Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)

by Stephanie Rowe

  Chapter 22

  Two days later, Drake was still missing.

  Abby perched on the arm of the worn leather couch, her hand on Jace’s shoulder. Jace was beside her, once again revived after Kiernan had stripped the silver from him. Roarke was in an armchair, heavily bandaged, his face still pale. His breathing was shallow, rattling in his chest, and his cheeks were even more sunken than before. He looked weaker, as if death was tightening its grip on him, despite Kiernan’s healing, but he’d insisted on being part of the discussion.

  Cash and his mate, Bryn McKenzie, were sitting on the opposite couch, and Savannah was pacing restlessly. Nana had taken Seth to Jace’s house, the most secure facility available, while the others had gathered at Kiernan’s new location, another underground bunker he’d clearly already had in place. Jace’s pack had been hunting for Drake, and no one had found even a trace of him.

  Fear was pressing down upon all of them, and they were becoming increasingly afraid that Grigori had somehow taken him…except that Cash had seen Grigori and Drake fighting when he’d arrived. But by the time he’d stopped the truck and raced over to join the fight, Drake was nowhere in sight, and Grigori was on the run, disappearing into the shadows of the alleys before Cash could reach him. Cash had returned to hunt for Drake, but his scent had literally vanished outside the apartment, the trail ending so suddenly it was as if he’d ceased to exist.

  “We’ve looked everywhere,” Cash said, leaning forward and bracing his arms on his quads. His fingers were tangled with Bryn’s, just as Jace was doing with Abby. “Drake’s gone.”

  “He can’t be gone.” Abby focused on Jace tracing circles on the palm of her hand. “Grigori must have done something. He has lairs everywhere. It’s just a matter of finding him.”

  Cash stood up. “He’s my best friend. I can’t sit here and wait. We have to find him.”

  Jace watched him steadily, his strong frame relaxed, conveying the message that he had this situation under control. Abby could feel his tension, however, in the rapid lines he was drawing on her palm. He presented complete control and confidence, but the deeply emotional and compassionate man who’d been ready to die to protect others from himself was beneath the surface, hidden from everyone except her. Jace bled silently, inside, and never showed it. But she knew, because he’d let her see it. “Abby has agreed to map out all known locations of Grigori and his pack,” he said, rubbing his knuckles over the back of her hand. “We’ll check them systematically. I’ve recalled my pack. They’ll arrive tomorrow and we’ll divvy up the locations. Abby and I will take some, Cash and Bryn will take a set, and—”

  “I’ll take a set.” Savannah stopped pacing.

  Roarke leveled a hard gaze at her. “You can’t go in after him, Savannah—”

  “I can.” She walked over to her brother. “Lucius kidnapped me, but he’s dead. I can handle Grigori.”

  “Grigori’s more dangerous,” Jace said quietly. “He’s extremely intelligent, connected, and ruthless.”

  She turned toward Jace. “Which is why I’m going to help. How long do you think Drake can survive him? We all know what he’s like.” She looked at her brother. “Lucius caught me unaware,” she said softly. “I didn’t know that kind of world existed, and I wasn’t prepared for it. I’m ready now. I’m not the same innocent he took. That girl doesn’t exist anymore.”

  Anguish filled Roarke’s face. “Damn it, Savannah.”

  “It’s okay, Roarke.” She walked over to him and knelt beside him, taking his hand in hers. “If you hadn’t saved me, I’d be dead now. You’re amazing, but now I have to pay that forward and help Drake.”

  Abby felt her own heart tighten. She knew what Savannah was saying. She’d also changed forever because of Grigori, seeing things she’d never be able to strip from her mind, and like Savannah, she couldn’t stand back and let Grigori hurt anyone else, not if she could stop it. “We don’t even know if Grigori has Drake.”

  “Someone has him,” Cash said. “He’d be back with us if he could. If it’s not Grigori, it’s someone else. I’d know if he were dead. He’s not.”

  “I agree,” Jace said. “I’d know if he were dead. He’s alive, but somehow, cut off from us.”

  “That’s why I’m helping,” Savannah said. “He built a psychic bridge between us. I might be able to sense him.”

  “Dammit, Savannah,” Roarke muttered. “You don’t even know what we’re dealing with.” He closed his eyes. “Don’t go,” he said softly. “Don’t go out there.”

  Empathy flashed across Savannah’s face. “I have to, Roarke. I’m sorry. I’ll be careful.”

  “I have an idea.” Jace rubbed his palm against Abby’s. “Roarke, I’ll assign one of my other wolves to go with her. Tristan is an excellent fighter, and he can protect her.”

  “No!” Savannah shook her head. “I don’t want a partner. I’m going alone.”

  Abby sighed as Roarke and Jace tried to argue with her. She understood Savannah. After Lucius, she had never been willing to let any man near her…until Jace. The moment she’d met Jace, she’d known she was safe with him. Somehow, Drake had done the same for Savannah, but no other male had earned her trust. Abby knew that the thought of isolating herself with another male was too much for Savannah to handle. “I’ll go with you, Savannah—”

  “No.” Jace dragged her off the arm of the couch and onto his lap. “You’re with me.” He looked at Abby’s face, and understanding flashed in his eyes as he read her expression. He turned to Savannah. “You can team up with us.” A perfect solution that didn’t require her to be alone with a male. It gave her the buffer of another woman, but the protection of a skilled fighter.

  She shook her head stubbornly. “If we split into three groups, we’ll cover the ground faster. Don’t you understand what Grigori can do? Minutes can make a difference for Drake. Even if it’s not Grigori, one minute could be the difference between life and death for him. Something’s terribly wrong, and we all know it.”

  The room fell silent. Everyone knew she spoke the truth. Drake’s life, sanity, and heaven knew what else was in danger as they sat there.

  It was Jace who spoke up. “All right,” he said. “Here’s the situation. Anyone who gets a lead on Drake must report it in, and wait until the others get there. If Grigori or his wolves are around, abort.” He looked hard at Savannah. “Anyone who violates this will be locked down until Drake is found. One step over the line and you’re recalled from the field. Understood?”

  Everyone agreed, and Savannah let out a breath of visible relief. “Okay. I agree.”

  Jace looked over at Roarke. “That work for you?”

  Roarke grimaced. “We can’t keep her here, so yeah.” He looked over at Savannah. “Be careful. I’ll meet up with you when I can.”

  She nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate that.” She shoved her hands in the front pocket of her jeans. “I’m going to go catch some sleep before we go. Abby? When will you have the maps ready?”

  “By morning.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you then.” Savannah pressed a kiss to Roarke’s forehead, then slipped out of the room, her feet making no sound as she walked down the hall to the room she was staying in.

  When she left, Jace tucked Abby more tightly against him, as if he needed to protect her the way Roarke couldn’t protect Savannah. “You trust her not to go in after Drake?” Jace asked Roarke.

  He was still watching the doorway his sister had disappeared through. “I don’t know,” he said. “She’s different now. Harder. Jaded. I don’t know why she’s obsessed with finding him, but she is.” He looked over at Jace. “She’s all I have left. I can’t lose her, too.”

  Jace nodded, his arm tightening around Abby. “I understand. We’ll keep track of her—”

  “No.” Abby touched his arm. “You guys need to give her space. She needs to find her own power again. Lucius took that from her, and she has to be the one to find it.”

  Roarke’s fa
ce darkened. “But if she gets in trouble—”

  “Didn’t you hear her? She wants to save Drake. If she gets killed, she can’t save him. She’ll be careful.” Abby leaned her head against Jace’s shoulder, suddenly exhausted. “He matters to her for some reason. She needs that.”

  “We all need that.” Jace kissed her gently. “Let’s go, sweetheart. We have a long day tomorrow.”

  Abby let him pull her to her feet, leaning against his side as Cash and Bryn rose. Kiernan picked up Roarke easily, and Abby’s throat tightened. How badly must Roarke be hurt to have to be carried? How badly must he be hurt to let his sister leave without him? Roarke was as much an alpha as Jace, so to be left behind when his sister was in danger was against everything he lived by.

  She looked at Kiernan, but he shook his head, warning her not to ask.

  As Kiernan carried Roarke out, Cash walked over to Jace. He didn’t say anything, but he pulled Jace into a massive bear hug. The two men held tight for a long moment before releasing. “I’d have been pissed if you’d had to die,” Cash said, his voice raw. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Me too.” Jace took Abby’s hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Thank Abby.”

  She started to protest, but her words faded when Cash turned toward her. “Jace matters to me,” he said. “Anytime you need anything, you just let me know.” He grabbed her and hugged her too. The strength of his embrace made tears fill Abby’s eyes, and she hugged him back.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her throat tightening. After growing up in Grigori’s dysfunctional pack, she’d cherished being on her own after the attack. But the loyalty between these men was powerful, making her realize how much better life was with that kind of support.

  “You’re one of us now,” Jace said, his gaze kind as he watched her. “You’re my mate, which means you’re part of the pack. You’re home, sweetheart, forever.”

  She nodded, then her throat tightened even more when Bryn pulled her into a hug, too. “I’m glad there’s another female around,” she whispered. “Did you know Jace’s entire pack is males? It’s time to even things up a bit.” She pulled back, her eyes serious. “Grigori almost destroyed Jace, and you saved him. Never forget that.”

  Abby nodded, unable to speak over the lump in her throat.

  Jace laughed softly and wrapped his arm over her shoulder, tucking her against him. “Come on, babe. We have a lot to get done.”

  Abby melted against his side and waved goodnight as she let Jace escort her out of the living room to their room at the end of the hall. The moment the door was closed, Jace pulled her into his arms, kissing her with that same long, slow, delicious kiss that made her heart melt every time he did it.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, pouring all her love into the kiss. “I love you, Jace.”

  “I love you, too,” he said as he slipped his arm under her legs and scooped her up, still kissing her as he carried her across the room and set her on the bed.

  She propped herself up on her arms as he jerked off his shirt, showcasing the powerful muscles that still made her heart skip. “Don’t we need to work on the maps?”

  “We will, but first, I need you.” He crawled onto the bed, moving over her like a predator about to take his prey. “I need your kiss. I need your touch. I need your love. I need it all, Abby.”

  Her heart softened as she slipped her arms around his neck. Her big, bad alpha, whose tenderness made her soul turn over. “I need you, too, Jace. Always and forever.”

  “Always and forever,” he agreed, just before he kissed her, a kiss that promised the kind of love she’d never believed in, until she’d met him.

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  Did you enjoy Jace and Abby’s story? If so, please consider leaving a short review on the eTailer and/or Goodreads. Reviews make a huge difference for authors!

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  Keep reading for sneak peeks of other Stephanie Rowe novels on the following pages!

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  Sneak Peek: Dark Wolf Rising

  DARK WOLF RISING

  A Heart of the Shifter novel

  © 2015 Stephanie Rowe

  Bryn McKenzie would be dead by Thursday.

  And it was going to be an ugly, terrible death.

  It was almost two in the morning, she hadn’t slept yet, and she knew she wouldn’t. She just waited in the bed in the hotel room, staring at the ceiling, listening to the low conversation of the men in her living room.

  Men who had been assigned to protect her.

  Men who would fail.

  They thought they knew how to keep her safe, but they hadn’t seen what she had seen…which was why she had to die. No one who’d witnessed that particular murder would be allowed to live, and she knew that.

  She’d known it when she’d gone to the police and told them what had happened.

  She’d known it when she’d agreed to testify at Jace Donovan’s trial.

  She’d known it when her team of highly skilled police officers had set her up in this hotel room, determined to keep her alive long enough to testify.

  And yet she’d done all of it anyway, and she would stay here and hope she was wrong, because a woman had died in front of her, and Bryn was the only one who knew who had done it. There was no way she could stay silent when the man who’d killed that innocent woman went free.

  She was trying to do the right thing for once in her life. After her mom had died when she was seventeen, the guilt had driven Bryn into a self-destructive hell to hide from the pain. She’d been fighting her way back ever since, but she still felt like the shadows of the accident and the subsequent dark time in her life were always haunting her. If she died trying to bring justice to the monster who’d slaughtered an innocent woman, then at least she’d die trying to do something worthy with her life. But she didn’t want to die yet, not until she’d made sure that the man who’d killed Kate Stephens paid for his crime. It wasn’t enough to want to make a difference. She had to actually make it. If she could stay alive long enough to testify, then maybe she could begin to understand why she’d survived the car accident that had killed her mother.

  She knew she might be assassinated before the trial, and she’d accepted that risk, but God help her, she didn’t want to die, and she really didn’t want to die the way Kate had died: slowly, agonizingly in a pool of her own blood, with her throat ripped from her body.

  Bryn squeezed her eyes shut against the images that wouldn’t leave her mind, the image of that horrible moment, that brutal attack, the screams that hadn’t stopped ringing through her mind since it had happened. “Breathe, Bryn,” she whispered, trying to slow the sudden racing of her heart. “It’s okay. Right now, you’re perfectly safe. No one has hunted you down yet—”

  She suddenly became aware that the living room had gone silent. The men had stopped talking.

  Her heart leapt into her throat, and she bolted upright in bed. Was this it? Was it happening now? She leapt to her feet, grabbed the gun with the silver bullets from her nightstand, and backed into the corner, aiming at the door of the bedroom. She’d already dragged the heavy hotel dresser and couch in front of the door, but she knew it wouldn’t save her. Her hands were shaking, and sweat was pouring down her back. Dear God. How had they found her?

  There was a low growl from the living room, and she froze, fear paralyzing her. Dear God. A wolf. Then one of the men screamed, and a frenzy of growls and snarls erupted from the living room. Gunshots. Crashes. Howls. Screams.

  Dear God. The men were being murdered.

  She looked down at the gun in her hands, and she grimaced at the sight of her shaking fingers wrapped around the metal. Trained, armed men were being slaughtered out there, and she thought a gun would help her? She had to get out, to run while she had time. Frantic, she raced to the window. She was on the fifth floor. Too high to jump. Another crash sounded from the living room, and more gunshots.

  There had to be handholds. She wasn’t goin
g to die tonight, and she wasn’t going to die the way Kate had, slaughtered by a werewolf. She shoved the gun into the waistband of her jeans and reached for the window—

  A hand clamped down over her mouth and someone dragged her backward, away from the window.

  A silent scream erupted from her throat, and she fought frantically, desperate, but whoever held her was a thousand times stronger than her. God, no, she wasn’t ready to die—

  “It’s a rose,” her captor whispered into her ear. “A white rose for friendship, a red rose for your heart, and a blue rose because the impossible is always possible.”

  She froze in disbelief. She hadn’t heard that poem since she was fourteen, and wildly in love with her best friend, Cash Burns, who had disappeared without explanation one dark night. It couldn’t be him. She hadn’t heard from him or found any trace of his existence in thirteen years.

  “It’s me, Bryn,” he said. “Don’t make a sound.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she recognized his voice, a voice she’d never thought she’d hear again. Why was Cash in her room? How was he here? She nodded once, and he immediately released his death grip on her mouth.

  She spun around, and her heart seemed to stop at the sight of him. She remembered a thin, gawky fifteen year old, but standing before her, illuminated by the moonlight, was a heavily muscled man with piercing green eyes so intense they seemed to bore right through her. His hair was dark and long, ragged. His black T-shirt stretched across his muscled chest, and several long-healed scars crisscrossed his left temple. He was pure danger, elemental male, and wildly sensual, a man she never would have recognized as her childhood friend. “Cash?”

  Another shout echoed from the living room, jerking her attention to the door. The door was closed, but the dresser and couch were ajar, showing how Cash had gotten into the room. Clearly, the heavy furniture had been nothing to him, with his strong frame.

  “It’s my job to kill you. We have to make it look good.” He pulled out a heavy knife. “Scream like I’m ripping you up.” Then he dragged the knife across his forearm, spilling blood all over the carpet. “Scream. Now.”