by Lilly Wilder
“It is time for us to end this once and for all,” I whispered, teeth grinding with a need for vengeance.
“Jane,” we both thought at once as we sped through the city in our wolf form. Neither one of us cared whether civilians happened to see us. They would write it off as their imagination anyway. And if they didn’t, well, that was a problem that we’d address at a different time. “We’re coming for you,” I said into the emptiness, in the hopes that she might hear us but she didn’t offer us a response.
My heart sank into the depths of my chest.
For the first time in a long time, I prayed, because what we needed was nothing short of a miracle.
Chapter 24: Landon
We reached the river but our enemies were nowhere to be found. The fur along my spine was on edge as my hatred became almost uncontrollable. If these monsters thought they could kidnap my mate and get away with it then they had another think coming.
“Where are they?” I demanded, knowing that Roman was better at following a scent. “They have got to be somewhere.”
“I can’t smell a damned thing. It is like they were never here.”
“That’s because, they weren’t. They never intended to be here. That note was just another diversion to get us away from their tracks — to get us further away from Jane.” I kicked myself for being made a fool. I had never been this careless before. “This was another one of their tricks.”
“Fuck.”
“Looking for us?” All of a sudden, a couple of men wearing matching leather jackets came strutting forward like they were the owners of the entire universe. Outraged, I lunged forward, ready to shred those smirks right off their faces.
I was within a hair’s breadth of delivering the fatal blow when I was hit with the most excruciating pain of my life. I don’t even know how I should explain it.
“Landon!” Roman rushed to my rescue but in a moment’s notice, he was by my side, spasming with the same pain.
“Hasn’t anyone taught you to think before you act?” The bigger of the two placed his boot on my chest, threatening to crush it under his heel.
My human form betrayed me. I was unable to so much as lift a pinky. “What have you done to us?” I managed to say the words through gritted teeth. They weren’t very understandable but I was hoping it was enough to get the message across. “And where is Jane?”
“She’s fine,” answered the other. “Just fine. If you ask me, she’s much better off than she would have been staying with you two. A girl like that needs a pair of real wolves and our leaders are going to satisfy her in all the right ways.”
My strength returned in a burst of energy that had me off the ground. Without a second thought, I rammed myself into the Alpha, leaving Roman to deal with the lesser wolf but he was still on the ground, helpless after our paralyzing attack. That moment of distraction was a mistake.
Wham!
A fist knocked into my jaw. It came unhinged. I had just enough time to pop it back into place before another punch was thrown in my direction. I dodged at the last minute and managed to clip his legs. He fell back, hitting his head on the hard ground. Taking the window of opportunity as it presented itself to me, I was at his neck, teeth bared and ready to sink into his jugular. “Tell us where she is,” Roman spoke on my behalf, standing victorious over the other wolf. “Or your partner here is about to choke on his own blood.”
“You don’t have it in you, pretty boy. You aren’t a killer.”
“Do you really want to try me when your partner’s life hangs in the balance?” Roman pulled out his dagger and held it against the man’s neck. “Now, I suggest you start talking and you tell us exactly where our mate is being held.”
“Who says she’s still alive?”
Roman drew blood. His eyes had darkened to an almost blackness. I had never seen him act this way. Rage was close to consuming every fiber of his being.
With a growl, I curled my upper lip, revealing the sharp and deadly canines hiding underneath. I meant it as an act of intimidation but my killer instincts got the better of me.
Snap!
My jaw locked around his throat and with a jerk of my head, it was no longer a part of his body.
He gurgled, trying desperately to breathe but there was nothing he could do when he lacked a windpipe. The dying man grasped at the empty air above his head as if that might save him. In the end, the light faded from his eyes and he slumped into lifelessness.
“You didn’t have to kill him,” said Roman. “We can’t extract information from a dead man.”
“They weren’t going to tell us anything anyway,” I responded as I shifted into my human form and wiped the blood from my mouth. “They want to make us suffer. And they can only succeed in doing so if they keep Jane away from us but I’m not going to let that happen. We’re going to find her even if it is the last thing we do.”
Roman dropped the beta who was slowly regaining consciousness. To make sure he wouldn’t give us any grief, I knocked him out with a swift kick to the head.
“What has gotten into you?”
“This pack has messed with me one too many times,” I answered. “And I’m not going to stand for it. They are going to feel my wrath.”
“Remind me never to piss you off.”
“Come on, enough chit chat. We have a girl to find.”
“Right.” Roman was quick to transform into his wolf form. He had his nose nearly touching the ground.
“Anything?”
He continued to sniff, walking in a straight line towards the east as if he had caught scent of something.
“Roman?”
And then he went off in a sprint. I had to scramble to catch up but I could tell by the wagging of his tail that he had found her. We tore through the forest, leaving dust in our wake.
“Jane,” I called out to her in my mind but she didn’t answer. Was she unconscious? Had they already done something to her? Would we find her mauled and torn to pieces like all the other members of our pack?
Just the thought fueled me with newfound rage. These wolves were not shifters — they were downright abominations. This wasn’t a territorial qualm — this was premeditated murder. And it was my job to put an end to it.
Roman started to slow down. “Careful,” he said as he took cover behind some nearby trees. “She’s close.”
All I wanted to do was barge in there and take her into my arms but I knew that doing so was a stupid idea. It was a surefire way to get myself killed. And if I got myself killed then who would protect my family to be? No. Jane needed me to keep a level head.
I waited for Roman’s signal but it never came.
It was then that I realized how quiet it had become. Even the wind had ceased.
“What’s going on?” I asked, unable to stand the silence.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should find out.”
“And maybe we should walk right into another one of their traps.”
Roman inched forward and poked his head around the tree, trying to see whatever it was that lay beyond it.
“There’s no visibility. I need to get higher. Cover me while I climb.”
He didn’t even wait for me to answer before he started scrambling up the trunk. He slipped halfway to the top. I prepared myself to catch him but he dug his claws into the wood and steadied himself before we could have a disaster on our hands.
“Try to focus,” I chided.
“I am focused.” There was a certain edge to his voice that I didn’t like. Roman was losing his cool and doing so was the quickest way to a royal fuck up.
“Roman.”
“What?”
“I know that you’re worried about Jane. I am too. There’s no telling what they’ve done with her or what might happen the longer she is with them. But if we continue this way then it’s going to spell disaster. The best thing we can do right now is work as a team. If you kee
p pushing me aside in order to prove yourself, we’re not going to get anywhere. We’re only going to succeed in getting ourselves killed and then we’ll be useless to Jane and the baby.” I looked up, hoping my message would get through to him.
“I see her clothes!” he said after a moment’s delay.
“Her clothes?” I didn’t like the sound of that. “What about Jane herself? Can you see her anywhere?”
“Don’t you think if I could, I’d tell you as much?” Again, there was that edge to his voice. He sounded like a different person, possessed by the stress of the situation.
He jumped down and made the shift. Back on two feet, he walked into the clearing like he didn’t have a care in the world. I was starting to fear that he had lost his sanity.
“Roman.”
“It’s fine. There’s no one here.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” I followed after him but I had a hand on my weapons as a precaution. If anyone tried to sneak up on me, they wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
“Because this is just another cookie crumb meant to torment us.” He picked up Jane’s discarded clothing. I could smell the blood in the air. It was strong and pungent — fresh.
“Is it hers?” I asked, horrified by the idea.
“Of course, it’s hers.” He shoved the clothing into my face. “Don’t you recognize her sweater? The t-shirt she liked so much? The jeans that made her ass look like it was out of this world?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Roman was really testing my patience with his hysterics. “But is it her blood? Because it doesn’t smell that way to me.”
“What do you know? Your nose has always been defective. Why would it start working now?”
That’s when something snapped deep inside of me. I couldn’t stop myself in time. I went flying towards my mating partner, bringing him to the ground. “Get a hold of yourself, Roman!” I shouted as I threw down a punch. “Because you’re acting like a whiny little bitch.”
He laid there, stunned.
For a second, I feared that I had punched him a bit too hard.
“Fuck, you’re right,” he said. “It isn’t her blood.” He grabbed her shirt and brought it to his nose, breathing it in. “It’s stag blood.”
“See. You’ve gotten so caught up in all this that it’s clouding your judgment. You have to focus if we have any chance of finding her.”
He frowned. “I just can’t stop thinking about what she must be going through and how this is our fault. If she were still living her normal human life, she wouldn’t have been put through this kind of dangerous situation.”
“You and I both know that one way or another, she would have found us. Fate works whether you want it to or not.”
“You sound like Cynthia,” said Roman.
“She is a wise woman.”
“Who lost our mate…”
“I doubt it was Cynthia’s fault,” I argued. “Knowing Jane, she probably ran away in hopes of helping us.” I shook my head and offered my hand to get Roman off the ground. “And sorry about punching you in the face.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He popped his nose back into place. “I needed some sense knocked into me.”
“Right. Now, let’s get back on track before it’s too late.”
Roman was about to say something but that’s when I felt the presence of unwanted visitors. Looking around, I realized we were surrounded. Apparently, we had gotten so caught up in our conversation that we had neglected to notice them.
“You stand on our land,” said the obvious leader of the pack. He wore traditional garb which meant that there was nothing but a thin square of cloth covering his manhood. I tried to keep my eyes from that focal point but it was rather difficult when it was so brightly embroidered. “And now you desecrate me with your eyes.”
“I mean, you pretty much painted a bull’s-eye on your junk,” quipped Roman in his usual fashion. Well, at least he was back to normal.
“Look, we need your help. There is a pack of nomads that need to be stopped. We were once members of a clan that resided to the north. Our bloodline lived there for many, many years until one day, they destroyed all of it. Our members were massacred and our land made infertile by chemicals. We’ve been on the path to revenge for a long time now. But they’ve stepped over the line by taking our mate. She is with pup. We need to get her back.
Some of the members seemed sympathetic to our cause but the leader didn’t flinch. “Why should we sacrifice our lives for your sake. You mean nothing to us.”
“Because if these monsters are not stopped, they will come for you. Perhaps not today but someday you will lose everything to their bloodthirsty violence.”
“Sir —”
Someone attempted to speak but the leader held up his hand.
“Very well, if you want our help then you will need to beat me in combat and prove to us that you are an Alpha worth fighting for.”
I nodded. “If that is what it takes to convince you then bring it on.”
“Are you sure about this?” Roman whispered into my ear. “That guy is covered in scars. He’s seen a battle or two.”
“And so have I. But I have a lot more on the line and I can’t afford to lose.”
“Jane, if you can hear this, we’re coming for you and we’ll be coming with a whole goddamn army at our flanks.”
Chapter 25: Jane
My skull felt like it was about to splinter into a million pieces. As blood throbbed through my veins, it only fueled the pain. Parts of my skin felt like they were on fire, especially the skin around my wrists.
Rubbing them together, I found out why. A coarse piece of rope had been wrapped around them. I fought against this binding but to no avail. It was much too tight for me to slip my hands through.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath.
Blinking, I tried to see through the darkness that surrounded me. There had to be something that could help me.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on clearing my mind. “Think, Jane, think,” I whispered to myself, waiting for a lightbulb to go off in my head.
Nothing.
The minutes ticked by and all I could do was sit there, like some helpless damsel in distress. Beyond the room, I could hear people talking but their voices were much too muffled for me to figure out what they were saying.
“Landon? Roman?” I called out hoping that I could make a connection with my partners but I was answered only by the silence of my mind. “If you guys can hear me, a response would be nice right about now…” Again, I was left with nothing but silence. I didn’t even want to think about what the lack of communication might mean.
Creak!
A crack of light spilled into the room along with a draft that made me aware of my almost naked state. I wasn’t sure when my clothes had been taken from me but it had to have been when I was unconscious and unable to fight them off. The bastards.
The door continued to open, illuminating the room with artificial light spilling from the hallway.
“Ah, good, you’re awake.”
The man who spoke was wearing a red velvet suit. His hair was as black as a raven’s feathers and his eyes as green as emeralds. In a way, he didn’t look real. His shoes clicked against the ground with every step he took.
“I was starting to worry that my men had injured you beyond repair.” He took my chin in his hand and held me with enough grip where I could not escape his grasp. With no other choice, I spat in his face, in hopes that would be enough to get him to let go.
He didn’t.
Instead, his grip tightened to the point where I whimpered with pain.
“Everyone always tries to act so tough in situations like this but I can smell your fear. You’re nothing more than a little girl cowering in the corner, wanting to disappear.”
“No. What I really want to do is bash your face in,” I countered. “You think you can intimidate me with your
words but that’s not going to work. I’ve had it with guys trying to control me.”
He laughed. “Then you know nothing about our culture as wolves.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Females are nothing more than our playthings. Their only purpose is to bring pups into the world. Now, your mates might have told you differently but trust me, it was just a ploy to get you in their clutches.”
“You’re lying!” I struggled against my bondage. This guy was just trying to get inside my head. “Landon and Roman love me. They would never treat me that way.”
The man nodded his head. “But, of course. You’ve painted yourself a Cinderella story, haven’t you? But you fail to realize that during the time of fairy tales, princesses were dirt compared to princes. They were royalty, yes, but they never held the power and status of a male. The same goes for us.”
“They’re different!” I protested. “And nothing like you and the scum that follow you.”
“You speak with such confidence for someone who knows nothing about me.”
“I know that you massacred their clan.”
“It’s a dog eat dog world out there. I killed them because I wanted to, yes. But it’s in my nature. You cannot blame me for that.” He stood in the middle of the room with a smug look on his face. It made me want to scream.
“Why are you doing this? Is it in your nature to torture pregnant women?”
“Not specifically, no. But it is rather fun to watch those partners of yours scrambling to find you.” He chuckled. “To think that they still believe that a wolf needs to mate for life. We are beyond those times. I, for one, enjoy a new woman each and every night.”
“You’re a monster, do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told. But if this is a monstrous way of life that I lead, I never want to become a saint.” His smirk deepened. “In any case, your beloved partners will be here any minute now and it will be my personal pleasure to eradicate them and take you as one of my mates. That pup of yours will have to be killed, of course, but there will be plenty more in our future together.”