by Jade Royal
She felt them deep in her core, and surely she knew they could feel her and the pain she was inflicted. She showed them the image knowing they would see it but not be able to speak to her. The image would come as almost like a flashback or a memory, something residual just like how they felt her pain. The silver cuffs weakened her ability to project too long, and after a moment, she was slumped over with exhaustion. Leaving the window, she climbed back into the bed with the three young wolves. She clutched onto the drawing of Jayce and prayed that her projection was enough for her pack mates to piece together where she was being kept.
Chapter Four
Kellan walked around Jayce in his wolf form panting. They were both out of breath and worn out from tearing each other apart. Bliss had long shifted back to human, but Jayce was still out of control, not able to calm his wolf down. While Kellan fought his friend, Tristan had scooped Bliss up and taken her away to safety. It had almost been thirty minutes of straight fighting, and Kellan was tired. The only reason why none of them could beat each other was because they all grew up training together. They knew too much about the other to lose a fight, but at the moment, Jayce was down, and Kellan’s wolf felt satisfied that he whooped Jayce’s ass enough for trying to attack his mate again.
Jaxson came into the cavern with clothes for both Jayce and Kellan. He bowed his head to his Alpha and backed away. Kellan shifted and snatched up the jeans and got dressed. Jayce shifted back moments later, still laying on the ground. He groaned as the claw marks Kellan left slowly healed. When he was able to, he got up and took the other pair of jeans and slowly dressed.
“Where’s Bliss?” Jayce asked, worry dripping down his voice.
“She’s back in-”
“Shut up.” Kellan snapped at Jaxson. “You don’t give reports on my mate.” Jaxson nodded and backed up. He should have known better than that.
“As long as I didn’t hurt her…I-”
“As long as you didn’t hurt her?” Kellan gasped. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” Jayce stayed quiet.
“I’m prepared to help you get through the loss of Rita right now, but what I won’t accept is my mate or anyone else in the pack getting hurt for your lack of control, and I’m supposed to be the level-headed one Jayce, but I swear to God you attack Bliss again I will kill you.”
“I’m not attacking her on purpose.” Jayce finally spoke. “But I will accept my punishment for it.”
“Report back here tomorrow at nightfall for the punishment. Jaxson is going to shadow you for the rest of the night. Stay away from the she-wolves.” Kellan ordered.
“I need to apologize to Bliss,” Jayce said. “I owe her that much.”
“Unfortunately, you’ve lost the privilege of saying shit to any of the she-wolves. Because you’re my brother, Jayce, I want you to understand that I’m not just being a dick by keeping you away from them, because if you lose control, there is little I can do to fight my urge to protect the women. Any other man would have been dead for what you did to Bliss, and if you’d have done it to Gemma, I wouldn’t be able to stop Tristan from getting at you. We know you can’t control it, and we want Rita back as much as you do, but I can’t battle against unpredictability.”
Jayce felt alienated from his pack, but he couldn’t blame Kellan for his verdict. Jayce was out of control, and without even realizing it until it was too late, he could have seriously hurt Bliss, but hearing his mate was in pain, Jayce couldn’t handle it.
“What could they have been doing to her?” Jayce asked speaking of Rita. Kellan knew by the residual pain what might have been happening, but he wasn’t going to tell Jayce that.
“Remember who Rita is,” Kellan said.
“She’s no weak wolf. She was an Omega for years before she found us. Don’t take that lightly.” Jayce was quiet as the image of Rita came into his mind.
“Is she still in pain?” Jayce asked.
“No, she’s-” Kellan stumbled on his words as an image that wasn’t his sparked in his mind. It stayed for only a moment before tinkering out. Jayce looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Kellan said.
“I’ll be around.” He turned and left the cavern swiftly. No doubt the image had to do with Rita, but he couldn’t trust Jayce with any information, not when he was this out of control.
Kellan walked the tunnels until he got to the large room he shared with Bliss. She was sitting on the bed with her knees against her chest. When he came into the room, she picked her head up.
“Why’d you put that image in my head?” she asked.
“That wasn’t me,” Kellan said.
“Rita?” Bliss asked. Kellan nodded. Bliss made a face and looked away.
“What?” He quizzed.
“It just feels like I’ve seen those treetops before, but I don’t know.”
“Sometimes with projection we take on what the person who’s projecting may feel. Sometimes it’s hard to separate our feelings from the ones being projected onto us.” Bliss sighed hard and flopped back on the bed.
“How’s Jayce?”
“He’s fine.”
“You didn’t hurt him, did you?”
“Bliss, he was going to attack you.” Bliss sat up and looked at him.
“I know what he did, but it’s not his fault,” Bliss said.
“I feel so bad for him. I’m responsible for Rita being taken.”
“No, you’re not,” Kellan said. He got into the bed with her and put his arms around her. He kissed her temple trying to soothe her wolf. He hated when she felt like this.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I feel so guilty being at your side and knowing that he doesn’t have Rita at his side. Her, Kyra, and Gemma, they’re my sisters. I can’t have anything happening to any of them.”
“I can’t either, and I’ll do what I need to do to protect anyone in this pack. I’m just upset that Maverick got the better of me in the way he did.”
“We just have to commit to finding Rita and dealing with Maverick when the time is right.”
“Based off what I saw in the projection, I’ll head a search tomorrow morning. He could literally be anywhere. That’s what scares me.” Bliss rubbed his chest to calm his beast.
“Either way, we will not fail on this. I refuse to.” Kellan kissed his mate on the mouth before they eventually drifted off to sleep.
When the sun rose the next day, Kellan was greeted with breakfast by his packmates. In dreary times like this, the table was quiet as everyone ate. It was hard to be happy or to even crack jokes when you were missing a pack member. Truthfully, they were missing not only Rita but Jayce. With his control problems, he was in his room waiting until everyone else ate before he came to eat anything.
“I’m gonna bring Jayce something to eat.” Gemma offered. Tristan grabbed Gemma by the elbow and pulled her back before she got to walk anywhere.
“I don’t think so,” Tristan stated. Gemma huffed.
“Kellan,” she said evenly. “Please tell your wolf to take his hands off me.”
“Really?” Tristan asked.
“Let her go, Tristan.” Kellan ordered. Tristan let Gemma go reluctantly. “But Tristan is also right. You can’t be near Jayce at the moment.”
“He’s still part of the pack, you know. We can’t just alienate him.” Her eyes gleamed into her wolf eyes in her anger and agitation. With her poor control, it wasn’t unusual for her wolf to be sparked when she was passionate about something. Kellan sat back and pulsed his Alpha vibe at her. Her eyes returned to human immediately.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
“No worries. We’re not alienating Jayce. I just need to make sure everyone else is safe.”
“You seem to be paying Jayce extra attention.” Tristan accused. “Newsflash, he has a mate.”
“Newsflash!” Gemma snapped at him. “So do you!” She bared her canines and growled. Tristan got in her face.
“Y
eah? Whatcha’ gonna do, huh?” he challenged her.
“Whoa!” Bliss stood and got in between them. She pushed Tristan back and gave Gemma a stern look.
“We have bigger problems than this right now. Our pack needs to be strong. We can’t handle everyone falling apart. Tristan, you need to tone it down on the dickheadedness, and Gemma, you need to hold onto your wolf a little bit better. Men can be dicks. Doesn’t mean you should stoop down to their level. Got it?” Gemma and Tristan just kept glaring at each other.
“Now, we’re gonna go for a pack run like we’ve been doing every morning, and I don’t wanna hear no more of this bickering and shit. Tristan, if you have a problem with how she cares for Jayce, then there’s an easy solution.” Bliss gave them both menacing looks before walking away. Kellan smirked at how his mate handled the pack in a position where she had no experience as an Alpha, but she was doing an amazing job. Kellan kissed her on the cheek as she walked by.
“Meet me outside the cave,” Kellan said as he headed into one of the tunnel openings going to Jayce’s bedroom. When he approached the door, it was already open, and Jaxson and Jayce inside. They were playing cards on the desk with a pile of money in between them.
“Fuck, I bust.” Jaxson grunted as he slammed his cards down.
“Twenty-one,” Jayce smiled. He scooped the money from the table and began counting it. Both the wolves looked up when Kellan entered.
“Pack run,” he said. Jaxson got up.
“You couldn’t come ten minutes earlier before I lost fifty bucks to this chump?” Jaxson asked.
“Not my fault you decided to play with him. We all know for some reason his ass never loses.” Jaxson smirked as he walked out the room rolling his neck. Jayce stayed where he was.
“I said we’re going for a pack run,” Kellan said.
“I know what you said. Didn’t know I was invited.”
“Are you not part of the pack?” Jayce looked at his friend and smiled grimly. Kellan noticed the large holes in the side of the stone walls.
“You’d better fix this up before Rita gets back. I doubt she’d think holes in the wall would be decorative.”
“She’d hate it.” Jayce chuckled.
“She’s never really seen that side of me. I threatened a wolf that tried to touch her in the pack before, but it didn’t turn physical.”
“Where mates are concerned, there’s always something to be learned.” Jayce nodded.
“Let’s go. You can use the run.” Jayce followed Kellan out of the room and all the way back to the front of the cave. Once they exited, Kellan used his palm print to close the metal door behind him. Like he’d asked, the pack was waiting for him outside of the cave. When Jayce emerged, everyone greeted him. Gemma squealed and gave him a hug, happy to see him. Not wanting to wait until Gemma was finished, Kyra and Bliss hugged Jayce at the same time. Jayce laughed and embraced his female pack members. After the turmoil he’d been experiencing, it was nice to still be accepted amongst the pack.
“Alright break it up,” Kellan said pulling Bliss back.
“My wolf can’t take it anymore.” Bliss giggled and kissed her mate. Gemma and Kyra pulled back then walked with their Alpha female towards the woods. The men followed them, and walking behind the females, something flared in his chest. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he just knew that his pack was going to be a force to reckon with, and all at once they all shifted, giving power to their beasts to run freely in the woods.
Chapter Five
“Wake up.” Rory grunted slamming open the door to the bedroom where they were keeping the four women. All four of them jumped up.
“Wash up and put the outfits on. Let’s go.” He left the room before any of them could say something to him.
Rita didn’t know what was going to be planned for the day, but she was ready for it. The three young wolves were nervous, but Rita tried to send them as much strength as she could. Her wolf was pacing back and forth, the silver cuffs making the animal extremely uncomfortable. All Rita wanted to do was shift, and that’s what hurt the most.
“Don’t put that on.” Rita ordered once Amber was going for the lingerie. Amber put the flimsy material down. Rory came back into the room with a scowl on his face.
“Why aren’t you dressed?” He grunted.
“We don’t have any clothes, and we’re not wearing the lingerie.” Rory shook his head and chuckled.
“You must not realize where the hell you are,” he said. He went quiet. “Maverick will be here in a moment.” Rita sent confidence to the young wolves who began to shake with nervousness. Even though Rita wasn’t showing her nervousness, she knew that by the sound of Maverick pounding through the house, he wasn’t happy.
“What the fuck is going on?” He growled.
“They won’t get dressed.” Rory sighed.
“Put on the outfits.” Maverick ordered.
“No,” Rita replied.
“Do as I say and convince the young ones to do the same, or else you’ll be spending more time in that room with my strap, Rita. What’s your choice?” Rita came forward with her arms crossed.
“We need proper clothes,” Rita said.
“Give them shirts.” Maverick told Rory. Rita thought she won that battle, but Maverick reached forward and grabbed her by the hair. He yanked on her sister locs and pulled her towards him.
“No!” Amber gasped trying to reach for Rita, but Maverick pushed her down to the ground.
“It’ll be alright!” Rita shouted trying to show the girls she would be fine. But she read on their faces that they knew nothing good would come of this. Maverick proceeded to drag Rita out of the room and down the hall. He brought her back to the darkroom where he’d tortured her the first time. He whipped her back and forth, yanking at her hair like he wanted to rip her locks from her scalp. Her momentum suddenly stopped when he landed his fist to her face. Rita was knocked back and onto the ground hard.
“I told you not to fuck with me, Rita.” He snarled kicking her while she was on the ground.
“Here I have three young wolves, and you talkin’ and movin’ like you’re the one runnin’ shit. I’m not about to let you make me look like some type of pussy.” Rita looked up at him from the ground.
“What you think they already look at you like?” She snarled. “You’ve kidnapped them and put your hands on female wolves. Only another bitch would respect you!”
“I’m gonna fuck you up, Rita!” he shouted marching towards her. In all his anger, Rita knew she couldn’t best him, not with his strength, but remembering all that Jaxson taught her, she knew that if she was going to defend herself, it wasn’t going to be with her own strength, so as he marched towards her, she used his momentum and kicked against his ankles. He fell forward, but his reflexes allowed him to catch himself. The attempt to get him off his feet angered him even more. He grabbed her by the neck in a chokehold. He held her high while squeezing her larynx. Even in this position, Rita still fought. Since he wanted to hold her in the air, she used that against him. Swinging her leg, she kicked him in the balls as hard as she could making sure to catch him with the silver cuff around her ankle. He dropped her immediately and howled out in pain. Rita fell with a hard thud, but she forced herself to get up before Maverick did. He had dropped to his knees holding his balls and that was the perfect position. On his knees, he was the perfect height for the roundhouse kick that she delivered to the side of his head.
“Fuck! You little bitch!” he yelled trying to grab onto her. Rita jumped out from his reach and used the heel of her foot to kick him dead in the face. His nose crushed under the force.
“How does it feel for a woman to finally fight back, huh?” Rita snapped. He grabbed for her again, and Rita was quick to dodge him before kicking him in the head again. If she had the use of her claws, she would be clawing his eyes out right at that moment, but since she didn’t have her claws, she kept kicking him in the head hoping to knock him out. Her ability to fight
back infuriated him. Maverick let out a deep growl before launching himself at her. He moved faster than she anticipated, knocking her down. He tried to grab for her neck again to choke her, but Rita learned this time. She grabbed onto his wrist then picked her legs up and wrapped them around his arm, hooking her ankles at his shoulders. She held tight and yanked hard on his arm putting him in and arm bar.
“BITCH!” He picked her up and tried to shake her off his arm, but Rita held tight. She was going to break his arm if she had to. She knew she could if she just held on, but with his other fist, he was jabbing punches to her side and face. Closing her eyes, Rita saw the fierceness in the eyes of her mate, and it gave her power enough to know that her strength wasn’t all physicality, so she held on and kept yanking on his arm trying to tear it from the socket.
The door to the room burst open. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Levi charging towards her. Rita gritted her teeth and yanked as hard as she could on Maverick’s arm, but it didn’t break in time before Levi was pulling at her hair. No matter how tight she was holding on, it still wasn’t tight enough to combat both Maverick and another wolf who was yanking at her. Levi shook her loose and tossed her clear across the room. Her back hit the wall he threw her towards before she fell to a heap on the ground.
“What the fuck took you so long?” Maverick growled at Levi. “I been callin’ you!”
“We have three other wolves, Maverick. I thought you could handle her.” Maverick got in Levi’s face.
“Don’t get slick.” He sneered. “Unless you wanna die like all the others will.” Levi kept quiet.
“That’s what I fucking thought.” Maverick spat. He stormed past Levi and snatched up the whip he used on Rita the night before. Rita saw the reason her wounds hadn’t healed from the beating. The tips of the whip were adorned by silver spikes, and that’s all Rita could pay attention to as he slinked his slimy ass towards her.
“I had plans for us, Rita,” he said. “You, me, and Bliss, the three of us would be the most amazing dynamic. Both of you pregnant with my pups, I’d be the most feared Alpha, but this little stunt you pulled.” He rolled his shoulder.
