Shot

Adrenaline pumps through my system as I race back downstairs.

Dan is losing his mind and I don't blame him. If it were my mate and child out there..."Lauren"...My heart stutters in my chest for a second as a wave of pain collides with it. Lauren means everything to me and if I lost her I would become a shell. 

But nothing is going to happen to  Samantha and her daughter. They will be fine. Our pack will remain whole. I will not lose my brother and our pack will not lose it's luna. We have come to far for that to happen. 

"Dan! I called all the hotels in a twenty-mile radius...Guess who checked into a hotel a town over yesterday," I says, as I jog into the room to see his eyes completely bloodshot, but dry. 

He spins around and our eyes lock as he looks at me desperately. 

"Who," he shouts, and my chest puffs with the knowledge that I found her. 

I can fix this and save the day. I can bring my pack the information it so desperately needs. I am useful here. I'm not just the pathetic office drone who lusts after his co-worker and friend. 

"Kelly O'Neil," I growl, and my brother's face doesn't relax.

It actually grows more frustrated before shifting to confused. 

"I don't know who the hell that is," he snarls while moving to attack me. 

I hold up my hands desperately as I realize his mind is too jumbled to understand who I am talking about. He isn't rational right now. His primal instincts that are engraved within his shifter DNA is screaming at him.

Direct information Stanley!

"Wait, wait. That's the name of Adam Polk's mistress. The chick Samantha's ex-husband was sleeping with. It's Adam! I'm sorry I should have known you wouldn't have remembered her name," I explain quickly to ease my tormented twin and his face shifts from murderous to grateful in an instant. 

He tips his head back and howls toward the ceiling as soon as my words manage to sink in. Relief pulls a small grin onto my face and he yanks me into a skin to skin full body hug. 

"Let's go," he orders as he releases me, and we all shift. 

I take his flank as we exit our territory and he darts straight towards downtown instead of the hotel. I bark to get my brother attention and his eyes cut towards me. His gray fur sways as his body continues to move and his bulging muscles constrict almost aggressively due to my interruption. 

I quickly point towards the direction we need to be taking and he actually nods. He surprises me even further and changes our formation within seconds. Pride fills my chest as my twin allows me to lead our pack in saving his mate. 

When we near the outskirts of the neighboring town, I drop back to his flank to give him the lead. We crouch low to the ground as we proceed to move through the back streets due to the humans still being awake. We don't need to further alarm anyone with a pack of seven large male wolves traveling together. 

When we get near the hotel, four gunshots ring out, and Daniel's body slows as if he is pain. His pace becomes a crawl, but we don't slow down. I know my brother is allowing shock and fear to win for the moment but he will snap out of it. He has to. She needs him. 

But after a few second he doesn't pick his pace back up so we circle back. He whimpers loudly as we sprint past him again and the guys snarl loudly. I nudge his side with my snout and he snaps right out of it. He growls and bolts for the hotel as if nothing even happened.

When he gets to the room where fresh blood is coming from he shifts and kicks away the wooden barrier. 

"Samantha," he yells and the tone of his voice makes my heart squeeze. 

When I get my view of the hotel room I see a battered human half naked on a bed and our pack's future Luna bleeding out while in cougar form. Her sick twisted ex is halfway unconscious underneath her. Angelica is on a bed crying but otherwise unharmed. 

"Finley, get Angelica home! Boyd call Hurst. Lewis, get the other female,"  Dan orders as he move Samantha's wounded body away from Adam.  

"We need to get out of here now. The humans most likely called the cops before the shots were fired," I say, as my rational brain snaps back into control. 

Dan only nods to show he heard before standing up with Samantha in his arms. 

"Lewis, wrap her in a blanket. Finley carry Angelica in wolf form," he orders and we all take off. 

We move through the outskirts of town as quietly as possible, but I still worry someone is going to spot us. 

"Why isn't she healing," Lewis asks from a ways behind me and again my stomach twists. 

  I know my twin is in pain and I also know his pain might just be starting. Samantha's heartbeat is only growing weaker as the seconds tick by. Determination begins to pump within my lean body as I push my paws to go faster. We need to have things ready. Sam doesn't have any seconds to spare. The others fall behind me as I rush to our pack house.

  When I reach the Layne house I can't seem to move fast enough. 

   "GET A SPACE READY" I shout for anyone who can hear me as I shift and fall through the backdoor. 

  "Fuck," Benji growls before running to gather supplies.  

  The others file in behind me and we silently throw things out of the way to make a space for her. 

"Put Luna here. Is she healing," Benji asks as soon as Dan arrives and he shakes his head.

  Dan lays her down on the spot that was hastily prepared and her bloodstained fur stares us all in the face. 

"Hurst said he is on his way. He even shifted," Mike says, and Dan nods again as he strokes her fur lovingly. 

"Get towels," he manages to whisper, and I instantly move. 

  Whatever he needs in this moment I will provide. Worry for him and her is all I can feel. After months of depression and longing my heart is finally feeling something new and it isn't good.

"She is losing too much blood," Boyd mutters as I return with the towels from the hall closet, and Dan growls. 

"Alpha, tell us what to do," Mike says, and my brother loses it. 

"WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING. WE CAN ONLY PRAY. SO PRAY...LET THE GODDESS HEAR YOU. BEG OUR HEAVENLY MOTHER THAT HURST SHOWS UP IN TIME," he shouts, and we all see the tears in his eyes. 

   Desperation and terror are etched into his features, and my sibling bond cracks wide open. No amount of words can help him. He is utterly helpless. My brave brother who has never met a challenge he couldn't tackle, is hopeless and frightened. That fact alone makes me take a step back. 

  I can practically read his thoughts as his eyes return to staring at her bleeding body, and it terrifies me. If we lose Sam...We lose him.