by Sam Crescent
Ignoring them, Cade walked over to Pete and Paul. “What happened?”
Paul went first. “Misty sauntered up to me with a smile. I didn’t see a problem. She’s known for being a little all over the place. She wrapped her arms around my neck and fucking jabbed me. When I get my hands on that slut I’m going to tear her apart. She injected me with something. Next thing I know, Charlotte is slapping my face trying to make me wake up.”
Pete’s story was similar only the barman put up more of a fight. There was a bruise by his eye and his lip was split. “I knew she was up to something. I’ve never trusted the bitch and now I fucking know why.”
“They took three women and David,” Cade said.
“Once they picked their women, one of the Eagles lashed out at some of the pack. I’ve got some of them in the dining room tending to their cuts and stuff,” Charlotte said, rubbing over her face. His queen looked terrified.
“There is something about this I don’t like. Misty is clever and she’s taken David.” Cade looked up the stairs. He walked up the stairs to Titania’s room. Ever since Charlotte became Micah’s mate for real, Misty had been acting differently. The other woman wanted to own her own pack. She wasn’t strong enough to lead on her own, why join the Eagles?
Moving up to the room, he saw Titania’s door open. Sliding through the small crack in the door he saw the room in chaos. Misty had taken a visit to Titania’s room. Clothes were torn and furniture was upturned.
On the bathroom door there was a picture of Titania with a knife through it. Underneath a message had been left in red ink. “You’re next.”
For a long time Cade had never known fear. He took his enemies down and showed the others with his strength that he didn’t care about drawing blood. There was a vicious side to him he’d taken for granted his whole life. After reading the message, Cade stumbled out of the bedroom and charged down the stairs. He didn’t acknowledge anyone’s concern as he ran out of the house and to the car where he thought Titania was safe. Her door was open and there on the ground where Titania must have stood was a syringe. Falling to his knees, Cade let fear take over.
Misty had his woman and Cade had no clue where she was. He’d failed to protect her and there was nothing stopping the other woman from hurting his woman.
Letting out a high-pitch scream, Cade allowed his beast to take over. No matter how much Misty begged or pleaded, the other woman was dead. Everyone else, their enemies or allies would get a message from him. Whoever touched his woman would answer to him.
* * * *
“Titania.”
Rolling onto her side, Titania felt sick. She’d opened the door to Cade’s car and stood looking at the house. Something hadn’t felt right before darkness filled her vision. Putting a hand to her neck, she cried out from the pain. Someone had put something in her neck.
“Titania.”
Opening her eyes, she looked up to see David staring down at her. Blinking away the confusion, she saw her friend was tied to a chair. His face was bleeding from several bruises and cuts on his face. David still wore clothes but they were slashed like he’d been cut with a knife.
“David,” she said, getting to her knees. She placed her hands on his knees in an attempt to raise herself up. He cried out. “David.” Concern swamped her.
“They hit me with baseball bats. I can’t turn to repair the damage. Misty keeps me chained up.” His words came out rushed. Removing her hands, Titania stood. For several seconds she stumbled in her movements. Glancing around, she saw they were in a rundown bedroom.
“Where are we?” she asked, confused.
“I don’t know. They put me out cold and then I woke up here. The place fucking stinks and they’ve ruined my favorite suit,” David complained.
“Trust you to worry about your clothing instead of the fact they’ve been torturing you.”
“It wasn’t so bad until they brought you here. I thought you were safe with Cade. You shouldn’t be here, Titania. Misty despises you. Her hatred is revolting to smell.”
“Aww, you’re talking about my smell, David. And here I thought we were making progress.” Misty walked into the room flanked by two men of the Eagle pack. The tattoo on their right arms showed their initiation into the other pack. One of them looked at David with disgust and the other with pity. Was there any member who hated the ways the pack worked?
“What do you want?” Titania asked.
Misty turned her head to the side, watching her. “From the moment you joined the pack you’ve been a thorn in my side, always looking and watching. I knew you were a sensor of sorts but I didn’t know how good you were. I had to cover everything. Getting around after that was a fucking nuisance.”
“You were not always part of the Eagle pack,” Titania said. Even she knew there was more to Misty’s turning. Also, there was no way the other woman would have been able to keep that secret for long.
“No, you’re right. I wasn’t. The instant I joined the Rock Wood Pack I got Micah’s attention. He wanted me and I knew if I made myself available to him, he’d fall all over himself to take me.” Misty shrugged and smiled.
Titania stood beside her friend. She didn’t want any more harm coming to him. David never did anything wrong.
“Once I started fucking him, I knew it was only a matter of time before he claimed me. Then that fucking bitch stumbled into the bar with her whore of a sister and took everything away from me. Micah wouldn’t come near me after that. Charlotte’s claws were in and any chance of getting Rock Wood was gone.”
David’s laughter cut through her story. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. All this is because of another woman? Charlotte is worth a hundred of you and do you want to know why? She doesn’t open her legs for any man who can give her power.”
The man lashed out with disgust, slamming the bat against David’s knees and then his stomach.
Titania screamed and stood in front of him. “Stop it.”
The guy looked to Misty who nodded. The man raised his bat once again and brought it down on Titania. She wasn’t strong enough. Her leg snapped and she went down to the floor panting. The pain snapped her mind off Misty.
“No, fuck, leave her alone,” David screamed.
Misty went to her knees grabbing a fistful of her hair. “That’s right, little bitch. You can’t turn at all. You’re fucked with that broken leg. Tatum, again,” Misty said.
The bat came down on her other leg hard. Nothing broke but the pain was intense.
“Again.”
Tatum brought the bat down until her second leg snapped from the contact. She couldn’t control herself and vomited over Misty’s shoes.
She didn’t walk away. Her fingers dug into Titania’s face.
“Why?” Titania asked.
“Because I wanted my own pack. Brandon left these alone and they’re my people now, my men. They wanted women and I gave them women. Rock Wood will not be around for much longer. I intend to make it a much better place than anyone ever dreamed. Eagle will be the name everyone fears.”
“All this for a pack?”
“It’s my pack. You wouldn’t understand anything about power. This is all mine and no one can take that away from me. Not you or Micah or Cade.” Misty let her go. “Come on, boys. It won’t be long before Titania starts to hurt. Those legs are going to bleed out and soon she’ll die. I wonder what Cade will do then.”
The door closed, leaving them alone.
“Shit, Titania, why did you do that?” David asked.
“They were hurting you. You’re my friend and I can’t let scum hurt my friends.” She used her hands to try and move around the back of David.
“What the fuck are you doing? Stay still or you’ll hurt more. You can’t turn and Micah is not here to help you.” David kept arguing with her. She ignored him and looked at the chains containing him. The chains stopped him from turning.
“Micah and Cade have no idea where we are. If I can get you out of h
ere you can get them to come and save me,” Titania said, looking around for something to pry the chains open. The pain made it hard for her to think and to breathe.
“I’m not leaving you here, Titania.”
“If you don’t leave me then I’ll die for sure. You’ve got no choice, David. Either stay and watch me die or run for help and try to save me. It’s up to you.” The finality of her death hurt.
“Fuck, I hate this. Okay, get me out of here and I’ll get help.”
Chapter Twelve
Cade stood up and stared behind him where Micah and the others stood. His woman was gone. He failed to protect her when it mattered the most.
Standing up, he looked behind him. “I need to find out where Misty has been.” He charged through the crowd of people and made his way to her room. There was no way he was letting her get away with taking his woman. He got to the bottom of the stairs and Micah caught his arm.
“Don’t do this,” the alpha said. Cade looked down at the hand holding him back and laughed. Several months ago he’d done a similar thing to Micah when Charlotte was taken. Was any of the pack ever going to find a mate without losing them first? He’d never told Titania the truth about his feelings. Cade was in love with her, totally blown over by her.
“You’re holding me back?” Glancing down at the arm holding him and then back up at Micah’s face, Cade waited.
“We have no idea where they are. If you do this, you could risk everything.”
“You’re asking me to hold back from getting my woman.” He pulled out of Micah’s arms. The rest of the pack watched them. None of them spoke up or stepped between them. “Let me tell you something, Misty is a mean fucking bitch. She will hurt everyone and everything in her path. Titania is in danger. She’ll never get away from Misty and that bitch will hurt her if I don’t get to her soon. Do you understand?”
He faced his alpha full on giving him full, undivided attention.
“I understand everything. I’m telling you as your alpha to back the fuck down.”
Cade laughed. “My alpha, you’re giving me instructions to follow.” He landed the first punch with ease. Micah went to the ground. “You’re not my fucking alpha, mate! I’m here out of choice. If I wanted this pack I could fucking take it. You know that, they know that, so don’t start giving me orders or I’ll hunt you down and you’ll wish you were never born.”
Without looking back, Cade went to Misty’s room. He didn’t recall anyone ever stepping foot inside the other woman’s room. The instant he walked in he saw everything he needed to see. Titania had a right to be afraid of Misty. The other woman had a plan and none of it included him or the strongest members of the Rock Wood pack. Misty intended to take it all for herself.
“Did you get some satisfaction in doing what you did?” Charlotte asked.
He turned to see her with arms folded over her chest.
“I have no satisfaction in anything. I want to get Titania back. Micah stood in my way.”
“I want her back as well. Going out on your own is not the answer. Do you really want to be alpha of the pack?”
“What? No.” Cade frowned at her and looked at the wall where Misty kept a picture of everyone in the pack. His face had a cross through it and Micah’s was circle. She was planning something but he didn’t know what. “We need to stop this. She’s going to hurt a lot of people otherwise.”
“Cade!” David’s voice echoed throughout the house.
Charlotte looked at him in shock. Together they ran down to see David collapsed on the foyer floor. He was naked and panting for breath. Micah was running his hands over his body while the rest of the pack scampered away. This was high ranking business and the others knew to stay away.
“He came in wolf form but he’s badly hurt. David needs to rest,” Jordan said. The concern in the man’s voice was shocking.
“She has them all trapped in a rundown house on the farthest edge of the forest. Misty and about ten members of the Eagle pack. I don’t know where the others are,” David said. He was shaking and his body covered in sweat.
“How did you get out?” Cade asked.
“Titania freed the chains containing me. She let me escape and get help. You have to go to her.” He gasped and shook.
“She’s alive, Cade. We need to think this through clearly.” Micah looked up at him. His face was badly bruised from the punch he’d delivered. Guilt gnawed at him from hitting his friend.
“No! If you don’t go to Titania, she will die. She stepped in front of a baseball bat and took the hit. The bat snapped her leg and Misty ordered her other leg to be broken. She’s bleeding out and in pain. Titania can’t change into a wolf. We’ve only got a matter of time before Misty goes after her again. Please, go to her.”
“I’m not waiting around for you to panic, Micah. I’m going to get my woman and end that bitch’s life if it’s the last thing I do. You can kick me out of the pack or try to hurt me but you’re not keeping me away from my mate,” Cade said.
Micah stood. They stared at each other, alpha to second when in truth they were alpha to alpha. “I would never do anything to hurt you, Cade.” His alpha looked at the men. “Get ready. I want all of our strongest men ready. We’re going in to take our people back and put any foes into the ground. If any Eagles don’t fight, you leave them. Not all of them are evil. Cade gets Misty. He’s earned the right to put her down.”
The pack cried out in pleasure at the sentence Micah had rained down. He looked to see Micah offering his hand. “We’ll do this together.”
Going to his knees, Cade took the hand presented to him and kissed it. He showed the whole pack where his loyalty lay. “I’ll protect everyone in this pack. Misty will die tonight and the next full moon I’ll be claiming Titania.”
“Please, go and get her. I don’t know how long she will last when Misty finds out I escaped.”
Cade followed his alpha out of the door. It was time to show that bitch who was boss.
* * * *
“So, David just got out of these chains like they were nothing?” Misty asked. Titania closed her eyes. Tatum was the only man with Misty. He held her up by the hair to look at the other woman. Her face hurt from being slapped and punched. She’d long lost feeling in her lower body.
Where’s Cade?
“You know, this could be a lot easier for you if you told the truth. David disappearing means nothing to me. It won’t stop anything I’ve planned. He’s as good as dead.” Misty stood in front of her.
“Fuck you.”
Whack.
“When I get my hands on David, I’m going to cut his dick off and feed it to my wolves and all the time I’m doing it I’m going to let him know it was your fault.”
Titania laughed. “Do you really think this pack is going to win against Rock Wood?”
“Micah is a weak alpha, Titania. The pack is weak.”
“Cade is not.” She saw the flash of fear in Misty’s eyes. “He’ll tear you apart limb from limb and laugh while he does it.”
Misty swallowed. Titania scented the fear rolling off her. She wasn’t afraid of Micah but she was afraid of Cade. Titania could work with that.
“Your man will be dead.”
“No, nothing can kill Cade. The only person strong enough is me,” Titania said.
The other woman laughed. “You’re nothing.”
“No, I’m the only one who can get close enough to hurt him. Everyone else is fresh meat to Cade. You’ve got no chance of hurting him.” Titania would never hurt the man she loved and she was totally in love with him. Tears filled her eyes. She never told him the truth about how she felt about him. Cade didn’t know she was in love with him. He was her protector, her first and only man. She loved him with her whole heart and instead of being in his arms, she was going to die in a shitty, rundown house. Life was so unfair.
“Cade isn’t afraid of hurting a woman, Misty. Look what he did to you. You know what he’s capable of and you’ll be
the one he comes after.”
Misty grabbed her out of Tatum’s arms. “You know nothing.”
Another punch landed to her face followed by a swift kick. Titania went down and stayed there. “Next time I come up you’ll be dead.”
Titania didn’t bother moving. She was dying and if she didn’t change into a wolf soon she’d be dead.
So much wasted life and time. She let her mind wander over the past couple of days with Cade. Remembering the way he held her as they lay in bed sleeping. She’d woken up a couple mornings with his arms and legs wrapped around her. He looked so peaceful in sleep.
She thought about the way he felt against her as he made love to her. They could have had so much. She hated not knowing what they’d lost. Biting her lips she let the tears fall freely down her face. The tears were not from the pain. They were from lost opportunity. Her lost opportunity to be with the man she loved.
The time passed. Titania didn’t know how much time but too soon Misty and Tatum were back upstairs. A gun was in Misty’s hand.
“Hold her away from you. This bitch is almost gone. I may as well put her out of her misery.”
Closing her eyes she pictured Cade. The gun cocked, ready to shoot.
“I love you, Cade.” Titania spoke the words in hope Cade could hear them. She never expected him to have brilliant hearing but she hoped he knew the truth about how she felt.
The sound of snapping and Titania was suddenly on the floor. Tatum was thrown across the room. His neck snapped.
“I love you too, Titania,” Cade said.
Misty looked petrified.
Titania listened to the fighting going on in the house. The Rock Wood pack had come for them all. They were going to be saved. Cade dropped the weapon he’d been holding. It looked like a long hunting knife.
“So, you turn on the pack, take our women, and then take my woman as some kind of revenge for the fact your cunt wasn’t good enough.”