by Claire Ryann
She'd been too angry to cry at first but too scared, or too smart, to hurl her fingernails into Anthony's eyeballs. She was pinned between two of his loyal henchmen. They'd snap her arms like twigs if she moved wrong. Still, she seethed, if she could kill the asshole it might be worth it.
The jerk was dead. He was supposed to be dead! But here he was, looking only a little worse for wear, ruining the happiest day of her life.
Of course he was a shifter. Kara thought as she ignored what he was saying, which is the only way he could have recovered from that wreck. She wondered how long it had taken. How long had it taken for him to heal and how long had it taken for him to find her?
"Really, Kara, you just had to turn out to be someone else's mate? What are the odds?" Anthony seemed to have finally run out of things to say. He turned back around in his seat and watched the road through the windshield. With a dramatic sigh he finally concluded, "I can't tell you how excited I was to get word that you were alive but when that waitress told me you were with a man--" Anthony turned back toward her again, the leather upholstery creaking under his weight, "I can't tell you how that made me feel, sweetheart."
He was using his nice voice again, the one that sounded like a doting husband but barely concealed the sharpened razors beneath it.
"I made so many excuses for you on my way to collect you that day. You had probably just hit your head, maybe you'd been kidnapped, you were pulling a little stunt to get my attention."
"Didn't I give you enough attention, Sweetheart?" He almost sounded sincere and then that vicious smile slithered across his face, "I had so many plans to rectify that."
Anthony's cruel grin morphed into a dark scowl, "And when I found you you reeked of wolf. Mated wolf."
His voice was venomous as he spat the words at her, she felt even the men beside her tense their bodies.
"You cannot imagine my disappointment." He said as he turned away from her again.
Kara fought to keep her body from shaking but she was sure the guards beside her could feel her terror. She watched Anthony quietly giving directions to his driver, gesturing first at the map on the navigation screen on the in-dash computer and then with a wave of his hand to indicate that they would be taking a turn.
Looking down at her hands as they held each other in her lap to keep from trembling, Kara's field of vision was filled with the sight of her wedding dress. She smoothed the skirt where it flared just above her knees and watched her hands shake while they moved.
Knowing that she might never see Lowell again was like a knife in her gut but she wasn't Turned yet. She was marrying Lowell because she loved him. When Lowell told her she was his fated mate, she believed him. With all her heart. And when she Turned, she knew she'd be able to detect that same sweet-spicy scent on him that he described about her.
Being torn from Lowell would break her heart, but she understood that for the wolf that ran free with in Lowell, losing its mate would likely drive him mad.
"Why did you want me to begin with?" Her voice squeaked out daringly.
Anthony didn't bother turning to look at her. His shoulders rolled as though he was trying to stretch tense muscles and he sighed in exasperation.
"I mean, if you're a wolf, and I'm obviously not your mate, why did you marry me?"
"Because, Kara, I needed a wife. The old man threatened to cut me off if I didn't settle down."
Anthony turned slowly and looked at her with contempt, "If I play my cards right, I'll be the next Alpha. I can't afford to upset dear old Grand-dad, now can I?"
"What about your father?" Kara dared to get a little bolder.
"He's not conative. My grandmother gave birth to him before she was Turned. Under the laws of our pack he is not eligible to advance."
"But why me, Anthony? What happens when you find your mate?"
"You because you're the peoples' princess. The press loves a good rags to riches romance. It was great for my public image, the billionaire playboy whose heart is stolen by an everyday barista. It was fucking brilliant. And if I had to get married, I might as well marry something I want to fuck."
Kara tried not let that sting. It was a distant memory that she'd worked hard to block out.
"But what about your mate?"
"What about her?"
"What were you planning on doing when you met her?"
Anthony shook his head as if her ignorance was annoying him, "Kara, I'm 212 years old. I'm going to live another 800 years. I have plenty of time to fit in a human wife that's only going to last another 60 or so years. If I happened to come across my true mate before then well..." He let his voice trail off in mock thought, "I could always have just kept you around for fun."
"Fun? Wolves mate for life, Anthony."
Now his annoyance turned to amusement, "Mating isn't fucking, Kara. You really should have spent your time learning more about animal behavior instead of getting wrapped up in some fairy tale version of what we are."
The driver said something that called Anthony's attention away from her and she went back to rubbing her palms on the satin and tulle covering her lap.
They had been driving north on the main road for hours but suddenly the driver had pulled onto a narrow side road that was taking them up the other side of the mountains from the den. Essentially back the way they came and not toward Vancouver at all.
Lowell had showed her on the map how far the pack's territory stretched. As Kara watched the spring wildflowers beginning to bloom in the mountains around her, she realized they weren't leaving the pack's territory at all. They were headed deeper into it on the north side of the den where the pack owned the land that bordered national park and international border.
The sickening feel of dread coiled through her as she realized that Anthony had something up his sleeve. And she was sure whatever it was would be worse than anything she'd been preparing herself for.
They had stopped at the end of a narrow road that had run out of pavement several miles back and parked next to a second blacked out SUV, no doubt meeting another battalion of goons.
"I'm glad you decided to get dressed up for our photo shoot, Sweetie," Anthony was suave smiles as he took her from the guard who had pulled her out of the car, "even though I hardly think white is appropriate."
"You might as well take your shoes off, we have a rather good hike ahead still." He mentioned casually as he handed her off to another stoic guard and took the lead.
The guards waited while she looked around in confusion and finally reached down and pulled her heels off her feet. Not that that made walking any easier. She winced and hopped in pain as her stockinged feet tried to walk over sharp sticks and stones embedded in a narrow foot trail that lead into the distance.
She wasn't making progress fast enough for Anthony's taste and he finally turned around and motioned to the guard beside her.
The big man shrugged and suddenly she was over his shoulder, staring at the ground behind him and watching the man's black boots as his steps widened with his unhampered pace.
"So the plan has taken an even better turn that I'd hoped," Anthony chattered on as his goon carried Kara across a wide clearing and set her down next to a large stone bench.
"The leading gossip rags are running wild with the news that you've been kidnapped. As soon as I recovered-- which took a considerable amount of time, by the way-- I started leaking the story. I had so much time to perfect the plot while I was convalescing, after all. So every major media outlet knows that your death was a cover up for your kidnapping."
Anthony paced back and forth across a huge circle in an open area that ended abruptly in a cliff behind where she was standing. She wasn't too worried about getting thrown over it at the moment because the guy who'd carried her over here was helping another guy tie her wrists to a large wooden thing.
She felt like Fay Wray waiting for King Kong.
The thought that being tied to a big wooden cross on a cliff surrounded by armed guards worried
her some, but she was so preoccupied with Anthony as he revealed his plan like a super villain in a James Bond movie, the guns on the goons seemed irrelevant.
Kara knew they were still in Lowell's pack's territory, just on the other side of the mountain from the den, really. Which would have given her some hope if there was any reason for Lowell to suspect that's where she was. She knew better. She knew her mate was on his way to Anthony's offices or house or fuck it-- Alpha-- or something in Vancouver. By the time they found her, there was a good chance she'd be dead. If that's what Anthony had planned.
She needed to come up with her own plan.
Anthony was pacing back and forth across a huge circle in front of her. When the goons stepped away from her she got a clear view of the pentagram burned in the tender spring grass. Between the wooden crosslike thing she was tied to and the big pentagram circle in the clearing there was a huge stone bench, or table, or-- oh, Kara gulped with recognition-- altar.
Yeah, she could see how the white mermaid gown probably added the perfect touch to the scene.
What the hell did Anthony have planned?
"...but I never anticipated how far they would go!" Anthony was excitedly explaining how he had leaked the kidnapping info while dropping a few possible scenarios to see which ones the press would run with.
Apparently the consensus was that she'd been abducted by a cult. Which Anthony had been pleased enough with, but then he'd seen a front page story on some fourth rate tabloid that really seemed to capture his imagination.
"Right there, in bold typeface next to the latest visions of Satan in the smoke above a burning building somewhere in South America, was this cheesy black and white image of a woman tied to a cross in the middle of a pentagram about to be ravaged by a pack of naked wolfmen!"
The man sounded downright giddy. He laughed gleefully and Kara had to admit it sounded ridiculous. Except for the fact that she currently found herself tied to a cross in front of a pentagram, surrounded by... oh shit.
This was not a cheesy horror movie on late night TV. This was not-- oh so much not-- one of those naughty fantasy books you could sometimes find when you were looking for something entertaining to read.
This was the man that had been so horrible that she'd spent a year of her life just trying to survive her marriage to him while she plotted to fake her own death to escape him.
Kara looked around herself and gulped nervously. This was the man who didn't have to hide his true nature any more. The gloves were off now and she was seeing more than just an abusive asshole-- she was seeing a whole level of crazy she wouldn't thought even Anthony was capable of.
He'd been right about one thing, she had spent the last year living in a fairy tale. With a mate who loved her, surrounded by a community of shifters that had her lulled her into a false sense of romantic security.
This was a hell of a wakeup call and Kara desperately wanted to hit the snooze button.
"You see, Sweetheart?" The grin on Anthony's face as he stood directly in front of her was disgusting in its glee, "it's perfect! Because we just happen to have a big pentagram with a sacrificial altar and, of course, an entire pack of naked wolfmen. "
A frantic glance at the men that lined the perimeter of the circle revealed that Anthony's goons were, in fact, in various stages of nudity.
"Don't worry," Anthony leaned close and whispered in her ear, "it's not that easy to concentrate on fucking or disemboweling in a half shift, trust me, I've tried both. The boys all brought masks for the first part, we don't want any faces on video. They promised they'd make the footage look as brutal as they can."
"And the best part!" Anthony raised his voice back to his previous speech level as he stepped away from her again and gestured at the land around them with a grand wave, "is that it's all happening right here! On your mate's land."
He turned and walked back into the middle of the pentagram, "I give it 2 days before their den is crawling with federal agents and press. I understand his pack has been in these mountains for a quite a long time. I'm sure they'll miss it. If they manage to escape."
Kara looked up at the ropes that were around her wrists. They were fastened to the tops of the structure with thick bolts that looked like something that would be used to hold the Space Needle in place. She had enough slack to thrash her fists uselessly against the boards of the thing while a few of the goons stood a few steps in front her. The men were all wearing rather ridiculous wolf masks but they were just standing as if waiting for someone to yell "action."
Which is almost exactly what Anthony did.
"Oh Sweetheart?" He called out from a stand of trees outside the perimeter of the circle, "I know I told your mate that I was going to fuck you one last time but seriously, I just can't stand the stench of him all over you. I hope you're not too disappointed!"
He fiddled with something up in the tree next to him and walked to another tree, "Game cameras! It was Ludow's idea, video won't be too clear, but it should show your face well enough to identify you and give the Internet sickos plenty of detail."
Two of the men were directly in front of her now, waiting for their cue.
"I told them they could do whatever they want, as long as you don't leave the circle," Anthony called cheerfully, "it's all on satellite uplink so I'm just going to watch from the car. Have fun!"
And with that, Anthony sauntered back up the trail they'd hiked in on.
Well shit. One of the guys in front of her got within kicking distance so Kara did her best to do exactly that. Hoping to land her bare foot in his balls.
Her dress was strapless, fitted snugly over her breasts, cinching in her waist and hugging her thighs before flaring out in a spray of tulle. She'd been so happy with the way it held in her stomach and pushed her boobs up against the sweetheart neckline. Truth be told, she hadn't expected to be in it this long. Now she wished she'd chosen something she could breathe in. Something that she wasn't in danger of popping out of because she sure as hell didn't need her naked boobs hanging out in front of this group of crazies. Definitely something she could kick in.
Her knees were pretty much locked together by the snug fit of the dress. Her attempt at kicking the man coming near her was unsuccessful to say the least.
At least the men were moving slowly. Like they were stalking her, watching her, figuring out their strategy.
Shit, they really were wolves.
2 of the men on the outer edge shifted. Just to prove it. In case she wasn't freaked out enough. Kara flipped out.
Getting thrown over the cliff sounded pretty good right now. She was pretty sure she wasn't getting out of this but at least she was going to go down fighting.
Kara thrashed against the ropes, twisting her body and bouncing off the back of the structure. She struggled to rip the seams of her dress to free up her movements and a burst of energy sent the closest two men flying backwards as she won the fight against the material.
One foot landed in the closest guy's gut and he fell backwards as she put her weight into the push. The second guy went down with a knee in his groin. The upside to being tied to a cross was that it gave her a lot of leverage. She didn't have to worry about falling down and she could use both feet at once.
She'd worry about the rope burns later.
If there was a later.
It was like all her thrashing and kicking had suddenly spurred the others into motion. Suddenly she was surrounded. There were hands grabbing at her, and the sound of fabric ripping. Not all the men were still wearing their wolf masks, and not all of the wolves were masks.
Later wasn't looking good.
18
"Where did you get that newspaper clipping, anyway?" Ken asked.
Lowell wasn't sure if his buddy was intentionally trying to interrupt the argument in the front seat or if he'd really just thought of it. Either way, Lowell was glad to have something new to concentrate on.
"Anthony handed me an envelope," Mingan said from the way-back,
"like when he first walked in, he just sort of threw it at me before I knew who he was. There were a couple of articles and a business card in it."
"Nice of him to make sure we know how to get a hold of him if we're ever in the neighborhood," Rek said tersely.
"So the story is that K got kidnapped by some cult?" the kid's eyes were looking back at the men behind him in the rear view mirror.
Daelan reached across the cab and snatched at the wheel, "Keep your eyes on the road," he snapped.
"Dude! Chill! There is no road, we're fine." He pushed the Alpha's hand off the wheel and went back to concentrating on the terrain in front of them.
"One of the clipping said 'kidnapped,' another one said 'joined,' "Ming's conversational tone was typical but not what Lowell wanted to hear.
Ming was always calm, matter of fact, downright shy when it came to women, and a total mercenary when it came to battle. Lowell knew that Ming's wolf was quietly pacing inside the big man in the back, sharpening its claws in preparation. Of all of them, Ming had the best hold on his wolf. His animal and he shared a cool, calculating quality that had saved Mingan's life, and his team's, more than once.
But right now, it sounded flippant and it made Lowell want to change and maul his friend right there in the trunk of the Landcruiser.
"All the articles were printed out from websites," Rek was explaining. The pack's Beta had a knack for keeping things business, but his tight jaw and clenched teeth always betrayed his emotions. Lowell could handle that. He liked knowing that the man was wound every bit as tight as he was. "None of them were from credible sources, not even trusted gossip columns, but the implication we got was that he plans on using that headline to explain away whatever he plans to do with her."
Rek shut his mouth with a snap and looked over at Lowell, "Sorry man."
Lowell shook his head, "No. It's cool. Doesn't matter what the bastard plans to do with her, we're gonna get there first."
