Enforcing Boundaries (The Boundaries Series Book 1)

by Eva Harper

  “As long as you return those girls safely to me, I don’t care if you need every wolf on this continent to help you.”

  “Fine,” I leered apprehensively, grabbing the pad of paper and pen Theo had left in the room. “Where are they?”

  “They’re in a cabin in the south end of the mountains. I don’t know any other way of directing you there. But five men are keeping them captive.”

  “Okay, and who are these women? What are their names?”

  “Olympia Trent, Pilar Aisles, and Verona Avery.” She didn’t make eye contact with me as she jutted out the names. I scribble the names down quickly and set the pen aside.

  “That’s really helpful, Saskia,” I praised her. “We’ll do everything we can to find your friends.”

  “They aren’t my friends,” she clarified, looking at me with her caramel eyes through a mess of dark eyelashes. “If anything happens to them, this on you now.”

  Her words made me unsettled like she was loading a gun on the table in front of me. I nodded and folded the paper in half, rising from my seat slowly. She stayed sitting, looking over at the table angrily.

  I opened the door and walked towards Theo and Caddy, handing them the sheet of paper.

  “It’s a long story that I’ll explain on the way. But we need to go to the south end of the mountains to save these girls from a group of men who are holding them hostage.”

  “Well, that’s not how I thought this conversation would go,” Caddy admitted, rubbing his thumb over his eyebrow.

  “You’re brilliant.” Theo wrapped his arms around my midsection and hauled me up. Our chests pressed together, and I buried my head in his neck.

  Theo set me down, and I steadied myself on my feet. The small smile I had didn’t reach my eyes, and Theo asked what was wrong. “Nothing,” I said softly, reaching up to rub his cheek with my thumb. His stubble tickled my skin. “I just-”

  My words were interrupted by a shattering sound from the conference room. I stilled as Caddy tried to throw the door open, only to be blocked by furniture stacked up on the other side of the door. With Theo’s help, they pushed the door open completely and saw the remnants of a shattered window.

  “She’s gone. She’s fucking gone.”

  In the Brush

  “Caddy, sit down,” I urged, pushing a chair out from the table with my foot, motioning for him to sit. He slammed the chair back in roughly and hit the table with his fist.

  “Caddy.” Theo’s voice cut through the room. Bodhi had peeked through the door, watching Caddy with cautious eyes.

  “What, Theo?” he practically shouted, throwing his arms into the air.

  “You need to calm down,” Theo said softer, eyes motioning to the seat that I had pushed out previously.

  “I need to calm down?” He laughed. His eyes were wild. “I don’t need to calm down. I need to get a grip on my pack. I don’t know what I’m doing,” he gritted out, enunciating each word individually. “And it’s not like she cares enough to help.”

  Bodhi threw the door closed as she left. Caddy leaned over the table, exhausted, and his head dropped down to his chest.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said again.

  “You’re doing the best you can,” I tried to soothe him.

  “Well, it’s not good enough.” He stood up and turned his back to us. I looked at Theo.

  “He just needs time to adjust,” Theo promised me quietly, setting his band on my knee that was bouncing rapidly. I folded over and set my forehead on his shoulder.

  “I want to help him.”

  Theo placed his hand under my chin and pulled me up. His lips pressed against my forehead, and then his forehead touched mine.

  “I know you do, but the most you can do is just be there for him. Every Alpha has a hard time fitting himself in with his role and the expectations that come along with it. He’s doing a fine job.”

  “You should tell him that.”

  “He won’t hear it from me right now.” I knew Theo was right. “You should talk to him. I’ll leave you two alone.”

  Theo got up and snuck out the door before Caddy noticed. I stood up and walked over to Caddy, placing my hand flat on his back. He flinched and then settled himself.

  “Caddy, what’s going on?”

  “Everyone thinks I’m a joke,” he said sadly, gazing out the window to the front grounds. “Even my own mother doesn’t believe that I can be an Alpha.”

  “Caddy, you’re already a great Alpha, despite what anyone may think.”

  “Jax rolls his eyes at everything I tell him,” he chuckled, tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. “My warriors hesitate when I give them an order.”

  “It takes time to build that trust up.” I removed my hand from his shoulder.

  “When my uncle became Alpha, he had control over this pack almost immediately.”

  “Your uncle was also thirty when he took over for his father,” I pointed out.

  “My age shouldn’t have anything to do with it. Everyone in this pack knew I would take over for Dorian one day, why should it matter if it was now or in another six years?”

  I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t know what to say.

  “What about Bodhi?” I asked, watching his eyes glaze over at the sound of her name.

  “What about her?” he said indifferently.

  “You two don’t seem like you’re on the best of terms.”

  “What gave it away?” he chuckled. He noticed I didn’t laugh and then grew serious. “She and I got into a fight right after we got here. She wanted to be introduced to the pack as another Alpha, and I thought it was too dangerous for the pack to be introduced to another Alpha before they were used to the first one. She took that as me telling her she didn’t have as much claim to be an Alpha as I did. It’s been a power struggle ever since.”

  “Have you tried explaining to her what’s been going on?”

  “Multiple times, but as you can imagine, if it’s not something Bodhi wants to hear…”

  “She doesn’t listen.” I finished, nodding.

  “I just don’t know what to do.”

  “Just keep trying.” He turned and looked down at me through his overgrown hair. “And get a haircut, no wonder Bodhi won’t talk to you.”

  He laughed loudly and grabbed my shoulder to hug me. My face was squashed to his chest, cheeks smashed together.

  “We need to find out what packs those girls are in,” Caddy said as he released me.

  “Already got it,” Theo announced as he walked back into the conference room. He laid out a map of the packs surrounding us, pointing to which three packs the girls were from. They were from packs far west of us, leading all the way to Gabriel’s pack.

  Olympia was training to be a Pack Warrior, Pilar was a chef, and Verona was barely out of school. None of the women resided in the pack Saskia was from, nor did they have any similar characteristics. They were various ages, from nineteen to twenty-six, various skill levels, and interests.

  It made no sense to me, which I voiced to Caddy and Theo. They ignored the inconsistency and tried to locate placed near the mountains where the girls could be held. Three places immediately came to mind.

  They decided that in the morning, we would head down to the mountains to search the area. Caddy sent six warriors with us since he could not leave his pack but promised to help if needed.

  I woke up to the sound of Theo packing our bags again, shoving things haphazardly inside. I yawned and rubbed my hand over my face.

  He looked up and smiled at me, sending a flock of butterflies to my stomach.

  We got back into Theo’s car and started on the eight-hour trip down to the bottom of the mountain range. It was five hours before the mountains came into view, and every minute we drove closer, the more daunting they became.

  “Have you ever seen the mountains?” Theo broke the silence.

  “No,” I said, face pressed against the glass in wonder. “I wa
s never allowed to go, Caddy always said it was too dangerous for me.”

  “They are dangerous, I want you to stay close to me. I don’t know anything about the wolves that took these girls.”

  I nearly rolled my eyes at the protectiveness in his voice. It was endearing, but also frustrating because I knew I could hold my own.

  “I will,” I agreed.

  It was starting to get dark as we drove through the winding roads on the outside of the mountains. Theo had his headlights on, and along with the two other cars behind us, the dark woods and rocky terrain were illuminated. I stared out the window, hoping to see something through the trees.

  It began to rain lightly, drizzling down the windows, and Theo slowed down to stay safe. I wiped my hand on the glass as it began to fog from my breath. Something moved in the brush, and I screamed for Theo to stop the car.

  He pressed his foot on the break and put the car in park, looking over at me worriedly.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked frantically. I didn’t answer him. I opened the car door and walked to the side of the road.

  My hair clung to my face from the rain. I brushed it out of the way and steadied myself on the slippery mud.

  “Margo, what are you doing? It’s cold and rainy, come back in the car,” Theo insisted, reaching for my hand that was stretched out to give me balance.

  “You go back in the car, then,” I said loudly over the pounding rain.

  “Margo,” he started again.

  “Just…shush!”

  He stayed nearby as I lowered myself further into the trees. It was hard to see with the rain and darkness. I crouched down, hoping to see better.

  Something moved to my left, and I bolted over to the leaves that moved. I lifted them cautiously.

  A hand twitched underneath them. I threw the branch out of the way and yelled for Theo to help me. We cleared the twigs and dirt off her and turned her onto her back.

  She was a small girl, pale, with short blonde hair that was stained from the mud. She gasped for breath, the obvious trauma that her body was put through made it difficult. Theo held her head off the ground.

  “Can you hear me?” I asked loudly, reaching over to press my hand on the girl’s cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed and then stayed open.

  “Help them,” she ground out, her raspy voice cutting through the air.

  “Where are they?” Theo asked her. We huddled in closer to her, trying to share our body heat.

  “North, about two miles.” Her voice was weak, and her split lip wobbled terribly. “There’s a cabin.”

  Theo carefully lifted her in his arms and brought her over to the cars. The Warriors from Caddy’s pack were waiting outside their cars. Theo settled the girl into one of their cars and told one to stay with her. The others followed us as we shifted into our wolves and dove into the forest.

  I trailed behind Theo closely, paws slightly squishing into the ground. There was a small cabin in front of us, lights off, no smoke from the chimney.

  We slowed down as we got closer, listening to see how many people were inside. I counted three heartbeats. Either the girls were in there along with another man or the girls weren’t there at all, both possibilities equally terrifying.

  “Around back,” Theo said through our mind-link. We snuck to the backside and found a window. Theo shifted back first, and the Warriors followed him. There were no clothes left on their bodies, but at that moment, it was the least of our concerns.

  I shifted back, slipping slightly as I got my balance against the dirt. Theo stepped in front of me, hiding my body from the gaze of the Warriors.

  “Margo, shift back,” he ordered.

  “Theo, you need me. Those girls are probably scared to death. What are they going to think when six, large, men burst in, and you tell them to come with you?”

  He growled and bit his lip, trying not to admit I was right. “Fine, but you go in last, right before me.” I nodded.

  The Warriors shattered the window with one kick and leaped through the opening. Theo lifted me through since I wasn’t tall enough to enter without cutting myself on the glass. He jumped in after me and immediately searched for the women.

  A muffled cry came from the room next to us. Theo tried to open the door, but it was locked. He twisted the knob farther, causing the fixture to break, and threw the door open.

  Two women were huddled in the corner; their hands were tied to a pole, and thick, black tape was over their mouths. I pushed past Theo and knelt next to them. After I untied their hands, they carefully peeled the tape off their mouths.

  “Pilar? Olympia?” I searched their faces.

  “How do you know our names?” one asked. She had tanned brown skin, long black hair, and pink lips. The other had darker skin, shorter black hair, and bright hazel eyes.

  “Saskia,” I said in explanation. The one with darker skin spat blood out of her mouth at the mention of her name.

  “Tell me that bitch isn’t here,” she barked.

  “No, she isn’t.” They relaxed visibly, sinking down. “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to kill her the next time I see her.”

  Three for Three

  The man that was in the cabin fled when he heard the glass break. Two of the warriors left to track the scent and the others stayed to help us transport the injured girls to the car. Olympia refused to let us help her, tearing herself out of our grasp.

  Pilar’s ankle was cracked and twisted, healing quickly from her wolf genes, but healing improperly. She had various bruises and lacerations covering her arms and abdomen. Olympia’s arm was hanging weakly from her body, her shoulder stretched too far. The rest of her body was in the same condition as Pilar’s, injured but treatable.

  The girl in the car, Verona, was the worst of them. Her face was mangled, lip split, cheek busted open, eyes were swollen, and popping out of the socket. The rest of her body was as badly hurt as her face.

  Verona remained lying across the backseat of the warriors’ car. Pilar and Olympia sat in the back of our car, watching our surroundings like they expected someone to jump out.

  I called Joella from Theo’s phone; she picked up on the third ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Joella? It’s Margo. I need your help.”

  “Anything. What is it?” she said fiercely.

  “I need to bring three injured women to your pack, and I need your help to treat them.”

  “When will you be here?” she asked immediately.

  “About thirty minutes,” I guessed. We were already headed towards her pack.

  “I’ll be ready. I’ll have Felix alert the borders. Bring them straight to the packhouse.”

  We hung up, and Theo sped up slightly as we got out of the mountains. Pilar was whimpering softly in the backseat, tears streaming silently down her face. Olympia was stone.

  We entered the Audacia pack safely, pulling the cars up along the walkway near the entrance. Joella, Felix, and a few others rushed out to help us. They carried Verona into the building first, and Joella ran in after her. She was the one that needed the most attention.

  Two Warriors assisted Pilar, limping up the few steps into the house. Theo attempted to help Olympia, but she jerked out of his arms and walked towards the door, determined. She held up arm close to her body, shaking with each step. When she nearly collapsed hallway there, she allowed Theo to put his arm around her waist.

  I pushed my wet hair off my face and hurriedly jogged inside. Joella had a small triage set up in the main room. Three long tables had been brought in, draped with sheets, and equipped with medical supplies in red bags.

  Joella rested her hands on Verona’s stomach, closing her eyes. I moved to the other side of the table and watched Joella. She growled, and her eyes opened.

  “I need you,” she said. She grabbed my hands and placed them on Verona’s stomach. “I need you to help me heal her.”

  “Jo, I don’t know how,” I rushed out.

/>   “Just close your eyes and focus all of your energy on her. Think of healing her. Picture every cell in your body being transferred to hers. You’re a Luna, too, Margo. I can’t do this alone.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on what Joella told me. I waited for something to happen and grunted when nothing did.

  “Just relax. Focus.” Joella snapped. I moved a strand of hair and placed the hand back on Verona’s stomach. My hands started to tingle, and I cautiously opened one of my eyes to look at it. I shut my eyes again and imagined giving all my strength to Verona.

  After a few minutes, I opened my eyes to see Joella checking Verona’s body. Her skin wasn’t as pale, and her breathing had evened out.

  “She’ll be fine,” Joella said thankfully, grabbing a needle and some type of thread. She began to suture a gash along Verona’s arm.

  I backed away, looking for Theo, who was arguing with Olympia.

  “I don’t need any help,” she said sternly, smiling despite her anger.

  “Your shoulder is out of the socket, if you leave it to heal like that, you could lose function of your arm,” Theo explained like he was talking to a child. Olympia smiled sarcastically.

  “That seems like something I should worry about, huh?”

  Joella brushed past me, grabbed Olympia’s shoulder firmly from behind, and before she could protest, pulled her arm back into the socket.

  Olympia screamed loudly, sending chills down my arms. Theo looked pleased and left her side.

  “Are you alright?” I asked her, leaning over the table. She turned her head and glared.

  “Do I look like I’m okay? If it wasn’t for that bitch Saskia, I wouldn’t even be in this position. Fucking witch woman.”

  “Witch?”

  She grimaced, holding her shoulder tightly. “She came into our packs with scraps of fabric, claiming that they were from rogues who killed her family. She asked us if we recognized the scents. One smelled familiar to me, in a weird way. She told me they were probably my mate and that I needed to follow her to make sure he wasn’t in trouble.