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She didn’t give voice to these thoughts. Instead, she offered a plan. “I’ve put in a call to Ralph. If anyone will know where this girl is, he will.”
Everyone in Savage knew Ralph. He was a warlock of limited ability who owned one of the Strip sex clubs. He’d made a home in wolf territory because he had a thing for wolves. He even had a live-in, wolf girlfriend.
Despite his inclinations, he was well-connected and knew the goings-on in every club in the area. It was also rumored that he helped at-risk wolves escape the more brutal club owners.
“I told Ralph about Vickie and her abduction from Elegance. He was appalled, even angry. He may run a sex club, but he takes good care of his workers. He said he’d find out where she’d been taken. But he also said that’s all he could do. He can’t take overt action.”
“I know he can’t. He’d disappear, otherwise.”
By ‘disappear’, Lauren knew he meant that Julio would have him killed. “You don’t need to protect me. Remember, I’m a therapist who treats Maeve’s rescues. I’ve heard every horror story possible. Julio will kill Ralph outright if he learns Ralph has crossed him.”
She drew a deep breath. “When Ralph finds out where Vickie is, I want you to go with me to get her out of whatever club she’s in. Maeve has already said she’ll take her into her refuge permanently.”
Cole scowled. “You’re forgetting. Julio knows every Border Patrol Officer in the force. His men would know me the moment I showed my face at the club. I’d be dead if I tried to remove one of his workers.”
“Not if he can’t see you.”
She watched his blue eyes flash. “What do you mean? Wait. No. You’re kidding, right? Do you honestly think I’d trust you to make me go invisible?”
He hadn’t forgiven her for using her power to take his knee out and she could see he was still in a lot of pain. But he’d refused to believe her when she’d said a dark witch was trolling the area that night and they were in danger. They’d gone for a walk not far from Lauren’s home. She’d spied the witch’s gold aura, a sign she was hiding behind an invisibility shield.
Lauren knew the dark witch well. Her name was Monique and she engaged frequently in sacrificial killings. She’d also been after Lauren to join her dark coven from the time Lauren had arrived in Five Bridges. If Monique had found a wolf in Elegance, she wouldn’t have hesitated to take him out.
Cole had started to argue with her since he couldn’t see the aura. Knowing how stubborn he could be, she’d zapped his knee to keep him from exposing their position behind a bank of tall oleander bushes. She’d also clamped a hand over his mouth to keep his pained groans from alerting the witch.
To this day, she knew in her heart that if she hadn’t wounded him so that he stayed put, Monique would have slaughtered him.
The fight that had ensued had shaken their relationship to its core and ruined any chance of them making a future together.
She’d had two months now to review the events that had led to the break-up as well as the way he’d ended their relationship. She’d come to question his level of rage about what had happened as well as the reason for his complete rejection of her. She had her own opinion about what was at the bottom of his anger and stubbornness. But because he’d refused to talk to her, she wasn’t able to share her thoughts with him.
She had no expectation of having a talk anytime soon. Her only reason for being here was for Vickie’s sake. Cole was simply a reliable wolf she trusted and the best means of getting Vickie safely back to Elegance Territory.
It would have helped a lot though, if he wasn’t so damn handsome.
When her phone vibrated, she withdrew it from her pocket and saw that Ralph was calling. She took a step closer to Cole and hit the speaker button. “Hi, Ralph. I’ve got Officer Cole with me. What’s the news?”
“You were right. Julio has her. Your girl is in the Furred Up and Ready Club, three doors down from mine.”
Chapter Two
Cole stared hard at Lauren. She’d asked for his help and he’d refused. She’d asked him to meet her here and he’d agreed. He’d listened to her request and her arguments against asking more powerful alphas for assistance. Now she held the phone between them and heard the despair in Ralph’s voice, but he wouldn’t be manipulated. The whole situation pissed him off.
She shouldn’t be in Savage Territory and she shouldn’t have asked him for his help.
Ralph continued. “Glad you’re here, Cole. That particular club has a bad reputation. Because she’s a witch, they’ll use her up then dump her in the Graveyard. If she hasn’t been violated yet, they’ll sell her to the highest bidder for a rape-fest. I’ve seen it a hundred times. You’ve got to help her, Lauren. Cole. Please. If there’s anything you can do to get this young woman out of that place, you’ve got to try.”
The plea had the effect of stalling-out Cole’s protests. Now that he knew the girl really was in Savage, he had to seriously consider helping out even if he didn’t want to.
He ground his teeth then moved away from the vehicle. But damn if another round of pain didn’t shoot up his leg and pull his tail-bone into yet another tight spasm.
He grimaced and leaned over trying to get some relief.
Lauren had done this to him. He had to remember that, despite the concern in her lovely violet eyes.
Worse, from the moment she’d made herself visible, all he’d been thinking about was the first time they’d made love. He’d taken her to his home, his belowground den. She’d never been in a wolf’s burrow before and he’d been able to tell by the rise of her tropical-citrus scent that she’d loved being there.
He’d had plenty of wolves in his bed, but never a witch and never someone like Lauren. When she looked at him, it was as though she saw him, really saw him.
