by Rosko, Mandy
Angry, in charge, ready to take command, or blindingly furious, sure, but never…this.
After some thought, Garret gestured to Dane to release Derek’s head.
Dane did, and only then did Derek realize how much the circulation around his head was being cut off. He felt it rushing back the instant Dane released him, and then he wavered against the wall.
Maybe the alphas around him wouldn’t think he was leaning against the concrete so he wouldn’t fall over.
He doubted he was pulling that one off.
“I’m sorry, alpha,” Joey said.
Derek didn’t like how small he sounded. The only times Derek ever heard another shifter sound like that in front of his father had been when someone did something massively stupid.
One guy shifted on a full moon, of all nights, and tried to take command of the pack, just to learn how strong Derek’s father really was.
Another had left the pack, pissed off with all the rules, wanting to start something of his own, but then came rushing back two months later when he got tired of living outside, starving and being cold because he didn’t know how to care for himself, much less anyone else.
Garret pointed a finger right in Joey’s face. “If that cocksucker doesn’t bring my sister back, you’re going to have to drag his ass out of here, because he won’t be walking, you understand me?”
Joey nodded.
If Derek had hackles, they would have gone right up. “Waid a binute.” Fuck, his nose was clogged with blood. “You’re going to kick hib out?”
Garret turned those blazing red eyes back onto Derek, and much as he wanted to rise to that challenge, he couldn’t do it.
Those eyes were enough to make even Derek’s stubborn nature fall silent.
Garret turned and walked out. Dane and Jax looked at each other before deciding to follow.
Derek watched them go, and only when they were gone did it feel as though he could breathe again.
“What the fuck was that?”
Joey shook his head. “Will your dad really bring her back?”
“Of course he bill!” God dammit, the sooner his healing kicked in and his nose unclogged, the better. “He’s not a bonster.”
Derek didn’t care what Garret said about him. It couldn’t be true. He wasn’t going to believe it. His dad would have told him if there was something like that going on in their family.
Joey looked at him as though he pitied him, and Derek didn’t like that.
Derek pressed two fingers to his nose, inhaled a deep breath, and then popped the cartilage back into place. He exhaled a long breath when it was done. Joey winced.
“I…I’ll keep you safe for as long as I can, but your father isn’t exactly known for being honorable.”
Derek glared at the man.
“Will he come for you?”
“He will, but I don’t need him to.” He could speak clearly again, but Derek still snorted some of the blood from his nose in order to do it.
Joey flinched again at the gross sight.
Derek didn’t care. He wasn’t trying to impress the guy.
“I mean… I don’t know how much longer I can keep Garret from killing you. I think he meant it when he said he would make me drag you out of here, so at least that’s something, but I don’t want him hurting you either.”
“So don’t watch him when he does it. It won’t be that difficult for you.” He was the one who was going to suffer when that alpha put his hands around Derek’s throat again.
Joey glared at him. “You are such an asshole. I’m trying to help you.”
“Don’t. You’re just getting in the way, and the alphas clearly don’t want you around here.”
Joey looked at him, and as Derek watched him back, it was like watching a kettle slowly starting to boil over.
A slow process, but then Joey’s face turned red, and there was damn near steam coming out from the top of his head.
The guy turned and hobbled out of there, slamming the door shut behind him.
Derek leaned back against the wall, pushing his hand through his hair, trying to breathe through the pain in his chest.
He was definitely going to die down here.
Derek grabbed at the chain currently shackled to his ankle. He pulled on it, testing it one more time if only to confirm that the chain was sound.
Stupid silver plating.
Derek yanked hard on the chain, slammed it onto the floor, then kicked the concrete wall.
He roared. He was so fucking pissed. And then he roared again when the flash of hot pain shot up his leg. Strangely, he felt it in his toes after the fact. Which made him want to kick and rage, punch and scratch at anything he could. Even if it was just the wall and he busted his knuckles doing it.
At this point, Derek would welcome that dumb son of a bitch back down here for another round. Maybe he could convince the fucker to take the chain off him for a real fight.
Cowardly fuck.
Derek wrapped the chain around his arm and pulled. It was bolted right into the floor, but how far down could those bolts go?
If they were just long screws, maybe he had a chance.
He only needed to make it wiggle a little, enough that if he pulled, yanked, kicked, and hell, even dug around the bolts with his claw, maybe he could loosen the concrete enough to get out.
Concrete was just sand, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like it was solid rock.
Derek got down to his knees, letting his claws out.
It was a struggle with the stupid silver, but he started scratching around the metal bolts, seeing if he could scrape anything away.
To his shock, he was able to do it, and quickly, too.
Well, not really quick, but he brought away a whole lot of concrete dust with each swipe of his claw. He also took away a good bit of his claws doing it. He was going to need all ten fingers for this. He hoped that would be enough.
Derek set to work.
He might not die down here, after all.
12
Dennis needed a phone. He needed one right now.
He barely managed to stop the truck when Anna told him to. He didn't want to stop. Even now, he paced on the side of the road, hating this whole thing.
At least when he was driving, it felt as though he'd had a destination in mind, as though he was getting closer to his goal.
Pretending to have engine trouble to get anyone to stop for them, while they were being actively chased down by his former second in command and a few of the idiots in his old pack, was not something he wanted to do.
"This will work," Anna promised.
Dennis grunted a reply; he didn't otherwise respond.
Anything could be happening to Derek. That kid didn't always know when to keep his mouth shut and if he pissed off Garret while there was no one there to protect him...
No. Even Garret wouldn't risk harming Derek. Not while Anna was with Dennis.
He hated Garret, but the man had some sense of honor. Whether he was going to apply that consistently while he had Dennis' son in his grasp was another matter entirely.
Dennis blew out a hard breath, putting his hands behind his neck while listening for the sounds of any vehicles coming his way. He looked up the dark road and saw no one there. He heard no one coming either. No engines. No paws. Either on the road or through the trees on either side.
Dennis shook his head. "No. Get in the truck. This isn't working."
"Just two more minutes."
"We can be back at your brother's house before anyone comes down this way."
"That will take at least an hour. We've only been pulled over for three minutes."
"That's three minutes your brother can do anything to Derek. I won't risk it. Get in the truck."
"Dennis, please, I'm telling you, someone will come by. If we wait an hour before Garret sees me—"
"I will pick you up and put you in that truck if I have to."
He meant it.
Anna's eyes wi
dened. She stepped back from him, but he wasn't about to take the words back.
He loved her, but he loved his boy, too, and if he had to choose between Anna hating him for Derek to live, or at least come out of this unscratched, the choice was clear.
Anna steeled herself, her small hands clenching into fists as she glared up at him, slender body trembling. "Fine! But don't you think for one second that this will—" She stopped short, blinking those wide eyes of hers before leaning to the side and looking behind him.
He didn't need to know what had taken her attention. He heard it. Dennis turned around, and before he spotted the lights of the vehicle coming their way, he heard the engine.
Anna suddenly grabbed at Dennis' shirt, pulling at him. "Hide!"
He narrowed his eyes, still not understanding why he had to hide, but even as he went around to the other side of the truck to get out of sight, he supposed there were parts of it that made sense he couldn't ignore.
He didn't like it that Anna got into the road and waved her arms, that she could be run over if it was some drunk behind the wheel or something, but the smooth stop the little Toyota came to suggest the person behind the wheel was perfectly sober.
Anna went to the driver's side window, and again, Dennis growled, hating that she was the one who had to take this risk. A perverted kidnapper could be in there. It was definitely someone male by the smell Dennis was picking up.
Anna asked for their phone to call for a tow truck. The guy behind the wheel offered to have a look.
Dennis growled again.
No, asshole, fuck off.
He didn't need some puny human offering to white knight for his mate. They just needed the phone so Anna could make the call, and that was it.
"Oh, just the phone. I promise the call will be quick and I'll let you get on your way."
The guy actually got out of the car. "Well, let me have a look for you. It costs a lot to get a tow all the way out here."
"Oh, uh, that's really not necessary. I just need to make a quick call."
"Are you sure? It's dangerous to be out here all alone at night. Do you have someone waiting for you back home?"
"Yeah, she does."
Dennis stepped out from where he'd been hiding behind the truck, and he got the proof he needed that it was a better idea to get the young, pretty blonde to wave a car to stop when the guy took one look at Dennis and froze. If Dennis tried to wave this guy to a stop on a dark highway, covered in blood and looking at he did, he might get run over.
Dennis let his claws out, and when he opened his mouth, he didn't bother hiding the fangs that formed in his mouth.
The other man's eyes widened. He looked at Anna, and what he no doubt thought was a monster.
Anna quickly stepped between the guy and his car before he could make a run for it.
"I really need to borrow your phone."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Better do as she says, friend." Dennis didn't step into his personal space. He didn't need to when the threat of his mere presence, and his claws, was terror enough for this guy.
He quickly dug into his pocket, producing the phone and handing it over to Anna, though he barely took his eyes away from Dennis.
The white knight had vanished, and in his place was the scared rabbit he really was.
Dennis was sorely tempted to start chasing the man down just to see how badly he ran. Dennis might let him think he could get away. That tended to be part of the fun.
If only he had the time.
Anna held out her hand, then snatched the phone from her knight's palm when he couldn't stop looking at Dennis. The poor bastard looked almost as though he was about to piss himself. The slight tremble of his thighs was enough to give Dennis that hint.
She dialed her brother's number before putting the phone to her ear. Dennis could hear the ringing.
White Knight put his hands up. "Uh, look man, I wasn't trying to—"
"Shut up."
Dennis didn't want to hear it, and he didn't want this guy rambling when he was trying to listen to what was happening on the other side of that phone.
Garret had better pick up the phone, or else Dennis was going to rip someone in half, and there was only one person in front of him now who was irritating the hell out of him.
Garret did, eventually, pick up the phone. Dennis breathed a heavy sigh, his claws and teeth sinking back to something more normal when he heard the bastard's voice.
Dennis never thought there would be a time when he was relieved to hear it.
"What do you want?"
Anna smiled. "Garret, it's me."
Her brother's voice sounded so... defeated.
Dennis never in the decades he'd known the other wolf thought he would hear the man sound like that. All he had to do was terrify the guy by kidnapping his sister.
"Where are you? Anna, are you safe? Did he hurt you?"
Anna shook her head. She turned away from their guest, one hand behind her neck as she focused on the call. "No, Garret, he didn't hurt me, but something happened. We're going to be late. Unless you can come and get us?" She glanced apologetically at Dennis. He looked back at her, wondering what the fuck she thought she was doing.
Dennis clenched his hands to fists.
No. She was right. If they could get that idiot over here to get them, it would make things so much safer for Anna.
She needed to get home, and Dennis wanted to make the trade.
Garret suddenly sounded so much more alert, and as angry as Dennis ever heard him. "What happened? What did he do to you?"
"Nothing! Look, I lost my phone, and we might have to take the long way around to get home. Laurence defected. He's not listening to Dennis anymore."
"What?"
"Dennis' pack." Anna looked at him one more time before she turned her back, as though that would somehow stop him from hearing what she said. "His pack won't listen to him anymore. He's not their alpha anymore."
Hearing that grated on him, not because she'd said it. It was the truth, and he was protecting her from his old pack. But Dennis knew the pleasure that Garret would get out of hearing those words. He didn't want the other man to have anything on him. Not his son, not Anna, and not this.
Shockingly, Dennis didn't hear any gloating in Garret's voice. "Where are you now?"
Anna told him which highway they were on. Garret cursed.
"Laurence is blocking the road home. We don't know if anyone else is watching the other roads."
"Don't you worry, sweetie, I'm coming to get you. You hear me? I'll get you out of this."
Dennis clenched his teeth.
This was Anna's brother. Of course he would be possessive over her. Of course he would want to keep her safe, and he would talk to her like that.
She was roughly eighty years younger than Garret was. She wasn't just his little sister, but even a twenty-something was young by the standards of...
Well, of Dennis' age.
Whatever. Dennis wasn't going to put Anna in any more danger than he already had because he wanted to be the one to save the day. Fuck that. He was going to get her home, even if he had to grovel at Garret's stupid feet in order to do it.
Anna continued to insist that she was all right, that no one had harmed her and she was perfectly safe for another minute or two while Dennis watched the darkness of the trees around him. The wind swayed through the branches. The only sounds were natural. Wind and leaves and branches moving with the breeze.
But something wasn't right.
Dennis wasn't even picking up a smell, but depending on which direction they were coming from, the wind could be giving him some problems with that.
"You want to talk to Dennis?"
Dennis snapped his attention back to Anna. She looked over at him, her expression one of reluctance.
"I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Do it, Anna. I can't strangle him through the phone, and he's a big boy. He can handle what I'
m about to say to him."
Anna sighed. She looked back at Dennis again, as though she wanted to say no, but Dennis wouldn't let her. He went to her. Man Bun jumped out of the way as Dennis gently took the phone from her.
"He's right. I can stand to hear what he has to say."
Anna pressed her lips together, then nodded, releasing the phone to him.
Dennis turned his attention back to Man Bun. "You're done here; you can go."
The guy's shoulders bunched up. "Hey, wait a minute, you've got my phone!"
Dennis made sure the idiot could see the pointed end of his very sharp and very dangerous claw on his middle finger when he flipped it to the guy.
Anna was more tactful about it. "You should go. We'll replace your phone soon, or drop it off somewhere public. We promise we're not robbing you."
That was exactly what they were doing, but Dennis didn't care about pointing that out to the guy. When he turned and quickly rushed back to his car, Dennis only cared when he drove off.
"Anna, get in the truck. Start the engine."
She looked at him, thankfully picking up on the hint, and did as she was told.
Dennis kept his eyes on the darkness within the trees, searching for whatever, or whoever, was watching them as he casually leaned against the driver's side door.
He put the phone to his ear, trying not to look too obvious, though he doubted he was succeeding.
"We're being hunted right now, so whatever you want to say to me, make it quick."
Garret said nothing for a few long seconds. "Are you serious about getting her back to me?"
Dennis narrowed his eyes, watching the shadows and dark. Something was definitely moving in there.
"Yes. The pack wants her because they want to finish the deal I promised them."
"Yeah, I bet they want the ransom money, you fucking idiot."
"Careful. Don't forget; I've got your sister."
Garret snorted. "Fuck you. You would have done something already. I was ready to slit that little bitch's throat downstairs a minute ago, but this is better than anything I could have hoped for."
"Shut up."
"I don't care why you're doing this anymore. You're not going to hurt her, and your plan never was to hurt her. You can threaten me all you want, but I'm holding all the cards here, and you know it, don't you?"