The Traitor's Daughter

by Mary Goldberger

  Ashley and Grace sat down at the table as Amy and Susan disappeared upstairs, and Grace was listening to Ashley with growing astonishment when they came back down.

  “We are going to the mall,” Amy informed them as they came into the kitchen with light jackets on. “Would you like to go with us, Grace, Ashley?”

  Ashley shook her head as she told them, “I have something I am working on at the moment so maybe another time.”

  Grace grimaced as they turned to her, and she told them bluntly, “I am not exactly in the mood to go shopping at the moment.”

  Amy smiled as she said revealing, “If I remember correctly, you never really liked to go shopping for clothes and such.”

  “Not really,” Grace admitted with a slight smile.

  They all laughed before Susan said, “Okay. Today, Grace, we will let you get away with it, but next time we are dragging you shopping with us.”

  “Oh damn,” Grace moaned in mock terror causing everyone to laugh as Amy and Susan headed out to the car they were taking.

  Ashley chuckled before she excused herself heading to a back room that Grace had not noticed the night before, and she merely shook her head at what she learned as she walked out into the backyard.

  She walked over to a iron bench that some placed in the shade of a tree and she was just about to seat down when her wolf started howling at her and getting agitated, Grace, someone is here.

  Before Grace could react, she felt a prick of needle and her world went black as she collapsed to the ground.

  The only thing she could do was cry out before the blackness took her mind, too, was Artur!

  Artur frowned as his wolf started howling in anger, and he felt uneasy as if something was terribly wrong.

  “I think we should increase the patrols until we are absolutely sure that they are gone,” Steve argued as the feeling increased.

  The attacks had stopped suddenly in the last three days, and Tomas believed that the rogues had finally moved on. Steve was not buying that, and was trying to get Tomas to keep the patrols until they were absolutely sure about it.

  Artur looked over at Ace and Kale, and saw that they were frowning too. Steve had believed that this would happen last night and he told them so when he had the meeting with them. He wanted their opinion on what they thought, and if put in the predicament what they should do.

  They had agreed with Steve on keeping the patrols until they were sure because like Ace said, ‘it is coincidence that they suddenly stopped, isn’t it?”

  Artur shook his head again as his wolf grew more agitated, and as he raised his head, he noted that Bryan was looking at his watch with a smug smile on his face.

  Artur looked at him suspiciously when suddenly a voice called out to him in fear, ARTUR!

  “Grace,” he said aloud unaware of everyone looking at him as he asked his wolf what is wrong?

  I do not now, but Grace’s wolf is not responding to my calls. From what I can see, it is dark as if she is blocking us, but something tells me that is not it, and that they are in trouble, his wolf told him.

  Artur did not think twice as he turned and ran out of the room shifting the minute he hit the front porch heading back to their pack house.

  “Ace,” Steve said a frown stretching across his face.

  “You should control your Beta better, Alpha,” Bryan said snidely with a malicious smile on his face.

  Steve ignored him as Ace told him through the pack link it seems Grace is missing. Ashley informed us that she went out into the backyard after Susan and Amy left, but now there is no sign of her anywhere in the area.

  Just then, a howl went up, and Steve felt the hair on his arms stand up at the anguish and anger in that cry from his Beta.

  “Alpha Tomas, I apologize but there is something we need to take care of,” he said turning to him with a slight nod of his head.

  He turned back to Kale and Ace, and with a nod of their heads, they all headed out, but Steve stopped when he heard Bryan ask, “Is there something wrong, Alpha?”

  Steve turned to look at him and noted the smug smile before he answered his snide question, “You better hope not, Bryan, or you will be the first to know.”

  Steve did not bother to pay attention at how Bryan reacted to his words as he raced out of the house, and to his own pack house.

  Artur head was down in his hands as the others arrived back at the house.

  Ashley explained what happened as they came into the backyard, “I know she came into the backyard because I heard the door shut as she walked out. I did not hear another thing until Artur came shouting her name five minutes ago, and we went looking the backyard when we found this underneath the bench in the shade of the tree.”

  She held out a tranquilizer dart, and she told them in a hard voice, “It is paralytic used to stop a person from turning into their wolf.”

  Steve growled, “Who would come onto her property and do this?”

  “It smells like rogues,” Artur informed them in hard voice his head lifting to reveal eyes almost a cold blue with a dull gold tint.

  “Are they the same ones who are attacking the pack?” Ashley asked her voice shaken slightly, and Kale walked over to her wrapping his arms around her.

  “The attacks stop suddenly as they had started,” Ace said thoughtfully.

  Artur looked at him with hard eyes as he said, “You do not think that…”

  “No, Artur, I think Grace was the target,” Ace said cutting him off.

  “But what do they want with Grace?” Ashley asked from Kale’s arms, and no one had an answer to that question.

  A few hours later, the phone rang just as the front door opened entering in Susan and Amy, and right behind them was Sandy.

  “Hello,” Ashley said her voice wobble from her crying.

  “Ashley,” Ted said with worry. “Are you okay?”

  “I…” Ashley started only to push the phone toward Steve as she placed a hand over her mouth and walk toward the sink holding back her tears.

  “Hi, Ted,” Steve said looking at the others in the room as Kale went over to his mate.

  “Hi Steve,” Ted said. “Is Ashley all right?”

  “She is fine,” told Steve him in a light voice.

  “Okay,” Ted said not completely convince as he continued. “Is Grace there because I was hoping to talk with her?”

  “Sorry, Ted,” Steve said. “She was here earlier, but we had a meeting with Alpha Tomas and she was not here when we returned. It is possible she may have gone out with Amy and Susan.”

  “Oh, okay,” remarked Ted with a frown. “Tell her I called, will you?”

  “Sure thing,” Steve said, and he hung the phone a few seconds before Amy and Susan walked into the kitchen laughing.

  Their laughter died as they saw everyone’s face, and Amy asked sharply, “What happened? Was there another attack?”

  “No,” Steve said going over to Amy and cupping her cheek. “Grace is gone.”

  “What?” Amy said her face paling as Susan stiffened where she stood. “What do you mean Grace is gone? Did she go back to her house?”

  “No, someone took her from the backyard,” Kale said from where he was standing next to Ashley. “Artur and Ashley found a paralytic needle in the grass underneath the shade tree.”

  Amy put a hand to her lips as Susan said, “Oh, no.”

  Ace went over to her as Amy asked in a stunned voice, “Why would anyone take Grace?”

  Before anyone could answer that question even though no one had an answer for it, Sandy came into the kitchen.

  “Hello,” she said with a smile although her eyes were only on one person. Then she asked, “What is wrong, Artur?”

  Artur did not lift his head as he told her in a detached voice, “Grace is gone.”

  “Oh, Artur, I am sorry,” said Sandy in pretend sympathy as she hurried over to him. She wrapped her arms around him as she said, “Maybe she was not ready for a serious relationship yet.�
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  Amy growled as she pulled away from Steve and yanked Sandy away from Artur.

  “You don’t know what you are talking about,” Amy snarled her head tightening around Sandy’s arm, but Sandy merely smiled before pulling away.

  “Oh, and you do?” Sandy taunted as she leaned forward. “I am stronger than you, Amy, and we both know it.”

  Amy eyes darkened as her wolf howled in anger, but Sandy only laughed as she turned to Artur, and ran a hand down his back.

  “Artur, honey, I am sorry, but maybe it is for the best. I doubt a weak she-wolf like her could be any use to a strong wolf like you.”

  Artur did not respond to her touch or her voice, and she frowned briefly before she decided to change tactics.

  “Okay, Artur,” she said sadly. “I will leave you to wait for her, but just remember when you get tired of waiting I will be here for you.”

  She reached and kissed him on the lips in a lingering, soft kiss before she strolled out of the house. Her eyes were bright with smugness and triumphant because she knew she had won. She would give him a few days to come to terms with the weak she-wolf’s departure before she made her move again, and then she knew that there would be no stopping her from claiming him as her own.

  She got into her car and headed home, and as she reached the house, she felt her body come alive with lust as she noticed the car in her driveway.

  “Honey,” she said as she came into the house with breathy laugh. “You are early. Did you finish what you needed to do?”

  “A few more days,” the silver-haired man told her as he walked towards her with dark brown eyes and she shivered anticipation. “But until then, why don’t we have a little fun?”

  “Let’s,” she agreed as the man pulled her into his arms roughly and preceded to kiss her just as roughly. Sandy met him not too long ago at one of the bar’s, and she knew that he was leaving soon, but since he was not the one she truly wanted, it was no hardship to enjoy the pleasure of his company for now as he tore at her shirt throwing it to the floor. Sandy laughed with the feeling as he lifted her up with hard hands, and she knew by morning that there would bruises, but for tonight, this was exactly what she wanted until she got her ultimate prize a picture of Artur floating through her mind as the man back her up against the hallway wall.

  Across town in a small shed, Grace opened her eyes slowly. Grace, her wolf was snarling at her.

  Yeah, she replied although she felt very tired and groggy, and her body felt heavy.

  You need to snap out of it before they come back her wolf told her. Grace shook her head trying to clear it not having any luck.

  What happened, she asked looking around her slowly.

  They drugged you and brought you here, her wolf told her and Grace remembered the scent of danger before she blacked out.

  Cowards, she growled slightly, and she felt her wolf agreed.

  Any idea where we are, Grace asked, and her wolf hesitated for a moment.

  Not at the moment, but you might be interested to know that I heard something interesting as I, your wolf part, woke up, she said, and Grace waited for her to explain.

  The men who took you work for a rogue called Alistair, and from what I heard, he is the same man who was responsible for the slaughter of our father’s pack, she said.

  Grace gasped at the news and she stopped working on the ropes that they used to tie her hands and feet although the drug slowed her movements.

  How long do you think the drug will wear out of my system, Grace asked her wolf as she forced her body to relax on the hard ground.

  Maybe a couple of hours at the most, her wolf told her with agreement heavy in her voice.

  I need answers so I guess letting the drug wear off is the best excuse for not leaving so soon. Grace smiled as her wolf snarled in laughter then she continued, Let’s find out as much as we can about where we are at so we can contact Artur, but I want to meet the man responsible for my father losing everyone he loved.

  In the dark, the gleam of her violet eyes showed a determination and strength that would have unnerved the wolves guarding her, as they believed her to be a weak wolf, but they would learn soon that they had been highly misinformed.

  Chapter 17

  The next two days were hard on Grace as she could feel Artur’s anxiety and worry, but she did not contact him yet because she needed to know why this man killed her parents. She knew that if Artur learned where she was, he would not hesitate to come and get her, but she needed some more time.

  Towards the end of the second day, the door to her ‘cage’ although Grace had already learned that in all actuality she could have easily escaped, the door opened to reveal a tall man older than Grace by about ten years, but the eyes for some reason seemed familiar to Grace as she looked at him warily.

  “I thought you would hungry,’ he said in a deep voice, and although it did not cause shivers to go down her back like Artur’s did, her wolf immediately relaxed and so did Grace.

  “I am,” said Grace her eyes wary as he walked over with the plate setting it down in front of her, and Grace did not try to the ‘dumb’ routine as she did with the other guards as she immediately loosened the ropes freeing her hands.

  “So you are not tied up,” the man said with a chuckle a slight satisfaction in his tone.

  Grace merely gave a shrug as she ate the hamburger and fries he brought to her. After she swallowed from her first bite, she said, “So what prompted this visit from a second-in-command?”

  The man looked at her narrowly as he said sharply, “How do you know that?”

  Grace looked at him levelly, and said, “The guards would not let just a low rank wolf to enter in here even with food. So either you are the leader of this pack of rogues, or you are second-in-command?”

  “Maybe I am the leader?” He suggested sitting down on a crate that sat against one wall.

  Grace shook her head as she took a sip of the soda he brought with the food, “I highly doubt it, but I could be wrong.”

  “Really and why do you say that?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “The guards did not get nervous when you approached, and you also stood outside for a few minutes talking with them before you came inside,” Grace revealed to his astonishment. “You have their loyalty while your leader is given fear.”

  The man could not speak as astonishment washed over him and Grace took the opportunity to finish the lunch he supplied her.

  “Thank you,” she said with a sigh as she put everything back in the bag, and handed it to him.

  “That way there is no evidence of your kindness to me,” she stated as he looked at her quizzically, but took the bag from her.

  He laughed harshly as he lunged at her grabbing her by the throat, only to find himself face first in the ground his arm pulled up his back into an arm bar.

  “How…?” He asked in confusion.

  “I was watching you,” Grace informed him quietly as she shifted back slightly away from him before letting go.

  He was on his feet in an instant but Grace was crouched into a fighting stance in the middle of the room.

  He laughed as he told her, “They really have no idea, do they?”

  Grace looked at him slightly in confusion, and he clarified, “How strong you really are, they have no idea?”

  “Only those who matter know,” was her response as she slowly came out of her defense crouch.

  He looked at her intensely for a few minutes before he held out his hand, “Trace Roberts.”

  Grace hesitated for only a second before she stepped forward at her wolf’s urging, “Grace Hawkins” she answered sliding her hand into his warm one.

  Then they both stilled as suddenly the wind blew hard, and one of the guards said, “A storm must be moving in.”

  The others guards voice was muffled, but neither Grace nor Trace heard him as they looked at each other.

  “You are from the Fire Blood Pack,” Grace said as the silence in the r
oom increased, and Trace pulled his hand from hers quickly.

  “I was once,” he said in a low voice leaning over to pick up the bag from the floor. He turned to walk out before he said sadly over his shoulder, “But not anymore.”

  The door closed behind him as he walked out and Grace stared at it thoughtfully as her wolf said I wonder how he survived.

  Suddenly a voice began to speak to them, and Grace stilled as her wolf lay down in her mind listening, Alistair, as he is called, needed someone who could claim the pack if he ever needed to return. Alistair was smart in doing so as his pack banished him after what he did. Trace was only a toddler at the time, and Alistair knew nothing about toddlers, but he did have women friends who took care of him until he was old enough to fend for himself.

  He had it rougher than I did, Grace said softly as she sat down on the ground. At least for my first fourteen years, I had parents who loved me.

  You have a chose to make, Grace, and you will have to make it soon because your next visitor will be Alistair, the voice told her.

  Grace was silent as she thought about what she learned, and her wolf said you understand, right?

  I do, and I already know what I want to do, but will you be okay with it, she told her wolf.

  You do not even have to ask, her wolf said howling with laughter, and Grace smiled as the wind died down drifting away, but if one listened closely, you could laughter throughout it as it drifted away.

  I think it is time to contact Artur, Grace told her wolf, and her wolf immediately responded with enthusiasm.

  “Have we learned anything about where she is being kept?” Steve asked as he looked over at Artur who was sitting at the table his eyes cloudy with much needed sleep. Three days since rogues took Grace, and they still did not know who took her or where they were keeping her.

  “Okay,” Steve said on frustrated sigh to the voice on the phone. “Thank you, and if you learn anything, please let us know.”

  Amy walked over to him as he hung up the phone and asked in sad voice, “No good news?”