Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ilistened with half an ear while waiting for Niall to get back with me. The crowd’s quietness had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. My wolf prowled to the surface. “We should leave,” I murmured in her ear.
“Slater, I can’t. They are calling me. Can’t you hear them?” Her eyes had a glazed look to them.
Millions of questions ran through my head.
“Open up to me, love.” Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she took a step forward.
My grip on her bicep kept her from going any further.
Concern for her flooded me when she didn’t immediately respond.
I reached out, cupping her face in my palm.
“Honey, listen to me. I need you to focus on me and my voice.”
Pressing into her mind, I forged through her walls, linking onto the bond we had.
I could hear the murmurs in her head and was alarmed by the numerous voices shouting at her.
I quickly built her walls up, realizing she was powerless to do so.
Once I was the only one left in her head, she blinked up at me.
“Thank you, Slater. My head felt as if a thousand hammers were pounding at it.” She shuddered.
While forming barriers for her, I’d been pulling us farther away from the front of the crowd. Why then did I feel as if all the eyes of the crowd were watching us?
A new voice spoke out over the crowd, this one low and husky. “Don’t listen,” I demanded, thinking maybe they were enthralling her with their words. Fuck, for all I knew, they had the power to do just that.
Continuing to back away, I slammed into a solid wall.
With a grunt, I spun. My gaze went to a large barrel chest, traveling up to a man’s—or rather a shifter’s—black eyes.
The unsmiling face locked onto where I held LeeLee, then back to me.
Testosterone rolled off him, hyper-focused, radiating challenge in every line of his six-foot-three-or-four body.
I faced him head-on, determination and lethal intent warring with my need to keep my mate safe. “Stay behind me, love,” I commanded.
The man reached behind me, trying to grab LeeLee.
I batted the arm away. The need to protect propelled me backward, away from the imminent threat, rather than going on the rampage as was my norm.
The crowd of over a hundred onlookers continued to watch as I ushered LeeLee away from the hulking beast, and then my eyes caught a slight movement to my left.
Several other men were moving in, trying to blend with the humans and failing.
Goddess, where was my backup?
Unwilling to get distracted by calling out to Niall, I sent a mental image, hoping my alpha could see the gravity or feel the urgency of my situation. How I hadn’t sensed the presence of so many shifters was beyond me, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
LeeLee’s pulse pounded an unruly beat against my fingers. I didn’t scent any fear, only anger and resentment. Good. We’d need every emotion except the tangible one that could get us both hurt, if not killed.
A siren waltzed past us, her hips swaying in enticement.
Everything about the town was wrong. Were all the people here props or part of some grand scheme?
A test or trap to lure them? No, I shook the thought off.
I counted half a dozen beings to my right and three, including the big bastard stalking me, in front.
I made my way through the crowd, hoping the pack kept to the same rules of not exposing themselves to humans.
My eyes moved back and forth, trying to keep focus on all the ones closing in.
I frowned as a woman jerked LeeLee away from me. Her arm locked around my mate’s throat, her right hand partially shifted, showing off the large claws of her wolf. My beast prowled to the edge of my mind, restless with the need to save her.
LeeLee peered at me through her impossibly long and thick lashes...and our connection opened. “It’s okay. Don’t fight them. If I go, we will have a chance, but if we fight, she’ll slice my throat right here and now.” The faint scent of truth wafted from her.
Must save her...
“This could go two ways, pup. You live and see another day, along with our long-lost sister. Or, you fight, and you both die along with a lot of humans.” The woman spoke, ruining the sweet smile she portrayed.
I glared at the group. “How do I know you won’t kill her as soon as you take her away?”
She shrugged. “You don’t, but at least you have hope.” Her smile was feral. “My name is Bianca, but my friends call me Lady B.”
A wise man once told me to watch and listen. LeeLee’s hand fluttered over her heart. A nervous gesture? Lady B gave a violent jerk of her head, then pulled LeeLee further into the crowd, laughing like they were old friends instead of a maniacal monster set to kill.
“Stay here, and we’ll send for you after we have a chat with our kin.”
I shook my head, unwilling to let them take my mate. “I will go with you. What’s the matter? Are you scared I can take down your entire pack?” I was taunting them.
“Tsk, tsk. Does that usually work?”
I heard the words, and then I watched LeeLee’s eyes widen in alarm.
Something slammed into my head, and pain flared through me, but I didn’t hit the ground as darkness tried to descend.
Arms slid underneath mine on each side, supporting me.
I fought to stay awake—muffled words of how I shouldn’t drink so much filtered through the fog.
“Now, if you want your mate to live, I suggest you come with us quietly. I’m not sure who you are, but you are clearly the bastard of one of my kin. Which one I haven’t decided yet?” Bianca hissed next to my ear.
I ground my teeth together. Dammit, I wanted to let my wolf surface.
The bloodthirsty she-wolf appeared ready and willing to kill me in front of a crowd of a hundred humans, while the others were unfazed by the fact.
If Bianca were my family—a thing I’d wished for my entire life—I really wanted to take that wish back.
The crazy female cackled and spoke as if killing me would be fun.
I turned to stare at Bianca, seeing a dull shade of blue eyes staring back at me. The sharp intake of breath eased the other woman’s grip.
“I will come with you willingly. Don’t hurt my mate.” My tone was even.
“You have her eyes.” Bianca shut her mouth with an audible snap. “Let’s go. Try not to make too big a scene.”
Clearly, she was the leader of the pack. My stupid heart lurched in my chest. This woman spoke as if she knew me, or someone who looked like me.
They left the gathering just as the mountain of pumpkins lit up, the tourists gasping and clapping at the display.
I wished I could have stayed to admire such an awesome, unique thing.
However, the woman pulling me across the field toward the large estate that looked more like a castle seemed in a hurry.
Memories rushed at me the closer we got to the stone entrance.
The turrets were as familiar as the log home I shared with Cammie.
Looking up at the top floor, I could see lights on and knew, without being told, that on the side of the home, there would be a large clump of trees.
The ones I used to climb down. The same ones I’d used that fateful day to escape.
“Does any of this look familiar, poppet?” The woman crooned.
Lord love a duck, who is this woman? I looked at all the expensive cars and unnatural flower arrangements and shook my head. My mother never would have allowed such garish displays in their home. Knowing shifters could scent a lie, I focused on what was new.
“No,” I answered truthfully.
Bianca nodded, a pleased smile breaking out on her beautiful face. Beauty was only skin deep, for she was hiding a true ugly beast inside.
Inside was completely different from what the six-year-old me remembered.
“My mother is sleeping. She’s not feeling well, you see.
I have a feeling she’ll rise once I tell her I have found another member of our...
shall I say, esteemed old pack.” She stopped, looking at one of the men.
“Take that one and put him in Father’s den.
Make sure he doesn’t wake up before we want him to.
You will have a seat in the library. I’ll see if mother is up for a visit. ”
Something about the woman’s tone had me hoping the older woman wasn’t, or, if she was, praying our backup arrived sooner rather than later.
“I can’t shift. I mean, I know you know that I’m a...and you are, but I can’t. I’m not a full-blood or whatever. If that makes a difference.” I held my breath.
Bianca threw her head back and laughed. “That is rich. Another bastard reject. Bar, entertain our guest, will you?” She heard her laughing even as the door closed to the library, leaving me with the hulking man named Bar.
Panicked, I licked my lips and looked around. The other pack members hadn’t followed us from the center of town. My eyes darted around the room, and I inhaled, wondering how many shifters were in the home. The one who’d taken Slater hadn’t returned, which left me alone with Bar.
He smiled, showing off wicked-looking teeth too sharp for a human. “So, you are a defective one?”
His bald statement made me flinch. “I’m not sure if I think I’m defective, just different.
How about you?” Putting the length of the room between us, I felt marginally better.
Where was Slater, and the other man? Surely he wasn’t still out, unless the other man had...
no, I stopped the thought before it could take root.
My heart would cease beating if he were no longer on this earth.
He stalked me like the predator he was. His gait was heavier on one side, showing a slight limp, I registered.
I’d been in my wolf form for twenty years and was no stranger to being the predator.
I squared my shoulders. I was not a pushover and wanted to kick my own ass for allowing myself to act like one.