by Becca Van
April realized the gardens and palace grounds weren’t even fenced in and felt excitement permeate her body. She cautiously looked around her, trying to spot her guards. She didn’t hesitate to keep walking when they were nowhere in sight. She had no idea where she was going, or even if she was heading in the right direction. She just knew she couldn’t stay here any longer. She knew she was going to have to move quickly. She didn’t want it to be discovered she was missing too soon. She was going to need a large head start, because she knew her mates would have no trouble tracking her, whatever time of day or night it was. They could easily shift into their beast forms and be on her before she knew it.
April ran through the forest, not stopping when her legs began to burn or a stitch formed in her side. She was panting heavily, but knew she had to keep going. She didn’t want to be where she wasn’t wanted or trusted. Pain sliced through her chest again at Gage’s lack of trust, and her heart felt wounded with betrayal. She bit her lip as tears coursed down her cheeks. She knew there could only be one reason for her to feel such pain. She was beginning to have feelings for him, for all of them. She loved the fact that Gage was so arrogant and dominant. He knew what he wanted and went after it. She loved that he wanted her, needed her so much. He drew her to him with his displays of masculinity. Saxon was just a dominant as Gage, but he was a lot gentler than his brother and went about getting what he wanted differently. And Ben, her gentle giant, was already embedded in her heart. She knew deep down she wanted to let go and be the submissive to their dominance, but she didn’t know if she could trust them enough.
She hadn’t felt pain like this when she had found out her previous lover had only wanted to fuck her, not really have a relationship with her. She had dated that bastard for six months before she had given her body to him. Yet, she knew it had been her pride that had been wounded, not her heart. She had to get out of here, and the faster, the better. There was no way she would be able to hide her feelings from her mates forever, and the last thing she wanted was to see the satisfaction in their eyes at knowing they had a hold of her, without returning her feelings. She’d been there once before, or thought she had, but she knew now the pain she had felt at having her pride wounded was nothing compared to having her heart broken by her mates.
April didn’t see the trap covered by leaves on the ground. One moment she was jogging along, tears blurring her vision, and the next her feet were being pulled from beneath her body. She found herself hanging upside down about ten feet from the ground. Her body was still swaying and spinning back and forth, and she had to close her eyes so she could try and keep the nausea she was feeling at bay. When the ropes holding her captive around the ankles finally stopped spinning, April was able to open her eyes. She slammed them shut again as vertigo set in, making her feel dizzy because of the height she was from the ground.
April knew she was going to have to try and free herself once she had her vertigo under control, and if she couldn’t manage it, then she was going to have to start yelling for help. The last thing she needed was to feel humiliation when her mates found her hanging upside down in a trap. April didn’t know it would be so difficult to use her stomach muscles to pull herself up until she could reach her ankles from her upside-down position. She was quite a fit person and had always done stomach crunches in her normal exercise routine. It took more out of her than she expected, leaving her panting for breath as she gripped the rope in one of her hands as she caught her breath again.
April knew if she was able to loosen the ropes around her ankles, she would then end up having to contend with a drop of at least ten feet to the ground below. She didn’t really know if she was capable of such a feat, but knew she didn’t have much of a choice. If she wanted to escape before her mates found her, she needed to get out of this trap, now. April studied the knots and loops binding her in midair but couldn’t see a way to remove them from her ankles. She was going to need two hands to pry her feet out of the ropes, which meant she was going to need all the strength of her stomach muscles to hold herself in her current position. If she could manage to get one of her feet out of the trapping rope, the second one would follow easily.
April tugged and pulled at the loop binding her ankles until the palms of her hands were feeling raw and burnt from the abrasive rope. She knew she was defeated, as the weight of her body was keeping the rope taut. They wouldn’t move an inch, no matter how hard she tugged and pulled. April was panting with exertion, and her stomach muscles were screaming at her to be released from their strenuous exercise. She gripped the rope with her grazed, burning palms, letting her stomach muscles relax with a groan. She carefully followed the rope up to the tree branch until she could see where the rope was wrapped around the large limb several times, then around the large tree trunk. She was fucked. There was no way she would be able to get down by herself.
Chapter Six
“What do you mean you lost her?” Gage roared at the two guards he had ordered to follow his mate around.
“She was in the gardens sitting at the pond, Sire. She didn’t even seem to be aware of us. She just sat on the bench staring at the pond. I only left her for a brief moment to relieve myself, and by the time I got back, she was gone,” one of the guards explained.
Gage studied the two guards who had been appointed to protect their mate. They were still quite young and not yet fully trained warriors. He wondered why he had not thought of this before and had more seasoned warriors protect his mate.
“Where were you while this knucklehead was relieving himself?” Saxon asked.
Gage took another step forward and stopped in front of the young warriors.
“Um, I…I was just…I was with my girlfriend, Sire,” the man answered, his face a bright crimson.
“Let me get this straight,” Ben stated quietly. “While you were fucking your girlfriend and you were taking a piss, our mate was either kidnapped or escaped from the palace grounds. Is that about right?”
“Yes, sir.” The young men mumbled their timid replies.
“You will address Ben as Sire, too. He is your elder, and he is also Alpha of the bear clan. Is that understood?” Gage snapped out.
“Yes, Sire,” they answered Gage. “Sorry, Sire,” they apologized as they turned to Ben.
“I want you two bumbling idiots to report to Jasper first thing in the morning. You are to train with our warrior trainer until you have learned what a good warrior should know. Now get out of my sight before I kill you both,” Gage roared.
Gage watched the two young warriors bow to the three of them then rush out of the room. They nearly crashed into the doorway in their eagerness to escape the displeasure of their Alphas.
“Saxon, go and round up ten of our best warriors. I want their help in tracking our mate. We may need to fight to get our mate back, if she has been taken by another kind. We’ll meet at the pond in the gardens. The warriors should be able to catch our mate’s scent from there,” Gage stated.
Saxon turned to do his brother’s bidding as Gage led Ben out into the yard. Gage followed the meandering path their mate had made through the gardens until they came to the pond in the center. April’s scent was still quite prevalent, for which Gage was thankful. The older warriors would definitely be able to help them with the search for their mate. Gage and Ben paced restlessly until they heard the warriors coming toward them.
“Thank you for coming so quickly. I know you have other chores you have had to neglect at my request,” Gage began. “Our mate has gone missing, and I’m not sure if she was kidnapped or has tried to escape, yet again. I am fearful she may have stumbled on other were kinds and want you to back us up if we have to fight to get our mate back. I cannot scent any other odor here besides our mates, so I am sure she has just tried to escape again. I want you all to get her scent into your lungs and noses from near the bench, so you will be able to help us track her. If we find her and she is alone, I do not want any of you to intervene as I punish our mat
e. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Sire,” the ten warriors replied without hesitation.
“All right, let’s head out,” Saxon stated and took the lead in tracking their mate’s scent, Gage and Ben close behind with the ten large warriors following.
Gage followed the scent of his mate. Even if he hadn’t been able to scent her, it wouldn’t have been hard to track her, because she had left an easy trail to follow. She obviously had no skills on how to hide her presence from others. Sometimes her footsteps were clearly visible in the damp earth on the ground. Other signs were broken twigs and scattered leaves she had disturbed, which showed bugs scurrying to bury themselves to hide beneath the fallen foliage once more. Gage knew from the length between her footsteps and the heavier impressions that their mate had literally been running away. He was quite surprised that such a small woman could have traveled so far in so little time. She had only been missing for the better part of an hour, and they had traveled quite a few miles and still had not caught up with her.
The loud, piercing female scream echoing through the forest made Gage, his brother, and Ben sprint toward the vicinity from which the noise had come. He stopped in surprise as he spied his mate hanging upside down in a trap, staring in horror at the huge lion crouching on a large tree limb, watching her as if she was going to be a delectable meal.
* * * *
April’s body began to shake uncontrollably when she saw the large lion staring at her as if she was its dinner. She wasn’t sure if it was a shifter or the real thing, but had no real desire to find out. She kept her gaze on the animal and screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would find her before she became its meal. She watched the lion leap away to another tree then disappear from sight. She let her body release the tension that had gripped it, relief making her close her eyes. She knew she had just had a lucky escape and prayed to God someone would come and help her down from her trap.
April opened her eyes when she heard movement below her, then snapped them shut again as she saw the furious frowns on the faces of her mates. She knew she was in deep shit and really only had herself to blame for the predicament she currently found herself in. Then she thought back to the morning and how Vanessa, then Gage, had treated her. She let the hurt she had felt consume her and turned the emotion into anger. There was no way in hell she was going to let them berate her when she had been driven to run away.
April watched as Ben climbed the tree until he had reached the rope trapping her. She watched as he held the rope in one hand, then saw claws protrude from the tips of his fingers on his other hand. He swiped his claws through the rope, cutting it, which sent April swinging through the air. She was heading straight for the tree and knew she was going to end up bruised and battered when she impacted with it. She closed her eyes and held her hands out in front of her, hoping to lessen the impact. She opened her eyes in surprise when she was caught in a firm, steady grip.
Saxon had grabbed her by her waist when she swung toward him. He held her still to steady her then swung her up and over his shoulder. He began to climb down the tree without taking the time to release the ropes binding her ankles together. Once he was on the ground, he swung her off his shoulder and held her cradled firmly against his chest. April was too scared to look up at him or Gage, so she kept her eyes lowered as she watched them from beneath the cover of her eyelashes. Gage frowned down at her as he removed the ropes binding her ankles, and then he pulled her boots from her feet. He held her feet still as he studied the grazed, red skin around her ankles.
April tried to push his hands away, but he just gave them a slight admonishing tap and kept up his perusal. She was about to push him away again but was stopped as Ben came up to her and Saxon’s side. He took her hands into his own larger ones and studied her raw palms. She flinched when Gage and Saxon growled loudly and Ben let out a large roar of his own. She tried to cover her fear by struggling to be free again. She turned her head away from them, and that was when she noticed the group of men scowling at her from a few feet away. God, was she never able to do anything right? It didn’t matter what she did or didn’t do, she was the one everyone seemed to blame. Well, maybe she should just let them. Why the hell should she care what anyone else thought of her, or believed her to be guilty of? She had done nothing wrong. They were the ones who had betrayed her, and Gage was the worse culprit of them all.
April was at the end of her tether, and to find the group of men scowling at her, as well, was the last straw. She had never even met them, so why should they be so pissed at her? They had no justification as far as she was concerned. She pulled her hands away from Ben, kicked her legs, and wiggled until she began to slide down Saxon’s body to the ground. He released her when her bare feet hit the ground and took a step back from her when she scowled at him and then Gage and Ben.
“I am not going back with you. You are going to help me get back to my own home,” April yelled at the men standing in front of her. She had to tilt her head back quite a ways so she could see their eyes. She was getting a pain in her neck but was not about to show any sign of weakness. She was going to let them have it with both barrels until they knew how displeased she was with them, especially Gage.
“No, we are not. You are our mate. You will live in our home and do as you are told,” Gage rapped out.
“Why the fucking hell should I? You don’t trust me at all, do you? Why should I take orders or listen to you, when you don’t want to hear anything I have to say? You are such a fucking hypocrite. I don’t even like you. None of you have done anything to gain my trust or given me your trust in return. All you want is someone you can fuck then discard when you’ve finished. Well, I am not going to be used that way. I will not be a convenient receptacle for your seed. I am not a broodmare. You can go back to your precious Vanessa and fuck her all you want. I think if you ever touch me again I would be physically sick.” April was gasping for breath when she finally finished her tirade. She had been so full of anger at their treatment of her, which had made her ire consume her and take over. She couldn’t actually remember what she had just said, but knowing herself, it hadn’t been pleasant.
“How did you know we had been with Vanessa before we found you?” Saxon asked quietly.
“Oh, so now you’re interested in what happened with that bitch. I don’t know whether I should give you the satisfaction of answering you, but maybe if I do you will understand how I work. I would never, ever hurt anyone without provocation. That bitch had great delight in telling me that you belonged to her. She said I was nothing, because I wasn’t even from your plane. When I didn’t retaliate or even answer her back, she grabbed a handful of my hair and spat in my face. Of course, now I know she deliberately provoked me into retaliating, and that is what you caught me doing when you found me standing over that vicious bitch with her hair in my hand. You didn’t even ask me what was wrong,” April yelled when Gage nodded his head, contradicting her. “You asked me what in God’s name I thought I was doing, then you crushed my wrist under your hand, using your brute strength to get me to let go of that bitch. You comforted her, and while she was crying those crocodile tears to get your sympathy, she was smirking at me with disdain. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you can just go and fuck yourself.” April spun on her heels and began to walk away. She didn’t want the men to see the tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to stay here and be treated like a second-class citizen. She wanted to go back to her boring little apartment, with her boring nine-to-five job and her lonely existence. At least she knew she wouldn’t have to deal with stupid men who were so arrogant their heads were buried up their own asses.
* * * *
“I told you Vanessa was a bitch, Gage. I knew April didn’t have it in her to be mean for no reason. And as far I am concerned, she wasn’t being mean, she was defending herself. If that bitch had spat in my face, I would have killed her, and so would have you,” Saxon said.
“Shit. I’ve really fucked up, haven’t
I? What the hell are we going to do now?” Gage asked with frustration. He was really angry at himself for jumping to conclusions where Vanessa and April were concerned. Gage had always known what a conniving bitch Vanessa was. He hadn’t stopped to think at all. He had taken one look at his mate standing over Vanessa, with the bitch’s hair wrapped around her wrist, taken a look at Vanessa’s fearful face, and acted. He had let his previous bedding of the bitch, as well as her contrived innocent expression, rule him.
Gage indicated for his seasoned warriors to go after their mate and lead her back to the palace. If she kept walking the way she was, she would end up in the middle of the lion clan’s pride. That was the last thing he wanted to happen, after Leo had been eying their mate as if she belonged to him. He watched as his warriors led April past them and she didn’t even glance his way. His warriors had surrounded her with their bodies, making sure she was protected from any danger as they led her back home.
* * * *
April couldn’t believe the change in the disposition of Gage and Saxon’s warriors. One moment they had been scowling at her as if she were an inconvenience, the next they were introducing themselves, being so courteous and solicitous, it was laughable. She had no idea what had made their demeanor change toward her, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She knew she wasn’t going to remember all their names, but she actually felt she was being accepted for who she was for the first time in her life. Maybe they had liked the way she stood up to her mates, and instead of frowning at her as they had been, now they were smiling and surrounding her to protect her.
