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She scoffed, “Oh, they’ll prize you alright. Mount you every chance they get so they can spawn the next precious boy shifter.” She glanced over at me before I could hide my shocked expression. “Don’t look so surprised, dear. I’ve been where you are. Trust me when I say I’ve saved you from a fate worse than death.”
It clicked then….Wren’s face when she saw the picture. It had nothing to do with my happy little family and everything to do with the woman next to me. “You’re a Hanley,” I whispered, recognizing her bitter words and tone because I’d heard them from Sam repeatedly.
“No,” she denied harshly. “I’m not. I left that name and life behind me a long time ago, and God help anyone who thinks I’d abandon my daughter to the same fate.”
Chapter Eight
Dom
I paced restlessly, still in wolf form as the Pack gathered outside. Anna had come inside the apartment where I had stationed myself, the air saturated with Jess’ scent and the only thing keeping me sane. Caleb waited outside, moving among the Pack members as he allowed me to take the lead in the hunt for my mate. I knew if I asked he’d charge the Hanley Pack without an ounce of hesitation, but I couldn’t shake the feeling I was missing something, something important.
Anna, I sent the mental call over the Pack bond, and her head came up. She huddled inside an oversize bathrobe Jess’ father had found for her since she’d shifted into human form when she’d arrived, acting as a translator for me.
Trent eyed me, suspecting I was communicating with Anna when she stared at me. He’d managed to grab Liam before anyone saw him and they both stood in the corner. Anna had glanced at them curiously when she’d come in but didn’t question me on their presence.
Do you recognize this scent? I sent Anna the flowery smell I’d filed away, the one I didn’t know, and hoped her more sensitive nose could detect what mine hadn’t.
Her eyes closed as she concentrated on the scent memory, and I knew she’d have a better chance if she’d smelled it directly, but the scent had already been fading when I’d caught it.
Her nose wrinkled as one eye popped open, “Lilac?” She sounded uncertain, but I trusted her nose.
“A woman?” Trent questioned, disbelief heavy in his voice. “A woman couldn’t have carried her out.”
My Dad had shown up, acting in official capacity as the town Sherriff, and analyzed the evidence in Jess’ room. It had taken him seconds to test the water on her nightstand and confirm it had been laced with Rohypnol. Someone had drugged Jess and carried her out of her room with none of us the wiser.
“I probably could,” Anna admitted ruefully, acknowledging the additional strength being a shifter gave her.
“Besides you,” Trent corrected. “You’re an exception.” None of us missed the way he’d said it, or Anna’s flushed cheeks at his admiring tone. “You only traced the scent at the parking spot. Maybe the woman was in the car?”
“So, two kidnappers,” Anna verified, eyeing us for confirmation.
But why? I didn’t pay attention, blasting the thought along both Pack links as I tried to figure out who would want to take her. The Hanleys would never allow a woman to participate. I knew this without a doubt. Unless they had used the woman to lure Jess but we were pretty sure she’d been drugged and carried to the car.
“Not the Hanleys,” Liam agreed, shaking his head. “This shit is way too high tech for them. They wouldn’t bother drugging her. They’d just knock her out with a punch,” he stated matter of fact, leaving Anna staring at him open mouthed.
“I’d have to agree,” Trent answered. “We’re missing something. Another player.”
Anna stared at both of them, her gaze flickering between them as if she was trying to figure something out. “Has anything happened lately? Anything suspicious?”
It was Jess’ Dad who answered as he came in the room, and I watched as Monster stubbornly trailed behind him. He’d tried to get Monster to go to bed, reassuring him that Jess would be home when he woke up, but the kid was way too smart for that. “Her mom showed up this morning,” he stated grimly, clearly believing her arrival fell into the suspicious category.
Monster came toward me hesitantly and I stopped pacing as he settled a small hand on my side, burying his fingers into my fur as he braced himself against me.
Her mom? Anna’s voice betrayed her shock at the idea that Jess’ mother could somehow be involved. I agreed that it seemed farfetched. Her mother had essentially abandoned Jess, leaving her in the dark about what she was, but the timing was suspicious.
“Have you uncovered anything else?” Thomas, Jess’ Dad, asked as he propped himself against the couch. His face was drawn and looked as if he’d aged ten years in the past hour.
