‘Who has the alley?’
‘Me,’ Brad says sounding dejected.
‘What? Why did you say it like that?’ Everything is running through my mind as I look at his screen he’s rewinding. Please don’t let her be dead.
He stops and starts the screen, and I watch as Willow is pushed through the door by her brother, and straight into the arms of the enemy. Brody was expecting to escape—not walk right into the trap. I close my eyes and grind my teeth at what I see next. Jordan joins the fight but is soon overpowered by a big cunt with what looks like a machete. One blow and he goes down like a sack of potatoes. Willow tries to the best of her ability to defend herself, but she’s beaten badly, and they care none that she is a female. I watch as Daniel sticks her with a syringe and then he too beats the fuck out of her, taking her knife. My gut twists as she curls into a ball. Daniel stabs Brody as his buddies beat on Willow, and then he stabs him with a syringe too. He picks Willow up and throws her over his shoulder as a van backs down the alley.
I look at Brad as I watch the van pull away. He’s tapping into traffic cams and already has the van details pulled up. Stolen—no surprise there. So it’s now a case of following the van and hoping to fuck they didn’t stop to change. Unbelievably, he manages to follow them through the town and watches every turn they take. I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet, desperate for a fucking piece of this bastard. They pull off onto a small road. No more cameras and Brad is cursing to fuck, but we’ve got nothing but a road name. He fast-forwards to see if they exit anytime after, but finds nothing. He checks connecting roads, nothing. They disappear. So they’ve either changed vehicles, or they’re holed up somewhere on that road.
Jared called in everyone at this point. Zoe is still working on Brody, but the rest are all on high alert and ready for a fight. He doles out orders, priority being the females at home, making sure they are protected. Which, although I know is right, pisses me off because my female is out there somewhere, having who knows what done to her. It all happens in seconds though, and Jared, Jacob, Logan, and I haul ass in Jared’s truck with another carload behind. I don’t say a great deal because I can’t think of much, other than what I watched them do to Willow in that alley. I will fucking kill each and every one of them. Brad is on coms, and Jared has him in his earpiece. I didn’t pick one up, but I don’t care. All I know is that I am getting closer to where she is.
I’m certain she’s still alive. I’m fucking sure I would feel it if she wasn’t. I’d know somehow. I would know like my own heart was cut in two. I just need to get to her.
I’M NO LONGER in a van, but I’m not sure where I am. My limbs are so damn heavy, and my eyes just won’t open. I can hear someone, but it sounds like they’re a million miles away. My throat feels like it’s full of razor blades, and I’m finding it hard to breathe. I try to move, but I can’t. It’s like sleep paralysis. I’ve had it once before—where you’re awake, but your body won’t function—it won’t do what you’re asking it to do. This is way worse because I’m in pain. My arms feel like they’re bent at an awful angle, and my legs don’t feel like my own. My face hurts like I’ve been run over by a truck, and then, not satisfied, it’s reversed back to finish the job. I’m barely holding on. I can barely breathe, my chest is constricted, and I know for sure some ribs are broken, and my lungs are barely functioning. I feel like every bone in my body could be broken. The pain is so intense that I feel as though my whole body is burning, and I can only just hold onto consciousness. I want to scream, but I don’t have the energy I would need. The pain intensifies around my jaw, and my eyes are peeled open one by one—a light flashed into my burning pupils. The pain is so intense that I whimper. And that elicits a laugh from my captor.
‘You’re awake, my little pet,’ Daniel says sickeningly sweet. ‘Come on now, don’t make me cut those pretty little eyelids off. Open your eyes for me, pet.’
I try. I try so damn hard, but I can’t. The minute he lets my lids fall, they stay closed. I cannot summon enough strength to even open one. I whimper. He squeezes my jaw, and I cry out in pain, but then feel the water slide down my throat. I swallow, but it comes way to fast, and I choke but the water doesn’t stop coming. It gets faster and faster as it fills my nose and mouth, going into my lungs. I don’t struggle. I can’t. I know what this is. I suffered it once at the hands of his father—when Brody broke the rules. It was my punishment. I am going to be taken to the brink, and then just when I hope death will take me—saving me, it will stop, leaving me to suffer all over again.
I want to live though. I don’t want to die. No matter what they do to me, I want to live. I want a family. I want to LIVE. I will live. The water stops, and I cough up a ton of it, making Daniel laugh again. He sounds pathetic when he laughs, almost like a small child. I try to open my eyes again, knowing that’s what he wants, but fail. When I still can’t, he gets pissed.
‘Look at me you, little whore slut.’
I groan, trying so hard and it takes so much effort after the water. I can’t. I just can’t. There is pain, searing hot in my chest like I’ve been set on fire—and then darkness.
***
Howard
The van is parked up at a house down the bottom of a dirt track. The house looks secluded enough that it could be where they’re hiding out. I go in first because I can’t wait for orders that I may not be able to follow. I go off running, but Jared soon catches up to me, and, half-shouting half-whispering, he tells me to calm the fuck down.
‘This could all be a setup to get to you, and you’re just gonna hand yourself over on a platter so they can shoot you in the head? Fuck, no.’
‘If Willow is in there—’
‘Then we need to make sure you’re alive when we get her out. Stop trying to do stupid shit on your own. I’ve fucking been where you are now. I know what you’re thinking, and I’m telling you now, we will get her back. But you will be alive to see it because we’re doing this fucking sensibly, okay?’
I can’t argue with his logic but when your female is in the hands of some fucked up idiot, injured and fuck knows what else, it’s hard to swallow. I close my eyes and shake my head against all my instincts to run in and kill anything that moves. I clench my jaw and nod at Jared, moving back to my position with him. It feels wrong. I’m going in the wrong fucking direction. He sends some scouts off running, and they circle the building. And we wait. I’m pacing, and Jared is watching me closely. No doubt he thinks I’m going to bolt. He’s right because that’s what I’m going to do if they don’t come back with some info and quick. His eyes dart back and forth over the house and me like I’m a liability. The scouts come back—telling us they think the place is empty. We move forward, checking for traps and shit as we go. The door is unlocked, and it looks like the human occupants are on holiday or something. It’s empty, and there are no signs of it being lived in lately. The heating isn’t on, which at this time of year it would be, even if only on low. It’s winter. Maybe they’ve gone away for the Christmas period. There is no sign of anyone in the house, and Willow has not been inside. That’s obvious when we do a sweep. The enemy pack had been in here, but it was nothing more than a stop off point. They must have had another vehicle.
‘Jared, ask Brad to check the address and find out who’s registered to this address. Chances are they’ve nicked their vehicle. I’m going to go and look round the back to see if there’s a garage,’ Jared speaks into his com unit while following me to the back of the house. We find a garage, and as I suspected, it’s unlocked. I pull up the garage door and there is a Harley sitting in one corner and a Mini Cooper, but there is a huge space, so there was definitely another car.
‘Brad, we have a Mini and a bike still here, we’re looking for something else. My guess is it’s something big.’
‘Could it be a work van?’
‘Yes, definitely.’
‘Well, I have a work van leaving that street around about the same time they pulled into it.
It’s a dark colour—could be black or blue, and has white writing: ‘Five-star plumbing and building’ on the side.’
‘Got it, which direction?’
‘You need to take a left at the end. I’m going to follow on with CCTV where I can. I’ll get back to you, give me a few.’
Jared and I don’t need to exchange words. I heard everything. So, with everyone gathered, we head left and further away from our home. It’s only a few minutes later that Brad gives us further instructions. We have to stop and start as he checks through all the cameras and it feels like a fucking age, but it’s the only way. At this time, a work van wouldn’t usually be out though, so it should be easy to spot for him. Junctions and roads where there is more than one option causes problems and takes more time than I feel we have. Eventually, we come to an old bungalow set in farmland. Fields on all sides, there is a small wooded area to one side and parked within it is the van. They’ve been clever. We have no way of sneaking up unnoticed, and we will be open to attack the minute we go up the drive—but we’re going just the same. From our spot up the road, we scope out the surrounding area. Even though it’s bad for us because it’s wide open, it’s also good for us because from here we can see anyone running guard or just lying in wait for us. No one seems to be, which is a mistake on their part—obviously assuming they weren’t followed, and also assuming we are too stupid to track them without scent. Tracking is something we excel at as a pack.
‘Okay, you two go to the back of the property. Stay low where you can, one left, one right. Howard, you’re with me. We’re going through the front door. You two wait, on my signal you come in through the back, okay?’
‘What’s the signal?’ Logan asks.
‘When we kick the fucking front door in,’ I tell him, and Jared nods his head my way in agreement.
We watch as Logan and Jacob set off, giving them a few seconds to get into place and hoping like fuck no one looks out of the windows. The arrogant bastards seem too cocksure to think they can’t be caught though. Jared and I run down the drive. We move light on our feet and as quietly as possible. With my weapon in hand, I kick the door in. I hear a sound of alarm come from the guy in the hall as our eyes meet. I see a look of dread on his face as I aim and fire, leaving him with that look on his face as the blood trickles down his forehead from the bullet hole. One down. I hear the back door slam, and the rest of our team enter through the back. I’m hoping that we have both exits covered and there isn’t another. Jared kicks a door open, and I hear a shuffle of feet and a woman scream. He goes in first and puts a bullet in the guy. The woman is on her knees begging for her life. A human. Scantily dressed and off her head. Drug addict. Jared curls his lip at her.
‘Who else is here?’ he demands. She squeaks in panic realising he’s talking to her. ‘Fucking pathetic junkie. How many men are here?’
‘I don’t know’, she whimpers. He pulls her up towards him. She’s expecting him to do some bad shit, it’s written all over her face, but she doesn’t fight or even argue. Just a small flinch as she does as she’s told. Makes me sick.
Eager to check the next room, I find the door closed. I’m picking up on Willow’s scent now. It’s getting stronger the further I step into the house.
***
Willow
I come to, and I’m strapped down. My eyes are blurry, and I still feel really heavy, but I can see that I am tied at my ankles and wrists. I don’t know why he went to the effort. I can’t move. Daniel straddles me suddenly. He has my knife, I think. I blink through the fuzziness, trying to clear my vision. It doesn’t work, but it’s a little better. He smiles as my eyes focus on his.
‘Hello, pet.’
I try to speak but can’t, so I snarl, which sounds pathetic to my own ears and makes him laugh. I hate him so damn much. The pain in my body is so intense that just snarling causes my breath to hitch. I can’t bear this pain—it’s too much. He runs the knife up and down my torso. I try not to make a sound, but whimpers of pain betray me as he presses it against what feels like every single rib. I can’t even tell if he’s cutting my skin. My head won’t move, and my eyes can’t see at that angle. The pain is so intense that he could be cutting me open. It burns. Burns so much. My eyes flutter closed. As I am about to find peace in the darkness, he jumps back in shock, making my eyes flutter open just enough to see him peeking through a crack in the door. My brain is a muddle, and I’m so confused, but I can tell, even through all of that, that there is something wrong. He moves around to my head, and then I feel like he’s seared a hot poker through my shoulder. I scream out. Agony, white-hot agony. Then darkness.
I OPEN THE door, and I feel sick instantly. Willow, my female, is tied up on a bed base. No mattress—no comfort of any kind. I rush to her, desperately trying to find a pulse. She is covered in blood and doesn’t look good. I find a faint pulse, but just as the relief floods through me, I feel the barrel of a gun at the back of my head.
‘Surprise, fucker.’ Daniel’s voice goes through me like nails on a chalkboard. ‘Hands up where I can see them—drop your gun.’
I do as he says, praying Willow lives through this. I need to get her help and fast. There’s blood dripping down through the slats under her, and there is a fucking lot of it, so while this prick is talking, I assess everything about her. Her face is swollen and her jaw broken. Moving down, she has a knife protruding out of her shoulder, and her torso is covered in bruises. She’s bleeding internally. Fuck. Her breathing is so shallow. I don’t know how long she’s got.
‘Let her go, please. Let my men take her. You can do what you want with me—just let them take her.’
‘Ah, a male desperate to save his female, how touching,’ he sneers at my ear. ‘But, you see, she was never yours, was she?’
Fucking idiot.
‘We’re bonded.’
‘Yes, that much is clear. Why do you think she’s in the state she is? You think I wanted this?’ I grind my teeth, deciding it’s best not to answer.
‘You’re the one to blame for this. You killed my father, and I was going to take my revenge for that. I was going to kill you—a life for a life, but soon as I found her I knew she was yours and no longer mine.’
‘She was never yours, you sick fucker.’
He laughs. ‘Oh, but she was. The minute I took alpha position in the pack, she became mine. She was a promise to the alpha, on her eighteenth birthday. She was mine—that was the deal.’
‘You mean the alpha position that I handed you? The one you took like a snivelling pup and did nothing to avenge the alpha I KILLED?’
‘Irrelevant,’ he snips.
‘You think?’ I move slightly, and the gun digs into the back of my head a little more. I check the vein in Willow’s neck, watching it pulse, giving me what I need to carry on. I turn to face him. He’s quick, and he has the gun in my face before I can get mine. I glare at him.
‘Pull the fucking trigger then, if that’s what you want.’ My eyes are wide, and I smile like a lunatic. ‘Do it! FUCKING DO IT!’ I yell, just as Jared and Jacob creep in behind him, putting a gun against his temple.
He’s shaking because now he’s got a gun to his head. He’s shitting himself—what a fucking pussy. But I keep his attention on me. ‘Jared get her out and to a medic,’ I say calmly. As he cocks the trigger to take him out. ‘Willow,’ I tell him.
‘Yeah, take her. She’s worthless to me and won’t last long anyway—made sure of that.’ Daniel smiles.
‘Daniel,’ Jared starts. ‘Think about what you’re doing. Stop this now, and I will not hunt you down.’
Daniel’s eyes flick back to Jared. I say nothing, knowing where Jared is going with this. Jacob and Logan are now untying my woman, and she fucking cries out in pain as they do, despite being out of it. I growl at them both, and the gun in my face gets poked right between my eyes—my own gun still right at my feet. I give Daniel all the attention he wants, and our eyes meet. I curl my lip and just stare.
&nb
sp; ‘You will let me walk out of here?’ he says to Jared
‘I will.’
‘He needs to die.’
‘Then, no deal. You shoot him, and you have seconds to live.’ The boys leave the room with Willow, and I hear the van start. I relax. They’ll get her seen to. ‘So what’s it to be, Daniel?’
‘He killed my father—my alpha.’
‘He did, but wasn’t it the same father that wouldn’t let you mate with a female? That kept them all for himself?’ Daniel’s eyes flicker a little as he thinks about what Jared’s saying. He’s a simple fucker.
‘Blood for blood. That’s the pack way.’
‘Maybe for yours. Here we have different rules. You take one of mine, and I will kill you, and all of yours. No one will live, including that pretty little human you like to visit, Daniel.’
His eyes go round, and his jaw sets tight.
‘You didn’t know we knew about her? I know everything, Daniel. See, when you sent me that head, that made me delve a little deeper, and I take my work seriously, Daniel. We researched. I know how long it takes you to shit in a morning, what you eat for breakfast, and where you sneak off to at night. You’re messing with the wrong pack, my friend.’
I smile as Jared’s words penetrate his thick skull. ‘That woman means something to you, and she has a little boy that looks an awful lot like you, Daniel.’ Jared smiles. ‘Love kids.’ He winks.
Fated Love (Stone Pack book 3) Page 12
