by Liv Brywood
Diana’s fists clenched at her sides. “That’s insane. You’re basically saying men can’t control themselves, so woman should cover up and be as plain as possible. That argument should have died a millennium ago, but men like you choose to blame women for their lack of self-control. Men like you make me sick.”
Zane lunged forward and shoved Diana to the ground. Spittle burst from his lips as he towered over her and snarled. “The devil spins lies from your lips. Shut up.”
Diana used her hands and feet to scramble backward like a crab. Zane pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.
With the hand holding the gun, he smacked her across the face. “Harlot. You were out here many nights, fornicating with the werewolves. Tell me, how many did you let lie with you? Was it one, two, ten?”
Blood trickled from her lips into her mouth. A coppery taste settled on her tongue. Her jaw throbbed. She moved it slowly to test it, but it wasn’t broken. She hadn’t understood the depth of his delusion until now. She needed to escape before he could enact his plan.
“Get up. And if you speak another word, I’ll kill you.” Zane glowered at her.
Diana rolled onto her knees and slowly stood. Her head pounded and acid churned in her stomach. Hunched over slightly, she continued down the beach. She’d have to be more careful until a chance to escape presented itself.
Zane directed them through the forest to an old logging road. He ushered them into his filthy truck, then climbed in himself.
Zane turned onto the main highway and headed away from town. Along the road, the trees grew less dense and eventually gave way to farmland.
Diana stared out the window, carefully noting any passing landmarks. She’d driven through this part of the countryside a few times, but didn’t know it very well.
After thirty minutes, Zane turned off the highway onto a gravel road. He stopped in front of a large wrought-iron gate. The ironwork depicted angels locked in an epic battle with demons. Next to the gate, two large angel statues stood guard, as if protecting the farm from evil.
Zane hopped out of the driver’s side. “If you try to escape, I’ll kill you.”
Diana dropped her gaze to the floor in an attempt to look meek. She wanted him to think she’d given up, even as a new resolve surged through her. She’d do whatever it took to save her sister and to escape.
Zane hurried to the gate. It screeched as it swung open. He drove the truck through, then closed it. The truck rocked along a dirt road and eventually stopped behind a large red barn.
“Get out,” Zane said.
Diana grabbed her sister’s hand and helped her out of the truck. As Zane’s gaze raked over her, Diana kept her expression passive. Inside, she trembled not from fear, but from rage. How dare he kidnap her again!
The first time she’d been paralyzed with fear, but everything had changed in the last few days. She had to live because she couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing Ryker again. In the days she’d spent with him, he’d awakened her from a boring, routine life to one of pleasure and love. A lump formed in her throat. She had to see him again. She had to tell him she loved him.
As she followed Zane into the dimly lit barn, she held onto the image of Ryker as she’d first seen him. She knew in her heart that Ryker would look for her until he found her. Even if the pack refused to allow her to stay, Ryker cared about her, and maybe even loved her, too. She couldn’t risk dying. It would destroy the only man she’d ever loved.
Zane pointed toward a large barred cage. “Get in.”
Diana eyed the ten-by-ten-foot space. She dropped to all fours. The cage’s low ceiling forced her to crawl across a thin layer of scratchy hay.
Once inside, Zane slammed the door closed and dragged a large chain through the bars. He pulled a padlock off a shelf and snapped it onto the chain. As it clicked closed, Diana shivered.
Five feet away, Zane locked Luna in an identical cage. The look of anguish on her sister’s face sent a wave of guilt through Diana. If she’d listened to her sister in the first place and refused Zane’s blind date, neither of them would be in this situation. She also wouldn’t have met Ryker, but faced with causing her sister’s death, she’d give anything to go back in time and make a different choice.
A cold, repulsive smile oozed across Zane’s face. “I’ll be right back.”
Diana glared at his retreating form. As soon as he disappeared around the corner of the barn, she locked eyes with her sister. “Are you all right?”
“No. I’m trapped in a cage and held captive by a psycho. I’m not all right.” Luna snapped.
“I’m sorry. I should have listened to you…”
“You should have but you never do. I may be younger than you, but I’m sure as heck smarter. I would never have gotten into a car with that guy. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I just wanted to go on a date. Now I realize how completely stupid it was, but at the time, I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.”
“You weren’t alone. You had me.” Luna’s gaze darted toward the barn door.
Diana checked, but didn’t see Zane. “I did have you, but you’re my sister. It’s not the same as having someone to love. Men seem to fall out of the sky for you, but it’s not like that for me.”
Luna sighed. “I don’t want to fight. We need to figure out a way out of here before he comes back.”
Diana stuck her arms through the bars and grabbed the padlock. She tugged and twisted it, but he’d securely locked it.
“Check the bars, some may be loose.” Diana rattled one bar, then another as she worked her way around the cage.
Frustration saturated Luna’s tone. “Nothing is budging. We’re totally trapped here and we’re going to die.”
Diana opened her mouth to tell her to stay calm but Zane strolled back in and he wasn’t alone. Five snarling, snapping black dogs tugged relentlessly on their leashes. Their sharp canines glistened with saliva. Eyes filled with feral bloodlust fixated on Diana. She froze. In her darkest nightmares, she’d never imagined being attacked by a pack of rabid dogs.
Chapter 15
Ryker jogged around the circle of captive humans to confirm his worst fear. Zane wasn’t among them.
He turned to Stryde. “He’s not here.”
“Where else would he be?”
Ryker met his eyes and a current of fear passed between the men. “Diana.”
“I left her and Leah to find you. I never should have left them.” Panic carved a deep furrow between Stryde’s brows.
“Shift. We have to get to them before he finds them.”
Ryker immediately forced his body to contort. The searing, cracking pain arced along his spine as his bones reformed. His fingers and toes transformed into large paws. A thick pelt of fur grew to cover his body.
Stryde shifted just as quickly. Ryker sprinted into the woods, followed closely by Stryde. The trees blurred into a wash of green and brown as Ryker raced toward Howling Mountain. It took less than ten minutes to reach its base.
Ryker abandoned his usual caution and bolted up the narrow path toward his private den. As he skidded around one corner, his rear paw slipped in a pile of loose rock and he dangled over the edge for one precarious second. He threw his weight forward to avoid falling down the mountain, but he didn’t slow his pace. He had to reach the den before Zane. If he failed to protect Diana the way he’d failed to protect Trista, the guilt would send him down a dark spiral from which he’d never be able to escape.
As he approached the entrance to his den, he skidded to a stop. Stryde stopped directly behind him. If Zane was in the den with Diana and Leah, he could be waiting to ambush them.
His heart pounded as he sniffed the air. He couldn’t detect Zane’s scent, or Diana’s. He inched forward and peeked around the edge of the entrance. Dim moonlight only penetrated the first ten feet. He couldn’t see into the darkest corners.
He crept forward, careful to stay close to the wall. Impatient as always, S
tryde rushed past him. Had Ryker been in human form, he would have yelled at him to stop.
Stryde reached the back of the den and zipped from one side to the other. He stopped in the center of the den and panted. Ryker looked past him at the empty space and his stomach plunged through the floor. The women had vanished.
Ryker shifted to his human form. “Where else would they be?”
Stryde shifted then responded. “I have no idea. Would they have gone back to the main den?”
Ryker stepped out of the den and onto the ledge overlooking the valley below. “It’s possible. But it would be safer if they went to your den. Leah knows the way.”
“Which one should we try first?”
“Your den is closer. They may have gone there thinking they’d have some protection. Before we left to fight the humans, I ordered all of my wolves out of the main den. Leah knew there wouldn’t be anyone there to protect them.”
“Let’s go.”
Stryde shifted and darted down the path. Ryker shifted then followed him until they reached a fork in the path. Instead of following the trail down toward the forest floor, they took the upper trail and began the arduous climb.
Ryker hadn’t been to the Dark Moon Pack’s den in years. He’d forgotten how tough the ascent was until halfway to the summit. He gulped air as they gained altitude. No wonder Stryde hated coming down the mountain.
The narrow mountain pass wound deeper into the mountainside. Tall granite walls rose up fortress-like to line the passage. Ryker caught a hint of movement along the wall. Several wolves patrolled narrow ledges.
When they reached the entrance to the den, Ryker stared at the huge wooden gate which had been constructed and installed since his last visit.
Stryde barked and the gate swung open. He strode into the den. Unlike Ryker’s den, the common area was open to the air. Wolves with jet-black coats mingled with wolves cloaked in wintery white fur.
After shifting to human form, Stryde yelled. “Has anyone seen Leah? She was traveling with a human woman.”
A few wolves raised a brow and looked at one another, but no one had seen her.
Nosh, the pack’s beta, stepped forward. “She’s missing? I thought she was living with Ryker.”
Stryde’s jaw twitched. “She was, but the humans came to wage war against the Silver Creek Pack and now she’s missing.”
Nosh pushed a swatch of long black hair over his back. His almond-shaped eyes and high cheekbones were indicative of his Native American heritage. Ryker had only met him once before, but knew the man possessed solid tracking skills.
Ryker said, “We need someone to help track the women. There were too many tracks leading out of my den on the mountainside and we can’t do it alone.”
Nosh nodded. “I’ll gather a team. Do you have anything of Leah’s that we can use to scent her?”
Stryde said, “I still have some of her clothes in my room.”
Ryker followed Stryde and Nosh into a cave. The inner rooms were set up almost identically to Ryker’s den.
When they reached Stryde’s room, Ryker couldn’t help but drop his jaw. The place was a disaster. Old bones were strewn about the chamber. A pile of ashes choked the fire pit. The pelts on his bed smelled like they hadn’t been washed in six moons. Ryker gagged.
Stryde watched his reaction. “Well, it’s not like I have women waiting on me hand and foot.”
“I don’t have women waiting on me either and my den’s not a total disaster,” Ryker snapped.
He was sick of listening to Stryde whine about women. His complaints always carried an undertone of accusation, as if Ryker had somehow enticed Leah to return to his pack.
He turned his back on Stryde and rummaged through various piles of women’s clothing. The number of different female scents in the den overwhelmed him until he pulled one very familiar dress from the pile.
He sniffed it to be sure then spun to pounce on Stryde. “You kept Trista’s dress? What the hell is wrong with you? I thought we’d buried it along with her. Why the hell do you still have it?”
Stryde shoved Ryker off of him. “Leah kept it. She scented the man who attacked Trista on the dress but was too afraid to give it to you. She knew how insane you went after Trista died and the pack needed their leader.”
“Don’t blame this on her. You knew about this and could have told me.” Ryker took a menacing step forward. His fists clenched at his sides.
“Are you kidding? If we’d given you the dress, you would have scented her murderer and never stopped until you avenged her death. You were already obsessed. We kept it from you to protect you.”
Nosh stepped between them. “Ryker, Stryde’s right. I would have done the same thing. The whole pack was on edge after Trista died. You were teetering on the brink of insanity and this would have pushed you over the edge.”
Rage surged through Ryker’s veins. How dare they keep something this important from him! “We could have found her killer if you’d given this to me.”
He turned and buried his nose in the fabric. Trista’s faint scent curled in his nostrils. If the other wolves weren’t present, he would have wept at the memories that flooded his mind. He could still feel the breeze in his hair from when he’d playfully chased Trista through tall summer grasses. He could still see her long brown hair drifting in the river as they bathed together. He could still remember every word she’d ever spoken to him. He could still feel the weight of losing her on his heart.
But beyond that, he scented something far worse. The second smell on her dress belonged to Zane. Ryker tossed his head back and howled.
He clutched the dress to his chest. “You idiot. The second scent is Zane’s. If you’d given me this dress years ago, I would have hunted him every second of every day. He wouldn’t have lived long enough to attack Gwen and Diana. Our pack wouldn’t be under attack right now if you’d just given me the dress.”
Stryde backed up a few steps and held up his hands. “I made a mistake. If I had known he’d come back to assault other women, I would have given you the dress a long time ago. After Trista died, I tried to track him myself, but once I reached town, I could never pin down his location.”
Ryker yelled. “Well, now you have a chance to make things right. If we don’t find Diana and Leah, their deaths will be your fault.”
***
Diana cowered against the back of the cage as Zane’s shrill laughter grated on her already frayed nerves.
He addressed her with scorn. “You think I’d let you die easily? No. Those werewolves will come for you. I’ll let you watch them die and then I’ll leave you to the hounds.”
Diana shivered. She couldn’t imagine Ryker and the pack be killed. She had to escape as quickly as possible, but couldn’t do anything as long as Zane remained in the barn.
Zane picked a stone off the floor and chucked it at her sister Luna. Diana screamed as if she’d been struck. Luna yelped and scurried to the far corner of the cage.
“If the wolves don’t come for you by sunrise, I’ll kill you and find another way to send them back to hell.”
Zane’s high-pitched whistle brought the dogs to his side. He leashed them then dragged the growling beasts through the barn door. He slammed it closed, sending the room into darkness.
Diana pushed her face against the cold metal bars. A cracked knot in the barn’s wall gave her a very limited view of the road. She dropped to her knees and angled her line of vision toward the sky. She tried to guess how many hours they had before sunrise, but the vast inky darkness did nothing to reveal the time.
Diana crawled to the side of the cage closest to her sister. “Did you find any loose bars?”
“No. It’s no use. We’re going to die in here.”
“No, Ryker will find us. I know he will.” Diana chewed on the edge of her lip.
“Who’s Ryker? And what the hell is Zane talking about? Werewolves?”
Diana sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
Luna’s voice rose as she spoke. “Why don’t you start with your disappearance? I thought you were dead until I heard Zane talking about you at Drake’s. I told him to find you, but he kidnapped me instead. I need to know what the hell is going on.”
Diana relayed the events leading up to meeting Ryker, and then she stopped. She couldn’t figure out how to explain her relationship with Ryker. Her sister would think she was crazy.
Luna’s tone softened. “I’m sorry I yelled. I was just so scared. I thought you were dead when I couldn’t find you at home. I asked Ben… I mean Sherriff Watkins, to investigate your disappearance. He went to your house, but when nothing looked out of place, he said you probably went on a weekend trip without telling anyone. But I knew you wouldn’t do something like that without telling me.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have left town without telling you. This whole situation has been unreal. First I’m chased by Zane, and then he shoots me…”
“He shot you?”
“Yes, but Akila has some kind of special healing medicine which healed me extremely fast.”
“Who’s Akila?”
“She’s the pack’s healer.”
Luna waved her hand as if to dismiss the information. “And after you were shot you met Ryker?”
“He saved me. He took me to his den and…” Took care of me, made me fall in love with him? What can I tell her without sounding totally insane?
“And?” Luna prompted.
“We spent a lot of time together—and I know this is going to sound insane—but I really started to like him.” Love him. Even if I could find the words to explain it to her, would Luna understand?
Diana knew her emotions were probably all mixed up because of the extraordinary circumstances, but something about her connection with Ryker felt so real, so right, as if they were made for one another. She couldn’t imagine spending the rest of her life without him. She needed to make her sister understand the intensity of her relationship with Ryker.
Diana wished she could see her sister’s face so she could gauge her reaction to what she confessed next. “I think… I think I love him.”