Scarlett

Half an hour later, I heard the sound of a car engine and rushed to the window to peer outside.

Any hope that I had that it was Cade vanished when I saw Hank and a few other guys, along with Gary, get out of the car.

I rushed to the front door with Jake following behind me.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked anxiously as Hank entered first.

"No," he answered as he shook his head.

"How are you doing?" Gary said as he entered the house behind Hank. I gave him a look that revealed the panic that was rising up inside of me. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

Still being tightly hugged by Gary, I noticed Jake stiffen for a moment and then he dashed through the formal lounge. I pulled myself out of the hug as I saw Jake disappear out the patio doors toward the compound.

My heart began to hammer inside my chest as fear began to overflow inside of me. I watched Hank hurry to try and catch up with Jake. Something was up.

I followed them to the compound, where there was flurry of activity. The air was filled with a nervous energy.

Just as the gates at the bottom of the property came into view, I saw a couple of injured guys lying on the ground. Curtis leaned over one of the injured people. It was only seconds, but time seemed to slow down as I looked down to the faces of the people who had been injured, my feet leading me to them.

Blake. He grimaced in pain as Curtis put his hand on a wound bleeding on his stomach. Horror filled me when I saw a deep gash through a tear in his shirt. There was so much blood.

Oh. Dear. God.

My head began to spin as I came to a stop a couple of feet away from him. I couldn't pass out; I needed to know where Cade was. I took a deep and struggled breath to stop the dizziness. My mind fought with my body to stay upright and in control.

In the back of my mind, I couldn't stop the thoughts that something bad had happened to Cade. He and Blake were inseparable and Blake looked seriously injured. Had Cade been injured as well?

I don't know how, but when I opened my eyes again, the sight of blood didn't make me feel sick.

Cade.

I needed to know that he was okay, because if he wasn't... it wasn't something I could think about without feeling like someone ripped my heart from my chest.

I wanted to help Blake. I knew I'd just get in the way, though, so I stood nearby, just a couple of feet away as I watched them load him onto a stretcher and carry him to the medical center.

Where was Cade?

Frantically, I scanned the area for Jake. He would know, but I couldn't find him in the crowd of people that had built up around the gate. I spotted Hank standing guard at the gates with a few others watching into the forest. Were they waiting for Cade?

Panic gripped me, but I pushed forward in Hank's direction. Even though I was petrified of the answer, I needed to know where Cade was.

As I reached Hank, he glanced at me.

"He's on his way back," Hank informed me with a soft expression when he saw the state I was in. I clutched his arm. Relief flooded through me and I felt my knees weaken. The array of emotions that had gripped me from the time this had all started had exhausted me. It felt like I'd been stuck on a roller coaster for the last hour.

"He's okay," Hank reassured me as he studied me for a moment. "They got ambushed."

I stood beside Hank, waiting for Cade and holding my breath. Even though I knew he was okay, I wasn't going to relax until I could see him for myself.

I heard the sounds coming from the forest before I spotted the massive black wolf that I knew was Cade being followed by a dozen other werewolves, none of them as big as Cade.

The crowd parted as the wolves ran onto the property. As I turned to see Cade and the rest of the werewolves shift back into human form, I heard the large gates behind me close with the sound of metal against metal. I recognized one of the werewolves as Jake. He'd left the compound to join Cade.

I rushed over to Cade, who had spotted me and was already walking toward me. He held his arms open as I rushed to hold him.

"I'm okay, Scar," he assured me as he hugged me, lifting me off my feet.

"I was so scared something would happen to you," I spoke against his shirt, loving the feel of him warm and alive under my hands.

"I'm fine," he reassured me as he settled me back down on my feet and pulled away. With his finger to my chin, he lifted my gaze to his. My eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I need you to keep it together for me."

I nodded my head and took a deep breath. He pressed a feathered kiss to my forehead.

"Go back to the house and wait for me. I need to check on Blake and the other wounded werewolves," he explained gently as he released me. Then I remembered the massive wound across Blake's stomach and all the blood.

"Will he be okay?" I asked. If Blake had been human, I was pretty sure he would have died already.

"Yeah, he'll be okay," he assured me. "Remember we heal quickly."

"Okay," I said as I pulled myself together. He gave me one last lingering look before he turned and hurried to the medical center.

I wanted to go with Cade. I didn't want to be in the way, though, so I turned and headed back to the house with Hank following behind me. It was then that I remembered that the rogues that had ambushed Cade and Blake were the same rogues that were after me and I felt a shiver of fear run up my spine.

Seeing the remains of the attack had made the threat all that more real in my eyes and I had to admit I was scared.

Inside the guest room I'd used before, I sat down on the bed. I felt exhausted. The panic and fear had faded, but I was still struggling to work through what had happened from the time I'd been bundled into the car with Jake.

It had also been one of the first times I'd seen Cade in his alpha role, in charge and giving orders. He'd earned a newfound respect from me. I'd never actually thought before about the responsibility that he held on his broad shoulders. Being responsible for the safety of an entire pack wasn't an easy job and he seemed to pull it off effortlessly. He'd been born to lead.

I wasn't sure I was capable of the same. Even though the attack had scared me, I was more determined to fight alongside Cade. I didn't want to be left behind, wondering what was going to happen, I would never forgive myself if something had happened to him today while I'd been safely guarded in his house.

An hour later, Cade walked into the room.

My eyes lit up at the sight of him. I'd been sitting on the bed, quietly contemplating my thoughts.

He hesitated for a moment a couple of feet away from the bed. I stood up and walked over to him. As I reached him, his hand reached for me and he pulled me close.

"It's been a long day," he sighed as he held me in his strong arms.

"What happened?" I asked, leaning my head against his chest as I held him tight.

"We walked straight into a trap," he began to explain as he rested his chin on my head. "Normally, rogues don't work together, but for some reason these guys did. We didn't see it coming."

"How many rogues were there?" I asked.

"There were about twenty of them."

"I was so worried about you," I let out. I usually wasn't one to talk so openly, but I needed him to know that he meant a lot to me and that what happened today had scared me.

"It's one of the reasons we train so hard, to make sure we are prepared for anything. You can also feel my heightened emotions like fear through the link so if I'm ever in any real danger you will feel it," he said. I lifted my eyes to his.

I'd forgotten about that.

"I don't think I can let you go alone if it happens again," I revealed. I wanted to be honest with him even though he probably didn't want to hear it.

"And I don't think I can let that happen," he sighed as his lips pressed to mine.

We both wanted to protect each other, but we both had different ideas of how to accomplish that.