The Wolf Within

Chapter 10

Julie glanced at her watch with a frustrated groan as she exited her car. There wasn’t much she hated more than being late. And being late to Jason and Samantha’s wedding went beyond “bad.”

The past week had flown by, her connection to Brendan growing each day. She’d be in the bookstore, minding her own business, and all of a sudden she’d be horny and know Brendan had thought of them together. It took some getting used to. But she couldn’t be mad. Knowing without a doubt she was the only woman for him was a rush she couldn’t begin to explain.

Earlier, Brendan had shooed her out the door, calling Ethan to let him know she was on her way to Jason and Samantha’s where the girls were meeting. He would be taking his own car to meet the boys at the B&B Gwen owned, except for Ethan who was on guard duty.

Much to Jason’s consternation, Samantha had insisted they adhere to the tradition of not letting the groom see her before the wedding. It had been quite a fight, and Jason had relented only after Ethan agreed to sleep in the guest room and protect Samantha with his life. Jason had been overbearing ever since receiving the note. Not that she blamed him–the thought of losing Brendan was enough to make her feel like dying.

She was more than halfway to the house when she remembered the gift for Samantha she’d left sitting on the counter. The sapphire hair barrette had been a favorite of their grandmother, and would look beautiful in Samantha’s pale blonde hair. It would also cover something old, borrowed and blue. She dialed Brendan and cursed as it rolled over to voicemail, knowing he must have already left.

Turning the car around and speeding home, she hoped she could somehow beat the limo to Samantha’s house.

Pulling into the driveway, Julie rushed into the house and snatched the silver-wrapped gift from the counter. She paused only long enough to lock the front door on her way out before hurrying to her car.

As she reached for the car door, a hand seized her from behind, covering her mouth. She dropped the keys and the gift in her terror, realizing too late she could’ve used them as a weapon. She tried to struggle free, but her attacker’s other arm surrounded her waist, preventing any movement. The arm was strong, too strong for her to break free. She couldn’t think, terror preventing any thoughts from forming. Oh God, she couldn’t die like this!

She tried to pry away the hand over her mouth and drew in a breath to scream. The world went hazy as a sickening odor assailed her, and she drew in another breath to still the spinning. As her limbs collapsed, she realized what had happened and tried to hold her breath, but it was no use. Reaching out, Julie sent one thought through the mental connection between her and her mate.

Brendan.

It was her last ditch effort before she fell into the black abyss beckoning her.

Brendan smiled as he walked into the B&B, Moonlight Burrows. Jason paced the entryway where a hassled Alyssa, Gwen’s best friend and co-owner of the inn, attempted to calm him.

He didn’t look like a man happy about his impending marriage, but Brendan knew that wasn’t the case. He was chomping at the bit to get back to Samantha. He knew from hanging around their family so much that they’d only spent one night apart their entire relationship during which Samantha had gotten lost, ended up in a different shifter town and scared the living daylights out of everyone. Just the thought of anything similar happening to Julie made his eyes shift to the wolf’s.

He shook his head. Nothing had happened to Julie. He’d bet that right now she was gushing over Samantha’s dress and sipping champagne. He needed to get control of himself. Using the connection between them, he reached out and sensed her worry. But he knew without digging deeper it was an oh no, I spilled something on my dress worry and not anything more serious.

Well, if she’d ruined the dress, he’d be more than happy to help her remove it. He smirked. The past week had been the best of his life. And the hottest. Julie had met him move for move, doing anything and everything he’d asked. But as much as he’d never thought he’d say it, the best part wasn’t the sex. It was being able to curl around her afterward, feeling her rest against him and nuzzle his chest with her nose.

He understood Jason’s frustration over not being able to spend the night with Samantha. Now that he was mated, being separated from Julie left him anxious, as if her mere presence settled his wolf. But even so, the tableau in front of him seemed a bit extreme. Unless something had happened to the women. A brief flash of panic accompanied the thought.

“What’s the matter?” Brendan demanded, stalking farther into the room. Danny stood to one side, leaning against a wall, watching his brother pace.

“Nothing. We just spoke to Ethan, and he said everything is fine.”

Brendan glanced back at Jason. This was definitely an extreme reaction if they knew everything was fine. Even after being separated from his mate for the entire night.

“So what crawled up his butt?” Brendan asked.

Jason turned toward him and the fire in his eyes made Brendan take a step back. He held up his hands in surrender before things got out of hand. Jason turned around and resumed pacing.

“Apparently,” Danny paused and tried to hide his smile, “Samantha is pregnant. And it’s causing some rather dominant protective instincts to come out.”

No wonder Jason’s reaction had been so extreme to the threatening note. He was surprised Jason had agreed, even with Ethan there, to leave her for the night. He thought about how he would feel if Julie carried his child. The rush of giddiness almost made him dizzy. Julie swelling with his child would be a beautiful sight.

“As soon as Dad gets here, we’re going to head over. We’ve already told Ethan, and he’s going to hurry the girls along too. I don’t think the inn can take much more damage.”

Glancing around, Brendan noticed one of the chair backs lay on the floor behind the seat. Poor Alyssa. Now he understood why she wasn’t taking the relaxed stance Danny had.

Charles, their father, walked in the front door, took one look at his son and ushered them all outside and into the car. No words seemed needed.

Jason growled, and Brendan covered his chuckle with a cough. He didn’t want to meet Julie with a black eye if Jason took offense to his amusement. The conversation buzzed around him, but he tuned them out as his mind tried to focus on the haziness filling his brain.

Something wasn’t right.

It came on suddenly, a rush of alarm, but he knew it was from Julie. This wasn’t some worrisome dress concern. This was full-fledged, bomb-exploding terror. It only lasted a second before it was gone, but he hadn’t imagined it. He swore he heard his name echoing in his head with fear and pain.

Trying not to panic, he looked toward Jason and Charles. If something had happened to the women they would have sensed it as well, right? After all, they both had mates there too. Jason continued to growl, but didn’t appear any more anxious than before. Charles smiled and chatted away with Danny, looking as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Brendan bit his lip in indecision. He didn’t want to rile Jason any more than he already was, but he needed to ask. Was it his imagination or Julie crying for help? He had to know. “Did you guys–” he paused, considering how to phrase his concern, “–sense anything just now? Anything at all?”

All three of them stared at him for a minute before shaking their heads. Jason’s eyes bore into him, demanding he tell them what was wrong.

“Never mind. Must be that artist imagination.” He turned toward the window, so they wouldn’t see his frown. It had felt so real. And Julie hadn’t even been on his mind at the time. He’d been secure knowing she was protected by Ethan, Laurie and Judith.

He got out of the car with the others and stalked inside the church. When he realized the women hadn’t arrived yet, he walked toward the doors to wait. His wolf insisted on seeing Julie, and his human side wasn’t arguing. He needed visual assurance she was okay.

He tried reaching out through the bond but felt nothing. That was scarier than the panic. There was no joy or fear. Just a void of nothingness. Even when she slept he felt something through the bond. Some sense of her dreaming conscious.

The limo pulled up to the curb, and he dragged his mind away from his dark musings, needing to see her. He watched Ethan exit the car and hold the door open as the women followed. Horror filled him as Ethan shut the door behind them–before Julie had gotten out.

They made their way up the short flight of stairs into the church, and Brendan pounced on Ethan, demanding to know where she was.

“She’s not here?” he asked.

“I called and told you she was on her way over.” Brendan’s anger and fear hit the ceiling, and his voice rose as he took out his anger on Ethan.

“Whoa, calm down. She called, said she forgot something at home and would be late. When we got the call to leave early, I left her a message to come straight here. She’s probably on her way now.”

Brendan turned away, running his hands through his hair. He felt the scrape of claws and knew he was about to lose it. Julie was in trouble. She’d tried to reach out to him, but he’d brushed it off, thinking she was safe with her family. If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.

“Something’s wrong.” His voice was guttural, but the way her family crowded around assured him they understood.

“What do you mean?” Danny demanded.

“I felt something in the car. Blind panic and then nothing. I can’t sense her anymore. I ignored it, because I thought she was with you.” He spit the last out at Ethan.

He looked at her family, saw the worry on their faces, and was grateful they took him seriously. They had to find her. It was the only thought rushing through him.

“Okay, let’s not panic yet. We’ll backtrack to your place, see if we can find her along the way,” Ethan said, putting his hand on Brendan’s shoulder and squeezing. “We’ll find her. Don’t worry.”

Brendan saw Laurie move between her brothers’ mates. She’d protect them while the rest of the family found Julie. The other members of the pack, gathered in the church to watch their Premier wed his mate, now stood. Some took position next to Laurie, others stared at Jason and Brendan for instructions. The message was clear. Julie was one of them, part of the pack, and they would help however they could.

Julie woke up disoriented. Where the hell was she? She tried to stay awake, remain focused, but the darkness pulled her back into its embrace and the world disappeared once more.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she came to again. Pain pounded a furious rhythm behind her eyes. She placed her palm on her temple as she leaned up and gazed around. It looked like some kind of cabin in the woods somewhere.

The room spun, and she swallowed the bile rising to the back of her throat as she struggled to remember.

A flash of her car door–the hand covering her mouth while the other gripped her waist, preventing her from struggling–had her sitting up in panic. The world swam, making her regret the action. Whatever they’d done to her had given her a major hangover.

“So you’re awake.” Julie spun toward the male voice. The man in the doorway wasn’t someone she recognized. “Who are you, and what do you want with me?” She hated the way her voice shook. If only the room would stop spinning, she could figure a way out of this mess. She had to get home to Brendan. Thoughts of her mate steadied her. He would come for her, and when he did this man would regret ever touching her.

“No need to concern your pretty head with that. As long as your brother does what he’s supposed to, you’ll be fine.” Jay strode into the room, passing the stranger. Julie’s eyes widened in alarm. Jay?

“What…What are you doing here?” She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Oh, Julie, you stupid bitch. Did you really think you were so gorgeous I couldn’t help myself? I’d hoped to do things the easy way. Get to you through your libido. But you had to mate with a dog.” He spit the word out in distaste.

Her mind whirled as she listened to him. He’d meant to kidnap her from the beginning? She’d assumed he was interested in her, but she’d only been a means to an end.

“Why me? I’m not even one of them.”

“Exactly. Why would I go after one of the shifters when there you are? Easy pickings.” The cruelty in his laugh grated on her nerves as she shrunk into herself for comfort. “Don’t you get it? You’re the weak link. And to think how easy it was to lure them away from protecting you. One little note, pointing the trigger at someone else, and they flocked to the little fox. Stupid mutts. But no matter, they just need to care about you enough to support the bill in the council. If all goes as planned, we’ll let you go.”

She pulled at the top of her dress self-consciously. They hadn’t hurt her yet, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. His gaze drifted toward her cleavage, and she felt a flash of fear before he sneered.

“Don’t worry. None of my pride would be interested in you. You were born of wolves, and that’s almost as bad as being one.” He stalked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Julie glanced at the stranger remaining. His stare was frightening. A smile crossed his face, but the leer was far from comforting, and the words that followed were even less so.

“Not everyone has such discriminating tastes in our whores. Just wait until the next guard shift. Maybe I’ll even stay and watch.”

Panic flooded her. She had to find a way out of here. Brendan would come, she had no doubt. But there was no guarantee he would find her in time. Even now the scent of the drug they’d used flowed from her pores. Brendan would never be able to track her scent.

There was no telling how long she’d been out, or how far they’d traveled. Or how long she had before they attacked. She wouldn’t sit by and let herself be violated, waiting for a rescue.

“Can I have some water?” she asked the man, hoping they didn’t plan to starve or dehydrate her. She needed to get her wits back if she wanted to pull off an escape.

Brendan stared at Julie’s car in their driveway. The door stood wide open, the car keys abandoned on the ground next to a cloth with a chemical smell. He wasn’t an expert, but he could deduce what had happened here.

He closed his eyes, trying to calm the fear as he took a deep breath. Whatever drug they’d used masked her scent, but another, strange scent was present. He recognized it from whatever had been outside her apartment a few weeks ago.

The growl rumbled up from his throat as the shift overcame him. He’d hunt this fucker as wolf and tear him limb from limb. Nothing would stand in his way.

All around him he heard the cracks and pops that accompanied the shift into animal as others took to their fur. The warm comfort of the shift, so contrary to the noise, overtook him. He let his wolf take charge, feeling the determination through his worry. They’d find his mate, and when they did, if she’d been harmed in any way, he’d hunt down the kidnappers and their families until he wiped out their whole pathetic line.

He didn’t bother looking around as his wolf tracked the scent. He knew his pack would follow. His only concern right now was Julie. He had to get to her. Had to make sure she was okay. Afterward, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.