Chapter One
“Come on, Starla, you can keep up with your big sister,” Aurora said, laughing at her younger sister.
Starla stretched her arms toward the ceiling, rolling her eyes. “Obviously, it’s not the issue, Aurora. I’m not in the mood to go running through the woods like you on a sunny Saturday afternoon when I could be hanging out with my friends at the mall.”
Aurora ignored her baby sister’s bratty attitude, knowing the cause. Hell, she could remember the first time she’d gone through the same thing. Goddess, it had been awful. She shuddered at the memory of feeling as if she’d burn alive with need, but she had a little girl who depended on her.
“Well, buck up, Biddy Bee. We’re going to run your booty off.
You don’t want to go hang out at the mall with said friends, and all of a sudden, decide to attack one or ten of them for no apparent reason.
” She didn’t want to say fuck any random guy like he was the last man on Earth, yet they both knew those words were exactly what could happen if Starla didn’t get her shit together.
Most girls got their period, learned how to put a tampon in, and bought their first box of pads in their early teens.
Not the Knight sisters. Nope, they had fucked up DNA thanks to their parents, Goddess rest their souls.
Her sister let out a very inhuman-like grunt and then growled. Aurora lifted a brow as she walked past, heading for the backyard. “I’m going to holler for Yukon. You keep sassing me, and I will make you hold his leash when we run.”
They both were aware of how much Starla hated running behind Yukon.
The Grey Wolf-Alaskan Malamute mix loved Aurora but tolerated Starla.
If they were out in the woods or anywhere he could stretch his paws, he’d show them who was alpha of their little pack, until Aurora let him see it was her.
Poor Starla didn’t stand a chance at getting the big beast to listen to her unless Yukon decided it was in his best interest.
The treelined path wound through the woods. Leaves coated the path, silencing their footfalls as they ran behind Yukon.
“I need to take a break, Rory,” Starla gasped.
Aurora stopped. “Yukon, come.”
The big animal continued for a bit, then turned back to face Aurora. His ears perked up and twitched. She looked toward the clearing ahead, where he stood, and then down at Starla, who’d stopped near a large fallen tree. The sound of water made every muscle in her body tense.
“Do you need a drink?” She pulled her backpack off, thinking she’d get her water bottle out for her sister.
Starla waved her hand in the air. “No, I got my own. You and Yukon can continue. I’ll catch up.”
She watched her sister pull out her cell phone and begin typing into the damn thing, which made her grit her teeth. Instead of arguing with her, she walked ahead to see why Yukon hadn’t returned to her side.
“Yukon, come,” she said a little more sharply than before, sweeping her gaze from left to right when she didn’t see him immediately. “Dammit, where are you? Yukon,” she yelled and jogged forward a few feet, trying to see if he was in the clearing. Maybe he’d found some food another runner had left?
Her head jerked up as the sound of rustling came from off to her left.
To her right, the unmistakable sound of a waterfall off in the distance caught her attention.
She’d always kept away from certain areas, especially ones with water.
The noise moving closer to her from the left wouldn’t have been heard by most, but her hearing wasn’t like an average human.
She began moving backward, inching toward the path back to Starla without making any sudden moves.
Fuck, she’d allowed them to get split up like a damn idiot.
As soon as she hit the path, she turned to run back the way she came, only to slam into a solid surface and bounce back. She flailed her arms, trying to stay upright. Another large body caught her from behind.
“What do we have here, boys?”
The deep baritone sent a shiver of fear down her spine. The scents of the men surrounding her reminded her of canine and man. She tried to break free, kicking back with her feet and using her head as a weapon.
“Motherfucking bitch. I think she broke my nose.”
She fell to the ground as the one holding her released her with a howl. Aurora jumped up, darted to the left, and made for the trees running parallel to the path. Dark chuckles came from the four men who’d surrounded her.
“Kill her. She’s not the one we want. She’s nothing but a human. I want the one who smells—”he inhaled“—like a female wolf in heat. She’s the answer to all our problems. We need to eliminate the other one, but make it look like an accident.”
Aurora ran, dodging trees and jumping over fallen logs, wishing she and Starla could communicate through their minds. Tears threatened to fall, but she blinked them away.
A scream sliced through the air. Her sister’s fear is palpable.
And then she heard Yukon’s familiar growl.
She followed their sounds, running full out toward them.
They thought she was human, thanks to the magic running through her veins, which hid the other side of her being.
She’d kept the wolven part of Starla suppressed for the past ten years, until today.
If only they hadn’t come out to run off the energy.
No, she couldn’t waste energy on what-ifs.
Pain lanced through her side, causing her to stumble and fall.
She tried to roll with the impact but felt another hit slam into her body, making her flip the other direction.
The only thing she could do was tuck herself into a ball and pray.
Her body hit the ground with a sickening crunch as her head hit something hard and unforgiving.
She tried to look up and see what had happened, but black dots swam in her vision.
Copper filled her senses. The sickening stench of blood coated her mouth and flooded her nose, making it hard to breathe.
As her world began to fade into darkness, she screamed inside her mind.
The feel of hands grabbing her with brutal hands would’ve made her wretch if she’d been able.
Yet her body shut down while her mind spun in circles, sending fear throughout her as the sound of rushing water came closer.
“Too bad we can’t play with her before we got rid of her.”
“She’s got a great body, for sure. I’d have fucked her, but the sister is part wolf at least. Maybe Alpha will let us have a turn with her before he gives her to Savage, the Vampire King. After the sadistic fuck finishes with her, nobody will want her.”
The men laughed as Aurora clung to consciousness by a thread.
“Once we drop the girl at Club Jus Sanguinus, they’ll probably drain her dry. I heard something about shifter females in heat being like liquid gold to vampires.” The one carrying her made a sucking noise when he finished speaking. Aurora filed everything he said inside her mind.
“I think she’s dead, man.”
Instantly, she could hear the water as if they were right next to it.
The hard shoulder under her abdomen shifted, and then she felt her world flip and found herself dropped on her back. It took all her concentration not to react. She’d kept her breathing to a minimum, only taking in a puff of air when absolutely necessary.
One of the men grunted, giving her a kick to the side.
She didn’t allow herself the pleasure of responding.
Goddess, she hated the two males with every fiber of her being.
Her one hope lay in the reality they hadn’t hurt Starla or worse, killed her, since they appeared to need her for some vampire named Savage.
“If we leave her here, then she’s sure to be found.
The story of her death will be more plausible if we do.
Move the rock over here, and it’ll appear as if she fell and hit her head, and we’ll stage it like she tripped, and then it’ll be like she does what weak humans do.
Die from blood loss or concussions. What the fuck ever it is, they easily croak over,” he snarled.
Aurora prayed the dumbass didn’t drop whatever rock or boulder they found on top of her head. She didn’t think she’d survive if her head actually got squashed. A loud thump near her shoulder caused loose dirt to fly over her face. She stayed as unmoving as death.
“Let’s head back to see if Alpha is playing with the other one and see if we get a turn.” The sound of someone rubbing their hands together like a greedy child made her inner magic want to strike him dead.
She did nothing. Keeping her body in the same position. Her breathing was so shallow it wouldn’t be noticeable unless they put their hand right under her nose. And then she felt it. Fur brushed against her side. They’d shifted and circled back.
A head butted against her jaw, making her face flop to the side.
Like a ragdoll, she let her subconscious float above while her body lay like a shell.
With each bump and nudge, her form rocked and rolled like their personal chew toy for several long minutes, or maybe it was only seconds.
Finally, they turned and sprinted away, howling in triumph.
Such tough little mutts, taking out a female you thought was a weak human, she snarled.
Her wolf woke within her, repairing the damage while she lay prone on the ground. They will pay for what they’ve done today. We will ensure each of them suffers ten times the horror they intended to inflict upon you and Starla.
Can you speak to Starla’s wolf? she asked, hoping the females had bonded already as siblings do.
She is alive and unharmed, but I can’t reach either of them. Starla hasn’t accepted her wolf entirely yet.
Aurora wanted to scream and yell. Hell, she wanted to shake the living shit out of Starla for being so goddamn stubborn.
Of course, she knew some of her sister’s problems lay at her feet.
Ever since their parents’ deaths, she’d done everything within her power to shield Starla from what had killed them.
Suppressing the magic in her little sister had seemed the right thing to do all those years ago.
Hell, the damn tree told her how to do it.
We can’t change what was, only what will be.
Aurora rolled her eyes and clenched her fists. Do you know where Yukon is?
Her wolf inhaled. He is subdued and incapacitated, not dead.
Is it safe for me to get up and start moving now, or are they still nearby? She asked, praying she could move. Her wolf showed her, instead of telling her the coast was clear.
With slow movements, Aurora sat up, expecting pain to lash at her. She let out a happy gasp as she got to her feet without any agony whatsoever.
Using her wolf’s senses, she traced Yukon’s scent, finding him tied to a tree several feet from where she’d last seen Starla.
His sides moved up and down as if he were sleeping.
She moved in next to him, waving her hand over his body.
Magic flowed from her into him—his eyes, blue as the sky, fluttered open.
“There you are. Good boy,” she cooed, brushing her hand through his thick fur. “Let’s track our girl.”
Aurora and Yukon followed the tracks back through the woods. The five sets of indents gave her hope. It meant her sister had left on her own, so they didn’t have to carry her out, which was a good thing. She prayed it was the case.
After about an hour and a half, she came to a clearing that opened to a familiar parking lot. She took a deep breath, searching for Starla’s unique scent. Off toward the north side of the lot, her sister’s trail ended.
“What did they say was the name of the club they were taking her to?” Aurora ran toward her rig, shocked to find the fuckers hadn’t done anything to disable it, like slash the tires or something.
She pushed the code into the door and then opened the back for Yukon to get in.
Once he was inside, she slid into the driver’s seat.
Her hand shook as she pulled out her phone and started the Bronco with a push of a button.
Multitasking at its best. She slammed her foot down on the gas pedal, sped out of the parking lot, and stopped at the intersection as she debated on which direction to head.
“Gas up first,” she muttered. By the time she filled her tank, she had the address loaded into her GPS, snacks, and a drink for both her and Yukon, and cash from the ATM so she wouldn’t have to worry about using her credit card. “I’m coming, Biddy Bee.”
She realized her phone lay in one of the cup holders and remembered her sister had taken hers when they’d gone jogging. “Oh my Goddess. Please let her have it nevertheless.”
With one hand on the wheel, Aurora pulled up the location-sharing app.
Her tears fell as she saw the little icon her sister had created of herself moving steadily North at a speed indicating they were in a vehicle.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and settled her cell phone in the holder on her dashboard.
The direction she had set on her map appeared in sync with Starla’s.
Relief and resolve settled in her bones. She’d get her sister back, or she’d die trying.