Chapter Eighty-six

Lukas cursed when another punch caught him on his side, he wasn't at the top of his game. Being away from Claire meant that his attention was divided and he was constantly looking at the car to make sure that she was okay.
Otherwise, he would have been able to easily take down the small fries surrounding him. It took far longer that he would have liked but he finally knocked out the last Rogue, his blood boiling over.
He would have liked to shoot holes through them for their grave misstep of daring to take his mate but he was out of bullets. And from the looks of things, so were they.
Lukas looked around at the littered bodies in the shed, expecting another group to swarm him but it seemed like he had gotten all of them. Just as he was about to turn around and hightail it back to Claire, her scream ripped through the wrecked interior of the shed. The sound cut into him, it was more painful that when the bullets grazed him.
His rush to her was halted when a tall behemoth of a werewolf stepped around the car with Claire held tightly in his arms.
He had his gun pressed up to her head and his other hand wrapped cruelly around her neck.
Lukas immediately froze in place, wary of doing anything that would put Claire in harm's way. Without hesitation, he put up his arms in a show of surrender.
The masked werewolf's cynical laughter filled up the shed. "You'd really give up your life for a human? We were right to take your crown." He taunted.
Lukas just let the Rogue's jabbing words rolled down his back, his brain quickly calculating ways to save Claire. He needed the Rogue to stop pointing the gun at her and instead aim at hin.
"Then why don't you take it?" He said calmly, taking an unhurried step forward, then another.
The Rogue seemed to falter at this and just as Lukas predicted, his swerved the gun over to Lukas. "You're right..." He agreed, leveling his gun right at Lukas' heart.
Although Claire was out of immediate danger, the Rogue still had his large hand around her delicate neck, he could hurt her anytime. Lukas didn't mind getting shot but he needed to take Claire from the bastard's hold before he could attack him.
"No!" Claire shouted, her voice cracking. "Please don't kill him." She tried to bargain.
The Rogue seemed visibly upset by this as well. "Why do you care? He's just some werewolf, a monster."
Well, Claire could agree that Lukas hadn't been the best to her but she was done pretending that she hadn't lost her heart to him sometime during their push and pull. "H-He's not..." She stuttered, tears rapidly filling her eyes. She was unable to say anything more after that, choking on her words.
Clay just clicked his tongue and pulled on the trigger.
The gunshot rang out louder than all the others Claire had heard during the course of the night. Maybe it was because it had been shot right beside her head, or maybe it was because she could see Lukas going down.
Claire didn't realize she was screaming, her vision filling up with tears so hard that she could barely see, it made her head hurt. She pushed away from Clay and he let her go.
Claire ran barefoot across the floor of the shed that was filled with bullet casings and shrapnel, uncaring if it cut into her feet. She dropped to her knees beside Lukas' limp body, her hands trembling so hard that she could barely control them.
Her heart hurt so much that it felt like she had been the one that had gotten a searing hot bullet embedded in her chest. She tried to lift Lukas up so she could see his face, sobs choking her.
Claire was surprised when Lukas pulled her down on him but she didn't react, hugging him tight.
"I'm wearing a bulletproof vest, I'm fine." Lukas whispered to her and Claire started crying afresh, this time from relief.
"I need you to act like nothing is wrong, and when he comes closer, I need you to get out of the way." Lukas added before going quiet.
He wanted the Rogue to amble closer with his guard down so that he could jump him.
Claire nodded imperceptibly, still holding tight to Lukas. She still hadn't recovered from the threat of him dying, she wasn't sure she could survive another scare like that.
They must paint a tragic picture on the wooden floor of the shed. Claire still wearing her fancy dinner dress, her crown tilted on her tousled hair from all the jostling. While Lukas was sprawled on the ground, not moving even as Claire cried into his bloody shirt.
Clay slowly came over, yanking his mask off to reveal a clean shaven head and harsh features. He was unfazed by Claire crying in front of him, his gun hanging loosely by his side as he didn't expect any more retaliation.
"Get up," He said coldly to Claire, "Roman will be here to pick you up soon." He also needed to get the hell out of the shed because he was certain that it would be swarming with the Alpha King’s men quite soon.
Lukas stiffened when he heard Roman's name, his anger reaching a fever pitch. He should have known that the bastard would have something to do with this. It was the only reason why the Rogues would suddenly retaliate like this.
Claire didn't move an inch, seeming not hear Clay, and just as the Rogue leaned over to drag her off Lukas, Lukas reared back his hand and punched his face in.
Claire immediately scrambled backward, nearly tripping on the edge of her maxi dress as Lukas immediately tackled the bigger man down to the ground. They were scrambling for the gun in Clay's hand, it was a really close and brutal struggle.
Claire could only scramble back as quick as she could, her eyes riveted on the scene before her. She choked when the gun went off but they were rolling around too much for her to tell who had gotten shot.
After rolling around for a bit, Lukas eventually ended on top, he was also in possession of the gun to Claire’s relief. She looked away when he shot right down at the other werewolf's skull.
Only looking back when the quick succession of gunshots stopped. Claire dragged herself to her feet, a slow smile starting on her face which immediately froze and crumbled into a look of terror when Lukas fell forward after making sure that Clay was dead.
"Lukas!" Claire screamed so hard that her throat hurt, she ran forward to him, and with much effort she pulled him off the clearly dead werewolf.
She tried not to gag when she caught a glimpse of his bloody face, pulling Lukas over her legs to check him over. He had been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding out scarily fast.
Claire had to stop the bleeding, her hands were shaking terribly and tears clouded her vision but she managed to stem the bleeding with Lukas' torn shirt. He seemed to be knocked unconscious, his face pale but at least he was still breathing. She would take anything.
After stopping his bleeding, she frantically searched through his pockets for a phone, she needed to call for help. Alec was on speed dial and bless the Viceroy's heart because he picked on the first ring.
"Lukas..." He started to say.
"A-Alec, it-it's me." Claire interrupted him, stuttering hard.
"Your Highness!" He exclaimed, shock evident in his voice. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I-I'm fine." Claire forced out, sucking in a sharp breath. "Bu... But Lukas isn't... p-please come get him."
Alec fell silent at this, "Right away! We're on our way right now." He said firmly, already tossing out orders before he could even hang up.
Claire cupped Lukas' pale face, her tears wetting his hard angular face. "Please don't leave me, who's going to make me miserable if you go?" She said through tears, not even sure of what she was saying. "I thought you said you'd never let me go..." She couldn't say anymore after that, her throat tightening up so much that she lost her voice.
The sound of a car driving up made her lift her head up sharply, there was no way that Alec would be here so soon. It had to be someone else... It had to be... *Roman*.
Claire gently placed Lukas on the wooden floor, she needed something to protect Lukas. She didn't think that Roman wanted to hurt her but he definitely wanted Lukas dead, she couldn't let that happen.
She hurried over to the totaled car that Lukas had driven into the shed to save her. When Clay grabbed her, she had lost her hold on the dagger that Lukas had given her. She would need it right now so she quickly grabbed it and hurried back to Lukas' side.