Werewolves & Whiskers: Sawtooth Peaks Wolf Shifter Romance Box Set

by Keira Blackwood

  Cole held on another moment before he broke our embrace. “Help yourself. There’s eggs, bread, cereal. All kinds of food.”

  He kissed me one last time, then went back and picked up the glasses of orange juice. We sat together at the bar to eat the food Cole had prepared, just like we always did. He had cooked toast with butter and jam, scrambled eggs, and crispy bacon—heaping plates of delicious food. While we enjoyed the food Cole had prepared, Zaria picked an apple out of the fruit bowl and ate standing in the center of the kitchen.

  Trying to ignore the tension that Zaria’s presence caused, I asked, “How was your run?”

  “Would have been better without that big, slow guard trailing me,” she answered.

  “It’s for the best having someone with you. Witt’s proven his worth, and he didn’t object to spending more time around you,” Cole said.

  “Sure,” she answered.

  “Try not to get in any trouble,” Cole told his mother. “Witt can take you wherever you want to go. Except for home.”

  She nodded in response.

  We finished our breakfast and Cole drove me to work. Though it was brief, it was nice having time alone away from Zaria on our drive through the woods.

  “What are you going to do today?” I asked.

  “I’ll check in on my paperwork at the office. I’m waiting for more from Axel. I’m hoping he’ll call. When we have more intel, we’ll start planning an assault. If the Tribunal won’t do anything to stop Dashiell, we have to. I’m not letting anyone else get hurt at the hands of Crazy Eyes if I can help it. If we’re lucky, we can get to him and restrain him without bloodshed. But that may be too much to ask.”

  “What if you don’t hear from Axel?” I asked.

  “I don’t know yet. I guess we send in someone else to try to do the same job. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the Tribunal will step in. I still don’t understand why they let him get away with taking over an entire town to begin with,” he answered.

  “Maybe,” I said. “I wonder how much longer we have to wait to find out what Liam Blake decided?”

  “Not long, I hope,” he answered. “But don’t worry. I’ll be okay. Even if there’s a trial, I did what I had to.” His face was tight.

  I wished his body language told me the same thing his words did.

  When we pulled up to the curb in front of Rosebuds and Greenery, I saw Harkins standing like a statue by the door. I gave Cole a quick kiss on the cheek, then turned to climb out of the car.

  Cole put his hand on mine, fingering the ring he had given me. “Hailey,” he said, “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I answered and hopped out. There was too much hanging on his shoulders. I wished something would be over with, Dashiell or the bear’s investigation, ideally both.

  “Good morning, Harkins,” I said.

  “Ma’am,” he replied, giving me a curt nod. As I opened the red door to the flower shop, I heard the little bell ring over the noise of Cole’s truck as it drove away. All the lights were on in Rosebuds and Greenery, and the sign was turned to open, but I didn’t see Eric anywhere.

  “Eric?” I called, peeking around into the cutting area. My boss was always here before me, greeting me when I entered. He lived on the second floor of the shop and came down every day before opening time, and worked until after close. It was strange for him not to answer.

  “Eric?” I walked down into the greenhouse and looked out the glass, in case he had stepped outside. But he was nowhere to be found.

  I went back to the stairway that led up to his apartment from the greenhouse. Listening for a sign that Eric was around, I walked up the stairs, but the building remained silent.

  At the top, I came to a red wooden door that matched the one on the front of the shop. I knocked, hoping he would come out and explain he’d come back upstairs because he’d forgotten something. But no one answered.

  Checking the handle, I found it was unlocked. With a small push, I cracked open the door and stepped in, feeling uneasy and like I shouldn’t be here. I had never been in Eric’s apartment, and didn’t want the first time to be an uninvited stroll into his personal space. But I had to make sure he was okay. If he didn’t want me here, he should have called, or at least left the front door locked. He’d have to forgive me if I found him and Victor taking the day off.

  Papers were scattered across the gray carpet at the doorway. I didn’t take Eric for the type to leave things thrown around. His shop was always in perfect order. What if this had something to do with me? What if Dashiell’s men came looking for me like they had come for Zaria? What if they harmed Eric just for being in the way? My stomach dropped, sending me from concerned to distressed.

  “Eric?” I called, voice shaking. “Are you okay?”

  I prayed he would answer and be annoyed that I was up here, that he was fine and I had worried for nothing.

  The lush carpet gave to my footsteps as I walked into the room to the left. It had light blue walls and a deep, white sofa. A framed picture on the center of the wall, a photograph of Eric and Victor arm in arm, hung askew. I reached my hand into my pocket and slipped my house key between my fore and middle fingers, holding it tightly with my fist. If there was an intruder, at least I had something to defend myself. As I turned to the right, I found my boss. He was bound to a kitchen chair by duct tape around his middle, and his legs were secured to the front legs of the chair. Duct tape covered his mouth, and his glasses lay shattered on the floor. A scrape on his forehead beaded with blood. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked at me.

  “Oh my god, Eric,” I said, voice shaking as I rushed toward my friend. “Who did this to you?”

  His eyes raised above my head as I tried to pull the tape from his mouth.

  I snapped my head to see the threat behind me and screamed as loudly as I could, “Harkins!”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Cole

  I headed straight toward my office without acknowledging Amy as she smiled at me from the bar. As I opened the heavy door, I saw Lance sitting in the chair across from mine, waiting for me with his back turned.

  “Good morning.” He turned his head and greeted me.

  “Hey,” I said, and shut the door behind me.

  “I have a few things to share, wanted to catch you first thing this morning,” he said.

  “Please do,” I replied, then sat across from my brother at the desk. I was impressed at how put together Lance looked so early in the morning. His silver hair was perfectly combed, and his black dress pants and white button-down made me look unprofessional by comparison. He often came in later in the day, when more customers were at the bar, and stayed through the night until last call. “Did you just get here, or were you here all night?”

  “I didn’t sleep,” he answered. “I hear Axel went into Dashiell’s territory.”

  “He called my mother,” I said. “Apparently he hates me so much they believed he would make a good ally. I don’t know if they know his identity or not, but he has a phone and I’m hoping he’ll be able to provide some useful information.”

  Lance said, “I hope he does. That would be very helpful. How’s your mother? I heard she was attacked.”

  “She’s fine,” I said. “Unfortunately she’s staying with me.”

  Lance gave me a sympathetic half smile, then said, “I’ve tried calling the Tribunal. I left three messages about Ellistown and what happened to Garret. I expected a quick reply with the severity of the situation. No one has returned my calls.”

  “I’m concerned that something’s wrong, since they let Dashiell take things so far. I expected that they would’ve taken him out right after he slaughtered that town. Or if somehow they didn’t know before, they should have come by now,” I replied.

  “Well, we know where to find one of them. Your bear friend is staying at the bed and breakfast. He was easy to find. It was there or the lodge, and he didn’t seem like the fancy vacation-taking sort. Also he doesn’t s
eem to be hiding. All it took was a phone call to find out where he was; he had the room registered in his name,” Lance said.

  “Thanks, Lance. I’ll go talk to him after lunch.” I needed to know where he was on my case. And I needed to know why the Tribunal hadn’t responded to Dashiell’s actions. “Is there anything else?”

  “One more thing, but it’s not life or death. I know Harkins really respects you, and these times have been hard on you, and hard for everyone. He’s had it rougher than most. You may want to give Harkins your blessing to pursue Amy. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s been in love with her forever.”

  “Amy? Really? Okay, thanks,” I said. How had I not noticed, with as much time as I had spent with the two of them? Harkins did spend a lot of time watching over her, and he confided in her. Lance always picked up on emotions and motivations I didn’t. He was a better people person than me, but he was also strong. He was much like our father. I hoped he would find a mate that suited him, because he would make a great alpha.

  “Keep me informed,” he said with an easy smile as he strolled out the office door.

  I pulled the manila folder out of my desk drawer and looked at the picture on the top of the stack inside, the picture of a dead man on my kitchen floor. There had been too much blood shed lately, too many deaths. The doctor in my kitchen, Garret’s head in the box, the wolves at my mother’s house—I needed it to stop.

  “He won’t mind, trust me.” My mother’s voice came from the bar’s entrance. I could smell that Witt was with her.

  I put the folder away in preparation for Zaria’s intrusion. But she didn’t come through the hall, she settled somewhere out in the bar instead. I was grateful. Sifting through my stack of papers, nothing popped out at me, so I started at the top, reading each boring line.

  “Harkins!” Amy’s voice was a shrill cry.

  The scent of blood tainted the air. What the hell was happening?

  I rushed to the bar entrance, and found Harkins collapsed on the floor.

  He lay on his stomach with his arms beneath him, and one of his legs was twisted unnaturally. His head was turned to the side, face swollen and unrecognizable.

  Fear paralyzed me. He was supposed to be watching over Hailey.

  “Hailey,” he murmured in little more than a whisper. “Hailey.”

  My insides squeezed in knots and I bolted across the street. My heart was racing; I couldn’t think. I had to find her.

  The red door to Rosebuds and Greenery hung halfway open. I couldn’t smell her. Where was my mate?

  “Hailey!” I yelled. Shoving through the rooms of the empty shop, knocking down flowers and tables, I searched for her.

  Muffled noise came from upstairs, faint and unclear. I followed the sound up to another open, red door. Inside there were signs of struggle, papers and lamps knocked over, a picture on the wall tilted to the side. The sound led me to the living room of the small apartment.

  Eric, Hailey’s boss, sat bound to a kitchen chair, emanating a scent of pure terror. His eyes were wide as he yelled into the tape that covered his mouth.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  He nodded at me, tears welling in the corners of his green eyes.

  I grasped the duct tape at the corner of his face and pulled hard and fast.

  “Hailey,” Eric said in a rush. “They took Hailey!”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Hailey

  Pins and needles stabbed my fingertips. I tried to adjust my hands, but the tendrils of the rope scratched and squeezed my wrists. It was tied too tightly to move. I knew I should be terrified, but I wasn’t. The sensations around me felt more like a dream than reality. My shoulders and my head ached, and I wasn’t quite sure why everything was black. Something hard pressed against my waist, and my head felt heavy. Was I upside down?

  My body dropped and turned. A cold, hard surface pressed against my left side. Shuffling noises and voices I couldn’t make out echoed in the space around me.

  The cloth over my head was lifted, and harsh light filled my vision. My eyes fought to adjust from the blackness to the glaring fluorescent lights. I was on a well-worn wooden floor in a huge room lined with books on shelves that stretched to a high ceiling. An ornate chandelier hung above me, with dangling crystals that glimmered in the light.

  “Welcome, Hailey Archer,” boomed a deep voice from somewhere in the room. I pushed myself upright, sitting as the spinning room began to settle. In front of me stood a huge man with wild, yellow hair hanging over his shoulders and a matching thick beard. A patch covered his left eye, and a thick scar crossed the center of his wide nose. He wore a black leather trench coat over his broad shoulders, with no shirt beneath it. The center of his bare, chiseled chest was exposed between the front flaps of the coat. His legs were covered by loose-fitting jeans and black boots caked in mud. Behind the man sat a heavy wooden desk chair, decorated with tall slivers of metal, like a makeshift throne.

  I looked up at the man before me, as I sat bound at the wrists on the floor. As the fog in my head cleared, the reality of the situation hit me. My heart raced as I looked into his bulging, crazy eye.

  “I see you’re coming to,” he said with a sneer. “I understand that you’ve been given the mark of my enemy.”

  “What?” I asked, voice trembling.

  He bent forward and pushed my head to the side. I flinched as he poked my neck with his thick finger. “Too bad I don’t care for humans. If you had been a she-wolf, you would join my harem.”

  “Please,” I started, tears welling in my eyes.

  “Don’t worry, plenty of my men aren’t as choosy. You can stay until your mate comes for you. You’ll make nice bait.”

  “Wait,” I cried.

  The cloth bag went back over my head from behind, and someone lifted me over his shoulder. I remembered the same thing happening in Eric’s apartment. Eric had looked past me with terror in his eyes at the men that had stood behind me. I couldn’t remember anything else, just noise and blackness. I worried for Eric. I hoped they hadn’t harmed him after they captured me. There was no need to if I was the prize they had waited for. But I felt terrible for being the cause of all of this. Wolves never would have broken into his home and taped him to a chair if he hadn’t been associated with me.

  I worried for Harkins, who had been there protecting me. There were at least the three I had seen, and I knew Cole’s loyal friend never would have let them take me if he had still been able to put up a fight. Maybe they had left him alive; I hoped they did. Under the circumstances, it seemed most likely I was being held in the town of the wolves that Cole had talked about, the crazy ones that Zaria had sent poison to. Who else would want to use me as bait?

  As soon as Cole learned that I was taken, he would come for me, exactly like his enemy wanted. I hated that it would be my fault he would rush into danger, that he wouldn’t have the time to plan and figure out a strategy, time to be safe. He would rush in here, irrationally brave to save me. I knew he loved me enough to be that reckless, because I loved him just as much, with everything I was. I couldn’t be bait.

  My stomach tightened, my breathing quickened, and beads of sweat tickled my face beneath the bag. I wouldn’t let him die for me.

  I tried to move my hands, but the ropes dug further into my wrists, and a voice below me said, “Don’t struggle.”

  The man carrying me tightened his grip on my waist. My body shook with fear. How was I supposed to help Cole if I couldn’t even move my hands? My tears soaked the bag covering my face.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Cole

  I ran as fast as my human form could move, fuck anyone who saw me. His scent was clear from the sidewalk in front of Mama Nan’s Bed and Breakfast. The smell of bear made my skin crawl. The wolf inside of me urged me to go in any other direction—walking into a grizzly’s den was suicide, even if it was only a temporary home. The small Victorian sat alone on its lot, so I knew he was inside that buil
ding and not just one nearby. I opened the front door and found Nan at a counter by the door. She was a petite widow, in her mid-sixties. Nan was a kind and gentle soul, always full of smiles, and rented out space in her home for the company more than the money.

  I did my best to shield the emotion from my face as I asked, “Hey Nan, I’m looking for Liam Blake. Is he in?”

  “Nice to see you, Cole. It’s been a while. How are you?” the small older woman said, with a wide smile. It was hard to stay polite; I needed to get to Hailey. Every moment I wasted was one that she was in danger.

  “In a bit of a hurry. It’s urgent,” I said, with a small smile so as not to raise concern.

  “Sure, dear. This way,” she replied, and led me up the stairs to the room on the left. It was difficult to keep her slow pace and resist the urge to just pick her up and carry her to our destination.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “You’re very welcome. Come by and say hello sometime when you aren’t busy,” she said, touching my arm gently.

  “Will do,” I answered, and waited for Nan to walk back out of sight.

  When she was gone, I banged on the door. Liam Blake cracked open the entryway and raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Let me in,” I growled.

  He opened the door enough for me to walk past him, and shut it behind me. Photographs were spread out all over his bed. Some were the pictures I had sent to the Tribunal, others were of the people in my life and Hailey’s. More still looked like they were taken at a hospital and apartments in the city.

  “Awfully demanding for someone trying to prove he’s a marshmallow,” he said in a flat tone.

  “I’m not trying to prove anything,” I said, keeping my voice even. “I only told you the truth.”

  “Why the visit? Something new you’d like to add to the record? I was going to come by to see you later this evening,” the bear said, his face a mask.