A Wolf's Pride (11 page)

“
Not far from
the clans,” he responded before relaying his exact location. The
police officer was beginning to look at him strangely and Ryan knew
that he didn’t have long to confirm Sebastian's
participation.

“
I think I can
do this but I won’t be able to do this alone.”

“
Do whatever
you have to.”

“
What exactly
are you doing?” The officer asked as he approached Ryan. Apparently
his curiosity had been piqued and he wanted to know exactly what
was going on.

“
The earliest I
can be there is in half an hour and that’s if we go at it full
pelt.” Sebastian informed him.

“
Do
it.”

“
You’ll know
when we’re there.” Sebastian informed his brother before abruptly
ending the call.

The officer
was still demanding his attention and Ryan was finally free to give
it to him, allowing his vocal cords to once again regain their
human form. “Yes?”

“
What were you
doing?”

“
Talking to my
brother,” he answered simply.

“
Not a
lawyer?”

“
I don’t want
one.”
There’s no need to involve more
humans in this mess.

“
Don’t you want
legal representation?”

“
No.”

“
Are you
sure?”

“
I said no, I
don’t want one.”

“
Fine, it’s
well within your rights to turn it down.” The officer informed him
before placing his hand on Ryan’s shoulder and guiding him back to
his cage.

****

It’s a very
strange sensation,
Chloe decided,
not knowing exactly what you should be
feeling.
While she was aware that logically
she should be feeling extraordinary relief, she couldn’t. Her mind
was fixated on the look of betrayal on Ryan’s face and she was
unable to move past that image, it seemed to be imprinted on her
corneas. Once Ryan had confessed to the crime she had accused him
of, he had been handcuffed by the officer she had spoken to. He
hadn’t even struggled against the restraints though she knew that
he could easily escape. The police officer had been alone and had
to wait for back up to arrive to take Ryan away and while they had
waited, he had fussed and insisted that she eat the food he had
bought her. The food had all been pre-packaged so the officer saw
no harm in her eating it if she wanted to but she couldn’t bring
herself to do it. She had instead stared into eyes the colour of
rich honey expecting a sign of recrimination that had never
arrived. Until the moment he had been led away there was nothing
but understanding in the warm depths of his eyes as though he had
already forgiven her for what she had done.

She had been
brought to the police station after Ryan and had been shown into a
small room, given a cup of coffee that she didn’t want and promptly
left alone. No one had really spoken to her since they had brought
her and Ryan to this place and so she had yet to make contact with
her family and reassure them of what was going on. Though as they
had said they were going hunting the last time she saw them, they
might not even have noticed that she was missing. The thought was a
sobering one.
It’s probably best that they
left me by myself,
she concluded. Her mind
seemed cloudy and confused. Ryan had kidnapped her and yet her body
seemed to be craving him, missing the warmth that he gave off
unintentionally, the earthy scent of him, the smooth baritone of
his voice.
My own family probably don’t
know what’s happened to me, Ryan would know the instant something
had happened to me.
Stop this!
She snapped, furious at the direction that her
mind had led her to. He was a criminal and deserved to be punished
didn’t he?

Chapter
Ten

Detective
Matthews leaned back against one of the walls of the interrogation
room watching his suspect with curious eyes. The man sitting across
from him seemed remarkably calm for someone who had been brought in
on such serious charges. Kidnapping was a federal crime and if that
wasn’t bad enough, he had compounded his crime by transporting the
woman over several state lines, Ryan Sutherland was going to jail
for a very long time if found to be guilty. As kidnapping was such
a serious crime, it logically followed that he would have other,
smaller crimes attached to his name but there was nothing. In all
other ways the man seemed to be a model citizen, he had never even
had a parking ticket. When he had first been given the case he had
written it off as temporary insanity but then he had walked into
the interrogation room and his opinion had immediately changed. If
it had been a moment of madness, then he should have been
exhibiting signs of nervousness, been apologetic or at the very
least seem perturbed with the situation he was in. The man in front
of him was so calm that if he didn’t know better detective Matthews
might suspect that he was waiting for a dental appointment, not a
questioning that could result in him going to jail.

Matthews
moved, sitting in the chair opposite the man, again taking note of
Ryan’s relaxed posture. His arms were resting along the edge of the
table, his nails gently tapping the metal surface. “So,” the
detective began. “These are some very heavy charges you have racked
up. Kidnapping, forcible transportation across state lines, assault
and coercion. What do you have to say? You’ve already confessed so
you might as well be honest so that we can take an accurate
statement.”

“
I didn’t hurt
Chloe,” Ryan growled. “I admit to all the others but I didn’t hurt
Chloe.”

“
You seem
unconcerned with having violated three very serious laws. The
assault charge is the least of your concerns.”

“
I’ve done
nothing wrong. I don’t follow your laws and by mine, everything
that I’ve done is completely legal. The only one that would be
broken on your list is the assault, which I’ve already said I
didn’t do. Chloe fell when we were walking. Have you had someone
had a look at her yet?”

“
She’s no
longer your concern.” The detective’s voice was stern as he tried
to impress the importance of what was going on to the man in front
of him.

“
She’s my only
concern,” Ryan instantly corrected.

“
It’s that
attitude that got you into this mess. From your records you seemed
to be a model citizen before this whole incident. I don’t know what
made you do it but you have to realise that you’ve committed a
crime.”

It’s easy
enough to be a model citizen when you live forever. Change your
identity once every hundred years and nobody is any the wiser. And
as soon as I get out of here you will never hear of me
again.
“By your rules, yes I
have.”

“
Our rules are
the only rules, Mr Sutherland. The faster you understand that the
better.”

“
If you say
so,” Ryan agreed though his tone of voice directly contradicted his
words. He breathed deeply and as the scent of fellow wolves filled
his nostrils he couldn’t help but smile. The smirk that appeared on
his face did nothing to reassure the detective who could feel
himself becoming increasingly angry with Ryan’s nonchalant
attitude. Uncaring of what the detective was feeling, Ryan allowed
his eyes to wander to the clock that hung from the wall.
Forty minutes? Not bad Sebastian.
His muscles tensed in preparation, he didn’t know
what his brother was planning, they hadn’t had the time to discuss
the specifics, but he had to be prepared for whatever it
was.

“
Mr Sutherland,
I would appreciate it if you would at least try to realise the
gravity of your situation.” Ryan was silent, steadying his breaths
to prepare for the inevitable escape, which only served to further
agitate the detective.

Whatever
Matthews was going to say was cut off as darkness suddenly engulfed
the room.
Now,
Ryan growled. While the darkness of the pitch black room was
impregnable to human eyes, the same couldn’t be said of Ryan and he
took the opportunity that his brother had established for him.
Detective Matthews’ voice was loud as he protested his inability to
see through the dark but Ryan quickly dismissed the man and his
flailing arms as a distraction he couldn’t afford. Rising from the
chair, he sped to the door with the speed that only one of his kind
could manage. As the door opened without protest he realised what
Sebastian had done.
I’ve got to get Chloe
quickly, these places must have back up generators.
It’s a police station after all.
He didn’t pause to stop as he ran along the
corridors, sifting through the many scents until he discovered the
enticing strawberry fragrance that was unique to his mate. She
wasn’t far from him and for that fact he was grateful, he wasn’t
sure how long he would have the benefit of the cover of darkness
and he and his mate had to be far away from this place when the
lights came back on.

Approaching
the room Chloe was in, he opened the door, immediately noting that
she wasn’t alone. There were two other people within the small
space but he put them to the back of his mind, intent on taking her
from here and bringing her to the clans. It was a simple enough
task to slip silently into the room and an even easier one to skim
past the officers that were meant to be looking after his mate. The
fact that she was standing only served to make his task easier and
he crept up behind her. He pressed his hand against her mouth,
preventing her from attracting attention should she try to scream.
Her body instinctively stiffened and he could feel her readying
herself for the attack. “Sshh love,” he whispered in her ear before
wrapping an arm around her waist and easily lifting her shorter
body from the ground. His grip was strong, but not so hard that she
was hurt by it, concern for his mate’s safety automatically
limiting his strength. Chloe safely in his arms, he sped from the
room, moving faster as he pushed them towards the building’s exit.
He could feel that time was growing short and the instinct aided
him in escaping, allowing him to put on a momentary burst of speed
that was far outside of his normal range of
capabilities.

It was
blissfully dark outside, and he used the cover to conceal his
escape and the inhuman speed at which he was moving. When power was
eventually restored to the police station he and Chloe were nowhere
to be found. He stopped only when they reached a park of average
size, scenting that other wolves were nearby. Sliding her down his
body, he allowed her feet to touch the ground, watching her
carefully for any sight of pain.

“
Are you ok
Chloe? Did they have someone come and have a look at your leg? Is
it still painful?”

Stumbling
away from him, she carefully avoided putting weight on her still
throbbing ankle. “What do you think you’re doing?” she snapped, any
sympathy she might have had towards him vanishing at the
re-emergence of his high handed behaviour.

Ignoring her
question, he narrowed in on the fact that she was still limping.
“They didn’t have a doctor come and look at you?” he growled, angry
at the ineptitude of the police in caring for his mate.

“
I was having
my ankle checked over, right before you abducted me,
again.”

“
I told you
before Chloe, I’m never going to let you go. It’s you and me
forever. It might seem strange but it’s true.”

“
How did you
manage to pull the abduction off this time? We were in a police
station for crying out loud. I shouldn’t have had to worry about
being taken from a place that was filled with law
enforcement.”

“
I had help,”
he shrugged, closing the small distance she had created between
them unwilling to allow anything to separate them again.

“
Who would help
you commit a crime like this? Are they stupid or as just as crazy
as you are?”

“
I’m going to
own up and admit my part in this.” A new voice floated to her ears
from over her shoulder and in her haste to discover who had spoken
she spun quickly and would have fallen if not for Ryan’s steady
arms. From the relative security of Ryan’s embrace, she watched as
a man approached them.

It didn’t
take her long to realise that this was probably the brother Ryan
had spoken to when they had still been in her apartment. The
newcomer was as tall as her self professed mate, with the same deep
red hair though his was shorter and seemed to be styled in a more
orderly fashion. Familiar brown eyes stared at her in assessment,
scrutinising every inch of her frame. Although he was outwardly
smiling, she could sense that there was something he instantly was
wary of. “Sebastian?”

His smile
widened. “So you know who I am? That’s good. I’m going to assume
you’re Chloe. We’re still in the process of moving your things but
they should be at the estate in the next dew days.”

“
You do realise
that you’re aiding and abetting a crime?” she demanded disregarding
his comments.

“
Yes,” another
voice answered, a body emerging from the darkness to stand beside
Sebastian. “We’re well aware that to you this may be illegal, but
from our perspective, things are different.”