The Falcon Ridge Series Book 4: Art of a Girl

(Chapter song ‘Seven Nation Army’ by The White Stripes)

BASTIAN

"What? Babe, are you insane!" Luke yells.

"Yes. Open the door." She readies herself at the back of the cell. Her eyes meet mine. “It'll be fine. I know what I’m doing.”

I turn to the others and remove my hands. River does the same and the others back off. Luke shakes his head no.

“Alpha… You know better.” She warns.

“Fine… But you better not make me have to kick Jay’s ass.” He points to his mate then to Jayson.

“Why my ass?!” Jayson yells as he holds out his hands.

Luke and Anton let go of the door and the lack of resistance has the door slam open. Sarah falls backward and rolls across the floor.

Sarah gets up, shakes then barks a growl as she runs for the cage. Alexi doesn’t waste a second as she runs from the back of the cell and jumps into the air with her leg out in front of her. As Sarah jumps, Alexi kicks her in the chest, sending the wolf crashing into the bars of another cell. The wolf hits then thuds on the floor.

"Yeah!" Luke yells and throws a fist in the air then catches Jayson glare. "Sorry." He mumbles.

Jayson shakes his head and watches intently. “Bastian, you better save a piece of Rennet for me.” He snarls.

I stand beside him and nod. “I will.”

We exit the cell and ready ourselves in case Alexi can’t reason with her.

Alexi and Sarah circle each other. "I don't want to hurt you, fighter, but I will if I have to." Alexi scans the room. Seeing a pile of junk against a wall, she runs for it. Sarah's right behind her, jaws snapping at her heels.

Alexi grabs a piece of rebar, runs up a wall and does a back flip over Sarah as Sarah skids to a stop and turns. She runs at Alexi and she swings the bar, connecting with Sarah's head.

"DONT HURT HER!!" Jayson yells.

"I won't let her kill me, Alpha." Alexi says calmly as she eyes him. She turns her attention back to confused wolf. "Sarah, fight it! You're stronger than this. Fight!"

The wolf lunges and Alexi, again, connects the bar to her head. Sarah stands and shakes. She growls louder and continues to attack. Alexi kicks her and hits her back with the bar.

"Think of your friends, Sarah! Your mate!" Alexi yells. The wolf snaps at her and Alexi twirls around. She smacks her in the ribs making Sarah yelp in pain.

Anna rushes out the door. "Sarah think of Chloe. She wouldn't want her mom like this!" She crouches to a knee, holds a hand out to her and locks with her eyes. “Your baby needs you, Sarah. If you don’t fight back, you’ll never see Chloe again.”

Sarah stops fighting, but stares into Anna’s amber eyes. She growls quietly as she lowers her head.

Jayson crouches in front of Anna. "Baby, please. Anna's right. Think of our precious baby at home. You want to hold her again, right?" He looks into the wolfs blue eyes. "I love you. So, fucking much. Don't do this." He whispers. He holds a hand up to her in a show of peace and holds the rest of us back with his other hand.

"Sarah. Shift." Jayson says quietly demands with a bit of Alpha behind his words.

The wolf licks her lips and whines. She lowers her head and calls the wind. Sarah's naked body crumples to the floor. Jayson rips off his t-shirt, grabs his Luna and throws the shirt over her head. The rest of us breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Jayson?" Sarah whimpers in confusion.

"Yeah, baby. It's me. You're ok." He pulls her into his chest and hugs he tight.

"What happened?" She asks as she holds her head.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to get out of here. Right, Bastian?" He looks at me as he stands them both up.

I look around at my friends and nod. "Let's go."

We head down the hall and I motion them to stop. I climb the stairs that lead out of this dungeon and peer out the little window of the door. There's three guards outside.

I quietly step back down. "Ok. There's three bodies out the door. What do we do?" I search my friends faces for ideas.

River smirks and looks at Anna.

"What?" She says, questioning his face.

"Wolf run." He says slyly.

"Wolf run?" I ask.

He looks at me, still smirking. "Yeah. Let the dogs out."

I tick my head and arch a brow. "Alright then." As I climb the stairs, I hear Anna.

"You've been dying to say that again, haven't you?" She smirks.

"Yep." He grins.

We all undress and I form the plan. "Ok. We call the guards to open the door then bust through. You guys go for the front door and I'll get Sam."

"She can't shift, remember?" Dylan reminds me.

"I'll carry her out." I supply.

"No. I'll carry her out. My wolf's bigger." Anton says.

I nod "Ok, you're with me. The rest of you, bite and claw your way out. We'll meet you at the cars."

"Good luck, man." Luke offers a fist bump.

"You, too. All of you. Stay safe." I climb the stairs.

"Guards! I'm ready to talk." I back up bracing myself on the walls. My hands on either wall.

"Good." The guard says. "The Goddess will be happy you came to your senses."

He unlocks the door and opens it. "Let's go."

I lower my head. "Gladly." I grit as my eyes fill the dark stairway with gold light.

He takes a second then his eyes widen when he sees everyone behind me with glowing eyes. Within a second, every one of us shift into our wolves and run up the stairs.

We bust through the door in a fur flying tidal wave. Snarls and growls bounce off the walls of the castle as our pack runs through the halls.

Guards start yelling and shifting, and the battle for the exit starts.

The Alphas are on the guards faster than anyone could blink. Anton and I run for the stairs.

‘She's on the fifth floor’ I mind link.

Anton barks and jumps several steps at a time.

Dragons run out of rooms as we breach the floors. They try to shift, but we tear them up before they get a chance. Climbing to the third floor, Anton is attacked by a wolf.

My wolf grabs the wolf’s throat, slams him against a wall and tears it out. Anton shakes and we run up to the fourth floor. More guards show up and we're chased through the halls.

We turn around before the next set of stairs and jump on the wolves behind us. Smashing the guards against the walls of the hallways, we shred them one by one then sprint for the fifth floor.

Once at the top, I stick my nose in the air. Gardenias.

"She's here." I run down the hallway and stop at a door and shift. I rush through the door and look for Sammy.

"Bastian! What?" She’s standing by a window when she turns and I take big strides to her. Anton’s wolf runs in behind me.

"No time. Get on." I pull her with me as Anton lays on the floor.

"Bastian, they'll kills us!" She protests and pulls back with shock on her voice.

I press my finger to her lips and lean to her eyes. "Get on the wolf."

She eyes me with worry and apprehension, but climbs on and I make sure she's secure. "Hang on tight. This is going to be bumpy."

I shift and we all run back out the door and head for the stairs.

‘Anton. Whatever happens, don't stop. You run. Get her out.’ I link.

‘Yes, Alpha.’

We bolt out of the room and down the hallway. We rush down the stairs and Sammy is barely hanging on.

"Bastian!" She yells.

We continue to run over bodies littering the floors as more wolves come up from the second floor.

‘Run! I got this.’

Anton dodges the wolves as Sammy looks back. "BASTIAN!" She holds her hand out as I watch her disappear down the stairs.

My wolf gets his back up and lunges. I grab the first guard and rip his ear off which sends him yelping and thrashing behind me. I grab a second wolf, snap his leg and crush his skull. The third clamps his teeth down on my back. I slam him into the stone walls. Once he's down, I stomp on his chest and rip his head off.

I jump past the last wolf and head for the stairs, clearing the entire stair case in one jump. I run down the hall to the first-floor stairs.

I get half way when I see a large black wolf with a white cross on his head heading up the stairs, prowling toward me. His mouth is snarling. His chest growling. His eyes glowing bright red.

Chase.

My fur stands on end. This will end in death.

I lunge for him as he jumps for me, too. We clash on the stairs, rolling down them while barking and biting at each other. We hit the floor and clash again. The house shakes as our equal power is slammed against walls and the floor.

We bite at each other's heads. I grab his neck and slam him on the rock floor. He grabs my leg and snaps it. My wolf cries out and tries to scramble to his feet as Chase stalks me. He looms over me, and I snap at his jaws. He tries to pin me, but push him off with my three legs.

"Bastian!" I hear from outside.

The broken leg pisses me off more and I lunge for the dick. We're rolling around the front foyer of the castle, cracking rock walls and floors as we throw each other around. We’re completely destroying whatever is in the makeshift fight arena. Fur and blood fly everywhere.

I need to end this now. I summon all my strength and grab Chase by his back and slam his body into a wall then toss him to the other side of the room. He doesn't get up and blood pools across the floor from under him. Satisfied that he’s done, I run on three legs out the front door.

‘Let's go!’ I link.

We run off the property, through the city, and out into the wilderness where we came from. I don’t look back. All I can think of is getting to Sam as fast as I can.

We get to the cars and flop on the ground. My wolf whines as he licks his broken leg.

“BASTIAN!”

Sammy runs to me with Anton right behind her. She drops to her knees and holds my wolf’s head in her hands. "You're so brave." She kisses my nose and my wolf whines for her.

Anton shifts. "What about me?"

Sam giggles. "Yes, you too." She kisses his cheek and I swear he blushed.

She turns to everyone. "Thank you all so much. I know I don't know any of you, but it means a lot that you'd go through so much for me."

"Hey, I got to punch something, so I'm cool." Luke says leaning on a car.

I shift back and sit up on my knees. “Come here, baby doll.”

A big grin lights up her face as she grabs my cheeks and kisses me hard. I whimper on her lips as I melt into her. Finally, I have my artist back. I break the kiss and cringe as she hits my arm. “Ah…Ow…”

She pulls back and holds up my arm. "Oh God. Is it broken?" She meets my eyes.

"Yeah. In several places, I'm sure. But I'll heal. It was worth it. So fucking worth it.” I give her a toothy smile, grab her head and bruise her lips. She wraps her arms around me and runs her fingers through my hair.

As I kiss her with a hunger I never knew I had, someone clears their throat.

"Bastian? You want to come up for air, bud?" Jayson says, scratching his temple.

I open one eye and scowl. "No." I mumble on Sam's lips.

"Fuck this. I'm going home. Come on, babe." Luke grabs Alexi and jumps in my car.

River pushes off his car. "Yeah, we better to get to the Alliance, anyway. We have to tell them what we found." He grabs Anna’s hand and they walk off to his Camaro.

I gently push Sam away and stand, holding my arm. "No mention of Sam whatsoever. You hear me, Blake?"

"Don't worry, I won't. I don't even know how to explain what the fuck just happened in there, anyway." He grabs Anna and they jump in.

"I'll see you at the pack house." I wave as everyone gets in their cars and drives off.

Mission accomplished. I got my girl back, but I feel like this thing isn't over yet.

First, Sam still needs fixing, and second, there's the army of ten thousand Dragons and no leader. With Chase dead, it could be anyone at this point. Who knows what other sick fucks Draco created.

To say I'm no longer scared is a huge lie. I'm scared to death. If they do attack before we can shut them down, it won’t be something easily won.