Almost Out of Time

Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Nicole

            “Are you okay?” Liza asked wrapping her warm arm around my shoulders tightly

            “Yeah,” I nodded slightly. “I just…I can’t believe he said that.”

            “He didn’t mean it,” Hannah defended pushing her hair back behind her ears. “He is just frustrated and stressed out. You are too.”

            “I know,” I said biting my lip once.

            Hannah’s phone rang in a shrieking annoying sound. She pulled it out. It was a small black old phone, with a small screen and the keys on the front.

            “Hey…what?” Hannah asked into the phone. “Wait Chase, I can’t hear you. You’re breaking up. Wait, Axle? He’s trying to—Chase! I can’t understand you!” She cut off shrieking when someone dashed by and ripped her off her feet, making her drop her phone and causing it to shatter, the battery flying across the pavement.

            Someone’s arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me off the ground. “No! Put me down!” I shrieked slapping the strong hands.

            “Conner!” someone yelled. “Gentle. I will not have you harming my mate.”

            “Chase!” I screamed. “Chase! Please!”

            “Let me shift!” Luna spoke up.

            “I wasn’t stopping you!” I screamed in my head.

            I felt Luna try to come up but stopped when someone poked something sharp under my skin, inserting a warm liquid that slithered through my veins.

            “I can’t come out. I’m sorry. They injected Sythium into your veins. It’s a sedative that keeps werewolves from shifting. It makes them easier to handle,” Luna whispered.

            “Chase!” I shrieked again. “I need you! Ouch! Put me down you jerk!”

            The man holding me only laughed; a deep rumble. “Little miss; calling me a jerk does not bother me.”

            “Let me go. Please!” I cried feeling the tears welling up. “You!” I spotted the man walking around barking orders. “Are you Axle?”

            “Yes. I’m Alpha Axle,” he nodded walking to me with a slight smile on his sharp, thirty-year old face.

            “Let me go,” I said. “Please. I have a mate. I love him and I want to be with him. I belong with him. If someone was trying to take away your true mate would you sit around and let it happen? Would you want something like this to happen to you?”

            He smirked. “Good thing it’s not happening, nor will it happen. My dear, you are now mine.”

            “Liza?!” I screeched when I saw her slumped on the dark, cold pavement a few feet away. “Liza, wake up! Are you okay?!” I tried to pull away to run to her but the man holding me was much too strong.

            “This is our land, I suggest you leave now!” A loud voice boomed making everyone turn their heads. Magnus was standing there with Chase at his side and some of the others. Chase’s eyes were watching me intently with an angry stare.

            “Of course, Magnus,” Axle nodded. “We’ll be on our way immediately.”

            “Leave Nicole here,” Chase snapped.

            “I’m guessing you are the one she calls ‘mate’?” Axle asked.

            Chase nodded once. “Let her go, now.”

            “Demanding isn’t he?” Axle asked looking at me with a smirk on his face and amusement in his grey eyes.

            I narrowed my eyes. “Let go of me,” I snapped at the man holding onto my arms.

            “Not a chance, beauty,” the man said pulling me into his chest and leaning in so his nose was hovering over my neck as he inhaled.

            “Conner, what’s the verdict?” Axle asked looking past me at my captor.

            “She reeks of his stench,” Conner spat. “She’s definitely his.”

            I looked around for Hannah, but she was lying on the grass, dirt coating her body as she lied there unconscious. Her hair fell above her head tangled and messy; there was grass in it randomly. I’d never seen her look so vulnerable. I almost let out a sob from seeing her like that, especially after Liza. Someone walked over and picked up Hannah, while another picked up Liza.

            “Either you let us go with the girl or you lose these two lovely women,” Axle said with a smile. “I will command them to kill these lovely ladies if you do not allow us to leave.” 

            Magnus did not speak. I knew he didn’t want to sentence his mate’s death but he didn’t want to hurt his son either, so I spoke up. “I will willingly go with you, if you let them go,” I said my throat tight and my wolf unhappy with my decision. I knew it was the right decision to make, even if I am unhappy with its outcome.

            “No, I want him,” he pointed at Chase. “To decide the fate of his mother, sister, and mate.”

            Chase bowed his head for a moment and sighed, before stepping forward and looking between the three of us.

            “Chase!” Derek called in a warning tone.

            Chase looked over at me and I felt tears sting my eyes, but I shook my head. “Save them,” I whispered, meeting his eyes.

            “I don’t know how,” he whispered in my mind.

            “Chase,” I said aloud. “Save your mother. Save your sister. I will be okay.”

            “But I won’t,” he shook his head; I could see his eyes filling with tears which made mine pour.

            “Yes you will,” I nodded. “You’ll be okay, Chase. I know you will be. But right now I need you to trust me, okay?”

            His tears were falling but he nodded, against his better judgment. “Okay…okay.”

            I turned to Axle. “Now let them go.”

            He shrugged with a smile on his face. “Release the women.”

            The men holding Liza and Hannah allowed them to drop to the ground, gravity taking over. They walked back so they were behind me and Conner. Axle allowed Magnus and Derek to get Hannah and Liza up and back to the others that were gathered.

            “Time to go,” Axle said turning. “Bring the girl.”

            “I love you,” I mouthed to Chase before we turned and I was carried away.