by B M Griffin
“You don’t disappoint, Jared,” Kevin said. “I heard you were smothering Megan here, making it difficult for my pack to get to her because you never let her far out of your sight. Demetri had said you’d become a watch dog and I see he was right.”
Megan lurched forward and snapped out a growl; all of her teeth on display, a clear sign of challenging Kevin. Jared quickly cut her off before she took things too far and decided to attack Kevin and get herself hurt, or worse. She was stronger as a werewolf than she’d been as a human without a doubt, but Jared had seen how difficult it had been for Shayla and Adam to take the demon that Kevin had become down once before. If the two of them struggled to defeat the guy, then Jared wasn’t sure there was anyone else on the planet who had a chance against him, especially not alone. He damn sure wasn’t about to stand by while Megan tried to find out if she was able to take Kevin down.
“Jared,” Megan’s voice filled his mind and her tone was a clear warning. She was not happy that he kept jumping in front of her.
“I’m not going to just stand here and let him go after you,” he responded with his thoughts. “He wants you. He saw what you can do and now he’s thirsty for your power, can’t you see that?”
“Oh, I see you’re having a lovers quarrel,” Kevin said, putting a halt to their back and forth. “And as much as I hate to interrupt, I really must. Time is valuable, so I’m just going to cut to the chase. You killed four of my pack members, and I see you’ve turned several of my old pack against me. That’s fine, but I’m going to need reparations. Turn over the newlywed couple, and,” Kevin pointed a clawed finger at Megan, “and your new mate and I’ll put a stop to the extermination of your pack.”
“Not going to happen,” Jared snarled.
“You’re not going near Shayla and Adam,” Megan barked.
Jared’s question about whether or not this demon Kevin had become was still able to hear other wolves’ thoughts was answered when he turned his eyes to Megan’s and a creepy smile slowly spread across his face. “Well, I might be willing to make a trade. You come with me, and then I get to kill a couple of the wolves who betrayed me and joined your mate here, and I’ll leave Shayla and Adam alone.”
Before Jared had the chance to protest again Megan beat him to it. “How stupid do you think I am? I know what you tried to do to Shayla when you made a similar deal with her a couple of months ago. Besides, there is no deal I will ever make with you, especially not one that includes giving up any of my pack for you to kill.” Jared noticed Megan’s eyes trail off to the right of Kevin, but he didn’t look himself because he didn’t want Kevin to notice Shayla and Adam heading his way. Megan quickly drew her eyes back to Kevin. “Now, it’s time for you to go back to the grave you crawled out of.”
Shayla and Adam split up so they were running up on Kevin from each side, and when they were only a few feet away from him they both leapt, letting their flames erupt from within them as they lunged for Kevin. Just before they would have made an impact with Kevin’s scaly, black skin, he held up his hands and they were both stopped midair. It was like they were trapped inside an invisible bubble, neither falling back to the ground or able to move forward or back. Kevin turned his head to the left then the right and smiled.
Jared blinked, hoping he was not seeing what was happening right in front of him clearly, when Shayla and Adam’s flames both seemed to be pulled away from their bodies, being suctioned away toward Kevin. The next thing he knew, Megan was no longer beside him. In a flash, her naked human form appeared midair with her arms wrapped around Shayla, and then they both disappeared. Jared had no idea where they went, but before he had a chance to issue an order to the pack to take Kevin down, Megan was back, and this time she moved to wrap her arms around Adam.
Kevin moved so fast; Megan didn’t have time to make contact with Adam. Kevin went from the size of a human male to something more akin to a giant troll, and with his arm outstretched he easily snatched Adam out from under Megan. He moved so fast Jared barely made out what he was doing, and then he turned into a mass of swirling black, like oil caught in a tornado’s funnel. The ground beneath him opened up, and the tornado that had been Kevin was sucked beneath the surface of the ground and then it closed back up as if nothing had happened, and Adam was gone with him.
When Jared looked around he realized all of the wolves who had been there, fighting on Kevin’s behalf, were running away from the property, abandoning the fight. Megan popped backed down to the ground beside Jared and fell to her knees, digging her fingers into the ground and screaming Adam’s name. Jared bent down and lifted her into his arms, then he carried her into the house where he imagined she had taken Shayla earlier. He had no idea what shape Shayla was in after Megan got her away from Kevin, but he knew exactly how broken she was going to be when she found out Kevin had taken Adam. Telling her that he’d failed as an Alpha, failed to save his beta and Shayla’s husband, hell his best friend, was going to be one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do in his life.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Megan
Why had she not moved faster? Tried to get to them faster? If she had been a mere few seconds quicker, she could have saved both of them, instead, she had to work up the nerve to explain to her best friend how she had allowed Kevin to kidnap Adam. For once Megan allowed Jared to hold her safely in his arms while he carried her inside the house, and she wrapped her arms around his chest as tight as she could and buried her face in his warm chest. She had never needed the comfort his presence gave her more than she did in that very moment. Although she would probably need him more after she told Shayla that Adam was gone because she could not imagine Shayla would be able to forgive her for not being fast enough to save Adam. She considered how she would feel if the roles were reversed, if Shayla had saved her but allowed Jared to be taken, and just the thought had her stomach rolling so badly she nearly got sick.
Jared carried her up the stairs and headed straight for his bedroom, and as much as she would have loved to hide away with him in his bedroom and sulk in her guilt and grief, Megan knew that wasn’t what she needed to do right then. Shayla deserved to hear what happened from her and she needed to tell her before anyone else had the chance to mention Adam’s abduction and make matters even worse. She pushed against Jared’s chest and he immediately got her point and bent to allow her to get her feet back on the ground.
“Do you have something around here I can wear?” she asked.
“I could grab you one of my t-shirts. I think it’d be long enough to cover most of you. I doubt you’d be able to keep a pair of my shorts up though.”
Megan agreed. “I think you’re right about that. Everyone already saw me naked, but I’d rather not make it the norm for them to see me walking around the house completely nude, and I have to go talk to Shayla before she hears about Adam from someone else.”
Jared cupped her cheek and dropped his forehead to hers. “I can tell her. It doesn’t have to be you, Megs.”
Tears stung her eyes and she rubbed them away harshly. “No, I have to. It’s my fault Kevin got away with him. I wasn’t fast enough.”
Lifting his head, Jared took her head in his hands and locked his eyes on hers. “Nothing that happened is your fault, Megan. None of it. It’s Kevin, he is the only one to blame here. If you hadn’t figured out what you could do so quickly then he would have gotten away with both Shayla and Adam. Without you there, none of us would have had a chance to get to either of them. You made a difference. Don’t forget that.”
Megan sniffed as she tried to reign in her tears and he pressed his lips to her forehead, letting them linger for a few seconds before he pulled back and walked over to the dresser. When he made his way back to Megan, he didn’t hand her the shirt. Instead, he held it over her head and paused, giving her a moment to lift her arms and put them into the sleeves before he pulled it down her body. He’d been right about its fit on her with the shirt hanging long enough down her body to cover
her assets, coming to a stop just a couple inches above her knees. She ran her hands down the shirts straightening it unnecessarily. Realizing her own procrastination, Megan took a deep breath and walked over to the door with Jared right on her heels. She quickly turned around to face him and put her hand on his chest stopping him in place.
“You should check on the rest of the pack. I know we have people who were injured in the fight and you should be there for them. I will take care of Shayla, even if you’re right and I’m not to blame for Adam, she’s still my best friend and I need to be there for her. I would want her to do the same for me if it had been you who’d been taken.”
Jared placed his hand over the one she had rested upon his chest and gave her hand a slight squeeze. “Okay, but if you need me, I’ll be right there.”
She leaned up on her toes and kissed him chastely. “Thank you.”
****
Megan was quiet when she entered the room where she’d left Shayla earlier. Shayla had been pretty out of it when Megan brought her to the room and she’d laid her friend on her bed before going back to get Adam … to try and fail to get Adam. She didn’t want to wake Shayla if she was still out, but she needed to make sure she was there whenever Shayla woke so she would be the first one to have a chance to talk about what had transpired. When she took a seat on the bed next to her sleeping friend Megan couldn’t hold back her tears because she knew how badly this was going to hurt Shayla. Losing someone you love is a horrible pain, but to lose your mate as a werewolf. Now that Megan could feel that bond between her and Jared, she couldn’t imagine anything more painful than having your mate ripped away from you.
It wasn’t long before Shayla began to stretch on the bed and soon, she was prying her eyelids open. She blinked a few times before her eyes landed on Megan. “Hey,” she croaked out before pulling herself to sit up in the bed. She looked around the room then back to Megan. “Where’s Adam?”
Megan had to swallow around the massive lump that had formed in her throat. Telling Shayla that Adam was gone took more strength than anything she’d ever done in her lifetime, and there was no good or easy way to tell her, so Megan just said it plain and clear.
“I wasn’t able to get to Adam in time. Once I saved you, Kevin figured out what I was doing, and right before I got Adam out of whatever force field Kevin had y’all held in, Kevin pulled him away. Then he disappeared with Adam, into the earth.”
Shayla’s eyes were wide, shock the first emotion that had clearly hit her. “What does that mean? That he took him into the earth?”
“It’s hard to explain, but it was like the ground opened up beneath them and they were sucked down below, and then it closed back up again as if nothing had happened. The rest of his pack ran off after that.”
Shayla’s eyes were shiny and Megan could tell that they were filling with tears which would surely break the surface and stain Shayla’s face after the shock of what Megan had told her wore off and it sunk in that Adam was gone, and they had no idea how to get to him or if there was even any possibility that they could get to him. “So,” Shayla spoke in a low whisper, “do you think he took him, too,” she cleared her throat, “to Hell?”
“I’m not sure. I wish that there was more I could tell you but given that Kevin told you before he sold his soul, and the fact he looks like something straight out of the darkest depths of Hell, I believe it is possible.”
Shayla covered her mouth with both hands as tears began to flow. Shayla’s shoulders shook with the strength of her sobs and Megan felt a new scar tear through her soul while she watched her best friend completely break down beside her. She was unable to offer any kind of comfort or reassurance that they would save Adam because the truth was that nobody knew where Kevin had taken him or how to get to him. All she could do was wrap her arms around Shayla and hold her close while she let out all of her pain.
Megan wasn’t sure how much time passed while she held her best friend, but it was only when the door to the bedroom was opened and Jared walked in that Shayla pulled away from her. When she turned and saw Jared stepping into the room, Shayla rubbed the tears away from her cheeks with the heels of her hands. “Do you know anything yet?” she asked.
Megan saw the anguish and guilt in his eyes when he should his head. “Nothing yet. I’ve sent out several people to look for Kevin’s new pack members. Hopefully, we can find them and they will lead us to Kevin and Adam.”
Shayla jumped off the bed. “I can’t wait. I need to find him. He wouldn’t just sit here and wait if it was me who’d been taken.”
Jared gripped Shayla’s arms and looked her in the eyes, and his guilt was written all over his face. Megan understood that feeling all too well. It was one she’d experienced on numerous occasions throughout her life when her loved ones were lost while she was kept at a safe distance, hidden from all the ugly. She felt it stronger than ever now. When she lost her mother and grandmother she’d been young, and even though she would never get over the fact that her mother died protecting her from her father’s abuse, and that she had no power to stop the cancer that stole her grandmother, this time was worse. This time she wasn’t powerless and she wasn’t a child. She was a werewolf with great strength, and an ability, unlike anything she had expected, yet she was still unable to save her friend, her pack-mate, her best friend’s mate and husband. She’d been just as useless in saving Adam as she had been when her mother and grandmother needed someone to save them.
“I’m going to find him, now,” Shayla demanded.
“It’s better to wait until we have more to go on,” Jared tried to convince her, “For all, we know they are somewhere below ground, and there isn’t any way for any of us to get to him if that’s the case. We need to find a way to get to Adam and maybe draw Kevin out with him.”
A light bulb lit up in Megan’s mind and she was slightly ashamed the idea hadn’t occurred to her sooner. She just hoped that she hadn’t waited too long to think up this new plan. Megan got up and took a stand beside Shayla and she took her best friend’s hand in hers and waited for Shayla to look at her. “I think I can get to him,” she said to Shayla.
“Megan,” Shayla said with a sigh, “I know this isn’t your fault. You can’t just dig your way through the earth down into Hell. Even if that is where Kevin took him. If you want to help me look for Kevin’s pack, maybe we can lure him out. He wants me more than he wants Adam.”
Megan shook her head vigorously. “No, we aren’t using you as bait, and we don’t have to. I can find them. Bring Adam back to you. At least, I’m pretty sure I can.”
Jared’s voice broke through their conversation. Megan had intentionally aimed her words at Shayla because she already knew what Jared would think of her plan. “If you think you’re just going to pop yourself underground and face that demonic bastard alone you have lost your mind.”
Megan turned and narrowed her eyes on Jared. “I have to try,” she said through gritted teeth.
“You cannot put yourself in harm’s way for something we have no idea will work or not. It’s not like you even know your way around underground. You could get hurt just trying to travel down there or worse. We will find another way.”
“I can’t sit by and do nothing when I know that I could help,” she argued. “I let Kevin take him. I’ve got to make that right.”
Shayla grabbed her shoulder and turned her. “You didn’t do this, Megan. You don’t have to put yourself at risk to find Adam. I don’t want to lose you, either.”
“I can do this, Shayla. I know that I can. When you got your abilities, you told me you could sense them; that using them was like second nature. Remember?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I can feel that too, and I know I can follow them underground, and when I find Adam, I will be able to bring him back to you.”
“Shayla, you can’t let her do this,” Jared protested. “We can’t.”
Shayla glanced at him but only for a moment before she returne
d her gaze to Megan’s. Megan pleaded with her eyes, and she reached out with her mind hoping that Shayla’s ability to hear the minds of everyone would allow her to communicate with her friend without Jared butting in. “Shayla, I swear to you I can do this. Please, let me help get Adam back.”
Several seconds of silence filled the room and Megan was beginning to think that Shayla hadn’t heard her when she finally heard Shayla’s voice in her mind. “I believe in you, Megan, and if you know you can do this then I support you. Just know that I’m coming with you. No way am I letting you tackle this alone.”
“Okay,” Megan replied with her thoughts.
“And Megan,” Shayla’s voice filled her head once more, “this doesn’t mean I believe you’re responsible for Adam being taken. It is not your fault.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jared
It took Jared a minute to realize that Megan and Shayla were having a private, telepathic conversation right in front of him and he had to bite his tongue to keep from barking out an order for them to speak out loud. No way would that go over in his benefit with either one of them. Instead, he clenched his fists and hoped that Shayla cared about Megan enough not to allow her to put herself in such danger on the chance she might be able to find Adam, although Jared really didn’t think she could. There had to be limitations to a gift like the one Megan had discovered she had, something that prevented her from traveling somewhere she couldn’t see and had never been.
When Megan and Shayla finally turned back to him, they both had a look of determination in their eyes that he was not thrilled to see. There was only one reason for them to look at him that way.