"What the fuck is going on?" River growled as he tossed a dead body out of his way.

"It's gotta be Isabel," King said as he reloaded his gun.

Gabriel stood with them as he raked his hair back. "Where are the others?" he asked sternly.

Abruptly, the door opened and all three of them aimed their weapons at the intruder. But it was only Ryder and Vincent who arrived with Bone and Alister. Nothing needed to be said between all of them because King could tell they were also targeted, since they had their own guns out and angered expressions.

"We need to get out of here," River said.

"There will be a blockade waiting for us," King responded. "This won't be easy."

"Don't wimp out on us now," Ryder jested as he threw his suit's jacket off revealing his holster of weapons.

King smirked. "I'm just glad there's finally something to do."

"Ever since I've acquainted myself with you guys, I've been getting attacked a lot more than usual," Alister commented.

"Welcome to our life," Gabriel said as he passed them all and opened the door and faced them. "Let's get out of here."

"Should we return to the party?" Vincent suggested.

"We don't know who will be targeted, so we can't risk it," River answered.

King and the others followed Gabriel out into the hallway that was glowing red and empty from any threat. The party that was just on the roof was continuing in full blast with deafening music, that was loud enough to block all other sounds. He looked into the room where Ryder and Vincent were and there were dead bodies all over the floor.

Isabel had some nerve attacking them at a party again, King thought to himself.

However, it didn't seem like the party on the roof was interrupted. The only ones that were attacked was them and no one else knew about it.

King stuck to the front guarding them from any intrusion. Rounding a corner, they approached the elevator that was at the end of the hall. King stopped in his tracks when it pinged open revealing a dozen men armed and ready to fight. In the dark hall, the elevator's light flickered as the men stepped off and onto the floor letting the door close behind them. All the light disappeared and the six of them knew what to do. Weapons or not. The only dangerous ones here were the six of them.

"Take Gabriel and the others down the emergency stairs," King told River who stood beside him watching the armed men. "I'll catch up with you."

"No, we won't separate," Gabriel growled.

King and River already made their decision. River grabbed Gabriel's arm and dragged him to the stairs with the others who followed. All except one. Bone stayed right beside him. And surprisingly Alister stood right there leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Playing the hero, King" Alister taunted with a smirk. "That doesn't match your style."

King went right over to him and slammed his fist into the glass cabinet behind his head. "I know, but no one does it better than me," he remarked. He grabbed the axe hanging on the rack and got to work.

Bone stood beside him, without words, without a plan. They already knew how to protect each other without talking it out. King found his target and locked onto his prey like a ravenous beast. Swinging the axe with brutal force, the man's head fell clean off and landed on the ground in the thud. The men started shooting but King grabbed the headless body as a shield. Bone killed the one who was shooting like a blind man, but Alister was the one to fight off the thug that got too close to Bone.

Killing turned into a sport for King. He didn't know mercy nor did he give a fuck about generosity. He never held back in the past and he wasn't going to do it today, especially now that he needed to get back to Klaus and Ender. He had a family; a pack to protect. He wasn't dying and he wasn't letting anyone in his pack get hurt either. His grip on the axe tightened and he flung the dead body off as he geared to kill the next three men in front of him.

In matters of seconds, all twelve men dropped to the floor in a heap as Bone, Alister and King finished the job. King's phone rang and he answered it.

"We're on the fifteenth floor," it was River. "Hurry the fuck up!"

King chuckled as he exhaled a deep breath and raked his damp and bloody hair back. "Smartass," he said before he cut the phone and they got onto the elevator, which was vacant. He clicked the button and the door slid shut on them providing the only white light available.

"Why is Isabel attacking you?" Alister asked.

"She's afraid of losing the trial against Ivy Croft," Bone told him.

Alister frowned grimly.

"Isabel's trying to hurt Gabriel because she knows that she can invoke fear into the other council members like that," King told him. "You told me this trial was compromised, Alister. Now, you know why."

"She wants to win their vote in her favour, doesn't she?" Bone asked.

King gave curt nod.

The elevator doors pinged open on the fifteenth floor, when suddenly, River, Gabriel and the other two stormed inside it. River shut the doors just at the nick of time as bullets went off at the metal doors.

"We can't go to our cars," Vincent said. "They probably expect that to be the first place we'd go."

River took out his phone. "Tell me where the security office is in the Blue Hotel," he ordered. In moments, River pressed the thirteenth-floor button and they moved down rapidly.

They got out and the floor was clear. At the corner office was the security room, Ryder kicked the door open only to find the men that worked here already dead. They were shot in the back and left on their chairs. Alister shut the door behind them and King moved the dead bodies to the corner of the room.

Poor suckers had no idea what hit them, King thought.

Ryder turned on the screens and saw that the ground floor where their cars were parked were guarded like the fucking pentagon. The men were guarding each exit door and waiting for them at every elevator exit and entry now. There really wasn't a way out of this without a nasty fight.

"What are we going to do?" Vincent asked as he saw the chaos in front of him of the screens as well as the rest of them.

"We fight," Ryder said. "It's our only option."

"They're all heading to this floor," Bone said as he pointed to the camera screen.

"There's a conference room right at the end of this hall," River said. "If we stake out there, we can easily get through them without getting surrounded."

Agreeing, they all moved into the conference hall that was massive with glass windows and a table to host at least thirty people. King noticed that there weren't any other entrances to this room, so it was perfect to stake out and engage a frontal attack. They should barricade the door if they wanted time to their advantage.

Suddenly, River's phone went off and he answered it putting it on speaker. "Didn't I say to take me with you," Azura said from the other side, her voice loud and the noise of wind made it fuzzy.

King was the only one looked out into the large windows when he saw a figure swing closer and closer to the window. Azura slammed her heeled boots into the thick glass and it shattered everywhere around them as she toppled into the room surprising the hell out of all of them. She rolled over and got onto her feet, shards of glass falling off of her but she was unfazed. She stood tall and in black leathers with every weapon strapped to her powerful figure. She passed them more ammo because it looked like she had an endless supply strapped to her suit.

"Lupin is waiting on the north side of the hotel with a car," she told Gabriel. "He will get you out of here. I caused a diversion but all the men are coming to this floor. So, we need to move now." She opened the door and led them straight to the other side of the hallway into another area where there was room connected to a hidden elevator.

"I will lead them away as you make your escape," Azura said as she grabbed the door and stood outside it. "River, get Gabriel and the others safely out of here."

"Azura, you can't do that," Gabriel spoke commandingly, in an angered tone that he rarely used.

Azura gave that playful smirk that illuminated her silver eyes. "Of course, I can," she said.

"We'll be fine," Ryder stepped out and joined her side. "You get out of here."

"Ryder, don't," Vincent spoke.

"It's my job," he told him as he shut the door and walked away with Azura.

"Got a plan?" Ryder asked her.

"Don't die," Azura said. "But if we do, only for Gabriel."

And my mate, Ryder's heart spoke loudly.

This hall was connected as an 'L' shape. The security office was behind them and the team that was here to kill them were storming out from the emergency stairs. Azura made sure that she was seen before they stepped into the conference room alone. Ryder crept into the dark, staying in the shadow, watching over Azura as she stood proudly under the light of the night sky letting anyone know that she wasn't planning any games.

The harsh wind howled through the broken window, it carried the crisp air that was chilling to the bone. Ryder secured his guns that were strapped to his thighs and he had enough ammo to get through the armed men that clambered into the room in unison. They all swarmed into the room holding Azura at gun point, she stood proudly because she knew that Gabriel and the pack would be safe on their way out.

"Where's your alpha?" A man demanded.

Ryder figured that this guy must be the squad-leader, which meant that he had the answers to their questions.

"I asked you where your alpha is?" he ordered.

"He's long gone," Azura answered. "You were too slow."

They all searched each other's faces. "He can't have made it too far," the man said irately. "Search for him-"

Azura stepped in front of them, blocking the doors with her body. She stopped all of them in their tracks.

"You can't fight all of us," a man claimed.

Azura's eyes flashed with untamed determination. Ryder almost laughed because he knew that nothing would stop this woman from killing everyone here.

"Why lose your life for someone that left you behind?" he asked.

Azura raised her chin. "You won't understand. Gabriel is my god," she seethed, her voice chillingly cold. "So, either you get out of my way or die."

Abruptly, the man shot her in the shoulder, but it didn't hurt her. She wasn't human and he'd need a lot more than that to cause any kind of pain to her. Besides, Lupin probably forced her to wear a bullet-proof vest under her suit. Ryder understood that the only thing on Azura's mind was that she needed to protect their alpha. She would cause a rampage by killing anything that tried to escape this room to get to Gabriel. She'd never let that happen. She'd fight and claw her way to ensure that she fulfilled her duty to him.

Ryder recognized that the loyalty Azura had could never be bribed or bought. With the weapons on their body, they'd fight through these men with every ounce of strength in their body. His own pledge was the same as her.

Using the darkness to his advantage, he grabbed the man in front of him and snapped his neck silently. No one noticed, his buddies were all too distracted by Azura. Ryder moved through the flock of men dropping them one by one like flies at his feet. The squad-leader who faced Azura had no idea that the men behind him were being eliminated and he was soon going to be out-numbered.

The leader commanded two of his men to grab Azura, she was quick to slice the man's hand off, he yelled in pain only for his head to sliced off next. But, as Ryder rushed to get to her side, someone saw him and started shooting right for his head. Ryder ducked under the table and the bullets were endless. He needed to get to Azura, otherwise she would get surrounded. Ryder used the painting on the wall, as it reflected the two men who were shooting without restraint.

He kicked the chair beside him as a diversion, the men turned to shoot it when Ryder already got to his feet shooting both those men in the head. Ryder jumped over the table and saw four men that grabbed Azura as she stabbed the hell out of the squad-leader.

"Azura!" Ryder hurried to her.

Suddenly, the doors burst open. It was Gabriel and the others.

"What the hell!" she growled as she shot the one that grabbed for her and the rest stepped back holding their weapons as a shield. "I told you to leave!"

"I will never leave you behind," Gabriel growled as he shot the other two men.

The others joined them and didn't waste a second killing the rest of the thugs who were sent to destroy them. Ryder came up to them but didn't go to his mate just yet. He hauled up the squad-leader who was still breathing despite his fatal wounds.

"Who sent you?" Ryder asked him sternly.

The man gagged on his blood. "Matthew Adler," he answered before he dropped onto the floor and died.

"Who the hell is that?" King asked as he stepped over a dead body.

"He was a partner for our company but we fired him recently," Vincent answered.

"Matthew did this," Azura astonished. "The man is only four feet tall and has the confidence of a rat. There's no way he's capable of this."

Gabriel hooked his gun onto the back of his pants. "Let's go ask him what's he's capable of," he growled and turned to get out here with all of them following him.

They reached outside to Lupin and they all headed to Matthew Adler's mansion. The man should have some sort of back-up there, because Gabriel was pissed and so was everyone else in their cars.

Arriving at Matthew Adler's house, Gabriel got out first. He led them to the door and didn't bother knocking. Ryder shot the lock and the door fell open on its own. The alarms went off, but River punched the little machine on the wall and it turned off alerting no one because there wouldn't be anyone here to save Matthew tonight.

Gabriel crossed the hall and the maids were scampering off screaming by witnessing their bloodied appearance and enraged expressions. Ryder spotted Matthew sitting at his dining table eating dinner, when his fork dropped and so did his skin colour.

"G- Gabriel," he stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

Gabriel grabbed the man's beefy neck in his harsh fist and threw him onto the floor. River pulled out the chair and let Gabriel take a seat, his bloody clothes staining the lush golden cushion.

"I was at a fundraiser about to have dinner when armed men pointed a gun at my head," Gabriel said as he raked his dark hair away from his focused gold eyes.

Matthew's eyes widened. "That's terrible," he said. "I'm glad to see you're safe."

"Are you?" Gabriel grumbled. "Because one of those men exposed you the moment we asked who sent them."

"I didn't send anyone," Matthew exclaimed.

Gabriel slammed his heavy boot into Matthew's chest and held him down, he thrashed like a rat under the heavy weight. "Don't fucking lie to me," he rasped. "Who set you up to this Matthew because I know you're not fucking smart enough to do this?"

Matthew choked out his words. "It was a woman," he cried out. "I don't know her name."

"Was it her?" River turned his phone with a photo of Isabel.

"Y-yes, it was," he answered. "Please, I didn't know she'd go to this extreme. She hired those men just to scare you."

"I spared you once, Matthew," Gabriel's tone was unsympathetic.

"Please, please, Gabriel, I know you to be merciful," Matthew begged. "I- I have a family. A wife and children to care for. They need me. Please, I beg you."

"What about my wife and child?" Gabriel raged coldly, his tone flat. "No, you don't get mercy from me today." He pointed his gun and shot Matthew in the skull until the barrel in his glock emptied. His head and brains splattered on the white walls everywhere.

Gabriel got to his feet and walked out of the house with his pack following him.