“Your brother is to come with us. Max said to tell you he is going to meet us later. You will come too. Your things will be packed for you. Now let us get your brother out of here.”
“Wait, why didn’t Max come back for us?”
“Not sure. I don’t ask questions, Miss. When he gives an order, we follow it. We will take your brother down, then come back for you.”
I understand now, they are here to take my brother away from me. Max plans to separate us. Not happening. “NO! I go with him. You’re not taking him without me.”
“I have my orders. Miss Cara step out of the way. Don’t make us force you.”
“If you lay a hand on me Max will kill you. I go with my brother or he doesn’t go anywhere.” The one calling the shots, pulls out his cell and makes a call. I hear Max’s voice on the other end.
“She is giving us trouble.” The big guy says. I hear him say to give me the phone. The big one steps over to me and hands me the phone. He says Max wants to speak with me.
“I am not letting them take my brother without me!” I yell into the phone.
“Baby, they’re not going to. They need to take your brother down first and get him situated, they will come back for you. Now please do what they ask, I have my hands full right now or I would be there. I will see you soon.”
“No! I go with him. I can help get him settled. There is no reason on earth to separate us. Max, you know I will die if we are apart.”
“Baby, I know that. Now let my men do what they are supposed to. You will be with him in a few minutes. Ok?”
“Nope, you are trying to separate us. I don’t trust you. You are lying to me, I can tell. What are you up to Max? Why are you trying to kill me?”
“Damn it, Cara I am not trying to hurt you. I just want us to travel in a different van. I want you to ride in comfort. Your brother needs to be able to lay down. He can’t very well do that in my car. He will be in a van following us. I swear you are making me furious.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re still lying. Why is that Max? Why are you lying to me?” I can tell he is lying.
“Truth, you want the truth. Ok, here it goes, I know you warned the pack. I don’t know exactly what or how, but you did. I don’t trust you my love, either. We will be together. If I have to separate you from your brother so I can make you behave, then that is what I am going to do. Now either you work with my men willingly or I will have them use force. Remember my love, your brother is already pretty beaten up. How much more can he take?”
“You hurt him, you hurt me. You say you love me you lie!”
The big one grabs the phone as I am shifting. I will defend my brother. Zeke is off the bed trying to shift. He is too hurt to make a full shift. The four men are clueless. They stare at me. I am a huge wolf when I fluff up.
“Sir, she wolfed out.”
I can hear Max cussing and yelling orders. I don’t understand everything he tells them only that I am in big trouble. I am still not a hundred percent myself. Even if I was I am now looking down the barrel of a gun. I can’t make out what kind of gun it is. I don’t wait to find out, I attack.
Before I can take down the first one with a gun I feel pain. Searing hot pain. My hips are being electrocuted. I turn to rip out what is causing the pain. I see from the gun in his hands to my hips there are two wires. Each time the man pushes a button it hurts. The pain soars through my body.
I try to rip out the prongs, but when I bit the wires he pushes the button I yelp releasing the wires. Taser gun! I hear Zeke howling and turn to see he has one in his hip too. It gives me a little more strength to fight.
I manage to fight taking two of the men down before my lights go out. I don’t know what happened, but I felt something hit my hip then blackness.
When I wake, I look around? I don’t see Zeke anywhere. I don’t have any idea how long I was out. Or where they had taken Zeke. I didn’t even know where I was. I just remembered trying to open my eyes.
I’m a little confused when I realize I’m awake and not in the casino bedroom. Where am I? Where is Cara? What happened to me? Is Cara alive? Did he kill her? Help, Help!
I’m in some kind of cage. Thick silver bars. What the hell happened? Think, think. Men with guns? Cara, she shifted and attacked them, but why? Why did they have guns?
I must fight the darkness. Lights fade in and out. Am I awake or not? Am I just in my head? Cara?
Chapter 13
It was only a few hours after Eric had called to relay Cara’s message when we came across the broken transmitter that Zeke had been wearing. We knew something had gone wrong. We had waited to see if he could get a hold of us. Didn’t want to go charging in if he wasn’t with Cara.
We followed his trail to the place where he was grabbed and dragged into an alley. Four of them. Not wolves, but vampires? They smell of death and blood.
Rufus, Kyle, and Duncan are searching everywhere for Cara, but no one can seem to find a trace of her scent anywhere. Oh, my daughter where has he taken you?
“Sir a call. Rufus has located the truck that has Cara’s scent in it. It’s in a parking lot under a casino. He says her scent is very faint outside the truck. He want’s permission to go into the casino and search for her?”
“Tell him to wait. Get his location, we will all go in together. Don’t want an ambush that gets him killed. If we stick together we have more of a chance.” So, my daughter is here somewhere. But have they moved on as she suggested in her message? Oh Princess, please be all right. Please be unmated. Princess Cara, we will find you. I will kill him with my own two paws. I will rip him to shreds for what he has done.
Rufus has given us directions to where he is with the truck that has her scent. We will arrive there in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes and I will be near my daughter. Oh, Princess I pray you’re still there.
Cara tries to remember what happened but can’t. Man, I feel so foggy. My head hurts and I can’t see. I know my eyes are open. Aren’t they? I flick my eyes open and shut. I try to sit up. “No, baby, not yet. Lay still, I have you. You are alright baby. Lay still, let the medicine work its way out of your system.”
That voice? Do I know it? I listen trying to clear my head. I have to figure out what is going on. The voice keeps talking to me so soft and sweet, yet I know it’s all a lie. He lies to me. He did this to me, or did he? Yes, he had it done.
“Baby, it’s all right your safe. Cara, love stop fighting it. Let it run through your veins, till it is all gone. You can’t fight it.”
The hell I can’t fight. I can fight, right? I start thrashing around like mad. Then I feel like my arms and legs are weighted down. Why? What is going on?
“Baby stop, you’re going to hurt yourself. Baby lay still. Cara no! Stop fighting us.”
Us? Who? How many of them are there? Why can’t I think straight? Why does my head hurt so? My hip is so sore, burning like hot coals on my right side.
“Baby please, you are going to get hurt thrashing around like that. Can’t you give her more till we get there?”
Give me more what? Who is he talking to? Hello? Ow! No, no fight, fight harder to stay with it. No! Blackness takes over once more.
“Leon, I swear if she had hurt herself I would have rung your neck. I want her sedated till we get where we’re going. Then you can slowly let her wake up. I have a special padded room where she won’t get hurt waking up. Try to alert the pack will you, my little one. No, sir, they can’t have you back you are mine. Baby you and I will mate as soon as possible. Then you will no longer want to go with your pack.”
I hold her tight while she is out of it. She will be angry with me for a while, but she will understand it was for her own good. She will forgive me when I make love to her. When I bite her, and mark her as my mate, she will be grateful.
It’s cold, very cold. I shiver. What has happened to me? Where am I, Antarctica? I am freezing. I shake and shiver. It’s so cold. I have to sit up. I struggle and fight to
open my eyes. Everything is white? Why white? Where am I? My eyes won’t stay open they fall shut again. Darkness.
“Maxwell, she is moving around. I think she may be about to wake up. You want me to go in the room with her?”
“No, just observe her. If you go in she will fight. Let her slowly wake up. I am on my way.”
Zeke is coming around again. He had been out for a long time. Where am I? It smells of drugs. It’s cold. Hospital? My leg, oh my leg it hurt so bad. They broke it, I think. They? Yes, men with guns. They shot… Cara? Cara where are you? Princess, can you hear me?
Zeke? I hear a voice in my head. The voice in my head belongs to my brother. No, it can’t be he isn’t here he is back home with the pack.
“No Cara it’s me. I don’t know where I am. Princess, can you see anything?”
I try to force my eyes open. Light, bright light. Hurts. Have to focus. I guess I fall back into the darkness next thing I hear is the voice in my head yelling at me.
“Cara? Princess? Sis, where are you? Are you ok? Oh, please talk to me. Sis, can you hear me?”
White walls, white padded walls. No furniture. Did they put me in an insane asylum? Oh God! That’s it, I am locked in a padded room. No way out. Cara? Did they lock her up too? How can I get to her? How do I help her out of this one? The pack?
“Father, can you hear me? Father, Lucian? Anyone, can you hear me? Need your help. Locked in a hospital or asylum. Please help me. Help Cara. Oh hell!”
“Zeke?”
“Yes, Princess I’m here. Are you ok?” Silence, why doesn’t she answer? What is wrong with her? Why doesn’t father answer my thoughts? Too far away, I guess. Help, help us.
“Why isn’t she waking up? She moves, then stops. What is wrong?”
“I don’t know. She was sick before we had to tranquilize her. Maybe that is affecting things. Maybe she is too weak to fight off the drugs.”
“Do something. Can’t you give her something to help remove the drugs? If she dies, you die!”
“I might be able to reverse the drugs. It could be dangerous if I do it too fast. I can give her something to help the medicine go through her system faster.”
“Then do it. I don’t like seeing her so lifeless. I need my fighter back. I need my mate up and strong.”
The doctor gets a needle out and searches threw a cabinet full of drugs. He pulls out a vial and loads the syringe. Then he heads for the padded room. Max follows him. He will hold Cara while the doctor gives her the shot.
The doctor kneels on the floor beside the lifeless body of Cara. A Princess, and werewolf, right thinks the new doctor. Max takes her limp body in his arms and holds her to his chest. He watches as the attendant gives her the shot in the hip. He notices her hip is blistering up.
“Why is her hip so swollen and red?”
“She had a reaction to some of the drugs. I have been keeping an eye on it. That too might be why she isn’t fully awake yet. We didn’t give her the same dosage as the other one. He woke up a couple hours ago.”
“How is he doing? Is he in pain? If he is, she feels it. You keep him comfortable but locked up. Don’t trust him for any reason.”
“He is resting comfortable. His leg broke again. I set it. Once that is healed he will be back to normal. I suppose that is when we will really have our hands full. He isn’t going to sit there without fighting to get out of that room. He will injure himself trying to get to her.”
“Yes, I will have to figure out something. Either that or keep him knocked out.”
“If you keep him out you will be affecting her health.”
“Then we can’t do that. I don’t want anything happening to her. She is the most important thing. How long before that stuff starts waking her up?”
“Ten, fifteen minutes.”
“All right then, let’s get out of here. I don’t want to upset her till she is fully awake. Then I will come in and sit with her. I will have some pretty hard explaining to do, but she’ll forgive me.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. She is a werewolf.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Your job is to keep her alive.” They walk out and lock the door. Back up in the observation room Max sits by the window and watches as Cara starts to stir.
“Zeke?”
“Oh, Princess I was scared. You all right?”
“I don’t know. I think so. I’m not as foggy as I was before. I can open my eyes, but the light is so bright it hurts my head. What happened? Where are we?”
“It took me a long time to remember. I remember four men coming into the bedroom where Max had me. Do you remember guns?”
“Yes, I do. They had wires. Stun guns? I attacked one of the men, then this horrific pain hit me. My hip felt like it was burning and every time he hit that damn button it hurt throughout my body. But then I don’t remember anything.”
“That is because they used darts on us. Tranquilizer darts. I don’t know how long I was out. You have been out for hours since I woke up. I was getting scared you weren’t going to wake up.”
“Any idea where we are?”
“Best I can figure it’s some kind of hospital like an asylum. I don’t know about you, but I am in a padded room, no furniture or anything. Cold floor. No window excepts for a tiny one in the door.”
“That sounds like what I am looking at excepts I see a two-way mirror up high. I am being watched.”
Zeke looks around up high. That is when he sees it. “I see one too now that you mention it. We are under observation. You think it’s Max watching?”
“Damn him. Yeah, I bet this is his idea of fun. I’ll kill him myself.”
“No Princess, you can’t. You’re still weak from before this. I am sure this has made you weaker yet. You had just started to get a little bit better. But with all the drugs they gave us, your system will be weak again. If you attack him now, he will hurt you. You must promise me you will wait till you’re back to yourself. Promise?”
“I will try to wait. Zeke, how are we going to get out of this place? What do we do?”
“I am working on that one. I keep calling out to father and the pack. So far, they must be too far away to hear me. Sis I will get us out of this. My leg has been broken again. Give me time to heal, then I will attack my guards when they come in. Sooner or later, they have to come in to check on me. Princess stay safe. Don’t try anything yet. Please?”
“I make no promises. If I get the chance to escape, I am going to find you. I take it we must be in the same place to communicate. Plus, you described the same room that I am in.”
“What is she doing? Why is she just lying there staring at the ceiling? Why doesn’t she get up? Something is going on. You are sure that shot didn’t hurt her?”
“She may just be trying to figure out where she is. It can be confusing when they first come out of the tranquilizers.”
“I can’t take this I am going to her. You keep the door locked till I say to let me out. I don’t want her getting out and trying to fight everyone here.”
“Zeke I hear keys. Someone is here opening my door.”
“Keep a cool head, Cara. Don’t try anything now. You’re not up to it.”
The door opens and Max steps inside. I stagger to my feet. I am not going to let him touch me. He holds out his hand’s, palms up. Like I am going to buy that. He is trying to say it’s safe, he is safe. Bull! I growl at him. I stagger and fall back into the wall.
“Easy now. Baby, you’re all right. Cara, honey it’s going to be all right. We are going to be all right. Baby, can you see me yet?”
“I see a piece of shit standing before me. I hate you.” I am snarling at him and showing him my teeth.
“No, baby you don’t. I had to get you to safety. You wouldn’t go with my men. They did what they had to, to keep you from hurting yourself or someone else. Baby, please stop growling.”
No freaking way. He steps closer and I snap at him. I try to shift, but I fall to the floor a
nd have some kind of seizure. I don’t shift. Why? Why can’t I shift? I am panicking.
“Easy baby you’re all right. Cara, honey? Get in here. Baby, you bit your tongue, it’s bleeding. Baby, we are going to help you. Love, can you hear me?”
“She can’t hear you. I don’t think she is conscious. She is having a seizure. I don’t know what is going on.”
“She tried to shift. I told you she is a werewolf like me. I can smell the wolf, it’s strong. She tried to shift and couldn’t. Why? What have you done to her? I will kill you if you hurt her!”
“I didn’t do anything. Perhaps the medicine is keeping her from shifting. She has been given a lot of drugs over the last few days. You had me keep her out. Maybe it was too much for her body. She still hasn’t burned off all the drugs. Once she is fully awake and the drugs are completely gone, she will be herself again.”
“She better be. A wolf who can’t shift soon dies. They keep trying to shift till their body literally attacks their insides. I have seen it before. It is a gruesome sight to see. You better pray she is herself real soon.”
“Sis? Princess answer me, what is happening? Damn it, Cara talk to me? Oh man, what have you done? Did you try to fight him? Princess, please answer me?”
“Ow, my tongue, it’s bleeding.”
“Why?”
“Hey, you’re awake. Baby, you’re going to be all right. Just lay still. Baby, how do you feel?”
I jump up and stagger backwards till I hit the wall. “Like killing you!” Ow, I grab my head and hold it in my hands. I squeezed, trying to stop the pain. I hit the floor on my knees. He rushes to me.
“What’s wrong? Baby, talk to me what is happening?”
“Don’t touch me. Ow, damn it hurts.”
“Your head?” He reaches out and touches my hand. He tries to pull it down away from my head. I yell at him to keep his filthy hands off me. He keeps pulling at my hand. I snap! I lash out and bite his hand. “Hey, now you stop that. Cara, I swear I will hit you if you bite me again. Now I want to help you.”
“You did this to me.”
One Princess One Pack One Villain Page 15