Forget about me

Chapter twenty-five

Hunter

A sharp pain shoots up my arm as a bullet graze it. It probably would've hurt a lot more if my entire body wasn't aching. We need to get this situation under control right now. With my back to the upside-down vehicle, I search for better cover as Shade crawls out the broken window after Jem. Aside from a few cuts and bruises we all seem to be in one piece. Alex however... she wasn't wearing her fucking seatbelt. She wasn't in the car when we came to a stop which means-

We need to find her, but we need to be alive to do that. Cover then a vantage point so we can get our eyes on her. Ryder's somehow got a phone in his hand. The screen is cracked and he swears when the screen doesn't light up. He tries again. And again. And again. Finally, it comes to life and Ry puts it to his ear after dialling.

"There." I point to a building across from the vehicles front. If Jem can get to the roof, he can pick our assaulters of with his gun and get eyes on Alex. Checking how many bullets I have I say, "I'll cover for you. On my signal."

Whoever Ry called picks up and he rapidly fires off information of what's happening and where we are.

"Okay?" Shade asks Jem tilting his chin at the blood trickling down his face from his forehead.

Jem nods. "Okay."

The bullets slow and I shout "Now!" as one we all rise. The others run for the building as I fire slowly moving after them. Three more cars have arrived since the first one slammed into us. A couple of my bullets find their mark as my eyes find her.

"Did you see her?" I ask the guys as we press our backs to the brick wall whilst taking stock of our guns and bullets.

"Yeah," Ryder breathes, "backups on its way." We just have to stay alive until it does. Jem finds the fire escape and starts scaling the stairs quickly and steadily moving toward the roof.

"She's unconscious. We have to get her." Shade's voice is cool and calm but his eyes betray him. I can feel the fear and panic that burns in them echoed in my own chest. "They might not be shooting at her now because she's not a threat but-"

"Jem won't let anyone get near her." Ryder states cold and mechanical. He's compartmentalising. Closing his fear down and focusing on solutions.

"Jem can't stop a bullet from the roof." Shade snaps cocking his gun and peeking out around the building. He quickly retreats when a bullet hits the bricks. "Someone needs to get her to cover."

"Anyone turns a gun toward her and Jem will drop them." Ryder responds. I understand his logic. If one of us goes for her and are shot down it won't help anyone. They're focusing their guns on us which means she's relatively safe. We can't get her out of here and to a hospital anyway. We'll have to wait for backup no matter what we do.

"Fuck." Shade hisses as the sound of a gun being fired comes from above. He's looking around the corner again and when he turns back, he glares angrily at Ry. "They're not shooting at her, they're taking her." I can feel the blood drain from my face as Ryder's cold façade shatters.

"What?" his mouth moves but I can't hear the whisper over the sound of bullets. I see his lips form the word.

"There's too many of them. Jem can't keep them all away from her." He looks at us one last time before stepping out from the building raising his gun. I only have one clip left but I slip it from my pocket and look at Ry.

"She might already be dead." My heart squeezes painfully and my throat tightens even as I sigh it but we have to look at all the facts. Shade might be getting himself shot for someone who's already gone. Ryder doesn't say anything. I don't think he can. Instead, he cocks his own gun and gives me a curt nod before stepping out into the fight with me hot on his heels.

Not one bullet goes to waste. Shade's almost reached her when he goes down on a knee. Ryder's bullet finds home in the head of the guy who shot him. Shade pushes off the ground and continues to limp forward. He raises his gun at the guy running for Alex. The gun clicks in his hand and he growls tossing it away and taking off at a run. I raise my own gun but a bullet whizz past my head and on instinct I turn and aim at whoever fired instead. When I turn back around Alex is in the guy's arms being carried away from us. Shooting the guy now is a risk, not only because Alex is in the line of fire but because he'll drop her and since we don't know how injured she is that's a risk we might not want to take. We also can't lose her. I don't have any bullets left so I toss my gun and snatch one from a dead guy. He won't be needing it anymore. I cast a quick look at Ryder who's wrestling the gun from the man he's fighting before firing it right between his eyes making blood splatter all over him. Ry notices my expression and follows my gaze to our girl. The man carrying her doesn't notice her eyes fluttering open but I do. Somehow, she finds all three of us in the chaos. Her gaze turns pained when she doesn't see Jem and I long to tell her he's alright. She furrows her brow and looks up at the man she's in the arms of. Everything happens in slow-motion as she reaches for the gun tucked into the back of his jeans without him noticing she's awake. She cocks it places it under his chin and pulls the trigger. As she hits the ground a cry wrenches itself from her lips.

Shade reaches her and places himself between her and the people with guns. Ry and I move as quickly as we can toward them. Shade shouldn't carry her with a bullet in his leg but he will. Or he would but he knows better than to turn his back on a dozen people with guns. At least facing them he can take some down. A shout gets stuck in my throat as the sound of rapid gunfire fills the street. But Shade doesn't get peppered with bullets and neither do we. Our assailants turn their guns the other way. Backups here.

I release a heavy breath filled with too many emotions to put my finger on any of them. Taking off at a run me and Ry rush to Shade and Alex's side taking up protective stances. Five minutes later Dylan steps between the cars blocking the road.

"We're clear." In spite of those two reassuring words tension hangs thick in the air. "They all bore lions. Jameson and Scott's patrol were found dead by the border."

This was planned. The biggest question is if they knew we were coming for the shipment and took that hit in order to try and take us out or if they'd planned this without that knowledge. It doesn't make sense why they'd go for Alex.

"Jem's on the roof." Ry quickly tells Dylan so no one shoots him by accident.

"Lexie?" Shade's voice brings all our thoughts away from the why's and how's of the attack. He's got her head in his hand her body half lifted off the ground and pressed against him. "Come on, open your eyes, darling." He murmurs checking her pulse as her head lolls to the side.

Ryder steps around to her other side and motions for Shade to pass her over to him. We need to get them both to a hospital. Jem too, that head wound needs stitches. Speaking off the devil, he comes running toward us eyes glued on Alex's face. Shade snarls at Ry and gathers her up in his arms. Gritting his teeth, he rises and turns to Dylan who leads the way to his SUV. Dylan hops into the driver's seat and I look to Ry. His jaw is set and ticking. He wants to go with her but he'll stay here to make sure everything's taken care of and nothing is missed.

"Go." I nudge him with my elbow. "I'll stay and take care of everything." Our gazes meet and I can see the protest in his eyes but I shake my head and motion to the limp girl in Shade's arms. "There's no time to argue. Go." He claps a hand on my shoulder in thanks.

I watch as they drive off standing there until they disappear around the corner down the road. Sighing I turn around and take stock of what needs to be done. The pack are already milling about covering bodies and preparing to move out. After a while the cops show up and we leave them to scrap the Pride's cars.

"We've got a live one." Max says coming up beside me. "Do we want to send a message with the rest or just feed them all to the sharks?"

"Take off a head or two of someone who's neck bears a lion. Feed the rest to the sharks and leave the live one to me."

Max nods and heads off to follow through on that order. I go in the other direction to say hello to our unlucky survivor. The man is bleeding from two gunshot wounds, one in the shoulder and one in the leg. Someone stopped the bleeding on both to keep him alive long enough to get some information out of him. He glares daggers at me as I stand above him. The devil dances in my eyes as I smile down at him looking smug as fuck.

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun."