by Bonnie Vanak
Katy was gone. Kidnapped by someone in her own damn pack. The crazy thought swirled around Grayson’s tired, stunned brain as Aiden and several other male Lupines milled about the parking lot of The Bar.
Kyle Morgan, a good cowhand and one of the best trackers in the West, was inside trying to nail down the scents. With the deluge of smells, from stale beer to old vomit to cloying perfume, it presented a real challenge for an ordinary Lupine to find who was involved. But Grayson had faith in Kyle.
Drunk Charles had taken Katy. Why, he didn’t know, but damn, he was going to find out.
Crouching down by the spot where Charles had parked his sedan, Aiden examined the ground and then looked up. The yellowish glow of the sodium lights picked out the fierce amber in his gaze, the alpha’s wolf howling at the abduction of one of his own by one of his own.
Grayson headed for the alpha, ignoring the glares of the other males. At Aiden’s side, Darius, the alpha’s second-in-command, lifted his handsome face to the wind, sniffing the breeze.
Aiden straightened, dusted off his hands. “Tell me what you know.”
Grayson told him for the third time. “Charles was acting drunk, but I couldn’t smell more than a couple of beers in him. If I’d known there was a threat to Katy, I’d never have left her side.”
“Not your responsibility,” Darius said coolly.
It’s more my responsibility than you know. He gave the beta a level look. “I’d be shirking my duty as a male to not be worried and pitch in to help find her. Right duty of every red-blooded male Lupine to protect a female. And if you tell me to butt out, I’ll track her on my own.”
Darius gave a rough nod, while Aiden simply assessed him, saying nothing. The silence didn’t bother him. He was used to silence when other male Lupines sized him up, wondered what the hell he was about, not being pack and all. Lone wolves were regarded with suspicion in this stretch of the West, and rightly so. A lone wolf could prove to be a dangerous Lupine, going rogue against his own kind, making trouble or, even worse, exposing their secrets to the Skin world. Lone wolves had no alpha to reel them in when they headed toward trouble.
But Grayson had survived here alone, and he’d been careful never to draw any attention to himself. Maybe alpha ran through his blood as well, for he refused to lower his gaze before the powerful Mitchell pack leader.
Gaze locked to his, Aiden finally nodded, touched the brim of his Stetson as a sign of respect. A little tension eased, but it did nothing to chase the battalion of butterflies swarming in Grayson’s guts. Katy was missing, and every damn second they wasted on posturing was another second she slipped farther away.
A big silver pickup roared into the parking lot, stopped before the dumpster. Out spilled Katy’s five older brothers and her parents. Grayson steeled his spine. While Mary, Katy’s mom, had been polite to him, Dave and sons had glowered at him at the barbecue when Katy personally wrapped up a few extra biscuits for him to take home. Grayson suspected they didn’t want their girl anywhere near a lone wolf.
An unknown factor in their well-planned lives.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Dave jabbed a thumb in Grayson’s direction as he addressed his alpha.
Mary put a hand on her mate’s arm. “Dave, please, settle down.”
Aiden walked over to Dave, put a calming hand on the other Lupine’s shoulder. “Ease up, Dave. He’s helping us.”
“Oh? How do we know he’s not the reason Katy went missing? Holly and Sherry said the bartender told them he was the last person to speak to her!” Tom, the eldest brother, was yelling in Grayson’s direction.
Guilt speared him as Grayson wondered about that himself. I should never have left her alone.
“Grayson is the one who called me to alert me to the fact she’d been kidnapped,” Aiden said mildly.
It wouldn’t do any good. The father and brothers had it in their minds that Grayson was the enemy, so he turned and walked toward the dumpster. He circled it, resisting the urge to call upon his long-dormant wolf. He could find Katy without the beast surfacing. He’d tracked enough stray cattle.
“Moore, you have something to do with this. I know it. I can smell it. I ought to whip your ass!” Katy’s father shouted.
“Dave, take your family and go home. We’ll handle it here,” Aiden ordered.
The older Lupine bristled. “She’s my daughter.”
“I know,” Aiden said. “And if by chance Charles brings her home after a joy ride, wouldn’t you want to be there to comfort her?”
Grayson could smell Mary’s fear and panic. Katy’s mother looked at her mate. “He’s right, Dave. Let them handle it. Kyle’s the best tracker, he can find her. Maybe she’s already home by now. I hope she’s home, I can’t bear it if anything happens to her…”
She began to cry. “Katy’s a strong Lupine, but there’s such evil in this world. Aiden, find my daughter.”
The alpha gave a brusque nod, and Dave slid an arm around her shoulder, leading her back to the truck as their sons trailed behind. Grayson felt a gnawing ache in his gut at Mary’s distress.
Katy had to come home. Whoever did this would pay.
Spotting something sparkling in the muddied slush in back of the dumpster, he squatted down. Nostrils flared, scenting something very odd and cold. So very cold, like ice that had laid upon the earth for more than a thousand years.
Grayson touched the glittering substance. It dusted his palm, made his heart beat uncomfortably fast. Mingled with the metallic stench was Katy’s sweet fragrance.
All the senses he’d suppressed for years howled, making it impossible for him to ignore. Impossible for him to pretend he was Skin, not Lupine.
His palm shaking like a leaf in the wind, he stood, grappling with his lost composure. Gaze riveted to the ground, he tried to shut out all the distractions, the voices of angry, worried males, the deeper and more commanding tone of the pack alpha, and a truck pulling into the parking lot, belching blue smoke that stung his overly sensitive nostrils.
She’s with him, goddess help her. She’s with him and I don’t know how to help her. Memories surged, the pitiful cries of a small, trapped girl, the terrible feeling of helplessness as he tried to reach her outstretched hand as she begged him to save her…
A door slammed, and the brisk clip of boot heels clicked across the parking lot. Grayson finally forced himself to focus on the present.
It’s in the past. You ain’t that wolf any longer.
He swerved and watched Nia Blakemore Mitchell, Aiden’s mate, stride across the parking lot, her long dark blonde hair swaying with each step. Nia was a force unto herself. Nothing, not even pregnancy, slowed her down.
“Aiden, what did you find out?” Nia demanded. “I can help.”
“Go home,” Aiden told her, resting his hand on his mate’s very large belly. “Do you want to have the baby here in the parking lot?”
Nia scowled. “I’ll have the baby anywhere I damn please, Mitchell, but you are not leaving me out of this. Katy’s one of mine—”
“Ours,” the alpha countered.
“—And we are responsible. Get it? We. Plural. Us. So stop coddling me. I’m fine.”
Katy isn’t yours. She’s mine.
Grayson looked at the dark glitter on his hands. Charles taking Katy was bad enough. But this was really bad news. Because it meant something sinister lurked behind this kidnapping, something that went deeper than a jealous cowhand spiriting off a female.
It had the stamp of a well-conceived plan.
“And Charles is one of ours, so if he’s gone rogue, I’ll help you bring him in,” Nia continued.
Grayson stepped forward, facing the frowning male alpha and the gutsy female alpha. “It wasn’t just him.”
They turned to him.
“Charles wasn’t working alone.” Grayson spread out his palm to reveal the pink and purple glitter he’d picked up. “Dark Fae dust.”
Silence fell over the parking lot.
The other Lupines glanced at each other with unease.
“Dark Fae,” Aiden mused. “Damn.”
“A Dark Fae has Katy?” Darius growled. “Why would a Dark Fae want her? And how the hell is Charles involved in this?”
Good question. Could Charles have seen what Grayson had? Could Charles tell Katy was something special?
Doubtful. Hell, Katy herself didn’t know. Yet.
“Has Charles been acting odd, requested time off from you?” Aiden asked his beta.
Darius shook his head. “But he has been hanging out here more, and he also hasn’t been in his bunk earlier than two o’clock in the morning. I didn’t question it since he’s never late for work. Figured Charles needed to get out, get laid or something.”
Or something. A chill raced down Grayson’s spine. Charles hadn’t been out scouting for someone to warm his bed, but probably had found a hidden portal and let a nasty something through to plan this kidnapping.
The others had no fucking clue what they were dealing with. Only he did. And letting them know all the knowledge he possessed would blow his cover.
He wanted to appear a normal Lupine.
He wanted Katy safe more than he wanted normal.
As the front door of the bar opened, a tall Lupine emerged. “Kyle,” Aiden barked. “Get the hell over here.” When he did, Aiden pointed to Grayson. “Take a whiff of what’s on his palm and tell me what you know.”
Kyle’s expression darkened. “Dark Fae. I don’t know this scent, but we know someone who does. Prince Alexander and Princess Emma, of Clan Drakon.”
“Dragons,” Aiden mused. “Emma’s birth father is Dark Fae.”
Grayson didn’t like the connection. Dragons were friendly enough shifters, but a dragon with a Dark Fae father?
“We don’t need their help,” he told Aiden.
Aiden gave him a long, thoughtful look. “We’ll get no further information here. Kyle, Darius, bottle as much of the Dark Fae dust as you can. Grayson, you’ll come back with us to the ranch.”
Grayson started to dust off his hands, thought better of it. Gut instinct warned him to keep evidence for himself.
Aiden told his pack to leave, and when they were gone (snap your fingers, alpha, and everyone but your mate obeys), he put a hand on Grayson’s shoulder. The contact made him stiffen, though there was nothing heavy-handed or authoritative about the gesture. It was more in friendship.
Grayson hadn’t any real friends in a very long time. It felt odd, but good.
Nia stood before him, and when he looked into her eyes, he saw the worry there. They were truly concerned about Katy, as much as her own family was. Maybe this was what he’d missed out on all these years. He wouldn’t ever join them, but for now, Grayson would aid any way possible.
They knew Katy, had lived with her for most of her life. He needed information if he was going to track her down and rescue her.
“You don’t need dragons to tell you where Katy is.” Grayson removed his Stetson, ran a thumb around the brim. “I know where she went.”
Nia gasped and Aiden stiffened. “Where is she? Please, tell me.” Nia’s big blue eyes filled with tears. “We have to find Katy. She’s one of ours.”
Something dangerous uncoiled inside him. “No, she’s not. She never was yours, just yours to raise, Nia.”
His voice deepened, and he knew if the sodium lights were stronger, they’d reflect his changing eyes. “She’s in a place where you can’t get her. A place where someone can hurt her.”
Aiden growled deep. “We’ll find her.”
“I’ll find her. First, I’ll return with you to the ranch. Gonna be things I’ll need when I find her. Information about her.”
“If you’re not telling us something—” Aiden began.
Grayson gave the alpha a cool look. “All you need to know is that Katy will return to you, safe and unharmed, if you quit wasting time. That’s all I’m saying. No more. Got it, Mitchell?”
Nia tugged at her mate’s arm. “Please, Aiden, let’s go home.”
Aiden gave a brusque nod. Grayson turned and headed for his truck. He couldn’t track her from here without more information. Whoever orchestrated this was far too clever.
And whatever they planned for Katy, he knew it wasn’t good.
Chapter 4
Dark. So dark. Even her acute wolf senses couldn’t pick out a single thing in the ink-black room.
Katy sat up, wincing as she rubbed her temples. She squeezed her eyes closed, shutting out the terrifying blackness, trying to recall what happened.
She’d been outside the bar to look for her friends. And then her world went dark.
When she woke, she was here.
Terror threatened to surface, but Katy pushed it down. Her parents hadn’t raised a namby-pamby wolf who panicked. Dave taught all of them to think on their feet, or paws, and how to survive on their own. Her adoptive mother had taught her how to fight males who got too friendly and showed unwanted attention. Her family might be overprotective, but they also wanted her to know how to get out of trouble if the occasion warranted.
I’d say the time is right. What irony! She’d wanted to be free of her family and finally start to live. Experience adventure. Now she had plenty of it.
Dragging in a deep breath, she smelled dampness and mildew, and a stench warning she was in unfamiliar territory. A cave, perhaps.
The thought sent shivers through her. She’d hated caves since childhood…since…
When?
A dim memory tugged at her. Having no recollection of life before she was eight years old truly sucked. Every once in a while a memory flickered like a light bulb, but never enough to fully understand. Certain sights, or smells like this, triggered the past.
All she knew was she’d been orphaned and found by Darius, the Mitchell pack beta, wandering on a dirt road bordering the ranch. He’d taken her and given her to Dave and Mary to raise, and she’d been happy ever since. But every once in a while she wished she could track down her real origins. Who were her parents? Did they have a pack? Did this kidnapping have anything to do with her origins?
Made no sense, since Charles was her abductor. Still, the smells here, even the taste of the air, were oddly familiar.
She touched the ground beneath her. Nothing but cool concrete. In the distance, she heard the rustle of wind, and murmured voices above her.
Definitely a basement. But that stench…it smelled like lost hope mingled with decay. Her sensitive wolf’s nose twitched and the wolf inside her whined, wanting to get away from this terrible place.
It’s okay, she soothed her wolf. Let’s figure out a plan. We’ll get out of here.
A door to her right opened, spilling in harsh light. Katy’s eyes watered from the sudden pain.
She said nothing as the person stomped across the floor and then seized her arm, hauling her upright. Biting back a cry, she waited. And then she heard a switch snap on, and blazing light filled the room.
She blinked fast, willing herself to calm. The scent of her captor slammed into her before her pupils could adjust to the light.
Charles.
Trying to calm herself, Katy scanned the room, assessing her prison. An open, sturdy oak door showed a hallway blazing with light. The room where she was held was painted gray, without windows, and looked almost like a safe room. Concrete floor…her nose twitched…and walls. Impossible to break into or out of…
The open door remained her only option.
“Charles. I hope this is a joke,” she told him.
He squeezed her arm painfully, but she bit her lip, willing herself not to cry out.
“I got paid good money to bring you here.”
Katy’s heart raced faster. She turned her head to study her captor. Charles’ dark hair was rumpled, his clothing stained and torn, and he looked as if he’d been dragged backward through a ditch. “What did I ever do to you?”
“You don’t belong with us. You never have. Ever s
ince the day you came to live with us, everyone’s given you extra attention to make up for you being abandoned. I felt sorry for you, so I asked you out. And you had to turn me down in front of everyone. You’re different, bitch. And different in a pack is bad. You’re not good enough to pick and choose. I was doing you a damn favor.” Charles released his vise-like grip on her arm, his bloodshot gaze wild.
Maybe it had been slightly cruel to spurn him in front of everyone, but she was glad her instincts proved right. Charles had a point, however. She had felt different from the others, ever since her birthday last month. Maybe he’s right. I’m not good enough for anyone.
And then a deep male voice spoke in her mind from memory. Grayson. You ever need me, Katy, day or night. I’ll be here for you.
“I am good enough, Charles,” she said quietly, knowing her words were futile, but needing to state it aloud. “I just wasn’t interested.”
“See? You’re not a damn Lupine! Any normal female Lupine would want me.”
Staggering back, he covered his face and began to sob. Pity flashed through her, even as she began sidling toward the open door.
“You’ll find someone, Charles. The right female,” Katy soothed, keeping her gaze trained on him as she crept toward freedom.
And then she heard movement behind her, scented something even more foul, and cried out, running to the opposite wall.
Two tall, gaunt strangers in black tunics carried in a wood box. They set it a short distance from the door. The men with pale hair spilling down their backs did not speak or even regard her. Katy had met a few Fae when they visited the ranch and recognized the scent, but these Fae were tangled with something dark and evil.
Chains sat atop the box. The men attached the chain to a round loop on the wall and locked it.
One pulled a pin and opened the box’s side. A furry, round creature with squat legs waddled out. A length of chain hooked around one stubby leg. It had the bitter, metallic odor of pure iron. The chain pulled the creature short, allowing it to reach the door, but not beyond.
Then one of the men took a short pole, rippling with pink and purple colors. He jabbed it at the creature, and sparks jumped onto it. The creature howled again and retreated toward the box.