Page 12 of Stolen

Chapter 6

The next day, Hawk once more found Ariana out in the garden. But this time, she was staring off into the distance.

Southwest, towards danger.

It was a cold, windy day, but she had no coat on, only jeans and a shirt with a brightly woven woolen shawl wrapped around her. He’d found it online and bought it for her, because it reminded him of the ones women wore in Colombia, and he’d thought she’d like a taste of home.

But today, it wasn’t enough. She was shivering, and he wanted desperately to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. Instead, he contented himself with coming up behind her and rubbing her upper arms gently, trying to warm her.

She started slightly at his touch, as if she’d been far away, and he could see the shine of tears in her eyes.

“What?” he asked her. “What is it?”

She stood stiff in front of him, still facing away, still looking into the distance. “He hurt them,” she said. “Carlos, and the other men who were on guard, when you took me away. Ricardo did… terrible things to them.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

“I—I can see. I don’t know, but—” She shook her head. “It’s real. I know.”

She closed her hand over one of his, and suddenly he saw too—jumbled images of blood and horror, with a sick pleasure in the background. Somehow, that last part felt like Ricardo, the way Hawk’s wolf sensed him through the pack bond. Her brother was sending her these nightmare images, though he wasn’t sure how. Maybe through their family bond?

It took all Hawk’s self-control to keep his hands from clenching on Ariana’s shoulders and accidentally hurting her. That bastard.

“Those men, they weren’t all bad,” she said. “Some of them were kind to me.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.” Fury filled him, that Ricardo would torture her this way.

More disturbing was the fact that Ricardo could do it, especially at a great distance. Hawk knew the bastard had killed their father and wrested the pack bond from him, possibly with dark magic. That meant it could be more powerful than a normal alpha bond. He might even be able to compel his followers to do things they normally wouldn’t.

He might be able to force Ariana to come back to him.

She was trembling harder, and Hawk’s control broke. He slid his arms around her from behind and pulled her against him, murmuring in her ear. “Shh. Shh. He’s not going to get to you.”

She said, “I can’t get the images out of my mind.”

“I know,” he said. “I know.”

She turned in his arms and looked up into his eyes, her hands on his shoulders. “You do know,” she said, brushing her fingertips across his cheek. “Does he send them to you, too?”

“I get dreams,” he said. “I don’t know from where. But I see things…” Things no one should see. “And just now, when you touched my hand, I saw what you saw.”

He saw the dawning comprehension in her face. That he and she were half-bonded already, even if they hadn’t had sex.

Her eyes filled with tears again. “I never meant for this to happen,” she said. “I was like a giddy schoolgirl, wanting to be in love, wanting you to take me away. Like it was some romantic film at the cinema. It was wrong. All that happened is I made your life into the hell that mine is.”

He cupped her chin in his hand. “Listen to me. It’s not wrong. And it’s not a hell.” He breathed in her scent, calming himself, trying to figure out how to say what he felt.

“I chose this,” he said finally. “I chose a life of bringing people to justice who think they’re too powerful to be brought down. Evil people. People who do unspeakable things.”

A tear rolled down her cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb. He’d do anything, if she never had to cry again.

“Maybe we’ll never stop them,” he went on. “Maybe I’ll die trying. But someone has to try.”

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “And I also chose you,” he said softly, and then corrected himself. “No, that’s not right. My heart knew you, the moment I saw you. My wolf knew you. Once we saw you, there was no one else but you.”

She shook her head in negation. “Don’t say that.”

“It doesn’t matter if I say it. It just is. You know it is.”