Isaiah's clothes and hands were covered in Ashley's blood. He was never bothered by the sight of blood in his entire life. But right now; he despised the smell, the texture, the amount of it that stained his clothes. Suppressing those thoughts, Isaiah paced in front of the door they took Ashley when everyone from his pack arrived.

"What the hell happened?" shouted Lazarus.

"How's Ashley?" asked Zeiden.

"Both of you, calm the hell down," warned Ronin. "We're in a damn hospital."

Zeiden and Lazarus toned their voices down, but the panic was still clearly present.

"Dr. Stone took Ashley in for surgery," said Isaiah. "She's got shot twice. One in her shoulder and the other grazed her neck." Dr. Stone specialized for wolves and it was Gabriel Centauri who had introduced Isaiah to Dr. Stone when they met a few years back. Ever since then, for injuries or emergencies, they'd come to her.

"Tell me everything while it's fresh," demanded Lazarus.

"I wasn't facing the street, so I don't know," gritted out Isaiah, frustration creasing his face. "Ashley saw and moved in front of me."

"What the fuck does that mean?" asked Zeiden.

"Those bullets were for me not my mate!" he bellowed. They all froze when they faced their alpha's festering rage that was menacing with darkness. "A black van drove up in the middle of the street. Find the damn car and get me those men now," he barked the order and Lazarus went himself to complete his alpha's task with Adrik.

Isaiah closed his eyes that stung terribly. However, the gruesome scene from the street flashed in front of his eyes. He had just turned his back for a second and all hell broke loose. The street filled with blaring gunshot sounds. He had no time to stop it when he saw Ashley had pushed him out of the way and took the bullets in his place.

"How could this happen?" asked Zeiden as he slumped down next to his brother.

"I swear, if she doesn't get through this, I don't know what I'll do," muttered Isaiah.

"Ashley's tougher than she looks," reassured Ronin. "She'll get through this. She has to."

Hours later, a tall woman strode out with a white coat, her black hair was tied back in a braid revealed her sharp angular face and piercing blue eyes. "Isaiah," she called out.

Isaiah shot to his feet. "How is she?" he asked eagerly.

"Ashley lost a lot of blood. Thankfully, the bullet that hit her shoulder was a through-and-through. So, the procedure was simple. But the one that hit her neck grazed an artery, that's why she lost a lot of blood," said Dr. Stone.

"But she's fine, right?" asked Zeiden.

Dr. Stone nodded encouragingly. "We've moved her to the VIP ward," she said. "I'll keep an eye on her condition, but she should wake up as soon as the anesthesia wears off."

"Thank you, Dr. Stone," said Ronin because Isaiah's mood had darkened more than before.

"No problem. You guys can wait in the room with her," Dr. Stone patted Isaiah's shoulder in support, before she marched away from them.

Ronin and Zeiden walked into the spacious room finding Ashley connected to an IV drip and respirator. Isaiah's foot froze outside the hospital room. He didn't dare enter the room feeling the way he did. The evil that festered inside of him was toxic enough to poison someone. Nothing good was going to come out if he was beside Ashley when he craved vengeance.

"Aren't you coming?" Zeiden asked his brother.

"I can't-" Isaiah clenched his teeth- "this was all my goddamn fault. She's in there because of me." Isaiah couldn't face Ashley feeling this much hatred and anger. The only thing that would sate Isaiah's bloodthirst was if he were to put a bullet in the people who did this to his mate. Suddenly, Isaiah's phone went off. Isaiah answered his beta's call, but he was so full of rage that his voice couldn't come out.

"I have them," said Lazarus coolly.

Isaiah cut the phone. "Keep watch over her for me," he told Zeiden.

"I will," said Zeiden.

"Where are you going?" asked Ronin.

The eyes of the monster Isaiah truly had been emerged. "To get justice for my girl," he gritted his jaw enough to break it.

Ronin tossed the keys to the car to their alpha. Isaiah didn't waste a second making his way back to their property. He reached their home within minutes, cutting through traffic and disobeying street rules.

Isaiah climbed down the series of winding concrete stairs to the place they liked to call the 'Kiln Zone'. This was the abode they brought their prisoners to torture or to erase from their lives forever. And after that, the bodies were burned in furnaces that resemble kilns. Isaiah opened the door and entered the concrete room, his eyes dead of any expression except absolute desolation.

"They're all Vito's men," said Lazarus when Isaiah came forward in front of the four men.

"Did you get the information you needed from them?" Isaiah asked his beta. Lazarus simply nodded his reply. "Who shot the gun?" he asked next.

Lazarus pointed to the man sitting on the other end near Adrik. Isaiah pulled out the pistol and shot the first man ruthlessly in the skull. The other three whimpered away as Isaiah reloaded all the bullets. But there was no running away from him- not after what they had done to Ashley. He shot the next two just the same; without any mercy.

The last man that was crouched down on the floor was sobbing to be spared. But this was the man that shot Ashley, he'd never receive mercy or forgiveness. Isaiah didn't even pity the pathetic loser before he shot the man in shoulder like he had done to Ashley, then the next bullet grazed his neck slicing it open to start bleeding out rapidly. Isaiah climbed over the man's body, his heavy boot was pressed against the bleeding wound, which held the man down. Those wet eyes looked up to find the monster everyone feared from the Iron Blood pack. Isaiah held the pistol right between the man's brows, and without hesitation, Isaiah shot him enough times where the man's face was unrecognizable.

Adrik took the pistol from Isaiah and passed him a towel to wipe off the blood from his hands and face.

"Vito sent them to kill you," explained Lazarus. They watched Adrik work with speed as he cleaned the dead bodies off the floor and threw them in the furnaces. "He was angry that we got rid of the Calvary dealership. These men were sent to eliminate you, but they didn't know about Ashley."

The moment he heard Lazarus say her name, something inside Isaiah shattered. "All I did was stand by her side for a moment," his voice was broken.

"Don't do that to yourself, brother," said Lazarus. "This wasn't your fault."

"Like hell it wasn't," snapped Isaiah. "We're dangerous wolves who lead a fucked-up life. A life that wasn't meant for a woman like Ashley."

Lazarus couldn't argue that point. No matter how much he wanted to prove that his brother was wrong Lazarus stayed quiet, because it wasn't his part to speak now. Lazarus knew that Ashley would be able to change his brother's mind.

"You should be at the hospital when Ashley wakes up," said Lazarus. "Go. Adrik and I got it covered here."

Isaiah nodded to his brother before he bolted up the stairs and returned to the hospital.

When he arrived, Isaiah stood in front of VIP room once again. He heard muffled voices through the door. Zeiden and Ronin were laughing at something. Isaiah opened the door and this time nothing stopped him from entering. He had returned after taking revenge against the people who hurt Ashley. His wolf was content with the bloodshed too, but more importantly, that Ashley had woken up.

Ashley's blue eyes were still as vibrant, but her rosy skin was pale under the gold florescent light. "You're here," her voice was a hoarse whisper.

Isaiah came to her bedside. Zeiden and Ronin closed the door on their way out giving them some time alone. "I found the men who did this to you," he confessed.

Ashley's smile was still as warm for him. "And?" she asked.

"I killed them," he didn't try to sugar coat it at all. He wanted her to know what type of man and wolf he was. "I killed the men who put you here."

Ashley's blue eyes locked with his. "Give me an excuse to see you again," she said.

"Why would you want to after what happened?" astonished Isaiah. He would've thought that she'd never want to see him again.

"Because I've fallen in love with you, Isaiah Iron," she confessed.

Isaiah gaped at her. "What?" was all he could ask her.

"I wanted to tell you during our date," she said, "but all day, I was too shy to do it. After this incident happened, my last thought was how much I regretted not telling you my feelings. I think I pushed through all of this with just the desire to tell you how much I've fallen in love with you-" Isaiah's heart sank- "If you don't feel the same way, it's fine. I'll just have to convince you that we make a great pair."

Isaiah slumped his head on her lap. "How-" his voice croaked- "how could you love me after this?" Isaiah felt her small hand on his head.

"This doesn't change how I feel," she told him. "Sure, it was scary, but at the time, all I knew was that you couldn't get hurt. Many people depend on you, but me on the other hand, I only have myself to take care of and I'm alone. So, I took these bullets because you are precious to a lot of people. Now, you tell me, how could I let you get hurt?"

Isaiah raised his head and looked into her wet eyes. "You're not alone anymore," he said. Ashley's eyes filled with tears. "You have me." Isaiah kissed the tear that escaped her eyes.

Ashley wiped her tears with the tissue he passed her later. "Look at you making a girl cry on a hospital bed," she remarked as her tears came to a stop. But then, the door behind Isaiah opened and everyone streamed inside. Ashley burst into tears again when she noticed Lazarus walking in with flowers for her. Zeiden held balloons with Ronin and Adrik.

Lazarus handed her the flowers. But then his sweet demeanour changed to fury. "You scared the fuck out of us," he scolded startling the wits out of Ashley. "What the hell were you thinking jumping in front of bullets?"

Ashley sobbed. "I don't know-" she blubbered looking at Isaiah for help.

"Never do that again," reprimanded Lazarus. "If you see guns, bullets, knives, you run the other way."

Ashley clutched Lazarus's tattooed hand. "I'm sorry," she snuffled her nose.

Lazarus mood dampened from seeing her big blue eyes. "You're even worse than my brother-" he held the bridge of his nose- "protecting you both is making me age twice as fast."

Zeiden chuckled. "Yeah, you're becoming an old bat," he remarked.

Lazarus glared at Zeiden, and if Adrik wasn't standing in the middle, Zeiden would've have been plummeted to the ground.

The mood in the room brightened with Ashley keeping their bickering down. But in the back of Isaiah's head, he kept wandering back to the festering doubts that Vito Donovan was still at large. This couldn't go on any longer. Isaiah knew the rest of the guys were thinking the same as him. Vito had to be dealt with by any means necessary.