Falling Hearts (Hearts of Wolves Book 1)

by Maggie Garrity

  “I’ll go with you,” Alex didn’t look up as he spoke. He kept typing for a minute before finally clicking something and closing the laptop. Then he looked up at me, smoothing his face into a calm mask that completely contradicted his agitation from seconds before.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I hedged, knowing that Alex could be the very reason that Delilah was ignoring me. “Delilah doesn’t like you much. I need to talk to her about us and make sure she’s really okay. I don’t think having you there would be a good thing.” Alex seemed to contemplate what I had said. I knew I was right. Delilah wouldn’t talk to me at all if I brought Alex again. I watched the myriad of emotions on Alex’s face until he finally looked at me sternly. I knew I wasn’t going alone.

  “I won’t go in, but I will go,” Alex spoke firmly. I started to shake my head, but he cut me off. “No, Zee. I’m going with you. We have no idea where the Hunter is, and at this point we don’t know if Silas is somehow involved with him. Jarren’s been following his movements, but last night he lost him. I don’t like it, and I won’t send you into what could be a dangerous situation alone.”

  “Fine,” I said exasperated at his need to protect me. I could take care of myself. Any other day I would have argued more, but I was worried about Delilah. After telling Wyatt where we were heading, we took Alex’s new truck. His nervous energy filled the cab and made my skin itch, so I tried to distract us both with talk about the mating ceremony.

  “Ophelia wants us to do it within a month,” I told him. “Tegan is convinced we should wait until spring. I tried to tell her that spring isn’t much different than winter most years. I’m leaning towards waiting for May or June. I know that’s a long time, but it will be warmer, and the forest will be beautiful. What do you think?”

  “Whenever you want is fine,” Alex answered absentmindedly as his eyes swept the area around us while he drove. He had his window down despite the cold air. He was looking at each car that passed us carefully. I decided that maybe distraction wasn’t the best plan. I looked out my window at the town that was going by.

  When we pulled into my parking spot at the apartment, I saw Delilah’s car. It was in its normal spot and looked fine. I looked up at my apartment. All the blinds were still closed, and I couldn’t see any lights on. I wondered I Delilah wasn’t answering because she was sick. I turned quickly to Alex.

  “I’ll stay here,” he told me. “If anything looks off, come back down here immediately. Don’t go looking for trouble Zee. You may be a werewolf, but you aren’t invincible.” I leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips before opening the truck door.

  I sniffed the air as I walked toward the apartment. I picked up Jarren’s scent and I looked toward the back of the complex where I knew he must be. I moved slowly up the dark stairway and stopped at my door. It was shut, I tried the knob, and it was locked. I couldn’t hear any noise inside. I unlocked the door and pushed it open carefully. What I saw made me backpedal with a gasp.

  The room was destroyed. The TV lay shattered on the floor among the glass from the coffee table. The couch was flipped over. Delilah’s schoolbooks were scattered, and her computer laid open with the screen twisted at an odd angle. I took a deep breath to contain a sob and smelled the blood.

  Cold terror gripped me as I started forward, but a hand grasped my arm. I stifled a scream as I looked up into Alex’s face. His eyes were darting around the room. I saw his nostrils flare and he flinched. He smelled the blood, too. I tried to jerk from his grip to get into the apartment.

  “Wait,” he breathed as he yanked his phone from his pocket and texted someone. Seconds later Jarren came running up the stairs. He held a gun in his hand as he inched into my home. Alex and I followed behind him. I pulled away from Alex to find the source of the blood. I followed the scent to the kitchen.

  A bloody knife lay on the table. Towels covered in blood were on the floor. It looked like so much blood. I didn’t know how anyone could have lived through it. One of the kitchen chairs was pulled out as if it had been sat in. I saw something black on the floor and moved closer to see that it was cut zip ties. Splatters of blood were on the floor and the table beside the chair. The blood trailed out of the kitchen. There were small puddles throughout the living room. More blood was among the glass of the coffee table.

  Jarren moved out of the hallway and stood looking in the kitchen. He walked in and squatted by the chair. I watched him pick up on of the zip ties. He closed the gap to connect the cut ends and looked at the back of the chair. His head dropped for a moment. Then he stood and turned to look at Alex and me.

  “She was surprised,” Jarren started. He went to look over the door once more before continuing. “I would say whoever did this had a key. Delilah was in the kitchen when she heard them come in. Either she didn’t know them, or they threatened her, because she got the knife and managed to stab whoever it was. That is most of the blood.

  “She ran into the living room, I assume to get her phone, although I can’t be sure because it’s missing. The intruder followed and there was a struggle. It looks like Delilah was thrown through the coffee table. The blood there is hers. It must have knocked her out or hurt her badly enough that she didn’t fight back. She was zip tied to the chair. The intruder cleaned themselves up. Then I’d say they hurt her. There is blood spatter that indicates someone was hit several times in that chair.”

  I was shaking my head as he spoke. I could feel the heat from the tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t think of any reason for someone to hurt Delilah. If it was the Hunter shouldn’t we smell him? He knew where we were, why didn’t he just come for us?

  “Where is she?” I asked. Alex came and tried to pull me into his arms, but I moved away. “Is she alive? Who took her Jarren? I thought you were watching her!”

  “I was, but this happened when I was trying to follow Silas,” Jarren sounded defeated. “The blood is several hours old. She is alive, Zee. They took her with them. They wouldn’t have bothered if she weren’t alive.”

  With that I collapse onto the floor. I knew I had to keep it together and find Delilah, but for a moment I let my world shatter around me. I let the sobs come and I cried harder than I ever had before. This time when Alex wrapped his arms around me, I let him. I turned my head into his chest and just held onto him while I cried.

  Jarren made another trip through the apartment. I turned my head to follow his progress. He spent a long time in Delilah’s room before returning. He was shaken, which was enough to shock me from my crying. Jarren’s normally blue eyes were glowing brown as he took in the scene of the living room once more. Then his eyes fell on the kitchen and the chair Delilah had been in. I watched a frightening change come over him. His face hardened, his muscles tensed, and his eyes turned cold and murderous. He turned back to face us.

  “I’ll find her,” and with those words, Jarren walked out the door. I hoped he was right. I didn’t think I could live without Delilah. Alex pulled me to my feet and helped me lock up the apartment. The idea of leaving it in such a mess without having any answers was hard for me.

  “I’ll call my father,” Alex said as we moved down the stairs. “Maybe one of his trackers can pick up any clues Jarren missed. We’ll find her, Zee. We won’t stop until we do.” I took a small amount of comfort in what he said.

  I was getting ready to climb into truck when I noticed something sticking out of the wiper on Delilah’s car. I didn’t remember seeing it when I looked at her car when we pulled up. I looked around, searching for who could have put it there, but I didn’t see anyone. Walking over I picked up the sealed white envelope. My name was scrawled across the front of it.

  “Alex,” I looked up at him in shock. He walked over, eyes scanning the area as I had, and nodded for me to continue. I carefully slid my finger under the seal and pulled out the single sheet of paper. Something fluttered to the ground and Alex bent to pick it up as I read the note out loud.

  “Zee, />
  First, I would like to introduce myself since I didn’t have a chance to that night in the bar. My name is Malcolm. I have a great deal of interest in you Zee. I have even more interest in your future mate, Alex Kallis. A born wolf and one with such an interesting family history. He’s exactly who I’ve been searching for. Pity you didn’t die that night we met, now you’ve been infected. Collateral damage I suppose. Much like your little sister will be. Delilah is alive if you were curious. She won’t live for long though. I have some interesting plans for her. I believe Silas does as well. I will make you a deal, Zee. I won’t kill her if your entire pack goes to the last motel Jarren saw Silas at. Don’t be expecting to see me, but I will know if you come. If you send Jarren out looking for her, we will slice her up piece by piece. Maybe I will mail you a finger or two. Don’t keep me waiting long.

  - Malcolm”

  I looked up at Alex. He was staring at what I could now see was a photo. He handed it to me and took the letter. I looked down at a picture of my sister. Delilah had a gash across the side of her head. Her lip was split and swollen. One of her eyes was already swelling and bruising. Her arms were pulled behind her attached, I knew, to the kitchen chair. She was in a pair of shorts and a tank top, and her feet were bare. Somehow, I doubted they had taken the time to dress her warmly before they took her.

  “We have to hurry,” Alex practically shove me in the truck. On the drive back to the pack house he made calls, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was staring at the picture of Delilah. One thing that I noticed, over all the injuries, was Delilah’s eyes were full of fire. She was angry and she would fight. I knew Delilah, and she wasn’t going to take all of this quietly. I smiled. My sister was alive, my pack was mobilizing to find her, and I was going to see Malcolm dead for hurting my family.

  Epilogue

  Delilah

  I felt like I was floating through a fog. I could tell there was a clearing and I reached for it. I immediately regretted my choice to fight for consciousness when I realized the past several hours or days were not a dream. I kept my eyes closed and tried to take stock of my injuries and surroundings.

  My shoulders ached from my arms being wrenched behind my back and zip tied to the chair I was sitting in. I couldn't feel my hands anymore but the zip ties around my wrists caused me to cringe if I moved. I knew they were cutting into my skin and I tried to keep as still as possible. My ribcage couldn't expand fully in this position, but I was able to take shallow breaths.

  My face was the worst of the pain. Fists and lips tended to not get along, and my split lip proved that quite well. The skin on my cheek was tight with dried blood from the cut I got when I was thrown into the coffee table at the apartment.

  I tried to turn my focus onto my surroundings. The room was quiet in a wide-open kind of way. I knew I was in a building because of the way the wind outside sounded distant. My body shivered violently from the intense cold. My feet were flat on the floor, but they had been numb for I don't know how long. I heard the echo of footsteps coming towards me and I finally cracked my eyes open warily to see around me.

  The floor and walls around me were concrete. That explained my cold toes. I was in a wooden chair in the center of a huge room. Huge concrete pillars jutted from floor to ceiling along the center of the room. I was between two of the pillars facing a large door that a man had just entered through. I noticed bits of trash and beer bottles tossed around, and I really hoped they belonged to some homeless dwellers that would be returning at any moment.

  My only company at that moment was the man walking toward me. He had seemed so unassuming when I saw him at the bar, and he introduced himself as Malcolm. Now he had a dark smile on his lined face as he stalked towards me. He was bald, but it could have been by choice. He had a goatee that was salt and pepper in color. His eyes were blue, and at the bar they had seemed friendly. Right now, as he stopped in front of me they were icy and terrifying.

  “Your sister was at your apartment,” he said as he looked down at me. “I imagine she was horrified by the mess you made. She had her mate and your stalker with her. What is his name, ah yes, Jarren. I would have loved to have gotten a hold of him before he was bitten. He has quite impressive tracking skills. Don't worry though, dear, he won't find you.”

  Malcolm reached his hand out and stroked it across my injured eye down across the blood on my cheek to my split lip. He smiled serenely at me as be ran his thumb gently over my lip. When he probed the split with his thumb I bit down as hard as I could. The metallic taste of blood exploded in my mouth and he wrenched his hand away. I kept my face blank despite the pain as my split lip bled freely again. Malcolm inspected the wound on his thumb and then glared at me.

  “You're not a very smart girl,” he said with an eerie calmness. Then, faster than my eyes could comprehend, he backhanded me across the unmarred side of my face. Stars danced across my vision, but I fought hard to not succumb to the gray that tried to take over. I glared up at him and spat the blood from my mouth at his feet.

  “Not smart at all,” a familiar voice stated. My heart leaped for joy for just a moment as I recognized Silas walking up beside Malcolm. His look of contempt killed any hope I had of him rescuing me.

  “Hello, Delilah,” he sneered in his charmingly smooth voice. “It seems your sister doesn't plan to give up her pack for your life. Jarren is already searching for you. I found it highly entertaining watching him try to find a trail to follow.”

  I didn't reply. I wasn't surprised that Zee wasn't giving up. I never expected her to. I felt my sliver of hope rekindle when Silas said Jarren was searching. If anyone could find me it would be Jarren. He had an annoying knack for knowing exactly where I was. I just had to hang on for a little while longer. When I got out of there, I was going to kiss that werewolf. Yeah, werewolf.