“You honestly thought I would let you be killed?”
“Yeah. I definitely did.”
“Never.” I only wish it hadn’t taken me so long to see the light. To hell with the expectations of a bloodthirsty clan and the ancient laws we abide by. Fate threw a curveball. There is nothing else I could do.
That’s the thought ringing out loudest in my head when a fireball of pain explodes in the back of it. Tara’s high-pitched cry fades to silence as I drop to the soft ground and darkness consumes me.
When I snap my eyes open, I’m alone. The back of my head pounds hard enough to nauseate me, but it’s the fact that she’s gone which makes me fight to get to my knees. Everything is spinning around me—I close my eyes, knowing this won’t last long, but also knowing there isn’t a second to lose. She’s gone. Someone took her.
And they’re going to die for it.
We were deep enough in bear territory that I don’t think it was the wolves, but I won’t dismiss the possibility as I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Declan’s number. “What? Did you change your mind already?” he asks.
“You didn’t take her? It wasn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” he snaps, while other voices overlap in the background.
“I was attacked,” I tell him, staggering to my feet while my bear demands vengeance and the scent of my blood hangs in the air. “I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I came to, she was gone. Someone from my clan must have taken her.”
Chapter 13
Tara
Please,let him be okay. Please, let him be okay.
“I can’t believe you thought I would let this happen.” In the shadows, Regina laughs with her partners. There was no time to fight before one of them grabbed me after the other one hit Kyran hard enough to knock him out. He’s so strong. It must’ve taken so much force.Please, let him be okay.
“We need to get this over with fast.” One of the guys seems like he might actually have a tiny bit of sense, since he looks downright terrified, practically jumping at every little sound in the woods surrounding the tree they propped me up against after tying my arms behind my back. “We need to get back before anybody knows what happened.”
Regina flips her blonde waves and cackles. “Fine. You guys want to pussy out on me, be my guest. I’ll have more fun alone with her, anyway.” She eyes me like she’s hungry. In a way, I guess she is.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I remind her as gently as I can, considering she had me captured like this. “I wouldn’t have chosen this myself. I didn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“Liar!” she shrieks, and out of nowhere she charges at me. Now I see what she’s holding in her right hand, gleaming underthe stars. A very large knife in the hand of a very unstable person.
“I don’t know if we should be here for this.” The guys exchange worried glances, because apparently, they haven’t lost their entire minds.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t have what it takes to see this through. But I don’t need you,” she crows, waving the knife at me while she speaks to them. “I’ve got her exactly where I want her now.”
The taller of the two steps up next to her and places a hand on her shoulder that tells me how she managed to talk him into this, at least. “This isn’t like what we talked about. You don’t want to do this.”
She flings his hand away before glaring up at him. “Don’t tell me what I want to do. You don’t have the first idea, Jax.” He’s clearly wounded by this, wincing a little. I would feel sorry for him if he wasn’t the one who hit Kyran.
Great. Nobody can talk sense into her. Maybe if I stare hard enough at Jax or his friend, one of them will get the message that I need them to get that knife away from her.
“This is what we need to do for the clan!” Regina’s eyes are wild, her voice shrill. “Don’t you get it? He can’t mate her! That’s not how it’s done!”
The other one grimaces. “Yeah, but…”
“No buts, Scott!” She waves the knife at him, and he takes a step back, focused on the blade. “You know I’m right! Everybody agrees! They just don’t have the balls to admit it!”
“But I do,” she adds in a sinister whisper before turning on me again.
“I’m sorry.” I’m sure it sounds empty, but it is the truth. “I didn’t plan on this. I wasn’t even sure what Kyran had decided when we left for the meeting. For all I knew, he would hand me over to my pack to be killed.”
“And now you will be.” Well, that was obviously the wrong thing to say, since now she’s smiling like a deranged person. That’s who she is.
Kyran was still breathing when we left. That much, I know. But would I feel it if he died? Thinking back, I remember Mom freaking out a little, saying she felt like Dad was in trouble the night he died. So maybe it is possible. I don’t feel anything like that now. Hopefully, that means he’s alive and well and coming to rescue me.
