by Sara Dailey
“Of course I do.”
“You do know that the only way that will ever happen is if you are with me, right?”
“What do you mean? Cade is not getting rid of me,” I said.
“Oh honey, haven’t you been paying attention? I certainly have. Alli here, is Cade’s true mate. You’re officially out of the picture… but if you want a way back in…”
True mate? No way! This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t speak. Words were caught in my throat, and all I could do was take a step back, lean over, and rest my hands on my knees. My breathing was rushed, and my head was swimming.
I managed to look over at Dylan, who was standing there looking as smug as ever. He reached up to shut the trunk and said, “Oh come on, Kendall. Get a grip. You’re tougher than that. You are supposed to be the alpha female of this pack. Are you really going to freak out instead of doing what needs to be done?”
I sat down as I concentrated on controlling my breathing. I pushed aside all of the built up anger, hurt, and betrayal. In its place came a need for revenge. I was not losing my place in my pack to anyone.
“So why take Alli? How is that going to help us?”
“Us, huh? I like that. The longer Alli and Cade are apart, the weaker they become. If we can keep them apart long enough, Cade will be as weak as a new pup.”
“So what are you planning to do with her?” I asked as I pointed to the trunk.
“What happened to we?”
Oh no, no! Was he out of his mind? There was no way I was getting involved in this mess… anymore than I already was, anyway.
Dylan leaned against the trunk and said, “Come on Kendall. We can do this. This pack can be ours. Me and you. We can rule this pack together. Help me think of somewhere to stash the girl.”
“Just leave her in there,” I suggested.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep her in a trunk for a week. We need something more private. Something close by, but deserted.”
I thought about it for a minute before the perfect location dawned on me. “My mom has a ski cabin just outside the estate,” I offered, though I could hardly believe that I was getting caught up in Dylan’s take-over-the-pack plan.
“Perfect. I knew I could count on you,” Dylan said before he lightly kissed my cheek.
Chapter 47
Allison
I woke to the sound of two voices. One I immediately knew to be Kendall’s. The other sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it. It was a male voice, and it only took a moment of eavesdropping to determine that he was the mastermind behind my abduction.
I was lying on a bed with my hands and feet tied, and one killer headache. Luckily, they didn’t see me open my eyes, and I had enough wits about me to shut them again before they realized that I had regained consciousness. With my eyes closed, I listened intently to their scheming.
Kendall: How long should it take?
Male voice: I’m guessing about a week.
Kendall: You’re guessing. You mean you don’t know. Jesus, Dylan.
Ah ha! The mystery voice belonged to the asshole in the woods.
Dylan: A week should be enough time for Cade to weaken.
Kendall: Why can’t you just get rid of her?
Dylan: Seriously? You are ready to just up and kill her? Besides, if we kill her, their bond will be broken. Cade won’t weaken at all, and we will be left with one angry son-of-an-alpha. We can’t kill her… yet.
Kendall: So what are we going to do with her for a week?
Dylan: Well, you have to go back to the pack, so you can keep me updated as to what is going on and so nobody gets suspicious. I guess while you’re gone, I’ll stay here and take care of our little friend in there. I did see a Wii around here, didn’t I? I might just have to pass the time playing Madden.
Kendall: Uh-huh. Great plan. I hope you know what you are doing.
Dylan: Don’t worry. It will all work out. After a week or so, I’ll take care of Cade, and then I’ll let you take care of our little friend on the bed here. After that, it will be easy to take out Marcus. You’ll see. This pack will be ours.
Kendall: So what now? I just head back and act like nothing has happened?
Dylan: Exactly. Text me soon.
After saying goodbye, Kendall walked out the door, and just like Dylan said, he started up the Wii.
I had to get the hell out of here. I squeezed my eyes shut, tried to concentrate, and pictured myself in wolf form, but all that followed was excruciating pain behind my eyes. It took everything I had not to scream out in agony.
I tried to slow my breathing and relax. I can do this. I had done it before. Changing was my only way out of these ropes. Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes and tried again. But before I could even focus, the pain was back and worse this time.
Exhausted, I surrendered, deciding that changing wasn’t an option. Instead, I watched the douche-bag play Madden for almost an hour before I finally decided to speak. He hadn’t even bothered to look my way. I could have had a concussion or something, but apparently, he wasn’t too concerned.
I cleared my voice and said, “I need to pee.”
“Oh, you’re awake. Good. We have so much to catch up on,” he said, as he paused his game and put the controller down.
“Can I go to the bathroom first?”
“Sure honey,” he said as he leaned over and untied my legs.
It felt good to finally stand up and stretch a little. I looked around the room and then at him. He finally realized what I was looking for and said, “Right there to the left.”
I walked into the restroom and turned around to shut the door, but Dylan was standing in the way.
“Afraid not, honey. Don’t worry, it’s not the first time I have seen a girl pee before.”
Oh fabulous. He actually expected me to use the restroom in front of him? Thankfully, he made a production by putting his fingers in his ears and whistling at the shower curtain. It was quite a feat getting my jeans down and then back up with my hands still tied together.
On the way back to the master bedroom, Dylan apparently decided that he needed to fill me in on his evil plan, which wasn’t exactly the same evil plan that I had overheard. This version didn’t include killing anyone, especially me. According to him, I had nothing to fear. Supposedly, I would only be inconvenienced for a week or so, and then I would be set free to return to the pack. Little did he know I knew the truth.
When we entered the bedroom, he motioned toward the bed, and said, “Get comfy. I have a game to finish.”
Chapter 48
Cade
After realizing that Allison had left my house, I ran directly to her place hoping to explain away my father’s assholishness. But she wasn’t there, and immediately, my search began. Now it was two o’clock in the morning, and I have been to her house, our swing, the cabin, and back to her home again. It was time to ring the doorbell.
The light was on in the kitchen, so I hoped that someone was still awake. It didn’t take long for Mrs. Wright to answer the door, and it was obvious that she was worried too.
“Oh my God, Cade. Do you know what time it is?” She looked around and asked, “Where’s Allison?” her tone immediately shifting from irritation to panic. Seeing me shivering, she grabbed my arm and ushered me inside.
I stood there not knowing how to answer without making things worse, so I just told her the truth. “I don’t know. I was hoping she was here.”
“What? I thought she was with you,” she said as she led me to a chair in the kitchen.
“She was. We went to my house to tell my dad about us. I asked Allison to let me go in by myself first, but she must have heard my dad shouting at me from where she sat on the porch. He didn’t take the news very well. When I made it back outside, she was gone.”
Mrs. Wright poured me a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter looking outraged.
“I have looked for her at every place I could
think of. I have to find her and explain. My father said some horrible things,” I admitted.
“I tried to call her a few times, but it just went to voicemail. What exactly did Marcus say that would have caused her to run off like that?” Mrs. Wright asked.
At first, I had no intention of repeating what my father had said, especially not to Alli’s mother, but I knew that she deserved to know. After she heard the abridged version of the argument, she proceeded to explode. She called my dad every dirty word in the book, woke up the whole house, and only moments later, she was on the phone with her mother, a council elder.
“Cade, bro, what are you doing here?” Aiden said as he walked into the kitchen to see what was going on. When no one answered, Aiden asked, “What has my sister done now?”
Chapter 49
Kendall
It had been seventeen hours since Allison went “missing,” and the entire pack was called in for an emergency meeting at the Lodge. All I had to do was keep my cool and report anything important back to Dylan.
I walked into the Lodge with Shari and Becca, and we took our usual seats near the back. I noticed Alli’s parents standing in the front of the room with some of the council elders. They both looked so panicked that I almost felt bad for them. Almost.
Shari elbowed me and whispered, “Hey, look over there. What’s wrong with Cade?”
I looked over and saw Cade sitting next to Aiden with his head in his hands. The tiny part of me that felt guilty for what Dylan and I had done vanished. Cade deserved to suffer.
On one hand, I knew that he couldn’t help who his true mate was, but on the other, I couldn’t just sit there and watch someone else run this pack. This is my future, and it was time to look out for number one.
Marcus called the meeting to order, and everyone quickly found themselves a place to sit. Only seconds later, silence filled the room, and Marcus adjusted the microphone, but instead of beginning his speech, he moved aside for Allison’s grandmother to take the podium.
Katherine Grant cleared her throat and spoke, “Fellow pack members, I want to get right down to business. I have some disturbing news to report. Allison Wright, my granddaughter, has gone missing.”
Immediately, chatter spread like wild fire through the room, but when Katherine began speaking again, everyone quieted.
“She has been missing for just over seventeen hours now, and at this point, we have no leads as to her whereabouts. The council has come to an agreement on how best to handle the situation, and we are asking everyone to give us their full cooperation until she is found.”
“Omigod! Did you know about this? Poor Alli,” Shari said looking shocked.
“Of course I didn’t know about this. I totally would have told you,” I replied, hoping she couldn’t see right through me. I gave a cursory glance around the room to make sure that no one was looking at me. I hadn’t thought about it until just then, but I was the only person that Alli had problems with since the Wrights arrived. Surely, no one here would think that I was capable of kidnapping.
Katherine continued, “The council has agreed to wait until the estate has been thoroughly searched before we contact the local authorities. We are calling for an immediate, mandatory curfew following this meeting. During that time, every home will be searched by one of our search teams.”
That was completely crazy! I didn’t want people snooping around my bedroom. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The pack seemed to erupt in disagreement. Katherine’s voice was drowned out by the crowd. Finally, Marcus stood and demanded their attention.
“This isn’t an option nor shall it be discussed. You will cooperate. You will let the search parties into your homes. If this were your son, daughter, brother, or sister, you would want the same done for your family.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw my own mother stand up and call out over the crowd, “Marcus, this is ludicrous. Are you really accusing one of us? This is not only an invasion of privacy, but the fact that you actually suspect that one of us has anything to do with this is unbelievable. What is it about this girl that would cause you to show such distrust in your own pack?”
Marcus stood there for a moment before Katherine said to him, “Marcus, you need to tell them.”
“Alright, the fact is that Allison Wright is my son’s true mate.”
That was all it took for the entire room to explode into conversation.
“Kendall, omigod! Are you okay?” Shari asked, her face full of pity.
At that point, I didn’t know what to do. It didn’t occur to me that the entire room would suddenly turn and stare at me to see my reaction to the news. I did the first thing that came to my mind. I jumped up from my chair and ran out of the Lodge pretending to sob. I figured that Becca and Shari would follow me, but I didn’t stop running. I needed to get the hell out of there.
Chapter 50
Allison
I have been sitting here, watching this asshat play Madden all freakin’ day. And to make matters worse, he really sucked at it. I could totally kick his ass, and I had only played it with Aiden a few times. The most annoying part was that every few minutes, he would ask, “Hey, did you see that play?”
I almost would rather he just killed me now and end this horrible suffering. If I could just figure out a way to get free, I could get out of here. Honestly, he seemed too stupid to be able to stop me. All I needed to do was change. It sounded so easy, but since my last attempt, I had been too afraid. Since that wasn’t going to happen, I decided to try plan B.
Before he started his next game, I asked, “Hey, can I play? I’m bored, and I’ll behave. Promise.” Then I smiled innocently, hoping that if he was a big enough moron to untie me, I would have a chance to run.
“Seriously? You want me to untie you?” Dylan asked.
“I won’t try anything. Honest. I’m just sick of sitting here doing nothing. And my arms are starting to cramp. You don’t really think that little ol’ me could overpower you, do you?”
That comment seemed to do the trick.
Dylan shook his head and said, “Of course you couldn’t. But… you can’t tell Kendall, okay?”
I smiled in triumph. He really was a schmuck.
After making me promise once more that I wouldn’t try to get away, Dylan put down the Wii controller and untied my hands. Thrilled to finally have them free, I sat up and stretched a bit.
“So, how about we bowl instead?” I asked, hoping if he said yes, I could convince him to untie my feet also.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, bowling’s fun.”
“Bowling’s gay.”
I put on my best pouty face, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to resist.
“Fine.”
Reluctantly, Dylan put in the new game, walked to the bed, and bent down to untie my feet. Seizing the opportunity, I grabbed the lamp off the bedside table and smashed it against his head as hard as I possibly could. I had hoped that this would be my chance to make a great escape, but the bastard just shook it off. He stood up, touched the fresh cut on this forehead, and said, “Damn girl, why did you have to go and leave a mark? Kendall’s gonna have my ass. And now I have to tie you up again.”
I just sat there for a moment staring up at him. Finally I said, “Oops, sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you.” I had meant to knock his ass out. Guess he’s tougher than I thought.
“Great. Now we can’t play the game,” he pouted.
He re-tied my hands and feet and went to the bathroom to get a bandage for his head. A few minutes later, he was back at the end of the bed playing Madden like nothing had happened.
Chapter 51
Cade
We were organized into two search parties to scour the estate. I volunteered to lead one of the teams, but was shot down immediately by my father. No big surprise there. He claimed that I was too “emotionally wrecked” to get the job done right. I did demand to be in the same party as Allison’s family. It m
ay sound ridiculous, but being near them, somehow made me feel a bit closer to her.
It was decided that we would search half of the estate tonight and the other half tomorrow morning. According to our “fearless leader,” no stone was to be left unturned. I was eager to get going and see what we could find, though my gut told me that she was no longer on our property. For some reason, I had a feeling that if she were here, I would have been able to sense her presence. I tried to convince the elders that we needed to be looking elsewhere as well, but, again, the idea was dismissed.
As we walked out into the night to begin our hunt, Allison’s mom stopped me to ask, “Cade, are you sure you are feeling up to this?”
“I have to help! I can’t just sit around and do nothing.”
“But, you don’t look so good. Are you feeling okay?”
I hadn’t stopped to think about how I was feeling. All I could think about was finding Allison. But now that Lily had asked, I did have a bit of a headache. However, she didn’t need to know that. It would only add to her concern for her daughter. If I was already feeling bad, Allison must be as well.
I gave her the best reassuring smile that I could manage and said, “I’m fine, really. Just worried.”
“I’m worried too, Cade. But we are going to find her. Let someone know if you start feeling ill. Okay? You look a little pale,” she said.
“I will,” I agreed with a small smile, and then I hurried to catch up with Aiden.
***
Midnight was quickly approaching and we had turned up with absolutely nothing. The disappointment hung in the air like a thick cloud of smoke. I was beginning to notice all the looks of absolute pity thrown in my direction from the older members of the pack. They must be ready to give up for the night. Luckily for me, Aiden suggested that we finish this side of the lake tonight and pick back up on the other side in the morning.