Fierce (Devils Point Wolves Book 5)(2)

With a twist of his wrist he gunned the engine and started toward the bridge, seeking the freedom he needed right now.

In his rearview mirror he spied Sawyer slipping through the front door of the club. He did want to join him, a lot more than he wanted empty comfort from others. What he wasn’t in the mood for was the fiftieth rejection from Miss Hot Shot stripper.

He was done. His pride would allow no more groveling.

Bitterness flooded through him as he rushed off the island and toward the mainland. He was beyond ready to do whatever it took to get over her.

No sooner did his wheels hit the bridge before his entire world exploded behind him, a blast of heat and light flinging him and his bike sideways into the concrete and metal guardrails.

In a strange slow motion, Creed tried to get out from underneath the hunk of metal. Pain shot from his leg and side as he maneuvered free. The night had gone from gloomy and dark to hot and bright in a matter of seconds and he had no idea what had happened.

He limped from the edge of the road, the sound of metal grinding against metal still ringing in his ears, and turned back toward the island. He stood transfixed as the horror of what he saw before him began to sink in. A wall of flames surrounded Club Diablo with a rain of burning debris littering the night sky as it fell to the ground.

What the fuck?

Mate. The wolf rasped in his head.

Creed jerked, moving on autopilot as he began ripping at his clothes while his bones popped and muscles strained as the change to wolf overtook him. The human in him receded and the animal seized control.

One minute he was standing by the road in pain and the next the wolf was racing across the bridge to the burning building with only one goal in mind.

Save the mate.

The closer he got the harder his heart hammered. The buzzing in his head got louder too. Smoke billowed into the parking lot making it harder to see as he sprinted the last fifty yards to the building. Damien stood close to the front door barking orders as he dragged one of the customers from the building. There were several people staggering around the parking lot, but Creed didn’t spot Dani anywhere.

The fist holding his heart in its hand squeezed harder. She had to be okay.

Had. To. Be.

He yipped at Damien, grabbing his attention. The alpha leader turned and looked at him, the rage he spied nearly made him recoil. He stood his ground in the face of it—barely.

He didn’t need to be in human form to ask where his mate was. Damien got it. He shook his head, his lips compressed in a grim line indicating she hadn’t made it out yet.

“Try the back door. The blast was focused on the entrance and we’re now blocked. No one else is getting in or out through here.”

Creed did nothing to acknowledge his alpha other than follow his suggestion by racing around the building to the back door.

Like the front, a few people were staggering around and many more were laid out on the ground covered in different degrees of blast and burn damage. He refused to acknowledge that many of them did not look like they’d made it.

He continued to the entrance and ignored Diego’s protests. Dani was still inside. He leapt and whizzed over the two men blocking his way. Nothing would stop him from getting to his mate. No amount of danger was too much when it came to her life.

Inside, it was virtually impossible to see with smoke and flames everywhere he turned. Instead he relied fully on the wolf and his instincts as he moved towards her dressing room. The most likely place for her at the time of the blast. He might not have stepped foot in the club in a long time, but he kept tabs on her in other ways and he knew she liked to spend her down time curled up in a blanket on the tiny dressing room loveseat with a book in her hand.

As he drew closer to where he hoped to find her, the fear in his gut thickened. The flames were encroaching and the smoke thicker than before. It would be hard for him to survive this let alone a human.

Still he forged forward, slowly as many beams and blast debris clogged the hallway. And of course there was the scent. Far more than the building burned and the scent of his pack’s suffering was imprinting on his psyche with every new step.

Finally, he made it to Dani’s dressing room, but the mess blocking him was more than the wolf could handle. He had to shift. Bones popped and lengthened as fur and fangs receded and his human half returned.

Creed wasted no time since he had nothing to help him breathe or cover his face. He lifted and shoved his way through the rubble and entered the room. To his relief it stood largely intact with only a couple of large ceiling beams broken amidst the other debris.

“Dani!” he shouted.

No response.

He shoved the damaged furniture out of his way and made it over to the loveseat not yet damaged to discover his mate was not within the remains surrounding her favorite spot. In fact, there was no sign of her.