by Lori King
He stood there silently glaring at her, and she fidgeted uncomfortably. Why did he have to say anything? Why couldn’t he just pretend he didn’t know what was going on, and leave her the hell alone?
“You know, I don’t appreciate you deciding that you’re going to take on the role of my caretaker, when you don’t even fucking like me,” she said petulantly, crossing her arms over her aching breasts, and leaning against the side of the van.
“I don’t know you, so I can’t say whether or not I like you.” While she appreciated his honesty, his words stabbed into her gut, reminding her of the crazy mission they were on. “I would do the same thing for any female wolf under my protection, and make no mistake, right now you are under my protection. My Alpha put you there, and apparently, so did your parents.”
“They are your parents too, dumbass,” she muttered under her breath. Her rage had settled, and so had her lust. Now she just felt a sense of lonely emptiness.
“I believe that you believe that, but I need more than just your word. Now, I’m going to give you a little time to get things right in your head, but you need to realize that you can’t stop the mating lust once it’s started. It will overwhelm you if you try to fight it, and eventually it will drive your wolf mad. That is something I can’t let happen, at least not until I get you back to your parents. Then they can figure out what to do with you.” Rafe ran a hand through his blond hair.
As she stood there, KJ really looked at her oldest brother for the first time, and she could see the concern in his blue eyes, and the tension lining his angular face. His broad shoulders were set with irritation, and his muscles were tight as if he anticipated a fight from her. There was honesty in every line of his body, and her wolf wouldn’t allow her to continue arguing. He was giving her more time to figure things out, so she would take it and appreciate it.
“Thank you. I just…I just can’t deal with it right now. I need to get back to Mom and Dad and the rest of my family. I need to know she’s okay.”
He nodded and sighed as some of the stress in his stance eased. “I know. Get in the van. Ryley is headed this way and I’m sending your van on ahead. I want to run for a couple of minutes before we load up in our van, but we’ll follow shortly.”
With that, he turned and headed down the same footpath that she had just walked, and disappeared into the trees. Cash and Noah appeared a moment later, and she heard Ryley opening the driver’s side door on the other side of the van. Sighing with a combination of relief and disappointment when Thomas didn’t reappear as well, she climbed into the van, and settled into her seat. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to sleep as the other three settled in and they hit the highway again in silence.
Chapter 4
The only sound was the vibration of the van, as Thomas, Owen, Rafe, and Luke resumed their drive. They were just a few minutes behind the first van, but it was driving Thomas crazy that he hadn’t gone after KJ so that he could spend more time with her. Thomas hadn’t spoken to Noah and Luke after KJ walked away from them, choosing to walk the other direction, separating himself from everyone for a few minutes in order to calm his raging hard-on. His brain felt like mush, and his body was on fire. It was freaky how just a quick make out session with that woman had him ready to pin her to the nearest tree and fuck her silly.
He wanted to kick his own ass for molesting her so quickly. She was way too young for him, and now was not the time to be starting a wild affair, especially, when her brothers were big-ass werewolves who would rip him to pieces if he upset her. He needed to apologize to her, and explain that they couldn’t continue this crazy…well…whatever it was. They just couldn’t continue.
Once he felt like he had his emotions under control, he had started back toward the van with the intention of finding KJ, only to find her and the other van gone. Luke and Owen had been waiting by the van, but Rafe was nowhere in sight.
When Thomas asked about the other group, Owen had explained that Rafe told them to go ahead while he ran for a minute in the woods before they headed back out. Although Thomas hated standing around waiting to get back to it, it had turned out to be worth it when Rafe came out of the woods in his wolf form, and Thomas got to see him shift.
These wolves were built magnificently, in either form. Seeing their bodies contort from one shape to another was like watching a sci-fi movie. The scientific doctor in him wanted to ask a million questions about how it worked and how it felt, but he sensed a change in the atmosphere between he and Rafe, so he kept his mouth shut.
Now they were back on the road, and all he had for company were his thoughts as the other three men were oddly silent ever since they loaded back up.
“So what was that between you and KJ?” Luke asked, startling Thomas away from his musings. Thomas held the younger man’s intense gaze for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders.
“I’m not sure, why?” he asked.
“She’s a great girl, and I don’t want to see you hurt her,” Luke said sharply.
Thomas frowned. “Hurting her is the last thing I want to do.”
“She’s dealing with a lot of shit right now, so she doesn’t need you hitting on her, too,” Luke grumbled.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Luke. You don’t tell me who I can and can’t hit on. I like KJ, and I have no bad intentions where she is concerned. I’m attracted to her, she’s attracted to me, that’s it. End of story. It doesn’t mean that anything will come of it. Not that it’s any of your business,” Thomas said coldly.
Luke was starting to get on his nerves. The kid was wound tighter than a pocket watch, and acted like he was some sort of guard dog for KJ. It wasn’t like Thomas had done anything wrong, and KJ clearly wanted that kiss as much as he had.
“Everything about the pack is my business, human. You’re the one who doesn’t have any rights here.” Luke’s voice had changed with his anger, and it came out as a combination growl and snarl.
“Shut up, Luke. You’re not KJ’s babysitter. We have at least eight more hours in this car together, so cut the he-man act would you?” Rafe said from the driver’s seat.
After another hard look at Thomas over his shoulder, Luke huffed and then turned back around to glare out the front window. Thomas sighed with a combination of relief and irritation. He wished he could go back in time a half an hour and change how that whole incident went down. Not that he would change kissing KJ, but he hated that the moment had been spoiled by such a harsh interruption. His balls still ached for release, and when he let himself remember the taste of her on his tongue and the feel of her in his arms his cock thickened in his jeans.
Inwardly cursing his body’s reaction, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning out loud. No matter how many reasons he had to avoid her, there wasn’t a chance in hell that he would be able to keep his distance from her now.
“Where did you go to school, Doc?” Owen asked, turning to face him.
“MU, where did you study law?”
“Kansas, on scholarship. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gone at all.”
Thomas grinned at him. “I know that feeling. I had a scholarship too, but I’m still paying out the ass on school loans.”
“Everyone thinks doctors and lawyers have it made once they graduate, but it sure didn’t work that way for me.” Owen chuckled and shrugged.
“Why law school?”
“Lots of reasons, but I didn’t want to be a full-time firefighter. I tried it for a year, and it was nice having all of the female attention—women sure do like firemen—but it wasn’t for me. I lost a friend in a fire my rookie year, and it messed me up. I knew I had to pick a different direction. I still volunteer, but I mainly just do the demonstration part now. No fighting fires for me.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“No, I’m past it for the most part, but I couldn’t run into burning buildings after that.”
“So are you
the only one who isn’t a career fireman?”
Rafe snorted from the front seat. “Not quite!”
Luke didn’t even turn around to look at him when he spoke. “No, not all of us need to be heroes.”
Thomas and Owen exchanged looks before Owen shook his head and shrugged. “Devin and Damon got on at the fire department first, and everyone else sort of just followed them. We’ve always been a tight-knit group, since we were all around the same age. We grew up together. Except for the couple of years I remember the twins going to Memphis for school, we’ve been together. Even in the Marines we were in the same unit.”
“Devin and Damon went to Memphis for school?”
“Yeah, there is a school there for werewolves specifically. The Eastern Pack School.”
Thomas stared at Owen in disbelief. “Are you shitting me? A werewolf school?”
Luke growled from the front seat. “What, werewolves can’t be educated now?”
“No. I was just a little surprised. You have to admit you’re a secretive group, so to hear there was a school…Well, I’m just trying to figure out what the difference is between it and a regular school.” Thomas was trying hard to rein in his automatic reaction to punch Luke in the face. What the hell was this guy’s problem? He acted like Thomas was beneath him, and the way he had acted about KJ was ridiculous.
“Pack school is for Alpha heirs only. They go to basically get educated on the general werewolf society, and etiquette. If you ask Dev, it was one of the worst times in his life. He hated it,” Rafe answered before Thomas or Luke could.
“I have so much to learn about you guys,” Thomas said, dropping his head back onto the headrest of the seat.
“It’ll come with time, Doc. Don’t try to learn it all at once. You’re moving in with us, so you’ll be an expert in no time.” Owen adjusted his own seat, and closed his eyes signaling the end of the conversation as the other two wolves didn’t seem to want to chitchat either.
Forcing himself to close his own eyes, Thomas focused on blanking out his mind so that he could get some rest. With hours left on their drive time, and a van mostly full of bitchy wolves, he couldn’t think of a better option than to sleep through the trip.
Several hours later, Thomas woke to the sound of the van door shutting, and realized that they had stopped. Glancing out the window he could see that they weren’t at a rest stop but instead they were on a gravel road surrounded by trees. All three of the van’s other occupants had gotten out, and as he climbed out too, he saw the other van parked a little ways away.
Everyone was milling about chattering, except for KJ, who was perched on the back bumper of the first van, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. Her beautiful hair was swept over one shoulder, and hung in a waterfall over the ground as she rested her elbows on her knees. In that position she looked hardened and vulnerable all at once. He had an incessant urge to wrap her in his arms and promise to protect her forever. The moment he exited the vehicle, she jerked her head up and her gorgeous blue eyes met his. Even from twenty feet away he could see the need burning in them, and he started to move in her direction.
Before he could reach her, she jumped to her feet, and began walking into the woods, calling out, “I’m taking a run.”
Irritation and pride kept Thomas from going after her. She was avoiding him. He hadn’t done anything wrong, so why the hell would she avoid him?
“Doc?” He turned to look at Cash who was watching him with a cocked eyebrow. “We are going to take a run to burn off some energy before we go again. Do you mind waiting with the vans for a few minutes?”
Thomas nodded his agreement, and watched as all of the men began stripping their clothes off. A quick glance around him assured Thomas that the road they were on was deserted, and looked rarely used. Hopefully rarely enough that no one would happen upon them, and ask questions about why he had six piles of clothing and two vans and yet appeared to be alone.
The men shifted, and in a breath they were all gone from view, leaving Thomas alone with his thoughts.
He kicked the tire of the van KJ had been riding in out of pure frustration. It was going to be impossible to figure out why there was such chemistry between the two of them, if he couldn’t get her alone to talk. Of course the moment he imagined having her alone, his cock hardened in his jeans, and his brain stopped functioning properly. He wanted her alone all right, but not to just talk. He wanted to get his hands and his mouth back on that soft little body.
A scraping noise behind him was his only warning, before a blinding flash of pain shot through his temple, and the world went black.
KJ had barely taken a step after her shift, before the wolf landed on her back. The air slammed out of her lungs, so that she couldn’t even yelp to warn the other wolves, and she was quickly muzzled and tied by human hands.
“There you are, my pretty. We’ve been chasing after you for weeks. Nico is going to be so pleased when we show up with you in hand.” The man talking to her was a werewolf, she could smell it on him. She knew the Kaplan stench from any other scent, and she whined in her throat. “Yeah, you should probably be scared. I’ve heard that Nico’s been wanting you for a long time, and he ain’t very nice to his women. You’re probably in for it with that wolf, he’s a mean son of a bitch.”
She was hoisted up onto the man’s shoulder still in wolf form, and carried through the woods to a waiting pickup truck. Two other men were waiting for them and they both grinned when he dumped her on the ground next to them. The taller of the two was leaning nonchalantly against the driver’s side door frame. His eyes lit over her wolf, sparking with interest, and she growled a warning low in her throat.
“Good job, Jeff. Where’s Ash?” The shorter man was ugly as sin, and KJ wished she could tell him so. These were the Kaplan Omegas that had been tailing her all the way to Kansas City. Her stomach turned as the scent of unwashed bodies overwhelmed her.
“He was supposed to be grabbing the human. Let’s get her in the truck, that way when Ash gets here we can move. Once those Grays catch our scent they will be tracking us hard and fast. We have to get her back to Nico as soon as possible so that he can mate her.” The one named Jeff kept talking as he scooped her up again and dropped her in the back of the pickup truck.
Her heart was racing in her chest, as she processed what they were saying. Nicolas Kaplan was looking for her. Her? Not her mother? It didn’t make any sense. And why would they want Thomas? Mate her? Nico wanted to mate her, holy shit! Before she could think any further on it, the sharp prick of a needle in her hip brought a whine to her throat as the warmth of some sort of drug slid through her blood.
“Nighty night, beautiful. When you wake up it will be in Nico’s bed, so get some rest!”
The last thing she heard as she drifted into unconsciousness was the laughter of several men.
KJ came back to consciousness with the scent of her mate in her nose. Cracking her eyes open to look for Thomas, she was surprised to find herself alone in a large empty room. It was probably a living room, based on the door and window placement, but she really wasn’t sure. She was in a metal cage, but she had shifted into human form at some point, and someone had left a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt in the cage with her. Confusion blurred her brain as she dressed. She could smell her mate, but it was different than Thomas’s earlier scent. Maybe it was the same drugs they had given her, sometimes medication changed a wolf’s scent, so it was possible it did the same to humans.
She waited alone in the cage for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes. She could hear the rumble of two voices sitting outside the front door, and she finally determined that it was Kaplan wolves guarding her. Thomas had to be nearby, but she didn’t get a sense of him. The scent was coming from outside of the cabin, and she was beginning to fear that he was already dead.
Suddenly the door flung open, and a large man with long, white-blond hair, and a full mountain man beard and mustache, stood in front o
f her. His nearly black eyes were unsettling to say the least, and his scent made her blood freeze. This was Nicolas Kaplan. There was no doubt in her mind. His face might have been attractive if it weren’t for the sneer marring it right now. He had a wide jaw, and a wide flat nose above full lips. The large scar just above his right eyebrow made him seem even more dangerous and a tremor of genuine fear rattled her spine.
“Well, well, well, we finally meet. Katie Jo, allow me to introduce myself, I’m Nicolas Kaplan, your future mate,” he said with a leer and a chuckle.
“Fuck you,” she snapped, “you are not my mate.”
He laughed harder at her denial and then crouched down in front of the cage. “Not your bond mate maybe, but you will be my mate. I haven’t come this far to walk away with nothing. I suppose you do have the option of being my slave. I’ll leave the choice up to you.”
He stood again, and fished a key from the pocket of his black jeans. She took a second to size him up, and felt nauseous again. Nicolas was at least six foot tall and outweighed her by a good hundred pounds. He was built like a house, wide all the way down and packed with muscle. It would be suicide to fight him, but there was no way in hell she would willingly give herself up to him either.
“I’ll let you out of the cage if you promise to be a good girl. You don’t want to know what happens if you’re not. Can you manage?” Nicolas said, eyeing her speculatively.
“I wouldn’t open the cage if I were you.” She snarled, “The moment I have a chance I’m going to rip your fucking throat out.”
Anger flared in his eyes, but his lips quirked up in a grin. “Oh I do love a woman with spirit. I can’t wait to put you on your back and…teach you a lesson, my venomous little bitch.”
She growled at him which only seemed to encourage his evil pleasure. This was craziness. Since when did Nicolas Kaplan want her and not her mother?
