“Later, trouble,” Reed calls back. Now, why do I like the sound of that, trouble? No clue, but I do.
After leaving Reed’s I head back to the gym to check on Enzo. He always gives me a ride at the end of a day and truth be told I just want to see him. Heading inside, I can see him closing up his books and starting the closing procedures.
“All finished for the day?” I enquire.
“Yep. How was your walk?”
“It was great, I happened upon Reed’s office so I stopped in to see him. Let me go grab my stuff and I’ll meet you outside.”
“Okay.”
Stepping into the locker I pull my phone from my pocket and send a quick text to Reed. He made me completely forget about the conversation I overheard. He probably thinks he won’t have to explain himself. He has no fucking clue who I am, he will explain it to me. How the hell did he fucking find out about Alastair? More importantly, where the fuck is Alastair?
Reed, don’t think I’ve forgotten about the conversation you were having when I walked into your building. You have some explaining to do. Meet me tonight at my place. -R
Grabbing my stuff I head out front. I spot an odd-looking van across the street from the gym, it’s painted black, no license plate, and the windows are tinted so deeply that they are nearly black as well. As I give it a once over, I get this itchy feeling crawling under my skin, like a warning of some kind. Something isn’t right about that van. Determined to go with my instincts on this one, I begin to back away. Just then, five guys exit from the back, all dressed in black with ski masks. While they can hide their faces, they can’t hide the stench of shifters. Fuck. I turn to run back into the gym, only to make it 2 steps when I run into the solid chest of a man I prayed I would never see again. “Alastair…” is all I manage to get out before something solid and heavy slams into the side of my head and my vision swims out of focus into nothing.
Chapter Seven
Riley
I wake with a start, a pulling on my shoulders forces my attention to the here and now. It doesn’t take me long to realize I’m not in the gym parking lot. Instead, I’m bound to a cold metal chair with my arms pulled behind me, bound at the elbows and wrist. If I shift I’ll not only break my wolf’s front legs but also dislocate her shoulders. Fucking hell, I curse to myself. I try to shift my weight and find my legs are also bound to the legs of the chair, not only by my ankles but also at my upper calves. “Well isn’t that just peachy?” I mutter.
“You’re awake. So nice to see you again, Riley,” the voice that has been the source of many nightmares crawls from the corner of the room.
Actively relaxing my body as to not give away my panic, I drone, “What do you want, Alastair? What the fuck am I doing here?”
“You know, I always liked that about you, Riley. Never one to beat around the bush, very straightforward.” Rolling my eyes at him, I give a little side nod as if to say, get to it then. “Okay, let’s get to it then. You are going to give me what I want, Riley,” Alastair states flatly, not the slightest hint to what it is he’s talking about, just expecting me to already know the answers to all of life’s questions.
Fine, I’ll play along. Narrowing my eyes at him. “What makes you think I’ll give you anything other than another pencil, through the other eye?”
His wolf rises to the surface, his eye alighting crimson, he growls back, “Because you’re not that stupid, Riley. I am sure by now you’ve figured out that you can’t shift so there is only one way you’re getting out of this and trust me when I tell you that this will go one of two ways.” Smug asshat. Asshat. I bite. No nose. My wolf growls. I can’t help the smile that flashes across my face.
Collecting myself I calmly request, “And what would those two ways be, Alastair?" Sneering at him, I cut him off before he answers, "No, wait don’t tell me. Let me guess. The easy way or the hard way?" I give him a little attitude as I continue, "So cliche, Alastair, can't you come up with some new material at least?"
"My dearest Riley. Do you really not know me at all?" He tsks at me, "I would have thought after ten years of hanging around your family and three years of living under my roof you'd know me better than that."
"What I know is you're a murdering, raping, son-of-a-bitch and I am going to take great pleasure in killing you myself."
"No, darling,” he practically sing-songs with a wicked grin, “you are either going to be my mate willingly or you and everyone you love will die. The choice is yours."
I shake my head at him and begin to laugh. I mean a full-blown belly laugh. His face morphs to one of confusion and rage at my outburst.
"What the fuck is wrong with her?" Numpty, as I've so fondly labeled him in my head asks, "She's tied to a fucking chair, just been threatened with imminent death, and she fucking laughs? Alpha, I think you broke her."
"What the fuck are you laughing at?" Alastair barks at me as he stomps over, stopping right in front of my chair and backhands me across the face, clipping my ear in the process. Fuck! That hurt. The ringing in my ear intensifies as he does it again.
My wolf's displeasure with his treatment slips from my lips and he smirks. He knows he's getting a rise from her and I'm stuck in this form while I’m bound, so she can't do a damn thing.
Easy girl. We can't play into his hand. I try to reason with my wolf. Remembering my training with Enzo, I center my breathing and start to run Lose Yourself by Eminem in my head. The chorus begins playing; I can feel the beat in my soul, nodding my head to the beat I decide on my course of action.
“What the fuck is the point of all this, Alastair? Regardless of what way I choose you’re going to kill everyone I love and then kill me.” He breathes deep readying himself to reply but I beat him to it. “You’ll just kill them to prove to me that you’re in charge and therefore effectively stopping any rescue attempt they may try to get me back. You’ll make a big show of mating me, the rightful alpha. Then, after a little time to make sure I can’t usurp your position, you’ll have me killed. An accident or maybe an attack by a rival pack. Regardless you’ll go on with your life leading the pack as their alpha, no one the wiser of all the deceit, with the exception of those here and those within your inner circle.” Looking around the room at the guys standing around watching the show, I speak to them, “Do any of you know what he tried to do when I was just 16 years old? That he tried to force a mate bond with me? That he tried to rape me? Is that really the kind of alpha you want?”
“Shut the fuck up!” Alastair growls as he punches me in the side of the head so hard my chair falls to the side and I land square on my shoulder.
“Fucking hell!” I scream as my shoulder dislocates with an audible pop so loud the kid no older than 18 across the room visibly flinches.
“Riley, I don’t need this hassle or you for that matter. Let’s see if your newly resurrected sister has more smarts than you,” he quips and my eyes widen as I stare at him.
“How do you know about Grace?” I whisper in shock.
“So she is alive. Guess he wasn’t just jesting with me.”
“Who? Who told you Grace was alive?” my voice gradually getting louder as my fear picks up. Only a handful of people knew Grace was alive. Fuck! I scream in my head.
Sister safe. My wolf whispers to me.
“You haven’t figured it out yet, huh? Well since you’ll be dead soon it can’t hurt to tell you.” He squats down in front of me, I’m still lying on my side on the floor, bound to the chair. “You have a spy in your camp, Riley. One of your mates works for me.”
My breathing picks up as I try to digest his words. One of my mates betrayed me. No. No. “NO!” I scream.
Alastair full out smiles from ear to ear as he states full of glee, “Oh yes, Riley. Your mate is mine. He works for me and has been spying on you for months. Reporting back everything you’ve been doing to prepare to attack me. All your training with the mate with the gym, all your plans to take back ‘your’ pack, all your alliances that yo
ur sister has been building for you. I know about it all. How do you think I found you? It wasn’t mere luck I just happened to be outside the gym tonight. Speedy, led me to you. He even sent me this picture of you so I could see how much you’ve changed over the years.” Pulling a phone from his pocket he pulls up a picture of a selfie I took and sent to just one person.
Gods, no. It can’t be. He wouldn’t.
Shh. No. Mate. He wouldn’t. My wolf tries to reassure me of my mate’s commitment to me.
Alastair stands and addresses his henchmen, “Get her up and teach her a lesson on how bitches should behave. Then make her unrecognizable and get rid of her.” He looks back at me, “On second thought keep her alive and bury her.”
I’m jarred as Thing One picks up the chair. My thoughts are still stuck on the revelation of my mate betraying us that I don’t see the first hit coming until it connects with my right eye. The second landing in the left side of my rib cage.
I don’t know how long I sit here taking a beating but I don’t scream, don’t cry, don’t react; I’m mentally disconnected. My wolf is curled up in the back of my mind, trying not to react to the beating. She knows if she tries to break free now it will only cause us more pain.
Another fist connects with my ribs and I feel the snap of my bone prompting my vision to swim and black spots to invade the edges. I cough blood across my knee as everything goes black and I’m drowning in the nothingness I’ve come to take comfort in.
I open my eyes to pitch blackness. However, this isn’t the blackness of the nothing that is my safe harbor. The air is stuffy around me making it hard to breathe. I lie on a hard surface, flat on my back. My entire body is screaming in a rage of inferno fire and gut-wrenching pain. It feels as though every bone has been snapped, put back together, and for the hell of it shattered again with a Mac truck. Every muscle, cartilage, and tendon feels as though it's been torn to shreds and my head is throbbing. Something crusty is drying on my skin, making me itch all over. Trying to take a deep breath, I jolt upright in pain, slamming my head into a wall above me. That's when Alastair's words come rushing back, "Get her up and teach her a lesson. Then make her unrecognizable and get rid of her. On second thought, keep her alive and bury her.”
No, no, nononono. He didn't, did he? Fuck, shit, damn it. My panic starts to rise as I figure out where I am. Tenderly, I lay my hands down on the surface under me and slide them out towards the side, making it only about six inches from my shoulders before hitting walls on both sides. I follow those walls up until I hit the surface above me, realizing I can only lift my arms by bending at my elbows. Pointing my toes, I quickly meet the solid wall at my feet. FUCK! HE BURIED ME ALIVE!
Ignoring the radiating pain shooting through my body, I fist my hands and begin to beat on the box lid above my head. Thoughts of everything I’ve left unspoken and undone flood my mind. My guys, my mates. Regret fills my soul. Regret that I’ll never really get to know them. To learn what makes them smile and what makes them laugh. Regret that I’ll never be able to tell them how much they have come to mean to me. Regret that we will never be fully mated. Regret that I denied them for so long and that I’ll never know what it feels like to fully let them in. With tears slipping free of my eyes and anger, regret, and sorrow filling my soul, I beat my fists against the lid over and over again. I can feel the skin over my knuckles split and blood begins to run down my arms.
Easy. Calm mind. Calm soul. My wolf tries to soothe my frantic heart and mind. Listen.
"Riley, you're awake. Welcome back, my dear. I was beginning to think my boys went too hard on you. I'm pleased to see that's not the case, or rather hear," Alastair taunts. Patting around the box I find a walkie talkie along the wall at my head.
Feeling around the side I find a button I hope will allow me to talk back. "Alastair," my voice comes out a harsh croak from the beating my throat took during Alastair's fucking lesson.
"Oh Riley, you really don't sound good, pet. I fear maybe they did go a little too hard on you. Don't worry, they'll be taught a lesson in the art of behavior reconditioning soon enough. But never mind them, let’s get back to you. By now I'm sure you figured out where you are, the question is, do you want to stay there or would you rather come back with me and be a good pet."
Snorting at those choices I ask, "What's option C?"
"Death. Death for you and everyone you love. Except for Grace, who becomes my mate. Of course, that will lead to death eventually, but I'm thinking a pup or two first. What do you think, Auntie Riley?" Alastair quips with too much excitement. My breathing is ragged, only now it's because I am beyond fucking pissed. Pissed at Alastair and pissed at myself. Alastair knows I'll never allow him to fucking touch Gracey. Fuck me!
"You won't fucking touch her, Alastair," I pronounce.
"What are you going to do to stop me, Riley? You're six feet in the ground, honey." Godsdamnit. Pounding my fist against the side of the box the sound travels out, far. Wait a minute. My wolf had told me to listen. Hitting the side again, I listen to the sound travel out, hollow. I'm not underground.
“Since I’m going to die anyway, answer one thing for me please. Did you set my parents up to be killed?”
There’s dead air for a good minute before he comes back with a simple, “Yes.”
Mine. My wolf growls.
He’s fucking ours. I growl back because fuck, I will have a piece of the son-of-a-bitch.
Enzo
“Yeah, I’m on my way. I know, I’ll be there in ten. Gods, man would you chill the fuck out, I said I’d be there. Let me get off the phone so I can lock up and get out of here. Did you forget you called the gym line?” Cree called about fifteen minutes ago to make sure I wasn’t late for dinner and that I was bringing Riley, only he won’t get the fuck off the phone. “I’m hanging up now, Cree.” Without another word, I hang up the phone and switch off the lights to the gym. Walking out the door I spot a black van tearing off down the road like a bat out of hell.
“Fucking people, learn to drive,” I mumble to myself as I turn to lock the doors. Turning back around I look around for Riley. Left. Right. What the fuck? Riley always waits for me at the end of the day. Where the fuck is she?
“Riley. Riley, where are you?” I question, my nerves vibrating with anger and tension.
“Riley, this isn’t fucking funny. Where the hell are you?”
Pulling my phone out of my gym bag hanging from my shoulder I hit Little Badass in my contact list. Holding the phone to my ear waiting on the other end to connect, I start to hear Take Me to Church by Hozier from around the corner. Racing towards the sound I find Riley’s bag next to what appears to be drag marks. Following them, they come to an end at a set of tire prints that look like they were made by a vehicle trying to take off in a hurry. I recall the van that flew by me as I walked out of the gym.
FUCK! Running back around the corner I hit Reed’s number. As soon as it connects, before he can get out a hello, I’m frantically explaining to him what I found.
“Reed, fuck man they took her. I don’t have a fucking clue who they are but they took her.” My jumbled brain is trying to connect all the dots. Flashes of Laura’s mangled body run through my mind. “I can’t lose her man. I can’t do that again.”
Taking a breath, I start at the beginning. “I came out of the gym and Riley was nowhere in sight. I’m quite sure the people that took her were driving a blacked-out van. It flew past me like its ass was on fire. Heading east out of the city, passing the front of the gym. Fuck, Reed. Can you pull up the CCTV system and track them? We have to get her back. I’m grabbing her stuff they left behind and heading to your place.” I don’t wait for a response, a hello nor a goodbye, before I hang up, grab Riley’s gym bag, slide into my Aston Martin, and head towards Reed’s penthouse.
Reed
I just stare at the receiver in my hand while I listen to the faint dial tone as it starts to sound through. Completely confused by the lack of conversation that just took
place. I try to process Enzo’s frantic words. They took her. Who are they?
I continue to stare at the phone another minute before the light bulb in my head explodes with realization. Fucking Alastair. I knew he left the pack’s land; I also knew that someday he would come for Riley. Did I think it would be this soon? No, I didn’t think he was this stupid.
Moving into action I pull up my contacts and dial an old army buddy contact that still owes me a favor. He now works for the local police department as a homicide detective. He also happens to be an angel. Yes, a literal angel. Those healing abilities sure came in handy on the battlefield.
Listening to the phone ring, I flash back to a text I received just a little bit ago from Riley. You have some explaining to do. Fuck, I had hoped she hadn’t overheard me this afternoon. I wasn’t ready to explain to her what we had been keeping from her but now more than anything I would jump into the wrath of Riley if it meant she was okay. “Gods, Riley. Please be alright so I can explain.” I swear this woman makes me feel weak.
Grow a fucking backbone again, Reed. I chastise myself. The phone stops ringing and I hear Gray’s voice.
“Gray,” he states, all-business tone in way of greeting.
“Gray, it’s Reed. I need to cash in that favor, man.”
“Sounds serious. What do you need?”
“CCTV footage from about 10 maybe 15 minutes ago, outside of Enzo’s gym. We’re looking for a blacked-out van, headed East. We need the registration info and to follow it. Figure out where it went.”
“Consider it done, man. I’ll text you the info as soon as I have it. You good on this or are you going to need backup?”
A sinking feeling develops in my gut. “I honestly don’t know at the moment. As soon as I have more information on who I’m dealing with and how many, I’ll let you know if we need you and your guys.”
Shattered Strength: Shadowcrest Pack Series Book Two Page 6
