A collar to stop him from shifting.
“Tell your buddy to get his ass over here,” Craig said. “We ain’t passing up two bounties.”
“Fuck you,” Coop spat. He turned his glare to Craig. “Hurt Olin and there isn’t a place on this planet where you can hide from me.”
Olin’s eyes were wide, his head yanked back as he stared helplessly at Coop. The look of terror in Olin’s eyes only enflamed Coop’s rage.
“Let Olin go, and you can have us,” Karidon said as he approached, his hands held out at his sides to show he was unarmed. His gaze dropped to Coop’s bleeding stomach, and Coop could see his friend’s jaw clench.
“Put the collar on first,” Craig said to Karidon.
Coop closed his eyes when his best friend took the collar from Fisher and placed it around his neck. They were doomed. He glanced up when he heard someone coming closer.
“Get off of him!” Ollie came from around the house and raced toward Olin.
Fisher raised his shotgun and slammed the butt into Ollie’s head. Ollie crumbled to the ground as Olin screamed and squirmed in Craig’s grasp.
“You bastard,” Olin yelled.
Karidon growled and then slammed into Fisher, driving his fist into the man’s face repeatedly. He looked like a crazed, wild beast as he pummeled Fisher.
“Get off of him, or I’ll cut his fucking throat,” Craig shouted, and Coop felt his world spinning sideways when a small trickle of blood trailed down Olin’s neck.
Olin made a strangled noise, and Coop knew it was a sound that would haunt him for years to come.
“Karidon, stop!” Coop shouted.
His gaze bounced from one person to the next as he tried desperately to think of a way out of this. Karidon eased back and then dropped beside Ollie, checking the pulse in his neck.
Fisher got to his feet and wiped his arm over his bloody nose. His eye was swollen as well. He bared his teeth at Karidon.
Mya crawled over to Ollie and then cradled her nephew’s head on her lap. She looked up a Fisher with tears in her eyes. “How could you do this? I’ve known you since your mother birthed you.”
“Business,” Fisher said before he turned to Coop. He raised the shotgun, pointing it directly at Coop’s chest. “Move to my car, and no tricks, or I’ll shoot you and then Mya.”
Coop glanced at a black midsized car sitting at the curb. The trunk was open. These men weren’t taking any chances. They planned to lock Coop and Karidon in there.
He looked at Mya, and the woman gave a slight nod. He hoped she understood that he wanted her to call Talyn after Fisher and Craig had gone.
Coop jerked sideways when something inside the house exploded. The flames had not only reached Mya’s room but were escaping through the broken window.
Mya sobbed as she stared at her burning home. Where in the hell was Fester? It worried Coop that he hadn’t seen the man. Was he still inside? Hadn’t Karidon found him?
“Move it,” Fisher barked.
Coop glanced at Olin. His bonded mate mouthed, “I love you.”
A lump formed in Coop’s throat as he fisted his hands. “I love you, too,” he mouthed before he crossed the lawn.
When he and Karidon reached the car, Coop said to Fisher, “Let Olin go.”
“Let him go,” Fisher called out to Craig. “We got what we came for.”
To Coop’s relief, Craig released Olin. And then he slammed his fist into Olin’s face.
Coop shouted, but before he could race to Olin, something hard slammed into his skull. He dropped to the grass and remembered nothing after that.
Chapter Eight
Talyn groaned and turned over in bed when his cell phone rang. He reached over Gabriel’s sleeping form to grab it. The digital reading on the clock told him it was 3:56 a.m. Rubbing his eyes, Talyn slid his finger over the smooth glass. “Yeah?”
“They took Coop and Karidon and burned my house to the ground,” Mya said as she sobbed into the phone.
Talyn shot up, fully awake now. “Who took them?”
Gabriel stirred and tried to turn over, but his swollen stomach made it hard for him to roll. Talyn tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and helped his bonded mate get more comfortable before he got out the bed and eased into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
“What’s going on, Mya? Breathe and tell me.”
“Two Enforcers from my coalition set my house on fire, and when we all escaped, they captured Coop and Karidon.” Her voice hitched. “And I can’t find Fester anywhere.”
“Are Olin and Ollie safe?” Talyn asked.
“They’re shaken up, but they’ll be all right.”