"She's scared, John, terrified. I can feel
her through our connection and it's taken me hours to get my wolf
under control. Right now, he's locked behind a strong wall, but if
she's been hurt, I won't keep him from killing the bastard who did
it. You need to know that."
"She's your Kismet. It's pack law; if they
hurt her, they deserve a challenge from the offended mate. The pack
will stand behind that law, no matter what. However, I don't
believe they'd be that stupid. They have no reason to hurt her.
They are only holding her until the Tribunal."
He figured he was calm enough now to try to
work on their connection. He had a feeling it'd be the only thing
that would help them find her before it was too late. He went into
the bedroom to focus. He lay down on the bed and worked on finding
some love and reassurance to send her way. He had no idea if he was
doing it correctly, but he would try and hopefully it would
override his anger. He didn't want to be the source of her pain and
fear. After concentrating for ten minutes, he felt her fear lesson
and he knew he had made contact with her. It wasn't telepathy, but
she was sending her love back to him. He didn't know if she was
doing it on purpose or if she even knew what she was feeling. He
hoped she would receive some reassurance from their Kismet. She was
strong and he knew she'd get through this, if he could only find
her.
*
It was early morning. Riley wasn't sure of
the exact time, but she could see a faint light through her hood.
She heard the door scrape open and footsteps approached. They
stopped in front of her and didn't move for about thirty seconds.
She guessed they were staring at her and she felt the hairs on the
back of her neck rise. She still felt rage coming at her, but it
had lessened in the last hour. She heard the rustle of the person's
coat as they bent over and untied her hood, removing it. A
different man stood in front of her. He was a bit older than the
other thug, but even more intimidating. He had short grey hair and
a perfectly trimmed beard. Crow's feet bracketed his blue eyes and
he peered at her with what she could only figure was curiosity.
"I'm guessing you're hungry, thirsty, and
need to use the facilities - such as they are," he said.
She nodded for fear of making any noise. He
leaned down and cut the ties around her ankles, then grabbed her
shoulders and spun her around to do the same with her wrists. She
gingerly brought her arms in front of her and tried to shake them
out, knowing there would be pain as her limbs started getting
circulation. Her shoulders were stiff and she felt like she was
frozen. The man looked around the cabin as if he'd not been there
before and snarled. She thought it almost sounded animalistic.
"Garth! Get your ass in here!" he barked.
"You didn't light a fire for her? What about this bruise on her
cheek, did you hit her?" he accused.
"No, I didn't light a fire. I didn't know we
were trying to keep our prisoner comfortable. I hit her when she
kept asking questions; she needed to learn her place," Garth
growled.
"You could have very well killed her in both
instances. She's not as strong as we are and she can't handle the
cold. Go get some wood and start the fire, and don't hit her again.
You better hope the bruise heals before he finds out or he'll
challenge you."
"HA! As if it's a challenge. I'll pick my
teeth with his bones. He's no Alpha."
She thought the term alpha was strange, but
figured it was the name of their gang or something. The blue eyed
man turned back to look at her. She was grateful for some odd
reason. He was her captor, but at least he wanted to give her some
kind of comfort.
Is this Stockholm syndrome?
The man ran his
hand through his hair and shook his head.
"When you can stand, come outside and I'll
take you to the outhouse," he said gruffly as he turned around and
walked out.
She worked on getting circulation back in her
feet and arms. She started feeling something tickle in her head;
she focused on it and realized it was a feeling of love. It was
washing over her as strongly as the rage was earlier. Then it
dawned on her, it had to be Garrett. As absurd as it sounded, she
knew it was. It was close to the same feeling she felt after they
kissed. The rage she felt earlier was probably from when he found
out she was missing. This connection was the only option she had
for outside contact, so she focused on her feelings for him and
pictured his face. She felt them meld together and his emotions
flowed seamlessly against hers through her body. There wasn't a way
to describe the feeling, but she knew she was connected to him and
it was calming. She knew he'd be looking for her and needed to keep
her wits about her until she escaped.
She shook her arms and legs out, grimacing at
the pain as blood started flowing. She looked down at her hands to
inspect any damage from the ties or the cold. She had cuts around
her wrists that stung from her struggling, but she didn't see any
signs of permanent damage on her hands or feet from the loss of
circulation. She stood on wobbly legs and walked outside to look
for the blue-eyed man.
He was leaning against a tree with his arms
crossed and a toothpick in his mouth. He wore jeans, work boots,
and a plaid shirt; he was clearly sizing her up. She walked towards
him, noticing as much of her surroundings as she could. They were
in deep woods, with a skinny trail leading away. There were a
couple of motorcycles on the side of the cabin. Running water
gurgled in the distance. The trees were old growth evergreens and
there were ferns and other foliage littering the ground below them.
It wouldn't be impossible to move through, but it'd definitely slow
her down if she decided to run for it.
"Don't even think about it. We're a lot
faster than you could imagine. If you run, we'll hunt you down
without a problem."
She looked at him and could tell he wasn't
bluffing. "May I use the outhouse?" she asked meekly.
He pointed behind the cabin and said, "Over
there."
She followed the direction of his finger and
found a tiny little shack covered in moss, spider webs, and God
only knew what else. She gulped as she pushed the door open. If she
closed it, she wouldn't be able to see anything, so she left it
cracked. She finished quickly and nearly sprinted out, feeling as
if she had creepy crawlers all over her. As she rounded the corner
of the cabin, she ran into a solid wall of muscle. She looked up
and gulped, it was Garth and he was glaring at her.
"Get out of my way," he barked.
"Garth, there is no reason to treat her so
roughly, it's not her fault she's in this predicament. She hasn't
done anything wrong," said the blue eyed man.
She really was starting to appreciate the
guy. That was not good. Maybe it was a mind game he was playing;
get her to trust him and then he would make her his creepy forest
bride. She shivered at the thought as she walked into the cabin.
She noticed Garth had lit the fire, so she stood in front of the
stove, warming herself. The nice man walked in and handed her a
Burger King bag filled with food along with a bottle of water.
"Here, eat something."
"Thank you," she said as she opened the bag
and started eating a cold breakfast sandwich. After gulping it
down, she drained the entire bottle of water. The feeling of love
and compassion coming from Garrett continued to flow over her the
entire time and she returned it.
Garrett lay on
the hotel bed, reveling in the bond he shared with his Kismet. It
was soothing to him and his wolf; he only wished he had been able
to control himself earlier. It pained him to know she felt the rage
he was having. He heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," he said and sat up expectantly as
John walked in.
"How is it going? Are you able to control the
connection?" John asked.
"Yes. It's amazing. She's not fighting me and
the connection is strong. I had no idea it'd be like this," he said
in awe.
"Good, it will help you locate her. Maybe the
feelings will get stronger as you get nearer. You should be able to
keep the connection going in the background of your mind all day.
You're new at it, so you may "drop a signal" occasionally, but
it'll come back online. Now, you ready to start hunting?"
"Yes," he growled.
"You should check your cell phone. It has
several text messages from a guy named Ryan using Riley's phone. We
didn't discuss it earlier because you weren't in the right frame of
mind." John handed the phone to him.
He scrolled through the messages. They became
increasingly angry as the day went on, blaming Garrett for taking
her. He shook his head. "We need to go see him at the clinic. Maybe
he or one of the girls will have a clue as to what happened." He
stood up, determined to find his Kismet.
His friends were eating breakfast in the
living room. They handed food to him as he walked in. He ate as
fast as he could. "Hey Jason, do you still have some of that stuff
we bought to mask our scent when we were playing pranks as
kids?"
"You mean the stuff the Wiccan made for
us?"
"Yah, that's the one. You have any left?"
"I'm not sure, but I think so. What a great
idea, I was trying to figure out how to get past the elders."
"Great, why don't you run and look for it.
I'll text you with where to meet us. Breck, can you give me a ride
to the clinic?" It was about 6:30 AM, he wasn't sure if anyone
would be at the clinic yet, but he would wait until they arrived if
need be. He was eager to find her and have her safe in his
arms.
"Sure, I'm ready."
"We're going too. You may need another nose
or two on this search," Jasper said. Chase nodded his
agreement.
"Thanks guys. I owe you big."
"I can't help with the search guys. I have to
think of the pack as a whole, and if I'm caught and killed for
treason, then the pack is without their Alpha. I'll give you any
intel I collect along the way, but I can't be out there. I hope you
understand," John said
"I understand. Thanks for all your help.
We'll let you know what we find," said Garrett.
When they arrived at the clinic, Garrett
asked them to stay in the truck. He didn't know what mayhem would
happen if four shifters entered. As he walked to the door he could
pick up her scent, it was wonderful to be able to smell her, even
if it was a day old. He pushed loving feelings towards her and
prayed this lead would pan out.
The door was locked, but he could see a light
on in the back so he knocked. Sam came around the corner and when
she saw him through the window, she sprinted to the door and opened
it.
"Garrett! Where is she? Did you have anything
to do with it?"
"Of course he had something to do with it.
He's bad news, I knew it from the first time I saw him," Ryan said
as he rounded the corner. "Where is she, wolf?"
He froze. How in the hell did Ryan know he
was a wolf, and why would he say it in front of someone else? He
felt like he was in the crosshairs and didn't know which way to go.
He was now hoping his silence would garner more information from
Ryan.
"Yes, I know what you are. So does Sam, so
you might as well drop the act. Where is she? I know you had
something to do with it. She'd been safe all her life until you
entered it."
"Please, Garrett. Where is she? What
happened?" Sam begged.
"Look guys. I don't know where she is. I was
in Maine yesterday. I came here to find out what you knew and track
her down. I'm hoping you have a clue, anything to help with the
search. When did she go missing?"
"If you had paid attention to your phone you
could have already known. I've texted you from Riley's phone about
ten times!" Ryan yelled.
"Look, I don't give a damn what you think
about me, but she's my Kismet and I'll stop at absolutely nothing
to save her. You can either help or get out of my way." He stared
Ryan down, waiting for his compliance.
"What does that mean, "Kismet"?" Ryan asked.
"I saw it on your text messages."
"None of your business," he said with cold,
unyielding eyes.
"Look guys, we need to stop arguing and do
something to find her. I'll help you, Garrett. Once we get Riley
back, she can decide if she still wants you in her life."
"Fine, now what do you know?" He noticed Ryan
was sulking in the background as Sam agreed to help him. He was
confused as to how they knew he was a wolf, but he didn't have the
time to worry about it now.
"We only know she left a little bit after
noon yesterday to go for a walk. We thought it was strange because
it's not a normal pattern for her. Anyway, she had a surgery at
2:00 and she never came back. She had left her phone, purse, and
keys in the office."
"Anything to add, Ryan?"
"No. I came back after she was gone. When she
didn't return, I found her phone and started texting you. Cops
wouldn't do anything because she's an adult and it hadn't been long
enough to be a missing person's case."
"Do you know which way she went when she
left?"
"I think she took a right out of the door,
but that's about all I know," Sam said disgruntled.
Garrett turned on his heel and headed for the
door.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Sam asked.
"To look for her, see if I can pick up her
scent and follow it."
"I'll go with you."
"No, you won't. You'll stay here and run her
business. Leave this to those who can do something." With that
order, he whirled around and headed out the door. Holding a finger
up to the guys in the truck to wait, he sprinted towards the right,
following her faint scent. It was dispersed with car exhaust and
other people, but there was a tiny thread to follow. He carefully
allowed his wolf from behind the wall he had erected, so he could
partially shift and increase his scent receptors. He followed her
trail down a series of streets. Then he picked up two other scents
he recognized, Garth and Jack, two of the elders. This is where
they tracked her. He rounded into an alleyway and found a large
collection of her scent on the pavement, as if she had been lying
down.
If they did anything to her, I'll kill them.
His eyes
flashed red briefly, and then he felt Riley's soothing calm through
their connection. His wolf calmed. He searched around for any
additional clues, but not finding any, he ran back to the
truck.