The four of them left the warmth of the diner and regrouped at the side of the building. Garret wasted no time in losing his skin, not even checking to see if a human was nearby before tearing at his shirt and snarling as he forced the shift. There weren’t many residents in Climax, but they still had to be careful. Once shifted into his fur, Garret shook out his thick coat and pawed the ground, sniffing for a lead. Even though they could all see and track fairly well as humans, their skills were nothing compared to the ones they possessed in their wolf forms.
Garret motioned with a jerk of the head and then bounded off toward the tree line on all fours. He must have picked up Cassidy’s scent. Why the fuck would she go into the forest in the dead of night? Didn’t she realize Matthew disappeared in these woods and he was a skilled fighter and tracker? Didn’t she learn anything from the tragedy?
Patrick commanded the change to envelop his body. His bones contorted, his fur pricked his skin, and he dropped down as his form morphed from man to beast. He still remembered the fascination on Cassidy’s face when she ran her hands through his fur. It was at that moment his love for her doubled, tripled. She accepted his wolf, even though she didn’t yet know it was him. If Garret had his way, maybe she never would. Her innocence, curiosity, and scent captured him, body and soul, and she didn’t even realize it. But he didn’t give away his love lightly. It was his little secret, a weapon she could wield against him if he gave it over too quickly.
“This way. Her scent is strong,” said Garret.
The four of them raced soundlessly through the trees and underbrush. This wasn’t their forest but they’d traveled it many times when searching for their missing pack mate.
“Can you smell the males? It’s the Rockford wolves.” Travis’s voice had a menacing tone. Texas loved a good fight, especially when he had a worthy reason. If their rival pack had done anything to Cassidy, there would be bloodshed. Patrick was ready for it, his hackles up, and fangs fully lengthened in preparation. Life had hardened him to the point that death no longer held fear for him.
The scent grew stronger the closer they got. He could practically see her in his mind’s eye, taste her skin on his tongue. If one hair on her pretty little head was harmed, he’d show no mercy to those responsible.
“I hear her,” said Garret. “She whimpers.”
Those few words were fuel to the pack. Their female needed them. Patrick forced his legs to run faster, his muscles burning as he pushed his wolf to the limit. Evan brushed his side, keeping a similar punishing pace. Only the sounds of their labored breathing and odd brush of leaves could be heard as the four of them charged for their target. Their wolves greatly exceeded the native species in size and strength. Anyone daring to get in the way of four determined males had a death wish. Patrick had no clue what awaited him, but it didn’t matter. A real man would sooner die than allow their female to suffer. And Garret had declared Cassidy theirs. He may not have officially marked her, but the choice had been made.
“How many?” asked Patrick. Garret was in the lead. There was a break in the trees ahead. Already he could make out human forms.
“Enough. But we have the advantage. It’ll take them time to shift.”
His lips naturally rolled back off his canines. He wanted blood for blood. Then he heard Cassidy’s voice, a desperate plea to her aggressor. Patrick only saw red.
* * * *
Corbin pressed himself tight to her body. She could feel his cock hard against her hip. He ground it against her as he groped her ass with both hands. Were all these men going to rape her? Force her to have sex with the lot of them and then leave her for dead like all those hikers? The reality of her situation filtered through her fear-laden mind. This was it. No one was coming to rescue her, and there was no escape. Screaming for help would only draw attention to the wildlife, not anyone who would actually be of help to her. They were in the middle of nowhere. The town of Climax was a good half hour away from their remote spot in the woods, and after that there was no civilization for many hours of driving. She was isolated and felt stupid for trying to take on more than she could handle. Garret was one hundred percent right. It wasn’t safe to be roaming around on her own.
“Please, let me go…” She wanted no part of this man. He wasn’t giving her a choice. Nothing excused the fact. Corbin may be handsome and fit, a dream catch to most women, but her heart was already taken. It may be foolish to give her love away so quickly, to men not ready to commit, but it happened with her four Gregor miners.
“Beg me to stop. It makes my cock harder.” He reached down to unzip his jeans. She tensed, her blood running cold. Even without sight, she had to at least try to save herself. Cassidy struck out, raising her knee to Corbin’s groin. Every move was on instinct, fueled by her adrenaline-riddled blood. She clawed at his face, anything to give her a few precious seconds to escape. If she could just get free of his grasp, she’d try and run, hopefully not straight into a tree or one of his perverted friends. But just as quickly as she’d lashed out, Corbin took control of the situation. He shackled her wrists, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises, and tsked mockingly in her ear. Oh God, no.
Would she be able to drift away if he forced himself on her? Blank out the events to save her sanity? If only she had a weapon, but she couldn’t even see if she did have one.
“They’ll come for me,” she warned. Cassidy was pulling at straws, desperate to convince this lunatic to let her leave.
“Who?”
“My men. They won’t take kindly to another man hitting on me. They’re very jealous. All four of them.” At least she hoped Corbin would believe the bullshit she was spewing. Any seed of doubt meant she was a bit closer to freedom.
“So they have claimed her for the pack. You’re right,” said one of the men.
“She has no love bite. It’s only a rumor,” said another.
Corbin trailed a finger down her neck. “It’s odd that Garret wouldn’t mark her. Maybe she’s not as valuable as I thought.” He made a dismissive sound. “Regardless, she’ll be entertainment for the night. I haven’t had a female since our last trip to the port town for supplies.”
“I’ll do anything, just please let me go.” She knew pleading with a madman was probably wasted breath, but she was so desperate to get away from him. All her years in foster care and struggling to survive on her own, she’d never felt this hopeless. If she could promise him the moon, she would.
“That’s right, you will do anything, no matter how rough things get. We’re not the soft-skinned city boys you’re probably used to.” He paused for what felt like an eternity. “Take your clothes off. I want to see what I’m going to fuck.”
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, will her life to end rather than endure their assault. But she was frozen in place, unable to move or speak. The numbness was either a saving grace or a final insult. Cassidy doubted they’d let her leave to tell about it afterward.
“Wolves!” cried one of the men. Corbin’s hands immediately slipped away from her body. She could hear them now, low growls of warning. There was scuffling and then a chorus of vicious snarls. She crouched into a ball and covered her ears. The sounds reminded her of her last frightening visit to the forest when she’d met Ryder, only this time she doubted she’d be so lucky to escape unharmed.
How long could she escape fate? Maybe she was meant to die by the teeth and claws of a wolf. The sounds emanating around her were bloodcurdling. Once they finished off her attackers, they’d no doubt turn their attention on her. She had to get away, but she couldn’t see, had no sense of direction.
She did the only thing she could do and began to slowly creep away from the melee on her hands and knees. If she stood, she would attract attention. Maybe if she got far enough away, the wolves would be satisfied with their kills and not notice her. Cassidy had no doubt Corbin and his groupies were wolf meat. They’d be the next men spoken about in the diner, the latest gossip until the next person showed
up mutilated by animals. It did strike her as odd that none of the men cried out, screamed, or yelled during the attack. It made the incident slightly more digestible. All she could make out were growls, snarls, and the sound of wet flesh and teeth snapping.
“I’ve gotcha.” A hand wrapped around her upper arm, pulling her to her feet. She recognized that voice. How?
Cassidy wrestled to get away from Corbin, but he was too strong. His grasp was like an iron shackle. “They think they own Climax. Think they can do whatever they please. Well, I know they’re responsible for one of ours going missing. Until we get him back, you’ll be our little plaything.” He laughed maniacally, dragging her along. He moved at a brisk clip away from the wolves. She could only follow as her alternative was to scream, but that would only alert those bloodthirsty beasts. Why couldn’t these wolves be like the one she’d met during her camping trip with Garret? That animal had been so peaceful, allowing her to caress it, look into its eyes. It made her feel safe, not threatened.
“Move, woman!” His fingers bit into her tender flesh. “They’ll be after us in no time. I won’t give up my leverage.”
“I have no money. If you think kidnapping me will get you money, you’re wrong. I have no family, no savings—nothing but that old shack I inherited.”
“Hush!” There was a new layer to his tone now. He was nervous. The cockiness had been replaced by a new fear. Even big, bad men feared meeting their maker by the fangs of a carnivore.
Her shoe caught on a root and she lurched forward. He continued to hold her upright for a minute, and then he dropped her heavily to her knees. He’d just given up? Decided it was too much trouble to cart her back through the forest?
Before she could count her blessings, she heard them. The heavy, animalistic breathing charged past her in pursuit of Corbin, no doubt. Why had it passed her by? She wasn’t skin and bones, but would make a healthy meal to a wolf, and yet the animals practically brushed right by her.
“Cassidy, are you okay, baby?” The deep, masculine voice was the most beautiful music after so much stress.
“Evan!” She leapt up against his body, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was so big she had a hard time reaching, even on her tiptoes. She forgot the kidnapping, the cold, the darkness, and the wolves when in Evan’s protective embrace. The whole world went away, and it was just the two of them. “Thank God you found me.” She should probably ask how he found her and why the wolves hadn’t attacked him. But she was too mentally exhausted and just wanted to forget everything.
She was back in that trailer, happy to see him after her absence with Garret. The reunion sparked all over again, fear and distress temporarily forgotten.
“Let’s get you home where you belong,” he said, hoisting her up into his arms. Where was home? Where did Cassidy belong? That old shack she inherited from her blood grandfather? One of the many apartments she’d rented over the years? She’d searched for a connection to her past for so long that she forgot how to enjoy life. Cassidy couldn’t see a good thing when it was staring her in the face. Garret and Evan both showed genuine interest. They wanted her, cared for her, and pleasured her like no other men outside of Climax ever could.
That was when she realized Evan didn’t wear a shirt. His back, arms, and chest were all bare flesh. He wasn’t freezing, but almost hot like a space heater. Her body was chilled to the bone from the cold bite in the air, and he felt heavenly to be cuddled up against.
Evan carried her effortlessly through the forest, apparently not having an issue with the pitch-black conditions either. Maybe she should get her eyes checked. “The wolves—”
“Don’t worry about them. They’ll never get their paws on you again.” He thought she’d been attacked by wolves? “I never should have let you leave the mine. You tricked me, Cassidy. It won’t happen again.”
“It’s not your fault. I can get pretty convincing when I want my own way.”
“Well, I have no doubt it was the Rockford wol—the Rockford miners who took Matthew now.” She pressed her head to his shoulder as he carried her along. His breath wasn’t even labored, his arms not sagging from her weight. He made her feel feminine and protected.
“They think the same thing about you guys. Corbin seems to believe you’re holding one of his men hostage. He was going to use me as collateral to trade or something.” The entire night of events was surreal. It was the stuff movies were made of, not lives of boring women like her.
“Why would we want one of them? We mind our own business and try to keep out of everyone else’s. Even with Garret suspecting the Rockfords of having something to do with Matthew’s disappearance, we never went looking for a fight.”
“Where’s Garret? Did you see him before you left?”
“Garret has a mind to punish you. And they’re all here, no doubt just as eager as I was to see if you’re okay.”
“Where? Back there with the wolves?” She hoped he’d say they were waiting in the truck down by the road. If anything happened to the other three men, she didn’t know how she’d handle it. Somehow her four lovers had branded on her soul. She thought of them constantly, even in her dreams.
Evan didn’t answer her for a while. “You don’t need to worry about them.”
“What about Matthew? He never came back from the forest.” She regretted her words as soon as she spoke them. The miners loved Matthew and mourned his disappearance like a death—perhaps rightfully so. Having the unanswered questions looming over them was the worst.
“Matthew was well trained by Garret. He wouldn’t have been captured by men or wolves. Something else must have happened.”
She decided to keep her mouth shut in case she said something upsetting again. All she wanted was for Garret, Patrick, and Travis to be safe. If anything happened to them she’d blame herself. What was she thinking following Corbin into the dark woods? Even the voices of her grade school teachers blared in her head as she took that first step, but she ignored them, too excited about the prospect of finding her brother. Scott wasn’t even in the woods. It was all a lie, some sick ruse to get her alone so they could do God knew what to her.
Cassidy cuddled deeper into Evan’s embrace. The only men she wanted were her four, no others. Everything she’d done with them had been consensual, more than consensual. Even now, in the eye of the storm, she felt the tingling between her legs. She’d been alone with Garret for so long that she craved having more than one man pleasure her body. And they were so good at ménage loving. But would they break into violent fits of jealousy and possessiveness again? Was a long-term relationship destined to failure? Right now she just wanted to get out of the forbidden forest and far, far away from those hellhounds. She wondered if Corbin was even alive. As much as she hated him for tricking and attempting to assault her, she hated to think of a young man losing his life so soon. A death by fangs and claws had to be one of the worst ways to go.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she whispered as they broke free of the forest. The grassy field behind the diner was like a lake at night, a vast black void.
“Of course we came.” He kissed her forehead. “You’re ours now. We’ll never let anything happen to you.”
“Are you so sure Patrick and Travis feel the same?” Despite her insecurities with commitment, she sensed genuine interest from Garret and Evan. Not love, not yet, but something warm and pleasant. She hoped that germinated seed would continue to grow and flourish until the two men were too much in love to walk out on her. Cassidy didn’t think she could handle more abandonment in her life.
“I’m sure.”
“How can you be?”
“I just am.”
She squirmed uncomfortably in his arms now. Rather than worry about them getting out of the forest alive, she was more concerned for them to accept her, want her. She didn’t deserve a single one of them. Cassidy said a silent prayer that those wolves didn’t attack her men. Garret had some magical gift with that wolf in the forest. Maybe t
hat talent extended further than that one lone wolf with the intelligent eyes.
“She was kidnapped by a crazed man and nearly killed by wolves, but she’s worried if we want her?” Out of the darkness came the sweetest sound she could hear under the circumstance.
“Travis!”
Chapter Four
Garret stood off in the shadows, watching, waiting. He needed to calm his beast before he showed himself to Cassidy. There had been bloodshed, but no deaths tonight. The Rockford wolves were also excellent fighters. Before the battle, they’d spewed allegations that he’d taken one of their men, which was ridiculous.
Ever since Ryder discovered they were interested in Cassidy for more than just the typical nine-to-five, Garret knew their twisted wheels would be turning. He hated having a weakness for them to exploit, especially one so precious to him. Having a mate was an incomparable gift—from the gods or fate, he wasn’t sure.
Because of his obsession for finding Matthew, he’d left her alone on more than one occasion. He had to accept that maybe his pack mate wasn’t coming home. Ever. Whether it be by the hands of the Rockfords, hunters, loggers, or some other menacing force, his disappearance may be permanent. It was time to focus on his remaining pack and his woman.
Travis moved in, taking Cassie from Evan’s arms. He set her on her feet against the rear wall of the diner. Garret was afraid to ask her if her kidnappers had touched her, hurt her. Knowing they had would set him into an unstoppable rage, turning a battle into a war. The mere thought of another male touching his mate drove him mad. She was for him only, his pack.
He could sense Travis’s need, the sexual desire building and building—a mix of relief and unadulterated attraction to the little brunette. Her scent was so potent, he couldn’t blame Travis…or Evan. His usually cool and controlled pack mate was an unstable mess around Cassie.
A red wolf brushed up alongside him, tickling his bare leg. Patrick shifted back into his skin, his heart racing, likely from the thrill of giving up his humanity completely during the fight. Garret had savored it as well, but they always had to remember to control their wolves or they’d end up controlling them. With a human mate it was imperative to maintain some semblance of order over their emotions.
Matthew's Return [Wolves of Climax 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever - Serialized) Page 3