Beautiful Creatures Series
Chapter 59: 17

Chapter 59: 17

Another wave of pain washed over Mackenzie, and she cried out. Tears streamed down her face asshe begged her captors to let her go. They had been talking about how they were going to kill her. Theywanted to torture her, but she was already in so much pain they did not know what they could do to herthat would be worse. They spent the day debating it. By evening they decided to dismember her pieceby piece while she was still alive. Gorge took out a cigar cutter from his pocket and slippedMackenzie’s finger through the hole. He was telling her how he was going to start by cutting off everyfinger and toe one by one.

Before he could sever her finger, a blood curtailing howl echoed through the mountains outside,followed by others. They sounded so close, like they were right outside the door. Gorge walked away,and all four men and Melissa went to the living room window. Mackenzie could not see out the windowfrom where she was, but she smiled nonetheless because she knew Gordon was outside.

“Holy shit, look at the size of those wolves,” one of the goons gasped.

“They are bigger than you said they would be?” Donald snapped with anger.

“Just shoot to kill,” Melissa barked back. Those bullets will do the trick.

“Oh, hey, look,” Gorge said, pointing out the window. “They are leaving, all but the black one.”

“They aren’t leaving,” Melissa said. “They are circling the house.”

Mackenzie began to laugh despite the pain. “What the fuck are you laughing at?” One of the goonsgrowled at her.

“Didn’t she tell you, morons, how Meskler died?” The men looked at Melissa with question, then back atMackenzie, who was now watching them with a menacing smile. “That wolf outside literally ripped him

apart. You motherfuckers are already dead,” another wave of pain took her, and Mackenzie threw herhead back and cried out in pain. They all looked back out at the wolf who still stood there howling.

“Why does he keep doing that?” Donald asked.

“He’s communicating with the others. Telling them what to do,” Melissa said.

“What is he telling them to do?”

“He’s telling them to cover all the exits and wait.”

“Wait?” Donald barked. “What the hell are they waiting for?”

“They are waiting for me. Gordon’s calling me out,” Melissa said, undressing as she backed up fromthe window.

“What are you doing?” Gorge asked.

“Gordon came looking for a fight. I’m going to give him what he wants.”

“Alone.”

“Don’t worry. Putting this bitch down is my specialty,” she said as her eyes lit up, and she changed intoa white wolf before everyone’s eyes. The wolf ran forward and busted through the glass window outinto the yard. Broken shards flew through the air and came to rest scattered across the floor. All fourmen stood at the window to watch the scene outside. Mackenzie hung her head in one of the briefreprieves before another bout of pain consumed her once more. He looked down at the blood on herlegs. She closed her eyes and prayed for Gordon to kill them fast because she needed a hospital. Shewas losing the baby.

***

Gordon stood in the yard with the others. He knew from the smell Mackenzie was inside. He could hearher crying out in pain. Wanting to spare her the pain, he howled to announce his presence, hoping itwould be enough to distract the men from hurting her. Right after he howled, the others did the same ina show of unity. Gordon looked one way and then the other. The other understood, and they dispersed,slowly circling the house to make sure no one tried to flee. The men inside were going to pay for theirpart in this.

Gordon remained where he was, waiting for Melissa to come out. She was a real threat, and heneeded to deal with her first. Gordon howled again, calling Melissa out. He could see movement inside,then the glass broke, and Melissa stood in front of Gordon, her white fur shimmering in the moonlight.

Slowly they circled one another. He knew Melissa was expecting him to lay down as he did when sheused to smack him around, but things had changed. Gordon no longer cared what his father had taughthim. This time he would stand his ground. Tonight, one of them died.

Gordon pounced, knocking Melissa over. Melissa’s powerful jaws snapped at Gordon, trying to bite hisleg. He swiped at her with his claws out, slicing across her belly, and he continued to pin her down.Melissa used her hind legs to push Gordon away. She sent him flying a good three feet. They bothrecovered quickly and charged each other again.

Melissa managed to get behind him, jumping onto Gordon’s back. He bit down on his neck and dug herclaws into his side so she could hold on while Gordon tried to buck her off. When he couldn’t shake her,Gordon rolled, crushing Melissa between himself and the ground. It had been enough to shake her.They both got up and went at it once more. They tussled and rolled around in the dirt, flipping andbiting. There were fur and blood everywhere — white teeth flashing in the moonlight, amber eyesglowing like fireflies in the dark.

There was growling, and then Gordon pinned Melissa to the ground and tore her throat out. Melissa’sbody went limp as blood poured from her neck, making the dirt beneath them red mud. Gordon lifted

his head and howled in victory. He then turned his attention to the house and climbed off Melissa. Itwas time to deal with the men inside. His victory howl had alerted the others he was going in, and whenthey howled back, he knew they were also going in.

Gordon charged the house and leapt through the broken window. Landing in the living room, Gordonfound there was shattered glass everywhere, and the glass beneath him cut at the pads of his paws.He did not pay attention to the pain; he was focused on the men that were backing away. They turnedtheir guns on him, but they never got to pull the trigger. While the men were focused on Gordon, theothers silently came up behind them from the back room. Knowing the pack would kill these four menfor him, Gordon sat down, posing no further threat, which confused the four men until the youngstersjumped them and proceeded to kill them.

With the mean dealt with, Gordon transformed back to his human form. He ran over to Mackenzie, theglass cutting his feet. Using his claws, he cut the ropes, and Melissa wrapped her arms around him.Then she let go and held her belly as she screamed again. Looking down, Gordon could see the bloodon her legs, and his worse fears were realized. Mackenzie was losing the baby. The taser had causedcomplications, and Mackenzie was suffering.

With the men who abducted her dead, the others changed back, each being careful where theystepped. “Oh god, what did they do to her?” Darrell asked.

“Melissa tasered Mackenzie. It must have caused complications. Lewis, what do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Lewis said quickly. “I don’t do babe troubles. I’m a medic, not a midwife.”

Gordon looked out the window at Melissa’s body, which had reverted back to its human form in death.She was his only midwife, and he had just killed her. His baby was going to die, and if he did not dosomething fast, Mackenzie would die too. “FUCK!” Gordon screamed. Melissa was dead and stillscrewing with his life.

“Hospital!” Mackenzie snapped. “I’m not a Lycanthrope Gordon. If you don’t take me to a hospital, weare both going to die,” she said and then screamed when the pain hit her again. “NOW, GORDON!NOW!”

“Shit!” He knew she was right. But he was covered in blood that was not his. HE would be arrested. Butif he did not take her, Mackenzie would die. Gordon ran over to Gorge’s body and stripped his pantsoff, then put them on himself to cover his nudity. The last thing he wanted was to be perp-walked on themorning news in the nude. “You guys dispose of the bodies, then get the fuck out of here,” he orderedthe others as he picked Mackenzie up in his arms and carried her to the door bridal style.

“Where are you going?” Stanton asked as they followed him outside. Gordon carried Mackenzie to thecar the goons had transported her in.

“I’m taking Mackenzie to the hospital,” he said, placing her in the passenger seat then running aroundto the driver’s seat.

“Dad, no, you can’t,” Aster said with panic. “Look at you. They are going to arrest you. You’ll go toprison.”

“I have no choice.”

“Dad!” Aster yelled with tears in her eyes. “Please, no. I’ve lost my mother, don’t make me lose youtoo?”

Gordon paused and hugged his daughter. Pulling back, he caressed her face lovingly. “I go to see yougrow up. What kind of father would I be if I didn’t give this baby the same chance?”

Aster nodded that she understood his sacrifice. He kissed Aster’s cheek goodbye and told her he wasproud of her, then he got in the car, tore open the steering column and hotwired the car. Mackenzie

looked at him questioningly, wondering how he knew how to hotwire a car. Gordon offered her a half-hearted grin. “I stole a few cars in my youth. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

He made the city limits in record time and pulled recklessly into the hospital emergency bay, blockingan ambulance. The paramedics came his way to tell him to move, but Gordon pulled Mackenzie fromthe car cradled in his arms, and the paramedics jumped to the rescue.

One paramedic took Mackenzie from his arms and laid her on a gurney while the other started an IV.They brought Mackenzie inside and instantly. She was surrounded by four nurses as they fast-trackedher to the operating room. Gordon was right at her side, keeping pace while they took her up to thethird floor and wheeled her into an operating room. Seconds later, two doctors came running down thehall and into the operating room.

Gordon wanted to go in, but the security guard got in his way, insisting he stay outside in the waitingroom down the hall. He paced the hall like a madman ignoring the security guard as he asked Gordonquestions like why he was half-naked and covered in blood. He knew the cops weren’t far away, andthey would want to swab the blood for DNA samples. He couldn’t let them. If they ran Melissa’s DNAprofile, they would realize she wasn’t human, and that would raise all sorts of questions he couldn’tanswer. He went into the washroom, and with some soap and paper towels, he washed the blood fromhis body, trying to destroy the evidence.

It wasn’t long before the cops arrived, and they had Gordon cornered in the waiting room. They were allasking questions. How did he replace Mackenzie? What had happened to her? Where the men that tookher were? Why was Gordon covered in blood when he arrived? Was it all Mackenzie’s blood? Theytook his pants for evidence complaining about the fact that he had washed the blood off. The pantswere cover in blood, but not Melissa’s. This blood was from the human men. He would likely go to jail,but at the moment, he didn’t care; he just wanted to know if Mackenzie would survive.

He sat in the waiting room under guard. Two uniformed cops stood by waiting to see what they couldarrest him for when Aster, the guys, and Gordon’s friends came off the elevator.

Aster was on Gordon in seconds. “Is she alive?” She asked, hopefully.

“She’s in the operating room,” Gordon informed them. The guys took Gordon aside and lowered theirvoices so the cops couldn’t hear them. “Did you clean up?” Gordon asked.

Darrell nodded. “They are now floating down the river. But there is so much blood in that house. Thecops are going to replace it, and they’re going to blame this on you. You’re going to go to jail for murder.That’s hard time in federal prison.”

Gordon smiled, “You don’t think I can handle it?”

“A few months maybe, but not years on the inside. We need a backup plan,” Darrell suggested.

“Go back to the house, drown it in gas and light a match. That will destroy the evidence. Then no onetalks.”

“There must be some way to get the suspicion off you,” Darrell said.

“I’m going to prison. I know I am. So, you’re the head of the pack now. I don’t know how long I’ll begone, so I’m stepping down and conceding to you without a fight. The pack is yours. Lead them well.”

“How long has Mackenzie been in there?” Katelyn asked.

“About three hours,” Gordon said, sitting down, adjusting the scrubs the hospital staff had offered himwhen the police took his jeans. They all waited for Mackenzie to come out of surgery.

It was hours before a doctor came out to the waiting room to inform those waiting that Mackenzie wasout of surgery and in a private room. “She’s awake, but I must insist only two at a time in the room and

don’t get her worked up. She’s in stable condition, but that could change if she begins to hemorrhage,”the doctor said.

“Doctor,” Gordon began, unsure if he wanted to know the answer to his question, “the baby, did itsurvive?”

The doctor smiled. “Mother and son are both doing well.”

Gordon lit up with joy. Not only did the baby live, but it was also a boy. Everyone cheered and huggedGordon.

They went up to the maternity ward where Mackenzie had been moved to after the surgery. Gordonknocked on the door and went in. Mackenzie’s bed was already in an upright position, and next to thebed was a small plastic cradle just big enough to hold their son. Richard hugged Mackenzie gently andkissed her forehead telling her how happy he was to see she was alright.

Gordon leaned over to kiss her lips, his hand on her arm. He walked over to the cradle and looked athis son. He was beautiful. He looked normal. Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, no tail. He had a thickpatch of dark locks. Gordon carefully picked him up and held him in his arms. Instinctually the babywrapped his little hand around Gordon’s finger. His little eyes opened partly, and Gordon could see hehad the same amber eyes as any Lycanthrope. He couldn’t help wondering just how much of him wasLycanthrope and how much was mortal. He had to have the same powers the others had because hewas three months early yet strong and breathing on his own. The hospital staff was baffled.

Darrell looked at the baby over Gordon’s shoulder. “He’s a good-looking boy. I was worried he’d lookstrange.”

“Me too,” Gordon admitted.

Stanton took the baby from Gordon. Making baby sounds as he smiled at the child. “You did well,Mackenzie. He’s precious. So, what are you going to call him?”

Gordon looked at Mackenzie. They hadn’t discussed baby names. “Something unique,” she saidthoughtfully. “Joshua?”

Gordon turned up his nose. He didn’t like that one. “Travis?”

Mackenzie shook her head no. “How about Preston,” Aster offered. Actually, Gordon kind of liked it. Helooked at Mackenzie and figured she liked it too.

“Yeah, Preston Wilder,” Mackenzie smiled. “I think it suits him.”

There was a knock on the door, and two Detectives came into the room. They introduced themselvesand asked if Mackenzie felt up to answering a few questions. They started off with who had abductedher and where they had taken her. Then they asked how she wound up here and where the abductorshad gone.

“Are you aware that two bodies have turned up in the river? We’ve identified one as Donald Falconeand the other as Gorge Falcone. Any idea of how they got from the farmhouse to the river?” One of theDetectives asked.

“How should I know? All I know is that Gordon found me and brought me to a hospital.”

“someone murdered the people holding you,” the other Detective commented.

“Then it sounds to me like you already have your answers,” Gordon said, putting his arm aroundMackenzie’s shoulder.

“The coroner says both victims were killed by animals. What I wonder is how they ended up in the river,and you weren’t massacred by wolves?”

“I had already found Mackenzie, and we were on our way to the hospital.”

“Were they still alive when you got away?” The Detective asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see them. I just found Mackenzie, and we got the hell out of there as fast aspossible,” Gordon said calmly. “Besides, it’s not the first time a body turned up in the river killed byanimals. You can hardly put that on us.”

“Would you care to tell me how you got so much blood on you?”

“I don’t know there was blood all over the place. It was hard not to get covered in it.”

The Detectives looked at one another and then thanked them for their cooperation, and left the room.Gordon knew they were talking in the hall and would likely come back in for him. He looked down atMackenzie. “They are going to arrest me. I’m going to prison. Will you wait for me?”

“You saved my life. Of course, I’m going to wait for you, and I’m going to pay for the best lawyer in thecountry to defend you,” she promised.

“That’s ok; I already got a pretty good lawyer. I want you to stay in the community while I’m gone.There’s no telling what abilities Preston has. Aster and the guys will be there to help you.”

As the night went on, the guys began to leave one by one until it was just Gordon and Mackenzie.While Mackenzie slumbered in the bed, Gordon dozed on the chair in the corner. He wasn’t going toleave her side until she was ready to go home.

Early the next morning, the Detectives from the previous night returned with uniformed officers. “Mr.Wilder, you’re under arrest for the murder of Gorge Falcone and Donald Falcone.”

The uniformed officer forced Gordon to get up and put his hands behind his back so he could cuff him.“Say goodbye to your girlfriend because you’re going away for a long time.”

“No,” Mackenzie said, trying to get up.

“Stay in bed,” Gordon ordered. “Take care of yourself and Preston. Don’t worry about me.”