“Maybe she is,” Trent mumbled under his breath and I tilted my head. “Sleeping,” he elaborated. “Maybe she is sleeping.” He pushed himself up. “Come sniff this and tell me what you think.”
He headed back to the motel at a jog, and I reluctantly started after him, not wanting to leave the last place Jess had been, at least not without finding some clue to her where she’d gone. I paused, turning back to sniff out the sucker Trent had dropped, and carefully picked it up with my teeth. A faint flowery scent drifted against my sensitive nose and I inhaled deeply, trying to place it. Nothing came to me, but it felt familiar, and I filed it away as a clue, not willing to let any scrap of potential evidence escape.
When I came back to Jess’ room, Trent stood stock still in the center, waiting for me. I leaped through the window and studied the room, both relieved and disturbed to find no signs of a struggle. Part of me wondered if she’d gone of her own free will, but it didn’t explain why I couldn’t reach her through the bond. I bumped my nose against Trent’s hand and dropped the sucker into his palm. He squeezed his hand around it and I felt a rush of gratitude through our bond as he accepted my apology.
Her quilt was mussed, telling me she must have been in the bed at some point. I padded over, my nose almost buried in the pillow as I inhaled her scent, a strand of her hair caught under the pillow.
“This,” Trent drew my attention, nudging the water bottle by her bed with the back of his finger. “I couldn’t smell anything, but I didn’t shift,” he explained and I gazed at it curiously. It was enough that he suspected it and was careful not to disturb any potential prints. I brought the tip of my nose to the water and inhaled deeply. The water wasn’t fresh and there was something….I couldn’t place it but it wasn’t natural.
Pour a little out for me to taste, I ordered him. Careful not to mess up any prints. He grabbed a tissue from the box and carefully picked up the bottle. He held it over his cupped hand, hesitating, “Is this a good idea?”
It’s just a taste, I reassured him, not planning to be subjected to whatever might have incapacitated Jess. He nodded and tilted the bottle, pouring a small amount in his hand. I lapped the liquid, immediately tasting something off, but I couldn’t tell what it was, only that it didn’t belong.
You’re right, I informed him. The water is tainted, but I can’t tell with what. He nodded and placed it back on the nightstand.
“Should we call your Dad? Have him classify it as a crime scene?”
Where’s her Dad? I asked instead of answering.
“Searching room to room,” Trent answered, and I could sense his understanding at her father’s need to do something, anything, even though we both knew she wasn’t here.
I padded around the room, pinpointing Trent’s scent, but also, Wren was in here? When?
“Not sure. I was in here earlier talking to Jess before dinner,” he confessed, ducking his head. I disregarded the information, trusting Trent and Jess.
After dinner?
“I went to patrol.”
Liam?
Trent paused, licking his lower lip before telling me, “He escorted Leah home.”
He’s not back yet? I asked sharply and Trent shook his head.
LIAM! I bellowed over the Pack bond, causing Trent to wince as the call echoed.
Alpha, he answered instantly, and I had the impression of a dog with his tail between his legs.
Where are you?
Sitting outside Leah’s house, he responded, Hanleys have been here. The acrid scent of piss came across the connection and Trent gagged.
Is she safe? I asked, knowing Jess would want her friend safe above anything else.
Yes, she’s locked inside and I told her to stay alert, he replied and I knew that would have to be enough. I needed Liam here.
Mark the area and come back, I ordered him and then thought to add, Now, just in case he decided to linger.
Yes, sir.
“Do you think it’s the Hanleys who took her?” Trent questioned, his face puzzled as he tried to fit the pieces together. I shook my head, uncertain. Who else would take her but the Hanleys? Who else had a reason? But this didn’t fit their MO. They were smash and grab. This had been done delicately, with no traces of whoever had done it. In fact, it was suspicious in how meticulously they’d covered their tracks.
I don’t know, but whoever did this will regret it, I promised, as I leapt back out the window. I lifted my head, a long, low howl emanating from my throat as I raised the alarm.
Frantic thoughts flooded my head as the Pack responded, many rushing to shift and I felt each one individually as their connection grew stronger with the shift.
Dom, Anna’s voice brushed against my thoughts and once again I was impressed by her control. Few shifted wolves could direct their thoughts, usually just broadcasting them over the Pack bond, but Anna had impeccable control. Jess? Her voice trailed off uncertainly, a tinge of fear coloring my vision as she fought to keep her own emotions from overwhelming mine. The lock on my emotions threatened to break at her concern, and I struggled for a moment before I could respond.
She’s been taken, I finally answered, and Anna couldn’t prevent a cry from escaping her throat. The short yipping sound triggered the others and the surrounding forest filled with their haunting wails as the Pack responded to the loss of my mate. Trent popped a sucker in his mouth, crouching beside me as the howls pierced the air. “We’ll find her, Dom,” he reassured me. “She’s gonna be fine.”
I didn’t respond, not sure I could without howling myself. I leaned against his side for a brief second, showing my appreciation for his loyalty. He rested his hand on my shoulder, straightening as we felt Liam approach.
Head him off, I told Trent. We can’t afford any fighting. I wasn’t sure how the Navarre Pack would handle coming across a former Hanley Pack member in their current state. I also didn’t want any of them questioning why he hadn’t been initiated yet. Liam’s refusal to join the Navarre Pack and leave my Pack was going to bite me in the ass eventually, but it could wait until I had Jess back by my side. Nothing mattered until she was safely back in my arms.
Chapter Seven
Jess
The wail of a steel guitar pulled me from sleep and the sound combined with the faint scent of lilac forced me to open my eyes. There was only one person on earth who wore lilac perfume and actually liked old country music.
“Mother,” I grunted, pushing myself upright as my head gave a nauseating spin.
“You’re awake,” she said in surprise. “I thought you’d be out longer.”
“Thought or hoped,” I muttered, holding my head so it would stop spinning around
]
on my neck.
“Both,” she answered brightly. “But no worries, I’m happy you recovered so quickly.”
“You roofied me,” I accused thickly, running my tongue over my teeth, my mouth feeling like cotton.
“I simply gave you something to make you more manageable,” she corrected without a hint of remorse.
“Water,” I croaked, whatever moisture that had remained in my mouth gone with my attempts to speak. She passed me a water bottle and I glared at it suspiciously.
“Oh, it’s fine,” she huffed. “I have no need to knock you out now.”
I struggled to get the cap off, relieved as I broke the seal on it. She might be telling the truth but I had no reason to believe her. I took a long swallow, and then a smaller sip, swishing the water around my mouth as I tried to orient myself.
“Where are we?” I finally asked, figuring out I was in a car but the pitch black darkness outside made it hard to decipher landmarks.
She gave an elegant shrug and I noticed her clothing was spotless and expensive. “Montana?” She offered, not bothered by the fact that she didn’t know.
“Montana?!?” I shrieked and she winced.
“Inside voice,” she chided and I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. Between my
head, which continued to throb and the fact that I was stuck in a car with my psychotic mother, I thought she was fucking lucky I wasn’t screaming at her.
“How about you let me out of the car and it won’t matter?” I retorted, holding my head as it gave a sick throb. “How much did you give me?” I added, trying to mentally calculate how many hours it would take to get to Montana from the motel, and quickly giving up as my head threatened to revolt.
“I’m not sure,” she replied, tapping her lip with one manicured nail. “I left that up to Bruce.”
“And who is Bruce?” I asked, taking a chance my head wouldn’t fall off when I craned my neck to check the backseat. I wouldn’t put it past my mother to have him laid out back there, awaiting her beck and call.
“Oh, I disposed of him before we left Idaho,” she rushed to assure me and I eyed her narrowly, no longer sure what she meant by ‘disposed’ since she’d gone to rather spectacular lengths to kidnap me. “I hired him to help me rescue you,” she continued pertly and I blinked stupidly for several seconds.
Rescue me?
“From what?” Is what finally came out of my mouth and from the downturn of her lips I could tell she didn’t appreciate my lack of gratitude. But what the hell? “Seriously, Mother. You need to turn the car back around.” I groped around inside of my head, at least that’s how it felt with the headache from hell, and finally felt the faintest glimmer of my link to Dom. It felt stretched, almost impossibly thin, and I was afraid to use it for fear it would snap completely. I still wasn’t an expert at linking to the bond and if my muddled instincts could be trusted, the distance between us would only make it that much harder.
“No,” she said petulantly. “I won’t.” She shook her head as she tucked a perfectly smooth lock of hair behind her ear. “You’d think you could show at least a hint of gratitude for the lengths I go to protect you.”
“Protect me?” My voice went an octave higher in sheer disbelief at her words. “Protect me from what, Mother? Telling me what I am? Telling Monster what he is?” Anger pushed back the rolling nausea that consumed me as I straightened in my seat and I took in her pursed lips. “You’ve lied to me my entire life,” I accused, the words coming out in a hiss.
“I’ve protected you,” she countered, her gaze jerking to mine for the barest second and I could see she believed what she said.
“Ignorance isn’t protection,” I told her, my voice cutting sharper than a knife. “It’s just ignorance, which leads to bad decisions. LIKE KIDNAPPING YOUR DAUGHTER!”
“You don’t understand,” she shouted in frustration.
“Clearly, you don’t either,” I yelled back, equally frustrated as the sound of a steel guitar came to a painful pitch. “And turn that crap off!” I reached for the volume on the radio and she slapped my hand away.
“I don’t see how you could be my daughter,” she sulked, and my mouth opened and closed wordlessly. I leaned back against the seat, taking shallow breaths as I willed the pain throbbing through me to cease. It didn’t work on the pain, but it did give me time to calm down enough not to kill her.
We rode in silence for what felt like an hour, but since she’d turned all the inside lights down, I couldn’t tell what time it was or what direction or even speed we were going as we drove down the empty highway.
I toyed with the thought of attempting to contact Dom, my mind worrying the fragile thread that still connected us, but what could I tell him other than I was alive? My mother had me? But what good would it do him?
He might not go attack the Hanleys, the sensible part of my brain told me, sending another flare of panic through me. How long had I been out?
“How long was I,” I paused before I said unconscious, figuring I better try to get on her good side so she might actually answer me. “Asleep?” I said instead, patting myself on the back for my cleverness.
“A few hours?” She finally answered, her shrug indifferent.
“Hours,” I repeated, forcing myself not to screech the word. I knew it had to have been a while, but hours gave Dom enough time to attack the Hanleys, to possibly be killed.
He’s not dead, you nitwit, I scolded myself. The bond is still there. I took a deep breath and held it until I felt lightheaded and my chest ached, exhaling in a loud rush.
Clearly, one of us needed to be an adult here and it obviously wasn’t going to be my mother. My jaw worked as I gathered my patience to try and get information out of her. “Why did you,” I hesitated as I said it, the word bitter on my tongue, “Rescue me?”
She shot me a sideways glance, not trusting my suddenly calm questions. I forced a neutral expression, knowing how my mother operated. Or at least I’d thought I’d known. Kidnapping was an entirely new level of crazy, even for her.
“To save you from a life of slavery,” she said patiently, her tone indicating I should already know this.
“Okay,” I replied calmly, as I considered a different way to get answers since she wasn’t making any sense. “Where’s Brian?” I asked about her new husband, my stepfather, and the one she’d dumped Dad for, a fact I was fast becoming forever grateful for.
“I left him in France,” she said baldly.
“Left him as in separated or left as in he’s there working and you came to visit?” I questioned, needing more details.
Once again, she shrugged, and I could see why parents might consider murdering their young over the use of the casual motion. I decided to go with stating facts to see if it would get more of a response.
“Mother,” I started and she wiggled in her seat, positioning her hands more firmly on the steering wheel.
“Yes, daughter?” She replied eagerly and I had to bite back my instinctive sarcasm. I’d definitely grown, I decided to myself, knowing even a few weeks ago I wouldn’t have been able to resist, but now I had more important things to consider, like making sure Dom didn’t do something ridiculously rash and dangerous on my behalf.
“I’ve been living with Dad the past few months, building a business,” I told her carefully. “I’ve been happy. In fact, I graduated high school early,” I added in an upbeat voice, hoping it would trigger something.
“That’s wonderful,” she gushed. “It’ll make things so much easier to find a place to live without you having to finish up high school.”
Okay, that hadn’t been my intention but it was good to know she’d been thinking ahead. A trickle of unease went through me at how well she had planned my kidnapping. I’d never suspected this when she’d arrived this morning. Yesterday morning? I didn’t really know anymore, but a furtive glance at her nose revealed a flesh colored bandage and some expert concealer coverage. Had she planned this before she’d arrived?
“You sent Monster to stay with us,” I continued and watched her lips make a small moue.
“You know I hate that nickname,” she interjected, her tone repressive. “What is so wrong with Theodore?”
So many things, I begged to say, but kept my mouth shut. Number one being the fact that he hated it. A fact she never seemed to care about. “Why didn’t you….take Monster?” I asked, carefully avoiding the words kidnap and rescue.
She rolled her eyes, “Because he’s a shifter. They’ll prize him.”
My forehead wrinkled at her words, and I wasn’t sure if it was the pain from my headache or what, but her words were starting to sound awfully familiar. “And they wouldn’t prize me for being a breeding female?” I verified, for the moment ignoring who ‘they’ were.
She scoffed, “Oh, they’ll prize you alright. Mount you every chance they get so they can spawn the next precious boy shifter.” She glanced over at me before I could hide my shocked expression. “Don’t look so surprised, dear. I’ve been where you are. Trust me when I say I’ve saved you from a fate worse than death.”
It clicked then….Wren’s face when she saw the picture. It had nothing to do with my happy little family and everything to do with the woman next to me. “You’re a Hanl
ey,” I whispered, recognizing her bitter words and tone because I’d heard them from Sam repeatedly.
“No,” she denied harshly. “I’m not. I left that name and life behind me a long time ago, and God help anyone who thinks I’d abandon my daughter to the same fate.”
Chapter Eight
Dom
I paced restlessly, still in wolf form as the Pack gathered outside. Anna had come inside the apartment where I had stationed myself, the air saturated with Jess’ scent and the only thing keeping me sane. Caleb waited outside, moving among the Pack members as he allowed me to take the lead in the hunt for my mate. I knew if I asked he’d charge the Hanley Pack without an ounce of hesitation, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing something, something important.
Anna, I sent the mental call over the Pack bond, and her head came up. She huddled inside an oversize bathrobe Jess’ father had found for her since she’d shifted into human form when she’d arrived, acting as a translator for me.
Trent eyed me, suspecting I was communicating with Anna when she stared at me. He’d managed to grab Liam before anyone saw him and they both stood in the corner. Anna had glanced at them curiously when she’d come in but didn’t question me on their presence.
Do you recognize this scent? I sent Anna the flowery smell I’d filed away, the one I didn’t know, and hoped her more sensitive nose could detect what mine hadn’t.
Her eyes closed as she concentrated on the scent memory, and I knew she’d have a better chance if she’d smelled it directly, but the scent had already been fading when I’d caught it.
Her nose wrinkled as one eye popped open, “Lilac?” She sounded uncertain, but I trusted her nose.
“A woman?” Trent questioned, disbelief heavy in his voice. “A woman couldn’t have carried her out.”
My Dad had shown up, acting in official capacity as the town Sherriff, and analyzed the evidence in Jess’ room. It had taken him seconds to test the water on her nightstand and confirm it had been laced with Rohypnol. Someone had drugged Jess and carried her out of her room with none of us the wiser.
The Alpha (The Pack Book 3) Page 8