by Lola Gabriel
Grey kept walking, planning on heading back to the hotel and gathering the pack to make a plan to save Ellery. He knew there was a chance the pack would rebel and refuse to help him, and if that happened, he needed to know quickly so he could make a new plan. One that would likely end in him being killed. Ariel had said she was with him and he knew some of the others would agree to help him, even if they were reluctant to do it. He just had to hope it was enough, because he couldn’t force the pack to risk their lives to save Ellery.
He had been walking for a few minutes when he heard his name being called. He looked around but he couldn’t see anyone. The call came again. He recognized Ariel’s voice, but he still couldn’t see her. She stepped out of the trees that lined the industrial property’s perimeter and laughed softly.
“For someone with wolf instincts, you’re so fucking blind at times,” she said, shaking her head.
“It’s not like I can see through tree trunks. I don’t have X-ray vision, you know. And I was hardly expecting you to be hanging around here,” Grey countered. “What’s going on?”
Ariel beckoned to him and stepped back into the trees. Grey followed her and she led him to a small clearing. Luke, Evie, and Graham waited for him there.
“We made the switch,” Ariel said. “So Kiefer is back out in the world causing fuckery. But at least Alex kept his word. I was kind of afraid this would all go wrong and you wouldn’t be released.”
“How did you manage to capture Kiefer?” Grey asked.
“Kiefer is arrogant. He thinks he’s untouchable. So his home is mostly unguarded. The few guards he had there were newly turned and inexperienced. We got past them easily enough. We had a potion from a witch Evie knows. We had to pour it on Kiefer and it kept his powers at bay. It’s only temporary and it’s likely worn off by now, but we got it on him while he was sleeping and it lasted long enough to get him here and make the deal,” Ariel explained.
Grey nodded thoughtfully.
“Can we get any more of that potion?” he asked Evie.
Evie shook her head.
“Not quickly enough to save your girl. Ariel brought us up to speed on that one. It takes around three months to brew the potion and that was Jasmine’s last bit,” Evie said.
“Right,” Grey said. It made his life a little bit more difficult, but the potion had never been something he had considered until now, so it wasn’t like he had really lost anything. He kind of felt like he had, though. “We need to get back to the hotel, gather the pack, and come up with some sort of plan. Assuming anyone will actually help me with this.”
“It’s all taken care of,” Ariel said. “The whole pack is in.”
“I… I don’t understand. Everyone was so against me taking on Alex,” Grey said.
“Yeah. And they all pretty much still think this is a suicide mission. But when I told them about Ellery, they all agreed we have no real choice now. You’re our alpha, Grey, and if you’ve found your mate, it’s our duty to protect her as we protect you.”
Grey paused for a moment as a ball of emotion bubbled up into his throat. He didn’t know what to say. Ariel was right in theory. It was his pack’s duty to protect him and his mate, but he had never been the sort of alpha to enforce those rules.
“I speak for all of the pack when I say that we’re not doing it because it’s the rules. We’re doing it because we care about you,” Evie said.
Grey nodded and muttered his thanks, still a little overwhelmed by the gesture. He cleared his throat, forcing the emotions away and getting himself back together.
“So where is everyone?” he asked.
“In place. Ready and waiting,” Graham said.
“Okay, go back to the beginning. What’s the plan?” Grey said.
“When we went to get Kiefer and applied the potion, we didn’t tell him our real plan immediately. He didn’t recognize us and so we told him that one of the women he had taken was the girlfriend of one of our pack members. We quizzed him for information about how Alex does this thing. He didn’t suspect a thing, and he believed that giving us the information we needed would save him. I almost felt bad for him in the end until I remembered he’s a murderous, arrogant prick who sells women. Anyway, he told us that Alex will go to the warehouse himself to select his next mate. He will only have two guards with him as he likes to convince himself the mating ceremony is really a choice for the women. He likes to think the ceremony is real and the women aren’t just going along with it because they know they’ll be killed if they don’t. Weirdo, huh?” Ariel said.
Grey nodded and gestured for her to go on.
“So our plan is actually pretty simple. You, Evie, Graham, Luke, and I will go around to the back of the industrial complex and enter through the hole in the fence I told you about. We’ll sneak down close to the warehouse and watch for Alex entering. When he does, we’ll go in there and stop him from taking any of the women. We’ll kill him and his two guards. Obviously, there’s a chance Alex will have back-up waiting and that’s where the rest of the pack come in. They’re positioned in small groups all around the perimeter of the place. They’re currently using wire cutters to make more holes in the fence. When Alex enters the warehouse, I have a flare which I’ll set off. That’s their signal. They will all enter the industrial complex at once from different directions and cause disturbances which will hopefully distract any back-up guards long enough for us to finish Alex off and free the women. If they don’t encounter anyone, they’ll all make their way to the warehouse, and if the plan succeeds, it will finish up with us all meeting in the warehouse or at the spot we’ll enter through.”
“It sounds risky,” Grey said. “There’s a lot that can go wrong.”
“Jeez, Grey,” Luke laughed. “We can’t win with you, can we? When we said this was risky, you wanted to do it anyway. Now that we’re on board, you’re the one saying it’s too risky.”
Grey thought for a second. It was true. But he had a good reason for playing devil’s advocate.
“When I suggested we take down Alex and his pack, it was purely for the survival of our own pack and that meant it was for the good of the whole pack. Maybe even for the good of shifters everywhere. But this is kind of selfish. It’s because my mate is in there,” Grey admitted. “I’m just not sure I feel comfortable asking the pack to risk their lives for me.”
“You’re not the one who asked them to, Grey. I am,” Ariel said. “And I’m okay with it. It’s our duty to do this, but more than that, we’re family, and family members help each other. When you said we should take Alex down to preserve the pack, it was hard for us to see him as any real threat to us at that point. We were working off hypotheticals. But now, the danger to your mate is real. And if it was any of our mates in there, the whole pack knows you’d be the first one putting yourself on the line to save them.”
“Thank you,” Grey said, overcome with emotion once more. “I…”
“You can thank us later,” Ariel cut him off with a grin. “Right now, we have work to do.”
Grey nodded, grateful for a way out of trying to explain how much their actions meant to him. Ariel smiled at him again, letting him know she got it, and then she turned and began moving through the trees, heading to the rear of the industrial property. Grey and the others followed her.
“You know when this is over, we’re going to have to go after Kiefer too, don’t you?” Evie said.
“Huh?” Graham said.
Grey was already nodding as Evie explained it to Graham.
“Do you really think Alex won’t have filled him in on what happened and why? He knows who we are now. It won’t take him long to work out where we are. And he’s not going to let this go. His whole reputation is based on the fact that most of the supernatural world fear him. If people find out what we did to him and that he just let it go, his reputation will be ruined. He’ll come for us. And I say we get to him before he gets to us,” Evie said. She turned to Grey. “What do you think, Gre
y?”
“I think you’re right,” Grey said. “If we survive today, we’ll go hunting for Kiefer first thing tomorrow and end this thing once and for all.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ariel said from a couple of steps ahead of them. “But can we focus on this first?”
She pointed to her right.
“The hole in the fence we’ll be using to get into the industrial complex is just on the other side of those trees. We need to be silent as we get into position. Once we’re in position, we’ll be able to see the entrance to the warehouse but anyone approaching it won’t see us. We’ll have to stay quiet, though. Even a whisper can travel on the breeze and bear in mind that everyone here is a wolf and they all have super-human hearing.”
Grey nodded and the others did too.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ariel said.
She stepped through the trees with the others still following her. It occurred to Grey that as the pack’s alpha, he should be the one leading them, but Ariel knew exactly where she was going and he didn’t. And besides, as long as no one spoke, this part wasn’t the dangerous part. When that part came, Grey would be the one leading the charge.
They followed Ariel, keeping their steps light. She pointed out the hole in the fence and they all squeezed through it. Grey and Luke had a bit of trouble slipping through, but within a couple of minutes, they were all inside of enemy territory. They made their way toward the warehouse and Ariel led them to another building. She moved into position and Grey saw what she meant. They could see the door to the warehouse easily, but no one approaching from any direction other than the hole in the fence would see them.
Now all they had to do was wait, something Grey wasn’t particularly good at. His wolf was stirring inside of him, already trying to push him into acting rashly and potentially getting himself, his pack, and Ellery killed. He ignored his impatient wolf and tried to shut it down. It didn’t work entirely, but he managed to shut it off enough that all he felt was the niggling feeling that he should be acting.
His stomach swam with butterflies. He wasn’t sure if it was being caused by nerves at what was to come, or excitement at the thought of seeing Ellery again.
11
Ellery felt a mixture of profound relief and deep loss as she watched the guards leading Grey away and out of the warehouse, slamming the door behind them. She felt relief knowing that Ariel’s plan had worked and Grey was safe. But she felt the loss of him from beside her like someone had ripped her heart out. There was so much that could go wrong now. She could find herself in a situation where she never saw Grey again. She knew he would come back for her like he had promised to do, but she also knew the risks associated with him even attempting it. What if he was killed trying to get back to her? Her heart hurt at the thought of it.
Lisa and Ava didn’t give her long to dwell on her fears. The second the door slammed shut, they rounded on her, firing questions at her.
“What happened between you two last night?” Ava demanded. “Who is he?”
“Is he coming back? Why did they let him go? Or are they taking him off to be killed?” Lisa asked.
Ellery felt her blood run cold at Lisa’s question. What if that’s what had happened? What if Ariel’s plan had failed and they were taking Grey off to be killed? She felt the color draining from her face and her legs grew shaky. She was seconds from her knees buckling, and she threw herself heavily to the ground, landing on her ass. Ava and Lisa exchanged a glance, and then they both sat down with Ellery.
“Ellery?” Lisa said, her voice gentle now. “Tell us what happened.”
Ellery tried to push aside the thought of Grey being killed. She had to believe he was okay. It was the only way she stood a chance of getting through the rest of the day with her sanity intact.
“His name is Grey,” Ellery began. “He’s a shifter too, but he’s not like Alex and his pack. He’s… he cares about humans. He tries to protect us from people like Alex and Kiefer. He came here looking to take down Alex and he got caught and that’s how he ended up locked up in here with us. His beta came last night after you two fell asleep. They came up with a plan to free us all.”
Ellery paused when she saw Ava grinning. What could possibly be funny right now?
“What?” she demanded.
“Sorry,” Ava said. “I was just thinking that Grey’s beta probably wasn’t the only one who came last night.”
Ellery felt herself blushing deeply and Ava laughed again.
“Don’t sweat it. He’s cute. And we have to take whatever pleasures we can get in here, right?”
“Right,” Ellery said. “But here’s the thing. It wasn’t like I thought he was cute so we had sex. It was… I don’t know. It sounds stupid, but it was like love at first sight. Every instinct told me Grey was the one.”
“It’s not like you have many options in here. I get that,” Ava said.
“Stop it,” Lisa said, nudging Ava. “Ellery’s a grown woman. She knows how she feels. And let’s hope lover boy feels the same way about her and is planning on coming back for us.”
“He is,” Ellery said quickly, glad to be able to turn the conversation back to something other than her feelings for Grey. “Grey’s pack planned to find Kiefer and use him as a bargaining chip. Kiefer for Grey. The fact that Grey was taken out of here and not harmed at all makes me think they pulled that off. I don’t know the rest of the plan, but I know they’re coming back for us. And with a whole wolf pack on our side, we surely stand a chance of this working.”
“Yeah. And it’s our only chance. So let’s hope it all works out,” Ava said.
She left the rest unsaid, but Ellery knew what she was hinting at. If Grey’s pack was beaten, then the three women would pay the price for it.
Ellery was debating whether or not to tell Lisa and Ava about Grey turning her last night when the door to the warehouse opened. She felt her stomach fluttering in anticipation. It was Grey. He had come back for her. Except as the man who had entered came closer, her heart sank. It wasn’t Grey. It was a man she didn’t know. He was flanked by two more men. Guards, no doubt.
“Fuck. That’s Alex,” Lisa hissed.
“Indeed it is, although I prefer my introductions not to begin with a curse word,” Alex smiled.
Ellery looked at Alex. He didn’t look evil, but then she hadn’t exactly expected him to come in with a neon sign announcing his evil intentions to them. He was tall, maybe a bit shorter than Grey, Ellery thought. He was muscular, hard-looking. He wore his fair hair shaved almost to the scalp, giving him the impression of being bald at first glance. He had piercing blue eyes that made Ellery feel like he was seeing into her very soul when he looked at her. She wondered if, in a different scenario, she would have found Alex attractive. He wasn’t really her type—she usually went for dark-haired men—but she could objectively agree that Alex was a good-looking man. It made her wonder why he had to abduct women. Surely a guy like him had women lining up to be with him. He must get off on it, Ellery decided. He liked the thrill of taking women against their will. Bastard.
Alex turned his attention to Ellery and she felt herself shriveling inside underneath his intense appraisal of her. She shuffled back a little and Alex smiled.
“You must be Ellery,” he said. His smile widened. “I would tell you not to be afraid, but that would be stupid, wouldn’t it? Because you should be afraid. If you disrespect me in any way… well, I don’t think I need to spell it out for you, do I?”
Ellery shook her head. Alex’s guards laughed like this was the funniest statement they’d ever heard. Ellery had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at their ass-kissing.
“Assuming you know how to behave and you’re not planning on making any trouble, you have nothing to fear from me,” Alex went on. “In fact, you should be happy. Because today is the day one of you lovely ladies gets the honor of becoming my newest mate.”
Some honor, Ellery thought to herself. Getting to be an unwilling sex slave
didn’t exactly feel like something to be happy about.
“You’ll all be pleased to know that I’ve already made my decision, so there will be no tryouts today,” Alex said, laughing at his own joke. The two guards laughed with him. Big surprise. “Ellery, my dear, the honor shall be yours.”
Ellery had expected the news, but that didn’t make her feel any better about hearing it out loud. There had still been a part of her that was hoping she wouldn’t be chosen. She had hoped Grey could rescue her before it came to this, but it was clear to her now that it had all happened too soon for that and she was on her own. It was going to fall to her to save herself. She couldn’t think of what to do to make that happen, but she could think of the one thing that would stop her from being forced to be Alex’s mate. It would likely end in her being killed, and that pained her, knowing she would never get to say goodbye to Grey, but it still seemed like a better option than having anything to do with Alex.
“Come on now, on your feet. One thing you’ll learn very quickly is that I don’t like to be kept waiting,” Alex said.
Ellery pushed herself to her feet. She glanced down at Lisa and Ava, who both gave her sympathetic looks. She didn’t need their sympathy. This wasn’t to be her fate. She stood tall, pulling herself to her full height, and she smiled at Alex.
“You made a good choice,” Ellery said, still smiling, playing it like she thought Alex would appreciate this news. “Because by choosing me, you’ve saved yourself a job.”
“What?” Alex demanded, his confident smile starting to slip.
Ellery nodded her head quickly like she was eager to please Alex.
“You saved yourself a job,” she repeated. She paused, wanting her announcement to have the maximum impact. “See, you don’t need to waste your time on turning me. I’m already a wolf shifter.”