by Lily Graison
Garrett stared down at the camp and wondered what to do. If he walked down there and questioned Carmen about Rayna, then the woman would know Rayna was gone. But what if Carmen knew where Rayna was? He couldn’t just leave her in Carmen’s hands.
“What do you want to do?” Jacob asked.
“I don't know. If we wait, she may lead me straight to Rayna.”
“Unless she's already done something with her.”
The thought made him sick. Carmen would not hesitate to kill Rayna but Garrett knew she’d want an audience. It would do her no good to just kill her and dump the proof. She’d want him to see, which made him think whatever Carmen had done, Rayna was safe. For now. “Go down there. Mention you found a car on the high ridge. I want to see what she does.”
He watched as Jacob jogged down the hill and joined the others. He walked close to Carmen before he started to speak. Carmen turned to look at him a moment later. The smile on her face told Garrett she was responsible for Rayna’s disappearance. The question now was, what had she done with her?
* * * *
Rayna sucked in a breath and flattened herself against the wall. The man who walked past her didn’t even blink and she exhaled when he disappeared around the corner.
The fear of getting caught made her want to turn around and scurry back to her room but she had to let someone know where she was. She’d paced the confines of her bedroom for nearly half an hour before the answer to all her problems lit her with enthusiasm and drew her into the hall and down the main stairs.
She’d only encountered the one man and seeing the door Catherine said was Victor’s office, Rayna was torn on whether to take a peek inside to see if the wiry old werewolf was in there or if by some miracle he’d walked away.
The gods must have been smiling down on her. Before she could make a decision, Victor stepped from the room into the hall. He hobbled in the opposite direction, away from where she was hiding, and disappeared around the corner.
Rayna only hesitated a moment before she dashed to the office door, peeked in, and ran to the large desk sitting near the back wall and ducked down behind it.
Staring at the windows, the curtains drawn closed, she tried to get her racing heart to calm. When her breathing was under control, she leaned up, peeked over the desk and looked for the phone. When she saw it, she snatched the cordless handset up and crawled under the desk.
She had to redial twice to get the number right. Her hands were shaking. When the ringing stopped and the name, “Burrows,” was said, she wanted to cry.
Chad Burrows, police detective and Garrett’s old partner on the Bluff’s Point police force for nearly ten years was her only option. If he couldn’t help her, she was as good as dead. “Chad. It’s Rayna Ford. I’m in trouble.”
“Rayna?” Chad said.
“I need you to trace this number.”
“Trace the number… why? What’s going on?”
“Chad. Listen. Don’t talk,” she said. “I’m in serious shit here and I don’t have time. Trace the fucking number.”
“Rayna… you know as well as I do how this all works.”
“Chad, I’m begging you. Please.”
He sighed. “Give me one reason.”
Rayna rolled her eyes. He could be as big an ass as Garrett when he wanted to be. “I’ve been kidnapped. Is that good enough?”
“Kidnapped?”
“Don’t involve anyone else, Chad. Please. I just need you to trace the number, get the address, and call Garrett.”
“Rayna, if you’re in trouble the police is who you want, not your boyfriend. Give me a second to call the Chief…”
She growled and wondered if it sounded the same over the phone. “No one else,” she hissed as loudly as she dared. “I mean it, Chad. Just trace the number and call Garrett.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Give me a second.” She heard him talking to someone, the shuffling of things on the other end, and peeked back over the top of the desk. Her heart was pounding again. If she got caught now… She didn’t even want to think about it. “All right. You have to stay on the line. It’s tracing.”
She blew out a breath and sat back down. “Do you have a pen handy?”
“Yes.”
“Write this number down.” She gave him the number to the house in Wolf’s Creek. “Call Garrett once you find out where I am. Tell him the Collective has me and they’re going public tomorrow.”
“Whoa,” Chad said. “Slow down, Rayna. Where is Garrett and who is the Collective?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Just call Garrett.” The sound of someone talking nearly caused her to swallow her tongue. “Someone is coming. I have to go.”
“Don’t hang up! The trace isn’t finished.”
Rayna bit her lip as the voices grew louder. Scrambling to think of what to do, she said, “Call Garrett,” before standing up, laying the phone on the desk and walking to the bookshelf on the opposite wall.
Victor and Thaddeus walked into the room a moment later.
“Ms. Ford,” Victor said. “What are you doing in my study?”
Rayna smiled and hoped she didn’t look as rattled as she felt. “I got bored,” she said, shrugging her shoulder. “I went exploring a bit and saw all the books.” She turned back to the bookshelf and picked one at random. “You really should show your guests more consideration, Victor. A girl would think herself a prisoner the way you treat them.”
A sideways glance to the left and Rayna saw the phone sitting on the center of the desk. She hoped Chad was still on the other end. Would Victor notice it had been moved? She hoped not. At least not while she was still in the room.
Focusing her attention back on him, she held up the book. “Mind if I borrow this?”
He stared at her, his brows inching down over his eyes into that hard scowl of his. “If entertainment is what you wanted Ms. Ford, you should have told Catherine.”
“Oh, well Catherine was long gone before I got bored.” She walked toward the door, book in hand.
Victor stared at her. “Go back to your room, Ms. Ford. I won’t have you wandering the halls.” Turning to Thaddeus, he said, “Go with her, Thad, and make sure she stays put.”
* * * *
Garrett entered the house and walked into the midst of chaos. Raised voices filled the foyer, the pack members seemed anxious, and when no one noticed him in the room, he slammed the door shut to get their attention.
Bryce turned to look at him and the relief on his face was evident. “Man, where the hell have you been?”
“Spying on Carmen.” He looked around the room again. “What’s going on?”
Judith approached, a worried look in her eyes. “A man called for you. He’s been calling every thirty minutes for the last four hours.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow. “Who is he?”
Bryce answered. “He said his name was Chad Burrows and that he’d talked to Rayna. He said she’s in trouble.”
Garrett’s wolf slid against his bones. It howled inside his head loud enough to make his ears ring. He’d had a hard time getting the beast to calm and now, it was all for nothing. It was agitated again.
He headed down the hall, walking toward the office, Bryce’s voice a constant echo in his ears. “He said he knows where Rayna is but refused to tell me.”
“Did he leave a number?” Garrett asked.
“Yeah. It’s on the desk.”
Garrett found the number and recognized it. It was the police station in Bluff’s Point. He dialed the number, typed in Chad’s extension, and waited.
“Burrows.”
“Where the hell is she?”
Chad laughed. “It’s nice to hear your voice too, partner. You sound just as surly as usual.”
Garrett couldn’t help but smile. He’d spent ten years working along side Chad Burrows on the police force in Bluff’s Point and leaving his friend behind without a real explanation had bothered him. Hearing the teasing tone of his voi
ce let him know there were no hard feelings. “Where is Rayna, Chad?”
“Tell me what’s going on first.”
“I don’t have time to explain.”
“Funny. That’s the exact same thing Rayna said.”
At the sound of her name, the wolf pushed harder. Garrett clenched his jaw and counted to ten. “You’ve talked to her? Is she all right?”
“Yes and she sounded fine to me. Although she was a bit rude and I could have sworn she growled at me.”
Garrett grinned. “Do you know where she?”
“Yes.”
“And?” Garrett said after Chad didn’t say anything further.
“And you’re as impatient as she was. What the hell has happened?”
The last time he’d seen Chad, Garrett had looked him in the face and lied, told him he was running off with Rayna to get married and start their life over someplace new. It wasn’t a complete lie but the particulars, he’d left out. The why and where he hadn’t shared with him.
He blew out a tired breath and sat down, bracing his head on his hand. “She disappeared on me. I’ve spent hours looking for her.”
The sound of rustling paper and multiple voices dimmed in the background until nothing was heard but Chad’s exhaled breath. “She said she was kidnapped. Wanted me to trace the number she was calling from and told me to tell you the Collective has her and they’re going public tomorrow, whatever the hell that means.”
Garrett’s heart skipped a beat. “Fuck,” he said, hissing the word past his teeth. The Collective had her? They could only want one thing. For her to prove to the world they existed.
“I take it that isn’t good news?”
“No.”
“What’s going on, man?”
Garrett ran his hand through his hair. He didn’t have time to go into the particulars. “I can’t tell you, Chad. You have to trust me. Just tell me where Rayna is.”
“Not good enough, my friend. Either ‘fess up or I’ll go after her myself.”
“Don’t do that. You’ll get yourself killed and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
“Sounds like she’s in more trouble than I thought.”
“She is.”
“Then tell me what’s going on.”
Garrett looked up and saw Bryce standing at the door. He could hear the others in the hall, still talking. The thirty-two remaining pack members were his responsibility now and they were his to protect. Protect from any and all harm. Protecting their identities fell into that category. “Trust me, Chad. You’re better off not knowing.”
Chad was quiet for long minutes before he sighed. “Fine.”
“Where is she?”
“I’ll tell you once you get here.”
“I’m not coming to Bluff’s Point, Chad.”
“If you want to know where Rayna is, you will.”
The line went dead before he could say another word. Garrett slammed the phone down, shouted the word, “fuck,” before he stood and motioned Bryce out into the hall and back to the foyer where the rest of the pack still lingered. “I’m going after Rayna,” he said. “I’ll need help.”
Gavin was the first to step forward. “I’m in.”
“So am I,” Mitch and Dillon said, together.
“And me,” Bryce said.
Garrett looked at Bryce and shook his head. “No. The ones left behind need someone to protect them.” Bryce’s lip twitched but he didn’t say anything. “As for you, Mitch, you’re newly turned. You’re not strong enough to take on anyone stronger than an Omega.”
“I’ll go in Mitch’s place,” Ethan said. Henry volunteered as well.
Garrett nodded his head and looked at Judith when she approached him. She demanded to go with them. Garrett would have argued but didn’t have the time. When his small, rag-tag team was assembled, he gave them twenty minutes to collect what they needed before meeting him outside.
While Gavin’s SUV was being loaded, Garrett watched the people who had volunteered to help him get his mate back. People he knew put themselves in danger. Judith, he knew only had Rayna’s interest at heart. She may not have looked old but Judith mothered Rayna as much as any real mother would have. Gavin and Dillon, both Alpha’s of the pack, were needed if he had to face the Collective. He couldn’t fight them alone regardless of what he thought. He’d need strength in numbers. Ethan and Henry, both older pack members, were fierce fighters. Not Alpha’s, but close enough in power that their help wouldn’t be turned away. What they lacked in strength was compensated in knowledge and skill.
He turned back to the house and looked at Mitch. He knew he was worried about Rayna. The relationship Rayna shared with her newsroom partner had always made him wonder if there weren’t more to it than the casual observer could see. He knew Mitch cared for Rayna, and her him, but the look on Mitch’s face made him question again if there was something he didn’t know.
When Gavin shut the back of the SUV, he turned to him. “That’s it. We’re ready when you are.”
Garrett nodded at him and walked across the driveway to Bryce. “If Carmen comes back, don’t let her know I’m not here and whatever you do, don’t let her in the house.”
Bryce smiled and looked toward the vehicle. “Call once you have something to tell us. The others will be wondering how things are going.”
“Will do.” Garrett walked back across the driveway, looked inside the SUV at the others cramped inside, and climbed in the front seat. He hoped like hell the trip wouldn’t drive him crazy. The wolf was restless. It slinked along his limbs, howled inside his head, and caused Garrett’s temper to flare at unexpected moments. The wolf’s mate was in danger and he knew until he had Rayna back, he’d be unpredictable. Bringing so many of the others along was for everyone’s protection, even his own. If they didn’t reach Rayna in time, he would lose her. The humans would see to that the moment she shifted and when that happened, the wolf wouldn’t rest until they were dead at his feet.
Chapter Eleven
Thaddeus was outside Rayna’s bedroom door talking to someone. She could hear him laugh every once in a while, followed by his incessant rambling. The man loved the sound of his voice, apparently.
He’d camped outside her door just as Victor told him to do and she knew there would be no getting past him a second time. Not that getting out would do her much good.
When she’d been brought back, the insane idea of climbing out the window entered her mind. The fact she was two stories up didn’t seem to matter much. To get away from these people, she would chance it.
Without alerting Thaddeus, she’d lifted the window and was sitting with one leg thrown over the ledge when she saw movement near the tree line at the back of the property. The creature that walked out of the shadows caused her heart to skip a beat. She’d never seen anything so big. Or ugly. Taller than any man or wolf she’d ever seen, the things skin glowed under the light of the moon. It’s head looked too big for its body and she couldn’t be sure but it looked as if horns sprouted from its skull.
She’d climbed back in the window when it raised its head and a blood-curdling scream filled the night air.
Hearing Thaddeus laugh again, Rayna looked toward the door before crossing the room and jiggling the doorknob. “Open up!” To her surprise, the door opened a few seconds later.
“What is it, Ms. Ford?”
The man standing with Thaddeus was young and Rayna was shocked to see him. Shoulder length blonde hair glistened with copper and gold highlights. His eyes were hazel and the smile he gave her caused his features to soften a bit. It made his jaw look less stern. She blinked up at him before turning her attention to Thaddeus. “What are those things in the forest?”
“What things?”
She rolled her eyes. “Those creatures. I saw one near the tree line.” The blonde stiffened and Rayna could tell by the look on his face whatever those things were, he didn’t like them. “What are they?”
“Nothing you want to
ever come face to face with,” Thaddeus said. He glanced over her shoulder. “Surely you weren’t going to jump from a second story window?”
Rayna shrugged her shoulder. “What’s a broken leg when immediate death is in my future?”
Thaddeus sighed. “No one is going to kill you, Ms. Ford. The world will be so amazed at your transformation, they’ll write your name in the history books for generations to come. You’re going to be famous.”
She smirked at him and leaned her shoulder against the doorframe. “If it’s so fabulous, then why have none of you volunteered for the job?”
The blonde grinned and elbowed Thaddeus on the arm. “She has a point. Why didn’t you offer yourself up to be the martyr?”
“Shut up,” Thaddeus said, glaring at the blonde.
Rayna raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. He grinned and said, “I’m Nicolas Mears,” before offering her his hand. The smile on his face looked friendly enough but she didn’t trust anyone in this house, regardless of the fact they were civil toward her. She sniffed at him, ignoring his outstretched hand, before curling her lip. “You’re not a wolf. But you’re something.”
He grinned and lowered his arm. “Lion.”
A lion shifter. Just like Thaddeus. “You’re awfully young to be a Breed leader.”
“I’m not.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at Thaddeus. “A Breed leader, that is. I’m only here because he insisted I be a part of history.”
When Rayna glanced at Thaddeus, she saw the resemblance. Their hair was almost the exact same color, their facial features were similar, their eyes, duplicates of the other. These two were related by blood. “Let me guess,” she said. “This unfortunate old goat is your father?”
Nicolas laughed and the sound was tinged with what could only be described as a purr. Rayna felt the wolf slide against her bones then and wondered why it reacted. Was it because it was another shifter or because Nicolas wasn’t a wolf?
“Not only beautiful but smart.”
