“Connor? What’s-”
“Eric, get the others,” Connor ordered. “We’re gonna need that back up.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty One: Brooke
* * *
Brooke spent the whole night tugging at the ropes that bound her hands, her wrists chafing. She had begun to feel the hot sticky wetness of blood hours ago, the burn agonizing, but she continued. Her legs had long since fallen asleep, occasionally buzzing with pins and needles as she worked. The moon rose higher and the early pre-dawn morning began. The weak light revealed more of the cabin she was trapped in.
It really was a shithole. The floor creaked and groaned every time the wind whistled through the gaping holes that littered the walls and ceiling. The room itself was probably quite cosy once; there was a fireplace on the back wall, currently covered in spiderwebs and dust, but Brooke could still picture it all lit up and throwing warmth around the large room while a family sat together, or maybe while a couple fucked lazily on a couch… God, she missed Connor.
She tested the ropes again, making a small sound of satisfaction when she found she could rub her wrists together like she was trying to start a fire. The blood was actually useful, helping the rope slip over her skin. Almost there.
They must have been using this place long before they brought me here, she thought. Even with the state of the place, there were tell-tale signs left behind by its recent inhabitants: beer bottles and take out cartons were piled high to one side - still reeking as the leftover food festered and mixed with the pungent stench of stale beer.
She listened intently as she continued working at her bindings, but the place was completely silent save for the far off river and the birds singing in the early morning light. They must have figured she was no longer a threat and left her on her own.
The ropes fell to the floor. Jackpot.
Brooke pushed herself unsteadily to her feet, staggering as blood rushed back into her legs and wincing at the numbness in her toes. She tried to rub the feeling back into her wrists. Beneath the blood were deep gashes and friction burns where the ropes had repeatedly dug into her skin.
Brooke took her time, feeling out her injuries. She was tired and hungry, her head was still pounding from where she’d been hit, and her ankles and wrists felt like they were on fire but apart from that she seemed to be fine. Satisfied she wasn’t going to bleed out anytime soon, she took a few stumbling steps to the front door. It was locked, obviously, but the wood was rotten around the edges and Brooke was confident that with a few strong kicks, it wouldn’t pose much of a problem.
Problem was, with her legs as they were, Brooke doubted she had many strong kicks in her. She considered throwing herself against the wood, using her body as a battering ram, but she needed to be functional enough to get away afterwards. She cast her eyes over the cabin’s interior, searching. She needed something to dull the pain.
There was another door at the back of the room that led to what probably used to be a bedroom. Brooke checked it out. Lines of herbs and dried flowers hung from the ceiling on strings that swung in the breeze from the hole in the corner of the roof. The walls were the same dark wood as the rest of the cabin, but it was almost entirely covered in scribblings and notes - chalk diagrams underneath scraps of paper pinned haphazardly across one another. It looked like a scene from a bad indie horror movie. It had to be the witch’s room.
Brooke checked the bundles carefully, giving most of them a wide berth. They smelled… wrong… like something natural taken and perverted for something it was never intended to be a part of. Brooke had never understood magic, but she knew enough to be on her guard. There were probably hundreds of things in this room that could kill her if she got too close.
Her gaze caught a string of red peppers and hurried over to them, pulling one down. She could vaguely remember Angela telling her once that there was a natural pain relief found in capsaicin in chili peppers. She carefully dug her fingernails into the skin of the pepper and pulled it apart. She felt ridiculous, rubbing a split apart pepper onto the gashes in her wrists and even more stupid when the pain flared rather than receded but, after a minute or two of breathing through clenched teeth, the pain did start to fade some. Progress. She had to remember not to touch her face until she’d found something to wash her hands; it was no use numbing her wrists if she was blind.
She looked once more at the witches' workroom. Freaky fucking voodoo room, more like. It looked like it had been set up months ago - had Vince really been planning this for that long? Connor and his sleuth must not even know about this place, she thought, worry churning her gut and mixing with another stab of betrayal.
Connor.
Vince’s words from the night before flooded over her. He was going to attack the lodge, with over half her pack at his side and ready for battle. It would be a bloodbath if Brooke didn’t warn them. A new sense of protective fury welled up within her - Connor was her mate now, even if he could never see her as his, even if her pack would never accept it. She knew it in her heart, this pull to protect him and be protected in return.
There’s no way she could stand by and watch him and everything he cared about be destroyed.
Brooke headed back to the entrance on sore but determined legs and faced the door. It took two swift kicks for the wood to cave and fresh sunlight spilled across her face as she stepped outside. She followed the sounds of the river, until she stumbled upon the stream where she and Connor had sex. She wasn’t far from the lodge at all. Bless Vince for being such a fucking moron.
Her wolf screamed at her to get to Connor as soon as possible but she knew she had to try to settle this herself. The only way she was going to earn back her right to be alpha was to prove she had what it took to take Vince down, prove she was the better protector, the better provider. She just prayed there was still some of a pack left to help her.
She moved on instinct, shifting in order to run faster, and raced down the mountain until she reached the apartment complex. She stood, panting heavily in the parking lot, trembling faintly. What if no one was there to stand by her side? What if Vince had gotten here before her, taking the last of her family for himself?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door being flung open and frantic footsteps racing towards her. A warm body slammed into her, sending pain sparking through her body, and Brooke twisted, ready to fight when Carlo’s familiar voice cried out her name, burying his head into her fur.
“Brooke! Thank God you’re alright!”
Brooke shifted instinctively, relishing the feeling of being held. His soft curls tickled her face and she looked up to see Angela standing at her other side, a relieved smile on her face. Behind her, three pairs of eyes stared at her. Simon, Lola and Ria. That made five.
Five of her pack had waited for her. Brooke felt tears come to her eyes and she pushed Carlo back to rest her forehead against his.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I drove everyone away - this never would have happened if I’d just kept my temper and told you when Connor and I-”
“Don’t be fucking insane.” Angela dropped to her knees, eyes stern. “You’ve done more than enough for us over the years - probably too much - we got lazy. We all saw how much you were suffering, and we did nothing to help you.”
“But they’re all gone, Ang, Vince staged a fucking mutiny, and they listened to him.” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and it was suddenly hard to swallow past the lump in her throat. She looked away, unable to stand the idea of her pack, even this small part of it, seeing her this way. Again she wished for Connor and the safety to be weak that he provided. A hysterical laugh bubbled in her chest at the image of her curled in his ridiculously huge arms.
“Vince has always been a manipulative bastard,” Angela said, bringing Brooke back to the problem at hand. “What they’re doing is wrong. We may not have been there for you in the past but we’re with you today.”
“And if you have a
bear boyfriend now? You wanna have a family and cute little mutant hybrid babies?” Carlo shrugged with a grin. “I already told you, I don’t mind.”
Brooke had never felt more proud.
“He’s my mate,” she said softly, allowing a grin to spread across her face at the words. It felt so wonderful to say them out loud. Connor Strauss was her mate.
“About time,” Angela teased. “We're happy for you.”
“Now,” Carlo climbed to his feet, “let’s go save your boyfriend.”
The plan was simple - Vince and the rest of the pack would be heading back to the cabin by sundown to get Brooke, and when they discovered she wasn’t there they would head straight to the lodge. That meant Brooke and her group needed to ambush them before Vince and company got there.
“Simon!” The youngest stepped forward nervously at her call and Brooke’s heart gave a leap. “I need you to go to Black Bear Lake Lodge and warn Connor and his brothers - if we don’t make it, they'll need all the time we can give them to prepare and get the guests out.”
“But,” Simon’s voice was high and reedy with panic and Brooke had to lay a hand on his arm to try and calm him down. “They’ll never listen to me Brooke, you should go-”
“You have to,” she interrupted. “I’m not letting you go running into a fight without me again - never again, you hear me?” They’d believe him, they had to. She gave a shaky sigh and steeled her gaze to hide her own nerves. “You’re the fastest one of us, Simon. Please, do this for me.”
Simon watched her with wide eyes and Brooke wanted to tell him she was just as afraid as he was, more, even. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing her whole family in one day, but she had to be strong. She pulled him in, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I know you can do this,” she whispered into his hair.
She let him go and watched him shift.
I won’t let you down, his voice was determined and strong in her mind and she knew he wouldn't. He turned and sprinted away into the trees. Brooke watched him for a few moments longer, confident she’d managed to get him out of harm's way.
She just hoped the same could be said for the rest of them.
* * *
Chapter Twenty Two: Connor
* * *
When Connor arrived at the lodge, he found Eric, Nathan, and Cody and their mates already outside, waiting for him. Despite the whirlwind of emotions coursing through him, Connor felt steadier when he reached them.
“Connor!” Eric came forward to meet him, the others hot on his heels. “What happened? You hung up so quickly - did you find her?”
Connor shook his head, trying to make sense of his scattered thoughts. “It’s Vince, I’m sure of it. Brooke said he wanted to take over the pack. Carlo reported he hasn’t seen her since the meeting ended. Fuck. We need to find her, now.”
“I understand you’re worried about her, but what does this have to do with us?” Cody asked, confusion creasing his face. Connor felt a growl rumble at the back of his throat and Cody took a step back, head bowing automatically in the face of his pissed off alpha.
“Brooke is my mate,” Connor snapped impatiently. Six pairs of eyes widened and Connor forced himself to continue, “I got that feeling - the one you all talked about. I know it's unheard of, mating outside our species, but I know what I’ve felt and I’ve accepted it.” He felt the truth of his words settle inside him. It was so clear to him now, the attraction towards her pulling him into Cole’s day after day despite the arguments, the sheer frustration at seeing her upset or hurt - like her pain was his pain. “That pack is all she’s had for years, and I will do everything in my power to make sure she gets to keep it.”
They were all silent for a long moment and Connor prepared himself for the onslaught of disgust. It was one thing to take pity on a small group of wolves struggling to get by, but mating with the alpha of their own species' long lasting enemy? He wouldn’t be surprised if this was a step too far. But then Alanna took a tentative step forward.
“We’ll help you,” she said solemnly. Jessie and Lydia nodded in silent agreement. Connor was shocked, as were his brothers, but the women ignored their mates and stared straight at Connor.
“I’ve known you for most of my life, Connor,” Lydia said, taking Eric’s hand in hers. “You knew what people said about me and you didn’t care. And then when I came back, spouting about awful dreams, you helped me, no questions asked.”
“You helped all of us,” Jessie continued. “Before we were ever a part of your family, no matter what people said about us: you helped us. Because your brothers loved us, so you loved us.”
Alanna spoke next, and her easy, relaxed grin made something within him settle as she said, “And we love you. No way in hell are we letting you do this by yourself.”
Connor didn’t know what to say. He felt so overwhelmed he thought he might cry, which he resolutely refused to do in front of his brothers. They’d never let him hear the end of it. He opened his mouth to say... something, when a loud noise had them all turning towards the parking lot.
A young wolf had skidded to a stop before them, breathing hard. He was a tiny little thing, with thick dark fur and light eyes that were wide with panic. Connor’s heart skipped a beat.
The wolf vanished and a young man with equally dark hair stood before them. He couldn’t have been older than seventeen. He looked scared out of his mind and Connor hunched his shoulders slightly, trying to appear smaller, unthreatening and approachable. He knew he and his brothers made quite the sight all together - large and imposing - but the boy seemed to steel himself, determined to be brave.
“Vince is planning an attack,” he rushed out. “He found a witch willing to do a power transition spell and he’s already got more than half the pack on his side. When he finds out Brooke got free he’s going to head straight here to take you down.” A power transition spell? What the hell was that? He knew how wolf packs decided the next alpha but that was usually a straight fight… wait.
“Escaped? She’s okay? Where is she?” The questions rushed from him, relief and fear crashing through him like waves. Simon looked taken aback, as if he didn’t think Connor would believe him, but nodded quickly.
“She sent me here to warn you, she’s taken the rest of the pack back to their hideout to ambush them before they have a chance to get here.”
She was alive; Brooke was alive. Connor allowed himself a quick moment of relief. Then he stood up straighter, laying a gentle hand on the kid’s shoulder.
“What’s your name?”
“Simon.”
“We’re coming to help.”
Simon looked skeptically over Connor’s shoulder. “All of you?”
Connor said nothing, letting his sleuth members make their own decisions. He’d never ask them to put themselves in danger for him, just as they had never asked it of him.
Cody appeared at his side, eyes focused and dangerous. “All of us,” he confirmed, voice steely.
Connor turned to the others, who nodded. They were with him, trusting Connor to make the right decision. He felt a rush of affection and pride for them all and nodded his silent thanks. Then he turned back to the small wolf watching them warily.
“All of us,” Connor repeated.
Tracking Brooke’s scent was easy, it had been trapped in his mind ever since that first time in his suite, pine leaves and petrichor. The others followed him as he ran through the trees, nose close to the ground. Her scent was strongest by the river where they’d made love and Connor followed the creek bed, scent growing stronger by the step.
An old cabin rose out of the trees to meet them. It was one of the original lodge cabins from the first site, when their family had first settled this mountain. It was decrepit from old age and disuse but it was indisputably Strauss land and property. This whole time Vince had been hiding less than ten miles from Black Bear Lake Lodge, as far into Strauss territory as you could get before you were practically at the lodge’s front doo
rstep. Connor suppressed a low growl.
The group paused behind some bushes just outside the cabin’s yard, sounds of fighting loud in their ears. Connor worried his lip between his teeth; they were late.
Suddenly, Simon dashed out into the open before anyone could stop him, leaping over a fallen tree and straight into the middle of the fight. Connor was up before he realized, watching the young wolf rush to the aid of a young she-wolf surrounded by two much larger, older wolves. She was putting up an amazing fight but he could see she was struggling, leaning heavily on three of her legs, her left front paw curled protectively into her side.
Simon bared his teeth, snarling at the wolves as they closed in on the smaller pair, and to Connor’s surprise Nathan threw himself from cover and launched himself at the two attacking wolves, claws raking through the hind legs of the largest wolf before Connor could even think to call out for him. Alanna was quick to follow her mate. Connor propelled himself forward after them, the rest of the bears following close behind.
The air was thick with snarls and barks, most of the wolves surprised by the Strauss sleuth’s appearance. Brooke’s wolves redoubled their efforts, rallied by their unexpected allies. Connor wasted no time throwing himself into the fight. He threw a mangy looking wolf straight into the air, sending her smacking into a tree and bouncing to the forest floor. She didn’t get back up.
Another leapt at him from behind, teeth finding the soft skin of his neck and biting down hard. Connor roared in pain, twisting his body, trying to dislodge his attacker. He swiped out blindly and the wolf yelped, falling away, with blood dripping down from his eyes and down into his maw.
With the immediate threat dealt with and the support of six other angry bears, Connor casts his eyes over the battle, searching for Brooke. There were so many sounds all around him that it was getting hard to discern one growl from another.
Billionaire Bear Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset Page 48