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Lyra wanted to seem slightly compliant and exaggerated her fear to try to get the best of them. The man who had been the bear shifted back into human form, helping the dark-haired man lift her by her limbs and place her into the vehicle.
She only struggled slightly, which was what was expected of her. She asked them repeatedly what they wanted as both men climbed into the back, sliding the van doors shut.
It had been a bright day, so it took Lyra a second to adjust to the bleak, plastic dark. The dark-haired man, who seemed to be the one doing all the talking, removed rope from the passenger’s front seat.
“Give me your hands,” he ordered.
She held them out, and he bound them together. While he did, the half-naked man bound her ankles. Her neck ached from being pulled so abruptly into the woods and dragged at such a laborious speed.
“Are you Timber’s friends?” she asked softly.
The dark-haired man tied a tight knot around her wrist. She breathed in sharply, feeling her fingers beginning to tingle already. He stared at her on his knees, eyes as black as his beard and hair.
“What kind of relationship do you have with Timber? If you tell us now, everything will go smoothly.”
The half-naked man knelt before her, too, staring with stern intrigue. Lyra did the only thing she thought might help delay them in their attempt to intimidate her and to give Timber time to track her down: lie.
“I was his nanny. I took care of his daughter for a while, in-house, then I left to pursue a career in media. It’s what I have my degree in.”
Lyra made sure her voice was even, not too confident, not too meek. But she could tell neither of them believed her. Hell, they could probably smell the lie reeking off her body.
The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes, moving in closer, his nostrils flaring. The van remained still, with casual cars zooming by without any realization that a kidnapping was taking place.
“And what did you do during your time as a nanny with Mr. Timber Mahogany?”
Lyra gazed at the half-naked man and the man in the driver’s seat, neither of whom had spoken yet. A bemused smile grew across her lips, and she began to chuckle.
They didn’t seem to like that.
“That’s none of your fucking business,” she said as she laughed. “And I’m never going to tell you.”
Lyra realized immediately that her expression of egotistical confidence may have gone too far. The dark-haired man reached for duct tape that had been sitting in the passenger's seat, unraveled it, and stretched it out in front of her.
She opened her mouth to bellow, trying to shuffle backward in the van, but it was too late. They pinned the tape over her mouth, stifling her cry, then secured her bindings against a hook on the van wall. It was clear that they had done all of this before.
Lyra began to panic when the dark-haired man tapped on the driver’s back, and the van began to move. She had no idea how fast bear shifters were, but it was likely that the van was going to be a hell of a lot faster.
She batted her hands against the wall of the van, attempting to yell from beneath the tape. The metal clanked against the van, her hands having been pinned out of reach of her mouth while the half-naked man held onto her ankles. Her body was being slightly stretched as the van climbed a few hills, bumping along the way like a casual delivery service.
What on earth had she done? Had she sealed her fate, acting like a fool with people whose abilities she didn’t completely understand?
All she knew was that she wanted to see Timber again. At that moment, as she clanked against the van walls, she vowed that if she ever got to see that damn bear bastard, she would leap into his arms and never let go.
But for now, three of his enemies had her. One of them had a death grip on her feet, while another kept peering into the darkness. He scared her more with his silence than any of the words he would ever speak.
TWENTY-SEVEN
TIMBER
Timber skyrocketed to the spot where Lyra’s car was found. It had bright yellow caution tape around it, as Karen had reported her missing to the police. There wasn’t much public awareness about it, though, as a few cops stood around, cracking jokes, indifferent to her potential plight.
Timber got out of his car a short distance away, trying to catch her scent to follow. His heart rattled in his chest when he realized he couldn’t isolate it; it was being covered and blocked by some big, wet animals.
He knew those big wet animals well.
It was a rare ability to be able to cover a scent so well, especially when it was another’s fated mate’s specific aroma. He picked up some of it, but he couldn't quite get close enough to her car. He didn’t want to get involved with the cops; they would only delay his mission.
The cops didn’t notice him, which was all well and good. He typed in the address to the bear council headquarters, then sped off in the opposite direction.
