by Sam Crescent
Charlotte thought about the cute little one-bed apartment she’d been gifted with in her first year. She had never thought anything about it at the time. Her mother use to say, “never look a gift horse in the mouth,” and that is what she did.
“Micah did all of that?”
“He paid for your driving lessons when we couldn’t afford to keep up with the payments. I know you didn’t want to take them in high school because of your nerves and that’s why we agreed to wait until you were ready. When he found you were being hassled by that professor—the one that got fired for screwing with his students for good grades?—he went and taught him a thing or two about manners. Micah made sure the funds were there for everything you’ve ever dreamed of wanting.”
“How do you know all this?” Charlotte questioned.
“Because he used to come by here every Saturday when the letters would come from you. For hours he’d sit in your bedroom looking at your photo. He always said you were too young. You deserved to have a life before he claimed you. I’m guessing for every female mate to an alpha there are going to be a few bumps in the road. Women wanting to claim what’s yours. Now tell me, darling. Did I raise you to sit down and take it, or did I raise you to kick in the teeth of anyone who threatened you?”
Charlotte had never heard her mother talk in such a way. She stared the woman who was usually so calm and caring and saw the vicious streak within her. When anyone threatened her cub, mother bear was out to set them straight.
“He’s not mine.” She knew it was a lame-ass excuse.
“Bullshit, lady. That guy has got it bad. He wants you more than his next breath. Go and get him back here.”
Charlotte kissed her mom on the cheek and ran for the front door. Her mother moved up close behind her.
“I can’t believe I’ve been so blind.”
“If this woman tries to lay claim again, scratch her eyes out and show her who’s boss.”
She laughed at her mother’s ideas. “What have you done with my mother?”
Charlotte opened the door and came to a stop. Brandon from the Eagle pack stood in front of her. She remembered the way he’d groped her and the way he’d threatened her.
“Hello, princess. Well, you’ve grown up, haven’t you?” Charlotte tried to slam the door shut, but he wedged it open. His grip threw the door wide, and in the next breath, he slammed her against the wall. She lost her footing and fell against him. In the next moment she saw the gun in his hand. “I’m taking the little lady with me. I’ve a message for Micah. Tell him it’s payback.”
Charlotte screamed when the bullet hit her mother’s side. She watched her mother slump to the floor, and then Brandon was grabbing her. Charlotte fought him, but his strength was far superior to hers. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder as if she didn’t weigh anything.
Brandon threw her in the back of the truck. All of the large men she recalled from the night she became a mate stared at her. She heard him slam the door and get in the front.
“She smells so fucking good. Can I have a taste?”
“She’s a mated alpha, and, boys, we’re about to claim her for the Eagle clan.”
Darkness swam before her vision. From their words, it sounded like they were going to rape her. She felt panicked, scared, and in need of her mate. If she hadn’t left Micah, this wouldn’t be happening.
Micah.
Charlotte was about to die, and Micah wouldn’t even know how she felt.
Micah.
Chapter Eighteen
Micah got into the house, surprised to see most of his pack waiting in the main foyer, some sitting on the stairwell. Men and women of his pack stood looking at him.
“Where is she?” Cade asked him.
“She’s not coming back. Why are you all here?” He placed his coat on the hanger and stared out at his pack.
“But she’s pack. She’s ours. We’ve got to get her back.”
“Yeah, she’s the only one who makes decent pancakes. Cade’s are shit,” one of the male members called from the back.
Micah couldn’t help it. He chuckled.
“Well, I fucked up, and she isn’t coming.”
“So you’re just going to give up?” Cade came forward, arms folded across his chest.
“She doesn’t want us, Cade.”
“Bullshit. You selfish bastard!” Cade shouted. Micah tensed sensing the impending argument.
“Are you squaring up to me?” Micah demanded.
“You’re just a fucking coward. You fucked up and sent Charlotte packing. She’s the best thing that ever happened to you. What’s the problem, alpha, too much hard work?” Cade sneered at him.
Micah noticed all the other pack members had stepped back. Only Cade was confronting him.
“What the fuck is this? A show of leadership? You wanna take my pack away from me?” Never one to back down from a fight, he pushed all of his power through, showing Cade through his connection to the pack what kind of shit storm he was bringing down on himself. The connection had passed from each alpha through generations. An aura that flowed within them that allowed them the ability to gain authority over other members not worthy of his crown. He was the alpha, he was the strongest member of his pack, and he would not let another member tell him what to do.
Cade growled instead of backing down. “Charlotte deserved better than you.”
Hearing his words and knowing in his head Cade was probably right, Micah slammed his fist against his best friend’s face.
“What was she to you?” Cade got up from the floor. He didn’t fight back, but he kept coming back for more. “A cunt for you to screw?”
Micah lashed out, two punches to the face and one under the chin. Sweat broke out along his skin. The moon was calling to him to bring forth his wolf form and to settle the fight as the beasts they were. Inside his human skin, he couldn’t unleash the beast he wanted. Micah thirsted for blood. He wanted to rid himself of the pain of Charlotte’s loss and to exert the dominance of his position.
“Stay down!” he roared. Micah was amazed to see Cade fight his hold. Cade got up sporting a bloody split lip and swollen eye from his struggles.
“Or maybe she was a little bit of fun. Somewhere to dump your load every once in a while. Is that it? Did it make you feel like a man fucking a human?”
Micah saw red. He didn’t know why Cade was insulting his mate and him, but it was bringing fire out from inside him. The need to silence him or get him to take back his insults was strong.
“I thought you liked her. You wanted her as your queen!” he shouted. He tried to distract himself from beating his best friend to a bloody pulp. They’d been through everything together. Why this? Why now?
“Don’t bring our wants into this. Admit to yourself what you wanted from her. Don’t blame us for bringing Charlotte here.”
Micah was caught off guard as Cade charged him, sending him down.
Cade landed a few blows of his own before Micah threw him off his body.
They got to their feet and stared at each other.
“That night when Brandon showed up, you could have done any number of things to protect Charlotte. But you didn’t. You took her and marked and claimed her for your own, and you don’t know why?”
Micah stared at his friend. He fought back the tears forming in his eyes. With a verbal attack, he couldn’t think past the waves of pain rolling through him. He saw Charlotte standing, terrified, being held against her will. He felt the hurt inside her as she was begged for him to save her. He’d known back then she didn’t have a hurtful bone in her body.
“I’m waiting. You took a terrified, twenty-year-old girl on the verge of womanhood and made her your own. You stayed away from her until the right time came to claim her. You snarl at anyone who poses a threat. Now tell me, my alpha, why did you do it?” As he was speaking, Cade was pushing Micah further into the corner.
Trapped into a corner, Micah snarled. “Because I had to have
her, all right?” Cade stepped back as Micah poured out his reasoning. “I can’t explain it, but when I’m with her, nothing else matters to me. She doesn’t care about my rank or my strength. She cares about me. I mated with Charlotte because, on that night, staring into her eyes and seeing her strength, I fell in love.”
Cade placed a hand on his shoulder. “Then why are you standing here without her? Find her, talk to her, because if you let her go this second time, you won’t be able to get her back. My friend, you won’t get her back. Could you live with watching her love someone else, having someone else love her?”
He’d been a fool. An all-around fucking fool.
Micah took the hand offered to him, and he shook it, bringing Cade in for a man-hug. “Thank you for opening my eyes.”
“I told you I’ll give you what you need, not what you want.”
Micah turned to the door about to go and fetch Charlotte. He stopped as Frank staggered inside. Blood smeared on his shirt. He was panting and looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
“Brandon from the Eagle pack has taken Charlotte. He said to pass on a message.” Frank stopped, going to his knees.
Micah’s gut tightened.
“He said to tell you it’s payback.” He passed out on the floor. Micah scented the blood was not Charlotte’s.
“Brandon will pay,” Cade said, standing by his side.
“Yeah, the bastard will pay. With his fucking life.” Micah turned to the rest of his pack. The time of the full moon was coming. In a few short hours, Charlotte would be surrounded by werewolves not of her pack. They’d attack, and she wouldn’t survive it. He had no choice. He had to get to her before the full moon.
“If any of you have a problem with Charlotte being your queen, I suggest you step forward now and deal with me.” Micah looked along the long row of pack members. As his eyes connected with theirs, they looked at the floor. He settled on Misty.
He walked the short distance to stand in front of her.
“Look at me,” he ordered.
Misty hesitated for a split second.
“I said look at me!” he shouted. The sound echoed off the walls. “I asked if any of you have a problem with Charlotte being your queen.”
Micah held his hand up, stopping her from responding.
“I suggest you think quickly and carefully. I’m claiming my mate in the full cycle of the moon. Anyone treats her any less than she deserves will answer to me and be punished by pack law.”
Murmurs erupted from his decree.
“She may be human, but she’s still my queen. None of you will threaten her or try to claim me. I don’t want to be claimed, and anyone who brings tries to threaten my mate will answer to me.”
The women bowed their heads, and Misty spoke up. “I apologize. I thought you wanted me and were only dealing with Charlotte as a woman you had no choice in mating with.”
“I had a choice, Misty. I wanted Charlotte, and the mating and protection were means to an end. She’s mine, and I swear…” He stopped, reached out, and grabbed her around the neck. She tried to pull free and show her servitude. “If you ever so much as look at Charlotte in a way that is less than full respect, I will tear you apart and watch you burn. Do you understand?” Micah only saw the woman who’d hurt his mate. He was pissed. Brandon had his mate, and he wanted justice. He wanted that bastard’s face on the table.
Misty nodded, and he released her.
The monster within him was ready to be set free.
“Let’s go and get our queen.”
* * * *
Charlotte heaved her guts up in the trash can they had provided. Her stomach refused to keep anything down. Perspiration dotted her brow. The smell of the fish and decay was sending her to her knees as another wave of sickness hit.
“What the fuck’s wrong with her?” one of her captors asked.
“I don’t know,” another replied.
“Are you two fucking stupid?” Brandon yelled as he came charging into the room. “What we’ve got is an unmated but pregnant female. Micah sure didn’t waste any time in fucking his seed inside you, did he?”
Charlotte collapsed to the floor and prayed for death. No, she prayed for Micah to come and get her.
Don’t be stupid. Micah won’t come and get you. He hates you.
She stared at the man who’d caused all this shit, and she hated him.
“I’m not pregnant,” she gasped out. Each time she took a breath and scented the rancid smell, her stomach turned.
“No?”
She shook her head.
“Have you been sick in the mornings? Do your tits feel painful at the slightest touch? Mood swings?”
Charlotte closed her eyes as more tears fell. She was pregnant, and she would never get to tell Micah.
Her hand went to her stomach, and she wondered if a boy or girl lay there.
“Let me go,” she said.
“Sorry, darling. Not going to happen.” He slammed a fist against the metal bars, making her jolt from the floor. Her unsteady feet and the pounding in her head made her clumsy, and she fell and hit her head on the wall.
“Boss, what are we going to do with her?”
“I think we’ll keep her and see what Micah will give up for her. If nothing, we’ll wait it out for the brat to born. No alpha can deny a son or daughter.” Brandon cackled from outside of her cage.
It was ironic that she was the only human in the room, and yet, she was trapped like an animal.
“Then what, boss?”
“I’ve always wanted a piece of that ass. She’d do nicely as a trophy piece.”
“You know, Brandon, your biggest mistake in life is thinking you’ve got the best security. The next biggest mistake is taking what is mine,” the loud voice said somewhere in the distance.
Charlotte tried to face the voice with hope in her heart.
“Micah!” Brandon yelled.
“The very one.”
“You came alone I hear.”
“I’m here for one thing. My mate,” Micah said, his voice getting closer.
“You left her alone with no security. How do I know you even care?”
“Because I’m here, and wherever Charlotte is, I’d follow.”
Charlotte cried happy tears. Micah had come for her. Maybe there was a chance for them after all.
* * * *
Micah saw Charlotte lying on the floor in the cage. The rancid smell must have really turned her stomach. His heart had lifted and taken a dive when he’d heard Brandon tell her she was pregnant. His mate was in danger, and it would be up to him and his pack to keep her safe. Thankfully they’d have the element of surprise.
“So where are my men?”
“Unconscious. They didn’t stand a chance.” Micah wouldn’t kill all of Brandon’s wolves. Not all of them would be responsible for his leader’s decisions.
“All you had to do was give me some women. As you can see, it’s hard to keep them here. The women we’ve been taken don’t last long here.”
“If you cleaned this shit hole up, they’d be here all the time.”
Brandon charged first, throwing a fist in Micah’s direction. “Get the girl out of here,” he called to the men he’d told to wait for his call.
Micah blocked the fist. He saw the men going for the cage. “Now!” he yelled. Cade, Jordan, and a couple of others charged through. The rest of his pack were outside dealing with the surrounding area and the wolves that could be roaming.
“You fucking bastard.” Brandon kicked out, slammed a fist in Micah’s gut, and cut a punch up to his chin.
Micah pulled away. “You should never take the mate of an alpha.” He blocked Brandon’s next punches. The fight was brutal. Blood sprayed from their fists and out of their mouths. His men easily took care of the other men. Micah, seeing his opportunity, lashed out and slammed Brandon to the floor. His fist was unrelenting in his attack on the man who’d put the woman he loved in danger.
&n
bsp; Cade pulled him off. “It’s over. You’ve won,” he assured him.
Micah gazed down at his fist, which was a bloody mess from the attack. He didn’t feel the pain, and he charged for the cage and broke the lock. Charlotte lay in a heap on the floor, and he picked her up in his arms. She moaned but didn’t pull away.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“Don’t do that now. I’m so sorry I acted like a crazy woman.”
“You can go crazy on me, just never leave me again.”
Charlotte chuckled, and he carried her out of the cage.
“What shall we do with him?” Cade asked, staring down at the bloody Brandon.
“Leave him. Let it be a lesson to the wolves.”
“You were so brave,” Charlotte told him.
“I had to be. The woman I love was in danger,” Micah said, smiling down at her.
“You love me?”
“With all of my heart,” he confirmed.
“You know, when I thought of love being mentioned, I’d hoped for a more romantic venue,” she informed him.
“Then consider that one an apology for all the other times I should have said it.” Micah kissed her on the lips. Charlotte turned away.
“I’ve got puke breath.”
“I don’t care.”
The moment they hit the outdoors and the fresh air, Charlotte felt a million times better. Her stomach settled more with each indrawn breath.
Micah placed her on the ground. Titania was standing to the side waiting for her, and Charlotte ran to her friend and embraced her.
“I was so scared,” Titania cried.
“Me, too.”
Cade slapped Micah on the back. “We did it.”
“He’ll come back. This is just a pinprick. Brandon won’t give up without a fight.”
“We should just kill him.”
“You know our laws wouldn’t condone that,” Micah said, and hugged his friend.
“Charlotte, watch out!”