The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 158

JUNIPER

I looked up at the bodies approaching. All of them were wearing black masks, and there were at least five of them, but my view was limited from the ground. "Stay behind me," Asher said. He held up his hands as if he was ready to fight, but his legs quivered.

"Give us the alpha, and we'll let you go," one of the people in black said.

"Not a chance," Asher snarled.

I quickly linked Axel my location and what was happening. I didn't know what was going on with Asher and the others, but it was almost as if they had been drugged. They wouldn't be able to fight like normal, and Elijah wasn't in a position to do anything. He was half on my lap from the way he fell, and his eyes were mostly shut. Sweat gathered on his forehead.

"Wrong answer," the man said. He swung at Asher. Asher managed to block the attack, but just barely. He was moving slower than normal.

"We have to get up," I said, trying to nudge Elijah. He groaned and didn't move.

Asher and the warriors fought off the attackers, but this wasn't like the previous attack on me. These attackers seemed to know what they were doing, and Asher was struggling.

My heart pounded, knowing I had to do something, but Elijah was pinning me to the ground. I pushed his shoulder and pulled myself out from underneath him. I knew I didn't stand a chance against the assailants, but the others were distracting them. I had to act during that time and try to get Elijah and myself to safety somehow.

"Get up," I said in a sharper tone, panic quickly taking over. My throat tightened at the thought of being taken away from my mates again. This was supposed to be over, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep myself safe.

Elijah groaned, and he wasn't responding. I didn't have the strength to carry him anywhere, either. I could only think of one way to get him out of here. I patted his pockets, looking for his car keys, but they weren't there. He had been holding them when he suddenly collapsed. I frantically searched around us for the keys, knowing if I could get Elijah and myself in the car, it would serve as an extra level of protection.

At first, I didn't see the keys anywhere, but then I caught a glimpse of them under the car. I scrambled forward and stretched my hand out. The tips of my fingers brushed against the jagged metal, but I couldn't quite grab them. I lay my stomach flat on the ground, giving myself more reach. It was just enough to hook my finger around the key ring.

Before I could celebrate, hands grabbed my ankles and yanked me out from underneath the car, scraping my elbows against the pavement in the process. I kicked my feet, but the hands were too strong to fight off. I rolled over, which threw the attacker off balance enough to let go of me.

Two other attackers swooped in, picking Elijah up. I shouted at them to stop, but they ignored my pathetic cries, leaving me with the man focused on me. He grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me to my feet, but my training with Asher and Axel started to kick in. I didn't have to defeat him. I just had to make it impossible for him to take me.

I made my body dead weight, making it harder for him to pick me up. He grunted and cursed. He yanked harder, and it felt like my arm would pop out of its socket if he used any more force. I extended my claws and twisted the wrist he was grabbing onto. My claws dug into his arm, and blood started dripping out of the puncture wounds. He cursed again and let go.

It didn't stop him for long, though. He kicked me in the side, stunning me long enough to wrap his arm around my waist. He picked me up, even when I tried to make my body as heavy as possible. I thrashed in his arms, trying to free myself, but when he only tightened his grip, ignoring the slashing of my claws against his back, I knew this wasn't enough to deter him.

I thought back on my training, knowing I had to try something else. I stopped thrashing and focused all of my attention on the palm of my hand. I twisted and leaned back, giving me just enough space to slam the heel of my palm up and into his nose. The crunch of the bone made my stomach churn, but then he let go of me, and I fell onto the ground hard.

"Let's go!" someone shouted.

My assailant cursed under his breath again, looking at me one last time before rushing off. My chest heaved, and my body was still on edge, waiting for someone else to attack me. However, all of the attackers ran off, leaving the rest of us behind. I looked around, and most of the warrior body guards were on the ground, no longer moving, and I prayed they were only unconscious.

Asher was on his knees, his chest heaving up and down as he stared up into the sky. I jumped to my feet, not even feeling my bruised body with the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

I grabbed Asher's hand and tried to pull him to his feet. "We have to get out of here." I didn't know if the attackers would come back, but I didn't want to sit around and find out.

"The sunset looks especially pretty tonight, doesn't it?" Asher didn't move and continued to look at the sky.

I cupped his face in my hands and forced him to look at me. "I need you to focus. We have to get out of here. We're not safe."

"You're beautiful, too," Asher said. "I wish I could just keep you in my pocket to keep you safe all of the time."

"That's not possible," I said. "But you can stand up to keep me safe. Come with me, so you can protect me."

"I think I want to just take a nap."

I gently smacked his cheek. "You can't nap here. Let's go to the apartment and nap together."

Asher closed his eyes, and his body started to lean forward. He was clearly drugged, but I didn't understand how it happened. He was fine just a few minutes ago. Everyone was fine, and then suddenly they weren't. I didn't understand who could've drugged them, and why was I the only one who was okay?

I looked around and saw the plate of cookies Asher had been holding. Broken cookies littered the floor, and my throat tightened. I was the only one who didn't eat a cookie. Elijah said he had known Baraba his entire life and trusted her, but he had trusted Anthony,

too.

But Axel and I had eaten her cookies before, and they didn't affect us like this. Could Barbara really be responsible for this? It was the only explanation I could think of.

Hands grabbed my arms, and I screamed and immediately started thrashing.

"J.J., it's me." Axel's voice immediately calmed my senses.

I flipped around and threw myself into him. He wrapped his arms around me, making me feel safe again. It was a relief that I wasn't the only one who was of stable mind, because if the attackers had come back before I got Asher out of there, I knew I wouldn't have been able to protect him.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Axel said, holding me tightly.

"I fought them off," I whispered. "I tried so hard to defend myself."

"You did a good job," Axel whispered in my ear, stroking my hair. "You protected yourself."

I bit my lip, wishing I had been able to do more than that, wishing I had been able to protect Elijah, too. If Asher had lost his mind sooner, then I wouldn't have stood a chance. I swore to myself that one day I would be able to protect not only myself but others around me, too.

Axel slammed the door of the apartment, making Nathan and I look up from the couch. He slumped into the armchair near the couch and let out a long sigh. "You were right. Barbara is nowhere to be found. Neither is Elijah. How's Asher?"

"Still asleep," I said. After getting everyone to a safe place, Axel went out with a few of the warriors sent to help protect the school to look for Elijah or the woman who poisoned everyone. A doctor had been able to confirm that Asher and the other warriors had been drugged. It was just a sleeping medication, but in high doses, it could cause hallucinations.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

Nathan rubbed my back, comforting me as much as possible. He hadn't left my side since the attack. I appreciated his attempt to make me feel better, but it did little to stop my mind from spiraling.

Axel's stare made me shift in my seat. "You don't have to pretend around us."

I knew he was right, but it was still difficult to open up when I was afraid. I had spent nearly half of my life taking care of myself. It was better now with the brothers always around, but I still wasn't used to relying on others.

"Is this ever going to end?" I asked, my voice catching in my throat. That was the only thing that spun around in my head. Anthony and Craig were defeated, and Charles had been in jail. There weren't supposed to be anymore threats, but I started to fear that would never be the case.

Axel moved over and sat on my other side. "We're going to stop them. I swear to you that this will end."

I thought about what the Moon Goddess had told me. She said she had a plan for me. Somehow, I was supposed to stop a war between vampires and werewolves. I thought that was over after the attack on the pack house, but I hadn't done anything special to stop that. Maybe I had just been naive. Maybe all of this was far from over. Maybe the Moon Goddess still had a plan for me, but I didn't understand why. I couldn't even protect Elijah. How was I supposed to do the bidding of a goddess?

Three loud slams against the door filled the air of the apartment, breaking me out of those thoughts. Everyone in the room tensed, and Axel and Nathan flew to their feet, ready to fight whoever was trying to break into the apartment.