Taken By The Alpha (Timber Valley Pack)

by Georgette St. Clair

  Whatever. She and Lula couldn’t avoid each other forever now that she was going to be living here.

  She grabbed the daisies. As she brushed ants off them, she called out to Michael “Hey, I’m ready to head back.”

  Her only answer was a thud on the ground, the sound of a body falling.

  She shot to her feet. Lula was standing five feet away, holding a tranq gun. Michael lay sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

  “You crazy bitch!” Katrina hurried towards him. “If you killed him-”

  “He’s fine. Tranquilizer.” Lula usually looked pretty intense, but she really had the crazy eyes today. “Let’s get you out of here. We’re going to shift and run for it, I have a car parked on one of our side roads, and you can duck down under some blankets I’ve got there so we can get off the property, but we’ve got to hurry.”

  Going anywhere with Lula, especially when she was holding a gun, seemed like a very bad idea. “Why would you help me?” she asked suspiciously.

  “Because as soon as you’re gone, I can reclaim my Alpha for good.” Lula’s eyes gleamed with a crazy light. “He’ll think he’s broken-hearted, and I’ll be there to comfort him.”

  The thought of Lula with Maddox made her so angry that she had to fight to keep her wolf down.

  “How do I know you won’t try to kill me?” she demanded.

  Lula’s face fell. “If I did, Maddox would find out who killed you, and he’d never forgive me. Otherwise, believe me, I would.”

  “You put cyanide in those tranqs before. You would have killed your own pack mates.”

  Lula sneered. “No, you would have, and Maddox would have hated you for it.”

  Katrina was horrified. She couldn’t believe how far Lula was willing to go to try to trap a man who clearly wasn’t interested in her.

  Maddox needed to know how crazy, and dangerous, Lula was. And Heather needed her there. She couldn’t handle another abandonment. And…Katrina couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Maddox.

  “Let’s go,” Lula snapped, gesturing impatiently with her gun. “Unless you want to be known as a traitor to your own pack.”

  “In two days that won’t be an issue. And no. I’m not going.”

  She turned to run back to the compound, and felt a sharp sting between her shoulder blades.

  “Fine. We’ll do it the hard way.” Those were the last words she heard before the world faded away from her.

  She woke up inside a car trunk, bumping down the road. It was dark and stuffy and her head hurt.

  How the hell did Lula think that she could get away with this? She wondered furiously. And what was she even planning? She could hardly drive up to the Mordhaus Pack’s front door and deliver her. Or would she? Lula might be that crazy.

  She fumbled around the inside of the car. The cable release for the car trunk latch should be there somewhere. Her father had taught her that trick. Her mother had hated how her father taught her self defense and lock picking and all those other skills that were horrifyingly unladylike. Her father had insisted that an Alpha’s daughter always needed to be able take care of herself.

  She kept fumbling until she found the cable, yanked it, and the trunk popped open. She quickly shifted, and leaped out of the car. She hit the asphalt with a painful thud, rolling over several times before scrambling to her feet. She could feel her sides and shoulder aching, but she shook it off.

  She heard the car screech to a stop, looked up ahead…and to her shock, saw Teresa climbing out of the car.

  Lula and Teresa, working together? Teresa had been pushing her to get together with Maddox from the beginning, and now she was kidnapping her?

  She didn’t have time to try to figure it out. She just needed to get back to the Killingworth grounds, and warn Maddox. He’d sort it all out.

  She shot into the woods. She doubted Teresa would try to follow her; Katrina could take her out.

  As she ran, she realized she was near the gophers’ territory. This was her chance. If she found one of the gophers, she could ask them what the hell was going on with her stepfather, and then she could bring that information back to Maddox as well.

  She quickly came up to a giant barbed wire fence, and halted, surprised. It looked as if it ran on and on. She’d never seen that fence there before. Her stepfather’s doing, she was sure.

  Far off in the distance, she could see a wolf pacing by the barbed wire. He was a wolf who’d come over with her stepfather when he’d taken over her pack. Her stepfather’s men were guarding the property – from what? It wasn’t even his property.

  Suddenly, deep inside her, she started to feel panic and fear swelling up – somebody, no, lots of people, were terrified and trapped. For her to sense the emotions, it had to be people who she’d met before – she was betting on the gophers.

  She’d be taking a risk staying here, but she couldn’t run away from the fear. She needed to help. Needed to find the people. The need welled up inside her, nearly choking her.

  She quickly began pawing at the ground, and within a few minutes had made enough of a hole to wriggle under it.

  She raced away from the wolf who was patrolling, and realized she was running away from the source of the fear and panic. She forced herself to keep going; she’d find a way to circle back around. She couldn’t let him spot her.

  She was heading towards the gopher’s home area, where most of their houses were gathered around a common area similar to a pack’s. Somebody was hurrying through the woods – Stacey!

  She dashed over, quickly shifted and called out to her. Stacey swung around and started back, looking terrified.

  “You’ve got to get out of here! He’ll kill them!” she pleaded, her head swiveling around as she frantically scanned the forest.

  “Kill who? What are you talking about?” Katrina demanded.

  “Our families.” Her friend was thin and pale and had dark circles under her eyes.

  “Stacey. Please. I know everyone seems to think that I know what Roman’s up to, but I swear on my late father’s honor that I do not. Roman keeps us all far away from here, miles away from here, and he said it’s because of all the construction.”

  Stacey spoke in lowered tones, still looking around her as if expecting Roman to pop out from behind a tree.

  “He’d kill me himself if he knew I was talking to you.”

  “There aren’t any of his men near us right now. I’d scent them.”

  Stacey briefly met her gaze, chewing her lip. “A year ago, he took over our property. He sells our timber off our land. He’s got us working around the clock for him, for nothing. He’s holding our families, the older gophers and the young ones who can’t work hard enough, prisoner. He moves them to different hiding spots every few days.”

  “But I saw you in town,” Katrina protested.

  “He sends some of us in from time to time so nobody will know anything’s wrong, but he always has one of his men with us.” Her eyes glittered with tears. “It feels like it will never end. It feels like we’ll die like this. I haven’t seen my parents in weeks, I don’t know if they’re alive.”

  Katrina thought she might vomit. This was horrifying, and it had happened on her property, right under her nose.

  “Dear God, I am so sorry. I swear to you I didn’t know. I would never have stood for this.”

  “I believe you.” Stacey’s voice was dull and hopeless.

  “I can sense where your families are, because I picked up on their feelings,” she said. “That’s why Roman wouldn’t let me anywhere near here – I would have sensed it. They’re about a quarter of a mile northwest of here.” She pointed. “We can get Maddox and he will make sure they’re rescued. Then we can report my stepfather to the Council.”

  She felt relief wash over her. If her stepfather were in trouble with the council, maybe the Death Challenge wouldn’t need to happen.

  “You really think so?” Stacey asked anxiously.

  “I know so. I’
ve been staying with him almost a month now. I know what he’s like, he’d never put up with this if he knew. Do you have a phone with you? We can call him right now.”

  Stacey shook her head. “None of us are allowed phones here. Your stepfather’s afraid we’ll call and alert somebody.” She leaned in furtively. “We managed to stash a few phones. I can get to one, but it might be a little later today. I have to report back to the construction site. They just sent me to deliver a message to a construction foreman, and I’ve already taken too long.”

  Katrina froze, tipped her head back, and sniffed at the air. “Wolf. I smell wolf. One of my stepfather’s nephews. I’ve got to go before I’m spotted. Tell Maddox that I told you Teresa and Lula are traitors and they’re collaborating.” She recited Maddox’s number to Stacey and made her recite it back three times, and then she shifted and ran.

  She found the same spot that she’d dug under earlier and wriggled back through. Dirt clumped in her fur, and she shook it off as she ran.

  When she reached the main road, she hesitated as she saw a car heading towards her. She scented…yes. It was Reese, from her pack. Distant cousin on her father’s side.

  She stepped out into the road and waved frantically at him. She needed to call her mother, to tell her what was happening and alert her to get off the property. She didn’t want her mother there when the Elders sent in the Wardens; her mother might end up getting arrested right along with him, and who knows how long she’d be in jail before everything was straightened out.

  She ran out into the road and waved at him. He pulled over quickly. “Katrina, what are you doing here? You escaped! Jeez, we thought you’d never get out of there. Hold on a minute.” He climbed out, shed his denim jacket, and handed it to her. She quickly put it on; she wasn’t cold, but there was no need to stand around naked. Fortunately, he was a big guy; the jacket went down mid-thigh.

  He started to talk, but she held up her hand.

  “Reese, I need to borrow your cell phone. Actually I need to keep it for now because I need to make a few phone calls,” she said. “Just, uh, head on back to the pack property and I’ll get it to you later.”

  “But I can give you a ride.” He looked confused as he dug in his pocket, pulled out his phone and handed it to her. “Aren’t you coming with me? The Killingworth Pack might find you out here.”

  She hesitated for a minute. Could she trust him? She truly didn’t know. Who in her pack knew about the gophers, and whatever else Roman had been up to? Right now, she couldn’t risk it.

  “I need you to go,” she said. “I am going to have someone pick me up. I’ll be fine.”

  “Uh…Roman’s probably going to be pretty pissed if I just leave you here.” Reese looked worried.

  “Tell him you asked me to go with you and I refused. He knows how stubborn I am.”

  “All right…I guess.” With a worried glance back at her, he climbed in the truck and drove off.

  She quickly dialed her mother.

  “Mother, just listen,” she said the moment her mother answered. “Is Roman with you? I need to talk to you alone.”

  “No. He’s not here. Where are you?”

  Katrina headed to the other side of the road and into the woods as she talked, back in the direction of the Killingworth pack. She had a good seven or eight miles to go from here, and she didn’t want to risk any of the Mordhaus pack driving by right now

  She quickly filled her mother in on what she’d found out. “So you need to get off the property right now. You should probably go consult a lawyer so you don’t end up letting you drag you down with him.”

  After a long pause, her mother said “Well, they’re not wolves, are they? They’re only gophers.”

  Katrina gasped. “You are serious? You are okay with him enslaving and abusing a peaceful group of shifters? Wolves against gophers? That’s disgusting.”

  “The pack is the most important thing. The pack always comes first, and this has enriched us considerably.”

  “The honor of the pack is the most important thing,” Katrina said heatedly. Then she reached for the only thing that her mother cared about – their reputation. “People in town are already starting to catch on. When everybody finds out about this, our pack will universally be loathed, and other packs may very well come to the rescue of the gophers out of principle.”

  “I suppose.” Her mother didn’t sound convinced. “Maybe not, though. Your stepfather’s going to be a lot more powerful, soon. He’s got some great plans.” She lowered her voice. “He’s going to be one of the Elders.”

  “How? The Elders are a lifetime position,” Katrina protested.

  “Well, things happen, you know. And he’s positioning himself in such a way that, should one of their seats become empty, he will be popular enough that he’ll have an extra shot. And with all those charity balls that we’ve been giving, people may not even believe it about the gophers. We can say they signed a contract with us and now they’re trying to get out of it.”

  Katrina went cold. Her stepfather’s ambitions were endless. He’d somehow arrange for an Elder to die, and then take his place.

  There had been recent reforms on the Council of Elders, including allowing female pack members to choose their own mates rather than requiring their Alpha’s approval, and allowing pack members to leave their packs without repercussions. She knew that Roman didn’t approve, and he was always talking about reversing the reforms that had been achieved.

  Roman in a position of power like that…it would be a nightmare.

  “Come back and we’ll talk about it,” her mother said. “We’ll figure out what to do. Where are you right now?”

  Katrina hung up the phone without answering. She dialed Maddox quickly. “Where are you?” he demanded, his voice furious. “Lula claims that she saw you shoot and kill Michael.”

  “Killed?” she cried out. Her blood ran cold. Lula had killed him after all. “Me? Lula shot him with the tranq. She’s the one who tried to help me escape the first time, and she put cyanide in the darts so that I’d kill people while I tried to escape and you’d blame it on me. And Teresa’s in on this somehow. Have you talked to the gophers yet?”

  “The gophers? What? How is Teresa in on this?”

  “I woke up in a car trunk, and she was driving the car,” she said hurriedly. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk. I’m headed back to your property and I’ll explain everything when I get there.” She hung up before he could say anything else, dropped the phone, and shifted. Then she ran.

  Would he even want her back? He’d sounded enraged when he’d answered the phone. Was he angry at her because he believed Lula, or angry because of what had happened?

  Michael was dead, Michael was dead…she wished she could shift to human form and cry. She wished she could howl, but she didn’t dare make any noise. She just kept running.

  A few minutes later, the wind shifted, and she realized that she smelled several of her packmates nearby – and getting closer.

  Her mother had sold her out.

  She picked up speed, frantic, but within minutes they were on her and she was surrounded.

  She stopped, panting for breath, and shifted. Her stepfather’s nephews Daxon and Tor were there, and a couple of other pack mates who’d come over with her stepfather. No-one from the Mordhaus’ original pack.

  “What the hell do you want?” she demanded angrily. “How dare you chase me down? I have the right to run wherever I want.”

  “Your mother wants to talk to you,” Daxon said, looking contemptuous. He’d carried a cell phone in his jaws and dropped it on the ground when he shifted. He picked it up and dialed while Katrina stood with her arms folded, glaring at them. They had absolutely no right to keep here here. Then again they had no right to imprison the gophers and steal from them and enslave them; obviously they weren’t too concerned with the finer points of The Covenant.

  Daxon handed her the phone. “I want you to know this is for your
own good,” her mother said, in her haughtiest tone. “Your stepfather has picked out a very nice Alpha that you’ll be mated with, a man with an excellent bloodline and a very good reputation. You have been carrying on with the enemy in a disgusting and disgraceful fashion. Clearly you need to be taken in hand and shown some discipline before your terrible behavior becomes public. Now, I’ll have you know-”

  Katrina spit out a curse word as she turned and hurled the phone against a tree, and it shattered.

  Daxon cuffed her on the side of the head so hard that her ears rang.

  “That’s from your stepfather,” he snarled. “He said to do that if you gave us any trouble. And there’s plenty more where that came from.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Maddox summoned every bit of his strength to keep his rage under control. Roman had called him up and told him if he wanted to see Katrina alive again, he’d meet him at city hall in Greensville – without making any phone calls to the Council of Elders. He’d claimed that if Maddox made any calls, he’d know. Maddox had decided not to risk it.

  He’d arrived first, and was pacing the floor when Roman walked in to the meeting room, alone, carrying a laptop, and shut the door behind him.

  “There’s no reason I shouldn’t tear your head off right now,” Maddox snarled, letting his fur sprout on his face. “And by the way, even though you’re trying to hide it, I see you’re favoring your left side. Was it the silver knife? Because I’ve done some checking, and I’ve heard about the assassination attempt.”

  “You’re so clever.” Roman’s lip curled in a sneer as he set the laptop. “I think you’ll want to watch this video before you make any fatal mistakes.”

  Roman opened up his laptop and clicked on a video. It showed a horrifying video of a big grey wolf dangling from chains, being skinned alive. His animal screams and pleas echoed from the laptop’s speakers. A small smile twitched at Roman’s lips.

  “That was my father,” Roman said proudly. “After he decided that I was too weak to be an Alpha, and tried to drown me in the pond behind our house. I showed him who the weak one was.”