by R. E. Butler
“We need to have a girls’ night,” Melody said. “Get Sam, Lachlyn, and Lisa and go do something fun, like see a movie.”
“What about Callie?” Scarlett asked. She’d met the she-wolf, who was mated to Ethan and Eryx, when she and her family had come over for dinner on Wednesday night. She had three adorable boys and was pregnant with their fourth.
Jilly shook her head. “They won’t let her go anywhere without them because she’s pregnant.”
“Wes and Ray wouldn’t mind me going.”
Shrugging, Jilly said, “They’re always protective of her because she’s their mate and mountain lion guys can’t seem to help themselves, but Callie was attacked by the females when we all lived in King, and they even tried to mess with her since she’s been in Ashland. Callie is the reason that mountain lions realized they could actually have mates outside of the pride females. The females have always blamed her for that, and they don’t ever want to take a chance that someday they might decide to do something to make her pay for that.”
Scarlett shivered and looked at Melody. “The females haven’t messed with the males since your problem, though, right?” Her bestie had been kidnapped and almost beaten to death by a group of female lions, and Micah had been sexually abused. The pride had rescued them and the females had scattered. According to the pride, they had headed to Canada and as far as Scarlett was concerned, they could stay the hell up there unless they all found their truemates to make them less psycho.
“No, but that doesn’t mean the males don’t worry about it,” Melody said.
Scarlett thought it was nuts that the female lions hated anyone who might be a mate to the males, but she kept that thought to herself. Jilly had lived with the females for two years after being slowly poisoned as a youngster by the venom in their claws, and Melody had been kidnapped and held prisoner by them for a year before she’d managed to escape. Scarlett had thought her best friend was dead, and it was the loneliest she’d ever felt.
“I don’t know your guys really well, Jilly, but I think you might be over thinking the situation. The only real way to tell with identical twins is for one of them to wear a condom until you’re pregnant, and I have a feeling they’re not going to be interested in condoms when you guys are finally able to be together,” Scarlett said.
Jilly blushed and buried her face in her hands. “I’m so glad my dad isn’t here to overhear this conversation.”
Scarlett and Melody laughed. Melody said, “Your guys adore you. I know they’d never do anything to purposely make you sad. If it’s really worrying you, then I think you should talk to them. Three years is a long time, but it’ll pass quickly. Hell, it’s already the end of November.”
Jilly rubbed a tear from her cheek and smiled. “We have a wedding to plan.”
Scarlett knew her smile was a mile wide. “Christmas Eve will be here before we know it, and you both have to help me with the plans.”
“We will,” Melody promised. “Then you can name your baby after me. If it’s a boy, you can call him Mel for short.”
“Oh, I know!” Jilly chimed in. “You can make his first name Mel and his middle name Odee. Then everyone’s happy.”
“Oh sure, everyone’s happy,” Scarlett said, wrinkling her nose.
“Now, that’s a good idea,” Melody said with a wink.
Scarlett groaned. “Why does everyone want to name my baby?”
“Because he’s the first,” Jilly said.
“But Callie has three and another on the way.”
“Doesn’t matter. Yours is the first one in the house, and that’s special,” Melody said.
Scarlett laid her hand on her stomach. “The baby is special, but not just because he or she is the first. I’m sure he or she will be the first of many. Mom said that when groups of supernatural creatures live together – like us or a pack – that the females will have kids around the same time. It’s something to do with creating the next generation. I bet that you’ll be pregnant in no time, Mel, and Lachlyn, too.”
“And me, eventually,” Jilly added.
“I bet you’ll be pregnant the day after you turn twenty-one,” Melody said, winking.
Jilly blushed brightly and started to giggle.
There was a loud knock at the door. “I bet that’s my package,” Scarlett said. “Mom said the horse statue would show up today.”
Jilly stood up and said, “I’ll go sign for it. I like this shade of blue for Mel Odee’s room, and I like this for your room, the one called ‘sand.’”
“I’m not naming him Mel Odee, but thanks,” Scarlett said, chuckling as she set aside those samples while Jilly walked out of the room.
“If it’s a girl, though, you have to go totally girly and do bright pink,” Melody said, tapping her finger on a color that was just a shade lighter than neon.
“I think that would make my eyes burn, it’s so bright.”
Chuckling, Melody moved a few of the samples around.
“Scarlett? The delivery guy says you have to sign for it because your mom requested your signature,” Jilly called.
Pushing the chair out noisily, Scarlett said, “I can’t wait for you to see the horse statue. It’s so detailed. Domino is very talented.”
Scarlett walked down the hall toward the front door where Jilly stood, leaning against the open door. A male in the olive uniform of the delivery company, with a baseball cap pulled low on his head, stood on the porch holding a box and an electronic device that she assumed was for her signature. As she moved toward the door, she noticed that the buttons on the uniform’s shirt were buttoned wrong, as if he’d rushed to get dressed. The hairs on the back of her neck began to tingle as the feeling that something was very wrong rose inside her quickly. She had reached for Jilly to pull her away from the door when the delivery man raised his head and she saw Quentin’s second in command, Leon, smile at her darkly. Something liquid shot from a small tube in his hand, hitting both her and Jilly in the face. Mace! Her eyes burned severely as she tried to scream for help, but the mace was too strong.
Jilly groaned, falling to the floor with a loud thud, and Scarlett groped about blindly for her, but the only thing she felt was Leon’s shirt as he grabbed her roughly and tossed her over his shoulder. She could feel him running down the steps and onto the gravel in front of the house, and then the sound of a door sliding open.
She was upended and landed hard on her butt, the motion jarring her teeth in her head. Someone grabbed her roughly and she lifted from the floor for a brief moment before landing on something that was both hard and soft. Still blinded and gasping for air from the mace, her hands squeezed what she’d landed on and she felt cold liquid and flesh. She couldn’t see, but she bet she was lying on the dead body of the original delivery man.
She kicked out blindly as she felt someone loom over her, then a hand clasped over her mouth and nose and her struggles became weaker. She scratched and hit as panic crested inside her and then everything disappeared.
* * * * *
Ray’s phone rang at the same time as Wes’s, as they were hanging a sheet of drywall in the garage. Balancing the big piece against the wall, he grabbed for his phone while Wes mirrored him. He was surprised to see Dylan’s number on the screen.
“What’s up, D?”
“Get home now, Ray! Scarlett’s been taken!”
He didn’t bother to ask for confirmation. He let go of the piece of drywall at the same time as Wes, who was speaking to someone else, and the two of them rushed out of the garage to his truck. His hands trembled as he turned the key in the ignition, but he knew he couldn’t let his fear for Scarlett’s safety override his ability to help her.
Wes had a death grip on the oh-shit handle next to the door. “Chase said he and Dylan came downstairs after they heard someone banging on the front door. They found Jilly blinded by some kind of mace. Melody was outside, chasing after a vehicle, but she lost them at the main road.”
“Fuck!”
He jerked the truck into the driveway, speeding toward the house. The brakes squealed as he stopped and leaped out of the truck. He took the steps fast and rushed through the open door. The scent of mace still lingered.
In the kitchen, he saw most of the pride males and their mates. Melody’s tear-streaked face looked bleak as she stood in her mates’ arms. “I’m so sorry,” she said. She explained what they’d been doing when Jilly went to answer the door. Wyked, one of Jilly’s mates, said, “Jilly’s with our healer. Her skin is reacting badly to the mace. It’s got something in it that aggravates shifters. It’s leaving blisters. She can barely speak – her voice is just a whisper. It almost completely incapacitated her. She said that Scarlett seemed to know right away that something wasn’t right with the delivery guy, but they were both hit with the mace quickly and Jilly couldn’t even scream, so she pounded on the front door.”
James and Eryx stood in their uniforms at the island. “I’ve got an APB out for the delivery van. Aaron was already patrolling, but he hasn’t seen them and we think they’re already gone,” Eryx said.
“I need to call her brothers. It must be her dad and the males who were expelled from the pack,” Ray said.
James nodded. “We’ll do our best to get her back. No lion will rest until she’s home with you again.”
Ray clenched his hands into tight fists. He wanted to roar in rage that Quentin had dared to take Scarlett from them. Guilt and grief warred together inside him. He’d left her unprotected in the house.
* * * * *
Scarlett was aware of the scent of metal as she slowly began to wake. Disoriented at first, she quickly remembered that she’d been kidnapped by Quentin and his merry band of assholes, and she went very still.
Someone leaned over her, stubble brushing against her cheek. “I know you’re awake, little bitch. No use pretending,” Dorl, one of Quentin’s loyal wolves, whispered.
In a fit of anger, she jerked her knee up and connected with Dorl’s crotch. He snarled in pain and lifted her by a fistful of hair. She screeched, opening her eyes to find her vision blurry and her eyes stinging, but that wasn’t as painful as the fist in her hair.
He slammed her against the side of the delivery van and the breath whooshed from her lungs.
“Knock it off, Dorl,” Quentin barked.
Dorl let her go and she fell back onto the dead delivery guy. She bent over and promptly threw up as the soft flesh of his corpse pressed against her palms and the sound of squishing blood filled her ears.
“She kicked me,” Dorl seethed.
“I said knock it off,” Quentin said menacingly.
Scarlett rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth and sat up as her stomach rolled again. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. The effects of the mace were slowly leaving, her vision clearing as she blinked. Looking to where Quentin stood in front of the open doors at the back of the delivery van, she saw they were in the woods. She didn’t dare hope they were still in Ashland.
“You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass,” Quentin said.
“It’s my life. Let me go back to my mates, please.”
“I don’t recognize that mating, Scarlett. You are my seed and you will do as you’re told.”
She thought about Arven and how he’d promised retribution for what he perceived as Quentin scamming him with her pregnancy, so he wouldn’t have suddenly decided to take her as his mate. As she stared at the man she’d spent her life calling Dad, Leon stepped up behind him and smiled. It wasn’t the sort of smile that told her everything was going to be okay; no, far from it. It was the sort of smile that said life as she’d known it was over. Tears filled her eyes as understanding dawned on her.
Quentin’s head tilted slightly. “That’s right, daughter. Now you know how I was able to secure so many followers for my new pack. You’ll belong to Leon, but the other males will have use of your body. I’ve heard that the trauma of many males using a female’s body roughly, as you’re about to experience, will end pregnancies, but just in case it doesn’t, I have some prescription help for that. I’m sure your new mate is looking forward to you carrying his pup after the pack has had their first taste of you.”
“Don’t do this! I’m your daughter!” She shivered as the impact of her father’s words settled on her. He was giving his blessing to his pack to gang rape her.
Dorl jumped out of the van and patted Leon on the shoulder. “She’s feisty. You’ll probably want to tie her up first.”
Leon shrugged. “If she tries to hurt me, I’ll hurt her worse. It doesn’t matter to me if she’s bleeding and in pain. She’s my mate and I’ll do with her as I please.”
Fear rolled over Scarlett like something hot and alive as Leon leapt into the van. It creaked as it rocked under the weight of his muscular body.
Quentin said loudly, “As alpha of the new Jamison Pack, I declare Leon and Scarlett mates for life. Have fun, son.”
Leon smiled at her darkly as the back doors were shut and a metallic clicking sound told her they were locked inside. She scrambled over the dead body, her back pressing against the driver’s seat. Looking into the front of the van, she saw that the keys had been removed and the doors were locked. Wolves stood around the front, watching. Some of them had a hand down their pants, and she shuddered in revulsion.
Leon straightened. The interior of the van was tall enough for him to stand up without having to stoop over. Shelves ran along both sides, filled with packages. The dead body was partially shoved underneath one shelf. Packages littered the floor, along with the electronic device that she would have signed if the driver were alive and dropping off her horse statue. She stared at the packages as her fear tried to turn her into a blubbering mess, and noticed a package covered with angel stickers. Fat cherubs with rosy cheeks and silly smiles were stuck all over a box. She knew it was her horse statue. Her mom was the only person who ever called her an angel.
Trying to distract Leon and buy herself some time to come up with a plan, she said, “How did you know I was getting a package?”
“Because your family is full of idiots. Strip.”
She shook her head, pressing herself more fully against the seat.
“If you don’t strip, I’ll rip your clothes off. I don’t plan to let you have any other clothes in the future, since you’ll be spending most of your time on your knees or your back. I’d recommend stripping, otherwise you’ll be cold when we walk to our new pack home. Not that I care, but you might.”
Her hands curled into fists as fear slithered over her again, lodging in the pit of her stomach. She screamed for her mates in her head, wishing they had been there so she wouldn’t have been taken.
“Where is the pack home?”
“You’ll see. Quentin said we had an hour before we needed to get moving. I won’t tell you again. Strip or I’ll use my claws, and I can’t promise that I won’t make you bleed while the clothes are coming off.”
He jerked his belt off and gathered the ends together, then snapped it. The leather cracked like a gunshot and she jumped, her heart pounding in her chest. He grinned, and she thought he probably enjoyed her fear. Wolves could sense strong emotions. Joe had told her once that fear in prey had a particular bitter scent. Some wolves liked that scent, liked knowing that what they were chasing knew it was being chased.
With trembling fingers, she reached for the hem of her top and tugged it over her head. She couldn’t look at Leon, whose eyes were the amber of his beast as he stripped his clothes off fast. Looking down at her stomach, she felt tears well up, but then rage surfaced. She’d never really stood up to anyone except for Quentin. Ray and Wes had gone through hell to get her. They hadn’t given up, and she wasn’t going to give up either.
She feigned weak knees and dropped to the floor. Leon snarled at her. The angel-sticker-decorated package was close to Leon and she wanted to get it because she
knew it was heavy. Grabbing a white plastic pouch that had some weight to it, she went into a crouch and said, “I’m not going to make it easy for you to rape me, you asshole.”
“It’s not rape if you’re my mate.”
“I’m not yours!”
“I beg to differ. Once we get that abomination out of your belly, I’ll plant a rightful heir and then you’ll spend the next few decades pleasuring me and anyone else I want you to in the pack.”
He took a menacing step toward her, his jeans low on his hips, exposing his hard cock. She knew she had one shot and had to make it count. As he loomed over her, she swung the package up with all her might between his legs. Her swing was cut off mid-motion and he snarled, snagging her wrist and jerking her off her knees. The package was ripped away as she fell forward, her cheek scraping against the floor. She scrambled away, ignoring the pain, and grabbed the angel-sticker-covered box, putting it in front of her body like a small shield.
He howled angrily as he spun, his teeth elongated into fangs and his eyes dark amber with rage. His fingertips were thick claws and she knew the damage they would do to her skin. He lunged and landed on her, his claws slashing at her clothes. The box remained between them, the corners digging into her skin as he gnashed his teeth and bellowed his anger. Her clothes tore, her skin burning as he slashed her with his thick, black claws.
He wrapped his hands around her upper arms and lifted her from the floor, then slammed her back against it. Her head hit hard and her vision blurred for a moment. He smiled darkly and lifted a clawed hand over her abdomen, just under the box that she still gripped tightly. His claws tore through the fabric of her jeans, just as she’d expected, but then he pressed them into her stomach and she felt the sharp tips digging into her flesh. Everything inside her quieted at the threat to her unborn child. Rage tightened her muscles and made her jaw clench until her teeth creaked.