Authors: Jennifer Loiske
“Take Sofia away,” Gunward told David sharply.
“Come, my darling,” David urged me gently.
“I certainly will not!” I cried. “Marie is my little one. How she must be scared! She’s all alone with what, at least six men who abducted her. We have to act right now. You can’t shut me out of this! I warn you, Gunward, you will have to take me with you! She’s my child! I want to come along for the hunt,” I insisted in terror.
I was very close to coming apart and the more I thought of Marie the greater pain I felt. David held me firmly in place and it didn’t occur to me that I could easily have extricated myself from his hold. His grip gave no quarter.
Gunward looked sternly at David and David started half-dragging me off to another room. My mind screamed protests. I kicked and shrieked. I damned all the men in my house to the lowest level of hell and cursed both my brothers for not even lifting a hand to help me. At that moment I was ready to tear them all to pieces and they knew it. Only David’s gentle touch prevented me from launching myself at them. I couldn’t keep silent, however, and my curses echoed in the room long after David had taken me away.
Adam and Gunward were standing by the main door when David entered the room. Daniel and Gavin were just returning from Marie’s room, where they had been so as to get as thorough a scent of her as possible. The hunt would be long and difficult. This prey would not surrender willingly and a fight was imminent. Many would be hurt and Gunward might even have to force some of the youngsters to give up their right to transform into wolves.
“She’s sleeping at last,” said David.
Gunward merely nodded at the other man. He didn’t bother telling him that he had sensed the moment I’d fallen asleep.
“How is it possible that they managed to kidnap Marie without you knowing it?” David went on.
Gunward was silent. In his mind he was already devising a plan for the hunt, and couldn’t be bothered to answer.
“You did know! You bastard, you knew!” David shouted.
“Calm down, David,” Gavin stepped in, “he didn’t know because he was here comforting your wife after you had left her. Gunward’s thoughts were wholly focused on Sofia’s distress, so you can’t blame him for leaving the pack unsupervised for a while. We all bear a part of the guilt, even you.”
David looked miserably at the other men. He knew Gavin was right. He had left Sofia even though she had needed him. He had set the safety of his children above the needs of his wife. Could anyone truly blame him for that? Still, Marie was now in danger and he could do nothing to rescue her. He felt useless. Now was not the time for self-pity, though. Sofia was lying upstairs, half unconscious, and if Marie was in danger, didn’t that mean they might also strike at Clarissa? David’s only hope lay with these big men, who were a part of Sofia’s shady past, and he had no choice but to trust them.
“Tiamhaidh,” Daniel murmured.
“What did you say?” Gunward was jolted from his thoughts.
“Tiamhaidh,” Daniel repeated.
“You’re right. We still have a faint chance.”
“Could someone tell me what exactly you’re talking about?” David asked anxiously. The other men turned to look at him and David could see hope in their eyes.
“Tiamhaidh, or Timothy to humans, is a hermit wolf. He’s a member of the pack only because Gunward made him come along. If Tiamhaidh is involved in the abduction, which I can’t believe, he will open his mind to Gunward if he must.”
“Tiamhaidh is the most honest shape shifter I know,” Gavin confirmed. “He’ll help if he can.”
“That’s good, but I still don’t understand how they pulled off the kidnapping if you all share your awareness with the whole pack. They’ll know your plans in advance! You can’t possibly succeed! They’ll stop this Tiamhaidh before you even get close to them!”
“Calm down. I know this is difficult to understand. I thought I explained it already but I'll try again,” Gavin spoke slowly as if to a small child.
“Gunward and Adam were on their way to the island of Senja in Norway, to ask the elders to free Sofia from her union with Gunward, when you left Sofia. She called Gunward and he had no choice except to make Adam come with him and come here. He only sent a quick call to us and we set off at once to come to Sofia’s aid. The rest of the pack believed Gunward was on his way north and would be too far to rescue Marie even if he knew of the abduction. When Gunward reached Sofia, he shut the rest of the pack off his awareness and focused entirely on Sofia. Doing so he also shut out those of us who were in the vicinity of the awareness of the rest of the pack, and joined us with himself and Sofia.”
“Is that even possible? Sounds pretty unlikely to me,” David scoffed.
The shape shifters passed frustrated glances between them. There was no time for explanations right now. If Marie had to be found before nightfall, they needed to hurry.
“Trust me on this,” Daniel said quickly.
“If the rest of the pack knew Gunward at all, they’d know nothing could keep him from Sofia’s side when you aren’t there. Especially considering that Sofia herself called him. This kind of stupidity might be excused if they were only cubs, but as things stand this is inexplicable. They should have mapped out the situation better before setting out. Gunward’s rage will be terrible when we find them.”
“If you find them,” David added doubtfully.
The other men merely gave David a long look and finally he had to give in. What other choice did he have? None.
Adam and Gunward were already halfway out when Daniel and Gavin joined them, leaving David standing alone in the entryway. David could only stare at the other men’s backs as they disappeared into the forest that was lit by the morning sun. Only when he could no longer see the men did he turn and head to the bedroom. He knew that the only way to help was to rest and to support Sofia. David stripped off his jeans and T-shirt and slipped into bed next to Sofia. He looked at his wife and drew her into his arms. A few hours of rest, he thought and closed his eyes.
Tiamhaidh stared at the girl huddling in the corner. The second he had laid eyes on her, he had known he would be forever bound to her. She was not meant for him, but he did not care. He leaned against the wall, apparently at ease, but communicated to the other males that the girl was his. The others were bickering silently and throwing angry glares at Tiamhaidh. Fools, he thought. Adam and Gunward would be raging mad when they heard about the kidnapping. They would rip those young idiots to shreds if they so much as laid a finger on the girl. Therefore he had to interfere and protect the girl.
Liar, a voice whispered in his mind. The moment he had seen the girl he had awoken from a deep sleep and the coldness inside him had vanished. For all his life, all the lonely years, he had been waiting for that moment. Everything he had accomplished in his life lost meaning. His only reason for existence was to find this girl and now here she was. Lying on the floor, her clothes dirty, her hair tangled, and her face streaked with tracks of tears. She’ll be sure to love you. Idiot, Tiamhaidh grunted to himself. He couldn’t stop glancing covertly at the girl. She had gotten a bloodied bruise on her forehead when Matt had thrown her roughly into the car. In spite of being clearly frightened, the girl was nonetheless capable of flinging murderous glares at Tiamhaidh and holding her head up with dignity. Tiamhaidh's thoughts returned to his own childhood.
He remembered his fear and terror when his parents had abandoned him. He had been a mere cub of six months when he had realized he was a shape shifter. His parents were young shape shifters with very limited gifts, who had survived the wolf persecutions of the early 20
th
century by constantly changing shape, mainly between the common dog and cat. When Tiamhaidh had been born towards the end of the 1970s and found himself to be a considerably more skilled shape shifter than his parents, he had been ecstatic. His parents, however, had not been thrilled when he had demonstrated his skills; they had been terrified and decided to banish him from the pack.
The miserable young wolf cub had been forced all too early to rely on himself, and for years he had prowled in the vicinity of villages, begging the local dogs for livelihood, afraid to show his skills to anyone and avoiding other wolves. Too many years had passed before an older wolf had encountered him and taken him under wing. Tiamhaidh had been a very skilled fighter by then, but it was with the guidance of the older wolf that he became almost invincible. The older wolf also taught him that changing shape was a gift, not a curse, and that it was a privilege, not a shame, to be born as a shape shifter. Regardless of this, Tiamhaidh had not learned to trust other wolves and had not wished to seek their company. After the old wolf’s death Tiamhaidh had settled down near Senja and the elders, but made it clear from the beginning that he wanted nothing to do with the other shape shifters. He spent his days practicing different martial arts in human form and his nights roaming the fells as a wolf. All the other wolves called him The Hermit Wolf and not even a young female wolf, let alone a human woman, dared approach the big handsome male without permission.
A few years ago Tiamhaidh had encountered Gunward on a nocturnal excursion. Initially suspicious, Tiamhaidh had circled wide around the other male, but eventually curiosity had won and he had cautiously approached Gunward. Gunward greeted him politely and then turned his back and loped farther away. The same thing occurred from time to time when the males met at night, and finally Tiamhaidh had gone straight up to Gunward and stared challengingly into his eyes. Gunward had returned the stare and, with laughter in his gleaming eyes, ran diagonally up the side of a fell. Tiamhaidh had let out a disappointed yowl, but when he noticed the other wolf had stopped to wait for him, he forgot all his reservations and ran after Gunward. The two males hunted together and gradually something akin to friendship had formed between them. Gunward respected Tiamhaidh's privacy and had never approached him, always allowing Tiamhaidh to make the first move. Only when Gunward had gotten the news that Sofia had been discovered had he called for Tiamhaidh, and Tiamhaidh had decided to try life with the pack.
Here he was. Amid chaos. Six idiot shape shifters had decided to accomplish an insane kidnapping mission and somehow, not wanting any part of it, he had found himself in the thick of it all. How in the world would he be able to convince Gunward that he had no part in this, and what on Earth did the others think they could possibly achieve by this? Sofia belonged to Gunward, never mind how far he might be from the woman. No one could challenge Gunward, except possibly himself, and he felt no need to fight over a woman who had no wish to be his. An accusatory voice in his head laughed. For this girl he would have to fight. Was he ready to do it? It would change everything. Yes, he believed himself ready, for he had never experienced anything like this. What if she doesn’t want you? the voice in his head whispered. Not even your own pack wanted you. Tiamhaidh's eyes narrowed into gleaming slits and his hands clenched into fists. Would he be prepared to leave the girl alone if she wished it?
“Hello,” a quiet voice whispered.
Tiamhaidh quickly glanced at the girl. Had she said something out loud?
Large, moss-green eyes looked at him from beneath long, black lashes. The lashes were wet with tears and the eyes still somewhat foggy, but Tiamhaidh had never seen such beautiful eyes. He stared at the girl like a madman.
“Could I have a glass of water and my medication?” the girl asked timidly.
Medication! The girl was ill. Some kind of a difficult illness that could only be kept at bay by drugs, Tiamhaidh dimly recalled. Had any of those idiots remembered to take the girl’s medication along?
“Matt,” Tiamhaidh snapped. No one moved.
“Mathanan!”
A dark-haired, burly male slowly turned around.
“Did you take the girl’s medication with you?” Tiamhaidh asked calmly.
“There was no time to take anything except the girl herself. Her drugs are no doubt in her school bag,” Matt said negligently.
Tiamhaidh dashed to the chair where the girl’s backpack was, grabbed the pack, and emptied it on the floor. Some school books and a pencilcase hit the floor noisily, but no matter how much Tiamhaidh shook the pack, nothing else fell out.
“The pack is empty, you damned fool! The girl must have her medication,” Tiamhaidh shouted.
“Come on, stop making such a racket. Simon can go get some drugs from the pharmacy.”
“Mathanan, listen carefully. These drugs aren’t available at the pharmacy and without them the girl will die. What do you think Gunward will do to you if she isn’t all right when they come? And you can be sure they’ll come soon. Sofia will have howled the heads off Gun and Adam by now,” Tiamhaidh growled menacingly.
“It’s a long way to the elders, Tiamhaidh. It’ll be at least a week before they get here,” Mathanan laughed.
Tiamhaidh straightened in a flash and before Matt knew it he had been lifted up against the wall, held in an iron grip. Tiamhaidh's bright blue eyes glared at Matt.
“A week! Mathanan! Are you mad? After a week you’ll only have the girl’s corpse in your hands! Get those drugs at once!” Tiamhaidh shook Matt violently.
“Tiamhaidh! Understood,” Matt choked out.
“Simon, take Ciall with you and go get those blasted medicines. Bring all the drugs you find and take care not to blow this one!” Matt commanded.
Tiamhaidh let go of Matt, and Matt slumped to the floor. He threw Tiamhaidh an irate glance and tried to recover at least a part of his lost authority. Matt's throat was badly reddened and he rubbed it with one hand. The others had the sense to stay out of the situation, as Matt's furious expression let it be known that someone was going to feel his anger keenly.