by Dena Christy
Connor shook his head. “I’m not leaving you. Dad says that being a man means you have to protect the people you love.”
“I know, honey. And by going out the window you are protecting me. I know you’re brave and I know you’re strong, but there are two full grown werewolves out there and we need your dad. You have to go to him.” They didn’t have time to argue about this anymore. She heard the door in the room next door come crashing in and they were out of time.
She went to the window and slid the glass pane over. The screen popped out easily, and she turned to Connor. He shrugged his shoulders back in the way she’d seen Logan do a hundred times and it was like a knife blade in her heart. She would do whatever she could to stay alive for both of them, but if the worst did happen, at least her son would be safe.
Faith bent her knees and cupped her hands together. Connor came forward and put his sneaker covered foot on her palms. He grasped the edge of the window and pulled himself up as she pushed him upward. It was a tight fit but he managed to wriggle through the window and land on the other side.
She looked through the open window as her son got up off the ground and dusted himself off. He gave her a thumbs up to show her he was unhurt, and relief poured through her. Connor was safe now.
Crash!
Faith whipped her head around as she heard the door to her room come smashing open. She quickly turned back to the open bathroom window.
“Run Connor.”
Thankfully he didn't need to be told twice, and he took off into the wooded area behind the hotel. Once she could no longer see him she closed the bathroom window and turned to face the door. She hugged her arms over her belly and waited.
The door to the bathroom crashed open and bounced against the wall. Logan’s father loomed in the doorway, looking older and meaner than the last time she’d seen him.
“There you are, you little bitch.” He came forward and grabbed her by the arm. His hold was so tight that she knew if she made it through this she was going to have a bruise. If that was all she was going to get out of this she would count herself lucky.
“How did you know I was here?”
“There are no secrets in this town. You were seen leaving my son’s office and it didn’t take much to put together that you finally came to your senses and left him.”
“Why are you doing this then? I left Logan, what more do you want?” She stumbled forward when he gave her a yank. The smell of alcohol coming off him made her eyes burn. Obviously she needed to be careful not to struggle since who knew what he was capable of in the state he was in. She needed to give Connor enough time to get away. Her son was all that mattered, and she did her best to cooperate with them so they would not have a chance to notice that her son was not there.
“It’s nothing personal. Let’s just call it a guarantee that you aren’t going to go running back to him. My son needs to do his duty to his pack and can’t with you shaking your tail in front of him. If you cooperate like a good girl I’ll let you go once he does what needs to be done.” He dragged her forward through the motel room. She knew that despite his words he would not let her go. Her only hope was that Logan would find her before he had a chance to kill her. She stumbled behind him as his companion came in from the parking lot.
“I can’t find the boy.”
Relief swept through Faith. Connor had gotten away, at least for now.
“Where’s your whelp, bitch?” Logan’s father gave her a shake that rattled her teeth.
“He wasn’t with me. I left him with a friend so that he can be with his father.” Faith took a deep breath and forced a cold look on her face. She was certain that she knew this man’s opinion of her and from what little Logan had told her about his history, he would believe a human woman would walk away from her child. “Knowing Logan was going to mate with that wolf bitch was the last straw. I’m sick of all this werewolf business, and don’t want to have anything to do with it. Logan can keep his son. I’m done with it all.”
She had to be careful not to lay it on too thick, and as the man holding her gave her a narrow eyed stare, she thought perhaps she wasn’t as good an actress as she hoped. He yanked her forward and pulled her out of the motel room.
“What do you want me to do?” The greasy young wolf looked at Logan’s father and Faith held her breath. She was pretty sure that if they looked hard enough they’d find evidence of Connor and this whole game would be over.
“Forget about the boy. He’s not our concern. Let’s just get her out of here.” He dragged Faith out to the decrepit old pick up truck that had a cap over the box. Logan’s father lowered the tailgate, and bound her legs and feet together with rope he had sitting in there. Once she was tied, she was shoved inside and the tow men got in the front of the truck and started the engine.
She scooted into a sitting position as best she could as the grooved metal of the truck box bit into her flesh. For all Logan’s father’s talk about letting her go once his son had bound himself to Grace, she knew that wherever they were taking her chances were good that she wasn’t coming back. She was certain that Logan’s father intended to make it look like she’d left town, and he couldn’t take the chance that she’d come back. She closed her eyes and offered up a fervent prayer that he didn’t kill her as soon as they got to where they were going.
She thought about the baby she knew was growing inside her. She had to hope that she would get out of this, but she didn’t know if she could do it on her own.
“It’s going to be okay, baby.” She was careful to keep her voice as quiet as possible as she tried to comfort herself by talking to her unborn baby. “Your dad will come for us.”
16
Logan yanked his office door open and went out with Mason close behind him, his eyes sweeping over the bar until they locked onto his son. Connor was standing in the middle of the barroom with tears running down his face as he was saying something to Alex. Logan’s blood roared in his ears as he looked around for Faith and couldn’t see her anywhere. There could only be one reason why his son was here without her. The look of terror on Connor’s face when he noticed him and ran toward him said it all. Something had happened to Faith.
He strode over to Connor, and did his best to keep himself calm as worry over Faith clawed at his belly. His son was scared as it was and he needed to know that no matter what happened, Logan would do everything in his power to make sure his mother was safe.
“Bad men came to the motel. Mom made me go out the window and told me to come get you. I think they want to hurt her.” Connor’s lower lip trembled and Logan pulled him to him. His son seemed so small and fragile as his arms went around his back, and whoever had done this, whoever had terrorized his son and taken his woman, would pay for it.
“Do you know who it was? Do you have any idea who the bad men were?” Logan let go of Connor and squatted down so he could look him in the eyes.
“No. I didn’t see them but I did see the truck they came in. It was old, I’m not sure what color but it was dark. Except for the door where the driver sits. It was a light color.”
There was only one person in town who drove a dark, old truck with a light colored driver’s side door. Logan’s blood ran cold. His father had Faith and who knew what that bitter old bastard would do if he thought she was standing in the way of what he thought was best for the pack.
“I know who it is. You did good, Connor. I want you to stay here while I go get your mom back. I promise I’ll bring her back.” Connor swallowed hard and nodded. Logan pulled him to him one last time and looked at Alex over his shoulder. “Take care of him.”
Alex nodded and Logan let his son go. He stood to his full impressive height and a feeling of cold rage descended on him. He turned and walked out the door of his bar, and it was only when he got to his truck that he noticed that Mason was right there with him, along with half a dozen other wolves.
He didn’t say a word as he climbed into his truck and Mason got in the pas
senger's side. There was only one place where his father could have taken her. He pulled out of the parking lot with several trucks behind him. He flew down the highway toward the only place where his father could have stashed her.
“Think he’s got her at the old hunting camp?” Mason’s line of thinking was the same as his.
Logan nodded as he gripped the steering wheel. It was the only place that he could take her. As remote as this town was, it was small enough that someone would notice or see something. The only thing his father could do to keep her out of the way was to stash her at the hunting camp.
“What the fuck is he thinking?”
“He’s thinking that he can control me into doing what he wants. He must have heard that Faith left me and knowing how his mind works, I'm sure that he thinks I’ll buy it that she left town. That I’ll see the light and mate with Grace to save the pack.” And what scared Logan the most was if he’d been in the state of mind he’d been in when Mason had come to talk to him, he might have believed him, except for one thing.
“Thank God Connor got away.”
Yes, thank God his father had underestimated Faith’s love for their son. If his father wasn’t blinded by his own prejudices toward Faith’s humanity, he would have known that there was no way she would not have had her son with her.
The rest of the truck ride passed in tense silence. He hoped to God that he wasn’t wrong about this, that his father hadn’t taken the ultimate step to ensure he got his own way. If he didn’t have Faith stashed at the camp, the only alternative he would have would be to kill her and put her body somewhere no one would ever find it.
He shoved that thought aside as he concentrated on navigating his truck along the winding and increasingly narrow track that led further into the bush. There was only enough room now for one vehicle and as it was, branches scraped along the side of the truck and he had to slow down to get through it.
After what felt like hours, with his body and soul crying out for his woman, Logan pulled the truck into the clearing near the camp and relief poured through him when he saw his father’s truck. He hoped it meant that she was still alive inside the decrepit building, that he’d gotten here before his father could do more than just kidnap and terrify her. He stopped the truck and was out of the door just as his father and that grease stain Tony came out.
“Get out of my way, old man.” Truck doors slammed behind him as the wolves who followed him here got out of their vehicles. Hopefully when his father saw that he wasn’t alone he would see that he was beaten.
“Can’t do it. I’m doing this for the pack and if you would pull your head out of your ass you’d see it. Do your duty boy, or step aside and let a stronger wolf do it.”
A snarl curled Logan’s face. The old man didn’t know when to quit and it was time he showed him he was what was best for the pack.
“And who do you think is going to lead the pack? You? You had your chance to be the alpha this pack needed. And you pissed it away trying to drink yourself to death.”
“Tony? You want to be alpha, don’t you? Go ahead and challenge my son.”
A smirk came over Tony’s face as he stepped forward. Logan should have seen this coming, since his father and this piece of shit drinking together for the past six months had not been a good combination. He was certain that his father had been grooming Tony to take over as alpha in the event he couldn’t get his son to let him run the pack through him. Tony was a perfect puppet for his father, but one thing that neither of them counted on was that Logan had no intention of playing by the rules. They’d made sure of that when they’d taken his woman away.
Seeing Tony standing there, knowing he was what was standing between him and his woman made Logan see red. Before he could get the necessary words out to issue a challenge, Logan moved forward like a striking viper. He grabbed Tony’s head, twisting it so his neck snapped. Logan let him go and Tony’s body crumbled to the ground with a stupefied look forever etched on his face.
“Your biggest mistake was thinking that I wouldn’t kill for her. She’s mine and I’ll kill anyone who tries to keep me from her.” Logan’s growled words were loud enough for everyone to hear, and if there was anyone there that doubted he meant it, they only needed to look at Tony’s body to know what would happen to anyone who tried to keep him from his woman.
“You going to kill me now, boy?” There was a look in his father’s eyes that told Logan that this was what the old man wanted. The booze wasn’t killing him fast enough and he wanted Logan to do what he was too cowardly to do himself. Perhaps that was his true reason for doing all this. Unfortunately for Mike Sawyer, Logan had no intention of granting him his wish.
“I’m going to do worse.” Logan promised as he brushed past the old man. He looked over his shoulder toward Mason. “Take my father into custody and we’ll take him before the pack for judgment.”
Faith huddled in the corner where Logan’s father had left her with her hands and feet bound. Why he thought it was necessary to keep her tied up she didn’t know. They were out in the middle of nowhere and if she ran she’d get lost in the woods and probably die.
She closed her eyes and prayed that it was Logan outside. When what appeared to be headlights shone through the dirt covered window of the shack they were in, hope had soared through her. Connor had gotten to Logan and she was saved. Then the two men holding her had raced out the door and she was left there alone.
She twisted her hands, trying to wriggle them free of the bonds that held them but it was no use. Her heart climbed to her throat and she let out a scream when the door crashed open. Her scream turned to a sob when she saw Logan walk into the shack.
He rushed over to her and sank to his knees in front of her.
“Logan, I’m so sorry I left. If I’d stayed with you and tried to work things out none of this would have happened.”
He shook his head as he untied her hands and feet. He reached trembling hands toward her as he cupped her face. He bent his head and kissed her. She started to cry when his lips moved on hers.
He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
His voice was a rumbled growl and she shook her head. “They scared me but they didn’t hurt me. Did Connor find you?”
“He did. He saw my dad’s truck and described it to me. It’s how I knew you were here. He’s waiting at the bar for you. I promised him that I’d bring you back to him so let’s get out of here so I can keep my word.”
There was so much she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him they were going to have another baby, but more than anything else she wanted to tell him that she loved him. But right now didn’t seem the right place or time to do it. Connor was probably worried out of his mind and she needed to assure herself that he was going to be okay.
“Take me out of here.”
Logan stood up and she got shakily to her feet. All the adrenaline and terror that had been pumping through her for most of the night had washed away now that he was here, and she started trembling as the thought of what would have happened to her if he hadn’t known his father well enough to know where he would have taken her.
He pulled her to him and held her. She felt so safe standing in his arms that she wanted to believe that they would get past the hurtful words they’d hurled at each other the last time she spoke to him. Surely his being here meant that he wanted to give their family a chance.
“I got you. No one is going to hurt you again.” He scooped her up in his arms and she put her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his neck and he walked out of the shack that she hoped never to see again.
She lifted her head and saw that he hadn’t come by himself. She saw Mason along with several men she’d seen around town. A couple of them held his father and there was blood leaking from his lower lip which told her that he hadn’t exactly been cooperative. The only man she didn’t see was the one Logan's father called Tony. Her eyes went to the tarp that
lay on the ground, and she knew that Tony was under it and shivered.
“Don’t look at it.” Logan tightened his arms around her and she tucked her face back in against his throat. “He made the mistake of coming between you and me.”
He didn’t need to say anymore. She hadn’t really realized before just how far Logan would go to protect her, but the notion that he would kill for her gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. A civilized man wouldn’t do such things, but then Logan wasn’t a civilized man. He was fierce and strong, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep her and her son safe.
It was that ferociousness that excited her so much, it was what had drawn her to him right from the beginning. She’d tried to make things work with men who were safe, who didn’t have the same fire inside them that he had. It had never worked out because there was only one man for her, the one who was holding her to him, who was prepared to annihilate anyone who stood between them.
Logan set her on her feet beside the passenger side of the truck. She stayed pressed close to him as he turned to talk quietly to Mason. He opened the passenger side door and helped her inside. He climbed in after her and pulled her onto his lap. It wasn’t exactly the safest way to ride, but she couldn’t protest. She felt like she’d been separated from him for days instead of hours and didn’t want to be away from him, even if that separation was only an inch.
“We’re going to go back to the bar and get Connor. Then we are going home and we are going to talk.”
She nodded against him. Once she got home with him she’d tell him what was truly in her heart. She loved him so much and probably had for the past thirteen years. She’d just been too scared to acknowledge it.
She wasn’t scared any more. She loved the man holding her and she was going to tell him. It was time that she stopped pretending that she was fine on her own, that she didn’t need him in her life. The fact was that while she could probably do it on her own if she had to, she didn’t want to. She and Logan had built something over this summer. They’d created a family, with her, him and Connor. And she never wanted to let it go.
