Jace (River Pack Wolves 2)(53)

Piper shrieked, “Watch out!”

But Jace’s wolf was intent on his task and didn’t seem to hear her.

Her father fired, nearly point-blank, and Jace’s beast was thrown back by the force of it. He slumped below the gurney, ripping the last shreds of the bindings free. Her father scurried around the metal bed, obviously planning to pump the rest of his bullets into Jace’s fallen body, but Piper blocked her father’s way. She didn’t have claws to rake across his face, but she managed to take him by surprise, scratching at his face with her human hands… and more importantly, she knocked the gun free. It tumbled across the floor. Her father snarled at her and shoved her aside. Then he shifted and lunged at Jace, taking him on, wolf to wolf. Jace was injured—several spots were matted dark with blood on his chest and arms and legs. That was the only reason her father had any chance at all.

But it didn’t matter—Jace’s wolf howled in rage and rolled her father’s wolf form easily. Jace’s beast quickly had him pinned, with his massive jaws clamped around her father’s throat.

Piper hesitated… her father deserved to die for the things he had done. To her. To Noah. To who knew how many innocent shifters. All because he wanted more power and prestige. He was a terrible, terrible man. But Jace didn’t deserve to be a murderer. She knew how much that would weigh on him, and no matter how much her father deserved it. Piper didn’t want Jace to be the one who carried that burden for the rest of his life.

Jace was hesitating, growling and drooling all over her father’s neck pinched tight by his fangs. Piper wished she could shift so she could hear his thoughts… but it was obvious he was in turmoil. She slowly approached the giant, snarling beast with her hands up. The chaos around them dimmed. She didn’t know where Noah or Owen or either of Jace’s brothers were—the entire world telescoped down to just her and Jace and her father’s life held in the balance.

Jace’s wolf hadn’t heard her before—when she warned him—and she wasn’t sure if the wolf was in control or Jace was. Or if he would even recognize her words. But she spoke softly as she edged toward him, reaching out a hand. “You don’t have to kill him.” If he could understand her words, he was probably the only one who could hear her over his own snarls and her father’s pathetic whimpering and begging for his life.

Jace’s wolf growled at her—not a warning or a threat. Somehow she knew it was a rebuttal—he wanted to end it, right here, right now.

Jaxson appeared out of nowhere with a tranquilizer gun. He pointed it at Jace’s neck.

“No!” Piper shouted, turning and holding both hands out to stop him. She moved her body between Jaxson’s tranq gun and Jace’s wolf. He was already injured, already had who knew how many darts in him. He might not survive another.

“Piper, you don’t understand,” Jaxson said, but his voice carried heartbreak. “He’s not himself. I have to stop him. He would want this.”

“He’s not a wild animal,” Piper said, harshly. “He’s your brother! And he’ll listen to me. I know he will.”

Jared appeared at his brother’s side, carrying a pistol, but not pointing it at anyone. He quickly scanned the situation. “Let her try, Jaxson. His beast won’t harm her.”

“You don’t know that,” Jaxson hissed at his brother. But he hesitated a long moment, then slowly lowered the muzzle of the tranq gun.

Piper turned back to Jace and reached out to the flank of his wolf. “I know you would never hurt me,” she whispered to him. His jaws were still tight around her father’s neck—his face was turning red. “But you don’t have to do this, Jace. The Colonel can never hurt me again. You’ve stopped him. He’s not going to hurt anyone again. You don’t need to take his life to stop him.”

Jace’s wolf shook its head, disagreeing with her and digging deeper into her father’s throat. The Colonel yelped, an undignified sound, but she ignored it. She worked her fingers into Jace’s thick coat, caressing him, petting his wolf, reassuring him with her touch.

He stopped snarling, and a soft whine leaked around his bared fangs.

“It’s all right,” she said, sliding her hand up to his head and rubbing him behind the ears. His eyes swung to her, large and dark and round—they were so full of soul, it nearly wrenched her heart out of her chest. “I can’t have you going to jail, Jace River. I’m staying, and you promised to love me.”

Jace’s wolf opened his jaws and released her father. In one swift movement, he shifted back to human, and suddenly stood before her, tall and gorgeous and naked, with the most loving look in his human eyes, just like his wolf. She threw herself into his arms. If they weren’t still in the middle of everything, she would’ve hauled him off to a dark corner and made furious love to him.