Avenger (Outsider Series)

by Smeltzer, Micalea

  “I’ll be back in two hours,” I kissed his cheek and slowly made my way downstairs. I pushed the button to open the gate and pulled on my jacket, a hat, scarf, and gloves. No way was I freezing death.

  Chris was waiting outside in her blue Nissan Juke. I thought the small vehicle looked like a bug, but she loved the thing.

  We headed into the city, chatting along the way. She was having fun decorating her and Bentley’s new place and adjusting to married life. Those two were so cute together and I was beyond happy for them. They deserved their happily ever after.

  “We can’t dawdle, as much as I’d like to, or Caeden will hunt us down,” I warned Chris when we arrived at the mall.

  “Why?” She asked, turned the car off and brushing her blonde hair from her eyes.

  Oh, crap.

  “Um, you know, since I’m getting sick all the time,” I stammered. It wasn’t a lie.

  She was quiet—unusual for Chris—and finally she nodded.

  Snow flurries started falling and I was thankful for my multiple layers as we scurried into the entrance. All the baby clothes immediately distracted me, and Chris was just as enthralled.

  “They’re so tiny,” she held up a little dress. “Look how wittle.”

  “Did you seriously just say ‘wittle?’” I questioned, fighting a laugh.

  “I did.”

  I picked up a pale blue blanket with white dots on it and rubbed the soft material between my fingers.

  “Are you having a boy?” Chris asked.

  “Yeah, a boy. His name is Beau,” I smiled at her. I felt bad though that I hadn’t told her sooner. Being trapped inside the house had caused me to completely forget that my friends still existed.

  “I can’t believe you’re having a baby,” she smiled wistfully. “It’s just…”

  “Weird?” I supplied. “Believe me, I know,” I flicked through a rack of clothes. “I never expected my life to turn out like this. Not that I’m complaining, or anything. Despite all the bad, I have so much to be thankful for.”

  “And you might just have spoken too soon.”

  My eyes widened in shock and my movements ceased as I heard those words—and they didn’t come from Chris.

  My heart galloped in my chest and I broke out in a sweat.

  “Hello, Travis,” I gasped.

  Fear snaked down my spine as I felt his body press into mine. Where the heck had Chris gone?

  “If you’re looking for your…friend,” he sneered the word like it was dirty, “you’ll find that she’s indisposed at the moment.”

  I swallowed thickly, my eyes scanning for her blonde hair. I gasped when I saw her lying on the mall floor, blood trickling out of her skull.

  “She’s not dead,” his fingers brushed over my forehead. “I have no interest in killing her.”

  “But you want to kill me,” I stated.

  “Now, now, my dear Sophie, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that,” his cold fingers tangled in my hair. I opened my mouth to scream and he promptly slammed a hand against my mouth to silence me. My eyes flickered around, praying someone saw what was happening, but there was no one in sight. “If you scream, I can promise you’ll regret it very much.” He punctuated his threat by pressing a knife into my side.

  I closed my eyes, breathing heavily. I was stuck in a very sticky situation here and I didn’t see what else I could do besides comply with his wishes. I couldn’t shift, and I was too weak to fight him. I had to do what was best for my baby, and unfortunately, at this moment, that meant listening to Travis.

  When he felt my body relax, he lowered his hand from my mouth, but the knife pressed harder into my side, piercing the fabric of my jacket. “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  Fourteen.

  Sophie

  You.

  You.

  You.

  The word kept echoing around my skull like a bouncing Ping-Pong ball.

  You.

  You.

  You.

  There was a throbbing in my head and I was surrounded by darkness.

  Or maybe my eyes were just closed.

  Yeah, that was it.

  It felt like they were glued shut.

  I tried to lift my arms to rub them, but found myself unable to move.

  My heart thundered in my chest and my breath echoed around me.

  You.

  You.

  You.

  Travis.

  Oh my God, Travis had me.

  After he said, ‘you,’ everything went black. Nothing. Nada.

  And I still couldn’t get my eyes to open!

  Panic was crawling through my body, leaving iciness in its wake.

  It had all been leading to this.

  Every single moment had been building to my death.

  From the very beginning Travis was supposed to kill me.

  It didn’t happen before, so it was happening now.

  * * *

  Caeden

  “They’ve been gone for four hours!” I paced the length of the kitchen while Nolan watched me.

  “They probably got distracted by makeup…or purses. Isn’t that what chicks like?” He tried to be the voice of reason, but I was beyond reason.

  “Sophie knows she shouldn’t be gone that long, and she’d call me if they decided to stay longer,” I pulled at my hair. I knew I was acting like a crazy person, but my gut was telling me something bad had happened. I hoped I was being paranoid, but I didn’t believe that was the case. I left the kitchen to look out the front windows, praying I’d see Christian’s car pull up to the gate—which I could just barely see. But there was nothing.

  “Why don’t you call her?” Nolan stepped up behind me.

  “You know I tried that,” I growled, my fists clenching at my sides. I was about three seconds away from punching him in the face. “I even called Christian and neither one of them answers. It’s not normal. Maybe Bentley’s heard from them,” I rambled, reaching for my phone in my pocket.

  “Wait,” Nolan grabbed my arm, halting my movements.

  “Let. Me. Go.” I was so gonna snap his neck.

  “I’m serious, Caeden. You and Sophie are mates, which means you should be able to track her.”

  I sighed. “I haven’t been able to feel her since she got pregnant. It’s like our connection is disrupted because of the baby’s strength.”

  Nolan stepped back, shaking his head. “Call Bentley then.”

  I fumbled with my phone—my fingers unusually clumsy—but I finally managed to get the call to go through.

  “Hey, what’s up?” Bentley answered.

  “Have you heard from Christian?”

  “Uh…no. I figured she was at your house, hanging out with Sophie after shopping.”

  “Well, they’re not here,” I growled, pacing again. I was going to wear a hole right through the floor if I kept this up.

  “And they haven’t called?” I heard panic begin to lace Bentley’s words.

  “No,” I stopped in front of the window beside the door once more. “Wait, I see Chris’ car right now,” I sighed in relief. They were okay. Sophie was okay.

  “Thank God,” Bentley said before I hung up the phone. I ran to the garage door and punched the button to open the gate. I waited outside, snow melting on my heated bare skin.

  The car raced up the driveway and came to a screeching halt in front of me. Christian all but fell out of the car and I raced to her side to keep her from falling. Her skin was abnormally pale and her eyes flitted around, as if expecting someone to jump out at us.

  “What is it, Christian?” I asked, trying to peer around her to see Sophie.

  “I’m so sorry, Caeden,” she sobbed. “He came up behind me and—and—” she sobbed. “Everything went dark and when I woke up, she was gone.”

  “Who was gone?” I growled, needing to hear her say it.

  “Sophie. She’s gone, Caeden. He has her. Travis has her.” Her tears splashed onto my sk
in.

  I sank to the ground, Christian falling with me. A sound that wasn’t even remotely human escaped my throat.

  Sophie.

  He has Sophie.

  He has my she-wolf.

  My wife.

  My baby.

  My life.

  Travis had it all now.

  I took deep breaths, my vision blurring. My nails began to lengthen and my neck stretched. I hadn’t had an uncontrolled shift since I was sixteen, but right now, I was really close to losing it.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nolan emerge from the open garage door.

  “She’s gone. She’s gone. She’s gone,” I repeated over and over again. Even when my teeth started to lengthen, I kept saying it.

  I fought the shift as much as I could, but it became too much, and my wolf skin burst free.

  I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and stomped on it repeatedly.

  I tilted my head back and howled at the sky above me.

  Every single pack member—even the elders—would be unable to resist the call of their Alpha. I might not have trusted the elders right now, but I needed to see them. I needed to look them in the eye and watch for a reaction. I needed to find out where Sophie was, and I was sure one of them—either Cody, Charlotte’s grandpa, or Baxter, Bentley’s grandpa—knew where she was. I didn’t care if they were our elders or my friends’ grandparents, I’d rip them apart and watch the life drain from their eyes if I believed for even one second that they were responsible for Sophie being taken…and not just that, but everything that had happened since my dad was murdered. I wasn’t going to sit back and be passive. I would start a war if that’s what it took to get my she-wolf back. She was worth everything, and if they didn’t understand that, then they better watch their backs.

  Fifteen.

  Sophie

  I had passed out again. But now I was wide awake, staring at a plain white ceiling, with my hands strapped tightly to the headboard of the bed I was lying in. The room wasn’t anything special. The walls were beige and the furniture was white. There was a window, but it was covered with curtains so I couldn’t tell whether it was day or night. I wondered how much time had passed since I’d been taken. Hours? Days?

  I yanked my arms forward, rattling the chains wrapped around my wrists. I was literally tied up like I was some kind of animal.

  My body was tired and so I knew I didn’t stand a chance of escape. I was trapped.

  I rattled the chains again, letting out a scream.

  How had this happened?

  I was terrified as I scrolled through the different reasons why Travis would be keeping me here. Wherever here was. I wasn’t really scared for myself though. No, all my worries for my baby.

  The door eased open and I pulled harder against the chains, like I could break them with sheer willpower alone. Travis stuck his head through the doorway and smiled when he saw that I was awake. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as envisioned him shoving a knife through my heart or cutting me into little bitty pieces to feed to his mutants.

  “I’m happy to see you’re awake.” His voice was oddly pleasant. I was used to an angry and crazy Travis…not one that was so calm. I think I preferred psychotic Travis to this one. There was something creepy about how…peaceful he acted. He paraded about the room, continuing to talk. He acted as if this was an every day occurrence, like I lived here, and wasn’t chained to a bed like an animal.

  I watched his lips move as he spoke, but it was like my ears had stopped working because I didn’t hear a thing he said. I was oddly detached, waiting for the moment when he would strike and my life—and my child’s—would end. I knew in my heart that my death was inevitable, and so I wished he’d just do it instead of dragging it out.

  He continued to walk the length of the room and finally stopped beside me. He reached out, and I flinched, unable to control my reaction. He made a hushing sound, like I was a frightened animal he was trying to console. What the heck? This was getting weirder and weirder. Maybe I was dreaming…no, this was far to real to be a dream.

  “Do you like the room?”

  What? I couldn’t have heard him right.

  “Do you like the room?” He repeated, staring at me with eyes dark as night.

  “Huh?” I blinked my eyes rapidly. Surely I was imagining this. There was no way Travis was asking me if I liked the freakin’ room!

  “The room,” he waved his hand, encompassing the space, “do you like it?”

  “Are you crazy?!” I screeched, pulling against the chains binding me once more. My wrist burned where the metal dug into my skin. “You have me trapped here.”

  “Trapped is such a harsh word,” he reached out, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. “You’ll be happy here…one day.”

  “What are you talking about?” I panted, gritting my teeth as I strained away from his touch.

  “We’re going to be a family.”

  Nothing, and I do mean nothing, could have prepared me to hear those words leave Travis’ lips.

  We’re going to be a family.

  We. As in me, Travis, and my baby.

  He really was off his rocker. I’d slit his throat with my very human fingernails before I let that happen.

  “We are not a family,” I spat, still trying to get away from him. I was tempted to cry from the pain radiating in my arms from having my hands chained above my head.

  “You may think that now,” his fingers lingered on my lips, “but you’ll change your mind.”

  “I’ll never change my mind,” I growled, my heart racing in my chest as his hand ventured over the curve of my breasts. I cringed, bile rising in my throat. The dude was my cousin.

  “I can be very persuasive,” he smirked, his eyes flashing gold before returning to black.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but his hand slapped my cheek. The skin stung like a bitch and I was sure it was an angry red. Tears I couldn’t control filled my eyes.

  I glared at Travis. “What the hell was that for?”

  “You need to learn manners,” he lowered so we were eye to eye. “Caeden might like your smart mouth, but I won’t stand for it. You’re mine now, sweet Sophie,” he smoothed his fingers over my throbbing cheek in a gentle touch.

  His mouth lowered on mine, and on instinct I bit down on his lip.

  He jumped back and I saw a small trickle of blood.

  Anger contorted his features. He reached out, grabbing a chunk of my hair, and pulled.

  A scream tore out of my throat. Not only was it extremely painful having your hair ripped from your skull, but he pulled me against the chains. I heard a pop and I’m pretty sure my shoulder dislocated.

  “Manners,” he pointed a finger in my face. “I expect you to have learned some when I return, and if you haven’t, this will seem like nothing,” he shoved his hand in front of me that contained long strands of my dark hair.

  He turned sharply on his heel and stormed out of the room. The door slammed closed behind him and it sounded like he locked a deadbolt.

  I began to cry.

  I was never going to make it out of here alive.

  I’d already come to that conclusion before. But now, being awake, seeing Travis…it had really hit me.

  I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it, but that didn’t mean I’d go down without a fight. I had my baby, and Caeden, to think about. I was a mama wolf now, and we weren’t to be trifled with. If Travis thought he’d be able to break me, he was wrong.

  * * *

  Caeden

  I wanted to kill all of them.

  Every single one of them.

  Even my friends.

  I’m sure that made me like Travis, but right now I didn’t give a crap.

  Sophie was gone, and they were looking at me like I was out of my mind. I wanted them to pay, because I knew one of them had to be a mole. Maybe even more than one. Power was a sticky fickle thing, and it got to the best of them. And T
ravis, with his mutants, had a lot of power.

  Everyone was gathered outside, I was too angry to ask them in, and frankly I didn’t want a traitor in my house.

  I was beyond keeping my beliefs to myself anymore. I wanted everyone to know.

  “There’s a traitor among us,” I stated, and gasps abounded. “And I promise you, when I find out who it is,” I glared at everyone, lingering on Cody and Baxter, “there will be hell to pay.”

  I watched as everyone looked around, eyeing each other as whispers spread.

  “I don’t know why you’re so mad about Sophie being gone,” Cody eyed me. “You’re mates, surely you can feel her.”

  I couldn’t control my reaction. I grabbed him by the collar and lifted the older man high into the air. “I can’t feel her, because of the baby. I’m not as stupid as you think, Cody,” I dropped the man, but he landed on his feet.

  “Grandpa!” Charlotte rushed to Cody’s side.

  “Caeden, you need to calm down,” Bryce grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away.

  I slung his hold off with so much force that he went flying through the air and landed on his butt.

  Anger coursed through my veins like a powerful drug. For the first time in my whole life, I hated what I was. Being a shifter had caused this. I might lose everything to that psycho because I belonged to this world.

  I crumpled to my knees as defeat hit me.

  A cry escaped my throat and I grasped at the snow, letting the cold seep into me, reminding me that I was alive. Alive, while Sophie was either dead, or fighting for her life. I’d never forgive myself for this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she hated me if—no, when—I found her. Because I would find her…and she’d be alive.

  I had to believe that, or I couldn’t keep going.

  I finally rose, bracing my shoulders against the cold wind. “I want you all gone,” I whispered, knowing they’d hear me. When none of them moved, my anger returned. “LEAVE!”

  I watched as they began to shift back to their wolf form and left. Bentley, Christian, my mom, Bryce, Sophie’s parents, and Lucinda lingered.

  “Go away!” I yelled at them, not caring how harsh I sounded.

  No one moved though.

  They stared at me, watching as I broke apart. I was their Alpha and they shouldn’t see me like this. But today’s events had taken its toll on me. I’d lost Sophie and threatened my pack—which went against everything an Alpha stood for. You were a leader, the voice of reason, you weren’t supposed to threaten your pack. But I meant every word. I wasn’t going to be weak and stand by. It was probably a bad thing that I’d let my belief of a mole be known, but I’d needed to say it. I couldn’t keep everything bottled inside anymore.