by D. M. Shane
Muffled sobs caught my attention. I carefully unlatched the door and peeked through the crack. Aislin and Paige sat bound and gagged, huddled side by side on the floor with their backs against the opposite wall. Aislin was hyperventilating, already having a full-blown panic attack. I could hear the men down the hall describing in vulgar detail the abhorrent things they were planning.
I tried to ignore them and focus on the task at hand. Squatting down, I opened the door enough to poke my hand out and grab their attention. Aislin’s eyes widened in recognition. I placed a finger in front of my lips, signaling for them to stay quiet.
“Yes, we’ll take them back to the cabin now that the holding cells are complete. Taggert, hit the bedrooms. Grab any lingerie you can find. Forget the clothes, they won’t need them. Poe, go get the van,” Kane ordered.
That sick fuck. I should have killed him instead of exiling him all those years ago. We didn’t believe in killing just to kill, but damn if I didn’t feel like I’d fucked up.
Back at the window, I watched the one they called Poe step out of the apartment. Gideon was gone, hidden somewhere in the dark recesses of the alley. I quickly shut the window, lest I give myself away when Poe returned. The door across the hall squeaked, its old hinges screaming for oil. Dresser drawers hit the floor as the other man rummaged around.
Spying through the crack, I watched angrily as Kane yanked Aislin up onto her tiptoes. He gripped her by the hair and tilted her face up to his. Fury raged through my core as I watched him lick the side of her face. It killed me to watch and do nothing, but I had to wait for Gideon to create a distraction. It was our best chance of keeping my mate from harm’s way.
“I can’t wait for you to see what I’ve got in store for you, baby. We’re long overdue for a lovely little chat. You still owe me.” When she squirmed, Kane yanked her hair again, and she squealed in pain through the gag, squeezing her eyes shut. “Look at me, bitch!”
Instead, she turned her head away in straight defiance. The bastard jerked her head back and held her in place. “I said look at me, you stupid cunt. You either open your eyes or I will take you in that back bedroom right now,” he growled.
She immediately did as she was bid. I could hear the distress in her ragged breathing and smell the acrid stench of her terror.
“There, that’s better. I’m much nicer when you listen. You belong to me. Not that asshole, Arkkadian. If I see that motherfucker again, I will fucking kill him. Do you understand?”
Aislin nodded quickly, nostrils flaring as she tried to suck in air through her nose. Between the hyperventilating and hysterical sobbing, she choked on the gag in her mouth. How she managed not to give my position away, I didn’t know. Kane was so far lost in his own little world that he failed to scent me as he should have. Small miracles.
I silently waited, willing Gideon to hurry, when the front door clicked open. Kane whipped his head toward the sound and threw Aislin to the floor before taking off toward the kitchen. She stumbled on her way down, falling into the wall and smacking the side of her head on the panels.
“What the fu—?” A crash cut the asshole off.
Across the hall, the other shifter—still in human form—ran out of the bedroom and toward the fight. Glass shattered and snarls echoed down the hall. Gideon would keep them both busy. My brother was a formidable fighter. One of the best.
I had to get the women out quickly and safely. I opened the door and held my finger to my lips again. Paige froze at the sight of my glowing eyes. I was so distracted, I hadn’t noticed the sparkling clarity in my vision, and I willed the glow away. Aislin watched me, the distress clear on her face. They were terrified, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort my mate, but that would have to wait.
I leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You’re okay, love. We’ll get you out of here. Gideon is buying us time, but we don’t have long.”
She whimpered, her body trembling. I tugged the gag from her mouth before carrying her back to her room, where I set her down on the bed.
“I need you to listen to me. My brother is keeping them busy. We have to get both of you out of here. It’s no longer safe for you to stay here.”
She shook her head no, eyes wide as saucers. Still breathing hard, she tried to stand up and nearly tripped over the ropes binding her ankles. I caught her and lowered her back down. With no time to spare, I put my hands on both arms and pushed small waves of calm into her. Not too much or I’d make her sick. A look of shock mixed with recognition crossed her face when she felt it pour through her.
“Stay here. I’ll go get your friend.”
“L-let me go!” she cried, struggling to sit closer to the edge of the bed.
“Shh!”
There was a crash down the hall and something large thudded against a wall. Growling ensued, and howls filled the air. Aislin froze. The woman in the hall screamed over and over through her gag. Then the wolves crashed into the other end of the hallway, tearing at each other, gnashing teeth and claw. Bits of fur floated down the hall, and the iron tang of blood drifted on the air.
Aislin’s eyes shifted toward the door, but I continued to push calming waves through her body. I couldn’t let her see them. Not yet. My mate was nowhere near the right frame of mind to see two giant wolves battling it out.
“Don’t look out there. Look at me. You can trust me. I need you to listen to me. You need to slow your breathing down.” I spoke as soothing as I could and she nodded.
“Deep breath in. There, that’s good. Back out. Once more. I need you to keep your head about you. You’ve no idea how dangerous those men are. They will do terrible things to you. We have to go, but let me help your friend first, okay?”
She nodded without a word. The terror rolling off her set my teeth on edge, but I couldn’t do anything about that at the moment. Before I could move, a shout from the hallway caught my attention.
“Where the fuck is the other girl?”
Fuck! I’d wasted too much time, and now the other woman was in trouble.
The sounds of furniture crashing and more glass shattering continued on in the living room as the wolves wrestled and tried to rip each other apart. Gideon was still fighting, buying us more time.
When I stepped back into the hallway, the other man stood there. He was naked and holding Aislin’s friend in his arms with a knife to her throat. Paige was hysterical. Cold, raw fear leaked from her pores.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the almighty Alpha himself,” the man sneered.
He must be the one they called Taggert. I didn’t know him, but he apparently knew me. His teeth were yellow, dirty blond hair unkempt, and he looked like he hadn’t showered or shaved in days. The man reeked of unwashed sweat, wet dog, and stale smoke. Definitely rogue.
“Take your brother and fuck off. Leave now or I’ll jam the knife in the bitch.”
Paige whimpered and tried to pull away, but the man yanked her back and pressed the knife against her skin. A drop of blood welled just below her chin and ran down her neck. Her eyes pleaded with desperation for me to save her.
Just then, two massive wolves tore out of the living room, into the kitchen, and back into the living room. Paige screamed in terror. An old worn-out recliner toppled into the hallway, followed by a small glass table that shattered on impact and sent glass flying in all directions. The smell of urine permeated the hallway. She’d pissed herself.
Orange light flared from the living room. We all turned and saw flames rushing up a curtain where the lamp had fallen and sparked the fabric when it broke. Before I could move, Taggert jammed the knife through the bottom of the woman’s jaw and up into her skull. In a blink, she was dead. I couldn’t have reached her fast enough to save her if I tried.
I jumped forward and grabbed the hand that held the knife and yanked, and before the asshole could react, I jammed it sideways through his ear. He fell to the ground next to the woman with his hand still wrapped around the hilt. I turned at the shr
iek behind me and found Aislin staring at the lifeless body of her friend lying crumpled on the floor. Then the fire alarm blared, making my ears ring. Black smoke billowed into the hallway, swirling above us and drowning out the oxygen we needed to breathe. We were out of time.
“Stay there. Don’t move. You can’t help her now,” I shouted above the ringing alarm.
My vision flashed brightly, and she stepped back at the sight of my glowing eyes. Aislin tripped and fell backward onto the floor. With her legs bound and arms still tied behind her, she wouldn’t get far. I took off down the hall to find the living room engulfed in flames.
Kane stood naked in the center of the room, blood dripping from various wounds where teeth had pierced and torn through flesh. Gideon’s black wolf, virtually unscathed, stood in the doorway blocking his escape. Flames licked across the ceiling, making the paint bubble and crack under the blistering heat. Wooden beams splintered, the sound echoing through the room and setting my teeth on edge.
“Gideon, we have to go. Now.”
At my words, Gideon shifted back into human form, eyes blazing green. Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed, and I launched myself at my brother, knocking him back, our bodies rolling away from the debris. As we climbed to our feet, we both spotted Kane’s foot sticking out from beneath a burning beam. We left him lying there as the inferno raged around us, bent on destruction.
Aislin was struggling to get up off the floor when we returned to her room. She stared at my brother’s naked form, but her attention shot straight to me when I drew a knife out of my pocket. She screamed and scooted backward, bumping into her bed. Spinning her around, I quickly sliced through the ropes that bound her. With a sob, she tried to run toward her friend lying on the floor, but I scooped her up and hugged her to me. As Gideon shut the door, she pushed against me, screaming for me to let her go. To let her save her friend.
“Shh. There’s nothing you can do for her now. I’m sorry. We need to go now. The fire is moving too fast. Grab anything important you need. Go!”
I released her, expecting her to disobey, but she surprised me by doing what she’d been told. She raced into the closet first and grabbed a brown paper bag full of clothing. From the dresser, she pulled out a couple of sweaters, shorts, and intimates and then tugged on a pair of sneakers over bare feet. Last were a few items she pulled out of a drawer in her nightstand, including a photograph, a financial folder, a wallet, and a laptop, all of which she stuffed in a backpack.
Gideon waited impatiently on the landing outside. I took Aislin’s bags and handed them to him through the window. Then he reached out his hand to help my mate through to the other side. I grabbed the framed photo of the two women off the nightstand and followed. I had a feeling it was something she’d want.
A windowless black van was parked in the alley when we climbed down the fire escape. We rounded the back of it and stumbled over Carter’s body. He lay on the pavement, neck twisted at an odd angle, eyes staring unseeing at the stars above.
When she saw him, Aislin screamed and buried her face in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, trying to shelter her from the grisly sight. Gideon checked for a pulse and shook his head. He was dead. My heart ached for my mate.
Scorching flames leaped through the kitchen window above us and licked up the side of the building, charring the brickwork. It wouldn’t be long before the whole building went up in flames. Old buildings like that burned hard, and they burned fast. Too fast. The flames were already licking Aislin’s bedroom door by the time we climbed out the window.
The other Lycan was nowhere to be found. He’d probably taken off when the fight broke out upstairs, fucking coward that he was. Carter must have come outside and interrupted him at some point.
The back door of the van hung open, a foul stench rolling out of it. An old dirty mattress lay on the floor, dark stains marring its filthy surface and filling my mind with troubling things. I turned the disgusting thoughts away as sirens blared in the distance. We needed to leave before the authorities arrived and get as far away as possible.
Gideon tossed Aislin’s bags in the back of the SUV and then quickly pulled on a shirt and a pair of sweats while I helped her into the backseat. I pulled the seatbelt across her lap and buckled her in. The second I jumped in the back with her, Gideon pulled out of the lot and headed straight for the highway.
A few blocks away, a line of police cars and fire trucks passed us with sirens screaming. The flames had engulfed the entire top floor by the time we’d made it to the SUV, and by the time emergency services got there, there would be nothing left to save. Whether Kane made it out alive remained to be seen. We should have checked, but if we had taken the time to dig through the rubble, we may not have made it out of the apartment in time.
Aislin stared blankly out the window, not making a peep as we drove away. After several failed attempts to draw her attention, I backed off.
Half an hour later, we pulled over at a small rest area on the side of the highway. Thankfully, it was deserted at this time of night. Aislin still hadn’t spoken a word, but she flinched when I touched her arm. I pulled my hand away, not wanting to frighten her any more than she already was.
“Aislin?”
She turned her head a little to the side but refused to look at me. A response was good, even if it wasn’t the one I was looking for. She just sat there shivering with her arms wrapped around herself.
“Gideon, grab a blanket from the back, please. Aislin, listen to me. I need to make sure you’re okay.”
No response.
“Aislin? I need you to look at me, sweetie.” Slowly, she turned, but her eyes were unfocused and glossy. “Good girl.”
“Your eyes glowed,” she whispered. The stench of fear rolled off her, tickling my nose. “They were bright blue. Like Kane’s, but his were green. I thought I’d imagined it. Oh, God, you’re gonna kill me, aren’t you?” She slid across the seat, trembling as she leaned as far against the door as she could.
“I won’t hurt you. I promise you’re safe. And no, you didn’t imagine anything. I’m very sorry we scared you. Truly,” I reassured, speaking as concisely as I could to allay some of her fear.
“Wh-what are you?” she stammered.
Just then, Gideon climbed back into the front seat and handed me a blanket. “Arkken, don’t. She’s not ready.”
“Ready for what?” Aislin looked back and forth between my brother and me, and I glared at him. He took the hint and quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and busied himself with a text to Sara.
“Can I check your wrists and ankles? Are you hurt anywhere else? What about when you hit your head?”
She shook her head no, but slowly raised her wrists and held them out for me. I turned them over, gently grazing the red marks with my thumbs. She hissed and tried to tug them away, but I held tight. I sighed, trying to calm my wolf as the beast within was still angry over this evening’s events.
Gideon handed me the first aid kit before climbing over the console to the driver’s seat. Aislin burst into tears when he started the engine and returned to the highway.
“Shh. It’s okay. You’re okay,” I soothed.
I held her hands, and once again sent gentle waves of energy through her until she settled. Afterward, I took the healing salve from the first aid kit and applied it to the rope burns on her wrists. I did the same with her ankles and then wrapped the wounds with gauze. Aislin was barely aware of my ministrations.
“There. All done. Any other injuries?” I asked, but she didn’t respond. “I’m very sorry.”
She unexpectedly leaned into me, and I gently wrapped my arms around her while she cried. If I could do anything to take the hurt away, I would. It killed me I couldn’t.
My beast still raged within, but for my mate’s sake, I tamped it down. She was terrified. Eventually, the tears subsided, and she drifted off to sleep. I tucked the blanket around her to keep her warm while she slept.
We rode home
in silence, though Aislin stirred a few times in her sleep. I stroked her hair lightly, soothing her back into slumber. By the time we made it back to Eagle Ridge, she was in a deep, relaxed sleep. She didn’t even twitch when I carried her from the SUV to my bed.
The stench of Kane lay heavy on her clothing. Bringing that smell into my home only served to further enrage my wolf. Her clothes were also covered in spatters of vomit. I wasn’t sure when that had happened. Most likely before Gideon and I had arrived. I wanted nothing in my home that reminded me of that sick bastard.
I removed her shoes first, and then with a pair of scissors, I gently cut away the torn, dirty fabric of her clothing piece by piece. I tossed the scraps into the fireplace on the opposite wall and then returned to the bed to cover her. She would probably be pissed when she woke, but I was willing to take the chance if it meant removing all traces of Kane.
Leaning over to grab the blankets, the sight of so much scarring down the side of her body sickened me. Nothing in the article I’d read could have truly prepared me for what I saw. Aislin was scarred from neck to hip, just as described, but it was so much worse than I’d imagined. Any doubt I had about her identity was gone. What kind of monster could torture a child this way? It was abhorrent.
My stomach lurched as I stared at the scars. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I reached once again for the covers, but something caught my eye. Right there on her hip, a letter was carved into her skin. The son of a bitch had signed his work as if it were a piece of fucking art. R for Ryker Slade. Arden Vane’s right-hand man had carved his signature mark right there on her skin. On a child!
Anger flowed like lava just under the surface of my skin, and I saw red. My fangs extended in my mouth as I fought the urge to shift. I couldn’t remember the last time I had ever felt this enraged.