“What’re you doing here, Koril? You looking for me?” Mali asked, holding Melissa around her waist.
“No, I, um…” He glanced at Melissa. “I’m just doing Remus a favor, giving Maddie an escort today.” Before he could say anything else, the door opened.
“Michael,” Maddie squealed, right before she threw herself into his arms.
“Well, hell.” Michael laughed as he swung his sister up into a hug. “Are we having a party? The gang’s all here.”
“No, we’re not having a party, and the gang’s not all here. Do you see Remus anywhere?” Maddie scowled at him and then turned a smile toward her new sister-in-law. “Come here and give me a hug, Ariane.” Throwing her arms around the young woman, Maddie sighed. “It’s so good to see you. I’m glad you came back early so I wouldn’t have to worry about you when the storm hits.”
“It’s good to be home, Maddie. Hawaii was great, but I missed everyone here.” Ariane looked over at Michael. “I didn’t give him a single moment of grief when he suggested we hit the road early.”
Michael walked over and shook Mali’s hand, gazing for a moment with a surprised look at the arm held tight around Melissa’s waist. “Hey, Mali, it’s good to see you again.” He glanced around the office. “Everything looks great. Did you get everything done that Melissa wanted?”
“Not exactly,” Melissa replied before Mali could say anything. “He’s still working on the apartment upstairs.” She glanced up at him over her shoulder and wondered about the smirk on his face.
“No problem,” Michael replied. “Take all the time you need. I’ll pay for Melissa to stay at the bed-and-breakfast no matter how long it takes.” Grinning, he nudged her arm with his elbow. “Don’t I get a hug from my new partner?”
“Absolutely.” Melissa smiled. She wiggled away from Mali and threw her arms around her best friend. “It’s good to have you back,” she whispered, and then squeaked when Mali’s hands pulled her away, back into his arms.
Michael laughed and then turned back toward the door. “Koril, isn’t it?” He walked toward Koril with his hand out. “We met at our wedding.”
“Yeah.” Koril shook the hand offered. “Welcome home, man. And you, too, Mrs. Barrows.” He nodded toward Ariane.
“Come on, Koril, you’ve known me for a long time. It’s Ariane, and it always will be.”
“Welcome home, Ariane.” He smiled.
“Now that we’re here, how about I take everyone to lunch?” Michael asked.
“Michael, wait,” Ariane said. “Lunch is great, but I have to go to the bank first. You wanna wait here for me, or should I meet all of you at the diner?”
“Actually, I need to stop by the bank today, myself.” Koril looked at Maddie. “Why don’t you wait here with everyone, and I’ll walk down to the bank with Ariane. It’ll give you some time with Michael,” he glanced over at Mali and smiled, “and Mali and Melissa time to pull themselves together.”
“Very funny, man,” Mali growled. “Go on to the bank, and get your butt back here. I’m hungry.”
Laughing, Koril held the door open for Ariane. “After you, married lady.”
Ariane gazed over at Melissa and grinned. “It’s great to see you, Melissa. I’m gonna want details when I get back, and you know what I’m talking about.”
Michael laughed as Koril left with his wife and then walked over and put his arm around Maddie. “Honey, I meant to say something before the wedding, but I never got the chance. I would never hurt your feelings, you know that, but you’re getting a little chunky. Been dipping into the Ben and Jerry’s a little too much lately?”
“You’re such an ass.” Maddie smirked. “I’m almost tempted not to tell you you’re gonna be an uncle.”
“I knew it,” Michael cried, swinging her up into his arms.
“Maddie, that’s wonderful.” Melissa had pulled away from Mali, wanting to walk over to congratulate Michael’s sister, when the door opened suddenly. A tall, dark-haired man with a horrible scar on his face walked in. She froze, a scream bursting from her throat when she spied the small gun clasped in his hand. He raised his arm and fired one shot at Michael, followed quickly by a second one to Maddie. Melissa watched her friends slump to the floor as the man turned the gun in her direction. He took aim at Mali, who’d started to pull his clothes off, and fired. Melissa slumped to the floor, pretending to faint.
* * * *
Kaugh walked into the small office, Marty and Calvin close on his heels. He glanced at Sean as he aimed the gun toward the unconscious woman on the floor. “Forget it, Sean. My guess is, if she fainted, she’s not a shifter.” He looked at the other three bodies on the floor. “Nice work,” he exclaimed. “Well, they certainly made it easy for me. Brother and sister together. How much more perfect could it be?”
“What about this dude?” Sean asked, nudging with his foot. “He shifted before he even got his clothes off. Do we take him, too?”
Kaugh sighed. “No, sadly, we don’t have room for another male. I’m much more interested in having the genetics of the brother and sister to work on. Don’t waste time, gentlemen.” He watched as Marty picked up Maddie and Sean and Calvin picked up Michael. “Gently, please, we don’t want to damage the specimens.”
“Any danger of them waking up?” Marty asked.
“No, the darts had a small dose of the shift inhibitor, as well as a tranquilizer. It’s enough to keep them down for at least six hours and to keep them from shifting for a day.” He smiled, feeling like he’d just won the lottery, and followed his men out the door, closing it softly behind him.
* * * *
Melissa squeezed her eyes shut and tried desperately to control her breathing. Maybe if they think I fainted, they’ll go away. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek. They shot them, Michael and Maddie. Oh, God, they shot Mali. Listening carefully, she tried to memorize everything they said and then stifled a cry when she realized they were taking Michael and Maddie with them. Relief flooded her mind when she heard that tranquilizers, instead of bullets, had taken down her friends. Her body tensed when the door opened, her breath catching in her throat. She lay perfectly still, listening to the sounds of the men moving around, and then trembled in reaction to the click of the door and the silence that filled the room.
For several long minutes, Melissa remained perfectly still, not completely sure the men had really gone. Finally, summoning courage from deep inside, she opened her eyes and peered toward the front of the office. Her shoulders slumped, and fresh tears streamed down her face when she didn’t see Michael or Maddie lying on the floor where she’d seen them fall. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes to the side, needing to see the man she’d fallen in love with.
Eyes widening, breath catching in her lungs, Melissa scrambled to her feet and began backing away slowly. Never taking her eyes off the floor, she continued backwards until her body came in contact with the office wall. Frightened, she gazed at what should have been Mali’s unconscious form. Lying on the floor was a huge, brown dog dressed in the same type of T-shirt Mali had been wearing earlier. A pair of jeans was on the floor by the animal’s feet. Melissa did the only thing she could think of. She opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.
* * * *
Koril smiled down at Ariane as they walked along the sidewalk toward Michael’s office. “You seem happy now.”
“Hmmm, I’m deliriously happy, Koril. Michael’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Have you seen your uncle yet?”
“No, but I talked to him last night. He’s having dinner with us tonight.”
“How does he feel about Michael?”
She laughed. “A lot better since Michael found his wolf. He never really had anything against him. He just wanted me to have a traditional mating with the protection of a pack.”
Koril narrowed his eyes. “Would you’ve mated with him if he’d remained human?”
“In a heartbeat,” she si
ghed. “I love him, all that other stuff is just icing on the cake.”
“If that’s cake, I’m giving up dessert,” he snorted. “I’ve been watching Maddie and Remus the past few days, and nothing would compel me to go through the hell they do.”
“Maddie and Remus are having problems?”
“Not really problems, but she’s been a little more, well, I would say, high strung since she got pregnant.”
“Maddie’s pregnant!” Ariane cried.
“Damn, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Just let them tell you on their own, okay?” Before she could respond, Koril heard a blood-chilling scream coming from the office several doors down. He grabbed Ariane’s arm and pulled her to a stop. “Stay here until I come for you,” he ordered. Not waiting to see if she obeyed, he raced down the sidewalk and threw open the door to Michael’s office.
Koril took in the sight before him and bit back an expletive. Melissa’s screams were coming from the back of the room where she stood, plastered against the wall. Mali was unconscious on the floor, in his wolf form, and there was no sign of Maddie or Michael. He strode quickly over to Melissa, took her by the shoulders, and shook her firmly. “Calm down, Melissa. Tell me what happened,” he demanded.
Her screams stopped abruptly as she stared up at Koril, her eyes wide and unfocused. “They took them,” she whispered.
“Who took them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Melissa,” he yelled, shaking her furiously. “Where are Maddie and Michael?”
Trembling violently, Melissa gazed toward the door. “A man came in, and he shot them.”
Koril growled down at her pale face. “What man?”
She shivered and wiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “I don’t know,” she cried.
Taking a deep breath, Koril lowered his voice. “It’s okay, everything’s gonna be okay. Can you tell me what he looked like?”
“Tall, dark hair, bad scars on his face.”
Koril recognized the description of Kaugh’s man, Sean Cross. “Wait, you said they took them. How many were there? What did the others look like?”
“I think there were three others, but I’m not sure. I never saw them.”
Confused, Koril raised her chin to gaze into her eyes. “You’re doing good, honey, real good. If you didn’t see them, how do you know they were here?”
“Voices, I heard the voices.”
“All right. Let’s back up. Tell me what happened after the man with the scar came in.”
“He walked in, and he had a gun in his hand. He shot Michael and Maddie, and then turned the gun toward Mali. When it fired, I dropped to the floor, pretending to faint.” She looked up at him with a vacant stare. “I took self-defense classes in Houston, and that’s what they told us to do. She said it might fool them into thinking you were unconscious, and they would leave you alone.”
Koril glanced over at Mali and frowned. “He can’t be dead. He would’ve shifted back to human if he’d died.”
Melissa glanced over at the animal on the floor. “Mali’s gone. When I heard them leave, I waited for a while, then got up. Mali had disappeared, and that dog was just lying there. Is it dead?”
“That’s not a dog, honey, it’s a wolf,” Koril snorted, “and he’s not dead. He can’t be.” He walked over to Mali’s still form and bent down to examine him. His eyes immediately focused on a small yellow dart sticking in his shoulder. Carefully, he pulled it out. “You said he shot Michael first, and then Maddie?” he asked.
“Michael was shot?” screamed Ariane.
Koril turned toward the door and groaned. Ariane was standing inside the office, her face white as a sheet. She growled low, her eyes glowing red, claws extending from her fingers. “Calm yourself, Ariane.” He held up the dart. “They were shot with tranquilizer darts.”
“Where’s Michael?” she growled.
“Michael and Maddie were apparently tranquilized and taken. From Melissa’s description, I would say by Kaugh and his men.”
“Who the hell is Kaugh?” She came closer and stared down at the wolf. “Is that Mali?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“I don’t understand. He should’ve shifted if they shot him with a tranq. I mean, even if they killed him, he would’ve shifted back to human.”
“It’s an inhibitor,” Melissa mumbled.
Koril glanced up at Ariane and then walked over to take Melissa into his arms. “What’s an inhibitor, honey?”
Melissa took a deep breath and gazed up into his eyes. “Right before they left, one of the men asked if there was any danger of them waking up. Another man said no, the darts have a small amount of the inhibitor and a tranquilizer in them.”
“Damn,” Koril snarled.
“Oh, my God! Is it permanent? Will he not be able to shift back?” Ariane asked.
“I don’t know.” Koril ran his hand through his hair.
“No,” Melissa added. “He said the shot would keep them out for at least six hours, and they wouldn’t be able to shift for a full day.” She looked over at Mali. “Is that really Mali?” she asked, tears making her voice husky.
“Shit,” Koril groaned. “Yeah, it’s Mali. Listen, honey, there’s a lot we need to tell you, but not right now. I need to concentrate on getting Maddie and Michael back. You need to hold it together for me.” He glanced at Ariane and pulled out his cell. “I’m calling Remus. He needs to know what happened, and he can explain to you about Kaugh.”
“He’s gonna go ballistic,” she said, coming to put her arms around Melissa.
“He deserves to.” Koril closed his eyes as he waited on his Alpha to answer his phone. “I failed him, failed to protect my Alpha’s mate. He should put me to death.”
“No,” Ariane cried.
Koril sighed when Remus answered the phone. “Alpha Remus, I’ve failed you.”
* * * *
“I don’t understand why the Council purposely kept me in the dark about her mission here.” Remus glared at Ethan and Latan. “Am I not to be trusted anymore? Don’t they think I can handle my own territory?” Angrily, he pushed back from the table and began pacing in the roomy kitchen. His brothers and their mate had arrived earlier and spent the last hour explaining what Tania’s assignment entailed.
“Alpha, I’m so sorry,” Tania began.
He stopped his pacing and pulled her to her feet. “No, you’ve nothing to be sorry for, and I told you to call me Remus.”
She squealed when Remus lifted her in a hug, leaving her feet dangling a few inches off the floor. “If it helps, I don’t think it had anything to do with trusting you or your abilities as an Alpha.” She sighed as he lowered her back to the floor. “They decided it would be better for my cover to have only one contact in the area. There would be less danger of my identity being discovered that way.” She gave him a sheepish look. “They picked Vanard because, well, he, um, he has a friend on the Council.”
Remus frowned. “You mean he received special consideration because of this friend?”
“Not exactly,” she hedged.
“Come on, Tania, give,” he growled, and then glared at his brothers when they jumped to their feet. “Chill out, bros, you know I would never do anything to hurt your mate, but her evasive answers are driving me crazy!”
Tania grimaced as her mates chuckled and returned to their seats. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m trying to be diplomatic, and it’s not really in my nature.” She returned to her seat at the table and smiled when Ethan and Latan scooted closer to her chair. “Vanard wasn’t given all the information about my job. I mean, they only wanted a contact in case I disappeared. He only knows that I work for the Council. His friend, and please don’t ask me who it is because I won’t tell you, said Vanard was the perfect choice because he, um, he, oh, hell, he wasn’t smart enough to figure anything out on his own.” Tania groaned and hung her head when all three men threw back their heads and laughed.
“Man, oh, man, does th
e Council have Vanard pegged or what?” Latan smirked.
Ethan shook his head and grabbed Tania’s hand to press a kiss against her palm. “Don’t look so sad, baby. Nobody’s holding anything against you.”
Latan reached over, put his hands around her waist, and pulled her onto his lap. “He’s right, pretty lady, you’ve got nothing to be sad about.” He raised her chin with one finger and gazed into her eyes. “Come on, let me see a smile.” When she grinned, he leaned forward and gave her a swift, hard kiss.
“My brothers are right, Tania. The only people I’m angry with are Vanard and the members of the Council. I’d reported the situation with Kaugh to all them, and they let me waste a lot of time worrying about you when we could’ve been working together.”
“You’ve been worried about me?” She bit her lip. “You thought I was working with him, didn’t you?”
“No, absolutely not,” Ethan cried.
“No way, love,” Latan declared.
“Yes, I’m ashamed to say, I believed you had to be involved with him in some way. Hell, we kept hitting roadblocks when we tried to find out anything about your background.” Remus took her hand in his. “But the important thing is that I know the truth now.” He pulled her out of Latan’s lap and hugged her tightly. “Welcome to the family, little kitten.”
Remus released Tania and glanced at his brothers. “I need to call Maddie and get her butt home. We need to plan a party to celebrate your mating in style.” He turned toward the phone when it began to ring.
“Maybe that’s her now.” Ethan laughed.
“Well, he did say the word party.” Latan smirked.
Remus shook his head at his brother’s antics. “Hello,” he answered, and then stilled at the sound of his pack mate’s voice. “What’s wrong, Koril?” He looked at Ethan, who’d come to stand by him, and then glanced over at Latan, who had his arms around their mate. He knew they were picking up on his anxiety through their family bond. Anger and panic warred inside him as he learned what had happened at Michael’s office. “Don’t do anything on your own. Get Ariane, Mali, and Melissa to my house as soon as you can, and we’ll organize from here. I’ll call everybody in.” He hung up the phone and closed his eyes in anguish.
Martine, Missy - Changing Their Wolfen Heritage [A Wolfen Heritage 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 19