One Princess One Pack One Villain

by Brenda Westfall

  “No baby, I didn’t. No, honey it’s the drugs making your head hurt. You’re going to feel better real soon. Right Doc?”

  “Miss Cara, may I take a look at your eyes?”

  “Only If you want to get hurt. Get away from me both of you. I mean it Max don’t touch me. Ever!”

  “Cara, baby stop screaming at me. That isn’t helping your head or anything else. Now let Doc have a look. Maybe he can give you something for the pain.”

  “GET AWAY!” I feel my fur start to grow. I feel the shift trying to happen. I see Max scoot back, knocking the Doctor out of the way. I howl, then stretch. My bones pop in and out of place. My body tries to realign itself to a wolf. But for some reason it can’t. The pain is horrible. I howl and scream and howl some more. My body keeps fighting to shift, but it can’t seem to fully shift. My face has elongated, but my body remains human. My hands have fur and long claws, my feet are fur covered and claws dig into the pad on the floor. I twist and turn as if I am being tortured, which I am.

  “Cara listen to me, stop trying to shift. Baby please, you are killing yourself. Stop” Then he is howling and shifted. He stands in front of me with his hair raised on the back of his neck. He is ready to fight. I am confusing his senses. He can feel my pain, yet he can’t see anything attacking me. He doesn’t know whether to attack me or what.

  Then I hear my savior. He says to calm down. Try to relax Princess. Easy. Cara, listen to me. Listen to my voice. Relax, slow your breathing. Sis, can you do that for me?

  “Zeke, what is happening to me? Why can’t I shift?”

  “It’s the drugs. They haven’t quite left your body. Now listen to me, you must control your breathing. Slow it down. Easy. Now can you think of your human body. See yourself in your mirror in the bathroom back home. See your human inside of you. That’s it, you’re doing well. Now sit down. Lay if you can. You need to think human. You need to relax and calm your wolf.”

  “Zeke, it hurts.”

  “I know, I can feel it. We have to calm down. We have to tame the wolf. Don’t let it take over. Princess think about your friends at school. Human, friends. Can you see them? There is Mel and Eric, Dawn and James. See them, that’s it you’re doing well. See Heather and Mike? Good girl good you’re doing it. I feel it you’re better. Princess what happened? What set you off?”

  “Max tried to touch me. Then he told some doctor to give me something for the pain. He was going to knock me out again. I just know it.”

  “Easy, you are getting mad again. Princess think human thoughts. Think about school or homework. You can’t shift right now. I still can’t either and I have been awake a lot longer.”

  Aloud I say, “Zeke, hold me. I need your touch. Zeke help me.”

  The wolf in front of me freezes. He is standing so still, so stiff, I have no doubt he understood I was calling for someone else. He growls loud and menacing.

  My wolf wants to fight. I start trying to shift again.

  “NO, no Princess, don’t go there. Human, your human side needs to hold you. Wrap yourself in school and your friends. Remember talking to Eric at school?”

  “Yeah, and Rufus attacking him.”

  “That’s right. Rufus the asshole.” I burst out laughing. I can picture Zeke’s face all scrunched up. His eyes half shut like a weird wild-eyed wolf going all crazy. He laughs, I feel it in my stomach. I love my brother. He always knows the right things to say.

  “That’s my sister. Now how are you feeling?”

  “Better. What would I do without you? Thanks, Bro.”

  “Anytime Princess. Are you lying down?”

  “No, I am leaning up against the wall. I can’t go down Max is all wolf right now. He isn’t sure what to do. He wants to attack whatever hurt me, yet he can’t find it. He has to calm down.”

  “Just stay very still then. We don’t need him biting you. That would be a really bad deal.”

  “That would mark me his, wouldn’t it? Oh Zeke, what am I doing here? With him of all wolves.”

  “I wish I could explain it to you, but first, someone needs to explain things to me. I don’t have any idea what you were feeling around him. I could only feel a pull. It felt like you were tied to a rope and he was reeling you in.”

  “Yeah, something like that. But does that make him my… soul mate?”

  “I had a chance to talk to father after you disappeared. I explained to him what it felt like for me. That I thought it must be very strong for you. He thought it was partly because you had never met another wolf outside of our pack. It was a curiosity thing. But he did admit it could be he is your soul mate. He prayed it wasn’t so. We all pray it wasn’t so.”

  “Will I be allowed to go home when this is all over? Zeke, does the pack really care if I come back or not if I left with Max willingly?”

  “Princess, you know that doesn’t affect the way the pack feels about you. It isn’t like you had any control over it. I can tell you Rufus won’t stop till your home and hopefully in his arms. He fought for you till we noticed you had disappeared then everyone panicked, and the fights stopped. The search began.”

  “Zeke if I make it out of this alive and we get back home, I promise to make a decision.”

  “You won’t have a choice I am afraid. The fights will go on till the last wolf is standing. It’s out of your control or fathers at this point. When you disappeared, it sent up all kinds of warning signals. They won’t stop fighting till one of them has won you. You’re the main prize, my dear. The pack is willing to fight for you, some more than others. Those single males want you badly. Cara, you must take whoever wins. No more running. You must grow up. Princess, I don’t mean to be mean to you, but your wolf has matured, and you have to let it lead the way now.”

  “I think I understand that now. I just hope it isn’t too late. Whatever I had felt for Max in the beginning, it’s gone. Once I found out he had you hurt again all the want turned into hate. Into a need to kill him. That is why just now I couldn’t stop myself from trying.”

  “I know Princess. I know. Your wolf wants to rule now. I fear it will get us killed if you are not in full control.”

  “I don’t want to get you killed. Zeke, I will fight it. I will but you have to help me.” I don’t know when but at some point, Max had shifted back. He stood in front of me naked. He was talking to me, but I was with Zeke. When I didn’t respond to Max he grabbed my shoulders and shook me lightly.

  “Cara! Baby open your eyes and talk to me. Baby, you hear me. Talk to me, let me know what you’re thinking.”

  “I am thinking I want your hands off me. Don’t make me rip them off. I don’t want you touching me. Max let go, I am warning you.”

  “You are warning me? Little wolf you can’t even shift right now. If I were you I would be very careful. Now open your eyes and let the doctor look at you. That is an order.”

  “I am not one of your men, I do not take orders from you or anyone else.” I reached up and grabbed his hands. I nearly broke his fingers bending them backwards as I ripped them off me. He howled. Then he stepped back.

  “Fine, you don’t want me near you, then you will stay here till you do. When you come to your senses, let them know and they will find me. Till then you will lay here like a dog.”

  “That is just fine with me. As long as you are nowhere near me. I hate you so much right now. I wouldn’t count on me ever wanting you near me again.”

  He made a face that said he was going to force me to love him one way or another. He was bound and determined I was going to be his mate. He stormed out of the room. The doctor who had been frozen in his space didn’t move till I sat down. Then he got the hell out.

  Once I was alone, I slid down the wall and sat on the floor. Thank goodness, I hadn’t shifted my clothes were still in fair condition.

  “Princess you there?”

  “Yeah, he’s gone. Zeke, we have to get out of here and soon or he is going to force me to mate with him. I can see it in his eyes. He
was so very angry with me. He has never been angry with me before. But just now I saw it.”

  “Stay calm. I will keep trying and hope that I can reach the pack. Not that it will help much. I can’t begin to tell them where we are.”

  “I think I can help. The doctor’s name tag said something about environmental experiments institute. Not sure if that tells us what state we are in.”

  “It will help. Surely there can’t be that many places with that name. You rest now.”

  “I will try.”

  Chapter 14

  I didn’t see Max for four days. I was beginning to think he left and wasn’t going to come back. At least I was hoping. I hadn’t been messed with at all. In fact, I hadn’t been fed or taken to a bathroom. I was about ready to chew through the wall.

  Actually, I had started working on the outside wall. Hoping if I could manage to eat through I would be free. Zeke had suggested it. He was doing the same thing. Although we knew we were being watched and if we did manage to get a whole in the wall, they would stop us. It was something to do while trying to come up with another plan.

  Zeke hadn’t been able to contact the pack. At least we had each other’s thoughts. It was keeping me from going crazy. Not so much for Zeke. He paced his ten-by-ten room till he was climbing the wall.

  Wolves are not used to being caged. We don’t do so well. I know how a caged animal in a zoo feels. Trapped. It makes us ready to attack anything that moves. So, when my door finally does open I shift.

  “Whoa. Now look, I am just here to check on you. Can you shift back? I need to examine you. See how you are doing without food and water.”

  I step forward showing him every tooth I can. I growl and start for the door. If I can push past him, then I can find Zeke. Just before I reach the door it slams shut. Now I am standing in a tiny room with an armed man.

  “Easy now. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you try to attack me, I am prepared to shoot. Now shift so we can get this over with.”

  Not on his life. I can fight as a wolf and as a human, but I don’t have near as much talent when this guy out weights me two to three hundred pounds. He looks like a body builder.

  “Well, are you going to shift, or do I have to shoot you? You have five seconds to shift.”

  So much for that. I am on top of him before he can get in a shot. The only problem with that is the door has opened and the room is now full of giant men with bulging muscles. I try for the door, but I don’t make it. In the doorway is a huge black wolf who I know. Max stands there showing me his teeth. He is ready to bite me the first chance he gets. I can’t let him bite me. That would not end too well. Unless I can kill him. And right now, I am very badly outnumbered.

  “Princess, what’s wrong?”

  “Trapped, Max, wolf. Five men with guns. Nowhere to go. Ow, damn it, dart. Zeke…”

  “Take her to my apartment. Lay her on my bed. This ends now. I have had all I am going to put up with. My mate, you will not win the next fight we have.”

  “Do you want us to give her the medicine to wake her?”

  “No not yet, I want her to be cleaned up. Then I will let you know. I have a couple of things in mind for her. You and you come with me. Load that gun with silver. I have a job for you.”

  “Princess? Cara? Oh no, what have they done to you? Father, where are you? Need help fast. Cara is in trouble and I can’t help her. Locked in a padded room. Hospital somewhere. Oh God, if you don’t find us now, he is going to force her to mate. Help us.”

  “Zeke be quiet my son. We know where you’re at. Coming to help. Can’t communicate he might hear.”

  “K.”

  Zeke hears the keys in the door, and he shifts. He is ready for trouble. Two men step in with Max in between them. Max is all smiles. The two men are not carrying tranquilizer guns.

  “Well, well, looks like you are doing pretty good. Well, I shall remedy that. See my friends are loaded with silver. I have done a lot of research. Seems that if you die my mate won’t. She may be ill for a while, but once we have mated, she will be attached to me. Not so much you. If you’re taken out of the picture she will soon forget you.”

  He is laughing. I know I am in big trouble. Big, big trouble. So is Cara. I don’t know where he got his information, but it’s wrong. Twins don’t lose the connection like mates do when one is killed.

  “You look worried. I love it. You shall suffer a long time. My mate won’t feel it, she is drugged. I won’t wake her for a few nights. By the time, she wakes I will have mated with her. I will have bitten her. She wouldn’t be able to fight me. It’s not the way I wanted it to happen, but she is forcing my hand. By the time, she wakes she will be pregnant with my pup. Won’t she be surprised.”

  Before he could make any moves the alarms started going off. The building was under attack. Zeke could only hope it was his pack. He had no idea how they had found them, but he prayed that it was them. For if it wasn’t Cara was in serious trouble. Worse than Zeke had first thought. He had thought she would at least get to have a chance to fight, but not if she is drugged.

  “Shoot him. Hurry. The rest of you go see what is happening.” Zeke lunged for the one with the gun pointed at his head. He knocked the man off his feet and sent him sailing. The second man with a gun got off two shots. First, one hit Zeke in the front of his right shoulder. The second shot hit him in the hip. He went down with a thud.

  “See if they can save you now.” The room emptied and the door locked. The silver was poisoning Zeke’s body. The poison would travel throughout his body slowly. He would burn from the inside out. All he could do was lay there bleeding profusely.

  “Cara I’m sorry.”

  “Zeke what’s happened to you?”

  “Father?”

  “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “Shot, silver, twice. Cara drugged. Max going to bite her and mate with her.”

  “While she is out? Not if I can help it. We have entered some kind of hospital-like building. The pack has taken down a few humans. Searching for you. Hang on my son. Hang on we will get to you soon.”

  “Hope so…”

  “Hang on son, hang on till we can find you.” I hope we are in the right place. We have to be. “Pack know this, they have silver bullets. Zeke is down. Shot twice. Cara somewhere drugged. Hurry, we must find her. Maxwell is going to attack her while she is unconscious.”

  “Not going to happen, I will kill him now.”

  “I hope so Rufus. Find him!”

  After having Zeke shot Max raced to get back to his apartment. He would get Cara and run off with her. He could carry her to the basement garage tunnel. Once in the tunnel, it leads to hidden off road vehicles. He could escape unseen with her and mate with her before she came out of the drugs.

  Rufus and four other wolves were going down a wide white hall. They opened and searched through every room. Occasionally there was a human here or there.

  “Where is Cara? Talk or you die human.” The young woman shook, she was so scared. She had no idea who Cara was or who these creatures were. He was shaking her asking for information she didn’t have.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Cara, who?”

  “My mate, that’s who. Cara?” Rufus kept calling Cara’s name, hoping she would hear him. When the woman couldn’t tell him what he wanted to know he snapped her neck like a twig.

  The pack had come in through different doors. Each one opened into a long white hall. Duncan and four wolves went down one hall. Kyle and four wolves another hall.

  Pack Master Baron Black and several more wolves went through the front doors. They were ready for any fight that presented itself.

  People were screaming and running. Two vampires came running when the alarm was sounded. Wolves shifted to fight. Vampires tried to go for the kill as wolves shifted. But if they caught a hold of one wolf there were four others attacking them. It was a battle, they had little chance to survive.

  Humans were running w
ith cell phones trying to call 911. The pack had blocked all communications. No one could get a call out or in.

  Pack Master Black caught one of the vampires before he was pulled apart. He ordered the vampire to tell him where his daughter and son were being kept.

  “I’ll tell you if you let me go.”

  “Then I suggest you start talking and fast because if we get to them too late then you die permanently. Where are they?”

  “Your daughter is in an apartment in the back building. Top floor. Your son is down the hall on floor two. He has been shot. If we hurry, I can help remove the silver.”

  “Did you shoot him?”

  “No, but I heard about it as it was happening. I am part of the computer security guards. None of us here wanted to hurt them. Maxwell has a device he forces us to wear that controls our will. Only I have learned how to take mine off. No one else here can. He had a wizard design the devices and enrich them with his magic spells.”

  “Show me where my son is. The rest of you find Cara. Marcus, you come with me. Zeke may need help.”

  The vampire limped his way to the elevator and took them to the second floor. He hurried down the hall to the locked padded rooms. “I don’t have keys.”

  “Break it down.”

  “I can’t its reinforced steel with a silver lining. None of us can touch it. Maxwell has special gloves he uses to open it or has the human’s open it.”

  “Find someone who has a key and make them open it now. If my son dies I will be sure you die a very slow painful death. Pulling your limbs off one at a time. Marcus, go with him.”

  “Yes, sir”

  “Zeke, my son can you hear me?” Silence. He listened to see if he could hear breathing or a heartbeat. It was very faint, but he heard a heartbeat. Breathing very slow. “Hang on son, please hang on.”

  Two seconds later, Marcus was pulling a human back to the door where his father stood waiting. The human didn’t hesitate to get a key out of his pocket and open the door.

  “Hold him, he may have to remove the silver bullets.”

  Zeke rolled his eyes as his father lifted him up in his arms. He couldn’t speak. His father did all the talking. “We’re here to help you. Hold on Zeke, hold on. This man is going to dig out the bullets. You’re going to make it. You have to, Cara needs you. We all need you.”