by Sky Winters
“Hello?”
“Katerina?”
“Mike?”
“Hey, sis. I need your help.”
“Of course. Where are you? I’ll come get you.”
“No. Um. I’m with some people.”
“What do you mean you are with some people?”
“I mean, I’m with some people.”
“Mike, are you in trouble?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll call the police. Tell me where you are.”
“No! Do not do that. I just need money.”
“Money? To get home?”
There was a clattering noise on the other end, and she heard Mike grunt loudly. Then a different voice came on the line.
“Katerina—is that what your brother called you?”
“Who is this?”
“You don’t need to know my name. What you need to know is that your brother owes me a lot of money, and if I don’t get it today, it’s not going to be so good for him.”
“How much money?”
“Eighteen thousand dollars.”
“Eighteen thousand dollars? I don’t have that kind of money, and even if I did, today is Sunday. How am I supposed to get it?”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Listen, I own a house. I can maybe get a loan, but not before tomorrow. I’ll have to go to the bank.”
“You have until ten p.m. Mallory Park. South benches. Bring the money in a brown lunch sack, and someone will pick it up.”
“I can’t—” she began to say, but he cut her off.
“This isn’t a negotiation, princess. Bring us the money your brother owes us or we’ll have to take it out of his flesh. Frankly, I’d rather have the cash, but it’s your call.”
“I—” she began, any further thoughts were cut off by the sound of the call clicking off from the other end.
“Oh, God,” she gasped into the open air around her.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Travis
“What’s wrong?”
Kat’s eyes were red and swollen as if she’d been crying. She looked anxious, and perhaps a bit shell shocked. She started to say something but quickly devolved into babbling incoherently.
“Okay. Okay. Come and sit down,” he told her, leading her to her kitchen table and placing her in a chair before kneeling down in front of her. “Now, just breathe. Calm down and tell me what has happened.”
His scent filled her nostrils, creating some weird mix of desire even in the middle of her distress. She pushed it away, trying to get a grip on herself.
“Mike. They have Mike.”
“Mike? Your brother? Who has him?”
“I don’t know,” she gasped.
“Okay. Tell me what happened.”
Kat told him about the phone call and their demands for money.
“I can’t get that kind of money, not on a Sunday. I don’t know if I could even get it on a Monday, maybe I could get a loan, but I don’t know if that would happen on such short notice or if they will give me one at all,” she babbled on.
“Alright. Let’s start with something simple. How much money do they want?”
“Eighteen thousand dollars.”
“Eighteen thou?” he repeated, making a whooshing sound.
“I talked to Mom and Dad. They don’t have it either, not on hand. Dad said he could get it together within a few days, but not today. What kind of people call and demand that much money on a Sunday?”
“Bad people.”
“What am I going to do, Travis?”
“These people. Do you know who they are? Are they wolves or humans?”
“I don’t know.”
“When they called, did they use your brother’s phone?”
“I, I don’t know. I didn’t even think to look,” she said, springing up to get her phone from the counter nearby. She looked at it and held it out to him to show the caller ID. “Yes.”
“Alright,” he said, trying to think his way through this. “Apps. Do you know of any apps he uses on his phone?”
“Um, no. Not really. I think he uses the Alpha Meets Omega app. Maybe that find my phone thing. I know he used it one time when he’d left it somewhere.”
“Okay. I don’t think there is any sort of tracking data on the Alpha Meets Omega app, but we might be able to get a fix on his phone with the other thing. What kind of phone does he have?”
“I’m not sure. Some sort of Android. Samsung, maybe?”
“Do you have a computer?”
“Of course.”
“Get it and let’s see if we can figure out his password.”
Kat walked to her bedroom and retrieved her laptop, bringing it to the kitchen and sitting it on the table between them. They went to the find my phone website and typed in Mike’s phone number. Much to her their surprise, it auto-populated his password.
“Did he use your laptop to find his phone last time?”
“I don’t remember. Yeah. I guess he did. It must have saved the password.”
“Good thing. Let’s see what we can find out.”
They watched as the grid popped up and pinpointed the location of his phone. Travis winced when he saw the address. It wasn’t good. Kat didn’t miss the grimace.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“That’s the Diamondback Reserve. Definitely not humans there. They are about as anti-social as it gets when it comes to the non-shifter sort.”
“Diamondback. As in snakes?”
“The name yes, but they aren’t called that because they shift into snakes. They just behave like them. They’re bears.”
“Jesus. How did he manage to get himself mixed up with bears?”
“Drugs. Gambling. Loan sharking. Women. Name your vice, and the Diamondbacks will hook you up.”
“So, my brother has gotten himself kidnapped by bears. That’s what you are telling me.”
“That’s what it looks like,” he replied, glancing at the clock. “It’s almost seven. We’ve only got three hours to deal with this. If we can’t get money, then we’ll have to get muscle to take him back.”
Kat was shaking her head. “I don’t know anyone who is going to put themselves out there for Mike. He’s burned a lot of bridges, you know?”
“Alright. I know some guys who can help. Let me make some calls.”
Travis felt torn. He didn’t want to do this, but he couldn’t let her down. It was obvious her brother meant a lot to her. No matter what kind of trouble he got himself into or how many times he fell, he was still her brother, and she wanted to help him.
Still, he was putting his freedom in jeopardy. The thought of that was a not so gentle reminder that he’d not told her about his own problems, about prison, or how he came to be there. Nor would he tell her that the same men who had helped him land behind bars were the ones who would come to his aid in helping her brother.
Secrets were never good, and he wouldn’t keep them from her forever, but right now, it seemed best that she did not know about any of that. He’d get this done for her or die trying. Bears weren’t easy to take down, especially if you were outnumbered. Who knew what they’d find when they got to where they were holding her brother.
It was hard to get together folks on such short notice, so Travis employed some help to spread the word. By the time he was off the phone, he had a couple dozen volunteers to help. If he were correct about the pinpoint on the map, Mike wasn’t in the main clubhouse. He was in one of the old abandoned cabins by the lake. Hopefully, that meant there weren’t too many of them with him. If they were lucky, there were only a handful.
“Travis, I don’t know about this. It’s so dangerous, and it’s not your problem,” Kat told him.
“It’s your brother. If it’s your problem, then it’s my problem.”
“We’ve only just met,” she replied.
“Does that matter? Considering what happened between us last night, does it matter if we’ve known one another a day or
a hundred days?”
“I suppose not.”
“Then, let me do this for you. You stay home while we take care of this.”
“I’m scared, Travis.”
“Don’t be. Bears have a weakness like any other creature.”
“What is it?”
Travis smiled at her. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Just trust me, okay?”
“I do, but if you go in there for them, even if it’s only a few of them .... they aren’t going to let that go. More will come. They’ll want payback.”
“What they want is their money. Listen, I can get your brother back for you. I can get him out of danger, for now. He’ll need to stay hidden until someone ponies up the dough he owes them. I’m not bringing him back here. That’s dangerous for him and for you.”
“I don’t know where else there is for him to go. I told you, he’s burned his bridges with the pack.”
“He can go with my pack and stay at my house. I’ll be at the hotel most of the week anyway, and I’ll want you to pack so you can go with me. I don’t want you alone. I suggest you send your parents on a little vacation, as well.”
“They won’t leave. Dad has patients to attend.”
“I’m pretty sure the house cats and poodles of the world can wait on their shots for a few days, just long enough for your family to figure out how to get the money together to bail your brother out of this mess, if that’s what you want to do.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“It’s not for me to say. I would do anything for my sisters, but if he’s just going to keep doing what he’s doing and heap more trouble on the family, where does it end?”
His phone beeped, and he looked down at it for a moment, typing in a quick response before looking back up at her.
“That’s the guys. They’re ready to go. I want you to pack up enough clothes for at least a few days and be ready to go when I get back here. Sort out your parents after you have your stuff together so they can be working on the money end, hopefully from a charming hotel room somewhere.”
He knew he was being demanding, ordering her around, but it was the Alpha in him. He was scared for her to be alone here. Leaving her behind was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn’t take her with them. He’d have to trust her to do as he asked.
Kissing her softly on the lips, he gave her a wink as he turned to go. She stood there behind him, motionless, as if frozen in time. He paused at the door.
“Kat, get moving,” he told her as he opened it.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Be careful.”
“Always,” he replied.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kat
The last thing Kat wanted was to get Travis involved in all of this. She had just been so distraught when he had returned and didn’t know what else to do. As soon as he left, she hurried to her bedroom and pulled a suitcase from her closet, trying to pack what she would need.
Fortunately, she didn’t have any clients until Friday, so she wouldn’t have to worry about her board or any of that. She tried just to keep it simple, tossing in jeans and t-shirts along with her underthings and a few pairs of shoes. She moved along to her makeup and toiletries, trying to get it all into one big case so she didn’t look like some sort of princess with too much luggage. With that done, she went down to her parents’ house to talk to them face to face.
“Travis has no business getting involved in this mess,” her father growled.
“Someone has to do it, Dad. Would you rather they hurt Mike? Who knows what they might do to him?”
“They can’t hurt him more than he hurts himself,” he replied.
Her mom said nothing; sitting quietly beside him with her hands in her lap, she merely pursed her lips and looked downward. Mike had always been a wedge between her and Dad. He was always in trouble, and their mom was always bailing him out, until she couldn’t anymore.
“What about the money, Dad? Are you going to help with that?”
“I don’t know. I’m not the one who got tied up with a bunch of thugs who are shaking down my family for money to pay off my debt to them.”
“Fine. I’ll go to the bank and get a loan.”
“You will do no such thing, young lady. You don’t even have a steady job.”
“No, but I have collateral. That’s all I need.”
“You’re going to compromise your financial wellbeing to pay off your brother’s drug debt? No. I forbid it.”
“You forbid it? I’m a grown woman, Dad. If you won’t help Mike, then I will. We’re family. That’s what family does for one another.”
“Family doesn’t get their parents and sister tied up in a mess like this.”
“Right now, while you refuse to help your son, strangers are going to try and get him away from the men who are holding him. Do you understand that? They are putting their lives on the line with bears in order to save him from whatever harm they intend to do to him when I don’t show up at that park tonight with their money.”
“Then they are as dumb as he is, and you’re being equally as foolish.”
“Okay, well, if you are too stubborn to help yourself, will you at least take care of yourself and Mom? The bears might come for you next. It would be better if you left for a few days until I can take care of all this, if I can take care of it at all.”
“I’m not leaving my own house, and I can protect your mother.”
“Against Alpha bears? Really?”
“Yes. If I must,” he replied stubbornly.
Kat threw up her hands in disgust and headed for the door. Her mother followed her out onto the porch, speaking quietly.
“I’ll help you, Kat. Just let me talk to him and we’ll get the money together. He’s just angry about it all. You know how stubborn he is.”
“Thanks, Mom. What I need most from you is to stay safe. If he won’t leave, could you at least go without him? Maybe you can go upstate to Aunt Susie’s house for a visit?”
“I won’t leave your father. I know he’s an old fool, but he’s my old fool. Someday, you’ll meet someone, and you’ll understand that they aren’t always perfect, but they are always ours.”
“I think I may have already, Mom,” Kat said.
“Really? Travis? The one who’s gone for your brother? The one who brought you here when you passed out?”
“Yes. It’s been a little crazy since we met. It’s like we know each other so well and don’t know each other at all.”
“You’ll know all you need to know in time. Good or bad. It sounds like you’re taken with him, and not just any man would stick his neck out like this for someone he’d only known a brief time. I guess that’s the Alpha in him. I could smell it on him when he was waiting with us in the hallway.”
“You disapprove?”
“No. I don’t disapprove at all. I once had ambitions to marry an Alpha, but then I met your father and forgot all about that possibility. What he lacks in brawn and bravery, he makes up for in intelligence and kindness.”
“Except when it comes to Mike.”
“He’s just frustrated that the apple fell so far from the tree. He’s disappointed. He talks a big game about tough love and all that, but he’ll come around.”
“I hope so. Mike needs us. He needs all of us.”
“He needs rehab, honey. If you get him out of this mess, that is where he needs to go.”
“I know, Mom. Doc told me the same, but I guess I already knew. It’s just a matter of convincing Mike that he needs to go too.”
Kat’s Mom kissed her on the cheek and told her goodbye before going back inside the house. Kat went back to her house and sat, staring at the television blankly. It wasn’t even on. She just was lost in her own head at the moment, wondering what was happening with Mike at the bear’s cabins. Was he okay? Was Travis okay? Were he and his guys even there yet?
She fidgeted and squirmed on the sofa, anxiously waiting for Travis to
return and tell her what had happened. What a nightmare this was for all of them. The more she considered it, the angrier she became. Her Dad was right about one thing; it was selfish of Mike to put them in this position. Still, how could he have known the bears would go to such extremes to get their money out of him? How had he even ended up so much in debt with them anyway?
She was at her wit’s end by the time she heard Travis’s old Bronco pulling into her driveway. She met him at the door and froze in horror. He looked like he’d bathed in blood, and she couldn’t tell if it was his own or someone else’s. He pushed inside and stood in the middle of her living room, looking like he might pass out in a moment.
“Oh, God. You’re hurt. How badly?” she asked, beginning to check him over as best she could.
“I’m fine. It’s mostly not mine,” he said, wincing a little as he turned.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fine.”
“What about Mike? Did you get him?”
“Yes. A couple of the guys took him back to my place and will stay there with him for the night to make sure he’s okay.”
“How was he? Is he okay?”
“He’s roughed up a bit, but nothing that won’t heal. Once they get him secured, they’ll get him to shift into wolf form so he can speed up getting better.”
“Thank God.”
“Are you packed?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you want to clean up a little? Are you planning on walking back into your hotel looking like Carrie after her high school prom?”
“I’ve got some wipes and a jacket in the truck. I’ll make do. Right now, I want to get you out of here in case someone comes looking for you. What about your parents? Are they secure?”
“No. Dad won’t leave, and Mom won’t leave without him.”
“Fuck,” he replied. “Maybe you should call a couple of Alphas from your pack to watch over them. I know you said no one is too keen on Mike, but surely your parents are a different matter.”
“Yes. Right. I didn’t even think of that. I’ve just been so worried about you and Mike.”
“I know. Alright, let’s get out of here. You can call whoever you need to call on the way.”
