A Baby Daddy for a Werewolf Silencer (12 page)

Naturally, it was too soon to be optimistic about
anything—and that was eloquently proven when both Dean and Saul went pasty
white. "Alpha?" Erdi asked, immediately alarmed. "What's the
matter?"

"Gavin," Saul replied.

"Will," Dean said at the same time.

Jensen's insides froze, Erdi's earlier words flashing through
his mind once again. Oh, no. Just when they thought nothing worse could
happen... If Willow Cove had been attacked, there was no telling what the
consequences would be. Jessie had already been in a delicate condition. Would
he even survive it?

The memory brought Jensen's mind to the possibility of his
own pregnancy, but he decided not to mention it. Saul and Dean were already too
agitated. They reached for their cell phones and tried to call, but there was no
answer.

"We need to go back to Willow Cove," Dean said, his
hand clenching around the device.

"But we can't leave Alicia and the boys," Jensen
piped up. He was almost worried he'd spoken out of turn, because as things
stood, Saul and Dean's focus was definitely on their mates and children.

Somehow, though, Saul still managed to process what Jensen
was saying. "Of course. We'd never abandon them. We'll have to split
up."

It wasn't as easy as that, and all of them knew it. "If
the pack is in danger, though," Erdi offered, "you two can't handle
it alone. Andreas and Finn are already there, and if the two of them have been
overwhelmed, it means the enemy is well-prepared."

Dean nodded. "We need reinforcements."

They looked at each other, silence falling between them,
thick with impatience and tension. Saul and Dean were practically vibrating out
of their skin, wanting to rush to their mates' assistance, but this plan was
important. They had to settle everything if they were to have any hope of
success.

Finally, Erdi let out a sigh. "It looks like we don't
have a choice. We're going to have to call in silencers."

Chapter Eight

Since his brother's departure, Finn had been left more or
less in charge of their little pack. He took his responsibility very seriously,
and kept a close eye on the area around the cabin. It was highly unlikely that
someone would decide to attack them, but that didn't mean the risk didn't exist
at all.

He was out patrolling when he saw the approaching cars. Black
vans, several men visible through the windows. Finn headed back toward the
cabin as quickly as he could. This could have been nothing, just a
coincidence—if this particular road hadn't really led elsewhere but to the
cabin, and into the forest.

Thankfully, in his wolf form and with the advantage of
knowing the terrain, he was faster than the vehicles. He entered the cabin
through the back door, bursting into the kitchen.

Gavin was there, feeding Shannon. The baby immediately
started to fuss when Finn entered the room, and Gavin scowled even as Finn
shifted. "What is it?"

"Someone's coming," Finn replied. "Several
cars. We need to get out of here."

Gavin paled, Shannon's bottle sliding from his limp fingers.
He took a deep breath, and just like that, he was in control again. Holding his
son securely in his arms, he said, "I'll tell everyone else. We'll be out
in a few minutes."

"That won't be possible," William said from the
doorway.

Finn turned toward his father's mate and his heart fell at
William's glum expression. "Jessie."

William nodded. "We can't move him. If we even make the
attempt, there are very high chances that he'll lose the twins."

"That might happen anyway if we're attacked here,"
Finn replied, hating himself even as he said the words.

"I know." William clenched his jaw. "I
just—"

The decision was taken out of their hands when the sound of
approaching vehicles alerted them to the presence of the men Finn had seen.
"It's a moot point now. Barricade all the entrances. We'll protect
ourselves as much as we can, and we'll contact Saul and Father."

Gavin quickly retrieved his cell phone to deal with the
latter part of the plan, while Finn started moving around pieces of furniture
to block the doors. William went in search of the rest of their pack, and
judging by the curse Finn heard from the other room, he ran into Andreas first.

In mere minutes, they had the cabin barricaded as well as it
could be. Unfortunately, Gavin couldn't contact anyone—not even Jensen or Erdi.
"There seems to be some sort of interference. I can't get through."

"They'll know something is wrong anyway," William
said, his tone decisive. "We'll just have to hold on until they send in
reinforcements."

Finn wished he felt that confident, but all he could think
about was Parker. His mate's face was pale, his hand resting protectively over
his belly. Jessie was the most vulnerable one out of all of them, but Parker
wasn't much better.

He shook himself and focused on what needed to be done, not
on the emotions sabotaging his reason. "Andreas, you and I will be watching
the main entrances. William, you stay with Gavin, Jessie and Parker."

William nodded. "I'll see my targets better from higher
up anyway."

Finn couldn't even begin to address that. His father's mate
had made similar comments before, but Finn had never actually seen him fight.
He'd hoped he wouldn't have to, but apparently, he'd been too optimistic when
it came to the auspicious beginnings of their new life.

Trusting Will to know what to do—the man had been protecting
his son for as long as Finn had been alive—Finn directed his attention toward
his own self-appointed task. There were already men surrounding the cabin, and
they'd likely try to burst inside any moment now.

Confirming his guess, a spray of bullets swept over the
kitchen. Finn ducked and avoided the attack. Only one of them actually hit him,
but it relieved Finn more than worried him. It wasn't silver. Thank the moon
for small mercies. The culprits behind this operation didn't know about a
werewolf's weak points.

Of course, that only confused Finn since he couldn't imagine
what human—for it had to be a human—would attack them out of the blue. It had
something to do with Alicia, but what?

The questions would have to wait, though, because several men
dressed in black forced their way into the kitchen. The furniture was too frail
to keep them in check, but now that he knew their weapons couldn't really hurt
him, Finn let them come in.

Once they were inside, Finn attacked. Obviously, the men were
shocked at having some random naked guy lunge at them, but that didn't stop
them from shooting at him again. They were professionals, Finn realized, but
human, like he had guessed. They might have never fought werewolves before in
their lives.

Finn moved too fast for them to actually manage to hit him, despite
the cramped space in the kitchen. They didn't have too much time to use their
guns anyway, since Finn made quick work of them. One dash forward, a few dodged
bullets, and two men went down. He used their bodies as a meat shield while he
handled the others. It must have taken less than a minute, and all the while,
Finn's attention remained partially on what was going on in the other rooms.

He could hear Andreas fighting at the other entrance, and he
wasn't too worried, as the enforcer would undoubtedly handle the threat as
easily as Finn had. The distinctive sound of gunfire—different from the one his
opponents' weapons had made—echoed through the house, and while he could be
mistaken about that, he suspected William was holding his own too.

All of a sudden, a familiar cry reached his ears, one that
didn't come from any attacking human. Even if it was unwise to leave the back
door unwatched, Finn rushed toward Jessie's room, hoping he was not too late to
prevent any injury to his family.

When he got there, his gaze first zeroed in on Parker. His
mate was fine, a little pale, but trying to calm down a crying Shannon,
together with Gavin. Meanwhile, Jessie was out of bed for the first time in
quite a while. Despite being heavily pregnant, Finn's older brother was leaning
over his father, who had apparently taken a shot to the shoulder.

William grimaced and gently pushed Jessie's hands away. He
managed to get up on his own with nary a grimace. "Don't you dare heal me.
You can't afford the energy loss. You shouldn't even be out of bed."

"They shot you," Jessie said tremulously.
"You're bleeding."

"I'll be fine," William said, pressing his hand to
his wound. "It's just a scratch."

That was a lie—Finn could tell that much—but he let it go
because the wound wasn't life-endangering either. They had more pressing
concerns, such as the men outside taking advantage of their distraction to
burst in through the windows.

Finn readied himself to attack, but he never got the chance.
Better said, he didn't need too. The men suddenly collapsed screaming. They
tried to reach for their weapons, but couldn't get a grip on them, their limbs
shaking too badly. The scent of urine reached Finn's nostrils seconds before
the men launched themselves out the windows they'd come through.

The room wasn't too high up, so they'd undoubtedly live with
a broken bone or two, but that didn't justify their behavior. Finn glanced at
everyone in the room, but his pack members all seemed as shocked as he felt.

"What just happened?" Parker asked, gaping.

"Something very fortunate, I'd say," Gavin offered,
rocking Shannon in his arms. "But I doubt whatever it is will keep them
busy for long."

Despite his bleeding shoulder, William helped his son back to
bed before saying, "I suspect it'll just make them angrier."

Judging by William's tone, the human doctor had some sort of
clue about the reason of this unexpected development, but the "don't
ask" was so clear in his demeanor William could have just as easily
screamed it.

As it turned out, the matter wasn't something that could be
buried. Before Finn could decide what to say, Andreas burst into the room.
"What happened? The guys I was fighting just bid a hasty retreat. Is
something going on that I don't know about?"

William didn't answer, but Gavin seemed to have figured
things out on his own. "It was Shannon, wasn't it?"

His voice was steady, and his hold on his still sniffling
baby unfaltering, Finn remembered all the times in the past he'd noticed
something... different about Shannon and wondered just how much more the
child's parents had seen.

"It's a possibility," William replied. "We
don't have much to go on when it comes to that particular issue."

Gavin accepted the answer with a nod. "We'll discuss it
later. For now, how do we get rid of those men?"

Finn stole a look outside and narrowly dodged a bullet aimed
straight for his head. "Well, it seems we might have a little trouble with
that."

They were surrounded, even if the men hadn't managed to enter
the house yet. Leaving the cabin wasn't an option, and judging by the wide
birth most of the attackers were giving the place, they'd already realized
something wasn't right about its inhabitants.

To Finn's mind, they had two options. The first was to remain
indoors, maintain their previous roles and hope for reinforcements, relying on
their protected positions and, perhaps, Shannon to keep everyone outside at
bay. Finn had no doubt that his brother would be sending help. At the same
time, though, Saul was a good distance away, and there were no guarantees these
men wouldn't bring out heavier weaponry. Finn and Andreas might be, for the
most part, unaffected by regular guns, but things like bazookas could still
hurt them—and that was without mentioning all the damage the men could still do
to the more vulnerable members of their pack.

So, no choice then—they needed to fight back. "Andreas,
you're with me. We're taking this party to them."

Jessie let out a sound of distress, and Finn hated that he
had to put more strain on his brother than this whole debacle already had.
Andreas kissed Jessie's forehead and grinned. "Don't worry about me,
Jessie. We've been through worse, you and I. This is nothing."

Finn nodded. "Their bullets aren't silver. Even if they
do hit us, we won't stay down."

At that, Jessie relaxed a bit. "Well, that's some good
news at least."

"Quite," William said, "although I can't
imagine who would attack this place without knowing you're werewolves. Be
careful, and don't underestimate them."

Finn grinned. "Will do."

He should have probably gone ahead and followed his plan, but
he couldn't, not yet, not when he felt his mate's anxiety so clearly through
their bond. Parker was trying to be brave, but he was terrified that something
would happen to Finn.

"Trust me, okay?" Finn whispered as he hugged his
mate. "I won't let anyone separate us, or hurt our family—ever
again."

Something inside Parker seemed to ease at his words. "I
trust you."

His mate's faith strengthened Finn's decision. It also
settled his final dilemma. When he pulled away and broke the embrace, he
allowed his wolf to come to the fore.

Earlier, he hadn't been sure his animal form would come as an
advantage or not. Then, he'd wondered if using this shape would breach the
Secrecy Accords and draw the wrath of the Gathering onto them once more. But
now, he realized he was being foolish. If anything, this shape would encourage
the silencer guilds to take care of the problem for them. It was the least they
could do after all the crap they put their own men through.

Andreas seemed to agree, because he quickly discarded his
clothes and changed shapes as well. Now on four paws, they left Jessie's room
and headed back downstairs.

By now, their silence had apparently encouraged their
opponents to attempt entering the house again. Andreas and Finn struck
silently, jumping the black-clad men, claws and fangs tearing at vulnerable
human flesh. This time, the screams were justified, as neither Andreas nor Finn
pulled their punches.

Several of the shooters tried to use their guns, but the
bullets didn't work. It wasn't exactly a pleasant sensation, to be shot, but it
didn't last. Werewolf healing pushed out every bullet other than silver ones,
and then knit the flesh back together with barely a pang of hurt.

In minutes, Andreas and Finn had their new opponents
down—most of them unconscious, some dead. Once they made sure the injured ones
wouldn't wake to give Parker and the others trouble, Andreas and Finn readied
themselves for the next step of the plan.

As far as Finn could tell, most of the surviving attackers
had clustered around the back door, but there were some who were approaching
from other sides. With only Andreas as backup, Finn didn't have a lot of
options. They just slid outside through the back door.

Well... They didn't exactly slide, since that would have
implied stealth and the element of surprise, an advantage they didn't benefit
from. They did, however, have speed, and dodged the rain of bullets directed at
them the moment they left the building. If any of the projectiles hit him, Finn
couldn't have cared less. He was too focused on the battle, on taking out every
single man who dared to endanger his mate and his unborn child.

In hindsight, Finn should have known better than to expect
things would continue to go well. After all, these people might not have been
prepared for a paranormal foe, but they were still professionals.

Still, when the silver bullet hit him, Finn couldn't help but
be surprised. His instincts kept that shock from sabotaging his chances for
survival, and he took refuge behind a large rock. Dread and anger filled him
when he heard Andreas's yelp of pain, but thankfully, his friend managed to
find haven as well.

A large part of the attacking men were down now, but Finn
still wondered if, perhaps, not using silver originally had been just a ruse, a
plan meant to lure them out. No, that didn't make sense. If everyone here had
been armed with silver weaponry, Andreas and Finn wouldn't have had a chance to
begin with. What did that mean?