Ruined Wolf: A Paranormal Why Choose Romance (Claimed by the Sea Wolves Series Book 2)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The clouds were growing darker outside, and the tops of the colossal trees swayed violently in the wind. I watched it all as I sat on the carpet by the tall window in Ethan’s dining room, my arms wrapped around my knees. It wasn’t particularly warm in here, and I was still only wearing Lucas’s T-shirt and sweatpants, as well as some trainers Ethan had allowed me to grab before we left the cabin.

I could feel the swell of my belly pressing against my thighs and realised it wouldn’t be long before I couldn’t sit in this position anymore. I felt the strange sensation again as the baby moved lazily inside me, and I sighed. I was booked in at the hospital to have my first scan next week. I had felt both apprehensive and excited at the thought, and at the time I’d made the appointment, Maverick had said he’d come with me. The thought of him holding my hand as we both looked at my baby had filled me with such happiness, it was hard to believe that that future had been ripped away in one day.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to me. Everything they had said to me was true. I’d lied to them for weeks, even when we’d grown close, and no matter how I’d felt at the time, it had been so wrong. I’d hurt them all badly, and I would never forgive myself for it. They’d never forgive me either. I’d seen their faces when they walked away, and I didn’t blame them in the slightest.

I wished I could talk to them though, and I wished they’d listen to me about Ethan. He’d twisted my lies so they would no longer believe anything I said, but somehow, I had to show them that he was lying too, and that he’d known about Jaxon and was working with my father on something. I had the strongest suspicion it had to do with the logging company Jaxon had gone to work for, and I suspected that Ethan was going to sell some of the pack lands to the company for a large amount and split the proceeds with Caleb. But why? Why did he need Caleb when he could have done all this by himself and kept the whole amount? I didn’t get that part.

And what did the Spanish treasure have to do with it? Jaxon was as focused on that as he had been on the logging company—more so by the looks of the information he’d left. His journal had been with my things in the hospital, and that had also been missing from the bag I’d brought home. The guys who’d abducted me had taken that too, and the only way they could have known it was valuable was if Ethan had told Caleb that he needed it, meaning Caleb knew about the treasure as well and had my kidnappers pass over the evidence to Ethan before they tried to get me off the island. That meant he had the journal and the printouts. I needed to get my hands on them to prove to the guys that they needed to look into what Ethan was up to, and that he wasn’t as innocent as he was making out.

I heard the key turn in the lock, and the door swung open as Ethan stepped into the room.

“You can’t hide from me,” he said as he walked around the table and looked down at me. “Don’t worry, Nova, I won’t inflict my company on you much longer, I’m simply waiting to get the boat organised to take you home.”

“Home?” My panic must have been evident on my face, because he gave me a cold smile.

“Oh, yes. As much as you’ve been a thorn in my side, there’s someone who has much more of a vendetta against you, and to be honest, as long as I know you’re dead and out of my way, I don’t really care who kills you. Caleb, on the other hand, well, he was not pleased when he found out you were the one who managed to snag Maverick out from under your sister. You really fucked up his plans, Nova, and Daddy isn’t happy with you.”

My blood turned cold as I thought of what that would mean. I would never survive. We would never survive.

“No, please, Ethan. I’ll leave, I’ll go far away. You’ll never see me again. Just don’t hand me over to Caleb,” I begged.

He cocked his head to one side. “Hmm, and why would I do that? I want you out of the way for good, and he’s happy to take care of it. Very happy.”

“Please, I’m begging you,” I implored.

“Get on your knees and beg me,” Ethan demanded, his face twisting into a sneer.

I swallowed, still hearing Maverick’s voice in my head. Never submit to anyone ever again, Nova. Promise me.

I bit my lip. What was one more broken promise if I could save my baby’s life? I struggled up onto my knees, bowing my head in front of the alpha. My wolf snarled and fought me, but I pushed her down, my internal battle with my more dominant side causing pain to shoot through my head.

“Well?”

I took a deep breath. “I’m begging you, Ethan. I’m at your mercy. Please spare my life and let me leave the island. I won’t come back. You have my word.”

I kept my head bowed, as my father would have wanted, not daring to look up as I continued to fight my wolf, who wanted to challenge Ethan and attack him.

Ethan’s chilling laughter cut through to my bones. “Stupid girl. As nice as it is to see you in your proper place, I’m afraid I shall have to turn you down. My business relationship with your father is worth more than your pathetic little life.”

I glared up at him, my wolf snarling and my anger rising. “And what about my child? He’s your blood, Ethan, Jaxon’s son. Will you condemn him to death as well?”

Ethan shook his head and smiled. “He wouldn’t be the first of my blood that I condemned to death, so don’t rely on that to save you, Nova. No, you’re going home, and soon. The boat is leaving in an hour to get you back to the mainland before the storm hits. It’s going to be a big one, I think.” He grinned down at me. “If it’s any consolation, my nephews will be way too busy dealing with the fallout over the next couple of weeks to miss you at all.” He turned and left, locking the door behind him.

I sank back down onto the carpet, fighting my frustration and tears. Despair flooded me. Ethan was sending me back to my father, where I’d probably be tortured and killed, and the men I loved hated me, and rightly so. I’d done nothing to deserve their love. There was no way any of them were going to come to my rescue. If I wanted to get out of this, I was going to have to do it myself, but I had nothing left. The damage from the car accident had left my body exhausted from healing over the last couple of days, and adding in the lack of sleep and the emotional wringer I’d been through this morning, I was done. Right now, in this moment, I could barely think. I felt a fog descending over me as I curled up on the carpet, pulling my knees up and bending my head down. It was an old position from my past, one I’d assumed many times before and after beatings and hunts—a position of defeat. There were no more tears now, I’d cried them all, so instead, I simply let the fog take over my mind and lay there, staring out into the grey afternoon.

Ethan was as good as his word. It wasn’t long before the door opened again, but he wasn’t there. Instead, two men I didn’t recognise stalked into the room, grabbed my arms, and pulled me roughly to my feet.

I was hauled along the corridor, down the stairs, and out into the cold afternoon. The day had darkened, and I could smell the coming rain. The skies were grey and heavy, much like my heart. The men half dragged, half carried me down the path and out to the car, throwing me in the back seat like a sack of potatoes. The one who drove turned to look at me.

“Don’t try to make a run for it. We could chase you down in minutes.”

I nodded, curling into myself in the back seat, though I questioned whether it would be quicker if I made them hunt and kill me instead of waiting for whatever horrors my father had in store for me.

The drive to the harbour didn’t take long, and it didn’t seem like five minutes before I was being pulled out of the car and escorted down to the dock.

Several people on the front stopped to watch as I was forced onto one of the smaller boats. I could hear the whispers and caught a glimpse of Eleanor in the crowd. I’d thought she’d be worried about me, but her expression was strangely calm. I wondered if Ethan had already gotten to her and told her his twisted version of the truth. I felt sad at the thought. I had never had many female friends, and I thought we’d grown close during my time working there.

I sat down on the plastic seat, the action reminding me of the night before. It seemed so long ago now. I had my mates to rescue me then though, and now I was in the same position, except this time, I was being banished publicly and no one was coming. I was alone again.

Despite that, I raised my eyes to the small crowd forming on the seafront, scanning the faces and desperately hoping that one of my mates might have come, but they weren’t there, and as the boat started up and pulled away from the dock, I had the crushing sensation that it was all over.

I watched the faces fade away, and numbness spread through me as we sped away from the harbour and towards the open sea. Eventually, we rounded the headland, and the town disappeared from view. I wondered dimly if the men would try to attack me like the others had. I knew not all men were like that, but in my experience, a good number were, so I was surprised when they showed me no attention whatsoever, except the odd glance back to make sure I was still there and behaving.

I didn’t know what they thought I could do back here. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, even if I overpowered them. The water was getting rough, and as we followed the line of the coast around to where we could break for the mainland, I watched the surf crash against the rocks. For some reason, the memory of Devil’s Chimney came to my mind, and with a small start, I realised this was the day the tide was lowest. This was the day I’d planned to go back to the cave. I no longer had the map, since it was tucked inside Jaxon’s journal, but Lucas had said that Jaxon was sure as a kid that there was buried treasure inside that cave, so Lucas had gone back to find out.

The numbness began to fade as the fight inside me slowly started to return. I felt my wolf prick up her ears as I stared hard at the men at the helm, running through a plan in my mind. If I could take control of the boat, I could get to the cave, find the treasure, and get out of here. I could take the boat up the coast, find somewhere remote to land, and make my way from there to somewhere safe. Ethan had said a storm was coming. It might even cover my tracks and explain the missing boat.

I tightened my grip on the side of the boat as it rocked on the choppy waves and glanced around me. There wasn’t much—a bundle of old fishing nets, some kind of heavy plastic storage box, and a loop on the end of a pole. I looked from the pole to the guys, who shifted their positions repeatedly to keep their balance on the unsteady deck. I stretched out my leg slowly, trying not to attract their attention with any sudden movement, and tangled the tip of my foot into the edge of the net before dragging it carefully towards me where I could reach it quickly.

Taking a deep breath, I screamed loudly. The two men whipped around, and the one who wasn’t driving came towards me.

“What the hell was that? No one can hear you out here.”

“I saw something in the water!” I exclaimed, trying to look afraid and shifting away from the side of the boat. “I think it was a shark...”

The guy who was driving rolled his eyes and went back to steering, but the closer guy shrugged. “We do get sharks around here, but I doubt it’s any threat.”

He leaned over to look into the water, and I launched myself up, placed my hands on his back, and gave him a hard shove. He went straight over the side with a yell and hit the water with a splash. The other guy turned around in surprise, but I was ready for him. Grabbing the heavy fishing net, I stepped forward and threw it over him. The weight of it caused him to stagger as he released his grip on the helm and stumbled towards me. I dived forward and grabbed the pole, then drove it into his chest. Already unsteady because of the motion of the boat and with the added weight of the nets, the blow caught him off guard, and he staggered backwards.

His legs bashed against the side of the boat, and I brought the pole round in a wide arc, catching him across the upper chest. He overbalanced and went backwards over the side with a scream. I heard a loud thud as he hit the underside of the boat, but I didn’t stop to think. Instead, I ran to the helm, grabbed the wheel, and pushed the throttle handle forward. The boat sped up with a roar, and I pulled her around in a wide arc, leaving my two captors behind.

I didn’t look back as I headed to the island. I wasn’t exactly trained to drive a boat, and I had no firsthand knowledge of navigating these waters, but I figured if I stuck fairly close to the coast, I’d eventually find what I was looking for.

The light was fading by the time I spotted the small beach that Lucas and I had landed on only a week or so ago. I slowed the boat, studying the rocky shore, until I saw the cave that led to Devil’s Chimney. The entrance was tall and narrow, and hard to spot unless you were looking for it, but I turned the boat towards it. A small beach ran up to it, cut off from everything else by towering walls of rock that stretched ominously above my head. I pulled the boat up as close as I dared and then threw the anchor over the side. A rope ladder hung over the end of the boat, and I climbed over, slowly lowering myself into the cold water until my feet touched the bottom.

I shivered as the water lapped around my thighs, chilling me, and waded to shore. I had no way of telling how much time I had, but I knew the low tide would certainly be rising and that by dark, it would be high enough to trap me inside. I moved quickly, splashing out of the waves and heading up the beach to the cave entrance.

I’d searched the boat and managed to find a small flashlight, so I switched it on and stepped into the shadow of Devil’s Chimney. It felt odd in the pitch black, and the torch was only powerful enough to show the first few feet around me. It was also quieter, as the thick rock walls blocked the rising wind, but the crashing surf echoed through the emptiness in an eerie way, and I shivered again, remembering that this was where the guys’ father had died. I prayed ghosts weren’t real. I doubted this one would have any love for me, and I had been through enough without having to deal with malevolent spirits on top of it. I was starting to shiver for real now, my wet trousers clinging to me and the dampness of the cave seeping into the rest of my clothes.

The walls were dark and wet, and my torch reflected back off the wetness, revealing slivers of green moss and brown seaweed. I pulled the flashlight off the wall and guided the narrow beam through the gloom. My racing heartbeat slowed as I studied the walls, wondering if the treasure was still here after all these years, but I couldn’t see any sign of it or any trace that anyone had even been here.

I kept going, making my way through the narrow passage until, to my surprise, it opened out into a bigger chamber. Towards the other end, the uneven floor rose in a peak of broken rocks and driftwood, and a single shaft of grey light pierced the darkness. I pointed my torch up, revealing the hole in the ceiling that travelled up to the surface.

“The Devil’s Chimney,” said a cold voice behind me. “What a fitting place to find you, Nova.”