Bridenapped The Alpha's Choice

by Georgette St. Clair

  If only she could ask Jarrod. If only Jarrod wasn’t a horrible, horrible liar and a heartbreaker and a horrible, horrible liar.

  No, this wasn’t about her any more. Jarrod had lied to her yet again and broken her heart, but that was small potatoes compared to the horror of women’s babies being stolen from and replaced by…who? What?

  “I’m going to call Constance and tell her that you’re able to speak now,” she said wearily. “Maybe she’ll know what to do.

  * * * * *

  Jarrod, standing outside the door of Regina’s suite, had reached the end of his rope. Mary was refusing to speak to him or even see him, and it was driving him insane. He missed Mary desperately. He missed her laugh, he missed her smile, he missed the way she looked at him and made him feel like the sexiest guy on Earth. He missed burying himself in her sweet, soft body.

  He was getting surly and snappish and he couldn’t think straight.

  And he would do whatever it took to find out what had caused this sudden change, even if it meant speaking to the most annoying woman on the planet. Personally, he’d rather be in a Death Match than be in the same room as Regina, but if this is what it took to fix the problem with Mary, then by God, he’d not only be in the same room as Regina, he’d talk to her.

  “You think Regina is going to tell you anything?” Craig asked Jarrod. His expression was glum and his shoulders slumped. Angela wasn’t talking to him either.

  “Trust me, I’ll make her talk. I’m highly motivated.” He pounded on her door and, when she didn’t open it, he stuck the key in the doorknob lock and opened the door. Apparently she’d forgotten that he owned this house and had keys to every room.

  He and Craig walked in. Regina’s suite had what had once been called a drawing room, and she was sitting on the couch, frowning at her laptop.

  She started when they walked in.

  “You aren’t allowed to come in without being invited!” she said indignantly. “Seriously, it’s in all the etiquette books.”

  Jarrod ignored her, walking toward her until scooted back on the couch with an alarmed look. Craig stood several feet away, arms folded across his chest, his expression grim.

  “I need to know why Mary isn’t talking to me,” Jarrod said. “And I know you know. So tell me.”

  Regina avoided his eyes.

  His tone went deadly. “I’m not screwing around here, Regina.”

  She glanced up at him fearfully, meeting his eyes and then looking away. “You can’t make me talk.”

  “I can and I will.”

  “You’d never hit a girl.” Then doubt flickered in her eyes. “Would you?”

  “No, Regina,” he said with exaggerated patience in his voice. “I’d never lay paw or fang on a woman. I can do much better than that. I’m taking away your cell phone, your laptop, your nonfat yogurt, and all of your makeup unless you talk.”

  “You…” she stared at him, speechless with horror.

  “Full fat yogurt, Regina. No makeup. Oh, and your straightening iron and your hair gloss. Gone.”

  “You’re an animal!” she cried, appalled. “A beast!”

  He just looked at her. “Uh, yeah. Obviously.”

  Her lower lip trembled. “Fine. You win. And I’m totally glad you didn’t pick me,” she said, her tone deeply wounded. “Because then I’d be married to a bully and a liar.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Jarrod felt his temper boiling over. He wanted to kick something. “Mary said the same thing. I didn’t lie to her about anything.”

  “I hacked into the pack’s bank accounts,” Regina said. “And I found out about you sending those payments to Mary’s mother.” She paused to let that sink in. “Her supposedly dead mother. Who’s apparently alive and living in Cleveland.”

  “Still?” Jarrod cried out. “Are you saying she’s still getting payments?”

  “As if you didn’t know.”

  “How did you find all of that out?”

  “Because I am a genius hacker,” she said proudly. “I also found out that Petra and Earvin are both embezzling money. Petra’s stealing it from the hospital and sending a hundred grand a year to some corporation in Wisconsin. Earvin’s sending money to Eastern Europe.”

  Jarrod and Craig exchanged glances.

  “The money to Eastern Europe…that could be for some kind of drugs, something he’s giving the athletes,” Jarrod said to Craig.

  “We’ll notify the Enforcers. But right now, you need to tell Mary the truth,” Craig said to him.

  “You know I can’t. And you know why.” Jarrod shook his head.

  “Fine,” Craig said, sounding exasperated. “Let your relationship to the love of your life crash and burn because of a stupid oath.”

  “A Blood Oath.” That came out as a growl.

  Craig turned to Regina. “Do you have any idea why Angela stopped talking to me?”

  Regina sighed sullenly.

  “Full fat yogurt,” Jarrod repeated sternly.

  “You are a sick man,” she said with disgust. “You won’t get away with treating me like this.”

  “Yeah, yeah, your daddy is going to sue me.” Jarrod waved his hand dismissively.

  “The heck with that. I’ll go to law school, get a law degree, and sue you myself.” Her eyes gleamed with new resolve, and Jarrod had to admit, Angela’s bad influence on Regina was also kind of a good influence.

  But he still needed answers.

  “That’ll take at least three years. Right now, you’re my prisoner, and I control the food and cosmetic supply. Talk!”

  “Fine!” She stamped her foot. “Angela thought you were too good for her, but then Mary talked her out of it, but now Angela thinks she’s already ruined her chances with you she’s hiding and crying all the time. She thinks I don’t know about that, but I do, because she really needs under-eye concealer now and she never used to need it, and also crying makes her makeup run because she wouldn’t take my advice and use waterproof mascara.” That all came out in a rush, sounding like one long sentence. “You made her cry,” she concluded, scowling at Craig.

  “I made her cry?” Craig said indignantly.

  “Yes. You should go apologize and beg her forgiveness. Bring flowers. No, bring her tickets to a heavy metal concert and a roller coaster ride.”

  “You know, you’re not as dumb as you look,” Craig said, and turned to leave.

  “Thank you. I know,” Regina said proudly.

  Jarrod sat down next to Regina, and her triumphant smile vanished. She moved nervously away from him.

  “Now you’re going to show me what you found in those bank accounts.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The next morning…

  At first it had seemed like baby Stuart, which was the name Bruce had picked out, was getting better. The aspirin worked at first. But now the baby had a fever even when they gave him aspirin, and he didn’t look right. And he still hardly ate, and when he cried, it sounded weak and funny.

  Duane looked at John. “We promised,” he said to him. “We’re going to try to find a doctor.”

  “How would we even find one?” John asked, worry curling in his stomach. If Mr. Tompkins killed him, what would happen to Bruce? Bruce would ask too many questions, and…who knew what Mr. Tompkins would do to him.

  “We know town is to the North. That’s where his car comes from,” Duane pointed out.

  That was true. All the boys had good hearing because they were wolves, so they had a pretty good idea of where the road was, even though it was far away.

  “I can find it,” Duane said confidently. “I’ll take the baby and I’ll go tonight after he falls asleep.”

  I hope he lasts that long, John thought nervously, glancing at Stuart.

  * * * * *

  Mary stood in the hallway, her nerves humming with tension. Briony was sitting in her room, talking to Constance. Angela had insisted that Mary come out and speak to her, which was stressing her o
ut. She was petrified that somebody would go into her room and find Briony and haul her off to be executed.

  “Why do I need to be in the hallway? Why couldn’t we talk in my room?” she asked. Then Craig rounded the corner, and Mary turned to glare at Angela

  “You betrayed me, devil-cousin. I thought you were better than that. Slightly better, at least.”

  “No, you need to listen to this,” Angela said stubbornly. “Craig came to talk to me and we’ve made up, and also there’s something you really need to— Get back here!”

  Mary was heading back to her room, but Craig ran and jumped in front of her and blocked the way. Damned fast werewolves.

  “Jarrod didn’t want to stand you up back in high school. It was all Earvin,” Craig said quickly. “He set your mother up so she’d get arrested for shoplifting from a store that he owned, and she was facing some serious time in jail because she was already on probation. Then he told Jarrod that he’d agree to get rid of your mother permanently – he’d pay for her fake her own death and leave town. Jarrod knew what you were going through. He knew Hilda had moved out and left you to deal with everything by yourself. He knew you were waitressing after school and your mother was stealing your tip money to buy booze and drugs. He knew your mother was bringing home drunk boyfriends who were hitting on you. So he agreed to break things off with you, and he swore a Blood Oath not to tell. A wolf can’t break a Blood Oath. It’s sacred to us.”

  Mary swallowed hard.

  “He didn’t want to leave you. It devastated him, but he thought he was protecting you. He wasn’t lying when he told you the reason that he’s never stayed with a woman since then is because he never got over you. And Earvin had promised to let you know that Jarrod wouldn’t be showing up for dinner, but he didn’t, of course. And he posed as Jarrod and sent out a message on Facebook to all the popular kids in school letting them know about it, because he wanted to make you hate Jarrod as much as possible.”

  Mary felt hot tears burning in her eyes.

  Her mother had been alive all this time and hadn’t bothered to get in touch. “Did Jarrod know that my mother was still getting money from the pack?”

  “No. She started threatening to tell you, and Earvin was afraid that might result in you getting back together with Jarrod. So he kept sending her money.”

  “How do you know that?” Mary demanded suspiciously.

  “Because yesterday Jarrod went to the business office, grabbed the head of the pack’s banking department, and beat the hell out of him until he talked. Also, Hilda found out about it because she tried to get your mother’s death certificate to see if she could get any social security checks, and she found out that your mother was alive. So she started blackmailing Earvin too. She made him help her set up Mated and Matched, and she made him let her be the one to arrange Jarrod’s bridenapping. He wanted you off the Bridenapping, but Hilda insisted on keeping you on.”

  Mary stumbled, taking a step back under the weight of all of these betrayals. She blinked hard to keep from crying.

  “Craig?” Jarrod shouted from around the corner.

  Craig winced.

  “I told him to come here. I hope I did the right thing,” Craig muttered, suddenly sounding nervous. “Maybe you should go. You might not want to see this,” he added to Angela.

  “Nope. I was a stupid dumbass for leaving you before.”

  “True,” he agreed.

  “And I’m never leaving you again. Also you’re supposed to argue with me and tell me I’m not a stupid dumbass.”

  Before Craig could answer, Jarrod came stomping down the hall.

  “Craig, what have you done?” he demanded furiously. “I swore an oath!”

  “Yes, you swore an oath. I didn’t.” Craig dropped his gaze in submission, and moved in front of Angela. “She had nothing to do with it!” he added hastily, as Jarrod clenched his fists, his face going furry.

  “Yes I did, and if you hurt Craig, I’ll kill you!” Angela shouted from behind Craig.

  Jarrod stood there for what felt like an eternity but probably only lasted a few seconds.

  Finally he regained control. He turned to look at Mary, his gaze searching. Pleading.

  “I was trying to protect you. I never wanted you to know…”

  “That my mother didn’t give a damn about me? That my sister is a horrible person?” Mary wiped at her eyes.

  Then her door banged open and Constance rushed out. “Briony’s gone!” she cried out. “She said she was going to find Petra and make her talk. I tried to stop her, but she went out the window and ran off!”

  She saw Jarrod and went pale. She paused and nodded her head at him abruptly. “Sir,” she said. Then she squared her shoulders and looked him right in the eye. “Everybody said that I was crazy when I said I felt that there had been a mix-up at the hospital. Briony is saying the same thing. There’s something wrong, and I won’t be quiet anymore.”

  Jarrod nodded, his face grim. “I know that now, Constance. We did a DNA test on your baby, you know that, and when it came back showing the baby was yours, I thought you must be mistaken. But now I’ve been looking into the pack’s finances and I found out that my uncle is purchasing something from Eastern Europe several times a year…from a surrogacy clinic. I just found this out yesterday, and we have a team investigating it, but I think Earvin has been bringing in babies. Designer babies, so to speak. Babies engineered to be swift and strong, to grow up to be the kind of athletes who would always win at the Alpha Games. I believe that he started twenty years ago, and he took over as Gamesmaster four years ago – when the youngest babies he’d replaced turned sixteen and were eligible to enter the games.”

  Mary felt a shockwave of horror wash over her. What the hell had been done with all the babies he’d replaced? Was Briony’s baby dead?

  “Did you speak to the Mage?” Constance demanded.

  “When the Enforcers went to his house this morning, he walked out on the front steps to meet them – and shot himself in the head with a silver bullet. Ignatius fled the pack lands, not that he’ll get far. Let’s go find Petra before Briony gets to her. Trust me, I’ll make my aunt talk.”

  “How will we find her?” Mary asked.

  “Her phone’s being tracked by GPS. I’ll go. You stay here,” Jarrod said sternly. “I mean it.”

  He headed out with Craig following at his heels.

  Mary waited until he was gone. Then she turned to Constance. “We might be able to talk to Briony before she gets to Petra,” she said. “How would we find her?”

  “I can scent track her,” she said. “And Briony is probably scent-tracking Petra. Follow me.” She rippled and went gray. Her eyes turned pointy and triangular. She shuddered and sank down to all fours, covered in thick gray-and-white fur.

  Mary and Angela followed her through Mary’s suites and out the back window. They ran behind her into the woods. Constance paused and sniffed at the air, then began loping along. Angela and Mary ran at full speed behind her. Soon they were gasping for breath, as Constance kept twisting around to bark impatiently at them.

  Finally they reached a clearing. Briony and Petra stood there. Petra was clutching a baby in her arms, and her eyes were wild.

  Briony was in human form except for her ears and fangs.

  Mary and Angela stumbled into the clearing.

  “Briony…don’t! Jarrod’s coming…” Mary shouted between gasps of breath. She looked around. If he wasn’t here yet, it probably meant Petra didn’t have her cell phone so he hadn’t been able to track her. But if he started scenting, he’d find her soon.

  “Earvin’s coming too!” Petra cried out, her eyes wild with fear. “You’d better let me go or he’ll kill you! Especially you,” she spat at Mary. “He hates you.”

  “That baby you’re holding is not mine,” Briony snarled, advancing on her, fists clenched. “You were taking that baby to kill him, weren’t you? Did you kill my baby?” Her voice rose to a scream.

/>   “No!” Petra cried out, backing up farther. “I’ve been saving them!” She stumbled on a root, tripped, and fell, still holding the baby. As she struggled back into a sitting position, the baby rolled out of her arms and lay there in the dirt, crying.

  Before she could get up, Jarrod and Craig raced into the clearing in wolf form.

  “Lying bitch!” Constance had shifted back into human form, and she screamed at Petra in a voice that was hoarse with fury.

  Jarrod and Craig shifted back into human form, and Jarrod began moving towards his aunt. “Whose baby is that?” he demanded of Petra, pointing at the squirming child on the ground.

  “It’s nobody’s baby yet! You’ve all been watching the hospital, so I haven’t been able to switch him out like I was supposed to.” Her voice was a high-pitched, accusatory whine.

  “Earvin’s coming, and he’s got reinforcements,” she added to Jarrod. “He’ll kill you. He’ll kill her. He will. You’d better get out of here.”

  “You were going to take that baby out here and bury it. You foul, evil murder!” Constance snarled at her.

  Mary was swaying where she stood, still gulping in air and struggling to catch her breath.

  “I’ve been saving babies, not killing them!” Petra wailed. “It’s true! Earvin told me to kill the male babies that look weak, and replace them with these babies who were bred to be superior. But I didn’t. I hired a man to raise all the babies in the woods. He takes wonderful care of them. He raises them like his own children, out in the woods, in nature! It’s paradise there! That’s where I was taking this baby. It’s true, I never killed one single child!”

  “Where the hell are they, you bitch?” Constance howled at her. “Where are our children?”

  “I will only tell you where they are if Jarrod grants me full immunity,” Petra said quickly. “I’ll tell you everything. But you have to promise that I will not be charged with any crimes. Jarrod must swear a blood oath. Otherwise, you will never find them. It’s a big country.”