by Jodi Vaughn
“What happened in October was never her fault. She was kidnapped and held against her will. And she was rescued and brought back to you unharmed.”
“She was not unharmed.” Her mother’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“Actually I was. Jayden came into the room before that red Were raped me. Jayden killed him.”
“But…” For once her mother was at a loss for words.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” her father demanded.
“You never gave me the chance. I tried to, but you both said you didn’t want to hear anything I had to say. I knew that night I was dead to you.” Her voice wavered.
“Haley, this means you can still marry Anthony. And you can come home to Louisiana.” Haley’s mother’s face brightened immediately with relief.
“Yes. Go get your things and we’ll leave immediately. I’ll call the dean and have him transfer your records back to LSU first thing tomorrow.”
Haley stiffened. And then she pushed his hands away and walked right up to her parents.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“No. You can come home.” Her mother smiled.
“I tell you what you can do. You can both get in your car and go home. And don’t bother trying to contact me again. If you do, I’ll talk to Barrett and have him put a restraining order on you, barring you both from ever entering the state of Arkansas again.”
“Haley Guthrie, don’t you dare talk to us that way. We’re your parents,” her father snarled.
She shook her head, her face pale and eyes disbelieving. “No, you’re not. Not anymore.” She walked past them, and Barrett and his Guardians parted, letting her through the living room.
“Don’t you do this, Haley. There are no more second chances,” her mother called out in desperation.
Haley turned. All eyes on her. She looked straight at her mother.
“You’re exactly right, Mother.”
#
The room erupted into chaos as Haley walked out the door.
Jayden was threatening to beat her father’s ass. Braxton was trying to keep Jayden from getting within hitting range of the dad, and Damon was looking like he was ready to jump in and get his punches in after Jayden. Even Granny and Ava ganged up on her mother, telling her what a poor excuse she was for a parent.
Barrett blew out a breath just as his phone rang. He reached in his pocket and headed into the living room to answer it.
“Hang on. I can’t hear a fucking thing.” Barrett headed into the back yard.
“Okay. What do you have for me?” Barrett strained to hear what Jaxon was telling him. He frowned as he repeated the information back to him.
He hung up.
He ran into the house and yelled. Everything went quiet.
“Damon, go check and see if CODIS has a hit,” Barrett commanded.
Damon hurried out without a word.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Jayden turned his attention to him.
“Jaxon called. He said there was a picture taken of a guy who tried to enter that building this morning where Haley’s account was hacked.”
“And?”
“And he’s running the tags on the car.” Barrett looked around the room. “Where is Haley?”
“I thought she went out to the backyard.” Jayden paled.
“No. I just came from out there.”Jayden hurried out the front door. A few second later Damon entered the kitchen with a paper in his hand.
“CODIS has a hit.” Damon held out the paper.
Barrett snatched the paper and looked down. He blinked.
“You look like you know him, Barrett?” Braxton slid closer
“This isn’t possible.” Barrett shook his head.
“Who is it?” Damon glanced down at the photo.
“It’s the guy that tried to rape Haley.” Barrett looked up. “But Jayden said he killed him.”
Jayden ran back into the house. “She’s gone.”
Jayden look around at everyone. “What is it? Has there been a hit?”
Barrett nodded and held out the picture of the attempted rapist.
Jayden’s eyes grew wide and he shook his head. “That’s impossible. I killed him. I broke his neck.”
#
Hot tears burned her cheek as Haley ran down the sidewalk. She needed to get away from all the hurt and pain her parents had caused her.
Humiliated and embarrassed, she just wanted to hide from everyone and everything. She glanced behind her slightly shocked and pained that Jayden hadn’t run after her.
She slowed down when she got to the corner and wrapped her arms around her stomach.
She turned the corner.
“Haley!”
She froze as a truck pulled up to the corner.
“Mark. What are you doing here?” She walked over to his window.
“Hey, are you okay?” His concerned voice helped her relax.
“Yeah. I was just out for a walk.” She wiped the tears from her cheek and glanced away. “What are you doing here?”
“Dana’s been trying to call you. She really needs to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong?” Her stomach lurched.
“She wouldn’t tell me. She said she only wanted to talk to you.”
“Okay. Let me go back to the house and tell everyone where I’m going.” She stepped back
“Jump in and I’ll drive you down, then we’ll go over to Dana’s.” He reached across the truck and opened the side door.
“Yeah. Okay.” Haley climbed in.
Mark drove down the street and took a right onto the main road. He gave her a sheepish smile. “I promised to pick up some flowers from the florist before they closed. Then I’ll take you home.”
Haley frowned.
“Just a quick detour. I promise.”
“Okay, but hurry.”
#
Jayden picked up his cell phone and dialed Haley’s number, praying she had taken it with her.
Ava came running into the living room holding a ringing phone.
“It’s Haley’s. She didn’t take it.” Jayden disconnected and shoved his phone back in his jeans pocket.
Barrett burst in from the front door with Damon and Zane right behind him. “I checked the surveillance video from both ends of the street. It looks like Haley got into a truck with a male.”
Jayden snarled. “What did he look like?”
“Hard to tell, he had a baseball cap on and his face was in the shadow,” Damon offered up.
Haley’s phone rang. Everyone looked at Ava. She looked at the caller ID. “It’s from a Dana.”
“Give it to me.” Jayden answered the call.
“Dana.”
“Jayden, why are you answering Haley’s phone?” Dana’s voice sounded shaky.
“Because she’s not here. Is she with you, Dana?” Jayden knew he sounded sharp, but he didn’t’ really care. He needed to find Haley.
Dana inhaled loudly. “No. That’s why I was calling. I really need to talk to her. Mark told me something today that is very upsetting and I …” She broke off into pitiful sobs.
“What? What is it? Dana, this is serious. I really need to know.” Jayden was aware that every eye in the room was on him.
“Mark broke up with me.”
Jayden fought the urge to roll his eyes. Haley was missing and this girl was upset over a breakup. “Sorry to hear that.”
“I know! He said the reason he was breaking up with me was because there was someone else.” Dana started up the water works.
“Dana…”
“He said he’s in love with Haley.”
Jayden froze and every sound went mute. It was like someone had turned off the volume.
“What?”
“He said he’s in love with Haley. Did she ever say anything to you? I don’t understand how this could happen.”
Jayden walked over to the coffee table and snatched up the photo of the Codis hit.
“Dana. Wha
t’s the name of your boyfriend?”
“You mean ex!”
“The name, what’s his name?”
“Mark Boulland.”
Jayden let the phone slip out of his hand. Someone must have caught it before it hit the floor because he was vaguely aware of Ava speaking to Dana.
All he Jayden could see was the name at the bottom of that white piece of paper.
Mark Boulland.
#
“Shit. He was hiding in plain sight. The whole fucking time. He was a student at the same university as Haley, yet I didn’t see him.” Jayden loaded every weapon he had into the RV. The plan was to shift in to wolf form and sniff out Haley’s scent while the RV followed. They would then weapon up once they were in human form again.
“Sociopaths usually are pretty fucking genius. We miss them all the time. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” Damon slapped him on the back as he walked through the RV checking out any updates from satellite images as to where Haley might be.
Ava boarded. “Okay, here’s what I got. Dana said Mark has a cabin near the lake. She’s only been out there one time and it’s pretty isolated. Here’s the address. She handed it to Braxton who punched it into the RV’s Navigation. An address popped up.
“I also told her if Mark calls her to be sure to let me know.” Ava slid her cell phone back in her pocket.
“I’m repositioning all our satellites within a hundred-mile radius. “ Barrett punched in some kind of code on the keyboard of the computer and automatically aerial pictures popped up on the screen.
“We have satellites?” Braxton murmured to Damon.
“Apparently.” Damon nodded in appreciation.
“Just give me the coordinates.” Jayden clenched his fists as rage filtered into every cell of his body.
“Hang on.” Barrett shifted through some pictures as Damon cross-checked the addresses.
“Come on.” Jayden narrowed his eyes, trying to force the damn computer to hurry the hell up.
“I said wait. If you bust up in the wrong fucking house you are only going to waste time getting to Haley.” Barrett cut his eyes at him.
Jayden gritted his teeth.
Barrett was right. He knew it. But all that mattered to Jayden right now was getting Haley back safe and sound.
#
Haley shifted in the front seat of the beat-up Ford truck. She hadn’t noticed the smell when she first got in, but she was no longer able to ignore the stench.
“I didn’t know you had a truck, Mark. I’ve only ever seen you drive your Prius.” She swallowed and tried breathing through her mouth. Maybe he’d hit a skunk.
Mark’s cheek twitched as he stared straight ahead. He continued on the street and then turned onto the highway.
“Hey, you missed your turn for the florist.” Haley turned in her seat as the lights of the city disappeared behind them.
He shook his head. “Change in plans.”
Dread, like skeleton fingers, scraped down Haley’s spine. She turned and faced him. “Okay. Well, I still need to go back and tell Jayden where I’m going. You can take this exit up ahead.”This time when Mark looked at her, his eyes were empty and hollow. “No. I’m not taking you to Jayden. You are mine. You always were.”
Haley’s stomach bottomed as terror careened through her system. She reached for the door handle and pulled.
Click.
She froze. The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked clenched her muscles to the point of pain.
“Don’t do that, sweet Haley. I’d hate to kill you before we’ve had our time together.”
#
“Hurry.” Jayden stood over Braxton’s shoulder as he maneuvered the Behemoth on steroids down the back roads that led to the cabin. The Behemoth’s big tires made light work of the uneven terrain.
“I’m going as fast as I can. The road’s getting narrower,” Braxton gritted out.
“I’m out.” Jayden ran for the back door only to be caught by Barrett’s massive hand. He glared at Barrett. “You’re not stopping me.”
“I didn’t plan on it. According to the satellite images we are only a mile from the cabin.” Barrett narrowed his eyes on Jayden. “I have no idea what we’ll be walking into so we need to exercise caution.”
“I want to take the lead.” Jayden’s heart thudded in his chest like a tiger trying to claw its way out of a cage.
Barrett cocked his head and nodded once. The RV pulled to a hard stop.
“We’re officially out of road.” Braxton put the Behemoth in park and came into the back with the rest of the werewolves.
“I want everyone weaponed up.”
“But I can get there faster if I shift.” Jayden shook his head determined to do whatever it took to get to Haley.
“If you shift there’s no way to carry your guns.”
“I got an idea.” Damon walked over to a black duffel bag and pulled out what looked like a harness.
“Ava had it made for me. It’s a gun holster. Once Jayden shifts, I’ll strap it on him with his weapon. Once he gets to the cabin he can shift back into human form and use it.” Damon shrugged.
“And he’ll be buck ass naked.” Braxton frowned.
Jayden opened the door of the RV and hurried out, pulling off his clothes as he went. “Let’s do it then.” He closed his eyes and called to his inner wolf. His muscles stretched and his ligaments lengthened and shifted while hair covered his entire body
Jayden opened his eyes and growled. He walked up to Damon.
“All right, Jayden. Remember, once you shift back into human, this is not going to fit so it will fall off. Make sure you shift before you engage the stalker.” Damon snapped the harness/holster around his wolf body and stuck in a .45 Sig Sauer.
“The coordinates are a half mile through the woods.” Barrett put his hand on Jayden’s neck to make sure he was listening.
“We’ll be right behind you armed. So you need to wait until we get there. Just assess the situation and text it back to me.” Barrett grabbed Jayden’s cell phone out of his jeans lying on the ground and tucked it securely into the gun holster.
“We clear, Jayden? You don’t make a move until I say.” Barrett glared down at him.
Jayden nodded once.
He would feel Barrett’s wrath later when his Pack Master discovered he lied.
#
Haley slowly walked toward the cabin door. She knew the second he got her inside he was going to rape her.
And then God knows what.
She needed to buy time. Surely Jayden would be looking for her by now.
“Move it.” The metal of the gun stabbed her in the back while Mark growled. “Don’t make me shoot you and drag you inside.”
She gasped.
He laughed softly, the sound raking across her skin like death.
“There are lots of places for me to shoot you Haley and still be able to enjoy you.”
He reached around her and turned the knob and pushed her through it.
Her foot caught on the rug and she stumbled to the floor. He cut the light on, flooding the cramped space with light.
The cabin was one big room and rustic. The kitchen was located behind her while to her left was a living room with a nasty-looking couch and a fireplace along the wall. Steps along one wall indicated a second level.
He followed her eyes to the second level loft and looked back at her. “Yes, the bedroom’s up there. We’ll be spending a lot of time there.”
“Why are you doing this? What about Dana? You were supposed to be engaged.” Haley got to her feet and stood, not taking her eyes off Mark.
“Because of what happened in October.” He cocked his head.
“How do you know about that?” Holy shit was he one of the kidnappers? Cold fear flooded her veins.
His face grew grim. “I knew about the kidnapping. In fact my brother told me they were planning to take you and wanted me in on it.” He shook his head. “But I said no. And then Jayden
comes along. That motherfucker killed my brother. Broke his neck.” Mark’s eyes shifted to yellow as he snarled.Haley felt the blood drain from her face. It all hit her at once. Mark’s scent, his familiar face. She had only caught a glimpse of her potential rapist before Jayden came in and killed him. It had been dark and she’d been so scared that she hadn’t really paid attention.
“He was your brother?”
“Yes.” Mark glared at her. “My twin.”
“But, how did you … I mean, I would have recognized your….”
“My scent?” He chucked darkly. “I camouflaged my scent on the rare occasions I was around you.”
“But wouldn’t Dana have recognized your scent?” Red werewolves had a very distinctive odor.
“You’d be surprised how much a desperate female will overlook.” Mark arched his eyebrow. “Besides I made sure to spend a lot of time in the cadaver room. The formaldehyde scent covers just about every kind of smell you can think of.”
Haley swallowed the lump in her throat. “But, Mark, you were going to be a doctor. And doctors help people. Not hurt them. You still have time. Just let me go.”
Mark gave her a look of amusement. “That’s sweet. You have this all figured out in that pretty little head of yours.”
His amusement faded. “It’s not that easy. It never is. It didn’t start out this way, you know. I started following you after you left LSU. It seemed to fill the void left from my brother. I really did love you, Haley.”
“Did.” She swallowed.
“It changed when Jayden entered the picture. If you had just kept quiet I would have been able to court you, to make you feel what I feel about you. I knew you were untouched, still a virgin.” His gaze hardened. “But you had to go and tell Barrett. And he assigned my brother’s murderer to guard you.” Mark looked up, the muscle in his cheek twitching. “Do you know how much that hurt seeing you with him? With the one who killed my brother?”
“Mark, please…” Haley backed up a step, her mind going a million miles a minute. She didn’t have any more time. She was going to have get herself out of this mess.
“If you had just waited, but no, you listened to his lies and let him touch you.” His hand clenched around the gun and his free hand hit his upper thigh in a rhythmic motion.
“You shouldn’t have been such a whore, Haley. Maybe then I could have loved you again. And now you don’t give me a choice. After I fuck you I’m going to send you back to Jayden in pieces.”
