Big Bad Beast

CHAPTER 31

Dee hit the gas and maneuvered Ric’s SUV around slow Friday night traffic. Her father sat in the backseat, quiet, staring out the window. Malone was beside him, loading up the weapons they’d quickly grabbed on the way out the door. Desiree was in the passenger seat, her gaze steady on her phone as she continued to redial her house phone and Blayne’s cell. But typical Blayne, her phone was probably buried in that endless pit she called a bag and who knew what was going on with the house phone.

Then again, none of them ever saw this coming. Not only sending out full-humans to kidnap her grandson so that, according to the old bitch, “I can have him raised correctly as a Llewellyn Breeding Male.” But using the boy as leverage to keep her worthless hide alive. Yet once they’d all heard the plan, like the well-trained team they’d become, the three females moved with purpose, Eggie willingly taking orders from his baby girl, while Malone had KZS sending in choppers to monitor the house and follow if the full-humans managed to get Marcus out.

Although Dee knew that wouldn’t be easy. Not with Blayne there. But they had to move quickly because Blayne and two untrained sub-adults could only do so much.

Ric, who’d still been on the phone when they’d discovered what was going on was already heading over to Llewellyn’s Brooklyn home with Mace, Sissy Mae, Mitch, and Lock. Bobby Ray and Rory were heading over from a job in the Bronx. But Dee had a feeling that none of them would get there any faster than herself. Not the way she was driving. Even the teams converging together from the Group, KZS, and NYPD wouldn’t beat her because she had the boy’s mother sitting next to her. Deadly quiet and ready to kill anyone who tried to harm her child.

Hannah, unable to help herself, smiled at the little boy. He had such an infectious grin that she couldn’t imagine anyone not smiling back at him. And his smile managed to do the impossible. Make her feel relatively comfortable. The last thing she’d wanted to do was leave the safety and quiet of the Group’s head-quarters—especially since she was still recovering from that long weekend with all those people—but Blayne had begged and pleaded with some whining thrown in to really test Hannah’s nerves.

Eventually, Hannah had agreed. So here she was in Brooklyn, in a stranger’s home, with two annoying canines—Blayne and Abby—and the cutest little kid she’d ever seen in her entire life. Then again, if the kid grew up looking anything like his father, then he’d probably end up the cutest adult, too.

Blayne charged down the stairs and stopped. “I can’t find Abby anywhere.”

Hannah looked away from the kid and pointed at the dining table. Blayne crouched down and gazed under the table.

“What’s she doing under there?”

“Why does everyone seem to think I can read her mind?”

“Because you’re friends. I can totally read Gwenie’s mind. I know when she’s about to House Cat somebody or when she’s about to go Irish on their ass.”

Nope. Hannah would not be suckered into asking what “House Catting” someone entailed. She honestly didn’t want to know.

“Come here, Abby. Come here, girl.” When Abby refused to come out, Blayne stood. “Dez has to have Milk Bones or something around here.”

“Wait. You’re actually going to try and coax her out from under that table with Milk Bones?”

“You think I should use peanut butter?”

And that’s what Hannah got for being suckered in. Again!

“Or maybe some steak,” Blayne went on. “Dez is living with a lion male so she has to have some meat around here, don’tcha think? And my God what is that noise?”

“Your phone.”

“My phone’s been ringing? Why didn’t you get it?”

“I’m not going in your bag.”

“You couldn’t call me and tell me that my phone was ringing?”

“How’s that my job?”

“How can I help you, Hannah, if you won’t help me?”

“Help you by fetching your phone? I’m only half dog, Blayne.”

“I didn’t mean . . .” Blayne frowned, thinking. “Wait a minute. I’m half dog!” Blayne stomped her foot. “It was easier talking to you when you didn’t respond.” She picked up her backpack from the floor and placed it on a chair. She began digging through it while demanding to know “And what is that noise?”

“The house phone.”

Her head snapped up. “You didn’t answer the house phone?”

Hannah shrugged. “It’s not my house.”

“Goddamnit, Hannah! That’s probably Dez and she’s going to flip the fuck out because I didn’t answer the phone . . . again. And this is what I’m talking about! How can you hope to make any friends if you’re always so bitchy? I mean, maybe if you were feline you could get away with it, but they never take bitchy from canines or bears. Our feet and shoulders are just too big for that. Although not mine. I have cute, dainty feet. And something else,” she went on while digging deep for the stupid phone. Abby pressed up against Hannah’s leg, and that’s when Blayne suddenly stopped talking. Since she never stopped talking of her own volition, Hannah immediately knew something was wrong.

Hannah stood. “What—”

She didn’t get to finish her question, Blayne silencing her with a raised hand. Then she pointed at Marcus.

Hannah was just reaching for him when they kicked in the front door.

“Run, Marcus!” Blayne yelled and the kid took off running, heading for the back of the house, Hannah and Abby right behind him.

It was Abby’s first instinct to run away and never look back. As long as she could remember, she’d always made sure to look out for herself and only herself. But as she watched Hannah—unfriendly, could-care-less-about-anyone Hannah—go after little Marcus like he was her own and Blayne taking the knife she kept on her all the time these days to the first guy who came through the door, cutting his throat, and immediately going to work on the others—many others—Abby knew she couldn’t run for it. She couldn’t leave them.

Instead, she ran after Hannah and Marcus. Hannah swept the boy up into her arms and hard charged for the back door in the kitchen. But before she reached it, they kicked that door in, too, the dogs that Mace and Dez had kindly put in their kennels losing their minds as they tried to get out and protect Marcus, but no one pulled their weapons.

Abby dived over Hannah and ripped into the first guy she could get her paws on, forcing him back and into his friends. She flipped him over the back stairs and into the yard, tearing his throat out until he stopped screaming.

Hannah barreled down the stairs, holding on to Marcus. Men from all sides came at her. Abby knew they didn’t want to hurt the boy, because one man grabbed the screaming child and pulled while the others battered Hannah with fists and knees, trying to get her to release Marcus.

Blayne ran out of the back door and jumped into the middle of it. A male backhanded her, sending Blayne flying. She hit a tree, bounced off it, and ran forward again. Another male caught her around the waist and they both went down. Blayne brought her blade up, but he caught her hand and turned the blade back on her, shoving it into Blayne’s side.

She howled in pain and Abby rushed forward as they finally pried an hysterical Marcus from Hannah, fists flying as they beat the sow to the ground.

Abby ran up to the man holding Marcus and, when she was only a few feet away, she shifted to human. Startled, the man stumbled back and Abby laid him out with a right cross, yanking Marcus into her arms and dashing for one of the trees. Using the power of her legs, she leaped onto the closest branch and scrambled up.

“Get that bitch!” someone screamed. “Kill her if you have to!”

Dee hit the brakes and the car stopped right in front of Desiree’s house. NYPD had already arrived and Dee had them secure the area, keeping the neighbors out of their business and the non-shifter NYPD away from all this. Lord knew, they’d only make it worse in their attempts to help.

Dee and the others moved toward the house, their weapons drawn. The front door had already been kicked in and they went through it.

Guns raised, they entered the house. They heard yelling and Desiree sprinted toward the back.

“Malone!” Dee called out, following Desiree. “Side of the house! Daddy, take the top floor!”

They went through the kitchen door and Dee only had a moment to spot movement before she caught Dez by her dress and yanked her back and out of the kitchen, dropping them both to the floor as bullets riddled the door.

“No!” Desiree screamed out, trying to get out of Dee’s arms. But Dee knew they wouldn’t risk hurting the boy. Matilda, who’d they’d left duct-taped in Van Holtz’s closet, with her complaints of Mace’s “betrayal,” would never allow damage to a Llewellyn male cub. Not when she still had use for him.

Yet, explaining that to a panicked mother would be ineffectual and a waste of her breath. So Dee held on and waited until the gunfire stopped.

Eggie heard the gunfire below, but he didn’t let it directly affect what he was doing. He had no doubt that his daughter knew how to handle herself and this situation.

Silently stepping onto the roof, Eggie pulled his knife and eased up behind the two full-humans who’d been placed there. He slit the throat of one, and when the other turned to him, he buried the knife in his eye.

He yanked the blade out and pushed the body out of his way. He settled down in a good spot on the roof and put his rifle together. Once he was set up, he looked through the scope, picking out good targets who were nowhere near the boy or the hybrids trying to protect him, and did what he did best—he started the killin’.

Ric saw that the front door had already been kicked in so he, Lock, and Mace went around the house to the back. He had Sissy Mae and Mitch, who were unarmed, wait for the teams that were only seconds behind them to tell them what was going on. If there were extra weapons they wanted to use, they were more than welcome to join.

Ric saw Cella crouching near the corner of the house. He snarled a little and she looked at them over her shoulder. Using hand signals, she told them how many men were back there—a lot—and the distance they were away from them. She also mouthed, Eggie, and pointed up, meaning he was in one of his more comfortable positions—sniper.

Nodding he understood, Ric mouthed, Marcus?

She took another look, glanced back at them and shook her head, shrugged.

Ric put his hand on Mace’s shoulder. “We’ll get him,” he whispered next to Mace’s ear. Because the last thing he needed was for this lion to flip a switch and get himself, his wife, and their son killed. But, thankfully, years of Navy training had Mace Llewellyn nodding and ready to finish this.

Taking off his tux jacket, removing the bowtie from around his throat, and loosening his collar, Ric pulled his gun and nodded to Mace and Lock. They began to inch forward when Cella suddenly stood. “Shit!” she yelped and bolted forward.

Deciding stealth would have to wait, they all followed.

Hannah lay in a fetal position, fists and the butts of rifles battering her. Now that she no longer had Marcus in her arms, she was sure they’d kill her, but they quickly lost interest. Instead, assuming she was out or too hurt to move, they went after Abby.

Hannah lifted her head, looking around. That’s when she saw Blayne lying a few feet away from her, her knife sticking out of her side. She looked into Hannah’s eyes and held her hand out. “Marcus,” she said. “Please. Get Marcus.”

Tears clouded Hannah’s sight as she slowly, painfully pushed herself to her feet. Not tears of self-pity or sadness, but tears of rage.

The men who’d turned their attention to tracking down Abby and Marcus seemed to sense that Hannah was right behind them. Slowly, they faced her, a few raising their weapons, some of them laughing at her.

“Good God,” one joked. “She’s fucking crying.”

But they didn’t understand, did they? They’d never understand that they’d managed to spark the one thing Hannah had been fighting so hard to avoid all these months—her temper.

She roared, and a few of the men dropped their weapons in sheer terror from that powerful sound alone. Several of the windows in Dez’s house broke and Hannah bolted toward the men, shifting from her human form to the form that had brought in the big money on the fight circuit. Some men screamed and tried to run, some just stared and lost control of their bowels or bladders but Hannah didn’t stop, hurtling forward before any of them could ever hope to move. And using her six-inch claws, four-inch fangs, and not a bit of rational thought, Hannah began to rip and tear human males apart.

Desiree grabbed Dee’s arm when they heard the roar and glass breaking. “Jesus Christ, Dee? What is that?”

Clueless, Dee stood. But before she could head back into the kitchen, human males sped through it, making a crazed dash for the front door.

Which was where her team and KZS caught up with them.

Dee and Desiree ran into the kitchen. They came face to face with more men and Dee used her knife to cut throats while Desiree sidestepped around the falling bodies. They tore through the room and out the back door, but both stopped at the top of the stairs where they had an amazing view of what was happening in Desiree’s backyard.

“What is that thing?” Desiree asked.

“That’s . . .” Dee almost laughed. “Darlin’, that’s Hannah.”

Desiree only had a moment of surprise before both females had to duck as what was left of someone’s leg winged past their heads.

From the roof, Dee’s daddy methodically took out scumbag after scumbag with his sniper rifle, not letting anything distract him from what he was doing, which was good. Because so much was going on.

Malone ran past the bottom of the stairs and Dee watched her, panic setting in when she saw Malone drop to her knees by Blayne.

“Shit!” Dee jumped over the banister, easily landing and rushing to Blayne’s side.

“Marcus,” Blayne kept saying. “Get Marcus.”

“Where is he, Blayne?” Dee asked and Blayne pointed over at Hannah who was in the middle of separating a man’s body from his head.

“Blayne!” Ric and Lock ran to her side, Ric examining the wound.

“Get the medical team over here,” he told Malone.

“Marcus,” Blayne kept insisting.

“I’ll get him, Blayne,” Dee promised.

She stood, ready to battle her way over to Hannah’s side and, hopefully, to Marcus. But she could quickly see that there was no need to battle anywhere. Between her daddy and Hannah—there was nothing left to fight.

Lowering her gun and knife, Dee headed toward a heaving, blood and gore-covered Hannah.

Dee stood in front of her, holstering her weapon and slipping her blade back in its sheath. “Where’s Marcus, Hannah?”

Still in what could only be described as an interesting mix of grizzly and dog form, Hannah walked over to a big tree and pressed her claws into the base of it.

Dee, Desiree, and Mace stood behind her, waiting.

That’s when a female head peeked out from under all the leaves. Big brown eyes gazed at them and she let out a relieved breath. “Thank God.”

She disappeared again, leaves rustling, and when she jumped down, she held a sobbing but healthy Marcus in her arms.

Seeing his mother, Marcus screamed, arms outstretched. “Maaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Desiree rushed forward, grabbing her son away from the naked female, and holding the boy against her body.

Shaking, Mace put his arms around his wife and son, held them close and Dee looked at the female who’d helped keep Marcus safe. After a moment, she asked in disbelief, “Abby?”

Abby gave a little wave. “Hiya, Dee.”