Bound to the Prime (Bound to the Pack, #3) (2 page)

In half the time it took to drive there we had arrived at the long driveway that lead to Troy's house. Ian stood beside me, slightly winded.

"Will you survive old man?" His glare was answer enough so I began to walk forward cautiously before he could speak, the sounds of him moving in my wake came immediately.

I paused when the house began to come into view and reached out with all of my senses, but found nothing. Signaling my intentions to Ian I stepped from the driveway into the trees surrounding the home and made my way around to the entrance we had use the first time I had come here.

I continued to reach out with my senses to no avail. Frustration and worry began to bud within me but I refused to let them take hold as I crept out from the tree line and moved along the back side of the garage.

When I reached the covered walk that lead to the house I peered through the glass on the door to the garage. Nobody was inside and I noticed that one of Troy's vehicles was gone, the truck.

I hadn't seen it out front, but I didn't let my worry grow. Jen could be alone inside, afraid. I needed to get to her.

Keeping low I approached the door to the house, staying to one side while Ian automatically took the other. Looking through the door cautiously I didn't see any movement so I placed a hand lightly on the glass. The multiple panes didn't do much to prevent a shifter from being able to feel the temperature difference. The heat was off or very low inside.

Nobody was here.

Ian was looking at me, hand on the glass as well. "Looks like we're back with no ideas," he said, his frustration obvious.

"We need to search inside, there may be information we can use." I sighed and stood, frustrated as well.

Ian looked at the door a moment before stepping in front of it, preparing to break it down.

"Wait," I said and he turned to me. "Kris has a key." I began rummaging through the bundle of her things I had carried with me, eventually finding them.

It took several attempts to find the correct key, but eventually one turned and rewarded us with a satisfying click as the door unlocked. Putting the keys back with Kris's other belongings I slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Breathing in deeply I tried desperately to catch any scent of my mate, but I could only find a faint whisper of it from our only visit inside Troy's house. The only recent smell was of Troy, nearly a day old.

"It seems we are alone, let us search through the building." I growled softly, some of the frustration breaking through my control.

"What's that noise?" Ian's head was cocked to the side.

I listened again and heard what Ian was speaking of, a slow repetitive beep. I had heard it earlier but had dismissed it, it wasn't Jen.

"I am unsure, we should investigate though." I walked further into the home, following the hall and the increasingly loud noise.

Stepping into the kitchen, one as large as Jen's entire apartment, we found the source of the noise. A small box on the wall with a keypad.

"Is that some kind of phone?" Ian peered at it, "Maybe there is a message?"

"I do not believe so, there is a phone on the counter right below it." I looked closer at the device and, as if sensing my closeness, the beeping sped up rapidly.

"Maybe you should step back, I don't know what it is but I think you made it angry." Ian moved as he spoke, watching the box warily.

Then the box screamed.

Ian let out a howl of his own as he clapped his hands over his ears and fell to the floor.

My hands covered my own ears but did precious little to quiet, or even dull, the cacophony. Dropping to my knees I felt my face against the phone on the counter and the pad beside it. A pen dug into my cheek as I howled in anguish.

My head felt like it was cracking apart and my stomach was turning, I needed to end the noise somehow. Steeling myself I stood slowly, knocking everything from the counter and nearly falling as Ian's writhing legs kicked my own. Reaching back quickly I clenched my fist and punched the box as hard as I could manage.

Silence reigned.

My ears still sang with the noise that was no longer there as I panted for air. Ian stood slowly on quivering legs, shaking his head slowly, eyes watering.

"We need to leave." Ian's voice was barely audible over the ringing in my ears.

Pulling my hand from the small crater I had punched into the wall I winced at the soreness of it. I hadn't broken any bones but I had definitely done myself some injury.

Stretching out my hands on the counter gingerly I closed my eyes and sighed in frustration. We were no closer to finding Jen and now we didn't have time to search the house.

Opening my eyes I drew a fortifying breath and prepared to leave when I caught sight of the pad I had knocked off the counter. I reached down and picked it up, bringing it close to my eyes. The impression of what had been written on the page above was clearly visible.

"What have you got?" Ian stepped close but paused, headed cocked to the side. I heard the sound a moment later, barely louder than the ringing still in my ears but getting louder by the second.

Sirens.

"Definitely time to go," Ian took off running down the hall and I followed right on his heels.

Thinking quickly I paused outside, ignoring Ian's urging, and locked the door before we ran for the trees opposite the driveway. There was nothing we could do about the tracks we were leaving behind in the snow, but hopefully the locked doors would slow our pursuers enough for us to get away.

We were well into the woods before the sirens stopped at the house.

"That was a tad closer than I would like lad." Ian said, head turned to look over his shoulder as we ran deeper into the woods.

I nodded but didn't reply as I angled our run to take us back towards the town. We needed to get back to Kris and the doctor, but had to go a round about way or our trail would lead the police right to us.

"What was on that paper?" Ian pressed as we continued to run. "You lit up when you saw it."

Looking back at him I felt the pad clenched tightly in my hand and answered simply.

"An address."

W
aking up was a slow and confusing ordeal, again.

As consciousness crept back one slow step at a time I became more and more aware of my surroundings. I was laying down on a bed, but my legs were bunched up and over the side. The bed felt like it was moving too. That wasn't normal.

Was it?

Slowly opening my eyes I saw the inside roof of a car. Why had I gone to sleep in a car? Movement above me caught my attention as the vehicle took a wide turn, the directional clicking off as we straightened out.

Focusing above me I was able to make out the silhouette of a man looming over me, my head must be on his lap.

"Liam?" I croaked weakly, then began to cough, my mouth was dry and my throat hurt, terribly.

"Good morning my dear!" Troy's voice pierced the cloud of my confusion and I sat up quickly, pulling my face from his lap as if I had been burned.

This was the second time in as many weeks that I had passed out, it wasn't a trend I wanted to continue. A splitting headache clouded my thoughts as the events of last night came back to me clearly. I shuddered at the thought of having been touching Troy and pressed myself as far from him as I could manage in the space available.

His face darkened as he clearly smelled my revulsion, though his twisted smile never altered. It was all I could do to keep my panic down.

"Now now, don't be that way." He turned back to the road and the smile slid from his face, leaving it unnaturally blank. "You're just confused. I had to give you something to keep you asleep."

"Where are we?" My voice was hoarse, raw from the pressure he had used to choke me into unconsciousness. "Where are you taking me?"

Keeping one eye on him I looked around, taking in my surroundings. We were in a pickup truck I vaguely remembered seeing in his garage the one time I had visited his house. There were some bags and luggage in the small space behind our seats; outside was a wilderness of trees, hills, and snow. Wherever we were it felt far off the beaten path.

"Troy, where are we going?" A little fear crept into my voice as I asked. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for Liam to find me. I was going to have to get away from Troy myself.

"We're going on our vacation, remember?" Troy's face lit up with a smile.

"Vacation? Troy you kidnapped me!"

"What? No! We've been planning this for weeks." He looked over at me, confused. Trying to get a read from him was fruitless still, each attempt came back as chaos.

"I've only known you for a few weeks," I said cautiously, watching him. "Were you planning this with Kristen?"

Mentioning her was clearly a mistake.

Troy slammed on the breaks and I slid forward, slamming into the dashboard. Apparently Troy hadn't buckled me in. And, also apparently, Kristen's name was taboo.

Pulling myself up, wincing at the pain blossoming in my arm, I came face to face with a madman. Twisted in rage, Troy's face was close enough to my own that I could feel the unnatural heat radiating from his body. His hand shot out, gripping my already sore are and I let out a gasp of pain.

"Who is Kristen?" The neutral tone of his voice was completely at odds with the angry visage before my eyes.

I didn't know which was more terrifying, the words he had said or the way he had spoken them. Looking into his eyes I could see the monster that was his anger, I sensed I could even feel it through his grip on my arm.

A memory came back to me of a time I had eased Liam's concern. With that in my thoughts I reached out with my mind and, somehow, released Troy's anger.

Just as quickly as it had arrived, the moment passed. Troy relaxed and looked around, confused, before staring at his own hand clutching my arm.

"Here, let me help you up." He spoke normally and helped me up slowly. Smiling at me as I sat back into the seat and buckled myself in.

I had no idea how I had done whatever it was, but it was something that might be able to keep me alive. Even more odd though was that, for a moment at least, his insanity had cleared.

I'd been able to get a read on him.

There had been nothing truly clear, just an overwhelming sense of a lifetime's worth of pain and betrayal. Both taken and given.

It seems Kristen's refusal to bond him had been the final blow that had shattered his mind.

Troy looked out at the road and began driving again as if nothing had happened. I licked my lips nervously and watched him in case he tried anything, not that I could defend myself very well.

As the drive wore on, Troy seemed to slip further and further back into his madness. Eventually he even began muttering to himself under his breath.

After a time he pulled over to the side of the road and my fear spiked as I came fully alert. He left the engine running and reached into his pocket, not looking at me once. When he took out his phone I felt myself deflate with relief. I had no idea how much more of this I would be able to take.

Watching him warily I saw him bring up a map app and punch in an address he read from a small slip of paper. More disconcerting was that he continued to talk to himself the entire time, as if his mouth was being run by another person.

I whet my lips again as he set the phone in a holster on the dashboard and put the truck back into drive. I needed more information and the only way I could get that would be to talk to him.

Carefully.

"So, uh... where are we going for our vacation again?" I asked cautiously, timidly, watching for any signs of aggression. Whatever he answered I needed to keep to the truth as much as possible, he'd be able to smell the lies by my emotions, if he ever bothered to check. Best to play it safe all the same.

His muttering stopped mid-word and he answered in a more normal voice. "Where we go every year." He turned to look at me, "You know that."

"The past few weeks have been... difficult." I barely kept the confusion from my voice, he and Kris had barely been dating for a year, not years.

He watched me a moment more before his usual creepy smile was back. More unsettling was that it was the first genuine smile I could remember seeing on him, one that finally touched his eyes.

"We're going to the lodge! I was able to book your favorite one again!" He was giddy with excitement as he spoke to me. The normal self control of a shifter had over their emotions had obviously fled Troy when his sanity had. An exuberant shifter was a truly uncomfortable sight.

"Oh, ok." I continued slowly, "I think I remember some beautiful scenery. Where... where was it again? Exactly?"

"West Virginia." His voice was flat again as he turned back to the road.

"Ah, right." I repeated the name in my mind like a mantra, burning it into my memory. If I was able to get to a phone I didn't want to waste any time fighting to remember names or places.

Plus, it was far better than dealing with Troy directly.

"You aren't her." His whisper sliced the silence and the malice in his tone caused a body wracking shiver to pass through me.

"What..." I had barely started before he slammed on the brakes again. Fortunately I had buckled myself in after the first time, the downside became immediately obvious however.

I had nowhere to go.

His first slap was more startling than painful, but the second stung furiously.

"YOU! AREN'T! HER!" He had gone full crazy again and brought his hand back as if to hit me again. Moving faster than I would have believed possible my hand shot out and grabbed his wrist as he swung to strike.

We both stared at my hand in shock. Not only had my reflexes somehow been up to the task, my strength nearly matched his own. In that moment we both seemed to realize that I was far from defenseless.

Buckled into the front seat of a pickup wasn't the place for me to try overpowering him however.

Seeing a way to take advantage of the moment I again tried soothing him. This time instead of targeting his anger specifically I just tried to reduce all of his negative emotions with a sense of calm.