Emily's Captive (A Lilly Town Shifter Novel Book 2) (14 page)

Richard heard the growls coming from the tigers
behind him and knew they were close. He had to get
to his Jeep before they got to him.

Running as fast as he could and out of breath,
he had a feeling he wasn’t going to make it. The
rumbling from the tiger got closer. He knew he was
a dead man, but he wasn’t going down without a
fight.

He pulled his gun out and spun on his heels,
ready to kill anything that got near him. He was
determined to take these monsters down with him.
He couldn’t let them live, even if he had to die
with them. They were just going to kill more and
he couldn’t let that happen to innocent people.

He saw movement to his left and spun, trying to
see what it was. There was a streak of orange. He
fired at it, hoping he’d hurt it enough so it
wouldn’t be able to attack. There wasn’t a sound,
other than the leaves rustling. Nothing to alert
him to where the other one was or if it was hurt.

There was a sound behind him. He turned and
saw another streak of orange. He fired again.
Both tigers were there, he knew it. They were just
playing with him and it was time to end it. He was
no one’s toy.

“Go ahead and come out so we can end this,” he
yelled. A rustling to his right alerted him to the
presence of one of the tigers. He squared his
shoulders, ready to attack, but it just let out a
hiss and kept moving. He hated this game.

“Don’t you want to kill me and be done with
it?” he yelled out again.
Still nothing.

“Why are you doing this? Are you trying to
prove to me that you’re the animals I always knew
you were?”

Nothing.

“Are you afraid? Are you afraid I’ll win and
kill you? Or are you afraid I’ll expose you for
what you are?”

When Stacy heard Richard yell these words, she
saw red. She couldn’t believe it. He thought THEY
were the monsters? They were just trying to live
their lives. He was the one who took her from her
home, set a feral wolf on her, and beat her. He
was the monster.

Emily let out a low warning growl to get her to
wait, but she couldn’t, not after what he'd done to
her and what he'd just said. No, he needed to die.

Stacy leapt. She couldn’t hold back. Before
she reached him, she heard a gun go off. She felt
a minor sting, but it was nothing compared to the
anger she was feeling. She wouldn’t let something
like that stop her.

She landed on him, biting at any skin she could
find. The scream she heard coming from him made
her feel much better. All the anger and fear was
being replaced by those screams. It was so much
better than therapy, better than talking, better
than anything else. It was feeling safe and no
longer feeling helpless or at his mercy. Even
though she'd had Zeke with her, comforting her, and
being a friend, this man was the reason she'd been
there and not safe at home with her sister.

Paul entered the clearing and saw the man
screaming. It was Richard. He didn’t really know
him, but he’d met him once. The man was a little
crazy. He thought he remembered telling Zeke that
Richard was going to cause problems and take
everything to the extreme. He had a feeling he was
Zeke’s new second.

The screaming stopped and it was eerily quiet.
He saw that Richard had stopped moving and his eyes
were open, staring vacantly at him. He knew the
man needed to die for what he’d done, but he still
felt bad for the way it happened. There was blood
everywhere and he could see some of his torn flesh.
It was a very painful way to die.

He looked over at Emily. She was sitting on
her haunches, taking everything in. He didn’t know
how happy she was to have seen all that.

She was a killer, but he had a feeling Stacy
wasn’t. She was too young, and having your first
kill wasn’t something anyone was ready for. She
had killed plenty inside, but this was different.
It was personal.

Emily started moving toward Stacy. That was
when he saw her falling to the ground.

Emily watched as Stacy ripped the man apart.
She could see the hatred Stacy felt for him. She
could tell he was the one who had hurt her just by
the vicious way she killed him. She wished Stacy
didn’t have to go through that, but she knew she
needed to do it herself. She needed to put an end
to it all. She needed to feel in control after
everything she’d been through.

Stacy fell to the ground. Emily had heard the
gun go off, but when Stacy kept going, she didn’t
think it had hit her. But, she knew she was wrong
when she saw the blood trailing down Stacy's side.
Her sister was really hurt and it didn’t look like
she could shift back. She wasn’t in control, her
fear was. She had to get Stacy back to get help,
but she didn’t know how.

Emily couldn’t shift back; she couldn’t chance
them being attacked and risk them not having a way
to protect themselves. While still in her tiger
form, she was more than capable of taking down any
threat. She looked around, trying to see if there
was anyone who could help.

Paul. Paul was standing by the passageway,
looking around. He could help. She didn’t like
having to rely on him, but she didn’t really have a
choice.

She nudged Stacy a little and tried to get her
attention. She needed to shift back so they could
get her back to Bill.

Stacy looked at her, her eyes drooping. Emily
gave her another nudge, trying to get her to
understand. Stacy moved her head in a half nod
before shifting back. Emily let out a sigh of
relief. It wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.

She gave Stacy a lick on the cheek, letting her
know she did good. Now she just needed to hold on
for just a little bit longer.

Emily looked over at Paul and saw him walking
her way. She knew she had to trust him to do it
and she knew he would take care of her sister, but
that didn’t make this any easier.

***

Paul saw the fear in Emily’s eyes when she
looked at him. He hated seeing her like that. She
was afraid she was going to lose her sister, but
also afraid someone would attack and that she
wouldn’t be able to do anything in human form. And
most of all, he could tell she was afraid to trust
him to help.

Paul nodded and walked over to Stacy. He saw
the wounds, cuts, bruises, and bullet wound. He
didn’t know how she was still conscious, but she
was staring at him with fear. She didn’t know what
was going to happen or if she was going to live.

“ Shh, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said
quietly. She didn’t say anything, just continued
to stare at him.
“I’m Paul. I’m the guy your sister’s been

keeping in her cell.” Still nothing. “I fell in
love with her, but she doesn’t know that. Well, I
guess she does now,” he said, trying to calm her.

Silence.

“I’m going to pick you up and we’re going to
get out of here. I promise that Emily isn’t going
to leave your side. I have a feeling if I cause
you any pain, she’s going to bite off a nut or
something.”

Stacy smiled at that. Paul was glad he could
relax her some. He hoped he was wrong about the
whole ball biting thing, though. Stacy was going
to be hurting when he picked her up. “She doesn’t
love just anybody,” she whispered.

“I kind of figured that one out. It’s been
tough, but I think she might finally be admitting
to herself that she loves me too.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said with
a small smile.

“Well, we need to make sure you stick around to
see it.” Just to make sure everything stayed where
it was supposed to be, he looked at Emily and said,
“She is going to hurt when I pick her up. I’m
going to be as gentle as possible, but she’s
injured and it’s going to hurt like a bitch.”

Emily nodded and Paul picked her up, being as
gentle as he could.

Emily was scared. She heard the grunts of pain
from Stacy and it killed her inside. She hated
seeing her sister like that, but she knew she had
to let Paul take care of her. She needed to be
able to protect them.

She stayed behind them, making sure to stay
close, but able to take care of things if someone
attacked them.

Movement was very slow going because of Paul
carrying Stacy and trying to be gentle. Emily
heard her sister breathing heavily and trying not
to scream, and saw the sweat on her forehead. She
really wished Bill had come with them. At least
they were only an hour's helicopter ride away.
They could take care of her until he could take
over.

“Emily,” she heard Aunt Martha say.

“She’s hurt,” Paul said to her.
“How bad?”

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good. She
was talking, so I think that’s a good sign,” he
said.

“Good. I know some basic first aid, so I can
help until we get her to Bill.”
“I know some too, but I don’t know how much
it’ll help.”
“I’ll take her,” Aunt Martha said.
Paul looked at her.

Smart man. She nodded and he handed Stacy to
Aunt Martha. Emily saw the relief in Stacy’s face
when she knew it was her aunt holding her. She
knew it had nothing to do with Paul and everything
to do with it being someone she knew and trusted to
take care of her. Knowing that Aunt Martha had her
eased some of Emily’s fears. She knew she would
take care of Stacy. Paul would too, but he wasn’t
family.

She nodded her thanks to Aunt Martha and walked
at her side, still wanting to keep close to Stacy.
Paul touched her side and stayed beside her. She
felt like everything was finally going to be okay.
Stacy was safe and Paul was there at her side. He
didn’t run.

***

Stacy looked up at Aunt Martha. It was hard to
believe she was finally safe. She just hoped she’d
make it through this. She was in so much pain.
Emily and Aunt Martha would take care of everything
though. They always did.

“How are you doing?” Aunt Martha asked.
“Hurt,” she moaned.
“We’ll get you patched up,” she said with a
smile.
Stacy nodded.
“So, did you hear? Your sister got herself
hooked up with a Hunter.”
“No.”
“Once upon a time, there was a big bad Hunter…”
she started out.

“Very funny,” she heard Paul say. “What really
happened was that your sister decided to hold me
prisoner, then fell madly in love with me.”

Stacy heard Emily snort. She knew there was
more to it. And since when did Emily fall in love?
She was…Emily. She didn’t really like people, and
there were very few she actually trusted. It
seemed that Paul fell into that category, though.

“Okay, well, once upon a time, your sister
captured the big bad Hunter and locked him up. She
ignored his existence for a while, but her little
sister got herself kidnapped and she had to go to
the big bad Hunter for help. They ended up falling
madly in love and finding you. Now, you just have
to stick around to see the happily ever after,”
smiled Aunt Martha.

“I’d like that,” Paul said, looking over at
her.

“Well in that case, our little girl here needs
to get better so we can have that,” Aunt Martha
said.

“I’ll try my best,” she whispered.
“That’s all we can ask of you. But if you see
the bright light, run away. Far, far away.”

Stacy looked back at Aunt Martha and took
strength in her words and jokes. She was trying to
stay conscious, but it was getting hard. She was
so tired and there was so much pain. She just
wanted to sleep.

“Go ahead, honey. It’s okay. I’ll make sure
nothing happens to you,” Aunt Martha said. Stacy
nodded and let the darkness take her.

***

They’d been walking for a while and Stacy had
been passed out for most of it. Paul was worried
that something was really wrong. They’d spent so
much time trying to get her back; he didn’t want to
lose her now that they had her.

“There’s the chopper,” Martha said.

He looked, but all he saw were trees. He could
hear it, though. They were getting close. He ran
his hand through Emily’s fur and enjoyed the
softness of it. It gave him comfort. He wasn’t
sure why he needed it, but it helped. Maybe he was
worried that he wouldn’t see her again after this.

“Emily, you can shift back. Our team’s here.
She’s safe,” Martha said.

Paul stepped back and waited for Emily to
shift. As soon as she was human again, he wrapped
her in his arms. He knew she needed the comfort.
She wrapped her arms around him for just a minute,
then climbed into the chopper. She held her hands
out for Stacy and wrapped her in her arms, not
seeming to want to let her go.

Paul climbed in after Emily was settled and sat
next to her. He looked at the gunshot wound in
Stacy’s stomach and saw the bleeding had slowed.
He hoped it was a good sign and not that she was
bleeding out.

“Can you call Bill for me?” Emily asked him.
He nodded and pulled out his cell. He dialed
Bill’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?” Bill answered on the second ring.
“Bill, it’s Paul. We’re on the chopper and
Stacy’s hurt.”

“How far out are you?” he asked. Paul looked
over at Emily, knowing she could hear the
conversation.

“About forty-five minutes,” she said.
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the helipad. How bad
is it?” he asked.

“She was shot in the stomach in tiger form and
it looks like she’s been beaten. She’s unconscious
right now. The bleeding seems to have slowed.”

“Okay, just keep an eye on her. Emily and
Martha both know some basic first aid, so they can
handle it until you get here. Just keep pressure
on the bullet wound.”

“Okay,” Paul said and hung up. He turned to
Emily, “You heard that?”
Emily nodded.
“Here’s some gauze. You can reach better than
I can,” Martha said.

Paul nodded and took it from her. He really
hoped they got to Bill soon. He knew a little
first aid from his military days and from being
with the Hunters, but that didn’t mean he wanted to
have to use it on Emily’s little sister.

He nervously pushed the gauze into the gunshot
wound, trying to stop the bleeding. He hoped he
could. He didn’t want Stacy to die before Bill had
a chance to save her.