Abducted by the Alpha (Wolf Shifter Romance) (The Crestwood Chronicles)

by Julia Chase

  It hadn't been too far away. So it was close. So Darriel was close. Was Daisy? Had he found her? Alive? All these thoughts crammed my mind while I ran.

  I turned around a corner and saw a black tail, and then the rest of the huge black wolf. No sign of Daisy. He was standing at the opening to an open area with grass and moss. There was a large rocky cliff-face. Darriel looked at me, and then looked towards the side of the cliff.

  Then I saw it. The entrance to a cave.

  Chapter 8

  I just stared at it. That must be where the bear was. And Daisy? Had it torn her apart as soon as it got her all the way home like that. My insides quivered. This was horrifying.

  Darriel looked towards the entrance to the cave, and howled again. Loudly, and directly into the cave. Like he was calling something out. He did it again, but then turned into a human and walked over to me.

  "He's not coming out. But this is where the scent trail leads. Your little sister is in there."

  Tears well up in my eyes. "If he's not coming out, what does that mean?"

  "It could be bad," he said. "After a big meal, bears will often fall into a deep sleep, and-"

  "THERE IT IS," I yelled.

  Darriel spun around. There was a bear. A huge grizzly bear, on its hind legs. Running.

  Darriel took a few running steps towards it, and then jumped. Midair the transformation began, and before the two shifters collided, they were both in animal form.

  There strengths were equal, so the two tackles resulted in neither animal falling onto their back. The bear wrapped his huge arms around Darriel, and I caught a glimpse of the thing's huge claws. The were as long as my fingers, and black as night. They shone in the light of day, which was much brighter in this opening than in the forest or cave surrounding.

  Darriel slid down before the claws could sink in, and dove underneath the bear's legs. The bear leaned down to grab at him, and then Darriel jumped onto the bear's back. It fell onto all fours, and shook Darriel off before he managed to sink his teeth into the bears neck.

  He landed on his back but scrambled to his feet in an instant.

  The two huge animals circled for a while. Staring at each other. It was as though the bear hadn't even noticed me. I watched from the edge of the forest as they both stepped around in a circle, hoping for the other to mess up somehow. One misstep, and the appropriate response, could end the fight. And a life.

  Then I realized something. And I screamed. Loud and blood curdling.

  The bear's head spun around on its neck, surprised. Darriel knew what the plan was. While the bear was distracted, he lunged. His teeth sunk into the animal's side, and he sunk them deep.

  The bear fell to the ground with a loudly growling noise, and it tried to throw a couple hits towards Darriel, but it wasn't working. Darriel must have severed something important. The bear was going to die.

  He phased back into a human and wiped off his mouth. "Thank you," he said. "I mean, obviously I would have won even if you hadn't helped, but you sure sped it up."

  I laughed. He came in for a hug and I squeezed him back. He was so warm. His hugs were just a bit too tight.

  "Maybe I could repay you somehow," he said. "Do you like orgasms?"

  He stepped back and looked into my eyes. I looked into his. I knew he had the capability. The idea of his cock sliding in and out of me permeated my whole body once again. My knees went weak.

  "Only if I can return the favor," I said, and then I pulled him in for a kiss.

  "Ew, get a room."

  My head spun. There she was. Daisy.

  I laughed. I ran up to her and gave her a hug. I squeezed her way too tight. Darriel's kiss had left a strange taste in my mouth - like iron - but I tried to ignore it.

  "You're okay," I said. "I'm so glad that you're okay."

  "Nice to see you too," she said. "You stole my jacket."

  I took it off and gave it back to her. She pulled it over her tank top. I noticed that it was dirty, and a bit ripped.

  "Looks like you've been through a lot."

  "Well I was kidnapped by a bear," she said. Then she looked over my shoulder at Darriel. "What happened to you?"

  I looked back at Darriel as well. He looked incredible. I wanted nothing more than to take him home and let him fuck me hard on my white bed. But I knew Mom and Dad wouldn't react fantastically to that.

  "I made a new friend," I said.

  "No," she said, "I meant that." She pointed.

  There was a body on the ground. Human. The bear was gone. It was a diminutive man.

  "I can deal with that," said Darriel, stepping over it and walking towards Daisy. He stuck out a hand for shaking. "I'm Darriel. Ruby's new friend."

  He looked at me for that last word, as if it were an inside joke. But I really wasn't so sure.

  "Nice to meet you," said Daisy.

  "We should go home," I said. "Mom and Dad are probably going crazy."

  "They're only going to go crazier," said Daisy, "if you bring him home with us. No offense."

  "None taken," said Darriel. "I get it. It sucks but I get it. I'll head out and make sure the pack stops by here to clean up a bit."

  "Thank you," I said, looking at Darriel.

  He just nodded and walked off into the forest. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes as he left.

  Daisy and I began the trek home. She was very confused.

  I had to make a decision. Either I could explain it all to her, honestly, and hope that she wouldn't think I was crazy. Or I could lie to her, like I planned on lying to everyone else. But she was my sister. And clearly she'd been through something at least kind of similar. She might not accept the lies.

  So I told her the truth. And I told her all of it. Well, a PG-13 version. She didn't need to know the details of his tongue between my legs. But I explained everything I learned. I explained how it had all happened. How I felt about it all.

  And she listened patiently. Asking a questions here and there. Getting all the answers she wanted. Starting to understand why a bear might have taken her into the woods instead of just mauling her. And why the body at the end had looked human, not bear.

  I got to the end of my spiel just as we got into our backyard and started the walk across the field.

  "So," she asked. "You like him, don't you."

  I looked at her. I'd tried my very best to not let it seem like that in my story telling. Maybe because I didn't want to admit it myself. "I don't know about that."

  "It sucks that Dad would probably grab a shotgun if you ever tried to bring him home for dinner."

  "He wouldn't go that far," I said. "But yeah, it's awful."

  She just nodded. "I wish that the creature that kidnapped me had been so handsome and romantic."

  I laughed. "I guess I'll just have to get over him though. He'll be back in his pack a hundred miles away by tomorrow, probably. That's not the life for me."

  "What is?" asked Daisy. "Living in some small town, in a perfectly normal life where nothing unexpected ever happens?"

  I thought about it. "Yeah," I said. "I think that's what I want. It's what I wanted before all this stuff happened. I don't think this changed anything."

  She smiled. She seemed smarter than I remembered. She knew that I was lying.

  Dad noticed us walking towards the house. He yelled inside and then ran towards us, and caught us up in a hug. Mom ran onto the porch as well, and then sprinted to join in the group hug.

  We all walked back to the house together. Daisy lied about what had happened to her, saying that she'd just wandered off into the woods and gotten a bit lost.

  After the whole search party was called off, the cops had come and gone, life got back to normal almost immediately. Mom had her apron on and cooked up a delicious pasta dinner. Dad stood on the porch at the back of the house. We all watched some TV.

  Daisy and I didn't talk about it much. Only once did she come into my room while I was reading, and she looked at me, and asked
me a question. "Why us?"

  I tilted my head. I honestly didn't know what she was talking about for a moment.

  "Like, what are the odds that the two girls who got kidnapped are from the same household? It seems weird."

  "Yeah," I said. "I have no idea."

  She didn't either, and we went back to not talking about it.

  The whole summer went by at a snail's pace. I spent it reading, which I used to love more than almost anything, but now it felt kind of boring.

  I developed a routine. Every night before bed, I walked out to the back of the property and looked into the forest. I never admitted it to myself, but I was always hoping that he'd be there. Or something. Anything. Just some excitement.

  And then the summer was coming to a close, and I was getting ready to return to college. Last year at this time I had been so excited. Lectures. Studyhall. A dorm. That seemed like the most exhilarating thing possible.

  But this year it seemed dull. I wasn't excited at all. It seemed like nothing compared to an adventure in the forest. A kidnapping. Falling in love.

  It was the night before I returned to school when I heard a noise downstairs. The sound of a wolf's paws on hardwood floor.

  Book 2

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