Authors: G.J. Cox
Micha
D
evin and I were standing next to the red pickup truck, growling. My grip was so tight on the steel door I thought I’d bend it. Bliss had connected to us the moment she’d woken up. I doubt she even knew she’d automatically reached out for us. All we could sense was her pain and fear but most of all, we could sense the rage burning through her. She wanted to kill but couldn’t free herself from her bonds.
A wave of great sadness overcame her, then stark terror, then nothing. Just that black void again. We were paralyzed with fear for our mate. Until she consciously connected to us, she couldn’t tell us where she was.
“Micha, what is it?” Warrick took my shoulders, shaking me.
I blinked bringing him into focus. “She’s terrified. Whatever he’s saying or doing has her completely terrified.”
“Did she cut the connection?” he asked worriedly.
I nodded my head. “I think she passed out. I don’t think she realized she was connected to us.” I turned to look at Devin. He was partially shifted. Well fuck.
“I’ll meet you all back at the Ranch. I need to run,” he began to strip out of his clothes. Thankfully we were in a dark corner of the parking lot and there weren’t too many humans around.
He shifted completely, becoming twice his normal size and at least a foot taller. His usual blue eyes turned black. He threw his head back and howled before bounding off toward the woods.
My warriors and I climbed into our SUV while Devin’s wolves climbed into theirs. The plan was to search the Ranch’s many nooks and crannies to see if Conrad was holed up there. I prayed that he was so we could find Bliss faster, but I knew in my gut, the wolf was too smart for that. He would take her someplace no one knew about. He wanted time to hurt her. My hands curled into fists, my elongated nails digging into my palm.
I should have never agreed to let her go dress shopping, but, we thought she was safe with Conrad in a cage and Stephanie dead. We were smothering her keeping her confined to the estate so Devin and I had discussed it in detail. We left no room for arguments on her security detail and she’d have to go in the evening so my warriors could accompany her. We thought she’d be safe. We were fucking wrong.
I reached out for her and my heart nearly stopped when I sensed she tried to respond.
“Take your time baby. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere,”
I reassured her.
“Micha. I’m so scared. He’s crazy. He killed my parents and had plans to kill Devin. He knows Devin is hunting him but he doesn’t care.”
“Can you tell me where you are sweetheart?”
“I don’t know exactly. It’s a cabin, but I don’t know where. He knocked me out
.” She sent me a mental picture of what the inside of the cabin looked like. It was a large single room. There was a deer head over the small fireplace. Older furniture took up a lot of the space.
“Are you okay baby? Has he hurt you?”
I felt her pulling away from me. “
No! You stay connected with me. Don’t block me.”
“I love you.”
I roared in rage. The only reason she’d cut the connection was if that bastard was hurting her. “Get us to the Ranch now!” I demanded of Kai. His foot punched the accelerator. I would go through every fucking wolf on that Ranch to find my mate.
Devin
I
howled mournfully. I was more wolf than male at the moment. I needed my mate. I needed to be able to connect to her, touch her, kiss her, yet she was gone from me. Even our mental connection had been severed and it killed me.
I hadn’t realized until now how much I relied on being able to touch Bliss through our connection. We often communicated that way when I wasn’t with her and now it had been several hours since I’d been unable to reach her. It left me feeling lost and frustrated.
I was still in wolf form, pacing the front porch of the Ranch house. I saw the dust in the distance so I knew Micha was on his way. I shifted, then ran upstairs for clothes. By the time I made it down, the SUV pulled up to the house.
When Micha exited the SUV, I knew he’d heard from Bliss. He was enraged.
“She’s in a one room cabin with a deer head over the fireplace. She’s handcuffed to an old metal cot. Do you know the place?” he demanded.
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t a fucking clue. Let me call Josh and give him the info. They are going door to door asking those who knew Conrad best, where he might be hiding.”
Micha nodded taking up pacing while I called Josh. When I got off the phone, Micha was still growling and pacing.
“What else did she tell you?” I asked.
“Nothing else. She cut the connection fairly quickly. The bastard was hurting her. I want to see where you were holding him.”
I nodded, leading the way toward the clinic. “There are holding cells under the clinic. Sometimes if a wolf is injured badly enough they will go a little feral so we had the cages built to contain them.”
“Do you know who let him out yet?” Micha asked gruffly.
“No. Not yet.” We went through the medical clinic down toward the basement. I opened the door and was surprised to see one of my younger wolf pack females sitting against the bars. Her face was tear-stained and when she looked up at me and Micha, guilt was written all over her face. Son of a bitch!
“What did you do Amber?” I growled. She cringed, curling in on herself.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered softly, so softly it was barely a sound.
“Stand up,” I ordered. She came to her feet slowly, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Now start talking before I rip your throat out for what I think you did,” I threatened as I moved to stand in front of her. Micha was right by my side. She took one look at Micha and whimpered. “Speak. Now!” I shouted making her jump.
“I let him out of the cage,” she swallowed then rushed on. “He said we were going to go away together. But, first he had to go get cash and supplies. I was supposed to meet him at the cabin. He said he was going to mate me. I love him Alpha.” Tears flowed down her cheeks.
“What cabin?” Micha asked calmly. Too calmly. I could feel the rage radiating off him. He wanted to kill the girl.
“The one we’ve been meeting at for the past year. It belonged to my father. It’s about five miles south of here. There’s an old sign that says ‘
Dave’s Place
,’ she informed us.
Micha and I looked at each other. “Let’s go,” I directed. The warriors and Micha filed out the room. I turned to look at Amber. “If my mate dies at the hands of Conrad, your own life is over.”
She nodded, accepting her fate. I ran from the room catching up with everyone. I jumped into the SUV while pushing speed dial to call Josh. I relayed the information to him and also told him about Amber. He cursed long and loud.
At the speed Kai drove, it took us only minutes to cover the five miles. As Amber said there was an old sign that read ‘
Dave’s Place’
that led us down an overgrown trail. Kai cut the lights and turned down the lane. It was probably another three or four miles down the lane before we came upon a cabin that was in pretty bad shape. We could see a single light on through the tattered covering of a small window.
The sound of Bliss’ scream moved us all to scramble out of the SUV and head for the cabin. I reached the cabin first, kicking down the door just as another scream splintered the air. Micha was right behind me. We howled in unison at the sight that greeted us. “He’s mine,” I muttered as I shifted, my clothes ripping and falling away from my body. I focused on Conrad who dropped the electric cattle prod to the floor. He’d been laying it against Bliss’ skin, enjoying her screams of pain. She hung from her wrists from the ceiling, her feet dangling above the floor. She was covered in blood, bites, and bruises.
I roared and the call was answered by Conrad. We came at each other like two freight trains.
Bliss
I
watched as the front door crashed in. Devin was the first to enter followed by Micha then Warrick. Devin released a deadly howl, immediately shifting to his wolf form. Conrad also shifted and met Devin’s attack. I closed my eyes not wanting to see the carnage. Micha’s roar had my eyes popping open. It looked as if he was paralyzed for a second, his eyes roaming over me. Warrick said something to him that got him moving again.
They ran over to me, immediately unhooking me from the ceiling. I literally fell into Micha’s arms. Micha cursed as I cried out in pain. Before hanging me from the ceiling by my wrists, Conrad had exchanged the plain metal cuffs for silver ones. My wrist and ankles burned like they were on fire. Warrick rummaged around looking for the key.
“He had the key on him,” I said weakly, wearily. My entire body felt like it was broken.
“We have cutters in the SUV. Let’s get her out of here,” Brock said from behind Micha. It sounded like a war zone in the cabin. Furniture was breaking, glass shattering. Howls and roars filled the air.
“Devin...” I said looking at Micha as he carried me from the cabin, bypassing the fighting that was happening.
“He’ll be fine baby. It’s you I’m worried about.” Micha took me out to the cool night air and over to the back door of the SUV. Brock handed Micha a blanket, which he wrapped around me as best he could with my wrist and ankles still bound. He gently sat me in the back of the SUV.
Brock pulled out a pair of large bolt cutters, crouching down at my feet. The metal of the cutters was cold against my hot skin. They rubbed against the irritated skin of my ankles and Brock apologized when he saw me grimace.
“No, it’s okay. Just get them off,” I pleaded. I’d take whatever pain came with it to have those cuffs off. With a grunt and snap of the cutter, one of the cuffs fell away. Brock immediately did the same to the other. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks.
I held out my hands, silently begging him to hurry and remove the cuffs from my wrist. Micha grabbed my forearms, steading me while Brock worked the tool. Within seconds they fell to the ground.
“Thank you,” I cried looking over at Brock. He placed his fist above his heart and bowed.
“I’m calling Lucy,” Warrick called from the side of the SUV.
“Tell her to meet us at the Ranch,” Micha instructed, pulling the blanket closed in front of my chest. He tucked in the corner to keep it closed, then picked me up and climbed into the backseat.
“We can’t leave Devin.” I sat up against Micha’s hold. I could see shadows of the fight going on in the cabin and the howls made my skin crawl.
Micha pulled me back down against his chest. “He can take care of himself, we need to get you to the clinic.”
Bradley stepped up to the open door. “Brock and I will stay, my lady. We’ll bring your mate back to you.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you Bradley, thank you so much.” Just as his brother did, he put his fist to his heart and bowed. He shut the door of the SUV and tapped the top indicating Kai could drive off.
I hurt like I’d never hurt before. I shook uncontrollably and Micha id his best to warm me, but I doubt I’d ever feel warm again. He took my wrist in his hands, bringing them to his mouth. He began to lick at the red, cut skin. The healing agent in his saliva immediately went to work easing the burn.
“I love you,” he told me, bringing my palms to his mouth where he placed a sweet kiss to each.
A small laugh escaped me. He would choose that moment to tell me he loved me. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes closing of their own accord. I was done for. I couldn’t handle anything more. I wanted to sleep for about a month.
“Bliss?” Micha’s voice was full of concern.
“Tired Micha. So tired,” I said feeling oblivion calling me. If I slept, maybe when I woke up the pain would be gone.
“We are almost to the Ranch baby. Stay awake just a bit longer. Lucy will need to look you over then you can rest as much as you want.”
“I want to go home,” I told him. The thought of being at the Ranch scared me. Among all those wolves. “
What if Conrad comes back?”
“Oh baby, he won’t be coming back. Devin will make sure of it. As soon as Lucy says you are good to travel, we will go home, I promise.”
“Okay. I hurt Micha. He hurt me. He wouldn’t stop. I tried to fight, but I wasn’t strong enough.”
I couldn’t seem to stop talking. I felt Micha tense under me and I regretted my babbling. The SUV came to a sudden stop, the passenger door opening. Lucy was there, smiling down at me.
“Let’s get you inside Bliss,” she said gently.
Micha climbed down from the SUV and walked the few steps to the clinic door. Just as we entered, I heard a wolf howl. It sounded far off in the distance but it still made the hair on my arms stand up. A chorus of howls answered the lone howl.
“I want to go home,” I told Micha again. “Please Micha. I want to go home. I don’t want to be here. Please,” I begged, tears coming to my eyes.
Micha looked at Lucy and she nodded. “I’m going to give you something for the pain. It will make you woozy, but it’ll make the commute to the estate tolerable. We’ll get you home Bliss,” she reassured me. She pulled out a small glass bottle and a syringe from her bag. I was still in Micha’s arms so she lifted the side of the blanket to reveal my hip. She didn’t hesitate in pushing the needle in and injecting the liquid. Almost immediately I felt like I was floating on a cloud.
“Thank you,” I said as my eyes drifted closed.