by Kayla Wolf
They were bright silver… just like hers.
”You—you’re a wolf,” she gasped, staring at him in shock. “You’re a wolf like me.”
”Not like you,” the man said, a low and ugly chuckle escaping him. “Not a half-breed like you. I’m pure wolf.”
”That cologne reeks,” she spat, narrowing her eyes at him to show him she wasn’t afraid. Maybe if she made him angry, she could distract him enough to make a break for it. There was daylight behind him—they were outside. She was pretty quick—quicker still in her wolf form. She hadn’t shifted in years, but she hadn’t forgotten how to… that particular magic was always at her fingertips. Especially with all the fear and adrenalin coursing through her. “Did you drink a bottle of it or something?”
”She really didn’t teach you a damn thing, did she?” the wolf said, rolling his silver eyes. “Waste of time, covering my scent up. You wouldn’t be able to sniff out a wolf if you tried, I bet.”
She stared at him, not understanding. “What do you mean?”
”You’ve got a lot to learn, little girl. I’ll give you a choice. You can come willingly—or you can wear this.”
She looked down. To her surprise, he was wearing thick black gloves—the kind they used for welding. And in his hands, he was holding a pair of what looked like ornate silver bracelets, gleaming dully in the light from outside. They each had a hinge that made them open and shut. Were they handcuffs? They didn’t look very effective—there was no chain holding them together. “What, jewelry?”
The wolf snorted laughter again. “Jewelry. You really don’t know anything. It’s sad, really. Maybe I should’ve… ah, no matter. Come here.”
He lunged for her, terrifyingly quick—she backed up instinctively, but there was nowhere to go in the van, and she found herself flattened against its wall. In a lightning fast movement, he lashed out with one of the silver bracelets and snapped it shut around her wrist. But in doing so, he left her route of escape wide open. With a shout of triumph, she bolted for the door to the van. She could see freedom—a suburban street, the sunlight through the trees, houses... she opened her mouth to start screaming, fully intending to raise as much hell as she could. But something was wrong. The bracelet… it felt so heavy. And so did her legs. She was fighting as hard as she could to run, but it was as though her body was made of lead. As she reached the doors to the van, she fell hard, unable to keep her balance. When she opened her mouth to scream, she could barely summon a whisper.
What was wrong with her? Had he drugged her, somehow? It felt like being drunk—but ten times worse. The man was chuckling again, that ugly, rasping sound that grated on her nerves, but there was nothing she could do about it as she felt his gloved hands grab her and lift her into his arms. Serena tried her best to fight, but she could barely move.
”Silver,” he was saying as he carried her into the house the van was parked outside. “Your dumb bitch mother never told you about silver, huh?”
The bracelet. A thousand movies, TV shows, and old stories came to her in a rush… the silver bullet, the silver knife. The antidote to a werewolf. She wasn’t a werewolf, though—there was no such thing. How had she gone her whole life without realizing what silver could do to her?
She couldn’t fight him. Soon, she found herself in a little bedroom—a pleasant enough suburban room with a desk and a window looking out into the backyard, open a crack to let a pleasant breeze in. The only thing that gave away that something was wrong was the iron locks she’d seen on the outside of the door. She looked hopefully at the window—but as if reading her mind, her captor dropped her unresisting body onto the bed and crossed to drive his gloved fist hard into the window. It didn’t even leave a mark.
”Bulletproof glass, so don’t get any ideas about escaping. You’re my guest for as long as I say you are. Get that straight, and maybe I’ll think about taking that manacle off.”
God, she hated the manacle. She could feel where the silver was touching her wrist as though the metal itself was pumping poison into her body. She wanted it off so badly—she mustered all her strength to pull at it with her other hand, but she didn’t have the strength to open the clasp on it. The wolf stood over her, a look of amused pity on his face. He thought she was helpless. Well, she had to admit, as much as it galled her… he was right.
”No wolf likes using silver,” he said softly. “I want to take that off you as much as you want it gone, okay? So promise you’ll play nice, and I’ll take it off.”
”Fine,” she managed, her voice barely more than a croak. Looking satisfied, the wolf reached down with his gloved hand and removed the manacle. She sighed with relief, sitting up carefully as her strength came creeping back. She still felt awful, like she’d run five miles without a sip of water, but it was miles better than how she’d felt with the silver against her skin.
The man had pulled a chair out and was sitting opposite her, his sharp silver eyes scrutinizing her. He was between her and the door—he gave her a warning look when he saw her glance at it, and she raised her hands, staying where she was. She wasn’t stupid enough to make a break for it. Not right now—not feeling like she felt. It would be a miracle if she even made it down the steps after what the silver had done to her.
”Who are you?” she asked levelly, looking him square in the face. He had power over her, sure—but she wasn’t going to let him know she was afraid of him. It would take a lot more than that to break her spirit. “Why did you take me here?”
”My name’s Cyrus,” the wolf said. “Alpha of a nomad pack that travels the whole continent. Bowing’s customary,” he added, and she wasn’t sure whether he was joking or not. “I’m kind of a big deal.” Her mind was racing. Alpha of a nomad pack… could this be the leader of the pack of wolves who were causing trouble for the dragons on the peninsula? The wolves who’d tried to hurt Lachlan? She felt a surge of anger deep in her stomach, but she tried to suppress it. Her gut told her it was best to play the good little captive, for now.
”Alpha. Okay. And what do you want with me? Are you recruiting, or something?”
He chuckled again, and she tried to suppress the revulsion she felt at that sound. “No. We’re full up at the moment. Too many mouths to feed as it is, though your interest is flattering.” She bit back a harsh retort at that, willing herself to stay calm. But he was looking at her closely, his head tilted to the side. “I thought you might recognize me.”
”What, without the glasses? I did,” she pointed out, but he was shaking his head.
”Not from yesterday. From… ah, I can’t be bothered with these games. I’m your dear old dad, Serena. It’s me.”
She stared at him for a long moment. Was this some kind of sick joke? “No, you’re not.”
”I met your mother twenty-seven years ago in Montana. She had bright green eyes and a long braid like yours. You look just like her. It’s what clued me in. That, and the scent of you. We always recognize our own.” He shrugged. “That’s why I wore so much cologne when I approached you at the grocery store. Didn’t know whether you’d want to talk to me if you recognized who I was right away. But I guess I needn’t have bothered. You don’t know shit about what we are.”
”What we are? You called me a half-breed.”
”You’ve got my eyes. You can shift, right?” She nodded, her jaw tight. “Then you’re wolf enough. God knows there’s nothing to gain by excluding each other. That’d make us no better than dragons. Speaking of, Serena, we better talk about the company you’re keeping. That little brat had the stink of dragon all over her—”
”Don’t you dare speak about Delilah,” she snapped, losing control of her temper for a moment. The more she stared at this man’s face, the more she saw the resemblance. He had her nose, her red hair… and those bright silver eyes. And there was something else. Something down low in her, deep within the instincts she didn’t really understand… the part of her she knew belonged to her wolf, that part recognized him. It kn
ew he was like her. She felt tears spring to her eyes, and a grin spread across his face.
”See? You do recognize me. You see who I am. We’re kin, you and I.”
”You’re no kin of mine,” she hissed. “Where have you been? I’m twenty-six years old. You left us—you never even tried to contact us again—and now you want to play happy family reunion?”
”I don’t, actually.” The wolf shrugged. “It’s kind of just a neat coincidence. We’ve been planning to take a prisoner from those no-good water dragons for weeks now. Tried to take their leader, but he was a bit tougher than we bargained for. He gave me this,” he added, pulling back the sleeve of his shirt to show her a fresh scar on his forearm. The thought of Lachlan’s powerful dragon form delivering an injury to this repulsive man (she couldn’t think of him as her father—not yet) was strangely satisfying.
”A prisoner? Why?” So they were the wolves that the dragons were worried about. God, why hadn’t she brought her phone with her? She should’ve turned back when she realized it was missing… if she could only contact Lachlan, tell her what she was finding out… but surely Cyrus wouldn’t be that stupid. She realized with a sudden rush that the old man had asked her to lend him her phone—they’d been checking whether she was going to be able to call for help from the back of the van. How long had they been planning this?
“They owe us. They owe this pack from years back. They’re responsible for the death of the Alpha before me—and the Alpha before her,” he added, and there was real anger on his face. “It’s time they lost someone too.”
”But I’m not one of them,” she said, confused. “I’m just a nanny.”
”Well, I was hoping to pick you and the little brat up at the same time.” He shrugged. “But I reckon you’ll do for leverage. I’ve been watching the two of you for a while. Quite a cute little family you make—the half-breed dragon, the half-breed wolf, and the dragon who’s clearly indulging some kind of pathetic human fetish—”
”Don’t you say another word about Lachlan,” she spat, losing her cool for a second—and the look of triumph on Cyrus’s face sent a cold shock through her body.
”That’s what I thought. I guess he’s paying you to be more than just a nanny. You’re just like your mother. Men are never going to respect you if you give it away that easily, girlie. That’s some free advice from your old dad.” He sighed. “You know, it’s a pity. If you’d been a boy, I might’ve stayed with your mother. Girls… there’s just no point.”
Her face twisted in disgust. If he was trying to get to her, it was working—but Cyrus was getting to his feet, and she bit back the litany of curses she was about to spit at him.
”Anyway, I’ll be giving your little boyfriend a call this afternoon. I’ll let him know his whore’s with us, see what kind of a ransom he can drum up for us.”
“They’ll kill all of you,” she said, trying to keep her voice under control. “You know that, right? They’re dragons. They’re stronger than you—they’ll find me, they’ll break me out of here, they’ll—“
”Whatever you need to tell yourself, darling,” he said, a hideous smirk on his face. “But think about it. Six of us nearly killed your little boyfriend the other day. There are thirty of my wolves hidden in the trees around this house, desperate for blood. I can’t wait to find out what happens when those dragons come to get you.”
The door slammed shut behind him—Serena stared at it, completely lost. She had so much to think about—so much to process—but one burning thought kept breaking through the chaos in her mind. Whatever else happened, she had to get out of here. She had to warn Lachlan and the others that if they came to rescue her, they’d be walking into a trap.
But how could she warn them when she didn’t even know where she was?
Chapter 15 – Lachlan
He spent the rest of the evening asking around in town but to no avail. A few people remembered having seen a white van, but none of them had any idea where it had gone—and the town, frustratingly, was just big enough to make searching every block an impossible prospect. Besides, garages existed… and any criminal worth his salt would definitely set about making sure the vehicle couldn’t be seen from the road. Lachlan was beginning to panic in earnest as night set in, and he still had no leads at all. He checked his phone, which was nearly dead—Emerson had left a message suggesting they all meet up at his house to come up with a more concrete plan for what they were going to do. As much as he desperately wanted to just keep searching, he knew in his heart that Emerson was right—they needed to come up with a better plan than this.
Besides, he was getting hungry—and he was worn out. Echoes of his own words to Harvey earlier that day came back to him. He’d be no good to Serena—or to anyone—if he wore himself out completely. So as much as it galled him, he gritted his teeth and turned back to the parking lot. On the way back to the peninsula, he shot the guys a text, telling them to meet him at his place. It would be good to see Delilah—to reassure himself that as awful as all of this was, at least the assholes hadn’t taken his daughter as well as his…
Well, she wasn’t his mate, not officially. But she was important to him. The longer he spent without her, worrying about her, the clearer that had become to him. If he ever saw her again—when he saw her again, he corrected himself, tightening his jaw—he was going to tell her how he felt about her. Properly, this time—not trying to hide how serious his feelings were to avoid scaring her away.
It was a long drive back down the peninsula. He put the radio on to try to take his mind off Serena, but it was like trying not to think about a broken leg that you were trying to walk on. Where was she? Was she okay? Were they looking after her, giving her enough food to eat, a safe place to sleep? Was she scared? Was she thinking about him? Did she know he was coming to get her or was she scared that she was completely alone? He just had to find her, that was all, he told himself, trying to put an end to those spiraling thoughts. As soon as he found her, he’d never let anything happen to her again… and he’d put an end to the scum who’d taken her for good measure.
When he got home, the guys were all waiting for him in the living room. Emerson had cooked up a huge stew—he’d always had a knack for knowing exactly what was needed for morale. The guys were sitting around eating, and Emerson wordlessly pressed a bowl of stew into his hands and invited him to sit down. It felt good to have his friends around him—he hadn’t realized how alone he’d felt, wandering through town, desperately trying to find a clue to Serena’s whereabouts.
”Where’s Delilah?”
”She’s tucked up in bed,” Emerson said gently, clapping him on the shoulder. “I stayed with her all afternoon, did some drawing, kept her calm.”
”Thanks, Em,” Lachlan said gratefully, scrubbing his tired eyes with the heel of his hand. “The last thing I want is for all of this to upset her.”
”She misses Serena, though,” Harvey pointed out worriedly. “She was looking for her. Half the drawings she did were of her.”
But before they could talk any more, Lachlan felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Frowning, he pulled it out—who was calling him? All his friends were here. It was an unknown number. He raised the phone to his ear and heard an unfamiliar voice rasping on the other end of the line.
”Hello, Lachlan. Missing your nanny?”
His heart froze. “Who is this?”
”An old friend. She’s safe and sound, for now, and you can keep her that way if the price is right.”
He could feel his pulse screaming in his ears, but he forced himself to remain calm. He knew how important it was that he handle this call properly—no room for panic, no room for fear. The guys were all staring at him, silent and watchful—they knew who was on the other end of the phone.
”What do you want?”
There was an ugly laugh on the other end of the phone. “How do you repay a pack for the death of an Alpha, I wonder? Fifty thousand is a good start. Bring it to the park
ing lot of the grocery store tomorrow at noon. Then we’ll talk about getting the nanny back to you. Oh, and it goes without saying that if you get in touch with the human police, she’s dead.”
”I want proof that she’s safe,” Lachlan said. There was a laugh on the end of the phone—then he growled in frustration as he heard the click of the phone disconnecting. He looked up at the worried faces watching him. “It’s what we were worried about. The wolf pack in the area. They must have been watching us—that’s why we kept finding their campsites. They saw Serena, figured out she was—close to my family—and took her when they got the chance.” He took a shaky breath, trying to keep calm. “He said if we got the police involved, he’d kill her.”
”Police’ll do more harm than good with something like this. No shifters on the local force—nobody we can trust,” Daniel said. He was such a people person—he knew everyone in town, and if he said the cops weren’t to be trusted, then Lachlan trusted him.
”No cops,” Lachlan said, reaffirming his instinct from earlier. “We’ll settle this ourselves.”
”Did they give you a ransom demand?” That was Bryce. Always cool in a crisis. Lachlan envied that level-headedness, tried to draw strength from it. He was doing his best, but the panic was threatening to take over.
”Fifty thousand,” he said, his mind racing. “I think we can do it. They want it by tomorrow at midday, so it’ll be tight, but if we take out another loan—”
”Lachlan, you can’t negotiate with these people. Even if we had that kind of money to spare—which we don’t, by the way—there’s no guarantee that giving it to them will keep Serena safe.” That was Harvey, his eyes full of determination. “We have to figure out where they’re keeping her and go and break her out ourselves.”
”How? The only lead we have is the van, and that’d be gone by now. They’ll have hidden it, parked it in a garage or something… wherever she is, there’s no way of finding her.”