Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter, page 24
part #2 of Midnight Liaisons Series
“I know,” she said, and her voice trembled a little. “But someone . . . someone told me to come at this time. And give you a message.”
“Oh?” I could barely hear from the blood roaring in my ears. “Who? What did they say?”
She swallowed hard. “They said that . . . that they were tired of waiting for you. And that you’ll be coming to them, begging for them to take you.”
I stared at her.
Behind us, Bath put down her phone. Immediately it rang again and she picked it up with an exasperated sigh. “Midnight Liaisons.”
“Is Ramsey there with you, baby?” I heard Beau’s voice clearly from across the room.
My sister looked over at me with wide eyes. I sat frozen in my chair. My stomach threatened to lurch out of my mouth.
“No,” Bath said, her gaze on me. “Sara said he was meeting you.”
No, no.
Beau sighed. “He’s not answering his phone. I’ll try him again.”
I stood, my entire body trembling.
They said that they were tired of waiting for you. That you’re going to come to them, begging.
“Maybe he got stuck in traffic. Or had a flat.”
“I’m going to the gas station to fill up,” he’d said. “Want me to get you anything while I’m there? Stop by Starbucks?”
He’d never come back to deliver the coffee. I’d been so immersed in work that I’d completely forgotten. I turned toward the front door.
You’re going to come to them, begging.
They were tired of waiting for me. I had a mate in the way, and since I wasn’t coming around, they’d just get rid of the mate.
“Sara?” my sister said, her voice questioning. “You okay?”
My fists clenched, and I ran for the front door and slammed through it, hearing the clang of the decorative cowbell against the glass. My sneakers crunched on the gravel and I sprinted, dashing down the highway.
“Sara,” my sister yelled from the front door. “Where are you going?”
Anguish gutted me. I ran though my legs burned, the muscles twitching to shift. I raced out of the parking lot and down the street, past the Dollar Mart and ripping down the road, as fast as I could run, my mind picturing the gas station on the corner of the intersection. I raced there and stopped, panting, breathing hard. A car rolled past and honked; I was blocking the pumps. I moved out of the way and lifted my nose, sniffing the air for the slightest hint of bear. The gasoline smell was overwhelming, and I wanted to scream in frustration.
I couldn’t smell him. Too much traffic had come through. I paced around each of the pumps furiously. If I had to put my nose to the damn concrete, I would.
There! A scent! I ran to the last pump, even though there was no car parked there. I ran my hands over the pump, looking for a scent of anything—a leftover, a hint.
A twisted piece of metal hanging out of the garbage caught my eye. I pulled it out and sucked in a breath—Ramsey’s license plate. The edges were clawed, as if someone very strong—and half-transformed—had yanked it off.
The garbage began to ring, and my eyes widened. Ignoring the bees buzzing around the trash, I reached my hand in and pulled out Ramsey’s phone.
I clicked to answer.
“Ramsey? Hey, man, you had me worried—,” Beau began.
“I just found his phone,” I said in a trembling voice, interrupting. “He’s not here.”
“Sara? Where is he?”
“He’s gone,” I said harshly. “They took him. They took him because they want me to find him.”
“Sara—”
The growl started low in my throat. “And I’m going to do it,” I said, my lips tightening. Nobody stood in the way of me and my mate.
“Let’s be calm about this,” Beau began, but I hung up and tossed the phone aside. I barely made it behind the gas station before I began to shift. Grim with determination, I encouraged the change to ripple over me, mentally leaned into it. I needed the aid of my wolf side.
And . . . the change came. Slowly but steadily, my muscles adjusting and tensing, bones flexing as if they’d been made of rubber. In a few minutes, I was down on all fours, and my body sank into the last of the changes with relative ease. It twinged and stung, but it wasn’t the earth-shattering pain it had been in the past.
The trick was simply to embrace it. Much like in my relationship with Ramsey, my own fear had gotten in the way of things.
I lifted my canine nose to the breeze. The scents were ten times stronger as a wolf, and I easily caught the scent of bear—and wolf. Werewolves in human form have a slightly differently tinged scent—much like a howl sounds different to wolf ears—and I could tell they’d been human when they’d grabbed him. All but one, that is.
I circled the parking lot, nose to the asphalt. A child cried for his mother at the sight of me, but I ignored them. Ramsey’s scent disappeared on the asphalt—they’d driven away with him. I wanted to cry out in grief at the thought. Ramsey would have never let them drive away with him while conscious—he would have fought to the death. And he could have taken them, too—so something must have happened. The scent of the wolf continued back behind the gas station, and I circled the scent trail for a minute, puzzled.
Then I realized—they were trying to lead me somewhere. Of course. This was all part of the elaborate, sneaky trap they were laying for me. The scent went across the next parking lot as well, and then down the street. I crossed the street and slunk through a suburban neighborhood before crossing into a field. The wolf’s trail—Wyatt, I could tell by the smell—continued on forward, so I followed it. They were leading me northwest, out of the city and into the sticks.
On my wolf feet I was able to travel fast. The trail cut through yards and over structures, and at some points it circled around buildings. I knew it was designed to lead a canine nose. As a human, I’d have been able to follow the trail, but not as clearly and as quickly.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, I was deep into private property and out of the city. My skin twitched with the need to change back, but I ignored it. The trail grew heavy with the scent of wolves, the scent older and foul. I was close.
Deep in the woods, thick in the brambles and weeds that overgrew the land, I found an old ranch-style house. It was surrounded by a tumbledown barbed-wire fence, and I approached, the scent of wolves in my nose. The house had been abandoned long ago. The wooden shingled walls needed a coat of paint, and every window seemed to be broken. There was a large porch up front, and several wolves lay there, lolling in the shade. Their ears pricked at the sight of me and one raised his head. I’d found the Anderson hangout.
This was where they had taken Savannah. This was where Ramsey would be.
Wary, I paced in the front. One of the wolves slunk into the house as the others regarded me, waiting. One wolf lay his head back down on the porch, and his mouth curved into the canine version of a smile.
That made me furious. I lowered my head and began to make the difficult shift back to my human form. They wanted to play games? I wouldn’t play by their rules. I crouched low, my back arching as I shifted. Now all the wolves on the porch watched me. I didn’t care. I had this. Fury or determination made the shift surprisingly easy to manage. Within a minute or two, my human form crouched on the ground instead of my wolf form, and I brushed my sweaty hair out of my eyes.
The others hadn’t changed—maybe they spent more time in their wolf form than human? I knew the Russells didn’t. Then again, the Russells were sane. I couldn’t say the same about the Andersons.
A high-pitched whine cut through the air, then someone appeared in the doorway. Gracie, still wearing one of her too-short-too-tight sundresses, her feet bare. Her curly hair was pulled over one shoulder and she smiled broadly at the sight of me. “Hey, girl. Was wondering when you’d show up.”
I stared at her, resisting the urge to bare my teeth and snarl at her. I didn’t understand her friendly words. We weren’t friends.
She approached me with a knowing smile, her hands on her hips. She had a towel thrown over her shoulder and she offered it so I could cover up.
I ignored her and stood, easing my stiff muscles. I was adapting. I didn’t need the wolves.
She pushed forward, trying to wrap the towel around me. “Here, girl—”
I pushed her aside with a snarl, baring my teeth. Surprised, Gracie took a step backward and then averted her eyes.
A surge of elation rushed through me. Her bossiness was a challenge, and I’d won it. She couldn’t deal with the confidence that anger had brought to me, and she was yielding. In the pack, I now outranked her until she challenged me again. She kept her eyes averted and took another step backward.
I resolved then and there that I wouldn’t yield to another wolf. They wanted to see me strong? They got it.
“I want to see Ramsey.”
“Why would your boyfriend be here?” someone asked, and I looked up to see Tony.
“Because you wanted me to come here,” I said calmly. “I’m here, and I want to talk to Levi.”
Tony looked me up and down with a leer, then nodded his head. “Come in, then, if you’re so brave.”
I went. There was nothing else the wolves could do to me, after all. My jaw set, I stalked inside behind Tony.
There were a few other wolves lounging in the living room of the house. The place smelled like stale cigarettes, weed, and so many wolves that it was impossible to pick out any other scent.
Connor jumped up at the sight of me, immediately removing his shirt and offering it to me.
This was different than Gracie’s smug offer of a towel. As a male wolf, Connor couldn’t really compete with me, so I took the shirt and shrugged it on.
“Sara? What are you doing here?” His face went pale. “Is Savannah all right?”
I gave him a cold look. “I’m here for my mate.”
Sprawled on the couch nearby was Maynard. He gestured at his body and winked at me. “Here I am, baby doll.”
I ignored him, sniffing the air for Ramsey’s scent. The smell of wolves and weed was too thick to pinpoint anything else.
Tony moved past and slapped my ass, and I jumped in surprise, then glared at him. He was trying to unnerve me, make me doubt myself.
Connor shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why would Ramsey be here?”
“Ask your cousins,” I said. Either Connor was playing stupid or he wasn’t being included in the games of the others. I didn’t know which one it was—Gracie turned on a dime, after all.
But Connor gave me an uneasy look and raced for the stairs.
“Now, boy,” I heard Maynard call after him, teasing. “We didn’t tell you ’cause you know how you get. Can’t have you fucking all the captives . . .”
My heart raced and I followed him as he stomped up the narrow stairs. “Uncle Levi? Levi! Where are you!”
He tried the first door, which led to an empty room. He tried the next door, and I tried the one opposite. The room I stared into was empty, filth and leaves scattered on the floor. This had obviously been a nesting ground for the wolves for years.
Across the hall, Connor groaned and disappeared into one of the rooms. Heart pounding, I followed him in . . . and gasped.
Ramsey lay on a filthy mattress on the floor. Dried blood crusted his nose, and a massive bruise shone at one of his temples. His feet were manacled together, the chain hooked to a support beam in the wall.
He didn’t stir as Connor stood over him, fists clenching. My heart slammed in my throat at the sight. Oh, Ramsey.
“Levi!” Connor called again.
I crouched next to Ramsey, an enormous knot in my throat. Oh, God. Oh, God. My fingers fluttered over his face, smoothing his hair back so I could see the damage. He was pale, his skin with an odd cast to it. I brushed my fingers over his face . . . he was warm. Too warm. I lay my cheek against his chest, and his heart seemed to be pounding unnaturally fast. His breathing was rapid, and underneath his eyelids, his pupils darted as if stuck in a nightmare.
“Ramsey,” I said softly, brushing my fingers over his cheek. “Ramsey, wake up.”
He didn’t answer—his body didn’t respond to my touch. Fear washed over me, and I looked up at Connor. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Drugged,” he said thickly.
“Actually, he’s poisoned,” Levi said from the doorway, slouched casually against the frame.
I turned with a snarl, my teeth baring automatically as I placed myself between Levi and my mate. “You poisoned him?”
The leader of the wolves was sporting a black eye himself. His mouth drew up in a smirk at the sight of me, crouching in nothing but Connor’s T-shirt. “I don’t know if you noticed, but bears have incredible stamina.” He leered at me. “Though you probably already guessed that. Your boy here wouldn’t stay under with tranqs, so we gave him a little something extra.”
My fingers curled and I could practically feel my claws coming out again. “What did you give him?”
Levi continued to study me. “Family secret. As in, only members of the pack get to know.”
“I’m in your pack,” I said bitterly. “Remember?”
“Are you, girl?” His gaze seared into mine. “Because saying you’re in the pack and actually being in the pack are two different things.”
I bared my teeth at him. “I said I was pack.”
“You’re not,” he snarled. “Do you run with the pack? Do you hunt with us? Do you mate with us? Those are the things a wolf female does with her pack. And since you haven’t done any of those things, you’re still an outsider, aren’t you?”
I wanted to kill him. Rip his throat out with my bare teeth and watch him bleed out on the floor. Rage consumed me, and I clenched my fists, ignoring the bite of my claws into my palms. “Give me the antidote to the poison.”
He continued to stare at me with those hateful yellow eyes. “Pack secret. You can have it . . . for a price.”
“What do you want from me?”
His eyes gleamed. “Same thing we’ve always wanted from you, baby doll. You need to join the pack.”
Hunt with us. Run with us. Mate with us. That’s what a pack female does.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I wanted to scream my outrage, but I couldn’t. I needed to know what was wrong with Ramsey.
“Fine,” I bit out. “I’ll join your pack.”
“In all ways?” Levi led on, raising an eyebrow. “Be a shame to get the boys’ hopes up for nothing.”
“In all ways,” I gritted, ignoring the tremor of fear that passed through my body.
“This is wrong,” Connor said, stepping in front of me. “Uncle Levi, you know this is wrong.”
Levi shoved Connor aside. “Why’s it wrong, boy? Because you don’t want to fuck this one? This is about your pack. We need a female. A mate for Maynard so he can take over the pack when I step down. Mating ain’t about a girl you want to stick your dick in, boy. It’s about the blood. It’s about making sure there are more wolves to keep the bloodlines strong. You need to stand down.” He glared into Connor’s eyes, his voice hard. “Or are you challenging me?”
I sucked in a breath. There was a long moment of silence, and then Connor shook his head. “No. No challenge.”
“Good.” Levi gripped Connor by the arm and threw him aside. Connor crashed into the wall and waited, crouching low, his face averted, flushed with anger. Levi approached me, that smug smile on his face. “Let’s take our newest family member out for a run, shall we? Break her in nice and easy.”
I stood still, though the will of the alpha was so overwhelming that it took the effort of every muscle in my body to do so. “I want the poison antidote first.”
He reached out and snarled his hand in my hair, pulling me close. His yellow eyes ate up my vision until all I could see was them. “You don’t get to make demands,” he told me softly. “I’m the alpha.”
And I found I could not disagree.
Levi stood, and I watched the others look over at him with a look of hungry anticipation. “Who’s hungry?”
A low chorus of affirmative, happy growls met his question.
“Time for a dinner hunt, then,” Levi said, his eyes more yellow than ever. “I’m in the mood for some fresh, bloody rabbit.”
I hated that my stomach growled.
Wyatt and Tony looked over at me and grinned.
They all stood and began to strip off their clothing. I watched as Maynard was the first to drop to all fours, transforming. The others followed suit just as quickly. I longed to go upstairs and check on Ramsey, but as long as he was chained to the wall, I needed to play along. So I stripped off Connor’s shirt and bent to change as well.
My change took longer than the others. When they raced out of the house, howling with excitement, I was only half-transformed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Levi had waited for me, as well as Connor. I continued my shift to wolf and was relieved when everything slid into place smoothly.
Once I was wolfen, Levi nipped at my flank, herding me in line, and I fell into place behind him. It felt natural to fall in behind the alpha, to race through the woods. The human part of me was screaming to run for help—to get Beau and the others. But if I left Ramsey, what would happen to him? He was helpless. And if I ran, they’d just hunt me again. They’d made it quite clear that I wasn’t allowed to leave.
Why keep fighting it, if it put my life and the lives of those I loved in danger? Better to just give in. I would never win, and I was tired of fighting. Ramsey’s life was in danger, and I wouldn’t let him die because of me.
I joined the wolves, and we took off into the underbrush. The air was crisp with oncoming night, and the smells of the earth were all around me, in my nostrils and influencing my wolf side, making my mind wild with the scents and sounds of dusk.
As we raced, the other wolves ran into me, nipped at my flanks and danced circles around me. They were feeling playful, a sensation I couldn’t share.
The scent of a rabbit crossed our path, and Levi turned and bolted after it. The pack followed, all eagerly chasing the same goddamn rabbit. I followed as well, lest I earn another nip to my flanks if I fell back. The chase went on, but the rabbit was doomed. Within a short time, it was tracked, attacked, and then the wolves fell back as Levi dismembered his kill. We’d get a taste if he deigned to leave us anything. That suited me just fine. I didn’t want any of it. That rabbit reminded me of myself a little too much right now.
