by Rayna Tyler
Besides myself, my siblings, and Bryson, there were six others in our rescue party. Roy, of course, had insisted on being present. He was the only human, and with his foot encased in the cumbersome boot, he wouldn’t be able to come with us. I was certain he’d blamed me for his daughter’s kidnapping and was surprised when he pulled me into a fatherly hug and assured me of the contrary.
The other five males, old friends of James’s, had volunteered without being asked and were more than willing to help us do whatever was necessary to get Mandy and apprehend Bishop. I couldn’t remember their names but was thankful for their help and made a mental note to find a way to repay them later.
“Bishop is prepared for intruders.” Reese lowered his binoculars. Since shifters had great night vision, he didn’t need special goggles to see in the dark. “It looks like he’s got one man guarding the access road, three watching the front perimeter of the building, and four positioned at various spots along the back of the property.” My brother’s time in the service showed in the way he’d organized and was leading the rescue.
“Is everyone clear on the plan?” Reese’s gaze touched each person in the group. After receiving simultaneous nods, he turned his attention to our sister. “Good. Berkley will stay here with Roy.”
“Like hell,” she huffed. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
I wasn’t worried about Reese. He could take care of himself. Blood would be spilled tonight, and I couldn’t live with myself if any of it belonged to Berkley. “I have to agree with Reese. This is going to be dangerous, and you could get hurt.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Berkley snarled, slapping her hands on her hips and leveling a glare at both of us. “Mandy is my friend, so you don’t get to play the overprotective big brothers.”
“Berkley, could you listen to me just this once?” Reese pleaded, holding out his hands and trying to console her.
“No.” She avoided his reach. “I’m going, and you can’t stop me.”
Bryson normally didn’t get involved in a conversation unless he had something important to say. “Excuse me.” His rumble vibrated around us. “Are we going to stand here all night and argue, or are we going to take down this asshole?” Once he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “Berkley can run with me.”
“Awesome.” She smiled at the bear shifter as if he was her new best friend.
Reese pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, she’s officially your responsibility, but if anything happens to her, you’ll have to deal with Nick and me, understood?”
Bryson grunted and gave him a sharp nod.
Reese turned to Berkley, his furrowed brows more defined. “And you.” He tweaked her chin. “No heroics and follow Bryson’s lead.”
“Will do, sir.” She winked and gave him a mock salute.
Reese reached for the hem of his shirt. “Everyone else, strip and shift.”
Finally. My pants barely touched the ground before my wolf had taken over.
MANDY
I hated being used as a pawn, a way to force the people I cared about to give up their home. Trying to escape was pointless. I was dealing with wolves, natural-born hunters, and I had a feeling Desmond wouldn’t hesitate to order his men to hunt me down and do their worst.
He’d worked in his office, and other than the courteous escorts to the restroom by Carl, he ignored me. I’d spent most of the afternoon confined to a chair and under the watchful scrutiny of Carl and Dale. My anxiety had reached intolerable levels, and my limbs had started to complain.
Though the men who occasionally entered the house to speak with Desmond openly leered at me, undressed me with their gazes, and added to my nervousness, he’d kept his word and hadn’t let anyone touch me—so far. I’d overheard him tell Reese what my fate would be if they didn’t provide the deed to the resort by morning. I didn’t trust Desmond to keep his word, and since threatening him with the police hadn’t seemed to bother him, I’d bet anything my life would be over come morning.
I clung to the belief that Reese would figure out the clue I’d given him about the property’s previous owner. Hopefully, Berkley would contact my father and get the details they needed to find me before the deadline tomorrow.
The warning I’d given Nick hadn’t earned me any favors with Desmond. He’d been irate, and I was surprised he hadn’t retaliated. A status that could change any second if I wasn’t careful.
After receiving a call, Desmond rose from his desk. “Please, come with me.” He waited for me to stand, then led me down a hall and into an elegant dining room. “Contrary to what you might think of me, I’m a good host.” Centered in the middle of the room was a long, rectangular table that easily sat fourteen people. He waved his hand toward one end, where numerous platters of food had been placed along with two place settings.
Dale and Carl had followed behind us and remained standing in the hallway outside the open doorway. It appeared that Desmond was too good to dine with the help.
He pulled out a chair and motioned for me to take a seat, then proceeded to occupy the adjacent chair placed at the head of the table. The food looked delicious, and the aroma from the thinly sliced beef, pink in the middle, filled the air and teased my senses.
“I appreciate the hospitality, but I’m not hungry.” My stomach rumbled, confirming my lie.
Desmond quirked a disbelieving brow. Ignoring my comment, he lifted one of the platters and offered me the first helping.
“No, thank you.” I shook my head and clasped my hands together in my lap. Since they’d drugged Nick, there was no way I trusted Desmond not to try the same with me. It would be a lot easier to get rid of me if I didn’t put up a fight.
He released a displeased sigh and draped a cloth napkin across his lap. “I have no intention of poisoning you, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He placed several slices of meat on his own plate.
Poison had been an afterthought, and my contemplation of its use dissipated with the sound of heavy, booted feet pounding against the hall’s ceramic tile.
“I need to speak with the boss.”
I glanced toward the doorway where one of Desmond’s men hovered next to Carl.
“What is it, Jonas?” Desmond asked, waving a hand for the man to enter.
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you.” The man glanced from me to Desmond and didn’t appear too happy about the news he was bearing. “There’s a man at the gate claiming to be Mr. Turner’s nephew and demanding to see him.”
As far as I knew, none of Turner’s relatives lived in the area, so who the heck was the guy at the gate? Desmond shot a malevolent glare in my direction, then pushed out of his chair and angrily tossed his napkin onto the table. As soon as his back was turned, I grabbed the knife from my place setting and slid it into the bib of my overalls. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing, and I prayed he’d been too distracted with whatever was happening at the gate to notice it was missing.
“The man refused to leave even after he was informed that his uncle no longer lived here. I was told he smelled like a cat.” Jonas slid his hand through his hair. “Wasn’t the previous owner a human?”
“It’s a distraction,” Desmond shouted, then released a growl so loud, it echoed through the room and pulsed against my eardrums. His chest heaved, and claws emerged from his fingertips. I stayed seated, too afraid to draw attention to myself. Even Jonas, who was several inches taller and bulkier than Desmond, lowered his head and nervously took a step backward.
Carl and Dale cringed slightly but didn’t move. Apparently, they were used to their boss’s outbursts.
“Contact the gate and alert the rest of the men to be ready for an attack from the rear of the property,” Desmond ordered.
“Yes, sir.” Jonas practically fell over himself trying to get out of the room.
Desmond shook his shoulders and flexed his fingers until the claws disappeared. When he turned to face me, his demeanor was controlled and calm. “To
o bad your mate and his family didn’t take my offer.” He glanced toward the doorway. “Carl.”
“Yes, sir.” Carl took an obedient step forward.
“You and Dale take Ms. Jenson upstairs and put her in the guest room. I’ll deal with her personally once things have been handled.”
I assumed by “handled,” he meant permanently taking care of whoever he thought was coming for me. I slowly got to my feet, bracing a hand on the table to steady the tremor rippling through me.
“Let’s go.” Carl walked around the table, gripped my arm, and dragged me from the room.
The muscles in my legs refused to work properly, making our ascent on the staircase a struggle. Dale followed closely behind us. He made some appreciative noises, and I knew he had his lustful gaze focused on my backside.
I’d never been so glad to be shoved into a bedroom alone and have a door slammed in my face. I’d been battling shock and fear for so long, I wasn’t sure how I’d made it to the bed before collapsing into a heap on the edge.
If Desmond’s assumptions were correct, and I had no doubt they were, Nick, Berkley, and Reese were trying to rescue me, and it could mean death for all of us. Knowing they were wolves—strong, proud, deadly—didn’t stop me from worrying about them.
I glanced at the slim crack below the door, noting the occasional moving shadow. It was wishful thinking on my part not to expect Desmond to keep a guard posted in the hallway. Curious to see what was happening outside the house, I walked to the window and peeled back the curtains. The evening sky in the distance was clear, filled with hundreds of stars. The area behind the building was easily visible, lit up by the numerous lights on the building’s exterior and enhanced by the glow from the three-quarter moon.
Needing to dispel my apprehension and get some fresh air at the same time, I slid the window open and took a deep breath. I was too far off the ground to jump, and judging by the number of men I saw moving around below, Desmond was more than prepared for any kind of trouble.
After staring at the tree line for who knows how long, I spotted movement slipping in and out of the shadowed areas between the trees. At first, I thought my vision was playing tricks on me, that my current stressful state had caused me to imagine it. Long seconds passed before I saw more movement and squinted to get a better look. There was something out there. Something low to the ground and definitely not human.
“What are you doing?” I heard Dale’s voice and jumped. He stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.
I turned and eyed him suspiciously. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“I believe you owe me an apology.”
“For what?” If anything, I was the one owed an apology for the way I’d been treated today.
“I haven’t forgotten about your cute little trick the other night at the ice cream shop.” He took an imposing step toward me. “Better yet, forget the apology. I’d rather have a kiss.”
I wasn’t going to let that happen and inched my hand along my side and within reach of the knife hidden inside my bib. “Where’s Carl?” I glanced over his shoulder, silently wishing for the other man to miraculously come through the door. I wasn’t fond of either male, but since Carl had protected me from Dale earlier, I felt somewhat safer with him.
“He got called outside, so it’s up to me to protect you.”
I wasn’t reassured by his statement. If anything, I was exceedingly wary.
“If someone as fine as you were my mate, I would have claimed you already.” He moved another step closer. “I’ll bet I can make you forget that worthless wild wolf.”
“I’m not interested, so please leave.” I moved away from the window, quickly glancing around the room for a way to escape. With the door on the other side of the room, he had me boxed into a corner between the bed and the wall. The only way to get around him was to go over the bed.
When he reached for me, I pulled out the knife, thrust it into his chest, and dived onto the mattress.
“You bitch,” he bellowed.
The knife sailed across the room, bounced off the wall, and clattered on the wooden floor. I’d nearly reached the other side when he latched on to my ankles and dragged me backward. I screamed and gripped the edge of the bed, pulling the silken comforter along with me.
Dale fisted the braid at my nape and yanked me to my feet. He encircled my waist, his thick-muscled arm tight and constricting. “If you’d cooperated, I could have made this pleasurable for both of us.” His hot, rancid breath grazed the skin on my neck. “Now, I’m going to take what I want.”
Bile churned in my stomach, and I gasped for air. My struggles were useless. He was going to rape me, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.
Dale undid one clasp on my bib and was reaching for the other when the wood around the door handle splintered and the panel banged against the wall. A huge black wolf, shoulders hunched and fangs bared, stood in the doorway.
Nick.
His silvery-gray eyes glowed with a feral intensity—menacing and lethal. He stalked into the room, releasing a growl so low and guttural that even I shivered.
NICK
I’d almost been too late. The thought continually filtered through my mind.
After everyone had shifted, we’d spread out to approach the front of Bishop’s property from different vantage points. When one of his men tore from the house with a warning on his lips, I knew Reese’s friend, Preston Harker, had arrived at the gate and was causing problems for the guard. As we’d hoped, most of the men were headed to the expanse of forest behind the house, leaving the front unprotected.
While the rest of the group engaged Bishop’s men, it was my job to get inside and retrieve Mandy. If I encountered Bishop, even better.
I’d been relieved when I caught a glimpse of her in the second-story window. The momentary feeling of gladness was short-lived with Dale’s appearance, closely followed by her scream.
My plans to break a window to enter the house changed when I discovered someone’s oversight had left the front door standing partially open. Creeping through the house, I was surprised to find it empty. Not even Bishop was lurking around. As much as I wanted to be the one to immobilize him permanently, getting to Mandy was my main concern. No interference meant I’d get to her more quickly. The few seconds it took me to rush upstairs and follow her scent to the bedroom seemed to take forever.
By the time I was crashing through the door, my wolf had gone feral and taken over completely. I was a silent passenger, able to think and speak to my wolf but unable to control the anger ripping through him. Rage was a mild way of explaining the raw emotions tearing through me when I found Dale trying to remove Mandy’s clothes. My animal would do whatever was necessary to protect her, and for once, I wasn’t going to stop him.
Dale scowled and shoved Mandy aside. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Not nearly as much as I was. The bastard had dared to touch my mate, had planned to hurt her, and for that, he would die.
And die painfully.
I waited until Mandy had safely backed into the corner before focusing on Dale and releasing a challenging snarl.
Dale tugged his shirt over his head. “Once I’m finished with you, I’m going to help myself to your mate.”
Even though Mandy didn’t seem surprised when Dale informed her of her importance to me, I still wanted to tear out his throat in the worst way. Either she was suffering from shock, or she already knew she was my mate.
Her safety and keeping her as far away from Dale as possible were my primary concerns. I leapt the short distance between us, not giving him a chance to finish undressing. I hit him in the chest and hurled us toward the partially opened window. The back of his shoulders slammed into the upper pane, shattering the glass and littering the ground beneath us as we tumbled out the window. The two-story drop wouldn’t kill us, but the impact was going to hurt like hell.
At the last minute, I dug my claws into Dale�
�s chest, leaving sharp gashes and shoving away from him. I landed in an upright position, skidding through the rock and dirt, scraping some of the fur off my underbelly.
Dale wasn’t as lucky. His back thumped the ground hard enough for me to hear the air whoosh from his lungs. He rolled onto his hands and knees, wheezing and groaning. By the time I’d righted myself, he’d shifted and was shaking off the last remnants of his shredded clothing.
His fur was a light golden brown, and, though he was larger than a normal wolf, his animal was nowhere near the size of mine. I’d learned never to underestimate size. Being smaller didn’t necessarily lessen the extent of an opponent’s abilities. I carefully circled Dale, studying him for weaknesses, readying myself to attack.
Shortly after we landed, I’d surveyed my surroundings and noticed the rest of my group had engaged Bishop’s guards. A couple of the guards had taken off, and of the few who’d remained, two were lying on the ground unmoving. The rest of Bishop’s men had shifted and were battling with my family. Two of my late grandfather’s friends appeared to be injured badly but continued to fight. Blood streaked the fur on Reese’s gray wolf. By the ferocious way he tore into one of the males, I doubted much of it belonged to my brother.
I spotted Bryson across the yard to my left. He was incredibly large for a bear and towered over any wolf here, including mine. True to his word, he’d kept Berkley close and made sure she didn’t get into any trouble. She fought as fiercely as my brother when Bryson gave her a chance to enter the fray he had going with two of the other male wolves. I could tell her wolf was pissed, and had a feeling poor Bryson would be hearing about it later when they were all back in human form.
Seeing Mandy appear in the doorway of the house’s rear entrance reminded me of what Dale had planned to do to her. I wanted the male dead and for this to end quickly. I needed to hold her in my arms and reassure myself that she hadn’t been harmed by the other male’s actions.
