Werewolves & Whiskers: Sawtooth Peaks Wolf Shifter Romance Box Set

by Keira Blackwood

  “Why are you here? Why didn’t the Tribunal send a wolf?” I growled.

  “I was wondering that myself,” he answered. “But it’s my job to go where I’m told.”

  “My people have been calling the Tribunal about murders. No one has responded,” I said.

  “I don’t know anything about that,” he replied, brow furrowed. I knew he wasn’t lying. So why didn’t he know all of this already?

  “Some crazy wolf went into Ellistown, killed the alpha, his enforcers, and god knows who else,” I continued. “He’s walled up the town, and no one goes in or out. He killed my step-father and sent the head to me in a box. Then he sent wolves to attack my mother, and now he’s taken Hailey.” By the end of my account, I realized I was yelling. My chest was pounding. I needed to get to my mate. I took a deep breath and lowered my tone. “If they won’t help me, I was hoping you would. I’m going for her, fuck the consequences, but I could use some backup.”

  Liam Blake stared at me with his cold, dark eyes. His mouth was turned down as I waited for him to say something, anything.

  “I’ll have to make a few calls,” he said.

  “I’m going back to the bar to see if I can get any support,” I said. “Then I’m leaving. Dashiell has it out for me. I will not sit around and wait while he has my mate.”

  He raised his hand as if to still me, and met my eyes with concern. “Did you say Dashiell?” he asked.

  “Do you know him?” I replied.

  “Let me make some calls. I’ll see what I can do,” the grizzly said calmly.

  “You do what you have to, but I will too. And I can’t wait,” I growled, and pushed past the bear to the door.

  “Cole Tenbrook,” he said, and I stopped to listen but kept my body firmly placed at the exit. “Frank Wilson was an asshole. No one will miss him. He was negligent at his job and was fired. Other women in his past made complaints to the police, similar to Hailey’s. Those women all turned up dead. His apartment was filled with pictures of Hailey and girls that looked a lot like her.”

  I turned and examined his softened expression.

  Blake continued, “My finding is that you were within your rights protecting your mate, and the case is closed. I was planning to pack up and head back tonight.”

  “That might have been a relief to hear under different circumstances. But right now all that matters is finding Hailey,” I said and rushed back down the steps.

  I was on the street before I heard Liam Blake call after me, “Good luck.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Hailey

  “I’ll be back for you later, girly,” the man growled as he dropped me to the floor.

  I heard footsteps—loud, thudding boots—then the creak of a shutting door. A last click and jingle told me he had locked me somewhere. With my hands bound behind my back I wasn’t sure how I was going to get the hood off. I sobbed in the blackness, for myself and for all of those close to me who would be hurt because I’d let this happen. Carelessly, I’d let myself be taken and now Cole would come and get himself killed. It was my fault, and I couldn’t even take off the damn bag on my head. How was I supposed to escape when I was too helpless to accomplish something so simple?

  “Shhh,” a gentle voice came from my side. Someone pulled on my wrists, moving the rope. The restraints loosened and I could feel my fingers again.

  I lifted the bag from my head and looked at the small woman crouched beside me. Freckles speckled her sunken cheeks. Her full head of fiery red hair matched the intensity of her emerald eyes. Her nose and lips were thin, and she had a pretty, oval-shaped face. Muscles lined her thin, bare arms. She looked like she had been strong and beautiful once, but only a shell remained. I wondered how long she had been held here, how long it had taken to break her. Likely longer than it took to break me.

  My tears continued as I quietly looked at the woman in the pink tulle dress. “Thank you,” I let out in a whisper. “Where am I?”

  “Ellistown,” she answered. No surprise there, I thought. “I’m Trixie. No one in this room will hurt you.”

  I looked around the bare, medium-sized room, and imagined that it was likely once a nice bedroom, one with furniture, and a window that looked over the town. One that didn’t have a caged light and a heavy door that locked from the outside. Women huddled in corners and in sleeping bags on the hardwood floor, all dressed alike. Had they all been here the same amount of time? Or was Dashiell collecting us over time? I counted them—there were seven, each wearing a pastel-colored tulle dress and stockings, but no shoes. There was one dim light on the ceiling, encased in plastic. The window had been boarded shut, so I couldn’t use the sun to tell how long it had been since I was taken. Had it been an hour? Five?

  “What’s your name?” Trixie asked.

  “Hailey,” I answered softly, wiping the tears from my cheeks. I tried to focus on the woman in front of me, and held my tears at bay.

  “How did you get here, Hailey?” she asked.

  “I was kidnapped,” I answered, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall once again.

  “Strange,” she replied.

  “The big, blond man called my mate his enemy. I’m bait,” I said, voice trembling.

  “Interesting. No human has been brought to join us. He only claims she-wolves,” she said. “His name is Dashiell.”

  “I thought wolves could only choose one mate. How long have you been here?” I asked.

  Trixie sat down and crossed her legs, then smiled at me. Her smile seemed genuine, and showed her true beauty. I bet it had been too long since she smiled, and I was glad to meet her—the first friendly face in this horrible town. “My whole life,” she said.

  “How long has it been like this?” I asked, gesturing to the cage around us.

  “Too long. Thirteen nights ago, that man brought wolves in on all sides while we slept. They massacred the town, killing everyone who tried to stop them. Women and children were killed in the streets,” she said, showing no emotion.

  “That sounds horrible,” I replied. “Where were you when it happened?”

  “In bed with my mate, the alpha of our pack,” she said. “We woke from the noise of destruction and cries. Stratton, my mate, tried to stop them. He shifted and went out to find the one responsible, to stop the violence and protect the town.”

  Heroic, responsible alpha Stratton was probably a lot like Cole. I would have asked more about him, but I knew the ending of the story wasn’t a happy one, so I focused on Trixie.

  “What did you do?” I asked.

  “I went in search of the injured and anyone needing help. I was sure Stratton would be fine. He was always fine. I wasn’t scared, I was angry. Angry that someone would do this to my home—hurt my neighbors and burn their houses,” Trixie said.

  “It sounds like you both did what you felt you had to,” I said. Just like Cole felt he needed to help bring down Dashiell, I thought.

  “We did,” she answered. “It didn’t take long to find people in need of help. An old woman that lived just down the street from my house, a human who made wonderful cookies for all of the children, lay in the street. A big gray wolf stood over her, pulling on her arm. I heard her screams and ran to her in wolf form, sinking my teeth into her attacker. He snarled at me and ran off, laughing in his deep, wolf voice. Laughing like the whole thing was some great joke.”

  “Are they all like that?” I asked. “The ones holding us here?”

  “Not all,” she said. “Many are bloodthirsty, and many are cowards.”

  “So how did you end up in here?” I asked.

  “I heard Stratton’s screams,” she said. “So I ran to him, as fast as I could. He was here, on the steps of this building, being torn to pieces by Dashiell and his pack. I ran to him, tried to help. But it was too late. They put his head out at the entrance of town, and their leader decided that I’d make a nice trophy.”

  Trixie tilted her neck showing me the savage scars that s
craped from her shoulder to her ear, scars that had been covered by her hair.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  “Dashiell told me I belonged to him, that his mark wouldn’t just cover Stratton’s, but be impossible for any wolf to miss. Then he used his claws,” she explained.

  “That’s horrible,” I said. Trixie's story made me think of my bond with Cole. I couldn’t imagine losing my mate, going through what she had. I would be lost without him, and the idea that he was coming here to face Stratton’s same foe terrified me. After listening to her story, Trixie seemed stronger to me than I had first thought by her appearance. I hoped to channel a fraction of her strength to somehow stop Cole from meeting Stratton’s fate, to do something to help him or at least warn him that they knew he was coming.

  “It is done,” she replied. “The story is similar for all of the women here. Those who mated strong wolves have lost their mates. Those who chose poorly, who mated weak-willed men, have their mates walking amongst our captors. Like my sister-in-law over there, Mara.”

  Trixie pointed to a young woman hiding over in the corner, hugging her knees. She wore a light blue dress much like the one Trixie wore, but had bruises over her forehead and eye. Bruises shaped like hands covered her neck and left upper arm. At the mention of her name, Mara began sobbing.

  “Your brother did that to his mate?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she answered. What kind of man would leave his wife in a cell to be treated this way? I thought wolves were supposed to be protective providers. It seemed that Trixie’s brother lacked her strength.

  “So tell me, Hailey, why would Dashiell or his men leave Ellistown to kidnap a human woman? What makes your mate so special?” Trixie asked, leaning in to hear my story.

  “My mother-in-law sent poison in my mate’s name,” I said.

  A huge grin spread across Trixie’s freckled face. “I’ve been waiting for you,” she said. “You’re going to help me end this.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Cole

  Derek, Garret, Harkins, Reynolds. I recited their names in my mind, the dead and the injured. Recent violence had thinned our pack, violence caused by Dashiell, the man that held my mate. Stratton, Lowell, Dominic—the friends that we would never see again. Others were missing, or unknown to me, like the scouts we never recovered and the people of Ellistown. I was without the authority of alpha status, without the Therion Tribunal, and without Harkins. I was only willing to make one last stop to ask for help. With every minute that passed, Hailey was in more danger.

  Storming into the bar, I scanned the room for my brother. He stood chatting with a group of human patrons that sat in a booth.

  “Lance,” I called, desperate to talk to the one person I knew I could count on for support.

  He looked at me, then turned back to the table and said something to the guests before walking over.

  “Let’s talk in your office,” Lance said, gently pulling me by my forearm. I followed and shut the door behind us.

  “I can’t wait any longer,” I told him.

  “Did you talk to the grizzly?” he asked.

  “Yes, but he didn’t make any promises that matter. He’s not willing to go now, and I have to go immediately. I don’t care how risky it is, or if it’s a trap. I need to get to her, now.” I struggled to keep my voice down. I was desperate. I knew entering Ellistown was suicide, but it didn’t matter. Hailey was worth any consequence. My heart ached in her absence. My inner wolf boiled just below the surface; I was barely able to hold my human form and keep myself from running to her alone.

  “I understand,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

  I hugged my brother. I knew I could count on him, that he would back me up. My mother loved to tell me that I should put family and the pack first, but Lance and I did put each other first. Other than Hailey, Lance was the only family that I needed.

  We walked out into the woods behind the bar, far enough behind the trees not to be seen. I pulled off my jacket and shirt, leaving them hidden under the piney branches of a tall tree. Footsteps approached, and an unexpected scent.

  Amy, Witt, and Zaria met us in the woods.

  “Harkins would have come if he could walk. I tied him to his bed, just in case he tried to crawl here,” Amy said. I scanned the group that had come to my aid: two small she-wolves, a powerful enforcer, and Lance—a balance of strength and cunning.

  “Thank you so much for coming,” I said, looking at each of my companions in turn. “I don’t know what kind of chances we have of surviving this night, but it means the world to me that you are here. I am grateful for each of you.”

  Zaria held up her cellphone toward me, and said, “Axel’s on the line. I told him we’re on the way. He has some ideas that may help, and he’d like to talk to you.”

  I took the phone, and for the first time since Hailey was taken I felt a little glimmer of hope. I couldn’t believe so many people cared enough to put their lives on the line for me.

  My family was a little bigger than I had thought. Maybe we would survive this night.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Hailey

  Mud ground into the knit of my forest green sweater as his boot pressed down onto my stomach. I wrapped my fingers around his dirty heel and tried to ease the crushing weight, but it was no use. I looked up at the huge, blond monster with black holes for eyes and crooked, yellow teeth that showed through that ugly grin. He held his prize in his hands, outstretched for me to see. I screamed in pain, but not from the pressure on my stomach, from the realization of what Dashiell held. The golden sunlight was gone from Cole’s unmoving eyes, and I realized I had failed him. It couldn’t be true. I screamed at myself, Wake up!

  Beads of sweat trickled across my forehead, and my heart raced in my chest. I blinked and found myself exactly where I had been when I had lain down to rest. The light on the ceiling still glowed. I didn’t know how Trixie could keep track of days without light from outside. There was no way I could tell if it was day or night. Maybe it was a wolf sense.

  I rolled over onto my back and looked at Trixie beside me. She was kind enough to let me share her bedding on the floor of our cell. I hoped I could live up to her expectations. She was used to strong she-wolves as backup, and I was only human. No heightened senses or animal strength for me.

  Though her eyes were closed, Trixie didn’t look like she was getting any rest. Her body was stiff, her fists balled tight, and she appeared ready to pop up to defend herself at any moment. I recognized the tense pose as the same way Cole had slept after Frank Wilson. Maybe Trixie would find some rest in her sleep, and not just nightmares. I hoped so.

  Remembering my dream, I wondered if Cole was sleeping right now too, or if he was on his way here to find me. I hoped he took time to prepare before storming in recklessly. If he had a plan, maybe we’d all have a chance at making it out of Ellistown alive. If not, we were probably all fucked.

  Movement across the room caught my eye. A woman in a green dress stood by the boarded window, tracing the plywood with her finger. Her cheeks were hollow and her eyes were dark. Her long, blond hair hung loosely braided down the center of her back. Yellow strands hung over her face and shoulders, but she didn’t seem to mind.

  “Hi,” I whispered to the woman, quiet enough to not disturb Trixie.

  She didn’t seem to hear me, and continued feeling the grain of the wood where the window should have been.

  Careful not to touch my red-haired companion, I stood slowly. Softly stepping toward the woman in the green dress, I tried again. “Do you miss the window?”

  Still, she didn’t seem to hear me, so I touched her shoulder. She flinched like I struck her, backing away and crouching to the floor.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Her wide brown eyes stared up in my direction, deep, glazed pools that didn’t quite seem to see me.

  I sat beside her and said, “I’m Hailey. What’s y
our name?”

  She focused on my face as I spoke. Her brows furrowed as her eyes sharpened, she looked at me like I was some kind of monster, then hid her face down between her knees.

  “Enemies of Dashiell should not speak to his property,” she said, voice shaking.

  I scooted away, recoiling from the her. I didn’t want to be anyone’s enemy, or the cause of making the woman uncomfortable. Her words shook me. How could someone with the strength and abilities of a wolf shifter be pressed so hard into submission to refer to herself as property? This was only the fourteenth night. In two weeks, Dashiell had turned strong women into this. What would that mean for me if Cole didn’t make it here to save me? What would happen to me between now and whenever he arrived? If these women couldn’t endure, how could I? I stood and walked back toward Trixie, careful not to disturb anyone sleeping on the hardwood floor. My heart longed for Cole, to see his face, to touch his skin, to be held in his arms. I wished I was home with my mate, sleeping in our bed together. Even having Zaria stay over with us didn’t seem so bad anymore.

  I felt the weight of eyes following me as I knelt down next to Trixie. A man thick with muscles stood in the doorway, staring at me. I recognized his short, brown hair and bushy mustache. It was the man from Eric’s apartment, the one who had kidnapped me and had blinded me with the burlap bag.

  Paralyzed by his intense gaze and crooked grin, my heart raced as quickly as I would have run away if I could. I looked at him with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights, or prey caught by a wolf.

  “My shift just ended,” he said loud enough to disturb all of the sleeping women in the room. He wasn’t concerned for them, or that they might try to stop him. He was confident and in control.

  My hair stood on end from the sound of the same voice that had said I’ll be back for you later, girly. True to his word, here he was.