be some moron like you. Now I’ll give you ten seconds to get you and your friends out of here, before I start twisting your arms and legs off. One . . . Two . . . Three . . .,” he said coldly.

Ben glared at
Big red but knew he was sorely outnumbered. It was painfully obvious who would come out the winner in a fight between the both of them.

Ben held up his hand and Red stopped counting.
“I’ll go for now, but I want to make one thing clear. Your actions today will be noted and reported to Titus. Do you remember what he did to the last man who disrespected him? Of course you do.
It was your father Trent.
So all of you here, listening to these three men sign their death warrants, remember my face. Because I’m the one in charge. I will be the new leader. Cyrus is too weak and too soft to be the leader of our people. Look at the mate he has!” he shouted, pointing at Ava.

Ava immediately stood up straight and stared back at Ben, unflinchingly.
“That’s right Ben. I’m Cyrus’s mate. Go ahead and look at me. I’m tough, I’m smart and what’s even more important is I’m a good person. Cyrus and I are going to make sure that no one will ever be bullied by you three ever again. Fairness isn’t weak. Justice isn’t weak. You’re the weak one Ben. Someone who has filled his life with cruelty, anger and violence isn’t the person to lead this town,” she said, her light brown eyes turning a bright gold with passion.

Ben blinked in surprise as Cyrus grinned at her proudly.
“My mate is right. When I rule, women will be treated fairly, as equals. Not prizes to be won. Titus has ruled our people for too long and the people have suffered. And now Zoe has been ordered to die. Are we going to let that happen?” He yelled to the crowd.

The majority of the pub roared back, “No!”

Ben and his group, eased toward the front door and away from Cyrus, Kurt and Big Red. “You’re all signing your death warrants!” he shouted, glaring at everyone his eyes came in contact with.

Ava stepped back closer to the bar as Ben had to walk past her to get to the door. He paused for a moment
in front of her, his dark brown eyes lighting up as he stared at her.

“As a matter of fact, I believe I do remember what the punishment for rebellion is.
You lose your mate and have to suffer the tortures of being alone,” he shouted as he lunged forward and grabbed Ava by the shoulders, twisting her, so that she was held up against his chest, with one hand closing around her wind pipe and the other around her waist.

Jake and Tom grabbed Yvonne at the same time, holding her tightly between them.
Ava heard the furious roar of the crowd as she fought for breath, her eyes watering and her hands scratching at Ben’s massive hand enclosing her throat. She felt more than saw Cyrus, Red and Kurt come to stand in front of them and smelled a powerful wave of fury surround her and Ben.

“Let her go right now and I promise your death won’t be painful.
If you hurt her at all, I will make you suffer,” Cyrus promised as the room turned deathly still and completely silent.

Big Red stood in front of Jake and Tom, staring them down silently before talking. “You know me boys.
You know what I’m capable of. And you know I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth because you’re touching my mate. But I’ll make you a deal. If you let her go right now and start running. I’ll give you a one day head start,” he said his voice low with fury and tightly reigned in violence.

Ava felt her body lift off the ground and she felt darkness surround her for a moment before her body was lowered slowly and the pressure of Ben’s hand lessened.
“Jake and Tom are smarter than all of you in this room together because they know Titus won’t allow anyone to hurt us. We’re in charge of this town now!” he screamed to the room. “You don’t get to threaten us! You will show us respect!” he screamed again.

Ava opened an eye and saw Cyrus staring at her, his heart in his eyes.
She blinked her eyes one time and tried to smile. Cyrus nodded and glanced at Red before turning to the crowd staring in awed horror at the scene in front of them.

“Is this the leadership you want?
Is this how you want your daughter’s and sisters treated? As leverage or pawns? As less than nothing? Should a man who would threaten someone’s mate be allowed to lead? No!” he roared and then turned back to Ben.

While Cyrus had been speaking though, Ben had dragged her quickly to the front door.
One of his friends opened the door for him and then she was out in the bright sunlight, her heels dragging over the sidewalk. Red had obviously taken advantage of the distraction because she heard horrible, rending screams as if someone was literally being torn in half. She stared as Jake dove for the door, landing at her feet but was dragged back quickly inside by countless arms. As Cyrus appeared in the doorway, trying to push past all the people blocking his way, she was all of a sudden lifted and thrown in the back of a truck. Ben jumped up into the bed of the truck with her as Cyrus roared and jumped over the people, in order to get to her.

Ben screamed at the driver to get going as Cyrus ran and leaped for the back of the truck as it started to pick up speed.
Ben let his fist fly into Cyrus’s face and he as was thrown from the back of the truck as all the people poured out of the pub and surrounded him. His howling yell sent shivers down her back right before Ben reared back and kicked her in the side, breaking her ribs and making her scream in agony. She heard Ben laugh at her pain before he kicked her again. This time, the darkness grabbed her and dragged her down.

A
va woke up and groaned in agony, her ribs aching and burning like they were on fire.

“Shut up!” someone said in
a low furious whisper. “Do you want them to come back and finish you off this time?”

Ava rolled to her good side and tried to sit up, gasping at the effort.
She sat up slowly and looked to where she’d heard the voice. She saw a human form, huddled in a corner.

“
Zoe?”
she asked softly.

“Who else?
I’m scheduled to die right now at the park, but they know if they show up with me to do their little community service, then they’ll be killed on the spot. They’re trying to figure out a new plan now that they’ve taken you.
Idiots
,” she muttered tiredly.

Ava scooted along the floor to get closer to Zoe so they wouldn’t have to whisper so loudly.
She got close to the girl and got up on her knees.

“Turn around, let me see your hands,” Ava whispered, wondering if they could escape before Ben came back.

Zoe sat up and did immediately what she was told. “They used zip ties. I’ve tried until my wrists started bleeding. I can’t get out of them. Do you have anything sharp?” she asked, sounding excited about the idea of escaping.

Ava frowned as she ran her fingers over the tough plastic ties.
“Crap,” she muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets and coming up with nothing. She glanced around the bare room and saw immediately there was nothing she could use. “If we even had some matches or something, we could melt them,” she said shaking her head in disappointment.

“You’d melt my wrists along with ties,” Zoe said in horror.

Ava shrugged and looked up at the window. “I can be careful. Besides, a little burn is better than dying,” she murmured softly.

Zoe cleared her throat softly.
“In that case, I do have a lighter in my front pocket. Dig it out and see what you can do,” she said resignedly.

Ava grinned and rushed to Zoe and felt in her right pocket.

“Other pocket! Hurry,” Zoe urged.

Ava got the lighter and immediately went to work on Zoe’s wrists.
She knew she was hurting Zoe, but she could see the plastic starting to soften and melt. She turned the lighter off and pulled on the ties with all of her strength and smiled as they snapped in two.

Zoe groaned in relief and pain as she flexed her sore arms and blew on the red burnt skin of her wrists.

“We’ve gotta run for it,” she said, now looking at the window.

Zoe nodded. “Yeah, but how?”

Ava stood up, holding her ribs with her hands as she groaned softly and then walked to the rustic wooden door. They were obviously in a cabin out in the forest. She leaned her ear up against the door and listened carefully. She could hear maybe three people talking low but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. They had to hurry and they had to be quiet. She walked back to Zoe and looked up at the window.

“Once we’re out, you can change into your wolf form, okay?”

Zoe’s eyes glowed with hope as she nodded quickly. “Wait, why are you helping me? I mean, I helped those guys. They wanted me to kill you,” she said guiltily. “I wasn’t going to, I was just going to scare you so you’d go away and leave Cyrus to me. But still.”

Ava sighed and nodded.
“I know. You still don’t deserve what’s happening to you. You shouldn’t die because of those jerks in there. Hurry now, let’s get going,” she said, and knelt down on the filthy, dirty floor, feeling the grit under her hands. Zoe stepped on her back and she felt like screaming in pain. She hadn’t thought of her ribs when she’d offered her back to Zoe.

Zoe
pushed the latch to unlock the window and then slowly eased the window up. It was old and dirty, but at least it moved and within seconds the weight was gone and so was Zoe.

She stood up and hoped she could get through the window on her own now. If her ribs hadn’t been injured, it would have been no big deal.
Now?
She heard the scraping of chairs in the other room and the voices suddenly louder. She had run out of time. She jumped up, grabbing the ledge of the window and bit her lip as the pain almost over took her. As she pulled herself up and through the window, she heard the door open to the room and the shouts of angry men as she fell out and down.

Two strong arms caught her and she was placed firmly on her feet.
Zoe had stayed
. Ava blinked in surprise. She had assumed Zoe would have taken off immediately without her.

“
Run!”
Zoe whispered and took off at a dead run into the shadows. Ava followed much more slowly because of her ribs. Before her eyes, she saw Zoe jump as if she were diving into a pool and seamlessly flow into the form of a beautiful sleek black wolf. Behind her were the sounds of the men running through the cabin and out onto the front porch, screaming her and Zoe’s names.

It was nighttime and there was no moon.
It was dangerous to run through the woods this way, but her only other option was dying at the hands of the men she’d left.

She saw Zoe disappear into the dark shadows ahead of her and sighed.
This was Zoe’s chance at freedom, she needed to go as fast as she could. Waiting for her would only get herself killed. Ava felt a wave of fear rush through her body as she heard the howling of many wolves. The men had changed into their wolf form. She was being hunted.