Ch. 146: The Angel Swoops In

CHAPTER 146:
Rachel~
My skin was itching to get back to Jake. Knowing they were likely out of their cells and making adjustments to our plan gave me some hope, but every touch from this disgusting being made me want to scream.
Alright, on my mark, I heard Jake say.
Wait. What? I looked around and confirmed Jake wasn’t around. And his voice sounded like it was coming from… in my head?
Paul drags me along further and starts unlocking a door. We’ve got to be getting closer to wherever they’re keeping Meg and my mom.
Could I- could I be getting some connection to him? Like how the others link?
Jake?, I ask the ethos.
There’s nothing for a minute.
Rachel?, Jake asks back.
Woah.
How are you doing that?, he asks.
I don’t know, I just heard you, I explained.
Paul hauled the heavy door open and I gasped. My mom and sister were on the ground in a heap like forgotten laundry. I fell forward and reached into the cell they were in, trying to grab my mom’s hand.
“Dove, give me a minute. Don’t worry, they’ll be okay. I’ll just wake them up,” Paul said from behind me.
J, they’re here. I’ve got them, I sent out hoping it got to him.
That’s my girl, he says proudly.
I feel adrenaline rush through me, but it’s not from me… I felt connected to Jake’s state before but this is nuts.
Hi Rachel, an unfamiliar voice says in my mind. I’m your wolf, Angeline. A little on the nose with the name, I know. She laughs.
What in the-
I’m sorry it took me a few days to get strong enough to talk to you. But we’re ready now, she said.
A few days?, I’m sorry - I don’t understand- I have a wolf?
I watched as Paul walked around and unlocked their cell, two needles in his hands. I tensed.
Don’t worry, it’s just epinephrine, like an Epipen. I don’t smell anything else in it. He’s going to wake them, Angeline says.
Is that what that smell is?
So when are we going to kick this guy’s butt?, she asks me while my mind spins to catch up.
Kick his butt?, I ask.
Yeah, Aamon and the rest of them have pretty much got it handled upstairs. Let’s destroy this guy and go help. I’m dying to try out our form, she urges.
Paul injects my mom and then Meg. Then walks back out.
Act now, questions later. Just go with your instincts, Angelina demands sharply.
I look at Paul and see everything he did to me. I see the terror in my eyes, I see the relentless disturbing moments. I see Vance in him. I see Sean in him. And my anger boils.
He’s looking at me with obsessive domination. He thinks he’s won. He thinks I am weak. He thinks I need him.
My magic boils and I can feel it in little sparks through the loose cuffs.
Break them, Angeline says.
I don’t question it. I rip my hands apart and the cuffs break easily. I feel strong, stronger than ever. My wrist is completely healed. And Paul’s shocked look is delightful.
My mom and Meg are calling out, waking up. And we’re going to kick this guy to kingdom come.
The cuffs smack the floor and I pull sleep I’d hoarded from before Kyle left hits Paul like a tidal wave. He’s out. He falls to the floor and smacks his head.
My mom is standing and yelling something at me I can’t understand.
Let’s take him to Aamon, Angeline says.
“Follow me now!” I cut my mom off and threw Paul over my shoulder.
I feel effortlessly strong. Energized. It’s absolutely nuts. I grab another epipen from the stash and take off. Everything is so heightened. I can hear Meg’s heart rate, I can hear the blood in my mom’s heart. My vision sees easily in this darkened space that seemed ten times darker just minutes ago. We reach Simon’s cell and my mom helps me get the door open. He’s passed out and in horrible shape, so I hope this is the right move. I slam the epipen into him and he sits straight up.
We all make our way up the stairs and I push the door open. There’s battling going on but it looks basically over. I hold my position to keep my mom and Meg on the stairs and out of the way.
Spohie is knocked out - no - gone. I can smell her fading scent and she has no heartbeat. Ms. Arnhem is on the floor, inching away trying to get away from Ally. Ally strikes her one more time in the heart and she’s gone.
Rach? Jake asks me, rushing towards the door I’m holding.
I’m grinning at him.
“Killer, what did you do?” he asked me with a raised brow.
Vance’s mom must be the one outside screaming something, everything in here seems safe, so I push the door open more and step out, dropping Paul’s body with a thump.
The screaming stops outside and Elise and Kyle rush in.
And then everyone is surrounding me, looking at what I’ve done.
“Angeline?” Jake asks while looking deep into my eyes, searching for something.
Searching for her I guess.
“Yeah,” I say proudly.
“Holy Goddess above,” Nick says astonished. “Did you get a wolf?”
I nod vigorously. “Yeah I guess I did.”
“Wh- Goddess!” Evan says, grabbing my arm suddenly. “Your eyes! They’re gold!”
Jake growls lowly but everyone ignores him.
“I knew it,” Ally cackles, laughing. “He marked you, didn’t he?”
I avoided my mom’s disapproving gaze.
“I thought you were going to wait,” my mom says with a huff.
“I mean… we tried,” I said, looking for anything else.
My gaze settled on Jake and his eyes had something going on too. I stepped forward and reached a hand up to his cheek. Black with gold swirls. Aamon’s eyes.
I let out a purr.
I immediately let go and turned so red I thought I could die of embarrassment. He grabbed me tight and embraced me with force.
“Mine,” he said in a deep purr.
The response made me relax - he always put me at ease.
We have a fantastic mate, Angeline said in my mind.
The best, I said back.
“Ahem,” Elise said, signaling us to pull apart. “Sorry to break this up. And it is super cool - but - what are we going to do with him?” She asked, gesturing to a deeply unconscious Paul.
Jake and I looked at each other for a moment.
“I don’t really want to- again-” I started to explain.
“Don’t even worry about it,” he said, embracing me again, his flames heading out to disintegrate Paul.
I didn’t look. I couldn’t deal with that again after the battlefield.
After a few minutes he let me go and I looked around. Meg, Simon, and my mom had been walked around a corner by Ally so they didn’t see anything.
“Beta Amber?” Jake asked.
She just nodded.
The rest of us started to walk back out while Evan and Amber lingered back so she could use the black flame to completely remove these bodies from the face of the earth.
I took a big breath, inhaling Jake’s incredibly strong scent, and we stepped out into the world.
I took one step outside when this whirlwind hit the ground in front of us.
“What the-?!” I started to yell.
Everyone’s alarmed voices overlapped.
The wind cleared and there was-
What?
“Lana?” I asked, completely dumbfounded.
“Sorry, am I late or something? I can’t seem to get a good hold of these freaking things,” she said, spinning around, giving me a better view of the giant gray wings on her back.
“Alright, does anyone care to explain what I’m missing here?” Kyle turned to us.
“I literally have no idea what I’m seeing,” Ally gasped, almost losing her grip on Simon.
Nick took over holding him up.
Evan and Amber walked up then behind us.
“What is everyone wai-” Evan said loudly and stopped mid sentence.
“Are you guys serious? We had an angel on our side this whole time?” Amber asked in disbelief. “How did I not know about this?”
“Whole time?” Lana asked, clearly confused. “What have I missed?”
“Okay,” Nick said after uncharacteristic silence. “Back up Lana. What are you? How did you get here? Did you know what we were this whole time?”
Lana laughed. “God, that’s the first normal series of words I’ve heard all day. Nick asking questions. At least some things don’t change,” she dropped her wings into a relaxed position. “To answer your questions - I was literally just told I’m a demi angel. I guess I finally learned something about my bio parents. Happy friggin birthday to me… One of them was an angel. And I got here with these,” she pointed to her back. “And… oh yeah - no I didn’t know what you are - I don’t even know right now. I just woke up from the weirdest dream in my life, then it wasn’t actually a dream. Then I was trying to work these things, and then I passed out and was told to get here, and well - yeah. Here I am. Now I’d like to ask you all the same dann questions.”
“Can angels even curse?” Kyle asked wryly.
“This one can,” she snapped back.
“I like her,” Kyle said with a broad grin.
We explained some things as we walked out of the castle area. My mom and Meg seemed too stunned to process anything at all. With how pale they were I was keeping a close eye thinking they could pass out. Simon had been passed along to Evan to keep him standing up.
Once outside the barrier, we turned our heads to cars pulling up.
“Alpha! Are we too late to the party?” Mitchell asked, getting out of one of the cars.
Lana turned to him and they both froze.
“HO-LY-” Ally started to say.
“Mate,” Mitchell said, in a choked voice.
“Son of a btch,” Lana said, flinging her head back in frustration. “How many more things do I not know about?”
Kyle fell to the ground then in a laughing fit, while Elise tried to fight a smile on her lips. Jake sagged his shoulders in defeat, my mom and Meg were looking at everyone like we were all aliens, Amber reached for Evan’s hand, Simon stood with his mouth open at it all, Ally and Nick wore unimpressed looks for how Mitchell was handling this, and I stood there as the world fell still, with joy in my heart, and a huge appreciation for this new, giant, messy family of mine.