by Tamara White
***
Jolting up, I gasp as pain shoots down my spine. “Easy Dani,” Eli’s voice says in the darkness.
“Ah crap, so that wasn’t a dream then?” I ask, rubbing the back of my head, noticing the jangle of chains in the dark room. I can feel a chain wrapped around each of my wrists, and my neck. At least my feet are free.
Eli sighs in the dark, “No, it wasn’t a dream, but I keep hoping it is. I have no idea how to get us out of here,” he admits, sorrow lining his voice.
“Fuck,” I groan, feeling the sticky dry mess that is the back of my head. “How hard did they hit me? It still hasn’t healed yet.”
At first, he remains silent before finally speaking. “Dani, she almost killed you. You’ve been out cold for a week at least. I’m not really sure, they turn the lights on randomly to keep us guessing if it’s night or day,” he murmurs, lost in thought.
“What?!” I screech. “A week! Are you fucking kidding me! How has no one found us yet?!” I ask, starting to panic. My one reason for giving in was I thought my mates would come for me, but if I’ve been here a week then maybe not.
He doesn’t answer me, giving me the answer I need. They haven’t found us, because they believed what Sonja said, or they’re dead. I refuse to believe they’re dead though. Surely, I would feel it? I reach for my wolf, only to feel her lulled in my mind. She has been sapped of all energy by keeping me alive.
“What do we do then? I’m not staying here until we die,” I announce, getting to my feet, trying not to let panic take control. I feel around, trying to gauge where we are but all I feel is cold, smooth stone. No divots except where the chains are attached the wall. I try pulling them away but the silver just burns my hands. Fuck!
There’s only a couple feet length for me to move and I have no idea what to do now. Sinking to the floor in defeat, I let out a frustrated sigh.
Eli chuckles from the side, “Yeah, it’s pretty impossible. They made sure there was no way for us to get out. I’ve been checking every day, even though I know it’s impossible. The only thing we can do is wait to be rescued.”
Yeah… that’s just not something I’m good at. I’d rather be the one doing the rescuing rather than be the one being rescued. It gives me that feeling of weakness. It’s bad enough James saved me from the attack while we were with Pete’s pack. Sadly though, he won’t save me this time since he’s dead. A sob echoes in the room and I let it sink in. He’s really dead. He saved me but he’s dead. I cry until I have no tears left. Eli doesn’t say anything, just leaves me to my grief.
Hours pass, and I start to drift off to sleep when light blares into existence. Covering my eyes, I get to my feet prepared for any attack they want to dish out. Why else would they keep us alive? I figured by now, Luke would’ve killed me.
I hear footsteps descending stone stairs, the soft sound of flesh on stone, giving me a direction to face. Off to my right, Eli shuffles getting up from his position on the floor. The sound of chains makes me sad. I knew he would be chained as I am, but to hear it confirmed, breaks my heart.
My eyes adjust to the light, watering from the harshness, just in time to see Adam strolling straight up to me. I tense, knowing something bad is going to happen.
“Where would they go?!” he demands in my face, spittle flying as he pants angrily. I glance to Eli, confused to see him smirking slightly.
Turning back, I ask, “Who?”
He laughs harshly, swinging out and slapping me. “Your mates! Where are they?!”
I taste blood on my lips but that doesn’t stop the laugh from bubbling out. Adam takes a step back, shocked before gathering his wits again. “Do you think this is funny?!” he screams in my face.
“Are you kidding me right now? You kidnapped me, threatened that my mates wouldn’t save me, then I wake up here, a week later and you think that I know where my mates are?! Are you fucking stupid? How the hell am I supposed to know where they are? Why don’t you ask your ‘all powerful’ king? If he’s as good as he says he is, then he should have already caught them by now,” I smirk, as his face gets angrier. My wolf is pissed and she’s enjoying it every bit as much as I am. He’s going to be the first one to die once we’re out of these chains.
He stares at me, his face turning a shade of purple as his anger builds. I know the hit’s coming before he swings, so I dodge at the last minute, enjoying when I hear his fist slam into the wall, breaking his hand.
He rears back, screaming in agony as Eli and I burst into laughter. “Did that hurt?” Eli asks him through his fits of laughter. I grin over at him, loving the fact that even though we’re locked up, we can still cause our captor pain.
He stomps away from us up the stairs, all the while cursing under his breath. I expect the lights to go out but a few moments later the door creaks open and heavy footsteps sound on the stairs, a foreboding feeling coating the room.
I feel his evil before I see him. Luke’s vibe was always off to me.
He waltzes right up to me, and wastes no time punching me in the jaw. My head is thrown back into the wall, blurring my vision. My jaw is in agonizing pain but I refuse to show him how much it hurt.
“Dani!” Eli shouts, thrashing in his chains. “I swear to god, I’m going to kill you for that you rotten son-of-a-bitch!” He growls pulling tight on his chains.
Luke turns his ire on Eli, kicking his knee, the snap echoing through the room. He cries out and drops to the ground cradling his knee in pain. He glares up at Luke, promising revenge but I don’t know if he’ll get the chance. My wolf is imagining every possible way we can kill him right now. Many of which are going to be drawn out as long as possible.
“Luke, it’s me you want. Leave Eli alone!” I demand, using what power I can summon which considering the circumstances, isn’t much, but it’s enough to draw his gaze back to me and away from Eli.
He reaches out, grabbing my jaw firmly, a hiss of pain escaping my lips at the rough contact. “You do not get to order me around. I want you to know just who is in charge here. It’s not Eli, it’s not you, and it’s not Adam. I’m the one calling the shots. Now, are you going to be a good little girl, or a smart ass little bitch that needs to be put in her place?”
I glare up at him, not wanting to cause myself more pain but knowing I can’t let him win so I do the only thing left. I lift my knee hitting him square in the balls.
He jerks back, his eyes tearing up with the pain. Eli laughs through his own pain as Luke lands in a heap on the floor, gasping form the pain. “You bitch!” he shrieks, summoning wolves to come running down the stairs.
Adam and another wolf help Luke to his feet. Once he’s steady, he pushes them away harshly. “Hold her!” he growls, commanding Adam and the other guy. They surround me on either side, each grabbing an arm and leg, holding me in place. I growl at them, pissed these chains limit my movement.
Luke shakes himself off, approaching me, much more confident knowing his minions are holding me down. “You know, I thought I was going to wait to take you as my mate, but I think now’s the perfect time. I already have one of your mates watching. What could be more fun than getting you pregnant with my child as your mate watches, unable to do anything about it? Maybe I’ll ask a few members of the pack if they’d like a turn too?” he grins, as the blood drains from my face.
I glance over at Eli. His face shows torment and rage like no other, taking over his soul. I look away, unable to see such pain. There’s nothing he can do to stop Luke and we both know it.
Luke grins, pleased to see we’ve both come to the same conclusion. “You’re lucky I have more important things to deal with right now,” he says, dismissing us as if we’re nothing but insects. He turns on his heel without another word and back up the stairs. Adam and the other guy release me, following Luke. As soon as the door shuts, I slump to the ground relieved.
Eli crawls as close as he can get, but still too far away, his eyes showing a vulnerability I didn’t expect. “Are y
ou alright? How bad are you hurt?” he asks, concern in his voice.
I’m about to answer when I hear the door open again and I tense, expecting Luke to come back down but it’s someone else carrying a few trays of food. I smell the meat straight away, and my wolf perks up immediately.
The guy looks familiar to me but I can’t quite place him. He gives Eli his tray before placing mine in front of me. I watch as he reaches out, gripping my hand in his. I look down at his hand confused, when I feel the press of metal before he releases me. He gets to the bottom of the stairs before turning back to us, muttering under his breath just loud enough for us to hear him. “Two hours. If you’re not gone by then, you’ll never get another chance.”
He leaves taking the steps two at a time. Instead of turning the lights off, they’re left on. I open my hand looking at the key he placed in it.
Using it, I quickly unlock the chains from my neck and wrists before rushing to Eli, doing the same. “What should we do?” I ask.
Eli hesitates, taking a quick walk around the room, looking for something. Once he’s satisfied, he joins me at my side, keeping his voice low, “Ok, here’s the plan. Eat, then we leave. Neither of us has much energy. I know it seems like a waste of time but you’re still healing,” he says when I go to interject.
“What about you? They shot you when we were taken and now, Luke’s dislocated your knee. You must be in a lot of pain.”
He grimaces, rubbing his hand over a newly formed scar in his right thigh “Yeah but I’ve had a week to heal and a weeks’ worth of meals to give me the energy I needed to heal it.” He pauses, stretching out his dislocated knee and I hear a distinct ‘pop’ as he puts it back in place. He groans, biting his lip his face contorted in pain. “There all good, it should start healing properly while I eat. Now sit, and eat,” he commands, pushing the tray closer to me.
I nod, digging in greedily trying not to focus on the fact he just popped his kneecap back into place before happily eating. Our plates have been piled high with five steaks and at least a dozen baked potatoes, all of which is gone in ten minutes. Still my wolf is wanting more. I have to admit, for kidnappers they really do feed you well.
All the food on Eli’s tray is gone and he looks just as I feel. “If you need to go to the bathroom, I suggest you do it now. I have no idea where we are or when we’ll get a chance to stop,” he says, some color coming back into his cheeks. I feel bad having wolfed my steaks down without offering him some. He needs it just as much as I do.
I get up looking around the room for a bathroom only to notice a bucket in the corner of the room. You have got to be kidding me! “Um, is that it?” I ask hesitantly, pointing at the steel bucket in the corner.
“Yep! Just imagine you’re camping. It helps, trust me,” he grimaces. Ugh, gross.
I stare at the bucket, debating what to do but my bladder decides for me. “Eli, I need you to look at the wall and pretend like you can’t hear me. How about you tell me what happened since we’ve been here?” I ask, hoping his voice will drown out the sound of me relieving myself.
He sighs, turning around and staring at the opposite side of the wall. “Well, they’ve been in here once a day checking up on you. From what I’ve gathered, Luke killed Carrie because she was carrying another boy. I’ve heard whispers amongst the guards and I think his new plan is to make you his mate which has pretty much been confirmed by what happened earlier. Everyone knows now that you’re going through spurts of your heat cycle. He’s hoping if he keeps you here long enough, then he can mate with you during it, ensuring you get knocked up.”
“In his dreams! My wolf would rip off his junk before she let him touch us,” I exclaim as I tidy myself up. I’m going to need to shower so bad when I get back to the guys. “Alright, I’m ready to go.”
Eli faces me and I feel his power, starting to build. It’s awe inspiring. fear. “One day, you have to tell me just what the power is I’m feeling from you. It’s amazing.”
I look around the room, trying to gauge our next move, feeling the anger build at the situation we’ve been put in. I’m going to fucking hunt down Sonja, Luke and anyone else who had a part in our abduction and make them pay.
“It’s because I’ve been cleansed and have full access to my power. You should think about visiting my pack. Your wolf holds onto a lot of anger which is denying full access to your power. A cleansing would do you good,” he says as if he can feel the rage inside of me.
Eli straightens, grabbing hold of my hand, “Alright Dani. We’re going to go upstairs. Now they aren’t stupid, as much as we believe them to be, so they will most likely have guards placed throughout the house. If a wolf tries to stop you, kill it and run, no hesitating. If you lose me, you keep running. The priority is getting you to safety, you can always come back for me another time ok?” he asks a little too forcefully.
“NO! We both get out of here, or we both stay. I’m not leaving you behind.”
He sighs, smiling softly, “You are too good, you know that right? Fine, we’ll leave together but we have to stay close. I don’t want you to get left behind because then your mates would kill me. Now, let’s go.”
Chapter 21
Something isn’t right. Eli and I made it out of the house in under ten minutes, only encountering five wolves. There should have been more. It’s an insult knowing they have so few of them guarding us. We still haven’t seen the wolf who gave me the key and that makes me nervous. Part of me has been wondering if this is a trap but why would they free us? Surely they know we’re strong enough to take them on, especially when we are almost healed.
The house is in the middle of the forest. It’s nothing fancy, more like it has been built out here for keeping wolves contained.
We shift and bolt away from the house. We run until I can no longer smell the surrounding forest and smell the fresh turn of dirt as we run. I look over at Eli’s wolf, marvelling at how beautiful it is. He’s pure white, the only other color being his black tail. After a minute of running, we hear the howl of wolves following us. I’m definitely guessing trap now. It’s too convenient for it not to be.
My wolf pushes us faster, Eli at my side. I smell fresh water and veer off to the right. If we run through the stream, some of our scent will dissipate making it hard for them to track us. Eli follows my moves, rolling around in the stream before bolting off again, me following him this time.
As we run, a shot rings out followed by a howl of pain that halts my movement. I look behind me to see Eli sprawled on the forest floor. He shifts back to human, clutching his chest as blood pours from the wound.
I shift, running back to him and helping him to his feet. If he can’t run as a wolf then I’ll help him run as a human. “Eli, come on, we’ve gotta go.” He wraps a hand around my shoulder and we start running through the trees ignoring the pan when we’re scratched by stray branches.
Sonja waltzes from the trees, gun in hand, raised to shoot and something inside me snaps. I push Eli away as she fires, and run straight for her. She fires again getting pissed off when I dodge her. I land on her, knocking the gun from her grasp.
We struggle together, her trying to get away from me, but something dark is in control of me. I exert my will, making her go limp, gripping her head in my hands and pulling. Her head goes flying clean off, spraying me with blood. I look down at her headless body, feeling nothing. “I told you I’d make you pay,” I tell her corpse before walking back to Eli.
I drop to his side, rolling him on his back. He has one wound in his stomach, the other just to the left of his heart. “Eli? Can you hear me?” I ask, tears in my eyes. We may not know each other too well but he’s my mate.
He gasps looking up at me, “You need to leave, Dani.”
“Oh hell no! You aren’t going to turn my life upside down, just to die!” My wolf is furious! She pushes her energy through me, my body exploding with light to encase Eli.
I feel his heart, picking up speed. The whole world f
eels supercharged, full of light and energy. I hear the crinkle of each leaf brushing in the wind. The soft chirps of the crickets in the underbrush.
I hear the moment wolves get close to me and somehow send out a wave of energy, disintegrating them.
The power within me begins to die down and I look at Eli’s form, completely healed. I try not to let my eyes linger on just how far the tattoos travel down his chest, but it’s impossible.
“If you’re done staring, we should go,” Eli interrupts me to climb to his feet. He looks down at his body, marvelling at how quickly he healed.
I shift, stopping any talking and start running again. Eli follows, before catching up enough to lead me where he wants. I follow, blindly trusting him to get us to safety.
After hours of running, he pulls us to a stop near a natural spring, complete with little rock pools and waterfalls. It’s beautiful.
I don’t waste time shifting before lowering myself into one, watching as the water turns pink from the blood still coating my skin. I feel the water move as Eli steps up behind me, drawing me into his body. I sink into the comforting feel of my mate’s arms, feeling guilty that I enjoy his touch.
I twist in his arms, looking up into his eyes, feeling his concern for me. My wolf purrs, triggering the beginning of my heat. This time I don’t stop it.
“I was so scared. I thought you were going to die, and I’d never get to know you,” I admit, pulling his head closer, slowly kissing along his jaw. He moans, grabbing my arms and gently pushing me away. His eyes have turned amber, his wolf feeling my need. “Dani, what are you doing? We have to leave soon. I need to get you to your mates and if they knew we were here, alone, they’d kill me so, I need you to try extremely hard to cut your heat cycle off,” he murmurs, stroking the tops on my shoulders with his thumbs.
“We don’t have to leave yet,” I purr, pushing myself closer, running my hands up his bare chest, enjoying the feel of softness under my fingers.
