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Initial reports weren’t good. The chest shot was severe, resulting in massive bleeding. They had already lost him once. The great Callan Lyons could be lost to them all before he ever reached surgery.
Waiting with Dr. Morrey were several human surgeons. In a nearby operating room there were three more awaiting Noble, working beneath her assistant. She cast them all a hard glare.
“If we lose Lyons, for any reason, the four of you will die before we leave this operating room.” She nodded to the Breeds that had been forced to scrub up and placed in the room, their rifles held ready. “Don’t fuck with me, gentlemen. You’re the best the Council had in this area, and killing you will not affect me. Killing your wives and seeing your daughters tortured will be my pleasure. Understand that well.”
And they did. They had created the monster they were facing. These four. Each of them had had a hand in her genetics and in her training. They were the best of the best, and in their eyes she saw their fear and their determination to succeed.
“If Lyons dies, they die. It’s your job to then seek out their families, and on their bodies you will practice every torturous method of pain the Council ever taught you,” she ordered the enforcers.
They stared back at the scientists, their gazes flat, hard. All Lion Breeds. All a part of Sanctuary. Their loyalty and their love for their pride leader was absolute.
“The threats aren’t needed, Ely.” Only one had the nerve to speak so comfortably with her.
Her smile was hard as she heard the announcement that her pride leader was within seconds of the surgery. “Pray you’re right, Montaya.” She flashed her canines and growled. “Because liking you above the others won’t save you. It won’t save you, your wife or your daughters. Gentlemen, don’t fail.”
The nurse quickly tied off her mask as the surgery doors burst open, Jonas at the head of the gurney, and Ely felt tears flood her throat, felt pain rush through her body as she glimpsed the wound.
Dear God. She had given an order to kill so many. The damage was severe, the chances so slim. She turned her eyes to Montaya, and rather than anger or rage at the knowledge of the additional blood that would spill if Callan died, she saw only compassion and determination.
She jumped to the gurney as he did, moving quickly, working with him as she had so many times before to save the Breeds that had been brought into the labs. They knew wounds. They knew the Breed physiology. If anyone could save this man, they could.
Seth clasped Dawn to him as they rushed into the waiting room filled with Breed Enforcers, leaders and Callan Lyons’s family.
Merinus sat with her son, David. Even at eleven the child sat straight and tall, his eyes dry, his body perfectly balanced between patience and curiosity about his surroundings.
Merinus.
Dawn fought back her sobs as Merinus turned to her, her lips trembling, her eyes welling with tears as she fought to blink them back.
“I’m sorry.” Dawn knelt in front of her. “I’m so sorry.”
The tears were falling from her eyes again.
Dressed in jeans and one of Callan’s T-shirts, the pride leader’s wife looked ravaged.
Merinus shook her head as a tear fell. “It’s not your fault, Dawn. He wasn’t going to let Phelps touch you, ever again. That was his decision. Not yours.” Her voice was husky, filled with tears.
“I’m tellin’ you all, Dad’s going to be okay.” David breathed out wearily as though he had repeated this many times. “You’ll see. He’s tough.”
Merinus’s hands shook as she brought them to her mouth and turned away from her child. Unlike David, they knew the extent of Callan’s injuries.
“Merinus.” Wolf Gunnar and his mate, Hope, stepped forward then. “Dawn.” He stared down at her, his savage features and dark eyes filled with compassion. “Our enforcers are in place, both here and at Sanctuary. Everything’s secured until Callan can take the reins once again.”
Merinus nodded, tried to speak and couldn’t.
Callan. She whispered his name. She prayed and fought to curl into herself to bear the pain. How would she live if he was gone? How would she go on and raise their son as he expected her to? How could she bear it if she lost him, and he hadn’t even known of the child she was carrying now?
She touched the tears on Dawn’s face and tried to tighten her lips against her sobs. This sweet child that Callan loved as he loved his own. The one that awoke him with her nightmares and left him helpless with his rage because he couldn’t heal her above all others.
She loved Dawn herself as a sister, a dear, dear friend. But Callan’s love ran deeper. Nearly as deep as a father’s love and just as binding. He couldn’t have borne that bastard laying a single finger on her, for any reason.
“Dad’s gonna be okay,” David snapped again. He was so sensitive. He could feel the helplessness, the fears running through the room.
Merinus shook her head.
She had to believe that. She had to. If she didn’t, she might well lose her mind.
As the thought raced through her, a commotion in the hall began. Gasps, curses, Breeds rushing to make way for something, someone.
