by Juniper Hart
“You?” Boone and Danica laughed in unison. Amy smirked at them.
“Yes, me.” She took the phone from Gabriel’s hand and sauntered out of the room, leaving Danica alone with the pack.
“Who is she?” Aiden asked, echoing the question that had been reverberating through Danica’s mind for hours.
“She’s a friend who is going to help us get out of the country,” Gabriel explained. Danica’s heart froze.
“Out of the country?” she repeated. “Where are we going?”
“You don’t get to know any of our plans,” Gabriel hissed at her. “I’m not risking you running off and telling your lover.”
“You asshole!” Danica snapped. “He doesn’t care about you! All he wants is me, Gabriel. He’s been watching out for me ever since I returned to California. He doesn’t care where you go.”
The pack turned to stare at her in disbelief.
“You’ve been feeding him information all along?” Aiden demanded. Danica threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Of course not!” she screamed. “If I had known my mate had been watching over me, I would have gone to him long before I’d succumbed to this mess!”
“You’ve sprouted a mouth,” Gabriel purred, sauntering toward her. She glared defiantly at him.
“So what are you going to do about it?”
The slap came unexpectedly, and she gasped as blood seeped into her mouth.
“I expect the mother of my child to act more becomingly,” he snarled.
“The baby isn’t yours,” she bit back, wanting to wipe the smug expression off his face. To her chagrin, Gabriel only laughed.
“You can’t lie to me, girl. I made you, remember?”
“I have a doctor,” Amy declared, strolling back into the room, a wide smile on her impish face. “She’ll be here in a few hours.”
“Not just any doctor can check me,” Danica snapped, rolling her eyes at the blonde before glowering at Gabriel. “Doesn’t she understand that?”
“She understands,” Gabriel laughed. “She’s a Lycan.”
Danica balked and gaped at Amy in shock.
“He turned you, too?” she breathed, her pulse racing as she looked at her.
“It’s none of your damned business,” Gabriel interjected. “In fact, go to your room while we wait for the doctor.”
Danica made no move to get up. Her mind whirled to understand what was happening. How had he turned another one? Wasn’t he supposed to be unable to do so now? Unless Amy was already a Lycan and had abandoned her pack to go with Gabriel. But why would any female in her right mind do something like that? There were few more hunted than him in the world. What didn’t Danica understand? What was she missing?
“I said, go to your room!” Gabriel yelled, his sapphire-colored eyes flashing with annoyance. “Let the loyal Lycans talk.”
Slowly, Danica ambled to her feet, casting the other members of the pack looks that they didn’t see. The desire in their eyes had overcome any suspicions they might have felt toward this new body among them.
Danica looked desperately toward Amy, unsure if the girl was a victim or a willing participant in what was going on.
And which are you? she asked herself.
“I’m not going with you, wherever it is you think you’re going,” Danica shot out. “You’re going to have a hell of a time bringing a kidnapped woman with you.”
Gabriel glared at her.
“If you weren’t pregnant, I would put you down right now,” he swore. Danica knew he was telling the truth, but she maintained her composure and smirked at Amy.
“See how well he treats us?”
“I do,” Amy replied sweetly. “I’m lucky to have found him.”
Danica grimaced and turned away, taking the stairs two at a time. She paused, looking about for a phone. For the first time, she realized that there was none about. How had she never noticed that before? How had she let so much slip by her?
She gritted her teeth and pushed her way into her suite, bypassing the sitting room to lay on the canopied bed inside the sleeping area. The exhaustion and confusion of the day had caught up to her, and all she wanted to do was sleep, even though her mind was still whirling.
A doctor will be here soon, she thought, her eyes closing heavily as the darkness of the room enveloped her. I need to rest for the baby’s sake.
Living with wolves had honed Danica’s instincts greatly, and the slightest noise could cause her to stir from sleep. That evening was no exception. The rustle of curtains caused her to blink and look around in the pitch blackness.
She’d forgotten just how dark the compound could get—and how lonely.
In virtually no time, she’d learned to depend on the warmth and strength of Wes’ arms, both of which she missed dearly as she looked about.
Something had woken her, but she couldn’t be sure what exactly.
“Is someone there?” she called weakly into the night. The pain in her womb had subsided, though there was a dull pain which still alarmed her. “Show yourself. I can sense you.”
There was no movement, and fear spiked through Danica as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Hello?”
Nothing but silence met her call. Still, she was certain she wasn’t alone in the room.
“Amy,” Danica said.
The woman showed herself from behind the curtain, her ethereal eyes glowing against the blackness.
“What are you doing in here?”
“The doctor has arrived,” Amy murmured. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Danica scowled, unsure of what to make of the blonde’s presence. “Well, you did. Where is this doctor of yours?”
Amy sauntered closer to where Danica stood, her eyes glistening with something she didn’t understand.
“You’ll be safe soon,” Amy breathed. “If you don’t make a fuss.”
Panic seized Danica’s heart, but she refused to give Amy the satisfaction of seeing her concern.
“I don’t take orders from you,” she spat. “Get out of my room.”
“All right,” Amy agreed pleasantly. “I’ll send the doctor in.”
As she stole away in the shadowy night, Danica reached to flip on a bedside lamp, her heart thumping nervously. What the hell was that about?
Cautiously, she perched on the edge of her bed and waited, nervously wringing her hands. A moment later, a tall, attractive woman with chestnut-colored skin and warm brown eyes entered, her face twisted with concern.
“Are you Danica?” she asked.
“I am.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m not sure,” Danica replied shortly. “I guess that’s for you to figure out.” The woman smiled and ambled toward her, a medical bag in her hand.
“Let me check you over, then,” she said. Danica eyed her reluctantly.
Is she a Lycan? Why the hell can’t I tell?
If Wes was there, he’d know in a heartbeat what they were up against, but Danica was as lost as she’d ever been in this madness.
“How far along are you?” the physician asked quietly, rolling up Danica’s button-down shirt at the belly.
“I don’t know. Maybe eight or nine weeks.” A stethoscope found its way around the doctor’s neck, and she pressed the cold steel to her belly. “Don’t you have a doppler monitor?” Danica asked impatiently. “You can’t tell anything by this.”
“You need to just relax and let me do my job.” Danica would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so grim. “The father is downstairs?”
“Does it matter?” Danica spat, wondering whom she was so angry at. It wasn’t this woman’s fault she was in the situation she was.
No. You have no one to blame but yourself for this, she thought miserably.
“No,” the doctor agreed. “It doesn’t. I just thought you might want him up here for this.”
“I don’t.”
“All right.” The doctor continued her examination q
uietly, her brown eyes stoic.
“What is it? Is the baby okay?”
“We’re going to have to take you to the hospital, Danica. I don’t have the proper equipment here to do the tests we need.”
Danica looked at her hopefully. If she could get off the compound, she might be able to escape Gabriel long enough to get word to Wes.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Gabriel announced, striding into the room. “Do what you can from here. We have a plane to catch in six hours.”
The doctor turned to him and frowned.
“She might have lost the baby,” she snapped shortly, her black brows knitting. “Which means she won’t be traveling anywhere, let alone on a plane.”
“We’ll risk it,” Gabriel said. “Has she lost the baby then?”
“I won’t know unless I run the proper tests,” the woman insisted. “Like I just said.” The annoyance in her voice gave Danica hope.
“Well, then it looks like you came all this way for nothing, doctor. I’ll see you out.”
“Gabriel, this is our child we’re talking about!” Danica cried in disbelief. “You can’t be so flippant about this!”
“If you got pregnant once, you can do it again,” he said coldly. The statement turned Danica’s blood to ice.
I will never let him touch me again!
“If she’s having an untreated miscarriage, she might not have the opportunity to carry more children,” the doctor replied, standing from the edge of the bed. “But if that’s fine with you—”
“That’s not fine with me!” Danica exclaimed, sitting up. “Take me to the hospital!”
“Out of the question!” Gabriel argued. “We don’t have time.”
“This is your fault!” Danica shrieked, her composure slipping under his impassive responses. “This is my life!”
“Your life won’t be worth much if you can’t bear offspring,” Gabriel told her flatly. “You better pray that you’re okay until we get to where we’re going.”
“She is the patient,” the doctor said rigidly. “If she wants to go, you can’t stop her.”
“I can, and I just did. You’re excused, Dr. Burnes,” Gabriel spat, glaring mercilessly at her. Danica’s spine tightened to a near snap.
“Dr. Burnes?” she whispered. The OBGYN turned and cast her a warning look, but the question wasn’t overlooked by Gabriel.
“Do you know one another?” the rogue Alpha demanded, closing the distance between them.
“NO!” Danica cried as Dr. Burnes nodded, “Yes.” Danica closed her eyes, unable to understand what was happening.
We were on our way to see Dr. Burnes when the car bomb went off, she recalled. Is she in on this, or is she here to really help me?
“Which is it? Do you know one another or not?” Gabriel hissed, sensing the tension mounting in the room.
“I know her,” Dr, Burnes sighed. “She’s wanted by the Council. I just wanted to bring her in. There’s a reward on her head.”
“She’s wanted for what?” Gabriel asked in amused disbelief. “Did you know about this, lamb?”
“For consorting with a fugitive. That’s all I really know. I recognized her name on my roster today, and when Amy called me, I knew I couldn’t give up the opportunity.”
Danica dropped her head, shock and disappointment welling up inside her. Is that why Wes was bringing me to see this doctor? To turn me in secretly?
Gabriel whooped but smothered the rest of his laughter, his eyes darting between the two of them.
“Well, then you really did waste your time,” he said genially.
“Not really,” Dr. Burnes said. “I have sworn an oath to do no Lycan harm. She is carrying an innocent soul. It’s my duty to ensure it’s safe before I sign off on this.”
Gabriel stared at her, and Danica could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
“Fine,” he agreed after deliberating a moment. “Take her to the hospital and run the necessary tests. If she’s still pregnant, you bring her back. If she’s not, feel free to collect the bounty on her. She’s becoming more trouble than she’s worth now that we have Amy.” He spun and sauntered out of the room. “But hurry. If she’s coming back, we still have a flight to catch.”
“Noted,” Dr. Burnes agreed and grinned after him until he disappeared, leaving them both alone. Danica closed her eyes and willed herself to melt away into the softness of the mattress. Of course, the gods would never be so kind.
“Does Wes know about this, Catalina?” she whispered. Catalina’s smile widened to almost hideous proportions.
“Who do you think set this all up?” she replied with a leer that made Danica’s heart turn to stone.
13
The burner phone rang, and Wes snatched it up.
“What do you have?” he demanded.
“I think we have a location,” Gale answered, his voice excited. “I have a team scouting out the place now, but I have confirmation that it was used by the pack before. It’s by the Willamette River, near Wheatland.”
The words made almost no sense to Wes. He couldn’t conjure an image of what they were talking about in his mind’s eye. “Where the hell is that?”
“Oregon. They’re in Oregon.”
“Send me the location.”
“Don’t you want to wait and see if we have them before making the trip?”
“It’s the only damned lead I’ve had on Danica in a day! No, I don’t want to wait anymore,” he growled. “Send me the coordinates.” He disconnected the call and looked at the phone in his hand, knowing what he needed to do next.
I have to call Landon Burke and tell him what we know. Wes swallowed the bile in his throat and looked out the window of his new car, his eyes trained on Danica’s apartment building. How many nights had he sat there just like that, ensuring that she was home and safe? Now you’re sitting here hoping that she’ll come home at all.
He also knew he had a deal with Landon, one he couldn’t take back now that the leader of the Lycans knew the entire truth. He had promised that she wouldn’t face justice until her pregnancy was completed. With an exhale of resignation, he dialed Landon’s number.
“Burke.”
“We might have a lead on the pack. Apparently, there’s a sighting in Oregon.”
There was a long pause.
“Near Wheatland?” Landon asked slowly.
“How the hell did you know that?”
“He brought another one of the girls there before. Emily. I know it.” He made a noise Wes didn’t understand.
“What?” Wes demanded.
“We watched that property over and over, but they never came back. Why now?”
“I don’t know!” Wes retorted. “But they’re there now. I’m on my way.”
“Don’t bother,” Landon told him softly.
“How the hell can you say, ‘don’t bother’? I can’t sit around doing nothing, Landon! I know you’re pissed at me, but—”
“This has nothing to do with the anger I feel toward you,” Landon assured him. “The matter is under control.”
“It’s not, and it won’t be until I know Danica is safe!”
“She’s fine. You’ll have to trust me on this. I have to go, Wesley. I’m five minutes out from the compound.”
“Wait, what? You’re in Oregon?”
“Of course.”
“How long have you known where they were?”
“A while,” Landon replied smugly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Wes barely recognized his own voice. “I’ve been tearing my hair out—”
“I knew your pack would figure it out.”
“We could have figured it out sooner if you’d told us!” Wes snapped. “What kind of game are you playing here?”
“This never was a game to me, Wesley. You broke my trust in the worst way, and you swore it wouldn’t happen again. I just wanted to ensure you weren’t lying—again.” He hung up the phone without providing another answer, leav
ing Wes to gape openly at the device.
A text came through with the coordinates, forcing him to consider his next move very carefully.
He said that Danica is fine, but is she really? Would Landon lie to me about this? The leader of the Lycans was many things, but to be that cruel was beyond the scope of what Wes was sure he was capable.
“Dammit!” he roared, banging his hands against the steering wheel. “Dammit!” He bowed his head against the rubber, a dull thud beginning at the back of his mind. Before he could do anything, the phone rang again. Blinking several times to clear the confusion from his mind, he cleared his throat and answered it.
“Stop stressing,” Catalina said. “It’s finally over.”
The words made his heart stop, and for a moment, Wes couldn’t speak.
“What do you mean?” he whispered. “What happened?”
The voice who answered him was not the doctor’s.
“Hi,” Danica murmured, breathless and relieved. “It’s me.”
“Oh, gods!” Wes groaned. “Where are you? What did that bastard do to you?”
“Nothing—thanks to Catalina.”
His shoulders sank as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Where are you?” he asked again, the words sticking inside his throat as emotion overcame him. “How is the baby?”
“I don’t know yet,” she told him, and fear gripped his gut for more reasons than one. Of course he longed for the safety of the innocent being growing inside her. But beyond that, if Danica lost the child, she would be put before the Council much sooner than he had anticipated. Wes had made peace with the fact that he was going to die for the crime of shielding his mate, but it had been his hope that the Council would see this mother as worthy of saving.
She can’t lose that child. Her life may depend on it.
“We need to go to a hospital,” Danica breathed. “Catalina… She saved me. She took me right out of that house, under their noses. But Wes, Gabriel will look for me again. I’m sure of it.”
“No, he won’t.” Wes exhaled. “Landon is about to arrest him finally.”
There was a sharp intake of breath. “Landon Burke finally caught up with him?”