Surrogate for the Wolves

by Jasmine Wylder

  The bodies littered around him and Max spoke to the power of the berserker. Max sucked in deep breaths of air, fighting against the pain, against the foggy sensation blocking him from his wolf. A good five darts stuck in him at various places, but it had taken a taser to bring him down.

  His hands were zip-tied behind his back and he was dragged into the group. Tyler had been found, tied as well. He moaned, starting to regain consciousness.

  The screams of the women made Max’s head jerk up. All the wolves tried to surge forward as they were dragged from the cabin and into the woods, but their guards beat them across the faces with guns and with the blockers in their systems, they were just too weak…

  Max shouted in fury and agony and Angela disappeared among the trees. No! He had to get her. With a roar he surged to his feet and slammed his head into the nose of one of the guards. Another three were on him in an instant, beating him back down.

  “Enough,” a familiar voice called out.

  Ice flooded Max’s veins as he looked up. Seth Mortenson was hardly recognizable beneath his disfiguring scars, but that cruel smile was just the same. Max stared at him in horror. How?

  “If I wanted them dead, I wouldn’t have told you not to kill,” Seth said, punching one of the wolves that had been beating on Max. He crouched down over Max and shook his head. “And kill one of them, the rest of them won’t stop fighting until they’re all dead. But they can’t do what I want if they’re dead.”

  Max snarled. Was this payback? He was supposed to be dead!

  “What do you want?” Sly asked, his voice calm and authoritative. Max almost hated him for being so calm—he was still struggling against the guards, wasting energy even though he knew it was useless. There were just too many of them. Outnumbered four to one at least.

  Seth turned to Sly, smiling. “Four million dollars per hostage. So that’s sixteen million for the four women and another eight million for the two babies.”

  The babies. Max’s heart seized. With this increased stress on Angela… She’s only seven months! What if this causes her to go into labor? What if something goes wrong?

  What if Angela and the babies died?

  “I know it’ll take you a while to get it all together,” Seth continued, his smile widening. “Which is why I’ll let you buy them back one at a time… you can choose who first.”

  Sly glowered hatefully at Seth and Max understood why. Because Chloe was Sly’s mate. That in itself was enough to make him hate Seth but making him choose… It meant he’d either be choosing to set his own mate free over the mates of his pack or leave her in their hands longer in order to get the others out.

  And to get Angela will be twelve million because she’s carrying the babies, Max thought with a sinking heart.

  He redoubled his efforts. “What is this all about?” he shouted. “Just the money? Why did you kill that hiker? Why have you gotten vampires involved?” He wasn’t the man that Angela saw at the diner, she would have mentioned scars if it was. “What about your son?”

  Seth stalked over to him and kicked him in the face. “My son? My son got himself caught because he was too stupid to bounce an IP address.”

  He kicked Max again, making his vision black out. By the time it cleared, all the wolves were gone. Devon managed to free himself and hurried to help the others. When Max was freed, he sprang to his feet, ready to chase after them blockers or no blockers. Adrian grabbed his arm and flung him to the ground next to Tyler.

  Tyler gave him a weak grin as Shawn pressed his foot between his shoulders, keeping him down. “Guess they’re worried we’ll do something stupid.”

  “Damn straight we are,” Shawn scoffed.

  Roman and Omar were arguing with Kristoff and Lucas while Theron, Ian, Devon and Sly stood in a tight circle, talking under their breaths. Max growled, trying to throw Adrian off, but he didn’t let him budge.

  “Max,” Tyler whispered. “He said he was going to pull a job like Kentucky.”

  Max’s eyes widened. He didn’t think his blood could get any colder, but it did. His head spun and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. The emotion coursed through him strong enough for him to buck his body, dislodging Adrian. He scrambled to his feet but instead of running toward the forest, he headed for Sly.

  “He’s going to kill them if we give him the money,” Max blurted as soon as he got to them. “In Kentucky, when we took that daycare hostage? He wanted to kill the hostages after we got the money. Wanted to keep the shifter kids, take them with us and kill everyone else. He might keep Sandra alive and the babies if they’re shifters but the rest—"

  All four of them snarled, even while they paled. For a moment, Max didn’t know what to do. It was just too horrible, too awful to think about. Angela’s shy smile gone forever. The light extinguished in her eyes. It made him want to die just thinking about it.

  “But what does he want?” Theron growled. “He doesn’t want us dead and he knows that killing the hostages will make us go after him for death. So what…?”

  “His wolves kept turning on each other in the fight,” Sly said, his voice harsh. “They aren’t a united pack. He’s proving his strength to them. Controlling our actions. He needs the money first, so he can set himself up. Whatever it is he wants. Keep them in line with the promise of more millions, maybe. Or maybe to buy land so he can start up his own commune.”

  “And then after killing the hostages, we go in for a real fight. They band together to kill us all,” Devon continued. His expression was grim. “Then our only chance is to find the hostages and kill Seth.”

  Max stared intently at his alpha, waiting for an order. Without his wolf he felt so lost and alone… it all seemed so hopeless. No! I will not lose Angela. I won’t lose those babies. When had he started caring so much about them? He didn’t know. All he did know was that he would die for his mate and his children.

  Because Angela was his mate. There was no use in denying it any longer.

  Sly sucked in a deep breath. “Max, you need to take care of Tyler. Get him back to fighting shape. The rest of us are going to start a search grid. We’re vulnerable without our wolves, but that means they won’t be expecting us to work at this right away. I’ll give you your assignment once Ty’s ready to go.”

  Max opened his mouth to protest but a glare from his alpha stopped him. Grinding his teeth, he trotted back to where Adrian had finally let Tyler up. Max took him, dragging him back to his cabin, and promptly began to clean up the wound on his head.

  Tyler grunted in annoyance, pushing him away. “Put some damn clothes on.”

  Max rolled his eyes. “You put some damn clothes on. If you can stand looking at my dick while I fuck women, you can look at it now.”

  “That’s during fucking, though,” Tyler protested weakly. His hands clenched as he twisted his head to stare out the window. “We were outnumbered, weren’t we? It wouldn’t have made a difference if I had been here.”

  “No,” Max agreed softly. “We were outnumbered.”

  Tyler winced as Max scrubbed some antiseptic into the wound. It’d be quicker for him to get his wolf back if he wasn’t battling an injury like this. “You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

  Max snorted. “I’ve always thought you were stupid and impulsive. It’s one of the reasons I love you, man.”

  “Fuck you.” Tyler glared at him. “I love you, too.” His hands clenched on his knees and his breath caught. “I haven’t told Angela I love her. I should have. I do love her. She’s my mate. I thought saying it made me weak or some stupid shit like that, but I love her and now—”

  “We’re gonna get her back.” Max taped gauze over the cut in Tyler’s forehead and turned to the injuries on his arm. “We know that Seth has some contact with the vampires, so those old tunnels will be a good place to start.”

  “No. That’s not where we start.”

  Max frowned at him, confused.

  Tyler looked up at him, his eyes hard as steel. �
�We start with Brian. He needs to know what kind of asshole his father is. He’s the key, Max. Seth dismissed him, but he had to have a contact. And where we have one contact—”

  “We can find another and another,” Max breathed. He nodded once. “Brian it is, then. We will find where Seth has taken the women.”

  Tyler gripped his arm. “And we will get them back.”

  “No matter what.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The room they had been shoved into had only one thin mattress flush against the floor and two blankets for the four of them to share. A naked, flickering bulb in the ceiling was their only light, and there was nowhere in the room for them to relieve themselves. Not that Angela was doing much relieving. The others had insisted that she lay down on the mattress. Even though she curled up the best she could, the others had to take turns sitting on the end rather than the cold concrete floor.

  Tears streamed down Angela’s face even though she fought them. Her friends had also forbidden her from giving them one of the blankets, meaning that they were all huddled under the one. She had tried to say she could sit on the mattress with the rest of them, but they were firm and didn’t allow it.

  Especially since her water had broken on the way over here. Their kidnappers hadn’t even given her a change of clothes, so she was shivering in her wet pants now.

  Seven months. That’s where she was at. Thirty weeks. It was far too early to give birth now. Contractions had been coming fast and hard for a bit, but it had eased up now. She just didn’t know what was happening. If she had a clear answer this wouldn’t be so hard…

  “Hey.” Miriam scooted up the mattress to wipe a tear from her face. “Let’s not dehydrate ourselves, huh? Although it might be better if you did cry. Release some of those nasty stress chemicals. That’s what tears do.”

  Angela attempted a smile, but her lips wobbled. Thirty weeks. If she was to give birth now, they’d be so small. So premature. She didn’t know the statistics for babies born this early. For the past few months, she had been making sure she didn’t look up that sort of thing because it only stressed her out thinking about what she would do if her babies were born that early.

  Now, though… she wished she had some knowledge, just to comfort herself. But if they’re going to be born in this cold, dirty place what chance do they have at all?

  “I want Tyler and Max,” she whispered, not caring if it made her a baby. There was nothing anybody could do about it, no way to bring them to her. But she wanted them back so badly…

  “I know. But it’s going to be okay. Are you still having contractions?”

  A mild one wrapped around her stomach and Angela winced. “Yes, but not as often and they don’t hurt the same way.”

  Miriam nodded, a furrow in her brow. She rested a hand on Angela’s stomach. “Okay, I’m going to tell you ladies something, but you have to promise not to tell anybody. You know how I took that waitressing job at the diner so I could have the money for my nephews?”

  Angela nodded, her own brow wrinkling. Was she going to say she slept with Bill or something?

  “Well, I’ve been telling everyone that I’d been living off savings until then, but it’s not true. I write and self-publish erotica. So. I’m a porn writer.”

  Sandra and Chloe both giggled while Angela’s eyes widened. Self-published erotica? Had she read anything Miriam wrote?

  “But before that I was a midwife. Went in for the training and everything. And I helped to deliver a good number of babies, so I know what I’m talking about.” Miriam brushed Angela’s hair from her face. “So, don’t you cry, Angie. I know what’s happening and what to do. No need to worry.”

  “Why did you stop being a midwife?” Angela asked because it was the first thing that came to her mind.

  Miriam gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Just you focus on staying calm. Your contractions are slowing down, which is a good sign. I’ve seen women go for a week after their water breaks before giving birth. By then, you’ll be back with your wolves and everything will be okay.”

  “But what if they can’t ever get along again?”

  “Don’t worry about that, either,” Chloe put in unexpectedly. She and Sandra came around to pull Miriam back within their huddle. “I might not have known them for too terribly long, but from what Sly and Devon say, this isn’t exactly unusual. They fight sometimes, just like anybody. Only normally they’d have a physical contest to work out their differences. They’ve never seriously hurt each other, but they’ll have formal fights with Sly and Devon refereeing. And then they’re back to their old selves, playing pranks and trying to get the town to think they’re gay.”

  Angela’s brow furrowed. “But I don’t want them to fight.”

  “Which is why they haven’t. They’ve been forgoing their normal conflict resolution because they thought it would put more stress on you.” Chloe sighed heavily. “Guess they didn’t realize they could have just fought while you were at Sandra’s and you wouldn’t even have to know.”

  Angela wasn’t sure how to take that. Of course, she didn’t want them fighting, but they were fighting. Didn’t they realize that she was just as stressed and hurt seeing them refuse to talk to each other? And it had taken forever to get Max to even open up to her…

  “If they’d just talk about their problems instead of immediately thinking they have to beat each other up—” Angela started angrily but a sharp, stabbing pain in her abdomen made her yelp. Instantly, the other women crowded around, trying to help. She panted until the pain passed, then moaned in dismay and reached for Miriam’s wrist. “It’s too early, they’re going to die.”

  “Don’t think that way,” Miriam was quick to say.

  “Listen,” Sandra said as she held Angela’s other hand. “Listen, wolf shifters are usually born at around thirty-five weeks and they’re tough. They just grow a little faster than human babies. You don’t hear about it because people don’t think of shifter pregnancies, but they are different from human pregnancies.”

  Miriam nodded. “Thank you. I didn’t know that. See? It’s okay.”

  “But I’m only thirty weeks!” Angela shrieked.

  “But twins are usually born about five weeks earlier than single births,” Miriam was quick to say. “So, this is normal. Five weeks earlier than a shifter pregnancy normally would be. So you don’t have to be scared, Angie. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.”

  She couldn’t make that promise, though. She didn’t know if it was going to be okay. They were prisoners and that same pain from before… Angela bit her lip, trying desperately not to cry. She was so cold!

  Chloe stiffened and turned away, breathing through her nose. Angela opened her mouth to ask what it was, but the words died in her throat. Chloe was a vampire. For her to react this way… Blood. Just like the other times.

  Angela’s whimper was drowned out by the sound of fighting from the other side of the door. The women huddled closer together. It seemed like their captors were constantly fighting with each other. Angela squeezed her eyes shut, fresh tears starting.

  “They’re not a real pack,” Sandra murmured. “That burned man must have gone out looking for mercenaries or something. Just gathered a bunch of criminals together with the promise of a big payout.”

  “Then why do all that terrorizing from before?” Chloe asked. “Why the attack on Max and Tyler?”

  Angela pulled herself to a sitting position. She wasn’t comfortable no matter what position she was in, so what did it matter. “He wanted them in the same place,” she murmured, having thought about this since they had been taken away. “He wanted all of the wolves together so he could prove how strong he was by overpowering them. That’s why he didn’t kill them, too. He’s proving his point.”

  “And if that’s true…” Chloe’s eyes were wide and round. “Then that means once he gets what he wants from us, there is no reason to keep us around anymore.”

  They all stared at each other in shoc
k and horror. Sandra scrambled to her feet and rushed to the door, pushing on it this way and that. “We have to get out of here. We have to…”

  “How?” Angela wailed. She had never felt his helpless and useless before. Another sharp pain wrapped around her stomach and she flinched so hard that Miriam grasped her shoulder to keep her upright. Worry shone from the other women’s eyes.

  “Blockers are derived from vampires’ venom,” Chloe said, joining Sandra. “So, if we can get something to coat in my saliva and cut them, then it will at least stop them from being able to shift without me having to bite every single one.”

  Miriam stared over at them as though they were crazy. “Vampire?”

  Angela flinched again but this time it wasn’t from pain. Of course. Miriam didn’t know about vampires. Very few people did. Neither Angela nor Sandra would have known about them if it wasn’t for the fact that they’d been taken prisoner by vampires back when Chloe had first started going with Sly and Devon.

  “I’ll explain another time,” Chloe murmured. “Right now—”

  A solid thud on the door made her and Sandra jump away. The sounds of fighting lessened and there was a scraping sound from the other side. Chloe and Sandra rushed back to form a protective barrier between the door and Angela and Miriam. Angela’s heart pounded against her ribs, a bitter taste in her mouth. Throughout the conversation her contractions had started again. Hard enough that she was having a hard time breathing through them, fast enough that she was convinced that it was happening.

  The door wrenched open and the smell of gunpowder and blood wafting in made her whole body rebel. She vomited, nausea sweeping through her like nothing else. But as she lifted her trembling hand to wipe at her lips, what she saw was the most welcome sight ever imaginable.

  Max and Tyler rushed in, sweeping her into their arms. They kissed her cheek and forehead over and over again as they held her closer.

  Kristoff stood in the doorway. “Hey! We need to get moving here, guys. We don’t know if they called reinforcements.”