Rising Alpha

9

"You can't take them. They are ours." He grits his teeth and springs at me, hitting me hard in the chest.

It's hard to breathe, but I've got to protect her. I swing my elbow down hard, hitting him on the back of his head. He flinches downward and tries to hit me in the balls.

Why am I not surprised? I move back in the nick of time and throw my legs over his body. I've got to knock him out and fast. With all the strength in me, I rear back and punch him in the face. Between the blow to the back and now the front, his eyes close.

"Are you okay?" A soft hand touches my arm and electricity courses between us. My world tilts even more, and she gravitates to the center. Savannah's hand drops and her mouth opens.

Hot damn. She is my fated, and now that we've touched, there is no going back. Now's not the time though, we have to get out of here and fast. "Yeah, let's get going before he has time to wake up and alert the others."

She nods and stands, heading over to the others. "Okay, ladies. We've got to take it up a notch." She smashes her lips together and her eyes fill with concern. "Will you be okay with that, Alison?"

"Yes, I've got to protect her." She wraps her good arm around her belly and sighs. "She deserves a good life. I'll keep up no matter the cost."

"We'll help her if she has trouble." The older lady wraps her uninjured arm around the pregnant lady and her daughter follows suit. "Just keep moving or we won't make it out." Savannah turns around and begins running.

Being in wolf form would be faster, but then that dumbass could read her thoughts and know where we are so we're stuck in human form.

However, we're running so fast the trees fly by and Alison is keeping up. After another two or three miles, Savannah veers off and soon we come up on an old back road. She walks another five hundred feet, and there between a few trees is an old station wagon that looks worse for wear. "Here's the getaway vehicle."

"You weren't kidding when you said you've been thinking about this for a while." Alison stops moving and examines the car.

"Nope, I wasn't. I just needed the right motivation to put my plan into action." Savannah walks over to the third tree on the right and bends down. Using her hands as shovels, she begins digging right in front of the tree. "Charlotte, can you help me?"

The girl with the torn clothes begins digging as well. "What are we looking for?"

"This." Savannah grabs something from the dirt and holds it up. "The car key. Now let's get in."

She runs to the driver side and opens the door. "Hurry up."

"We'll all sit in the back, and he can sit in the front with you." Alison opens the back door and all three scoot in fast.

A loud howl fills the air followed by several others as I get in the passenger side. It's the alpha call. They know she's gone and they're coming after her. My wolf is clamoring to be released and my hands begin to turn into claws.

I need to calm down; I glance at Savannah. Her eyes are glowing and she's whimpering. s**t, the alpha call is affecting her.

I slam the door and grab her waist, tugging her over me into the passenger side. I climb behind the wheel and take off.

SAVANNAH

A

s the car peels out, we leave a cloud of dirt behind us. My alpha's howl still rings in my ears and my wolf is trying to force a shift to answer. I'm sure the others are feeling the same effect, but we've got to be strong. If we change, he'll know what our intention is and where we're going. "If we turn, we're toast. Fight against it." My voice is deeper than normal because of my wolf.

I grab the door with my right hand and clench my other in a tight fist. Fighting the call is horrendous, but with each passing second it gets better.

A big, warm hand engulfs my fist and the smell of pine and grass fills my nose. "You can squeeze my hand if you need to."

My heart patters for a moment and my breathing becomes more even. "Thanks." I grab his fingers and squeeze which helps me calm down even more.

"He's going to kill us." Alison's voice cracks and she lets out a sob.

"Mom, is that true?" Charlotte's tone is filled with worry.

"Of course not." Abigail wraps her arms around both women and pull them in for a hug. "He's never going to find us. Savannah's going to take care of it all."

What? Since when am I responsible for all this? "Yeah, we'll be fine." I sure hope we are, because Alison's right about one thing; Kevin's pissed and won't be one to forgive easily. Hell, he might kill me on principle at this point to teach the other women a lesson. He'll probably title it Don't Be Stupid Like Savannah.

"Do any of you have an idea on where to head?" The man who helped us escaped glances at me.

Good thing I have the shack ready. "Yeah, but first things first. What's your name?" I can't keep calling him yummy hunk in my mind.

A sexy chuckle is his response at first. "That's fair. I'm Dom, and I'm here to get you ladies somewhere safe."

Well, I sure hope so since he's the one driving. "Hey, I'm Savannah. The young girl back there is Charlotte, the pregnant lady is Alison, and then there is Abigail. She’s Charlotte’s mom."

"I'd say nice to meet you, but I wish it were under better circumstances." He winks at me and squeezes my hand.

Did someone turn the heat on in the car, because I'm about to break into a sweat. There is no way it could be solely from attraction. "Me too. I'm glad I got away instead of having to get mated to him." A cold shiver runs through me. Hell, that'd been close.

"So where are we heading?" Abigail's running her fingers through her daughter's hair as Charlotte continues to whimper.

"There's a place I've had for a while. It's not too much farther from here." s**t, this is becoming a reality and fast. I've got to protect these ladies, otherwise, I've led them down a path that can harm them more than help.

"Why haven't you used the place before now?" His chocolate eyes glance my direction and he tilts his head.

I should've known this question was bound to come up. "I got it a little over six months ago, after Kevin found me and declared I'd be his mate."